Saturday 11th December 2004 The weather looked like it was going to clear up, so we decided
that today would be a good time to go up to the 
Barossa
Valley and visit some wineries. As my
mother is tee-total, her interest in vineyards and wine as a whole is purely
for the countryside beauty.
Our first task was to drop in to the supermarket and buy the relevant delicatessen items for a picnic lunch. Eleanor was impressed by the piles of fresh fruit and vegetables, and the extensive selection at the deli counter. I tasted and selected a few olives, and Eleanor looked out the best bread and some cheese. Once I got a roasted chicken, we were set for the picnic.
To drive to the wine region north of Adelaide is only 30 minutes,
and we put my mother in the front seat so that she could appreciate the views.
Once we had driven through Gawler and entered the Barossa Valley, we decided
on the route that we would take to see the most attractive vineyards and cellar
doors. When we arrived at our first point of call, Chateau Yaldara, Thomas had
fallen asleep in his baby seat, so we decided that we would not get out of the
car, just drive straight to Seppeltsfield to have our lunch.
The best thing about having a picnic lunch at Seppeltsfield is that they have
tables and benches and even a little roof to protect us from any stray showers.
Eleanor had unfortunately chosen to sit on a part of the bench that was under
a big puddle that had formed in the roof, but we noticed it before there was
a chance of any leaks!
After lunch, we headed straight up to the top of the hill to Yalumba, which
has a particular place of affection for my mother and me. Yalumba was the first
Australian wine that we had ever tasted, back in the late 80's - and it is such
a distinctive name that we wanted to go to where it comes from. Unfortunately
we only had a tourist map, and I took the wrong turning, completely missing
Yalumba. Instead, we ended up at the top of a hill that gave us a wonderful
outlook over the whole of the Barossa Valley.
Once we had left the viewpoint, we wound our way down to a new winery that we
had never seen before, and we had a coffee at Kabminye wines. It's an interesting
building,
with an angular roof of tin, and large glass windows. Once the coffee arrived,
we were most pleased to be indoors, as the rain came down in such a torrent
that large puddles were forming in the gravel outside. Thomas had another few
spoonfuls of froth off Eleanor's cappuccino, and we waited for the storm to
pass before we continued.
The next port of call was St Hallet wines, where Thomas was entertained by the
parrot, and Ann and I bought 6 bottles of wine.
Shortly after, we dropped in to the Jacob's Creek wine centre, where Eleanor
could see some of the history of the valley and wine production.
Once we got home, it was time to put the Christmas tree together. Eleanor and I assembled the branches and then we all decorated the tree with our red and gold decorations. Ann found a Christmas Carols CD, and we opened the doors to let the cool breeze take the heat out of the air - it makes a change from putting the heating on when putting up a Christmas tree!
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Yesterday evening Ann and I went out to dinner with Linda
and Ashley, and Peter and Helen. Originally, there was a charity quiz night
arranged, but it was cancelled at the last minute. So, we all agreed to go out
and have dinner instead. We went to Tiffins
on the Park, and I was most impressed by the ambience of the tropical entrance.
It was quite busy with some large parties of people with Christmas cracker hats.
That should have warned us about the problems that we would have that night.
From ordering the food until something arriving on the table was an hour, and
nearly another hour passed before the main course came out. Ann had mistakenly
decided not to have a starter, and by 10pm, she was desperate for something
to eat.
When the food did arrive, it was fine, but Peter really was disappointed with
his fish, and I was disappointed with the size and lack of flavour in my chicken
curry. We were all disappointed with the service and the delay. When Ashley
tried to chase up about the half hour delay to get dessert and coffees, the
waitress complained that there were three functions and that they were very
busy, before saying that she would find out about the coffees.
It was midnight before we finally got home.
