Journey to America

It's a beginning...

2012-02-04T15:58:00.002-05:00

Our little baby Charlotte is almost 8 months old and has been trying SO hard to crawl now for almost 2 months. Over the past 2 weeks, she has improved her ability to get up on her hands and knees on her own, and also displayed an increase in what I have come to call "proto-crawling". Naturally, I reached for the video camera.

Above: Charlotte is fascinated with the TV remotes and our cellphones. As you can see, her toys aren't necessarily the right motivation needed to get her to display her new-found talent. Tech equipment, on the other hand, obviously motivates her in a big way.

Above: Here she goes again! Give her a piece of electronic gadgetry and she'll literally drag herself across the room to get it! We rarely allow her to get her hands on a remote or a cellphone, so you can see how happy she is to hold one of these 'precious' items.

Another (baby) milestone

2012-01-09T20:08:00.002-05:00

Ok, the rare reader of this blog (and even rarer frequent reader) might say that the purpose of this site is to relate tales of my time spent in the USA. And, of course, they'd be right. However, it is my blog, and since I'm a new dad and totally dote upon my baby daughter, I hereby reserve the right to shanghai my site in a shameless tribute to my daughter's "achievements".

Her latest trick is sitting unassisted - albeit a little on the unsteady side. And here's a video to prove it!

Someone flicked a switch!

2011-12-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

As I've previously mentioned, we've been blessed with a daughter, and it's hard to believe that it was almost 6 months ago to the day that she was born. It's also hard to believe that, without any warning at all, Charlotte suddenly went from inarticulate noises to babbling in syllables tonight!! It was like someone threw a switch and she started using actual syllables.

Fortunately, we caught some of it on video! So, I'll stop rambling like the doting father that I am, and let the video speak for itself.

Edinboro University's Homecoming 2011

2011-10-20T14:22:00.001-04:00

"Homecoming" is a bit of a big thing for most universities in the USA. It's a time when the University students, staff and alumni come together the start of the academic year. A football game is one of the central features of this weekend-long party (and make no mistake, this is a party - with all the shenanigans that one might expect from young adults!), as well as electing a Homecoming King and Queen, a ball (?), etc.

And there's a parade. So, being good Edinboro citizens and university-affiliates, we dressed up and headed down to partake of the party atmosphere (although we did not partake of any adult beverages - we're mature parents now, dontchyaknow). I'll just let the pics tell the story...

Dani and Charlotte resplendant in the university's tartan.

The local Shriner's group having fun on their motorized carts.

A classic car show was one of the features of the day.

"Little Miss and Mr Edinboro" had their own car.

What's a parade without floats? This year's theme was "jungle"....what that has to do with a University that has a Scottish heritage, I don't know.

The Homecoming King and Queen... The Queen is riding the in the Mustang, and the King in the 'Beetle... Does that seem back-to-front to anyone else??

Edinboro University's Marching Band. They also have a contingent of bagpipes, which I was unfortunately unable to get a picture of.

A "what the bloody hell?!" moment...

2011-08-21T22:47:00.000-04:00

The three of us had to take a road trip this week to Indiana, due to the unfortunate passing of my wife's grandfather. While the reason for the trip is sad, it isn't the reason for this entry in my blog. Instead, I write of a weird, "what the bloody hell?" moment that occurred as we arrived in Indianapolis.
But first, I should give the reader some background to assist your understanding of my position. Over here in America there are specific roadsigns designed to give the motorist an updated travel advisory. They kind of look like this:

As you can see, unlike the adjustable-text signs, the above "Travel Info" sign merely requires a set of flashing lights to be turned on and a radio announcement to be made in order to get the necessary message to all motorists in the area. It's a cheap and very efficient means of conveying important information to motorists, and is used almost nation-wide in the USA.

Ok, enough background, let's get on with my "WtBH" moment. So, here we are, driving through Indianapolis shortly after the morning peak-hour. There are cars everywhere, there are roadworks closing off lanes unexpectedly thus throwing even seasoned Indianapolis drivers into confusion. In short, it's barely controlled chaos.... and Dani, Charlotte and I are in the midst of it all. And there, looming above us, is a Travel Info sign with lights flashing!! "Oh!", I thought, "an important message for us poor sods trying desperately to manoever our large vehicles through this heaving throng of fast-moving metal - whilst trying to avoid colliding with another piece of aforementioned fast-moving metal". So, being the very law-abiding legal resident of this nation that I am, I follow the instructions dictated by the Travel Info sign.

I pick up the iPod from its resting place on the center console and find the "pause" button (which of course means momentarily taking my eyes away from the heaving throng of fast-moving metal I have mentioned previously).

I switch the car stereo from 'auxillary' to 'AM Radio' (which also requires removing my eyes from the plethora of vehicles that surround me. We've already established that they are mostly metal, and moving at high velocity).

I tune the AM radio to the instructed channel - with much furtive eye-movement, might I add - and dutifully listen to the radio announcement:

"The Indianapolis Department of Transport wants to remind all drivers that more accidents occur when drivers' are distracted than due to any other cause. Please avoid unnecessary distractions while driving, which includes the use of cellphones. Don't drive whilst distracted. Instead, keep your eyes on the road and stay safe!!"

Um, does anyone else see the cause of my confusion? Do you, gentle reader, understand why I began swearing - quite profusely and profanely, might I add - within earshot of the tender ears of my infant daughter?!

I'll just close with one small comment: Grrrrr!!

cheers!

Ken

I inconvenience one of Erie's finest...

2011-07-20T18:39:00.000-04:00

I like to think of myself as an "involved father"... that is, I take an active interest in my daughter and make sure that I do my fair share of feedings, diaper changes, etc. So when my wife informed me that she needed to go to Erie for work-related activities, I knew without much effort that this meant that it would be just Charlotte and me for a while. Ok, not a big deal!

The appointed time arrived and I dropped my wife off at the specified location and then Charlotte and I went for a drive - both to keep cool in the unseasonably hot temperatures and so that I could check out potential birthday presents for the wife. This plan of mine went very nicely until we got out of the Jeep - at which point, Charlotte announced that she wanted to have her diaper changed and a bottle. Now normally this doesn't pose a problem, however when we're out and about I prefer to at least purchase something from the establishment when I use their facilities to change Charlotte. Herein lies the problem: I didn't have any money. Nil. Zip. Zilch. None. So I needed a shady spot that I could pull over and use the Jeep's tailgate as a baby-changing facility.

I cruised around a little and spied a former service station, now disused and abandoned. I figured that since there was a cop currently parked under the awning I would be pretty safe pulling into the lot and using it for shade while I changed Charlotte. And, since I didn't want to alarm the cop, I didn't pull up beside him, nor did I pull up on the other side of the lot. I wanted to be in his full view, which I assumed would be the least alarming / offensive place for me to park.

I set about moving Charlotte into the back of the Jeep and started changing her. Occasionally the cop's external speaker crackled, but since he didn't speak through it, I assumed that I was in the clear to continue with my Fatherly Duties. The next thing I know, the police cruiser pulled up aside me and the cop winds down his window.

Police officer: "How long are you going to be, sir?"
Me: "I'm just changing my daughter's diaper, officer."
Police officer: "well, I need you to move, as you're blocking my view. I'm observing an house over there.." (he gestures behind me) "... and you're in my way."
Me: "I'm very sorry officer, I didn't know. I was just trying to find somewhere out of the sun to change my baby's diaper..."
Police officer: "yeah, but you're in my way."
Me: "And for that I do apologize, I didn't know that I was interfering in your duties..."
Police officer: "well, I need you to move, you're in my way. You've parked in my direct line of sight."
Me: "yes sir".

So, my least-likely-to-offend position was in fact the most likely to offend.... never mind that the Police office was in a Black-and-White police cruiser. Let's forget that his "direct line of sight" of the house he was observing was also a direct line of sight for the occupants of said house and that he would have been easily spotted in his official duties. And I'd hate to be petty and point out that his complaint was not only something that I couldn't possibly have been aware of. Nor would I want it said that I couldn't help but notice that the officer in question repeated his complaint to me about 5 times during our interaction: that would be snide and I would like to think that such behaviour is beneath me.

Needless to say, Charlotte and I finished in record time and I left the officer to Protect And Serve in peace and quiet - and with his view of the house in question once more unimpeded. Leave it to me to tick off a cop by changing a diaper!!

cheers
Ken

An attempt to make up for lost time

2011-07-17T18:26:00.000-04:00

Hello readers (all three of you!).

Yes, I've been slack. I haven't posted for over a year now, and to be honest a lot has transpired in that year. I'd love to say that I've been so busy that I had no time to blog, but that's not true. I'd like to say that it's FaceBook's fault and that since I post there, I assume that I've covered all my communication bases, but that's not true either. I've simply been slack. Lazy. Forgetful. So, in an attempt to make up for the time that has transpired since my last post and now, here's a very quick over-view.

The wife secured a teaching job in NW Pennsylvania, so we had to pack up all our worldly possessions and leave Atlanta for the peaceful countryside in NW PA.

We arrived in early July, found a nice little townhouse, and started to settle in. For the wife, this meant getting used to a new university campus, whereas for me it meant finding a job. And find a job I did, although it's not what I would call the most satisfactory position: it's hourly, with less that 25 hours per week, no benefits to speak of other than I can legitimately say I'm employed. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Summer yielded to Fall, which in turn gave way to Winter..... which, in NW PA means snow, and lots of it!! If I thought Georgia's winters were cold and all, they're nothing compared to NW PA!! Just take a peek at some of these pix!

This icicle fell from the roof of our townhouse and took out our satellite dish. I think I know what's causing our poor TV reception!

This fascinating formation occurred when there was sufficient "heat" in the day to cause the car's window to soften the accumulated snow sufficiently that it could no longer bear it's own weight. The 'roll' extended across the entire windscreen.

The view down the street from our townhouse. It's very pretty, don't you think?

This is the accumulation of snow on our townhouse during one rather protracted snowstorm. It later came down with a rather loud "thump!" I saw this style of accumulation on a regular basis all over town.

Believe it or not, our KIA is buried under the pile of snow to the left of the Jeep in this picture. Oh, and the Jeep also belongs to us!! We've nicknamed the Jeep "the Wombat", 'cause it's got a fat bum, is dun-coloured, and waddles around corners. But it has constant 4-wheel-drive, which in the snowy conditions has been a blessing!!

And speaking of blessings, the arrival of Summer in 2011 saw another blessing arrive: our daughter Charlotte Rose was born in June!

Okay, that brings you up to date, albeit very sketchy on the details and events. However, I'll endeavour to be a bit more conscientious with the posts from now on (at least until the next time I forget to blog!)

cheers

Ken

It's no wonder...

2010-02-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

I have seen this phenomena time and time again. Usually it's in advertising media, but the journalistic media are just as guilty of using this device as the advertising executives. It basically goes like this:

Some individual / corporation / politician / evil empire wants to push their latest gimmick - doesn't matter what it is for now - and so launches an advertising campaign. Or, in the case of journalistic media, want the listeners / viewers / readers to buy / stay tuned (whatever is applicable to the medium in use, okay?)

And, as part of their 'hook', they use this format:

Widgets: What they don't want you to know about them!!

I've seen this used to sell credit card and bankruptcy schemes, on television news items, by politicians about other politicians, by banks about credit companies and by credit companies about banks... heck, I've seen a large number of books with that format as the title of the book!

It's no wonder that, as a society in general, Americans are so bloody paranoid! They've been constantly told - nay, bombarded by the concept - that there are multiple agencies / companies / evil empires that are conspiring against them and keeping information from them!

Winter hits with a vengence

2010-01-08T13:32:00.009-05:00

Some folks know that I am not overly enamoured with hot weather. Some of that is because I'm over-weight (if I'm being honest with myself), and the rest is because I sweat whenever I do anything remotely physical. Y'know...lift a pencil, tie my shoelaces, that sort of thing. So when others moan about the approach of winter, I am celebrating. Which is why I was very happy to see last night's predicted snow start falling over Atlanta. It wasn't exactly heavy, but it put about an inch of snow over the city.

Which then froze overnight and became sheets of ice. Everywhere. Here, this is what I mean:

The mall left their fountain running when the cold front came down from Canada, and became this rather pretty ice sculpture. I hope for the property owners' sake that the pipes didn't burst at the same time.

This isn't water running down the car's rear panel. And although it looks like wax, it's not that either, it's ice. When I came out in the morning, there was so much ice on our car, I couldn't open the doors - they were frozen shut, literally!
What's more, the ice on the windshield was so thick, it had frozen the wiper-blades to the glass, and took several minutes before the defroster had a chance to break the ice from the car's surfaces. As I was driving, the ice creaked as the chassis twisted.

There was ice everywhere! Melting snow was freezing before it could form puddles. This vehicle had an icicle that reached from it's rear bumper to the ground, and it wasn't the only vehicle to sport a skirt of icicles. The problem is that there was so much snow that is turning into sheets of ice, it's promising to be very difficult to get around tomorrow. Heck, I just took a quick trip a few blocks from our house, and there's several streets where the snow has melted where it was lying, to form a solid sheet of polished ice almost an inch thick! If the temperatures drop as they are expected to do tonight, there's going to be a lot of treacherous sheets of ice everywhere!

It's still pretty though. ;)

Yet more "the things you see"

2009-11-27T20:30:00.002-05:00

Hiya!

It's Thanksgiving! My third Thanksgiving and once again we've journeyed to North Carolina to spend the holidays. Well, technically Dani was already in NC the day before Thanksgiving so it was up to me to join her the day after Thanksgiving since I had to work...

But that's not the point of today's post (which I'm sure you're glad to hear). No, the point of my post is a sign I saw whilst driving to North Carolina. A very large, illuminated sign for a Truck stop (that's a huge service station, for the Aussies). It was advertising their specials on tires, their cafe, and their chapel.

Hang on a second, their what?! Honestly, I actually did a double-take - which isn't easy when you're driving down the highway at 120 km/h (which is also why there's no photo to accompany this post!). And sure enough, there it was. In 15 foot high illuminated letters: 'Chapel available'. At a truck stop. What the? Like some big, burly, 350 pound trucker is going to be haulin' down the highway and say to himself "y'know, I think I need a coke and a prayer"?!

"Good morning, sir! We're having a special today: a free bible with two or more tires."

I mean, honestly, I would have thought that if a trucker wanted to speak to The Almighty, he or she would just stop at ..oh, I don't know.... maybe one of the umpteen million churches that one can find here in the Bible Belt of the USA! I mean good grief! It's not unusual to find three or four churches of various denominations right next door to each other. Big ones, too. So why would anyone want a chapel in a truck stop??

*sigh* As I've heard said before: only in America.

cheers

Ken

The things you see...

2009-11-02T20:54:00.004-05:00

Or "my paw said I'd need an edukashun".

