A Day in the Life of a Temp

I am no longer a bum living with my parents, I have a job, thank you very much. Alright, I still live with my parents, but I am now the owner of a shiny little temp job for a couple of months - which is perfect for giving me a bit of cash, and some more time before I have to commit to anything any more permanent.You could say I am procrastinating with the whole grown up thing...but who isn’t?

Anyway, back to the joys of temping. I’ve worked in quite a few short term, temporary jobs over the years – it comes with the territory of moving around a lot – but this is the first one in a few years, so I am getting reacquainted with the good, and not so good, side of temping.

Firstly, I work five minutes walk from my parents place – the ultimate in buminess and by far the easiest commute of my life. I even get to come home for lunch. I remember being super jealous of my friends at primary school who lived nearby and could go home for lunch. Eat your heart out, kids!

I have a pretty good office set up – desk by the window with, an albeit marginal, sea view. There is a fully stocked kitchen – I'm talking Milo, a dishwasher, microwave, even a sandwich press. This is luxury compared to my fully health and safety compliant kitchen in my London office, which despite the considerable size and wealth of the private sector company I worked for, basically consisted of a cold water tap because no one could possibly hurt themselves on that. Whilst I have been utilising the coffee plungers and fridge to the full extent in my current job, I have not been making the most of it as much as the guy I saw cooking a steak on the sandwich press at 10am in the morning last Wednesday – legend.

My job is definitely not challenging. I am a glorified paper pusher at the moment, sometimes with a bit of highlighting thrown in there, just to mix it up, so I don’t care too much about it. Ideally, I’d rather be doing something I am invested in, and not feel like such a rookie, as the new kid on the block. The upside however is that it’s definitely less stressful and not only do I get a full one hour lunch break, but I actually leave the office at 5pm every day – the work life balance is definitely better here than in London. Plus, we have morning tea every Thursday – with sausage rolls, I might add - and every day, our half of the floor gather round to do the quiz from the paper. At least I can impress with my general knowledge skills.

This is the sign on the shredder at work. Sometimes I feel like I should wear this sign.

And of course, sometimes things are lost in translation when you’re working as part of a new team. Yesterday, when I couldn’t fit a lengthy title into the predefined box on the system, I asked my boss if it would be too gangster if we took the ‘g’s off the end of a couple of the words ending in ‘ing’. I’m not sure they get my sense of humour just yet.

And the best part is the money, of course – first full week’s pay cheque the other day - you beauty! Next thing on the agenda? Getting myself a sweet ride.

The Occupation of Being Unemployed

I’ve tried to fill my days with useful and interesting things whilst not working and most people I know are, but as anyone who has been unemployed will know - and it’s only been a month - it does get a wee bit boring at times when you’re at home and chained to the computer, emailing and searching for jobs.

Here’s how I filled one particularly boring day at home:

Got up, washed my face and got dressed because I felt like I should. And then realised it wasn't long until Dr Phil started and got back in bed.

Joined the library. Thought I could do that online but only part of it’s online. Still have to go in to join join. Guess I have to do that anyway to get the books. Damn it.

Researched going on the dole online. Then realised it looks like too much work – forms and appointments and shit.

Got annoyed when nothing was happening on Facebook. And then spent half an hour worrying I might be addicted to Facebook.

Briefly contemplated alternative careers – do bicycle couriers make good money? 

Took an online typing test. Just to remind myself that I have skills.

Wondered if 3pm is too early to start drinking red wine.

Marveled at my water bottle – it’s a sipper one. With a straw. Meaning I can drink while lying down. In bed.

Checked out what I could see with binoculars from the windows of my parents inner city apartment. Turns out - just business meetings.

Remembered I have Draw Something on my phone - hours of entertainment.

Watched documentary shows about New Zealand’s worst criminals - not really helping with the whole I'm-so-glad-I-moved-back-to-New-Zealand thing.

Realised there are people who are even more bored than me out there – case in point

Jokes aside, I have been doing a fair bit of job hunting and meeting with agencies, but after a week and a half of seriously looking for work, I’m already itching to be doing something, not to mention earning some cash – but I know as soon as I am working, I’ll be dreaming of leisurely breakfasts at 9am and watching awesome music videos on You Tube, so I better make the most of it and get back in bed.

100% Pure

Views from the top of the farm at 6am

Views from the top of the farm at 6am

I spent last week visiting family down south. It was an interesting few days, familiarising myself with New Zealand again. I’ve always considered myself lucky to come from such a beautiful country, despite spending so much time not actually in it, and this week has refreshed my appreciation of this. The roads between Canterbury and North Otago have some really stunning scenery - flat plains and rolling hills, pristine lakes and rivers - both of which I swam in - and miles of sky. I spent most of my time on a farm near Twizel, where it was 35 degrees most days - quite possibly the hottest temperatures I've ever experienced in New Zealand. On my second day there, I got up at 5am to help with sheep mustering – anyone who knows me is well aware that I am not a morning person, so this was tough, but by far the coolest time of the day to do it, both temperature and views wise; looking over the hills, valleys and mountains from the top of the farm, and then walking down from the very top of the farm to the bottom was pretty amazing. On a side note, I also discovered a crazy phenomenon I've never heard of before - I spent a day in Oamaru, which is apparently the steampunk capital of New Zealand. I visited the the Steampuck HQ, which was super weird, and left me with more questions than I started with - I still don't totally get it.

Swimming hole

Whilst it was a relaxing week, it was a little difficult to get used to being so rural almost straight after London – like going from one extreme to the other in all manner of ways. It was quiet and hot and scenic and slow....the total opposite of London. I’ve never been great at being one of those people who can sit and do nothing – I can relax and watch a movie or read a book but I find I am always doing something, rather than just sitting; so it took a bit of getting used to, and whilst it was nice, but I found myself getting a little fidgety at times. During this little trip, I had a lot of time for reading, and I finished a really wonderful and somewhat appropriate book – Ellie and the Shadow Man, by Maurice Gee, truly one of our greatest writers. This book follows the life of a woman from the age of 15 into her 50s, as she moves between Wellington, Golden Bay and Nelson - appropriate as these are places I have spent a lot of time in. It’s interesting to read books that are set in places you know, as you recognise the various spots as you read them, so they are very familiar, but also not so familiar as they are set in a different time. That’s a bit the way I feel so far about coming home – everything seems so familiar, and yet not, as though from a different lifetime. 

Lake Tekapo

Something that's a fairly common thing to hear, being a New Zealander in foreign lands: “You come from New Zealand? Why are you here?” - people have a concept of New Zealand being clean and green and beautiful – which a lot of it is, and part of the draw of returning home for me was the wonderful outdoorsy nature of our country and enjoying all that it has to offer. I'm keen to see as much of my country as I can, enjoying lots of walking, biking and driving. In the next month, I’ve got a couple of trips in the north island and I'm looking forward to walking some of the great tracks like Queen Charlotte, Abel Tasman and Milford – so despite it taking a wee bit of getting used to, away from the hustle and bustle, it’s been great seeing family, as well as vsiting Canterbury, Omarama, Twizel, Oamaru and driving through Lake Tekapo and Rakaia; walking, swimming, sleeping, hanging out on a farm, driving, enjoying the amazing weather and eating beautiful, homegrown food. I must admit however, that I was glad to be back to Wellington at the weekend - and straight into the craziness of Sevens - but now I've had a pretty cruisy few weeks, the search for work begins in earnest.