maggies_lens

I promise there will be random Thailand photos at some stage very soon. In the mean time I need to admit something. I need to clear the air. It's taken me a few weeks to come to terms with this, so please don't judge too harshly...I....I'm a My Little Pony Friendship is Magic fan. There. I said it. I like this cartoon and I like the stories and I like the animation style. I am also mildly alarmed and amused that the cartoon ponies I have been drawing in my exercise books etc for years look a hell of a lot like the new MLP's. What the HELL? When I get home and have access to HB pencils and an eraser, I will be teaching myself how to draw them. I think my two fav ponies are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. I know it's been around, what, 3 years or so? But I never watched it until the flight over here. The movies were boring, they had an episode available to watch so It ought ah what the hell. Now I really, really like it :)
I am 35 years old.
How freaking depressing is THIS?!?!?!? Anyone else suffer this?
Anyway, I was feeling silly yesterday and created my own pony. I personally think she's kind of cute.


I can see the legs are going to be the hardest to draw, I always have issues with getting the level of cute-chunky right. Will have to experiment a little bit with guide-line points and joint references. I have to say I def prefer the new animation style to the old one, this one is going to be a lot easier to draw. I can draw the old style but it's very limiting.

Anyway, now you know my filthy, dirty, nasty little secret :) And hey I saw this, sums me up pretty well, and made me think of a couple of you.




heheheheheee, yeah :)

Saturday morning I had my hens. I really didn't want the traditional hens thing, you know what I mean. Not into strippers and that sort of stuff. I'd found this chocolate tour of Melbourne thing when I was doing my TAFE course and decided I'd really like to do it. The morning was HECTIC, getting all sorts of stuff done, then Melissa arrived and we took off. Picked up mum and Rhonda and headed into the city. We had a nice healthy breakfasty thing of soup (from Souperman in the QV Centre! LOL!) as we'd arrived quite early. Tanya and Shar showed up shortly after we were done, and we joined the Walk people at the first stop, New Zealand Natural. We got taken to a few choccy places in Melbourne (New Zealand Natural, Cacao Fine Chocolates, Koko Black, Lindt and Ganache) and got to sample some of the best quality chocolate Melbourne has to offer, and learn a little bit of Melbourne architecture. None of the Cadbury rubbish either; we had REAL chocolate. Was just marvelous. Did you know it takes 15 years to be a Master Chocolatier? And you can't get the qualification without studying in Europe for at least part of the time. REAL chocolate doesn't make you fat either, it's all the oil and refined sugar that gets put into commercial grade chocolate that's so bad for you. We got to learn how chocolate is made, the different types of chocolate and how the modern methods came to be. In all, it was awesome. And yes we got to sample :) The only one I didn't like had champagne ganache in it. I hate ganache at the best of times, and hate champagne so yeah :D By the end we'd had enough choccy! We ended with afternoon tea at Ganache Chocolates where we were given INCREDIBLE cake. I chose to have peppermint tea to compliment mine, best idea EVER! Helped to cleanse my palate and make everything taste quite divine.
Tanya and Shar went home to pick up Sophie from their babysitter, I drove first Rhond and then mum home, then Melissa and I went and saw the horses. They hadn't been out of their paddock since they arrived so were a bit on edge. But they need to get used to it all. Gave them a feed, let them walk around in the round yard so they could look at things, treated Destiny with some Illium the vet had dropped by. We went back to my place after horses were put away and grabbed Craig and went to Hog Breath's for AWESOME dinner.
Fell into bed that night and slept like the dead. Today has been a very slothful day, not done anything much :) Have liked it :D

( random collection of photos )



Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Only two weeks left!!!

God damn I'm pissed off. Took me ages to get onto this equine dentist. Finally got him. Made appointment for 7am today. Wake up super early. Froze ass off getting Dan in (you try finding a horse in a dark 20 acres!), and was at the hitching rail 7am sharp. Waiting, waiting...20mins later I call him. He sounds asleep. I ask how far off. He miswrote his diary and was there LAST week. Did he call me? Fuck no, don't be silly, what sort of equine professional would bother to WRITE DOWN YOUR DETAILS! Seriously? I'm going to go do a farrier and dentistry course, start making shitloads of money and treat clients like crap. Seems to be the way to do it.He has one last chance next Wednesday, if no show or whatever, he can go screw himself. Only re-booked because didn't have number of the other local dentist handy. And the other one uses mandatory sedation and power tools which sounds very, very wrong to me. Esp since the Australian Equine Dentistry Association doesn't approve of this method as there is no proven humane equipment, nor proof that the horse doesn't suffer from excessive heat in their teeth during the process. Mandatory sedation sounds like a quick-fix to me too, shows the person doesn't have any real horsemanship skills. I'll go there if I have to, but will avoid as long as possible. Now sitting at TFE about to find warm beverage and fain interest in Excel. Blergh. Bad mood Maggie is in a bad mood.

