New Job, take 2

It seems job changes are the fad in the Porter family at the moment.

My dad has just changed jobs, he was cleaning at a brick works in Darra until recently. He's now doing the same thing, but at the Inala Community Centre.

He shouldn't really be working at all. He had a heart bypass operation a couple of years ago and he's only one year away from retirement age where he can get a pension. Now you'd think he'd be able to get a disability pension wouldn't you. No, the morons at Centrelink wouldn't give him one, even after recommendations from doctors. Instead they tried sending him for interviews for jobs where there was a lot of heavy lifting involved.

Dad doesn't mind working, but he'd much prefer it if he didn't have to anymore. On the days when he doesn't work, he and Mum do volunteer work in the St Vincent de Paul shop near where they live.

My brother Laurie has been working for customs at the airport for the past couple of years, since he got out of the navy. He's now transferring to another area at the Port of Brisbane, searching ships. This means he gets to wear the sexy paramilitary style uniform instead of the ugly blue one he wears at the airport. It also means he has to carry a gun and do 'use of force' training. A concequence of that is, he has to get back into shape. Like me he's developed a bit of a paunch in the last couple of years.

My sister Sam is moving to another law firm as senior secretary. She always wanted to be a legal secretary years ago, but thought she'd have to do a course first. This will be the third firm she's worked for, each one a step up for her.

Speaking of Sam, she's the only one in the family that doesn't have her own blog yet. I might have to work on her there, because I think hers would be quite entertaining if she did one.

Incidentally, it's her birthday today. If you like, you can send her a happy birthday e-mail to sami71tulip@yahoo.com.au Just tell her you're a friend of Steve's.