Yep, this is a case of Redneck Advertising and Branding at it's.... well, let's face it...at it's worst.
So, with that sort of preamble, I'm going to postpone the punchline for a little longer while we play a guessing game. Ready? Okay, here we go:

Find the flaw in this picture.

Not sure? Here, let me help you out with a little magnification:

Yes! You see it now, don't you? The brand of this South Carolina fuel station is "SPINX", and it's logo is a SPHINX. Somewhere in the process of registering this brand, the "H" got lost, and now there are logos and name branding all over this fuel station that's spelled incorrectly!!

Too funny!

cheers

Ken

The right to bear arms....

2009-10-03T22:52:00.004-04:00

The USA has a rather ... peculiar... relationship with firearms. The Second Amendment to their constitution states that the public have a "right to bear arms". I won't go into the debate that surrounds this issue, as political debate is not the aim of this blog. However, the odd or strange things I see during my stay in the United States of America I encounter is the purpose of my entries in this online journal. So here's two examples I found regarding the Second Amendment today.

Dani and I were window-shopping today looking at tents (for camping events with the SCA), where we came across these two ... interesting objects.Ok, so the quality of the image is pretty poor - after all, it was taken with the camera on my cellphone. It's a rifle, but the stock has been made from a polycarbonate plastic, and it's camoflaged! In fact, the only thing that isn't camoflaged is the barrel. On a related note, you can buy camoflage overalls, jackets, and hats for wearing while hunting, in all sorts of different forest-growth-imagery. You can also get all sorts of similar transfers for your truck as well - all designed to minimise your chances of being spotted by the overly aggressive deer, elk, moose, or ferocious bunny rabbits that wander the wilds of the American forests. Yet, as part of any hunter's outfit, you're also expected to wear a vivid, florescent orange visibility vest so that you don't accidentally get shot by another hunter mistaking you for one of the aforementioned violent critters. So can someone please tell me what is the point of getting decked out in some of the most cunning and elaborate camoflage money can buy when you're only going to put on a bloody glaring safety vest?

While at the same shop, we spotted this little gem:

Don't you just love 'em? Your darlin' daughter can have a Barbi-pink gun, with two different barrel-lengths for both your older and younger daughters, so that she can go out and hunt ferocious animals with Daddy.

Honestly, I'm not sure which is more frightening: the amazing range of gear and equipment one can so easily obtain to kit yourself out for the ultimate hunting experience, or the fact that you can arm your daughter with a gun that she'll like because it's the right size for her and it comes in her favourite colour!

cheers!

Ken

Some firsts...

2009-09-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

A dear friend of ours turned 40 this weekend, and she wanted to celebrate this auspicious day by doing something a little out-of-the-ordinary. So, after a little brainstorming, the ideal activity was discovered: there were about 10 of us, and we were going roller-skating!

Now, I used to roller-skate when I was in my late teens. In fact, I owned my own speed-skates and could skate reasonably well. Oh, not to the degree that I could skate backwards or anything, but I could get a good turn of speed, corner using the crossed-legs manoeuvre, etc. This means that it's been close to 20 - 25 years since I last skated, so our little celebration was the first time I've skated in a long time. But that's not the most surprising 'first' of the day. No, today was the first time that I've actually been patted down for weapons before I was allowed into the rink!! I kid you not! It was a full "raise your arms please sir" pat pat pat "yup, thank you sir, have fun."

Oh, and yes, I fell over 3 or 4 times, but nothing too rough. I think I may have bruised my left elbow a little, but all major limbs and joints are intact and we all had a lot of fun and laughter, so who could ask for anything more?

cheers!

Ken

A long road trip & a family wedding

2009-09-19T18:43:00.013-04:00

September sees summer coming to an end here in the USA, and the weather is just lovely! Dani's cousin had picked this time of year for her wedding, and the timing was excellent. However, the groom's family live on the western boarder of New York and Pennsylvania, which meant that we had to (somehow) get from Atlanta to the state of New York for the wedding. Now normally, we'd look at flying up, however the wedding took place on the Labor Day holiday, so everything travel-related was like double it's normal price! Flying's out, so we're driving!

Across Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and 99.5% of Pennsylvania! Now, we had done some research and discovered (what we thought to be) a good deal on a rental car - til, on the day we went to pick it up, the rental company informed us that it required a $400 deposit! Which we didn't know about beforehand, and so we hadn't budgeted for it! For a few minutes, it looked like we weren't going anywhere, as our little Kia isn't up to this sort of road-trip. Fortunately, Dani's mom offered us her Diesel Jetta instead! I must say, this car is a sweeeeeet ride! Power everything, heated leather seats, cruise control, and a 5 speed manual capable of rather higher speeds than the Kia!

It is at this point that I would like to point out that I am not admitting to any form of speed-related traffic offences, nor is this blog admissible evidence in any court proceedings. I admit nothing of the sort, and if pressed will maintain my innocence against any and all such allegations!

Dani and I discovered that western Pennsylvania is an absolutely beautiful area, and if she found a job posting up there, we'd move there without any regrets whatsoever! It's also Amish territory, and we did see several horse-drawn buggies in use while we were up there. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to go shopping at any of the Amish-run co-operatives (they have quilts that are simply stunning!), but we did manage to get to the Corning Museum of Glass. Again, time was short, which is why only one of us got the opportunity to experience glass-blowing first hand. I feel a little guilty that my wife didn't get the chance as well, but she's first in line if we ever get back up there again! Take a peek at the geek getting his hands dirty!
The museum has some stunning examples of ancient (800BC) and medieval examples of glass objects... far too much to show you here. Let's just take a little look though, shall we?

This is a late 15th century etched and enamelled Italian tumbler with silver base and feet. Absolutely beautiful and remarkable both for it's state of preservation, and it's sophistication.

If memory serves me right, this mosaic is of Russian origin. The glass tiles were slightly more than a centimetre across. I'm a bit hazy on the time period too... I think it was 17th or 18th century, but don't hold me to that!
Of course, the museum has contemporary pieces too, such as this wonderfully detailed stained-glass window. They have several such items, but this one impressed us with it's colour, size, and detail.

But we were not up there to be tourists (well, not just up there for that purpose), we were there to see Dani's cousin tie the knot. Now, because this is our blog, and because we don't have their permission to go plastering their pictures all over the web, I'm just going to do my best to respect their privacy and show us off! :)

Oh, did I mention that she was marrying a Marine? It was very lovely, with all the servicemen were in full uniform (yes girls, we understand that the uniforms are very handsome, now stop swooning!). The other Naval officers and Marines at the wedding formed an honour guard for the newlyweds, and "required" a kiss as payment before they would allow the bride and groom past. As they passed the last pair of crossed sabres, one of the honour guard said "welcome to the Marine Corps, Mrs xxxxx" and deftly swatted the bride on the ass!
I'd been warned that "something funny" was going to happen, but even so I wasn't prepared for that - I think I hurt myself laughing!

It was a lovely day, and I got to spend it with my bride. Gosh, I'm looking a little grey there, huh? Dani's still lovely though!

The day after the wedding, we set out for North Carolina with the aim of getting back there by day's end. This was so that Dani's mom could make a business meeting the next day, however as we were driving her car, it also meant that we had to cover a lot of distance! Oh, and because the car is a manual, I had to do the driving, as Dani cannot drive a 'stick' (yet). 16 hours later, and a weary Dani and Ken arrived in western North Carolina, and when I finally got to lay my head down on my pillow, all I could see was white broken lines passing before my eyes! Still, if it wasn't for the cruise control on the jetta, I would never have managed it!

cheers!

Ken

The idiots running the idiot box

2009-08-24T19:39:00.002-04:00

Hey ho!

Ok, first, a warning: this is going to be brief, and it's going to ramble, and it may not make a whole lot of sense - although I will strive to keep that last item in mind and try to avoid confusing my readers. Yes, I'm talking about both of you. :)

So, unsurprisingly to many, I watch a fair bit of TV. In my defence, it's cheap, it's free, and ... oh, what the heck, I like TV, ok? But there's something I've noticed about American TV that I'm gonna share with you. Y'see, American television is very conservative. They won't show breasts, bums, they beep out any cussing of any sort, and on Sundays you wouldn't believe the amount of religious shows that are broadcast!

Ok, so maybe some of you would believe it. The point is, American TV is very conservative, and generally ....um.... sanitized, I think is the word I'm looking for here. Yes, let's go with that.

But here's the weird thing: They sanitize the tv shows, and take out all the naughty words and the boobs and stuff (yes even late at night), but during the late afternoon and early evening, they advertise horror movies! Ads that show people screaming and covered in blood and/or goo, being chased by knife-wielding maniacs with masks made of (presumably human) skin! Or maybe it's the house that's haunted, with walls awash with enough syrup to keep the local McDonalds making strawberry sundae's for a month! Or perhaps it's a child who is in someway possessed of some disturbing behaviours - like the habit of killing her adoptive families!

It would appear that the American Broadcasting Censor-type people think that if a child should inadvertantly catch 3 seconds of some woman's bare tit they'll be scarred for life....but it's perfectly alright for said youngster to be barraged with numerous and repeated 30 second clips of blood-encrusted screaming and terrified people running from some axe-waving maniac!

Oh well.... that kinda explains Atlanta, doesn't it?

cheers!

Ken

Driving in the USA - part three

2009-07-24T12:38:00.003-04:00

There is a growing trend - at least within some parts of this country - to fit one's vehicle with very large rims (what Aussies generally refer to as "mags"). Now, I'm all for making one's car pretty and reflecting your personal tastes, etc. But I have to say, there comes a point when I would say "you've gone too far".

This current trend has reached that point. For example:

(Photo courtesy of South Beach Cars - if you are the owner of this photograph and do not wish to have it on this site, please contact me and I will remove it)

Can you see your local member of the Australian constabulary ignoring a vehicle that looked like this? I doubt it. Frankly, these vehicles kind of remind me of a lizard running... Y'know, how the lizard lifts itself up off the ground and then skitters along till it's out of danger (or out of breath!).

SUV's are not immune to this treatment, and considering how robust these rims aren't (and considering the state of the roads in Atlanta), you just know that:
a) no SUV fitted with rims like these is ever going off-road (so why fit them in the first place? No one knows), and,
b) the owner must be having kittens every time s/he approaches a pot-hole in the road (which would be frequently - see my post "Driving in the USA").

This is, of course, just my opinion. But then, this is my blog, so my opinion is the only one that counts!! :)

cheers

Ken

Driving in the USA - part two

2009-07-24T12:07:00.002-04:00

In Australia, the police use speed radar traps frequently and often, and it seems there are fewer intersections that do NOT have a red light camera than there are that are equipped with the cursed things. In short, there are many little snooping devices utilised by the various Aussie policing departments to slow Aussies down (and perhaps, add to the Governments' coffers).

Of course, the flip-side to the use of these devices is that you don't realise that you've been photographed until you receive a lovely little letter in the mail telling you that you need to cough up over a hundred bucks for an infringement that occurred over a month ago. And for those of us who can't remember what we were doing a week ago (and have no evidence to support or deny it), that makes disputing the ticket nigh on impossible! Plus, any psychologist will tell you that, to change behaviour, you have to impose the "punishment" at the time of the infringement, not a month later! Otherwise, no "lesson" is learnt and the behaviour continues.

Well, they take a different approach over here! Firstly, I very rarely see a radar gun in use over here, and those times that I DO see one, it's not to take your photo. Oh no! It's to alert a police cruiser that's sitting quietly about half-a-mile down the road to pull you over. Y'see, the American police departments (or at least, the Georgia Police departments) will pull you over while you're speeding and fine you on the spot! Yup, they impose the fine when they catch you doing the crime. This way, the psychological impact will take effect, and you'll learn your lesson.

Unfortunately, there are fewer police than there are roads or speeding individuals. Which is why I've seen people passing me by as if I'm standing still - even if I might be going a wee bit more than the posted speed limit myself! And they get away with it!! The rumour is that if you're not going reaaally fast (think 90 miles an hour in a 55 zone), the police aren't particularly interested. They don't want to cause more hassles by snarling up the already packed roads by pulling over someone doing 70 mph - when most of the cars on the road are doing 70 mph anyway! If the traffic's flowing smoothly, why screw it up for a "small fish"?

Just one more difference between the US and Australia's roads.

Cheers

Ken

The love of food

2009-06-27T22:07:00.002-04:00

We went for a drive today. Well, it was hot, and the car's air conditioning is very efficient, so what better than to explore new areas and keep cool while we're doing it? Anyway, we went driving and as chance would have it, we drove past a restaurant that Dani's mother had recommended we visit at some stage, so we thought "why not?" and dropped in for lunch.

The restaurant is called Pappadeaux, serving some truly marvellous Cajun food. I had fried alligator (very tasty), a crawfish bisque that was simply amazing, a fried shrimp 'po'boy' (it's a small baggette with salad and a spicy mayonaise), followed by a brownie and ice cream dessert.

Wow! If ever you have the opportunity to sample Cajun cuisine - or better yet, sit down at a table in a Pappdeaux - I thoroughly recommend it! Yes, it's spicy, it has a heavy emphasis on seafood, but it's really worth it!

Driving in the USA

2009-06-18T23:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, so we all know that Americans drive on the right-hand side of the road, and their preference for large vehicles is almost legendary. And I think I've discovered why the Americans love their "SUV's". It's not because they're pretty, it's not because SUV's are practical, it's certainly not because they're fuel-efficient, it's not even some Freudian compensatory defence mechanism...

It's because the roads over here are so freakin' bad that you need a vehicle that has greater-than-normal undercarriage clearance, robust suspension, and can deal with the ruts, potholes, ridges, and miscellaneous sudden impacts at high speed that is the lot of a car in Atlanta. Honestly, I hit so many potholes and ridges that are completely unavoidable, I'm seriously considering sending the bill for my next wheel-alignment to Atlanta's Department of Roads!

And, as if the actual poor state of the roads wasn't bad enough, they have an interesting system of "temporary repairs" over here. They take a very, very thick and heavy metal plate and lower it over the hole in the road. Then, they put a little ashphalt around the edges in what I suspect is an attempt to enable cars to roll over the top of this heavy great plate. Unfortunately, what usually seems to happen is the constant pummelling from traffic quickly erodes this tar-based putty, leaving an edge that has sufficient height that when you hit one, you definitely know it!

I like our little Kia: it's fuel-efficient, easy to park, and does a good job of getting us around town. But the roads are so bloody horrible, I can't help but look at the Jeep Grand Cherokees and the Hummers that pass me daily with a certain degree of envy.

cheers

Ken

A new challenge...

2009-05-31T12:40:00.001-04:00

Greetings, folks

As many of you may know, I am very fond of computers and have held a couple of Information Technology jobs in the past. Some people have called me a geek (including myself), and it's pretty accurate. However, there was something about computers and me that I was just a little dissatisfied with.

