Okay, folks. Sorry to disappoint, but tonight’s post is going to have to be a short one. It’s 9.45, I just got home (I left at 8, so it’s not as bad as it sounds), and I am trying to heat up my dinner while I type so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. 6 am comes early, as some of you know. But I am a wuss when it comes to early mornings.
So nothing really big happened today. I got through a decent amount of stuff, learned some more unique things to international accounting, and will continue with it all tomorrow. I ended up having a conference call this afternoon to prepare for next week’s client. It was an entertaining call, for a planning meeting. The two partners on the call were giving me a hard time about the audit, because we are doing it under US rules. (That’s right – I came all the way to Australia to do a US audit.) So they were asking me a bunch of questions about how to handle certain situations. Don’t get me wrong – they very clearly know what they need to know in order to do the audit. But they were throwing out a lot of good questions, and it was made pretty obvious that I am expected to catch a lot of the stuff up front. On the flip side, this audit is scheduled to take only a week to do the work, and then I will spend a week on wrap-up. Those of you in Charlotte, let me know the last time you remember doing a complete audit in only a week. It is going to be an interesting time next week...
The train ride home was pretty quick, which was nice. Unlike last night, we were not approached by the random authorities who were checking tickets. That’s right – on the long train rides, the rail authority sometimes walks through the trains and makes sure you have the correct tickets. Now, I was fine. But I have to ask: What is the point on this train? I mean, there were maybe 15 people on it. Is it worth paying two guys to walk through the train and check tickets? Do they make that much money off of it? Maybe I’m just spoiled by the train stations in the city where there really is no other option, since you have to put your card in a machine to get in the gate.
Okay, I am going to head off to bed, since it is now 10.45. But before I go: I need everyone's help. I am trying to come up with some good places to go in the coming weekends as part of my weekly excursion. I'll head most anywhere that I can travel in a day or so, camera in hand. But I'm curious to know what you guys want to see and hear about. So do a little research and give me some ideas of places that you want to hear about!
My parting gift: I searched out an mX on the train for your daily update. Sorry to disappoint; tonight’s wasn’t so great. But I have pulled together the best I could find! Take care, and I will talk to everyone tomorrow...
TEXT VENTS:
“I must remember not to get on my parents’ nerves if I want to go out this Friday.” – Jai, Canley Heights
“Why do people insist on playing their damned iPods so loud that I expect someone to charge me 10 bucks for a beer? The train is not a nightclub.” – Kari, Mount Pritchard
“I am sitting next to a man who has a jar of spiders on his lap. Why?” – Em, Oyster Bay
STORY OF THE DAY:So the local hero here is Cadel Evans. For those of you who did not follow the Tour de France, Evans finished a close second in the race. For the second year in a row. So he’s pretty good, and is working to get in shape to compete at the Olympics. But on a flight to Switzerland Monday night, his knee swelled up, and he required scans and treatment to see if he would be able to compete. The funny part? It wasn’t the Tour where he was injured. “I slipped on a wet floor on Sunday night.” Yeah – he slipped in a nightclub Sunday night. Cadel: Here’s a hint. You were in a pub. You got drunk and spilled your own beer, which you then slipped on. Odds are, there’s probably a video of you on YouTube by now. There’s no hope for dignity...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Here Comes The - WHAT?
Let’s see... What all happened to me today? Quick recap: Very early morning, hour and a half commute, late night at work, proposal on the bus, late dinner. Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
Since my special project fell through this week, I got put on a client for the rest of the week, trying to help a team wrap up the audit in the next couple of days. I had seen this client on my schedule as a tentative assignment when my week initially freed up. So yesterday afternoon I went to one of the managers on the job to see if they still needed me, or if I should offer my services to the other directors in the office. He checked and decided that they could use me. I guess I learned my lesson about being too nice. This client is an hour train ride out of the city. And a 20-minute bus ride just to get into the city. Since I had to be at the client at 8:30, I left the apartment at 6:45 in order to get to the client on time. Holy crap! I’m glad I only have three days of this commute! You guys know me – I don’t do mornings!
I walked out the door, was almost to the bus stop, and figured out that I had left my transit pass in my coat the night before. So off I jog, and I manage to get back to the bus stop right as my bus gets there. Whew! Then I got to the train station about 5 minutes before the train I needed arrived. So I think this commute is one of those where you have to be right on point to make it!
I got off the train an hour later, and walked out. The trains here require you to scan your ticket when you get on and when you get off. (Different rates for different distances for folks who don’t have travel passes.) My card was rejected as I tried to get out. There were no machines on the inside of the gate, so I had to go over to the information counter. I handed the lady my card and said, “Does my ticket work this far out?” She looked at it and said, “No.” I said, “Oh, okay. Well, how do I get out of here, then?” She smiled and said, “Oh just go on through that gate there. [It was a handicap access gate.] It’s fine. But when you come back, you need to buy a ticket from Strasfield to here in order to get out next time.” What a lucky day! Free ride!
I walk outside, and have to hail a taxi to get from the station to the client. I told the driver the address, and we’re off. A few minutes later, he pulls over, stops the meter, and starts flipping through his map. We can’t find the place, and the only name I know is the company’s official name, not its trading name. Crap. So the guy figures out where it should be in general. He turns the cab around, and we’re in the middle of accident traffic. So he recommends I get out and walk, as it will be shorter and cheaper. Well, at least people have been nice today. I got on my mobile phone and started calling the manager on the job. After five minutes of calling and walking all around, I get him, and he tells me where to go. Great timing – he had just gotten there and would meet me at the front door to show me where to go.
After the unusual morning (to say the least), the rest of my day was pretty quiet. Although I have to say – my first day auditing under International Standards, and I get handed some interesting accounts to audit. I spent my day setting up the files and trying to figure out how in the world these Aussie accounts work. Needless to say, I’ll have a list of questions to go through tomorrow. But I’m definitely learning some new stuff here.
My ride home was decent. One of the guys on the job gave another guy and me a ride to a closer train station to the city (it saved us about 20-30 minutes). No long wait on the train. I got to my stop and was cutting through to the bus stop, when I realized I needed food for dinner. So I stopped at the grocery store in the station. This store is nicer than the one I usually go to, and is open late! But I get out of the store, walk to the buses, and the one I need is right there waiting. Unfortunately, there were a ton of people on the bus, so I had to stand for most of the ride.
A guy got on behind me, and was standing facing me. I thought the bus must be really bouncing around, because the guy was really swaying. But then I figured out that the bus hadn’t moved, yet, and that he was just drunk. At 8 pm on a Wednesday. Man, way to go! So then he started talking to me on the ride, even though I was listening to my iPod. I still have no idea about half of what he was saying to me. He was a 50-something drunk Irishman. (Just my luck, right?) And he kept talking to me and asking questions. I caught half of them. Usually I am good with accents, but when he was slurring his speech, well, it was tough to make out most of the conversation. So he asked where I was from and then asked if I was over here with my husband. I told him no, I wasn’t married. (Damn my honest self!) He then grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s get married! Right here on the bus! What do you say?!” I said no. And the other people on the bus kept staring at the two of us. I couldn’t tell if they felt sorry for me for getting stuck talking to this guy the entire ride, or if they were just pissed. But no one stepped in to help me get away from the guy, so whatever. Some seats freed up, so I sat down, and my new friend decided to join me. I managed to squeeze off the bus a couple of stops later, and walked home where I had time to heat up dinner, eat, and then type up this blog before I head off to bed. It’s getting late and I need to get up early tomorrow! But as a parting comment, I want to say to all of you who have been telling me to find a husband over here: Go to hell!
To wrap up, I’ll share with you that I lucked out when I got on the train tonight. Way out where I had to catch it, it’s not exactly the hot spot, and they don't hand out papers there. But I managed to find an mX on one of the seats on the train. Man, the things I do for you folks!
TEXT VENTS:
“People who cut their nails on the train, you are gross and that sound is annoying. The train is not your bathroom.” – MB, Central Coast
“I am so over Kylie Minogue. She is nearly 50 and is still dressing up as a cat.” – Amelia, Circular Quay (AUSTRALIAN BLASPHEMY!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
This one is only funny because of the picture I have in my head. And because it proves that exercise is bad for you. Apparently, some “very large lady” at a NY sports club was working out on some machine called the “abductor.” This thing is supposed to firm up the hip and thigh muscles. So there is a certain way you get off of the machine (from the side), but this lady decided to go her own way (over the leg bar). Her pants got caught in the handle, and the machine “slingshot” her off of the equipment. On a sad note, though, she did have to be hauled out of the gym in a rescue basket by fire fighters. At the same time, I keep getting some sort of Looney Tunes cartoon picture in my hear of this whole thing...
Since my special project fell through this week, I got put on a client for the rest of the week, trying to help a team wrap up the audit in the next couple of days. I had seen this client on my schedule as a tentative assignment when my week initially freed up. So yesterday afternoon I went to one of the managers on the job to see if they still needed me, or if I should offer my services to the other directors in the office. He checked and decided that they could use me. I guess I learned my lesson about being too nice. This client is an hour train ride out of the city. And a 20-minute bus ride just to get into the city. Since I had to be at the client at 8:30, I left the apartment at 6:45 in order to get to the client on time. Holy crap! I’m glad I only have three days of this commute! You guys know me – I don’t do mornings!
I walked out the door, was almost to the bus stop, and figured out that I had left my transit pass in my coat the night before. So off I jog, and I manage to get back to the bus stop right as my bus gets there. Whew! Then I got to the train station about 5 minutes before the train I needed arrived. So I think this commute is one of those where you have to be right on point to make it!
I got off the train an hour later, and walked out. The trains here require you to scan your ticket when you get on and when you get off. (Different rates for different distances for folks who don’t have travel passes.) My card was rejected as I tried to get out. There were no machines on the inside of the gate, so I had to go over to the information counter. I handed the lady my card and said, “Does my ticket work this far out?” She looked at it and said, “No.” I said, “Oh, okay. Well, how do I get out of here, then?” She smiled and said, “Oh just go on through that gate there. [It was a handicap access gate.] It’s fine. But when you come back, you need to buy a ticket from Strasfield to here in order to get out next time.” What a lucky day! Free ride!
I walk outside, and have to hail a taxi to get from the station to the client. I told the driver the address, and we’re off. A few minutes later, he pulls over, stops the meter, and starts flipping through his map. We can’t find the place, and the only name I know is the company’s official name, not its trading name. Crap. So the guy figures out where it should be in general. He turns the cab around, and we’re in the middle of accident traffic. So he recommends I get out and walk, as it will be shorter and cheaper. Well, at least people have been nice today. I got on my mobile phone and started calling the manager on the job. After five minutes of calling and walking all around, I get him, and he tells me where to go. Great timing – he had just gotten there and would meet me at the front door to show me where to go.
After the unusual morning (to say the least), the rest of my day was pretty quiet. Although I have to say – my first day auditing under International Standards, and I get handed some interesting accounts to audit. I spent my day setting up the files and trying to figure out how in the world these Aussie accounts work. Needless to say, I’ll have a list of questions to go through tomorrow. But I’m definitely learning some new stuff here.
My ride home was decent. One of the guys on the job gave another guy and me a ride to a closer train station to the city (it saved us about 20-30 minutes). No long wait on the train. I got to my stop and was cutting through to the bus stop, when I realized I needed food for dinner. So I stopped at the grocery store in the station. This store is nicer than the one I usually go to, and is open late! But I get out of the store, walk to the buses, and the one I need is right there waiting. Unfortunately, there were a ton of people on the bus, so I had to stand for most of the ride.
A guy got on behind me, and was standing facing me. I thought the bus must be really bouncing around, because the guy was really swaying. But then I figured out that the bus hadn’t moved, yet, and that he was just drunk. At 8 pm on a Wednesday. Man, way to go! So then he started talking to me on the ride, even though I was listening to my iPod. I still have no idea about half of what he was saying to me. He was a 50-something drunk Irishman. (Just my luck, right?) And he kept talking to me and asking questions. I caught half of them. Usually I am good with accents, but when he was slurring his speech, well, it was tough to make out most of the conversation. So he asked where I was from and then asked if I was over here with my husband. I told him no, I wasn’t married. (Damn my honest self!) He then grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s get married! Right here on the bus! What do you say?!” I said no. And the other people on the bus kept staring at the two of us. I couldn’t tell if they felt sorry for me for getting stuck talking to this guy the entire ride, or if they were just pissed. But no one stepped in to help me get away from the guy, so whatever. Some seats freed up, so I sat down, and my new friend decided to join me. I managed to squeeze off the bus a couple of stops later, and walked home where I had time to heat up dinner, eat, and then type up this blog before I head off to bed. It’s getting late and I need to get up early tomorrow! But as a parting comment, I want to say to all of you who have been telling me to find a husband over here: Go to hell!
To wrap up, I’ll share with you that I lucked out when I got on the train tonight. Way out where I had to catch it, it’s not exactly the hot spot, and they don't hand out papers there. But I managed to find an mX on one of the seats on the train. Man, the things I do for you folks!
TEXT VENTS:
“People who cut their nails on the train, you are gross and that sound is annoying. The train is not your bathroom.” – MB, Central Coast
“I am so over Kylie Minogue. She is nearly 50 and is still dressing up as a cat.” – Amelia, Circular Quay (AUSTRALIAN BLASPHEMY!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
This one is only funny because of the picture I have in my head. And because it proves that exercise is bad for you. Apparently, some “very large lady” at a NY sports club was working out on some machine called the “abductor.” This thing is supposed to firm up the hip and thigh muscles. So there is a certain way you get off of the machine (from the side), but this lady decided to go her own way (over the leg bar). Her pants got caught in the handle, and the machine “slingshot” her off of the equipment. On a sad note, though, she did have to be hauled out of the gym in a rescue basket by fire fighters. At the same time, I keep getting some sort of Looney Tunes cartoon picture in my hear of this whole thing...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Random Ramblings - What Else?
Another cold and rainy morning. What is going on here??? Although it felt a little bit warmer today. It might have actually hit 16 instead of 15. But another morning of the same routine. As sad as I am to admit it, I rode on the same bus again today as yesterday, just because I was running a few minutes late, and it was the first bus to get to the bus stop. Although today, I snagged a seat closer to the front, so I wasn’t as close to the pre-teen girls in the back. (Hooray!) I probably should mention something here, though... As I said in yesterday’s post, the bus is relatively full when I get on, and more people get on over the course of the next few stops (the bus gets to a certain point where people stop getting on at the bus stops and start getting off). When the bus is getting full, the kids jump up out of their seats and move towards the back of the bus, where they stand while the people getting on are left the seats to sit in. Each of them is carrying a backpack and a gym bag, so it’s not like this move is all that easy for them. It really is kind of interesting to watch how considerate these kids are. Although I have to wonder if it’s not a little more safe if the kids were to sit and the adults were to stand. But what do I know? On Monday, the bus driver was on a mission. She was hitting the brakes hard, and I watched a couple of kids fall down because they couldn’t stand in a really secure spot. Today wasn’t as bad, but there was a girl holding onto the seat next to me, trying not to fall over as the guy driving turned some hard corners. Funny to watch (it’s almost always funny when people fall down), but I still feel kind of bad that they are forced to stand up.
I got into the office and checked my Charlotte email. Apparently word is spreading about my secondment. I had an email from a manager in another office who I get to work with every once in a while, and we usually catch up at conferences. She emailed me and said that she had heard I was in Sydney to work for 3 months. She wanted to know how to get in on it. Glad to see that my reputation around the Firm is preceding me! What can I say? I’m kind of a big deal. HA!
At lunch today, I had to run over to the Post. (The post office.) As I stood in line and made my way to the desk, I looked around and noticed that this place is no normal post office. Yes, they have boxes and envelopes, and all the other stuff you need to mail off packages. But they also sell some random things! On one display case, there were stacks of movies you could buy. Big feature? Smoky and the bandit collector’s pack – numbers 1, 2, and 3. They also had a display case of books you could purchase. The biggest stack? Aussie sheep shearing stories. (Yeah, I didn’t pick the book up to see what kind of stories were in there. Didn’t really want to know...) The other display case I saw was stacked full of CDs. The most recent CD I saw was the Mamma Mia soundtrack. It was next to the ABBA collection. All for $30. Of course, you could get the “cheap” CDs for $20. All the popular ones: The greatest hits from The Jackson 5, Tom Jones, and Michael Jackson. I really thought I had fallen back into the early 80s, but then I saw the price for the CDs and realized I was firmly planted in 2008.
After my lunchtime excursion, I hopped on the elevator to go back up to the office. The elevator made a funny noise and took off for the first stop. We got there, and the elevator doors tried to open. Nope. Tried again. Nope. People were obviously waiting on the floor, as we could hear them waiting for the doors to open. Once more time – nope. The girl next to me was the one trying to get off. She scanned her key card and pressed the floor again. Again, the doors opened a little and then slammed shut. The lady on the other side of me was getting really nervous. Someone pressed the next button, which was my stop. The doors opened, and several people jumped off the elevator and walked up to the next floor to catch a different lift. Everyone looked pretty nervous – it was kind of funny to see... It’s not like alarms were going off or anything!
