Number of months without wearing socks 7.
Number of jelly fish stings 1 (Daughter aged 7, painful but otherwise ok)
Number of giant spider sightings 2 (Those huntsman are huge)
Number of times gone off road with 4x4 car 0.
Number of times we've complained its too hot 600,007.
Number of times we've gone in pool to cool down 600,007.
Number of wild kangaroos seen 0.
Number of wild parrots seen 976.
Number of lightning strikes watched from the veranda 821.
Number of times fell asleep in hammock on veranda 2.
Number of tropical fish seen while snorkeling 57.
Number of cockroaches squished 9.
Number of times downstairs flooded by major storm 1.
Number of cheap take away meals consumed 31.
Number of times woken up by birds going crazy at 4:50 in the morning 76.
Number of surfing lessons 1. (Daughter aged 12 had one)
Number of times eaten kangaroo 1. (Dont tell the kids)
Number of geckos spotted about the house 5.
Number of possums removed from loft 1.
Number of geckos accidentally trodden on 1.
Number of times lay on bottom of pool on a hot evening looking up at the moon through the water. 5.
Number of prices converted to pounds 1209.
Sunday 23 November 2008
Friday 7 November 2008
redundancy looms
Well its been a worrying week, the Corporation I work for employing 10,000 people decided to make 10% of its staff redundant last week, blaming the recessions and the need to cut costs. Unfortunately the team I was on was earmarked to take a 50% cut in staff.
It was a scary few days while the decisions were made and the potential to be sent packing really made us realised just how much we didn't want to go back to the UK.
Being on a 457 really is a risky business, no company is truly safe and once you are made redundant you have 28 days to find another job and not just any job but a job that will sponsor your 457. At the end of 28 days if you fail to find another sponsoring job you have to leave Australia or face deportation. Its a worst case nightmare scenario, you lose thousands of pounds getting your family and things back to the UK, we would go back to the UK with a 12 month rental contract still to pay for in oz. our home in the UK is being rented out to someone else. The kids would have to move school just as they are settled in.
Fortunately I survived the cut and live to work another another day, but its made us realise we really do need to get permanent residency.
So now we are going through the visa immigration process again (with an immigration agent), this time a skill based sponsorship visa, which can take as little as 2 months to process. The pre-requisites are that your employer will sponsor you and that you have a degree in a required skill and have worked in that skill for 3 or more years.
It was a scary few days while the decisions were made and the potential to be sent packing really made us realised just how much we didn't want to go back to the UK.
Being on a 457 really is a risky business, no company is truly safe and once you are made redundant you have 28 days to find another job and not just any job but a job that will sponsor your 457. At the end of 28 days if you fail to find another sponsoring job you have to leave Australia or face deportation. Its a worst case nightmare scenario, you lose thousands of pounds getting your family and things back to the UK, we would go back to the UK with a 12 month rental contract still to pay for in oz. our home in the UK is being rented out to someone else. The kids would have to move school just as they are settled in.
Fortunately I survived the cut and live to work another another day, but its made us realise we really do need to get permanent residency.
So now we are going through the visa immigration process again (with an immigration agent), this time a skill based sponsorship visa, which can take as little as 2 months to process. The pre-requisites are that your employer will sponsor you and that you have a degree in a required skill and have worked in that skill for 3 or more years.
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