Answers to questions of last entry

Strange looking picture is of a Spiders Nest !!!! Can you imagine it !! Its about the size of two fists together … Full of thousands of baby spiders .. Don’t know where mum was and no – I didn’t get that close !!!

The Tree with small fruit is a pepper corn tree !!

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I’ve had this damned cold for over a week now … Struggled for 4 days at work feeling like crap. Not sleeping right and generally feeling demotivated and fed up …… McD telling me off for not taking some sick days ………

So, with some fantastic spring weather on us both McD and I decided to take some time off .. I took last Friday off and return Wednesday, McD has taken the Monday Tuesday off.

It’s been well worth it … A chance to recharge the batteries and enjoy some much needed sunshine and Boy has it been warm !! Forget Spring has Sprung ! Summer has Gatecrashed the Party people :O)

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I didn’t get the Job I was after …. But it was a lot closer than I had thought, having lost out solely on not having as much commercial experience as the chap who got it … The Interviewer was highly complementary when discussing their decision etc .. So that’s left me feeling down that I didn’t get the Job, but good that I was up there and in the running till the end ….

But try getting back into your old job after that …especially when your not well too… .

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Garden is starting to look different …Friday saw me finally pull down the Brick BBQ completely leaving only the concrete base … We now have somewhere for a seat.. It nearly did me in as I rushed around to get it done before McD came home … I picked up an old wooden seat from the top of the garden and plonked it onto the concrete base …. And then took a picture and emailed it over to McD at work :O)










The Borders have bark mulch over them ...In another month or so they will be covered with Dahlias which are burried and waiting to sprout forth :O)



Notice in the l;ast picture McD has been graffitying the lawn !!! With the aid of the hose pipe !!!!!

Saturday we did some err Retail Therapy :O) McD needed cheering up after my not getting the Job :O) Oh Alright – I’ve been hassling for a new TV for some time now – Years !!! and since it’s our 5 year anniversary on Wednesday McD finally gave in and off we went and bought a 42inch Plasma TV… Woof Woof !!! :O) That took us the best part of a day!! In between breakfast and a late lunch :O) We’ve also upgraded the Cable TV to digital so our view pleasure will increase multifold when the TVs delivered tomorrow !! Just something else to make our getting exercise and getting fitter and losing weight all that much harder !! We will have to discipline our selves McD !!

Sunday we cleaned up the area some more and planted some standard roses in the area … Today we spent far too much time trying to make some free form planting areas as the idea is to get rid of the much suffering lawn and have some nice perennial gardens instead. Adding pebble pathways around them … However the plan has changed a little as we have now decided to have one large planting area and have large river stones as stepping stones through it …. We’ll see …



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We’ve had 2 BBQs this weekend !! An unknown this early in the season but Yum :O) I hate uncovering the BBQ after the winter .. This year it was covered in snails and snail Poop !! So that’s where the little sods are hiding !! Little deceased ex-sods now . Anyway BBQ all cleaned up and firing nicely …. Yesterday we had a seafood BBQ with Prawns in the shells, Salmon steaks and scollops …. AND While getting the seafood they they were selling Mutton Birds so we’ve gabbed a couple of them. McD will spend tomorrow morning boiling them 3 times to get the salt out and then roasting them ….. They are a bit of an acquired taste but I like them ……

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Spring in New Zealand

I’m not well today … It’s been building up on me since this morning ..My first weekend of ‘no work’ relaxation … No being on-call .. no worries about next week … It’s been a rough two weeks. Two full weeks of stressing and stress building up to Friday and then starting again after the weekend …

I’ve got a sore throat :o/ I’m starting to feel headachy…And body-achy as well.. but maybe that’s cause of the garden work .. Hope so ..I’ll know soon as if I’m ill my kidneys start aching …


I have to show this ... Now they're training attack squirrels !! When will it stop ... To quote the officer, a victim of this heinouis crime ...."The claws are very sharp" !!!!! Stay away from these Pointy eared, pointy nosed, shap clawed devils people .... Be very afraid ...

http://www.local6.com/news/4872001/detail.html?GetStory


Anyway - As I was saying .....I hate being Ill… McDs already saying ‘oh no’ as I grumble or make my ‘I’m not well’ sounds ….She hates me being ill as well......