My last story of the day for you guys comes from my time making dinner tonight. I thought I had bought a can of regular corn. Turns out it was creamed. And creamed corn, well, let’s just say after opening the can and seeing what was inside, I promptly threw it in the trash. But the funny part was the writing on the label of the creamed corn can: “Great on Toast!” Yuck! Those of you who have eaten with me know that I can only eat one thing on my plate at a time. Needless to say, I will never buy creamed corn here again.
Without further ado, the mX update...
TEXT VENTS:
“Al: Stop whining about headaches, catching the train home with school kids. I’d put up with the headache to finish work at 3.30.” – Liam, Woonona
“To the eight transit officers that got on the 5.36 train on Friday from Wolli Creek to the city: Considering you guys work on the trains every day I thought you would know that in this country it’s common courtesy to let people get off the train before you enter the train.” – Justin, Hurstville
“I’d take copious amounts of drugs if I was dating Amy Wino. Just look at her. It’s enough to send you to rehab.” – Spiro, Hurstville (And I said: Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
It seems that all of the good stories are coming out of the US these days. Apparently there is a Pray at the Pump movement in St. Louis. There will be two prayer services held at a Mobil gas station there, where people will thank God for lower fuel prices, and will pray that the prices continue to drop. The participants will buy gas, pray, and then sing “We Shall Overcome,” adding a new verse for “We’ll have lower petrol prices.” Yeah, I’m sure that verse is exactly the thing that everyone had in mind during the Civil Rights Movement. Geez...
I got into the office and checked my Charlotte email. Apparently word is spreading about my secondment. I had an email from a manager in another office who I get to work with every once in a while, and we usually catch up at conferences. She emailed me and said that she had heard I was in Sydney to work for 3 months. She wanted to know how to get in on it. Glad to see that my reputation around the Firm is preceding me! What can I say? I’m kind of a big deal. HA!
At lunch today, I had to run over to the Post. (The post office.) As I stood in line and made my way to the desk, I looked around and noticed that this place is no normal post office. Yes, they have boxes and envelopes, and all the other stuff you need to mail off packages. But they also sell some random things! On one display case, there were stacks of movies you could buy. Big feature? Smoky and the bandit collector’s pack – numbers 1, 2, and 3. They also had a display case of books you could purchase. The biggest stack? Aussie sheep shearing stories. (Yeah, I didn’t pick the book up to see what kind of stories were in there. Didn’t really want to know...) The other display case I saw was stacked full of CDs. The most recent CD I saw was the Mamma Mia soundtrack. It was next to the ABBA collection. All for $30. Of course, you could get the “cheap” CDs for $20. All the popular ones: The greatest hits from The Jackson 5, Tom Jones, and Michael Jackson. I really thought I had fallen back into the early 80s, but then I saw the price for the CDs and realized I was firmly planted in 2008.
After my lunchtime excursion, I hopped on the elevator to go back up to the office. The elevator made a funny noise and took off for the first stop. We got there, and the elevator doors tried to open. Nope. Tried again. Nope. People were obviously waiting on the floor, as we could hear them waiting for the doors to open. Once more time – nope. The girl next to me was the one trying to get off. She scanned her key card and pressed the floor again. Again, the doors opened a little and then slammed shut. The lady on the other side of me was getting really nervous. Someone pressed the next button, which was my stop. The doors opened, and several people jumped off the elevator and walked up to the next floor to catch a different lift. Everyone looked pretty nervous – it was kind of funny to see... It’s not like alarms were going off or anything!
My last story of the day for you guys comes from my time making dinner tonight. I thought I had bought a can of regular corn. Turns out it was creamed. And creamed corn, well, let’s just say after opening the can and seeing what was inside, I promptly threw it in the trash. But the funny part was the writing on the label of the creamed corn can: “Great on Toast!” Yuck! Those of you who have eaten with me know that I can only eat one thing on my plate at a time. Needless to say, I will never buy creamed corn here again.
Without further ado, the mX update...
TEXT VENTS:
“Al: Stop whining about headaches, catching the train home with school kids. I’d put up with the headache to finish work at 3.30.” – Liam, Woonona
“To the eight transit officers that got on the 5.36 train on Friday from Wolli Creek to the city: Considering you guys work on the trains every day I thought you would know that in this country it’s common courtesy to let people get off the train before you enter the train.” – Justin, Hurstville
“I’d take copious amounts of drugs if I was dating Amy Wino. Just look at her. It’s enough to send you to rehab.” – Spiro, Hurstville (And I said: Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
It seems that all of the good stories are coming out of the US these days. Apparently there is a Pray at the Pump movement in St. Louis. There will be two prayer services held at a Mobil gas station there, where people will thank God for lower fuel prices, and will pray that the prices continue to drop. The participants will buy gas, pray, and then sing “We Shall Overcome,” adding a new verse for “We’ll have lower petrol prices.” Yeah, I’m sure that verse is exactly the thing that everyone had in mind during the Civil Rights Movement. Geez...
Clarification!!!
Okay, so between Lauren and my mom, I am going to get my butt handed to me for the Southern accent comments. (If you read the comment posts, the one addressing me using my full name would be my mother. For anyone who couldn’t guess.) Let me clarify. I use y’all a lot, as y’all are probably aware. And I am proud of my upbringing. However, the times I am aware of that have used the word “y’all” in a business setting outside of Charlotte (or other parts of the South) usually ends up getting a huge laugh and lots of jokes. So I try to be a little more formal when I am not at home. Otherwise, I could care less. Over here, though, since I already have an outsider accent and there are big differences in what certain things mean, I try to be a little more formal with what I say, just to avoid any confusion. (See my post from the weekend on the word “route.”) Hopefully that explanation clarifies it a little...
So this morning was a cold and rainy morning. But as I headed out of my building into the rain, I at least got a laugh to start off my day. There was a note on the concierge desk by the lifts this morning. It was from one of the other tenants, and in black marker stated something similar to the following:
Dear Inconsiderate Jerk who steals my newspaper every morning,
I have cancelled my subscription to the newspaper so that you can no longer steal it and read it every morning. Thank you so much for taking away the one thing that brings me happiness in my day.
The note was gone when I got home that night. And to help you understand, each morning there is a stack of papers delivered to the building. The papers are left sitting on the desk, and each paper has a number on it that correlates to the flat number that subscribes. Some days, some of the papers are still sitting there when I get home in the evening. It is up to the owner to come down and pick it up. So I have seen people read through them at the desk, and, I will admit, I have even stood there and glanced at the fist page to see the headlines. But I can’t say I ever thought they were free for the taking. Kind of bold, especially since there are video cameras in the lobby. Maybe this guy will try to hunt down whomever it was that stole his paper. Sweet!
As I got onto the bus, you could tell that school was back in session. I took a different bus today than last week, only because the one I rode last week was so packed. This one was less crowded, but it was full of school kids. I managed to find a seat in the back, right there with most of the kids. In fact, I sat next to one of the students, but he just stared out the window the whole time. If I had to guess, I would say the kids were mostly 12-15 years old, and most of the kids were girls. (The boys on the bus were pretty quiet.) At first, it was kind of entertaining to hear these girls talk. Picture the 12-year-olds you hear at the mall (Oh My God! SQUEEEEAAAAL!), but with Australian accents. So I was laughing as I listened to them carry on for a few minutes. But by the end of the ride? Freaking annoying.
While the bus was riding along, I looked over at one point, and saw this woman riding a scooter. It made me laugh. It was not a moped, but one of those Vespa kind of things. You know, a seat on wheels with a floorboard for your feet? Anyway, the reason it was so funny was because she was on this scooter, and obviously had her hair pulled up into her helmet, because you could see part of the bandana hanging out the back. But she was wearing one of those pirate-pant Capri pantsuits, and she had on these boots with stiletto heels on them. It just looked hilarious to see this woman in her professional outfit (not sure of the profession), while riding a scooter. Hilarious!
When I got into work, I learned that a couple of new people started here today. So I am no longer the newbie here! Although I’m not sure that’s a good thing – now what do I blame things on if I screw up? Of course, I think the new people are all from Australia and the UK. Go figure.
Not much else to share in the series of events for Monday. So, as usual, I will leave you with my mX update for the day. Drum roll, please...
TEXT VENTS:
“To the hot blonde who catches the 7.32am train from Guildford: Tell your hairy friend to hurry up and leave – I want your number.” – Anthony, Guildford
“Gem, your joke about Heath Ledger, although funny, was a little too soon. Is it wrong that I laughed loudly on the train when I read it?” – Erin, Sydney
Prelude to the next one: A guy put a comment in mX the other day saying that he would never get up on the train just so a pregnant woman can sit down, because he has been working hard all day and is tired. In response:
“Bernie, it’s people like you that make me angry. I’m seven months pregnant and can’t stand for long or I’ll vomit. I hope you’re near when I do. I’ll aim.” – Amanda, Blacktown
STORY OF THE DAY:
It’s a tie! There are two, both set in the US.
1. The first is news from Michigan. Apparently two teens kayaked across a lake and stole beer and Red Bull from a tiki bar on the lakeshore. The owner saw the guys paddle away and called the cops. How did they catch the guys? I guess you shouldn’t paddle while intoxicated, either. One guy spilled some cans out into the water when his kayak tipped. The police simply followed the trail of cans...
2. Always good arrest stories from the US: A Chicago man had robbed the same gas station three times since December. Apparently he frequented this place because he lived pretty close to the gas station. At the final robbery, the cops showed up relatively quickly, and the gas station employees were able to point the robber out, as he was walking home.
So this morning was a cold and rainy morning. But as I headed out of my building into the rain, I at least got a laugh to start off my day. There was a note on the concierge desk by the lifts this morning. It was from one of the other tenants, and in black marker stated something similar to the following:
Dear Inconsiderate Jerk who steals my newspaper every morning,
I have cancelled my subscription to the newspaper so that you can no longer steal it and read it every morning. Thank you so much for taking away the one thing that brings me happiness in my day.
The note was gone when I got home that night. And to help you understand, each morning there is a stack of papers delivered to the building. The papers are left sitting on the desk, and each paper has a number on it that correlates to the flat number that subscribes. Some days, some of the papers are still sitting there when I get home in the evening. It is up to the owner to come down and pick it up. So I have seen people read through them at the desk, and, I will admit, I have even stood there and glanced at the fist page to see the headlines. But I can’t say I ever thought they were free for the taking. Kind of bold, especially since there are video cameras in the lobby. Maybe this guy will try to hunt down whomever it was that stole his paper. Sweet!
As I got onto the bus, you could tell that school was back in session. I took a different bus today than last week, only because the one I rode last week was so packed. This one was less crowded, but it was full of school kids. I managed to find a seat in the back, right there with most of the kids. In fact, I sat next to one of the students, but he just stared out the window the whole time. If I had to guess, I would say the kids were mostly 12-15 years old, and most of the kids were girls. (The boys on the bus were pretty quiet.) At first, it was kind of entertaining to hear these girls talk. Picture the 12-year-olds you hear at the mall (Oh My God! SQUEEEEAAAAL!), but with Australian accents. So I was laughing as I listened to them carry on for a few minutes. But by the end of the ride? Freaking annoying.
While the bus was riding along, I looked over at one point, and saw this woman riding a scooter. It made me laugh. It was not a moped, but one of those Vespa kind of things. You know, a seat on wheels with a floorboard for your feet? Anyway, the reason it was so funny was because she was on this scooter, and obviously had her hair pulled up into her helmet, because you could see part of the bandana hanging out the back. But she was wearing one of those pirate-pant Capri pantsuits, and she had on these boots with stiletto heels on them. It just looked hilarious to see this woman in her professional outfit (not sure of the profession), while riding a scooter. Hilarious!
When I got into work, I learned that a couple of new people started here today. So I am no longer the newbie here! Although I’m not sure that’s a good thing – now what do I blame things on if I screw up? Of course, I think the new people are all from Australia and the UK. Go figure.
Not much else to share in the series of events for Monday. So, as usual, I will leave you with my mX update for the day. Drum roll, please...
TEXT VENTS:
“To the hot blonde who catches the 7.32am train from Guildford: Tell your hairy friend to hurry up and leave – I want your number.” – Anthony, Guildford
“Gem, your joke about Heath Ledger, although funny, was a little too soon. Is it wrong that I laughed loudly on the train when I read it?” – Erin, Sydney
Prelude to the next one: A guy put a comment in mX the other day saying that he would never get up on the train just so a pregnant woman can sit down, because he has been working hard all day and is tired. In response:
“Bernie, it’s people like you that make me angry. I’m seven months pregnant and can’t stand for long or I’ll vomit. I hope you’re near when I do. I’ll aim.” – Amanda, Blacktown
STORY OF THE DAY:
It’s a tie! There are two, both set in the US.
1. The first is news from Michigan. Apparently two teens kayaked across a lake and stole beer and Red Bull from a tiki bar on the lakeshore. The owner saw the guys paddle away and called the cops. How did they catch the guys? I guess you shouldn’t paddle while intoxicated, either. One guy spilled some cans out into the water when his kayak tipped. The police simply followed the trail of cans...
2. Always good arrest stories from the US: A Chicago man had robbed the same gas station three times since December. Apparently he frequented this place because he lived pretty close to the gas station. At the final robbery, the cops showed up relatively quickly, and the gas station employees were able to point the robber out, as he was walking home.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Oi! Oi! Oi!
So on Saturday, I went to the rugby match. Woo hoo! A group of us met up for dinner before heading over to the match, since we all live on the same side of the Harbour, and would have to catch the same train into town to get to the stadium.
I wore my rugby jersey that I bought the last time I was over here. So it’s a little old, but still has the team colors. And I have to say, I think I am going to wear this thing a lot more often! It gets lots of attention. I walked out of my flat to the bus stop, and a guy stopped me there and asked what time the game started. Then he asked if I was going. When I told him yes, he said I was lucky, that it was almost impossible to get tickets! I said, “Really? I must be lucky, then, because I just got tickets a couple of days ago.” He had this look on his face like, “Crap, I could have gone?” Then he walked away, and I think the look on his wife’s face told me that she was not happy that he thinks he could have gone to the match. Oops, my bad. So as I stood waiting for the bus, a woman came over and sat down on the bench at the bus stop and said something about the game. We started talking about how many people we had seen wearing clothes supporting the All Blacks (the New Zealand team). As we looked around, we saw several people wearing black. Maybe it’s just because black is such a popular color here, but I certainly would have made an effort to avoid wearing it, if at all possible!
We all got to the pub for dinner, and the food was pretty good. As we were getting up to leave, a couple of folks went to the restroom, so one guy and I stood and waited on them. There was a lady at the table next to us who asked if we were headed to the match. She then waved her Wallabies scarf in the air to show her support. We told her we were, and she said to have fun. I turned to her and said, “I’m sorry. Can I ask where you’re from?” Yeah, she was from Colorado. She’s lived here for something like 13 years, as her husband is an Aussie. So we chatted for a few minutes, and she commented on how good it was to hear an accent from home. As we were leaving, the guy standing with me said, “I think you made a new friend!” I laughed and told him that it was odd to hear the US accent, so you have to take advantage when you can. Although my new friend did give me a good tip. Apparently you do not “route” for your team. The word “root” here has an entirely different meaning, and I clearly would not want to suggest that I am “rooting” for an entire team of people. I’ll let you guys figure that one out on your own...
We got to the game, and everyone split up to go to their respective seats, since we were all spread out. The stadium was freaking awesome! I have added some photos to the blog page for you guys. For any of you into baseball, it reminded me a little bit of The Bob stadium out in Phoenix – one of those with the retractable roof. Although ANZ Stadium is completely open at the top, the way the stadium is shaped, it kind of feels like they just pulled the top back for the match. And you probably can’t tell from the picture, but people were piled into the stadium with seats all with way up to the roof line. (I had awesome seats in the lower lever, not too far from the field.) But the fans there were really into it, and there were people cheering for both teams. I didn’t see all that much black until the All Blacks scored. Then they all stood up, started waving their huge black flags, and made their presence known. The game was pretty close for a while, so everyone was really pumped up. The Wallabies ended up winning, so most people near me were really excited as we left the stadium. Especially the one guy near me who kept trying to lead the “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” chant.
I walked back to the train station and waited in line there. It was a madhouse! I was pretty happy that my friends and I decided to meet up at a different station, rather than trying to catch up leaving the game. But I was standing in line, and this woman behind me kind of grabs my arm and pulls on me. She said, “I don’t suppose you’d want to trade this jersey in for a black one now, would you?” I turned and laughed and told her no. Then her husband asked me if I was an Aussie. I said, “Nope, American.” They both got excited and started chatting with me. Of course, they had both been drinking a good bit during the game. But then the guy started telling me all about the Aussie coach (the coach is from NZ, so it was a big story line this week). I really don’t know half of what he told me, but the two of them were pretty entertaining.
I managed to have a relatively short wait for the train – the line moved most of the time while I was standing in it. So I got on a train and crammed in with a ton of people. One guy behind me was hilarious. He was almost doubled over in pain because he had to pee so badly. And he kept cursing himself for buying a small bottle of water, because he couldn’t pee in the bottle. (I don’t know if he really would have tried or not.) It took a while (probably an eternity for him), but he jumped off really quickly at the first stop, dragging his friends with him, saying they’d just get on the next train. Dude, I don’t think you are getting on the next train if it was as packed as this one!
