Changing Fortunes

The legendary Lunar Park in St Kilda

A lot can happen in 3 days.

After my parents granted us a reprieve with their kind loan we continued our relentless search for work.  I attended 2 interviews, one which didn’t go very well but it was good practice but the second interview I thought went very well indeed however I still didn’t get a job offer.

Paul continued to answer ads, sending his CV out to all and sundry, only to be harassed by marketing people when he applied for jobs on Gumtree (people selling advertising space place misleading ads and then try to get you to pay for advertising in some journal or another).  It was enough to drive you to distraction and he almost stopped looking on Gumtree altogether.

Desperate Times

Little penguins on Philip Island

With no work in sight we had to face some harsh realities.  Paul could get financial help from the state but I wasn’t entitled to anything (not surprisingly as I haven’t paid into the system) but neither could Paul claim for supporting me so the help Paul could get would not even meet the rent payments, never mind food and bills. Things were beginning to look a bit bleak.

Counting Parrots and Peas

Parrots

While we waited rather impatiently for work to turn up, or more accurately, for our many applications to transform into something remotely resembling a job, we spent a lot of time twiddling our thumbs, sitting out on the balcony, watching the peas poke their little heads through the soil in the tubs, and counting the parrots who flocked to feed on sugar and water put out by our neighbours opposite.