This Is A Copy

You have stumbled upon a copy of my actual blog that can be found on Travistraveling.com. I made this copy for a project that I have yet to do anything on. This blog is out of date so go to the site above for my main project.

A Flaming Fourth of July

06/30/2012

Last night I had a couple drinks at PJ O'Briens with Michael and the others to celebrate his moving on to Darwin then I did night watch and made eggs and blueberry pancakes at the hostel. 
Today I did security for the bar again and some police showed up and searched room one for about an hour. After a bit a detective showed and they hauled away an Asian guy who apparently stole an ipod and ipad from another hostel. After my shift some guy smashed a mirror in the hallway and yanked a bunch of stuff off the wall. Iano chased him out and said, "I'll remember your face."

07/01/2012

After church I went with Pillar and his family for lunch and later we had tea at Clarence's. Back at the hostel I arrived as a group of just over 100 gays finished checking in for a convention here in Adelaide... kill me now.

07/04/2012

Today Jessica came and got me from my room. I had been in hiding for the last few days from the awkward conversations, annoying hallway gatherings, and overall invasion of my habitat... but she seemed convinced that it would be worth my while to come down. Too right, the English girls were throwing a fourth of July party! Little did they know the fourth of July "Independence Day" is America's day celebrating independence from the British. They thought we were celebrating civil rights or something but rather they were celebrating their own defeat by us rebel Americans! Jessie and Beck had bought snags, candy, party poppers & sparklers (the only legal "fireworks" in Oz) and an American movie as well as red, white and blue streamers - they weren't about to let this little historical mix up ruin their freedom party. After the barbie I went to the church for the dinner meeting and on the way back I learned that the graffiti on the buildings in Adelaide is actually legal - every couple of months they repaint so that other artists can have a clean canvas.

07/07/2012

Last night I went for the second part of the sleep study with a different group. When I arrived I met Kade and Tomo. 
Today we had brekky and took our usual tests during which I got a reaction speed of 146 milliseconds. After showering we did urine samples, weighed in and started the cycling. After the study ended this time they fed us BBQ chicken and Greek salad. After eating I headed back to the hostel for my security shift at the bar where I ended up having to kick a freakish tall guy out of the bar for harassing some girls. 

07/09/2012

Today I made snags for Ralph and myself. While we were eating I met a German bloke named Oliver. Oliver is a chef hitchhiking his way to Perth from Sydney. He just finished a year in New Zealand and shared some great insights for my upcoming visit. Apparently, while the minimum wage is slightly lower ($13/hour), New Zealand is also a bit cheaper, so it works out. After further discussion on where to go and what to do in NZ I got Oliver's Facebook and went for groceries with Ralph. Back at the hostel I had some goon that Ralph and I bought and watched the movie "Australia". While Ralph was working I came down and spoke with Oliver some more. He told me about the corrupt police in Eastern Europe and how they take everything from your wallet while checking your ID. He suggested a simple solution - don't carry too much or too little, 5-10 euro is sufficient to keep everyone happy. Another interesting cultural observation - while Germany does have high standards for their goods, it seems they've become a bit lax and joined America in outsourcing - things "made in Germany" are now made in other countries by German standards. After Ralph finished cleaning we joined Dave and others for drinks out on the balcony. 

07/10/2012

Today life at the Blue Galah returned to normal - no more blocked hallways, no more loud drinking until 4a, no more gross conversations in the lounge and definitely no more creepy bathroom advances.

Sleep Working

06/27/2012

Today I woke up late and went to apply for the cleaning job at the mines that one of my clients had referred me to. The job agent I spoke to was very keen but not particularly impressed with my visa restrictions. Back at the hostel I was running out of time to drink the 2.4 liters of liquid required for the sleep study so I chugged a liter of water and rushed over to the Appleton Institute. There I met up with my fellow lab rats Jordan, Sonya and Elliot - two locals and a Canadian. Stas explained the procedures, gave us a ten minute reflex test (the first of many), a questionnaire about our alertness & mood (also the first of many) and took us on a tour of the facility. After a while they wired us up for bed with electrodes and a head band device that monitors sleep in place of the electrodes (for comparison purposes).

