It seems like an age since I last wrote, but it's only been a few days. I imagine that's a result of shift work playing havoc with my brain - with the amount of early starts and afternoon naps I've done, each time I wake up it feels like a different day is about to begin, resulting with Sunday afternoon feeling a little like next Wednesday. I guess it's sort of a good thing to be packing so much into my days, but then again, it feels strange to shift down multiple gears on the weekend, and then the whole cycle happens all over again the following week.
I could have had a short week, and taken Friday off for Newcastle Show Day like the majority of the base, but I thought I should see what working a full week in the kitchen actually felt like. Never mind the fact that my Sergeant thought I could handle opening up the mess and cooking for breakfast all on my own! Thankfully I looked distressed enough for him to drag in a Corporal a couple hours early, to be on hand in case I set fire to the kitchen, or had any vital questions. I must admit that it was also a touch of strategic incompetence on my part, because I imagine this is the sort of place where if I did show some ability to cope with opening the kitchen and cooking a breakfast shift by myself without having a minor breakdown, I'd only be rostered on to do it again and again.
Fortunately, much as I hoped, there were only a handful of people in for breakfast on Friday. You can count on most people to cash in on a public holiday in true form by sleeping through the cooked breakfast hours. Never mind the poor public service suckers, who didn't actually get a day off. No doubt there was a lot of thumb twiddling and pen twirling that day. It made lunch a little busier than otherwise expected, but cooking breakfast for eight people didn't feel as taxing as I thought it could be. It wasn't a complete breeze, although I was pleased that I didn't have to stuff up a poached egg before getting the next one, which is my usual curse of poachies!
I've had a change of mentors, which means that I've got another Corporal in charge of my progress on the competency log. I also had a nice lengthy chat about how the competency log stuff works, which I think I'm a little clearer on, but I'll find out if I'm right when it comes time to do an actual assessment. That might be this week, when we've got a training buffet on for lunch, and I've got to prepare three things for it. Basically, whenever we want to get something ticked off in the competency log, we have to submit some paperwork a few days before and if all goes well, it'll get signed off on the day that the particular dish is done and deemed successful.
As of next week, I'm going back to basics. Stocks, soups, and sauces, with maybe a minor dabble in wet meat dishes for the buffet on Wednesday. Seeing as it's been months since I've had anything much to do with stocks, soups, and sauces, I'm actually looking forward to getting stuck into them again. At TAFE we didn't really do much in bulk, so I've had to write out recipes from an old school RAAF cook book that provides recipes in quantities of 25. Now you're talking! I don't think I've whined enough about how underqualified I feel (despite being an apparent dux of commercial cookery), but I'm glad I'm kind of being shown the ropes somewhat, instead of being expected to make all this stuff from scratch without buggering it up. Maybe the higher-ups know how useless TAFE training is in the 'real world'. Sure, it provides a good basis for learning more, but I guess there's only so much that can be crammed in four weeks of restaurant phase and two weeks of field.
On the home front, I've come to the realisation that I'm probably getting too old for communal living. I've told people off three times for being noisy (although I believe music so loud that people can't hear knocking on the door, hammering things at 2200, and having a room party with music up and the window open at 0215 are enough to warrant telling off), and left a not-so-friendly note near some slob's garbage bag that was left in the laundry/toilets ante room, along the lines of 'take your own garbage out, this isn't your personal dumping ground'. Yes, I have become that cranky old lady upstairs who doesn't tolerate fun. I'm not even going to try and deny the fact! It doesn't help that I'm usually trying to sleep at 2000 of a weeknight, but I love being a stickler for the rules, which state that noise should be kept to a minimum in the block so as to not disturb other people.
My grand plan will come into effect if my computer loan comes through, as well as a personal loan to cover a used car and some furniture. I figure I'll stick around on base for a couple more months while I look for somewhere to live, and for my pay to finally switch over to my actual salary as opposed to the trainee one, then get outta dodge. I don't know how people spend nine months or even multiple years putting up with this Melrose Place, to be honest. I figure that despite the commute of more than five minutes to get to work in the morning, it'll be worth it to live off base just so I don't have to be the block sourpuss. I think it's more than just switching between early and late shifts that has resulted in me not being able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time, but I'll be able to prove that once I get a chance to bed down in peace and quiet!
If the grand plan falls through, I'm going to wait for my backpay of doom, apply for my rider's licence test, and get a scooter. In the meantime, I'll save up some real money for basic furniture and buy more pieces as I go, and drown out the misery of block 447 by throwing myself into whatever's awesome on the internets. Somewhere in between all these plans coming to fruition, I'll also be going to Brisbane to see the sights and run the Mother's Day Classic, and hopefully zipping to Melbourne to use up my free Next Of Kin flight before the end of the financial year. I'm feeling torn between regression to ten years ago when all I cared about was covering the rent, eating bad food, and playing with my computer... and doing more adult things like establishing a proper home and work/life balance for myself up here.
I went on a brief foray off base today - as much as one can do with ten bucks around here, really. Had a proper flat white and some scones at Cafe Fighterworld, then moseyed further around to Newcastle Airport to take a look at some magazines, check out car rental rates, and partake in some trademarked takeaway cuisine. I'm not sure if I've emerged from the weekend virtuous, even though I did go for a run yesterday. The good news is, my swipe card now lets me into the gym, so now I have no excuse to avoid a workout! Never mind the minimal-equipment circuit workout I have blu-tacked up on the wardrobe... it's all okay because my PT in Melbourne's not gonna read this! I hope.
I've decided to lash out and treat myself to a rental car this weekend - it'll give me a chance to do some errands in town, maybe shop properly in Kotara without dragging a poor male along with me, and do some window shopping for furniture, cars, scooters, flats, whatever I have time to check out. I figure that even if I don't end up buying anything, I'll at least get an opportunity to see random suburbs that I might consider moving into, and seeing where the good shopping's at, so I can go back there in the future. It's going to be good to just drive around again!
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