As it was wet again, we decided that today we would try and
stay indoors. We took my mother down to see Ann's parents, and have a quick
coffee. Eleanor was pleased to be shown around the garden by Shirley, as Eleanor
had shown Shirley around her garden back in England when Ann's parents came
over for the wedding. Thomas of course entertained everyone with his noises
and play, and again stubbornly refused to walk when Liam was guiding his steps.
After Liam and Shirley's house, we went to the hardware shop to have a look
at plants and barbeques. My parents have decided that they will buy us a barbie
so that we can go further on the path to becoming be true Australians. Ann and
I have been planning to buy a barbie for a few weeks now, so it is good that
we had not rushed into buying one. We walked along the aisle of barbeques that
were for sale at Bunnings, all the way from $139 to $4000. We ended up choosing
a model that was not too expensive, but looked as good as some of the more expensive
models. Most of the barbeques are gas, and have multiple burners and hoods (the
hood is also so that you can do roasts on the barbie), so we then looked at
gas bottles, utensils and the lava rocks that are put under the grill to distribute
the heat and catch the fat. Then when we went to the counter to ask for the
barbie that we had selected, it was the only one that had been sold out - obviously
a popular choice. So now, we are going to look around for alternatives, and
if there is nothing better, we can go back on Wednesday.
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Yesterday my mother and I did a bit in the garden, pruning things that I don't know enough about to do by myself. She and I went around with a bucket and seceteurs and trimmed lots of roses and old branches. It looks much more tidy now. I even pruned the tomato plants which have been getting very vigorous, so now that energy should be going into the fruit instead of the leaves.
Today it was an overcast day with a temperature only reaching 26°C. This time when I went to work, I decided to use the park and ride which is the next stop on from where I used to catch the bus. It's quite conveniently located, and free, so no tickets this time.
Work has been the usual. Nothing much. A few things are on
my plate now, so I can get to grips with them, but at the moment it feels like
I am blind, and needing to be lead around - mostly because of internal contacts
and procedures, instead of technical issues.
I spent a little bit of time teaching two other guys that started with EDS in
the same week that I did, showing them how to put a server together (physically
slot it together), and it was intriguing that they had never done it before.
I walked to another office that is serviced by EDS, to assist with a server
installation that has been assigned to me. I had a little guided tour around
the computer room of the government department, and it looked like they have
lots of new equipment (a bit of overkill in my view) and piles of old equipment
that has recently been removed. It looks like the government have been spending
lots of money recently...
Eleanor and Ann went to Tea Tree Plaza today to have a look around the shops. They wanted to look at the barbeques that are for sale up there, to try and find a better deal. Pretty quickly, they had decided that they could not get a better deal, and so went clothes shopping instead. Ann ended up with a new skirt, and Eleanor bought a book (and then left it behind at the cash register). Incorrigible.
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Another boring day at the office. I was disappointed - to
put it mildly - to the reaction that I got when I was trying to step beyond
the confines of my role. When I overheard a technical problem that was being
discussed in another part of the room, I realised that it was a problem that
I had experienced before, and that I knew the cause of the issue and how to
fix it. I spoke up and said what the fix was - immediately I was smacked down
with a comment that my solution was irrelevant. Then, a minute or so later when
the technical issue was becoming clearer, I again tried to speak up and explain
the cause of the problem and the solution, this time asking for permission to
give my input first. Again, they told me that my answer was not valid, because
they had done the task many times before and this problem had never happened
before. Obviously I was a little disappointed that when I tried to help out
and pass on some experiences, that I was not able to. It was at this moment
that I decided that enough was enough.
I then called the other job that I had turned down, UniSA, and asked if they
had filled the position yet, and they said that they had not. So I knew that
I had a way to step away from EDS and not be out of work. I was then set on
leaving EDS. I tried to speak to my manager, but he was in a meeting, so I went
and spoke to the recruitment agency. They were very helpful and supportive,
but were not keen on me leaving and making them look bad - which I can understand.
I managed to find and then speak to my manager and told him that it was not
working out and that I wanted to leave. He was reluctant, and wanted me to stay.