The head band ended up being too tight and, while my attendant attempted to loosen it, it ended up being the first of many issues throughout the night. Right off the start they literally counted down as if to say "ready, set, sleep!" which didn't help. Then, after about 15 minutes sleeping, I woke back up to a severe pressure in my head only to realize that the headband was slowly working its way into my forehead. I figured I could still get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time but, sure enough, after about half an hour or so my bladder decided to keep me up for another hour. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my stomach began to growl. According to the sleep monitor at my bedside I didn't fall asleep till 2a - a full four hours after lights out... not the best performance considering my only job was to sleep.

06/28/2012

This morning they woke us up at 7:30a to eat brekky which consisted of two weat bix, toast and half an apple - all precisely measured out and recorded as such. After a bit more reflex testing and another questionnaire on our alertness & mood we showered and suited up for the bicycles. Our uniforms consisted of standard mining apparel - long sleeve high vis shirts, sweat pants and a helmet. This so that the study would be as authentic as possible for the purpose it was designed (to test the effect of electrolytes on miner re-hydration). Along with the attire we also had to do our "labour" in a 35*C (100*F) room. After a urine sample (the first of many) we began our 2.5 hour indoor bicycle ride. When we finished we did some reading (1001 Natural Wonders to See Before You Die) in between the testing (reflex, mood, urine) and finally at 6:30p we were finished with day one of two. We then proceeded to enjoy a barbie that Greg, one of the project leaders, had set up for our group - snags, Greek salad and lamb chops!

Hostel Life

06/20/2012

Yesterday I looked for work all day and today I watched movies with Stephen. We had some doughnuts from shopping earlier and at about 2a we made steaks, eggs and bacon.

06/22/2012

From yesterday on I continued my job search and today I applied for a sleep study. Later the Balcony Bar provided snags (hot dogs) so I ate and had a couple half price drinks ($5). At one point Stephen offered me another drink for doing the dishes and, as the night went on, the Irish lads began to sing and dance. During this time Dave clarified some of the finer points of getting a labouring job. Apparently it doesn't matter what you know as much as what you say. In the right light any experience can be used to make it look like you know what you're doing - you learn everything you need to while on the job anyways. The only thing that really matters is work ethic, everything else is re-explained whether you know it already or not.

06/23/2012

Today I went to Murray Bridge with the church to do some door-knocking... I wasn't particularly thrilled to continue doing the very thing that had been crushing my soul for the last three months but at least I wouldn't be alone this time. I had hoped that my experience at least would come in handy but unfortunately my group just couldn't find anyone willing to hear us out.

Back at the hostel I began my new job as a bouncer for the bar once a week. Throughout my first night we had people trying to piss in the showers and an Irish guy who got progressively more aggressive. First he got in an argument with an odd blond guy who I later realized was secretly talking trash. Later on I found another Irish lad hunched over in the toilet and had to climb over the stall to get him out. Over time a POME bloke started to annoy me but was just "taking the piss" and getting a laugh out of hearing my yank accent. He clearly wasn't trying to cause problems but that didn't make it any less irritating. Eventually my shift came to an end and I started getting ready for bed when I heard some yelling down the hall. I rushed down to find the Irish guy standing over Dave on the floor. He had taken Dave's phone and made a call to the police. Dave got reacted and the guy slammed Dave's head on the floor yelling, "nobody threatens me."

06/25/2012

Today I discussed the sleep study with a post grad named Stas. Stas explained that I would be testing the effect of electrolytes on dehydration common with miners working in the warmer regions of Australia. Back at the hostel a crazy, self important Indian dude freaked out. Having lost his job as a mechanical engineer he wanted to work for accommodation but, upon being told that I would "teach" him what to do, he threw a fit.  The ungrateful punk insulted Brian who responded in kind only to get a "do you know who I am?"

Brian wasn't about to put up with any of this and eventually had to kick the crazed lunatic out of the hostel. It wasn't long before the creep came back and had an argument with a POME guy named Chris. Chris is a big guy and is not afraid to say what is on his mind. He quickly put the little weirdo in his place telling him he was "cooked" and stared him down until the spas finally stormed off. It would have appeared that the guy had finally given up but unfortunately this would not be the last time that he would pay us a visit.

