Day1, snow and my face is frozen

Snow! I woke this morning after a night of beer and burgers with Shannon, and it is snowing. So good…

I took the advice of some seasoned travelers and tried to just sleep normal hours, so I think I went to sleep at about 11 last night… or there abouts. Woke up at 11 thismorning. Good thing we didn’t get the bus today, cause we would have missed it. Today is a day of wandering around, maybe catching a movie. We went and got breakfast/lunch at a cool little restaurant/diner place, now we’re just back at shannons room doing a few things before we go back out into the cold.

I love it.

Overseas rocks!

Blurred Horizons

Just a thought as I stare out the window of this American airlines flight to Toronto… it seems , today at least that the horizon is no more than a lighter, hazy mist in the general area of between earth and sky… no sharp line… I don’t know if it’s the weather, or if its pollution, I really don’t know… but it came to me a sort of thought… I guess… that it is sort of appropriate for my first day of my trip… yeah, I can see roughly where its going to end, but its hazy, there’s a line, but its not defined… clouds and pollution blur the details… I can see the basic outline of the landscape…

*Shrugs*

Who knows… But its fucken exciting…

Legs 2 and 3...

Leg 2. Melbourne to LA.

Flight from Adelaide was completely uneventful… I did find that my Scull Candy noise cancelling headphones work wonderfully well. Very happy with them. I also found that short flight entertainment is imensley boring. My new book “Anansi Boys” by Neil Gaiman has started well tho, so that’s encouraging.

I am on hold with Telstra trying to change my phone plan, but I don’t think they’ve decided not to staff many people on boxing day - fair enough, I guess, it might cost them money… first call for my flight has just been announced, so more when I get on the plane.

On the plane:

And its not just any plane, it’s a big red one with aborigional artwork all over it… it looks really cool. But the seat is uncomfortable – and I’ve only been here for an hour, I can only imagine in another 14 how my arse will be feeling. One of the disadvantages of a window seat – you cant easily get up… obviously having a wall to lean against when you want to sleep is a huge advantage, but otherwise, its just another cramped seat on a massive red plane.

I could have guessed, I have a child, who supprisingly is not screaming sitting in the seat behind me. He is – however fairly regularly kicking me in the kidneys so that should be a hoot... I’m sitting next to a young couple who seem really nice, also on their way to Toronto.

Going through customs was ridiculously simple and no where near as scary as some people have made it out to be. Although it is meant to be worse on the other end of the Pacific where supposedly the Americans are rude and blunt… *Shrugs* that’s their problem… I got about $450 back at the tourist rebate scheme counter, which I am thrilled about. Everyone so far has been nice. All I have to worry about is my arse, and my kidneys.

The seats even have their own little screens in the headrests. Games, and movies all at my fingertips. And I wont even have to use my laptop…

Anyway – back to my book… more later in the flight.

My little lcd monitor in front of me tells me that there is about eight and a half hours until we reach our destination. We just experienced a quite wonderful sunset, but because of how fast we are going and the direction we are traveling, it really didn’t last long enough. Time enough however to have everyone scrambling for their cameras in time to get a photo. And now it is dark.

The kid behind me has just quietened after a good hour and a half of screaming and kicking my chair.

Looks like I just got to the toilet in time, as the line up has got ridiculous…

Probably should try to get a bit of sleep at some point… really don’t know what the best way to do this to avoid jet lag is… its only 5.30 Adelaide time, but sitting does make you tired. .. I might listen to some music for a while, maybe read some more… not much more I can say… I might even watch a movie until I fall asleep…

More later. *yawns*

Leg 3.

US customs, while slow and long winded, was relatively painless. And after getting into LA at about 7.45am and wading thru the fore-mentioned beurocacy, we were running late for our Toronto flight. (I say “we” I should clarify– the young couple from Melbourne who are working in Canada. We’ve been getting along quite well, we stood in line at customs for over an hour and they let me use their luggage trolley, and chatted: was good. Would like to catch up with them for a drink when I get to Toronto, they seem nice, and they said they don’t go out much)

I got a last call for “Masson” or “Manson” so that was funny. Because of this I had to re-check in, and the lady at the desk asked me if I wanted an emergency exit isle which has more leg room, which I was thrilled about, until the ginormous guy came and sat next to me, oozing out over both armrests and complaining about how cramped these smaller plains are. Then settled in and literally 2 minutes after take off, while we were still very steeply climbing, was snoring loudly and obnoxiously. So… screaming kid kicking me in the back for 14 hours, and now being squished against the wall by an overweight computer nerd, and hoping he doesn’t roll over on me and kill me for the next 5. So I have heaps of leg room, but no room for my body...

Great.

My first impression of LA as I stared down at the “Google-Earth”esque view was that of a massive computer chip… very ordered little squares, with the occasional dampener or electrode of a high-rise building. Then it got more into the hilly bits, which were quite nice, massive houses etc, but roads that look extremely poorly planned, winding all over the damned place… I guess its so the zillionaires can see how well their cars handle on windy roads… Crazy… Other than that, I don’t think it really feels that much different to the southern hemisphere. Fistly I guess cause another Qantas flight arrived at nearly exactly the same time as ours, and the whole terminal ws filled with Australians, and secondly, cause I didn’t’ go outside… it was just like Australia, except with a few American accents… and thirdly, cause I didn’t go to the toilet to see how high the water was, and if it spins the wrong way down the drain…

And its funny how some thing said with an American accent can sound hilarious… especially – and im not being racist in the least here - the black American stereotype way of talking… From what I’ve seen its not a stereotype at all, its true… imagine, if you will, a very large black American woman, security guard/customs officer, nice as pie, smiling at everyone, and as another security guard walks past, she calls out “hey! Tyrone, yo squeekin boy!” cracked me up… he had a squeaky shoe… *coughs* guess you had to be there…

Anyway, back to sleep I think…

I’ve had a chance to talk to the big guy sitting next to me… a doctor from Toronto, who’s just been to Brisbane for a day for something to do with doctoring… he works in Canada’s version of the Royal Flying Doctors… been interesting…

More soon...

Day of Departure – Leg 1 awakenings.

Adelaide to Melbourne.

My alarm went off at 5am this morning. I turned over, moaned, and pushed my wake up time back another hour… I woke up at 5.55 am got up and had my shower. At about 6.03 I heard the house vibrating and realized that I hadn’t disabled the alarm on my phone, and it had been going off for a few minutes. You have to realize something about my mobile phone alarm – it is un-relenting. It will beep at you in progressively more persistent ear splitting tones, until you get to it and turn it off, or until the battery runs flat. I very rarely even let it beep once, the first half vibrate is normally enough to snap me awake, that’s how light a sleeper I am. Having said that, if I am snoring it doesn’t wake me up… why is that I wonder?

