So much better than Ozzy

So much better than Ozzy
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Yeah, you heard me. Black Sabbath rock. And Ozzy is no match for Dio.
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Dio! Time To Go!

Dio! Time To Go!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Waiting for the Newcastle train to depart (15 minutes).
I'm due in at Broadmeadow at 4:15pm. Will meet Ben there. Will find a pub. Will have a few beverages. Will grab dinner. Will see Black Sabbath. Will have a good night. Will head back down tomorrow night. Will see you all on the weekend.
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...and stay out!

Wow.
I mentioned earlier that I entered into an argument with my manager about hours being worked up.
Well, I called my recruitment agency Monday morning complaining, and asking if I had any legal standing to demand pay for the hours I worked. I also asked them to remain discreet.
Come 4pm, my manager walks over and asks if he can talk to me outside.
He tells me that my recruitment agency called, and that he has decided it is in our best interests for me to not come to work anymore.
Officially fucking fired.
What a fucking child. I dob on him and he retaliates by firing me.
What a fucking cock.
I guess I shall recall the full story here.
So.
We are contracted for 80 hour fortnights. Last fortnight I had to stay back and extra 5 hours because of meetings running overtime and having to get stuff prepared for meetings.
These extra hours were able to be "saved up" to go toward the APEC summit compulsory day off in September. Not really a problem.
Except on the Monday I was sick, so I figured that these extra hours should go toward that day instead. I figure it's within my rights to get paid for hours that I have worked.
So I hand in my timesheet last Friday, and my manager says that he won't sign the timesheet with 77 hours on it - that I have to resubmit it with only 72 hours on it.
He tells me this during morning tea. I say that it's illegal, and that I will call the recruitment agency about my rights.
He leaves shortly after to go back to his desk.
I decide to go tell him that I didn't want to butt heads over it, and find him emailing the recruitment agency telling them that I will be calling soon. Fucker.
I decide that it wasn't worth arguing with him about the timesheet and yield; I resubmit the 72 hour timesheet.
After leaving work, I decide that I have a fucking right to get paid for what I have worked, and call my recruitment agency and tell them about his bullying and illegal policy.
Unfortunately, Maria (she who is in charge of TC) wasn't in, so I talked to Amy about it. She agreed, and even said that she knows what my manager is like. She left a note for Maria to call me on Monday morning.
Come Monday, she hadn't yet called. I called her. She was like "Oh, I was meant to call you!" Yes you were, Maria. Why didn't you?
So I talked with her about it, and she was fucking useless. She asked if I wanted to jeopardise my job over it. This shouldn't jeopardise my job, but I said yes - that I was sick of the mis-management.
She said she'd have to talk to her manager about it, and would call me back.
Come 4pm, my manager walks over and asks if he can talk to me outside...
Fuckwit.
So I pack up my stuff, send a goodbye, fuck you email, and head over to the pub with Josh and Leanne for a pint of Old.
So, there you go.
I'm going to visit my recruitment agent, find out what exactly happened. I'm also going to call workplace relations to find out if it was legal a) to pay like that or b) to fire me like that.
Fuckers.
So. I'm now a free man... restricted only by what meagre money I have paid off of my credit card and by what money I have coming to me.
I am applying for jobs this week, although I didn't today because I was down at Newport, and won't tomorrow, as I'm heading up to Newcastle for the Black Sabbath concert.
Wish me luck.

