Monday 19th October 2020
Day Off just as well as I have a very busy week ahead.
I just lost the entire paragraph of my blog again. Even what I wrote previously.
Saving one sentence at a time now.
After taking my rubbish out to the dumpster area to the side of the parking area, I surveyed the damage done to the brick wall and letter boxes. The building was so close to being hit by the car it was not funny. Very lucky escape for the guy in Unit 1a. There was only slight impact to the front corner of the apartment block which left a gap in the buildings skirting which I don't think caused any structural damage to the apartment block. I asked another guy living downstairs in the apartment block if he heard or saw the accident on Saturday night and said it sounded like an earthquake and how I looked out of my window and didn't run down to offer assistance as it seemed to be alk under control. The guy in Unit 1a had calmed the driver who was in shock down, called the emergency services where a police vehicle showed up, and probably notified the landlord. On Sunday morning he even cleaned up the pile of bricks now rubble but did not move the damaged letter boxes to the side walk of the parking area. The maintenance man showed up this morning and reattached the letter boxes to the remains of the front brick wall not bothering to rebrick the damaged section with any loose bricks - I watched him work from my window.
I had a shower washed the dishes did one load of washing and drying my black work clothes then went out shopping at Chatswood.
I went everywhere Woolworths Metro, Zara, Country Road, H & M, Sportscraft before Priceline, Aldi and Coles.
8 pm before heading home. When I grocery shop I really grocery shop. I still haven't purchased everything off my grocery list but I can't purchase any more as I have 3 full bags already.
I unpack my groceries and watch Have You Been Paying Attention as well as catch up on blogging.
By the time I go to sleep it is 11 pm.
Tuesday 20th October 2020
I had such a good sleep and slept in until 7 am. Today it is overcast again but I have another day off. I plan to wash my other bag of laundry and go out. Then return to prepare lunch for tomorrow's long day at work.
Myer 10.30 am - 5 pm Originally rostered on to work as at 11th October when I last checked Kronos. I checked Kronos again on Saturday 17th October and my 6.5 hours shift has been cancelled. There seems to be a pattern here as this is the 2nd Tuesday shift in a row cancelled according to my diary. Last Tuesday's shift on 13th October 10 am - 5 pm was rostered on Kronos as at 7th October however when I checked Kronos again on 11th October it was cancelled. I probably check my Kronos app every single day even twice a day - who has time to check that often?
It's raining today again so today I plan to stay indoors. I am hoping that by Sunday it will be warm again so I can enjoy a whole day out at North Head and Q Station to explore( and that back burning does not jump containment lines into North Head resulting in precautionary evacuation of residents businesses and visitors again).
So where am I today? After 9 months absence this is the very first time I am stepping onto the ice again. Here at Macquarie Ice Rink for a public skating session from 11.30 am - 1 pm. The closest ice rink is not far from where I reside but in Sydney it is not cheap to go skating. The discount 1.5 hr lunch time skate during weekday is $20 flat rate. I have my own skates so skate hire will be on top of the normal entry fee for a 2 hour weekday session of $22.
I hope I can still remember how to skate!?
After signing in and paying the entry fee It's time for me to put my skates on and do a few rounds around the rink . Not too bad. My feet hurt like hell but I will keep skating.
12 noon and a full 30 minutes of continuous skating around the rink I am getting a little more confident and stable on my skates again. I take break as there is still an hour left of the session.
The rink is not empty but not too crowded. There is about 20 skaters on and off the ice. Some with private instructors.
12.20 pm and I have my first stack - my toe pick got stuck in the ice and I trip over. My knees hit the ice ouch! I get up and keep going. Time for a rest again. No more slow turns or spins just keep skating forward.
At 12.55 pm I leave the ice and take my skates off. It is 5 minutes until the session ends at 1 pm. School sports is already lining up to get on the ice at 1 pm. I survived a whole 1.5 hours of skating except for about a 10 minute break all up.
Onto continue my grocery shopping at Coles as I could not find anything at Big W before I went for a skate. I purchased a cabbage wraps for my lunch tomorrow, custard powder ( finally found some!) and of course a bar of Panna chocolate!
Onto Lush where I purchased a bath bomb for my wardrobe - to go with my oil less diffuser sticks. So many fragrances to choose from! I settled on a lemon myrtle one. I will wrap a cloth around it to stop it from crumbling. Hopefully it will whoff out into the stinky hall way of the apartment block and fragrance my apartment as well.