Anyway, I woke up at about 6.30 well after my shower and last minute rushing around was over, and waited for a while until I felt it was sufficiently close enough to 7am to wake up Sunil, who had very kindly offered to take me to the airport. Thus saving me about $25 in taxi fees. As we drove to the airport we chatted a bit… I told him about my interesting week… frustratingly interesting, both good and bad, and neither of which I will recount for the world… as I’ve said before, Life goes on…

The day has dawned cool and clear. I’m glad its not the 40+ that I predicted, because I am wearing enough winter clothes to keep me warm (I hope) in the minus whatever temperatures that are bound to greet me when I get to Toronto in 30 something hours. This has served 2 purposes – first is that I can claim as much of the stuff as possible that I’m wearing at customs on the way out of the county in Melbourne, and secondly is that I could close my bag. It is very full. I am hoping to see it again in north America….

And here I am… sitting at gate 22 at Adelaide airport, waiting the last few minutes before departure, an empty take away coffee cup on the seat next to me… a little nervous. But still not fully comprehending where I will wake up next… sweating lightly in my Icebreaker merino undergarments…

More later.

A Serendipitous Christmas Day; the emotional eye of the storm.

It really really doesn’t feel like Christmas at all…

Christmas drinks at work were good last night, and I caught up with Damien, my best friend from primary school that I haven’t seen in probably about 10 years… so that was good. I got a card from my work mates and $160, which I was chuffed with… I was expecting maybe $50 or so… it seems I am reasonably well liked… monetarily at least.

All in all, life goes on… my Serendipitousness continues… and I’m finding myself in a quite content and peaceful state of mind. Maybe it’s the eye of the storm, goodness knows the last few months have been anything but emotionally calm, and who knows what the next few months will bring… Maybe I’m subduing all of my emotions and fears and hoping they go away. Right now I feel very little… which is probably a bad thing, because I really should be packing…

I would just like to add one thing before I go and have a shower and maybe think about packing some stuff… (And thank you to Caroline for my word of the day – Serendipity) I’d just like to say that timing sucks… but life is too short for regrets.

Here’s to Serendipity! May it continue to fill our lives with confusion and happiness! Cheers!




If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties. - Sir Francis Bacon

If you had to remember a city, today would be the day to remember it.

I have probably said it before, but I really like Adelaide. Today was a really nice summers day, mid 30s at a guess, warm breeze, lots of smiling faces. I have spent the day not packing, I might get a chance to do some tonight, but I don’t know… I think having everything organized so early has given me nothing to worry about, I’ll probably leave the packing ‘til the last minute, just so I don’t feel so anal.

Anyway, I’ve spent the day in the usual manner, mostly wandering around the city. Got a hair cut… last one in Australia for a while, and I made it practical (so I can wear a beanie) yet fashionable (I paid $59 for it… better f@%#*g look good). I also got a message from the travel agent saying that my Contiki tour stuff has come in (good thing it came in today, wouldn’t have had a chance later in the week…) that came in a really cool document pouch thing, which is a shame, cause I had already bought something that would do the same job… *shrugs*.

Then I sort of started walking in the general direction of the river, but for one reason or another (main reason is I couldn’t be bothered) I turned around and decided to head home, figured I could write my entry from the comfort of my air conditioned house, laying on my bed… but I got to the parklands at east terrace and it was nice and shady and so very very green and I decided to find a piece of grass and stop. So I’ve stopped.

So other than that; I’ve drunk 3 bottles of green iced tea. Which I have grown a taste for. And I’ve been walking everywhere in my crocs. Which now that they have stopped rubbing the top of my feet off, have become quite comfortable, and only leave black marks everywhere, which is better than blood any day of the week. And I’m trying to not think of how close I am to leaving… as excited as I am, its all a little daunting. I don’t think I’m afraid, but I’m definitely nervous.

In other news, I’ve found the program that I’m going to use to do my photos with and send them home, had a play with that yesterday, all pretty straight forward. I also downloaded the program that the Uni uses for the digital imaging part of their course. It’s a really cool program by Google called sketchup. And it’s FREE! Or at least the basic version is. Have a play @ www.sketchup.com . Good fun, and there’s a really good tutorial at the start that gives you some really good grounding. Also my “soup-n-salad” looks like it will be in at Crumpler before I go, which I’m happy about.

And that’s about it, I’m going to go read for a bit, and then continue not packing probably…

Entry 2 - A Giant Mug with a Bagel, and Sand Castles in the Mall.

So….

I think interesting is the best word to describe what happened today. Joan Lesley “international psychic” (I assume psychics aren’t limited by international travel) on first impressions, quite an ordinary older lady, sort of like a young grandmother in characteristics and familiarity… with a bachelor of psychology. She said some very interesting things. To start with she asked when I was born, instantly she was saying that I’d had a tough year…(after confirming what everyone this year has told me – that I don’t look 27) she asked when my ex was born (I didn’t tell her I had an ex – but I guess these days, who doesn’t?) and I told her. She proceeded to describe her and her entire family to me in fairly accurate depth and detail – even to the point of saying that the parents were into something like spiritual or religious or something (they are pastors). Spooky. Anyway, without getting too nasty, she told me exactly what she thought of her, what she’s like and even gave a sort of description of her. All very accurate. Then she asked me about who I was seeing now, and again, without going into specifics, told me that she liked her. A lot. I replied that so do I. and she asked why I was so worried about it, etc etc… don’t want to jinx what she said, but it was all very interesting. Told me about my traveling… said that the New Year was going to be awesome and that the next 5 or 6 years would be fantastic for me, a whole new start etc… Maybe in part I heard what I wanted to hear, maybe she used her psychology degree to read me more than her cards… but there was definitely some interesting things said. She finished the session by calling in the girl from the office and telling her to do some “cleansing and balancing” and ‘cause its Christmas, not to charge me for it (she was a master of the add on sale) and then she said to do something else which I couldn’t pronounce and under her breath said “and only charge him half price for that” *rolls eyes*. Anyway… they took me to the back room and told me to take off my shoes and socks and roll up the bottom of my pants, then I laid on my back on a massage table, they placed a weighted blindfold over my eyes and stuck some headphones on my ears and played elevator music to me with a background of twittering birds and heavy rain. I like rain, but the foot massage was even better. They did some other things that I’m assuming cleansed and healed and balanced me, but I would have paid $30 just for them to do the foot massage for half an hour. It was good. When they’d finished they suggested that I had a lot of pent up stress and that I should definitely come back before Christmas for another healing… I told them I was working right up until I leave and bid them thank-you and goodbye. One interesting thing is that Joan taped the session. That’s right. Tape. I don’t own a tape deck. In fact I know very few people that own tape decks. . . I think its time for her to go digital, I should have tried to sell her a CD recorder… with an extended warranty (at half price). As I left I was told I should drink plenty of water and juice and not cross my arms or legs.

Make what you will of that.

