|
|
|
|
WebGoddessCathy |
|
|
|
||||||
|
> site feed |
|
|
<-- my life, by webgoddesscathy --> :: Friday, October 10, 2003 :: I had so much fun at the Queen Victoria Markets! I love food. I love looking at it, smelling it, buying it, cooking it, eating it. So, I did all of those things yesterday. I bought just enough to make a really nice dinner for Scott and I last night (steak and garlic mushrooms, little potatoes with sour cream, asparagus and cheese sauce) and for a breakfast this weekend (eggs from the farmer and bacon from the butcher). All quite cheaply. I can't wait to go back to buy ingredients for my next meal. They have a lovely couple of cheese stands where I'd like to get some nice chevre... and unlike home, they have lots of lamb here at the many butcher kiosks, and it's cheaper than bacon. So I'm going to make my favourite lamb stew next, I think. Or maybe some Indian chicken korma... Anyway, the Queen Vic Mkt is huge! Over 7 hectares in size, it's the largest open air Market in the southern hemisphere After my nice dinner, we went to see Memorandum, a performance piece that's part of the International Arts Festival going on now. It was interesting - a Japanese piece that involved a bit of dance, some multimedia, performance art... it was kind of like a live music video. Then we walked around Federation Square, where there were other events taking place: a free dance hall with band playing Latin music and the Argentina vs. Australia Wallabies on the big screen. All in all, a good day, other than the hangover. :: Cathy 7:49 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Thursday, October 09, 2003 :: Swing class was fun... I suck, but it was fun. I think I'll go again next week. After dinner, Scott and I met some people at a pub in Carlton (a nearby suburb by the University of Melbourne). I met all the MBA students that Scott had met through Jill. Lovely people. After that, we went to Little Collins St. (downtown and near Scott's place) and met up with some other MBA's. Drank and danced and chatted. I got hit on, but I think it was mostly because I was the only new face. That, and I'm clearly irresistable. Got told I have a lovely smile though. I think my face hurts from smiling so much. I guess the price I paid for my teeth is worth it. Now I'm hung over but am trying to get my act together to brave the high winds outside and go to the Queen Victoria Markets to shop for some food. Unfortunately, the blistering winds and nausea are getting the better of me so far... :: Cathy 7:44 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 :: Today I have an interview at GE. Scott works there and got me the interview. It's for a call centre customer service rep, although they don't call it that. I realize I'm overqualified for the job, but I'm a traveller and that's what this trip is all about: doing different things. I've done all sorts of jobs that I wouldn't otherwise do. I really wanted to see what I like and don't like about various positions, industries and companies. I've never worked for such a big company before. But I'm getting ahead of myself; I don't have the job yet. Yesterday I did yoga. It was a new style, so I did the beginner class. I'm glad I did, as I feel that I've gone back to the beginning in terms of flexibility. I need to do yoga more often. I think I'll go back today. Tonight I'm going to swing class with Scott. Should be interesting, considering how uncoordinated I am... I'm also looking into the cost of a flight to New Zealand. The biggest decision is whether I go before or after Christmas/New Years. On the one hand, it would be nice to be with people that I know for Christmas and be earning money so I can travel in style. On the other hand, staying that long makes me a bit of an annoyance AND gives me less time to travel to New Zealand and Western Australia. :: Cathy 5:34 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 :: My induction went well! Actually, we had a test and I think I did rather poorly for my standards, but I did pass. Then they taught things like how to hold 3 plates and I already know that from my waitressing in Sydney, so I felt rather cool. I hope to be working next week! I don't actually know when or how much I'll work. I send in my availability each week and they give me whatever assignments they want to give me. We'll see how much work that is. They say that I will absolutely be working on Melbourne Cup weekend (which is like the biggest day in Australia, or at least Victoria). And, if I weren't going to be at the Canada vs. New Zealand world cup rugby match on the 17th, I could be working at the Motorcycle Grand Prix on Phillip Island, where they would get me accommodation and everything. Sigh. The people seem really nice, although most of the other inductees were really quite young. I think I was the oldest person there. The Yacht Club and Port Melbourne were really beautiful places to see, though. Now it's time to figure out yoga classes, the Melbourne International Arts Festival and see some of the sites while I can. Who's kidding who? I'm going to stay inside and watch and play on the internet. I can't believe I've been deprived for so long... :: Cathy 5:03 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Monday, October 06, 2003 :: Site Traffic Report As you may or may not know, I'm using re_invigorate to track my site hits. I just checked it today for the first time in months. And there are a few things to note: * Sarah and Sharon are my number 1 referrers (that means that people come to my site via a link from their sites), although I did get referred by someone looking for Kakadu travel horror stories and by someone looking for "cathy". Let's not kid ourselves, folks: that person was looking for porn. * September was a low traffic month. Only about 80 hits a week. That's due to the fact that GoDaddy software was screwing me with my domain name and my site was down for a while. Then I sent them hate mail and they called my mom to sort it out... AFTER asking me to send my credit card information via email. * Aside from aberrations, the site has upwards of 100 unique hits per week. Today I've already had 13 unique hits. Thanks for visiting! * In general, site traffic peaked in May. Either people were REALLY missing me in May, or I was just updating more then * Not surprisingly, most of my visitors are using IE 5 and 6 to access my site. But Netscape 5 made a showing at 5%. I've also had 19 hits from people using Safari. :: Cathy 7:31 PM [+] :: 0 comments Day 2: Melbourne Weather: 20 degrees and fine Today is my "induction" into Peter Rowland catering down at the Melbourne Yacht Club. I found out yesterday that I had to pick up an "induction package" at their South Yarra offices, so after an unsuccessful attempt to figure out how to get there on the internet, I ventured outside to ask a large number of stupid questions of a large number of innocent bystanders. I did get a lot of help. The Melbourne Visitor's Centre is not far from Scott's place and they were so good. Too bad I'm an idiot and had to actually ask someone how one catches the tram. At least there was a girl on the tram who knew my stop and could instruct me when to get off. Too bad I'm an idiot and started walking the wrong way... 4 times. Yes, 4 times I walked the wrong way before I figured out why I wasn't getting where I wanted to go. A maximum 30-min trip took me well over 2 hours. Sigh. Oh, the wonders of a new city! However, South Yarra is a beautiful suburb, full of lovely clothing shops, boutiques and heaps of cafes. So it wasn't a total waste. Then Scott and Jill and I went out for Italian on Lygon Street, which kind of reminded me of College St/Little Italy in Toronto. Then Scott and I drank a bottle of wine and talked until 2am. Today, I have to get more accomplished. Seriously. :: Cathy 7:04 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Sunday, October 05, 2003 :: I'm typing on Scott's computer in his lovely penthouse apartment in downtown Melbourne. It's pretty cloudy today, but they say tomorrow the sun's supposed to come out. It's colder here than Adelaide (15 degrees), which is a little sad. The bus ride was OK. Slept most of the time. And watched "The Banger Sisters" which was not a good film. Although I hope I look as good as Goldie when I'm that age. Without all the enhancements, of course. Have an interview tomorrow. Still looking for other work, though, so that I can earn as much as possible while I'm here. I want to be able to spend as much time as possible in New Zealand and Western Australia, so I'd better hurry up and earn enough to move on! It figures that the Flight Centre is having a sale on NZ flights NOW instead of in a month from now. Sigh. That's how it goes, I guess. Time to sleep. :: Cathy 3:46 PM [+] :: 0 comments
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
 |
|
||||||||||||
