The Tide has Turned

Finally good news has come my way and things are starting to settle down. I've started work at a dairy processing plant here in Brisbane so I'm finally going to get that much needed money I've been looking for lately. It's a totally erratic job with me being on call 24/7 (the place operates 24/7) but fortunately and by design I have virtually no social life to inconvenience with such a schedule anyway. I started working a week ago and I've already missed a night of sleep for work and been woken up twice to get called in immediately. I can understand how most people would hate a life of being on call and I definitely understand the purpose and need for the free coffee machine in the lunch room. More exciting is the free products fridge in the lunch room with milk, custard and yogurt to snack on. I love yogurt so it's kind of a dream come true, haha. I've also had buttermilk again for the first time in probably close to a decade.
What do I do? Well, I do whatever is needed. I am actually employed by a labour agency which has a few clients though I just go to the one factory, Parmalat. Parmalat tells them how many casual people they need based on their order load and we get called in. So far I have just been in the bottling section where all the milk, cream and custard gets bottled. There are a few different machine stations and a lot of conveyors and I just do whatever needs to be done. Honestly, it's only slightly less mindless than stick picking and a 10-year old could do it, but it pays well and I don't mind it at all, yet. I will work there as much as possible over the next 6 months before leaving Australia.
Because I've got a job, I'm now starting to settle down as well. I have left my couchsurfing host, who was great for putting up with me for so long, and just moved into my own rented room. The room itself is actually a converted detached garage so it has decent space and fulfills my biggest living requirements, not sharing, quiet and walking distance to work. I have my own "living room" in my room and own fridge as well so that is nice. The home is small, there are 2 other rooms for boarders as well as the front of the home where the landlady lives. There is a single common kitchen and bathroom and no common indoor sitting area. There is a nice little patio area in the back which will be good for the summer coming up. I suspect my room will be roasting in the heat but all I need is to be able to work and sleep anyway so it shouldn't be too bad. The landlady herself is a major "character". The house smells heavily of incense, bringing back memories of India, about which she talks constantly when not going off on some astrology and feminine energy tangent. But then, what do you expect in this neighbourhood, West End. It's where are the "characters" live anyway and definitely has a quirky, hippy vibe to it anyway.
So with gainful employment and a room to myself now I'm starting to look and act like a respectable citizen again. Well, maybe not "look" but certainly act. I have clothes hanging on hangars and even emptied my backpack (which I'd been continually living out of) and put things on shelves and in drawers for the first time in 5 1/2 years and even have a partially stocked fridge. I suppose I can survive this for 6 months.... Don't worry though because now the big travel dreams are back in the planning stages and the recruitment has already begun.
Mom and Bre, fresh off the grand European tour (they put 22000km on their rental car in less than 6 weeks) have already stated they'll be coming back for a reunion tour when I get going again. Apparently the original 4 have now all passed the 100 country mark. Congrats to the girls! But for the record, if they pass me I'm gonna kill them....
Ammon