One interesting thing I did notice was the presence of a lot of Catholic symbolism; posters, wall hangings, statues etc. I’m not quite sure what the Catholics would think of that, especially when at one point Joan said that the Archangel Michelangelo (or something) was standing at my right shoulder protecting me… I mean, that’s nice of him, but I’m sure he has more important things to attend to… like peeling God’s grapes or something…

Then my schedule led me to the gym where I had an appointment to cancel my membership. The lady came over to me and asked me my name… gave me a puzzled look, went away, came back and told me that my membership was cancelled in July, and that I hadn’t paid anything since then. I’ll have to check my bank accounts, and to be fair, I haven’t actually checked that it has been coming out, I just assumed. But I never cancelled it, and according to the normal rules of gym membership, if you do cancel you should still have to pay out the rest of the 12 month membership costs, and I didn’t. So. That’s good news… I’ve saved several hundred dollars without actually knowing it. It doesn’t really reflect in my bank balance and I don’t know what I’ve done with the extra $39 a fortnight, but I am glad that it hasn’t gone to a membership that I haven’t been using.

Then while waiting for 6 o’clock to roll around I found a Starbucks and got a “Venti” mug of the coffee of the day, which was Verona… a dark chocolaty sort of coffee in a ginormous mug. They also had bagels there, and as I’m going to the states soon, I thought I probably should try one. I picked a Blueberry bagel, and after electing to pay the 75c for light cream cheese I watched as the girl battled with a bread knife to try to saw thru the dense donut shaped bun. I then waited 10 minutes for her to remember that after it had been toasted, she’s actually meant to give it to me, and smiled as she handed me the luke-warm bagel and said if it wasn’t hot to tell her and she could do me another one. Not being one to complain I said it was fine and sat down to my bagel and cream cheese and enormous mug of chocolaty coffee… and wrote some of this entry. I realized at one point that I was sitting with my legs crossed and quickly un-crossed myself.

Then I left for the Architecture info night. On the way I passed some very cool sand castle sculptures with a Christmas theme. Very cool, I guess if you have to make snow men out of something when its 40C outside, it might as well be sand…

The architecture information was very interesting… I really felt like I was keen to be back in that environment of learning and study. Good thing about the course is that it involves a lot of hands on stuff, very few exams and a lot of group work. All of which suits me fine. The model building looks really great, and there are a lot of excursions and field trips to go on… wait and see if I get in I guess.

Time to head home, the wind is starting to pick up and it’s getting quite cool (nothing to what I’ll be experiencing in a couple of weeks – but enough to raise the hairs on my arms and harden my nipples)

Anyway, I guess if I’ve gotten anything out of today, it’s the thought that if you are what you drink – then I’m a giant mug with a blueberry bagel…





Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing. - Randy K. Milholland

And it rolls around again - First Entry: 12 Midday...

Going to be a fairly full day today, shopping this morning was interesting in itself. I took a backpack and filled it with all the liquids and heavy stuff so my arms didn’t drop off… but it was seriously about 15 kg I reckon. That was my second workout for the day, as I finally motivated myself enough this morning to go for a run!

In about an hour I’ve got to leave for town… got that appointment with the psychic… that will be very interesting. They told me to have questions to ask her, and photos of people you want to know stuff about. Some things I think are probably best not to know, so I think I’ll just let her tell me what I “want” to hear… that in itself should be interesting. A few of my cousins have been to see various “seers” and have come back with spine tingling hair raising revelations or predictions… so… yeah… I’ll let you know.

Then I have to go to the gym and get them to cancel my membership. Such a waste of money that’s been. Should just tell people to get glandular fever – that helped me loose weight, since then I’ve never felt better. And I’ve started running, I honestly think that’s the key – exercise… stuff diets…

Then at 6 I’ve got an information night at Adelaide Uni about the Architecture course I’ve applied for. Don’t find out whether I’ve gotten in until about the 16th of January. And I’ll be somewhere in the US at that time…

But right now I have to go down and see if I can figure out how to extract the power supply from my PC… and take that to the place I bought the computer from on the way into town. Hopefully it’s that that’s not working, cause I really can’t’ be stuffed carrying the whole tower down there. And I’ve only got one more day off work before I leave, so I don’t have time anyway…

More later in the day.

Aimless Wanderings... Results and Christmas Shopping.

So I got thru a day off without blogging… amazing. I think the main reason for this would have been the fact that I was actually uncharacteristically busy. I woke up at about 8, which is about normal for my days off... unfortunately gone seem to be the days of me sleeping in until 11am (or staying in bed until 5!) I got up and once showered and dressed I went to do my weeklyish grocery shopping. Came back, pottered around the house for a bit, and then called Amber, spoke to her for a satisfying and conversation filled hour or so… maybe a bit more, then decided that I would move my room aground.

I’ve been in my room now for nearly a year and its been the same the whole time, on Tuesday I moved it all around, made myself a heap more room, and only get to enjoy it for another 3 weeks… wish I’d done it months ago…it looks good… Bed in the corner, view out the double door onto the balcony if the curtains are open... yeah... looks good.

Then I checked the mail, in it was my stat test results. I did quite well, 166/200 and better than more then 90% of the rest of the people that have sat the test. Hopefully it’s enough to get me into architecture… I think the first round of offers come out tomorrow. I'll let you know.

Anyway, after that I went into town, didn’t take my notebook cause I had my bar course afterwards. So I wandered around town for a while… somehow hurting my leg in the process… felt like I’d strained a ligament of something on the side of my right knee, which was annoying.. but when I went to get something to eat from Woolies for my bar course dinner, I got some pain killers and some fish oil tablets… took 2 pain killers and a fish oil tablet, then another 2 painkillers about an hour later when it still wasn’t feeling any better… and its come good… still on the fish oil… someone told me it was good for aches and pains and stuff… and I don’t know if it’s the tablets or the fact that I’m just not in any pain, but… well, I’m not in any pain…

Went and booked a session with a psychic next week… will let you know how that goes…

Then I went to my bar course…last session and practical test. Got my results for the written test – got 48/50. And as happy as I am with that, it’s really not very surprising considering, as I said, that the teacher was going around giving us help… I think I did quite well in the prac. Didn’t spill the tray, poured 3 passable beers, messed up my fruit cup a little bit, but not too bad… think I did alright in everything else…

Then walking home at about 8.45 down Rundle Street, I walked past the nova cinema. Well, that’s not right, I didn’t walk past it, I walked into it… saw that a movie that I sort of wanted to see was on in about half an hour, and decided that since I’d had such a good day, and that it was a Tuesday so the tickets were cheap, I would watch a movie. The movie was A Scanner Darkly… interestingly made movie… cell shaded over actual filmed footage… strange effect, sort of messes with your head a bit… took a while for my head to get adjusted to the style. But over all, money well spent, and a nice end to a very nice day.

Yesterday at work was good too... the last few days at work have actually been really good… lots of people realizing its Christmas and deciding that they finally want to buy a TV… and I’ve found myself using the line “I’m leaving in 3 weeks, I want to do as many deals as I can before I go… blah blah blah” seems to be working, cause the last 2 days I’ve worked, I reckon I’ve done nearly 10G a day… so that’s good. If I can do that sort of thing every day before I leave, it should help the bank balance a little bit at least. I think I only have maybe 2 more days off work before Christmas...

Christmas shopping is hard…

Anyway, it seems like I’m really just dribbling today… no real continuity to my thoughts… Today I’ve done a bit of Christmas shopping (not much mind you…) wandered around town as aimlessly as my thoughts… it’s a nice day again, and again I’ve found myself down at the river front… watching some people building something on the grass… looks like maybe the flooring for a massive pavilion or something… anyway… enough for now… I’m reading a really good book at the moment and I want to get back to it…


See ya.



