fourish

I can't resist doing these damn memes. I didn't even know they were called that until recently. they're usually what i post when i can't think of anything else to post, or when there is a lot of ranting i want to do but am trying to avoid because the people concerned may end up reading it. today it's the latter. maybe i'll tell you about it someday, for the moment let me just say i'm going to port macquarie this weekend and when i return my house will once more be my own (until i am so poor i have to give in and get another flatmate).

anyway - on with the meme.

Four jobs I've had
1. child care worker
i love children, bless them, but after five years of looking after many preschool - kindergarten kids and having to deal with their parents but having no power to effect change (or be paid reasonably) because you weren't a teacher, just an after-care person, i was quite happy to walk away.

2. receptionist
something i never want to do again. bottom of the pecking order, patronised and unappreciated by all. i worked for bosses who made david brent look like an angel (actually one of them looked a lot like david brent).

3. media reporter
ha - right - sounds much more interesting than it was. i was a 'reporter' for a media monitoring company, which basically meant starting work at 6am and working on saturdays, writing precis and transcribing radio news and talk shows, which would then be sold to companies and people who cared that they were mentioned in the news. on the surface, it sounds easy enough, right? all you have to do is listen to the radio news, write a short precis of each story including mentions of any people, company or product names. now try listening to the radio 'news' on your average station - 2DayFM or Mix, for example - hear how fast they go through each item? we were on extreme time pressure as you had to do this every hour for every station, and if you didn't meet your quota by the end of your six hour shift you had to stay and finish, but you weren't paid for the overtime (they didn't like you working longer than six hours because then, by law, they had to give you a break). the sport was a killer because i don't care about it, but had to get all the players' names right (sure, i was more intelligent than 90% of the other reporters and could spell every other word they threw at me, but somehow that doesn't count if you can't name rugby league players). i lasted about 3 months, when i stopped having a social life because i had to go to bed at 8pm every night, and when i ended up being anxious all the time because i couldn't meet my quotas. the one upside was i did have a brilliant grasp of news and current affairs, which lasted until about a week after i quit.

4. travel agent assistant
got to look at pretty travel brochures and get discounts on holidays. not much else to commend it, really.

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. When Harry Met Sally
2. An Affair to Remember
3. High Fidelity
4. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (I know, em, I nicked this from you, but...it's worth it!)

Four places I've lived
1. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
2. Singapore
3. Glebe, Sydney
4. Kensington, Sydney

Four TV shows I love (I'm including cancelled ones because I'm not really au fait with whatever's on at the moment)
1. Firefly
2. The West Wing
3. Gilmore Girls
4. The OC :)

Four favourite places I've been on holidays
1. Venice - quiet, beautiful, mysterious
2. Amsterdam - covered in snow, sailing along the canals, gorgeous architecture
3. Bath - like stepping into a book
4. Florence - the most beautiful paper shops and gelato in the middle of winter

Four of my favorite dishes
1. mum's spaghetti and meatballs - ah, home cooking
2. veal parmagiana
3. creme brulee
4. peking duck

Four sites I visit daily
1. Sydney Morning Herald
2. Neil's journal (if he's updated it)
3. iTunes music store (that's not technically the link to the store, but anyway)
4. Sydney Anglicans (a little nerdy? possibly, but i often need to check this out for work and then get distracted on the discussion boards)

Four places I would rather be right now
1. in bed, asleep
2. in a quiet, nice-smelling room, having a massage
3. up in the blue mountains
4. in first class on a plane, going...somewhere (i know it's perverse but i actually enjoy plane travel, even if i never have actually flown first class)

oops. i should get back to work. :D