OE DAY 4
Well today was our first day of work. It was about as boring as you would expect a first day training to be but it had it's moments. First thing I noticed was the desperate lake of females in the class, however it appears that the balance is reversed in the rest of the call centre. Best part of the day was reading our contracts and finding out that we are getting paid very well for what we're doing.
NOTICE TO ALL KIWI'S

Come and earn some real money!!! - We are getting paid real money where the necessary qualifications are; being able to speak clearly and use a computer!

Look out for a special section on this website that will outline a guide to emmigrating to Australia.

Talk soon.

OE Day 3
Well, We now have fulltime work. Can't talk now, drinking.

We start tomorrow.

OE Day 2

Well we woke up at 10ish local time. It was a nice feeling not having to rush to work.

I gave the people I knew at Sitel Australia a call and arranged to have lunch with them. Sure enough we got there with seconds to spare. We are a two minute walk to the ferry and it goes to downtown Sydney, then there is a 20 min walk to get to 1 Oxford St, home of Sitel in Australia.

We went around the corner for lunch. It was a greek style cafe and for some reason you only pay after your meal.

Anyway during the meal we were offered work and an interview the next day. We were suddenly offered the interview in 20mins and it was all on. Don't know how we did, but you know were to find out.

Talk to you tomorrow.

OE Day 1

Day started at 4:30 AM. Yes this time of the day does exist. Some last minute packing/swearing etc and we were off to the airport. I handed over a huge plastic bag of coins to the BNZ lady and was given AUS$130 back. All things were full steam ahead until John got pulled aside at the security check.

"Are you carrying a knife in your bag Sir?"
"Yes I am!"

"Do you recall what happened on Sept 11?"


I have to admit that considering the savings the flight was pleasant. The trouble was that the discount flight meant that we had to fly into Newcastle 'International' airport. I use the term international loosely as I doubt the people there knew that international means from another country (or even that there are other countries). The 'terminal' was literally a tent. Without photographic proof I don't know how I can convey the sureal experience of getting off an international flight and having your passport checked with a canvas roof overhead. Oh and Newcastle is two hours drive out of Sydney - bugger that!

Sydney is hot and humid and utterly appealing. So far I haven't been bitten by any snakes or spiders (obvious misinformation about just how infested Australia is). I have spent the daying sleeping, eating and drinking beer. No problems there.

The website is getting a major face lift (I know I've said that before) and look out because there is going to be an actual globaljohnny.tk soon.

Catch you all later

Well 12 HOURS TO DOG!

I am stuffed, absolutely buggered.

Some very kind people got me quite drunk last night. My day has started and will probably finish in amongst a pile of boxes and items I had forgotten I owned, but can never throw away (just incase, you know!) At some point in the day my outlook on these often forgotten items changed. By now, each outstanding random piece of kitsh in the garage is doomed to the bottom of the bin. As John would say (actually he's being saying ALLL day) "It's time to go NATO". Bugger NATO, it's time to go WORLD WAR 3.
I have reached that tender point of exhaustion where reason and psycosis meet. At the start of the day I was ready to lovingly wrap each item and place neatly in storage. Now, give me a gasoline can and a box of matches and I would gladly see the whole lot up in smoke, if only it would let the job be finished.

It is said that moving house and travel are the two most stressful things you can do. While it is debatable that they are necessarily ranked 1 and 2, (remember I had to live through the building of the house) it is none the less tempting fate to do both things concurrently.

So here I am, with a ticket to the cricket and a almost empty house and an almost packed bag counting down to leaving and missing the cricket, and with a million unfinished jobs, unable to muster the energy to do anything but write this note.

Thankyou to all those people who have made my life such a wonderful experience (why am I leaving again?). I cherish every memory of you all and as one of my two best friends would say "till boat drinks" - it's kinda like see you at the end of the road.

This is Farewell to you all. I don't know when I will be able to write again so, until next time.

"May you're road be straight and the wind always at your back,
Through God's good grace may you be safe until we meet again."

Check out the seven's photo's (they work this time!)

ARRGH SO TIRED!
oh and 5 DAYS TO GO!

6 DAYS TO GO!

Running out of time to finish things off (who could have seen that coming). Sony were true to their word and the camcorder looks great, look out for some improved content soon!

8 DAYS TO GO

Well I just climbed a very high tree(40feet) to cut some overhanging branches. Now I have cuts all over me, those little bits of branch cut like razor blades.

Last night I finished my first OEAdrian.com movie. (but you don't have a camcorder yet) It's all done with still photos.

It's called "Why John is a Cabbage" and some of the visitors to OEAdrian will know what it's about. For the rest of you just trust that it is very funny. Trouble is, it ends up being a very large file, I'm looking at how to make it smaller (and whether I can fit it on the site!) I may just leave it on a geocities thing and link to it. Anyway here is a link to the sevens photos that I have so far. When I get a chance to spend some time on it I'll put them in the photo section properly.

Sony again prove that they have Superior Service as well as Superior Products!

Two hours and forty five minutes after sending an email outling the trouble I was having, Nick at Bond and Bond has just rung me. Sounding like he had just discovered that the tooth fairy exists he frantically told me that the camcorder would be ready for me on Monday... as well as a long life battery for my trouble! He then quized me about how I had managed something that his manager could not.

For the last three years I have had customer service/value at the focus of my work and here is a shining example of a last minute save. Procedures and guidlines have to be set to ensure a business runs efficiently but at some point someone needs to go the extra mile to ensure a positive service experience is achieved. When this fails it is good to see that escalating the issue brings about such a quick response.

A number of years ago I had trouble when a cd walkman of mine was serviced under warranty. After two months the cd player was still not fixed. I wrote a letter to someone at Sony HO and a new cd player arrived three days later. The fact that this has happened before is testimony to my faith in Sony products and in their service focus.

There are always going to be mistakes/glitches/delays, good to see that Sony is willing to put things right.

9 DAYS TO GO!!

Still sick, this is dragging on a bit, might have to see a doctor. Sony have really stuffed up my camcorder, they said that it would arrive mid feb. Yesterday they said it would be another 10 working days (thats long after we've left). Just drafting a letter outlining the problem to send to them. There is a comparable model but it's more expensive, lets see if Sony will come to the party. Email me your comments and I'll post them on the website.

Valentines Day
...and I'm sick at home in bed! Still, for a small extra charge you can get flowers delivered so all is good.

On the countdown front it is 10 DAYS TO GO!!

I'm able to move around reasonably today, so I'm doing the home handyman thing.
Todo:
1. Rewire primary phone jack point.
2. Replace broken light switch in bathroom.
3. Replace broken towel rail in ensuite.
4. Stain the cedar rails outside

Plus probably a bunch of other jobs...

Isn't this great! You guys have been giving me a hard time about not updating - well here it is! Blogger lets me update the site in a few seconsd online!

Here's an update on the OEAdrian crew:
Johnny (see him at GlobalJohnny.tk) is fully liquidated (didn't take that long) he's good to go tomorrow.
I, on the other hand have three years of acrued spending to get rid of. Car's, electronics etc.
There is a whole host of other things to deal with that you just wouldn't imagine!
For some reason now that I am days away from leaving, things are hoting up on the girl front, isn't that always the way?!

I'm afraid time is against us all.

Finally go easy on me guys. We have stills, movies and audio clips on their way very soon. Only trouble is that there is no spell check on this thing and ya'll know I did remedial spelling in Form1.

I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day....

I'm sick as a dog at the moment but I'm still buzzing. I'm leaving on the 24th!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!