DSGamer Down Under (Australia) and back

DSGamer wrote:
(BTW I'm not in HR so if I'm not 100% on the dot here, don't sue me. It's the vibe man, it's Mabo.)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif)

Watched the movie right before I came.

F5!! I cleared that!!!

What do you want a set of jousting sticks for?

Bruce wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
(BTW I'm not in HR so if I'm not 100% on the dot here, don't sue me. It's the vibe man, it's Mabo.)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif)

Watched the movie right before I came.

F5!! I cleared that!!!

What do you want a set of jousting sticks for?

He's dreamin'.

bnpederson wrote:
Goo wrote:

Usually in Australia most employees have a 3 or 6 month 'probation period' where you - or your employer - can part ways for any reason at all. After that period the rules change somewhat.

As an American this sounds really weird. I'm in (and mostly know people also in) an at-will state. Which means this is the case regardless of how long you're with a company. That's not the case in Australia, I take it..

Civilized countries protect workers rights. At-will is a crime against humanity.

And I just found out they want me to be "point man", whatever that means, on an engagement that includes weekly travel to Brisbane.

That means you own that project and are the customer's contact and who gets blamed for success or failure.

LeapingGnome wrote:

That means you own that project and are the customer's contact and who gets blamed for success or failure.

Yeah. I quit today. I couldn't be apart from my wife that much. That's not why I came here. They were ridiculously nice, including spending 30 minutes giving me tips on places I should look, being willing to work with me to find contacts, etc. Into the great unknown...

I feel I should say congrats. I hope that feels like a weight off of your shoulders and can enjoy the sunshine! Find some cool stuff for you and your wife to do this weekend.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I feel I should say congrats. I hope that feels like a weight off of your shoulders and can enjoy the sunshine! Find some cool stuff for you and your wife to do this weekend.

I feel nervous, because that's the sort of person I am. And I usually have a place to land if I decide to quit a job. So this is uncomfortable. But there wasn't a better option as far as I could tell.

Can I ask who you were with DS? Completely and totally understand if that's sensitive info, but I *might* be able to suggest alternatives knowing what's been eliminated.

I feel like I'm on the cusp of intrusion, so just say it and I'll shut up and stop bothering you

DSGamer wrote:

Yeah. I quit today. I couldn't be apart from my wife that much. That's not why I came here. They were ridiculously nice, including spending 30 minutes giving me tips on places I should look, being willing to work with me to find contacts, etc. Into the great unknown...

Onwards and upwards mate, sounds like you done the right thing

Goo wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Yeah. I quit today. I couldn't be apart from my wife that much. That's not why I came here. They were ridiculously nice, including spending 30 minutes giving me tips on places I should look, being willing to work with me to find contacts, etc. Into the great unknown...

Onwards and upwards mate, sounds like you done the right thing

The further away I get from it the more certain I am that I did the right thing. I especially did the right thing ethically since I didn't hold onto the job just to have *a* job. Whoever is at fault (recruiter, me, the company) I recognized the difference in what I wanted to do and what the job was and I was honest with myself and them. I'm glad I had the guts to do that. It's stressful, moving to the other side of the world.

I have an interview next week on my birthday for a 2 month (with a chance of going longer) contract that seems more my speed. We'll see how that goes.

I interviewed today and got the job. It's working with tech that I really enjoy working with for a client I really enjoy doing work for. More details later. I'm really excited. This job looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and really hands on. Small company, very nice people. And, as is typical with Oz jobs so far, they don't want me to start for 2 weeks. So I get another 2 weeks of sun and ocean and relaxation before I actually go into work.

Today was my birthday. After the interview I sat in Hyde Park and relaxed. There was a nice breeze and finally it was cool (to me). That's a feat considering how hot I find Sydney compared to Oregon. My wife planned a great night out at a wonderful restaurant in The Rocks. I waited for her by laying in the grass near the harbour. No spiders bit me. We had dinner, took a ferry home, and got to watch the city at night as we crossed the harbour.

I'm employed again and it looks like I'll be doing exactly what I want to be doing. Crossing my fingers that everything goes well when I start. Today was a great day, though.

Congrats on a great day!

Indeed, sounds like you nailed it!

DSGamer wrote:
Bruce wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
(BTW I'm not in HR so if I'm not 100% on the dot here, don't sue me. It's the vibe man, it's Mabo.)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif)

Watched the movie right before I came.

F5!! I cleared that!!!

What do you want a set of jousting sticks for?

He's dreamin'.

And Charles "Bud" Tingwell as Gramps....

I've actually got the US dub of that film. Words such as "rissoles" and "two-stroke" being replaced for the non-Australian market.

Happy Birthday, DSG! Congrats on finding a better job so quickly!

That sounds awesome DS. How is your wife doing with her job?