I take the Metro Line back to Chatswood but stop at Woolworths Metro for $4 cash out and top up my Opal card with another $20 as I won't have time to top up later. I hate using the Opal card machines as they never give receipts. I discover that Woolworths no longer gives cash out at the manned cash registers, cash out is only available at the self service check outs. No problem. Done
Home to empty my rubbish again and wash and dry my laundry whilst preparing for an early start tomorrow VMing - I hope I am able to assist the department rather then hinder them by joining them this week.
Still waiting for my laundry to dry. It's 8 pm. I hasve my lunch packed and I should be ready to work tomorrow.
Get a message via Whatsapp team group chat to read the Mcast on Afterpay and give a thumbs up when watched more like a thumbs down after I watched it. I am also expected to log into Myer Metrics and read the Mcoms and so so as I haven't for a while now and will be told off if I don't however I can't bypass the surveillance message that pops up which I don't want to agree to but do anyway. Nothing intetesting to read under Mcoms but at least I watched the Mcast on Afterpay.
Noted my 3 x 10/10 customer feedback scores however I received only 2 x 10/10 overall customer feedback scores and 1 x 8/10 overall score - the lowest overall score received but at least the customer who scored this was honest - he or she was happy to be served by me but not so happy with Myer - what did I mention previously about dragging my reputation of exceptional customer service down? It is now evident that it's not me but Myer - the comments by customers that I've heard over and over again such as " There is never anyone around to serve me" and "I'm going to DJs and never shopping at Myer again" still rings true.
Bed as soon as my laundry is dry. I can't go to bed yet still have to amend my electronic diary with shift changes again.
For F*** sake Myer!!! I just checked Kronos again and my shifts have all changed again!!!!! The only shifts that haven't changed are the 2 x VM shifts tomorrow and Friday. See amendments to shifts for the rest of this week. No just look at my diary entries - every single week looks like these pages in my diary! This is the first year my financial diary has looked like this. Can you make sense of any of my entries? Neither can I!
Wednesday 21st October 2020
Myer 8 am - 5 pm VM only . This was an extra shift added by the VM manager after the customer service manager spoke to him about how I had a "talent" for VM after the full day I spent with her on Thursday 8th October from 12 noon - 7 pm VMing. ( refer prevoous blog for that day with a day before text from the customer service manager asking if I could work until 7 pm instead of finishing at 4 pm that Thursday). Shift added by customer service manager onto Kronos Thursday 15th October marked with an "X" next to it. Kronos checked again 17th October 2020.
It will mean leaving home at 6 am to get to work in time ( actually I can leave at 7 am but I am cutting it fine with bus connections and time to walk to the back of the mall to the staff entrance which will get me there at 8 am or later if I miss a connecting B line bus) and I am unsure if I really do have a talent for VMing but I will give it a go. Long hours and I know I will be really tired but it is a new experience and a great learning opportunity. ( which turned out not to be and was just moving stock around and that is not real VMing)
I arrived at the staff entrance at around 7.40 am and texted a message on What's app team group chat ( because I did not know who to ring) if someone could let me in or if I had to wait until 7.55 am for the staff entrance to open again. I get a message back from the team leader saying that I would have to wait. No I didn't have to wait the VM manager arrived and had a key so let me in. I sent a text back to the team leader with a "no I don't, the VM manager let me in." He instructs me to go down to the dock and just get a cage and start putting the stock on the shelves and ask other team members for assistance if I got stuck and to maybe bring the cage of beach towels out as well.
So I almost finish my first cage of stock until I was called over to move all the towels so a new set of displays could be put up. I spent my entire day on this moving every single towel, bath mat ,scales, face washer, hand towel, bathroom accessory , bin, duck board, bath sheet, mattress & pillow protector, electric blanket & mirror around possible. The Sheridan concession employee will kill me after she see what I've done to her stock! She needs to remerchandise the entire range of concession stock because I had to squish everything from 6 - 8 nice long set of shelves into 3 sets of shorter shelves!
I only manage to fit in a lunch break at 3.15 pm and even then only took less then 45 minutes.
After lunch I continued on to finish the very last towel display. At 4.50 pm the customer service manager asks what time am I working tomorrow I had to check my calendar as my shifts are always changing. Originally from 10.30 am - 3.30 pm which was changed to 2.30 pm. After answering a call she asked me if I could come in at 8.30 am tomorrow morning to finish what I was doing. Was she crazy! First she shortens my shift for tomorrow then asks me to come in extra early to finish what I was doing at the last minute! No way!!!!!I said to her that I WILL finish what I am doing by at 5 pm today. She seemed unconvinced. I did manage to finish the Linen House towel display by about 5.15pm when the store closed at 5 pm there were still customers in the store at 5.15 pm. I swear a lot of managers are on drugs. That would be a great question to bring up at the AGM - Do you ever drug test your managers?
