What have I been up to #2

What have I been up to..... not writing anything on here, for starters!

ok so it's been 19 days. A lot has been happening since then - just small things that will be ticking over for the next 18 months or so. I just looked back at my last post and happy to say things are moving along.

I had a 2 hour trial at the place where I had the interview, and hurrah, got the job!!! I've had 3 proper shifts there already! The first night was a Friday and it was mental - there was a local band playing and the place was packed. Other people told me it was a lot busier than normal, but it wasn't until I worked again Friday just gone that I realised how much busier it really was, that first night!

I'm actually enjoying it. It's good to learn something new (pouring a beer!), while getting paid for it - instead of me paying someone to teach me! It's cool to do something different to the regular 9-5 and I feel like I'm making use of my Friday nights now. I'm a bit surprised at how quickly I've picked up things, like pouring a beer. Because the first night was so busy and the Big Boss was there, I was super stressed and nervous! BB is nice but still you're always a bit more on edge when they're around - you want to do a good job. Second and third shifts only got better - I became more familiar with the register as well as where the different beers on tap were.

I've also had 2 more horseriding lessons. Unfortunately the girl from the first one wasn't available again, but I had a different young fella called Matt and he was good too! It's holidays and I've asked for a regular, ongoing lesson for Tuesdays but neither Matt nor Charlotte are available. Oh well - I suppose it's good to get to know different people!

Oh yeah, I also turned thirty-four :O so old.....
mum gave me a book filled with thousands of Australian towns, as well as some money towards my horse riding lessons. The card she gave me also had a kangaroo with a 'bindle' (had to google that!) and a joey in it's pouch :D

Cos I really don't know what I'm doing...

I thought I'd better google "What to write about in your first travel blog" and then didn't read any prior to posting my first travel blog. But, instead, I figured I would later add a few links here to remind myself of places to look at later. And, of course, later will never come but because I added the link here I'll feel like I did :D

ooooooooo why should I write a travel blog? ta-da.... Google has the answer......
(BTW must disclose now, google is my BFF "4eva". People at work think I'm an expert at Excel but I have them all fooled. I'm an expert at googling)

http://thetravelhack.com/blogging/think-write-travel-blog/
ok in fairness there are some good reasons there! Like, it forces you to may more attention to what a guide is saying or what you read. And the most obvious reason (I think) and the reason I thought I'd do this - is to record my memories. Didn't need a blog to tell me that one ;)


http://sparksradio.com/2014/04/23/i-hope-jurassic-world-doesnt-suck/

Half of the posts about posting and blogging are aimed at people who want to make a living off of posting and blogging which is defo not for this girlie! So there goes half the other blogs telling me how to blog. Phew, the list is getting shorter. Being a bit of a hoarder, reducing the amount of crap I have can be difficult so I'll take any success where I can claim it!

aaaaand taking back my words - I'm glad I read a bit more of this blog post cos after skipping past the pointers telling me to use wordpress (am I allowed to say that word here?) and "avoid blogspot like the plague" (not sure where blogger fits in the spectrum from crapola to holy smokes!) - there were a couple of good tips that will definitely help steer me, being:

"Create a solid "About Me" page"

and what she describes as her most important point,

"Create things you're passionate about"

- thanks, Young Adventuress! (click the link to find out more about her! TBH I just scanned it :O  Big long paragraphs = brain no compute, eyes no likey)

What have I been up to??

I have been inSANEly busy! The emphasis shouldn't really be on 'sane' there haha! 

let's see, I....

• Booked my RSA and RCG on Saturday
• Sunday I did up my resume and sent it off to a ton of pubs/ hotels, bought me a big mappo! 
• I also rang a few pubs on Tuesday - and was offered an interview at one, for the coming Friday
• Wednesday was super exciting, I had my first horseriding lesson!
• My first course was on Thursday - Completed my RCG - what a long day!
• Had my "Interview" on Friday and....
• Saturday - Completed my RSA - no rest for the wicked!

Expansion pack....

The horse riding lesson was so much fun! I had an instructor called Charlotte, an English girl. She was great - explained every little thing simply, used analogies which is great for me, and seemed to 'get' my sense of humour. So, when I said ridiculous sh!te, I didn't have to either explain it, or laugh embarrassingly to myself and say "nothing...!" The horse was Little. He knew what he was doing. And he knew I didn't! He just wanted to go to Charlotte and when he heard her say a word he understood and did it without me needing to do anything! Not great for learning and Charlotte knows he knows so she knew I didn't know :P I did a spot of trotting and some walking while standing in the stirrups.

Annddd.. the interview. Could hardly call it that. I rocked up on time (not early, which is hard for me to do - I'm always early because I'm impatient, but my practice in patience seems to be paying off! Big thumbs up to me!) and the manager had forgotten I was coming! So I did jazz hands and said "Surprise!". The only question that could possibly fall under the catergory of an 'interview' question was "How would you go saying 'no' to someone who's drank too much" - seriously! I reckon she really just wanted to see that I was normal and had half a brain :D and I can check half the first box and definitely have at least half a brain!

And here is my map, I am gonna stick arrowy post-it notes for places I wanna go to. Smiles smiles smiles (I'm trying to flatten it out!)