Well I’m back now, in fact I got back over a week ago but this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write about the last month or so. Since I last posted I’ve spent a fortnight underground at the longwall and gathering the last of the data I need for my report. I also spent it saying goodbye to everyone I have met in Australia, the people who I have worked and partied with from Newcastle to Picton over the last year. I spent a fantastic weekend in Sydney and another in Picton, drinking and looking back over my time in Oz. A mere 36hrs after landing at Heathrow I was in Wales partying with the GBBikers who have been there for me all year with both support and criticism, keeping me sane. I spent my last few days in the UK back in ’08 with them and my first few days being back in ’09. Since then I’ve moved back down to Falmouth to continue my life as a student and hopefully to finish my degree. It’s strange being back here for a number of reasons. One is that many of my friends and acquaintances have since graduated or otherwise moved on. Another is that I have to pick up the threads of my friendships and try to weave them back into something stronger than before. The third is that I left unfinished business here and I still have no clue how it will pan out, I’m not the same person that left and no-one here is the same either.
My year in Australia was far from easy as anyone who has followed this blog should have realised. It has had some appallingly bad times yet some absolutely amazing ones too. I have done things and been to places which many people will never experience and I am grateful for that. I have learnt an incredible number of lessons that I could write for hours about. I have changed my views on many things and truly become far more adult as a result. One thing which I have never believed in is clinical depression. I have always been a fairly positive person, at least outwardly and when times get bad I just get on with it and don’t let it stop me doing everyday things. It has taken me months of reflection and talking about my experiences with people to realise just how low I had sunk. Apparently wanting to throw myself out of a transport while it’s moving is not healthy… could have fooled me! There were months where I had to force myself to sit in the back of the dolly car or transports just in case the urge to push myself out grew too great. At the time it was just something I dealt with by forcing myself into a position where I physically couldn’t, I thought that spending my weekends in bed, hiding away and wishing no-one would knock on my door was perfectly normal. The dread of talking to anyone in the street or a shop became subconscious to the point that I would go weeks without having an extended conversation. I became paranoid to the point of not wanting to socialise with the few people I considered friends because I was convinced that they felt sorry for me and mocked me behind my back. I desperately tried to cling on to friendships and relationships back in the UK that no longer existed just because I had nothing else to hope for. The saddest thing about it was that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy; I drove people away because I was convinced that they hated me yet they only grew to hate me because of my actions. One of the few markers of this was my massive weight gain. With half a dozen 24hr take-a-ways within a two minute walk of my apartment I adopted a cycle of eating, sleeping, working, eating and eating again. Although my months at the mine have put a lot of muscle on my bones my months in Newcastle piled on the fat. I currently weigh in at my all time heaviest of 119kg or over nineteen stone in old money. No wonder the sight of myself in the wall length mirrors in my apartment would make me despise my weakness. No wonder then that once I started work underground I immediately volunteered for the hardest, dirtiest jobs that kept me soaked in sweat from the start of my shift until the end. I was convinced that it was the only way to compensate for everything else. At times I truly thought I was losing my mind and I used to think that I was the sanest person I know!
Some of you may be glad to know that I’m pretty much back to normal now. I met some fantastic people in the last few months and their friendship and my trip back to the UK in June really sobered me up and helped to put everything else behind me. I didn’t particularly want to write about it all to be honest but I know that being open about it is the only way to leave it behind. Depression is nothing to be ashamed of yet even as I write this I’m cringing at what people might think. The word itself to me is distasteful, it conjures images of weakness and no-one, least of all me, likes to admit weakness. My words and actions during certain times have burnt bridges with certain people, you know who you are. I’m truly sorry, I was far from in my right mind but that’s no excuse. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I’d do anything not to type those words which ended up hurting me more than they did you.
Right enough of that Emo-bullshit, back to my usual brash and arrogant self ;P
Since I’ve been back people keep asking me “how was Australia?” and to be honest I can’t give them a straight answer. There were far too many ups and downs to say either way. However when I was in Wales my friend Emma asked me “are you happy to be back? Do you regret doing it?” and it got me thinking. Yes, I am very happy to be back and no, I don’t regret it. The whole year has been a fucking farce from the start to finish. At no point did the company deliver anything they promised and for the last 6 months I was effectively cut off from all support and left to my own devices. Yet now I’m back it’s completely irrelevant. Nothing matters except that I learnt a shitload about coal mining and I survived to tell the tale. I refuse to become a bitter and boring wanker who sits and bemoans my luck to any and all who will listen, filling people’s ears with pathetic whining. I’m back with my friends and family, doing what I want to do, where I want to do it. Admittedly things could be better but they could be a damn sight worse too. I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboards and mates to drink with. That’s all I need. I just want to move on and concentrate on my degree, getting fit and having fun. I’m going to live for the moment because it could all turn to shit at any time. I’m starting from scratch and though I’m sure I’ll screw up plenty of times it’s a great way to cut the chaff out of my life.
Well that was so full of clichés it made me want to vomit haha! I love criticising my own writing, even though I try to avoid them at all times sometimes clichés serve a purpose. After all, they wouldn’t have become clichés if they weren’t accurate. I’m no great writer by any means and I just type as the thoughts come to me, I could edit and re-edit but at least this way you read it as I think rather than some manufactured piece of bullshit.
I have written over 1400 words so far and have only covered a few of the subjects I wanted to. I don’t know if I’ll post again or even if anyone will read this but it is a possibility. I always have plenty to say so we shall see.
Keep digging,
RTC
9 September 2009
2 August 2009
Bad Times Are Coming...
This Thursday just gone the mine laid off 70 contractors and they have announced that in exactly 2wks another 100 full time employees will go.
That's 170 blokes with no job as of two weeks today. I had to stand there and watch their faces as they were told the news. The contractors were literally told to pack their gear and never come back, I saw one break down and cry. The rest simply looked gutted.
Maybe 50 of the jobs will go from guys who will take voluntary redundancy, they will all get hefty payouts, some up to $500,000. They were laughing and smiling at the announcement in anticipation of this. The rest, however will be the young guys that have given up well paid jobs elsewhere for a chance at entrance into the industry. They don't have the experience or the contacts to get jobs elsewhere and can look forward to years of job searching before something similar comes up. Not to mention that they will get a months wages and that's it.
It was really quite emotional standing there with guys that I've worked with for 6 months, seeing their lives go to shit in 5 minutes. Especially as my job is 100% safe and knowing that in a few years it could be me standing there giving them the same news. Some of the guys that will go have been so good to me, helping me with all sorts of stuff and yet when I'm flying back to the UK to resume my studies they will be unemployed with little hope of getting a new job.
These next three weeks are going to be pretty shitty, I just want to get them over and done with and get on that plane. As selfish as it is, I want to avoid the fallout from this announcement and pretend that everything will carry on as normal.
That's 170 blokes with no job as of two weeks today. I had to stand there and watch their faces as they were told the news. The contractors were literally told to pack their gear and never come back, I saw one break down and cry. The rest simply looked gutted.
Maybe 50 of the jobs will go from guys who will take voluntary redundancy, they will all get hefty payouts, some up to $500,000. They were laughing and smiling at the announcement in anticipation of this. The rest, however will be the young guys that have given up well paid jobs elsewhere for a chance at entrance into the industry. They don't have the experience or the contacts to get jobs elsewhere and can look forward to years of job searching before something similar comes up. Not to mention that they will get a months wages and that's it.
It was really quite emotional standing there with guys that I've worked with for 6 months, seeing their lives go to shit in 5 minutes. Especially as my job is 100% safe and knowing that in a few years it could be me standing there giving them the same news. Some of the guys that will go have been so good to me, helping me with all sorts of stuff and yet when I'm flying back to the UK to resume my studies they will be unemployed with little hope of getting a new job.
These next three weeks are going to be pretty shitty, I just want to get them over and done with and get on that plane. As selfish as it is, I want to avoid the fallout from this announcement and pretend that everything will carry on as normal.
22 July 2009
Iiiiiiit's emo-time!
Well this isn’t exactly what I wanted to be writing about; unfortunately it’s all I have to say. I haven’t updated this blog in ages simply because I don’t have anything funny or interesting to say.
The fact is that I have less than 5wks until I leave Australia and I have achieved nothing. Fuck all. Zilch. Jack Shit. Nowt. I have been thinking about it for quite a while now and realised that out of the long list of things that I wanted to achieve in this year I have accomplished none of them.
One of the few things I have got out of this year is a very good insight into coal mining and soft-rock mining in general. I’m all set to begin a career in coal mining. Guess what I never wanted to work in? The one type of mining I found boring? The type of mining I looked down upon? Yup, you got it, I’m now an expert in my least favorite field. Fucking. Brilliant.
Here’s some of the things I wanted to get out of the last 12 months:
- See lots of different areas of Australia.
- Learn to scuba dive
- Get fit for rugby season.
- Make lots of friends, maybe even get a girlfriend.
- Get a motorbike and explore on two wheels.
- Save enough cash that I don’t have to worry about working for my 3rd yr.
- Learn shit loads about mining to make life easier in my 3rd yr.
Well that doesn’t seem too hard now does it? Let’s see what I managed:
- I’ve seen Newcastle, parts of Sydney and Picton, most of it wasn’t worth seeing.
- Haven’t even seen anyone else scuba dive, let alone do it myself.
- Have only just joined a gym due to the prices. Now I’ve hurt my back and can’t go anyway.
- I’ve consistently struggled to make friends, I’ve met some great people but they’re all much older or younger than me so I really haven’t ‘clicked’ with anyone. Don’t me started on the gf front, not even kissed an Australian girl which to be honest, I’m ashamed about. Fucking lame.
- I spent $200 getting my license and then realised that in no way, shape or form can I afford to buy a motorbike and still buy food.
- I stupidly signed a contract for less than half the cash we were promised… admittedly I could have saved up maybe $4-5000 (2000 GBP) but would not have been able to do the few things which have made this year bearable.
- I haven’t learnt a single thing about hard-rock mining. My course is predominantly hard-rock based. My soft-rock knowledge really won’t help until after I graduate. Fucking excellent.
So excuse me if I sound like a pathetic failure but uh, I pretty much have failed pathetically. It isn’t all bad though, I will admit.
I have learnt many, many valuable lessons this year. The biggest one is NEVER to accept less than you’re worth. I should have ripped that contract up and got a job that paid me properly and where I was given substantial work to do. One of the most depressing things about this job has been that at no point has anyone cared if I turn up or not. Several times I slept through my alarm, missed my lift to work and no one said a word. I even took 3 days off sick and they didn’t notice. It really makes me feel like a valued member of the team…
The second one is NEVER to jump ship just because you think it’ll be better elsewhere. I had a great life last June and was genuinely very happy. For some reason I thought I could be happier by leaving everything and everybody behind and moving 12,000 miles. This doesn’t work, trust me. If you’ve got a good thing going, stick with it for fucks sake!
The third is not to stick with something if it makes you unhappy. I should have arranged another job and jumped ship. Unfortunately I chose to stay in Oz which meant I couldn’t change companies for visa reasons. If I had another chance I’d have got work in the UK or Canada or Africa… anywhere but here! Working in a Scottish open pit and travelling home at the weekend would have been preferable in hindsight.
