Our Story 03-05

Part 03 - The dry season
After loosing the job on 20-03-2013, both me and Audrey started to look for job aggressively. I was helping out my Penang friend with some programming project at that time and thank God for him that I was paid enough to go through that few months of jobless period. I started to feel the real situation in Australian job market where electronics-telecommunication engineering was one of the kind niche job. While looking through the head hunters website such as seek.com.au, enginuitypeople.com.au, I found out that electronics engineering was not really the best job in Melbourne. SO I tried to venture to another field, Software designer and tester. After sending out more than 20 customized resume to various companies and head hunters, I felt more disappointed as none of the resume yields any interview, all being rejected with the main reason "not qualified".

So instead of just sitting at home, I was able to find a temporary job to deliver pamphlet for supermarkets and shopping mall. I was assigned to cover an area of 3KM radius, which translate to around 10KM of walking over high and low terrain. I was able to make on average of AUD 20 per trip and normally spend around 2 hours of walking and 2 hours of packing the pamphlets. The biggest pile of pamphlets that I'd packed was during the mothers' day sales, it's around 31 pieces of pamphlets per household! I did this for around 3 months and able to earn around 300 bucks all in all. This was able to cover some of our monthly expenditure on food.

Then also, I started to promote myself in the on-line local music school by teaching keyboard and guitar at home. I was thinking of changing my field totally from engineering to performing art at that time.


Part 04 : A job opportunity
Somewhere around April time line, Audrey get to know a Malaysian who was working in a local company going to leave his job soon through some network from back home to here. We were reminded again many time by the locals to have a wide network and try to build it by engaging activities with the locals as many of the jobs were offered to those in the network. So Audrey went for the interview as project manager and got the job offer right after that.

I became full time dad at home with the kids. By then, Ian and Shanna were in childcare once a week so that they have some play time and chance to mingle with the local kids and a off day for myself to do some job hunting, shopping time, cleaning the house....
I wouldn't say that it's a easy job to take care of the kids at home full time, but it's a opportunity for me to see them grow and learn to be patience and control my temper. At time, both kids are driving me crazy and most of the time they brought joy and laughter to us.

Right after Audrey started working, I need cook for two meals, be the teacher at home, be the joker to entertain them, plan out something for them so that they wont be bored at home, brought them to local library to listen to stories and borrow books (as weekly event), send Shanna to kinder, fetch her to and fro, be the master chef at home with all sorts of "great" ideas on what to cook everyday. Audrey was supportive to me during those months and willing to take care of the kids after her work in the evening so that I can have some time for myself and to release me from the kids. I really respect our moms on how they take care of us everyday.

Part 05 : Winter
Winter started right after Audrey got the job and it was really an unpleasant season for myself. No sun, a lot of rain, cold, no job, no interview, not much saving any more.... all the pressures started to come back and negative thoughts started to creep in. Then also, that was the time when the kids keep having fever, tummy ache, runny nose... one after another, taking turn to have during the season.

One day, we just prayed for the place that we were staying and break the cycle of sickness in the house and by God's grace, the sickness cycle in the house was broken!


To be continued ....