No degree of dullness can safeguard a work against the determination of critics to find it fascinating. - Harold Rosenberg

Another Day Off...

Another day off, and I think I’ve established the fact that I don’t necessarily only write on my days off, although I feel a certain obligation to do so, but I’ll write when and where I feel like it. So there…

Today, once again, I find myself sitting on the banks of the Torrens, listening to the sounds of a city; traffic, sirens, water fountains, giggling school girls feeding a flock of assorted birds (ducks, seagulls, half a dozen black swans and a grumpy pelican) and feeling, over all, quite content. The wind is starting to pick up however and I think I see rain on the way. At the first sign I’ll be packing up and heading home, it was in the mid to high 30’s when I left just after lunch, its now probably under 20 and clouding over quite heavily. I’d love to say that I’d see another thunderstorm, but I don’t feel that tingle in the air…

This particular spot along the Torrens is a little bit further up than last time, across the river I can see Adelaide oval where tomorrow the second Ashes Test match will be played... to my left are the entertainment and convention centers… quite nice architecturally speaking, and certainly are distinctive features of the Adelaide river front “skyline” not that they’re very tall, but then again, not many of the Adelaide buildings are. To my right is the king William street bridge into north Adelaide and I can just see the steeple of the big cathedral that marks the entrance to that suburb sticking out above the trees in one of the parks. The “Pop-eye” river boats have been slowly cruising up and down as I watch, tourists waving vaguely to everyone on the river bank, taking photos of people they will never meet, in a city that they probably will only ever see the surface of… Pity…

I really don’t have much to say today… I met a few people in the mall that I knew, one girl from the bar course stopped to chat. She missed the test on Tuesday, 'cause she’s just got a job at one of the big department stores and was asked to work late. I told her that she’d probably be able to sit it this coming Monday, cause the teacher said that if anyone failed it they’d be able to re-sit it then… not that I think anyone would fail it… it was pretty straight forward, we were given 2 hours, and most people were out inside an hour. On top of that the teacher was wandering around the room giving anyone hints on any questions they were having problems with. So that was pretty funny. The other person I met was a guy I went to school with, who didn’t go to the reunion, and he spent about 10 minutes grilling me on what it was like. Didn’t want to be rude and till him he should have just come… but I think he saw it in my face cause he said he’d definitely come to the next one – whether that’s the 15 or 20 year reunion is obviously yet to be decided. I hope they do a 15… it was really good to see everyone.

I think I left the house today with the intention of maybe going to the zoo for a wander around… I did the other thing I was going to do – that’s pay my Contiki tour off, and then wandered thru the university grounds in the rough direction of where I thought I’d seen the zoo once. I knew it was somewhere along the Torrens so I headed that way. I think I smelt it before I saw it… found an entrance and saw the price of $18 per adult and thought I might leave it for when I’ve got a full day to waste. No point spending that much just on an afternoon, so one day in the next few weeks I’ll write an entry from the zoo… maybe pack a lunch, and take a few drinks so I don’t have to pay the exorbitant amount that they are guaranteed to charge once you’re captive inside their gates. Like a lemur or something made to eat whatever they have and pay whatever the price…

Anyway, I think I’m forgetting to do something… not sure what yet… I’m sure I’ll remember after I had to do it… *shrugs* the air is starting to warm up… maybe we will get a thunderstorm after all…

…

Home now, just to wrap up the day… Did get a thunderstorm, just a little one, and then some really heavy rain. But with-in half an hour it had dried up again and the sun was out. Heard on the news tonight that it only got down to 29.6C last night… no wonder I didn’t think the air conditioner was working so well… that’s the hottest spring night on record in Adelaide... *shrugs* the change has come through now and its cooled off… big day tomorrow, 12 hour shift at work… might get an early night.

Thanks for coming… Have a nice day!

If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it. - Arthur Schopenhauer

Hot milk on a hot night - no sleep again...

So last night was the 4 week mark till I leave. Didn’t sleep well last night… not sleeping so far tonight either. And I tried… I really did… last night I think I hit deep sleep at about 4.30am… roughly… and I had my alarm set for 5.30 to go for a run… which I haven’t done in ages. Maybe that’s one of the problems… too much energy ‘cause I’ve not been running… hmm…anyway, I got up at 7.

Lots on my mind though. Yeah, lots. But I don’t want to labor you with my concerns, suffice to say that some things seem to go thru my head more than others when I lay in bed at night, staring at the place where roughly I would see the ceiling if it was light.

Have tried the old warm milk again, and it seems to be working; my eyes are getting heavy and squinty. Or it could just be that my laptop screen is too bright for using in a pitch black room. I’m going to say it’s the milk…

Thinking about going to the gym tomorrow… also thinking of riding my bike into work… also thinking of getting up at 5.30 and going for a run… Thinking in general that I’d like to be as fit as possible before I go away. I spoke today to a guy at work who’s from Toronto, and asked him what I should expect of winter over there, he said it’s quite likely that this is going to be another mild winter, and to only expect an average of about -20C. He said (in response to my look of astonishment mixed with a liberal amount of disbelief and a healthy dash of “get lost”) that it’s nothing for it to get down to -35C or there abouts on a bad day… SO… That’s good then… good thing I got this Ice Breaker stuff… I just hope it works as well as the price gives me the hope that it will. But yeah, I don’t think I’ll exactly get a chance to go out for a run at any point over this winter, so I’d like to be as healthy and physically fit as possible before I plunge into the icy winter of the northern hemisphere.

My situation puts me in mind of those slightly eccentric Scandinavians that sit in a sauna for a while and then run naked and jump in an icy pond while whipping themselves with birch branches… except for the nakedness and whipping (I think…). Leaving mid-summer (there’s a pretty good chance it will be in the mid 40s here) and arriving in mid winter… hmmm good idea that one… *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I’m going to try to sleep again…

‘Night.




Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"/ Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
- Charles M. Schulz

Reunions (opinions, alcohol, and hangovers)

Where do you start when talking about people you haven’t seen in 10 years? Some people change, some people don’t. I guess that’s the way life is.

I guess my weekend started on Thursday when we drove from Adelaide to Whyalla. Dave, a mate from work has just got a transfer to the Whyalla Harvey Norman store and was starting on Friday, and offered to drive me up. So that was good… both of us had been out the night before for his farewell with a whole bunch of people…. That was a fun night (and having remembered it now – I should say my weekend started on Wednesday night…) It was an interesting evening. For starters; everyone was in a very strange mood… a mixture of depression and frustration seemed to hang over the group like a prickly fog, straining people to breaking point in some cases… tears were shed, walls were punched, stomachs were pumped… funny to say that it was a good night with all that hanging over it, but it really was… the pinnacle of the night was the Hakka performed by one of the guys who is of Maori decent. Really powerful. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, the Hakka is the traditional dance done at the beginning of most of New Zealand’s sporting forays to try to intimidate the opposition. Australia’s version is a little more relaxed… we just stand there and shrug, have a beer maybe, and then beat them at most things anyway. (I say most – and I’m really only having a dig guys… take it easy)

On a side note to do with New Zealand – I have a few relatives over there… last time I went over there I was surprised by how many jokes the Kiwis have about us Aussies… to the point that I found a book titled “New Zealand’s favorite jokes about Australia” which I bought and read. When I asked my uncle why this was the case, I think he answered me with a joke about Australians…at the end of which he said, “c’mon you must have a few jokes about kiwis, tell us one” To which I replied “well, there’s the ones about the sheep, but you’ve got exactly the same ones about us and sheep, so they don’t really count, to tell you the truth, we don’t think about you often enough to make up jokes…” I think he was quite shocked. Honestly though, why make up jokes about them when all we need to do is play them in cricket for a good laugh.