So I've set myself a challenge. I've abandoned Microsoft Windows, and am now running on Linux. "So what?", many of you might say. Well, Linux is an operating system that is "open source"... that is, the code behind the operating system is freely available to everyone, unlike Windows which is a closely guarded secret. What's more, because Linux is based on Unix, it doesn't have the same vulnerabilities that Windows has.

The downside, if one can consider this a downside, is that there is less co-ordinated support for peripherals and other applications. This means that whenever I plug in an appliance or want to install some software, I have to convince and coerce Linux to work with the new hardware / software.

But it's renewed my love-affair with computers, and once more they're a challenge rather than a piece of furniture. Oh, and every time I hear about Microsoft's woes with its latest vulnerability or virus, I can't help but smirk.
cheers
Ken

A long absence

2009-05-09T09:12:00.005-04:00

For the last couple of months, I've not made a single entry in this blog...
and for the most part, that's been because we've been doing very little that's exciting.
We seem to do nothing but eat, work, sleep, & repeat. But if I were to be brutally
honest with myself, we've been doing a few small things here and there that are
blog-worthy. And probably the most noteworthy event was the purchase of our car.
Yes, after much saga and drama, we have a vehicle that has proven itself to be
trustworthy and very fuel-efficient. Sure, she's not the most attractive vehicle, nor is
she incredibly fast. But she was cheap, she runs pretty well, and she's all ours!
No debt, no bills other than insurance and fuel. And so, without further ado, may I
introduce our Kia Spectra!

Please forgive the poor photo quality, I took the pic with
my phone's camera. But this little vehicle has increased our options and enriched our
life considerably! Sure, I had to replace the 2 front tires the week after we bought her
(they were so close to bald, it was a little scary), and the shape the alignment was in,
it's no wonder! Right now, I've got her in with a mechanic, replacing the fan and
air-conditioning belts, as they were squeaking badly. Still, this little car has already
done one trip to North Carolina through some of the worst rain and wind I've seen
in a long time. The weather was so bad that it spawned three tornadoes that touched
down very close to where we were driving - about three hours after we passed through,
thankfully! So, there's our little piece of freedom.
We should get to post more often, now that we can get around a lot easier!

cheers Ken

Catching up

2009-03-14T20:15:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm aware that I've been "absent" from my blog for the last three months. What can I say? I've been slack. Let's see if I can't catch you up with recent events.

December 08: We spent Christmas at Walt Disney World, Orlando. Now, don't get me wrong here, my wife and I love DisneyWorld, but Christmas isn't the time to go there - especially with the whole family in tow! It was fun, but we seem to be able to squeeze more fun in with fewer people around (like in October, which is 'off-season').

January 09: It was cold, but never cold enough whenever there was moisture around. Consequently, we had virtually no snow. I worked a lot.

February 09: See January 09.

March 09: The Yanks have a saying about March: it's either a case of "in like a lion, out like a lamb" or "in like a lamb, out like a lion". Meaning, the weather will either be mild at the start of March and wild at the end, or visa versa. Well, in '09, March came in like a lion! We had 4.5 inches of snow over a 12 hour period. It was so cold and so sudden, it brought a rather large tree down across the road from us, just from the sheer weight of the ice and snow. I've got pictures, and will post them shortly.

We received our tax refund, and decided that it was sufficient to actually put a deposit down on a car. Plus, we were completely fed up with being unable to go anywhere interesting. A bit of searching turned up a rather affordable PT Cruiser, and we drove home that Sunday night in a shiny "new" car!

In a little twist, the finance company called us to interview us regarding our credit history, employment, etc. After interviewing us, they decided that the repayments that the dealership had negotiated were insufficient! Uh oh. A bit of negotiation insues, resulting in my wife and I deciding to take the car back rather than put us into a difficult financial situation. The dealership was very reluctant to take the car back, but in the end they gave in. Mind you, it took them a whole week to arrange for a refund of our deposit, and even then I had to 'remind' them a fair bit!

However, having a car for a whole 3 days had reminded us how nice it was to be free and mobile, so we went looking for a cheap car that we could buy outright. And buy one we did - a 2000 Ford Windstar minivan for $2700. It seemed pretty good too: the motor sounded fine, it didn't blow smoke, and so on. So, once again we were free and mobile, but being cautious folk, we took it to a mechanic to have it checked out. The resultant list of problems the mechanic gave us was almost as expensive as the car cost us in the first place!!

So we sold it in a private sale.

For $100 less than we paid for it.

We listed it 2 hours after we got the news from the mechanic, and it was sold about 4 hours later!

Now, once again, we're without a vehicle. Tomorrow, the search will continue.

cheers
Ken

Brand names that wouldn't work in Australia (part 1)

2008-12-04T21:02:00.005-05:00

Hi ho!!

As I'm sure you've probably guessed by now, there are a lot of brands and products available to me in the USA that just aren't available in Australia. "Big deal", I hear you say? True enough, however there are some brand-names over here that just would not work in Australia. So, from time to time, I'm going to present them to you when I can.... it'll be a kind of sporadic, multi-part thread that I'll introduce from time to time.

This is an advertising cardboard cut-out I saw and is my first installment of "brands that just wouldn't work in Australia":

I think I've said enough, don't you?

*chuckling*

Ken

My new office

2008-12-04T20:47:00.012-05:00

Hi folks!

Ok, so I've been given my office-space today... although I say "my" office-space, when in fact I'm going to wind up sharing it with four other helpdesk operators (who will be hired and arrive early in 2009). And, since I have a rather spectacular view, I took a few pictures with my phone's camera in a rather optimistic attempt to show you the panorama that I can see from my chair.

Ok, so you have to use your imagination and try real hard to ignore the frames and disjointed furniture around the edges of the pictures.

Oh - and here's the view straight down from my window on the 7th floor:

Cheers!!

Ken

Good News!

2008-11-29T13:08:00.002-05:00

I finally have a job!!

Yes, it only took a full year for me to find full-time employment in a decent job with good pay and conditions! Actually, it is almost exactly a year, as I arrived in the USA on November 29th 2007, and my hire-date is officially November 24th, 2008.

I don't wish to tell you what network I'm working for, for privacy and various other reasons (no, it's not a typo - there's a hint there, folks. Take a step back and look at the screen.). Let's just say that I'm working in a supportive role for a provider that services a technical field, and we'll leave it at that.

My customers are actually staff members of the company, not the general public, so that increases my satisfaction a whole lot! There's no pressure to sell the company's products! Yes, I have to provide excellent customer service (as if I wouldn't try to do that!), but the word "sales" is nowhere near my job description! Plus, the team is filled with geeky, slightly off-the-wall (read: crazy in a good way) folks - I feel right at home! :)

Of course, now you - the reader - can relax, as I won't be whining about being unemployed any more. I do, however, reserve the right to whine about my job - but everyone has that right!

hehehe...

cheering

Ken

Giving Thanks

2008-11-29T12:44:00.010-05:00

Hi again!

Thanksgiving is here: occurring on the fourth Thursday in November, its one of those holidays that is marked by copious amounts of food (the other being Christmas), although unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving doesn't have a definitive religious basis. Apparently, this tradition stems from the Netherlands - I always thought that it was a tradition that began in the USA.

So, since Dani and I weren't going to be able to spend Thanksgiving with her family, we decided to have our own feast at home. We invited one of our close friends here in Atlanta to join us for the evening meal, and what a meal it was!! Boy, did Dani do a wonderful job of preparing a feast fit for Kings! :)

Of course, we had to start with a turkey! Dani went to great pains to ensure that homemade garlic butter was inserted under the skin of the turkey, giving the bird a wonderful flavour!

No, she doesn't have her hand in the bird. She actually has her hand up under the skin of the bird - not the most savoury of tasks.

The end result was worth it though, as this pic shows. Twelve pounds of moist, flavourful roasted bird! Yum!!

(my apologies if I have any vegetarian readers - I'm a committed carnivor, so there!).

And naturally, we had to have pumpkin pie for dessert! Dani made two of them, which was a fabulous idea cause I'm going to really enjoy eating these! It wasn't a deliberate attempt to take a page from my mother's cookbook, but that's the sort of thing my mum would do!

Dani was concerned that the pies weren't going to turn out very well, but the end result was a pair of excellent pies that are on a par with her Aunt's - and take it from me, that's a pretty high standard to reach!

Now, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go sleep off copious amounts of food - if I was a bear, I'd be ready to go into hibernation! :)

cheers

Ken

Fall colours

2008-11-15T13:42:00.003-05:00

Hi there, folks!

Autumn (or "Fall" as it's known in the USA) is well and truely here, and this means that the trees are providing a wonderful riot of colour that rivals anything spring can offer! It's kind of amazing how quickly the leaves change colours from green to yellow to red and then fall from above like giant snowflakes...and the slightest gust of wind only increases this resemblance to snowfall.

Of course, the flipside to this beautiful seasonal display is that it doesn't take long before the branches are bare, and the leaves pile up everywhere: in windrows, in the gutter, burying cars beneath gaily coloured mounds, and so on.

Here's a couple of pix I took of the colourful Fall display: the yellow trees are in someone's front yard just a block from our apartment, while the mountainside was taken when Dani and I went to North Carolina for Halloween.

Something that I found interesting (and I'm going to tell you about it, even if you don't find it all that fascinating) is that it doesn't take much for the fallen leaves to dinintergrate. In Australia, the fallen leaves tend to just lie there, ignoring any and all passer-by... yet here, the leaves are so fragile, almost like tissue-paper. When we were leaving North Carolina, there was a heavy layer of freshly fallen leaves beside the car....and fifteen minutes later, after several trips back and forth loading the car by yours truely, all that remained was a path of finely ground leaf matter. Talk about self-mulching trees!

I had planned on showing you a sort of photographic 'progression' of the season, showing the trees outside our apartment as they changed from summer to winter..... 'cept I seem to have "misplaced" (read: accidentally deleted) the pictures I so carefully took over the past few months. Sorry.

There's always next Fall, I guess.

cheers

Ken

Boo!

2008-10-26T21:49:00.004-04:00

It's Halloween!

Unfortunately, while that means there's a lot of fun things happening (and some scarey stuff too, which isn't really my thing), we live in an apartment block and can't really do much in the way of decorating the exterior of the building.

Still, we can have a bit of fun, so today some friends of ours invited us over to carve pumpkins! This was messy, but a whole lot of fun! Now, there are some specialized tools that one can go out and purchase if you really wanna get into pumpkin carving, but all you need is a pattern, a knife, a spoon (to scoop out the seeds n stuff from inside), and a light source (traditionally a candle).

Here's my first effort at pumpkin carving. I decided to copy the "halloween" pumpkins from my favourite computer game, World of Warcraft. Not too bad, even if I do say so myself.

As we only had one pumpkin between us, Dani carved her pattern into the other side of the same pumpkin.... and here it is: a spooky bat!

As a result of having a carving on both sides, we get the image of the far side of the pumpkin projected onto the wall behind the pumpkin - quite cool, huh?

Scare ya later!

Ken

Football

2008-10-26T21:17:00.012-04:00

Hi there!
So a couple of weeks ago, Dani surprised me with a little trip to watch a Georgia Tech football game! Seems one of her colleagues was a seaso-ticket holder and was going to be out of town on the day, so Dani scored these tickets for a bargain basement price! Sweet!!
Georgia Tech won, by the way: 10 - 7

All the images should be able to be clicked on and viewed larger, if you wish. Enjoy!

A phenomenon in the USA at football games is known as 'tailgating'. Basically, fans will have a cookout (we'd call it a BBQ in Australia, but that term has a whole other meaning here) with a grill sitting on the "tailgate" of their cars.... typically, right in the parking lot of the stadium. At Georgia Tech, the students don't have the need to drive to the stadium - it's right next door. So they 'tailgate' outside the stadium anyway.

A quick shot of the crowd. This was a small crowd, apparently, due to the game being held in "fall break", and many students had gone home for the brief holiday from studies. Nonetheless, when Georgia Tech scored the first 'touchdown' (i.e. goal), I literally felt the pressure wave caused by the cheers from the crowd!! I felt it in my ears and my chest as an actual pressure, followed by an almighty bellow! Quite impressive, and pretty cool too!

Check out the people! Can you see the solid block of white in the middle of the crowd? That's the school band - well, some of them anyway. The band would strike up during lulls in the game (like between quarters or between plays), and the crowd would sing along to the various songs. At one point, the band started playing a polka, and the entire stadium got to its feet and started bobbing up and down by bending at the knees! Bloody funny, but good fun as well!

Halftime saw the full band take the field in a display of choreographed marching. These band members are extremely talented! Anyone who can play a tuba while marching backwards and threading between other band members and NOT hit someone is talented in my books! I don't know if you can see 'em, but the cheerleaders are also dancing along on the far side of the field - they were pretty talented too!! :)

This model A ford is known as "the ramblin' wreck" and is present at virtually every home game... it's even mentioned in the university's 'fight' song. It leads the team onto the field, and here, at halftime, makes a circuit of the field to stir the fans up!

A quick "self picture" to commemorate our first live football game here in the US.

Shame I've got serious "hat hair" from wearing a cap throughout the entire afternoon, huh?

Cheers!

Ken

The news is in

2008-10-01T13:07:00.003-04:00

You may recall that a little over a month ago I went to Asheville for a job interview ( the waiting begins ) for a job that was in the psychology field. It was a chance to work in my field and put my degrees to good use. You may also recall that I was told they'd tell me the results of my interview in 2 weeks.

Well, it's been about 5 weeks, but they finally got back to me - I didn't get the job. It seems that they give preference to internal applicants over all others. So, I spent about $300 on a rental car, fuel, etc on a job interview that I had no chance of actually landing.

Sucks huh?

Oh well... moving on.

cheers
Ken

September 11

2008-09-14T16:12:00.003-04:00

Hi folks

The anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11 saw many memorial services across the country, and naturally enough, featured on most of the television channels for most of the day. In a weird kind of way, it almost felt like ANZAC day in Australia.

Georgia Tech had a small memorial service, and had a static tribute on the central lawn (see below). It had a quiet dignity to it.

cheers

Ken

Viva la difference!

2008-09-14T15:20:00.013-04:00

Hi again!

One of the original purposes of my blog was to highlight the differences I experienced living here in the USA, and to be honest I don't think I've been doing this. What's more, I realised the other day that much of what is different, I now take for granted. So, let's take a look at some of the more noticeable interior differences between the USA and Australia.

The bathroom: No, we're not going to see the differences in toilet-bowl water rotation, although there are differences in the construction of toilet bowls over here. But I'm going to spare you the gorey details today :) . Instead, lets take a look at the hand basin.

