My last day with Tandem Australia, at least for the moment. Had a talk with Peter Lloyd,
who would be my boss. Yes, they'd like to have me. My problem: typical salaries in
Australia are round $30,000 per annum, and I'm currently earning $55,000 odd in Germany. To
my surprise, he was prepared to match it!
Problem: what happens with pay raises? Ah, there's the rub. Gradually I would end up
slipping towards the normal pay scale. But it's still something to think about, especially
as I would be allowed to work from home 2 or 3 days a week.
Back to Mick's place, where things didn't look good. Yana still has her cough, though the
quack gave her some medication this afternoon. And Yvonne has a kidney infection again
(Escherichia coli). Joy. And,
of course, she hadn't finished packing as a result.
Sorted that out quickly, and then off
to Bendigo, looking at land on the way.
To my surprise, Yvonne likes the landscape here, even though it's pretty dry. But I'd far
rather live out of town than
in Melbourne. But what about the
bloody flies? Even in spring there seem to be far too many. What will summer bring?
Discussed the matter with my parents at home, without coming to any particular conclusion.
Interestingly, Mum thinks that it's a good idea.
Mum off to Melbourne for something or another for the duration of the weekend. Yvonne and I
round Bendigo looking for a VHS cassette
of The Man from Snowy River,
without success. In the afternoon Dad and I laid some lines across the dam to catch some of
his salmon trout.
Mum's palomino mare has foaled, much to Yvonne's joy: a chestnut filly.
Time to return my hire car, which was paid for by Tandem. Nice of them to let me use it for
the weekend, but... the next AVIS outlet is
in Ballarat! That's 120 km away. But
nothing for it, so off in two cars, Yvonne driving on the
left for the first time.
Finding the AVIS outlet wasn't easy, either. You'd think they'd at least have given maps
pointing to the location, but no, the maps they gave me only
covered Melbourne.
Looked round Ballarat for The Man from
Snowy River, again without success. Back home, while Yvonne admired the countryside—just the location for a farm! And also at least 120
km from Melbourne! We'll have to think more carefully about this.
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