Category: August 2018

So I am definitely struggling with the workload filling in for Rory and acknowledge his many years of experience!  I have enjoyed the challenge and think I have done a good job for my level of experience, but I have been starting early, finishing late and not taking breaks to try and stay on top of it.  I have not minded the actual work, but there is not enough hours in the day to achieve it, which is a common story regardless of your role these days.  Only three more shifts to go, I got this!

When Col and I got home for work, Col put on the sprinkler and the local Sulphur Crested Cockatoos got very excited about it.  They rushed over and started almost dancing under the sprinkler and squawking up a storm!  It was very entertaining.

Today I was back at work to do my second week of filling in for Rory, doing an 8am to 4pm shift.

Col pottered around the van and did some videos and washing.

I also managed to get some Frogdashian updates for you as I know you will be wondering how our new little frog family are going….

Continue reading “Day 218 – 19th August 2018 – Darwin, Frogdashian update”

Col and I decided to put the boat in the water and go fishing in Darwin Harbour today.  It was a beautiful spot, and I loved seeing the city so close from the water.

Continue reading “Day 217 – 18th August 2018 – Darwin, Fishing Darwin Harbour”

FIRST DAY OFF WHOOP WHOOP.  Yes I am pretty happy to have a day to myself I must admit.  Not that I have planned much fun stuff, mostly errands, but still good to have some time to achieve these things.

Col and I headed to Nightcliff in the evening to catch up with Hal (one of the guys that Col works with that came fishing with us at Shady Camp) and his friend Dave who is over visiting from Perth.  We met at the pool on the shore front and the guys all got in to watch the sunset.  It was actually chilly for Darwin weather and I decided to watch the sunset from a warm and dry position while the guys all shivered in the pool.  They were only in there very briefly and we then headed down the road to a mobile pizza place.  They put tables and chairs out on the grass with fairy lights strung above and you can BYO drinks.  It was a fantastic atmosphere and the pizza was amazing.  We chatted avidly about the foreseeable issues with the future of AI technology among many other world issues that we addressed and potentially resolved, and applications that we invented.  All in all it was a great night out and we enjoyed catching up with these guys. Continue reading “Day 216 – 17th August 2018 – Darwin”

Well I made it to the end of my first week full time, only one more week to go!  I have learnt a lot this week and feel pretty exhausted.  Pretty sure I  have pulled every muscle in my body and am looking forward to a couple of days to rest up.  It is tricky being so new to the store and filling in for someone as I am no where near as quick as he is, but am trying to be a little patient with myself and I think overall I have done a fairly good job with limited training.  I will hopefully see an improvement next week with speed as I get my head around what I need to do when and can anticipate and plan the week a little more efficiently.  Still I have enjoyed the experience so far.

Angry and Kat contacted us to see if we wanted to go to the movies this evening as they got free tickets to see ‘The Darkest Minds’.  Both Col and I were keen, so we swung past HJs on the way for dinner, I can’t remember the last time I ate a Whopper – I forgot how good these are!!  Then we went to the cinema to meet our friends.  I looked up the movie reviews before I went in and saw that it had been given 18% on Rotten Tomatoes hahahahaha.  Good to be prepared and keep expectations low!  I find that when you expect a movie to be really bad it always exceeds your expectations and this movie was no exception.  It kept me interested and I enjoyed it overall, it was very predictable but still a good night out with friends.  Col liked it way less than me.  Don’t rush out to see this one.  It definitely didn’t deserve 18% though, harsh.  That is the end of Mudflaps and Skidmark’s movie review Darwin.

4th day filling in for Rory and my body is definitely feeling it.  I wonder if there is an app to count how many squats or step ups you do in a day?  The stats would be interesting as it is just 8 hours of physical exercise.  By the eighth hour when I squat down I am not 100% confident that I will get back up.  I haven’t got stuck yet but that would be pretty funny, having to duck waddle out of the store.  The staff room and the computer to print out plan o grams are also up stairs so you are running up and down stairs throughout the day as well.  Pleased that my old body is handling this ok.  My knees like to occasionally remind me of my age, but really overall I am doing ok.  Only one more day to go and then two days off, whoop whoop!

One thing that I really love about the new site is the direction that we are facing.  Every morning when I get up and open the van door, I am greeted by another beautiful sunrise.  Great start to the day.  It is little things like this that you don’t get when living in a house, you simply walk down the hall and into the bathroom.  But in Darwin, living in a van, you live most of your life outside and both Col and I are recognising that you experience a whole lot more than when you live inside your house.  We are both loving that aspect of this lifestyle. Continue reading “Day 213 – 14th August 2018 – Darwin”

I am finding a consistent theme among workplaces, regardless of roles….. too much work and not enough time!  I am on a steep learning curve at the moment as it takes a while to learn prioritisation of workload and get into a a good routine.  Right now I am pretty much running around the shop like a mad woman.  I am learning and I am achieving things though.  Pretty sure it will take me the full two weeks to start feeling on top of things and then Rory will be back and my role will change again.  But good to be learning none the less.

Today is Mum’s last day in Darwin and she then heads off to Sydney for the next leg of her trip.  Unfortunately I have to work today, the first day of my full time for the next two weeks, so I won’t be able to see Mum off at the airport.  Thankfully Col was able to drop her off and overall I was thankful for the shifts I had last week as it was a good balance to be able to do touristy things with Mum and spend time with her while she was here.  It has been a great week and good to have family visit, thanks Mum for coming up and I hope you enjoyed the week as much as we did.  I know that our scores in the Brain Waves Quizes are about to plummet again

Mum and I had planned to go for a drive to Litchfield to see the replica house from ‘We of the Never Never’ today.  I had a day off and Col had to work, so Mum and I both wanted to go for a drive and see this together.  I did a bit of research online the night before and realised that this is actually in Mataranka, near Katherine, and not in Litchfield!  So a quick change of plans was needed. Continue reading “Day 209 – 10th August 2018 – Darwin, Humpty Doo and Berry Springs”