ANYWAY

So, got to Whyalla Thursday afternoon went for a swim that night (the pool is kept to an awesome temperature of about 30C). I spent Friday morning in the pool, and then in my continued and as yet un-completed search for a hat. Friday afternoon I called an old mate from school – Alberto (Fonz) Salatino and arranged to catch up for a beer that night – just a couple, don’t want a big one, reunion tomorrow, yeah right. Then I called Donna and she and Pam were going out as well (Apparently so Don could escape her grandmother’s tango lessons) so we all went out “for a couple of drinks” at about 8.30. I think we got home at about 1.30. Met some more people from school while we were out and ended up having a really good night. And I woke up without a hangover, which was awesome.

The day of the reunion dawned and the temperature quickly headed up to the expected maximum of 36C, and then kept climbing to about 42C. The meeting place was our old school for a tour around to see what had and hadn’t changed, but I think the highlight was watching people rock up and walk into the staff room. Being judged by how the years had treated them. The tour was interesting, but I think most people were over it before it started... it really was just too bloody hot to be wandering around a school that’s mostly made of concrete. But anyway, it was interesting to see all the changes that have happened since we were there, I tell you what, these kids have everything. The Home economics set up is an ACTUAL kitchen, run by an ACTUAL chef! They have a music room now, the woodwork shop is pristine, every student has their own email address and access to broadband… crazy stuff… but good on ‘em, you have to keep up to date with the world, and I guess even schools are competitive, if you want the best students, you should have the best facilities.

By the time the tour had finished, needless to say, everyone wanted a drink. So we headed to the New Whyalla (once known as the Gowrie Hotel). Drinking started at 3pm. I remember the vast majority of the night, there are very few photos on my camera that I don’t remember taking. I guess there are stories I could recount, or people I could talk about, but I don’t think I will… I think I’ll leave it by saying that I think everyone had a good night, weather it ended at 8pm or 4.30 in the morning as it did for me… falling asleep on the floor in Pam’s hotel room. Not very comfortable carpet… not very comfortable at all… I’m sure everyone will remember the night for different reasons…

Morning was a time I will leave to your imaginations, but I was not a very well boy… very glad that I had changed my bus ticket from leaving at 10am to 12… and even gladder that it could be pushed back to 3. Yeah… not very well at all…

Now I’m on a bus on my way home, mostly full of kids on their way to “schoolies” which is the big party for kids just finishing year 12. Sort of funny … What can I say? I sort of feel that some words would be appropriate… To everyone just finishing year 12 – keep in touch with your friends, even if you move away, make the effort. In the end friends are all we have in life…Stay excited with life, if you feel it’s getting stale, mix it up. Have plans, and then break them. Have Ideals, morals and expectations of yourself and try to live by them, but don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes – everyone does… that’s what life is about… Take your time… if you can live without a car do it! Try to stay fit. I guess in the end, live your life, it’s yours to live. Just remember that the next 10 years will go by very very fast.

Peace out.

Addendum: Itchy Ponderings on a Hot Night…

I made several mistakes tonight. The first one was to sit in the living room for too long once the house became empty. The second one was having my music on random. And the third mistake I made was to open my bedroom door to the balcony.

It is a hot night. Absolutely gorgeous. The sort of night that makes you wish you had someone by your side to soak it up with. I sat in the living room and my brain started working. I wont go into or on about the details, leave it at saying that no one is meant to be alone… we are social creatures and as much as we might thrive on being alone (as I do most of the time, I enjoy being by myself; my company is as good as 90% of any of the people I’ve ever met) we all crave someone to be with. Saying you don’t miss something ‘till its gone doesn’t do it justice either. Some things are great to experience by yourself and relate to other people (my trip is on the whole going to be a huge growing experience for me and something I have to do alone) But I think life just isn’t always complete unless you have shared experience with someone you… Anyway, I wasn’t going to go on about it, so I’ll stop there.

In my slightly somber state I decided I would retreat to my bed room where I could read or listen to music or something to keep my over active mind occupied. I-Tunes had different ideas about that however and I walked up the stairs (and the drifting and haunting melodies of Josh Pyke wafted down to meet me… ) to the words “so we ask these questions, then cover our ears, but I think a question un-answered is, much worse than an answer we don’t want to hear, when your silence grows wings, and your doubts start to travel now, scenes between the virtual and real they unravel now…” what can I say to that? It almost speaks my neuroses to the letter…

So in that frame of mind I took a deep breath and kept walking to the door facing the balcony at the front of the house, looked outside, saw a beautiful evening and opened the door. Thinking that standing on the balcony in the warmth might make me feel better… I stood on the balcony in the warmth. *coughs* it was so nice I even went back inside and grabbed my good camera and the wide angle lens to take a couple of snaps… but I soon found that its impossible to take a photo that truly conveys a warm night. Above is the best I could do… photos are cold things… images that capture the moment, but you have to be there to capture the feeling of the moment. It was a nice evening. We all know the deep down joy and fuzzy feelings of a warm, slightly humid night (until you try to sleep anyway) maybe attach your feelings to my photo to get an idea. Now add to this feeling the sudden realization that you’ve been bitten in about 8 very painful places by large mosquitoes… just above the fingernail on my left ring finger, above the knuckle on my left middle finger, the inside of my wrist, the back of my neck, and the back of my legs were all targets for the buggers… if there’s an insect that I hate as much as any its mosquitoes. Don’t like flies or cockroaches much… but in general they don’t bite you and suck your blood…

Anyway… that’s been my night… not terrible, but not great… I’ll leave you with the words of the song that’s just decided to play on I-Tunes.

“They’re calling out c’mon lets go, but I’m miles away to a year before…. Think I’d like to stay a minute longer, would you like to stay a minute longer, If you’d like I’ll stay a minute longer…” A Minute Longer – Stereophonics

A Difficult Night, the STAT Test and Retail Frustration.

Last night I woke up at 1.30am, went down stairs, warmed up a mug of milk and seriously considered putting on some pants and wandering the night in search of the alarm that has been going non-stop for 3 days… Several options occurred to me as to what to do to said alarm once I had tracked the persistent high-pitched wailing to its source. Some involved large rocks and spray paint, others rather less destructive involved nasty notes threatening to sue them if I did badly in the STAT test today. In the end, the hassle of putting pants on out weighed the annoyance of the siren and I stumbled back up the stairs with my too hot mug of milk, turned my fan on a higher setting, turned the A/C on, and put my ear plugs in my ears. After drinking my still fairly hot milk, falling asleep, and half an hour later waking up cause I needed the toilet, I finally fell into a deep sleep at around 3. Which was nice.

