Archive for July, 2008

Well, it’s mid-mid-mid-winter here right now and if you’re a surfer that means one thing – big fucking waves. We have some superb surfing beaches round here that can produce stunning waves with the right swell. Coastalwatch had some amazing pictures up on their site of a swell hitting the coast about 10km from my backdoor.

If you’re ever in this area there are a number of great beaches – ready to cater to your needs, however good or bad you are at surfing. If you’re new to the sport, then my own beach Seven Mile is the place to come. Head down to the northern end at Gilmore and you’ll find a nice sheltered beach break onto sand – two surf schools operate here year-round which is some indication of its use as a learning beach.

If you know how to surf then the breaks to try are Mystics at Minnimura, Bombo in Kiami and The Farm at Shellharbour. On a big day, the southern end of Werri gets some very large waves (10ft and more) – you can see some photos of that break in my image gallery.

Anyway – there’s a big swell due to hit here on Tuesday – so be sure to tune into the webcam on that day and see if any of the locals have paddled out to catch a few.

Some people – some luck …

I have a customer who lives in one of the small towns on the escarpment. I was called out to her house originally to fix her PC, but it became obvious pretty quickly that it was on the way out and it would be cheaper to buy new than fix the old one. She said she didn’t have enough cash that month, so I left her a quote and told her to get in touch with me if she wanted to buy one. Didn’t expect to hear from here, but last week she phoned up and said could she buy the PC.

So I got on the phone to my usual supplier in Sydney and ordered the bits. Normally the PC’s with me the next day – but three days later I was still waiting. I called them up and it turned out the PC was sat there waiting for a DVD drive – as they’d run out of the brand they normally put in them and only had LG drives. I told them that nobody cared what brand their DVD drive was and to just send me the bloody computer. Another three days later, the PC is delivered by their courier company (Hunter – avoid ‘em). I was out at the time and Liz took delivery of it.

I got back from my onsite job and was relieved to see that my customer’s PC had finally arrived. I took it to my office to install the operating system on. However as soon as I took it out of the box it was apparent that the courier had been playing football with the box – the case was totally mangled – broken in many places. So I called the supplier – told ‘em what had happened – they said I was to send it back and they’d refund me. Great – only now I didn’t have a PC for my patient customer. So I went to my local supplier and bought one of his off-the-shelf systems, which was actually cheaper and superior to the Sydney one (never using *them* again). I took it home and, in the space of about two hours, installed the operating system and software and then drove out to my customer’s house and installed it. She was very happy.

Next day I get a call saying the PC’s been blue-screening since they turned it on that morning. So I go over and pick it up and it becomes apparent that the machine’s been mangled by poor power outlets in the house. When I tell my customer this, she explains that she’s lost three televisions and a previous PC to the flakey electricity supply. I tell her that depending on what I find she may be looking at a whole new system. So I stripped it down and checked each bit – turned out only the stick of RAM had been damaged, which is a cheap and simple fix. I’ve told the customer that I won’t honour the warranty on it, if she plugs it straight into the wall and that she’s to buy a UPS, or look at more costly repair bills. She’s said she’ll buy one tommorow.

Away day …

I had way too much on today, with three problematic PCs to fix, but Liz, Jack and my parents went to the railway museum in Picton. Liz had wanted to do a longer trip in the car because since she passed her test she’s just driven around the local streets. So they set off at the crack of dawn to drive up over the escarpment and on to Picton. She took the Kluger rather than her little Astina and was guided to her destination by the TomTom and her two backseat drivers. Grand time was had by all and they stopped off at my sister’s place in the Southern Highlands on the way home.

Back to school …

Today is the last day of the winter holidays. Tommorow the Jackster returns to school and we can get back into the daily routine of things. It’s been very nice having him around. He particularly enjoyed coming out with me to visit some of my customers – all of whom took a shine to him and showed off their houses, gardens and pets when he asked. One morning I shared my morning routine with him and I bought him a hot chocolate as I bought my latte – he was pleased as punch walking along the street holding his cup with its fancy lid you can drink through. He’s growing up fast that boy …

Our second anniversay has just rolled round and of course, that calls for a bit of reflection on just how far we’ve come. If you’re new to the blog then you can find my first anniversary post here and my first post from Oz here.

Two years is seen by many immigrants as a tipping point. For many people who are uncertain if they intend to stay in Oz, it marks the point at which they consider themselves to have given the country a fair go and consequently book return flights back to Blighty. For others it marks the point at which they stop feeling the bad pangs of homesickness and start feeling more at home in Oz. In Liz’s case it marks the point at which she can apply for Australian citizenship (Jack qualified from day one). I have asked the great one if she intends to get her citizenship, but she’s keeping me guessing. Being on a spouse visa meant she had PR from day one, so beyond the obvious ‘benefit’ of being able to vote – she’s in no rush to spend her afternoon with the mayor to get her flag and pot plant.

So. Two years on – what’s changed?

Me

Well firstly, I have my little computer repair business. The work I’m getting won’t make us millionaires by Xmas, but it’s useful extra income that enables us to do little things like fill the car up with petrol and buy groceries. Since we quit smoking a couple of months ago we’ve got considerably more disposable income anyway, which I’ve been blowing on booze, air compressors and Wii games. In that order.

