Giz wanted to know about my new job (yes, I have a new job!), so I figured I should talk a bit about it and the other stuff I’ve been doing of late.

Um. So, I’m a contractor for Telstra. I’ve gone from a small, 2-bit ISP (and they only qualified as 2-bit because they leased the bits from others) to the largest communications provider in the country. I’m working in a department known as EAS (Enhanced Access Services), and I’ve already discovered how much Telstra love their acronyms - the place is freaking crawling with them.

Anyhow, my job basically involves provisioning ULLs (Unconditioned Local Lines) to wholesale customers. A ULL is a service where the copper line from your house running to the exchange is owned and maintained by Telstra, but is jumpered at the exchange to a competitors equipment (so, if you chose to get iiNet or iPrimus’s ADSL2 plans, you’d be on a ULL). This differs from a SSS (Shared Spectrum Service, see the acronyms at work?), where you continue being billed by Telstra for your phone calls, but another ISP provides your broadband.

I’m on training for the next five weeks, after which I’m on contract until the 31st of March, according to the paperwork. I doubt they’d shell out for over a month’s worth of training for only three months of work, so I think it’s a safe bet that the job will be ongoing. The department manager also poked his head into the training room yesterday and talked about ‘opportunities’ and the like. Typical management scum - despite his trendy haircut - and I can see myself developing a good healthy loathing for him soon enough.

So, with the threat of starving to death over, I’ve started buying the things I’ve been wanting for the last few months. On the weekend I ordered a decent little laser printer for the Crumpet and myself, as her inkjet decided to shit itself just when we needed it the most. We figured it would be cheaper in the long run to buy something built properly than continue to buy cheap junk that’s cheaper to replace than repair (not to mention the shocking price for ink cartridges).

Yesterday I ordered a MOTU Traveler, which is a very nice multichannel Firewire audio interface. It’ll make my music sound better, allow me to record several tracks at once (i.e., jam to disk with Giz) and will allow me to put my Behringer preamp in the cupboard.

I also bought a 4Gb iPod nano today. Did I need it? No. Is it sexy as fuck? Oh, hell yes.

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