Apparently, my family has some contacts here in Oz. That's freaking brilliant.
So far the farm work is ok but I'm together with these bunch of Nepalese lads who work soooo fast they make me look bad.
Therefore, I'm going to have to use my ace card sooner rather than later. Hopefully my contacts here can set me up with less... manual work. I'm already thinking about May onwards. That's winter and there will be less available work in the countryside.
By the way, I'm not working today. I'm working tomorrow. It rained the last 2 days so I only managed to work half a day. That's the other thing I'm concerned about. If I can work indoors I don't have to worry about weather.
I'm ok so far but unfortunately I can't say the same for the other lads. Some of them have a lot of trouble adjusting and my roomie does nothing but whine about working conditions and the uncertainty of living out of hotel rooms.
To think they all thought I was the one who would be in trouble...
Anyway, I'm still in survival mode and the escape plan is still in effect. So no worries.
Oz is a beautiful country especially now in the summer.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
We're not in Kansas anymore...
Finally.... a PC with internet connection. I don't have much time. 15 minutes for 2 bucks.
Sounds expensive right? Actually not really.
I have a ton of things to say actually. But for now a status update.
I'm in Tumba Rumba, a small (think Serian) town not far from Sydney. Yeah, we travel a long way. That's the life of the contract farm worker. We go where the work is. For now it's apples in Batlow, another small town in the highlands. Nice place.
Over the last few days, I've been to places not many people see. It's gorgeous out here in the countryside. Not unlike living in a postcard.
We stayed at Wood Wood for a few days, not far from the place where out train from Melbourne stopped at Swan Hill. Two days ago, our super scored a deal with Batlow apples to do thinning. 2 bucks per tree. I've done 100+ over the last 2 days.
The heat? What heat? Cold we got plenty of that. A ton of people have been telling me to watch out for the hear but seriously, it's got nothing on the heat we get back home.
Anyway, I've lots more to tell actually. It's ok so far but there are some things I'm not very happy about. Nothing to do with Oz or anything like that. The guy who fixed us up in Kuching left out a lot of details about working in Oz. A LOT of details. Made adjusting very hard.
Still, I'm here and I'm going to try and update as much as possible
Until then please take care and have a good summer.
Cheers.
Sounds expensive right? Actually not really.
I have a ton of things to say actually. But for now a status update.
I'm in Tumba Rumba, a small (think Serian) town not far from Sydney. Yeah, we travel a long way. That's the life of the contract farm worker. We go where the work is. For now it's apples in Batlow, another small town in the highlands. Nice place.
Over the last few days, I've been to places not many people see. It's gorgeous out here in the countryside. Not unlike living in a postcard.
We stayed at Wood Wood for a few days, not far from the place where out train from Melbourne stopped at Swan Hill. Two days ago, our super scored a deal with Batlow apples to do thinning. 2 bucks per tree. I've done 100+ over the last 2 days.
The heat? What heat? Cold we got plenty of that. A ton of people have been telling me to watch out for the hear but seriously, it's got nothing on the heat we get back home.
Anyway, I've lots more to tell actually. It's ok so far but there are some things I'm not very happy about. Nothing to do with Oz or anything like that. The guy who fixed us up in Kuching left out a lot of details about working in Oz. A LOT of details. Made adjusting very hard.
Still, I'm here and I'm going to try and update as much as possible
Until then please take care and have a good summer.
Cheers.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Reject
The people from the oil rig called just now.
In my entire life, I have never had to reject a job offer. I feel bad. I feel especially bad for that mate of mine who no doubt really wanted me to join him there. We had some good times in Sibu. I really, really hope I can see him again when my Oz thing is done.
Anyway, my bro has a job waiting for him now. I gave his phone number to the rig people and there are probably thrashing out a deal as we speak. Those guys need GOC, TBOSIET and computer literacy. No probs for my bro.
The job's right there for the taking. It's all up to him now whether he takes it or not.
I hope he does.
In my entire life, I have never had to reject a job offer. I feel bad. I feel especially bad for that mate of mine who no doubt really wanted me to join him there. We had some good times in Sibu. I really, really hope I can see him again when my Oz thing is done.
Anyway, my bro has a job waiting for him now. I gave his phone number to the rig people and there are probably thrashing out a deal as we speak. Those guys need GOC, TBOSIET and computer literacy. No probs for my bro.
The job's right there for the taking. It's all up to him now whether he takes it or not.
I hope he does.
Monday, December 01, 2008
When it Rains it Pours,,
The date is set. I'm going off on the 6th. Everything's taken cared off and now I just need to pack my stuff. I'm going to miss my PC a lot since it's powerful and has lots of cool stuff in it. Well, not so much now since my graphics card overheated and died a few days ago...
It's as if it knew no one is going to game on this PC for the next year and a half.
At least I still have a notebook. I wonder if I can get wifi where I'm going.
Anyway, here's a story.
You know sometimes I think fate loves to mess with people. This morning I got a phone call from a mate I was with when I took my GOC course. Guess what? Yet another job offer for me on a rig.
All that time I was lounging about the last few months, nothing happened. Now that I'm about to go off and work, job offers come pouring in. This is the second one I got in the last month.
Talk about selection headache. Sometimes, I feel like going outside and curse the sky. Better not because when I come back from Oz I might still want to go offshore. I have the certs after all. This is assuming that my grand master plan of looking for better work in Oz doesn't work out.
If that's the case, then I hope job offers will still be available then. It's always good to have a backup.
It's not all bad though. When these people call me tomorrow to ask whether I want to take up the offer, I'll going to pass them my youngest brother's contact number. The boy just completed his safety course two weeks ago, all his papers are in order and he's all set to go. I hope they take him. That way the household need not worry about money anymore.
I just hope I'll do well when I go.
It's as if it knew no one is going to game on this PC for the next year and a half.
At least I still have a notebook. I wonder if I can get wifi where I'm going.
Anyway, here's a story.
You know sometimes I think fate loves to mess with people. This morning I got a phone call from a mate I was with when I took my GOC course. Guess what? Yet another job offer for me on a rig.
All that time I was lounging about the last few months, nothing happened. Now that I'm about to go off and work, job offers come pouring in. This is the second one I got in the last month.
Talk about selection headache. Sometimes, I feel like going outside and curse the sky. Better not because when I come back from Oz I might still want to go offshore. I have the certs after all. This is assuming that my grand master plan of looking for better work in Oz doesn't work out.
If that's the case, then I hope job offers will still be available then. It's always good to have a backup.
It's not all bad though. When these people call me tomorrow to ask whether I want to take up the offer, I'll going to pass them my youngest brother's contact number. The boy just completed his safety course two weeks ago, all his papers are in order and he's all set to go. I hope they take him. That way the household need not worry about money anymore.
I just hope I'll do well when I go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)