Progress?

Well after my astonishingly shite week last week it all dramatically changed on Friday after my boss finally showed an interest and starting lighting fires under people. He came in on Thursday afternoon and asked how things were going, I told him about the whole not-having-anything saga and he left...come Friday my phone arrived, they're paying for all calls/txts apart from overseas calls. Then I got an IT logon (limited atm) and my boss even said he wants to get me underground asap! So he introduced me to two guys who are doing underground safety training and got me signed up for it so in a few weeks I'll be spending 4 days learning how to escape a fire/explosion in a coal mine using rebreathers and other funky kit :D I've also had 3 guys who go underground a lot say they'll tell me when they're going and let me tag along, woo!

At the end of this week is the Hunter Valley Mining Expo so every single mining company and equipment supplier involved in coal mining in NSW is going to be there, I've registered so hopefully will get to spend Friday there having a jolly :D Most of the senior management of every mining company and equipment supplier in the whole world are going to be in LA for the next week or two for the LA mining expo so hopefully the office will be a bit more relaxed.

I had my first night out in Newcastle on Friday, was a leaving party for a couple who are moving to Perth. Was nice to meet more people from work and see the people I'd met in a more relaxed atmosphere. It's a bit weird that most people go straight from work on a Friday at say 4.30-5pm to a pub and have dinner there while getting trashed and then most people are home by midnight...I'm sure I'll adjust eventually. I was invited to a cocktail party with loads of people from work on Saturday but after getting rather tipsy on Friday I gave it a miss. Not to mention the fact that I feel like a tit drinking cocktails and don't like most of them. Will have to meet the rest of the office another time.

Oh I've pretty much decided on the apartment I'm moving into, after talking to a few people on Friday I'm gonna go for a split-level apartment which is about a 20min walk to the very centre of town. It's a 2-bed with 2 balconies and is right next to a train station, supermarket, tattoo shop and rock club :D Not to mention that it comes with leather sofas, huge BBQ and the biggest TV I've ever seen! Will be calling the agent tomorrow...

That's it for now, here's a couple more pics...