Cashback

Get in!!! As of two days ago I am $3,600 richer; I'll never besmirch the Australian Tax Office again - the last time I got a tax refund at home it took about six months to come through, here it was under two weeks. This, obviously, makes life a bit easier and not only means I shouldn't have to work again in Oz after next month but even opens up the opportunity of an extended stop-off on the way home.
Only problem with that, of course, is deciding where on earth to go: originally I was pretty much sold on on Hong Kong or Shanghai, but after a visit to the STA office I'm not so sure - the guy there described Shanghai as the one destination of his presumably pretty extensive travel career that he no desire to se again, and instead suggested Africa, perhaps stopping off at Johannesburg and returning via Mozambique; as another, cheaper alternative, Vietnam is starting to look attractive; finally, following a recommendation by a guy I met in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) intrigues...
Unless life hereafter is the most charmed in history, I will endure far worse problems than this one. It's still a bit of a thorny one though. Will have to decide pretty soon though. Any suggestions?

Swings and Roundabouts

Bet no-one's ever used that as a title for a post before eh? Nonetheless...

Good and bad news recently, in more or less equal measure.
Good: (i) looks like we're going to be offered another month's work (that really will be it for admin in Melbourne I promise - even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to carry on after the 7th September as you're only allowed six months at any one company...Six Months!!! Christ that's a bit scary); (ii) the financial year here ended last month, which means, wood touched and chicks uncounted, I should be in line for a pretty decent tax windfall come August - in fact with a bit more overtime and generally not being stupid I might even be in a position not to have to work for the remainder of my time in Australia - maybe, possibly, future desperation dishwashing last-resorts notwithstanding. Ahem.
Bad: (i) I can't get a credit card in Oz (not enough time left on my visa, nnngh) and the signs from HSBC about getting a British one aren't great; (ii) looks like Tasmania's fallen by the wayside, for the moment at least - dude I was going with has decided instead, bafflingly, to make off for Alice Springs in a camper van with only an attractive young lady for company: I mean, I ask you, etc. ; (iii) the vague post-trip plan I had for teaching in Japan next year looks to have been scotched, as the deadline for entries falls a week or 2 before I'm likely to get back (to be fair this is relieved a bit by the fact that they've raised the maximum applicant age to 40, so I've got a few more goes at it yet).
Thus, the current mood would best be described as 'yeahwellalrightcan'tcomplainknowwhatimean?'. The current financial situation would best be described as 'day-before-payday broke'. The current romantic situation as 'worshipping from afar'. All in all, the usual then. Bye for now.

Adam is...

...in awe of Facebook. Seems like I'm the very last person in the world to have joined it, and that every person I've ever met is an old hand. I can see much reminiscing in the near future with people I thought I'd lost touch with (what my Dad calls 'What Happened to Old Carruthers-ing') and far too much spent on internet cafe bills.
As you can probably tell from a post that leads with that, not much has been happening in the real world recently. Currently got all my extremities crossed in the hope that HSBC will let me have one of their shiny credit cards which would undoubtedly make life much easier in the short term if, very probably, also trickier in the long. At Japanese housemate's behest went to watch the Bledisloe Cup rugby match between Australia and New Zealand on Saturday (in the pub, natch - at $170 a ticket the MCG was pushing its luck a bit too much this time); having adopted the All Blacks as his chosen champions he almost spontaneously combusted with excitement at the Haka and was near-disconsolate at their eventual loss. As was half of Melbourne - Kiwis are kind of less obtrusive than Aussies until the rugby's on, then all of a sudden the black jerseys appear and you wonder what country you're in.
Work might be finishing at the end of this month, which would probably be good as a necessary kick up the rear to get me going somewhere else; a brief trip to Tasmania with a colleague is currently planned for the beginning of next month, after that god knows. Still. Considering trying the map-as-dartboard method of deciding my next stop, seems as good as any other.