Later on a bunch of the Irish lads and I started a movie called the Fourth Kind during which I got a call from William. William had me go up to the room so he could tell me about an Asian guy who had followed him in from the dumpster. He said that this guy proceeded to dig in our food cubbies and then went into room two - a girls dorm. I told the guys in the lounge about this and everyone became deeply concerned, the girls - a bit creep-ed out. It would seem the movie had reached a dramatic point wherein everyone found themselves wearily analyzing the situation for serious ramifications. Jessica had me check her room for her and Stephen checked the security footage to see if they had video of the guy sneaking in. After a while no evidence could be found to support William's claim and everyone just attributed the misunderstanding to the foreign youth's excessive sensitivity to his situation.

06/26/2012

Today Chris made dinner and Dave gave everyone Popsicles. During this time Amit came out with some more information on the mental state of the strange Indian dude. Apparently he came back today with $350 sunnies (sunglasses) that he had purchased earlier and, since he hadn't paid for accommodation the last couple days, Amit asked for his card. The card was declined even when Amit attempted $40... the fruit loop had spent his last $350 on sunnies. This guy walked into the office (off limits) to grab a beer and, when asked what he was doing there, just said to put it on his tab... The guy has no money but he did find a homeless shelter so Amit, out of sheer pity, offered him a ride. Amit asked Chris to come along as backup in case the nutcase went mental again.

Back to Geelong

06/14/2012

Yesterday I arranged to go visit Robbie again and today I caught a bus to meet his mate, Gino. Gino is from Croatia and has been driving for as long as Robbie, about 26 years. After two hours we stopped at a truck stop where we met up with another truckie named Leslie, a huge 66 year old bloke who looks like he could take down a bear with his bare hands. Six hours later we arrived in Geelong and Robbie picked me up from near the truck depot.

06/15/2012

Today I bought some drinks for Robbies place and we went to the Westfield mall for Cheeky Chicken and later on we went for some tea and a few drinks with Paul, a bloke named John, and eventually we even ran into James again.

06/16/2012

Today I had some meat pies and grilled cheese with Robbie before launchin it for Becks.

Beck made some curly fries and gave me a couple bottles of fancy wine that she got from the dregs of one of the delivery trucks. Next we walked around the mall a bit and stopped at the beach to watch some kite surfers.

06/17/2012

Today Robbie and I went to Queenscliff(e) again. The "e" has actually been dropped from the name but many local traditionalists still write it on their establishments with the "e" on the end. We revisited a few places from last time and checked out some new ones. We saw an old steam engine, fishing boats with huge bulbs for attracting squid at night and we stopped in at a couple piers. At Point Lonsdale we watched as a boat entered the channel - piloted by locals experienced enough to avoid the treacherous reefs. We also visited a cave where a famous fugitive lived for thirty years while avoiding the authorities way back in the way back days.

The cave was barred off but the bars were far enough apart that I was able to squeeze in and look around a bit. I also climbed over and through some cool rock formations. On the way back Robbie showed me a community where surfing fanatics live and some nearby farmland where he grew up. At Becks we had fish, chips, Chico Roll, Dim Sims, etc for tea and watched a couple movie. At Robbie's we also caught up with the elusive Cameron for the last evening of my visit.

06/18/2012

This morning Robbie picked me up and took me to the pickup point. After a few minutes Gino showed up and we left towards Melbourne. On the way Gino dropped me off at a BP where I slept until he was done with his pickup in Melbourne. I woke up and bought a pepper steak pie and four doughnuts as Gino arrived. We headed off and about six hours later we stopped for tea at the roadhouse from last time where I had, according to Gino, the least healthy combination available - fried fish, chips and a steak kebab. An hour or so later we finally arrived in Adelaide at 10p, Gino dropped me off and I took a bus into the city.

A Long Weekend

06/09/2012

Today Stephen and I went to get our phones repaired. The store that sold us our phones, Crazy Johns, took our phones and gave me a loaner since I didn't have a spare. They charged me $50 deposit for a scratched up piece of junk from the late '90s... On the way back we went for brekky and I got some headphones at JB Hi Fi. Then we stopped over at a cafe for jam tarts and Belgian hot chocolate.

Later on I went to Coopers Alehouse to meet up with David for a drink. David told me of some hard times including the death of Zsusha's dad, Joseph. After a couple drinks we got some food and played a game of pool.

06/10/2012

Today I slept in for the first time in a while and had the same brekky as I have the last few months.

