No, not you, personally. I’m talking about this country, the land of Goosedown Underpants.
News issue 1: heated debate about poker machines. The headline? Politicians Upset about Pokies.
News issue 2: biker gangs are a real problem, committing crimes including murder. The headline? Police Face Increasing Threat from Bikies.
I don’t know, seems to make the issues feel more trivial, using that local tendency to shorten phrases and add -ie to it. Time and place for everything, right?
My computer died. It had been acting up but now it won’t boot up. Thankfully it’s not the hard drive. I had to get a dock I could plug it into so I could access all my stuff and it works fine. I have most things backed up but haven’t done it since we moved.
Once again, such wonderful things always happen to us!
It’s a funny feeling, kind of like treading water in ocean waves, I imagine. You flail around a bit, making some movement, kicking your legs, and with the swell raising you and lowering you, it sorta feels like you’re going somewhere.
Then you look at your position relative to the beach and you realize you haven’t really gone anywhere at all.
Waiting has always been tough for me. Long red light? I harrumph and tap my fingers and yell at the light to change. Of course it knows how mad I am. Those cameras aren’t for catching people who run red lights, it’s for catching people who have red faces. I hate waiting. These days it seems like that’s about all I’ve been doing. Waited to get my paperwork done, waited to get over here, and now waiting for work and our own place. School is getting close but we’re still waiting. Like treading water in the ocean, I move about and seem to progress. I look at apartments and schools and jobs, but basically each day is just like the one before and I haven’t really done anything. And it’s driving me up the Great Wall of China. I really need something to happen soon. I hate waiting. I know it will eventually happen, and the red light will eventually change to green. But for the love of God, can it please happen now before things get screwed up?
Besides being the land of Goosedown Underpants, this seems to be the land of [bleepity bleeperton] as well. I have discovered that people here are often quite foul-mouthed. The wife has reported that her bosses can rustle up quite a cuss storm, and she often hears less than polite conversation on the train. Just today at the local McDonald’s, a couple of guys were chatting away with a regular supply of f-based words, never mind all the customers (some of which were children) sitting all around them. Even my young nephews here let slip a swear word now and then, despite their supposedly tender ages.
I won’t pretend that I never swear at all. I do sometimes find a particular word suitable for the situation at hand even though it’s not suitable for most others. But I am always aware of where I am and who’s around me and I know when to keep it bouncing in my noggin rather than released into the wild. It’s about respect and decency and awareness. I guess there is a level of self-absorption here that I didn’t expect. There seems to be a sense that “the only person that matters here is me, so I’ll do what I want”.
That attitude carries over into the way people drive here. The level of aggression is, to be honest, somewhat frightening. God forbid you should make a mistake or be slow to proceed when the light turns green. The drivers around you will let you know their feelings by honking them and by saluting you with their least polite finger.
Considering the relaxed, easygoing reputation of this country, things aren’t quite the way I expected.
Hard to believe–darn near mind-boggling, really–today marks my 15th year of mawwaige. How is that even possible? In my mind I’m still that skinny young guy with 90s hair amazed that I actually found someone despite my quiet, geeky persona. It had to be just a couple of years ago at the most that I found myself surrounded by people chattering in a foreign language, trying to understand that I’m supposed to fold my hands in that certain way and bow to each and every aunt and uncle no matter how many feet shorter than I am. Could it have been 15 years ago that I held my wife and pledged my undying love, faithfulness, and devotion?
Then I look over and see my daughter, concentrating on a game, growing into a young lady with a unique and creative outlook. And I see my son, the elder child, focused on whatever he’s reading, his amused smile on a face nearly level with my own. And I see my wife, already asleep, as beautiful to me as she was when we married. No, even more, because motherhood and marriage have matured her without taking her youth. She still gets asked to show her license!
Yes, it really has been 15 years. And of course those years had some rough spots. There were times when we struggled, with time, with money, even with each other, but our bond held, and it grew stronger even as I grew balder (so much for that 90s hair). And 15 years into our mawwaige, I can only look forward to all the years ahead.
So, I was wrong. There is something approximating root beer here. Sarsaparilla. I’ve heard of it back in the US and even drank a couple over the years. Well, now I’ve tried one here, and it’s not even close, but there are other brands I have yet to taste, some of which I’ve heard is closer to what I’m familiar with. Also, some tourist places seem to have drinks to accommodate the tastes of travelers from around the world, and we did find some cans of A&W. For FOUR BUCKS A CAN. It’s OK, you go ahead and take some time to collect yourself.
I really liked my old format, but it was annoying me how little of the page actually had the stuff I was putting there. It was so narrow! So I found this other theme, put my own background (something I made myself using a few filters and effects from Paint Shop Pro), and voila. I think it looks pretty nice, and the wider column makes it easier to read and the pictures aren’t so squished, either. What do you think?
The very first time I came to Australia I visited the Chinese Garden in Sydney. I remember it as an oasis of calm in the middle of a very busy city. It was mystifying how quiet it was, just an occasional horn blast or squeaky brakes spoiling the peace. I also remember having scones in the garden’s little café.
Flash forward about 15 years. I went with my wife (who, the first time, due to not yet being my wife, hadn’t yet formulated her plans to make me lose my money) and my kids (who, the first time, due to their not being born, hadn’t yet formulated their plans to make me lose my hair).
The garden was still beautiful. The garden was still peaceful and quiet. The garden’s café, however, was closed for the evening. Looks like the garden had finally formulated its plans to make me lose my scones.
You know what’s annoying? When people don’t even give you a chance. An employer says, “We are in need of a rock. Might you be the rock we’re looking for? Apply today!”
So I say, hey, I was a rock for three years! Plus I have other skills, too, like altering my chemical composition to accommodate changing environments, and providing high-quality (and award-winning) shade to helpless cute fuzzy animals, and snorkeling! So for sure they’ll want to talk to me about this!
Well, not so much. Instead I get an automated “you suck, bugger off” message. It hurts to be rejected from a job you’re more than qualified for without even the chance to talk to someone. Apparently, everyone else is much more of a rock than I am. Probably a better snorkeler, too.
Oh, here they are: the Three Sisters.
The famous rock formation was our destination recently. I have to be honest, they didn’t really impress me as much as I thought they would. I always imagined they were incredibly massive, towering in the distance. They were big, but not hugely big. More like baggy jeans than Hammer pants. More like Big Bird than Snuffleupagus. You get it. And they were relatively close, not looming from a far-off mountain. Still, it was a pretty cool sight, especially knowing it’s one of those icons of the country. I look forward to heading back into the Blue Mountains at some point to explore further, maybe do some hiking and camping. It’s such a change from the mega-suburbs I’ve been exploring lately.
