About to walk out the door

[Neia]

They did that to me too before I got on the pension. At one stage they made me sit in the office and apply for 5 jobs a day and then reviewed my letters afterwards. I'm pretty good with the written word though, and I have experience as an employer, so I was able to write letters that looked good to the social workers whilst knowing that no employer in their right mind would even look at me.

(our welfare isn't self funded here, it just comes out of tax revenue)

One of the ladies was so impressed with my letters that she asked if she could use them as examples to show other people how to write letters. When I agreed she pulled out another book full of job placements that they don't normally show to unemployed people and told me I could have any of those jobs I wanted. So I spent a year working in the warehouse section of a white goods retailer. It was walking distance from home which is always a bonus.

I almost want to say that unfortunately, I speak several languages.
They always try to push me towards tourism related jobs.
I no longer can stand those.

But they think I should be able to do it because I have enough experience and ability...

 

[Judge]

I almost want to say that unfortunately, I speak several languages.
They always try to push me towards tourism related jobs.
I no longer can stand those.

But they think I should be able to do it because I have enough experience and ability...

What about public service in Canberra? Translators for diplomatic conditions, (DFAT) that sort of thing? That's quite a skill to speak many languages. Especially in that part of the world, relatively close to so many different cultures and nations.

Dealing with diplomatic and business professionals and not tourists per se.

 

[Outdated]

When I was living in a remote area they used to send social workers out to see us instead of us travelling all the way in to the city. One time one of the workers was a young Aboriginal woman that grew up in Canberra, way down south. But when she got her degree and work she got sent up to the Northern Territory because she's Aboriginal.

They actually told her that it would be easier because she could speak their language. No, she couldn't, there's more than 1500 different aboriginal languages and she spoke none of them. And on top of that they already had their own form of racism well and truly entrenched long before white man came along and there were many remote communities where she wasn't welcome. She had to stay sitting in the car while the white lady did all the interviews.

 

[Judge]

When I was living in a remote area they used to send social workers out to see us instead of us travelling all the way in to the city. One time one of the workers was a young Aboriginal woman that grew up in Canberra, way down south. But when she got her degree and work she got sent up to the Northern Territory because she's Aboriginal.

They actually told her that it would be easier because she could speak their language. No, she couldn't, there's more than 1500 different aboriginal languages and she spoke none of them. And on top of that they already had their own form of racism well and truly entrenched long before white man came along and there were many remote communities where she wasn't welcome. She had to stay sitting in the car while the white lady did all the interviews.

Point taken. Tribal animosities run deep with indigenous peoples. Something that I believe still exists in my own state and others. And over such a long duration of time.

 

[Outdated]

Point taken. Tribal animosities run deep with indigenous peoples. Something that I believe still exists in my own state and others.

That's actually how my conversation started with her. I asked where her family were from and she said Barkley Ranges. My interest perked up straight away and I asked her how she got on in remote communities in this region. I already understood a lot of the dynamics because I'd been living there for quite a while.

You can't explain things like that to wankers down in Canberra though, they know better because they've read a book about it and have a degree that confirms their intellectual superiority.

 

[Judge]

You can't explain things like that to wankers down in Canberra though, they know better because they've read a book about it and have a degree that confirms their intellectual superiority.

That sounds disturbingly familiar if you replace Canberra with Washington.

Funny to think that some very creative persons actually have made a television series along such lines. You'd probably enjoy it.

https://www.amc.com/shows/dark-winds--1053387

 

[Neia]

What about public service in Canberra? Translators for diplomatic conditions, (DFAT) that sort of thing? That's quite a skill to speak many languages. Especially in that part of the world, relatively close to so many different cultures and nations.

Dealing with diplomatic and business professionals and not tourists per se.

I'm Portuguese, and live in Portugal

 

[Outdated]

That sounds disturbingly familiar if you replace Canberra with Washington.

I bet it's the same in Europe too. The MacDonalds style franchising of what used to be skilled work. Now they can only cope with the mundane and expected, anything out of the ordinary just gets thrown in the Too Hard basket and left.

The trouble in Australia is that there's very little of the mundane and expected.

 

[Judge]

I'm Portuguese, and live in Portugal

LOL....whoops. Wow....I thought you were from OZ!

Quite a difference, unfortunately. Though are there such government or business opportunities more diplomatic-oriented than tourist-oriented that might appeal to you?

That's a mighty important skill you have...a shame not to capitalize on it. Can't say I blame you regarding interacting with tourists though.

 

[Judge]

I bet it's the same in Europe too. The MacDonalds style franchising of what used to be skilled work. Now they can only cope with the mundane and expected, anything out of the ordinary just gets thrown in the Too Hard basket and left.

The trouble in Australia is that there's very little of the mundane and expected.

Yes. The mere notion of federalizing all formal communication contacts with indigenous peoples leads to less communication and understanding, as opposed to more. Exactly- you cannot effectively "franchise" all those different peoples. They have to be addressed and treated along their own individual tribal conditions and culture.

Something federal governments are all likely to just shrug their shoulders over in ignorance and indifference. -All over the planet.

 

[Outdated]

You can't explain things like that to wankers down in Canberra though, they know better because they've read a book about it and have a degree that confirms their intellectual superiority.

I dressed down a young bureaucrat that tried to play the "I'm smarter than you" game one day.

"5 years of university did not give you an education. It gave you a framework on which you can begin to build an education. Start learning."

 

[Neia]

LOL....whoops. Wow....I thought you were from OZ!

Quite a difference, unfortunately. Though are there such government or business opportunities more diplomatic-oriented than tourist-oriented that might appeal to you?

