December 10, 2002 - 10:22 a.m.

i dropped the slides off at melbourne mag yesterday, and they loved them. that is a good sign. then again, anyone who is not an actual photo editor usually has no clue about what will work and what won't. i'll just hope the photo editor likes my work, too.

i took the lonely planet test with five other people. a cattle call, methinks, because they had other appointment times that day. anyhow, no amount of studying could have prepared me for that, unless, of course, i had read the lp guide to laos.

the test consisted of 2-1/2 pages about Savannakhet (sp?) in Laos, which you had to edit and reference with two separate maps. This was only a 25-minute test, and the disclaimer at the top basically said, "there is no way you will finish everything on this test. if you make it to the bottom of the second page, you have done a stellar job."

it was frustrating, this race against time, not knowing what they were looking for. if no one ever finishes the test, then i'd presume they're looking for a certain style of editing. who knows. i made a friend, though, which was nice. it would be even nicer if we both got editing jobs, and we could sit side by side in our cubicles and frequently run off to the in-house gym. ahh. i'm dreaming.

new friend gave me ride home, which happened to be four blocks away from her destination, anyway. this gave me enough time to eat lunch and go to the post office to pick up a mystery package (christmas presents from my sister, covered in pictures of snow scenes so i'd feel christmas-y). i also went to the library and checked out miss wyoming by douglas coupland, a suggestion from sam. inside the book was this letter, no doubt a forgotten bookmark:

[logo for City of Casey]

18 September, 2002

Luke Tonkin
[street address omitted by me]
North Fitzroy 3068

Dear Luke

Thank you for your interest in our recently advertised position of Administrative Officer - Titles (Temporary), Property Rates & Valuations.

You will appreciate that it will take some time to receive and thoroughly review all the applications for this position.

We will do this as quickly as we can and will contact you again to let you know the outcome of your application.

Yours sincerely

Sylvia Siemensma
Human Resources Officer

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i can't help wondering whether it's the same Luke who makes the Y O U bags? he practically lives around the corner...