A Comedy of Errors.

So...today should have been my first day as a Librarian...but I am still waiting for my Police Check to come through. I had a phone call from the Librarian yesterday telling me that I couldn't work today because of said check.The other new recruit Jenny was supposed to be starting yesterday and I told the Librarian to wish her well on her first day."She's not in" came the reply, "She is sick."How awful to be ill on your first day at work."You'll be regretting employing us" I said, " you must be thinking what a pair we have chosen!""It certainly is a comedy of errors," she said.

Remembering Dulcie.

So...two years ago last Friday Dulcie left us.Today I made some Dulcie biscuits for the first time in ages.Dulcie's Jam DropsDulcie's Anzac Biscuits

Great North Runner.

So....my son Nathan is running in the Great North Run on 10th September and is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.Here is a link to his JustGiving page if you would like to support him.Nathan's JustGiving PageThank you! 

'Chicken Protector' to the rescue!

So...we have been keeping the 'chooks' in their pen quite a lot since the last fox attack when Will saved the Black Rooster with no name, the one that we don't like, but we have occasionally been letting them out when we have been around in the garden.The daft things don't help themselves because they wander about in the bush rather than keep in the open and on top of that the roosters crow "Here I am! A sitting Chook!"" all the time.I had a day at home today and after washing up from last night, making some fennel and potato soup, a bit of planning for tomorrow (Boo! Hiss! Boo! Boo!) and a trip into town for a few supplies I came home and let the chooks out.I got back to my planning even though there are a million things I would rather do, but needs must and about 90 minutes later the hullaballoo started.I knew it was another fox attack because I have heard the chooks alarm calls before. I dashed out of the front door and over the other side of the garden could hear and see the hens running about wildly and then I saw the fox running with one of the birds in it's jaws.I was just thinking this morning how unfit I am as I chopped some wood and carried it breathlessly back into the house but suddenly there I was flying across the garden like a thing possessed.It looked to me like the fox had Wang Mu, I could see it was one of the brown birds anyway. The fox ran across the open ground and up into the bush and I dashed in after it. It was faster than me and I knew it would be harder to follow as I leapt over a fallen tree trunk so I roared as loud as I could as the fox disappeared into the trees.I thought it was too late but suddenly came across Yudhisthira lying forlornly on the ground. I picked him up and carried him back to the house. The other hens had fled up the other end of the garden all making a racket as if to say "Look, we are still here and far away from the house come and have another go at us!"Poor Yudhisthira was very quiet and his left leg was limp and I suspected it was broken. I put him down under the verandah and I went to chase the others back nearer the house.When I went back to him he had gone and for a moment I thought the cheeky fox had been back and snatched him. I looked all over and eventually found him huddled up under a cupboard. At least it meant he could still get about but I wondered if he was limping.I went and got some water and grain and put it near him and held out a sunflower seed for him to eat and he suddenly flew out from under the cupboard and strutted about making a loud fuss. His tail feathers are nearly all gone and his pride is hurt but apart from that he appears fine.That's it. No more freedom for a long while.We have been thinking about getting a fox trap. I think we need to get it now. It is a humane one so if we catch him we will let him go near someone else's 'chooks'

Induction Pt 2.