Today I served some customers who were waiting at the counter but tried not to unless there was no one around or there was a queue forming. Creepy store manager was watching me serve at the register again today and speaking into his headset mouthpiece. I deliberately did not wear my lanyard around my neck today but did have it in my pocket ( which came in useful as one of the team members had forgotten her list of access codes today and I could give it to her for pillows). I did this because I wanted to avoid customers coming up to me asking for assistance as I am not suppose to be on the floor selling today but VMing and also to stop my lanyard around my neck getting caught on something causing a choking hazard. Lanyard or no lanyard customers were still approaching me for assistance today! There was this crazy customer who didn't want to purchase anything but kept coming up to me pulling me away from what I was doing and asking for assistance first with pillows then with quilts. I told another VM team member that I wanted to hide again even without my lanyard customers are approaching me for assistance. There are other team members around, It's not just me.
I was asked if I was on VMing tomorrow and am not but strangely after I spoke to a team member today that only gets 1 shift a week or fortnight about how I'm not actually on the floor today but VMing, he gets a shift VMing tomorrow afterwards and even a double up on shifts? How did that happen - found out on What's app team group chat. It goes to show never post anything you want to kerp private on the team group chat app!!!!
Now onto something I am not very happy about. After punching out ( using the time clock provided and not my personal smart phone) I get my backpack & bag out of the staff lockers. My bag has my jacket over large bento lunch box in it and my backpack always has a drawstring bag with things, a spare set of underwear, a spare set of clothes , a spare set of socks and a towel in it, my cosmetics bag with first aid and toiletries in it ( for last minute trips and I have been caught out quite a few times in heavyrain where I have been soaked to the bone) , my wallet full of loyalty cards, a black Moleskin hard cover zippered pouch that contains my spare phone charger cables and earphones in it and a smaller cosmetic bag tgat contains my lanyard tissues antibacterial wipes medication and moisturiser in it as well as a bottle of water. Although I fel t I should just walk out I open the top of my backpack for a bag check to the store manager as to not be accused of stealing anything and was made to take out everything in both bags. I found the next question VERY INAPPROPRIATE AND NON OF THE ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER AND NONE OF HER BUSINESS AS WELL AS AN EVASION OF PRIVACY. She asked me what's in my black pouch so I opened it up and thenn she asked me "Am I a diabetic?" I said "No, it's actually my charger ( for my phone" She goes on to say how she has a black pouch tgat looks like that. Even if I was a diabetic I don't think that is any of her business particularly if I don't report to her. To my readers out there - Do you think this was an inappropriate question and what did you think of the bag check situation in General? Post me a comment.
Bus to Chatswood at 6 pm as I did not make the 5.30 pm bus due to the above delay so had to wait for the next 280 bus. No stopping off straight home on the 144 bus, dinner catch up on YouTube and blog. Sleep.
Thursday 22nd October 2020
Myer 10.30 am - 3.30 pm . Original shift checked on Kronos on 11th October and rechecked on Kronos on 17th October. Shift unchanged to date. Checked Kronos again on 20th October and shift has changed again. My shift has been cut short to finish at 2.30 pm instead of 3.30 pm today.
I am leaving home 30 minutes later today to see if I can still get to work on time. I get a text message from the customer service manager to ask if needed can I stay longer today if needed. After cutting my shift an hour short now she asks if I can stay back if needed?
Is Myer waiting for me to crack and resign because they sure are trying hard to do so?!
The traffic along the Spit Bridge is horrendous this morning and it is almost 9.45 am. I am stuck on the B Line bus. The traffic will only get worse towards Christmas as I've mentioned in previous blogs.
I arrive at work this morning and it is utter chaos. There is so far no allocated finish time for me today and no allocated department. As far as I know I assume that I will be working in Homewares today from 10.30 am onwards however when I get to the registers counter in Homewares I am told to go to Menswear by the team leader as they have no staff apparently everyone called in sick today so off I go . I check my Kronos yet again to see where I am suppose to be working and when I finish. What the? My shift is split from 10.30 am - 2.30 pm in Homewares serving then from 2.30 pm - 7 pm in events???? What about a lunch break? no forget that I didn't bring my lunch because I didn't know I was going to work until 7 pm today until I actually got to work. Such a waste of my funds - this job isn't exactly paying me what I was getting paid in my previous job nor is it a regular 3 day 9 - 5.30 job with a proper lunch break. How am I suppose to save any money when I keep having to buy my lunch. I mean I'm not exactly getting the number of shifts other team members are getting- I only have 2 half shifts next week and I checked again this morning still no change.
