Invasion of the Flies

Well, this past week back in Sydney has seen Veronica spending a lot of time at work. She has working like a farmer trying to finish up a few reports, so this week my main contribution to our domestic bliss has been in making dinners. I have to say I am getting used to being a quasi Mr. Mom domestic type. Otherwise, I have been busy trying to surf as much as possible each morning before work. Mostly the surf has been pretty average the past month, but on Friday the waves started turning on. By Saturday morning the waves were pretty much epic, 3 to 4 and just barreling. Mike and I went out early to Dee Why/Long Reef on Saturday, and walking along the beach we were both in disbelief at how insane the waves were. Unfortunately my skills did not shine and I got beat out there. A humbling experience out in the soup for me, no doubt somehow brought on by my sour mood at not finding a job.

Veronica went for a long run that morning, and afterwards we went and had a coffee at our favorite coffee shop in Manly, Barefoot. We then went and met up with our friends to walk around the Corso and have some lunch. Later on, closer to sunset, we met our friends Gavin and Martina at the Bavarian to have a few mango beers (where both of the photos were taken). These beers, while quite delicious, are also a tad on the expensive side, which is why we consider these beers to be a treat and usually limit ourselves to only 2 each.

After the sunset, we headed over to our friend Andy’s place for a barbie. While we expected a bigger crowd, it ended up only being our close group of friends, and the night ended early as the boys were going out for a night on the town.

On Sunday morning Veronica and I both slept in. Since we had not been to Carlos’s Coffee in a while (one of the finest purveyors of coffee on the Northern Beaches), we took a drive over to Freshwater in order to quaff a tasty flat white. Carlos delivered his usual dose of caffeine goodness, and then Veronica went up to work, leaving me alone. I ended up going over our former flat mate Morgan’s house, and then we went surfing, after an extended shopping trip to surf shops looking for a pair of sunglasses. The surf was fun, and quite warm. It seems that very soon I won’t need to wear a full wetsuit in the surf, which is a shame since I just got my Patagonia suit a little over a month ago.

I finished reading an excellent novel “Absolute Beginners” by Colin MacInnes. The novel is considered to be the British equivalent of “The Catcher and the Rye”, and it turned out to be one of the best novels I have read in quite some time. It is actually out of print, but you can still find used copies of it on Amazon.com. I highly recommend anyone who loves literature to pick this book up as it is magic.

Monday is now here and the flies continue to get worse. Apparently they will keep getting worse in November, until they leave a little after Christmas. Suck.

The Big Merino

As I had previously noted in the last entry, Veronica and I were lucky enough to experience the visual splendor of a big ass ram in Goulburn. However, after some quick research it appears the giant landmark (which is 45 feet tall) is actually called The Big Merino. I apoligize for the mistake, and in the future will try my darndest to perform a little more research before posting. Hope you enjoy the picture of Veronica and "Biggie Merino".

More pictures from the Bush

The Outback

No doubt you are all wondering how our adventure into the netherworld of the Outback went, and I can sum it up in 3 words. Small, flat, flies.

The town of Hay is very small. Lonely Planet has it listed with a population of 2,200, whereas the sign introducing travelers to the town cites the population as 3,400. Regardless, the place is truly a one street town. I half expected to see some tumbleweed slowly rolling across the street, Grapes of Wrath style.

Our drive into the bush on Monday was long. Surprisingly, the countryside past Sydney is quite rolling and lush. It is only when you get around an hour or two away from Hay that the landscape completely flattens and starts turning a dull brown. We stopped for lunch at the town of Gundagai, and ate at the famous Niagara Café, which was listed in the Lonely Planet. The guidebook said that stepping into the restaurant would transport you back to the 1930’s; however, the TV and huge refrigerator’s dampened the nostalgic mood a bit. The food was good, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the place. The former Prime Minister had eaten a meal there in 1942, and they actually had a 50th year anniversary in 1992 celebrating the momentous day. Depressing to say the least.

Back on the road, we took a picture smack dab in the middle of road, just to show how little traffic there is on that stretch of road. Arriving at the Comfort Inn around 6:30, both Veronica and I were quite tired from having spent the day in the Ute. We opted to go grab a pizza from one of the two restaurants that were open in town.

