I've been struggling to think of anything interesting to write about this week as life has sadly started to return to normality, but after a few encouraging requests from readers I thought I'd better pull my finger out. We have discovered it costs considerably more to live in Melbourne than back in England, so the amount of events and attractions we can afford to visit has been restricted of late. I now work Monday to Friday and the travelling vibe has somewhat dispersed but Australia hasn't quite lost its quirky edge just yet. I can still amuse myself by saying "You call that a knife?" in a dubious accent every time I see an Australian man in a cowboy hat. Simple things.
Rory and I are yet to find our own accommodation in Melbourne so Spuffer has kindly allowed us to move into his place for a few days. As I said before, Spuf has lived in Melbourne for quite a while now and has carved himself a rather successful career from door to door sales. He lives in an exclusive little apartment in the central business district with his house mate Mark and now Rory and I sleep on the sofas. He even has a 30 foot astro-turfed balcony overlooking the city, which is ideal for a lovely game of 2v2 football in the evenings. However, I do feel as though we are becoming part of his entourage. We drive around in his car, eat his food and make the very best of his gym and swimming pool facilities. In return I supply IT support and have provided him with free Internet access courtesy of his neighbours poor password choice (Password). He seems happy with the arrangement, so who am I to argue.
The search for a career change is still ongoing as I hate every demoralising moment I spend annoying people on doorsteps. I did have a promising trial at a small cafe in a trendy part of North Melbourne but they can't offer me anymore than a handful of casual shifts so I've had to take matters into my own hands. My most recent venture has come in the form of my very own clothing business, Fruitskin's Laundry. The company name is something I've been working on for quite a while and I'm hoping one day the Fruitskin brand will take off in very much the same way as Virgin did for Sir Richard Branson. Just for now I'm sticking to the retail of charity shop clothing but in the future I hope to have my fingers in a whole host of pies. Encase your still wondering, the skin of a fruit is more commonly referred to as a the peel which is also my surname and the laundry bit just sounds better than second hand jeans, so that's how it came about. I decided to go into business when I discovered that you could pick up a host of vintage Levis in Salvation Army stores for around $3-$6 (£2-£3.50). With this newly attained knowledge I checked Ebay and was encouraged to find that 2nd hand 501's sell for around $20-$25. Fruitskin's Laundry is very much in the early stages of development, but I have projected first year profits of around $400 (£230). When in business you can't turn down anything that's profitable and in the words of one very successful British entrepreneur, Mr Tesco, "Every little helps".
