So, I passed my manual driving test this morning. This is fantastic news, because of the following:

• I no longer have to have lessons with one of the most infuriating men on earth. Mr. Forgets-a-lot who reprimanded me on pretty much everything I did and told me that he had given up hope of me ever slowing down for corners. Maybe I did suck quite badly, but I can only handle a solid hour of "don't do that" and "CLUTCH CONTROL!" and "be careful about this" for so long before paying $55 for the privilege seems to be an unfair price. And I can't have been as bad as he made out if my creepy tester let me pass. Surely.
  

• I can go car shopping! The little green shitbox is making high-pitched whirring noises quite a lot these days (not to mention billowing black smoke from under the bonnet), and I think that during this economic crisis it is high time for me to get myself into a lot of debt. Because I'm clever like that.

• I have a much nicer licence photo! Admittedly, I did tart myself up a little bit in the hope that should my driving efforts be abysmal, perhaps I could flutter my eyelashes to reach a pass mark, and as a result I don't look like my usual hobo self in my photo. Hoorah!

• I never have to take another driving test, ever again! Retrospectively, I really shouldn't have been such a lazy cow and taken the easy way out in the first place, but what's done is done, and I am stoked to be finished with it.

Lovely!

On Thursday, the Director sat us down to discuss Our Jobs. He used the phrase "the economic crisis has come to Queensland government." He likes to say things like that for impact. Apparently the area that I work in is considered a target by the other head honcho types, and while everyone is looking for ways to save money (they just took away the free teabags), our jobs may be at risk. May be at risk. Nobody knows anything, or if they do, they're not saying a word.

A couple of people felt a little panicked. The Director said that we shouldn't panic, and that we should boost our performance so that the Cost-Cutters have nothing to fault us on. I took in this information quite calmly. With the rate that things progress in government, if I am going to lose my job it will probably take a few months, at least. I already scour Seek every morning for shiny new jobs. There is no change. Business as usual.

It's probably pretty unlikely that they would fire me, though.


I mean, who would fire the owner of incredibly sexy sock boots such as these?

They'd have to be crazy.

I feel like I need to do something. Start my own business, trek somewhere exciting, begin a quest for Youtube stardom, something.

Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of ideas. I will just have to sit here until my feet stop itching.

News!

No news.

No news is good news? Actually, no news = boring life. Part of my Itchy Feet Syndrome seems to be feeling desperate to blog, but I have tried several times this week only to find that my only content is Bitching About Work, and Boring Fitness Stories. So, in an effort to not fall back onto those two old faithful topics, here's some random bullet points about other things in my life:

• My pet bird has a broken feather. He keeps yanking on it, and getting it caught in the bars of the cage, and squawking in pain.
  
  
• We went out for dinner last night at a Trendy restaurant. Definition of Trendy: it was packed with young folk in fashionable outfits, the lights were dimmed down low, curtains were slung around the place, and the seats were actually cushions on the floor. Needless to say, with my jeans/singlet combo and lack of shiny accessories, I did not fit in. While we were waiting in the bar area, I was almost swallowed by a bean bag.
  
  
• Beardie and I visited DFO today for the first time, after hearing so much about its 'shopping mecca' status. It was large, but not quite the size of a small country, and contained some cheap prices, but also some expensive ones too, and we bought some square, black plates. Because food tastes better when it is served on stylish crockery, you see.
  

WINTER COAT:


Speaking of winter, the weather is coming along very nicely. Despite my Driver's Arm sunburn suggesting the contrary, the mornings and evenings are cool, and I get to wear hoodies sometimes. Hoodies are only second in the Comfort Clothing category to my fat pants.

• We gave some friends a lift into the Valley for dinner last night, and I was faced with a Reverse Parking dilemma. Dilemma = I was forced to reverse park. I have not really tried reverse parking since I actually passed my test, and therefore had one of those comical moments where I drive a little bit forward, and then drive a little bit backwards, repeat forty times, etc. I was paid out for it, which was well-deserved, but it has left my driving ego slightly bruised. I am thinking that if I want to upgrade my licence in two weeks, I need to brush up on some skills quite quickly indeed.

