How to ask for a payrise

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a seminar called "How to ask for a promotion or payrise". It was one which Lucille's company was holding. The main thing I got out of it was not to whine and go on and on about why your boss should give you a payrise. (Incidently, I've tried asking for a payrise in my previous job and I followed all the correct procedures, such as research and provide evidence, etc but at the end of the day, if your boss just doesn't have the money or the inclination, I don't really think there is a point.)

Anyway, the point of this story, is whilst they tell you not to whinge and whine to get what you want, there are times when it does work. My other sister was going to Canada to meet up with her husband who was there for a conference and which sucker got called to service to take her to the airport? Yep, me again. (This happens EVERY year as they seem to take an overseas trip once or twice.) This time, it was stretching the family ties a bit as she had an early flight, we had to leave the house at 4.30am. On the drive to the airport, I whinged and whined about how I had to get up so early and how unfair it was if I was involved in a high speed crash as it wasn't me who was getting any benefit from getting up so early, etc etc(A LOT of people speed during this time of the day - they must think they can get away with it).

Well, I think the early morning just made my sister snap, cause she goes "Fine, I'll get you that thing you wanted!!!"

Cool, so I got it. And here it is:

I've been wanting a yarn winder for ages but just can't justify the cost of what the Australian suppliers were charging for it. I knew they were going to Washington DC and so I looked up yarn shops in the area. I only found Stitch DC and so told them that I wanted one of those from there. They also bought me some baby alpaca (which will probably be made into a scarf) and some handpainted sock wool.

Now, I wonder if I have a bit of a whinge to my boss tomorrow, if I'll get similar results.

Oh and a postcard promoting a new book which is, for once, NOT aimed at the young and hip but at (can I say this?) older generation:

Alpacas not APEC

The whole APEC thing has been getting on my nerves of late. In particular because there were security operations next to my work. I can see the all the police with their sniffer dogs from outside of my window at work (right next to Wharf 8). Even the P&O cruiseship has not made its regular appearance. Sydney has been eerily quiet and it was kind of creepy. I imagine what a police state would have been like. Whilst I generally don't oppose APEC, world leaders can meet, nothing wrong with that. But if locking down a whole city just so some frickin dignataries can wine and dine and be "shown" Sydney, that totally pisses me off. Not to mention the amount of money spent on securing the city. But securing it for whom? The barriers they have put up have made it more of a hazard to get around and if a bomb really was to go off, then surely there would have been more fatalities as people are forced to walk in cramped spaces. But then I guess we're the little people. However, it has given me some small bit of satisfaction to see that it has rained all week here in Sydney. The stupid pollies who think that they must "show off" Sydney as opposed to holding the APEC meeting in Canberra (it is our Country's capital!!) didn't have much to show as the skies opened up.

But anyway, enough with the bitching. Our regular knitting group decided to go visit some Alpacas instead. David organised a visit to Belgrave Park Alpacas in the Blue Mountains. Candy and Mandy (yes, friends with rhyming names!!) came to pick me up for the drive to the mountains. I made a fennel seed cake (based on one which I'd had at Katie's) and brought my knitting along.


The group of knitters!!


How cute!


More cuteness

When the mountain air started to get too much for the average Sydneysider, we made our way to Katoomba for the Blue Mountains Chocolate Company for some "real hot chocolate".



A quick stop at David's to visit his kitty cats (which you may of heard in his podcast) before heading home down the motorway.


Tiger