I have noticed people reading this blog before I have written anything.
Please read my previous week's blog & my YouTube channel if you are interested in the latest places of interest I have visited.
Monday 1st March 2021
Myer 8 am - 4 pm stock new shift added to Kronos 20th February 2021
Checked Kronos 28th February no changes to shift
I am a little behind in my blogs for today and Tuesday as work has taken up a lot of my time.
I could not even have lunch today without the customer service manager seeking me out and telling what I had to do after I finished my break and I was not even 30 minutes into my 1 hour lunch break for today - the only break I take. So what was so important she could not wait until I finish my break before telling me? I can't exactly remember something about taking stuff out of the grey totes onto shelves in the hard reserve? Must not have been important. I will try and remember to take all my lunch breaks outside of Myer from now on and ignor my phone. I do plan to change my phone number so any communication from Myer does not interfere with my other activities outside of work.
So today was an extra severe allergy day for me. I am finding that the more I do stock the worse my allergies and eczema has become. Probably to to the amount of dust and dirty from all the cardboard boxes plastic paper and foam. The air conditioning system and lack of sunlight and fresh air does not help either over long perioďs of time - trapped indoors and worse still down in the reserves.
Today was there was so much gossip amongst team members from multiple departments. So far 2 team members have resigned from the VM team, 1 from menswear/women's wear howevee there could be a few others not accounted for.
We all know now that the Online Department at this Myer store has now closed and team members have now been either given a choice to work in the Online Departments at other stores or absorbed into other departments of Myer Warringah.
Whast I do know is the manager of the Online Department does not like my Customer Service Manager and I suspect from the gossip there are other team members who do not as well. When I mentioned to the Online Department Manager how I heard a rumour about how my Customer Service Manager's ambition was to become a store manager but in order to become one she has to have worked in every department, the Online Department Manager was a little surprised and responded with " Not at this store maybe another store!" - adding how she used to work downstairs in the Cosmetic Department and I added "Who knows she may return to that department!" I can't imagine the customer service manager being the store manager of tgis store - it would be in total chaos! It is already in utter chaos now. The customer service manager lacks any managerial skills at all as she is so disorganised and can't even organise the simpliest of things without chopping and changing things every few hours. Absolutely no planning , organisational skills, no decision making skills and very poor time management skills. I also doubt her analytical skills as well. Far from store management material.
The customer service manager was away for the past 2 weeks and just returned. In the last 2 weeks everything in the store was so neat and tidy and it looked beautiful except for the stock on the dock which was only a problem because the store manager assistant store manager and operations manager could not make a decision of what to use the existing TV reserve for ( originally for S&P and/ MW stock it was abandoned over the weekend and used for cutlery, cookware and knives - the decision was app aren't my made due to volume of S&P and MV stock - more like laziness of not wanting to add more additional shelving!)
As soon as the customer service manager returned the stores displays were disgraceful again. Everything was over stocked in the wrong place and the visual merchandising when downhill again. I give up!
This was when I spotted the 2 tables of coffee making accessories had been cleared and replaced with a random table display of Kitchenaid bakeware and a very poorly merchandised half filled display table of a mishmash of Ladelle products with no story to them. The comment from the customer service manager putting these out was that she was not merchandising them but just putting them out when I told her that it looked "S**t!"
One of the other team members said to me when the mana gets were on leave " Doesn't it feel so good when manager are on leave....." if you Don't get what she was implying I totally agreed with her and so did quote a few of the other team members from asll the conversations I had with them. Managers should not interfere but just give direction or assist when required. One of the VM team members has mentioned to me on more then one ocassion thast she knows the customer service manager works really hard but she makes it more difficult and more work for everyone and does not realise it when she interferes. They wish she would stop changing her mind, leaving things half done and moving things around all the time. She keeps telling me not to double handle things but she is actually the one double handling things.