Well that was fucking depressing, you may understand why it’s taken me 2-3 months to work up to writing it. No-one likes their failures spelt out in front of them, least of all me. However I love ending on a high note so I’ll leave you with the pleasant thought that in just over a month I’ll be back in the UK, just as rude, crude and irritating as I was when I left, if a bit more cynical and bitter :D
The fact is that I have less than 5wks until I leave Australia and I have achieved nothing. Fuck all. Zilch. Jack Shit. Nowt. I have been thinking about it for quite a while now and realised that out of the long list of things that I wanted to achieve in this year I have accomplished none of them.
One of the few things I have got out of this year is a very good insight into coal mining and soft-rock mining in general. I’m all set to begin a career in coal mining. Guess what I never wanted to work in? The one type of mining I found boring? The type of mining I looked down upon? Yup, you got it, I’m now an expert in my least favorite field. Fucking. Brilliant.
Here’s some of the things I wanted to get out of the last 12 months:
- See lots of different areas of Australia.
- Learn to scuba dive
- Get fit for rugby season.
- Make lots of friends, maybe even get a girlfriend.
- Get a motorbike and explore on two wheels.
- Save enough cash that I don’t have to worry about working for my 3rd yr.
- Learn shit loads about mining to make life easier in my 3rd yr.
Well that doesn’t seem too hard now does it? Let’s see what I managed:
- I’ve seen Newcastle, parts of Sydney and Picton, most of it wasn’t worth seeing.
- Haven’t even seen anyone else scuba dive, let alone do it myself.
- Have only just joined a gym due to the prices. Now I’ve hurt my back and can’t go anyway.
- I’ve consistently struggled to make friends, I’ve met some great people but they’re all much older or younger than me so I really haven’t ‘clicked’ with anyone. Don’t me started on the gf front, not even kissed an Australian girl which to be honest, I’m ashamed about. Fucking lame.
- I spent $200 getting my license and then realised that in no way, shape or form can I afford to buy a motorbike and still buy food.
- I stupidly signed a contract for less than half the cash we were promised… admittedly I could have saved up maybe $4-5000 (2000 GBP) but would not have been able to do the few things which have made this year bearable.
- I haven’t learnt a single thing about hard-rock mining. My course is predominantly hard-rock based. My soft-rock knowledge really won’t help until after I graduate. Fucking excellent.
So excuse me if I sound like a pathetic failure but uh, I pretty much have failed pathetically. It isn’t all bad though, I will admit.
I have learnt many, many valuable lessons this year. The biggest one is NEVER to accept less than you’re worth. I should have ripped that contract up and got a job that paid me properly and where I was given substantial work to do. One of the most depressing things about this job has been that at no point has anyone cared if I turn up or not. Several times I slept through my alarm, missed my lift to work and no one said a word. I even took 3 days off sick and they didn’t notice. It really makes me feel like a valued member of the team…
The second one is NEVER to jump ship just because you think it’ll be better elsewhere. I had a great life last June and was genuinely very happy. For some reason I thought I could be happier by leaving everything and everybody behind and moving 12,000 miles. This doesn’t work, trust me. If you’ve got a good thing going, stick with it for fucks sake!
The third is not to stick with something if it makes you unhappy. I should have arranged another job and jumped ship. Unfortunately I chose to stay in Oz which meant I couldn’t change companies for visa reasons. If I had another chance I’d have got work in the UK or Canada or Africa… anywhere but here! Working in a Scottish open pit and travelling home at the weekend would have been preferable in hindsight.
Well that was fucking depressing, you may understand why it’s taken me 2-3 months to work up to writing it. No-one likes their failures spelt out in front of them, least of all me. However I love ending on a high note so I’ll leave you with the pleasant thought that in just over a month I’ll be back in the UK, just as rude, crude and irritating as I was when I left, if a bit more cynical and bitter :D
25 June 2009
Return of The Pommy
Well I’m back, Just had a two week holiday in the UK and it was awesome. My itinerary looked a little like this:
W-S-M for a night.
Falmouth for two nights.
Download Festival for five nights.
W-S-M for two nights.
Falmouth for three nights.
W-S-M for a night.
I managed to see almost everyone that I wanted to with a few glaring exceptions but I had an amazing time. It was great to be back in England and have people around me who actually give a shit and miss me. I even saw most of my family which was a pleasant surprise! I can't wait to get back in September and help out all the Freshers etc like I did in my 2nd year.
Download was incredible as always, I saw so many brilliant bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Faith No More, Trivium, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Static-X, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit and of course, Scumface. It was wicked to meet up with the Northerners again and see a few other old friends over the week. Can’t wait til next year :D I’ve even got myself a half decent tan from the four days in the sun which is the first I’ve had in a couple of years.
I was pleasantly surprised on my return to find that my housemates here in Oz have missed me too! I was only gone 2.5wks yet all I’ve heard is how quiet the house was and how glad they are that I’m back! There are two blokes living underneath me now which is strange as it’s only a one bedroom place and they’re both apparently straight but hey… horses for courses. I haven’t seen them yet and they’ve made no effort to get to know anyone else in the house either. One of the girls from the back has moved out too and been replaced by another who is just as attractive haha, another excuse for a party. I’ve already had to replace her lightbulb and fix their electricity supply, images of dodgy ‘handyman’ porn films spring to mind!
Work has been great too; I’ve organised to do a round-robin of all the various engineering departments over the next 8wks so I’ll be in a great position to write my 5000 word report. I’ve got my dissertation working title too which is something to do with roof/rib support in coal mine roadways so I’ll be spending a lot of time with “Mad Dog” the geotechnical engineer to gather data for that.
Just before I left I drew up some 2D and 3D models for a torque multiplier to install 8m cable bolts using a CM instead of contractors and while I was away they had a prototype made and tested it. Now there’s a few adjustments to be made and more testing so I’ll be involved with all of that which will be very useful for my dissertation.
Caio for now…
W-S-M for a night.
Falmouth for two nights.
Download Festival for five nights.
W-S-M for two nights.
Falmouth for three nights.
W-S-M for a night.
I managed to see almost everyone that I wanted to with a few glaring exceptions but I had an amazing time. It was great to be back in England and have people around me who actually give a shit and miss me. I even saw most of my family which was a pleasant surprise! I can't wait to get back in September and help out all the Freshers etc like I did in my 2nd year.
Download was incredible as always, I saw so many brilliant bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Faith No More, Trivium, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Static-X, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit and of course, Scumface. It was wicked to meet up with the Northerners again and see a few other old friends over the week. Can’t wait til next year :D I’ve even got myself a half decent tan from the four days in the sun which is the first I’ve had in a couple of years.
I was pleasantly surprised on my return to find that my housemates here in Oz have missed me too! I was only gone 2.5wks yet all I’ve heard is how quiet the house was and how glad they are that I’m back! There are two blokes living underneath me now which is strange as it’s only a one bedroom place and they’re both apparently straight but hey… horses for courses. I haven’t seen them yet and they’ve made no effort to get to know anyone else in the house either. One of the girls from the back has moved out too and been replaced by another who is just as attractive haha, another excuse for a party. I’ve already had to replace her lightbulb and fix their electricity supply, images of dodgy ‘handyman’ porn films spring to mind!
Work has been great too; I’ve organised to do a round-robin of all the various engineering departments over the next 8wks so I’ll be in a great position to write my 5000 word report. I’ve got my dissertation working title too which is something to do with roof/rib support in coal mine roadways so I’ll be spending a lot of time with “Mad Dog” the geotechnical engineer to gather data for that.
Just before I left I drew up some 2D and 3D models for a torque multiplier to install 8m cable bolts using a CM instead of contractors and while I was away they had a prototype made and tested it. Now there’s a few adjustments to be made and more testing so I’ll be involved with all of that which will be very useful for my dissertation.
Caio for now…
2 June 2009
Glossary:
Since September I’ve had to learn two new languages; Australian and Mining. Here is a selection, by no means comprehensive, of the words I’ve learnt both above and underground. This list is still quite short and I'll be updating it as I remember new words.
Crib: food/lunch/snacks.
Crib-time: when you have ‘crib’. Officially, this is 40mins a day but actually closer to 2hrs.
Crib-tin: tin for carrying food for crib plus a wide array of miscellaneous items that may or may not be useful. This includes porn, porn and sometimes porn.
Smoko: a short break, usually mid-morning, has nothing to do with smoking.
Shifter: adjustable wrench, more commonly used as a hammer to ‘shift’ stubborn fittings.
Bull hose: 3” black rubber hoses that are near impossible to connect/disconnect without the use of a ‘shifter’.
Bat-bags: plastic bags that hang from the roof, each must contain a minimum of 6kg of ‘stonedust’. Often used for target practice and great for slicing with a knife when someone is working underneath.
Stonedust: limestone dust, used to prevent explosions due to coal dust. Is sprayed everywhere in coal mines, most ends up inside your overalls or in your eye.
Arvo: afternoon or “beer o’clock”.
Doggy: dogwatch or night-shift, see ‘doggers’.
Doggers: people who don’t turn up when promised or who turn up, drink all your beer then leave.
Rib: the walls in a mine and the area at the base of the walls for example: “chuck that bull hose in the rib”.
Rib-borer: a small, handheld, air powered drill used to drill 4ft holes in the rib or floor. Underpowered and often useless due to lack of a ‘turtle’.
Turtle: either a small metal oil container used to lubricate rib-borers or a stream of gas bubbling up through a puddle. Both can usually be found on the floor, the former under several feet of mud.
Vent tubes: 4m x 0.7m fibreglass tubes used to ventilate the working face. These are always located at least 3 pillars outbye when there is no Eimco available. Handles are invariably broken.
Eimco: now known as LHDs or load-haul-dumps these machines are the workhorses of the mine. Normally driven by the least competent person available.
Inbye: towards the working face, fresh air at your back.
Outbye: away from the working face, towards pit bottom, fresh air in your face.
Pit bottom: Area at the bottom of the drift where all men, vehicles and supplies are organised and dispatched. The favourite hangout for useless gits like fitters, leccos, drillers and bludgers.
Fitters: mechanics, responsible for keeping all machinery working. Can often be seen racing around in their ‘ute’ but rarely seen working.
Leccos: electricians, responsible for keeping all electronics and power supplies working. Never around when needed.
Drillers: these guys operate the drill rigs that take core samples and drill gas drainage holes. Biggest bludgers in the pit.
Bludger: someone who doesn’t work or shirks their fair share of the work. Often used to describe dole-scum, politicians, leccos and drillers.
Ute: a ‘utility’ vehicle, otherwise known to the rest of the world as a pickup truck. Often driven by ‘hoons’ and tricked out to the max with alloys, lowered suspension and tinted windows.
Hoons: the chavs of Australia, see ‘ute’ and ‘stupid-fucking-redneck-bastards’***.
Soft-cock: derogatory term used to describe someone who won’t stand up for themselves or who doesn’t follow their words with action. Otherwise known as a complete pussy.
Drug bus: not an enterprising young drug dealer who delivers but a minivan that turns up randomly to test mine workers for illicit substances. Randomly turns up after every major sporting event.
Out-of-service tag: Supposedly a tag to inform others that a piece of machinery is broken, how it is broken and what to do about it. In 95% of all cases this is summed up quite eloquently in a single word: “fucked”.
Feds: mine workers/ lazy bastards
Staff: managerial level workers/incompetent bastards.