Facebook

You may or may not have noticed that I started a Facebook account on Friday.
I did this out of boredom. I thought it would give me something to do while I wait for work at TC. I'm not sure I should have.
I don't use MySpace anymore, and I'm probably not going to use Facebook - certainly not to the degree to which it is meant to be used.
It's a great website, full of really good, techy features, so why won't I use it?
I just can't be fucked checking it.
I like my Blog. I write, people read. I get all the personalisation that I want, and I don't have to respond to anything but the occasional comment.
But with Social Networks I have to check it all the time, I have to respond to messages, pokes, invitations, comments, wall markings, and friend requests, and I've been accused of ignoring people when I don't (I might add that if you're reading this, relax; I'm not talking about you).
Facebook is clearly better than MySpace - in terms of features, interface, bandwidth consumption, cleanliness, open API (and the subsequent applications it spawns), ability to use feeds, no friend ranking, the list goes on and on. It's a great product and a great idea.
But I just don't sit online anymore.
I'm not going to sit in front of Facebook and browse. I'm not going to trawl through profile pages and send a virtual puppy to someone whose status reads "feeling down."
I'm not going to spend hours customising my page, deciding what song best describes how I feel at the moment, or what text colour reflects me as a person (I already did that on my blog, haha). I'm not going to create lists of my favourite things, so people can decide if they want to be my friend or not. I'm not going to spend hours uploading and tagging photos for yet another site (I already have Flickr for that, thank you), and I'm not going to spend the time looking at your profiles, either.
I just don't do that anymore.
My virtual life has shrunk to a lone Blog (ok, ok, there's Flickr and Jaiku, too...). I really don't use the Internet like I used to.
So I'm considering deleting both my MySpace and my Facebook account - I will save you all the trouble of poking me, writing something on my wall, or tagging my/your photos. If you need to contact me; email is good, phone is better.
If you needed to resort to a social networking site to contact me (because you don't have my phone number or email address), chances are that I probably don't miss you, and won't want to catch up with you for coffee.
If you want to find me on a social network, how about the pub? I like the pub, and I don't have to worry about typos there.
That is all.

Yet Another Weekend Up At The Hunter

What is it now? 5 weeks in a row? I don't know... but I've been up at The Hunter every weekend for while now. I suppose it's good that I get use out of it before it sells... if it sells.
But it was good weekend.
Mike, Leanne & I went up for a smoke.
We were on clouds, we became planes, we flew through the air and across the hills, waving at the little people...
Indeed. Fun.
We ate too much, though.
Altogether too much.
I need to start eating better. And probably exercising, too.
This shall happen this week.

I am seeing Black Sabbath with Ben this Wednesday. We're seeing it in Newcastle (Bogan HO!), and as such, I've taken the following day off of work. It's funny; I hate work, but I hate taking days off work because we don't get paid for them. I actually entered into a bit of an argument about not being able to work up hours for days off with my manager on Friday. I'm trying to find out if what they are doing is legal. The lady at my recruitment agency isn't very helpful, though.
Sigh.

Hunter Valley Madness

Hunter Valley Madness
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Mike, Leanne & I at Bimbadeen Lookout, in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
Havin an awesome weekend.
TO THE WINERIES!
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Coming Weekend

Wednesday night saw the birth of the idea of going up to the Hunter with Leanne, Mickey, and Ross and smoking some green.
Turns out Ross can't make it.
Leanne has now been offered to work tomorrow (Saturday) at double-time. So she is seriously considering that offer.
Mike and I will still head up tonight, though.
So, if Leanne decides not to come up tonight, we will meet her at Morrisett after work. This also means we will have Yummy Thai (that's actually the name of the restaurant) for dinner, which will be nice.
Mum is mega-stressed at the moment, and she will be coming up, too - so that'll be nice. I said I'd shout her dinner.
So. Yet another weekend spent up at The Hunter.
Sorry guys.

It's been some time since I posted about dogs...

Рэд
Originally uploaded by maxmorev

You know... I don't even like dogs that much. I like them, yes, but I'm not crazy about them.
I hardly ever think of dogs, or dream about them.

Most of my dreams are about whales, or about bears in the ocean.

Whales suspended on wire frames above the middle of the ocean, swimming with whales in watery-roads on the way to Mickey's house, whales beached, whales stored dead/netted and cramped in a corrugated iron warehouse over the ocean... I dream about whales a freaking lot. I think they're my dream-spirit-animals.

Bears in the ocean or underwater are the thing I dream about second most-often. Bears living underwater, huge bears swimming at zoos like whales, bears attacking from the shallows, bears swimming in circles....

I very rarely dream of dogs.
But tonight I think I shall probably dream of this very creepy photo.

Coffee

Coffee fucks me up.
That is all.
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Manson

Prick your finger it is done
The Moon has now eclipsed the Sun
The Angel has spread it's wings
The time has come for better things

This used to be a favourite line of mine. Listening to Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar, and thought I'd write it down somewhere. It's off of the song Cryptorchid.