After he got off and everyone kind of shifted around, I was standing next to 4 people who were talking, and I had no clue what they were saying because it wasn’t in English. I couldn’t figure out the language. Luckily, there was a very chatty older drunk guy on the train (who had been encouraging Mr. Full Bladder to use the water bottle). So once the pee guy got off, this guy moved on to the foreigners. He asked them where they were from. It took them a minute to answer, and I wondered if they spoke any English. Apparently they did, and said they were from Switzerland, but now lived in Sydney. They talked for a few minutes, and the drunk guy kept trying to convince them to go to some bar with him once they got off the train. Apparently one of the girls he was with worked there, and he was trying to pack the bar for her. So he then said, “Well, we’ve got folks from all over. I wonder if we have any more.” Uh oh. “Do we have any Yanks here?” He looked dead at me. I laughed and said, “Yep, I’m from the States.” So he started talking to me. Nice guy. Apparently he was from the UK and moved down here a while ago, and was quite excited to find someone else who had come down Under and supported the Wallabies (he was also wearing a jersey). We talked about the game a little, and then he told me I had to come visit him in Newcastle, because it was a beautiful area, and I needed to see it. He told me to come to the pub with him and he’d give me directions to his house, where I was welcome to come crash if I wanted to visit. Needless to say, I did not go to the pub.
I got off of the train and met up with my friends. A couple more folks joined us, as they had gone to the match but didn’t make it to dinner with us. As we were leaving the station, a drunk guy came running over to me and started yelling “Go Wallabies! What a game!” and gave me a high-five and a hug. One of the guys I was with said, “You are pretty popular here!” I’m telling you – the jersey made for some excitement outside of the match! I am going to have to wear it again and see what happens!
So we walked to a pub near the train station, and hung out for a while. The folks who were there were fun. One of the girls there was really cool – her boyfriend works with me. She’s a teacher in the UK, and is here until January when his assignment is over. She was fun to hang out with, though. Very into sports, very laid back. It also was nice to hang out with everyone and hear the stories about being new to Australia. Everyone there had just relocated in the past 6 months, so the stories were pretty funny.
We finally all looked at our watches and realized it was now 2:30, and we still had to get home from the city. Luckily we all live in the same general area, and managed to find a bus that would get us all back home. Although one thing I learned: I’m getting too old for a 3:30 bedtime.
With that said, I slept in a little on Sunday (10:00), and took a nap on the couch while the laundry was going Sunday afternoon. Probably a good thing; about 3:30 in the afternoon there was a huge storm, and it was really loud. You couldn’t tell from my window, but apparently there was hail. And the temperature dropped a good bit. For those of you who might have seen the report – No, it did not snow here. (There was sleet in the mountains, though.) Just hail. But I hear from Amy that there was a weather report in the US that showed the Aussies out playing in the snow, which was actually soft hail. Yep, that’s how we do it around here. 50 degrees and it’s “snowing.” Freaking backwards place...
I wore my rugby jersey that I bought the last time I was over here. So it’s a little old, but still has the team colors. And I have to say, I think I am going to wear this thing a lot more often! It gets lots of attention. I walked out of my flat to the bus stop, and a guy stopped me there and asked what time the game started. Then he asked if I was going. When I told him yes, he said I was lucky, that it was almost impossible to get tickets! I said, “Really? I must be lucky, then, because I just got tickets a couple of days ago.” He had this look on his face like, “Crap, I could have gone?” Then he walked away, and I think the look on his wife’s face told me that she was not happy that he thinks he could have gone to the match. Oops, my bad. So as I stood waiting for the bus, a woman came over and sat down on the bench at the bus stop and said something about the game. We started talking about how many people we had seen wearing clothes supporting the All Blacks (the New Zealand team). As we looked around, we saw several people wearing black. Maybe it’s just because black is such a popular color here, but I certainly would have made an effort to avoid wearing it, if at all possible!
We all got to the pub for dinner, and the food was pretty good. As we were getting up to leave, a couple of folks went to the restroom, so one guy and I stood and waited on them. There was a lady at the table next to us who asked if we were headed to the match. She then waved her Wallabies scarf in the air to show her support. We told her we were, and she said to have fun. I turned to her and said, “I’m sorry. Can I ask where you’re from?” Yeah, she was from Colorado. She’s lived here for something like 13 years, as her husband is an Aussie. So we chatted for a few minutes, and she commented on how good it was to hear an accent from home. As we were leaving, the guy standing with me said, “I think you made a new friend!” I laughed and told him that it was odd to hear the US accent, so you have to take advantage when you can. Although my new friend did give me a good tip. Apparently you do not “route” for your team. The word “root” here has an entirely different meaning, and I clearly would not want to suggest that I am “rooting” for an entire team of people. I’ll let you guys figure that one out on your own...
We got to the game, and everyone split up to go to their respective seats, since we were all spread out. The stadium was freaking awesome! I have added some photos to the blog page for you guys. For any of you into baseball, it reminded me a little bit of The Bob stadium out in Phoenix – one of those with the retractable roof. Although ANZ Stadium is completely open at the top, the way the stadium is shaped, it kind of feels like they just pulled the top back for the match. And you probably can’t tell from the picture, but people were piled into the stadium with seats all with way up to the roof line. (I had awesome seats in the lower lever, not too far from the field.) But the fans there were really into it, and there were people cheering for both teams. I didn’t see all that much black until the All Blacks scored. Then they all stood up, started waving their huge black flags, and made their presence known. The game was pretty close for a while, so everyone was really pumped up. The Wallabies ended up winning, so most people near me were really excited as we left the stadium. Especially the one guy near me who kept trying to lead the “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” chant.
I walked back to the train station and waited in line there. It was a madhouse! I was pretty happy that my friends and I decided to meet up at a different station, rather than trying to catch up leaving the game. But I was standing in line, and this woman behind me kind of grabs my arm and pulls on me. She said, “I don’t suppose you’d want to trade this jersey in for a black one now, would you?” I turned and laughed and told her no. Then her husband asked me if I was an Aussie. I said, “Nope, American.” They both got excited and started chatting with me. Of course, they had both been drinking a good bit during the game. But then the guy started telling me all about the Aussie coach (the coach is from NZ, so it was a big story line this week). I really don’t know half of what he told me, but the two of them were pretty entertaining.
I managed to have a relatively short wait for the train – the line moved most of the time while I was standing in it. So I got on a train and crammed in with a ton of people. One guy behind me was hilarious. He was almost doubled over in pain because he had to pee so badly. And he kept cursing himself for buying a small bottle of water, because he couldn’t pee in the bottle. (I don’t know if he really would have tried or not.) It took a while (probably an eternity for him), but he jumped off really quickly at the first stop, dragging his friends with him, saying they’d just get on the next train. Dude, I don’t think you are getting on the next train if it was as packed as this one!
After he got off and everyone kind of shifted around, I was standing next to 4 people who were talking, and I had no clue what they were saying because it wasn’t in English. I couldn’t figure out the language. Luckily, there was a very chatty older drunk guy on the train (who had been encouraging Mr. Full Bladder to use the water bottle). So once the pee guy got off, this guy moved on to the foreigners. He asked them where they were from. It took them a minute to answer, and I wondered if they spoke any English. Apparently they did, and said they were from Switzerland, but now lived in Sydney. They talked for a few minutes, and the drunk guy kept trying to convince them to go to some bar with him once they got off the train. Apparently one of the girls he was with worked there, and he was trying to pack the bar for her. So he then said, “Well, we’ve got folks from all over. I wonder if we have any more.” Uh oh. “Do we have any Yanks here?” He looked dead at me. I laughed and said, “Yep, I’m from the States.” So he started talking to me. Nice guy. Apparently he was from the UK and moved down here a while ago, and was quite excited to find someone else who had come down Under and supported the Wallabies (he was also wearing a jersey). We talked about the game a little, and then he told me I had to come visit him in Newcastle, because it was a beautiful area, and I needed to see it. He told me to come to the pub with him and he’d give me directions to his house, where I was welcome to come crash if I wanted to visit. Needless to say, I did not go to the pub.
I got off of the train and met up with my friends. A couple more folks joined us, as they had gone to the match but didn’t make it to dinner with us. As we were leaving the station, a drunk guy came running over to me and started yelling “Go Wallabies! What a game!” and gave me a high-five and a hug. One of the guys I was with said, “You are pretty popular here!” I’m telling you – the jersey made for some excitement outside of the match! I am going to have to wear it again and see what happens!
So we walked to a pub near the train station, and hung out for a while. The folks who were there were fun. One of the girls there was really cool – her boyfriend works with me. She’s a teacher in the UK, and is here until January when his assignment is over. She was fun to hang out with, though. Very into sports, very laid back. It also was nice to hang out with everyone and hear the stories about being new to Australia. Everyone there had just relocated in the past 6 months, so the stories were pretty funny.
We finally all looked at our watches and realized it was now 2:30, and we still had to get home from the city. Luckily we all live in the same general area, and managed to find a bus that would get us all back home. Although one thing I learned: I’m getting too old for a 3:30 bedtime.
With that said, I slept in a little on Sunday (10:00), and took a nap on the couch while the laundry was going Sunday afternoon. Probably a good thing; about 3:30 in the afternoon there was a huge storm, and it was really loud. You couldn’t tell from my window, but apparently there was hail. And the temperature dropped a good bit. For those of you who might have seen the report – No, it did not snow here. (There was sleet in the mountains, though.) Just hail. But I hear from Amy that there was a weather report in the US that showed the Aussies out playing in the snow, which was actually soft hail. Yep, that’s how we do it around here. 50 degrees and it’s “snowing.” Freaking backwards place...
5 Down, 9 To Go!
Wow, so we are down to single digits on the weeks remaining countdown. Time is starting to fly by here. And things are just going to start going even faster in another week, once I get going on my audits!
So the weather here has gotten a bit crappy. I am starting to think I am in the middle of winter, but I can’t tell for sure. It is raining again today. So I have had more consecutive days of rain this week than the rainy days I have had scattered about through my entire visit so far. It was pretty obvious that the weather was bad today, because the public transport was really crowded. I managed to get a seat on the bus without too much trouble. But the train was packed! I was able to shove in on the train. Just barely. I was shoved against the door and there was no room to move. The lady next to me on the train was pressed up against the glass on the door, trying to hold onto it for dear life. Although there was one girl standing behind us who managed to answer her mobile phone when it rang. Go figure.
So I got to work and found out that since next week’s audit was pushed back a week, I was being put on another special project. I guess I did a decent job on the last project, because it is the same partner who is pulling me into this project. The senior manager on the job was giving me a hard time about it, and started calling me the “special projects expert” around here. I could have a worse title, I guess.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. Although there was a lot of hype in the office about the big rugby match Saturday night. I was talking to Glen, one of the directors here, who is from New Zealand. I sent him an email and asked him if he was going to the game. He told me he was, and asked who I was cheering for. When I told him it was the Wallabies, he sent me an email giving me a hard time about it. “Oh come on now, you can’t cheer for Australia! They’re a bunch of losers and their uniforms look like bogeys.” (The uniforms are yellow and green.) He then provided a list of the past matches between the two teams, showing me that NZ was well ahead in past victories. So yeah, I guess this game is a pretty big deal when it comes to the pride of these teams...
After work, a bunch of folks went out for drinks. One of the girls here was leaving after doing temp work for six months. I went out to have a drink and tell her goodbye. I ended up hanging out with a bunch of different folks. Most of the evening was spend with Glen and his friend Guy who had come up from Melbourne to go to the rugby match. I think the most I said was “Hi, how are you?” before he asked, “Where in the States are you from?” I laughed and said, “What gave it away?” Everyone started laughing. Then he said, “You’re from the South, aren’t you?” I said, “How’d you know? Do I really have an accent?” One of the ladies cracked up and then proceeded to throw out a very Southern rendition of “Dew aah hayev an ahkscent, y’all?” It was funny with the Aussie twang to it. She then said it wasn’t that bad, but the accent was definitely there. And then she assured me that I had not slipped up with a “y’all,” yet. Although I am thinking I need to throw one out there every now and then, just to catch people off guard. I have no idea where this "accent" is coming from, but it has made for some entertaining conversations with people here.
Anyway, the guys were both giving me hell for cheering for the Wallabies. But they eventually forgave me for it. Especially when they got their minds off of the game by reminiscing about the time they spent touring the US. They were big on the Southeast. Guy made some comment about the ribs in Memphis. I said, “As much as people like to pick on the South, we sure know how to eat down there.” They went nuts talking about all the good food. Cheap food. Then Glen looked at me and said, “Wow, you must really be having a hard time with the food here. I didn't think about it. You can’t get that kind of stuff around here.” I laughed and said, “Yeah, I have to say, I’m a little hungry. Especially for a real Southern blue plate special.” Then I had to explain how the blue plate special works. But these guys are ready to come back to the US and let me take them around to some good places. Guy was all excited about it; he was big on the US and is ready for some down home cookin’! Man, I am making myself really hungry right now...
So after a couple of drinks, I caught the train where I could catch the ferry back home. While I was waiting on the ferry to show up, I figured I would grab something to eat at the little counter on the wharf. And since I had had a few beers, chicken schnitzel and chips (fries) somehow sounded like a really good idea. Boy was I wrong about that one! So my lesson for the day: Don’t eat ferry food.
On the up side, I managed to sit down on the train next to a copy of the day’s mX. So, to close out the Friday Spectacular-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, here you go:
TEXT VENTS:
“How peaceful is the train ride home during school holidays. Now it’s just headaches.” – Al, Killara (AMEN, BROTHER!)
“I’m sitting next to a guy with a surgical mask talking on a phone.” – Eddy, Parramatta (Okay, glad I wasn’t there, but a little disappointed, too. I might have had to snap a photo of that guy!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
So a New Zealand girl got her day in court. Her parents named her “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.” (Seriously, I couldn’t come up with that one on my own.) So this kid is in the middle of a custody battle, and the judge feels so sorry for her that he made her a ward of the state so she can choose a better name for herself. Even better is the discussion by the judge about how horrible some names are. He listed off some that are blocked by registration officials in NZ: Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, Sex Fruit, and, for twins, Fish and Chips. However, there are others that are still allowed: Midnight Chardonnay, Violence, Benson and Hedges (twins), and, my favorite, Number 16 Bus Shelter. I really don’t want to know...
So the weather here has gotten a bit crappy. I am starting to think I am in the middle of winter, but I can’t tell for sure. It is raining again today. So I have had more consecutive days of rain this week than the rainy days I have had scattered about through my entire visit so far. It was pretty obvious that the weather was bad today, because the public transport was really crowded. I managed to get a seat on the bus without too much trouble. But the train was packed! I was able to shove in on the train. Just barely. I was shoved against the door and there was no room to move. The lady next to me on the train was pressed up against the glass on the door, trying to hold onto it for dear life. Although there was one girl standing behind us who managed to answer her mobile phone when it rang. Go figure.
So I got to work and found out that since next week’s audit was pushed back a week, I was being put on another special project. I guess I did a decent job on the last project, because it is the same partner who is pulling me into this project. The senior manager on the job was giving me a hard time about it, and started calling me the “special projects expert” around here. I could have a worse title, I guess.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. Although there was a lot of hype in the office about the big rugby match Saturday night. I was talking to Glen, one of the directors here, who is from New Zealand. I sent him an email and asked him if he was going to the game. He told me he was, and asked who I was cheering for. When I told him it was the Wallabies, he sent me an email giving me a hard time about it. “Oh come on now, you can’t cheer for Australia! They’re a bunch of losers and their uniforms look like bogeys.” (The uniforms are yellow and green.) He then provided a list of the past matches between the two teams, showing me that NZ was well ahead in past victories. So yeah, I guess this game is a pretty big deal when it comes to the pride of these teams...
After work, a bunch of folks went out for drinks. One of the girls here was leaving after doing temp work for six months. I went out to have a drink and tell her goodbye. I ended up hanging out with a bunch of different folks. Most of the evening was spend with Glen and his friend Guy who had come up from Melbourne to go to the rugby match. I think the most I said was “Hi, how are you?” before he asked, “Where in the States are you from?” I laughed and said, “What gave it away?” Everyone started laughing. Then he said, “You’re from the South, aren’t you?” I said, “How’d you know? Do I really have an accent?” One of the ladies cracked up and then proceeded to throw out a very Southern rendition of “Dew aah hayev an ahkscent, y’all?” It was funny with the Aussie twang to it. She then said it wasn’t that bad, but the accent was definitely there. And then she assured me that I had not slipped up with a “y’all,” yet. Although I am thinking I need to throw one out there every now and then, just to catch people off guard. I have no idea where this "accent" is coming from, but it has made for some entertaining conversations with people here.