Let's get back to when I arrived. So I go to Menswear as told and am by myself. I start the day with 3 sales but each time it is a struggle with the computer putting a single transaction through. This is always a problem - the POS system keeps hanging between 10 am and 11 am every day.
I have not spent much time in Menswear before there is a discussion between the customer service manager and the department manager(s) about which departments are going to have me today. They were all trying to work around team member lunches upto 2.30 pm - wait don't I get one?
So the plan was Menwear to Kidswear to Homewares to Events - or that was the plan until another team member turns up in Menswear and I ask her "Am I with you now?" Then change of plans I've been told to go back to Homewares as it's all sort - bye see you later. And I was having so much fun serving a cute guy who was a customer that purchased 6 items of clothing. Oh the issues it caused - it took 2 other team members to interpret if 2 of the 6 pieces of clothing was actually included in the buy 2 get the second item at 50% off. In the end the customer was in the right in the
So the customer service manager needed me to help her with the product displays - I asked what is going on? Kronos says.... But before she can even grab me the Electricals manager wanted my assistance in his department - the customer service manager says "No! I need Dulcinea on the floor"
Time to head back soon - lunch went so quickly. I had to get out of Myer so went out into the mall to grab something to eat and blog away from prying eyes!
For lunch I just had 2 potato croquets and some water.
Back on the floor by 3 pm. Yep late lunch. I continue with the cages from the dock full of food. The excess food stock is returned to the dock in a cage marked with a sign " excess food stock for outposts"
When a team member and I just could not remember what the word was called we were thinking outsource?outcast? outage ? what was that damn word again!? I went out to the dock and read what I had written on the sign and yelled out to her "Outposts" that's what it's called!
After finally finishing my second cage of food stock and managing to fit it all onto an allocated set of shelves I had cleared - sometimes VMing is very mathematical, there are always problems with shelving and display fitout dimensions. You have to manipulate the stock to fit and not the shelving or display fitouts.
I showed the customer manager my finished display of stock. I think she was happy with it. I told her how mathematical it is to fit all the stock in and she described it like a jigsaw puzzle.
Next return the excess stock in a cage to the dock with a sign on it to indicate it was excess stock for outposts. Then remove any empty cardboard boxes to the compactor in the dock ( oops I didn't know there was one and started dumping a whole lot of cardboard boxes into the 2 giant dumpster bins down in the dock as that is what we had done previously a nd nobody said anything. Everything went into the 2 giant dumpster bins. I was also told not to flatten any cardboard boxes as the compactor does it better I never bothered flattening my boxes anyway.)
It was close to finishing time and in between serving a few customers decided to split 1 cage of stock with another team member to put out.
I was running around trying to find clear cylindrical containers to use as vases to put out all the Christmas fake plants and flowers but could not find any so was running around raiding each departments counter cupboards ( without sucess) trying to find some with a poinsettia in my hand. I reached the Electricals department and started raiding their cupboards as they always have cupboards full of junk but not this time and the Electricals manager spots me and makes a comment " Is that flower for me?" - nope I'm trying to find a cylindrical container for them. Having failed finding one I stole one from the floral display but only one shoving the other flowers into the bucket next to it on display. Having only 1 cylindrical container, I still didn't know what to do with the poinsettias so I stuck them in one of the plain green Christmas trees that lined the Giftorium arches set up for Christmas - I then told a team member what I had done and said that I will leave them there until someone from VM notices!
I managed to sign up another customer for Myer One today and so did the team member I was working with VMing.
There was a bit of a problem with a customer return today and a team member and I both served her previously and do not agree with the decision not to allow the return. She purchased a quilt cover that was the only Queen set in the store and it was on the display bed so I took it off the display bed for her and she was so patient with me doing so. She purchased it a while ago but she folded it up the best she could and put it back into the plastic packaging ( which I did not even do on the day she purchased it) and she did have the receipt. She was so nice about returning it as it didn't go with her other decore. So the team member went to get authorisation for the return from the team leader and customer service manager. They decided on a no return not only because it was bedding and normalky non returnable due to NSW health regulations but she was given the reason of she folded it and put it back into the packaging. What the? She is a regular customer and she was so nice about it when she was advised of the non return policy. I thought they would say yes because someone gave a customer a full refund for the same quilt set not long ago and when a team member was folding it up and placing it back into its packaging it smelt of OMO - the customer had washed it before returning it citing it was the wrong size and she did not realise. That's the worst excuse I have ever heard there I don't get why the customer a team member and I served was not allowed a return exchange or refund.