*** I may have made that last one up….
Crib: food/lunch/snacks.
Crib-time: when you have ‘crib’. Officially, this is 40mins a day but actually closer to 2hrs.
Crib-tin: tin for carrying food for crib plus a wide array of miscellaneous items that may or may not be useful. This includes porn, porn and sometimes porn.
Smoko: a short break, usually mid-morning, has nothing to do with smoking.
Shifter: adjustable wrench, more commonly used as a hammer to ‘shift’ stubborn fittings.
Bull hose: 3” black rubber hoses that are near impossible to connect/disconnect without the use of a ‘shifter’.
Bat-bags: plastic bags that hang from the roof, each must contain a minimum of 6kg of ‘stonedust’. Often used for target practice and great for slicing with a knife when someone is working underneath.
Stonedust: limestone dust, used to prevent explosions due to coal dust. Is sprayed everywhere in coal mines, most ends up inside your overalls or in your eye.
Arvo: afternoon or “beer o’clock”.
Doggy: dogwatch or night-shift, see ‘doggers’.
Doggers: people who don’t turn up when promised or who turn up, drink all your beer then leave.
Rib: the walls in a mine and the area at the base of the walls for example: “chuck that bull hose in the rib”.
Rib-borer: a small, handheld, air powered drill used to drill 4ft holes in the rib or floor. Underpowered and often useless due to lack of a ‘turtle’.
Turtle: either a small metal oil container used to lubricate rib-borers or a stream of gas bubbling up through a puddle. Both can usually be found on the floor, the former under several feet of mud.
Vent tubes: 4m x 0.7m fibreglass tubes used to ventilate the working face. These are always located at least 3 pillars outbye when there is no Eimco available. Handles are invariably broken.
Eimco: now known as LHDs or load-haul-dumps these machines are the workhorses of the mine. Normally driven by the least competent person available.
Inbye: towards the working face, fresh air at your back.
Outbye: away from the working face, towards pit bottom, fresh air in your face.
Pit bottom: Area at the bottom of the drift where all men, vehicles and supplies are organised and dispatched. The favourite hangout for useless gits like fitters, leccos, drillers and bludgers.
Fitters: mechanics, responsible for keeping all machinery working. Can often be seen racing around in their ‘ute’ but rarely seen working.
Leccos: electricians, responsible for keeping all electronics and power supplies working. Never around when needed.
Drillers: these guys operate the drill rigs that take core samples and drill gas drainage holes. Biggest bludgers in the pit.
Bludger: someone who doesn’t work or shirks their fair share of the work. Often used to describe dole-scum, politicians, leccos and drillers.
Ute: a ‘utility’ vehicle, otherwise known to the rest of the world as a pickup truck. Often driven by ‘hoons’ and tricked out to the max with alloys, lowered suspension and tinted windows.
Hoons: the chavs of Australia, see ‘ute’ and ‘stupid-fucking-redneck-bastards’***.
Soft-cock: derogatory term used to describe someone who won’t stand up for themselves or who doesn’t follow their words with action. Otherwise known as a complete pussy.
Drug bus: not an enterprising young drug dealer who delivers but a minivan that turns up randomly to test mine workers for illicit substances. Randomly turns up after every major sporting event.
Out-of-service tag: Supposedly a tag to inform others that a piece of machinery is broken, how it is broken and what to do about it. In 95% of all cases this is summed up quite eloquently in a single word: “fucked”.
Feds: mine workers/ lazy bastards
Staff: managerial level workers/incompetent bastards.
*** I may have made that last one up….
31 May 2009
Plenty More To Come
I haven't given up on this blog, I've just not taken the time to sit down and write. I've got about half a dozen posts sitting in my head, I just haven't digitised them yet. I was awakened to this fact by a certain cyber-stalker of mine so now I feel guilty enough to start typing, cheers Loz ;P
I'm flying back to the UK in 5 days for a 2week holiday including DOWNLOAD!!! Can't wait! I'll be going home to see my Mum and my WSM friends for two days before heading to Fal for two days before heading to Download and then back to Fal for the remainder of my time at home.
Work is better now as I've started to move around the departments so I've spent a week with the surveyors which included a day on the beach at Wollongong and I'll be moving on to gas drainage and geology when I get back at the end of June.
I've also got a bunch of new housemates, a couple living opposite me, a new girl replacing a now-ex-boyfriend at the back of the house and a soon-to-be-found tenant for the apartment below me. Unfortunately the couple living there who have become my good friends have been evicted for some rather spurious noise complaints. They're leaving tomorrow and so I should have one or two new housemates by the time I get back from the UK.
I've been partying pretty hard with both my housemates and some guys I met through them so my Facebook and Myspace are chocka with new pics... check them out.
I'm flying back to the UK in 5 days for a 2week holiday including DOWNLOAD!!! Can't wait! I'll be going home to see my Mum and my WSM friends for two days before heading to Fal for two days before heading to Download and then back to Fal for the remainder of my time at home.
Work is better now as I've started to move around the departments so I've spent a week with the surveyors which included a day on the beach at Wollongong and I'll be moving on to gas drainage and geology when I get back at the end of June.
I've also got a bunch of new housemates, a couple living opposite me, a new girl replacing a now-ex-boyfriend at the back of the house and a soon-to-be-found tenant for the apartment below me. Unfortunately the couple living there who have become my good friends have been evicted for some rather spurious noise complaints. They're leaving tomorrow and so I should have one or two new housemates by the time I get back from the UK.
I've been partying pretty hard with both my housemates and some guys I met through them so my Facebook and Myspace are chocka with new pics... check them out.
I'm still alive
But barely breathing. Have had the flu and I'm still coughing 3wks later :(
All right, here’s some technical stuff for you. I’ve decided to do a fairly long post covering the technical side of the mine I’m at. I know that most of the people reading this have no interest in mining whatsoever but it should give you a better idea of the conditions I’m working in and hopefully more of what I say will make sense. I’m hoping to get the OK to take the mine’s digital camera underground with me to get some pics so you’ll have a frame of reference. There are some funny bits in here too so don’t write it off too soon (funny being entirely subject to my twisted sense of humour). Technical terms will be kept to a minimum, if you don’t understand one, Google it, you lazy fuck.
All right, first off, the mine that I’m working at shall now be known as TC. It’s a longwall mine about an hour south of Sydney that produces hard coking coal with damn-near-perfect chemical composition putting it in the top 2% of all hard coking coal for desirability. It has its own rail loading facilities and its own washery (for washing the stone and crap out of the coal) which again boosts the mines viability by a large factor. TC is about 2km from the nearest town and approx 9.3km from my front door. This means that the new longwall blocks run under the town of T, the freeway running south from Sydney and the main train line from Sydney to Melbourne. Luckily we’ve only caused enough damage to demolish 3 houses and substantially rebuild another 3 so far… oops. The trains are also speed-limited above the mining area which is costing the mine about $30,000 a week in charges from the various freight/passenger services! There is also a large river only a few km down the road and to cap it off a fault (big crack in the earth) called the Nepean Fault as well as several smaller ones run through the mining area. Faults in coal mining terms mean lots of water, lots of methane/CO gas and potentially a lot of deaths if someone fucks up and mines into one.
TC has had a fair few owners over the last 15yrs or so, mainly because it’s an expensive mine to run and the Union have their claws in deep. Finally it’s been bought by “X” who are the first multi-national company with a lot of experience to own the mine. Unfortunately this has caused a fair bit of angst among the workforce simply because X isn’t stupid enough to bankrupt itself pandering to all the petty demands of the Union unlike several of the previous owners. The constant change of upper management hasn’t helped this either as a decent working relationship between the “feds” and the “staff” can take years to develop. For those not familiar with the lingo (like me 4 weeks ago) the “feds” are the workers and the “staff” is all of the office workers, engineers and management types that stay on the surface. There is an awful lot of resentment between the two groups because the feds are convinced that the staff just wants to make their lives a misery with endless paperwork, not enough overtime and poor decisions while the staff is convinced that the feds are lazy, stupid and can’t be trusted to do the job properly. Unfortunately they are both right to a certain degree so I’ll leave that sleeping dog right there…
Access underground is by a “dolly car” on train tracks which is raised and lowered on the 2km drift by a winder. The secondary means of egress (escape) is the drift belt, which means lying everyone down on the belt and starting it up, hopefully stopping it before anyone gets launched onto the stockpile. There are two shafts, no.2 and no.3 which are primarily ventilation but no.3 is soon to have a 20 man cage fitted for escape if there is a fire in the drift. I got lucky and got to help out with an exercise where we had to load an injured guy on a stretcher into the existing cage in no.2 shaft. Now I know that I’m only a student but having done a fair amount of hoisting techniques and the minimum standards for man riding cages etc I was shocked. For nearly twenty years the workforce at TC has been relying on no.2 shaft in the event of a fire at pit bottom or in the drift. I can confidently say that they would have had casualties, if not a large number of deaths. The shaft has but a single cage, capable of carrying 5 people OR a stretcher and 1 person. The journey to surface takes 6 minutes and the round-trip is nearly 15 with loading times. It would take over 7hrs to evacuate all workers at that rate! The fact that this system was implemented before it was compulsory to have compressed air breathing units underground makes it even more shocking. Until 12 months ago the trapped workers would have had to survive on whatever fresh air reached down the shaft… completely inadequate to keep 300 blokes alive I can tell you. Now however, thanks to new legislation all coal mines have to have CABA units (air tanks with masks) in each panel, near the working face with refill stations and spares every 1500m. There is also a large “fresh air base” near the shaft which has enough spare units and refill stations to keep everyone underground alive until they can get out. I won’t even start on the lack of guides for the cage and the likelihood of rope entanglement etc etc….
The underground conditions are pretty varied depending on which area of the mine you go to, the older workings are pretty much dry but prone to roof falls and have high gas levels due to all the goaf (mined out) areas which bleed gas through poorly sealed tunnels. The current workings are slightly sloped due to them following the 2m seam as it rises and falls. This means that at one end of the longwall there is a development panel which is very dry and has few gas problems meaning good advance rates and a lot of coal cut. The end I’m working at however is at one of the lowest points in the mine and we constantly have water and gas problems. We wade through about 200m of mud to get to the face and that’s with a dozen pumps running 24/7, you can see water bubbling out of the floor and it can rise several feet in a few hours. This end of the mine is very close to a large fault which wasn’t detected in the original survey so a couple of years ago they were mining right towards it until the roof started falling in on a daily basis and they left a continuous miner overnight to find it underwater in the morning. That means that they have had to abandon a large section of tunnels and cut them all over again to re-route the conveyors and service pipes (water, air etc) at a huge cost and time delay. As of this week there are now 3 panels working in different areas, plus the longwall. This is stretching them right to the limit as there are 5 continuous miners in operation, each needing a whole raft of support such as shuttle-cars, LHD’s, conveyors, boot ends, ventilation etc. plus the manpower to operate them. The two longwall development panels are operated as “super panels” with two CM’s each driving one heading plus cut-through's. The third panel which is replacing the failed panel mentioned above has just one CM but has 4 headings plus cut-through’s to drive. They have the added pressure of knowing that if they are excessively delayed that the old panel might have a major roof fall and so halt all longwall and half the development production until they can finish.