Anyway, the guys were both giving me hell for cheering for the Wallabies. But they eventually forgave me for it. Especially when they got their minds off of the game by reminiscing about the time they spent touring the US. They were big on the Southeast. Guy made some comment about the ribs in Memphis. I said, “As much as people like to pick on the South, we sure know how to eat down there.” They went nuts talking about all the good food. Cheap food. Then Glen looked at me and said, “Wow, you must really be having a hard time with the food here. I didn't think about it. You can’t get that kind of stuff around here.” I laughed and said, “Yeah, I have to say, I’m a little hungry. Especially for a real Southern blue plate special.” Then I had to explain how the blue plate special works. But these guys are ready to come back to the US and let me take them around to some good places. Guy was all excited about it; he was big on the US and is ready for some down home cookin’! Man, I am making myself really hungry right now...
So after a couple of drinks, I caught the train where I could catch the ferry back home. While I was waiting on the ferry to show up, I figured I would grab something to eat at the little counter on the wharf. And since I had had a few beers, chicken schnitzel and chips (fries) somehow sounded like a really good idea. Boy was I wrong about that one! So my lesson for the day: Don’t eat ferry food.
On the up side, I managed to sit down on the train next to a copy of the day’s mX. So, to close out the Friday Spectacular-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, here you go:
TEXT VENTS:
“How peaceful is the train ride home during school holidays. Now it’s just headaches.” – Al, Killara (AMEN, BROTHER!)
“I’m sitting next to a guy with a surgical mask talking on a phone.” – Eddy, Parramatta (Okay, glad I wasn’t there, but a little disappointed, too. I might have had to snap a photo of that guy!)
STORY OF THE DAY:
So a New Zealand girl got her day in court. Her parents named her “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.” (Seriously, I couldn’t come up with that one on my own.) So this kid is in the middle of a custody battle, and the judge feels so sorry for her that he made her a ward of the state so she can choose a better name for herself. Even better is the discussion by the judge about how horrible some names are. He listed off some that are blocked by registration officials in NZ: Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, Sex Fruit, and, for twins, Fish and Chips. However, there are others that are still allowed: Midnight Chardonnay, Violence, Benson and Hedges (twins), and, my favorite, Number 16 Bus Shelter. I really don’t want to know...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Are We There, Yet?
So it is Thursday night, which means the weekend is fast approaching! Good thing - I'm kind of tired and could use a day to sleep in!
I don't have a lot to share with everyone today. Although the day turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I had to take my rental car back today. I got up and started towards the city, and it started raining some. So traffic pretty much stopped. It took me a while to get to the rental car place. You would think I would have learned by now, but no... So the driving directions once again had me take an exit that was not named the same way on the road signs. Luckily, I had a general idea of where I was headed. Of course, when I got off, I could only turn one way on a road where I needed to go the other way. I managed to get turned around, and found my way to the rental place. I turned my car in, and luckily the rain had pretty much stopped by the time I got done. Why, you ask? Because I suck at being prepared for the weather. Right - no rain coat, no umbrella. (The weather forecast called for rain "coming in" today, which I assumed meant late morning or early afternoon. Not early morning. Bad call on my part.)
Here's the deal: The car place was about a mile from my office. So a good 15-minute walk (with traffic lights), and I had to decide if I was going to try to find a cab or walk. Since it had stopped raining, I walked. Not too bad - just a little misty rain, and there were awnings around, so things were fine. Until I got about 4 blocks from the office. At that point, the awnings stopped and the rain picked up. I was lucky enough to have picked up some papers out of the car and didn't throw them away, so I had some random stuff to use to cover my head. I managed to get to the office without getting too wet. Luckily I didn't have to go out the rest of the day. And by the time I left, the rain had cleared out. So despite the rough start, the day turned out pretty good.
During lunch I got online and ordered a ticket to the rugby match on Saturday. There is a lot of talk about the match - it is a pretty big game here, since it is New Zealand and Australia. There are lots of Kiwis here, so the match should be fun. I asked a couple of folks if they wanted to come, but all of my friends here are either already going to the game or can't go.
One of the guys who really wanted to go but couldn't told me that everyone at the game will be super friendly, as long as I am cheering for the Wallabies (the Aussie team). I told him that I will definitely be cheering for the Wallabies, and actually have an old jersey that's about 7 years old. I described it to him, and he got quite excited. He told me that they don't even make that jersey any more - you can't find it anywhere. He said everyone would think I was the biggest fan for having that jersey on. I told him, "Yeah, biggest fan. Until they hear me talk!" But I promised him I would get some pictures from the match.
As for the other people I know who are going... I couldn't get seats near them (it is all "best available" and you can't pick seats). But a group of us are going to meet up for dinner before the match, and then we're going to go out for drinks after the match. So even though I won't know anyone sitting around me, I think it is going to be a fun night!
After I ordered the tickets, I though I would check my bank account online. I knew I had a couple of expense reports that were open, and I was hoping had been paid. I also wanted to make sure all of my charges were showing up right. As I looked through my account, I noticed a lot of random fees. $1 here, $1.18 there, $1.50 somewhere else; all of these international transaction fees. Apparently, every time I use my debit card, I get slapped with a transaction fee. So I checked my credit card account, and sure enough, $1-$2 transaction fees every time I used my card. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that the banks are losing a lot of money right now. But I can assure them - they will not make it all up by charging me fees. At the same time, I have to wonder how they are losing money if they keep slapping me with these piddly fees every time I use my card. With all of the people who travel internationally, the banks have to make some serious cash charging these fees! On top of the transaction fees, I noticed another service fee on my bank account. When I looked into it, I figured out that the bank is nice enough to charge me for using ATMs that do not belong to them.
Now, here's why this one rubbed me the wrong way: There are no ATMs here from my bank. Obviously. And I quickly emailed the bank's customer service to ask them which of their abundant ATMs I should be using over here, since I am being charged for not using the proper ATM machine. I will be interested to hear what the bank comes back with on this one. So if I use my debit card, I get charged a transaction fee. If I withdraw cash from an ATM, I get charged an ATM fee. These banks have it all figured out, and there is no way out! Dorks.
Okay, it's getting close to my bed time. Unfortunately, mX is still a little weak today, but I have pulled together the best I could find for your closing entertainment. Enjoy!
VENT TEXTS:
"Adam, it's great to hear you won't be back. Some of us had to live and work while you came to play in our city." - Andrew, Caringbah [To a guy whining about how some of the people in Sydney weren't nice to him during WYD, and he says he's not coming back.]
"If they can bring back 90210, then they should bring back Melrose Place as well. Melrose Place kicks butt over 90210." - Rach, Penrith [Seriously? People want to vent about this kind of stuff? Here's one for you: Both shows sucked.]
"Girl who works in bar Cleveland is going to turn me into an alcoholic." - Scott, Surry Hills
"They're making a sequel to Dark Knight. Heath Ledger has signed. It'll be directed by the same guy as Weekend at Bernie's." - Gem, Cronulla [OUCH!]
STORY OF THE DAY:
A woman in the US was performing a Wiccan ceremony in a cemetery. The ceremony involved candles, incense, and driving swords into the ground during the full moon. Now, I am not making fun of anyone's rituals. However, I am making fun of the following: She accidentally stabbed herself in the foot during the ritualistic ceremony. And what was the purpose of the ceremony? To give thanks for a recent run of good luck. Hilarious!
I don't have a lot to share with everyone today. Although the day turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I had to take my rental car back today. I got up and started towards the city, and it started raining some. So traffic pretty much stopped. It took me a while to get to the rental car place. You would think I would have learned by now, but no... So the driving directions once again had me take an exit that was not named the same way on the road signs. Luckily, I had a general idea of where I was headed. Of course, when I got off, I could only turn one way on a road where I needed to go the other way. I managed to get turned around, and found my way to the rental place. I turned my car in, and luckily the rain had pretty much stopped by the time I got done. Why, you ask? Because I suck at being prepared for the weather. Right - no rain coat, no umbrella. (The weather forecast called for rain "coming in" today, which I assumed meant late morning or early afternoon. Not early morning. Bad call on my part.)
Here's the deal: The car place was about a mile from my office. So a good 15-minute walk (with traffic lights), and I had to decide if I was going to try to find a cab or walk. Since it had stopped raining, I walked. Not too bad - just a little misty rain, and there were awnings around, so things were fine. Until I got about 4 blocks from the office. At that point, the awnings stopped and the rain picked up. I was lucky enough to have picked up some papers out of the car and didn't throw them away, so I had some random stuff to use to cover my head. I managed to get to the office without getting too wet. Luckily I didn't have to go out the rest of the day. And by the time I left, the rain had cleared out. So despite the rough start, the day turned out pretty good.
During lunch I got online and ordered a ticket to the rugby match on Saturday. There is a lot of talk about the match - it is a pretty big game here, since it is New Zealand and Australia. There are lots of Kiwis here, so the match should be fun. I asked a couple of folks if they wanted to come, but all of my friends here are either already going to the game or can't go.
One of the guys who really wanted to go but couldn't told me that everyone at the game will be super friendly, as long as I am cheering for the Wallabies (the Aussie team). I told him that I will definitely be cheering for the Wallabies, and actually have an old jersey that's about 7 years old. I described it to him, and he got quite excited. He told me that they don't even make that jersey any more - you can't find it anywhere. He said everyone would think I was the biggest fan for having that jersey on. I told him, "Yeah, biggest fan. Until they hear me talk!" But I promised him I would get some pictures from the match.
As for the other people I know who are going... I couldn't get seats near them (it is all "best available" and you can't pick seats). But a group of us are going to meet up for dinner before the match, and then we're going to go out for drinks after the match. So even though I won't know anyone sitting around me, I think it is going to be a fun night!
After I ordered the tickets, I though I would check my bank account online. I knew I had a couple of expense reports that were open, and I was hoping had been paid. I also wanted to make sure all of my charges were showing up right. As I looked through my account, I noticed a lot of random fees. $1 here, $1.18 there, $1.50 somewhere else; all of these international transaction fees. Apparently, every time I use my debit card, I get slapped with a transaction fee. So I checked my credit card account, and sure enough, $1-$2 transaction fees every time I used my card. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that the banks are losing a lot of money right now. But I can assure them - they will not make it all up by charging me fees. At the same time, I have to wonder how they are losing money if they keep slapping me with these piddly fees every time I use my card. With all of the people who travel internationally, the banks have to make some serious cash charging these fees! On top of the transaction fees, I noticed another service fee on my bank account. When I looked into it, I figured out that the bank is nice enough to charge me for using ATMs that do not belong to them.
Now, here's why this one rubbed me the wrong way: There are no ATMs here from my bank. Obviously. And I quickly emailed the bank's customer service to ask them which of their abundant ATMs I should be using over here, since I am being charged for not using the proper ATM machine. I will be interested to hear what the bank comes back with on this one. So if I use my debit card, I get charged a transaction fee. If I withdraw cash from an ATM, I get charged an ATM fee. These banks have it all figured out, and there is no way out! Dorks.
Okay, it's getting close to my bed time. Unfortunately, mX is still a little weak today, but I have pulled together the best I could find for your closing entertainment. Enjoy!
VENT TEXTS:
"Adam, it's great to hear you won't be back. Some of us had to live and work while you came to play in our city." - Andrew, Caringbah [To a guy whining about how some of the people in Sydney weren't nice to him during WYD, and he says he's not coming back.]
"If they can bring back 90210, then they should bring back Melrose Place as well. Melrose Place kicks butt over 90210." - Rach, Penrith [Seriously? People want to vent about this kind of stuff? Here's one for you: Both shows sucked.]
"Girl who works in bar Cleveland is going to turn me into an alcoholic." - Scott, Surry Hills
"They're making a sequel to Dark Knight. Heath Ledger has signed. It'll be directed by the same guy as Weekend at Bernie's." - Gem, Cronulla [OUCH!]
STORY OF THE DAY:
A woman in the US was performing a Wiccan ceremony in a cemetery. The ceremony involved candles, incense, and driving swords into the ground during the full moon. Now, I am not making fun of anyone's rituals. However, I am making fun of the following: She accidentally stabbed herself in the foot during the ritualistic ceremony. And what was the purpose of the ceremony? To give thanks for a recent run of good luck. Hilarious!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
It's My Anniversary!
So today is July 23rd, which means that it is my one month anniversary here in the Sydney office. Wow - I have been working here for an entire month! And I only have two months left, as September 23 is my last day here!
Okay, I will throw it out there since so many of you have asked: In some ways, yes, it is hard to believe that it has already been a month. There are a lot of things that I have done, and a lot more that I want to do. In other ways, it has been a long time since I have seen all of you and been in Charlotte, that I can honestly say that there is a small part of me that would like to be back home right now. But I know that I will be back soon enough, so I am going to continue to do everything I can while I am here and try to have as much fun as I can.
Things are trudging along here. I am supposed to start on an audit next week. Charlotte office: You guys can appreciate this next comment. The client is not ready and is pushing the audit back a week. So clients are the same everywhere - we start by running behind up front, and then have to struggle to get everything done at the end. But it's fine, as there was some cushion padded into the schedule. So hopefully we'll get done without too much trouble!
Since I was supposed to be out of town for two weeks, I finally decided it was time that I go and get a local mobile phone here. What a freaking ordeal just to figure out who would sell a phone without a contract! But I found a place near the office, and managed to go there at lunch today. The girl who helped me was really nice, and got me exactly what I needed to get by for the next two months. So now I have yet another mobile phone to add to my collection. Although it does have a camera phone... I just wish I had known about the camera phone in the mall during lunch. I could have gotten some photos of all the WYD people with their goofy little backpacks on. (Yes, I figured out that all of the remaining pilgrims in Sydney hang out at the mall during the day, lying in wait until rush hour, when they pop out in the midst of mass transit.) But with this new toy, it looks as though I might be able to get into some trouble...
Speaking of trouble, I have pretty much decided that I am going to go to the rugby match on Saturday night. I asked a couple of friends in the office, and they are already going. This match is pretty huge, and it is my one shot to go to see live rugby. I am trying to see if I can round up someone who wants to go with me, but most people I am friends with in the office are already going. But even if I go by myself, I have been invited to meet up before the match for dinner and drinks, so I think it will be a fun night. So I'm kind of excited about the Saturday night adventure!
Well, I don't have a whole lot to share with you guys tonight. The weather is no longer "fine" here (yes, "fine" really is the technical term used by the meteorologists here). It has gotten kind of cold, and it rained some today. Actually, it was colder when I went out at lunch than when I was headed home tonight. But it is not terrible here. You can just tell that it really is winter (at least for here). Well, it is either getting colder or I really am becoming more and more like the locals here. How scary is that?
The only real story I have to share with you is from my trip to the grocery store tonight. I needed milk, and while I was at the store, I went ahead and picked up a box of cereal for the weekend. As I walked down the cereal aisle, I had to laugh. The names on the boxes of cereal were killing me! First, I saw "Rice Bubbles," then "Frosties," and finally, "Sultana Bran." To translate: Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and Raisin Bran. (No, I don't know what a sultana is, but I ate some before, and they tasted just like raisins.) And since you are probably wondering, no, it has nothing to do with branding. The Snap, Crackle, Pop, Tony the Tiger, and the happy little sunshine holding the two scoops of raisins, sorry - sultanas, were sitting on the front of the boxes. Same products, different names. And yet, they couldn't find anything more creative than Corn Flakes and Fruit Loops. Go figure...
Okay, it is getting close to my bed time, and I have to get up early in the morning and take the hire car (sorry, rental car) back. So to wrap up, I have today's mX update...
"Did any one else reckon the voice-over guy on the 7.47am Monday Cronulla train sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Seriously." - Kailei, Cronulla [I am just impressed that this person could even understand the voice-over enough to determine that there was an accent. Usually it just sounds like the adults from Charlie Brown.]
"Am I the only one who walks on the left-hand side? I'm sick of people worming over to the right." - Kevin, Campbelltown [The sad part is that I was thinking the exact same thing as I walked to the train station tonight. Crap. I am becoming a local!]
And, finally, the story of the day:
A guy who plays rugby for one of the teams here was kicked off of the team last night. Why was he booted? Because he is being investigated for allegedly urinating on a patron at a pub in Canberra. [I am totally going to find that pub while I am down there!] Of course, he had been in trouble earlier for "mid-range drunk driving." (Not sure how the ranges work here.) One of his teammates was dropped for allegedly bashing another man while waiting for a taxi. Somehow, I think I would rather be kicked off as the second guy, not the first. But the best part of the story is that the paper goes on to compare the guy in the "wee" bit of trouble to a former star who got kicked out of the league in 1995 for urinating on a casino worker. And what was his prior indiscretion that got him booted off the team for peeing? Apparently he had been previously censured for defecating in a teammate's shoe. Where am I???
Okay, I will throw it out there since so many of you have asked: In some ways, yes, it is hard to believe that it has already been a month. There are a lot of things that I have done, and a lot more that I want to do. In other ways, it has been a long time since I have seen all of you and been in Charlotte, that I can honestly say that there is a small part of me that would like to be back home right now. But I know that I will be back soon enough, so I am going to continue to do everything I can while I am here and try to have as much fun as I can.
Things are trudging along here. I am supposed to start on an audit next week. Charlotte office: You guys can appreciate this next comment. The client is not ready and is pushing the audit back a week. So clients are the same everywhere - we start by running behind up front, and then have to struggle to get everything done at the end. But it's fine, as there was some cushion padded into the schedule. So hopefully we'll get done without too much trouble!
