Life on this planet: The Chiron Effect And My Job

My workplace..... there are three of us who processes despatch orders for distance education students, we retrieve the items from the shelves, we pack them and record the details on the computer, and we hand over the packages to our resident mail person who performs the technical details associated with actually mailing out the items. He weighs them, costs them, count each item, and places them in the mail cage. The mail truck comes by each day to collect the cages. There's another colleague who works in the science area, he makes up the science kits for the students, and gives the kits to us for storage on the shelves in time for the next despatch orders. There's another guy who prints, collates, and binds together the booklets for the various subjects, and those are stored on the shelves ready for the despatch orders. There's a couple of ladies who helps with miscellaneous jobs, mostly in relation to preparing items for the science kits, and making up other kits such us for Home Economics. And of course we have the boss who oversees everything, he receives the orders and email them to us, and makes sure all is running smoothly...... or as smoothly as possible under the circumstances!!!!

The three guys processing the despatch orders, one of them does the orders for students from Kindergarten to Year 6 known as Primary, the other guy does orders for students from Year 7 to 10 known as Middle School, and finally ME who does Post Compulsory, Years 11 and 12. So you could say we are a pretty closely knit group, and we've been working together with the same guys for over a decade!!!

Now one of the guys, the Middle School guy, who is just a little more ancient than I am, getting close to retirement age, he has been wanting to take early retirement for some time so he could be there to look after his ailing wife. In doing so he wanted to take advantage of the redundancy package that the government offers to public sector workers whose jobs are declared redundant. The government is aiming to cut 3000 jobs in Western Australia, so as an incentive, the govt offers quite a lucrative redundancy package aiming to coerce public sector workers into leaving the profession and thus achieving the 3000 jobs target.

The Middle School guy was wanting to take this redundancy package. Snag is however, we work for a school, and politicians being politicians they want to be seen as not targeting the schools in the job cuts, so no one who works in schools would be offered the redundancy package. They wanted to cut jobs from head office and district offices, not from schools. Nevermind that the govt actually closed some schools, but politicians being politicians, they always want to put spins on things and be seen as targeting only the "lazy" public servants in head offices rather than the hard working teachers and support staff, including us!!

However the Middle School guy would not take no for an answer. Obviously not a Virgo!! So he enlisted the help of the Union whom for several months has been bugging the govt on his behalf to give him the redundancy package so he could retire early. And government being government, we all expected this to be a very long battle.

Imagine the shock when just last Monday the government relented and agreed to offer him the redundancy package, so he basically and gleefully announced I AM OUTA HERE!!!!!! As it will turn out, he is set to leave us forever at Easter time - just before Chiron enters Aries.

Well we all knew as part of government policy, people who leaves the dept are not replaced. So after recovering from the shell shock, we all wondered who would take over Middle School. Unfortunately, my feelings being always accurate, I had the feeling the poor unfortunate soul who'd be taking over his job in ADDITION to his own would be none other than little ole ME!!!!!!! There were some basis in experience here, namely, when he went on vacation I be the one who covers for him and does his orders for Middle School.

The boss called a staff meeting the next day for announcement of revised duties, and my feelings were confirmed. I would be the poor unfortunate guy who would be taking over Middle School. The only concession being that the Primary guy would now be also taking Year 7 orders. So in effect we are down to TWO despatch guys, the Primary guy doing orders for K to Year 7, and ME doing orders for students from Year 8 to 12. However no one else escapes the effects of there being one less colleague. For example, I used to help the Science guy in addition to my own job, and I would make up the kits for Years 11 & 12 while he makes kits for Years 7 to 10. I will be relieved from the task of making the kits for Years 11 & 12, the Science guy will now have to make all kits from Years 7 to 12. And of the two ladies helping with miscellaneous tasks, one of them is now assigned to me, and the other one assigned to the K to Year 7 despatch guy, so we have a lady each!! The mail guy did not escape, he is assigned to help with the Science kits especially during the busy periods. So basically we all pitch in to help, only that as usual for Virgo me, I take the greatest burden!!

These changes comes into effect after Easter, in April which is when Chiron enters Aries. I won't get paid any extra for my extra duties. Basically, when previously I be just cruising along, now I really be flat to the tack!! As per the Saturn Complex in my chart I will really be more than earning my keep!!! And I will have to be teaching both the lady and the mail guy my job so that either of them could cover for me when I go on vacation or decide to go on another trip. Previously it was the Middle School guy who covered for me.

This was very definitely the main event of this past week...... next is my Mexico trip now just two very short weeks away. Now I have my ground transportation and airport transfers sorted out, either been booked or knowing how to acquire such transportation given that the bus journeys does not need to be booked in advance. The last major thing is figuring out what tours to go on to these Mayan sites, and as much as possible, booking these tours in advance. My last trip to Mexico was very much a learning curve for me, I had no idea of what I would do there until after I arrive!!! Now with the benefit of hindsight, I can book these tours. And with just one more payday until my trip, I have a pretty good idea of how much money I will have to play with. Pretty well everything has been paid for except for the bus trips and tours. Food is very cheap in Mexico, you can eat for a week on $20 while here in Perth you'd be lucky to eat for a day on $20!!!! The bus journeys even in 1st class coaches are very cheap, in fact it is cheaper to go 1st class coach in Mexico than just taking a normal bus to nearby towns in Australia!!

