No Job, Ask Again Later

marine fabricationHey, family.

Tell Grandma thanks for sending me the knitted jumper- it’s summer now, but Melbourne can get chilly during the summer so I got a lot of use out of it. The house is…alright. I can’t really explain to someone who hasn’t lived here, but the other guys definitely aren’t bad people. They’re just really busy with jobs and girlfriends and stuff, so I don’t see them too often. Graham is probably my best friend here, since he tried to get me a job at his work and he always asks me how I’m settling into Australia. He said he actually wants to visit Colorado, so I’m doing my best to dissuade him!

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Melbourne’s marine fabrication industry. In fact, it’s a real booming business, and in the interviews I’ve had the place is bustling. Sort of like being down at the docks in New York, but…not.  I guess I should be glad that the industry has standards for experience and all that, because that’s what they keep telling me: I need more hours on the job. But then I think…how do I get hours on the job if I can’t GET  job? What’ll probably happen is that I’ll look for a position lower down in one of the companies, or maybe just work around the docks. I just applied for a barista job at the marina and they seemed pretty interested…so good thing I had that job at Joe’s before I moved to the city.

Melbourne coffee standards are REALLY high, but mostly in the inner city; I don’t think they care quite so much on the fringes. Plus I need to learn more about how to drive a plate alloy boat that my uncle is going to give me. At least that’s one thing I can do. I’ll keep my ear to the ground, find out is anyone is in need of some marine welding, maybe show them some of my custom rod holders…and just maybe I’ll get a job in my actual industry before I have to come home. Guess it helps that Melbourne is pretty cool in general.

-Clark

Anyone Care to Chat About Marine Fabrication?

marine weldingHi Gran!

Hope you actually get this, because I specifically remember fixing your internet last time I was there. So long as you haven’t unplugged anything…and remember, I’m not back until June and Agnes next door is not a reliable source of technical information. I’m not even sure she has internet.

So I said I’d do it, and the travel company helped me achieve it: I’ve got a job on a boat! Nothing exciting, but I’m pretty excited about it regardless. I’m working in a cafe/bar on board a small cruise ship. We dock into Melbourne every evening, so it’s more of a day cruise thing for rich people. I get to wear a bow tie and a waistcoat, and every asks me if I’m from Ireland then gets embarrassed when I say Scotland. It’s fun.

You should see the welding industry they have here; Grandpa would’ve loved it. Just marine welding all over the place, massive machines doing their thing and plate alloy boats coming in and out all the time. I guess now that the warmer weather is approaching, people will be out on the water a bit more, living the life and soaking up the rays. So, not quite like back in Aberdeen. No one else in the share house seems to be much into plate aluminium boats, but then my job only caters to people who are a bit more well off. Plus I’m not about to talk someone’s ear off about marine stainless steel fabrication, and how my grandfather was a juggernaut of the industry. I mean, unless they ASK about that stuff. Maybe someone will when I’m at work.

So I guess that’s life at the moment. Hanging out at the bar, serving people drinks, watching them install their fishing rod holders and have a good old time. Golly, it’s been a while since I went fishing…maybe I can rope some of my housemates into that instead.

-Kieran

The Magic of Lasers and Hair Removal

anti wrinkle injections MelbourneHello, Mother and Father!

The company has been good enough to give me access to a computer, so that I can send you an electronic piece of mail. I’ve now flown in a plane, I live in a place where the lights turn on when I want them to and then there are the shops. People call them supermarkets, and they are indeed super, for they seem to go on forever with everything you could possibly want to buy. Marvellous!

In any case, I’m doing well. The answers I gave on my form placed me in the category of beauty and such, so I’ve been taking a tour around Melbourne’s laser hair removal clinics and all sorts of similar places. Of course, I still don’t know what that is or how it works. A laser, so I’m told, is like a beam of light but more powerful. So you zap a person with this beam and all the hair goes away. Fascinating. I’ve been asked what kind of beauty treatments we have in Albajeria, which I can’t full answer since our family lives far outside the city on the slopes of the mountain. However, I tell them that my main job in the village was to prepare people for special events- weddings, funerals, sky ceremonies, all of that- and so most of my work was done with mixing berries with roots, creating my own mixtures and removing hair via a straight razor that I had to sharpen every day.

Needless to say, they find all this very confusing. Their technology really is astounding, from the cosmetic tattooing with needles and such, all the way to their anti wrinkle injections. Still a bit confused as to why people would want to remove wrinkles, as so far as I know none of the elders of our village have ever complained about them or said they cause pain. There’s much to learn about Melbourne, anti wrinkle treatments and…this thing they do where they take digital pictures of themselves with their arms outstretched! Oh, how it baffles me. But they are an exciting people, and there is much to learn in both work and play. I think I shall enjoy my time here!

-Lerran

Listen to Conveyancers, not Gurus

Melbourne property advocatesThat’s it: December the 20th approaches, and that’s when I can finish my Nomad Challenge. It all started when I was dragged along to a conference by my old girlfriend, who was into all kinds of new-age stuff. Guru Lakim was hosting, and the whole thing was about ‘releasing your earthly tethers and letting yourself be carried away on the breeze of change and good vibes’.

I’m sorry to say that I was utterly smitten. I don’t know, maybe I was in a vulnerable position, hating my job and just wanting life to be more exciting, but I fell head over heels for everything he said, and I dcided to transform my life. The girlfriend was the first thing to go, because she refused to eat purely organic. I then gave up my bed, and figured…hey, why not spend a year without a roof? Roofing is a symbol of the man.

So yeah, I’m meeting with conveyancers in Cheltenham tomorrow. I only just managed to stick it this far, and…well, I’m embarrassed to have undertaken the journey, even though it taught me so much. Namely that roofing is NOT  symbol of the man, but a thing that handily keeps the rain off you. Conveyancers are NOT part of a conspiracy to keep you anchored to the economy and the government, but instead are just solicitors doing their jobs. What else did Guru Lakim say? Oh yeah…so personal hygiene. It’s really for your own good, as well as th
e good of those around you. I really do think that humans were meant to be clean.

That reminds me, I have that conveyancer appointment tomorrow and I need to find a shower somewhere. Maybe there are some former friends who’ll take pity. This year of living in bushes and ditches…I’ve realised that owning a home is the ultimate in security. I don’t just want a roof; I want a roof that I OWN. And I’d visit every conveyancer in Carlton to Carnegie until I found the perfect home setup. But…hopefully I just need one.

-Sammy