Since I was supposed to be out of town for two weeks, I finally decided it was time that I go and get a local mobile phone here. What a freaking ordeal just to figure out who would sell a phone without a contract! But I found a place near the office, and managed to go there at lunch today. The girl who helped me was really nice, and got me exactly what I needed to get by for the next two months. So now I have yet another mobile phone to add to my collection. Although it does have a camera phone... I just wish I had known about the camera phone in the mall during lunch. I could have gotten some photos of all the WYD people with their goofy little backpacks on. (Yes, I figured out that all of the remaining pilgrims in Sydney hang out at the mall during the day, lying in wait until rush hour, when they pop out in the midst of mass transit.) But with this new toy, it looks as though I might be able to get into some trouble...
Speaking of trouble, I have pretty much decided that I am going to go to the rugby match on Saturday night. I asked a couple of friends in the office, and they are already going. This match is pretty huge, and it is my one shot to go to see live rugby. I am trying to see if I can round up someone who wants to go with me, but most people I am friends with in the office are already going. But even if I go by myself, I have been invited to meet up before the match for dinner and drinks, so I think it will be a fun night. So I'm kind of excited about the Saturday night adventure!
Well, I don't have a whole lot to share with you guys tonight. The weather is no longer "fine" here (yes, "fine" really is the technical term used by the meteorologists here). It has gotten kind of cold, and it rained some today. Actually, it was colder when I went out at lunch than when I was headed home tonight. But it is not terrible here. You can just tell that it really is winter (at least for here). Well, it is either getting colder or I really am becoming more and more like the locals here. How scary is that?
The only real story I have to share with you is from my trip to the grocery store tonight. I needed milk, and while I was at the store, I went ahead and picked up a box of cereal for the weekend. As I walked down the cereal aisle, I had to laugh. The names on the boxes of cereal were killing me! First, I saw "Rice Bubbles," then "Frosties," and finally, "Sultana Bran." To translate: Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and Raisin Bran. (No, I don't know what a sultana is, but I ate some before, and they tasted just like raisins.) And since you are probably wondering, no, it has nothing to do with branding. The Snap, Crackle, Pop, Tony the Tiger, and the happy little sunshine holding the two scoops of raisins, sorry - sultanas, were sitting on the front of the boxes. Same products, different names. And yet, they couldn't find anything more creative than Corn Flakes and Fruit Loops. Go figure...
Okay, it is getting close to my bed time, and I have to get up early in the morning and take the hire car (sorry, rental car) back. So to wrap up, I have today's mX update...
"Did any one else reckon the voice-over guy on the 7.47am Monday Cronulla train sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Seriously." - Kailei, Cronulla [I am just impressed that this person could even understand the voice-over enough to determine that there was an accent. Usually it just sounds like the adults from Charlie Brown.]
"Am I the only one who walks on the left-hand side? I'm sick of people worming over to the right." - Kevin, Campbelltown [The sad part is that I was thinking the exact same thing as I walked to the train station tonight. Crap. I am becoming a local!]
And, finally, the story of the day:
A guy who plays rugby for one of the teams here was kicked off of the team last night. Why was he booted? Because he is being investigated for allegedly urinating on a patron at a pub in Canberra. [I am totally going to find that pub while I am down there!] Of course, he had been in trouble earlier for "mid-range drunk driving." (Not sure how the ranges work here.) One of his teammates was dropped for allegedly bashing another man while waiting for a taxi. Somehow, I think I would rather be kicked off as the second guy, not the first. But the best part of the story is that the paper goes on to compare the guy in the "wee" bit of trouble to a former star who got kicked out of the league in 1995 for urinating on a casino worker. And what was his prior indiscretion that got him booted off the team for peeing? Apparently he had been previously censured for defecating in a teammate's shoe. Where am I???
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Getting Back To Normal
Not only was last week World Youth Day (uh, week?), but the kiddies were out of school on holiday, as well. So today, even though most of the WYD pilgrims had left the city, traffic had to return to the full routine, which included getting the kids to school. I didn't see too many kids out, but you could tell that the timing for the normal commuters had shifted. As I got on the bus this morning, I noticed a lot more people were on the bus this morning. But I was already on, so I had the pleasure of standing for the entire ride, along with about 15 other people. I think tomorrow I might wait the extra 5 minutes and get on a bus where I am one of the first stops. (You'd be surprised how many buses going to the City some by my stop, all with different initial routes, but still heading the same way after my stop. I usually just get on whichever one gets there first.)
Traffic was a lot worse, too. It took a lot longer on the bus that it has in the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure what was going on, but even the Motorway was slow. Interesting that once all the people go away, traffic gets worse... Let's just say that I'm very glad that I was not driving today!
Speaking of WYD, there are still orange backpacks around the city. I thought everyone would have left by now, but nope. They really like to hang out in the middle of mass transit during peak rush hour times, too.
There were some tourists walking down Market Street as I headed to the train station. I was standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, and noticed that some people on the other side were taking pictures of the city. The light turned, and people spread out on the street. As I crossed, the guy taking pictures pointed his camera right at me, and took a shot. I have no idea why - I think it was a fluke that he took a photo of me. But I laughed to myself as I walked away that this guy was probably taking pictures of the non-tourists in Sydney, and he ended up with a shot of me. Maybe that 7 Degrees of Separation thing will work out, and somehow someone will see the photo and let him know that he took a snapshot of an American, not an Aussie. HA!
Then, as I walked into the QVB building to get to the train station, there was a guy walking towards me who I think was a little off his rocker. The guy kept throwing his elbow backwards, like he was trying to hit the guy behind him. Then he would kind of turn and glance back to see if he actually hit the guy. This little game happened about 3 times (that I saw) as I was approaching. The funniest part of the whole thing was that the guy behind him was walking about 3 feet behind the guy, not really all that close, and had the funniest look on his face, one of those "What the...!?!" looks.
Ahh, good times. And speaking of good times, I had some mail in my box today. I received my number for the City2Surf race in the mail today. I am number 36712. Here's the sad part: I am one of the competitive runners. There are 2 groups in front of me who are seeded runners, and get their numbers by completing the race in a certain time the prior year. So there is a whole herd of people who will be behind me as part of the "Back of the Pack" group, which includes non-competitive runners and all of the walkers. Holy crap, this race is going to be huge. In fact, the info sheet says that since they added timing ships, this race will now be the "biggest accurately timed fun run in the world." Man, I really need to get in shape, since this race is less than 3 weeks away...
So I do have one other funny story from today for you guys. Those of you in the Charlotte office will appreciate this one. An email came out today that announced that the End of Month Drinks would not be held this Friday, but next week. (Yes, we have happy hour every month here. Pretty good, right?) Anyway, the email came out to everyone in the office, which is about 200 people. This guy in my department sent a reply that was clearly not supposed to go to everyone, about going out and getting pissed (translate: drunk), and something along the lines of "Thx for the $75, babe." I can assure you he was not talking to the lady who sent the original email. Of course, there were some other text shorthand comments, and I have no idea exactly what he said (yes, I'm getting old), but nothing important. As soon as the email popped up, you could hear people start to laugh. Suddenly, a second email from this guy popped up that simply said, "My apologies." That email made several people bust out laughing. About a minute later, another email came across to everyone from a girl in the office that simply said, "That's gold." So I replied back to this girl (taking the chance that I knew her, although I wasn't positive), and said, "No, not gold. I think he's on the red team." (We are divided into 3 colored teams in the audit department. The guy sending the original email is apparently on my team, although I am not sure who he is.) A couple of minutes later, an email came back from this girl to laugh and say that she meant to only send it to the original guy, not the whole office. I told her that it was well worth it, and not to worry about it. How freaking hilarious. She gave the best comment about this guy sending a "Reply All" email to the entire office, but she managed to do the same thing. Hi-freaking-larious!
I think I'm out of anecdotes for today, so I will close with a couple of mX quotes and a story from today's paper. I've been a little disappointed with the reader comments (today's were mostly about WYD), but I managed to scrounge up a couple of decent ones.
VENT POSTS:
"Steele, chivalry isn't dead. Now I know it's you that won't stand up for me and my seven months' pregnant belly." - K from City (Oh, I wouldn't want to go home tonight if I were this guy...)
"Who left all the fruit juice poppers on the 3.40pm Wynyard to Lidcombe train on Friday? There's about 60 of them on the seats around me." - DJ from Newtown
"Karpie, I love you. Tuck your flaps in." - Alissa from Hurlstone Park
And finally, my favorite story of the day comes to us from the UK: Ice cream van jingles will be cut to just four seconds by UK bureaucrats in Worcester, as the tinkling songs have been labeled an "annoyance" to the public. So now, ice cream trucks can only play a four-second song every three minutes, and it has to keep to a certain decibel level. But my favorite part of the story? "Furious ice cream vendors have also been told they cannot sell within 50 metres of a school or place of worship." No song? No selling around where little kids are located? What Good Humor man pissed off the local politicians? Must have run out of the chocolate eclair ice cream bar...
Traffic was a lot worse, too. It took a lot longer on the bus that it has in the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure what was going on, but even the Motorway was slow. Interesting that once all the people go away, traffic gets worse... Let's just say that I'm very glad that I was not driving today!
Speaking of WYD, there are still orange backpacks around the city. I thought everyone would have left by now, but nope. They really like to hang out in the middle of mass transit during peak rush hour times, too.
There were some tourists walking down Market Street as I headed to the train station. I was standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, and noticed that some people on the other side were taking pictures of the city. The light turned, and people spread out on the street. As I crossed, the guy taking pictures pointed his camera right at me, and took a shot. I have no idea why - I think it was a fluke that he took a photo of me. But I laughed to myself as I walked away that this guy was probably taking pictures of the non-tourists in Sydney, and he ended up with a shot of me. Maybe that 7 Degrees of Separation thing will work out, and somehow someone will see the photo and let him know that he took a snapshot of an American, not an Aussie. HA!
Then, as I walked into the QVB building to get to the train station, there was a guy walking towards me who I think was a little off his rocker. The guy kept throwing his elbow backwards, like he was trying to hit the guy behind him. Then he would kind of turn and glance back to see if he actually hit the guy. This little game happened about 3 times (that I saw) as I was approaching. The funniest part of the whole thing was that the guy behind him was walking about 3 feet behind the guy, not really all that close, and had the funniest look on his face, one of those "What the...!?!" looks.
Ahh, good times. And speaking of good times, I had some mail in my box today. I received my number for the City2Surf race in the mail today. I am number 36712. Here's the sad part: I am one of the competitive runners. There are 2 groups in front of me who are seeded runners, and get their numbers by completing the race in a certain time the prior year. So there is a whole herd of people who will be behind me as part of the "Back of the Pack" group, which includes non-competitive runners and all of the walkers. Holy crap, this race is going to be huge. In fact, the info sheet says that since they added timing ships, this race will now be the "biggest accurately timed fun run in the world." Man, I really need to get in shape, since this race is less than 3 weeks away...
So I do have one other funny story from today for you guys. Those of you in the Charlotte office will appreciate this one. An email came out today that announced that the End of Month Drinks would not be held this Friday, but next week. (Yes, we have happy hour every month here. Pretty good, right?) Anyway, the email came out to everyone in the office, which is about 200 people. This guy in my department sent a reply that was clearly not supposed to go to everyone, about going out and getting pissed (translate: drunk), and something along the lines of "Thx for the $75, babe." I can assure you he was not talking to the lady who sent the original email. Of course, there were some other text shorthand comments, and I have no idea exactly what he said (yes, I'm getting old), but nothing important. As soon as the email popped up, you could hear people start to laugh. Suddenly, a second email from this guy popped up that simply said, "My apologies." That email made several people bust out laughing. About a minute later, another email came across to everyone from a girl in the office that simply said, "That's gold." So I replied back to this girl (taking the chance that I knew her, although I wasn't positive), and said, "No, not gold. I think he's on the red team." (We are divided into 3 colored teams in the audit department. The guy sending the original email is apparently on my team, although I am not sure who he is.) A couple of minutes later, an email came back from this girl to laugh and say that she meant to only send it to the original guy, not the whole office. I told her that it was well worth it, and not to worry about it. How freaking hilarious. She gave the best comment about this guy sending a "Reply All" email to the entire office, but she managed to do the same thing. Hi-freaking-larious!
I think I'm out of anecdotes for today, so I will close with a couple of mX quotes and a story from today's paper. I've been a little disappointed with the reader comments (today's were mostly about WYD), but I managed to scrounge up a couple of decent ones.
VENT POSTS:
"Steele, chivalry isn't dead. Now I know it's you that won't stand up for me and my seven months' pregnant belly." - K from City (Oh, I wouldn't want to go home tonight if I were this guy...)
"Who left all the fruit juice poppers on the 3.40pm Wynyard to Lidcombe train on Friday? There's about 60 of them on the seats around me." - DJ from Newtown
"Karpie, I love you. Tuck your flaps in." - Alissa from Hurlstone Park
And finally, my favorite story of the day comes to us from the UK: Ice cream van jingles will be cut to just four seconds by UK bureaucrats in Worcester, as the tinkling songs have been labeled an "annoyance" to the public. So now, ice cream trucks can only play a four-second song every three minutes, and it has to keep to a certain decibel level. But my favorite part of the story? "Furious ice cream vendors have also been told they cannot sell within 50 metres of a school or place of worship." No song? No selling around where little kids are located? What Good Humor man pissed off the local politicians? Must have run out of the chocolate eclair ice cream bar...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, Monday - Can't Trust That Day
Well, week #5 has started. As usual, my Monday was rather uneventful. I don't have too much for you guys in the way of entertainment, so I'll tell you a couple of quick stories, just to say hello. Hopefully things will pick back up a little later this week. Oh, and I found out today that my business trip will actually be two weeks in Canberra. However, I also found out that there is not a whole lot there, as the town is pretty quiet. You guys know me - I'll do what I can to scrounge up some entertainment for you guys. But I guess the Australian national capital can't compare to the excitement in the US capital city. Maybe if we can convince the Aussies to let Marion Barry get into politics here, it might be a different story... Got crack?
So things this morning were a lot less hectic. You could tell that most of the pilgrims from World Youth Day had headed home. Or at least were not in the city this morning. However, since it was a little less crowded, people watching was a bit easier. The best story of the day came as I was walking down Market Street from the train station to the office. Those of you who I give a lot of grief to for wearing flip flops and pants will really appreciate this one. As I was walking down there street, a guy was walking towards me on the sidewalk. Something in my mind said, "That's not right." (The fashion police senses must have started tingling.) As he got closer, I figured out the problem: The guy was wearing a nice looking suit, and with his suit, he was wearing a flip flop. Wait, re-read that sentence again; I want to make sure you understand. Yes, he was wearing one flip flop. On the other foot, he had on a formal dress shoe. (No, Tony, it was not a pump.) There is nothing in my mind that can understand that one. And before you guys start offering suggestions: he was not limping, there were no bandages on his foot; there was nothing to indicate that he could not get his foot into the other dress shoe. I don't get it, but I did manage to laugh to myself about it the rest of the way to the office. So there might be a blog post out there somewhere about the crazy lady laughing to herself as she was walking down Market Street in Sydney this morning.
I got to my building and got onto the elevator. I think my elevator karma is a bit off kilter now. I have no idea what elevator karma is, but I'm having some interesting luck with elevators lately. There are two elevators in my apartment, and one of them was out of service all weekend. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it was buzzing all weekend, and was still out of service this morning. For the elevator at the office, I got on with several people, and there were three stops before getting to my floor. Before I continue, I need to explain that this elevator is pretty freaking fancy. There is a woman's voice that comes on at every stop and announces what floor you are on. After the third stop, the voice came over the elevator. "This elevator is on fire... mode." Huh? Some lady on the lift made a crack about the lift announcing that it was on fire. (There really was a decent delay after the elevator said the word "fire.") Then it stopped at my floor and one of the guys who got off with me said, "Well, I'm glad I'm getting off here!" I just have to wonder if there was a camera in the elevator that was watching everyone's face when the voice announced it was on fire. (Mode.)
As I was walking to the train station tonight after work, I noticed that the WYD pilgrims were back. Well, some of them. You can tell them in the crowd: They are all wearing this yellow, orange, and red WYD commemorative backpack. Yeah, it looks about as bad as it sounds. But at least you can pick the tourists out in the crowd. The funny thing was that there were a group of WYD teens sitting outside of the QVB. I have to wonder if it is a smart thing to have this big holy week, only to have those of us who remain in Sydney to have the parting memories be a group of teens wearing hood-looking clothes, hanging outside of the mall, smoking cigarettes, all while holding onto their happy little orange, red, and yellow WYD backpacks. I guess these are the youth of the world...
When I got to the ferry, I noticed that there were still several people hanging around Sydney. Not nearly as many as last week, but it was definitely crowded. The ferry was a different sized boat tonight. In fact, as I got on behind a large group of people, I was really wondering where everyone was going to fit. I ended up standing near the bow of the boat with a bunch of other folks. I'm not sure where everyone was going, but I don't think the ferry has ever been that crowded before! But it was kind of nice to stand out on the deck of the boat tonight. It was cool out, but not too cold, and I got to get some nice nighttime views of the city. The city had actually projected a screen onto the side of the Harbour Bridge that lit up with the WYD logo, and then had another screen that said, "Thank you, Sydney." It was kind of cool to see. But the night was really nice. The sky was clear - I think it was the first night I noticed the stars out. As I looked up at the sky, I laughed to myself. I asked myself what I was looking for. I was pretty sure that the bright star in the sky was not the North Star. And even though I know very little about constellations, I was also pretty sure that I would know even less about the stars here in the Southern Hemisphere. I don't know why - I just thought it was funny that I was looking up at the sky, as if I was going to recognize something...
