8 Down, 6 To Go!

It is really starting to feel like I write these countdown posts a lot more than once a week! The days are starting to fly by here. I can’t believe I am down to only 6 weeks left to work here! It’s weird – in some ways, I feel like I have been here a long time. But in other ways, I still feel like I just got here! And I know I have a lot left to do and see! Of course, the majority of my travel adventures will be once I am done with work. Sally and I are still trying to figure out where all we are going to go for the two weeks of holiday we have over here. But there is still so much to do and see!
Let’s see… I think my last post left you guys as I was headed out to dinner with what I call the North Sydney crew. Dinner was good. We went to a place called The Oaks. It is about 20 minutes from my flat, and I pass by it most every day on my way to work. I had noticed the signs out advertising that they show all of the Wallabies games, so I had wanted to try the place out. It always looks packed. And they are supposed to be well-known for their steaks. I found out from one of the guys I was out with that you have to cook the steaks yourself. Now, the cook it yourself thing seems to be pretty popular here for steaks. The pub in Canberra I went to a couple of times had the same thing. But at the pub in Canberra, you paid $8 on Monday and Tuesday to cook it yourself. The neighborhood pub I go to is $7.90 for cooked steak. At The Oaks, you pay something like $22 to cook it yourself. Seriously? $22 for me to make my own dinner? I’ll tell you – there are some interesting little surprises all around this city…
We all met up at 8 and had a few drinks. By about 9.15, a couple of us were really hungry, and decided to order food. Unfortunately, since we were sitting in the bar area (not really the restaurant area), the menu was limited. You pretty much could order pizza or appetizers. Fine, although the meat pie had my name all over it! So we went up to the bar and ordered; I think everyone got pizza. About 15-20 minutes later, one of the couples at the table got their pizza. The rest of us sat and waited. Another 20 minutes passed, and we were still waiting. So one of the girls flagged down a server and let him know we still had not gotten our food. (Because the 3 numbers sitting at the table didn’t symbolize anything, since he passed by and looked at them several times withouth saying anything.) The guy apologized and said he’d check on it. A couple of minutes later, the bar manager was at our table to follow up and apologize for the delay. He tried to explain, saying that all orders over number 90 did not get in to the kitchen. (We were all over 90.) Of course, the couple that got their food was number 94, so we all made jokes about it after the guy left. But he told us that we were getting some sort of free appetizer to make up for the delay. Although we were all hoping for a free round of drinks, at least it was something. 10-15 minutes later, our food came out. We were scarfing it down. The guy who had already eaten asked how it was. I told him the pizza was great, but that I was so hungry, they could have put cheese on cardboard, and I probably would have thought it was great. Then the free appetizer came out – some sort of garlic twist. One of the guys looked at it and laughed. I said, “I wonder if it is as bad as it looks.” So he picked up a piece, tried it, and said, “Oh, yeah, it’s terrible.” Of course, we all ate it, anyway. But nice to see that the thing we got free was crap. Brilliant!
Going home, since it was about 11.15, the bus service was limited. I decided that I would walk home, rather than standing in the cold for 30 minutes waiting for the next bus to come along. I was still wearing my work clothes and carrying my computer, since I had come to dinner straight from the office. And I’ll tell you, the shoes I had on were quite terrible for walking. After about 10 minutes, I thought a taxi might be a better idea, especially since it was a few miles up the road to my flat. So I hailed a cab and got a ride up to near my flat. The guy stopped, and the charge was something like $7.50. I handed the guy a $50, and apparently he did not have change. (As a note, everyone here has larger bills – it’s about all the ATMs spit out.) So he asked if I had anything smaller. I had a $5 and some change. He saw the $5 and told me he’d take whatever I had. I ended up having about another $1.50 in change, so the guy was really cool about it and said he’d rather be short than break a large bill. Okay, dude, whatever! So I guess I made a lucky pick when I hailed the taxi!
