Got the haircut, need the real job

So I started that job last week, it's not too bad so far. I'm still looking for something a little more permanent though. This job is mostly playing with power tools, and doing odd stuff around the shop. There's only me and the owner working there right now... there was another guy working there before but he didn't show up to work all week. The owner Steve used to be a backpacker from the UK but he ended up staying here and has been here for 16 years. :)

My first day on the job was fun. I did a little bit of work around the shop, then we hooked up Steve's trailer on the back of his ute and went to pick up some panels at a yard across town. We were sitting there at a stoplight and Steve says "Shit" and I hear a screech of tires, a loud bang, then get thrown against the back of the seat. A guy in another ute slammed into the back of our trailer hard enough to push us into the car in front. Luckily for me the headrest was adjusted to the right height for my head, and I didn't have anything worse than a headache for a few hours afterwards.

I wish I had my camera then, cause the accident (or smash as they call it) was a huge mess. The guy who hit us worked for a window company, and there was glass everywhere. Heh. The damage to our ute wasn't too bad... the roo bar on the front got pushed back and broke one of the headlights, and the trailer hitch got bent up to a 45 degree angle. Other assorted lights broken, and other stuff bent... shouldn't cost that much to fix it all anyways. The trailer took most of the hit.

Other than that the week's been pretty slow. I joined a local gym with a few other guys in the hostel, so I can whip myself back into shape now. My mom's shipping over my running shoes from back home so I'm going to start running again. Next weekend I'm signed up to run a quarter of a marathon with those guys at the hostel here... I have no idea what I'm thinking. For the record, I really was drunk when I signed up to do it :)

Huh. Last night was a good night... went to the local bar with most of the hostel. They have $10 nights here every Saturday... everyone pays 10 bucks and we get a huge bar tab. It's basically all you can drink all night. We ran out of pitchers around 2:00 last night though :( Probably a good thing. I'll try and get some pictures from the bar this week, a few people brought their cameras. It's been too long since I've posted drunken Brad pictures on here. heh

Couple pictures... the hostel I've been at the last few weeks, and the outside of the shop I've been working at. Note the puddles... it's been raining just about every day still. Although 20 degrees during the day in the middle of winter here isn't bad :)





Next post should be more interesting... I'll make sure I get some pictures of me dying after the run next weekend. heh

-Brad

C'mon people!

Okay, first things first... I've gotta admit I'm a little disappointed in how many people actually thought I got a mullet. C'mon people! :)

Yeah, that was halfway through the haircut. The barber thought it was pretty funny too... I promised to send him a copy of the picture so he could put it up in his shop. haha. It's really different with short hair... the first couple days I must've looked like a psycho, twitching my head to get my imaginary hair out of my eyes. It just wasn't working though... my hair gets really curly and puffy and just disastrous when it gets long. I'm sure cutting it was for the best.

So... not much to post about this week. I'm starting a job on Monday, just some casual labouring work, helping to install walk-in fridges and freezers. A hundred bucks a day cash in hand, so that'll be alright. I've been applying to a lot of engineering jobs, but haven't had any luck there yet.

Huh. The last couple weeks have been pretty lazy. Now, I know I've told a lot of you that I've been lazy at one time or another. But this time... Lazy with a capital L. Hmm... lemme think of an example. Okay, picture a rock. And think of me sitting beside the rock... having a staring contest with it. And winning. I have an excuse for being lazy though.. it's been rainy. So there.

Okay, maybe not that bad. But they have a small bookshelf full of books here at the hostel, and I've gone through a good pile of them. I read the Da Vinci Code in one night. :) That's a good book by the way... seems every other backpacker I meet that's reading something is reading that. I've been out looking for jobs plenty of times too. A lot of time on the guitar also... I've been making some good progress on Classical Gas, so that'll be cool when I get all that figured out. I seem to have to practice for a couple hours before I make any headway at all, but it'll be worth it, as long as I don't go insane.

One picture from when I actually made it out for a walk and it wasn't raining. Just the casino from across the river. This computer I'm on sucks and I only managed to get one picture off my camera, so this'll have to do.



This weekend should be good... my mate Joe that I worked with in Tasmania is here for a couple days before he goes to Japan for a year, so I won't feel that bad about having a few drinks with him. The name of the game is moderation now :)

Too bad I'm not back home this week though.. I'm missing the annual canoe trip with my brother and dad. I'm sure they'll have lousy weather though :) Happy Fathers Day by the way!

-Brad

End of another era

Perth has been pretty cool so far. It's been very rainy though... every time I leave the hostel to go for a walk I seem to get rained on. Other than that, I haven't really done that much here, other than look for a job and sit around playing guitar :)

Yesterday I actually went out of the hostel and hung out with Kristen... we went to the museum and a cafe downtown. I met her on the plane ride from Canada, and we hung out in Hong Kong... she's here in Perth going to teacher's college. Good to talk to someone without an accent every once in a while. heh

So... end of an era. My brother sells his good car, and I finally got a new haircut. What do you guys think?



-Brad

No beer makes Brad something something...

Y'know, this no drinking thing is starting to get tough. I've been to four bars this month so far, and have had more Coke in that time than I'd had the entire year before. Sigh...

Ah well. So I've made it out to the West Coast. The train ride out here was... well, very long. I ended up sitting on the train for about 36 hours, which was actually longer than the flight from Canada to Australia. It was an experience anyways. There's a whole lotta nothing between Adelaide and Perth. The majority of the trip was across the Nullarbor, which is an area with (surprisingly) no trees or hills, just a lotta scrub brush. Interesting at first, but gets quickly boring. Part of the track along here is the longest straight section of railway in the world. I can think of more exciting records, but there you go.

We stopped in a couple outback towns, one called Cook (permanent population: 3) and the other Kalgoorlie (30,000). Cook was interesting... it actually used to have a school and a hospital, but now it's just a souvenir stand and a bunch of cottages.

Kalgoorlie was a little better. We had a 3 hour stop there, so I got to see a good part of the town at least. One of the bigger tourist attractions in town was the brothels. Picture a tour bus full of old ladies with cameras driving by with all the prostitutes out front. heh. One of the brothels even offered tours (which I went on, of course) :) Had time to go to a couple pubs in town to check out the live music and drink Coke.

A couple pictures; the sunrise from the train, and the train plus an outback sign in Cook.





So, now I'm in Perth. One of the most isolated cities in the world. Seems pretty quiet so far, but I haven't seen too much yet. My plan for today is to hire a bike and have a look around town. Tomorrow is a public holiday (can't remember why) so on Tuesday I'll have to start the job search. I had a quick glance through the paper yesterday, and it doesn't look like I'll have that much trouble finding a job. A guy in my dorm room here told me he has a job clearing tables for twenty bucks an hour, and that he's leaving in a week and could put in a word for me. Almost too easy.. but I'll try and find something better at first. I think I'll apply to some golf courses or something... that'd be sweet.

One more picture; a view over the river in Adelaide.



-Brad