Daily grind

Bit of an overcast day today. It's only half nine in the morning though so it might get better later on. I'm not really all that bothered though – working at noon and if the weather stays like this it makes the drive in a car without air-conditioning a lot more tolerable. Going to have to think about getting a car of my own as stealing Jen's is something I can only really do for so long. Had a browse over some car prices, new and used, and will have to borrow cash for anything decent. The bank I'm with stipulates permanent Australian residents though for car loans, don't know if they're flexible on that yet.

Another idea is to get a backpacker car – one of the chicks I work with has one. Over 440 000 km on the clock, but has A/C and a luggage rack (i.e. surfboard rack). Means you get it at a cheap price as generally the seller is about to leave the country, and they usually bought it for very little too, but you could get an absolute pile of shite even if it does only cost about a thousand bucks (about £400). That's what she paid and it's only broken down once ($300 AUD) so if it goes for another few months then fine. She'll probably still be able to sell it on for $1000 when she finishes with it anyway.

Saying that it would be an absolute pain in the arse to break down on the way to work, or on the way back after a midnight finish. The safer option is a car from a dealer. I will keep an open mind and hope that Jen forgets that she owns the car.

Not much in the way of news. Finally went surfing at the weekend, it costs $25 for a half day's board hire. I can't say I was any good but will persevere until success or shark attack. Unfortunately no pictures as my camera batteries ran out and I didn't notice until we were leaving so no time to recharge them, but that's probably a good thing. It would take an expert cameraman to capture the split-second that I managed to stand on the board for, the pictures would most likely turn out as out-of-focus breaking waves instead.

Nights last week were okay. Was just conquering the time difference after four nights when it was finished, now working today, Wednesday noon until half ten, then Thursday and Friday nights again. Not the most worker-friendly timetable but at only 40 hours a week I'm quite happy. Most of the shifts are 10 hours so that's a four day week, or five days of the short eight hour shifts. Much better than back home, just got an email from the person in charge of the hours monitoring in my last job and they're wanting clarification of all the times we worked outwith the rota'd hours, undoubtedly to ty to avoid paying us any back pay. I have no problem with them clarifying it, but at the end of the day we worked illegal shifts, the rota on paper wasn't possible as it didn't take into account things like ward rounds, and the monitoring was done while half the consultants were away on holiday and the unit was quiet. Getting extra cash in a lump sum would be nice but it's a pain having to argue for it seeing as we already earned it. I have no doubt the heel-dragging will go on though.

Only slightly sunburnt at the weekend. This would be a good thing if it wasn't midwinter here and I had on SPF15. I think the only burnt bits were the missed bits but seeing as usually I don't burn too much it doesn't bode well for summer. At least I won't be the most burnt if the family all visit.

Morning Coffee

Sitting on the verandah drinking coffee and eating tiny bananas. It's another beautiful summer's day in Brisbane, not a cloud in the sky.



It's not even 9am yet and I've been up for about two and a half hours. Jen started work at 7am which means that if I want the car (i.e. If I want to turn up for work) then I have to give her a lift. Suits me OK to be honest as at least it gets me out of bed, but another hour or two of sleep would have been nice and I'm not very good at going back to bed once I'm up. Working at 2pm this afternoon until 10.30pm which is a pain in the arse as it means I don't get back until about 11.15, and I start tomorrow at 8am. It's only about a 40 minute or so drive which isn't really that bad though, takes a little less at night as it takes me right through the city centre traffic.
I still can't get used to the fact that all distances and speeds are in kilometres. Coupled with the Australian dollar value of everything, numbers have lost all their meaning. I think I speed everywhere in the car and I've given up checking prices on things, instead assuming that everything will be cheaper than it cost back home and therefore a bargain. At least I am earning again, with my first week's salary appearing in my brand-spanking new ANZ account yesterday (pay is fortnightly here). The only problems are that I don't have enough cash to cover the mortgage on my Edinburgh flat until next payday, and that the money will go into my Oz account two days before mortgage is due and therefore not in enough time to transfer across. As a dutiful son I have informed mum that she will have to sub me for a few days until the cash hits UK shores. The second problem is that ANZ have decided to issue me with a card with no PIN. Before I received it they asked me what number I would like and so I chose the same as my UK account to maximise theft potential if my wallet should ever be stolen, but when I tried to take out some cash it told me to piss off. Will be wandering down to the branch later to have a go at them.

Work is nice and calm. A lot less hectic than A&E in the UK (or at least Fife), but I am on nights later this week which I imagine will be as unpleasant as anywhere. Not seen anything particularly interesting so far and am regarding the whole year pretty much as a holiday, albeit with shift work. Apparently the general surgical training is very good at my level in the hospital I'm working in so I might try to make some enquiries into a six or twelve month post once I finish the one I'm doing – on the other hand it would be better to be closer to the house but I don't mind the commute and I'd prefer the better experience. There's always the UK too but if I can get the job I want here I'm not going to turn it down. I'm in no rush anyway so I'll see what happens.

Was down at the band hall briefly on Sunday night to pick up Jen from practice, and tried to put my name down for a solo competition in a month or two on some brass instrument called a Soprano. Unfortunately my entry was intercepted and discarded, but not before I managed to make some god-awful noise with some other piece of metal that was lying around. I think it may have been a cornet. There is some competition in New Zealand in a few months that I will go to but in a purely travelling capacity. Johnny M should be in NZ by then but I don't think anywhere near where I'll be, so, work permitting, he may have to drive, or hitch, his way up if he feels like joining the travelling support in the bar, away from the competition.

The chick