I woke up this morning at about 7.30, called for a taxi at about 8.30, and was at the Show grounds for the STAT by 9. The taxi driver on the way over was good. Young Indian guy who was very friendly and told me that the best time for a taxi driver to drive is Sundays. Not many cars on the road, which makes perfect sense. The worst time however is between 4 and 7 on a Friday night. Which also makes sense. So now we all know what the best and worst times are for taxi drivers to drive in, I’m sure it will come in handy at some point… I’m just disappointed that information didn’t make up any part of the questions in the test. I would have blitzed it. There were however questions on bird habitation in re-growth forests, blind dates, historians, maps, poetry and, amongst others, peanut butter. 70 questions in all and about 2 hours to complete it. I finished with about 10 minutes to spare which gave me time to go back and re-check a couple of questions I’d found a little bit iffy… found a few glaring mistakes, and start to breathe again. I’m sure I stopped breathing as soon as I hit the first difficult question… All up I think I figured there was a little over 450 people in my sitting of the exam, with another 2 tests later in the day. Pretty good number of people wanting to go back to Uni, I’m actually quite impressed. And with ages ranging from early 20s thru to late 50’s there was a good mix of people too. Over all I think I did quite well. Fingers crossed!

Afterwards I decided to walk home back thru the city, treat myself to lunch and maybe look around for some bathers. I have bathers at home, but none of them fit me anymore. I mean, it’s a good thing I’ve lost weight, but its also expensive. I went to every surf shop in the CBD, some of them twice, and one of them three times, in search of a nice pair of boardies… Now here’s the thing… if someone had come up to me and offered me some help or suggestions, I probably would have spent a lot more than I had planned on spending. Not because I… no… that’s wrong… *rolls eyes* I do tend to spend more than I intend to initially anyway but that’s not the point…. If I think I need a new pair of board shorts, I will go looking for a new pair of board shorts. I found several pairs that I quite liked, but didn’t have the guidance to make me make the decision to buy them. So I went from one shop to the next looking at shorts, and waiting for someone to ask me if I needed help. If someone had asked me I would have probably ended up also buying a beach towel and a hat…and maybe a pair of thongs. All things that I will need – maybe not right now, but my justification is that I’m not sure what’s available in Europe, and at what cost… So I figure I’d just get them now and save the uncertainty *shrugs*. Don’t worry, it doesn’t make much sense to me either, but that’s how I work.

Anyway, I ended up walking home slightly annoyed (and fairly sweaty, it was a humid 30 something degrees today) before remembering that there is a surf shop up the street on the Parade. So… off I went up there, really not expecting to find anything different in stock or service. It is a small shop, but I was greeted straight away by an older guy I presumed to be the owner. Then a girl came up to me and found all the shorts I could carry into the change rooms and kept looking for more. She was super friendly, really nice, and joked with me about what a pain I was (I am going to believe she was joking – shut up). She commented on each pair I tried on, and in the end helped me decide on a pair. She did what every other sales assistant at the other shops should have done, and got herself a sale. Probably a good thing the shop didn’t have any towels or hats, cause I would have bought them off her too. In-fact I still might.

Maybe being in retail so long has spoiled me as far as my expectations of other sales people… It’s a shame. And I feel a little bit like I’m an old man writing into the news paper complaining… but I’m just glad that there are some sales people around that are at least good at pretending that they enjoy what they are doing, even if they don’t. And if they do; good for them… but it will pass…

I think that’s enough ranting for now; my next rant will be probably Thursday night from Whyalla. Talk to you then.

Ciao.



How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct. - Benjamin Disraeli

The Path Less Traveled, Starbucks and Emo Pigeons

First of all I’d like to say that I am possibly making blog entries a little too often. Please don’t get too used to it, 'cause I really don’t know how much internet access I’m going to have when I'm away. Also as I’ve referred to in other posts, maybe writing a blog about every single thing you do, might in the end be a little bit like having that video camera, writing about the past instead of living the present… Anyway, we’ll see…

Today Is another day off, and as has become my habit, I have taken to wandering into the city in search of a quiet, or comfortable (but preferably both) place to sit, read, blog or study… or any combination of all of the above. Today I left home with the intention of doing all the normal things. Something stopped me at the intersection and where I always have turned right to take my well worn path into town, today I looked left, saw nice houses and green trees and my legs, seemingly of their own accord followed. It was nice. I can’t say I’ve never gone that way before, but it is very rare, and so when I got to the edge of the parklands on the edge of the city, I even went across the grass, off the path completely, to really muck things up. Its strange how taking a different route thru familiar scenery can give a feeling of strangeness and a disconcerting feeling of not knowing maybe exactly where you are – even though you know precisely the place you’re in, but maybe facing a different direction…

On my way thru the parklands I had an epiphany. There was one of those pigeons with the crest on the top of their heads. This one however had 2 instead of the standard 1… and I’m sure it had eye make up and tight black jeans… way out of its normal habitat; I think the sunshine and masses of school kids had pushed it out of the mall and into the edge of society… Sorry… I’m being silly… But for a moment, I was sure that that might have just been the way the Emo society had started… someone saw my pigeon or one of its forebears and thought, “I like its hair cut, and I think I’d look good in eye make up”

*coughs*

Anyway…

Something then drew me back onto one of my normal paths – thru the mall… Not that you have much choice if you want a coffee… which I did… and the thronging masses lead me straight to Starbucks. While waiting in line wondering why I thought it was a good idea to pay $6 for a coffee and scanning the board for something that even looked like a coffee I might have heard of, I was surprised to see in small writing at the bottom of the list of over priced and over named drinks: “freshly brewed coffee of the day – ask for details” and at the attractive price of only $3 for a large (And when I say large, I mean Venti, and by that I mean ginormous) how could I resist? I asked what it was; she said it’s a Sumatran blend that’s slightly spicy… I said, its $3 it sounds great. And then also bought a low fat blueberry muffin that was sitting by itself behind the glass with all the other muffins looking very sad, very low fat, and very lonely and I realized later when I sat down to eat it why it looked sad – I reckon it had been there for at least 3 days… a bit tough was our little blueberry low fat muffin… but the blueberries were still succulent (or extremely well preserved – I refuse to differentiate) which made up for the toughness of the outside…. I wouldn’t say it was stale… but fresh isn’t a word that I would use on the same day as talking about it either…

From there I found myself walking through the Adelaide Uni campus grounds, coffee in one hand, muffin in the other, and looking for a comfortable place to sit and do my STAT sample questions… (I figure if studying for the bar course works so well in a pub, probably studying for the STAT in a Uni is a good idea too). However I kept walking and found myself at the river. Which is where I’m now; sitting in the sun, watching people walk back and forth across the bridge, birds frolic and catch insects, and small ants crawl over everything I own. But it’s a gorgeous day, the water is sparkling (not clear but the sun is reflecting on it which makes the brownest river look pretty) there’s a very slight breeze every now and then which cools my probably sunburned arms. The strangest thing seems to be a man in a kilt and no top roller-blading along the other side of the river…