As you can see from the image on the left, there's a small knob just above and behind the faucet (that's the actual tap for the Aussies out there). You'll also notice that the drain has a little mushroom-shaped plug poking up through it. If you want to stop water draining out of the basin, you pull up on the knob, and the plug drops down to block the hole.

The image to the right shows you the 'closed' drain, just for a comparison.

The bath itself is a bit different. The plug still rests in the drain, but you just reach down and turn it until it drops down into the hole. Instead, the little knob you see on top of the faucet (see below) is to switch the flow of the water from the faucet to the shower nozzle overhead.

Now, with a plug that cannot be removed from the drain means you're never going to lose the plug. Also, you don't have to stick your hand into a handbasin of dirty water to remove the plug. The downside is that it doesn't take much foreign matter to plug the drain! We usually have to put some type of chemical cleaner down the drain once a month to help keep it clear.

Heaven help me if someone loses a piece of jewellry down the drain!

Power Points: Better known as "electrical outlets" over here, there are some significant differences between the two countries. Take a look at the pictures below... you'll notice that the plugs are completely different. If you look at the outlet itself, you may notice that there's no switch. That's because the power is always "on" in the American outlet. You stick a plug into the socket and power is immediately flowing. Stick anything else in there and you're gonna fry! It took me a little while to get used to seeing a tiny blue flash each time I plugged an appliance in!

Ok, that's enough for now. I'll show you some more differences at a later time.

cheers!

Ken

Now the waiting begins..

2008-08-28T11:27:00.003-04:00

The interview went well - at least, I feel it went well. There were several times my interviewers said "good answer" to my replies, as well as several moments of shared laughter and general good-natured banter. The unfortunate part is, due somewhat to this being a government-funded agency, I'm going to have to wait for TWO weeks before I hear back about the position!

Two weeks! Ack, I need work now, not in two weeks time! Bugger!

Still, there's nothing that can be done about the waiting period. Dani and I left Asheville and North Carolina immediately after the interview, with a great deal of regret. The area is SO nice, and Asheville has a really pleasant vibe to it... we both feel that we could be really happy living in that area.

We're now back in Georgia, and I've resumed looking for work. I'll post again when something interesting happens.

Til then...

Ken

North Carolina before the interview...

2008-08-23T20:19:00.003-04:00

We picked up our hire car nice and early and, after packing up with what seemed enough gear for a month's stay in North Carolina, we were on the road around 10.30am. Yet, with all the stuff we put in the car, we still managed to leave our camera behind. We would regret that oversight about a million times over the next few days!

Our first day in North Carolina saw Dani and I visiting some of our favourite places in NC: Dillsboro and the Dillsboro Smokehouse, where we had the best ribs we've had for ages (probably since the last time we ate at the smokehouse). A quick trip to Waynesville, followed by a trip to Asheville for pizza. Something a bit more interesting occurred later on: we drove over to the locale for my interview on Monday. As we were driving up, the local police patrol was coming down the driveway. Initially, the patrolman was a tad cautious, which isn't too surprising as it was almost 6pm. Mind you, once he found out why I was there, he was extremely friendly and most helpful. Turns out, the patrolman's girlfriend is from Brisbane! Those bloody Aussies pop up everywhere, don't they?

I hope this bodes well for Monday...

The next day saw Dani and I making a quick trip into Asheville's downtown area for a little bit of a sticky-beak. We found lots of interesting shops: several Japanese restaurants, many organic-based restaurants, and so on.... all of which were closed. We did manage to drop in on the fanciest McDonald's restaurant I've seen. It's right next door to the entrance of the Biltmore Estate, and has a grand piano on it's own small platform and pressed copper tiles on the ceiling! I'd have taken a picture of it, but... that's right, no camera.

A little later saw Dani and I making our way into the Pisgah National Park for an impromptu picnic. The weather was gorgeous! Just warm enough to be comfortable, a light breeze to cool us off, and the road winding through the green canopy. I wish I had some pictures to show you...but you know the story.

I'll let you know how the interview goes tomorrow.

cheers

Ken

It never rains but it pours...

2008-08-20T12:10:00.003-04:00

Hey ho!!

So I've been a bit quiet on my blog of late, but that's because - as usual - not much has been happening. But - as I'm sure you've guessed by now - something has happened that's blog-worthy. And you'd be right.

I've got a job interview!

In my field!

In western North Carolina!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Actually, truth be told, I've had more activity job-search-wise in the last week than I've had since I set foot on American soil. On Thursday 8th August, Dani and I had put in some rather long hours to get her PhD thesis submitted on time... and since then, I've received an expression of interest from Sylva North Carolina, the Georgia state government's HR dept, attended two (rather fruitless) job interviews, and now (August 20th) a proper job interview in Asheville NC!

Dani and I will be hiring a car this Friday and spending the weekend in NC with her brother's family before going over to Asheville for my interview. I'm very excited by this whole proposition (it shows, doesn't it?), and hope that I can actually land this position. Sure, it'd mean a brief stint living apart from Dani, but we'd only be 3 hours drive apart.... not half a world away like we were this time last year.

Stay tuned for more updates!

cheering....
Ken

Avagoodweegend

2008-07-27T14:12:00.004-04:00

G'day folks!

It's summer-time in America, and I've learnt why many Americans refer to Atlanta as "Hotlanta". It's very warm (about 33 degrees Centigrade) and very very humid. Mind you, the air could feel heavy enough to carve simply because of the smog, but since I've seen pictures of the smog in Beijing, I don't think smog is the sole contributing culprit when it comes to Atlanta's muggy air.

Not to be confused with "muggers" - Atlanta has those too, but that's something that I've yet to encounter - here's hoping I never do.

However, we were talking about summer... And there's a few similarities about summer in Atlanta and summer in Australia. It's very warm, it's very humid, mosquitoes do their best to drain you of blood whilst at the same time infect you with any number of lovely exotic tropical diseases, and cicadas sing their songs in the trees. And yet there's one glaring difference between summer in my current home and my home country.

There's no flies!

Well, ok, there are flies, but they're very rare. In Australia, if you expose food to the atmosphere it'll be covered in flies in the time it takes for your food to travel from your plate and get within millimeters of your lips. Here in Atlanta, you can put a steak down on the plate, get the salad ready, cook some pasta, then come back for the steak and it'll still be completely untouched. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but only a little mind you!

The flies I've seen tend to look a little like the bastard union between an Australian blow-fly and one of those green-arsed buggers that like to batter themselves to death on the inside of your windows. Big, slow, unattractive, and with the tendancy to bite is the idea I'm trying to convey here. But at least I don't have to constantly wave my hand in front of my face in order to stop myself from inadvertantly eating half a pound of airborne insects!

Summer-time in HotLanta isn't too bad at all, really!

cheers!

Ken

An observation about cable TV

2008-07-23T19:40:00.002-04:00

G'day readers

As it's been a little while since my last post, I thought I'd drop in briefly to re-assure you that I was still alive and that I hadn't forgotten about my blog. It's just that nothing noteworthy has really popped up and said "Blog me!".

However, this blog is not just about events in my/our lives here in the US - that I could almost sum up in four words ("nothing much ever happens").... it's also about the odd things that I see from time to time (and also think to mention here). And one of those "Odd" things is cable tv. Well, not so much cable per se, as much as some of the advertisements I see on cable.

Y'see, the USA is a very litigious society. They'll sue you for things that in Australia we'd simply shrug off (after choosing a couple of choice expletives, of course). Which is why almost every ad you see on TV has a disclaimer. Some of these disclaimers I can take seriously ("Viagra will not protect against STD's"), some make me smile ("your results with Jenny Craig may vary"), and some really make me laugh out loud and wonder at the society we're living in ("do not attempt" when showing someone eating a roll of 5 cent pieces - don't ask).

Now, I say "almost every ad has a disclaimer" because there's a series of ads here that have been done up to look like an actual investigative news show - talking about vampires! It's not the subject matter that causes me to write today. It's the fact that advertisers have to tell their viewers not to attempt to eat a roll of nickels (or jump off the roof, or drive at high speed through the street, or a thousand other things that any sensible person would never do without the influence of some serious drugs), but they don't feel the need to tell their viewers that the 'mockumentary' they're watching is actually an advertisement for an upcoming TV show, and that vampires aren't really permeating their way through every aspect of American society!

How odd!

Still, it beats free-to-air television hands down! :)

*chuckling softly*

Ken

...and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth!

2008-07-10T20:38:00.004-04:00

Hello everybody!

The on-going, seemingly endless saga that is the evaluation of my university degrees is finally over! It only took an entire month to complete - over two weeks longer than the evaluating company claimed it would take.
I mailed off my paperwork on June 11th, and should have had my evaluation back two weeks later. So when I hadn't heard from the company by Tuesday 1st July, I contacted them only to be told that it had been mailed the day before. Excellent, I thought, and waited for the mail to arrive.

And waited..

And waited some more...

Finally, I got the sh...er...annoyed, and contacted the company again - by email and by phone. Several times. I eventually got hold of someone who promised to fax a copy of my evaluation to me. Once again, my plans went belly-up, when my computer's fax program only accepted the cover-sheet of the four page fax, and dropped the all-important evaluation from the transmission! It was about this time that I was coming to the conclusion that I was never going to get my evaluation... and those choice jobs in North Carolina that I wanted to apply for were going to go to someone else!
Fortunately, someone must have taken pity on me (or got tired of my constant hassling) and sent me an email with my evaluation as an attachment.

There was much rejoicing in our small area of Atlanta, I can tell you!

Next stop, job applications! Stay tuned!

*cheering*

Ken

Good morning, sunshine!

2008-06-26T06:59:00.002-04:00

It's 6.45am, and 20 minutes ago I was woken up by 3 greyhounds. No, not three coaches... greyhounds. Their tails thumping against walls with excitement as they encouraged me to get the hell outta bed!

Yes, I know, you're confused so I'll fill in the background. A friend of ours had to go to England for a business trip for 10 days, and she asked us if we'd mind babysitting her apartment - which also included dog-sitting her two greyhounds. I was quite happy to do so, as I get along very well with her two dogs. Interestingly enough, she had been dog-sitting for a friend of hers at the time... hence the extra greyhound. Fortunately the "extra" dog (Jaycee) is rather advanced in dog years, so he's normally quite sedate and no extra burden to speak of. Actually, none of them are a 'burden'....but they can be a handful! :)

Our friend's dogs are Yogi (who is a bit of an exuberant clown) and Mariss (who can be a little neurotic, but seems to like me "because I'm male... she likes guys". LOL!). Today was my first morning with them, and despite being warned that I'd be woken early for potty breaks and breakfast (in that order), I wasn't totally prepared for the experience. As soon as Mariss and Yogi spotted that Jaycee had been successful in waking me up, the three started bouncing about (especially Yogi) and baying "aawoooo!" at me.

I'm not sure if it meant "good morning", "I'm hungry" or "hurry up before I pee myself"...probably all three, based on their dash to get to the door and their dash to get back inside after pee-ing on the first available tree / patch of grass! Still, they're fed and now lying around like three large, lumpy, furry throw-rugs! Hehehe... they're certainly not hard to deal with!

Actually, last night was also funny! It was to be my first night with them, and again - despite being told what to expect - I was unprepared for my reception. Y'see, Dani, another friend and myself had gone to a little diner up in Marietta which had been given rather a good review on one of the Food Channel's TV shows (you can find the site here ), however we kinda miscalculated how long it would take to get there, eat, and get back. So when I arrived back at the dog's apartment, they got a little frantic! Yogi (who is crated during long absences to give the potted plants some respite) started scrabbling madly at the latches of the crate, while Mariss started Aawoooo-ing, and Jaycee began bouncing up and down with glee. Releasing Yogi from his crate just added to the mayhem - now I had the three of them bouncing up and down! Attaching their leads was a bit of a feat in itself! Judging by the small yellow lake that seemed to miraculously appear out the front of the building a minute or so later, I'm guessing that I kinda left it a tad long before getting back!

The next 10 days should be interesting!

*yawning*

Ken

"working" in the USA

2008-06-24T10:05:00.002-04:00

Hi again!

Some of you may recall one of my earlier posts in which I mention that I'd been employed by a local theme park (see "employment in conservative America"). Well, that's proven to be yet another thorn in my side.

Y'see, I was employed to work in Guest Relations, with almost a full shift every day and the occasional shift selling tickets at the front gate. What happened in actuality was that I wound up doing two 5-hour shifts a week selling tickets, and haven't done any work in Guest Relations at all. In order to get to work on time, I have to catch 2 buses (with a half-hour wait in between connections), which takes at least 2 hours each way, and which costs me somewhere around $23 per week in bus fare. I've been making an average of $68 (after tax) per week (no, that's not a typo), from which I then pay my bus-fare.

In essence, I'm working for less than $5 per hour, and travelling for four hours each day I worked for the privilage!

Well, not any more - I quit! I'm expecting the appraisal of my degree any day now, and I'd rather put my efforts into looking for yet another job.

*sigh*

Ken

Another culinary experience

2008-06-24T09:41:00.003-04:00

Hi ho, gang!

Last week saw another entry onto my ever-growing list of American culinary experiences. Dani and I felt that we simply couldn't wait til our anniversary to have Japanese food again (it's been so long!!) and since we were going to be in the area anyway, we went to a Benihana restaurant.

"What the *censored* is a 'Benihana?!' " I hear you ask? Hehehe... Benihana is America's version of a Japanese-themed franchise of teppanyaki restaurants. Like all franchises, each Benihana restaurant is virtually the same, with only the cooks making the each restaurant a little different.

Dani and I sat down for lunch, and as we typically do when we go to a Japanese restaurant, we'd brought our own chopsticks from home (I have quite a collection of them - one of the few things that I didn't dispose of when I left Australia). I'd unwrapped them and set them in front of us shortly after we were seated, so I was both amused and slightly insulted when the waitress offered us forks to eat our salad. I looked at her as if she'd offered me a lightly poached pidgeon with the feathers still on it, and gently patted my chopsticks and shook my head. Forks indeed!

I decided that I really wanted sushi rather than teppanyaki, so I ordered from the menu rather than selecting a teppanyaki combination (on their website, they call the style of cooking "teriyaki", but I have always associated a large, communal hotplate that the guests sit around while the chef cooks for everyone as teppanyaki and until I'm corrected, I'll continue using that term - but I digress). I'll give them their due: the food was very good, and certainly not lacking in quantity. Jesus cooked a very nice meal for Dani and the other guests seated at our table... yes, our cook was Mexican, not Asian... Don't ask me why that surprised me, but it did. Perhaps its because almost all the Japanese restaurants I'd patronised in Australia were run and/or staffed by Japanese ex-pats had something to do with it...

