Sniffles and second jobs

So I've realised, after numerous phone calls to my various debtors, that I'll definitely need a second job to be able to save money for my trip. There's just no getting around that reality now.
This unfortunately brings with it a number of issues:

• Time - I have none. Between working full time and studying 2 courses per semester, I fear anything more than 1 weekend shift at the moment (and potentially 1 weekday shift) would ruin me, rendering me unrecogniseable as a human being
• Who - who would want to hire me for 1 day a week? I know that beggers can't really be choosers, but I don't particularly want to return to my table waiting days. Having worked full time for a few years now, night shift (say, later than 9-10pm) really isn't what I'm looking for at the moment
• Location - it can't be too far out of the way. I'll be selling my car in October, so wherever I end up working needs to be somewhere I can get to easily.

Bah!

I is back.

So I've been uber busy lately ("lately" = the past 2 or so years), and haven't really been blogging because I haven't been travelling. Though, to be fair, it seems as though everyone is travelling but me at the moment.

Well, not for much longer! Mark and I have finally booked our trip away, ne'er to return. Well, for 2 years, anyway. We're headed to Vancouver, then taking a month to travel around and make our way down the west coast of the states: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Vegas, LA. Then we fly to NYC, and have just under a month to do some travelling around there - going to Toronto, Montreal, DC, Boston, and back to New York, before flying to Reykjavik for 5 days, and then finally arriving in London about 2 months after we've left Australia. We'll be roaming around the UK & Ireland, then finally finding somewhere to live in Edinburgh, hopefully. I can't wait, it's been over 3 years since I was last overseas, and I miss my awesome friends and the feeling of being completely independent.

I'll be putting my masters on hold while we travel around, and will possibly resume one course per study period once we've found a place to live in Scotland. Thank god for Open Universities, hey? I'd love to get a writing job while I'm away - even if it's just some freelance work for various publications. Would be great to get some exposure while I sort myself out. I've been reading like a maniac lately as well, that's one thing I'm going to have to let go for a few months - can't exactly haul a library around with me. Might have to get myself an Ipod or similar to pass the time.

Mark has himself a new job at the Coffee Barun, he's loving it! Learning to roast coffee is something he's wanted to do for ages, so it's great that he's finally getting the opportunity. Thanks Mark and Kate :)

On a side note, I miss Hannah. Come and visit again!

I heart David Walliams (and Matt Lucas).

Hello.

So tonight I went and saw Little Britain live. It was hilarious (as was to be expected), and although I was sitting right behind the tallest person in the world, it was definitely worth it. And, without wanting to sound like too much of a celebrity whore (even though I totally am), I just love them! The sketches were brilliant, and although you only got to see each character once, it was more than made up for by the obvious effort the guys put into Australianising (and more importantly, Adelaideianising (sp?) ) the script. Much appreciated.

Thanks to a not-so-anonymous tip off from my cousin who works at a hotel in Adelaide, we knew where the boys were staying, so I encouraged (read: coerced) the girls into dropping by to see if they were around. We were not disappointed. As the only person bold/stupid/pathetic enough to look like a crazy fan, I asked Mess'rs Walliams and Lucas for a photo. They very kindly obliged (see below). Must say, though it was a brief meeting, my overall impression of the guys was great. David was aloof (which, to be entirely honest, was expected, and made him even more attractive in my opinion), and Matt seems genuinely lovely.

If they ever come back into town (unlikely, as Adelaide is a piece of shit), I'll definitely hitch a ride on that bandwagon. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Chloe xx

Get to the fucking monkey.

I'm sick of people who waste my time. Do I look (or sound) like the kind of person who has infinite amounts of time to just sit around listening to people crap on? Furthermore, why do people call telephone banking to crap on to a stranger about their lives?
I'm not talking about the elderly either. The elderly I have time for. They've earned their right to spend 50c on a local call and get their money's worth. I fully intend to be exactly the same when I'm old. It's the other ones I have problems with. The ones who should know better.
You know who you are.

On another entirely unrelated note, I hereby pronounce July "Harry Potter Month". A movie and the final book in one fell swoop seems too good to be true. It probably is - sure, we'll get the final book, but Harry will die in a tremendously unsatisfying manner with little to no closure on all of the questions we've been asking for years. Not that I'm trying to be cynical or anything, I'm just saying. Musn't get hopes up. Pfft.

I keep having these really irrational thoughts lately. I'll be getting out of bed and I'll hear a little voice in my head that says "today, Chloe, is the day you quit your job". I have no idea why, I don't even want to quit my job, but that's what I feel like doing. Just as quickly as the thought pops into my head, it floats out again. I swear sometimes I have a brain like a sieve. Mum used to say that to me when I was younger. I remember the most random things, but I'll forget to get toothpaste from the supermarket. Oh, stupid annoying things like peanut butter I remember, but it's a dismal day when you realise you then have to take your whole damn trolley back into the supermarket for a solitary tube of toothpaste.
This is how I get myself into trouble.

I wonder...

...when it became socially acceptable, or even 'normal' to request lifts from perfect strangers.
When exactly did it become appropriate to stagger drunkenly up to an unfortunate individual, trapped in their vehicle, and tap on their window "hey love, give ya 20 bucks to take us to [insert random bogan location here]". Yeah, right.
Cos, you know, I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more than soiling the interior of my vehicle with everything your typical bogan australian drunkard has to offer (not to mention the potential dangers of travelling as a lone female). I had, in my hospitality blindsighted haze, forgotten the downsides to being available for outings on saturday nights - all of a sudden, you have the usual boring 'going out' issues again. Who drove, who doesn't feel like drinking, and who point blank refuses to go to certain places. Then there's the whole 'where do we go' issue, not to mention the 'inbetween clubs' phase where you freeze your arse off in (what feels like) -10 degree weather, tossing up whether it's better to line up in the cold for half an hour to get into a reasonably good club, or get into a shitty (albeit warm) club straight away.

Still, it beats the crap outta having to work every saturday. I'll take an ass-freezing moment outside a crap club over working anyday.

Love Chol.

So.

So.
I'm not in Sweden anymore. Der.

Back in good ol' Australia, hanging out with the boyfriend, the kitties, and the girls. Am going back to the blog thing because I like it, despite the stigma associated with bloggers these days. Meh.

Hannah came back from Canada! Tis wonderful news indeed, everything is back to normal now in terms of girly get togethers, except our group is now a little more worldly, and a little more confident - a welcome change. Though I'll admit that it's still hell trying to get everyone together for a night out every once in a while. Why is it that I have to work 5 nights a week just to be able to pay stupid bills and rent? Is it really so important for me to show up when I'm rostered, just to serve drinks all night for alcoholics and compulsive gamblers who complain about forking out a measly dollar or two for soft drink?
Well, that's all about to change, because I have a new job! I start working for a bank in 2 weeks, boo-yeah!
Sigh. It's going to be brilliant. I get a chair, I don't have to look at customers, I get to wear jeans to work, I get to work 9-5, no weekends... Simple pleasures.

Oh, and the cats are driving me nuts at the moment. I busted my balls last week cleaning the damn loungeroom rug, and the damn bloody cats have messed it up shedding their winter coats! The furniture's shot to shit too! Dagnabbit.
I reckon Jasmin's the culprit... all that black and white fur...

Chlomoe

Sunset at around 11pm 

Playing 'asshole' in the tent... 

Midnight Minigolf Mayhem 

Stupidity in Motala