After a while the hostel staff including myself had a meeting upstairs and Brian gave us free drinks. I then helped Ivy with an English lesson, did a detail shift and talked travel with an Aussie bloke for a bit before starting night shift. During this time I noticed a particularly strange group of girls that had recently checked in. They play on Roller Derby - a game where you dress like it's Halloween and roller skate into each other.

06/12/2012

Yesterday I helped Tim move a couple sofas he bought for his new house then, back at the hostel, Stephen made pasta for everyone and we watched a movie in the lounge. Today Wayne put on a barbie and we all had a few snags.

Two Weeks Notice

05/24/2012

I went to turn in my resignation this morning and found it was a lot harder than expected. Before I could speak with Matt, Brendan pulled me aside and had me sign a form to recognize my commitment to the company after three months by making me Senior Sales Rep. Brendan explained that I would be receiving intermittent manager responsibilities as well as increased responsibility overall. After signing I went over to Matt to turn in my resignation. He asked what he could help me with and as I brought my letter into the light he pointed and said, "that worries me."

I hesitated and continued to explain that I was taking things in a new direction. Matt gave me a sad look and told me that he was devastated. He had me go get Brendan and as I explained my plans they got very distressed. I told them it was nothing personal and they seemed to relax a bit. We discussed me sticking around for quarterly cup to drive since this would make things less difficult for the company. Matt went on to explain how he had plans for me moving forward in the company but that he understood and would be a great reference for me in the future... It wasn't easy but I just couldn't continue working myself 57 hours a week during what's supposed to be a holiday!

On turf I had a guy who complained about my pitch saying that he hadn't complained and asked how we receive these complaints. I told him we don't receive the complaints, there is just general complaining about rising rates... so he asked to see proof. I showed him the recent article on rising rates causing "electric shock" and he argued that I could have typed it up myself. He then continued to complain that I hadn't stated his right to tell me to leave and that I was in violation of door knocking code. I told him of course I have to leave if you ask, that's a given. He continued to ask if I had a code of conduct on me and if I had read it. He went on looking for anything he could get me on so I finally just told him that I'm not a lawyer but I'm definitely not in breach of any laws. I gave him an EAL brochure, pointed out the ombudsman's number for legal advice and left. I told Matt about this and he told corporate to keep an eye out for the wanker in case he actually called to complain.

I ended on two sales today. The first one was to an Indian lady who worked for Woolies in the financial department as an accountant. She advised me to get someone on the inside to refer me if I want a job there. She also told me about other interesting options including taxi driving for $1400/week. She had just moved in so she didn't have a bill. She also lived in an apartment complex and didn't have access to the meter either so I used a trick from yesterday and had the vero rep do a property search with MSTATS.

My second sale was later on but very interesting. I spoke to a guy who worked for ETSA and he didn't seem to mind the conversation so I covered everything. His daughter happened to be listening and got really excited about everything I was telling him so, while he didn't want to get his bill for me, she eventually went and found it while we were talking. After I outlined his savings she was outraged that he still wouldn't go for it so she drove home, got her bill, and came back with it so I could sign her up. It was raining during all of this so I didn't mind waiting in their warm house doing prefills while I waited for her to return.

After work we all went out for drinks and bid Arika farewell then I headed back to the hostel for work... more bleaching.

05/25/2012

Today I continued training the guy from yesterday and a bit later, after I sent him off on his own, I went to an apartment complex with over 50 apartments. There I made a sale to a retired professional boxer. He showed me a newspaper clipping from his glory days and told me about his trainer who never touched a drop of alcohol in his life.

He even showed me pictures of his family and friends from way back in the way back days. The next door was almost a sale but the guy got cold and gave up halfway through the vero call. The next guy I spoke to was an Italian guy who was already with us but had a lot to talk about nonetheless. I also spoke to a lady who was using her pension to pay everything automatically since she couldn't get to the post office. She was quite proud of her little arrangement and continued to tell me about her family. At this point it was getting late but I figured I'd give a few more doors a try. Unfortunately the next guy, while interested in signing up, was Greek and couldn't really understand well enough to go through with it. Short on time, I headed back into the streets hoping to find quicker, more reliable sales but only managed to get drenched by the pouring rain. I pulled out my umbrella for the first bit but in the last half hour I dropped my umbrella in a bin since it was busted. It was about ten minutes before I was running back in the rain to get my umbrella back.