Anyway, we stuffed ourselves with Japanese-style food, and fortunately for me it met the standards of my rather snobbish palate! Woohoo!! My craving for sushi has been eased (for now), and I can relax knowing that there's one place nearby where I can get decent sushi (albeit at a rather higher price than I'm used to - we won't be doing this often, I can assure you!).

cheers!

Ken

The best laid plans of mice and men...

2008-06-13T23:00:00.002-04:00

Hi ho!

It's all Anthony Bourdain's fault!! Here we were, peacefully watching the Food channel, and Anthony Bourdain comes on and takes us on a tour of Osaka's best food joints (of which there are many)! Which just served to point out to Dani and I that we hadn't had any sushi for a long time - heck, in Dani's case, almost a year!! *gasp* So, a quick phone call to reserve a table and another quick call to arrange a taxi and we were all set to wrap our lips around some sushi!

That's where our nicely arranged plan fell apart, of course. Y'see, it appears that my accent is so pronounced (ha! what a lot of bull$@!&), that the taxi went to the wrong address. When I called the dispatcher to complain that our cab was late, I was informed that he'd already come and gone. Which we knew wasn't the case, since we were sitting out the front. We corrected the dispatcher's faulty address, then repeated the same instructions with the cabbie when he called me to let me know that he was outside.....turns out, he was outside some other building about a mile and a half down the road! By this time, we'd missed our reservation anyway, so we told the cabbie and the dispatcher that their company stank (rapid taxi's of Atlanta, just in case you're interested) and that we'd never use their company in the future.

Well, that's the gist of what we told them, if not the actual words that we used. Then we changed back into some comfy clothes and went The Varsity instead. We'll go to the Japanese restaurant for our anniversary later next month.

Oh well, better luck next time.

cheers
Ken

Water at a water park?

2008-06-13T22:42:00.002-04:00

Hi folks! It's been a little while since my last post, and there's a very good reason for that - nothing really interesting's happened to us, that's why!
However, just to keep you in the loop: I'm now working at Six Flags White Water - a "wet'n'wild" style water-park, where I sell tickets.

What an excellent use of my university degree!

I got an "early mark" the other day, though... 'cause a storm came through. Man, did the thunder crack and boom! Of course, being immersed in chlorinated water when lightning strikes nearby is NOT the best place to be, so we got everyone out... however, that's when the wind came up! Suddenly, the danger switched from the extremely rare possibility of electrocution to the high probability of being struck by a pinecone at high velocity (this happened to more than one patron, by the way)!

On other job-related news, I've finally received my university transcripts and have sent them off for evaluation. Soon, I'll be able to apply for psych-related jobs and maybe start working in my preferred field.

Hopefully.

Ken

Dani's PhD defence

2008-05-19T10:37:00.002-04:00

As part of her Ph.D, Dani is required to give an oral presentation to a panel of examiners and then answer any questions the panel may have regarding her thesis. For a Ph.D. in Australia, this is pretty standard procedure. Each of the panel members has read her thesis and knows all the arguments and theories that her thesis is based upon.

Of course, normally a Ph.D. candidate would defend in person - something that Dani could not possibly do. So she arranged with her supervisor to conduct her defence via an Internet-based "teleconference". For her part, Dani sourced out a very nifty piece of software that would enable her to present slides to her panel and at the same time be visible to them via a web cam.

So far, so good.

Of course, just sorting out the logistics isn't enough - the actual presentation is still required, and last night (Sunday 18th) was the time. Dani and I had come prepared, though. In addition to her notes and a copy of her manuscript, we had several electronic copies of her presentation, a copy of the web cam software on disc and on a USB 'thumb drive', and my laptop as a backup of last resort. The plan was to connect the web cam to one of the university's computers so that she could take advantage of their high-speed Internet connection. Of course, Murphy's Law states that "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". (Un)Fortunately for us, my family's "Law" states "Murphy was an optimist"! Here's how the afternoon panned out.

We went to the computer lab that Dani had arranged to use for her teleconference around 6 pm...where, upon our entry to the room, the alarm started blaring. The person who was supposed to arrange for her to use the room had neglected to do so! So we raced back to her office and called security to inform them that the place wasn't being robbed! Next, we unlocked the classroom across the hallway only to find that the computer in that room had no power. Oh goodie! On to the next classroom (the computer made a very ominous sizzling sound), and the next classroom (where the air conditioning was actually heating the room rather than cooling it), and then finally the last room in the hallway which had a functioning computer and wasn't an oven! Great - ok, let's just plug in the web cam... Uh oh... apparently Dani didn't have the authorisation to install the hardware (the camera) OR it's software! Oh joy! We'll have to use my laptop. There goes our chance to use the university's fast connection!

After setting up my laptop (including a last minute dash down the hallway to 'borrow' the speakers from Dani's office computer so that the gathered audience of 3 could also hear the conference), Dani finally got to defend her thesis.

A bit of a shame that Dani's supervisor didn't use the special Audiovisual teleconference equipment that Queensland University of Technology has for just this sort of occasion - she used her own laptop! The end result is that we had a laptop at either end of the conference connection - each of which has a small modem, thus restricting the flow of information, resulting in about 5 separate breakdowns in the broadcast.

Bugger!

However, she's been told that she can go on to the next stage of the Ph.D. She has to make a few changes to the text of her manuscript, which she expected would be required. However, it's one more hurdle down and another step closer to Dani becoming "Doctor" Dani.

*sighing with relief*
Ken

Employment in 'conservative' America

2008-05-11T18:02:00.003-04:00

So my readers may recall that I've recently left my job as a car salesman to take up a position with Guest Services at a local theme park. Neither are what I'd consider an "ideal" job, but it's interesting to note that the two jobs share something in common - something that I consider rather odd.

An aversion with male facial hair.

You might recall that the employment company that I went through when first considering a car salesman's position 'forced' me to shave my beard (see The first day of training). While the car dealership didn't mind me re-growing my goatee, it seems that the theme park also has issues with men and beards! I'm allowed a mustache, as long as it doesn't extend past the corners of my mouth - but no goatees and no beards. In the interests of a pay packet, I've decided to go with the mustache rather than retain my newly grown goatee.

By the way, both employers have an issue with my earring as well. I'm almost at the point of just taking it out and letting the hole close over - almost, but not quiet. I'm still 'rebelling' by replacing my earring each night. :)

But I remain puzzled. What is it about conservative America that such an anti-beard bias exists?! Beards can be neat, they're not an indication of an evil personality, many men sport beards and look rather handsome at the same time. Heck, Abe Lincoln had a huge beard, yet he's almost universally revered by Americans.

I still live in the hope that I will eventually find gainful employment in my field AND that I'll be allowed to have a goatee. Time will tell if this is possible. Stay tuned for further updates!

cheers
Ken

Some musings about Atlanta

2008-05-06T13:45:00.004-04:00

Over the past couple of months, I've been so busy I've hardly had much time to 'blog', so I thought that I'd post a couple of things I've observed recently.

Smog: Atlanta's a big city, with big city problems. So I don't know why it was a little surprising for me to learn recently that Atlanta has a 'smog season'. Just as Australia has UV warnings each summer, Atlanta warns it's residents about smog levels. For example, today's is "moderate", and it's unhealthy for Atlanta's citizens to spend prolonged periods of time outside around midday. People who have breathing issues such as asthma, or the elderly, should take care and stay indoors as much as possible between 11am and 4pm. The fact that the scale extends higher makes me wonder how bad it actually will get as the season progresses.

Pollen: Spring brings a different airborne nuisance. After lying dormant over the months of winter, all the plants begin flowering madly when spring arrives - and they do it almost literally overnight! It settles on any available surface in a greenish coating and any rainfall will gather the pollen into any available crevices in the pavement. Like the smog, Atlanta authorities issue pollen warnings and informs the populace about how bad things are going to be on any particular day. Many people have severe allergic reactions, to the point where strong medication is necessary for people to see and/or breathe. Dani and I were lucky this year and didn't have any noticable reaction to the pollen - unlike a few people I've met, who were almost unable to see due to their allergic reactions to the pollen.

Spitting: I don't know whether it's the areas I've been travelling in/through, or whether it's something that I just didn't notice in Australia, but it seems to me that people in Atlanta spit more than I've seen anywhere else. A lot more. Maybe it's a social convention, or a left-over from the days when people chewed tobacco and had to spit the 'baccy juices to avoid being ill. I don't know - all I know is, when in Atlanta, watch where you walk! ;)

cheers

Ken

The Job Front

2008-04-27T17:45:00.003-04:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I last made an entry in my blog, but when you're working 12 hours a day (and commuting for another 3 hours on top), there's little time left to do much of anything. My days off were mostly consumed with sleeping in and washing clothes!

And, at the risk of seeming fickle, I just couldn't take it any longer. After 5 weeks of working in a car dealership (and 2 car sales), I resigned from the position. I just didn't like the job - it was too much like manipulation for my liking - and I told my ex-bosses that, too.

The funny thing is, throughout my "training" at the dealership, I'd been given various lines and responses to use with customers to convince the customer that buying a car was just what the customer needed/wanted to do.... and when I told my managers, they started using the same style of arguments to try and convince me to stay! *LOL* A word of advice, folks: don't teach a Psychology graduate how you 'coax' customers and then attempt to manipulate ...er that is, persuade the graduate that he doesn't want to resign using the same strategies - it ain't gonna work!

The good news is that I now have sufficient money to get my psych degrees evaluated and I've landed a position with a local amusement park which will not only pay me the same amount of money per week that I was receiving at the car dealership, I'll be working a 40 hour week (instead of a 54 hour week). What's more, I'll be eligible for paid overtime! It's only seasonal work and will naturally conclude at the end of summer, however I should be in a better position to find work once my degrees have been evaluated.

*fingers crossed*

Ken

A work in progress...

2008-04-11T08:34:00.003-04:00

After two weeks working as a car salesperson, I've been allowed to move on from "training" (i.e. learning about the cars and some of the processes of the dealership) and out onto the sales 'floor'... and yesterday, I sold my first car! Admittedly, it was a used vehicle (or what my dealership refers to as a "pre-owned" vehicle), and I had a babysitter throughout the latter half of the deal... But I don't care! I've sold a vehicle finally!

"So what's it like being a car salesperson, Ken?" I hear you ask? Lots of standing around waiting for a customer to walk onto the lot... then, when a customer finally appears, they're very often not serious about buying a car - or are not in a good financial position to buy a car, and so I spend an hour or more showing a car to a person who then turns to me and says something like "oh, I owe several thousand on my worn-out trade in... can I lower my payments from $600 per month on that piece of cr*p to $300 and get this shiny new $40,000 car?"

These are the type of customers that I have come to refer to as "customers who are looking for Rocking horse sh*t". Although I did have one customer yesterday who was distracted by almost everything he saw! At one point, I started to think he was high on some sort of stimulant, but I couldn't get close enough to check out the pupils of his eyes! You might think I'm exaggerating, but honestly, he had the attention span of a goldfish!

Ken: "so, Mr X, what do you think of this Jeep Wrangler?"
Mr X: "well, it's nice, although I'm not a big fan of the colour red....(glances out the window) ohh! shiny thing!! ...... um... what was the question?"

The hours are probably the hardest part of the job: I'm working from 9am til 9pm three days a week, from 12pm til 9pm on one other weekday, and Saturday from 8.45am til 7pm. I get Wednesday and Sunday off - whereupon I sleep til 9 or so to recharge the batteries. Of course, it doesn't help that I have to catch public transport, which adds just a bit under an hour and a half to either end of my day. The second-hardest part of my job (apart from customers like "Mr X" above!) is that the cars I'm selling are well-constructed, attractive vehicles - and I want about 4 of them!! Hehehehe.

The fact that I can't afford any of them tends to depress me now and then. Still, at least I believe in the product I'm selling, and that's extremely important to me.

Some day soon, I'll post some photos from work to let you see the place (and the cars).

cheers
Ken

The first week at work

2008-03-30T19:26:00.004-04:00

After almost four months in the USA - during which I was looking for gainful employment for almost the entire time - I managed to land a job with a car dealership known as Atlanta Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Now this isn't my ideal job, however it is a job, so I accepted it happily and have been doing my best to learn the position.

There are some positive aspects to this job. I'm getting paid about $10 an hour for the first 8 weeks of employment, after which I will go onto full commission. As such, I have a decent chance to learn the position. In addition, I've not yet encountered any major conflicts with my personal ethics (yet!).

It's also been very tiring, despite the fact that there's very little exertion involved in the job. I've been getting up at 7 am, walking 15 mins to the train station and catching a train to the end of the north-east line. Then I catch a bus for a small distance and arrive at the dealership about 9.30 am. At 6pm, I reverse the whole process - after having spent the day memorizing the details of a number of different cars. I get home, eat some dinner, and fall into bed in a dead faint! After I finish my "training period", my hours will be 9am til 9pm three days a week, a day off mid-week as well as Sundays off... late nights and early starts- oh joy! :(

I intend to use some of my pay to have my degrees evaluated and so enable me to apply for psychology-related jobs in the future. Hopefully I'll be able to land a job which will use my degrees and give me shorter hours, a more reliable paycheck, and weekends free.

Cross your fingers for me, ok?

cheers
Ken

The Easter weekend 2008

2008-03-28T21:49:00.021-04:00

Ok - I'll admit that this post is a little overdue (by about a week), but in my defence, I've been really busy with my new job and haven't had the time nor the energy to blog. However, I'll do my best to correct that here and now.

We had my wife's family come to Georgia to visit us over the Easter Weekend. As our apartment isn't big enough to hold 5 adults, 2 children and 2 dogs (and dogs aren't permitted in the dorms either), our visitors stayed at a dog-friendly hotel to the north of the city. Our first day out took us too downtown Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium. This was a fun trip for all of us, but especially our neice. Watching her face as she marvelled at some of the fish and animals in the aquarium was really something. Below, you can see some of the aquarium's inhabitants:

After the aquarium, we went a short distance down the street to a restaurant called "peasant" (no, I didn't mis-spell that!), which had excellent food at really good prices! We felt like we were being treated like royalty.

I also took the opportunity to take a picture of one of the skyscrapers damaged by the tornado a couple of weeks earlier (see below). Try clicking on the image and then zooming in - you'll see all the little black windows where the glass was blown out by the storm.

The next day (Saturday) saw the whole family visiting the Childrens Museum, which is also in downtown Atlanta. This is a hands-on educational facility which encourages both kids and kids-at-heart play with various displays which encourage everyone to have fun, create, and interact with the displays. As you can see from the images below, we all managed to find our "inner child" without too much trouble!

(Left:Dani get's creative with the "moon sand" at the Childrens' Museum. The sand could be moulded almost like clay, yet dusted off leaving no mess or trace - really cool stuff!).