On other news I’ve booked my going away drinks for the 9th of December… probably be at the Belgian. Now I’ve found out that that will be the weekend that my parents are down for the last time before I go… might have to change it to the weekend after, but I just worry that if I leave it too late people will have family stuff on and won’t be able to come. I guess if they want to drop in for a couple of drinks they’ll make it either way. I think at my current employment I’ve made some good friends, as I did at my last place of employment… I guess that’s comforting. I’m not sure why exactly, but it’s nice to know that you’re likeable. Even if you don’t make “friend” friends, and they’re just workmates. *shrugs* not sure exactly what I’m trying to say here…

Over all Life feels good…. There’s only 40 days till I leave and I’m getting less scared and more excited as the days tick away… I have my health – and even my foot (my feet have been my biggest problem and concern the last few months) is feeling good… I’m happy, and find myself smiling at nothing…

Maybe I’m just going a little mad…

See you soon world… but not too soon…

Eating widely and critically

I left the house this afternoon with the intention of studying for my STAT test this Sunday… instead so far I have looked at laptop bags and had the worst KFC burger of my life. The coffee I got however is good, as was the popcorn chicken.

The STAT test (Adult entry University exam) has come up on me very quickly… seems like only yesterday when I bought the SATAC guide and diligently put off reading or filling in any of the required forms until the last minute. In-fact, I went past the last minute and into the minute that costs you an extra $70 to register. Had one of those moments where you think something is due the month after it is actually due. So that sucked. Anyway, my intention – so as to make it clear to the world – is to sit the STAT test, hopefully pass with enough points to get into architecture, and then defer the course for as long as I possibly can to accommodate my travels. The suggestion given for ‘studying’ for the stat test is really quite vague… it says that while doing the sample questions may give you an idea of what you might come up against, the best way to prepare for the test is to “read widely and critically”. To this end I purchased a book called “The pig that wants to be eaten and 99 other thought experiments” which is very interesting… Basically involves a page or half page of a moral or mental dilemma, and a page or a page and a half of the author’s take on the particular conundrum. Over all it is very enjoyable but has made me think very critically about weather I should buy any more books before I go away. The answer I have come up with so far is no. Hopefully the critical reading will pay off… it will certainly save me money…

I have done some University study, about 10 years ago I started (for some reason that must have made sense to me at the time, but in hindsight makes absolutely none) a degree in Computer and Information Science. I don’t even know what information science is. And computer science? All I know is that I started the course, found out there was copious amounts of programming involved, and spent the next 6 months hanging out in the Uni bar playing pool (which was free) and the Jukebox (also free). I remember distinctly that we played Live’s Throwing Copper to death. That was the album of that particular chapter of my life. To this day it makes me want to sit around and do nothing.

Anyway, 10 years or so have passed and I think I have matured enough to go back to Uni and study something that will improve my chances of getting a job that is fulfilling. Both psychologically, and for my bank account. Right now though I need to go to woolies to get myself something to eat before my Bar course starts. Really can’t rely on the food from the corner stores near TAFE… being situated on Hindley St, they are decidedly aimed at the drunken munchies rather than the brain food needed for a student…

I’m sure there’s more to say, but I’ll leave it for my next day off…

Caio.

Writing the Lightning

It’s a Saturday night, I’m home alone… could have gone out I guess… but I have a sore foot. And plus I have work in the morning *rolls eyes* like that’s stopped me in the past…

3 things have happened tonight that make me glad I stayed home. The first is that there was an Adam Sandler double on TV. Billy Madison followed by Happy Gilmore. The second thing was an interesting call from Whyalla…

But the third is why I’m writing.

The third is what inspires me. Gets my blood flowing, excites, and arouses me. Gets the adrenaline coursing thru my veins

The third thing is an awesome thunderstorm.

Ever since I can remember sitting on the front porch in Whyalla as a young boy watching the thunderstorms roll over the Spencer gulf, counting the seconds to work out how far away it was, watching a wall of flashing lights and crashing noise approach me from the dessert; It has done something to me… maybe it’s the warmth of the air before, maybe it’s the intensity of the rain afterwards, maybe its just the flashing lights. Probably deep down it’s the primeval instinct that made the first humans look up at the terrifying lights and noise and imagine angry gods smiting sinners, throwing thunderbolts or farting… even though most of the wonder is gone from it thanks to science, it still provokes awe in all of us to some extent. Weather fear or excitement, I hope no one can say that they feel nothing when there’s a thunderstorm.

I stood out on my little balcony with my camera wondering how people take photos of lightning… in the end I did one of the things I’m pretty bloody good at (those of you that know me might not believe me) – I waited… camera at the ready, pointed at one patch of sky… It’s not an easy thing to catch lighting in a photo.. its bloody fast stuff and I ended up with a lot of photos of nothing… but I managed to catch It a couple of times. The funny thing about taking photos of lightning, is that it’s a bit like waiting for the perfect wave… you wait and wait and miss a few and then when you give up and go inside, you see the flash of a massive strike right where you were pointing your camera just a moment before… or hear about the perfect wave they caught just half an hour after you went home. It’s tempting to stay out there all night with my camera and wait for the perfect photo… but there will be more lightning other days, clearer skies, and less bright city lights… of course then I will have forgotten my camera… but still…

The other thing about taking photos of lightning (as an awesome flash lights up my room, with the thunder only a second or so behind – close!) is that it’s a bit like having a video camera on a holiday. Its tempting… like I said… to stand there and take photos of it, but it’s also nice to just experience it. The reason I’ve decided not to take a video camera with me around the world is mostly for that reason – I’d prefer to be in the action than recording it…

On to other exciting news – the holidays I booked for the 25th of November so I could go back to Whyalla for my 10 year reunion have been changed… I had booked 3 days, but the kindly people doing the roster this month have given me the day before and the day after off as RDO’s as well! That means I’ll get an extra couple of days with my family and my dogs before I go away. Be the last chance I get to see the Dogs before I go… and as much as I hate to say it, probably the last time I’ll see Wulfie alive. He’s getting a bit old… I got him the year I finished year 12, and this is the reunion, so he’s 10 and a bit… that’s a pretty good run for a dog of any type. But enough about that, I’m making myself sad.

Other than that – The Contiki tour is booked!!! Leaving on April 22nd on the Ultimate 45 day contiki tour! Can’t wait… should be awesome. On top of that, the girl at the travel agent who booked it was chatting to me (I’d love to know how much commission she gets for booking a trip that cost that much…) and she said that she used to work in the Walkabout Pubs in the UK. She said that all you need to get a job there is an Australian accent. Plus they do accommodation that just comes off your pay each week… how good would that be. Definitely going to check that out.

Seems to be a lull in the thunder storm, and the rains stopped… so this might be a good time to finish up…

Later guys… Cheers!