I told him about my issues, and how I needed to be challenged and active more.
He then tried to assign me more work. I was trying to quit, but he was doing
everything he could to keep me - and I did not want to annoy him by just walking
away. The agency also told me that if I jut walked out, it would not only make
them look bad, but it would also mean that I would have difficulty getting another
job in Adelaide, as the grapevine between IT recruiters is very active.
So, as the afternoon came and my work inbox started to grow, I was in limbo
wanting to leave as soon as possible, but not wanting to leave before I was
allowed to. Finally, at just before 5pm, my boss told me that he would not hold
me at EDS if I had another job to go to. Unfortunately at that time I could
not tell him that I had another job to go to, as it would not have sat well
in the conversation.
When I got home, Ann and Thomas had been swimming, and Eleanor had been looking on from the side. The girls had also gone down to try and get the barbeque, and it had arrived, but was not yet on the shop floor, so they could not purchase it.
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This morning I arrived late for work. I went to a job interview,
and when I got back in to work, I was able to tell my boss that I had been offered
the job at UniSA and had a formal written offer (although it was email instead
of post). I told him that they wanted me to start as soon as possible, and so
I wanted to get out of EDS as soon as possible. Unfortunately, my boss was not
in the office, and so he did not get the message - and when he did, he delayed
for a long time before letting me know that I could leave on Friday.
Whilst I was waiting for this final decision from EDS, I went out to lunch,
and had a chinese/indian meal (Chicken Tikka on egg fried rice with sweet and
sour sauce). The mixture of the tension of not knowing if I was able to take
the UniSA position, and the interesting lunch, gave me an extremely dodgy stomach.
I was not feeling at all well, and so I left the EDS office as soon as I had
finished having the phone call with my boss, and sat at the bus stop for half
an hour feeling like I was going to explode in a shower of bright pink and yellow
sauce. Once I got on to the bus, UniSA called me to confirm that they were happy
for me to start on Monday, and slowly my stomach felt a lot better.
Once I got home, I was pleased to find that my mother had
managed to purchase the barbie that we wanted. They had unfortunately not been
able to get it into the car, so had arranged for delivery next week instead.
As you might be able to predict, I was keen to get my hands on my new BBQ (after
all, a barbie is a man's domain), so I took the car apart to make some space
in the back for the purchase. All the rear seats of the Renault Scenic come
out, and it leaves a flat loading area at the back. So, I rushed down to Bunnings
to get my new toy, and the stripped-down car felt distinctly lighter.
When I got in to the hardware warehouse, they told me that I could not take
the purchase as there was a delivery charge on it, and they would need the original
cardholder to sign for the refund of the $20 delivery, before they would let
anything else be taken. I was spewing, as I had spent a good 20 minutes stripping
the car down, and it was rush hour to get back.
Not satisfied with that answer, I went to another assistant, who eventually
let me take the three massive boxes that contain the barbeque, and the gas bottle.
Finally, nearly an hour after I had entered, I was filling the propane cylinder
up and heading home.
Ann had cooked dinner, so would not let me open and assemble my shiny chrome
and black iron cooker, and instead wanted me to sit down to the family meal
- which was good for me to have a bit of a rest.
I started to assemble the new barbeque at 9pm. I gave up at 11:30pm, with two bolts inserted. It was dark, I was tired, bolts were rolling under the bushes and the instructions were for a different barbeque. I crawled into bed far too late for someone who had left work early for being sick.
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UniSA had delivered the contracts and paperwork to the house last night, so that I could fill them all in and send it back in order to start work on Monday. Everyone at UniSA is really excited that I am going to be working for them, and the more I read of the tasks and projects that I will be working on, the more I want to get started now! Not just today, but this very minute! I have told them about my plans over Christmas and New Year, and they are letting me have the time off. They also work flexitime, so if I decide to work later, I can take those hours off on another day.
