I love coming home to Post-it notes.

The Hunt

I am pretty sure over the past few weeks I have read every single job ad in every paper and website in Perth.

It has brought me up to speed with just how many odd jobs there are out there and how crazy the advertisements for jobs can be. Amongst the hairdresser, engineer, and checkout operator vacancies are the more dubious, eye-brow raising Beveller, Chicken Boner and Bread Merchandiser. My imagination runs wild at just what they might be..
and then there are the job descriptions themselves. One ad announces - Labratory Technican 'Kick start your career in soil testing...' I'm sorry what?!

There are the ads that call for

'Young ENERGETIC, sales LEGENDS needed for modern, up and coming, VIBRANT, business in HEART of CITY. No Exp. Nec. All trainging provided. Earn BIG bucks.'

Yeah OK, doing WHAT? capitalising EVERYTHING?

Remarkably simple sounding jobs also require truckloads more experience and training than ever before. For instance it apparently takes a minimum of 2 to 3 years experience to understand the mechanisms and demanding tasks of Grocery Store Fruit and Veg Assistant. Groundskeepers now require a certificate III in Turf Management. Turf Management.

Don't get me wrong, I understand all jobs require a degree of knowledge, skill and ability, but must they really require a Degree?

Local government job titles are probably the most pompous sounding. Property maintenance supervisor, strategic town planner. As opposed to the non-strategic town planners that is, don't want any of them thankyou.

So I remain the House Couch Maintenance Officer (aka. semi-unemployed) battling fiercely through the mountains of bizarre job descriptions... Over and Out.

Work

This week I had two tasks; research and write an essay and prepare some empty tomato/beans tins for my current herb-garden project. Two guesses which one I actually got done. The joys of getting dirty, dusty, torn jeans, splattering paint on my shirt and getting earth in the cracks of my fingers from hard work making something outside with the sun on my face far outweigh the joys of sitting at a desk all day scratching the grey matter. Of course there is also the fact one is something I have to do, and the other is something I want to do. But when one is accustomed to mental work that is mentally draining e.g. sitting at a computer, working in retail, doing something that is actually physically draining or results in the creation of something new, is in fact refreshing. It’s the kind of revelation that makes me want to become a gardener or builder, rather than my chosen career path of teaching. This is ironic since my parents, who have worked hard, physical, bone-grinding jobs all their lives, wish for their children a good white-collar job. And now here I am, wanting to dig holes and build boxes instead of stare at a screen all day.

So these are the things I have made this week – the first, my flower box, came about as a result of the packing our new oven arrived in. basically, I nailed four pieces of cardboard together and painted them, today I planted some pansy’s and wella!

Secondly, I’ve been collecting tins for the last few weeks to start growing some herbs in. Rip/soak the labels off, drill some holes in the bottom for drainage, paint them and name them.. all that remains to be done is to plant the seeds and with any luck, in a few weeks I’ll have my own chives sprouting on my patio.

 

And now, a new week, what to do with it?

Tonight.

Tonight I want to get dressed up and go out. I want to wear my good jacket, see something new, dine somewhere else, have a drink and listen to some music I’ve never heard before. Tonight I want a new experience, meet new people. Tonight I want to go out and be that person who is experiencing all that life has to offer before tomorrow when I turn 23. I want to be wined and dined and entertained and spend money I don’t really have. I want to flirt with the night, feel the cool air as I leave the hustle and bustle and fall into the night.


Tonight, I bought a new book and settled in to my slippers.

What became of the day

Where amongst the passing of the minutes did the morning give way to afternoon, until the day itself disappeared entirely?

I’ve spent a lot of time recently pondering what constitutes a good use of a day.

Yesterday, for instance, dragged by slowly. I was at work being plagued by a morning full of minor things going wrong that compounded into a general ill-feeling towards the world, a creeping negative sentiment that life sucks etc. It was by all accounts, a bad day.

I read something on the inter-web that postulated that there are no bad days. Rather, there are good days, great days and outstanding days. Yesterday, I didn’t feel that.

Today I filled the hours with bits and pieces of life.

I went for a walk, I cleaned the house a bit and played with my pets, then took a stroll to the coffee shop. I bought a book, had some lunch and read some. I went to the grocery store and the hardware store and came home for a cup of tea.

On my way I walked past an elderly man wearing an outfit all most exactly mirroring mine; grey trackies, baggy shirt, slip on shoes. In this brief encounter I realised how much of a pensioner I am.

Caught at an interesting cross roads where I work not much and study not much, my life resembles that of someone who has time to indulge in projects like gardening, cooking, idle strolling and plentiful cups of coffee. This is excellent. I have time on my side. And yet drummed in to my consciousness as if I was brought up in the army (something like that) is this niggling feeling that I am wasting mine and everyone’s time. Conclusion: must get more jobs.

And when that occurs, all I will wish for is that I had more time…

New Seedlings, New Beginnings

Lea vs. Gardening, v.2.0

I’m hoping that through persistence, the application of a certain amount of effort and a bit of luck, I will eventually acquire a green thumb.


All things considered, my experiment with tomatoes ended in a bug-eaten mess, my broccoli were abandoned with my move and my basil, whilst productive, became a tall, skinny, ugly plant that eventually went into the compost bin.

Nonetheless, I begin again. This time I’m hedging my bets. I’ve put my faith in my garden fairy, Amy, ‘Fairy of the Rose’. Apparently she was born about 1897; is quiet, shy and friendly.

I thought she would add something cute to my fledgling container garden, but as it turns out, faires make wishes come true. The lady in the shop implored me, “Buy the fairy dust, you must”, when I politely refused, she thrust some upon me. “Please,” she said. “I have a real thing about this, you have to do it. When you get her home tonight, sprinkle some fairy dust over her and make a wish.”

I left scared and confused.

Even so, I placed her in my garden, sprinkled the fairy dust (glitter) over her and chanted quietly,

Amy of the Rose, please make my garden green and plentiful, keep it free of bugs and let the sun shine gently here...

Let the magic begin....

[Incidently, I've actually blogged about fairies before, bizzarely repetitive.]

Taking photos of Toes

On Postsecret today I saw this

Followed by this statement from someone else

I have an album of pictures of my feet, each one in each country I've been. I'm glad to find that somewhere in the globe, someone thinks the exact way I do. Without even knowing who that person is, I feel a connection to them that reminds me that none of us could ever truly be alone in the universe. Thank you for that, whoever you are, and who knows? Maybe one day our feet will be on the same picture.

I'm sure it's just something amateur photographers do to create an artsy effect, but it’s really exciting to discover you aren’t alone. Your quirks connect you to the rest of humanity, who'd of thought.

Here are some of mine,




Albany, Western Australia




Red Earth - Broome, Western Australia

 

Autumn in Melbourne

Where our souls touch the earth, there our hearts lie