When I got back to my apartment, I was on the lift with a couple of other people in my building. One of them lived on my floor. We said hi in the elevator, and both walked down the hall. As he walked by, he told me to have a good night. Nice guy. Young guy. But I didn't figure out until I was halfway in the door that he lives next door to me. HE LIVES WITH THE CAT! So the next time I run into this guy, I am going to have to ask him about it... HA!
So I think I am out of random stories for you guys today. Even the mX newspaper let me down a little. I do have a couple of quotes for you. But since the events of today were a little lacking, I thought I'd share one of the mX stories, as well.
VENT QUOTES:
"Who else has an impossible boyfriend? Or is it just me? Oh god. Can a guy be less fussy and complain less? Over my head." - Niva from Wollstonecraft.
"Why call it World Youth Day when there are so many oldies?" - L from St. Leonards. (I told you guys there were some old "youth" here!)
"Number of niterides per hour: two. Number of pilgrims: 125,000. Number of extra late trains: zero. Watching thousands get on two buses an hour: priceless." - R.S. from Lidcombe.
STORY:
A Dutch woman on the toilet accidentally flushed away about $1,426 in euros when it fell from her pocket. [JP NOTE: A Euro is pretty close to $1.60 US.] A sewage department spokesman said: "At first my colleagues were dumbfounded, but the woman was in such a panic that they believed her." The woman dried the nine 100 euro notes on a clothesline after they were fished out of the system.
With that story in mind, as my parting comment to you guys, I have to ask: What kind of a reward do you give a sewage department employee for helping you with that kind of problem? And if you were this worker, and you were offered a monetary thank you, would you take it???
So things this morning were a lot less hectic. You could tell that most of the pilgrims from World Youth Day had headed home. Or at least were not in the city this morning. However, since it was a little less crowded, people watching was a bit easier. The best story of the day came as I was walking down Market Street from the train station to the office. Those of you who I give a lot of grief to for wearing flip flops and pants will really appreciate this one. As I was walking down there street, a guy was walking towards me on the sidewalk. Something in my mind said, "That's not right." (The fashion police senses must have started tingling.) As he got closer, I figured out the problem: The guy was wearing a nice looking suit, and with his suit, he was wearing a flip flop. Wait, re-read that sentence again; I want to make sure you understand. Yes, he was wearing one flip flop. On the other foot, he had on a formal dress shoe. (No, Tony, it was not a pump.) There is nothing in my mind that can understand that one. And before you guys start offering suggestions: he was not limping, there were no bandages on his foot; there was nothing to indicate that he could not get his foot into the other dress shoe. I don't get it, but I did manage to laugh to myself about it the rest of the way to the office. So there might be a blog post out there somewhere about the crazy lady laughing to herself as she was walking down Market Street in Sydney this morning.
I got to my building and got onto the elevator. I think my elevator karma is a bit off kilter now. I have no idea what elevator karma is, but I'm having some interesting luck with elevators lately. There are two elevators in my apartment, and one of them was out of service all weekend. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it was buzzing all weekend, and was still out of service this morning. For the elevator at the office, I got on with several people, and there were three stops before getting to my floor. Before I continue, I need to explain that this elevator is pretty freaking fancy. There is a woman's voice that comes on at every stop and announces what floor you are on. After the third stop, the voice came over the elevator. "This elevator is on fire... mode." Huh? Some lady on the lift made a crack about the lift announcing that it was on fire. (There really was a decent delay after the elevator said the word "fire.") Then it stopped at my floor and one of the guys who got off with me said, "Well, I'm glad I'm getting off here!" I just have to wonder if there was a camera in the elevator that was watching everyone's face when the voice announced it was on fire. (Mode.)
As I was walking to the train station tonight after work, I noticed that the WYD pilgrims were back. Well, some of them. You can tell them in the crowd: They are all wearing this yellow, orange, and red WYD commemorative backpack. Yeah, it looks about as bad as it sounds. But at least you can pick the tourists out in the crowd. The funny thing was that there were a group of WYD teens sitting outside of the QVB. I have to wonder if it is a smart thing to have this big holy week, only to have those of us who remain in Sydney to have the parting memories be a group of teens wearing hood-looking clothes, hanging outside of the mall, smoking cigarettes, all while holding onto their happy little orange, red, and yellow WYD backpacks. I guess these are the youth of the world...
When I got to the ferry, I noticed that there were still several people hanging around Sydney. Not nearly as many as last week, but it was definitely crowded. The ferry was a different sized boat tonight. In fact, as I got on behind a large group of people, I was really wondering where everyone was going to fit. I ended up standing near the bow of the boat with a bunch of other folks. I'm not sure where everyone was going, but I don't think the ferry has ever been that crowded before! But it was kind of nice to stand out on the deck of the boat tonight. It was cool out, but not too cold, and I got to get some nice nighttime views of the city. The city had actually projected a screen onto the side of the Harbour Bridge that lit up with the WYD logo, and then had another screen that said, "Thank you, Sydney." It was kind of cool to see. But the night was really nice. The sky was clear - I think it was the first night I noticed the stars out. As I looked up at the sky, I laughed to myself. I asked myself what I was looking for. I was pretty sure that the bright star in the sky was not the North Star. And even though I know very little about constellations, I was also pretty sure that I would know even less about the stars here in the Southern Hemisphere. I don't know why - I just thought it was funny that I was looking up at the sky, as if I was going to recognize something...
When I got back to my apartment, I was on the lift with a couple of other people in my building. One of them lived on my floor. We said hi in the elevator, and both walked down the hall. As he walked by, he told me to have a good night. Nice guy. Young guy. But I didn't figure out until I was halfway in the door that he lives next door to me. HE LIVES WITH THE CAT! So the next time I run into this guy, I am going to have to ask him about it... HA!
So I think I am out of random stories for you guys today. Even the mX newspaper let me down a little. I do have a couple of quotes for you. But since the events of today were a little lacking, I thought I'd share one of the mX stories, as well.
VENT QUOTES:
"Who else has an impossible boyfriend? Or is it just me? Oh god. Can a guy be less fussy and complain less? Over my head." - Niva from Wollstonecraft.
"Why call it World Youth Day when there are so many oldies?" - L from St. Leonards. (I told you guys there were some old "youth" here!)
"Number of niterides per hour: two. Number of pilgrims: 125,000. Number of extra late trains: zero. Watching thousands get on two buses an hour: priceless." - R.S. from Lidcombe.
STORY:
A Dutch woman on the toilet accidentally flushed away about $1,426 in euros when it fell from her pocket. [JP NOTE: A Euro is pretty close to $1.60 US.] A sewage department spokesman said: "At first my colleagues were dumbfounded, but the woman was in such a panic that they believed her." The woman dried the nine 100 euro notes on a clothesline after they were fished out of the system.
With that story in mind, as my parting comment to you guys, I have to ask: What kind of a reward do you give a sewage department employee for helping you with that kind of problem? And if you were this worker, and you were offered a monetary thank you, would you take it???
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Breakaway To The Beach
I had a great idea planned out for this weekend's adventure. I was going to head over to the Sydney Harbour National Park, figuring I could hike around and take some awesome pictures. So on Saturday, I looked at the book I have of maps of all of the city streets, and figured out that the area where I wanted to go was a bit more expansive than I thought, spanning pretty much the entire coastline of Sydney, and that I would be better off looking into the Park and figuring out where all to go. So instead, I found that there is a pretty nice area up near where I live called Balmoral Beach.
The beach was pretty cool. I have added a slideshow of the beach tour. The area was pretty nice. Sand, sun, water... The water coming in is Hunters Bay, and is part of the Middle Harbour. To explain, the part of Sydney where all the famous pictures are taken (the Bridge, the Opera House, etc.) are in Sydney Cove, which is part of Port Jackson. To the east of Port Jackson is the Tasman Sea. To the North is the North Harbour, up around Manly (one of the more famous beaches), and then the Middle Harbour is just around where I live, slightly southwest of Manly and north of Port Jackson.
But enough of the geography lesson. The beach is a 10-minute walk from my flat. I honestly had no idea it was that close until I headed that way. It's kind of cool, though; you wander through a pretty nice neighborhood until you suddenly hit the beach. I spent a while walking around the area. It was pretty nice and relaxing. And yes, I went and put my feet in the water. Freaking freezing. I think the water at the Jersey Shore might be warmer. Well, at least in July. Even the sand was cold to walk on, especially the parts that were not in the sun.
So I walked around, waded in the water, went from point to point of Balmoral Beach. I got to the northernmost point, and my camera battery died. But I wasn't ready to head back. So I climbed onto a rock overlooking the Harbour, stretched out, and just relaxed and enjoyed the view. Not too bad a way to spend Saturday afternoon - lounging on a rock, listening to my iPod, while enjoying the view of the boats out in the Harbour. But it finally got too cold for me to stay there any longer (the sun was starting to go down and I was in a t-shirt), so I headed back to the apartment.
For dinner, I headed down to my favorite pub for dinner. The TriNations rugby challenge is going on, which is played among the Australia Wallabies, the New Zealand All Blacks, and the South Africa Springboks. The Saturday night game was Australia verses South Africa, and SA were major favorites in the match. So I went to the pub, had dinner, and hung out watching the game on the big screen. Towards the end of the evening, the couple sitting across from me ended up talking to me. They figured out I was from the US, and started explaining some of the calls to me. They were pretty entertaining folks. There was a guy next to them who was wearing an All Blacks shirt, but he was cheering for the Wallabies. After the couple left once the game was over, Mike, the guy from NZ, bought me a beer and hung out for a little while to talk. He was a funny guy, and is pretty psyched up for next week's game - New Zealand will be in town to play the Wallabies. So if I don't end up going to the match (I doubt I'll get tickets), I will probably be at my local pub watching the game with Mike. So I have a rugby buddy!
It was funny, though. Mike was asking me about where I was from, and I found out that not only did he know where NC was, but he has actually been there. The guy has been in the textile industry for 20 years. He told me he had been to NC, and I said, "Oh, probably Greensboro and Winston-Salem, huh?" Yep, he had been there. Then he started talking about how much fun he had in Charlotte. I told him I was from Charlotte, and he got all excited to talk about his trips there. How cool is that? I come over here and meet a guy who has actually been to Charlotte!
Oh, and a side note: Mike is a regular at the pub, so he was catching a lot of flack about his being there last night, cheering for the Wallabies. The main one giving him a hard time was the bar manager. At one point in time, the bar manager came over and talked to us for a few minutes. (The bar manager is young and pretty cute, by the way...) So Mike had gone to the restroom, and I was talking to the bar manager. I said, "Okay, I have a question for you that bothers me every time I come in here. What is the deal with the baseball cap rule?" The manager told me that I was right - it was because some of the bars had gotten robbed by guys running into the bar with their hats really low, robbed the bar, and then ran back out, and the security cameras could not catch faces. Mike came back and heard the end of the conversation as the bar manager was walking away, and Mike told me that this bar was one that had been robbed, so they had stepped up security to be safe. They haven't had any trouble in a while, so good thing. So I'm thinking the no-hat rule is perfectly okay with me. I'd rather not go through all the trouble of finding another local pub...
So my Sunday was pretty interesting, as well. I didn't sleep very well Saturday night, and was thinking to myself that I would rather stay in bed. But I managed to get up and I went to church. Down side: Services are at 9 or 9:30 here. But there was a little church in my neighborhood that I saw and was curious about. It is a Uniting Church, and I have no idea what that means. (I later found out that the preacher was an Anglican minister, so I would say Uniting is a little more of a "high" church.) So I took a chance and walked down there in time for the 9:30 service.
I walked in, and was probably person #10 there. (By the ended of the service, I counted, and there were 30 of us, including the preacher and the organist.) I was the youngest person by 25 years, and my age was below the average age at this church by a good 35-40 years. The sermon was pretty good, although the preacher was from the UK and was not an Aussie. Oh well. But in reading the bulletin, it seems that this church does not have a regular minister, so there is a different preacher every week. But nothing too big with the service. It was kind of funny. The minister left his microphone on during the first two hymns, so you could hear him loud and clear. He had some trouble with the first song (too high), so he started harmonizing. It made me laugh, but at least he was not tone deaf. Then his sermon was on 3 different scripture lessons. He basically went through the scriptures read and explained them to us. It was a decent sermon, but nothing special. The best part was that he was 3/4 of the way through, and said, "Oh, by the way, I decided that the sermon today would be that I'm going through and explaining each of the scripture lessons. Some people don't like it, but I do. I hope you don't mind." Of course, the funniest part was when the ladies int eh church were running around trying to find the offering baskets. They didn't find them right away, so one lady walked up to the minister, whispered to him, and he interrupted the organist to announce that we'd be switching to a hymn while the baskets were located. It was nice to be somewhere laid back like that.
After the service, I walked out, shook the minister's hand to say hello, and one of the ladies came over to me, asked my name, grabbed me, and invited me to come to morning tea. I couldn't turn her down, and she said it would just be a few minutes and the tea would warm me up (I really didn't think it was that cold), so she grabbed another lady and had her walk me to the tea. Once in the little tea room, I got my tea and sat down. Another lady came over to me and introduced herself. Then she asked my name and where I was from. She then informed me that the accent gave me away. But several people came over to talk to me. (I think I was the only visitor there.) The people were super nice. This lady was one of the younger ones (maybe 55), and she had been to the US before. She then introduced me to her father who had lived in Boston for a year. He was a nice guy, and I talked to him for a while. I finally got up to leave, and a couple more people came over and started talking to me.
The best way I can describe it: Imagine if your grandmother and 30 of her friends all came over to meet you at once. Two ladies grabbed me as I was walking out the door. One of them was worried that my jacket wasn't warm enough, and she proceeded to grab it and feel for the lining. The other lady told me she was 91 and lived in the retirement home near my apartment. She told me she wanted to see me come back to the church, but that I also needed to come over to the retirement home to see her. (I would consider it if I remembered her name...) She then told me I was coming to lunch with the other ladies, but I told her that I needed to run a couple of errands and get home. Maybe next time.
As I finally got out the door and started walking home, the younger lady I spent some time with was driving by and offered me a ride. I wanted to walk and was going by the grocery store on my way home, but I have to say, it was pretty nice to have this kind of reception at the church. I was really hoping that I could find a little community church to attend while I am here. I am going to try to visit some other churches, but it was definitely easy to feel welcome there.
So what a random weekend. After a month of finding people to be a little less than outwardly social, I had a weekend full of meeting people and finding some cool new places.
Oh, I went for a run tonight, and decided that I would just run all around to see what I found. First off, I am at the top of a hill. If you go out, you go downhill immediately, and pretty quickly. Then to get back up, it is long, steep hills. So I spent 25 of 30 minutes running uphill. (I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.) But I digress... My point is that I got to see a lot more things as I ran around. There are some killer views of the city and the beach. The funny thing was that these views are in areas that I go by all the time (like my regular bus route). But I guess between riding at night or reading while I ride or just trying to take in so much, today was the first time I noticed some of these views. With that said, it is so nice to see how amazing the views in this city are! And if you guys want to check out some new pictures, I added a few to the Neighborhood slideshow.
No funny stories, other than those already told in this post. But tomorrow is an mX day, so I promise something good in tomorrow's post!
Have a great week, everyone!
The beach was pretty cool. I have added a slideshow of the beach tour. The area was pretty nice. Sand, sun, water... The water coming in is Hunters Bay, and is part of the Middle Harbour. To explain, the part of Sydney where all the famous pictures are taken (the Bridge, the Opera House, etc.) are in Sydney Cove, which is part of Port Jackson. To the east of Port Jackson is the Tasman Sea. To the North is the North Harbour, up around Manly (one of the more famous beaches), and then the Middle Harbour is just around where I live, slightly southwest of Manly and north of Port Jackson.
But enough of the geography lesson. The beach is a 10-minute walk from my flat. I honestly had no idea it was that close until I headed that way. It's kind of cool, though; you wander through a pretty nice neighborhood until you suddenly hit the beach. I spent a while walking around the area. It was pretty nice and relaxing. And yes, I went and put my feet in the water. Freaking freezing. I think the water at the Jersey Shore might be warmer. Well, at least in July. Even the sand was cold to walk on, especially the parts that were not in the sun.
So I walked around, waded in the water, went from point to point of Balmoral Beach. I got to the northernmost point, and my camera battery died. But I wasn't ready to head back. So I climbed onto a rock overlooking the Harbour, stretched out, and just relaxed and enjoyed the view. Not too bad a way to spend Saturday afternoon - lounging on a rock, listening to my iPod, while enjoying the view of the boats out in the Harbour. But it finally got too cold for me to stay there any longer (the sun was starting to go down and I was in a t-shirt), so I headed back to the apartment.