I had an interesting day at EDS today. I was due to start a server installation at 9:30, but it took until 10:30 before I had all the approvals from 9 different managers to do the server installation. In my last job, it would have taken me 90 minutes to complete the whole job, but at EDS it has taken me 5 hours. I could start installing until I got a code from one department, could not take cables from a pile because they were someone else's, could not plug in the power until I got approval from another individual, and could not connect it to the network until yet another person had approved it - this was all after the paperwork of approvals from 9 managers was completed. So in all, to plug in one computer and switch it on, over 15 people needed to say it was OK. Then when I got back to the office, I had to do 2 more hours of paperwork to state the serial number and asset number that were already on other documents. And to make it worse, the computer can't be used because one manager who needs to give me a computer DNS name is away. And this is a project that was started 2 years ago. I could have done the whole project in a week if I had all the right access and permissions.
When I got home, the new barbeque looked like a dead horse,
with four crooked black legs pointing up to the sky. So, after having a salad
dinner (it was 30°C today) I went out and started to complete the assembly
of the monster. It is so much easier when there is daylight and I can skip pages
in the instructions that refer to a different barbie.
Once assembled, I had to get Ann to help me flip it onto it's wheels. It is
very heavy, being made of cast iron, and so we eventually managed to get it
to sit in it's rightful place. I then started to put the finishing touches to
the construction - only to find that I had skipped the wrong page in the instructions,
and installed the side panels on the wrong sides. This meant that the front
doors on the cupboard under the cooker would not open, just remain firmly closed.
So, we decided to leave the doors off, and dismantle and re-construct it all
when we next move it.
I then needed to burn all burners for 30 minutes to cook off any chemicals or
bad smells that were in the metalwork. The pong was really strong, so we were
sitting in the hot house with the barbeque going full-blast and all the windows
closed. It eventually settled down.
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Yesterday there was a shark attack
in Adelaide. A
teenager was attacked
and eaten by two 5 metre Great
White Sharks. It happened only 300 metres from the shore of the sands of
West Beach, on a sunny 32°C day. It is almost completely unheard of for
two
White Pointers (the Australian name for a Great White) to attack
at the same time - there is still debate over why the two sharks combined their
efforts.
This weekend, Marie (one of my nieces) was due to be at a beach party only 3km
up the shore from West Beach, and this has now been relocated to a water theme
park.
It was my last day at EDS today. As expected, nothing new
happened. I was still in a conference room with other people who had just started
a few weeks ago, all of us unsure of what to to or how to do it, and with no
knowledge of who to ask or where to look when we did not know something. Each
time any of us had tried to get more information, a new person or name had been
given, and then when contacting them, we were often sent in circles to try and
find out how to complete tasks that had been assigned to us.
I spent the day giving guidance to two other engineers that I had been sitting
with - passing on skills and knowledge that I had gained over the last 10 years.
I took Andrei to another building where a server installation is due to happen,
and showed him how to plug in and mount a server into the computer room. It
made me think, when I had to explain some things that I take for granted, that
there is so much more to my skills and knowledge than just training can give.
One thing that Andrei and I laughed about was how to open server cabinets. There
are at least 5 different ways to open these 7 foot high metal cages, depending
on what manufacturer they are from - if you can't open one, there is no way
that you are going to be able to get to the servers inside the cabinets...
This evening, Eleanor took us to a restaurant above a hotel
called the Rydges
which is right on the Southern Parklands, overlooking the Adelaide Hills and
with views over to Glenelg and the sea. When we arrived, there were two big
Christmas parties going on, so the service was delayed, but other than that
it was a really wonderful meal and evening.
Everyone had a great meal, I was the only one to have a starter of three large
prawns. When everyone felt stuffed after the main meal, we all decided to look
a the dessert menu whilst the sun was setting over the sea. I had cheeses and
the girls had cakes. Everything was really fresh and tasty, and it was a great
evening.
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