That brings me nicely on to the state of the machinery at the mine. It has been in operation for over twenty years and has replaced its machinery several times. However the current batch ranges from 3-12yrs old and is plagued with problems. Thanks to the constant need to be cutting coal and making money, over the year’s maintenance schedules have slipped and once this happens they never recover. This means that machines which really need to be dragged up to surface and completely overhauled are simply kept in service with a series of minor repairs. This is incredibly wasteful and my panel alone spent nearly an entire week sitting on our arses because our CM was out of action thanks to mechanical problems. The more downtime we have, the more targets slip behind and so when we resume production we have to try and make up the lost time which means the machines are pushed too hard and break down again. This cycle is perpetual and the only way it will change is if, God forbid, the mine is forced into care and maintenance and all the machines are pulled out and replaced or fully serviced. A prime example is the state of the transport fleet; there are supposedly 16 underground transports available yet in reality this is never more than 10 due to repairs etc. All it takes is for one or two to breakdown underground and suddenly no one can move around as all the available transport is being used. This happens at least once a week, only a few days ago a group of us including our panel deputy (like a shift boss) were stuck at pit bottom because there weren’t enough serviceable vehicles to get us into the panel. There is a single grader to keep the roads in a fit state; this was recently away for 5wks for a full service and in that time we were losing a vehicle nearly every day due to damage from bad roads…
Ok, confession time, the above 1500 words were written a month ago! I’ve been incredibly slack about typing this stuff up but luckily there’s not much more to say… We’ve now got a 6th miner and shuttle car on surface waiting for the current maingate/tailgate development to finish so it can go into mains development in 900 panel. We seem to have escaped the worst of the economic downturn, the last month has been full of rumours about the pit being shut and mass lay-offs etc but we’ve had a few more small orders to keep the place ticking over. More later…
All right, here’s some technical stuff for you. I’ve decided to do a fairly long post covering the technical side of the mine I’m at. I know that most of the people reading this have no interest in mining whatsoever but it should give you a better idea of the conditions I’m working in and hopefully more of what I say will make sense. I’m hoping to get the OK to take the mine’s digital camera underground with me to get some pics so you’ll have a frame of reference. There are some funny bits in here too so don’t write it off too soon (funny being entirely subject to my twisted sense of humour). Technical terms will be kept to a minimum, if you don’t understand one, Google it, you lazy fuck.
All right, first off, the mine that I’m working at shall now be known as TC. It’s a longwall mine about an hour south of Sydney that produces hard coking coal with damn-near-perfect chemical composition putting it in the top 2% of all hard coking coal for desirability. It has its own rail loading facilities and its own washery (for washing the stone and crap out of the coal) which again boosts the mines viability by a large factor. TC is about 2km from the nearest town and approx 9.3km from my front door. This means that the new longwall blocks run under the town of T, the freeway running south from Sydney and the main train line from Sydney to Melbourne. Luckily we’ve only caused enough damage to demolish 3 houses and substantially rebuild another 3 so far… oops. The trains are also speed-limited above the mining area which is costing the mine about $30,000 a week in charges from the various freight/passenger services! There is also a large river only a few km down the road and to cap it off a fault (big crack in the earth) called the Nepean Fault as well as several smaller ones run through the mining area. Faults in coal mining terms mean lots of water, lots of methane/CO gas and potentially a lot of deaths if someone fucks up and mines into one.
TC has had a fair few owners over the last 15yrs or so, mainly because it’s an expensive mine to run and the Union have their claws in deep. Finally it’s been bought by “X” who are the first multi-national company with a lot of experience to own the mine. Unfortunately this has caused a fair bit of angst among the workforce simply because X isn’t stupid enough to bankrupt itself pandering to all the petty demands of the Union unlike several of the previous owners. The constant change of upper management hasn’t helped this either as a decent working relationship between the “feds” and the “staff” can take years to develop. For those not familiar with the lingo (like me 4 weeks ago) the “feds” are the workers and the “staff” is all of the office workers, engineers and management types that stay on the surface. There is an awful lot of resentment between the two groups because the feds are convinced that the staff just wants to make their lives a misery with endless paperwork, not enough overtime and poor decisions while the staff is convinced that the feds are lazy, stupid and can’t be trusted to do the job properly. Unfortunately they are both right to a certain degree so I’ll leave that sleeping dog right there…
Access underground is by a “dolly car” on train tracks which is raised and lowered on the 2km drift by a winder. The secondary means of egress (escape) is the drift belt, which means lying everyone down on the belt and starting it up, hopefully stopping it before anyone gets launched onto the stockpile. There are two shafts, no.2 and no.3 which are primarily ventilation but no.3 is soon to have a 20 man cage fitted for escape if there is a fire in the drift. I got lucky and got to help out with an exercise where we had to load an injured guy on a stretcher into the existing cage in no.2 shaft. Now I know that I’m only a student but having done a fair amount of hoisting techniques and the minimum standards for man riding cages etc I was shocked. For nearly twenty years the workforce at TC has been relying on no.2 shaft in the event of a fire at pit bottom or in the drift. I can confidently say that they would have had casualties, if not a large number of deaths. The shaft has but a single cage, capable of carrying 5 people OR a stretcher and 1 person. The journey to surface takes 6 minutes and the round-trip is nearly 15 with loading times. It would take over 7hrs to evacuate all workers at that rate! The fact that this system was implemented before it was compulsory to have compressed air breathing units underground makes it even more shocking. Until 12 months ago the trapped workers would have had to survive on whatever fresh air reached down the shaft… completely inadequate to keep 300 blokes alive I can tell you. Now however, thanks to new legislation all coal mines have to have CABA units (air tanks with masks) in each panel, near the working face with refill stations and spares every 1500m. There is also a large “fresh air base” near the shaft which has enough spare units and refill stations to keep everyone underground alive until they can get out. I won’t even start on the lack of guides for the cage and the likelihood of rope entanglement etc etc….
The underground conditions are pretty varied depending on which area of the mine you go to, the older workings are pretty much dry but prone to roof falls and have high gas levels due to all the goaf (mined out) areas which bleed gas through poorly sealed tunnels. The current workings are slightly sloped due to them following the 2m seam as it rises and falls. This means that at one end of the longwall there is a development panel which is very dry and has few gas problems meaning good advance rates and a lot of coal cut. The end I’m working at however is at one of the lowest points in the mine and we constantly have water and gas problems. We wade through about 200m of mud to get to the face and that’s with a dozen pumps running 24/7, you can see water bubbling out of the floor and it can rise several feet in a few hours. This end of the mine is very close to a large fault which wasn’t detected in the original survey so a couple of years ago they were mining right towards it until the roof started falling in on a daily basis and they left a continuous miner overnight to find it underwater in the morning. That means that they have had to abandon a large section of tunnels and cut them all over again to re-route the conveyors and service pipes (water, air etc) at a huge cost and time delay. As of this week there are now 3 panels working in different areas, plus the longwall. This is stretching them right to the limit as there are 5 continuous miners in operation, each needing a whole raft of support such as shuttle-cars, LHD’s, conveyors, boot ends, ventilation etc. plus the manpower to operate them. The two longwall development panels are operated as “super panels” with two CM’s each driving one heading plus cut-through's. The third panel which is replacing the failed panel mentioned above has just one CM but has 4 headings plus cut-through’s to drive. They have the added pressure of knowing that if they are excessively delayed that the old panel might have a major roof fall and so halt all longwall and half the development production until they can finish.
That brings me nicely on to the state of the machinery at the mine. It has been in operation for over twenty years and has replaced its machinery several times. However the current batch ranges from 3-12yrs old and is plagued with problems. Thanks to the constant need to be cutting coal and making money, over the year’s maintenance schedules have slipped and once this happens they never recover. This means that machines which really need to be dragged up to surface and completely overhauled are simply kept in service with a series of minor repairs. This is incredibly wasteful and my panel alone spent nearly an entire week sitting on our arses because our CM was out of action thanks to mechanical problems. The more downtime we have, the more targets slip behind and so when we resume production we have to try and make up the lost time which means the machines are pushed too hard and break down again. This cycle is perpetual and the only way it will change is if, God forbid, the mine is forced into care and maintenance and all the machines are pulled out and replaced or fully serviced. A prime example is the state of the transport fleet; there are supposedly 16 underground transports available yet in reality this is never more than 10 due to repairs etc. All it takes is for one or two to breakdown underground and suddenly no one can move around as all the available transport is being used. This happens at least once a week, only a few days ago a group of us including our panel deputy (like a shift boss) were stuck at pit bottom because there weren’t enough serviceable vehicles to get us into the panel. There is a single grader to keep the roads in a fit state; this was recently away for 5wks for a full service and in that time we were losing a vehicle nearly every day due to damage from bad roads…
Ok, confession time, the above 1500 words were written a month ago! I’ve been incredibly slack about typing this stuff up but luckily there’s not much more to say… We’ve now got a 6th miner and shuttle car on surface waiting for the current maingate/tailgate development to finish so it can go into mains development in 900 panel. We seem to have escaped the worst of the economic downturn, the last month has been full of rumours about the pit being shut and mass lay-offs etc but we’ve had a few more small orders to keep the place ticking over. More later…
25 April 2009
17 April 2009
Updating the update
The post below was written nearly a week ago and a fair bit has changed since. The biggest thing is that it's looking increasingly likely that the mine I'm at is going to close. They're almost certainly going to lay off the contractors in the next two weeks and maybe as many as 100 of the full time workers. I'm pretty safe but it's going to be bad times for the next month or more.
On the other hand I have a working fridge now and my internet card is on it's way...
That's all I have...enjoy.
On the other hand I have a working fridge now and my internet card is on it's way...
That's all I have...enjoy.
Long time, no write bollocks
Yeh I know this is well overdue but thanks to the incompetency of my employers I still don’t have internet access except for when I can get to the local library, apparently Picton hasn’t heard of internet cafes yet. I should have received an internet card/dongle a month ago which would let me receive my company emails and access the net. The wonderful department that deals with them though decided to email me about it… they couldn’t understand why I didn’t receive them when I had no internet access. After a few long-winded phone calls I got put through to possibly the most irritating woman on the planet who promised me she’d call me when the card was sent. After two weeks of no contact I called her to find that yes, they’d been fucking emailing me again!!! How fucking hard is it to understand the concept that I have no email access??? I was promised that it would be sent last Monday yet come Thursday it still hadn’t arrived so now I have a 5 day Easter break and nothing to do but write this bollocks.
On the positive front I finally had a delivery on Thursday of a fridge/microwave/iron/toaster etc but Sod’s Law struck again and not only did my housemate who received the delivery not get a receipt for the delivery cost (leaving me $70 out of pocket) but the fridge doesn’t work. I left it 24hrs before I turned it on but it won’t go cold. I’ve tried everything suggested in the manual but no results yet. Of course being the bright spark I am I had the delivery before the long weekend so nowhere is open until Tuesday morning, leaving me with a big useless lump of metal and plastic clogging up a corner of my apartment. So, on Tuesday I also get to call my estate agents about the fact that only 1 out of 4 coils works on my electric hob, the toilet is cracked right down the bowl and they still haven’t fixed the broken fly screens.
There is, however, a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. I only have a 2 day week next week, oh joy of joys. The company has a “picnic day” on Tuesday (Easter Monday I’m off, of course) so that leaves me with just Wednesday and Thursday to work before my weekend starts on Friday. Then we’re having a big house party on Saturday with a whole load of people coming including a bunch of girls so at least I’ll have something to perve on if nothing else.