So I'm sitting there at work today when Pete (Yard man) comes in and says hey could you move the car as we have a BIG truck coming in and we need the extra swing room etc. Yep, cool.Saunter over to parents stationwagon which, while heavy and old and creaky, is not that bad to drive really. Open door...and almost die. FUMES of petrol are almost overwhelming. I think oh shit, the fuel tank/lines have DIED. As I staggered backwards, eyes full of painful tears, I saw something in the back.
A jerry can.
I opened the wagonback and grabbed it. Threw it into the shade. It was sealed but because it's so damn HOT it'd been boiling in the back and leaked through the seams. Quite a bit of fuel was spilled...my eyes followed the liquid path to...the 4 pack of BUTANE GAS CYLINDERS!!!!!!!
WHAT THE UNHOLY FUCK?!?!?!?
Ripped the rubber guard out and rinsed it but the rubber has of course chemically melted and screwed itself right up. Ripped out the carpet liner (thankfully easy to do in a stationwagon - held on by velcro) and washed it with Truck Wash. Left the windows down and the back open for the rest of the day.

It PROBABLY wouldn't have hurt me very much if it blew, probably would have gotten minor burns.

Then end of the day Bianca asked me to call a driver to get times for last week. Called her. She's in TEARS. Um, what???? Turns out she and her hubby had flown out to QLD last night for a holiday. Got call this morning. Their son, home alone, had an epileptic fit and suffocated. He was a young adult and on medication. That was one HELL of a phone call.

I plan to have a very quiet day tomorrow...

This is an entry for people who are wanting information about the horses I am working to re-home. Put it here because it's easier than typing it out each time :D My regular LJ friends may find this interesting too :)

I DO NOT KNOW IF ANY OF THESE HORSES ARE BACKED IN OR EVEN MOUTHED. I AM TRYING TO FIND WHATEVER HISTORY I CAN ON THEM BUT IT'S VERY HARD - I DO NOT KNOW THEIR MEDICAL HISTORY. I WILL ADD OBSERVATIONS FOR EACH HORSE TO TRY AND TELL YOU ALL I CAN. YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME SEE THE HORSES IN NARRE WARREN NORTH, THERE IS A ROUND YARD AND PRIVATE PADDOCKS TO WORK THEM IN. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOU GETTING HURT IF YOU WANT TO TRY GEAR ON THEM. I DO NOT ADVISE TRYING TO RIDE THEM. ALL THESE HORSES NEED WORMING, THEIR TEETH DONE AND THE ATTENTION OF A QUALIFIED FARRIER. THEY ARE IN GOOD CONDITION OTHERWISE. ALL HORSES SEIZED FOR NON-PAYMENT OF AGISTMENT. THEY CAN NOT BE TAKEN OFF THE PROPERTY UNTIL CLOSE OF BUSINESS HOURS 7TH OF FEB 2013. THE AGISTMENT OWNER IS HAPPY FOR THEM TO GO ON TRIALS BUT A DEPOSIT MUST BE PAID AND IDENTIFICATION PROVIDED SUCH A DRIVER LICENSE ETC. KNACKERY HAS OFFERED $200 PER HEAD, AGISTMENT OWNER WILL TAKE THAT OR ABOVE. CLYDIE X MAY BE MORE AS THIS IS A QUALITY HORSE AND SHE NEEDS TO TRY AND RECOUP SOME OF THE VERY HEAVY DEBT THESE HORSES HAVE PUT HER INTO.

The Geldings:
1. Bay STB Gelding, 13years old, Freezebrand S399234 DOB 1/9/1999 ROCKLEA NOMORE aka Rocky. Aprox 15.2hh. Never had any issue with him in the paddock. Others have seen him boss other horses around. Never seen lame. Rocky is happy to get as much attention as he is given. ROCKY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION AS NOW HAS A LOVING NEW HOME.



2. Aprox 17hh Bay STB gelding, 8 years old, Freezebrand S2040433, WESGATE BARNEY. Barney was raced twice as a two year old and twice as a three year old as a trotter, didn't do so good! Barney is one of the most personality filled horses I have ever met. He loves people, especially kids and will follow you around like an over grown puppy, insisting on being involved in anything that is going on. Very bold, very funny! Is dominant to other horses in the paddock but not overly nasty. I wouldn't put him in with elderly, very young or very small or timid ponies/horses. Never seen lames. DOES HAVE A LARGE SCAR on his off side hind leg. No idea how he got it. Is perfectly sound on it. Barney needs someone who won't be intimidated by his size. Having seen him hoon around the paddock, I think he's be quite the jumper!!! If it were not for the prejudice against STB's in this country, he'd be snapped up damn fast by someone wanting a tall, athletic and very doofus friendly horse.