DSGamer wrote:

I interviewed today and got the job. It's working with tech that I really enjoy working with for a client I really enjoy doing work for. More details later. I'm really excited. This job looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and really hands on. Small company, very nice people. And, as is typical with Oz jobs so far, they don't want me to start for 2 weeks. So I get another 2 weeks of sun and ocean and relaxation before I actually go into work.

Today was my birthday. After the interview I sat in Hyde Park and relaxed. There was a nice breeze and finally it was cool (to me). That's a feat considering how hot I find Sydney compared to Oregon. My wife planned a great night out at a wonderful restaurant in The Rocks. I waited for her by laying in the grass near the harbour. No spiders bit me. We had dinner, took a ferry home, and got to watch the city at night as we crossed the harbour.

I'm employed again and it looks like I'll be doing exactly what I want to be doing. Crossing my fingers that everything goes well when I start. Today was a great day, though.

Sounds like you had the best of Birthdays imaginable.

Many, many MANY genuinely heartfelt congratulations!

LeapingGnome wrote:

That sounds awesome DS. How is your wife doing with her job?

She's doing great. But then she always does. I'm always the one in question. Believe me, though, I've tried to be mindful as I struggled with this transition to make sure she's doing okay.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Happy Birthday, DSG! Congrats on finding a better job so quickly!

Thanks.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Sounds like you had the best of Birthdays imaginable.

Many, many MANY genuinely heartfelt congratulations!

Everything is graded on a curve since my body went sideways in 2014. But yesterday was an objectively great day.

Well done, and Happy Birthday!!

Finding a doctor who doesn't want to just throw pills at me is proving to be impossible. Especially since I have to pay out of pocket each visit just to learn this. I wonder what I'm missing.

If you mean just a GP (General Practitioner), all they really have the power to do is give you medicine or refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Similarly, the psychiatrist will mostly prescribe you medicine but may be a bit more discerning than a GP. A psychologist is what you'll need for counselling or therapy through discussion. But you'll want to double-check what your insurance covers, usually the coverage level is different for psychiatrists versus psychologists. Good luck!

No, I definitely need medication. If only to continue my slow taper OFF of it. I was just shocked that without doing any diagnosis a doctor would push Paxil on me. Assuming that I would always need *something* forever.

I'd say you definitely want a referral to a psychiatrist then. It's just my guess but Australian GPs may not have the level of experience or knowledge in treating mental illness that you might be used to in American doctors. But any GP should be able to provide you with a referral at least.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

I'd say you definitely want a referral to a psychiatrist then. It's just my guess but Australian GPs may not have the level of experience or knowledge in treating mental illness that you might be used to in American doctors. But any GP should be able to provide you with a referral at least.

Probably. The cost is going to be astronomical since it's going to be out of pocket. And psychiatrists can be just as bad about pushing you to take new pills to replace the old pills. I always knew this would be one of the hardest parts, establishing a network of trusted medical professionals from scratch.

DSGamer wrote:

Finding a doctor who doesn't want to just throw pills at me is proving to be impossible. Especially since I have to pay out of pocket each visit just to learn this. I wonder what I'm missing.

Make sure you're upfront with the GPs about that. Medicine in Australia is very much based around a collaborative relationship between doctor and patient, so be explicit about wanting a plan to taper the meds down, look at other options etc.

Ultimately it does require trying a few GPs until you find ones that click with you unfortunately.

Sonicator wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Finding a doctor who doesn't want to just throw pills at me is proving to be impossible. Especially since I have to pay out of pocket each visit just to learn this. I wonder what I'm missing.

Make sure you're upfront with the GPs about that. Medicine in Australia is very much based around a collaborative relationship between doctor and patient, so be explicit about wanting a plan to taper the meds down, look at other options etc.

Ultimately it does require trying a few GPs until you find ones that click with you unfortunately.

Right. And unfortunately for me since I'm not on Medicare I have to pay the total cost and then send it off to my insurance and hope they pay it. So trying out doctors is a huge hassle right now.

I can imagine.

Found a helpful doctor today, but he said two things that confused me.

#1 - People in Australia don't really go to psychiatrists. There's a stigma still.

He essentially said that GPs or psychologists will deal with the chemical or counseling side of things. Otherwise you're viewed as having something seriously wrong. Is this true?

#2 - He finished today's meeting by saying what I'm doing (getting off a psychiatric medication) is "being very manly".

Is that an Australian-ism that means something else or did he mean exactly what he said?

#1. News to me. I saw a psychiatrist for a while, as referred by my GP. It was pretty basic though, just following up with medicine and very high level counselling. Like I said previously, I found that for deep diving, you needed to see a psychologist.

I would say that mental health in general still carries a stigma but I would presume it to be on par with other western countries.

#2. Huh.

Frankly, either of the things you describe would make me feel uncomfortable enough to not go back to him.