It’s all looking good for Download too, my sis has bought my ticket for me and BA have just announced that until November all returns from Sydney to London will be $1500, a good $300 cheaper! Once I get my access to expenses forms etc I should have the dosh in a mere 4 weeks. Then 4 weeks until I fly back to watch one of the greatest line-ups of all times. Faith No More, Slipknot, MM, KSE, Devildriver, The Prodigy, Silverchair, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and loads more, I can’t wait! After that I only have to survive about 6 weeks before I fly home for good. I may well come home a few days early for DL and pop down to Falmouth for a day or two around the 7-9th June.
Apart from that most things are going pretty well atm, my housemates are cool and we’ve had a fair few informal gatherings with mates of theirs and plenty of booze. At least I’m interacting with humans again! Work has been pretty cool too, I’m still working in a development panel with one of the crews. I’m basically just one of the crew so I can learn how it all works and see what problems they have and how to try and solve them. My panel is one of a pair, working towards each other from either end of a longwall block to eventually provide the maingate and tailgate of a longwall. The longwall blocks we’re currently cutting are nearly 4km long so there is a fair way to go. The work is hot, messy and bloody hard but I love it. I don’t have any tickets yet but there is a fair chance I’ll get my bolting ticket and maybe even my shuttlecar or transport ticket in the next couple of weeks. I may have to check with my boss back in Newcastle just because all of the equipment I’d be using is our major competitors and I don’t want to piss him off. I’m 90% sure he doesn’t give a shit but I’d rather check first. I won’t tell him that I’ve already spent several shifts stripping and repairing the apron/bolting rig on one of the miners. I’ll try not to mention that the workforce don’t seem to be too happy about getting our machines at the end of the year either…
That’s about it for now, I think. Leave me comments peeps and as soon as I have full-time net access you’ll be the first to know!
On the positive front I finally had a delivery on Thursday of a fridge/microwave/iron/toaster etc but Sod’s Law struck again and not only did my housemate who received the delivery not get a receipt for the delivery cost (leaving me $70 out of pocket) but the fridge doesn’t work. I left it 24hrs before I turned it on but it won’t go cold. I’ve tried everything suggested in the manual but no results yet. Of course being the bright spark I am I had the delivery before the long weekend so nowhere is open until Tuesday morning, leaving me with a big useless lump of metal and plastic clogging up a corner of my apartment. So, on Tuesday I also get to call my estate agents about the fact that only 1 out of 4 coils works on my electric hob, the toilet is cracked right down the bowl and they still haven’t fixed the broken fly screens.
There is, however, a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. I only have a 2 day week next week, oh joy of joys. The company has a “picnic day” on Tuesday (Easter Monday I’m off, of course) so that leaves me with just Wednesday and Thursday to work before my weekend starts on Friday. Then we’re having a big house party on Saturday with a whole load of people coming including a bunch of girls so at least I’ll have something to perve on if nothing else.
It’s all looking good for Download too, my sis has bought my ticket for me and BA have just announced that until November all returns from Sydney to London will be $1500, a good $300 cheaper! Once I get my access to expenses forms etc I should have the dosh in a mere 4 weeks. Then 4 weeks until I fly back to watch one of the greatest line-ups of all times. Faith No More, Slipknot, MM, KSE, Devildriver, The Prodigy, Silverchair, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and loads more, I can’t wait! After that I only have to survive about 6 weeks before I fly home for good. I may well come home a few days early for DL and pop down to Falmouth for a day or two around the 7-9th June.
Apart from that most things are going pretty well atm, my housemates are cool and we’ve had a fair few informal gatherings with mates of theirs and plenty of booze. At least I’m interacting with humans again! Work has been pretty cool too, I’m still working in a development panel with one of the crews. I’m basically just one of the crew so I can learn how it all works and see what problems they have and how to try and solve them. My panel is one of a pair, working towards each other from either end of a longwall block to eventually provide the maingate and tailgate of a longwall. The longwall blocks we’re currently cutting are nearly 4km long so there is a fair way to go. The work is hot, messy and bloody hard but I love it. I don’t have any tickets yet but there is a fair chance I’ll get my bolting ticket and maybe even my shuttlecar or transport ticket in the next couple of weeks. I may have to check with my boss back in Newcastle just because all of the equipment I’d be using is our major competitors and I don’t want to piss him off. I’m 90% sure he doesn’t give a shit but I’d rather check first. I won’t tell him that I’ve already spent several shifts stripping and repairing the apron/bolting rig on one of the miners. I’ll try not to mention that the workforce don’t seem to be too happy about getting our machines at the end of the year either…
That’s about it for now, I think. Leave me comments peeps and as soon as I have full-time net access you’ll be the first to know!
27 March 2009
It's all go...
Well the last 2 weeks have been crazily busy and I couldn't be in more of a different position than I was a month ago.
The house has turned out pretty good, I now have a sofa, a dining table with three chairs and a bed with the best damn mattress ever. All the rest shoulkd be arriving sometime within the next week with a bit of luck. This means I still have no fridge or washing machine but luckily the couple that live below me have been legends. In fact we've become pretty good mates over the last 2 weeks and I've spent a few nights sitting outside with them drinking and smoking. They're both into my kind of music too so we've been swapping songs. I've also met the other couple and even though the guy seems like a cock his gf is lovely and comes to hang out with us occasionaly. The weird guy who lives opposite me disappeared 2 weeks ago and I jokingly said he was dead which sparked a bit of a panic in the house. One of the girls finally called the real estate and they said he was in hospital. He got back yesterday and looks suspiciously tanned for someone who has been in hospital for 2 weeks. Luckily he hasn't whinged about his wife yet so it's all good.
Work has been pretty damn good too, I've spent the last fortnight underground, the first 4 days with various Deputies inspecting belts, sumps, shafts and goaf seals then I spent this week in the two development panels helping supply bolts, chemicals etc to the CM's. I've learnt a shitload, more than I did in the entire 6 months in Newcastle. I've got another week or two underground before I start to get shuffled around the surface offices to see the surveyors/longwall/geo's etc.
Oh and that's right, you read it correctly, I'm now working a 4 days week :D Booyah!
The house has turned out pretty good, I now have a sofa, a dining table with three chairs and a bed with the best damn mattress ever. All the rest shoulkd be arriving sometime within the next week with a bit of luck. This means I still have no fridge or washing machine but luckily the couple that live below me have been legends. In fact we've become pretty good mates over the last 2 weeks and I've spent a few nights sitting outside with them drinking and smoking. They're both into my kind of music too so we've been swapping songs. I've also met the other couple and even though the guy seems like a cock his gf is lovely and comes to hang out with us occasionaly. The weird guy who lives opposite me disappeared 2 weeks ago and I jokingly said he was dead which sparked a bit of a panic in the house. One of the girls finally called the real estate and they said he was in hospital. He got back yesterday and looks suspiciously tanned for someone who has been in hospital for 2 weeks. Luckily he hasn't whinged about his wife yet so it's all good.
Work has been pretty damn good too, I've spent the last fortnight underground, the first 4 days with various Deputies inspecting belts, sumps, shafts and goaf seals then I spent this week in the two development panels helping supply bolts, chemicals etc to the CM's. I've learnt a shitload, more than I did in the entire 6 months in Newcastle. I've got another week or two underground before I start to get shuffled around the surface offices to see the surveyors/longwall/geo's etc.
Oh and that's right, you read it correctly, I'm now working a 4 days week :D Booyah!
17 March 2009
Grab a cuppa and pull up a chair, this could take a while…
Ok first, a disclaimer. I wrote this over a week ago and haven't actually edited it from the original. I've read it through and really don't like parts of it as they sound wrong but fuck it, read it anyway. It's mostly out of date but I haven't had time to write any more.
I’ll start back on Friday evening: I got back from work to find that the rather nice glass dining table on my balcony had magically transformed itself into a million very small dining tables and scattered itself over half of Newcastle. Once I’d finished being grateful for this fortuitous event (read: screaming “fuck” many, many times) I realised that some fucking pleb had had a brainwave and placed large white pebbles on ledges around my building, approximately 3-4 stories above my balcony. I can only assume it was a bird that knocked about a dozen off, straight onto my suicidal table. Luckily Nick was on his way round and I’d picked up a bottle of wine so started drinking to quell the pain :D We picked up another couple of bottles on our way to his place then got a lift to Newcastle Uni for a night of drunken revelry student style.
The “big O” is a live music event and the main bands playing were The Fratelli’s and The Music though if I’m honest I didn’t pay an awful lot of attention to the music. We met a group of girls within 10mins of walking in the door and the rest is less history than a footnote in time. I don’t have a fucking clue what her name is/was/might be but I spent most of the evening talking to a 28yr old radiologist who was obviously far too sober to be putting up with a goon like me. We got on pretty well but alas, like usual, I walked away without even a peck on the cheek, let alone any means of ever contacting her again. Such is life haha.
I crashed at Nick’s place and got woke up with no hangover but over 30 (count ‘em!) mozzie bites, including 5 on my face… NOT COOL.** Then it was a mad day of packing/cleaning before Di’s cocktail party on Saturday night. This was about 20-25 people, mostly from work and my usual drinking buddies were there, bar Nick. I had an awesome time and managed to leave with a few more mozzie bites and an invite to an 18th birthday party, can you say “Hell Yes”?
Now comes the fun bit… I spent Sunday cleaning more and packing more and then got on a train to the lovely Picton. When I say lovely I mean “tiny redneck town in the middle of fucking nowhere”. I finally moved into my quaint new flat and when I say quaint I mean “dirty, old, salmon pink and fucking depressing”. I didn’t have any electricity for the first 24hrs and because it literally has no furniture except a cooker and a toilet I’ve been sleeping in a sleeping bag and roll mat on my living room floor. No fridge means no food either so I’ve been buying daily and taking stuff to work to put in the fridge there. If only I’d done that with my milk before it turned into a lump of green Death. “Why haven’t you organised furniture by now?” I hear you cry… the answer is simple. That wonderful, organised, efficient and helpful company which I apparently work for still cannot sort their arse from their elbow and work out how to pay for it. It’s been 3wks and still no answer from the reprobates in the accounts department. Hopefully I’ll get a bed before my back disintegrates but who knows? It’s like playing the lottery but with a lot less hope of winning…
My new housemates are an interesting bunch, there’s a young couple beneath me who are studying online for different courses. I assume they work but I do know that they stay up until midnight watching TV, playing music and having friends round. There’s another couple I haven’t seen and a guy I haven’t met. There’s a foreign dude who drives a souped up Chevy and likes to do burnouts at 1am and to finish off a guy moved in opposite me yesterday. He looks about 60 and to be honest, like a tramp. He always seems to catch me when I leave my flat and he kindly regales me with stories about why his wife left him, taking the house, their 2yr old son and to top it off, she’s pregnant again! Now I hate to be a nasty ol’ cynic but he showed me a picture tonight (I forgot to run away) and his wife is a very pretty woman in her 30’s and the son is definitely the postman’s baby… I’m not just unsurprised she left him, I’m fucking amazed she went anywhere near him in the first place! I’m still giving good odds that he’s a nutjob and she is a niece or something but I’d rather not talk to him to find out.