Back at the office we all got into the drinks and, as usual, the German girl Mona was first to break out dancing. In the meeting room I tried learning to shuffle with one of the new girls and a bit later I grabbed the Nerf gun but put it back after accidentally shooting Mona in the eye. Heading out of the office we piled into a van with Matt driving... only slightly intoxicated. Many were distressed as we barrelled into near death situations but knowing there's was nothing to be done I just buckled up, sat back and enjoyed the ride. Later we must have gained a reputation because one of the bars had received instructions not to let us in so Matt got into an argument with the bouncer - allowing me to slip passed undetected. After a while nobody else made it in so I decided to regroup with the others - only I was denied access to the bar they were at. Explaining that my friends were inside I tried walking passed one of the bouncers but they quickly grabbed me by the collar and threw me away from the bar. I gave them a look then texted Jon who came out, gave me some food and tried talking to the bouncers. He informed me that unfortunately they don't let you in after you try to sneak passed and then asked where his food was. I gave him $2 and apologized for eating the Maccas dollar menu burger - wasn't sure why he would hand me food if not to eat! I headed back for the hostel... or in the direction which I figured would bring me to the hostel. I ended up stopping at a quick stop and talking with an Aussie bloke who was buying a subway sandwich. It looked good so I bought the same sandwich then walked with him for a bit before he decided to hail me a cab for the city - turns out I had walked a fair distance in the wrong direction.

05/26/2012

Today Rugby was in Port Adelaide so I did some stuff and went to Luke's house. After the meeting we had some treats - wafers, chocolate and mango/apple juice. Finally we went back to the meeting hall and ate $2 whoppers that we bought using photocopied coupons.

05/27/2012

Today we had Chinese noodle soup for brekky. After church some of us went for lunch in China town where we got big platters and shared then I worked for James and stopped at Hungry Jacks for a $2 whopper on the way back to the city. At Alma Tavern I met up with work mates, ate some chips (french fries) and talked with Lucy and Amber. At one point Matt got into an argument with some guys who took a couple chairs from our table and we began to leave. After pulling Matt away from the conflict we loaded my pushbike into the van and drove back to the city. Back at the hostel I made some homemade chips which turned out surprisingly well.

05/28/2012

Today started out nice - I made two sales by 1:30p and things were looking up. The first sale was to a guy who worked for Woolies and didn't really ask any questions, a bit unusual but nice. The next sale was to a Chinese international student who also pretty much just went along with everything. At first I figured it was probably because he didn't really understand and I was just waiting for him to hand back the phone shaking his head in confusion but he agreed to and acknowledged everything we were doing. After that Matt and Brendan got excited and I think jinxed my day because after that everything just went downhill. At around 3p I saw Joanne and she wasn't having any luck either.

05/29/2012

At about 3p today I made a sale to a couple girls who, at first, were indifferent and wanted nothing to do with it but I saw a bit of curiosity and played on that with the addition of some rapport building and got them to sign. Vero was down so I didn't have to subject them to that which is probably why they didn't back out. The next sale wasn't for a while but I found a nice lady who works at the mines as a cleaner for $35/hour two weeks on, one week off. She told me how she took eight years to find a way into her job and recommended a contact for me to get my foot in the door. At this point I was pretty happy - two sales and an awesome job prospect. During appointments I found a buyer but we got put on hold for a bit so by the time we got through and found that she had bad credit there was no time for me to go to another.

05/30/2012

Today Ben, Joanne and I made no sales. I actually found a couple people who wanted to sign but one had footy and the other, who owned lots of properties, just didn't have time...

05/31/2012

Today we did a road trip to Murray Bridge and I still made no sales. Murray Bridge is supposed to be gold turf and, while I did get 14 bills, I didn't close any of them successfully. One guy had an interesting situation - the street light meter was in his meter box and the previous owner had accidentally signed that meter up with us. This guy started getting credit bills from Lumo for the public street lights which just doesn't make any sense. Another guy was ready to sign but vero overemphasized the contract so much that he backed out. Another bloke wanted to do research, right then his friend showed up and vouched for Lumo saying he was happy with us and that another one of their friends was as well. I looked at him and gestured as to say "there's your research buddy!" He still wouldn't go for it. 