I managed to finish very close to 7 pm tonight but it was a long walk from the staff entrance/exit after getting my stuff from the staff locker punching out bag check and walking through the carpark into the mall and up and over the pedestrian overpass to the bus stop. I caught the B line to Neutral Bay but it was an 11 minute wait for the next connecting 144 bus home. I could have waited for the next Manly bus bus it was a 7 minute wait and then no guarantee of a quick connection home on the 144 bus. As I was waiting for the lift to get to the pedestrian overpass ( no way was I going to take the stairs), I was thirty and opened my bottle of water which spurted out all over me and possibly 3 girls next to me who had just finished work and heading over the pedestrian overpass tp the bus stop as well. Oops sorry I said to them. They just thought it was funny - at least I am not hot anymore.
Home before 9 pm and prep for next day's 6 am must leave home time.
Friday 23rd October 2020
Myer 8 am - 5 pm VM only. This shift was added by the VM manager who actually came up to me and advised me on Friday 16th October that he had added me to a shift and it is on Kronos and let him know if I can do it. Kronos checked on 17th October.
So I didn't get locked out today I arrived before 7.30 am and chilled out for 30 minutes in the staff room. When I punched in this morning I did so twice as it came up as undefined or something and not my name when I punched in my team ID # but I was rostered on to VMing today. I mentioned it to the operationsvmanager who said it should be fine and also to a team member who advised me that it sometimes happens.
I am so tired in between putting almost 5 cages of stock onto the floor today, I served some customers in between. A customer purchased 10 MW plates. I also helped the MW rep with putting out some stock. I was told yesterday that she was coming in to help ( not really) and to leave the MW stock for her to do. Gee thanks customer service manager - she did not help me at all today , I was helping her.
New Christmas casual recruits are starting - today we had a second one on her orientation day.
End of the day and both a team member and I are both pooped! She started at 7.30 am and finished at 5.30 pm today but was only VM for half of her shift and on the floor for the rest of her shift. Not fair I think I was the only person VMing for the full day today from Homewares.
I was in the lift on my way to the staff lockers and the store manager happens to make it into the lift when I was in it. Nobody else was in the lift. He tried to crack a joke with me asking "Good day today?" I sarcastically answered " VMing is so much fun!"
I punch out using the time clock at the staff entrance/exit and this time it recognised my team id # and came up with my name.
I don't know why Caucasians the greasy fried sweet and sour chicken with a serving of oily fried rice. I certainly don't. What on earth made me purchase a serving of takeaway container for $6 as a snack from the same chicken shop I tried the over fried dried out chicken wings from last time. I waa hungry and it looked so good but tasted not so good. I sat down and ate half of it before taking the rest home to eat.
Home on the 280 bus to Chatswood aand the 144 bus home. So windy and overcast, it wants to rain but holding off for the weekend.
Something strange was happening with the traffic lights. A couple were discussing the walk sign. They were waiting to cross The traffic lights were turning red but tge walk sign did not change to green. I only noticed it once but the female of tge couple yells out to her male companion " See I told you so, I wasn't seeing things. The lights did not change twice!" The male companion decided to wait where we were for the lights to change again while tge female walked to the next set of lights across tge road and I followed however What do you know? The lights changed to red again and both sets of walk signs turned green at the same time as if nothing was faulty with them.
Not quite finished one last thing or two!
I got as text from a team member I was working with today who asked me if I could work for her on Sunday 1st November. I sent a prompt response to her saying "NO!!!!". I don't work Sundays for a few reasons 1. that's when I attend trade shows and other events I know I need to book for well in advance1. I can't get to work on Sundays due to limited bus service connections 3. I don't know about the policy of organising shift swaps amongst team members at Myer without notifying and getting approval from the customer service manager first. Myer is not a small company where you can do this to an extent and there is no way I am going to be accused of doing something wrong again particularly falsely accused. Aparently the other team member I suggested asking is already working all day that day.
I fell asleep as I was so tired and forgot to pay my weekly rent.
Saturday 24th October 2020
Rent paid first thing this morning. Not the best day today. Overcast and starting to rain.
Myer 11 am - 3 pm lunch cover shift. New shift added to Kronos 17th October 2020. Checked Kronos again on 20th October 2020 and above shift has changed from above times to 12 noon - 4 pm today.
I left home at 10 am, took the 144 bus to Neutral Bay Junction ( tap on working but tap off not working), connected onto the next B Line bus which arrived in a few minutes ( tap on and tap off both not working) and went shopping at Target buying myself a new dress as a birthday treat. It isn't my size as it is a size 14 but looks really small so hopefully it will still fit. I may have to change the slip though. At a clearance price of $15 down from $30 what have I got to lose? It was the smallest size in the dress I could find and there is no stock of this dress anywhere in NSW. I also wanted to buy a second XS black skivvie from Dotti but they had all been transferred out to the DFO at Homebush.