3. Aprox 15.2hh black STB gelding with three stars in a weird pattern on his head! Older horse. Freezebranded. Never raced. Named Spyder. Spy is the one who started me in on this - I couldn't bear to see this incredible sweet horse go to Laverton. He is a shy, polite, friendly, lovely little guy. A finely built STB, he's always from the day they arrived been a great favourite of mine for his lovely personality. Suffered badly from malnutrition last winter until provided with much better pasture. Also suffered horrifically from a terrible rug rub on his withers which I treated every day I could with salt water and medication, with never a halter or rope on him - this would have hurt him pretty badly but he never ever tried to get away; he knew I was helping him. Spy is a very special boy who needs someone to seriously love him! SPY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION, HAS FOUND A NEW HOME WITH THE R.D.A!



4. Aprox 5yr old Clydie X gelding named Comet. I'd say he's at 15hh. No idea what he is crossed with but he's certainly taken on the build of the Clydesdale side!!! One very chunky little monkey :) Nicely put together. Comet is 100% def NOT BROKEN IN. He's SO ready to take on the world. R.D.A assessed him and wanted him pretty badly (he passed all the on-the-ground-tests with flying colors) but they couldn't place a heavy horse at the moment in any center. This guy will be snapped up pretty fast - totally unspoiled, lovely temperment, and just a sweet horse.



The Mares:

1. Dark bay/brown 7yr old STB 15hh, freezebranded S3051633. I just call her Shy Girl as I don't know her name. She is a very shy little mare who suffered horrendously from malnutrition last winter (and yes this bleeding heart used to throw her hay from her own supplies because yes I am a sucker) but is in good condition now. While she is shy with new people, once she knows you she is a very sweet girl. Very quiet in the paddock, no issue with any other horse. Will really blossom with someone to give her some love and attention.



2. Bright bay 7yr old STB mare, freezebranded S3051921, named Sienna. Si is a very friendly, active, fun loving mare! She's extremely athletic and a bit of a looker. She's the first one to greet you when you enter the paddocks and insists on some attention! Si has what appears to be a scar from a burst abscess on her off hind which has left a ripple grown down in her hoof. Considering these horses haven't see a farrier for months and months and months and her hooves are extremely long, it hasn't appeared to effect her at all. She enjoys quite the good playful hoon around the field and judging by the moves she pulls, I'd say she is quite 100% sound!!!! You want a pocket-pony mare? This is your girl.



ALL THESE PHOTOS ARE TRUE AND ACCURATE REPRESENTATIONS OF THESE HORSES WITHIN THE PAST WEEK OF THIS POST BEING WRITTEN. I WILL UPDATE IF ANY CHANGES. EXTRA PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST.

I need this:

http://www.amazon.com/Collins-Complete-Guide-British-Wildlife/dp/0007236832/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1357177453&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Collins+Complete+Guide+to+British+Wildlife

Does anyone have a copy I can borrow?