Sigh.

(P.S. Work blows.)

Reading: I've just finished Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. It did not float my boat. It was such a bore. It was boredom-making. I have heard that it is some type of highly-acclaimed, insightful social commentary, but methinks it was perhaps much more valid in the 1930's than it is so many years later. I suspect it is most likely one of those books that I just Don't Get. And I am very glad to be rid of it. Now I get to choose a new book to read, which makes my heart all a-flutter.

Watching: a few different things, but I am devastated that United States of Tara is now off the air until 2010. Multiple personality Toni Collette is my favourite Toni Collette.

Going: to the movies. Beardie and I went and saw a movie which cements our reputations as the nerdiest nerds that the realm of nerds has ever known, i.e. Dragonball Evolution. Yeah! It wasn't bad. Goku's hair wasn't big enough and Piccolo was missing his little antennae things. We probably could've waited for the DVD release.

Spotting: a blogger at the gym! A real-life blogger, in person! However, it wasn't actually anyone I read regularly - just a random Brisbane blog I stumbled on one day and spent a few minutes looking at. This girl walked into my class and I just couldn't work out where I'd seen her before, until all of a sudden it dawned on me and I inwardly exclaimed "OMG, I have seen her off the interwebz!" I don't know why I was so terribly excited by this.

Doing: not an awful lot.

• Piano is on hold until May, with a brand-new teacher who is just down the road from me.
• Herbie is doing well, and is growing impressively despite having bits snipped off him all the time.
• I am continuing to lose little bits of pudge here and there, very slowly indeed.
• Work is killing me, as per usual. I did actually get a heap of feedback following that e-mail I sent to the Director and I am slightly daunted by everything they want me to do before I can get a job down there. Where I am going to find the time to complete a billion training courses, I don't know.
• The plan for Easter is to buy a coat (this is outside of the buying-new-clothes ban, because yesterday was fricking cold and I don't want to spend this winter shivering) and go for a drive to a cave to look at some glow worms.
  

Lovely.

Today is Random Photo Friday!


This my herb garden. I went to Bunnings (I LOVE BUNNINGS), bought the bits, and then made it with my own two hands. I would give it a name, but can't come up with anything more imaginative than "Herbie". And now I just have to learn to cook something other than vegetables and meat so that I can actually use the bloody things.


Another Threadless order arrived! I love Threadless. Jesus is breakdancing!

So I have the day off to go to the dentist and I expect to be prodded and poked with sharp metal hooks and that horrible thing that blows gusts of air into your mouth. But 6-monthly check-ups are good for the whole Dental Health thing, and I plan to keep them up to try and avoid another disgusting abscess and subsequent root canal. Dentists = lovely.

I have a couple of other things to do as well, another driving lesson, a new battery for my watch, some new stockings OMG WHAT AN EXCITING DAY.

But, I am not at work, so hoo-fricking-ray, I say.

There's a shitload of changes afoot at work at the moment, which is not unusual, and if you want to survive working there you need to be really adaptable to change. I am cool with change. I am all "Oh, a change? Yeah, that's cool." But I coach somebody who hates change, and every time there is a change she sits next to me and complains into my ear for HOURS. And being bombarded with negative vibes kinda gets me down.

So besides feeling a bit down, I decided to e-mail the Director about that job that I didn't get. Yes, I was feeling a bit ballsy. And I said "hey, yo, why didn't I get an interview, you bastard?" except, you know, worded all professional-like. And he replied saying he had forwarded the e-mail to one of the panel members, and thanked me for my interest in his Section. And that's the end of the story.

It's the end of the fourth week of my fitness thingy. I realised earlier that this is the first time I have ever stuck to any type of self-improvement thing for more than two weeks, so I am a bit chuffed.

But I figure there's still six weeks left for me to completely cock it up in some way.