Thank goodness it's the end of the week!
So what happened today? Anything and everything.
When I arrive I find out that I'm not actually doing VM ( stock today) I am serving ie I am actually lunch cover between 12 noon and 4 pm.
I am quite happy with what I achieved today in such a short amount of time and I could have done better if it wasn't for one airhead of a customer and a team member stealing quite a sale of mine. She just took it from the register I was serving a customer on and didn't even ask me for my tean ID # . That's ok I took one of the new team members sales as I could not find her team ID # anywhere on the hold slip.
So today I spent a lot more time with customers on their purchases. I did not bother to ask customers to round up purchases as I still can't see the figures on Myer Metrics but I did sign up one customer to Myer One today but forgot to scan the barcode again because the POS system timed out on me in the middle of copy and paste of the customer's new Myer One number and scanning her items to be purchased - that's 3 total Myer Ones I forgot to scan to be included on Myer Metrics. My Myer Metrics figures this month as a result are so wrong!
No customer orders again as customers are all wanting things Myer just does not stock or are out of stock of and customers want the items now not in 1 - 2 weeks time.
All these new team members starting!
I went to the hard homewares reserve for the first time today to find a plate for a customer. It was very well organised and looked as if nobody has taken much out of it for a while down there. It did not take me very long to find the plate for the customer. I rang thd cystomer today but had to leave a message on her voicemail as she did not answer the phone call.
Another customer purchased some discounted/clearance Sheridan towels but I processed the payment with a birthday voucher followed by a Myer rewards card. I then let her know that birthday vouchers can't actually be used on Sheridan purchases as they are a Myer brand partner - oops don't tell anyone that I processed it against your Sheridan purchase I told tge customer my mistake. I also advised her no returns on towels due to policy on clearance items and NSW health regulations.
I had another customer today who spent over $400 on bedding , beach toys, a clock , 2 different plastic serving platters, a picnic rug , & melamine plate sets. Oops I forgot to check if the box actually had a clock in it and not the empty display box and I forgot to check if all the bedding had any security tags on them and remove any - I assume they didn't as they did not beep on the counter.
This is ridiculous and shows you why it can take me upto 2 hours one way to get to or from work by public transport. The team members I worked with today both finished at 5 pm and walked past the bus stop outside the mall and I was still waiting for the 280 bus at 5.30 pm! The bus ( according to the timetable) before this bus did not show up. I don't believe the new bus timetables that started today affected this bus route. It would have been quicker catching the B Line! It's raining by the way so I preferred to catch the Chatswood bus rather then the B Line bus when possible ( ie before 7 pm where all 280 bus services terminate at Forestway and do not continue onto Chatswood). At Chatswood it was another 10 minute wait for a connecting 144 bus home so .......
Because it took me so long to get to Chatswood & a wait until the next 144 bus, I stopped off at Woolworths to get a hot snack. Home after 6 pm.
Trackwork yet again on the Northern train lines and Metrotrain lines therefore bus replacements in both directions over the weekend. So glad I 0don't have to catch the train to work anymore. Poor lady that came up to me with very little English asking me which direction to get to Turramurra.
Catch up on the Food channel, YouTube videos and blogging before bed. It is a bit wet outside.
Sunday 25th October 2020
Day off but today I have booked for and planned to travel to North Head and Q Station to see Les Sculptures Refusee . I have already booked to join the free "If the walls could talk" tour at 2 pm today.
After I booked to go on this tour in advance for this date, the tours were all sold out to the end of the exhibition. Good luck if you wanted to go on one of these tours.
There are still paid history tours at 11 am on selected days that you can go on. I was originally going to book to go on one of these tours but had trouble booking online and it was too early for me to get to by public transport from where I reside so am waiting for the alternative longer tour to restart taking bookings instead.
It is the worst weekend and worst day to visit Q station - it is a wet miserable weekend. Thunderstorms were forecast although I haven't checked the forecast again and it's 5 am as I write today's blog. Looks like this morning there is little to no rain just overcast up to noon and where by 2 pm (tour time) it will be pouring with rain - 80% rain - peak rain forecasted easing off as the afternoon progresses!
I just missed a 144 bus to Manly so will wait for the next one. When I arrive at Manly I will decide if I am going to head up to Q Station.
It's still overcast and getting windy but no rain yet at 12 noon.
