Dan - still busy

Got interviews today, and half my candidates have dropped out. Gotten to that level of business where I'm not actually that busy because I've got so much on my plate that I don't know where to start. Hopefully things should ease off a bit next week. Now I'm off to shift furniture so I've got a table to interview people at.

Becstarr : Paid parental leave for Australians... lobbying in Canberra #1

Back from Canberra and two days of lobbying federal pollies with Unions NSW about the need to bring in a paid parental leave scheme when the Productivity Commission brings down its report around September. The model that we're proposing is pretty good, I think, and met with a pretty good response all round with those we met with in this round of lobbying. There's more to come, of course!

A brief overview of the model for those who are interested:
* 26 weeks / 6 months of leave, in line with WHO guidelines on the minimum time a baby should be breastfed.
* Jointly funded by the government and employers:
- Govt to pay up to the federal minimum wage, and
- Top-up to the woman's normal salary (capped at about 100K) from the employer fund
* Employer fund to come from a per-employee levy of 0.9% - 1.4%.
* The employer fund works like the long-service leave fund in the building industry, which provides portable benefits for all workers in the industry, no matter which employer they're currently with.
* Small businesses who are exempt from payroll tax (around 12-15 employees as a rule of thumb) to be exempt from the levy, but their employees will still have access to the fund.
* The benefit will replace and enhance the Baby Bonus, and contributes to taxable income.
* Benefit available to all mothers / primary carers, whether they are currently in paid employment or not.
* Benefit can be claimed by either parent / partner, as long as they are designated the primary carer.

Please excuse the long post.... I could be a little overexcited! :)

Kit is disconcerted

Work people keep coming up to me and congratulating me on getting my new job. Same work, a little more money, potential for more responsibility. It's disconcerting.

YL - meaningful quote.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Nelson Mandela quoting Marianne Williamson.

Becstarr : Selection panel

I sat on a job selection panel for the first time this week: 7 interviews over 3 days, two by phone. It's been a very interesting process and I feel the need to sit down and re-write the interview questions - which we sweated over! - to take in what I learned in this round. The question most often misinterpreted? The one about how one has handled conflict in the workplace. I thought that was a fairly standard question, but it seemed to somewhat throw quite a number of people...

The things I'll take to my next job interview?
* State general principles, but then give specific examples of your past experiences.
* Probe first, to make sure you're answering the right question.

falsedan - fighting kangaroos

Hello dudes I am in Sydney. I had a hell of a time at customs trying to explain why exactly I have brought the weather with me.

My AU phone isn't working >:|

Off to Target to get about 9 pairs of Volleys

Jaime - Tropic Thunder

Was really good or at least I couldn't stop laughing. Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant.

Jen - scary times

Had my first experience with a pedophile today whilst at the "purple" playground with the kids (that's what Atti calls it - not the regular local park). Still shaken and freaked out. But we're all okay - the kids are none the wiser.

falsedan — hey guys

Got my lease, extracted a visa from the AU High Commission, bank finally returned my missing £700.

See youse on Friday

Hurray for days off says Kit

To avoid mondayitis, I have taken today off. I've had a nice sleep in, worked on my assignment (boo), and had some vegemite and butter on toast for lunch (thanks Shannon). Now its coffee time!

YL - life is like surfing

You wait out on the ocean facing the beach and headlands. They are your distant guides - general markers of direction. Over your shoulder, you watch for the oncoming waves. Which one will you catch? You assess them & decide. Ready, you face forward - not looking back - and start paddling. If you catch this wave, you ride it. If you miss it, you catch another one.

Life is full of opportunities & events like that I think. Some waves are bigger, some are smaller. I'm not entirely sure which wave/s I'm riding at the moment, but damn life is really good for a change. I almost can't believe it's for real.

Guy: Nerd Training

I was talking to the president of SLUGS (the Secret Ladies Underground Gaming Society) and discussing concepts of membership, how people will pay any price for Wiz-Fizz, etc., and she asked what membership numbers I was talking about. Later I described Sutekh and what it did and all the rest and she said; "Hang on, if I went to Sydney Uni right now could I join this club?" Very cute. :-)

She also said that the first time she and her friend sat down to play Bohnanza that they felt they just had to keep playing and playing.

Shannon: Heatwave

Its been very hot lately. Today's high is supposed to be 34 degrees, which could set records for this area. All night I dreampt about Vegemite. For breakfast I had three pieces of toast with butter and vegemite and now my tummy is happy :)

Anna : Walking around like C3PO

Three days of boxing, kickboxing followed by more boxing has left me with unfortunate DOMS in my legs and on either side of my elbows. It hurts to straighten my arms and my walk has a distinctive waddle to it ...



Who said the gym was good for you??!?

Off they go

Well, despite our best efforts we did not manage to convince Evil and V to abandon plans to cycle across France and stay for the rest of the festival. Maybe it had something to do the constant rain.

Welcome to Scotland, we invented rain you know!

Anna : Over the flu, back at work

Preparing for big web meeting to explain style sheet change over to faculty staff. Still waiting on my iPhone ... come on ICT!

Jen - 11 years ago today

We had Appy-schnapps, a huge spa bath and playstation shenannigans in a fancy hotel room.

Happy 12th anniversary, Dan.

And the rain continues

So of course, when festival starts, the rain starts. Day two of almost torrential rain, we spent inside playing Carcossone before venturing out in the evening for some standup. We did manage to see a bunch of stuff - The British Amabassador's Belly Dancer (a one woman show of her life as a dancer in Uzbekistan); Kunst ist Scheisse (a very silly burlesque cabaret); Feasting on Flesh (a brilliant burlesque, cabaret, acrobatic extravaganza) and a bunch of other comedy shows.

Oh, and I finally saw the new Batman movie. How amazing was that!

Kit likes Adelaide...

I spent a long weekend in Adelaide. It's like one loooong country town. I visited the Central Market (yum), had a lot of coffee, ate a lot of cheese. Stayed at a B&B in the Barossa Valley, went walking in Kaiserstuhl park and went geocaching! I got my 50th cache in Springton ~yay me; but my "rival" at work is up to 68 ~Grr.

Guy: Top 10

In the midst of a Twilight plague the English teachers are putting together a list of the top ten books which have changed their lives, in the hope of redeeming some poor lost souls.



I thought I'd post mine;

• 1984 by George Orwell
  
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
  
• Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
  
• Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Neitzsche
  
• The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia McKillip
  
• Dune by Frank Herbert
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  
• Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
  
• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
  
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  

In all honesty the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook should be at the top of the list, but I don't think it's in the spirit of the thing.