Karma Sucks

So today started off in the crapper. I guess I had too many good days in a row, so I was bound to have a bad morning, right? I got up and showered, and was getting dressed this morning when I heard a rip as I was putting on my shirt. Great. On the positive side, the rip was very small and was near a button hole, so it is really not noticeable. The only reason it ticked me off was because I am down to 6 dress shirts for work after last weekend’s washing machine debacle, and I really don’t want to be down one more! But the shirt is okay, and will hopefully hold up in the wash, so I am not too worried about it.

I decided to try a new route today. The main reason is because I found out last week that after a certain time on Friday nights, the buses really don’t run and the ferries are down to once an hour. This Friday is the office year-end party, so I wanted to see what some of my other options were in case I am out late on Friday night. I knew of one other option, and decided to try it. You basically ride the bus to the Harbour Bridge at Milson’s Point and get on a train to go across. I got off at what the sign said was “Milson” but apparently I got off too soon. I just started following people who looked dressed for work, and ended up being led below ground into yet another shopping mall.

Let me digress here for a minute... I don’t understand all of the shopping malls here. It is expensive as crap to live in Sydney. So where people find the money to go to these expensive boutiques in the mall is beyond me.

Anyway, so I walk through the mall and get to a train station. It was not Milson’s Point (I had been to that stop before), but I knew from the sign that I could still get back to the train stop by my office. Apparently I was just one stop up from where I had intended to be. Not so bad. But this train was packed. I ended up having to stand in the aisle (rather than the open area by the door) because it was so full. I looked down at the guy sitting next to me, and he was wearing a Duke sweatshirt. I almost punched him for wearing it, but thought better of it, figuring he was probably an Aussie, not an American. I figure since I am on the other side of the world, maybe people just don’t know any better over here. At least, that’s the belief I am going to hold on to.

So I get to the office and figure out that this new route to work saves me maybe 10 minutes on my commute, and is in no way as scenic as the other route. But if I need to be in early any time, I think this route is the one to take, since the ferry only runs every 30-40 minutes in the mornings. I manage to pack on to a loaded lift (sorry, elevator). I was standing in the front by the doors, and someone was getting off before me, so I stepped out to let her off in an attempt to be polite and courteous. As I step back on and the doors are closing, the girl next to me points down, and I see that my ear buds from my iPod had dropped down and were in the door. I gave them a little tug, but it was too late. The buds got ripped off as we started to move up, and I was just left with a couple of wires. I guess it serves me right, as I just had them draped across the holder on my bag. Although somewhat ironic since I was trying to do the professional thing and not have them in my ears as I rode up the lift. So, in an effort by karma to teach me a lesson (I’m still not sure what karma debt I am repaying here), I went to the iPod store at lunch and bought new earphones. If anything happens to them again, I am just going to have to go without. $48 Aussie to replace them – holy crap! (And I bought cheap ones!) Now you know what I mean by how expensive it is to live here. I think it is something like $30 US for the same thing!

On the up side, I did get to go to the June birthday celebration here this morning and eat some tasty carrot cake. I really dig these calorie-free birthday parties! (First off, carrot cake is a vegetable, so it is good for you. Plus it is a birthday celebration, and calories don’t count when you are celebrating. And I am at work, and if you eat at work (i.e. “working lunch”), the calories don’t count because you have to do it for your job.) So I guess the cake helped to make up for my morning.

So nothing big this afternoon, meaning that I have somehow gotten right with the world again. When I was leaving, I was on the elevator with a few people from work, and spoke briefly with one of the guys I met on Friday. After I stepped off the elevator and was walking through the lobby, a girl walked up next to me and said, “You’re one of the new secondees, right?” We started talking and walked together for a few blocks to catch our respective forms of public transportation. She was really nice. Her name is Pooja and she promised to tell me some places in Australia to go see while I am here. She has pretty cool accent , too. She was born in India, but moved here when she was 5 or so. So her accent is mostly Australian, but every once in a while you hear a little Indian pop into the conversation. In case you haven’t figured it out, I am highly entertained by the mixed accents here in Australia!

On the way home, I figure it is time that I get back into an exercise routine, aside from all the walking I do during my commute (in addition to the weightlifting required as I carry my laptop in my backpack on that commute each day). So I managed to do a short workout tonight using the exercise bands that my trainer, Erin, gave to me before I left. Then I walked over to the grocery store and bought up some stuff, and walked back home. Erin: Those stupid bands work. My arms were killing me as I had to carry 6 heavy grocery bags from the store to my house. Ouch!

Hughlene went home today, so I went home tonight to an empty apartment with no one cooking dinner. Yes, she spoiled me by starting dinner just before I would arrive home. Now I will have to get in the habit of cooking for myself in the evenings. Not a huge deal, and I am fully capable of it. But here’s the thing: The reason I have no storage space in my kitchen is because people here go to the grocery store daily and get food for dinner. So now, with my hour long commute and busy season quickly approaching, I will have to start working in trips to the grocery store for food. But I think I am somewhat stocked up on groceries for now. I am hoping that the only things I will have to buy on a less-than-weekly basis are whatever meats I will eat for dinner.

Random thought of the day: I learned tonight that BBQ sauce here is different than BBQ sauce in the US. It’s not bad, just different. I can’t describe it; kind of like BBQ sauce as we know it, combined with A-1 steak sauce. But it will help add some flavor (whatever that flavor might be) when I have to start eating leftovers. It makes the chicken less dry, anyway... (Those of you who know my eating habits know that I hate leftovers.) So I ate dinner and watched the rugby game on TV: State of Origin. This thing was described to me as similar to the Carolina-Duke rivalry. I had my doubts. But do you know what? It was close! There were some dirty hits (from the “Duke” team, obviously), the score was pretty close, and the game was pretty intense. Apparently, the teams are made up of the best players from New South Wales (the state where Sydney is) versus the best of Queensland (the state where Brisbane is, just above NSW). Although the interesting part was that the rules for this match were a lot different from the rules of the Wallabies match that I watched on Saturday night. I have no idea why. So since my only non-work goal while here was to understand the rules of rugby, I now have to expand that goal and learn two (maybe more) different sets of rules of rugby! And it’s not like American League/National League baseball rules. I mean the way they handle basic things (like the ball going out of bounds) is completely different. Who knew?

So here’s your mX update for today:
No news on my boy Rodney. Maybe he’ll post something today or tomorrow. Or maybe the soap opera is over, and I will never know how it ended. But if you guys remember my post from a couple of days ago, there was a guy who went off on some homeless man who begs for money in one of the tunnels. This posting from today is why I find this section of the paper so entertaining. People go back and forth debating stuff all of the time!
“Roo, give the homeless dude a break. Just because he has new shoes doesn’t mean he has a roof over his head. If you can’t abide giving him your hard-earned money, buy him food instead. It will melt a little frost from your heart.” From Deb in Campbelltown.

For you reality show junkies, Big Brother used to be a big show over here. (It was here before it was in the US.) “Will someone in authority at Network 10 please euthanase Big Brother.” From Hedda in Kirribilli. (Note: I keep all original spelling consistent with what is printed.)

And one other good one for today:
“To myself. Remember to call mum and see what’s for dinner.” From Joey in Fairfield.

Have a great day, everyone!