The global crisis, without question, has had its detrimental effects on the Australian economy. This week, eight employees were made redundant at work. Unlike our competing companies, the CEO has actually retained most employees. I heard that some companies are up to their fourth round of "letting go" staff.

Out of the eight who have been released from their contracts, one happens to be a good friend of mine, a Psychologist, whom I really look up to for support  It hurts to see him go, but I guess a business needs to do what's best for their financial forecast. Another redundant, happens to be a single mother of two children with many bills to pay. It's a depressing thought imagining how it would be like with two kids, no job and having to worry about whether one can find a job in time. I see that a similar skills set is what these 'redundants' share in common. I work in a specialised area and being one of two in the State firmly secures my position, but that's not to say I'm not worried.

Sometimes I wonder about the future... what the future will hold?

What about you?

I am SO happy TODAY!

Finally, I've completed my thesis, it's neatly bound and now with the School of Psychology

I look forward to my three weeks off

Firstly, I would like to THANK YOU for the B'day greetings, and secondly, the positive comments and encouraging words that have helped me battle the unhapiness I have had at work!

So much has happened as of late:
(A) Corresponding to the day I handed in my letter of notice, the mean boss at work also decided to resign (i.e. management asked him to resign - which wasn't something I was expecting ) - this is fantastic news for those employees who haven't been happy with his management style.

(B) On the night of my Birthday I felt a fever  This fever lasted for five days. I ended up in hospital to have drugs pumped into my veins - the doctor worked out it's not pneumonia, but an infected lung (which is good news for me - thank God it's not a relapse of glandular fever)!

Having just come out from hospital, my respect for nurses have grown immensely

What I've seen is a job that's not made easy! In hindsight, my current job as a Googler, compared a nurse's job, there's no question that I have it easier! I guess that's a sign that I should look up to the bright side!
On the night I was in, the nurses who were working that night were confronted with all sorts of challenging problems such as (a) dealing with uncooperative patients, including psycho loonies [there were three who came in the same day I was there - one kept screaming "help, help", the other kept swallowing unknown pills, and the other kept saying he needed to shower] (c) cleaning up after patients (d) dealing with not-so-friendly doctors; and (e) dealing with lots more crap! Despite their already long-hour shifts, the Government is planning to introduce a new policy whereby nurses will have to work a minimum 10-hour per shift, which I believe sucks - Our cognitive abilities deteriorate after 8-hours of heavy concentration and sustained attention; all of which, are abilities that nurses need to be performing at higher capacities.

ON a POSIITVE NOTE: I found two DELICIOUS PEKING DUCKS taking a stroll in my yard today... hehe!

For the past five years, there's always been a pair of ducks trespassing my backyard... I'm not sure if they're always been the same pair though...

Aren't they cute

They went crazy as soon as I started chucking bread towards their long beaks!

My mum has a BAD habit of taking my letters and not informing me about their existence...

It only occured to me, after receiving a letter that's been hiding in the draws for the past two months (not happy), that my car registration has expired...

In actual fact, my registration has expired for the past THREE months without me even knowing. Thank GOD I haven't been picked up by the Cops, OR even worse, been involved in any car accidents...

In hindsight, I consider myself very LUCKY: I have had cop cars driving right behind me, in front of me and we have even quite happily driven side by side. Registration-checks are quite common where I live (I was told that we fork out the highest fines in our State compared to any other Australian State)...

I had my car parked in between two cop cars for a whole week... I remember one Cop looking over my windshield, but surprisingly he didn't stop me... Maybe he misread my registration date - Oh, maybe my tinted windows were dark enough just to blur the date on my sticker...

I've renewed my registration now, and can drive with a certain level of comfort!  =)