One very important incident that happened this morning was I was on the floor and having a general discussion with the VM manager about what had been moved around since last week. A lot I've noticed. I could not even say a few sentences to the VM manager before I was rudely interrupted by the customer service manager and asked if I had done what she had asked me to do 20 minutes ago. Wait a minute I was in the middle of doing it and it was not quite 8 am yet. Let me tell you she does not like me talking to the VM manager for one thing and here is another thing she interfered with. I had found and put an empty cage with a second shelf on it down in the hard reserve ready to move loose stuff. I went upstairs to find a second cage without a second shelf on it and on my return the customer service manager had used my cage for her own stuff. I was so angry. I asked her who took my cage and used it. She did not admit it was her but blamed it on another team member I was working with. She just makes my life so hard.
Anyway after I saw the VM manager again, I asked her "Can I ask you a question? Why does the customer service manager have to have a conversation with you about the displays? You're the VM manager aren't you?" I think she just tolerates it and Doesn't say much but the other VM team members are a little more vocal about it.
I think a lot of team members think the same " too many chefs ( it should be chiefs but I am being a little more politically correct these days) spoil the broth ( with the exception of one particular Dining Out Vancouver event when too many chefs were actually invited to made a broth better!)
Tuesday 2nd March 2021
Myer 10 am - 5.30 pm new shift added to Kronos 20th February 2021.
I checked Kronos again on 28th February including this morning and my shift changed to start 9.30 am. I thought I had made a mistake but no it was correct.
Today I was on the floor serving all day today for once although I did have to do a little bit of stock for the VM manager - swapping the stock on the pasta making display table and baking display table to make the section flow better. Who's idea was it to have a pasta display table in the middle of the baking & cake decorating section? Yesterday there was 2 tables dedicated to baking and cake decorating next to each other , with one only partially complete. When I arrived this morning I found the front display table was now the pasta making table! I told on of the VM team members and obviously it was noted and I was requested to swap the stock around by the VM manager later to do so. Because I was on the floir today, I asked Can't tgey just get the pallet mover and move the tables around. Apparently not as the tables legs were already damaged or fragile enough ( I wonder why - from all the contant moving around already - no excuse, there were 3 guys on today in the electricals department doing absolutely nothing at all all day everytime I paid tgem a visit).
My sales were not the best today as I had a lot of customers who I spent a lot of time with as they needed a lot of help with their purchase selections. Some sales I gave to the other 2 team members on today - at least 2 large ones.
No returns today which was great but I think I will have a few next week. No orders as items customers want were just unavailable ie out of stock.
Frustration with Myer technology - one iPad was not put on the charger overnight so I put it back in but did not take it - signing out only the remaking 3 ipads. One ipads camera function does not work therefore can't scan barcodes of products to do an availability search on them, 2 ipads just would not do an item search today - one just froze and the other decided to do an automatic upgrade of software in the middle of an item search leaving just one very slow functioning iPad.
The POS system was having a lot of trouble finding customer's Myer One membership numbers and I had one customer who complained about how they were not receiving any birthday vouchers. I really do not know what is going on with birthday vouchers. I never got a response online about my question why Myer now requires customers to supply their date of birth. It was for security reasons but only required for new Myer One sign ups. Existing ones would not have been required to supply one but at one stage there must have been a requirement to supply one as there would not be any birthday vouchers given out if no DOB was provided.
After seeing team member " I want to be team leader" sign up 3 customers each day for the past 2 days to the Myer One membership, I was the first one today to sign up a customer to the Myer One membership ( yes Myer is still pushing team members to sign every customer who isn't already a Myer One member to the join them up) before team member "I want to be team leader" arrives and signs up another 2 customers to it. He aim eas to try an sign up 5 in one day which she hasn't achieved yet as she wants the incentive of the customer service manager buying whoever does a free coffee - woopie do da - who cares - a free coffee for all that effort - I don't even drink coffee.