(Left: Ken and his niece go "fishing" with magnetized plastic fish in the water fountain. "Catching" the fish wasn't difficult, considering the "hook" was also a magnet ... but that didn't stop my niece from declaring loudly "I caught a fish!!" every time she successfully attracted a fish to the end of her line! I had to call a stop when she started getting creative with the contents of the pond - soaking her shirt up to the elbows in the process!)

Of course, once we'd left the museum, we had to have something to eat - and what better meal could we have than honest-to-goodness down-south barbeque! So we bundled into the cars and headed north to "Swallow in the Hollow". Now, for those of my readers who haven't yet encountered the US concept of "barbeque", let me give you a small lesson in this culinary delight. Basically, a large piece of meat such as a haunch of beef or pig (or in some cases, turkey) is placed into an oven and cooked for a really long time in a very smokey environment. The end result is that the outer layers of the meat become almost caramelized and the whole piece of meat becomes incredibly tender. This meat is then pulled from the bone, cut up, and then mixed with a variety of sauces before being consumed. Below, you can see the the size of the sandwich of pulled pork that I had for lunch - it was a monster sandwich, but I loved every second of it. I'd love to show you the fantastic BBQ smoked ribs that some of the family had, however I promised not to post compromising pictures of the family with BBQ sauce all over their face, chin, and (in the case of my niece), her elbow!

(Left: Here you can see the size of my sandwich compared to my open hand. If you suspected that I may have had difficulty handling that monster sandwich, you'd be right!)

Since it was such a lovely day (and we were all waaay too full to do anything energetic), we then drove up to the Georgia / Tennessee border to a small town called Helen. Back in the 1980's, Helen was in very dire threat of becoming a ghost-town - all the industries that created the town had basically closed down and/or left. So the town decided to convert the entire place into a replica of a german village and become a tourist destination. It's a strange idea, but it worked! There were people everywhere as we wandered through the streets, poking our noses into the shops, tasting german-style chocolates and admiring / marvelling at this German village in the middle of the American countryside. Take a peek:

(Left: Just a small sample of the transformation of the town into a replica of a German-style village).

(Left: Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a very honest and law-abiding citizen. So, when I see a sign, I do my absolute best to follow the instructions on that sign.

No matter how hard it might be to summon gas on demand!). :)

All in all, a very enjoyable weekend was had by all!

cheers

Ken

I have a job!

2008-03-20T16:57:00.002-04:00

Yay! I have (finally) found gainful employment!!

I attended an interview with Atlanta Chrysler Jeep Dodge today - and provided I don't fail the drug test (which won't happen, since I don't do drugs) I'm hired and start Monday! On first impressions, the people who work there seem very pleasant, so hopefully I'll have a decent work environment.

I have no idea of the payscale at this point in time, so time will tell whether I'm going to be financially contributing to the household income, or draining it.

But just having a job and therefore the potential to earn money makes me feel a whole lot better!

cheering....

Ken

Atlanta raises the roof!

2008-03-16T16:58:00.009-04:00

Some of you may recall that one of my earlier posts dealt with the "severe weather" that Georgia experiences from time to time, and that this "severe weather" includes tornadoes. Well, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th of March saw several tornadoes hit Georgia.

One of which hit Downtown Atlanta!

In a straight line, our apartment was about 4 - 5 miles from where the tornado touched down, wreaking destruction through several major landmarks in the Atlanta Business District, including the very same Philips arena where Dani and I saw the Ringling Bros. circus a few weeks back!

I've poached some pictures from the Atlanta newspaper and posted them below for your viewing pleasure. For those who are interested, the tornado was rated as a "2" on the fujita scale (which only goes from 1 to 5 and is used to quantify tornadoes, much like the richter scale is used to measure earthquakes).

Before we look at the pictures, I'd just like to reassure you that Dani and I are fine, as are all our friends here in Atlanta. Now, on to the pictures!

Cheers!

Ken

The dealership interview

2008-03-16T16:24:00.002-04:00

To continue the saga of the car sales position: After completing the second day of training, I was given the location of 'my' dealership. Now, I say "my" because I was initially given the impression that I had completed the interview process and that I would simply be turning up to the dealership and starting work.

This was not the case. Instead, I was informed that I had to go to this dealership where I would undergo an additional interview. Oh goodie! Just what I wanted - another interview. So, like the good obedient fellow that I am, I dressed as instructed and travelled on public transport for an hour and a half to my interview.

When I arrived (15 mins early, I might add), I asked to see the fellow with whom I had been told I had an appointment with. Instead of paging him, the receptionist asked me to fill out an application form and a personality test. Further probing determined that my appointment didn't matter to the receptionist - "just fill out the form, please".

"I was led to believe that my appointment was with Mr X, and I don't have a pen." I replied. What followed was a battle between the receptionist (who apparently didn't have a pen) and myself (who also didn't have a pen, and who wanted to make his appointment). At this point, Mr X arrives, asks why I'm there, and then asks me to fill out the forms. With his intervention, the receptionist miraculously finds a pen that I can use!

So I settle myself down to complete these application forms - forms that I would have had to complete if I'd just walked in off the street!! What is more, the personality test is almost transparent in which characteristics are 'suited' to the position of a car salesperson (even to someone who has no psychology training)! I had a minor dilemma at this point: do I fill in the personality test to match the characteristics of a car salesperson, or do I complete the test to match my actual personality? Of course, I went with the latter option, as I'm a rather ethical person (almost sickenly so).

Having completed the forms, I informed the receptionist who then pages Mr X. Twice. After waiting some 20 minutes, some other joker appears (who I suspect is Mr X's brother) and proceeds to inform me that they're short on staff today and could I come back later today?
I was rather stunned. Couldn't they have informed me that interviews would have been difficult before I went through the dramatic battle with the receptionist over her non-existent spare pen?! I agreed to come back at 2pm that afternoon - until I realized that it was 11am at this point, and that since it took 90 mins to get home, I'd no sooner have arrived at home than I'd have to turn around and come back again! Since I'd already left the dealership by this stage, I called them back and cancelled my 2pm appointment.

Needless to say, I'll be calling my trainer on Monday and informing them that I felt my treatment was totally unprofessional and that I wished to be placed with another dealership! It's been suggested to me that perhaps my treatment at the dealership was a test, or a psychological attempt to "control" the interview....which, if so, just increases my displeasure at their unprofessional behaviour.

The saga continues.....please stay tuned!

Ken

The first day of training

2008-03-11T20:34:00.003-04:00

The things I do to get a job!

To re-cap: I was told I had been hired for the position of a car salesperson. This has been revealed to be a half-truth. It seems that I've been selected (with about 20 others) to be given training in sales techniques... and then I will be presented to a car dealership, where I will effectively be interviewed once again!

The trainers imply that the "second" interview is almost just a formality, and that provided I don't do something silly (like telling the dealership that I don't like that brand of car), I should be hired. However, the trainers have given me (and my fellow trainees) instructions on how we are to present ourselves - specifically about our appearance. Most of their instructions were no problem; eg. I usually wear a tie to an interview. However, one instruction really hit home.

I had to shave my goatee off!!

The beard that I (and my wife, and my family, and many of my friends) feel really suits me is history.

Oh, and apparently, I'm supposed to remove my earring for that interview - not that I really care much about that.

All I can say is: I will be re-growing my beard at the first opportunity!

Before & after:

Growling....

Ken

I feel like I'm 16 again

2008-03-06T14:03:00.004-05:00

Part I: With the new job comes one tiny little requirement that I need to take care of: a driver's licence. Dani and I have often spoken about the day when we'd be able to drive around and all the freedoms that come with a car, etc... but we haven't done anything about it so far. But when one works in a car dealership, having a licence is kinda necessary.

So, with the generousity of our downstairs neighbours (they're really nice people!), I've begun the process of learning to drive all over again! It's funny how, back in Australia, I sort of took driving for granted - after all, it had become second nature. Now, I have to think about many of the things that I'd learnt over 20 years ago; speed limits ("30" on the speedometer means I'm doing the speed limit, not that I'm going too slow!), distances from the cars parked on the side of the road ('cause I'm sitting on the left-hand side of the car now, on the other side of the road!), new signs (e.g. speed limits don't have that red circle around them over here - they're just a white rectangle with "speed limit 30" written on them, which to my eye tend to blend into the background), and so on.

Fortunately, many of the rules are similar, albeit reversed for the other side of the road. The same goes for most of the signs - some are very similar to Aussie ones, and others may not be similar but they make sufficient sense that a glance is enough to know what's expected of the driver.

I went for my first proper drive yesterday.... that is, behind the wheel of a car and on the roads with other traffic users. I have driven an american car before, when my mother-in-law entrusted me with the keys to her nice new volkswagen jetta and allowed me to move it in a supermarket parking lot (with no issues or drama, I might add - thankfully!!). But this was different - I had lots of other cars and road rules to contend with. And, even if I say so myself, I did just fine! Sure, I forgot that the indicator switch was on the left of the steering column a couple of times (resulting in me attempting to indicate a lane-change with the windscreen wipers!), but there were no incidents that anyone would find alarming. I didn't try to drive on the left-hand side of the road, I didn't break any laws or run any red lights. I'm pretty pleased with myself.

Mind you, my parallel parking (i.e. reverse parking) sucks big time! I still need a lot of practice there! :)

All in all, I should be able to get my licence before I start work next week. I hope.

Fingers crossed......

Part II: I just got back from my first trip to the Dept of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Unfortunately, I received the wrong information from the DMV's phone line, which resulted in us driving north about 11 miles to the Marietta DMV, which was extremely difficult to find. I arrived too late to be able to complete both the written and the practical tests, but I've passed the written test. Now I just need to go back and do the practical part. Dunno when I'll get the chance to do that, though.

Part III: Well, I managed to get back to the DMV the next day (Saturday). My long-suffering neighbour and my ever patient wife sat and waited inside while I dealt with the paperwork and then sat in the car (out in the barely-above freezing temperatures) waiting for my practical driving test. All in all, it took about 3 and a half hours to complete, and despite stuffing up on the reverse parking I passed the test and am now legal to drive in the State of Georgia! Woohoo!!

Still celebrating.....

Ken

It's work, Jim, but not as we know it...

2008-03-05T11:48:00.002-05:00

I've been looking for work basically since I arrived in the 'States in December '07. I haven't been too selective in the positions I've applied for, but I've had a pretty hard time finding work so far. I was so keen to find work that I started looking at the carsales positions on the Yahoo hotjobs website. Since I have my resume on file with Yahoo, applying was a simple matter of selecting a job, clicking on the "apply" button, and that was it! So I applied for four carsales positions, just for the heck of it.

I was a little surprised that I was invited to come for an interview the next morning! That interview took place yesterday, and as 'job interviews' go, it was a bit odd. I was an hour early for the interview, which was just as well 'cause about half an hour before my appointment the sky opened up and rain came down in buckets!

I was ushered into a small room, and asked to fill in a small question sheet - mostly just stuff like my name, address, and whether I had a clean driving record. After handing that to one of the staff, I waited for about 5 minutes til I met with an interviewer. A few of my answers on the form were clarified and then I was put into another room with about 5 other candidates.

These guys were all sitting quietly, waiting for what we assumed was the going to be the main part of the interview (y'know: the hard questions....the part where we have to sell ourselves). However, I knew that this job requires you to have the ability to walk up to a stranger and start chatting - and these guys weren't talking! Not good! So I broke the ice, and got the group chatting. Every now and then a staff member would bring someone in, or call a name and take someone out, but those of us who were chatting the most animatedly stayed right there in the room. We were all starting to think we'd been cut when a staff member came in and congratulated us all.

We'd got the job! We have two days of training next week, when we'll also determine which car manufacturer we'll be working for and where our car yard is located. More importantly to Dani and I is that I'll be receiving a base wage + commission....it's not just commission-based sales! WooHoo!! It's not my ideal job, but it's work, it's a wage, and that's what matters!

cheering
Ken

Venturing forth

2008-03-01T15:43:00.004-05:00

To date, Dani and I haven't really done much exploration of Atlanta on our own. In fact, with the exception of our trip to the Ringling Bros. Circus, (see my post entitled "the circus is in town") we haven't ventured much more than 2 or so blocks away from the outer borders of the University. So, when I learnt that I had a job interview up near Sandy Springs next Tuesday 4th March, it rapidly became apparent that the only way I was going to get to this interview was by catching the MARTA train.

Cue dramatic music - da da daa dumm! Why the drama, you ask? When the topic of Atlanta public transport comes up, most people start talking about MARTA in a rather disparaging manner. Consequently, Dani and I had avoided riding on the MARTA system - til now. Dani and I decided that a practice run on the trains was in order, in preparation for my interview. So we girded our loins (metaphorically speaking) and set forth.

I have to say that, compared to Sydney and Brisbane train systems, I don't know why people have bagged the Atlanta train system so much. Sure, riding on trains/subways at night is scarey, but then it's scarey at night in Brisbane and Sydney too, so no real difference there. The Atlanta trains were cleaner than Sydney's inner city rail, but lacked the upholstered seats that the Brisbane trains have. We felt perfectly safe and comfortable as we made our way to the Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody (one stop shy of Sandy Springs).

This of course means that - having determined that the rail system isn't necessarily as bad as we'd been led to believe - we would be going shopping & sightseeing more often, despite the lack of a car! We were already in a pretty good frame of mind as we were pulling into Dunwoody station, when Dani spotted a Fuddruckers! Woo hoo!

"A what?!" I hear the Australians cry in unison. No, I'm not swearing: Fuddruckers (http://www.fuddruckers.com/ ) make probably the best burgers around! Their slogan is "the world's greatest hamburgers", and while I usually start getting beligerent at this kind of exaggeration, in Fuddruckers case they're probably right. Not only do you get a value meal that includes a beer (if you're of drinking age and want a beer instead of soda), but you get to choose how well your burger meat is cooked (in my case, I want the sucker burnt!). You can have a burger patty (made on the premises) that is as "small" as 1/3 of a pound up to a patty that is a pound-and-a-half! Then, once you get the burger, you can go to a sort of salad-bar set-up, and add a whole range of toppings to your burger. Anything from boring old shredded lettuce (which I loathe) thru to jalapeno peppers, melted cheese, sauces of all kinds, dill pickles...the list goes on and on!

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves on excellent burgers and chilli fries (think wedges with nacho chilli mince and cheese on top), we made our way over to the Mall for a bit of a wander around. We found a Yankee Candle shop where we bought several lovely scented candles, then wandered back to the train for our journey home.

All in all, a very successful trip!

cheers!

Ken

An education for the "Real World"

2008-02-22T15:11:00.002-05:00

As many people who know me are aware, I recently completed six years of study at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. QUT's slogan is "a university for the Real World".

Well, I wouldn't put too much stock in that slogan, folks! It seems that QUT isn't recognised by many of the accreditation authorities here in the good ol' US of A, which effectively means that, until I shell out between $120 and $200 to have my degree evaluated, the degree is effectively useless.