The next morning Veronica woke early to go do her fieldwork. I stayed in the hotel room and worked on my assignment, and then met up with her for lunch at the Roadhouse (the Mobil’s on site restaurant). There we dined on fried chicken and chips (fries) and afterwards I felt as if I were about to have a heart attack. On my walk back to the motel I was swarmed by a group of flies. 10 dirty little buggers kept buzzing around my head, Africa-style. Unfortunately, that was what Veronica had to deal with all day on Tuesday and Wednesday. I really cannot stress enough how badly flies suck here in Australia. They have no fear, flying up your nose and into your mouth. It is now extremely obvious why 90% of the population of Australia lives along the coast. That night we dined at the Jolly Jumbuck Bistro, a delightful little restaurant that made a mean steak and chicken parmigiana. We actually ended up eating there on Wednesday night as well, because the food was good and there really wasn’t any other option

Wednesday Veronica finished work a little early so we took a stroll around the town. We visited the mighty Murrumbidgee River, and took a few pictures at Sandy Point. As you can see, I took a nice picture with a stuffed kangaroo, real classy indeed! The fire station is now a bookshop, the water fountain Veronica is under was built in 1882, which is perhaps the oldest water fountain I have ever seen. Exciting stuff I realize!

The drive back yesterday was again long, but we managed to have a fun time with our road trip. We stopped in a filed with a solitary tree surrounded by some very pretty flowers. Veronica reckons that the flowers are the national flower, however, I am not too sure, but I will be sure to check up on that. I forgot to mention that during the drive to Hay and back we saw a plethora of dead kangaroo’s on the side of the road. Apparently they get plowed over trying to cross the road at night. On a less depressing note, we stopped in Goulburn for lunch. The lunch was fairly good, but the highlight is the gigantic ram that the town is constructing right next to the Subway (restaurant). I don’t know what it is about Australian’s and their love of building gigantic creatures, but they get hog wild excited about that crap. To each there own I say! At least it made for a pretty kick ass picture, eh?

Well, it’s time to sign off, but I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Just had a fun surf this morning, and now it is time to head into work. Tomorrow our friend Jase is having his 40th birthday party; no doubt it will be a crazy time.

Silver Lining?

So it's been a tough day after all the drama, not gonna lie. But making it a tad bit more bearable is finding out my Argentina article "Southbound" has been posted on Absolute's website. The link is http://www.absolutemagazine.com/absolute.php?absolute=travel&id=144 . By no means is this consolation for the mental rape I feel I have undergone through this whole situation, however, this little victory helps out my bruised pride. :)

Hope everyone is well.

Cheers

I must have kicked a blind beggar in a previous life!

So, after patting myself on the back and annoucing to everyone that I got a job, I find out that in fact I did not get the job. Literally, I told everyone I had a job (I had a written offer) and I have now had it plucked from my grasp. The story goes that when I told them I would take the offer I reminded them that my contract states they had to pay a commission to my boss. A day later they said they could not afford to pay it. So I went halfway and said I would pay half the fee, and they still said no. I then told them I would pay the fee, so there should be no problem. That was on Friday, and they said they would make a decision today. And the decision was a resounding NO. The explanation given to me by Grace is that due to the fact that Tracy (the principle of the company) is on a 457 herself, she is supposed to hire citizens or permanent residents. Thus, they are now hiring the project manager for the Parramatta site, and he happens to be a resident. Mind you, when I received the written offer on Wednesday, the company and Tracy had already seen on my cover letter that I was on a 457 visa.

I feel like vomiting, I am in disbelief that this could happen a second time around. Which leads me to the title of this post, for truly I must have been a despicable human in a previous life. I know I'm not perfect, but DAMN, how many times can this happen to a frustrated job hunter? Anyways, I suppose I am gonna look back on this and laugh, however, the laughter isn't exactly with me at the present time.

This weekend we ended up going to a Sydney Kings basketball game. Pretty interesting, reminded me of a CBA game. The place seemed to be about half full, after all the Rugby World Cup is currently on. Veronica enjoyed hanging out with the mascot as you can tell from the picture.

I also included a picture of me in my new Patagonia wetsuit. I love this wetsuit, and it was so worth the nearly 3-month wait.