More gossip I realky don't understand Myer's recruitment process - No matter how good I am for the positions applied for, if I wasn't a shareholder of Myer ( yes I made sure I mentioned this to the operations manager when he interviewed me) or knew someone working there already ( which I don't), I suspect I would not have been hired if I had been interviewed by the assistant store member instead ( luckily I wasn't). Of all the new Christmas casuals that were successful, which team members got contracts as on going casuals and which team members were terminated from their employment as Christmas casuals is a total mystery. How could one previous year's Christmas casual be accidently asked back this Christmas when he wasn't suppose to be by mistake then told his casual employment was terminated again with very little notice? Why did the at least 2 good Christmas casuals not have their casual employment extended while others that were let's say rather lazy, ditzy or too full on get their Christmas casual employment contracts extended? Team member " I want to be a team leader" tried to explain this to me and it all had to do about their metrics.
On my way to the bus stop I posted another card and Easter bunny chocolate to the aged care resident living alone at an aged care facility as part of my remote volunteer work apologising to her for not writing for a while due to work and how I have not forgotten about her. Now I have to find time to do Zoom sessions with another aged care resident who wants to converse with someone in Cantonese.
The following warning was posted by me on my Facebook page. It happened on my way home.
"Woolworths Metro Chatswood has got to be the worst supermarket to shop at. WARNING TO EVERYONE CHECK ALL YOUR USE BY EXPIRY DATES ON ALL YOUR FOOD PRODUCTS PURCHASED FROM WOOLWORTHS BEFORE YOU PAY FOR THEM as they are extremely reluctant to give refunds on food products once you have just purchased them even if they are expired or are contaminated with foreign objects and still being sold on shelves and in the cold sections. This is the 2nd time I have purchased a refrigerated product from this Woolworths that has been a health risk.
I just purchased a tub of Thai chilli hummus just this afternoon and thought it was on special as it was a relatively new product. The checkout operator said she had to check the price of it and it took her forever to return and advised me that it was actually full price and not on special as per signage so I paid for it however before leaving, I by chance checked the use by date on the product and it was about to expire in 2 days! I advised the same check out operator of this and wanted a refund. Instead of giving me one she had to find a manager " to fix this problem" What problem? Just give me a refund . It took forever for her to find a manager who finally came out ( after being chased up twice!) to ask me what the problem was. The problem was I wanted a refund as the product I just purchased at full price was about to expire in 2 days! He asked me when I purchased it - just now ( more like 20 minutes or more ago now) and I was finally given a refund. I was dying to get out of the supermarket as I am allergic to them and try to avoid dawdling in them . I had advised the checkout operator of this and asked how long it would take. As soon as I got the refund I ran out of the supermarket - eyes watering , nose running followed by a sneezing fit. I must wear a mask when I go shopping - forget COVID - long before it I always wore a mask at supermarkets. So unacceptable having to wait 20 minutes or more just to get a refund."
Wednesday 3rd March 2021
Day off
I am getting annoyed with receiving messages on the whats app team group chat on my days off. It's just as bad as getting private text messages from the customer service manager on my days off.
Latest messages are just not logical.
Below are the 2 messages received today
"Hi can you please be careful at the end of day that all the offers that are 1 day are taken down Homewares and luggage electrical still were up. Thanks"
Umm what can I say both team member "ticket girl" and I both spent a bit of time yesterday taking down and putting up tickets yesterday which was so confusing we even asked the manager on duty what signs should go up and what should be taken down. The sale signs were all printed and as instructed the ones that had to be put up were put up. We even found a few expired sale signs missed from the 28th February that had not been taken down ( by team member " I want to be team leader" we assumed). I even went around checking expiry dates on sale signs and pointed out the ones to team member "ticket girl" that did not match up - these were instructed not to be put up yet by a manager on duty. ( We did try calling one manager A*** on duty for assistance but it kept going to voice mail so we called the other manager M*** on duty for help just letting you know before you read the next section)
"I have had feedback from the team about calling managers one their mobiles when I am not at work. Please call the store phones and when I am not here call S**** not M***. Please and Thankyou"
We as team members always use the store phones with the extension # of managers available on duty that day. Which team is she going on about or referring to? I called one manager yesterday on the store phone on their extension and it went straight to voice mail so I had to try another managers extension on the store phone. What happens if above manager S**** is not on duty that day but manager M*** is? You have to call manager M***. Isn't this the logical process? You don't call a manager ie manager S**** in text message above for example on their day off!