For dinner, I headed down to my favorite pub for dinner. The TriNations rugby challenge is going on, which is played among the Australia Wallabies, the New Zealand All Blacks, and the South Africa Springboks. The Saturday night game was Australia verses South Africa, and SA were major favorites in the match. So I went to the pub, had dinner, and hung out watching the game on the big screen. Towards the end of the evening, the couple sitting across from me ended up talking to me. They figured out I was from the US, and started explaining some of the calls to me. They were pretty entertaining folks. There was a guy next to them who was wearing an All Blacks shirt, but he was cheering for the Wallabies. After the couple left once the game was over, Mike, the guy from NZ, bought me a beer and hung out for a little while to talk. He was a funny guy, and is pretty psyched up for next week's game - New Zealand will be in town to play the Wallabies. So if I don't end up going to the match (I doubt I'll get tickets), I will probably be at my local pub watching the game with Mike. So I have a rugby buddy!
It was funny, though. Mike was asking me about where I was from, and I found out that not only did he know where NC was, but he has actually been there. The guy has been in the textile industry for 20 years. He told me he had been to NC, and I said, "Oh, probably Greensboro and Winston-Salem, huh?" Yep, he had been there. Then he started talking about how much fun he had in Charlotte. I told him I was from Charlotte, and he got all excited to talk about his trips there. How cool is that? I come over here and meet a guy who has actually been to Charlotte!
Oh, and a side note: Mike is a regular at the pub, so he was catching a lot of flack about his being there last night, cheering for the Wallabies. The main one giving him a hard time was the bar manager. At one point in time, the bar manager came over and talked to us for a few minutes. (The bar manager is young and pretty cute, by the way...) So Mike had gone to the restroom, and I was talking to the bar manager. I said, "Okay, I have a question for you that bothers me every time I come in here. What is the deal with the baseball cap rule?" The manager told me that I was right - it was because some of the bars had gotten robbed by guys running into the bar with their hats really low, robbed the bar, and then ran back out, and the security cameras could not catch faces. Mike came back and heard the end of the conversation as the bar manager was walking away, and Mike told me that this bar was one that had been robbed, so they had stepped up security to be safe. They haven't had any trouble in a while, so good thing. So I'm thinking the no-hat rule is perfectly okay with me. I'd rather not go through all the trouble of finding another local pub...
So my Sunday was pretty interesting, as well. I didn't sleep very well Saturday night, and was thinking to myself that I would rather stay in bed. But I managed to get up and I went to church. Down side: Services are at 9 or 9:30 here. But there was a little church in my neighborhood that I saw and was curious about. It is a Uniting Church, and I have no idea what that means. (I later found out that the preacher was an Anglican minister, so I would say Uniting is a little more of a "high" church.) So I took a chance and walked down there in time for the 9:30 service.
I walked in, and was probably person #10 there. (By the ended of the service, I counted, and there were 30 of us, including the preacher and the organist.) I was the youngest person by 25 years, and my age was below the average age at this church by a good 35-40 years. The sermon was pretty good, although the preacher was from the UK and was not an Aussie. Oh well. But in reading the bulletin, it seems that this church does not have a regular minister, so there is a different preacher every week. But nothing too big with the service. It was kind of funny. The minister left his microphone on during the first two hymns, so you could hear him loud and clear. He had some trouble with the first song (too high), so he started harmonizing. It made me laugh, but at least he was not tone deaf. Then his sermon was on 3 different scripture lessons. He basically went through the scriptures read and explained them to us. It was a decent sermon, but nothing special. The best part was that he was 3/4 of the way through, and said, "Oh, by the way, I decided that the sermon today would be that I'm going through and explaining each of the scripture lessons. Some people don't like it, but I do. I hope you don't mind." Of course, the funniest part was when the ladies int eh church were running around trying to find the offering baskets. They didn't find them right away, so one lady walked up to the minister, whispered to him, and he interrupted the organist to announce that we'd be switching to a hymn while the baskets were located. It was nice to be somewhere laid back like that.
After the service, I walked out, shook the minister's hand to say hello, and one of the ladies came over to me, asked my name, grabbed me, and invited me to come to morning tea. I couldn't turn her down, and she said it would just be a few minutes and the tea would warm me up (I really didn't think it was that cold), so she grabbed another lady and had her walk me to the tea. Once in the little tea room, I got my tea and sat down. Another lady came over to me and introduced herself. Then she asked my name and where I was from. She then informed me that the accent gave me away. But several people came over to talk to me. (I think I was the only visitor there.) The people were super nice. This lady was one of the younger ones (maybe 55), and she had been to the US before. She then introduced me to her father who had lived in Boston for a year. He was a nice guy, and I talked to him for a while. I finally got up to leave, and a couple more people came over and started talking to me.
The best way I can describe it: Imagine if your grandmother and 30 of her friends all came over to meet you at once. Two ladies grabbed me as I was walking out the door. One of them was worried that my jacket wasn't warm enough, and she proceeded to grab it and feel for the lining. The other lady told me she was 91 and lived in the retirement home near my apartment. She told me she wanted to see me come back to the church, but that I also needed to come over to the retirement home to see her. (I would consider it if I remembered her name...) She then told me I was coming to lunch with the other ladies, but I told her that I needed to run a couple of errands and get home. Maybe next time.
As I finally got out the door and started walking home, the younger lady I spent some time with was driving by and offered me a ride. I wanted to walk and was going by the grocery store on my way home, but I have to say, it was pretty nice to have this kind of reception at the church. I was really hoping that I could find a little community church to attend while I am here. I am going to try to visit some other churches, but it was definitely easy to feel welcome there.
So what a random weekend. After a month of finding people to be a little less than outwardly social, I had a weekend full of meeting people and finding some cool new places.
Oh, I went for a run tonight, and decided that I would just run all around to see what I found. First off, I am at the top of a hill. If you go out, you go downhill immediately, and pretty quickly. Then to get back up, it is long, steep hills. So I spent 25 of 30 minutes running uphill. (I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.) But I digress... My point is that I got to see a lot more things as I ran around. There are some killer views of the city and the beach. The funny thing was that these views are in areas that I go by all the time (like my regular bus route). But I guess between riding at night or reading while I ride or just trying to take in so much, today was the first time I noticed some of these views. With that said, it is so nice to see how amazing the views in this city are! And if you guys want to check out some new pictures, I added a few to the Neighborhood slideshow.
No funny stories, other than those already told in this post. But tomorrow is an mX day, so I promise something good in tomorrow's post!
Have a great week, everyone!
Friday, July 18, 2008
4 Down, 10 To Go!
Wow – Friday is already here! (I can tell because there is a pretty rowdy group of people sitting outside downstairs, under my window.) The week has gone by pretty quickly –I can’t believe it is already the weekend again! Although I have to say, I am ready for it. It was a little harder getting out of bed this morning when the alarm went off. Actually, it will be nice when I get to stop the hour-long commute sometime next week. I think my project is about to wrap up soon. So for those of you wanting good stories at the end of my blog posts, I will be back in the office Monday, and possibly more of next week. So the mX entertainment will resume next week before I head down to Canberra.
Today was the first day I have really seen the effects of World Youth Day. Traffic coming home tonight was pretty bad! It took a while to get home tonight, and the motorway was pretty backed up. I have a good story, but I am going to wait to tell it as my closing entertainment for today’s post. But as I was saying, traffic was bad, and it was really hard to come close to the speed limit, which made for a much longer commute tonight. I am not sure where everyone was headed. I can guess; but I thought most people with WYD were already in the city. Of course, I could be wrong.
I actually heard a little more about what was going on with the WYD pilgrims tomorrow. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the Harbour Bridge is being shut down to traffic tomorrow. The only things going over the Bridge will be the trains (they run on one side of the Bridge) and a ton of walkers. The pilgrims will be walking from the city, over the Bridge, and on to Randwick, which is the area to the east of town near Centennial Park. The pilgrims will be able to start walking at 5 am, and will end up in the Park at various times throughout the day tomorrow. (I have no idea how far they will be walking.) WYD will then have a big concert and evening vigil with the Pope tomorrow night, and the pilgrims will all spend the night in the Park. It has been pretty cold at night lately, and I can’t say that I would want to spend tomorrow night sleeping outside. Especially since there is going to be rain moving in early Sunday. Is it wrong to think it slightly funny that there is a chance there could be thousands of people spending the night in the rain tomorrow night?
Other than WYD, there is only some random stuff going on here this weekend. Of course, there is a rugby match in town Sunday evening. Apparently there are quite a few people from the office going to the match. They all got tickets separately and figured out that everyone else was going. Two of the people I have been working with this week are going, and told me I should come, too. Of course, it will be just about impossible to get a ticket now, and I don’t have anyone to go with. But I told my co-workers that we needed to all go to a match sometime, so that someone could explain the rules to me. So maybe I’ll be headed to a rugby match before too long. Aside from work, having someone explain the rules of rugby to me was a big reason I came here!
Speaking of co-workers... I have to say, it is a little different being known around the office without knowing people. Let me try to explain: In Charlotte, if people know me, I know them. Here, people seem to know who I am, but I am not sure who they are. With something like 100 people working in my department, it is hard to keep track of who all I have met. Last night, on the way home, I got on the elevator with someone who I did not remember meeting, but that I was sure I had probably seen around the office. As we got on the elevator, she was asking me how I was settling in, and how things were different here than they were in the US. So I guess I have met her...? Then during one of our random conversations today, the staff person I have been working with asked me if I had met So-And-So (I can’t remember who it was). I said I wasn’t sure, and then he said, “Oh yeah, you met her after bowling two weeks ago. You guys were talking to each other in the bar.” Uh... Okay... I guess people are keeping tabs on me here!
Other than that, there was nothing really going on today. But, as promised, I think I owe you guys my funny story for the night. As I said before, traffic was slow, and things were taking a while. On the way home, we had to sit and wait at the toll booth. I am still not sure what the hold-up was, but there was a truck in front of us towing a big trailer. Maybe the guy was arguing how many axles were on the truck to pay a lower toll, or maybe he just couldn’t find his wallet. But whatever the reason, it took a while. I finally pulled up to the toll booth, and, as soon as I pulled up, the worker said, “I guess they need some toilets for World Youth Day!” It took me a second, but as the truck in front of me was driving away, I figured out that the truck was towing about 40 Port-O-Johns, and I started laughing. The toll worker laughed with me and said, “Yep, I guess there was a shortage, and they had to call in for back up!” Man, the adventures can’t get much better!
Okay, so I need to run. I have a conference call in a little while. Yes, on Friday night. It seems that I am a sucker and agreed to have a conference call for the office back home. The folks who the call is with actually wanted me to figure out how to do a video conference call. But since it will be midnight here when I get on the call, it was out of the question. Good thing for me, though. I can sit here in the apartment in my pajamas for the call, rather than having to look nice! Seems like a pretty fair trade to me...
Have a great weekend, everyone. And I’ll talk to you again as we begin Week #5!
Today was the first day I have really seen the effects of World Youth Day. Traffic coming home tonight was pretty bad! It took a while to get home tonight, and the motorway was pretty backed up. I have a good story, but I am going to wait to tell it as my closing entertainment for today’s post. But as I was saying, traffic was bad, and it was really hard to come close to the speed limit, which made for a much longer commute tonight. I am not sure where everyone was headed. I can guess; but I thought most people with WYD were already in the city. Of course, I could be wrong.
I actually heard a little more about what was going on with the WYD pilgrims tomorrow. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the Harbour Bridge is being shut down to traffic tomorrow. The only things going over the Bridge will be the trains (they run on one side of the Bridge) and a ton of walkers. The pilgrims will be walking from the city, over the Bridge, and on to Randwick, which is the area to the east of town near Centennial Park. The pilgrims will be able to start walking at 5 am, and will end up in the Park at various times throughout the day tomorrow. (I have no idea how far they will be walking.) WYD will then have a big concert and evening vigil with the Pope tomorrow night, and the pilgrims will all spend the night in the Park. It has been pretty cold at night lately, and I can’t say that I would want to spend tomorrow night sleeping outside. Especially since there is going to be rain moving in early Sunday. Is it wrong to think it slightly funny that there is a chance there could be thousands of people spending the night in the rain tomorrow night?
Other than WYD, there is only some random stuff going on here this weekend. Of course, there is a rugby match in town Sunday evening. Apparently there are quite a few people from the office going to the match. They all got tickets separately and figured out that everyone else was going. Two of the people I have been working with this week are going, and told me I should come, too. Of course, it will be just about impossible to get a ticket now, and I don’t have anyone to go with. But I told my co-workers that we needed to all go to a match sometime, so that someone could explain the rules to me. So maybe I’ll be headed to a rugby match before too long. Aside from work, having someone explain the rules of rugby to me was a big reason I came here!
Speaking of co-workers... I have to say, it is a little different being known around the office without knowing people. Let me try to explain: In Charlotte, if people know me, I know them. Here, people seem to know who I am, but I am not sure who they are. With something like 100 people working in my department, it is hard to keep track of who all I have met. Last night, on the way home, I got on the elevator with someone who I did not remember meeting, but that I was sure I had probably seen around the office. As we got on the elevator, she was asking me how I was settling in, and how things were different here than they were in the US. So I guess I have met her...? Then during one of our random conversations today, the staff person I have been working with asked me if I had met So-And-So (I can’t remember who it was). I said I wasn’t sure, and then he said, “Oh yeah, you met her after bowling two weeks ago. You guys were talking to each other in the bar.” Uh... Okay... I guess people are keeping tabs on me here!
Other than that, there was nothing really going on today. But, as promised, I think I owe you guys my funny story for the night. As I said before, traffic was slow, and things were taking a while. On the way home, we had to sit and wait at the toll booth. I am still not sure what the hold-up was, but there was a truck in front of us towing a big trailer. Maybe the guy was arguing how many axles were on the truck to pay a lower toll, or maybe he just couldn’t find his wallet. But whatever the reason, it took a while. I finally pulled up to the toll booth, and, as soon as I pulled up, the worker said, “I guess they need some toilets for World Youth Day!” It took me a second, but as the truck in front of me was driving away, I figured out that the truck was towing about 40 Port-O-Johns, and I started laughing. The toll worker laughed with me and said, “Yep, I guess there was a shortage, and they had to call in for back up!” Man, the adventures can’t get much better!
Okay, so I need to run. I have a conference call in a little while. Yes, on Friday night. It seems that I am a sucker and agreed to have a conference call for the office back home. The folks who the call is with actually wanted me to figure out how to do a video conference call. But since it will be midnight here when I get on the call, it was out of the question. Good thing for me, though. I can sit here in the apartment in my pajamas for the call, rather than having to look nice! Seems like a pretty fair trade to me...
Have a great weekend, everyone. And I’ll talk to you again as we begin Week #5!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Cardinal - To The Popemobile!
I have to say, I have really missed taking public transportation to work over the past two weeks! Even though I got on the ferry and spent most of the trip reading, it was nice to be able to sit, read, and enjoy the ride, as opposed to driving through traffic for an hour. (Although traffic here is nothing compared to Charlotte.)
With WYD, the city has been warning everyone about the crowds, and telling people to take public transportation when coming into the city. They are discouraging people from driving. In fact, they are shutting down the Harbour Bridge all day Saturday for some sort of pilgrimage walk. How many cities shut down the main access road to a large city for an entire day? So they warned the locals that there will be long lines to get on public transport. I think today is supposed to be one of the heaviest days because the Pope is in town today, and all of the pilgrims are expected to be here following him around. Looking out the window by my desk this afternoon, there clearly are several people here for WYD. But I don’t see the abundance of folks, yet. Well, that's not entirely true. As I exited the train station to walk through the QVB, I did see several people hanging around the food court area; more than usual, anyway. But not a huge increase from the normal crowd. I guess the thing I really had to wonder this morning was who are the people that were in line at the sushi place. Actually, I guess what I am really wondering is what kind of sushi place is open at 8:30 am? Man, I hope they were serving some sort of rice cakes or other non-sushi breakfast food... Yuck!
Actually, I need to recant that previous comment about the people in town. I started writing this blog post this afternoon, and finished it up tonight. So I take it back about there not being too many more people in the city. On my way home tonight, I jumped on the train and got off at Circular Quay to catch the ferry. The Town Hall station was a little crowded, but I think the majority of the crowd was from all of the extra cops and train workers that were there. Then I got off of the train at Circular Quay and walked out to the ferry. They had re-done the exit to exit the train station, so that you walked down the stairs and around a back exit into Circular Quay. There were a ton of people coming into the station to get on trains, and there was no way anyone was going against that rush of people. Out in Circular Quay, the "Olympic nationals" were back out in full force, with their country's flags, WYD coats and backpacks, you name it. (The city's estimate was that 500,000 people would use public transportation tonight, compared to the usual 175,000.)
I read an interesting article today, though. A writer from Sydney compared this week's events to the Olympics that were here 8 years ago. The writer said that the people here all have the Olympic spirit, but that people were even friendlier and nicer this week than for the Olympics. I think she attributed it to the fact that none of the visitors were drunk or high this time. Nice.
