3 days after having a long discussion about getting the 'flu jab with a cycling colleague ( who also happens to be an infection control nurse), I get sick! My side of the discussion was that since I rarely get sick (ha!..now that WAS tempting fate) I never bothered to have the injection ... I left work with 3,000 sick leave hours available to me, so I "rested my case". Now I have a sore throat (right side only) and a runny nose..... not the 'flu by any stretch of the imagination but that discussion has certainly come back to haunt me!
Italy
The school in Urbania has finally come back with accommodation information but I'm not happy. After booking and paying ages and ages ago and requesting an independent (not sharing a kitchen and/or bathroom) apartment, I've been told that while I can have my request for the final 3 weeks, for the first week I'm required to share. The school here has done my booking, so I left instructions..there's no way I'm sharing...I've been there and done that while a student and don't plan on re-visiting that style of accommodation again...not while I'm solo. Luckily I've got a car, so I'm not limited by lack of transport.
A new class member yesterday has just returned from 2 weeks in the same school and while she sang praises of the school, her tale of their apartment's TV and kettle not working did not actually inspire confidence! Such glitches might be bearable for a short trip but not for the 4 weeks I'm going to be "in residence"!
While writing this I'm reminded of the place we stayed in the Pyrenees last year where we were rather too close to the church, which struck the hours 24/7 not once but TWICE every hour...just in case you missed it the first time.
eBay
eBay works just fine when both the buyer and the seller mesh well, but the guy who bought my Corima 4 spoke set and also the Zentis front wheel reneged on the deal totally. Shame that. I'll just have to put them back up for sale when I get back. I wonder what penalty, if any, eBay imposes on buyers who fail to honour their side of the deal. I recall hearing of 2 people who were banned after it was discovered they bidded the price up for their own stuff..not sure if it was true or not. Getting the postage costs correct has been an interesting exercise..initially we underestimated how much it would be but latterly we've been overestimating. ah well... time and effort etc.
Garmin
this is working well except that comparing it to the PCVI readout can't happen since it seems to be reading extremely high..either that or I've suddenly strengthened up beyond belief!
Parking fine
of all the penalties one can fall foul of, the parking fine has to be the most boring waste of money. The grey ghosts around the Italian school on Cardigan Street in Carlton must be collecting a mint...10 minutes over the 2 hr limit yesterday and I got a $60 fine. Ouch.
While looking for an appropriate image to put here I found this which raised a smile
Global Financial Woes
As a new non-earner I'm making sure I get the best out of my $$$$ and so I will be REALLY annoyed if the exchange rate, which has recently and finally been so favourable to Aussies suddenly goes belly up.
Less than 2 weeks to go. Woo hoo!
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