There was a 3rd message as well
Did absolutely nothing today except pay rent x 2 weeks in advance & my private medical ( waste of money) insurance today.
Thursday 4th March 2021
Day off
No text messages from work today and it's past 11 am today. Good I hope it stays that way.
I may not have many places of interest to visit or events to attend at the moment but stayed tuned as there are quite a few events I have prebooked and paid for that have been postponed and carried forward to this year. So far no word as to whether they are still going ahead but I hope they all will.
Very disappointed that one batch of my laundry did not wash properly and then the bstch I was trying to dry did not dry properly so when I finish shopping I have to rewash and redry it all again. I have 2 sopping wet batches of laundry in laundry bags in the apartment!
Anyway no time to worry about it. I will deal with it tonight. Why Don't I just hang it out to dry in the boiling hot sun today? Theft as it is a communal clothesline and the apartment block is full of guys. Maybe I coulkd hang out my Donna and sheets or towels but mot my clothes and certainly not my undergarments!
So today I ventured out. First to return my 5 bottles for recycling then out to Redfern by train and a walk to Carriageworks to see the art exhibition No Show ( photos below - This was not a small gallery exhibition and some of the art works were very way out there, so indie that I just could not understand them however I did have quite a few favourites. Another art exhibition where I was unfamiliar with any of the artists but did enjoy parts of this rather traditional art exhibition. This was a sight & sound art exhibition rather then a smell and touch art installation. There is a lot of visual input such as videos and even things to read but only one or 2 interactive mainly using cameras.). I have a YouTube video but a m unsure if I can upload it as it is a Hertiage listed building and filming for commercial purposes is prohibited unless you write to them to get permission - since when did a sign go up about this? This wasn't there a few months ago before Carriageworks temporarily closed down.
Onto Woolworths Town Hall to purchase a few grocery items before catching the train back to Chatswood to continue my shopping at Aldi then Coles. I can take my time ( well not really due to me not being able to tolerate shopping centre supermarkets) as it is late night shopping tonight.
Another product review. I had been meaning to try 2 different flavoured blocks of Darrell Lea chocolate - Hug which is blackcurrent jellies and honeycomb bits in milk chocolate & Halftime which is orange jellies and pretzel bits in dark chocolate. I held off because Darrell Lea chocolates don't seem to be made in Australia anymore - not even in New Zealand. I hope they are not made in China! It does not seem to name the country of origin on their chocolates anymore just a packed in Australia from imported and local ingredients. Ummm.
I love dark chocolate and citrus flavours therefore chose the Half Time flavoured block to try. What did I think? Rating 7.5/10 not bad you can definitely taste the orange flavour which is very prominent however I had to eat 4 or so pieces of the chocolate block before I found my first orange jelly piece in the chocolate. Plenty of crunchy pretzel bits throughout the dark chocolate block though. photo below
Home to redo my washing as I need clothes for work tomorrow! DONE but still wet after a second drying cycle of 30 minutes ( first cycle was 40 minutes).
Friday 5th March 2021
Myer 8 am - 4 pm stock new shift added to Kronos 20th February 2021
Checked Kronos 28th February no changes to shift.
So glad today is over. I was on stock with another VM team member however not really - I was assisting with locating clearance items from all the reserves to put onto the floor most of today for the customer service manager.
She had some crazy requests today. My first task was to bring out really heavy cookware sets from the tv reserve - these sets were realky high up on a shelf and there was no step in sight and the cookware sets ( Analon & Circulon) were estimated at 10 kg each - I was not going to even attempt to reach or lift any it so just left am empty cage in the reserve for one of the guys to retrieve them. unfortunately the other team member doing stock today from the electricals team did not turn up to work today so the electrics team leader was asked to do it.
It was one of those days where I was rushing to get things done as I was serving customers in between. No one wanted to sign up for Myer One membership today - I gave up as I was not even on the floor today but I sure had a lot of customers today to serve which put me off what I was assigned to do or not do?
