An exercise in creative writing

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The ABC reports that unemployment in Western Australia is on the rise and that the number of full time jobs has been falling for well over a year. Part-time jobs / job-shares are, to some extent, taking their place. But the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry anticipates that the unemployment rate will rise from 5.7% (May 2016) to around 6.3% in the current financial year.

This is certainly an interesting climate in which to consider looking around for some additional part-time / casual work, but I thought I’d give it a go…

The most interesting aspect, really, has been updating my CV/resume. These are, of course, not quite the same thing. A curriculum vitae (CV) is a comprehensive listing of about the last decade of your work experience, along with all your academic qualifications and achievements. Once it’s set up, this document should be pretty easy to tweak and update, since most of those details probably won’t change all that much.

A resume, on the other hand, is much briefer – just a couple of pages (at most) to outline your skills and experience. However, as often as not, what many prospective Australian employers actually seem to be looking for is something in-between. Job applications across a wide range of employment areas request a CV, but actually seem to be after what amounts to a slightly more detailed version of a resume.

Having not travelled this particular road for a number of years, the updating and reshaping of the master document took quite a while. Compressing the relevant aspects into a resume/summary/mini-CV was less time consuming, but not a minor task either. The upside is that it’s all done, so I can now apply for random employment willy-nilly with minimal hassle 🙂

Or so one might imagine…

Job applications, however, all come with that most mysterious and complicated of things, the selection criteria. In many instances these are fairly similar for similar sorts of jobs, but each set requires individual attention – there simply isn’t a one-stop-shop as far as job applications go.

The objective is to address each of the criteria in such a way as to showcase how one has successfully implemented/managed situations with one’s skill set. Ah – and each paragraph needs to be different, i.e. not repetitive. They also each need to be interesting enough to generate at least a grunt of approval from the selection panel and get you over the line onto the short list.

In essence this comes down to an exercise in creative writing, critique and self-assessment. Having just waded through one, I think I may as well now apply for pretty much any and everything that fits my selection criteria! It would certainly make the best use of the time and energy I’ve already expended.

I’m just hoping that the current round of creative writing will overlap at least to some extent with other potential applications, so that it will be more a case of tweaking than of re-inventing wheels each time.

Do you have any resume tips or advice to offer?

Living with a velcro dog

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BabyMolly_2014Miss Molly entered our lives almost two years ago, capturing our hearts from the moment we met her at Valkyrian Dobermans. We’ve learned a whole lot about the breed since we brought her home, sitting on my lap – but the surprises keep on coming 🙂

Molly en route home_2014

Like every other Doberman we’ve met, MissM’s very affectionate and people-oriented. She took to sleeping on our bed early in the piece and likes to colonise the couch – usually squished up next to (or on) one of us. The phrase ‘velcro dog’ or even ‘parrot-dog‘ describes her perfectly: she has no concept of personal space, preferring to be close to (or on) one of us… an ever-present, 26kg shadow.

velcoparrotdog

We were warned that Dobermans are athletic – and this appears to equate to ‘runs and jumps like a crazy thing and has boundless energy.’ Daily walks are a must for MissM, and these need to be augmented by a good run a couple of times a week. It makes a huge difference to both her happiness and our sanity!

MissM out for a runDobermans can have a propensity to suck on (or chew) blankets. MissM is one of these – and seems to particularly enjoy the blanket we have on our bed… Preventative measures are in place but, given that her grandmother still does it, we may be doomed on this one.

The biggest hurdle we’ve faced – the one we come up against on a daily basis – is that dobermans can be darned stubborn. And by this I mean really, really stubborn. MissM does obey commands – but, like many two year olds, it tends to be in her own good time, thank you very much.

MissM in a rare moment of calmOur young lady is very protective and has a giant bark that she’s very willing to use any time anyone comes through the gate. This can result in some nervous visitors… She also seems to think she’s smaller than than she really is and will persist in trying to fit into fruit boxes 🙂

Molly in a box

Dobermans respond well to training… eventually, but not to drama or negative/forceful discipline. It takes consistent, patient training and positive reinforcement. Luckily, Himself is all about patience – so the game is gradually going our way.

Molly at school_23aug16

All in all, whilst her first two years have been frenetic, she’s been a great addition to our lives. Cassie, our six month old Welsh Springer pup, is her best buddy. Happy birthday, MissM 🙂

cassiemolly_22june2016

Bike riding as mindfulness meditation?

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Two bridges rideAfter a week of rain, my cycling excursion now seems a little like a delicious dream rather than a reality. But it definitely happened! Last weekend was sunny and I really did go on my first bike ride in absolutely ages. I even got a bit of a tan!

It was a glorious almost-spring afternoon, perfect for a ride around the two bridges. It’s only a 7.4km loop – although the extra 6.3km (each way) to and from the bridge turned it into a 20km round trip. Not an epic ride, certainly, but a personal best for some time.

As I started down the first hill and started to pick up speed, I felt indescribably free. For no clear reason, the mental soundtrack to my ride was  I’m Free – from the Pete Townshend musical, Tommy.  The opening lines encapsulated the moment perfectly: I’m free… I’m free… / And freedom tastes of reality!

Freedom is generally understood to be the ability to think or act as one wishes, whether an individual, group or nation state. In a world where so many people have so few personal freedoms – where they are denied freedom of movement, religious belief, political outlook and expression – my taste of reality may seem exceedingly superficial.

However, in the particular, freedom has specific connotations for every individual – and I’m very conscious of my good fortune. The freedom to do something like hop on my bike and go for a ride – just because I feel like it – is a gift beyond compare.

        If I told you what it takes / To reach the highest high, / You’d laugh and say, “Nothing’s that simple”.