Luckily there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of my new job. I’ve enjoyed the last 2 days at work more than I had the entire 6 months I spent rotting at a desk in Newcastle. That’s despite the 6am start and 10-11hr days. I’m working in the development office and it’s a crazy fucking place most of the time, they’re responsible for 3 separate development panels so blazing rows about which one gets the use of limited resources like fitters and electricians are the order of the day. My new boss has been a legend, he has organised so much for me already and I’m incredibly grateful. I’ve got a lift to and from work each day; computer access and I’ve already had my underground induction. He even left his office for 30mins so I could use his internet to look for furniture. Everyone I’ve met so far has been pretty cool, they’re mostly older guys in their 30’s and 40’s but there are a fair few younger guys and a few women too (!!). I’m starting underground on Monday for at least 2wks, maybe a month depending. Because being underground means 10hr shifts (they run 3x 8hr underground shifts) I may only have to work 4 days a week because my boss wants me to keep to a 38hr week as much as possible because they can’t pay me overtime. Possibly the biggest improvement is that no-one gives a fuck about what you look like or what car you drive or any of that pathetic materialistic shit, they just do their job and have a good time doing it. Once I buy a pair of jeans I’m never wearing a shirt to work again!
That’s about it for now… this may well be out of date by the time I upload it. Leave me some comments people so I know there’s more than one person reading this!
** An ellipse AND capitals, both almost definitely used incorrectly... Suck that shit up!
I’ll start back on Friday evening: I got back from work to find that the rather nice glass dining table on my balcony had magically transformed itself into a million very small dining tables and scattered itself over half of Newcastle. Once I’d finished being grateful for this fortuitous event (read: screaming “fuck” many, many times) I realised that some fucking pleb had had a brainwave and placed large white pebbles on ledges around my building, approximately 3-4 stories above my balcony. I can only assume it was a bird that knocked about a dozen off, straight onto my suicidal table. Luckily Nick was on his way round and I’d picked up a bottle of wine so started drinking to quell the pain :D We picked up another couple of bottles on our way to his place then got a lift to Newcastle Uni for a night of drunken revelry student style.
The “big O” is a live music event and the main bands playing were The Fratelli’s and The Music though if I’m honest I didn’t pay an awful lot of attention to the music. We met a group of girls within 10mins of walking in the door and the rest is less history than a footnote in time. I don’t have a fucking clue what her name is/was/might be but I spent most of the evening talking to a 28yr old radiologist who was obviously far too sober to be putting up with a goon like me. We got on pretty well but alas, like usual, I walked away without even a peck on the cheek, let alone any means of ever contacting her again. Such is life haha.
I crashed at Nick’s place and got woke up with no hangover but over 30 (count ‘em!) mozzie bites, including 5 on my face… NOT COOL.** Then it was a mad day of packing/cleaning before Di’s cocktail party on Saturday night. This was about 20-25 people, mostly from work and my usual drinking buddies were there, bar Nick. I had an awesome time and managed to leave with a few more mozzie bites and an invite to an 18th birthday party, can you say “Hell Yes”?
Now comes the fun bit… I spent Sunday cleaning more and packing more and then got on a train to the lovely Picton. When I say lovely I mean “tiny redneck town in the middle of fucking nowhere”. I finally moved into my quaint new flat and when I say quaint I mean “dirty, old, salmon pink and fucking depressing”. I didn’t have any electricity for the first 24hrs and because it literally has no furniture except a cooker and a toilet I’ve been sleeping in a sleeping bag and roll mat on my living room floor. No fridge means no food either so I’ve been buying daily and taking stuff to work to put in the fridge there. If only I’d done that with my milk before it turned into a lump of green Death. “Why haven’t you organised furniture by now?” I hear you cry… the answer is simple. That wonderful, organised, efficient and helpful company which I apparently work for still cannot sort their arse from their elbow and work out how to pay for it. It’s been 3wks and still no answer from the reprobates in the accounts department. Hopefully I’ll get a bed before my back disintegrates but who knows? It’s like playing the lottery but with a lot less hope of winning…
My new housemates are an interesting bunch, there’s a young couple beneath me who are studying online for different courses. I assume they work but I do know that they stay up until midnight watching TV, playing music and having friends round. There’s another couple I haven’t seen and a guy I haven’t met. There’s a foreign dude who drives a souped up Chevy and likes to do burnouts at 1am and to finish off a guy moved in opposite me yesterday. He looks about 60 and to be honest, like a tramp. He always seems to catch me when I leave my flat and he kindly regales me with stories about why his wife left him, taking the house, their 2yr old son and to top it off, she’s pregnant again! Now I hate to be a nasty ol’ cynic but he showed me a picture tonight (I forgot to run away) and his wife is a very pretty woman in her 30’s and the son is definitely the postman’s baby… I’m not just unsurprised she left him, I’m fucking amazed she went anywhere near him in the first place! I’m still giving good odds that he’s a nutjob and she is a niece or something but I’d rather not talk to him to find out.
Luckily there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of my new job. I’ve enjoyed the last 2 days at work more than I had the entire 6 months I spent rotting at a desk in Newcastle. That’s despite the 6am start and 10-11hr days. I’m working in the development office and it’s a crazy fucking place most of the time, they’re responsible for 3 separate development panels so blazing rows about which one gets the use of limited resources like fitters and electricians are the order of the day. My new boss has been a legend, he has organised so much for me already and I’m incredibly grateful. I’ve got a lift to and from work each day; computer access and I’ve already had my underground induction. He even left his office for 30mins so I could use his internet to look for furniture. Everyone I’ve met so far has been pretty cool, they’re mostly older guys in their 30’s and 40’s but there are a fair few younger guys and a few women too (!!). I’m starting underground on Monday for at least 2wks, maybe a month depending. Because being underground means 10hr shifts (they run 3x 8hr underground shifts) I may only have to work 4 days a week because my boss wants me to keep to a 38hr week as much as possible because they can’t pay me overtime. Possibly the biggest improvement is that no-one gives a fuck about what you look like or what car you drive or any of that pathetic materialistic shit, they just do their job and have a good time doing it. Once I buy a pair of jeans I’m never wearing a shirt to work again!
That’s about it for now… this may well be out of date by the time I upload it. Leave me some comments people so I know there’s more than one person reading this!
** An ellipse AND capitals, both almost definitely used incorrectly... Suck that shit up!
7 March 2009
Placefiller
I'm crazy busy atm with packing, cleaning and drinking myself silly.
Am moving tomorrow and will have a wireless dongle in a few days so I can post in my own sweet time and harass you lot on MSN at silly hours :D
Went to an awesome night at the uni last night and am suffering for it today but I have a cocktail party in two hours so my liver may just give up the ghost.
See you on the other side...
Am moving tomorrow and will have a wireless dongle in a few days so I can post in my own sweet time and harass you lot on MSN at silly hours :D
Went to an awesome night at the uni last night and am suffering for it today but I have a cocktail party in two hours so my liver may just give up the ghost.
See you on the other side...
1 March 2009
26 February 2009
Fuck, fuckity fucker.
Yeh so I got told today that I can't move for at least another week because the estate agents and my finance department are having issues over deposits and invoices so no contract. Then the chief engineer basically told me to hurry the fuck up and get down there ASAP. So the bright fucking spark in HR emails me with "maybe you should go into a motel until it's sorted". NO SHIT SHERLOCK! That's exactly what I suggested 3weeks ago and spent two weeks trying to persuade her to do but no, she waits until people start getting shitty before she gets her arse in gear. So now I'm waiting for even more authorisation/paperwork/inter-departmental-warfare to happen before that's sorted. FUCK! If they'd given me the cash and a signed letter from my boss I could have been living down there 24hrs after confirming I had the job!
So you could say I'm a wee bit hacked off atm but luckily I have the pleasure of cleaning my entire flat tonight to look forward to. They kindly forgot to tell me when the "open house" for my flat is... 4.45pm tomorrow as it happens. So I have a lovely evening to look forward to.
Oh and both of the Newcastle Uni freshers events are on Fridays... as it's a 5hr train journey from Picton to Newcastle I doubt I'm going to be able to finish work at the mine and get back here in time to shower/change and go party. FUCK.
I am actually saving some good news for the end though: MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE ARE PLAYING IN SYDNEY IN APRIL!!! I will be going, no doubt about it. It's even worth the $90 ticket price + train far and drinks.
A review of Soundwave is coming up, honest.
So you could say I'm a wee bit hacked off atm but luckily I have the pleasure of cleaning my entire flat tonight to look forward to. They kindly forgot to tell me when the "open house" for my flat is... 4.45pm tomorrow as it happens. So I have a lovely evening to look forward to.
Oh and both of the Newcastle Uni freshers events are on Fridays... as it's a 5hr train journey from Picton to Newcastle I doubt I'm going to be able to finish work at the mine and get back here in time to shower/change and go party. FUCK.
I am actually saving some good news for the end though: MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE ARE PLAYING IN SYDNEY IN APRIL!!! I will be going, no doubt about it. It's even worth the $90 ticket price + train far and drinks.
A review of Soundwave is coming up, honest.
21 February 2009
Mosh on my friends
Soundwave tomorrow... fuck yes!
Lamb of God, The Bloodhound Gang, NIN, In Flames, Billy Talent, Less Than Jake, Funeral For A Friend, Devildriver and The Subways to name but a few...
There shall be beer, music and moshing not to mention copious amounts of Joy :D
Lamb of God, The Bloodhound Gang, NIN, In Flames, Billy Talent, Less Than Jake, Funeral For A Friend, Devildriver and The Subways to name but a few...
There shall be beer, music and moshing not to mention copious amounts of Joy :D
Links in the chain...
Alright cus I’m incredibly bored at work here are some links to some completely BRILLIANT sites that keep me amused… However I’m going to chuck in a disclaimer first:
These links are to sites that make me laugh, they are in no way meant to convey a hidden meaning or give any insight into my mindset. They are not meant to be a ‘dig’ at anyone reading this blog or anyone else for that matter. I really am just bored at work.
Yeh so enjoy!
http://haikubreakup.com/
“You can’t control me.
Hoar? Hoar-No, I wont kill her.
Mother you must die”
“My embarrassment
is not that I dated you,
actually it is.”
www.passiveaggressivenotes.com
“there used to be a note above the sink that said “NOT YOUR MAMA,” but it was replaced with these gems, both of which sort of creep me out (and neither of which has ameliorated the dirty dish issue).”
"What's really, truly fabulous is that a 49 year old was planning a party that necessitated balloons. Did he troll the local playgrounds for his guest list? On second thought, maybe that was the problem with the lack of guests - all the mommies and daddies found out."
http://www.breakupemail.com/index.php
“You're like cling wrap around me, but what you need to realize is that I am not a vegetable and your clinginess is unbearable. All that nagging of yours worked, assuming your intent was to get rid of me. What really breaks the deal is your horrible grammar. Srsly d00d, learn 2 rite a sentance! Why are you so boring? I've seen rocks that are more interesting than you. I'm sure we'll see each other again, if you're ok with it. I think you get the idea: this relationship is over. Fuck off for ever”
So read away people and enjoy… don’t forget to read the comments on passiveaggressivenotes as they’re what makes it so funny.