The assistant store manager was on the dock today asking and directing me and the other VM team member doing stock what to take out onto the floor and what to leave.
I was about to chuck out 2 plastic bakeware clips before getting a trestle getting a cage to put out stock then use to put Heritage stuff back into the reserve. The customer service manager had asked me to grab the tressle table to use but it made so much noise it was hurting my ears so she said take the cage fulk of Heritage dinnerware sets so you can put them on the floor and the rest in the reserve and use it for moving the clearance stock as well. I wasted a lot of time trying to find clearance stock in the reserve from the Heritage range as I knew there wasn't any so why was the customer service manager hounding me to find and put it out? I just continued to restock and how on earth was I suppose to know what was clearance stock in the reserve and what was not? I didn't have a scanner gun and there was no suggestion that I should grab one and when I asked several times if there was a list of what was clearance stock on more tgen one ocassion it was totally ignored. The VM team member doing stock was also told if she saw any clearance stock to put it aside - I said to her " how are we suppose to pull out any clearance stock when we actually don't know what is clearance stock ?"
Fed up with not knowing what I was looking for it suppose to be doing I restocked the floor with stock in cages on the dock and tidied up the shelves again in a mess. I also came back from the pillow reserve with back side asnd other pillows that needed restocking urgently as the stands had been empty all day. When the customer service manager saw me doing this she says to me " that's a funny cage of clearance stock!" I said it needed refilling as the pillow strands had remained empty all day. She kept reminding me that she ( not me) only had today to get all the clearance stock out onto the floir from the reserves and I kept saying I know it will be done ( in my own time and when I find out what I am looking for which I still had no idea of). Finally it was suggested I take a scanner gun with me - so I took the one the team members were using to print mark down labels with in Homewares as I knew it actually worked with me to first the hard reserve then to the soft reserve. The other reserves the second scanner gun I grabed in the afternoon did not actually work in the glass reserve tv reserve and luggage reserve so I guessed what were clearance items in them. Some reserves did not have any clearance items. Knife blocks in the tv reserves I bought out and some Vue bowls from the luggage reserve I bought out - just guessing these were clearance stock. No list no gun and just walking around the clearance tables to see what was on them was not exactly a good way to seek out all clearance items hidden in the reserves!
So it really surprised the customer service manager when I bought up onto the floor and out of the hard reserve all the Ladelle cream green and dark grey sets of honeycombed patterned microfiber cloth sets in a cage along with only half of the MW floral patterned boxed platters and mugs which is all that would fit on the display table. What a waste of time - I think all the Ladelle cloth sets had just been taken off the floor and put in the hard reserve together with all the new sets so I had to be careful which ones to bring up as they were mixed in together and looked the same except for pattern and colours - new range has dots not honeycomb.
I organised to meet up and have lunch with the VM team member today around 1.30 pm. She was really on her own doing stock today - there were no other VM managers or team members on today with her. It was one of those days where lunch was the highlight of the day and we normally would have it at 2 pm but today we decided to have it just a little earlier - in the staff lunch room.