But, for me, it is. Those two hours on my bike and on the river bank provided me with a mindful appreciation of my environment – which included seeing a small group of dolphins frolicking in the river, exercise, time to think, and renewal. Time well spent.

Spring garden project ahead

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In 2012 we decide to remove 20 pencil pines from around our pool. The trees had provided a very effective barrier for many years, screening us from both an unsightly wall and our neighbour’s garden. But their day was done. The narrow garden beds couldn’t contain them any longer; they were overcrowded, sections were dying off and a lot of leaf litter was ending up in the pool.

My plan was to replace them with a range of less messy plants, including  citrus and rosemary one one side and an evergreen screen of passionfruit vines on the other (to hide the ugly wall). To this end, we recruited help, removed the trees and created an enormous amount of pine mulch – to be used at a later date. It was an epic task spread over a few weekends and the food bribes in no way compensated for all the hard work. Thanks again, everyone 🙂

pencilpineremoval_2012

In due course we planted three citrus trees (dwarf orange, calamondin, sunrise lime), along with some rosemary and various fillers. Himself then built some outstanding fan-shaped supports for the proposed passionfruit vines. They were perfect – and by Christmas that year we had three hardy little vines starting to creep up the trellising.

Our Nellie Kelly  flowered abundantly and produced prolifically – an excellent choice for WA gardens. The Panama Gold vines we planted on each side were also very productive, but the fruit didn’t go the purple colour I associated with ripe passionfruit. You’d think the name would have been a clue, but… I chucked half our first crop when they fell of the vines because I thought they were green and the rats had been at them.  I only figured it out when our dog found a small pile of the fruit I’d put aside to throw away. She tossed one around like a ball until the skin broke open – much to her surprise. Even more so for me when I saw the ripe pulp in it – and in all the others I then checked! Oops 😛

passionfruit oopsTo be fair, rats do love passionfruit and will eat through sections of the skins to lick out the contents – even if the fruit isn’t ripe. We’d found enough empty fruit casings under the vines for my leap of assumption to be at least plausible – however misguided 😛

What I recently discovered about passionfruit vines is that they really do need regular pruning in spring. Cutting back the denser growth allows for better air circulation and fruit development. It also keeps them from getting overgrown and heavy. Sadly I only realised this once the wooden trellises had collapsed behind the vines, crushing many of the major stems.

In order to repair or replace the trellises, the  (mostly dead) vines have had to be removed – probably several years earlier than was strictly necessary, since it turns out that passionfruit can produce reliably for about six years. So this weekend we got the last of the vines out and now it’s time to re-evaluate what we want to do to screen that ugly wall. We look at it from the kitchen windows every day, a constant reminder and prompt that something will need to be done. New trellises and more vines… or some other option, like an epic mosaic project? The debate continues.

ugly wall reveal

How much space do we really need?

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Just down the road from our house there’s a new development – a veritable suburban mansion that’s just about ready for its new tenants. It’s taken about two years from the demolition of the pre-existing house to completion of this new epic abode – and I certainly hope the new neighbours will find it to be all they wished for.

local suburban mansion

For my part, however, I see it as something of a monstrosity. It fills the block of land almost from edge to edge in all directions and has great big columns out the front. They’ve also painted it a sad shade of grey that, whilst apparently the colour of the moment, I find most unappealing.

Coincidentally, I recently watched a documentary on tiny houses – and they were the cutest, most practical little abodes one could imagine! The tiny house concept is apparently a relatively new one to Australia, largely due to building regulations, but it’s really starting to take off. This is hardly surprising, given the current housing and rental costs!

These little houses are the polar opposite of our local suburban mansion. They tend to be under 40m2  – which is definitely pretty cosy, given that the average house size in Australia is somewhere around 227m2  …which means many of the tiny houses are probably not a lot bigger than some lounge rooms I’ve been in!

So they’re small. But they’re also adaptable (can be moved to a new location if necessary), are relatively low cost to build and maintain (due to size), and are very functional. Starting at a base price of under $30,000 for the tiniest of houses, you can then option up to include any number of convenient extras, such as solar panels, loft space, composting loo, appliances, and so forth – depending on your budget.

What I really fell in love with was the idea of a converted school bus. This one, for example, ticks most of my (all new) tiny house boxes. Really, what’s not to love about this?

Couple-Convert-1993-School-Bus-Tiny-Home-002

There are a few things that need to be thought out carefully before going down this pathway, of course. I’ve listed a whole bunch of them here as they’ve occurred to me, so that we can think about them if we ever take the leap.

  • downsizing and dejunking
  • general storage to maximise the space and minimise chaos
  • deciding whether the tiny house would be on wheels (so that it could be relocated if we chose to move elsewhere)
  • where would we park it? (DaugherDearest’s property is starting to sound rather appealing….)
  • designing in appropriate lighting, heating/cooling, and sanitation
  • then there’s the layout: a loft bed wouldn’t really work for me, so we’d need a cunning plan that wouldn’t involve ladders (or hammocks or stairs)
  • the biggest gotcha of all is building/local government approvals, particularly if we buy some land and plan on parking the house on it as our primary dwelling – this would need a lot of attention and could be a right headache!

Further to this, it’s worth having a look at the planning codes for your state to establish what the general rules are – and then following up with some research into local council rules as well. Some councils are coming on board with the idea and I imagine that more will over time.

I think the biggest challenge for us would be to adapt to a compact, tiny lifestyle – because it would mean downsizing in a big way from our current 4×2 (etc.) house. I think I could do it… but Himself is super attached to his workshop and garage and we are midway through a number of renovations on our house… So it’s not a scenario that would play out well for us at present. But who knows what the future holds… so I’ll start keeping an eye out for a retired school bus… and on successful bus-to-tiny-house conversions in Australia.