POBB - and Travel Plans Cost.

POBB (P***ed Off Beyond Belief!) Once again I am POBB!!!! The stupid Government sent me a threatening letter today - and it was over something I spoke to them over the phone and sorted out once before. In fact, I had done the right thing so much, that they sent me a stupid FORM letter and because I hadn't done anything covered on the form letter, they had to hand write what we'd basically spoken about at the bottom of the form letter. That was this afternoon - rest of today was no walk in the park either. Started off with a meeting at 10 AM. Got there on time - was told I wasn't needed till 10:30 AM, was asked to wait outside with another guy. So we waited ... and waited .. and waited. One hour passed, the other guy went in to find out when we'd be needed. Half an hour later, he came out, grabbed his stuff and started to walk off. He wasn't even going to speak to me. So I spoke up. I asked him, "Are we allowed to go now?" He turned around at the door and said, "Oh, yeah! He said we could go!" Great. He wasn't even going to tell me! So I spent an entire ONE AND A HALF FRIGGIN' HOURS waiting to be included in a meeting I didn't even have to be there for! THEN the other guy waiting wasn't EVEN GOING TO TELL ME I COULD GO!!!! What the FRIG is WRONG with this COUNTRY!!!!!!?????? I'm very good at time management! That's why I turn up on time! I do all the friggin' right things, yet other people are VERY GOOD at wasting my FRIGGIN' TIME! I get so sick of it! Then there is the FRIGGIN' GOVERNMENT. I spend my time jumping through all the hoops the Government sets - yet they still feel inclined to send me threatening letters just to p*** me off! Is this Government REALLY trying to MAKE enemies of it's own people!!!!!???? On top of that, the letter was trying to create a situation which didn't even exist! I had already sorted it out over the phone! It reminds me a bit of when I was at University. This was back in 1987 - I left my physics degree, and wrote a letter to Austudy informing them so they could stop my payments. I physically went into the office and delivered the letter. The guy who needed to get the letter was on holiday. One month later, I notice they are still paying me! So I phone them up. Apparently, the guy who should have got the letter had left, so he never received it. I asked them to give the letter to the guys replacement. They can't find the letter, so I ask them to write a note saying I had phoned. One month later, they are still paying me! So I physically went into the office again with a note in order to sort it out. They take the note off me, and tell me it will get to the right person. Two weeks later, I get a nasty phone call from the guys replacement saying he received a message that I had left my University course. I tell the guy - yeah, I wrote the note. He called me a liar and claimed I was trying to cheat the system! He threatens me with legal action for being a theif! I keep pointing out to him that I have witnesses that I gave them two letters and phoned them up! He still insists that I am a liar and tells me I have to repay all the money they paid me after i left University. A week later I receive a letter telling me how much I had to repay and who to make the cheque out to. So I repay it! Makes me p***ed off when crap like that happens! Well, todays letter was something similar. I'd already sorted it all out over the phone over a month ago - yet they still tried to create some sort of issue! [It concerned some income of mine, which I had declared and everything - but I was required to declare it before I knew how much I was getting - so I gave them an estimate and told them it was an estimate. Then when the exact amount was known, I spoke to them and told them how much I had actually got! Todays letter basically was them claiming my original estimate was an attempt to rip-off the Government! What a crock of shite! Why do I bother to speak to them when they always try to twist it to make it look like 'they secretly discovered' the information I give them!] The joys of being a freelance artist/writer/musician! Can't earn any money without being castrated for doing the right thing!!! I will be so glad when leave this foresaken rock! TRAVEL PLANS Anyway - with the possible PCYC job still up in the air I decided to continue with the plans to move to the UK. I went to my Travel Agent to try to get some brief estimates on my trip. The airfare is less than what I thought it would be. Only $1882 plus tax to get from Sydney to KL to Nagoya & then Tokyo to London. The bits in between are now KL to Penang to KL - the travel agent said by train but via plane isn't that much - and Nagoya to Tokyo by train - so those will have to be added into the cost of running around. I asked from some brouchers on what to do in Malaysia and Japan. They only gave me one Malaysian brooucher and none for Japan. Anyway - working it out so far looks like this: Flight Per to Syd $199 Flight Syd to Nagoya via KL $1061 Return Flight KL to Penang $68 (MYR194) [I had difficulty getting the train fares] Nagoya to Tokyo Shinkansen (Bullet Train) $129 (Yen10780) Tokyo to London Via Amsterdam $821 TAX ~ $350 Total - $2628 Round up because there is always something wrong $2700 (maybe $2800, just to be certain). That's basic travel worked out. Maybe tomorrow I'll work out the cost of accomodation - or maybe I'll do that tonight. :-) I get so happy and excited when I work all this sort of stuff out. Okay, I admit, I love travelling. Depending on my stay in Japan, I might even spend more time travelling around and seeing more of it. I must admit, there are certain cities I have always wanted to visit. These include: Kumamoto Nagasaki Fukuoka Hiroshima Kobe Osaka Kyoto Nara Tokyo Nagano Sapporo Maybe Niigata if Megumi will be nice to me! :-) Not sure how much time I can spend at any of these places if I do extend the stay. most important thing though, is what to do in each city. Castles - Museums - Japanese girls - Gaijin Bars - Love Hotels (just kidding!) - Kode Cows! (go Southpark!) - So much to see, so many Japanese girls to do ... I mean, to meet! Damn! Oh well - looking forward to the journey. (Provided I get to go!)