I started out in the computer repair game because I was offered a free franchise, but I’ve since extracted myself from that contract and will be operating as a sole trader – in charge of my own destiny again. In hindsight, I was a bloody twat to have signed in the first place – the only instances when I can see a franchise being of any value is for something like McDonalds, Dominos or possibly Jim’s Mowing. For the vast majority of franchises, all you’re doing is needlessly handing over a tithe to someone who’s done little more than lend you the use of their logo. I’m bound to get inundated with emails from people saying how good their franchise is – but I honestly believe now that if your business has succeeded, it has bugger all to do with the franchise you bought into – and everything to do with you.

Anyway – I love my job. I get to drive all over this lovely area, fixing misunderstood PCs. The pay’s okay, the travel’s fun and, since I’m a geek, the fringe benefits (lots of new techy goodies) are excellent. Thanks to my parents who drove all over Shoalhaven City delivering my flyers, I’ve got a good client-base, which is growing all the time. I’m looking forward to the coming year and ways in which I can grow the business.

On a personal note, I clocked up my first full year as a surf lifesaver, during which I helped patrol our beach here in Barefoot Bay. I’m slowly getting to grips with driving the IRB and hope to take my driver’s test some time within the next 12 months. I’ve quit smoking. Again. I have managed to not put on any more weight – but god only knows I could do with taking some off – that’s the plan for 2008/09.

I have still not felt any pangs of homesickness. I have no idea why. I just treat each day as I find it and realise that if something goes wrong, it’s just ‘life’ not a god-like vendetta. If I had to complain about anything then it’d be the TV, the radio and the music scene. All three suck – badly. Terrestrial TV here is so bad it makes Channel 5 looks sophisticated. My solution – don’t watch it. Get Austar, or download what you want, or like, leave the house and do something non-passive. Not much I can do about the radio stations, which play endless shite soft rock bollocks, beyond making extensive use of my MP3 player which is filled to bursting with quality ‘doof doof’.

Liz

The missus has been making great efforts to redress her work/life balance – by which I mean she’s started taking weekends off. It hasn’t been easy because she’s the main bread winner and we wouldn’t be living where we do, in this house, without the long hours she puts into her business. But she’s getting there. She’s suffered badly from a long string of bugs and infections and injuries that have meant she hasn’t been able to exercise when she wanted to – but fingers crossed we’re coming out the other side of that period now and she’ll be able to put her jogging shoes on again.

Two years in and she has some solid mates who she can sink a couple of bottles of Chardy with and put the world to rights. She’s looking forward to her visitors who’ll be here in a couple of months. Her parents are here for a month in September and her sister and niece will be here for a couple of weeks in October. Next year she’s said she’d like to fly back to the UK to visit everyone else – which is cool.

Jack

We’re reliably informed that you can’t tell him apart from his aussie-born classmates now – but his accent sounds just the same to us. He’s come out of himself a hell of a lot since we arrived here. He has made some very good friends and, despite getting a much stricter male teacher this year – is thoroughly enjoying his classes. He’s discovered a love of dancing which we’re encouraging by taking him along to breakdancing classes every Monday. He’s also started swimming lessons and will begin learning the piano soon. I asked him the other day where he’d rather live – in England or Australia. After giving it a bit of thought, he said, ‘England’. I asked him why and he said because it snowed there. I pointed out that we lived just five hours drive from snowy mountains with proper snow and he asked if he could change his choice. I think we’d all like to drive up to the mountains before the winter’s out.

Family

The day to day routine that comes with family life doesn’t stop just because you’ve moved to Oz. You still have to pay the bills, do the shopping, cope with illness and accidents – earn a crust or go to school. But for most of us, who lived the majority of our lives in one place in England – that doesn’t matter because the context of the routine has changed and that’s enough to make it interesting again.

Instead of driving up over Minchinhampton Common to take my son to school at a small village primary, I drive him down Coolangatta Road to a small village primary. Instead of doing a car boot on a Saturday, we go to a country fair. Instead of taking the dog for a walk along the cycle path, we go for a walk along the beach.. Instead of having a day out in London, we have a day out in Sydney.

Some conclusions …

The broad brush strokes of life are the same wherever you live on the planet – but there are some things that make life fundamentally better for us here. I genuinely believe that aussies are a friendlier bunch than the equivalent Brits. We moved from small town England to small town Australia and the fact is that after five years in the same town in the Cotswolds, not one shopkeeper knew my name – over here after just two years they all know me, they all happily pass the time of day, they all ask after the family. In the UK talk at parties was always about the car you drove, the profit you’d made on your house, the far-flung destination you were jetting off to on your holidays, the number of extra-curricular activities your children were involved in. Whilst I’m sure that keeping-up-with-the-Jones is alive and well in the cities, down here nobody gives a shit what car you drive or how much cash you’ve got in the bank.

Nobody’s suggesting that the aussies have some perfect society – god only knows it’s an over-governed place that’s often as backwards as it is enlightened. But you know what – I like it. It’s not up itself like where I came from and I remain happy to call this place home.