What's New at the Zoo Down Under

It has been a busy few weeks lately, with no time for blogging, so thought I would catch up this afternoon while I had the chance. Work has been busy and stressful, but I'm coping as best I can by balancing work with an active social life. We went camping this past weekend at Ellery Creek Big Hole, which is about an hour or so from Alice Springs. The waterhole is quite pretty and I thought a dip in the waterhole would be refreshing now that the temperatures are climbing up as we head into summer. It was frigid. Yes, coming from a Canadian who swims in the ocean, that is saying a lot. Two of the girls jumped straight in, and screamed with horror at how cold the water was and they couldn't feel their legs, so I attempted my usual in/out routine, and I just couldn't get past my waist, so gave up. The day was bright and clear, not too hot, so I was happy enough to sit in the shade and have a few drinks with the rest of the gang.

I was the only one sleeping in a tent this time as the others had swags. I haven't done that yet, but am considering it at some point, I just have to get past the whole spiders/bugs/snakes thing...we did have a dingo pass through our campsite, and once again, things were odd. I tried to get a look at him with my flashlight, which was nearly new and should have worked, but refused to turn on. By the time I had the lantern turned on and the tent flap zipped open, he was gone. I tried the flashlight again and it worked perfectly...bizarro. There is something about the dingos...can't photograph or shine my flashlight on. We also had some very strange animal nearby that made the weirdest sound, like an electronic hum - hmmmmm. hmmmmm. hmmmmm.hmmmmmm. The same length of noise, and same level/sound that went on for a few minutes. F. was afraid it was going to attack her in her swag...I told her considering the only thing to be feared in the desert were snakes and spiders and I was pretty sure they don't hum, there was nothing to be afraid of. It was likely some rodent. No one wanted to get out to look and see.

I've been applying for jobs, and have an interview this afternoon for a local agency, NPY Women's Council as a case manager for sexual assault and domestic violence victims. It sounds like a really interesting job, and NPY is very well known here in town and around the territory for being strong advocates for their client population. They cover a large geographic land area that crosses into Western Australia and South Australia. It will be so good to work for an NGO after all of these years in government. It's where I have wanted to be for a long time, but couldn't really afford to work there with my massive student loans. Now that they are trimming down fast, I thought it was time to go for it. It means far less money, but I'm hoping much more job satisfaction and a whole lot less government bullshit. I've been less and less happy working in my current job, and often I am rather embarrassed to say I work there due to so many unethical decisions being made by management, micromanagement, and the direction the department is heading. I'm done. I die a little each day I have to go into the office. I am not alone by a long stretch. Our union is signing up members fast and furious due to so many unhappy workers. Go team.

Now I just have to sort out my immigration status. I have been getting conflicting stories from HR and then from Immigration. Immigration says I can work anywhere now that I am a permanent resident, but HR is saying I need to give them 2 years on my PR, and I'm only 9 months in. I'm hoping I can simply transfer my sponsorship to my new employer should I be successful in obtaining other employment. HR also says that if a reasonable effort has been made, they can cancel the sponsorship, but I don't need it cancelled, I need it transferred. So we shall see. I have another job interview next week for a job in Melbourne - specialist case manager at the prison, so managing the worst of the worst in sex offenders. It's ironic how these two interviews are at each end of the spectrum, but I find both sides fascinating and any chance I have to be involved in the justice system is exciting, particularly when I can combine social work and the law.

The weather is heating up, with 37C today...pant pant pant, and it's not even summer. I was hoping we had another month or so before we saw those temperatures. Bugger it's hot...