That's a mighty important skill you have...a shame not to capitalize on it.

I don't like dealing with people face to face
That's why I prefer cleaning. I can be alone because no one wants to stand around and see me clean
It would be like watching paint dry?

 

[Judge]

I don't like dealing with people face to face
That's why I prefer cleaning. I can be alone because no one wants to stand around and see me clean
It would be like watching paint dry?

What about translators who work behind separate booths? Do they still exist, or is that something that involves very few applicants? Makes me think of the United Nations....that sort of thing.

I've always ended up with jobs where I had to deal with people to some degree, some more than others. Always hated that aspect of those jobs as well. Though I didn't really understand why until around the age of 55!

 

[Outdated]

I did cleaning myself for a while, along with a lot of other low skilled jobs, for the very same reasons that you are. The work was easy and I didn't have to deal with people very much. I was a lot younger and fitter though so I used to go for warehouse work, just the gormless grunt that can shift heavy things.

 

[Judge]

I did cleaning myself for a while, along with a lot of other low skilled jobs, for the very same reasons that you are. The work was easy and I didn't have to deal with people very much. I was a lot younger and fitter though so I used to go for warehouse work, just the gormless grunt that can shift heavy things.

Right out of college in a dismal job market, doing warehouse work and delivery truck driving was the only thing I could find. Though it did teach me a valuable lesson in what kind of work not to pursue. And retail paid too little. And at the time the warehouse work paid almost the same as I eventually found in an insurance job as a rater.

LOL...though I could spend all day running a forklift. THAT I loved. Go figure.

Sad to look back and realize I was rather poorly treated by my coworkers in the warehouse. Seemed the presence of a college graduate was offensive to them, and they weren't shy about telling me.

 

[Outdated]

What about translators who work behind separate booths? Do they still exist, or is that something that involves very few applicants? Makes me think of the United Nations....that sort of thing.

I went out with a lady for a while that worked as a phone translator for the marketing company I was also working for. It was a pretty stressful job, answering calls from angry people all the time.

She was French Suisse and grew up speaking 4 languages. She was also a molecular biologist specialising in polymorphism at the cellular level but she wanted a mundane job that didn't give her much stress. Being a translator didn't work out very well that way for her.

I heard her get really angry at a Quebecki woman one day - suddenly switching from French to a proper Oxford English accent - "If you're going to keep insisting that you speak French then perhaps you should make an attempt to learn the language.".

 

[Neia]

What about translators who work behind separate booths? Do they still exist, or is that something that involves very few applicants? Makes me think of the United Nations....that sort of thing.

I've always ended up with jobs where I had to deal with people to some degree, some more than others. Always hated that aspect of those jobs as well. Though I didn't really understand why until around the age of 55!

Give me something with machines, where I can disassemble them, fix them and put them back together.
Give me sewing fun things, that someone else can sell afterwards, and maybe that'll work.

But I no longer do well with schedules either. They stress me out to the point of me feeling sick if I feel like I'm running late.

Just don't force me to be in touch with others, where I have to respond promptly.

 

[Outdated]

Give me something with machines, where I can disassemble them, fix them and put them back together.
Give me sewing fun things, that someone else can sell afterwards, and maybe that'll work.

This is where I think you'll do well in a small village where people are poorer. You have skills that are very valuable to people living a simpler existence, but you have something much more valuable than that. Raw intelligence. The way you're able to teach yourself new things demonstrates this and you'll find that a lot of people will recognise this in you and look up to you for help in all sorts of areas.

 

[Judge]

Give me something with machines, where I can disassemble them, fix them and put them back together.
Give me sewing fun things, that someone else can sell afterwards, and maybe that'll work.

But I no longer do well with schedules either. They stress me out to the point of me feeling sick if I feel like I'm running late.

Just don't force me to be in touch with others, where I have to respond promptly.

It all sounds quite familiar. Working under deadlines seemed to go with nearly every job I ever had. I adjusted accordingly because I had no choice. Yet I found the deadlines of constructing video games the most reasonable. Usually with a two-week window from meeting with game developers and producers and getting a feel for the product, to having it ready to upload to our servers.

But so many deadlines in insurance...that's where my OCD must have kicked in. I became more like a factory worker as an underwriter. And I excelled in it, though the job became ever more stressful over a nearly two decade duration. Face-face meetings with insurance agents was the worst though. Yes, I truly hated that.

Being self employed as a private investor offered the least time-urgent stress, but I was investing purely with my own capital. That in itself became a burden over nearly ten years. But I loved not being responsible to anyone, let alone have to meet them. But it all was at terrible risk.

 

[Judge]

I heard her get really angry at a Quebecki woman one day - suddenly switching from French to a proper Oxford English accent - "If you're going to keep insisting that you speak French then perhaps you should make an attempt to learn the language.".

Makes me think of one YouTube's tech gurus, Gilles Letourneaux (sp?). His English sounded a bit peculiar until I realized he was Quebecois. No doubt speaking French as his first language rather than be simultaneously being fluent in both languages. Not sure if that's unusual or not.

Yet also knowing how the French tend to look down on how the Quebecois speak their language. But then the Brits sometimes do the same to us...lol.

There's another YouTuber I like as well, from "The Linux Experiment". A french fellow named "Nick". He cracks me up as while he speaks with a definite accent in English, his vocabulary is strictly American. He'd got us down cold...lol.

Interesting still is to hear many people from the Netherlands who seem to speak the King's English far more than us colonials. But for one who speaks many languages...wow. That's a real skill!