So much for that "real world" degree! QUT's advertising campaigns back home showed QUT alumni working in far off UK and USA, and telling the viewer how their degree allowed them to get their current jet-setting lifestyle. Now, I'm not that gullible, but I didn't realise that such a "world class" and "world leader in education" would need me to actually prove to potential employers that QUT actually exists.

Of course, the real kick-in-the-shins is that I need a job to give me the money I need to pay for the evaluation of my degree.... and without my degree, it looks like I'm going to have to learn the phrase "do you want fries with your order?". I've already been turned down for one (possibly two) psychology-related positions due to my University not being recognised by the US system!

QUT: A university for the Real World! ....oh, and would you like fries with your degree?

*grumbling*

Ken

watching the skies

2008-02-17T17:58:00.005-05:00

One thing I didn't really count on when my wife announced that she had a new job in Georgia was the impact the weather would have on our lives.

Ha! "Impact".... no pun intended, there. But it seems that Georgia get's its fair share of "severe weather". That's the term they use here to refer to thunderstorms or tornadoes. Yes, you heard me: tornadoes. In Georgia. To be honest, I used to think that areas like Kansas and southern Indiana and Ohio were the places that had to deal with tornadoes.... wrong!

This afternoon (Sunday 17th Feb) has had one official tornado warning issued for the metro Atlanta area (where we live), and they're predicting the possibility of another warning issued for later this evening.

This is why Dani and I installed the Weather Channel's desktop weather warning program on our pc's. This is what we saw earlier this afternoon.

The red outline shows the areas which have the potential for tornadoes to touch down. The National Weather Service issues two types of tornado advisory over here: a "watch" just means to be alert, whereas a "warning" means 'seek shelter'.

Well, we kinda aimed for a compromise when the warning was issued for the metro Atlanta area. We packed up our laptops (we're grad students - our theses mean a lot to us!), gathered our passports, cellphones, and keys...and then watched the weather channel and out our windows very closely. We were ready to 'bug out' at a moment's notice. Y'see, there's a 'Catch 22' here: if we seek shelter, we'll be away from any form of media to let us know that the warning has been lifted... we could be sitting in a hallway til 8am the next day! :)

The unfortunate thing is that our building doesn't really have a basement that we can take shelter in. However, there are central areas within the apartment building that are literally in the middle of the whole structure, and don't have any windows or doors that open to the exterior of the building. That's where we'll head if need be.

"Looks like we're no longer in Australia any more, Toto!" LOL!

cheers
Ken

The circus is in town!!

2008-02-16T11:36:00.042-05:00

Yes, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus is in town! Since the last time I went to a circus was when I was a very small lad (and Australian circus' are a bit "small town"), Dani wanted to take me to see the Ringling Bros. circus - and it made a pretty good 'joint' Valentines Day present!

I've got to say that these guys really know how to put on a show! A full three ring circus, with action everywhere! The crew was very good at setting up for the next act right under our noses without the audience (ie: me!) being aware that it was happening - we were too busy watching a different area of the floor!

Enough prattle, Ken - on with the pictures! Let me just say first that our digital camera isn't the best: it hates low light, has no zoom, no anti-shake gizmo... in fact, as digital camera's go, it's pretty poor all 'round. However, it works and it's all we have, so no complaints, okay people?! :) And to keep things tidy, I'll keep the pix small - just click on them to see them in greater detail.

The circus was being held indoors, inside the Philips arena. The arena joins onto the CNN building - and this is an interior shot from the floor of the food court inside the CNN building. I really needed a fish-eye lens and low-light amplification to do this shot justice - the place is HUGE! We bought some Taco Bell for dinner (think McDonalds meets mexican food, and you'll get the idea) and then did battle with the other 50,000 people who were there for the circus. Needless to say, tables and chairs were scarce.... you kinda cruised around til you saw someone who was close to finishing their meal, then hovered nearby till they stood up - and then pounced!!

Those who arrived early were allowed to go down onto the floor and participate in the 'pre-show entertainment'. There were photo opportunities with some of the circus folk (including some quick costumes that you could wear for the pic), audience participation with the clowns, etc. Dani wanted to get a pic with me and a clown, but the crowd was sooo thick, I didn't like our chances of getting one.

Once the national anthem was out of the way (no offence intended to my American readers) the show got going, starting with a kind of 'introduction' to the performers. One feature of the show (which really came in handy at times for us people in the upper levels) was the big tv screen - you can see it in the upper-right corner of this pic. The fellow on it at the moment is "Bello the clown" - the star of the show. I may not be a big fan of clowns, but as you'll see later, this guy is very talented!

Of course, what is a circus without performing animals?! First cab off the rank was the equine section... three rings of horses (that is, if you call trained zebras "horses" - they were in the ring at the top of the pic to the right).

This was followed by a quick tight-rope act. I don't know if you can tell, but this fellow was set-up right next to the audience to our right. We were all watching this fellow closely (there was no net - if he fell, it was going to be into the first row!). Meanwhile....

The crew were setting up the enclosure for the tigers! We didn't even notice the wire-mesh 'cage' being set up right under our noses! And these cats were magnificent! I don't know about you, but the idea of getting into an enclosure with 9 massive cats isn't something I'd like to do every day! But, when watching these huge beasts lightly jump from one seat to the next, it was easy to forget that they were dangerous....until you heard them growl!

As you can tell from the number of photos, I found them rather fascinating!

The tiger handler knew what he was doing - he had those big cats jumping over each other, sitting on each other, and standing up (left). And, as you can see, some of them weren't happy about being ordered around (look at the big screen in the righthand picture)!

You'd think the tigers would be pretty hard to beat, huh? Well.... how about we combine precarious heights with a beautiful girl? And just for the hell of it, we'll throw in that clown too.

This young lady clambered up this pole like a monkey, then sat up there while the pole waved around like bamboo in a strong wind! Of course, the clown (who keeps acting like he wants to get to know this lady a whole lot better!!) jumps up the other pole and ...well... starts clowning around!

So there they both are, swaying from side to side (my butt was seriously trying to hold onto my seat in empathy!). But that's not enough - oh no! Now... they change poles (center pic, below)- while still at the top of them!! Then they drop - face first - down the poles! (right pic, below)

I'd love to show you pictures of the contortionists that followed - but our camera didn't do them justice. However, even our camera could capture the next act - Asian elephants! Apparently, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey are actively involved in the preservation of asian elephants. And, like all the animal acts at the show, the handlers always treated their animals very gently.

Again, I'd love to show you the trained dogs (which were very clever!!), but our camera let us down. But here's the last act: tumbling inside a large rotating disc! Of course, Bello the clown was in on the act - I told you, this guy is very talented! This structure was lowered from the roof, and halfway through the act, it splits into two and starts rotating in opposite directions - with these guys clambering inside and out!

Of course, everything has to end sometime, and so it was with our trip to the circus. It was a very entertaining show, and even though it's more for the little 'uns, I'd go again! Ok, so I'm a big kid at heart - no news to anyone there!

I hope you enjoyed the pics!

cheers

Ken

"Winter Wonderland"

2008-02-15T12:40:00.011-05:00

It may be February when I'm writing this, but January saw some really wintery weather - which of course I had to share with the world. When people think of Georgia they think of many things - warm weather being a common theme. After all, Atlanta is colloquially known as "Hotlanta". So snow is not the first thing that usually springs to mind when one thinks of America's "deep south". And being an Australian, I rarely get the chance to enjoy snow - so I really enjoyed watching it snow right outside my/our window!

Here's a taste of our cold winter. This is the backyard of the houses behind our apartment complex. Normally, this view is a little dull (I mean, who really enjoys looking into a neighbours' yard? Especially when there's nothing to see apart from a couple of cars and a dirt driveway). But, add snow and viola! Instant pretty!

After a while, the snow really started to accumulate. Yeah, I know, it's not the foot-high snow banks that one would normally associate with a "winter wonderland", but come on!! This is Atlanta, after all! Besides, the lawn furniture pictured here (left) is an open-weave metal mesh, yet the snow still formed an inch thick layer over the top of the table.

Of course, all this snow falling meant that I had to go outside and play in it! :D
No, no "snow angels" (ugh! lying in snow and getting wet from head to toe?! No thanks!), but I did throw a few snowballs (both at Dani and at the wall - don't worry, Dani threw several snowballs back at me! Besides, no one actually got hit!) and make a snowman. Well.... kind of a snowman. More like a "snowlump", actually! (below, left) My excuse is that I've never made one before, so I don't know how it's done! One of the other residents did a much better job (below, right).

Now, I tried to take a video of the snow falling, and I've uploaded it below. Please bear in mind that a) I was using a webcam, so the quality is a bit poor, and b) I don't have any video-editing software, so the file is quite large. Don't try viewing the video unless you have a broadband connection.

Cheers!!

Ken

Georgia on my mind

2008-02-15T12:11:00.007-05:00

Since this is a blog of our time in the USA, I suppose it's only fair that I start with the basics. So here's a little gallery tour of the apartment we live in. It's a two-bedroom, self-contained dormatory unit; run by the university for it's students. Dani had to provide evidence that she was indeed married to qualify for this 'married student housing'... and only got the "OK" to move in three days before she was due to start work at the university!

Most of the furniture came from "Rooms to Go": a rather handy and affordable company that literally furnishes an entire room with the appropriate furniture. Above, you can see our 'new' lounge suite, with the kitchenette barely discernable behind it.

As I mentioned, this is a two bedroom apartment, but we only have one bed (heck, we only need one bed!).... do you wanna see it? No? Well, tough, here it is!

You can see that Dani commandeered one of the end-tables and lamps from the lounge room to put next to her side of the bed. Since she's the only one working at the moment, I have no need for an alarm clock - which suits me just fine!! :)

One of the more common features of apartments over here (but which I rarely encountered during my time in Australia) was cupboard-style laundries. Here's ours - you'll see what I mean by "cupboard style".

Just close those louver-doors you see on either side of the image, and the laundry is totally hidden from sight! Mind you, when the machines are in use, you can't miss the noise they make!

Ok! Enough of a tour of the apartment. Next post, I'll give you a bit of a tour outside (just a bit, mind you). Cheers!!

Ken

New post, new year, "new" Blog

2008-02-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

With Dani getting a job at a University in the USA in 2007, we've worked hard through the remainder of '07 to arrange for a move to the 'States.

And now, 2008 sees us both living in the USA! So, I've commandeered our old 'wedding' blog, re-named it, and will use it to (hopefully) follow our 'new' lives.

Enjoy!

The big day

2006-07-12T12:40:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! As you would probably guess, we're actually on our honeymoon at the moment, so I'm not going to be posting a lot right now... no surprise really. But, just to tide you over and ease the suspence, here's a couple of pix from the Big Day (which went very well, by the way!)

Here's a pic of the bride and groom just after the ceremony - shame that you can't see the Carolina mountains in the background.

This was taken inside the lodge, in front of the massive stone fireplace... Just looking at the fireplace made me long for cold winter nights and hot chocolate!

Here's the glowing bride and her matron of honour, standing on the staircase of our Western North Carolina lodge. Putting these two gals together was like waving a lighted match around a bucket of petrol... trouble just waiting to happen! ;)

looking around Waynesville

2006-07-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

Ken says: Friday morning began with the news that my grandmother passed away during the night. 'Bye Nana... I love you.

My in-laws and wife-to-be took good care of me, taking me out for another gastronomic experience - Waffle House...(It was originally supposed to be "grandma's pancake place" but this Waynesville institution has disappeared). Not bad, really, although I'm still not used to the combination of bacon on a buttered waffle smothered in maple syrup.

Following breakfast, we took a drive around the region, passing through several townships, including Cullowhee, Sylva, and Dillsboro. But before we went too far, we stopped in at Dani's alma mater: Western Carolina University. Here you can see Dani standing beneath the Alumni Tower, the Tower itself, and the "catamount" statue at the entrance of the uni.

After loading up on WCU souveniers and stuff for Dani, we drove into the mountains and into the Nanatahala National Park for a picnic lunch. On the way, we stopped for a quick picture under the Bridal Veil falls - we thought it was kinda appropriate.

At the picnic site, we saw several of these signs: Yogi and BooBoo aren't exactly fiction, it seems!

Not too far from the picnic site is this small lake, which is stocked with trout to keep aquatic weeds down. People are allowed to fish the lake, as long as they release the trout they catch back into the water. People also swim in the lake (there were several families doing just that while we were there), although the temperature of the water in the deeper areas would be a bit on the chilly side.

our apartment

2006-07-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

Ken says: I thought that folks might want to look at the apartment that we are staying in during the few days before our wedding in Highlands. So, here's a few pictures of the apartment - which I believe is being rented for a very reasonable daily price (although I'm not privvy to the exact amount and I'm too polite to ask)
. The view from our bedroom
The door leading out to our "balcony" (ie: a guardrail 15 feet above the street)
Our bedroom - nice, huh?!
note the modern appliances! :D Seriously though, the room is cosy but beautiful.
The kitchenette - hey, they have a coffee maker, so I'm happy!!
Dani kicks back on the lounge and watches cable TV

Road Trip!!

2006-06-29T14:01:00.000-04:00

5am Wednesday 28th sees Dani, her family and myself on the road, driving from Tampa to North Carolina - via Georgia and South Carolina.

Of course, we did stop briefly - at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, in Savannah Georgia! There we feasted on shrimp salad, crab bisque, corn bread, fried chicken, and fried shrimp - all washed down with sweetened ice tea (although I nearly wound up with "shrimp pasta" - which isn't on the menu - due to my accent!!).

Savannah looks like a really interesting place to visit - lots of historic locations and buildings are to be found in this city... and plenty of tourists catch special trams to listen to guided tours around Savannah. You can also see plenty of Spanish Moss (right) in Savannah - nearly every tree is covered with the stuff! I even saw spanish moss growing on the tiles of houses as we drove past. We all agreed that we'd like to come back to Savannah some day and spend some time checking the place out a bit more.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, and we finally reached North Carolina around 7pm.

Mellow out, dude!

2006-06-24T21:20:00.000-04:00

Saturday 24th June: After a day of shopping, what better way to round it all off than with lunch at somewhere ..... different?! And it doesn't come much more 'different' than "the Mellow Mushroom" .

It's basically a pizza place, but psychedelic imagery and magic mushroom analogies abound! Take a look at the website if you want to get a feel for the place, but really the site doesn't do the place justice! We sat in a booth, eating really good pizza, listening to Pink Floyd, while seated beneath a HUGE fibreglass mushroom mounted on the wall.

