Down Under

I've been meaning to quote a paragraph from Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" for a while now but never got around to actually do it. It is very well written and describes Australia just the way I see it. It's all true but not to be taken too seriously :)

Australia is the home of the larges living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the most famous and striking monolith, Uluru. It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures - the funnel-web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick and stonefish- are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. Pick up an innocuous coneshell from a Queensland beach, as innocent tourists are all too wont to do, and you will discover that the little fellow inside is not just astoundingly swift and testy, but exceedingly venomous. If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It's a tough place.

-Bill Bryson-

Work rant!

I’ve never experienced this mentality in a work environment where team members are afraid of getting into trouble for showing new employees (in which case it is me and I’ve been here for 3 months!) how to do stuff. Everything needs to be approved by the boss. Absolutely ridiculous. I cannot believe every single small thing needs to go through the ancient boss. I thought delegation was a good thing and everyone being able to do various things would surely be considered as a bonus? Turns out, not the team I work in. I was told in the beginning I would get more stuff to do but so far it has been very demoralizing and demotivating and makes me feel like I wouldn’t be good enough? In fact, I think I am too good for the actual job they’re doing here. I am capable of much more. I have heard that my name was mentioned to the big boss but I personally haven’t heard any positive feedback. We are short staffed and yet they’ve hired another contractor who’s got no experience and is getting trained up to do the job. How about training me up to do the job? Wouldn’t that be a logical course of action? I am not that dumb. All I can do is really blame the manager for being incompetent. We had a funny situation at work the other day. I was sorting out some letters at someone else’s desk (the system was down anyway) and the boss walked past and asked why I was sitting at someone else’s desk. I said I was going to be there a few minutes only. He replied and said that he decides where I sit! And he repeated that about three times – no joke. If he had asked me to move, I would have told him: “I didn’t realise I wasn’t allowed to leave my desk”. I think that would have resulted in me having to leave the office. And did I mention I would have couple of improvements to suggest at work to avoid errors from happening but I do not see a point in it since I don’t get included in the team meetings either. I just use the ideas to my own advantage in the job I do. First world problems.Second, I am getting my degree assessed by CPA to find out if my qualification meets the criteria for General Accountant in Australia. If their answer is positive, I can lodge an EOI (expression of interest) to get permanent residency in Australia. So far what CPA have come back to me with is that I have completed 8 out of 9 compulsory subjects. The irony here is that they claimed I hadn’t done Accounting Theory. Out of all subjects, it is the basics they’re referring to. In a way it is a positive outcome since they have accepted everything else. I have given them a breakdown of accounting subjects I’ve done and asked them to review my application. I really hope they will accept it. If they don’t, I’ll have to pay them another $600 and sign up for an exam. I wouldn’t have to do a whole course at least. I’d get online materials and then just study a bit and then sit the exam. Nevertheless, that would be an effort.

Sydney to Wollongong

My life these days has been more and more about bike riding and fitness. Since I cycle to work almost every day anyway, I  thought I might as well cycle with a goal! So the goal was to participate in a charity ride called Sydney to Gong to support people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Total distance of the ride being 90km and number of participants reached around 10,000. That was an amazing ride! I exceeded my own expectations in terms of how much I could push out of my legs! I aimed to finish the ride in around 4hrs 15 mins but managed to squeeze it just under 4 with 3:52. I must mention I would have been faster if there hadn't been thousands of riders on the roads. Nevertheless, what an achievement, considering the second half of the ride had multiple difficult ascents! Those rides to work & back home really helped me on the hills. Riding across Harbour Bridge to the North shore of Sydney isn't a walk in the park and is a significant cardio exercise, no matter how slow I go! In fact, it's better to go faster :) Oh, and P.S. I beat a number of blokes while climbing hills. The satisfaction of being better haha. I also beat two guys that started the ride with me by an hour. I can pat myself on the back for this!
That was the highlight of spring here. I will have to think of any other activities I could do while I'm still here in Australia. Beach volleyball would naturally be on top of my list but strangely I have only played it once. I've been participating in weekly social indoor volleyball trainings though. Starting to get back into it! I'll have to upload some pics from the amazing ride when they get uploaded to the website.