h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, and hello to everyone else too! I'm getting lazy and careless and I probably should go and rest soon.

We forgive you, sweetheart

Jumping the whole thread (I'll get around to reading it later) just to say:

(a) Hello!
(b) Pretty much exactly ditto, regarding the h2g2 situation - I'm really happy that it's officially in good hands, now, but can't be sure that I'll get more active, since I seem to always be on-and-off these days - I'd be active and posting, and then the next week have to remind myself that there were convos I was going to reply to, and then promptly forget to do so, and move on to other things, and then remember again, and so on and so forth. Did buy a gargleblaster t-shirt, though. They're pretty!
(c) I was going to say that I know someone who had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but that's not true. There's a translator whose blog I read who had it, and that's hardly the same as 'know' (even if we do appear to have some shared acquaintances), so, umm, yeah, can't really offer much in the way of advice or anything. Just my sympathies. I hope you get out of it and feel better.
(d) I have no idea why I am doing numerated clauses like this. I'm in kind of a weird mood.
(e) Regards,
(f) Yael (L. Pennywhistle)

Hello Lady P.



In today's news - I went to the doctor again to see what he said about a few things, I found out that I've managed to acquire some sort of temporary musculoskeletal problem because I've been using the walking stick (without which I am only semi-mobile at the moment), and I decided that I needed some time off completely free of commitments. So I've taken two weeks of long service leave, effective 5pm today. (Until 5pm I'm on sick leave.)

Very good move Ivan. I don't know how this will affect you financially, but taking the time to sort your health is incredibly important.

That's the good bit, kea - it's paid leave. This is the reward for nearly 17 years in the public service: the ability to be sick and get paid for it.

Is that so many days per year worked? My mum was a public servant for all of her career and got lots of goodies like that including a very good retirement scheme. Do those things still exist for people starting out now?

As far as I know, newbies still get access to this - three months' leave entitlement after 10 years of service, and an extra 9 days accrued per year of service after that. The current superannuation scheme isn't quite as generous as the one I'm in, but even that one is less generous than the one that was closed to new starters about a year before I went into the public service.

The main thing is, there has to be some sort of incentive to go into publc service when our main function is to be abused by ignorant idiots in the tabloids.

3 mths after 10 years, that's very good.

I agree, there should be incentives to go into the public service.

It's not such a bad place to be, for people like me who aren't interested in making huge amounts of money and actually care just a little bit about maintaining a civil society in a functioning condition. Of course, it helps that Australia's solvent. I wouldn't feel quite so secure if we were in recession.