Quick update

It's been a long week. On Monday, I found out that the lease on the house I'm living in won't be extended, it will end on the date that's been planned all along: 19 November, which is only next Monday. There were hopes it could be extended, but the actions that needed to be done didn't happen and we were told to leave on the 19th. Two housemates are planning to stay, arguing that they can't move out that soon, but I'll move out Monday evening. I worried for a few days about where I would move to for my last couple of weeks in Melbourne, but in the end the friend of a friend saved me. She lives very close to the city in a highrise on the 29th floor (!!) and she has a spare room I can stay in. I was so relieved that worked out, and I'll be happy to be staying closer to the city before I leave Melbourne. I can't stay there until I leave for New Zealand, unfortunately, there will be a few days I'll likely stay in a hostel, but I can stay there for most of the time I have left. I'm rather eager to leave the house I've been living in, though I will miss living by the river and watching the amazing sunsets we've been having.

In the meantime I've been working still and I work through the end of next week. It's been ok, not a bad place to work, but I hate getting up so early and doing the whole rat race commuter train thing. I don't know how people do this for their whole lives. I also hate the offices we work in, it is so depressing to have no windows and no idea of what is going on outside, esp since we've had a lot of sunny days lately. Since I don't drink coffee, I've developed my own routine of drinking Milo to give me a kickstart once I'm at work. Milo is a malted drink, sort of like Ovaltine, it's very popular in Australia. I put 4 scoops of Milo and 2 sugars into a big mug, then I fill half the mug with boiling water and the other half with milk, to make it creamy and to help cool it down. It helps wake me up a bit. I get out for lunch every day, I am lucky to work right in the center of the city, but we only get half an hour, so you can't get a whole lot done. I can't wait until I am free from working and can have lazy weekdays again of just enjoying the city. I realized that this week is the first time I've worked a full 5-day week in almost 3 months. Tough life, I know. =) I'll post news later on how the move went and what I'm up to before I travel...