So...today I had to again meet the Librarian at 8.30 am but today we were to go to Warwick for the rest of our Induction programme. We were to be given a car to get to Warwick but the Librarian was unsure whether she was able to come with Jenny and I as there might not be room. At this news I wondered what kind of car we might be going in if there was only room for two and as it turned out she was talking about a Ute (Utility Vehicle). All three of us went over to the Council Offices and we were ushered through the glass security doors into the Corridors of Power. We were introduced and greeted, again, far more effusively than you would expect someone who was just going to work for 6 hours a week might expect. As the Ute was not sufficient for our needs we were given the Councillor's car as it was not booked out for today."Am I looking for a Rolls Royce?" I asked the Librarian as I was first out into the car park."Sadly, no," was the reply.It was quite nice car, I don't know what make it was but it was silver and looked Councillor-ish. The Librarian popped the boot as we were taking some books for theLibrary in Warwick with us. The boot was empty except for a Light Sabre."Heck! The Councillor is a Jedi Knight!" I exclaimed. "How cool is that? It's good to know 'The Force' is with us on this Council."I sat in the back for the trip to Warwick just to see what traveling was like for Councillors/Jedi Knights. As soon as the engine started the radio came on and some tacky Breakfast Show hosts were discussing the best way to use toilet paper which kind of ruined the Councillor/Jedi Knight vibe a bit.It was a smooth trip and the Librarian stuck to 80 kph even though the speed limit was 100 kph, but that's Librarians all over for you. Everybody was overtaking us but I resisted giving them the Royal wave from the back.Our day started in the Warwick Library meeting the staff there and then we had a meeting with the Human Resources Officer. We were waiting in the Video Conferencing Room and this huge bloke in came in with a battered flask and dirty Eski (Cool box), wearing a fluorescent jacket and labourer's clothes which I thought was unusual attire for a Human Resources Officer but hey, this is Australia.As it turned out this was Pete, and he was not actually a Human Resources Officer but the new Backhoe driver for Waste and Water department. He was having the Induction too. I nodded politely at first as if I knew what a Backhoe was but the more it was mentioned the more I wanted to know what it was."Sorry what's a Backhoe?" I asked, just like a Casual Librarian who never gets his hands mucky. It turns out I did know what one was but I call it a JCB. Pete was hoping he was getting a new one. It turns out the new ones have a coffee machine inside the cab."Well, it's a 'pommie' machine" he said "and they need something to keep them warm."Our talk by the Human Resources Officer was very interesting and she told us all about Council and the hierarchy and what was expected of us and what we could expect from them. Much of it did not apply to Jenny and I as were only Casual Librarians of only a few hours a week.The issue of the random drug testing reared it's head again."That will be interesting," said Pete. "They were going to do that down on the Gold Coast until they realised that if they did they would end up with no Council workers at all."Jenny and I gasped slightly, as you would expect Casual Librarians to do at hearing such shocking news.After the H.R Officer in came an Expenditure Officer. We were told she was the most important person in the building as she was the one who sorted out the pay.She was lovely and very efficient and reminded me of Susan Boyle but with the brains of Carol Vorderman. Her chat was interrupted by the CEO who was ushered in to meet us.The CEO introduced himself and asked our names and shook our hands and welcomed us to our new jobs. He was keen to know if we had any preconceptions about working for a Council but we hadn't. The Council has been through many changes since he took over two years ago and before we met him we had heard he was dynamic and hands on. He wants to meet with us again in a few months to see, as newbies, how we have found beginning our new roles with the Council...yes, even two lowly Casual Librarians and a Backhoe driver matter to this CEO. Surely he was Jedi too!The Expenditure Officer continued her chat after The Jedi Master left and then Jenny and I left for a bit as she had a bit more to talk to Pete about. He was full time, he was getting a mobile phone and he potentially had a coffee machine in his cab. Yes, Pete was a lucky bastard!.....sorry, that's not very Librarian-ish is it? I still have much to learn.Out in the corridor along comes the Health and Safety Coordinator from yesterday with one of his colleagues."Steve, this is Nick. He's new but we have to watch him as he gets up to a bit of mischief."I feel I am getting a bit of reputation in this new job before I've even got started. The Librarian appeared again and took us into the bowels of the building to meet someone else who gushed over our appointments as very Casual Librarians. I found out that I am the first male Librarian in the area for 20 years."Times they are a changing" I said. "Why is that? Have you not had men apply for jobs before?""Oh, we have," I was told, "they just haven't been successful."Back up in the Video Conferencing Room we met an I.T Officer who chatted about the Internet and Intranet and he took our photo for our new I.D badges."Jenny, does my hair look OK? " I asked before I had mine taken.We waited for our new badges and were free to return in the Councillor's/Jedi Knight's car. I let Jenny sit in the back for the return trip.Back at the Library in Stanthorpe I asked the staff on duty today if they had ever been in the Councillor's car. They hadn't."We have" I smirked, "and guess what we found in the boot? A light sabre.....The Councillor is a Jedi Knight!"Jenny starts next Monday I have to wait until my Police Check comes through. Hopefully it will before next Tuesday when I am due to start...unless someone discovers that body....oops!