Studying in a Pub

Firstly I must say that this is not just any pub, it is my favorite Adelaide pub – the Belgian beer café. Really good beer, good chips and a great atmosphere. I say in Adelaide, my favorite pub in the world is yet to be decided – but I will let you know when I find it.

I have been doing a bar course, which I am hoping will get me work in other parts of the world – mostly Europe, and therefore in studying for my bar course, I thought it was probably appropriate to study in a bar. I chose the Belgian for the above reasons, as well as the fact that I love Leffe Brune beer. It is great. Blonde is not too bad either… but I’ve definitely developed a taste for the brune. Some people may argue the differences betwixt the two, but in the end its how you identify yourself.

I have found that 1-2 beers while revising for a bar course do wonders for the memory, however today, while doing a practice for the STAT test, I discovered that its not so good for cognitive and problems solving skills. Good thing the STAT test isn’t held in a pub.

There is also something very… European about sitting in a pub with my backpack, and a study folder… not to mention a laptop… I don’t know… that’s how it feels anyway. Again, not having been to Europe as yet, I’ll let you know how it feels for real when I get there.

Speaking of Europe, I went and paid my travel insurance today. Got a good deal from the guys at YHA travel and QBE insurance. Firstly I won, by default, a competition which I entered the other night when I went to a travel tips and tricks night at the Adelaide YHA. It was one of those things where you put your name on a sheet with your email address and they call you if you’ve won… one of those things where you’re never sure if everyone has won or if its just you… but anyway, got a phone call from one of the ladies there saying that the person who’d won the prize had already bought their travel insurance and mine was the only other name she’d remembered from the night, and she’d thrown the paper with all the names on away… 2 things spring to mind as curious about this statement… one is that my phone number was on the sheet that she’d claimed to have thrown away, and the other is why did the person who already had travel insurance put their name down for the competition in the first place? But not being one to complain, (not when its something that seems like a good deal anyway) and someone who’s always up for a bargain, I went in and bought my Travel insurance from them. The prize consisted of 31 days travel insurance which they took off the price of my 12 month travel insurance, and then on top of that, as I am a member of the YHA, I got an extra %25 off on top. So something that I figured was going to cost me about $1400 - $1600 ended up costing me the princely sum of $996. This includes snowboarding cover and excess buy out (which means if I have to make a claim I don’t have to pay the extra $100 every time!).

Anyone who doubts the need for travel insurance should take the advice of the guys at the travel night “if you cant afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel” and also… you probably don’t know me; If I fail to lose something, get it stolen, break it, or injure myself or someone else in the process of the next 12 or more months of travel you should send me a medal or something… its bound to happen. Even at the bar course last night… I knew I was going to spill the tray of drinks (water thank goodness) and sure enough… good thing I was already sunburned, cause I would have had a very red face otherwise.

*coughs* anyway... getting onto Europe as was my initial plan... right now looking at a brochure for a 45 day Contiki tour. Expensive but looks so much fun... and you only live once. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing that. If you take out the accommodation and food costs, plus travel costs on a nice heated bus, its going work out quite well - plus you don’t spend 45 days with a bunch of people without making some pretty good friends. I think that’s what is important to me, making some life long friends. Plus this tour takes you to Troy and THE BIG WOODEN HORSE! How can I not go?

Anyway… That just about concludes my notes from the Belgian beer Café… as enjoyable experience as it has been…

One note to close with… a pet hate of mine is people snorting their own snot back down their throat and swallowing loudly. Makes me want to spew… and punch people forcibly in the throat… It seems to be happening more and more lately, maybe it’s the changing of the seasons and colds are rife, but really people; if you have snot, blow it out, don’t eat it. It can’t be good for you…

Death Rays, and How to Name Your Blog...

Hello World...

And when I say world, I really mean the few people that will possibly take the time out to read my blog. (Hi Mum...)

So this will be the Blog of Me. Troy. An Aussie traveling the world, possibly having adventures but not quite sure where I'm going or what I'll do there. Rest assured though, that as soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know.

To give you an idea of my current itinerary: I leave on Boxing day - December 26th for those of you not in the colonies - 2006. My first stop is Toronto to meet up with Shannon my brother - check out his blog, funny shit; www.cheesebandits.net/things . From there we are going to New York for New Years :) Really looking forward to that. Then at some point within my 90 day window where the US authorities let me stay in their wonderful country (and as long as my girlfriend can stand to have me...), I fly from Toronto to London, and there I'll stay for as long as I want. On the cards is at least one Contiki tour (all of which I've discovered start in Amsterdam... Even the US ones I think fly you to Amsterdam first stop just to get you in the right frame of mind...) My ticket is open for 18 months, at this stage I'm planning to use every day of it... Again, I'll let you know...

At this stage there are many many variables... My life is like one of those choose your own adventure books; Each decision I make will get me closer to an end of some sort. Hopefully none of those involving evil aliens using death rays on me, or monsters ripping my limbs off and using them to pick their teeth...

Having said that brings me to my next point, that of how hard it is to decide on a suitable name for your Blog. How hard is it? Very hard... That's how hard. All very well for these people with imagination, but for a normal person, finding something that is suitable and interesting for other people to look at; is not easy. You think of all the things that you like, or that represent you in some small personal way, and try to put them into a sentence that is not only interesting for other people, but maybe says something about yourself... Something that's easy to remember... And still, at the same time, on some level, a little bit cool. OR maybe, like every thing else in my life at the moment, I've just over thought the whole thing... That is a distinct possibility. The truth of the matter is probably that there is no big problem, and the problem in-fact, is the fact that I always think there's a problem, when in fact there isn't one. And there-in lies the problem.
See what I mean?

So my suggestion as far as blog naming goes, is worry about it as much as you possibly can, think about it for days... After all its quite possible that in a million years when civilization is dead and some new dominant species evolves, all that will be left of us is a Web page and some dust... So think long and hard people... Long and hard... And in a flash of inspiration, the name will come to you, the perfect name for your blog... And you type it into the space provided... Your heart pounding...

And someone else has already taken it...

Email addresses are just as bad, if not worse... Cause when someone asks you for your email address, you want it to be cool, you want it to be in some way distinctive, and you don't necessarily want to have to spell it every time. And using your own name is just boring. I should know, I've been using my own name as an email address for ever. All the time seeing all these other cool email addresses popping up and feeling obsolete, inferior, and that somehow I'm lacking the imaginative cognitive functions of that of the younger people... So when I thought Trojan.monkey would be a cool email address, you can gasp in shock and horror as I did, when I found it was already taken...

Anyway, All in all I am very excited about my up coming adventure... So, I'm going to let this Big Wooden Horse of life in, see what comes out and hope it doesn't kill me. But I guess, if life really is a choose your own adventure then I've already made dozens of choices towards one end or another... So here goes... Cross your fingers, Hold on tight, Keep your eyes open, and Enjoy the ride...


To follow the Evil Dead back into the Forrest; turn to page 93.
To swallow the blue pill of rejection and give up; turn to page 28.
To trust your instincts, live your life, and make mistakes along the way... Read on...




~Bigger than my body gives me credit for~ John Mayer (and how I feel All the time)