So the last major expenses to deal with are the tours, which for day tours seem to be in the $100-$200 range depending on the particular tours, the length of the tour whether it is 1/2 day or full day, and what is included. The more expensive tours includes everything but the cheaper tours includes at least the transportation and entry fees to the sites, you're on your own for food, etc.

Thanks to my Virgoan budgeting skills and the sheer determination that only stubborn Virgos can muster, I should have ample funds for the trip though there won't be anything left over, I will be broke after the trip. I did have funds left over after my previous trip, but this will not happen this time, and with Chiron's entry into Aries happening just after I get back, my appointments at the Heart Specialist, car expenses, etc, I will be in for very lean times. The last time Chiron entered Aries back in 1968, this heralded the 8 years of poverty among other catastrophes. This time, Chiron's entry into Aries will also be marked by the Saturn Chiron square, so catastrophes are a certainty, the only question being just how these catastrophes will manifest but almost certain to include financial calamities, and I will be alone to deal with these catastrophes, there won't be any help available, this with few exceptions being the story of my life. We Virgos are very good at facing brutal realities head on, it is how we survive!! Being an Earth sign we are very grounded, we honestly analyse current situations and are not given to any high hopes nor fantasies. The Saturn Complex in my chart further drives home such realities leaving no room whatsoever for any kind of vain hope. The Virgo way of thinking, having high hopes will more likely result in bitter disappointments, so disappointments are less likely when we don't have any hopes nor dreams. It's why we never play lotto nor join any competitions, or we certainly don't expect to win when we do join competitions such as the Football Tipping competition. Speaking of the disaster area that is Football, the season begins during my Mexico trip, and given the work situation with my colleague retiring and our dwindling workforce, it's anyone's guess whether there will be a Tipping Competition this year.

Firstly however the focus is on my Mexico trip, and bar any catastrophes in these next two weeks, I should have the funds to cover my planned activities during my trip.

This past week I hearkened back to my star gazing days when way back in the ancient history that was my younger years, I did a lot of star gazing with my very ancient telescope. I no longer have the telescope but any long time readers of this blogs knows, I do follow the cycles of the planets. There are the planets that brings catastrophes, such as Saturn, Chiron, and Pluto, all very influential in my chart. Then there's Jupiter which brings good luck and prosperity, and pretty well no influence in my chart, I have no Jupiter aspects in my chart. Uranus is the rebellious or revolutionary planet, also very influential in my chart. The war-like planet Mars, in Scorpio in my chart which explains my vengeful streak at times, the many fights with my sister during my childhood which I always come off 2nd best as she was always favoured at my expense, I'd always get punished for fighting with her, she was never punished regardless of what actually happened. She was never abused by the step-father, the abuse always fell on me, never her. Her Scorpio Sun is right on top of my Scorpio Mars, sealing my fate in this way!!!! And then there is Goddess Venus, my favourite planet, the Goddess of Love. Venus is with my Libra Moon in my chart, and has contributed to the very few bright spots in my life, even if my romances always ends in catastrophes!! But at least Goddess Venus is always kind to me, and soothes my sufferings.

So I particularly follow the Venus cycle, and over the last few weeks since about December last year, Venus has been behind the Sun, being lost in the glare of the Sun, hence we say Goddess Venus is in the underworld. Without going into details, this is when we have to deal with our emotions, pain and heartache. Now this past week, Venus has moved more than 10 degrees from the Sun, so at this point she becomes visible in the evening sky. At present she is very low in the sky, appearing just after sunset for only a short time before disappearing below the horizon. Over these next few weeks, Goddess Venus will appear higher and higher in the sky, thus being more easily visible as the Evening Star. And for the next seven months, at each New Moon, Venus conjuncts with the Moon, that is, she moves through a "gate" in her ascension from the underworld, each "gate" corresponding with one of the seven chakras in our bodies, she heals each chakra, starting from the base chakra next month, until finally the crown chakra seven months from now.

Why I am sharing this.... well this past week I had been going to the coast in an attempt to get a glimpse of Goddess Venus. The first attempt last Wednesday was not successful, thwarted by a bank of clouds low on the horizon which effectively blocked my view!!! So last night I went again, and well it was also cloudy and in fact at first I was not going to go. But I felt to just go anyway...... and this time I was rewarded!! I did in fact caught a glimpse of Goddess Venus who happened to be in a dip in the clouds, almost as if the clouds parted just so I could see her. It is just barely visible in the pix below, it is to the right in that dip in the clouds. Look just above the clouds, there's the dip in the clouds at the centre of the pix, Goddess Venus is at the right hand side of the dip. May have to enlarge the pix to get a better view, but she is there.......

This Wednesday, when according to the weather forecast there won't be any clouds, I will go again to the coast, so hopefully get a better view of the planet without any clouds getting in the way!!!!

So on this happier note, my quirky sense of humour.........

Perhaps a money making idea?