I was rushing to finish finding clearance stock from the reserves to put on the floor as Mark downs and it was 3.50 pm and I finish at 4 pm. I had borrowed a scanber gun from the Electricals team leader which did not work after all the other scanber guns I tried in the office in their charging stations did not work either, I got to the luggage reserve which was my last stop knowing what I had to get from it to put out onto the floor only to realise someone did not post the code onto the What's App Group Chat only advising everyone what was now moved into it. How stupid was that so I texted team member "ticket girl" who gave me the incorrect code which was the tv reserve code not the luggage reserve code and had to wait for her response which she had to ask the VM team member for. Mean while nobody responded to my general message I posted on the Whats App Team Group Chat - such important information and it was totally ignored. Postscript still unanswered as at Mon 8th March 2021. Then at the last minute some of the clearance bowls I was about to put on the floor fell off my cage and smahed onto the floor just inside the doors out of the dock. I was so careful in bringing them up in the lift from the luggage reserve which is a rather long walk. I did not bother to count how many I broke and just for a team member in the mens shoe department to call the cleaner. By the time the breakages were cleaned up and I managed to save one bowl that fell off ( a miracle) and quickly returned the scanner gun to the passing electricals team leader, gave the remaining clearance bowls to team member "ticket girl" at the Homewares counter to label as clearance items and wrote notes for her to go down to the reserves to put signs or print mark down labels on the remaining clearance items down in each reserveas instructed by the customer service manager , it was 4.17 pm before I punched out. No time to ensure that the clearance cushions and sheet sets I had bought up on a trolley that I saw that had been abandoned on the floor by team member "I want to be team leader" was marked down , no time to again remind the customer service manager a 3rd time about the mussel pots that had to be marked down after finding the codes for and put out as well and definitely no time to remind the electricals team leader a 3rd time that he was to take the heavy Analon and Circulon cookware sets that I had advised the customer service maanager earlier this morning twice that I could not reach ( up high & no step available) and too heavy for me to lift onto a cage I had already left down in the tv reserve to be put out on the floor where i had cleared a space on the botyom shelves of a display table for. No time to follow up on things that should have been done by others! It was way past time for me to go home - we Don't get paid for overtime we do!!!
So tired thank goodness I have this weekend off!
Friday night I am tired and hungry but can't be bothered cooking again therefore wander the Chatswood Mall Markets that are open on Thursdays & Fridays for food. So what haven't I tried from the markets yet - I have tried something from most of the foid and drink stalls already - found a food stall I haven't tried something from yet. Photos below.
The name of the food stall was Singapore Guo Tiao King and they spoke both Cantonese & Mandarin. You know when you crave some old fashioned greasy stir fry rice noodles with bite sized chicken pieces you are unsure is actually cooked through due to its texture and sprinkled with bean sprouts and a teaspoon of roughly made course chilli sauce on the side that you mix in just to give the dish a bit of a kick? The familiar Cantonese style takeaway I grew up eating? Well this food stall sold it - boiled and steamed sticky rice parcels wrapped in lotus leaves ( tempted but next time), dim sims, Singapore rice noodles & mee goreng just to name a few dishes. I haven't had a dish of stir fried rice flat noodles probably since college and university. I had a craving for them so # 1 chicken guo tiao please. At $10 a serve it must be the most popular dish and is worth it as tgey really pack a plastic takeaway container full with it. Made to order it is the only slight downside of this stall is you have to wait for your order as it is being made which I think takes upto 20 minutes but it is worth the wait. It was quite busy tonight and there was a queue of people waiting for their orders mine was order # Z12. Once i received the order the plastic lidded takeaway container was kept hot by being placed in a heavy foil lined paper bag along with a pair of individually plastic wrapped bamboo chopsticks and a servette - something I haven't seen used for a while - last time I saw these bags used was at the local charcoal chicken shops or the local dirty greasy ( not really but some are more then others ) kabab joint which are used to keep whole or part roast chickens or kebabs hot - another reminder of my childhood where the juices from these takeaway delicacies used to leak out of the bottom of these bags. Am I making you hungry? I was tonight - could not wait to eat when I arrived home so found a seat in the mall and scoffed the entire dish down with a bottle of water I had with me. Absolutely yum and filling but not likely to make this a regular meal on my way home as it was very greasy rating 9/10. Just like the food at the old fashioned Chinese restaurants I grew up eating at - nothing like the unidentified mainland Chinese dishes you find in Chinese restaurants and takeaways you find today.
Saturday 6th March 2021
Day off
Happy Mardi Gras! Well It's on again tonight - the annual parade with one big difference due to the COVID pandemic, the parade is at the Sydney Cricket Ground and not starting from Hyde Park down Oxford St & Flinders Street towards Moore Park ending with an after party @ EQ. I think I will watch the live broadcast on SBS tonight at home.
