"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

The rest of the week!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Friday, 19 November 2010 04:43

So, we have been super busy this week, and I have only just sat down to write the blog and it's late on Friday evening! Lots has happened, and I was going to try and write about each day, but in typical Sarah fashion I can't actually remember what happened each day, so here's an overview!

On Tuesday we took Gunther to Sam's mechanic friend for one last ditch attempt at sorting him out, and we were thinking about investing a bit more into him, so asked about the options of sorting the engine out etc. We left the van and got given an old banger as a 'loaner' to get us around! We went to the beach for the afternoon, the part that has a swimming area, netted off for sharks! I read my book, while Ben and Sam played in the water. We met a very crazy guy who asked Ben what frequency he was on! Got a phone call from the mechanic who was a great guy, he sorted the spark plugs, but was honest enough to tell us that it wasn't worth us getting the engine sorted, and it would be very pricey, considering we only needed him for a few months. So we decided to look into other options and sell Gunther for whatever we could get. We both felt really uncomfortable driving him, the steering was so heavy, the amount of smoke was getting worse and we were worried we were going to break down all the time, so didn't really want to be travelling all over like we planned. So we arranged to see another van the next day, a similar one, but much more nicely maintained and clean! However, there was a tiny bit of white smoke coming out of the exhaust! The guy was asking $3400 which we didn't want to pay, he said he had another offer in the table, so we played hardball a bit and offered him $3000 and left, asking him to call us if his other offer fell through.

We went to pick up Gunther from the mechanic and he said one last ditch attempt might be to do anothe oil change (the one we had in when we had it serviced probably made things worse as they put in a cheapy thin oil) and to use a very thick oil and another bottle of 'stop smoking', we already owed him $110 for the spark plugs, and he said he could do the rest and total it to £250, so we thought we might as well have one last go - and boy are we glad we did! So far, so good! Obviously it has not fixed the problem and its not a permanent solution, but the smoking is now minimal and it's like driving a different van! We got the tyres pumped up and now we are good to go! So, at the moment, Gunther lives! The guy with the other van sent us a message saying his other offer fell through so he could go ahead, but we've said no for now, as we're hoping to hold onto Gunter!

Other new this week is that I got a job! I am an 'appointment setter', working in a call centre. I saw the job online on a job site and emailed my CV with my call centre experience. I got a phone call on Tuesday night inviting me for interview and then started on Wednesday! I work 2 - 8pm and get paid $19 per hour as well as good commision if I make appointments. I have to make 2 appointments a week, and I get an extra $100 for each other appoinment I make on top in that week, so it could work out to be good money! It is certainly achievable, I have spoken to all the staff and they all seem to make at least an extra $100-200 a week. The last two weeks they have been running a competition on top of the commision, to win a 50"plasma TV! Theres only about 25 staff, so the odds are good! The runner up prize is a Wii! I had training on Thursday and a bit more tonight, and then got on the phones. Unfortunately I didn't make any appointments, but fingers crossed for next week! The appointments are for a financial advisor type person to visit their house and talk about investment opportunities, particularly in propety, however, they have to be earning a certain amount, be under 57 and have $110K in equity in their home, so not everyone qualifies, but hope to get some appointments on Monday! The office closes on 3rd December for 4 weeks for Christmas, so hopefully in the next two weeks I can hit the ground running!

On Thursday morning we went to another theme park with our special tickets, this time it was Wet & Wild - an amazing water park! It was amazing! We went straight for their newest ride, which is called Aqua Loop, where you stand up on a tunnel type booth, and there is a trap door beneath your feet which gives way and you shoot down and do a loop-the-loop in a water tunnel ride! There are four that go at the same time, so it's like a race, it counts down 3,2,1 and then all the trap doors go at once! There was no queue and we just went straight for it, so at the top I suddenly felt really nervous, and was very scared, I think even Ben was a little nervous when we got into the booth! I was absolutely petrified!!!! But it was brilliant! We got straight off and went back on again! Had loads of fun on all the other rides, but the Aqua Loop was by far the best! Google it to see what it's like!

So, I think that's the highlights of this week! Kelly and Sam have gone to his Uncles to dog sit for the weekend, and have kidly let us stay here, which is so good of them. We are off to SeaWorld tomorrow for the day and I don't have work which is nice, so we can spend the whole day chilling out, and then the plan is to get a takeway, which we haven't done in months!
Sarah x