These links are to sites that make me laugh, they are in no way meant to convey a hidden meaning or give any insight into my mindset. They are not meant to be a ‘dig’ at anyone reading this blog or anyone else for that matter. I really am just bored at work.
Yeh so enjoy!
http://haikubreakup.com/
“You can’t control me.
Hoar? Hoar-No, I wont kill her.
Mother you must die”
“My embarrassment
is not that I dated you,
actually it is.”
www.passiveaggressivenotes.com
“there used to be a note above the sink that said “NOT YOUR MAMA,” but it was replaced with these gems, both of which sort of creep me out (and neither of which has ameliorated the dirty dish issue).”
"What's really, truly fabulous is that a 49 year old was planning a party that necessitated balloons. Did he troll the local playgrounds for his guest list? On second thought, maybe that was the problem with the lack of guests - all the mommies and daddies found out."
http://www.breakupemail.com/index.php
“You're like cling wrap around me, but what you need to realize is that I am not a vegetable and your clinginess is unbearable. All that nagging of yours worked, assuming your intent was to get rid of me. What really breaks the deal is your horrible grammar. Srsly d00d, learn 2 rite a sentance! Why are you so boring? I've seen rocks that are more interesting than you. I'm sure we'll see each other again, if you're ok with it. I think you get the idea: this relationship is over. Fuck off for ever”
So read away people and enjoy… don’t forget to read the comments on passiveaggressivenotes as they’re what makes it so funny.
13 February 2009
3rd Post
Yeh this is my third (count em!) post today cus I've got a bit to catch up on. This week has been incredibly frustrating. I've had a few minor successes but plenty of major setbacks. I was meant to be starting my new job on Monday but now I'm not. I don't know when I will. I just want to come home and forget the last 7 months.
I'm not going to be back in time for Download so I'm going to miss the best lineup they've had since 2005 (which I missed). This means I may never see several of my favorite bands live and it'll be another year before I get to see the northern monkeys a.k.a. wil and company.
I'm on a proper downer right now but I'm going to the pub tonight for a few farewell drinks with the Newcastle people I've become friends with. Knowing my luck I'll still be here next Friday and I'll look a right tit.
So on the positive side.... oh wait... damn.
I'm not going to be back in time for Download so I'm going to miss the best lineup they've had since 2005 (which I missed). This means I may never see several of my favorite bands live and it'll be another year before I get to see the northern monkeys a.k.a. wil and company.
I'm on a proper downer right now but I'm going to the pub tonight for a few farewell drinks with the Newcastle people I've become friends with. Knowing my luck I'll still be here next Friday and I'll look a right tit.
So on the positive side.... oh wait... damn.
25 Things
Here’s that ridiculous 25 things thing…. Maybe if I write it and tag a load of people they’ll leave me alone… or maybe not. Maybe there will be a never ending self-perpetuating cycle of stupid fucking notes going around Facebook. Don’t scoff, it happened to MySpazz and it can happen here so be careful how much you spam lest a similar fate befall FB.
1. I very, very rarely fill these things out.
2. I don’t even read them 90% of the time when they’re sent to me.
3. I’m doing this to kill time at work
4. I hate my job
5. I hate most of the people I work with
6. I hate waiting to start a new job
7. I will love my new job (I’m psychic, see?)
8. My new job means moving 230km away from the friends I’ve taken 6 months to make after moving 12,000 miles away from the friends it took me a whole lifetime to make.
9. Very little about me worth reading will get written here.
10. If you really want to know what it is that is worth knowing about me then make the fucking effort and ask me yourself.
11. I quit smoking for the 4th time in 6 months this morning.
12. I really want a cigarette.
13. I can’t afford cigarettes.
14. I want a pay rise so I can afford cigarettes
15. And a gym membership
16. And a motorbike
17. I miss a lot of people from home
18. I don’t miss YOU, get over yourself!
19. Just kidding, of course I miss YOU, just not YOU.
20. I have made some pretty elementary mistakes and done some pretty stupid things in both the recent past and a long time ago.
21. I never have and probably never will stop feeling like I have to make up for these real or imaginary slights.
22. I’m struggling to think of another 3 points.
23. I’m hoping I’ll be given a second chance.
24. I missed tattoos off the list of things I want a pay rise for.
25. I’m a very lonely, sad man who is growing old far away.
1. I very, very rarely fill these things out.
2. I don’t even read them 90% of the time when they’re sent to me.
3. I’m doing this to kill time at work
4. I hate my job
5. I hate most of the people I work with
6. I hate waiting to start a new job
7. I will love my new job (I’m psychic, see?)
8. My new job means moving 230km away from the friends I’ve taken 6 months to make after moving 12,000 miles away from the friends it took me a whole lifetime to make.
9. Very little about me worth reading will get written here.
10. If you really want to know what it is that is worth knowing about me then make the fucking effort and ask me yourself.
11. I quit smoking for the 4th time in 6 months this morning.
12. I really want a cigarette.
13. I can’t afford cigarettes.
14. I want a pay rise so I can afford cigarettes
15. And a gym membership
16. And a motorbike
17. I miss a lot of people from home
18. I don’t miss YOU, get over yourself!
19. Just kidding, of course I miss YOU, just not YOU.
20. I have made some pretty elementary mistakes and done some pretty stupid things in both the recent past and a long time ago.
21. I never have and probably never will stop feeling like I have to make up for these real or imaginary slights.
22. I’m struggling to think of another 3 points.
23. I’m hoping I’ll be given a second chance.
24. I missed tattoos off the list of things I want a pay rise for.
25. I’m a very lonely, sad man who is growing old far away.
Ooh stick you, ya momma too, and your daddy!
Yeh so that line just popped into head, I figure it can stay. The weekend was awesome, Nat and Mary got here late (typical bloody women) and we headed straight to the bar I always go to on a Friday. There we met up with a veritable gang, including Nick’s new love interest and Ashleigh’s little sister. Lots of alcohol later and we three Poms trekked back to my place and sat on the balcony til 1am chatting and catching up on the last 4 yrs.
Saturday was a lovely early start to get to the pick-up point for the wine tour. I will admit to having a slight hangover which wasn’t helped by the buses air-con breaking down on us before we even got to the first winery. Anyway, without boring you with too much detail we ended up having to be ferried about and changing buses a few times til they got us a working one. We visited 4-5 wineries and a pub and had a great time. Bronwyn and her bloke Joel came with us too so we had a merry old time. We visited Lindeman’s and McGuians so it wasn’t just randomers. The weather was excessively hot… well over 40 degrees all day and not a breath of wind. We had a great driver who stopped off at a bottle shop and Hungry Jacks on the way back so we had beer and burgers for the journey. Then he gave us a guided tour of the Newcastle beaches for Nat and Mary’s benefit before taking us all to a pub where the drinking continued. We bailed at about 8pm but I’m told the rest kept drinking til 11.30! We made friends with a crazy couple who were newly wed but absolutely mental, so might see them again with a bit of luck.
Sunday we got a lie in finally, though we again stayed up til 1am chatting so still feeling pretty wrecked we went off for a BBQ in a park overlooking the beach. Ash, Wayne and Di came along and again it was a really nice afternoon. We went swimming in the “bogie hole” which used to be the British Commander’s personal swimming pool! He had it cut out of the rock by convicts and now it’s open to the public. On the way over I gave the girls a mini-tour of Newcastle and we climbed the giant penis (look at the pics; you’ll see what I mean!). Then they buggered off back to Sydney and here I am, writing to myself again.
I don’t know if the pics will end up in this post or the next one but pics there will be… my facebook is the best place to check them out…
Saturday was a lovely early start to get to the pick-up point for the wine tour. I will admit to having a slight hangover which wasn’t helped by the buses air-con breaking down on us before we even got to the first winery. Anyway, without boring you with too much detail we ended up having to be ferried about and changing buses a few times til they got us a working one. We visited 4-5 wineries and a pub and had a great time. Bronwyn and her bloke Joel came with us too so we had a merry old time. We visited Lindeman’s and McGuians so it wasn’t just randomers. The weather was excessively hot… well over 40 degrees all day and not a breath of wind. We had a great driver who stopped off at a bottle shop and Hungry Jacks on the way back so we had beer and burgers for the journey. Then he gave us a guided tour of the Newcastle beaches for Nat and Mary’s benefit before taking us all to a pub where the drinking continued. We bailed at about 8pm but I’m told the rest kept drinking til 11.30! We made friends with a crazy couple who were newly wed but absolutely mental, so might see them again with a bit of luck.
Sunday we got a lie in finally, though we again stayed up til 1am chatting so still feeling pretty wrecked we went off for a BBQ in a park overlooking the beach. Ash, Wayne and Di came along and again it was a really nice afternoon. We went swimming in the “bogie hole” which used to be the British Commander’s personal swimming pool! He had it cut out of the rock by convicts and now it’s open to the public. On the way over I gave the girls a mini-tour of Newcastle and we climbed the giant penis (look at the pics; you’ll see what I mean!). Then they buggered off back to Sydney and here I am, writing to myself again.
I don’t know if the pics will end up in this post or the next one but pics there will be… my facebook is the best place to check them out…
4 February 2009
Early starts, meetings and welcome visitors...
Well this whole changing jobs malarkey is a right royal pain in the arse. I’ve been bounced around between half a dozen people for the last few days trying to sort out what the chuff is happening and I think it’s becoming clearer. I’m going down to the mine on Friday for a meeting with the boss to discuss the tender for the machines (not my problem) and to find out about the job and what I’d be doing, have a look around and meet the people etc. Off the back of that I get to decide “yay” or “nay” and then the real negotiating starts with regards to responsibilities and pay, accommodation and travel etc etc. The only issue I have with this is that I have to be at my office by 6.30am to be picked up!! I do not appreciate this in the slightest but I would pick a mine that’s over 230km away!
The good news is that Nat and Mary are visiting for the weekend, most people reading this won’t have a clue who they are but they’re two friends from school. Nat was actually my best mate for 6 of the 7yrs and I haven’t seen her since NYE 2005 so good times all round. I’ve got a few things planned including a wine tour up the Hunter Valley, this is a 9-5 coach trip involving lots of wine, cheese and chocolate :D All for a bargain price of $50 too so I really can’t complain. The BBQ that’s rusting away on my balcony is getting a clean too and kangaroo steaks are on the menu. Not to mention that my flat is cleaner than it’s been in months as I’ve hoovered, mopped and scrubbed both bedrooms, both bathrooms and both balconies as well as the kitchen/diner!
That’s about it for now, there will be plenty of pictures and hopefully a few tales to tell on Monday but if anything crops up during the week I’ll try to keep my avid fans satisfied**.
** Who am I trying to kid???
The good news is that Nat and Mary are visiting for the weekend, most people reading this won’t have a clue who they are but they’re two friends from school. Nat was actually my best mate for 6 of the 7yrs and I haven’t seen her since NYE 2005 so good times all round. I’ve got a few things planned including a wine tour up the Hunter Valley, this is a 9-5 coach trip involving lots of wine, cheese and chocolate :D All for a bargain price of $50 too so I really can’t complain. The BBQ that’s rusting away on my balcony is getting a clean too and kangaroo steaks are on the menu. Not to mention that my flat is cleaner than it’s been in months as I’ve hoovered, mopped and scrubbed both bedrooms, both bathrooms and both balconies as well as the kitchen/diner!
