I left before 8am. I want to leave at 4.30pm at the other end of the day, naturally, so I have to get my arse into gear and leave on time. It is funny, having quit smoking, I don’t stand around wasting time smoking ciggies.
As I drove down Victoria Street, a car came around the corner from Church Street and immediately did a three point U turn. It was no surprise to me when I noticed it had South Australian number plates on it.
As I cut through Johnson Street a car came straight out in front of me from Baker Street. It was no surprise to me when I saw it had West Australian number plates.
It was a relief to get to Burnley Street – there is a sentence I never thought I’d say – and then the freeway.
Voula was there when I got there, to Clayton, I thought she might be after yesterday. You don’t want the temp to be getting in to work before you otherwise it belies you working hard, now doesn’t it.
I made two coffees from the machine, one pretty soon after the first.
Not long after I went and had a crap. That was the best shit I’ve had for weeks, months. So much for the fear of constipation from quitting smoking.
For most of the day I did filing. Boo hoo.I know, even if I do say so myself, I am kind of an expensive filing person. I get it, Voula has to do it, so she'd rather I did, but why don’t they just get a junior to do the filing? It’s a bit weird, but in a weird kind of way it’s relaxing too. I don’t have to think while I do it. It’s kind of a novelty, in a way. A momentary taste of something completely different.
The people working here are quite nice, but they are a bit cliquey, sitting in their friendship groups at lunch time, in the lunch room, which have a slightly impenetrable feeling to them for an outside, I feel. I don’t really care, though, I’d rather just sit on my own and switch off to everything at lunch time.
I read a heartwarming story while I ate my company subsidised lunch.
An Indian elephant that spent 50 years chained up and abused was said to have cried when it was freed by rescuers last week.
Raju the bull elephant spent most of its life with chains covered in spikes wrapped around his ankles, which left it with arthritis and in chronic pain.
Allegedly held by a drug-addicted owner who used the beast to beg, Raju had been living on paper and plastic to fill its stomach, the UK's Independent reports.
Raju is now walking freely since conservationist activists made a daring night rescue last Thursday following a court order from Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to remove the elephant from its abusive owner.
Aided by police and state officials, the activists rescued the animal despite its handler and previous owner adding more chains to its legs and blocking roads to prevent its escape.
Rescuers worked for hours to gain the destitute Raju's trust, feeding it fruit to cajole it into a truck where they could carry it to freedom.
When Raju was being freed, rescuers from the UK charity Wildlife SOS saw tears rolling from its eyes.
"The team were astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue. It was so incredibly emotional for all of us," animal activist Pooja Binepal said.
"We knew in our hearts he realised he was being freed," he said.
The rescuers said elephants were intelligent animals that experienced emotions, but the charity's co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan said in this case it was "as if he felt hope for the first time in a very long time".
Poachers are said to trap elephants while they are babies, either shooting the mother or leaving it to grieve for days.
The activists said the baby elephants are then beaten until they submit to their owners, effectively breaking their spirits.
The elephant who captured the world with his tears of joy after being rescued from 50 years of brutality in India has now been introduced to his adoptive family.
Raju the elephant was released on July 4 in a midnight mission by charity Wildlife SOS after half a century kept in spiked chains, repeatedly abused and starved.
Earlier this week video of the night rescue went viral, and has since become the most shared ninemsn story of all time.
Raju has now been introduced to Phoolkali, the first member of her new family.
Phoolkali was a rescued elephant and according Wildlife SOS insisted on having her evening snack with Raju.
Phoolkali was rescued two years ago, found in a deserted windowless warehouse where she was found severely emaciated and partially blind.
There is not much known about Raju’s earlier life. Wildlife SOS believe he was poached as a baby and enslaved as a working elephant.
It took almost a year for Wildlife SOS to coordinate the necessary permits and court order for his rescue and rehabilitation.
“We were determined to save Raju’s life. There were many unforeseen obstacles because of which there were delays and we had to tread carefully. It was a complicated rescue operation,” Wildlife SOS veterinarian Dr Yaduraj Khadpekar said.
“He requires a lot of extensive vet care and it will take a long time to restore his health”
With a team of vets and wildlife experts, plus Forestry Department officers and policemen, Raju was seized from his owner in Uttar Pradesh and loaded onto a truck.
The owner refused to give Raju up.
“He began to shout commands to terrify Raju and try to provoke him,” Wildlife SOS-UK founder Kartick Satyanarayan said.
“It created an incredibly ¬dangerous situation because a bull elephant can snap a human like a toothpick if he becomes afraid or angry.
“Then he put chains around Raju’s legs in an ¬attempt to stop us moving him. They were so viciously tight they were cutting into his legs.
“But we stood our ground and refused to back down. And as we did so, tears began to roll down Raju’s face. Some no doubt were due to the pain but he also seemed to sense that change was coming. He felt hope for the first time.”
Raju was transported to the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura, where his shackles were removed.
"The other elephants in the sanctuary awoke from their sleep as we pulled in and came to have a look — it was an extraordinary moment," Satyanarayan said.
Raju was welcomed to his new home with a lavish spread of mangoes, jackfruit, bananas and biscuits.
He is currently being kept in an isolated pen so as to receive medical attention.
In time Raju will be introduced to the entire family of seven elephants.
I left at 4.30pm. It was an odd kind of day, if I had to comment on it.
I can’t help but think, who wants to drive in peak hour traffic, it is such a waste of life. I can’t imagine doing this for my entire working life. Imagine how many hours you lose in a working life? It’s madness.
We ate deep fried potato croquets for dinner. Deep fried left over mashed potato from last night, rolled in flour the rolled in beaten egg, then rolled in bread crumbs. Lovely. My mum used to add tuna, or salmon to them, and I still have the taste for them to be presented in that way. But, we didn’t add fish to these ones.
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