News of the Week

• I start my new job this week.  Well I do if I pass the finger print test and don't have some crime I've committed in my durky past that I've repressed all memory of, cos then I'll be going to the big house instead.
• Farewell dinner with my sister - who is about to take off on year long around the world trip.  Then a farewell breakfast. My family seem to do multiple farewells - not on purpose.
• My sister and I wearing identical coloured dresses (and in jade green -- because if it was black it'd hardly be noticeable) to work on the same day.  Creepy and wrong, since we catch the train together.
• Australia Day! Day off work - yah!
• I want a bowler hat.

More Success

I found out today that I got the job I interviewed for last week.  Yah!  It's a 2 month contract so will take me through until I go away.  Nice money too.

Now I have to break it to my current job.  Not sure whether to be upfront or just make up some story.  I feel it's better to be honest but I don't want to burn any bridges either - more so with my agency than my place of work.

Success

I weighed myself this morning and I'm back to my pre-Christmas weight.  That makes me happy but it's scary to think that it takes 3 weeks to undo 1 week's damage!

My goal is to fit back into my favourite red polka dot dress.  Well it actually fits me now - and I've been planning to get my sister to take photos of me in it so I can judge my progress - because it has a fair bit of stretch in the fabric but it's not at all wearable. 

I figure it'll be another 10 kg or so before I feel good wearing it.

Last week I got a bit slack on exercise.  I start the week well then I get tired and worn down so do less.  This week I want to be consistent.  Actually one of the biggest issues is that when I use my punching bag, I get destroyed by mosquitos (I have got my revenge though, and left some yucky marks on the bag).  So I need to get some mozzie coils to burn or some aeroguard.

I'm managing around 4km a day in incidental exercise now that I've changed my route home from work.  It takes the same time to get home but I'm actually doing something constructive instead of sitting around waiting for buses and trains.

I just wanted to make a note on my last post - when I said "diet" I meant the typical plan you'd see in a magazine or get from your doctor.  I'm not saying this is the absolute best/healthiest diet you can have.

I don't think you can equate "diet" with "healthy" anyway otherwise you'd class diet coke as a health food!  And, if you manage the calories well enough, you could lose weigh living on big macs. 

My plan at the moment is to eat luxurious foods as much as possible.  Hoeing down 3 McChicken burgers for lunch (as one girl at my office has been known to do... and she's as thin as a rake) isn't luxurious or healthy.  Eating fresh, unprocessed foods that are in season is definitely luxurious.

Diet Food

If I told you I had an egg on toast with half a small yoghurt and some fruit for breakfast, that'd sound like a healthy breakfast, right?

But not too excited.

My real breakfast was the same thing but in a much nicer form.  French toast with stewed nectarines and greek yoghurt.  Of all the breakfasts I've ever made in my life, this one was the best. 

Sorry, no photos.  I ate it all too fast.

Oh and the nectarines - $1 for a supermarket bag full of them at the markets.  Even after I cut out the bad bits, I had a big saucepan full of yummy goodness!

Things that drive me nuts

• When my housemates wipe down the kitchen benchs (which is not nearly frequently enough), they use a sopping wet sponge and leave the benches wet.
• Also, they put dishwashing detergent directly onto the sponge to wash things.  That means I have to rinse it for ages to stop it from being soapy.
• And, they put their saucepans in the second sink to drain after they wash up.  It's a sink not a draining board.  If there isn't enough room, maybe use a tea towel to dry some stuff up????
• They use my special cherry blossom plate even though it's in a completely different cupboard to the one with the communal dishes.  

Am I being too nitpicky?  All I ask is that they be civilised.

Boring life...

Not much is happening at the moment.  I've got a job interview tomorrow, I bought a new dress.  Still boxing.  It's been a bit hot so have been feeling brain dead.  How's things with you?

Whales

Apparently in this world, Australian's have a bit of a reputation as being anti-whaling.  I didn't realise that until I went to Japan.  I mean, I know people who are hippies and even a guy who did some time on the Sea Shephard but I didn't think it was any different to most other countries.

In Japan, people would ask me, as a representative of Australia, what my opinion was on whaling.  Personally, if I had to take a stand either way, I'd say I'm against it but really I don't care that much.  Not enough to actually do something about it.  Not enough to give money to those earnest Greenpeace fundraisers who pop up in your face when you are racing out to get get food on your lunch hour.  You know, the ones that are working on commission and try to sign you up for ongoing deductions from your bank account.

I get that whales are an endangered species but, on the other hand, that scientific research is important.  The most overriding factor for me though is this: whale - not delicous!  Also whales are cute unlike those bloody dolphins that are evil and have freaky teeth (and, according to the students in one of my English classes - totally not delicious).

So the other day, three protesters boarded a whaling ship near Perth to tell them to stop whaling.  Seems it's been a bit of an uproar.  I only found out about it today because all the coffee shops around my work are still closed on their Christmas break and the only time I read the news is while I'm waiting for my coffee.

The whaling ship was going to detain them onboard until they returned to Japan then have them tried in a Japanese court but the Australian government has intervened and they are going to released.  I think a lot of this hinges on the fact that the ship was in Australian waters at the time.

What did the protesters expect?  That the whalers would be "hey, thanks for letting us know that whaling is bad," then pissfart around taking them back to shore?  

This also has me wondering if I'd get the same protection from the government if I snuck onboard a cruise ship and partook of their facilities.

I watched a TV show in Japan about whaling.  It showed protesters from the Sea Shepherd in some small Japanese whaling town.  They positioned themselves outside the homes of whalers and spent their days yelling horrible insults at the whalers and their families (my housemate told me they were really horrible insults because my Japanese isn't good enough for me to know that).

My dad worked in the timber industry in Tasmania.  It's always been a controversial industry and I have my own opinions about it but it's what he did and it put the food on our table and the clothes on our backs.  For a lot of people working in the industry, it's all they've done in their lives.  You can't just wake up one day and say hey,  I'm going out to get another job.  Maybe if you are young and don't have a family to support, that's an option but otherwise,what other job?  It's not easy especially when you have responsiblities.


So watching these whaling families being harassed and insulted really came close to home to me.  These are the workers, not the people running the show or making the big bucks.  These are the kids going to school of a morning while being yelled at by protesters and small communities.

To me, even if your cause is right, it doesn't justify dirty actions.  Don't fuck with the little people.