Even if I don't make it to Q Station today the 144 bus ride from Chatswood to Manly is a nice scenic ride which I recommend travelling on via Seaforth just over the Spit Bridge onto the back of Stockland Shopping Mall Balgowlah before continuing on towards Manly Wharf.
I arrive at Manly and although it is not raining the wind is howling. It is so cold I walk across to the Aldi to search for something to purchase and wear that will keep me warm. There were no warm pieces of clothing so I buy a grey tuffed throw that would keep me warm and that I could use to cover an ottaman I accidently melted the top of ironing my clothes on.
I get on the 135 bus ( tap on tap off machine for Opal card out of service) and it takes about 15 minutes to get to Q Station. I head to the reception building just inside the Q Station gates and ask about the tour. Wrong desk, it is the information desk down at the wharf precinct a whole 20 minutes walk away downhill along Whalf Rd with loads of stairs! I really struggled with this long set of wooden stairs not because they were steep but because they were slatted and only had a yellow safety strip across each set of stairs not across every step which is not very safe because as you descend down each step you are unable to distinguish the difference between each step as they all look like they are along the same level so if you miss a step down you will tumble so i took my time held onto the railing and slowly made my way down. It is difficult to describe but it is like an optical illusion hence each step should have a yellow safety strip across it so you can judge the depth between each step as you descend instead of seeing each step on the same level as you look down. It would probably become quite slippery when wet as well.
By the time I reached the wharf area it was pouring with rain so I seek shelter inside the visitors centre ( more like desk with a not very friendly or helpful visitor information officer behind it) where there is a toliet block, cafe and museum. I register my details for COVID safety procedures ( I have my mask on the entire time from when I left home to when I arrived home today) , have a quick look at any art works that are around the wharf area, have a toilet stop and visit the museum which is free entry before it is time to check in at the visitors centre for the 2 pm " If The Walks Could Talk" tour. This tour is free however it is booked out online for the entire time Les Sculptures Refusee is on. I wanted to book the history tour which is on at 11 am on certain days of the week however I would prefer to go on the more detailed history tour advertised online which according to the visitor information officer has not run for a while and she could not tell me when it will be running again. The visitor information officer was not very helpful and I wasn't the only visitor to notice this but our non Australian tour guide with a rather thick accent for the 2 pm tour was. We were told by the visitor information officer to meet on the wharf's A9 lawn at 2 pm. As a first time visitor to Q Station I had no idea where this was. I was given a program for Les Sulptures Refusee and a map of Q Station at the reception office which were both soaking wet by the time i arrive at the Wharf precinct visitor information centre so I asked the visitor information officer if could she show me where this was as there was a large aerial map of Q Station on the wall in front of the visitor information desk - she was so reluctant to get up and indicated where it was but she did. OK so it was behind the laundry building and hardly a "lawn" just a patch of sand and grass with 1 sculpture and a muster area was. Was this where we were all suppose to meet? There was no one else there by 1.45 pm and online it clearly stated that if you didn't turn up 15 minutes before the tour began you could lose you spot on the tour. There were a few other people wandering around trying to figure out if that patch of lawn was the meeting point. I even ventured up further and reviewed my map of Q Station in the pouring rain. No I had walked too far up the hill there walked back down and went into the laundry building that had a sign Les Sculptures Refusee Rest Area. It is a horrible old building and after my first peep inside I didn't want to go inside but there were already a bunch of visitors sitting indide the building sheltering from the rain. Some waiting for the tour to start as well. Inside the laundry building ( I did not take photos as it was not very nice) were not just tables and chairs but strange glowing red lights which I thought was a heating source of some type - it was rather wet and cold therefore would have been nice but they were just props. So those of us on the 2 pm tour waited and waited and could not see anyone so I ventured outside with another visitor and spotted in the distance outside the visitor information centre where we had come from, a man who had a clip board mask and poncho on who seemed to be rounding up and marking off visitors names. We could not be sure if it was our guide but we were told to meet where we were so stayed put until he started to make his way up towards the A9 lawn. He saw us and asked if we were here for the 2 pm tour and said he was looking for us. We advised him that we were told to meet here at the A9 lawn and that we were all inside the laundry building sheltering from the rain. Our names were marked off and we were given a brief history of what this tour is about. It is a 40 minute tour which covers stories of some of the countless inscriptions around Q Station mainly around the wharf precinct hence the tour name " If these walls could talk" This tour was so interesting although I found some of the stories difficult to follow due to their disjointedness and the guides thick accent. It covered stories of mainly illness and death of immigrants to Australia from Europe via sea and later air from pandemics such as bubonic plaque, scarlet fever small pox , Spanish influenza and even Big pox ( more about this disease later). It also covered different types of immigrants and how there were immigrants that were not just from the UK but there were Chinese Japanese Canadian American and even Arabic.