The picture of the eating baby is our friend’s Jay and Mischa beautiful little girl Rhea (sp?). These pictures cracked me up.

Anyhow, Veronica and I are getting really excited about coming home over Christmas. Good times.

Veronica's birthday and Kangaroo Valley

Well kids, it has been an action packed week and a half since we last made a post. After filing our taxes we drove down to Kangaroo Valley for the weekend to celebrate our friend Gavin’s 30th birthday. Good times. Gavin’s family has a ranch down there and it is absolutely gorgeous. Good food, good beer, and a great bonfire all contributed to making it a great weekend. Perhaps best of all, Gavin’s girlfriend Martina surprised him by buying him a Ducatti motorcycle (his dream bike). The utter amazement and shock on Gavin’s face was priceless. Unfortunately the trip failed to produce a single kangaroo citing. Kangaroo Valley my ass. (Sorry about the college talk family)

After recovering from the weekend the week was dominated with work and surfs in the morning. Incredibly, the Australian government wired our tax refund to us on Thursday, one week from when we filed. I am beginning to think that maybe John Howard isn’t such a bad guy. If I could vote I am thinking $5000 would buy my vote. Pretty pathetic I realize, but you have to forgive me, I spent two years in Chuuk where every single vote was bought with either a boat or a bag of rice. Apparently I have been influenced. On Wednesday (after enjoying a nice surf where I saw two dolphins out at Narrabeen) I received my Patagonia wetsuit in the mail from Momma Maria. I nearly wept tears of joy I was so happy. I tried it on and the large fit like a glove. The next day the waves were pretty fun and I had a great surf in my new wetty. I chalk this up to the lightweight neoprene that is super duper flexible. J

This past weekend was nice, largely due to it being a 3-day weekend, Monday being Labor Day. Friday night we went out for one of Veronica’s coworker’s birthdays in Double Bay. It was a good time, and even though we left at nine we still didn’t get home until after 11. If you are laughing about me whining about 11, your obviously not 30 yet.

Saturday we headed over to Brenda and Jase’s for an afternoon barby. Afterwards we headed home, cooked dinner and had movie night at home. We rented 5 movies for $10, and 4 of those movies were pathetic. Be forewarned, if you are in the video store and you see the movie “Heaven” with Cate Blanchett and Giovani Ribisi, run away as fast as possible. This turgid Italian art house film made me physically sick from its pretentious story, acting, and the worst, over the top cinematography. But I digress, since there were no waves on Sunday, Veronica and I ran some errands and then went to a friend’s barby to watch the Rugby League Championship. Manly was playing Melbourne, and Manly got annihilated. I was ecstatic due to the fact that one of the owners of Manly happens to be the real estate mogul who screwed me over with a verbal job offer that he never followed up with a written offer. Needless to say I felt that the universe had delivered some justice, so my loathing of that Napolean-esque douchebag has since simmered down.

Monday we awoke late, went and grabbed a flat white and a waffle, and then went shopping for Veronica’s birthday. We found a very nice dress and sunglasses, and then went and had lunch at the Barking Frog. After an extended lunch (this place is the slowest restaurant on God’s green Earth) we went home to watch a movie. As the sun was going down we took a nice walk around the Harbor, enjoying the nice weather before picking up a pizza for dinner.

Tuesday was Veronica’s birthday, and even though she was turning 29, I think it will be a birthday we will always remember. Veronica went off to work early and I went for an early morning surf. I ended up getting 2 really nice waves, and I had a sense that October 2nd was going to be a great day. I got into work and went and met with a client for lunch. The day was going along fine and I was leaving work when I was pulled into the office of the company next door (that happens to be a property developer). I had talked to them late the previous week and had sent them my CV. However, they never received my CV, but the 10 minutes I talked to them basically must have convinced them I was the right person, because I was offered the job without the company having even seen my resume. Yeah, I was almost speechless I was so freaked out. Already on a lucky streak I surprised Veronica by having some of our friends meet us at the Bavarian for her birthday dinner, and we had a great time. Like the moron I am, I brought the camera to dinner yet I did not take a single photo, I apologize!

Yeah, I’d have to say it’s been a good couple of weeks. Oh yeah. (Sorry about not posting any pictures, I've been trying to post this blog with the pics for the past hour and I've decided I am sick and tired of waiting.)