Friday morning comes along, and I decided that I was going to make the big jump. I wore jeans to work. Yeah, I know. I didn’t think I would do it, but today was one of the only Fridays I have left in the office, so I thought I would take full advantage. As weird as it was, it did seem to make the day feel a little less like a work day. The ironic thing? I say that, but I worked until about 8. Weird.
I rode the bus into the city (to get on a train) this morning. As we got to the first stop in the city, I looked over and saw a guy walking down the road. He was wearing a black leather jacket, and his jacket had a sticker on the back of it. It looked like a wide piece of masking tape. And there was something written on it in black marker. It was a funny little note. Something like: “My name is ---. Have a happy day!” The funny thing was that the guy didn’t look happy at all. I think he might have been having a bad day. So I had to wonder if he knew that the note was stuck on his back, and if it was just sheer irony that he had that sticker on that said to have a happy day.
The rest of day was pretty blah. I mean, I was busy working, but nothing too special. Although the Olympics were the talk of the office. Everyone here is quite proud of the female swimmers! They are calling them “The Golden Girls.” A couple of people were talking about Michael Phelps as I walked by, and pulled me into the conversation. Mom, thanks for the comment about the guy on the relay team who went to South. I was able to throw that fact into the conversation and impress everyone. The lady who I was talking to asked if the city would have a big parade for him when he came back home. I said, “Well, it’s not like they’ll have one for me when I come back. So I can’t be sure.” The guy who I was talking to laughed and made some crack about how everyone should celebrate accountants instead of Olympic athletes.
As I was leaving the office tonight, I had to move my things. The girl who usually sits at the desk where I have been sitting will be back from her annual leave on Monday, so I was relocated for the last few weeks of my secondment. No big deal, as I really didn’t have all that much stuff that I leave sitting on my desk. Now I just have to remember when the new desk is the next time I am in the office. Luckily it is right near where my other one was, or else I would probably get lost in the office trying to find it!
Even though it was kind of late, I took the ferry home tonight. I debated just finding a bus. But since I am not sure how I will get to work for the next few weeks, I am not sure how much longer I have to ride on the ferry. So I thought I would take advantage while I could. The decision was well worth it! The guy who was sitting behind me on the ferry played a harmonica most of the trip. I can honestly say that I have never had that experience before. I have heard people play guitar, violin, and some other random instruments. But never harmonica. And he was pretty good. I have no idea what he was playing, but it sounded good. I took off my iPod and listened to him for the ferry trip. Quite a cool experience!
So I got home and cooked a quick dinner. (My favorite – breakfast for dinner. Nothing like waffles and eggs at 9 pm!) And some Olympics excitement on TV. So as I wrap up this blog post, I’ll leave you guys with the usual mX update. That’s right – I managed to find a copy someone had left behind on the train tonight. So here are the best texts and the story of the day!
TEXT VENTS:
“To the cute guy usually wearing the red Vodafone jacket at Central in the morning. Are you gay?” – D., Penrith
“The robotic-sounding train voice-over guy is back. He’s seriously trying to trick us in to thinking he’s prerecorded. That sneaky sausage.” – Kailei, Cronulla
“It would have been nice to see out Aussie Olympic team dress up at the opening ceremony. They looked like a bunch of police trainees in those horrible blue tracksuits.” – Disappointed, Sydney
“To the passengers on the 6pm from Sydney terminal to Wyong who reserve seats on trains. Can you tell me where to purchase a ticket with a reserve seat? Or are those only for the inconsiderate jerks?” – Standing passenger, Hornsby
STORY OF THE DAY:
Once again, I have two.
The first comes from New York. A guy held up some banks in the city. Apparently he robbed banks while dressed in women’s clothing and a wig. It almost worked. Except for the fact that the guy had a huge nose – quite distinguishable, apparently, and no cross-dressing could hide the feature which eventually helped to catch him.
The second story comes from New Zealand. A woman there went out to dinner with her husband. She got up to go outside for a smoke, and came back to find her husband gone. She thought he had left to go out partying, and went home. She waited for him to return for 24 hours, and called the police. They found him in the restaurant bathroom, where he had died from choking on a piece of steak.