What a ruddy emotional roller coaster. Ok, let's start from the beginning. You guys know I have had my reservations about NW for a while now. The sub-par training, the racism, the "screw everyone you can" attitude...it really got to me. What made it worse was that there was nobody I could go to about it; hard to speak to a supervisor about how them making gay or Indian nasty jokes offends you when that supervisor was involved in the original actions. There is a guy there named Layne who is openly gay and a cross-dresser. I personally liked him very much; he was funny, smart, happy to be himself and also very helpful. But the SHIT people laid on him for being who/what he is was just unbelieveable. And always behind his back. Rachel in particular was just...out of line. But the thing is, she's a protected species as she is the daughter of one of the bosses. As is Sam, who acted like a total twat half the time. No managerial skills at all. The best way I can describe her is a "blocker". You'd have a concern or a question, and she'd "block" you. Tell you you don't need to worry about it, or she'd do SOMEthing on the screen to fix it but wouldn't tell you what it was she had done so you never actually LEARNED anything. Tom was good in letting me dispatch, but Efy and the others...yeah no.
The last load of shifts really made me question staying there. Not only because of the way they had screwed me with the roster, but also because of the behaviour displayed toward staff who were forced into it. The last straw was when Rachel told me I had the personality of a pot plant. That was just...*shakes head* who SAYS that to a work mate? Esp one who has just worked 5 12 hour shifts in a row and is in the last hour of that load? Clearly tired, clearly not interested in your bogan bullshit discussion about why all immigrants should be deported if they can't speak English to an University level (which god know she certainly couldn't), I was WORKING. Quietly dispatching away. And because I didn't add anything to the convo, because, you know, I was like WORKING, I got THAT.
I hopped onto Seek.com and typed in Dispatcher next day off. First one that came up sounded good so I whipped off my resume. Got a call about 30mins later from Karen asking if I could come in for an interview. That was the STUFF I mentioned the other day. Went and had interview a couple days later which went for TWO AND A HALF HOURS! Place is called Green Light couriers. I will have a team of about 18 or so drivers. Good. I like the smaller teams, much easier to get to know them etc.
Went back to work the next day and had a performance review. It went really well. They said they were happy with me and could see I was developing every day. My KPIs were awesome and my knowledge base building VERY rapidly. All good. Only complaint was I wore grey pants instead of black. :/. Because that is SUCH a huge deal when 3/4 of the others came in dressed like $2 whores, ripped clothing and hungover... I was like, whatev's, I'll get black pants with next pay. All good.
Came out and continued to work the rest of the shifts. The I got a call yesterday from Sam saying please come in. I asked why. She said "there's no point going into it on the phone, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sam, this is freaking me out. Please at least tell me what this is about"
"No" *click*
Wouldn't answer my calls or texts. I called Leah and asked if she knew WTF, she was as confused as I was. She managed to get out of Sam that it was regarding my review. So I went in and was told that I was "not up to standards" and had not passed my probation period. Which ended next day i.e today. I asked um, what standards? Show me the standard. They couldn't show me even one. I said um my KPI's are better than most of the others in there, I'm never late like half of them are, I've had TWO who shifts off (one because my tooth broke at work, the other because I had gastro from hell and was throwing up like no one's business), the teams worked for me very well, and I hardly needed direction any more. They just said no you don't meet standard and kept blocking me. I was like WTF, fuck you. Got up and walked back to the coms room and wrote Kate a quick note, which Sam was VERY upset about; she wanted me GONE. She basically pushed me out the door and down the steps! Kate went pure white when she saw it and quickly sent me a text.
And you know what Sam's parting words to me where? "We won't release your final pay until you return the two polos to us."
"Are you serious? That is all you have to say to me?"
"Well what else is there to say. We expect the shirts back or we won't release your wage"
I stood there for a moment staring at her and said "Sam, you really need to learn how to talk to people, you should really consider doing a management course so you don't act like the Boss's Daughter and treat people the way you do." and walked out.
Craig had driven me, thank god. I didn't shed a single tear but GOD were we mad! We'd be ok for a few weeks with savings, but it would have been VERY hard. I spent most of yesterday firing off a million emails/resumes. Then this morning as I was trying to work out WTF I was going to do with my day, my mobile rang. It was Karen from Green Light. She scared the shit out of me, sounding like they didn't want me, then said she was prepared to give me a go but I'd better realise there were no RDO's etc. I almost burst out laughing. For the past ten years or so I have worked 12 hour shifts, weekends, public holidays, Xmas, you name it. Now I will be working 8:30am to 6pm. Monday to Friday only. No public holidays. For the moment they are not very far from my last work, but in December (I think it is) they are moving to Rowville...not far from where Kings is! LOL!!!!! She knew all about Kings too, said they are going swiftly to shit. She also knew Nationwide and even before I said anything she said "I take it you are leaving there due to their attitudes and behaviours towards their staff?". :D
I start tomorrow morning at the luxurious time of 0830. I have 3 months probation. And paid a tiny bit more than I was at NW. Ahhhh. The best form of revenge, my friends, is success.
And yes they do know about the wedding/honeymoon next year and are fine with me taking that time off. At this stage I will most likely go back to work on the Monday and Tuesday after the wedding. We fly out on the Tuesday, so will prob work a half day or similar since we don't fly out til very late evening.
So there you have it.
Got the WORST tension headache right afterwards. Went to the horses and did a huge clean up of the paddock but that didn't help at all. Came home and took many LEGAL drugs and had a hot bath. It's still lingering but it's under control. Paddock looks good but :D Going to have to fit in mucking out on weekends now instead of RDO's during the week. Prob get down there an hour or so before due to ride and do as much as I can. Thinking at this stage dependent on weather conditions, will probably move my horses out of the private paddock when we do go to Europe. Give it a good rest, and hopefully mean Melissa won't have to do ANYthing at all bar check on them for me and perhaps feed if she thinks they need it. Ah the day to day worries of the jet setting class ;P

looks warm, doesn't it? It wasn't! :D