As if my day wasn't rough enough I also found myself close to being eaten by rabid guard dogs on more than one occasion. One dog had a particularly terrifying growl/bark but was behind a fence. When I went back later the owners were there and as I spoke to them the dog came running. I figured the fence would do its thing again but this time as the dog jumped on the gate it began to open. The dog dropped down and I quickly drop kicked the gate shut before the dog could come after me.

Back at the van the managers weren't happy with me - one even gave me a jab by noting that she didn't think anyone had ever gotten a zero on this turf before. I still managed to relax and enjoy the ride back with a couple drinks and chatting with the others but Brendan was clearly not happy about this - he prefers people on low scores to be silent all the way back.. At the office we all headed over to the pub for a couple drinks and I played some pool with Brendan who was a bit more relaxed now that the day is over.

06/01/2012

Today we went to Gawler and the people were tense. One guy told me how he has gotten into the habit of hiding in his office and waiting for doorknockers to leave. Another lady told me she was under the impression that her bill wasn't high enough for the reduction. My first contact of the day was my only real prospect and she ran off to work before we could finish. The only other near sale was a 63 year old gamer who had changed 12 times and couldn't afford the cancellation fee that he would have to pay to switch to us. His current contract wasn't missing anything that I could see so there wasn't any way to get out of it. After work Brendan tried to get me to be silent for the whole hour and half drive back but people asked me things and it wasn't long before I totally gave up trying. On the way to the hostel I went through the park and saw two eyes staring at me from a tree. I used the flash on my phone camera but I just couldn't seem to get a good photo of it.

06/02/2012

Today while I was working for the hostel something unusual happened... a guy pissed in the kitchen bin. Some girls saw it and told me and, having just passed by an odd bloke in his boxers, I asked where the guy was and, of course, they pointed to the odd dude. I got his attention saying, "mate, you know there are toilets for that."

As I motioned towards the toilets he gently patted me on the arm and headed upstairs. I brought this up with the front desk and Amit told me to bring the guy back. I went up to him but he was as unresponsive as before so Amit came up and we escorted him back to his room. After I took the piss bag out to the bin, Amit gave me a free soft drink ask thanks. I then got ready for Rugby and ended up bringing Ralph with me. We had to stop at the free bike place (city bikes) to get him one so he could keep up but we still arrived in time to get in on a game. It was second grade (junior varsity) so I had to sit out after a bit because I still wasn't really clear on everything just yet. Ralph on the other hand, having played Rugby back in France, had himself a good run for about half the game. When the game ended we grabbed a drink at the club pub and watched first grade (varsity) for a bit.

06/03/2012

Today we had eggs, bacon, toast and some cereal for brekky and met at the hall. After church I headed up to the CBD to meet with James for my sunglasses, payment for my work, and to help support the preservation of an ancient heritage site in WA called the Burrup.

06/04/2012

Today I got some new pants to replace the ones that were literally falling apart at the seems

After my team all arrived I drove us to Murray Bridge where it rained all day long. I managed one sale at about 2p to a Kiwi and another right after to a lady from Indonesia. I left my number with the Indonesian lady because she said she wanted to have me explain it to her husband. When her husband got home she started texting me about how angry he was and that I needed to cancel it for her. I explained that I don't have the authority to cancel her contract but that she can easily call and cancel. At my last appointment a couple who I had spoken to at the beginning of the day were keen and even gave me a glass of wine while I explained some things. It turns out they had already done some research including talking to an executive friend who was already happily with Lumo. They had then gone out driving around looking for me on the street so that I could sign them up. As I began the paperwork they asked if they could sign up another property as well! I called Brendan to make sure it was alright to sign up the other property without a meter number in hand and he gave me the go ahead. I then signed up both properties while talking to them about their upcoming trip to Europe. Near the end Brendan tried texting me but before I could read his messages my phone died. I went to meet up with him at the van but the van was gone. At first I tried asking a random lady if I could charge my phone at her place real quick but she was paranoid and thought I might have a gun. I pointed out the absurdity of this judgment and she told me to "keep walking". I explained that I had nowhere to walk to but then decided to just walk down the road a bit so she would leave me alone. I thought about it though and figured it best to just wait for Brendan to return. After a bit I saw some brights shining in my direction and I guessed that it was the van, but I was wrong - it was a police car. The officer stopped and told me to hop in so I caught a ride with him to the van. Apparently Brendan had called the police in a panic and this officer had been assigned the task of locating me. Back at the van Brendan was still visibly shaken but clearly a bit relieved as well.