I am curious about the “Youth” aspect of this week, though. While coming to work this morning, I saw a couple of girls who might be college-age. Then I saw a guy at Circular Quay wearing his WYD attire. But he was at least 65 and walking with a cane. In the train station, there were plenty of 40-50 year-olds who were flashing some sort of WYD passes that allow them public transport access (all wearing some interesting WYD attire). I assume those folks are the parent chaperones. I also walked near some folks on the way to my building who were probably my age, maybe a little older, and were with their kids who appeared to be 5 and 8, decked out in WYD clothes. So I really have no idea who this week is geared towards, but it certainly has led to a broad assortment of “Youth.”
Oh, and for anyone keeping up with the WYD events online... The Pope was in the Eastern part of Darling Harbour this afternoon for his speech, so not too far from my office. Better yet, he left Darling Harbour to get back St. Mary’s Cathedral (I’ll try to get some pictures once all the Catholics leave town), catching a ride in the Popemobile. Yes, the car providing his transport is really being referred to as the Popemobile. I can’t make this stuff up! (Hopefully you all now get the joke in the post title. Cardinal - Robin. Popemobile - Batmobile. Come on - that one was good!)
Okay, so enough about the Pope and WYD. On to other news: I found out a little more about my trip to Canberra in about 10 days. The staff person on the job stopped by to warn me: It will be cold there. Well crud. She told me “It is colder there than in Melbourne!” Yeah, that comment means absolutely nothing to me. But it does seem to make the situation all the more entertaining. So I checked out today’s weather to get a feel for the difference. Today’s high and low in Sydney were 19 and 8 (roughly converted to Fahrenheit of 68 high and 46 low. Today in Canberra? High of 12, low of -1. Converted: High of 54 and low of 30. I guess I will be getting a lot of wear out of that one sweater I brought for work... Luckily I have to wear suits and have a lined raincoat I can wear over the suit jacket. I just hope the office there is warmer than the one I have been working in the past couple of weeks!
Tonight I came home and was greeted by a card in my mailbox that said I had a parcel at the front desk. Sweet! Luckily I got here in time for someone to still be working the front desk. So I got my package, and took it upstairs to open it. First off, the box was partially open and had a plastic strap around it holding it together. Then I figured out why. There was a big sticker on the box that said, "Opened by Australia Post for inspection by Quarantine." I hope the Post had some fun going through my stuff! Yee haw! New dress shirts, some of my favorite snack food from home, a collection of a month's worth of the Charlotte Observer - comics section, and some cards and pictures from my friends back home. You guys are awesome! These things really made my day. Hell, what am I saying? They made my month! So my fridge is now decorated with pictures from my best buds Lainey and Ben, and I have some great pictures I have set out all around the apartment. Things are starting to feel a little more like home now! Although the stuffed orange tabby cat that was included in the package doesn't bite me quite like JJ usually does. But it did make me laugh at the thought of someone at the Post trying to figure out what in the world was in the box! I miss you all, so thanks for keeping me entertained!
Okay, I probably should start wrapping up here... So here it is! Back by popular demand! The mX Update. Woo hoo!
So I have two storylines that are going through the quotes today. The first is that apparently there are some issues with smell on the train:
1. "Why do people remove their shoes and stink up an apready stinky train? Keep it at home, people." - K from Penrith. (Right on, dude. Of course, you all know how I feel about feet, in general...)
2. "Why is it that some of us are subjected to someone's smelly breath when they're yawning? Please, people, cover your mouth." - V from Liverpool. (Okay, that's getting pretty close. I told you all that there is no such thing as personal space here.)
The second storyline is a bit more entertaining. I am guessing that someone wrote in yesterday that he buys milk that he puts in the fridge at work, and his co-workers have taken his milk. So the following are some of the suggestions from other readers of how to solve the problem:
1. "Dave, put your milk in a baby's bottle with a note attached saying "breast." No one will touch it." - Matt from Summer Hill.
2. "Dave, if it's an office fridge, it's office milk. Want your own milk? Get your own fridge." - Pete from Bondi.
3. "Dave, to stop colleagues stealing your milk pour it into an empty soy milk carton. No one really drinks that stuff. Or be creative - empty anchovies tin?" - V from Wollongong.
And now my personal favorite (although the soy milk bash was pretty funny):
4. "Dave, why don't you write on the carton that you urinated in your milk. Then if people still use it, actually urinate in it." - AB from Brooklyn.
Thank you, Charlotte! Good night!
With WYD, the city has been warning everyone about the crowds, and telling people to take public transportation when coming into the city. They are discouraging people from driving. In fact, they are shutting down the Harbour Bridge all day Saturday for some sort of pilgrimage walk. How many cities shut down the main access road to a large city for an entire day? So they warned the locals that there will be long lines to get on public transport. I think today is supposed to be one of the heaviest days because the Pope is in town today, and all of the pilgrims are expected to be here following him around. Looking out the window by my desk this afternoon, there clearly are several people here for WYD. But I don’t see the abundance of folks, yet. Well, that's not entirely true. As I exited the train station to walk through the QVB, I did see several people hanging around the food court area; more than usual, anyway. But not a huge increase from the normal crowd. I guess the thing I really had to wonder this morning was who are the people that were in line at the sushi place. Actually, I guess what I am really wondering is what kind of sushi place is open at 8:30 am? Man, I hope they were serving some sort of rice cakes or other non-sushi breakfast food... Yuck!
Actually, I need to recant that previous comment about the people in town. I started writing this blog post this afternoon, and finished it up tonight. So I take it back about there not being too many more people in the city. On my way home tonight, I jumped on the train and got off at Circular Quay to catch the ferry. The Town Hall station was a little crowded, but I think the majority of the crowd was from all of the extra cops and train workers that were there. Then I got off of the train at Circular Quay and walked out to the ferry. They had re-done the exit to exit the train station, so that you walked down the stairs and around a back exit into Circular Quay. There were a ton of people coming into the station to get on trains, and there was no way anyone was going against that rush of people. Out in Circular Quay, the "Olympic nationals" were back out in full force, with their country's flags, WYD coats and backpacks, you name it. (The city's estimate was that 500,000 people would use public transportation tonight, compared to the usual 175,000.)
I read an interesting article today, though. A writer from Sydney compared this week's events to the Olympics that were here 8 years ago. The writer said that the people here all have the Olympic spirit, but that people were even friendlier and nicer this week than for the Olympics. I think she attributed it to the fact that none of the visitors were drunk or high this time. Nice.
I am curious about the “Youth” aspect of this week, though. While coming to work this morning, I saw a couple of girls who might be college-age. Then I saw a guy at Circular Quay wearing his WYD attire. But he was at least 65 and walking with a cane. In the train station, there were plenty of 40-50 year-olds who were flashing some sort of WYD passes that allow them public transport access (all wearing some interesting WYD attire). I assume those folks are the parent chaperones. I also walked near some folks on the way to my building who were probably my age, maybe a little older, and were with their kids who appeared to be 5 and 8, decked out in WYD clothes. So I really have no idea who this week is geared towards, but it certainly has led to a broad assortment of “Youth.”
Oh, and for anyone keeping up with the WYD events online... The Pope was in the Eastern part of Darling Harbour this afternoon for his speech, so not too far from my office. Better yet, he left Darling Harbour to get back St. Mary’s Cathedral (I’ll try to get some pictures once all the Catholics leave town), catching a ride in the Popemobile. Yes, the car providing his transport is really being referred to as the Popemobile. I can’t make this stuff up! (Hopefully you all now get the joke in the post title. Cardinal - Robin. Popemobile - Batmobile. Come on - that one was good!)
Okay, so enough about the Pope and WYD. On to other news: I found out a little more about my trip to Canberra in about 10 days. The staff person on the job stopped by to warn me: It will be cold there. Well crud. She told me “It is colder there than in Melbourne!” Yeah, that comment means absolutely nothing to me. But it does seem to make the situation all the more entertaining. So I checked out today’s weather to get a feel for the difference. Today’s high and low in Sydney were 19 and 8 (roughly converted to Fahrenheit of 68 high and 46 low. Today in Canberra? High of 12, low of -1. Converted: High of 54 and low of 30. I guess I will be getting a lot of wear out of that one sweater I brought for work... Luckily I have to wear suits and have a lined raincoat I can wear over the suit jacket. I just hope the office there is warmer than the one I have been working in the past couple of weeks!
Tonight I came home and was greeted by a card in my mailbox that said I had a parcel at the front desk. Sweet! Luckily I got here in time for someone to still be working the front desk. So I got my package, and took it upstairs to open it. First off, the box was partially open and had a plastic strap around it holding it together. Then I figured out why. There was a big sticker on the box that said, "Opened by Australia Post for inspection by Quarantine." I hope the Post had some fun going through my stuff! Yee haw! New dress shirts, some of my favorite snack food from home, a collection of a month's worth of the Charlotte Observer - comics section, and some cards and pictures from my friends back home. You guys are awesome! These things really made my day. Hell, what am I saying? They made my month! So my fridge is now decorated with pictures from my best buds Lainey and Ben, and I have some great pictures I have set out all around the apartment. Things are starting to feel a little more like home now! Although the stuffed orange tabby cat that was included in the package doesn't bite me quite like JJ usually does. But it did make me laugh at the thought of someone at the Post trying to figure out what in the world was in the box! I miss you all, so thanks for keeping me entertained!
Okay, I probably should start wrapping up here... So here it is! Back by popular demand! The mX Update. Woo hoo!
So I have two storylines that are going through the quotes today. The first is that apparently there are some issues with smell on the train:
1. "Why do people remove their shoes and stink up an apready stinky train? Keep it at home, people." - K from Penrith. (Right on, dude. Of course, you all know how I feel about feet, in general...)
2. "Why is it that some of us are subjected to someone's smelly breath when they're yawning? Please, people, cover your mouth." - V from Liverpool. (Okay, that's getting pretty close. I told you all that there is no such thing as personal space here.)
The second storyline is a bit more entertaining. I am guessing that someone wrote in yesterday that he buys milk that he puts in the fridge at work, and his co-workers have taken his milk. So the following are some of the suggestions from other readers of how to solve the problem:
1. "Dave, put your milk in a baby's bottle with a note attached saying "breast." No one will touch it." - Matt from Summer Hill.
2. "Dave, if it's an office fridge, it's office milk. Want your own milk? Get your own fridge." - Pete from Bondi.
3. "Dave, to stop colleagues stealing your milk pour it into an empty soy milk carton. No one really drinks that stuff. Or be creative - empty anchovies tin?" - V from Wollongong.
And now my personal favorite (although the soy milk bash was pretty funny):
4. "Dave, why don't you write on the carton that you urinated in your milk. Then if people still use it, actually urinate in it." - AB from Brooklyn.
Thank you, Charlotte! Good night!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Family News!
I have a new little cousin! (Although I think I am getting too old to still have cousins being born.) Baby Chip was born today! Well, yesterday. Wait, I’m confused now. Whenever it was, his birth date is July 15, even though I think technically he might have been born on July 14 on my time. Calvin Dean (currently nicknamed Chip) was 7 lb 2 oz and 18 inches long. (No, I will not convert those to metrics.) I have included a picture in the “Friends & Family” section. So congratulations to Paul, Megan, and big sis Livia (“Little Bit”) on the new arrival! And I still think he was named after me (especially with a birthday so close to mine), for those of you who refer to me as “Calvin” after my favorite comic strip. You now know why Sally’s cat is named Hobbes. (Chip was really named after both grandfathers and his dad.)
I also got word today about my next client, which starts a week from Monday. This job will be a real audit. Actually, I already have done some work for them, as this client is the one whose financial statements I had to help convert to US GAAP basis the first week I was here. (Accounting lingo for you non-accountant types.) But this client will be very interesting, and I think will be my best look at how accounting standards are different between the US and the rest of the world. This job is basically going to highlight the whole reason I came over here to work. So I am looking forward to it.
This client is located a good ways away, so I will be staying out of town during the audit. (Although I think I stay “out of town” pretty much every night here, don’t I?) The client is in Canberra, which is the nation’s capital. Crap. Now I have to learn yet another city here. I mean, I am glad that I am getting to see some more of the country. But I was just starting to learn my way around Sydney. Kind of. And now I’m off somewhere new. Let me try to explain it better: Imagine living in New York or LA for 3 weeks, then being send to live in Washington, DC for 3 weeks (excluding weekends). So it will be yet another learning experience, and I am sure I will have some entertaining stories to tell from the trip. And some new pictures, too, since so many of you are emailing me to tell me that you are having fun looking through the gallery of pictures I have on display. Oh, and no, I do not have to drive to this client. The staff person on the job will be the chauffeur for the trip. Probably better for her sake...
Moving on, I guess I should address my request from yesterday's post: The comments are in, and you guys have come up with some pretty entertaining commercials. The swear jar for beer might be my favorite so far, but I'm sure you all know why it appeals to me. Plus the co-worker I showed it to today laughed and then said that he thought a commercial like that one would never be shown on Australian TV. Wussies! However, in the interest of fairness (actually, I think the interest is just personal), I would like to leave this little contest open for a while longer. Mostly because I am enjoying watching these commercials, reminding me of home. So the contest is still running for anyone who wants to throw in a submission. Oh, and to answer Sally's question: No, there are no Bud Light commercials here. In fact, I have yet to find any Bud Light here. Although there was an initial Foster's sighting at dinner Sunday night. I think everyone pointed and laughed at the guy who actually ordered the thing.
So I have some good news for you guys... I will be headed into the city tomorrow for work, instead of out to the client. That's right - the return of mX quotes! Some of you have emailed me and told me how much you enjoy them, so I will be sure to add something good to tomorrow night's post, since I have limited time that I will be in the city over the next month. Now, the down side to this announcement is that I actually have to go into the city tomorrow with all of the teenagers in town for WYD. But you guys know me - I can put a positive spin on anything. (Whether I believe it or not is a different matter.) I figure it just makes for a great opportunity for some really good people-watching stories. I will definitely be on the lookout! And I think the Pope is supposed to be in town tomorrow. Obviously he heard that I would be there, too...
Although to add to the good news, it looks as though I will be in the office next week, so I promise to have some good stories and mX quotes throughout the week next week!
And, as my final gift this evening, I managed to find the chicken commercial. I have added a link to the YouTube video beneath the Southern Swirl video. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think... Not that I really care, because I think it is hi-freaking-larious.
I also got word today about my next client, which starts a week from Monday. This job will be a real audit. Actually, I already have done some work for them, as this client is the one whose financial statements I had to help convert to US GAAP basis the first week I was here. (Accounting lingo for you non-accountant types.) But this client will be very interesting, and I think will be my best look at how accounting standards are different between the US and the rest of the world. This job is basically going to highlight the whole reason I came over here to work. So I am looking forward to it.
This client is located a good ways away, so I will be staying out of town during the audit. (Although I think I stay “out of town” pretty much every night here, don’t I?) The client is in Canberra, which is the nation’s capital. Crap. Now I have to learn yet another city here. I mean, I am glad that I am getting to see some more of the country. But I was just starting to learn my way around Sydney. Kind of. And now I’m off somewhere new. Let me try to explain it better: Imagine living in New York or LA for 3 weeks, then being send to live in Washington, DC for 3 weeks (excluding weekends). So it will be yet another learning experience, and I am sure I will have some entertaining stories to tell from the trip. And some new pictures, too, since so many of you are emailing me to tell me that you are having fun looking through the gallery of pictures I have on display. Oh, and no, I do not have to drive to this client. The staff person on the job will be the chauffeur for the trip. Probably better for her sake...
Moving on, I guess I should address my request from yesterday's post: The comments are in, and you guys have come up with some pretty entertaining commercials. The swear jar for beer might be my favorite so far, but I'm sure you all know why it appeals to me. Plus the co-worker I showed it to today laughed and then said that he thought a commercial like that one would never be shown on Australian TV. Wussies! However, in the interest of fairness (actually, I think the interest is just personal), I would like to leave this little contest open for a while longer. Mostly because I am enjoying watching these commercials, reminding me of home. So the contest is still running for anyone who wants to throw in a submission. Oh, and to answer Sally's question: No, there are no Bud Light commercials here. In fact, I have yet to find any Bud Light here. Although there was an initial Foster's sighting at dinner Sunday night. I think everyone pointed and laughed at the guy who actually ordered the thing.
So I have some good news for you guys... I will be headed into the city tomorrow for work, instead of out to the client. That's right - the return of mX quotes! Some of you have emailed me and told me how much you enjoy them, so I will be sure to add something good to tomorrow night's post, since I have limited time that I will be in the city over the next month. Now, the down side to this announcement is that I actually have to go into the city tomorrow with all of the teenagers in town for WYD. But you guys know me - I can put a positive spin on anything. (Whether I believe it or not is a different matter.) I figure it just makes for a great opportunity for some really good people-watching stories. I will definitely be on the lookout! And I think the Pope is supposed to be in town tomorrow. Obviously he heard that I would be there, too...
Although to add to the good news, it looks as though I will be in the office next week, so I promise to have some good stories and mX quotes throughout the week next week!
And, as my final gift this evening, I managed to find the chicken commercial. I have added a link to the YouTube video beneath the Southern Swirl video. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think... Not that I really care, because I think it is hi-freaking-larious.
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