I was surprised at how some stories are so closely relatable to the current COVID pandemic stories we have heard or experienced.
On the tour we were taken to have a closer look at particular carvings and the stories behind and techniques in creating them.
At the beginning of the tour the group was asked if any of us have stayed or visited Q Station before. Almost no one had and some people live just up the road. Our guide then says to us "Then I can't lie to you!" to those who do know about Q Station's history.
There is great history here about who arrived and how many arrived and how many died from diseases here. Diseases that are now eradicated. The story of how a young son of a doctor became sick with small pox and how a nurse noticed that dairy workers never contracted small pox when they had cow pox and how the doctor needed a guinea pig to test this nurses theory out by getting a farm boy making a cut in his wrist and putting a ground up powder of cow pox onto a bandage around his wrist then injecting the boy with small pox. The cure worked. So the story goes as told by the guide.
Other stories of how the Chinese were treated so badly when they arrived before and during the Gold Rush. Two had contracted small pox and spread it to the other immigrants as a result and because of this they were accused of being the "super spreaders" hence sent to live in an area on Quarantine Station in not so livable conditions. Sound familiar? Trump calling COVID the "CHINESE VIRUS" as it originated from Wuhan China which ironically the Spanish Flu actually did not originate from Spain but from the US but they they could not call it the American flu could they? - you could probably guess why.
So after the tour I saw some Chinese inscriptions on top of carvings in black and asked the guide why all the Chinese inscriptions were not carved into the rocks but printed in black. His answer was because they had better technology. I'll accept that answer as these black inscriptions are still visible today and unlike some of the carvings that have worn away over time.
There was one piece of the tour I was not so convinced about. The guide shows a photograph of some Chinese characters inscribed on some stone. He said the they translated to how the Chinese were bad because they caused the spread of disease and not to have anything to do with them. I should have taken a photo of the photo and got my own translation of it. Is the guide just making up the translation? Could have been just a list of names and dates like other inscriptions.
Finally our tour guide asked us if we know what Big Pox was and how it was cured. I don't think anyone knew so he told us it was Syphilis which i knew used to be cured with mercury but instead of curing it , it made people mad. We were also told that after children turned 20 they were not allowed to mix with or speak to boys and there were strict separation between the 2 sexes at Quarantine Station not limited to separate living areas but allocated days women could go to the beach for a swim and when they could go to the pub for example. This practise either prevented the spread of Big Pox or caused it.
After the tour concluded, I continued walking around Q station in the rain and wind which was howling at the top where the hospital buildings were located in search of more art installations.
I had no idea where I was going but continued to walk and walk until I eventually reached the reception office building and entrance to Q Station. The National park was still closed to visitors and motor vehicles due to last weeks back burning where flames jumped containment lines. ( refer photos below of art installations)
I just missed the hourly bus from Q Station back to Manly at 2.55 pm by a few minutes and it is pouring with rain. My phone is down to 10% battery so the next bus is not until 3.55 pm. I am charging my phone with my power pack and seeking shelter from the rain outside the reception building standing and blogging. It won't be long until the next 135 comes at 3.55 pm. While I was waiting at the bustop in the pouring rain I was offered a lift by an older man with his wife but said it's fine as I knew the bus was arriving soon.
I have loads of photos to upload - hopefully I can upload them without a problem. Sorry no videos as it was too wet and windy.
Cold wet & tired, there was 2 artists & artworks I missed 6. Siteplan 2095 - Anthony Battaglia & 9, 10 & 11. Empty Yellow, Freed & Maestro's Baton Ellenore Griffith
Luckily the 135 bus arrived around 3.40 pm and let 2 passengers off in the pouring rain across the road from the National Park Entrance opposit the Q Station gates. I was able to board the bus and sit inside the bus until it departed. A few minutes later another couple joined me inside the bus. A few other passengers join me on the bus. One with a scooter which is not allowed on the bus.
Note The 135 bus terminates at Q Station and does not continue on into North Head as the National Park is currently closed due to last weekend's bush fires as a result of back burning escaping containment lines. It may be high winds and pouring with rain today but there is a definite line of burnt out trees along the main road of Q Station very close to the reception office building and car park across the road. Amazing photos I took as bright green shoots have already sprouted out from the burnt out blackened tree trunks.
Les Sculptures Refusee - The equivalent of "The fish John West rejects!" - it's the sculptures The Sculpture By The Sea rejects!
Rating 8/10. It's great even in wet weather but not cold howling winds.
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