06/05/2012

Today I sold to a Chinese girl named Tingting. Her whole family had moved to Australia and she was the only one who spoke enough English to apply with Lumo. Down the road I was desperate for a toilet so I slipped behind some bushes in someones front yard and, as I was finishing, they pulled up in their car. I quickly hopped the fence and ran down the road thinking, "great, this will be the second day in a row that I get picked up by the police."

Later on Vero was down again so I went to a lady who seemed a likely bad credit and signed her up. She had five children, an overdue bill and lots of cats. As I left the cats followed me until one ran under my foot to trip me and got stepped on.

06/06/2012

Today I noticed a sign "Stop Creeping."

It's an odd sign but I recently saw a commercial on unsafe driving depicting bad drivers as creepy. On turf today I trained another rep and with one lady I showed her how to have fun with people. The lady was complaining about America's apathetic attitude towards health care and, being that we had been talking about apathy towards electricity rates, I made the comparison thus revealing her hypocrisy. This got a good laugh after which the lady, finding herself at the butt of the joke, decided she'd had enough. I eventually made a sale later on to an Aboriginal painter who directed me to country schools for authentic aboriginal art.

06/07/2012

Today I made a sale at the first door in front of my trainee to a guy who operates cranes for ETSA.. that was the last sale I made for Lumo. Later on I found a little old lady named Agnes. Agnes was with Lumo but getting the SA Electricity 29 cent rates and overall high charges with no discount. I was about to explain our current promo when she got a call from a TRU Energy sales guy who was just confirming her concession details for the sale he had just made to her. Upon realizing I was there the rep asked to speak with me then asserted that he was sorting her out with a good deal and that I should just leave her be. I acknowledged that he was bettering her situation but decided to see what I could do for her. I had to call our retention department for her since she wasn't really all there. It took a while but we finally got through and, not knowing that he was on speaker phone, the rep began to quote our loyal Lumo customer on, not our standard 24 cent rates, but ridiculous rates just slightly lower than what she was currently paying. I began to point out our standard rates to the greedy blood sucker but then got a call from Brendan. I told Brendan about the situation and he just told me it wasn't my problem and to get the heck out of there. It was at that point that the retention rep wanted to speak with me and Brendan hung up. The rep congratulated me on a job well done and continued to bribe me with a reward that he said would be sent to my manager... of course he didn't know I was quiting the next day and regardless I wasn't about to let him get away with ripping off a little old lady. After hanging up I continued to explain our rates to Agnes, wrote a note for her son then called him and explained it to him. He pointed out that Agnes had been told not to change her retailer but I explained that she was a victim of crafty sales technique and that she was being taken advantage of by, not just the TRU guy, but her own retailer as well.

Apparently Murray Bridge has a bit of a reputation. As I continued walking down the street a guy in a black car yelled at me and I asked some random passersby about it, they simply replied, "it's Murray Bridge."

I walked up to a house after going through some really high gates and said, "quite a fortress you have here."
The lady that lived there responded angrily that she would call the cops if I didn't leave immediately. I left in a hurry and went down the road where I met a nice old guy who let me in to warm up a bit and told me about the area's history of drug related violence. It all makes sense now.

06/08/2012

Today Matt decided to do another training, this one mostly on body language. Many times he focused the examples on me but at no time did he mention it being my last day. After training we raced to get out first and I barely pushed ahead of the other van securing the win for my team. For lunch Ben and I had Avocado Chicken Schnitzel Burgers which were amazing then we headed off to Victor Harbour where my friend Deani lives and works. I called Deani and she offered to come pick me up for a quick coffee and to catch up. Then I got a call from Ben, saw him, and walked over. He was demotivated so we decided he would join me to go see Deani. We walked over to her work asked where she was to an attendant as Deani walked in. Deani made Ben and I a couple coffees then we decided to grab a couple drinks. We went outside since Deani was busy working and we watched the waves and dolphins jumping while talking about travel. Four hours later we went back in and talked to Deani for half an hour before heading back to work for the final half hour. At six I finished a second walk sheet then sat up on top of a hill with Ben looking out over the harbour. Next we went to van, complained about nobody being home and drove to Hungry Jacks where I bought everyone $2 whoppers using my photocopied vouchers from church.