Day 4
So, after a good night's sleep (well, that's relative. I never really sleep well the first night in a hotel) I was good to go for the day's activities. The setup team was nice enough to let us come in late today, so I slept until 9:15 or so. Got up, puttered around the apartment and then got ready. Took the new guys to the Victoria Markets. Basically, a flea market for part, a farmer's market for part, and a general good place to find souvenirs, etc.. We didn't actually buy anything, but they at least got to see.
From there, it was a short walk to work. I managed yet again to be pouring sweat anyway. I had really hoped that after all the weight loss, and quitting smoking, I'd be better equipped. I think it is just my metabolism. I tell people all I need is a picture of the sun and I can sweat. It appears that's pretty accurate. It really only bothers me when I am at an event working, since we get a limited amount of the official uniform, and have to wear it every day for two weeks. Three shirts get pretty wiped out by then.
I spoke to Colleen this morning. I miss her terribly already. She's a pretty significant part of my life, whether she knows it or not. It's really not too bad to call the states from here. Much easier than when I was in France, because believe it or not, 16 hours time difference is easier to work with than 7. More than anything because I know it is yesterday midnight right now in the US (4PM Aussie time) and that math is much easier than trying to coordinate 7 hours. It basically means I speak to Colleen during my morning and it's her evening and vice versa. So, I can time it fairly well to get to talk to her to start her day, and to end her day. We'll see how it goes once I am working more hours. Plus, they sell International calling cards here that end up being like 2.5 cents per minute to call the US. Not too shabby. A 20 dollar Australian card (the exchange rate is about 75 cents to the Aus dollar) gets you 600 minutes.
Looks like tomorrow may be a free day. There's really no play. Qualifying Rounds ended today and unless we have some prep for the start of the tournament, we shouldn't really need to come here. Never know how that's going to go, and I am always willing to put in whatever hours are required. I'd like to see St. Kilda again if we get the chance. The picture from last year of the store "Holy Sheet!" was taken on St. Kilda while sitting in a cafe eating a wonderful baked sweet treat and drinking espresso. Not on the diet, but I am walking quite a bit more. :-)
So, as we were walking in today, we were lucky enough to see two protests in full swing. The first is the tired chestnut about ending the occupation of Iraq and of course getting W and Dick out of the White House. I hate to break it to them, but an Australian petition probably will have little or no impact on the affairs of the US government, but maybe that's just me. :-) I am not a hawk, and not really a bleeding heart liberal, but for better or worse, the US ripped Iraq a new one, and now has to stick around long enough to at least cling to the premise of helping to rebuild and stabilize. Now, for me personally, that region is the cradle of life. The folks there have hated one another since time began, and no outside influence is ever going to change that. Seriously, most of the countries were created by governments not in the region any longer (thanks to the collapse of the British Empire), and the lines are drawn politically, not based on any real affiliations between the member groups of that nation. It isn't a recipe for stability, and nothing we do or say will change that. I ignored them. They were here last year, and the way things are going, they'll be here next year as well.
The second protest was the one I was far more fascinated about. There was a march to institute Chinese Democracy. The premise was that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is actually trying to subvert the Australian Government to create a "political colony." I am not really sure what that means, but it obviously annoyed them. There is a very significant Chinese population here in Australia, and the majority of it is apparently in Melbourne. They marched down one of the main streets carrying lots of signage in Chinese about human rights first, trade second, and the other prattle usually heard about China. That's not to belittle their efforts, China is a serious human rights violator. I guess if their goal was to make people aware of their issue, that's goodness, because I am now. :-) I did find it humorous that there were some people lauding the effort, and some that actually shouted "this is Australia! Speak English or get out!" I really didn't know that was an issue here as well. I guess emigration issues exist everywhere. Ahh, the magic of looking at the world through my American eyes.
Well, guess I should sign off for now. I don't have any pictures yet. Colleen says I am horrible at that, and for the most part, she's right. As soon as I do, I'll post some on the site.
Cheers!
From there, it was a short walk to work. I managed yet again to be pouring sweat anyway. I had really hoped that after all the weight loss, and quitting smoking, I'd be better equipped. I think it is just my metabolism. I tell people all I need is a picture of the sun and I can sweat. It appears that's pretty accurate. It really only bothers me when I am at an event working, since we get a limited amount of the official uniform, and have to wear it every day for two weeks. Three shirts get pretty wiped out by then.
I spoke to Colleen this morning. I miss her terribly already. She's a pretty significant part of my life, whether she knows it or not. It's really not too bad to call the states from here. Much easier than when I was in France, because believe it or not, 16 hours time difference is easier to work with than 7. More than anything because I know it is yesterday midnight right now in the US (4PM Aussie time) and that math is much easier than trying to coordinate 7 hours. It basically means I speak to Colleen during my morning and it's her evening and vice versa. So, I can time it fairly well to get to talk to her to start her day, and to end her day. We'll see how it goes once I am working more hours. Plus, they sell International calling cards here that end up being like 2.5 cents per minute to call the US. Not too shabby. A 20 dollar Australian card (the exchange rate is about 75 cents to the Aus dollar) gets you 600 minutes.
Looks like tomorrow may be a free day. There's really no play. Qualifying Rounds ended today and unless we have some prep for the start of the tournament, we shouldn't really need to come here. Never know how that's going to go, and I am always willing to put in whatever hours are required. I'd like to see St. Kilda again if we get the chance. The picture from last year of the store "Holy Sheet!" was taken on St. Kilda while sitting in a cafe eating a wonderful baked sweet treat and drinking espresso. Not on the diet, but I am walking quite a bit more. :-)
So, as we were walking in today, we were lucky enough to see two protests in full swing. The first is the tired chestnut about ending the occupation of Iraq and of course getting W and Dick out of the White House. I hate to break it to them, but an Australian petition probably will have little or no impact on the affairs of the US government, but maybe that's just me. :-) I am not a hawk, and not really a bleeding heart liberal, but for better or worse, the US ripped Iraq a new one, and now has to stick around long enough to at least cling to the premise of helping to rebuild and stabilize. Now, for me personally, that region is the cradle of life. The folks there have hated one another since time began, and no outside influence is ever going to change that. Seriously, most of the countries were created by governments not in the region any longer (thanks to the collapse of the British Empire), and the lines are drawn politically, not based on any real affiliations between the member groups of that nation. It isn't a recipe for stability, and nothing we do or say will change that. I ignored them. They were here last year, and the way things are going, they'll be here next year as well.
The second protest was the one I was far more fascinated about. There was a march to institute Chinese Democracy. The premise was that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is actually trying to subvert the Australian Government to create a "political colony." I am not really sure what that means, but it obviously annoyed them. There is a very significant Chinese population here in Australia, and the majority of it is apparently in Melbourne. They marched down one of the main streets carrying lots of signage in Chinese about human rights first, trade second, and the other prattle usually heard about China. That's not to belittle their efforts, China is a serious human rights violator. I guess if their goal was to make people aware of their issue, that's goodness, because I am now. :-) I did find it humorous that there were some people lauding the effort, and some that actually shouted "this is Australia! Speak English or get out!" I really didn't know that was an issue here as well. I guess emigration issues exist everywhere. Ahh, the magic of looking at the world through my American eyes.
Well, guess I should sign off for now. I don't have any pictures yet. Colleen says I am horrible at that, and for the most part, she's right. As soon as I do, I'll post some on the site.
Cheers!
posted by Derek Botti at
1:21 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Baby!! Just reading your blog and wanted to tell you that I miss you terribly!!(and I do know I'm a significant part of your life-I better be!!! lol) Write some more stuff for us to read! I love you!!
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