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.

We spent a further fortnight twiddling our thumbs and watching the peas grow bigger and stronger.

Then our fortune began to change.  One Thursday I applied for a job in the legal department of an insurance company via an agency in Sydney.  The agent called me and we spoke for about half an hour going through my experience and the job in question.  She enthused that she thought I was ideal and sent my CV over the company explaining she was also sending  details of another candidate but she would state me as her preference.  I then had a telephone interview with the operations manager from the insurance company on the Friday and was told at the end of the call I could start the following Monday on a temporary basis, with a view to making it permanent.

On the Saturday, Paul received a phone call in response to an application he had made to a job on Gumtree and was also told he could start the following Monday on a trial basis with a view to starting full time immediately.  He kept missing the guy’s calls because he left his phone with at the apartment while he went to hunt and gather.

It turned out it was one of the jobs he had applied for on Gumtree and was slightly dubious given his previous experiences.  However he was assured he would be paid (well, as it turns out) and that there was plenty of work for this particular contractor who currently had 30 men on their books.

The morning sky over Alfred Square, St Kilda

So within 72 hours we had gone from desperation to elation.  Neither jobs were permanent but we both work hard and we each finally had an opportunity to prove ourselves.  If nothing else, we would both gain some “local” experience.

Our spirits were high, our confidence slowly began to return as we realised the enormity of this turnaround.  We would be staying in Australia and we could start planning for the future.  We would no longer living be living in suspended animation where we felt that we were existing in a glass box watching everyone else go about their daily lives while we waited to rejoin civilisation.

Even Australia’s appalling performance in the second Ashes test could not dampen Paul’s spirits.  And me?  I just kept thinking about all the nice things we could buy for the house to make it really home.

The rest of Saturday saw us just grinning inanely at each other, wanting to pinch ourselves and Sunday we went out to buy tools for Paul.  We also visited a couple of charity shops looking for a raincoat for me as it was, of course, forecast to rain on Monday after weeks of sunshine.

We couldn’t be happier.

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