So good to have another few days off - merchandising stock takes a lot out of you. One of the VM team members has a back injury and did not look very happy on Tuesday when I saw him. He was on stock merchandising duties alone that day. Yesterday the other VM stock merchandising team member was on and she too was on her own doing stock. I was also on my own yesterday as the other hybrid floor/stock merchandising team member call in sick ( not really I think he may have had to go to his other job). It's a brain dead job but I think my stock merchandising days may have come to an end as I am on the floor more in the following weeks according to Kronos. Summer holidays are well and truely over, the team leader is on holidays and all the students have gone back to university.
3rd attempt at drying my still semi wet clothes today ( another 40 minutes). I am hoping the dryer is actually working. It should not take almost 2 hours and $12 to dry a load of clothes. Not even a full load. Let's see what happens. 40 minutes later and my clothes are finally all dry!
Today I am doing absolutely nothing again - just a bit of cooking and watching videos and the Food channel.
I watched almost the entire Mardi Gras broadcast on SBS. It started around 7.30 pm EST with no geo blocking so everyone can watch it around the world and did not finish until almost 11 pm. It wasn't the best coverage but the main performances were covered ending with the highlight act of the night a performance from Rita Ora. What no fireworks this year or did I miss them when I took a shower? I think it would have been much better if I had gone to the Sydney Cricket Ground and watched it live. Great event but not so good coverage by SBS as they did not cover all the parade performers music eg they showed the groups and participants marching moving dancing in the parade but you could not hear the music that acompanied them - only the main acts musical performances. It was suggested that the Sydney Cricket Ground should be where the annual event should be permanently held and that Oxford Street should be be blocked off for one big street party instead with all the restaurants and bars open which will boost the economy and hospitality industry citing that everyone who had a ticket to see the parade would be able to get a great view of it from where they were seated or standing in the tiered stands as it slowly made its way around the stadium instead of and without having to byo milk crate and stand on it or climb illegally onto or up any street structure you could find just to see the parade whizz past Oxford street in the distant above a rather uncomfortable sea of people standing shoulder to shoulder next to each other. Usually it rains during the Mardi Grad parade but not this year - another reason not to struggle with byo umbrellas around you if it was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I would be happy to go to the Mardi Grad next year if it was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground again as long as fireworks at the end of the event , toilets food & drink and public transport or other forms of transport to get me there and home are readily available! Loved the commentry from hosts Courtney Act ( beautiful as ever!) , Joel Creasey, Zoe & Narelda - and why hasn't guest Bob Downe ( Mark Trevorrow) aged?
Sunday 7th March 2021
Day off
I slept in and first thing I did was make my lunch for tomorrow.
Not feeling the best today so sleeping a bit more instead of venturing out today.
I did manage to vacuum and tidy the apartment a little and write another letter of complaint about The Salvation Army Employment Plus employment service provider advising them how they should be struck of their list as an approved Centrelink employment service provider as they have done nothing except become a liability in my current job search efforts, have not assisted me in anyway in finding employment including my current employment and how they are jeopardizing my current employment by constantly texting and ringing me and setting up an appointment for me to "reengage" with them on a date and time that has not been confirmed with me and when I am at work or at an interview as well as constantly putting my payment on hold for not fulfilling/reporting my job search efforts of 4 per month by a certain date each month. They have constantly ignored my responses as to the reasons of being unable to attend their appointment or reporting my job search efforts on time including my recent attempt where the system was down but I still managed to do so and how my current payment is on hold again and I can't continue to report my fortnightly earnings. I Don't even receive JobSeeker payments - I am only continuing to report my fortnightly earnings and number of hours worked in the event my hours of continuous casual employment are cut or my employment terminated. There has only been one fortnight since 30th November 2020 when I last received a payment from Centrelink that my fortnightly wages fell below the threshold and I received the JobSeeker subsidy. I am at a lost of what to do so next it will be to contact the Australian Unemployed Workers Union to seek assistance since I have been unsucessful in changing my approved Centrelink employment service provider and/mutual obligations on my current job plan to less job search efforts as advised by Centrelink themselves.