That’s about it for now, there will be plenty of pictures and hopefully a few tales to tell on Monday but if anything crops up during the week I’ll try to keep my avid fans satisfied**.
** Who am I trying to kid???
30 January 2009
HELL YES!
So I've got a new job :D
Have to sort out all the logistics etc next week but basically have been taken on by X and am going down to the mine for a week/fortnight to meet the team and see what the situation is before I have to make a final decision. I'm not going to say no though.
I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY RIGHT NOW!
To finish a great day I'm going for drinks with some people tonight so all I need is to meet a girl or four and this will be the best day of the last 6 months!
Have to sort out all the logistics etc next week but basically have been taken on by X and am going down to the mine for a week/fortnight to meet the team and see what the situation is before I have to make a final decision. I'm not going to say no though.
I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY RIGHT NOW!
To finish a great day I'm going for drinks with some people tonight so all I need is to meet a girl or four and this will be the best day of the last 6 months!
29 January 2009
Oh the sweet irony of it all...
Being the poor sad bastard that I am I was thinking on my way here to use the internet and had a realisation. For the last 11 years I've despised the type of person that swaggers around in expensive clothing with expensive coffee acting like they're far more important than everyone else. So called "privileged" people make me want to hurt them. Yet there I was walking along in my rather nice shoes/trousers/shirt recently purchased from a 'gentlemans outfitters' no less, with my Oakley sunglasses on, holding a large cup of overpriced American coffee with a straight in my mouth and David Grey on my MP3 player... Oh the sweet, sweet irony. I've actually become that which I've railed against so many times. It's what's on the inside that counts though, right??
Anyway, there's bugger all to say apart from that. My boss is still adamant that both these mining companies have been hassling him to employ me but I've left messages and sent emails to both of them and not heard a peep... Grrr. It's really hot here still, not been below 25 degrees since I've been back and I still haven't fixed my air-con so sweating profusely is the order of the day.
Not feeling particularly happy about anything right now but am sustained by the hope of getting some proper work and a pay rise then a motorbike, I'm actually fantasising about how great it's going to be to ride out into the bush. I miss everyone like crazy and I'm fully aware that the postcards I promised in September are still sitting on my table... whoops.
That's all for now... comment people, comment!
Anyway, there's bugger all to say apart from that. My boss is still adamant that both these mining companies have been hassling him to employ me but I've left messages and sent emails to both of them and not heard a peep... Grrr. It's really hot here still, not been below 25 degrees since I've been back and I still haven't fixed my air-con so sweating profusely is the order of the day.
Not feeling particularly happy about anything right now but am sustained by the hope of getting some proper work and a pay rise then a motorbike, I'm actually fantasising about how great it's going to be to ride out into the bush. I miss everyone like crazy and I'm fully aware that the postcards I promised in September are still sitting on my table... whoops.
That's all for now... comment people, comment!
20 January 2009
Well Fuck Me Sideways...
As much as I was completely dreading coming back to Oz it seems that things may not be quite as bad as they seemed. The journey was actually pretty good, I slept for almost the whole of the 14hrs from Dubai to Sydney so no jetlag (so far) and I was back in Newcastle by 11am which gave me plenty of time to clear up the mess… A few of you might remember my sudden realisation in the pub that I’d turned off my fridge/freezer before I left! I had to throw away all my food so I’m now living off peanut butter sandwiches (pretty good deal eh?) and stale teabags.
The Bleeding Through gig was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. Yes, that does deserve capitals. The support was great musically but the guitarist for Between The Buried and Me is a cunt. For a start he was wearing white angel wings which made him look ridiculous and then he spent most of their set facing backwards towards the amps. His face never changed and he barely moved… great showmanship you prick! I paid good money to go and see a live show and I expect a show! If I just wanted music I’d have illegally downloaded their albums instead and he wouldn’t have earnt a penny. Anyway, As Blood Runs Black were pretty good too though I only caught the last half of their set.
Bleeding Through were actually awesome, by far the best gig I’ve been to in a long, long time. I really wish I’d taken my camera but I would have probably lost it in the pit… the whole place went mental and there were some mental circle pits in a room smaller than my office. I also now have a MASSIVE crush on their keyboard player… I don’t know who the hell she is but damn is she hot! I kept being distracted by her cleavage every time she started head banging, in fact that was one of the best things about her, she really got into it. There’s nothing worse than a keyboard player who stands there looking awkward or embarrassed, she went for it and really added to the show. The absolute climax for me was when they played “kill to believe” at the end; BEST FUCKING SONG EVER. That made the gig for me, was a great ending to a good day.
I did however meet a girl (ooooh!) but as you’ll read it really wasn’t such a great thing. Here is an open letter to all such women:
Dear Madam/Slut/Sponger,
After meeting you last night I am writing to say that you disappointed me immensely. When you first approached I saw that you were in fact, quite pretty, and that you had a figure to match. Our initial conversation was pleasant and I had entertained thoughts of buying you a drink and possibly getting your number later on in the evening. I was perfectly happy to give you a cigarette as I was unaware at the time that you were only using this as a pretext for conversation. I did in fact see you coughing your guts up shortly after due to you being a pathetically weak-lunged specimen. It all went downhill however when you let slip that you are unemployed and have no plans to do anything but sponge off the state for the next few years. Get a fucking job you cunt! Then you had the bare-faced cheek to ask me for cash for a drink… over my stinking dead corpse!
Thanks to you being such a scrounging waste of space I then had to devote a good 10mins to thinking up methods of escape/brutally killing you. This distracted me from the gig which I’d paid good money for, you STI infested whore!
My only compliment to you is that you manage to ensnare men with complete ease, yes I did see you sneak off round the corner with one of the roadies for 5mins… I’m amazed it even took you that long.
So in conclusion all I have to say is that I honestly hope you catch AIDS and die alone and in pain somewhere far, far, away.
Yours,
RTC
So onto more good news… I’ve got another job lined up This one would be similar to the consultancy type work south of Sydney but the mine in question is practically inside the city. It’s another coal mine and if it all works out I’d be working on developing a drift down to a new seam which would be mined using drill & blast. Apparently CSM has a good reputation for working with this kind of operation (???) so the GM of the company jumped at getting his hands on me (not in that way you perverts!). I’d be doing the feasibility study for 6-9months which would involve geotechnics, ventilation, methods of driveage, coal clearance and logistics. They know it’s slightly above my current level of competence but would give me plenty of support from the current engineers. Then when I’m done they would use my report to send out a tender which my company would be expecting to win. I’m much more up for this than the project south of Sydney as I wouldn’t have to move and transport wouldn’t be such an issue. As much as I hate to admit it I actually quite like living in Newcastle and don’t really want to relocate if I can avoid it. I’m waiting to hear from my boss about this so fingers crossed.
Right, after that mammoth post I’m just about done… nothing has changed in my office but it was nice that a few people were actually pleased to see me back, I’m amazed they noticed I was gone! Oh and my secret santa present was a scale model of a Yamaha R1 which was pretty cool.
That’s it for now.
The Bleeding Through gig was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. Yes, that does deserve capitals. The support was great musically but the guitarist for Between The Buried and Me is a cunt. For a start he was wearing white angel wings which made him look ridiculous and then he spent most of their set facing backwards towards the amps. His face never changed and he barely moved… great showmanship you prick! I paid good money to go and see a live show and I expect a show! If I just wanted music I’d have illegally downloaded their albums instead and he wouldn’t have earnt a penny. Anyway, As Blood Runs Black were pretty good too though I only caught the last half of their set.
Bleeding Through were actually awesome, by far the best gig I’ve been to in a long, long time. I really wish I’d taken my camera but I would have probably lost it in the pit… the whole place went mental and there were some mental circle pits in a room smaller than my office. I also now have a MASSIVE crush on their keyboard player… I don’t know who the hell she is but damn is she hot! I kept being distracted by her cleavage every time she started head banging, in fact that was one of the best things about her, she really got into it. There’s nothing worse than a keyboard player who stands there looking awkward or embarrassed, she went for it and really added to the show. The absolute climax for me was when they played “kill to believe” at the end; BEST FUCKING SONG EVER. That made the gig for me, was a great ending to a good day.
I did however meet a girl (ooooh!) but as you’ll read it really wasn’t such a great thing. Here is an open letter to all such women:
Dear Madam/Slut/Sponger,
After meeting you last night I am writing to say that you disappointed me immensely. When you first approached I saw that you were in fact, quite pretty, and that you had a figure to match. Our initial conversation was pleasant and I had entertained thoughts of buying you a drink and possibly getting your number later on in the evening. I was perfectly happy to give you a cigarette as I was unaware at the time that you were only using this as a pretext for conversation. I did in fact see you coughing your guts up shortly after due to you being a pathetically weak-lunged specimen. It all went downhill however when you let slip that you are unemployed and have no plans to do anything but sponge off the state for the next few years. Get a fucking job you cunt! Then you had the bare-faced cheek to ask me for cash for a drink… over my stinking dead corpse!
Thanks to you being such a scrounging waste of space I then had to devote a good 10mins to thinking up methods of escape/brutally killing you. This distracted me from the gig which I’d paid good money for, you STI infested whore!
My only compliment to you is that you manage to ensnare men with complete ease, yes I did see you sneak off round the corner with one of the roadies for 5mins… I’m amazed it even took you that long.
So in conclusion all I have to say is that I honestly hope you catch AIDS and die alone and in pain somewhere far, far, away.
Yours,
RTC
So onto more good news… I’ve got another job lined up This one would be similar to the consultancy type work south of Sydney but the mine in question is practically inside the city. It’s another coal mine and if it all works out I’d be working on developing a drift down to a new seam which would be mined using drill & blast. Apparently CSM has a good reputation for working with this kind of operation (???) so the GM of the company jumped at getting his hands on me (not in that way you perverts!). I’d be doing the feasibility study for 6-9months which would involve geotechnics, ventilation, methods of driveage, coal clearance and logistics. They know it’s slightly above my current level of competence but would give me plenty of support from the current engineers. Then when I’m done they would use my report to send out a tender which my company would be expecting to win. I’m much more up for this than the project south of Sydney as I wouldn’t have to move and transport wouldn’t be such an issue. As much as I hate to admit it I actually quite like living in Newcastle and don’t really want to relocate if I can avoid it. I’m waiting to hear from my boss about this so fingers crossed.
Right, after that mammoth post I’m just about done… nothing has changed in my office but it was nice that a few people were actually pleased to see me back, I’m amazed they noticed I was gone! Oh and my secret santa present was a scale model of a Yamaha R1 which was pretty cool.
That’s it for now.
12 January 2009
Gash
I'm posting this mainly because Tara has been hassling me to update... I've been back in the UK for 3 weeks and it's been a pretty damn good trip so far. Have seen pretty much everyone I wanted to and got very drunk many times.
Unfortunately I've only got 4 days left here and two nights out. Last night really made me feel like I should never have left, I appreciate my friends a hell of a lot more after 4 months without them.
Anyway, hopefully Tara will stop nagging me now and I can wait til after the Bleeding Through gig to post again...
Unfortunately I've only got 4 days left here and two nights out. Last night really made me feel like I should never have left, I appreciate my friends a hell of a lot more after 4 months without them.
Anyway, hopefully Tara will stop nagging me now and I can wait til after the Bleeding Through gig to post again...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
