WOW - My First Blog!!!
Why am I blogging?
Well, I want to get the word out about a project that I have been a part of over the last couple of months called Enterprise S5. This was born out of a desire to bring Star Trek Enterprise back to our screens.
Why is this so important to me? Well, first let me give you a bit of background about me.
My life has never been easy, raised in an abusive family that followed me into my adulthood, so I’ve had my struggles in life and accept the fact that I will probably continue to struggle with the events of the past, but I live in hope that bit by bit my life will one day run smoothly. I was actually starting to believe that just over a year ago when for a whole year and a half my life was looking up. I was in a job that I adored, a Teacher Aide in a primary school. The money wasn’t good, but job satisfaction was all I wanted, plus finding a bit of balance in life.
My role as TA was in the TA room and my main duty was first aide for the students. Man I had so much fun, especially with the young ones and their little oopsees. Then in around June/July last year I picked up a virus – which will happen when you have kids chucking up in the very room one works in... I couldn’t shake this virus... Hung around forever... It was really starting to bring me down.
Then I started to feel healthy again after about a month. Then my finances started to look a bit grim (as I said TA work doesn’t pay very well), so I started looking for a second job, which is fine, I was doing two jobs at the beginning of the year. I wasn’t having any luck, so I started thinking about leaving the job that I adored and finding full time work in an occupation I despise, that being in the office...
Then near the end of August last year I was putting some dishes away whilst I was making lunch, and ‘bang’, my back went. This is something else you should know as well, I have a bulging lower disc that causes issues for me, and about 3 years ago I had a ‘Dumb Aunty’ moment which totally ruined my lower back support system (that story is for another day). Anyways, you know when things are bad for me when I pick up the phone and call for help. This is something that I don’t do very often...
So, due to the nature of my job I had to take the week off work. This is bad, because as a TA if you don’t work you don’t get paid, although I had made up flexi time that covered the week, this left me short on money further down the track...
Anyways, 3 days after I finally returned to work I was told that my contract wasn’t being renewed for the next term because the person I replaced wanted her job back, then 2 days after that my car died and I couldn’t afford to get it fixed. So I was walking everywhere, which is fine I love to walk (well I did), but my back still hadn’t recovered and I struggled to walk to work each day because it took about an hour.
So two weeks later I was out of work, no car and running out of money...
Then I tried to claim the Governments Newstart Allowance, but due to the nature of my contract, which stated I was still employed by the Education Department until the 19th September, I didn’t qualify for the payment – even though I finished my employment with them 2 weeks earlier... who wouldn’t release my final pay or my separation certificate that Centrelink required... But I’d have to say ‘kudos’ to Centrelink for trying their best to help me...
So, finally I had my appointment with Centrelink and on my way their (walking cos I couldn’t afford bus fare), a magpie was kind enough to swoop me and hit me fair and square on the top of my head, then it was kind enough to do it again. Well this was the end of me, by the time I got to Centrelink my life unravelled... The woman who was processing my application took one look at me and was ‘Yep – go to your doctor and get some help’...
At this point I didn’t think my life could get any worse. I was sooo wrong... It was the starting point... I couldn’t find a job (the worst time to be out of work with the economy bombing out), I ran out of money, I ran out of food, I couldn’t afford to pay my rent, I couldn’t afford to pay my bills, and my back still wasn’t healing properly.
My emotions were getting the better of me to the point that one Friday night I was ready to end it all.
What stopped me?
I had everything ready to go and was just about to head off and carry through my dark plan when I saw that SG:Atlantis was on Foxtel (this is the reason why I never cancelled FT), and on the screen was Connor Trinneer. Now I had seen this episode before, but that was before I started watching Star Trek Enterprise, and I wondered how he would go in a role outside of Enterprise. This one point in time that Saved My Life...
I spent the next 8 months trying to survive. I don’t think I’ve cried so much in my life or felt so much despair. I was starting to look at homelessness as my landlord, although tried to understand, was talking about evicting me... I was looking at my electricity and phone being cut off for non payment, and I still had no food... Friends helped where they could and would bring food – but I would be soooo hungry that it would all be gone in days, and so left me without again... And as I said before, it is really hard for me to ask for help. One friend would get sooooo angry at me for not telling her I ran out of food – but then she would be at my doorstep hours later with bags of food. I suppose on the bright side, it was a way of losing weight.... Not that I was very big to begin with... I dropped under 40 kilos – even I knew that was too light... (you know when your too light when the brother-in-law shoves food in your face and tells you to eat or when the niece says ‘Aunty – It’s now official, you are skinnier than I am –and she has a gorgeous figure)
Why did these seemingly trivial issues affect my life so much?
Because I wasn’t prepared... As I said before, my life was running smoothly then all this happens, and I’m like ‘You Have Got To Be Shitting Me!!!!’ (putting it cleanly)
Then in April this year I was able to access my superannuation based on financial hardships (understatement of the year). Getting this money was the first positive that changed my life. I was able to get my rent up to date and ahead by one month, I was able to get my car back on the road (by this time I was sooooo sick of walking – actually long over it...), I was able to get ‘food’ in my home( but I couldn’t eat)....
Then once all these important things were taken care of, the next thing I did was buy a second hand laptop, got the internet connected and started searching for Star Trek Enterprise sites. I can’t remember how I came across TrekUnited – but I’m sooooo glad I did, finding TU was the second positive that changed my life...
You see, since watching Connor in Atlantis I couldn’t get enough of him... Thank God I have FTIQ. I was able to record ST:Enterprise and watched it over and over again. The more I watched the more I fell in love with the show... Then I found TU and the wonderful ‘How Cute is Connor Trinneer/Trip Tucker’ thread. WooHoo – Yeah Baby.... I didn’t join TU straight away, I back read every post in this thread (took about 3 weeks), but even when I finished I still didn’t join straight off – Nerves.... But then I bit the bullet and joined and posted my first post ever.... I thought that that would be all I would do at TU, but then I started reading other forums and topics and found the Save Enterprise Forum and was happy to see that there were still others out there that wanted to bring Enterprise back. So I started posting in that thread, and through that I made the suggestion of creating our own series.
See, through my wonderings around TU I found another topic that had an outline for a season 5 of Enterprise. I fell in love with this outline – I could see the whole story playing in my mind and made me more determined to have Enterprise return to our screens... This is the story I suggested we use...
My god, how things can change...
In the last 4 months since joining TU I’ve had a lot of firsts... I created my first video ever, I created my first Youtube account, I have a Photobucket account, I registered at IMBD, and now I’ve started a blog account...
Being involved in this project has been the third positive change in my life. It’s allowed me to relate to people all over the world, to collaborate on creating a ‘Series,’ even though we haven’t met and probably will never meet (I hate flying) and probably will never actually speak to.
It’s been refreshing to have others who have the same interests that I have be supportive of something I’ve suggested, that none of my ideas have been dismissed off hand, and are actually run with. I’ve said it on the boards at TU and I will say it here, I will do what I can to promote TrekUnited because their members have changed my life.
Being a part of TU and this project has built confidence in me that I never thought was possible – my friends have noticed a huge change in me. And now I’m starting my own business called Enterprise Champions...
So from next week (or maybe earlier) I will start to blog this outline because there is only so much a youtube video can convey. Who knows, maybe one day someone in a position to get Enterprise back on the air will notice... That is my eternal hope...
Well, this was longer than I planned... sorry it was sooooo long winded – but you get that...
Anyways all, have a great day/night and I’ll catch ya all later...