Just typical that the first time I relax and I’m not well ..
The week before last I applied for a Client Delivery Manager Role with a NZ outsourcer … Within a day or so I’m summonsed for an interview. That was a week last Friday I didn’t want to go – The role is a good step up on what I’m doing now and knowing the Director there I didn’t want to choke in the interview or have a bad interview that might spoil my other chances with jobs more suitable for me ….If that makes sense …..But after a week of stressing Friday came and I attended the interview …I did alright .. Did some bullsh*t talking as well :O) But the importance they place on the role and the expectations of the role are just too much … No chance of a follow up on that one ………

Except they rang me the following Monday (last Monday) and asked to me attend a 2nd interview as part of their short list for the role ….. I’d not answered the cell phone when they rang ..I was driving and thought it was my work ringing … Picked it up about 10 minutes later, heard the message and passed it over to McD to hear …”Told you so” or something to that effect came from her lips … She’s pushy about me applying for jobs is McD …. I wasn’t really listening … Already in a mindless panic over the next interview and how the hell I will get through it … It wasn’t till the next day when I listened again that I found it was to be a “Panel” interview …The worst kind of interview.. 2 directors and a general manager firing questions at me ….. The gut wrenching, sweaty palm, just how can you still need to pee when you just been kind of interview. The Interview from Hell........

My only thought after that was to run screaming for the hills never to be seen again ……

4 days of researching what the role was and preparing for the questions I figured they’d ask and telling McD how it'll be a complete circus when i'm in there and that I might as well go in with a clown suit on and at least give them a laugh for their all too impotant wasted time ... Next day McD presented me with a present ! Clown face paint and a red nose !!! I was ready and equipped for a Panel Interview :O) All too soon last Friday was here and then 2pm and into the Directors office I was ushered and it was all on …

First thing they told me was how good the chap who held the role prior to his leaving was…The client loved him and regarded him as the best in his field full-stop….. I wanted to ask how come they lost him then …. It Wasn’t the time …..and then off they started rapid fire questions like what are the three most important attributes of a leader … How would your staff describe you.. What would they say you needed to improve on.. how do you keep current with the advances in technology ….What would you do in the first 3 months of getting the role….what would you achieve .. How do you intend to build the business wth the client … Question after question all needing a rounded, knowledgeable, answer backed up by experience ….

Lets face it – I did ok – but I won’t get the job …I don’t know even if I could really do the job ….But at least I didn’t embarrass myself …Well I don’t think so anyway ….

And then it was all over and it was time to relax …

And now I’m ill… and my throat is really sore ….

I spent today with McD pulling down a brick BBQ.. I can’t believe the effort they went into building it whoever it was. We’ve had to get sledge hammers and masonry chisels and put in a lot of sweat and tears to dismantle the damned thing … By all accounts its never been used ..no burn or heat marks on the brick ….Scariest thing was watching 5 foot nothing McD wielding a sledge hammer like a true destruction worker :O)

I must show some before after pics of what we’ve been doing ….

When I feel better …..

Meanwhile here’s some pictures of Ozz again …. But first here's a website dedicated to Cats in Sinks ....Don't ask me cause I don't know

http://catsinsinks.com/

If You know - Please tell me :O)


Ah Ozz ........................

Nothing to read here !! Pictures no text - Yet

Monday, August 29, 2005

I started to create this entry - Then realised the time !!!! I'm going to have QWERTYUIOP on my forehead tomorrow when I fall asleep on the keyboard at work !!

So much to say - so little time to do it :O)



Reasons To Believe Spring Has Sprung in New Zealand