Dave Starts Work

On Wednesday, we bought Dave a brand new 2008 Kia Rio to facilitate his commute. After looking at the alternatives, we thought it would be best for Dave to have a vehicle. Dave didn't want to consider a used vehicle. So we're helping Australia's economy and the car dealer and manufacturer by buying new. It's also a way for us to begin building a credit record here in Australia.



"The Carrot" - Dave's new car

Thursday, 15 January Dave started at his new job in Sydney. He left from our home in Macmasters Beach a little before 7am. He returned home a little after 7pm. It's 1 1/2 hours by train. Plus 20 minutes by car from the house to the train station.

He was tired, but he said it felt good to be working again after 8 weeks of vacation here in Australia.

He said there are many excellent places to eat lunch in Sydney. The train ticket is $8.50 each way. He said the train goes through national parks so there's some beautiful scenery!

His a contractor working for Telstra - the largest phone company in Australia. He is not working in the Telstra building, that is next door. Instead, they have him and other contractors and a few employees set up in rented space. He said the room where he is working has a series of long tables along the wall with computers on it. Each person sits next to his neighbor at this long table. No partitions. He's never been in a work environment like that before.

The contractors are from around the world. He works with a man from the Ukraine. He was hired in October but didn't start until just before Christmas - so others like us with a long time between hire date and start date. He said there's also a man from China.

His supervisor said they'd like to hire 10 more Java Developer Contractors.

We were glad that he had 2 days to adjust to his new work, schedule, and the long commute. This weekend he's been relaxing and gearing up for next week.