I wish I could show you a picture, but one has to respect the privacy of the other patrons. A totally righteous and far out experience, dude! ;)

"Little Havana"

2006-06-24T21:10:00.000-04:00

Friday 23rd saw Dani, her brother and sister-in-law, and myself visit "little havana" - Ybor, a suburb of Tampa. This area is kinda like a 'cuban quarter' of Tampa, and was settled originally by Cuban ex-pats. And, just like Cuba is well-known for cigars, Ybor also has a thriving cigar industry.

I don't think I've seen so many cigar shops in one area (only equalled by the number of tattoo shops in the area)! Each one had shelves packed with different types of cigars, both in boxes and individually wrapped. I did contemplate buying some 'souveniers' but decided against it. Still, the locals we encountered were quite friendly - the area looks like it would turn into a rowdy party town by night - but I had to take a pic of this poster we saw during our time in Ybor. I've never seen it's equal anywhere else. It kinda made me wonder what sort of place we were visiting, when law enforcement believes it's useful to remind the populace of the penalties for using a gun in a crime. :o

The groom has arrived

2006-06-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

Ken says: I left Brisbane at 10.15am on Tuesday 20th June, heading for Sydney flying Qantas domestic. I then transferred to United Airlines to fly across the Pacific bound for Los Angeles. From LA, I would gather my bags, pass through customs and get onto a domestic airline (SouthWest) to make the final leg of my journey to Tampa (via Las Vegas).

I thought I was going to be lucky, since qantas would transfer my bags to the United flight for me - no need to lug all four bags (2 large, 2 carry ons) through Sydney domestic airport to the international terminal. I think I would have been better off doing it myself as one of my bags didn't make it to LA when I did!

Now, as my luck would have it, the bag that got left behind was the one with ALL my clothes - including my kilt and other wedding apparell!! Oh great! What was I going to get married in? A few enquiries later found my luggage - in San Francisco! I dunno if qantas baggage handlers thought "SFO" and "LAX" were the same airport or what. Anyway, the staff said they would do their best to reunite me with my bag as soon as possible.

After some 18 hours in the air, with several more hours spent wandering airports at each transfer, I finally arrived in Tampa - tired (of course), smelly (naturally enough) but happy to be here. I was reunited with my 'lost' bag the following day.

The picture above is the view from my soon-to-be in-laws' back porch. The small yellow circle is there to show the small brown bump that is their local 'gator. Yup! The local residents have an alligator in the canal at the rear of their properties - albeit a small one! However, I can't help but think that small 'gators eventually grow into bigger gators!

Needless to say, I'm not getting closer to the water just to try for a close-up pic!

Yet another potential roadblock sigh

2006-06-16T14:51:00.000-04:00

Hi all...a quick update. Ken went to get a mail redirection today (Friday in Australia) only to be told his passport wouldn't get him into the US as it expires in September and they want at least 6 months left on vistors passports.

So, by 11 he was at the passport office in Brisbane. He explained the situation and they have put a 'rush' on his passport, with his application lodged b 2pm.

The problem is that a 'rush' can take up to 48 hours (working hours) which means his passport may not be ready until TUESDAY...and he is scheduled to fly out Tuesday morning at 10!!!!

*sigh*

If his passport isn't ready, he can try to pick it up at 8:30am on Tuesday at the passport office, but will most likely miss his flight (particularly if he has to take the airtrain). If he misses his flight, there is nothing my mum or I can do as there is no money for another ticket.

So for those of you who pray...please add us to your list. For those of you who don't, please cross your fingers and send good vibes.

With everything that has been happening, I have to wonder if this wedding will EVER take place. *sigh*

It's gonna be a loooooooong 2 days waiting! :(

Ken says: On Monday morning, around 10am, I called the passport office braced for bad news. Instead, I was told that my passport was ready and could be collected whenever I wanted to! The passport office had come through!! Woohoo! An hour later I was back at home with my brand new passport in my hand! All original travel plans were back on! Next stop, Tampa (after Sydney, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas)!

We have a venue!

2006-06-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

Okay...after all the stress over finding a new venue 3 weeks out from July 4th ( a very busy time in North Carolina) I am happy to announce that we have FOUND A VENUE!

After much searching (and a few tears of frustration) we found a 5 bedroom cabin on the side of a mountain in Highlands, North Carolina (about 1 hour, 45 minutes from where we were originally to hold the wedding). Although, with the way this wedding seems to be going, with some good news...there must be some bad....the minister we like wants an extra $100 to travel to Highlands. We've agreed to pay it at this point, because there are VERY few marriage officiants in Highlands, and we really don't want to have to join a church just to get married! And I refuse to get married at the courthouse...Ken and I could've done that a whole lot cheaper in Australia!!

The Sleepy Hollow Inn (where the wedding was originally to be held) is still not playing ball with mum. The wedding 'coordinator' now says she can't return the deposit money (which mum paid DOUBLE what she needed to) because it was all spent. The invoice she sent mum had everything 'spent' on the same day...and no proof of the money having been spent on anything (no vendor names, addresses or certified copies of the receipts). Sounds rather fishy to me. Not to mention the fact that these 'deposits' were made AFTER the coordinator told mum in email (which is in WRITING and therefore can be binding) that she would 'return the deposit if you aren't happy'.

So...just like she told them, the deposit refund wasn't received by mum, by the 14th, mum is now going to pursue the matter in civil court. I'm hoping they will realize they are in the wrong and just settle it...but we'll see. As civil court dates are set within a month of lodging the paperwork, Ken and I *may* actually have to spend one day of our time in NC in court with my mum!

But anyway...we have a venue with a lovely yard and mountain views, where we can have the wedding. Now my nightmare is...what do we do if the minister doesn't show?!?! *cringe*

tune in next time for the continuing saga.... :)

Tis the season....

2006-06-12T08:04:00.000-04:00

In Australia, the second weekend in June is a long weekend - the Queens birthday is celebrated at this time, even though it's not her actual birthday.

This weekend marks a few things. It's the official beginning of the Australian Ski season (short though it may be), and for me it marked the point at which my "countdown til departure" entered single digits.

In the USA, the start of June marks the beginning of Hurricane season for the southern "Gulf" states. And what better way to begin a Storm Season, than with a storm!

This picture is Tropical Storm Alberto (yup, it's big enough to be given a name). If you look closely, you can see Tampa... it's the city on the large bay on the west coast, at the western end of Highway 4.... and just above the leading northern edge of the storm. That's where I'll be landing in about 8 days time - unless Alberto has a big brother arriving around that time, in which case I'll be landing somewhere else!

If anyone's listening, I'd be happier with a slightly smaller welcoming committee, if it's all the same..thanks anyway!

"Wedding without a venue" Part 2

2006-06-09T14:31:00.000-04:00

Now... I'm going to back track a little bit and tell you about the discussions (and momentary panic) that ensued prior to my mum's arguement with the coordinator over the deposit money.

Imagine me...sitting quietly working when my SIL comes home from an interview (which went well I might add) and says "Don't panic, but your mum cancelled the wedding at the SH Inn...but it's okay, we'll work something else out!" Talk about a disclaimer!!!

Apparently I turned really red as I put my head into my hands and momentarily dissolved into tears thinking "OH my gawd...3 weeks till the wedding and we have NO PLACE to have it!! I'm gonna end up getting married on a street corner in Waynesville...oh my gawd...this is awful."

Well, I'm pleased to say I picked myself up, threw my bod into the shower and by the end of it, felt much better about things. My brother, SIL, niece and I headed out to lunch and proceeed to hash out a plan. The first time Ken visiting my family, we rented a HUGE house in the mountains for Thanksgiving that had more than enough room for everyone in the family (hell..the room Ken and I slept in had THREE double beds in it!). So, we decided at lunch that we were sure we can find a large enough vacation rental in the mountains at which we can stay AND host the wedding.

What?? Host a wedding with only three weeks to go...AND the invitations with the original time and place have already gone out (yup...the day before this whole fiasco started...I forgot to mention that in my last post)?? We must be crazy...right? Well..sorta :)

My SIL loves to bake and had originally wanted to make a big ole cake for an engagement party for us (but Ken arrives too late to have one). Between the two of us, in less than 5 minutes we had several ideas for cakes including... 1) cupcake tree with several different flavours; 2) krispy kreme cake/tree thing and 3) a more traditional layered wedding cake made by my SIL. Hey...that is the cake taken care of!

Flowers...easy...I like to arrange silks. So, instead of fresh flowers that will die all too soon, I'll have a bouquet I can bring home to Australia and display...pretty cool! And if I do as well as I did with the veil I can do the bouquets and boutineres cheap, but pretty!

Decorations...dependent upon venue so...the next step was obviously the venue. My bro and I hit the web and came up with a host of ideas. The only requirements: must have AC ( I HATE HEAT...if I'm hot, the wedding dress will not be put on...which means the wedding just WILL NOT happend!), must be in western north carolina (I tried for Gatlinburg but was vetoed by my family), must have 4 bedrooms and sleep in total...at least 10 people, must have a dishwasher, must have a master suite (hey, it's my wedding day/night, I want a connecting bathroom!!) and my preferred 'extra' an outdoor hot tub for stargazing.

Things are now narrowed down to 2 places...

In Highlands, NC that has 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 levels, large Master w/ King and spa-tub (which means you can only put 2 inches of water in it without flooding the bathroom when you turn the jets on), lovely view of the mountains (so we can get married outside) and plenty of room for the family.
In Bryson City, NC...4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 3 floors, 7 person hot tub outside on the deck overlooking the mountains(whohooo), built into the side of a mountain (so half the house is supported, the other half is supported by stilts.

The first place is more expensive, but is securely built on solid ground. The second is a bit cheaper and does have the hot tub I really want...but...with 10 people stomping through the house, can it stand up to the abuse?!?! So...bro and I have called them and gotten the quotes, mum and I will then decide tonight. I'm leaning toward the first place which we actually had 'booked' earlier today, but when the 2nd place rang me I informed my brother who didn't listen to what I was saying and rang mum telling her to CANCEL the place we had because "Dani doesn't like it"...which wasn't what I was saying *sigh* Do brothers and sisters EVER grow to actually LISTEN to what each other says???

I'll keep y'all posted how mum goes with the inn and the deposit issue.

So... at this particular moment we 'sorta' have a venue for the wedding. I suppose that is something to be thankful for. :) Tho one of my brothers FIRST (and might I add, VERY helpful suggestions) for a wedding venue was "We could do it in the parking lot at the Asheville Mall...I mean it has a GREAT view of the mountains". Hmm..based on that I suspect that he will never learn to respect my feelings...and he opens up to no one, so I don't have to worry about respecting his feelings. :)

A wedding without a venue??

2006-06-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

Okay...a little background for y'all....

Waaaaaay back in February when Ken and I were trying to get a handle on planning our destination wedding in the mountains of North Carolina, we found a celebrant/officiant's website and really liked his style. The celebrant's site also had a list of links for places where he had performed wedding ceremonies...one of those listed was the inn that was eventually chosen.

My mum chose the inn because it had an 'Intimate wedding/Honeymoon' Package which INCLUDED: 3 nights in a special honeymoon suite, 2 tickets to the Biltmore House, an updo or hairstyle for the bride, a bouquet & corsage, small cake, toasting flutes, music, use of the outdoor gazebo for the wedding, and heavy appetizers and drinks for up to 10 people. Ken and I chose the place for the lovely look of the inn and grounds. So...it was a done deal. The contract was signed March 10th...and all went well.

Mum even informed them that we wanted one of the particular celebrants from their list waaaay back in April. She had to do all of this through their wedding coordinator (remember that word, it is VERY important).

Now... we all know what a wedding coordinator is supposed to do right, boys and girls? *pause for effect* That's RIGHT...they are supposed to COORDINATE THE WEDDING. This means, for those that don't know, THEY are supposed to do the running around, leg work and make all of the arrangements.

WELL...I rang the 'coordinator' (and I use that word with hesitation) on Tuesday of this week to sort out what I thought were last minute details...the appetizer choices, colour choices, flowers for the bouquets...you know...SIMPLE things. Upon talking to her I find she hasn't booked the celebrant yet "Oh...I thought you and your fiancee' were taking care of that? Oh..you'll have to call him and see if he is still available, he is very popular". Then when I didn't sound pleased, she had the NERVE to say (rather snottily I might add) "oh, I suppose I can contact him and see if he is free at that time...but you might have to move the time of the wedding if he isn't."

Not only that, she hadn't booked the hair stylist yet "Did you want your hair done."..."You do...oh well I'll have to see if any of our usually people are free...the holiday will be quite busy." Um...EXCUSE ME?!?! The stylist was part of the package...and SHOULD have been booked as soon as the signed contract was in her hot lil hand!

So...to make a longish story short, it turns out that the wedding 'coordinator' had only managed to coordinate the expensive, EXTRA items (like videography) and NOT the things that were included with the wedding package. I relayed this to my mum (after she had had a rough day at work and wasn't in the greatest of moods). Well, mum fired off an email suggesting that we were rather dissappointed that it seemd the coordinator wasn't doing much COORDINATING and only seemed interested in organising things which were extra costs and neglecting the necessary things (like a celebrant...DUH!!).

The 'coordinator' fired back an email the next morning suggesting that if we didn't like what she had done for us (yeah...and exactly what HAD she done...hmmm???) then she/the inn didn't need our wedding and she'd give back the deposit, etc... Well, less than 6 hours later when mum calls to say "Fine, give us our money we'll do a better job anyway", the girl has the unmitigated gall to say "I can't give you your deposit back as I've paid deposits on the flowers, cake and minister'.

WELL... 1) according to Ken last night, the minister hadn't even HEARD from the inn OR the coordinator, so this business about a deposit is nonsense; 2) she paid deposits AFTER she said they didn't want the wedding and we could have our deposit back...hullo??? Anyone ELSE see something fishy with that??

I told mum last night to not only request names and phone numbers for the vendors, but to request CERTIFIED copies of all deposit receipts. Mum has been in contact with the inn/'coordinator' again today and apparently now the story has changed again...now they won't give back ANY of the deposit my mum paid..which, I might add, was DOUBLE what she needed to give them in the first place!!

So...at the moment we are having a wedding without a venue.......but hey... at least WE arranged a celebrant! :)

Tune in later for the continuing saga of the wedding without a venue....

Dani - checking in with the saga of the dress

2006-06-06T19:49:00.000-04:00

Greetings...Dani here (sorry no cute photo for this post). I've been in the US since the 19th of June staying with my mum, brother, sister-in-law and niece. It's been pretty quiet (except for the trip to the emergency room) and I'm actually getting some work done on my PhD thesis (whohooo!!)

Following the hypertension diagnosis, I asked the doctor I saw on Monday whether I would be cleared to ride the thrill rides at Disney, or whether we (Ken and I) should cancel our honeymoon. The Dr's response was great "Ride whatever you want! And whatever you do, DO NOT CANCEL YOUR HONEYMOON!!!" So, I guess I can really say that I am under doctor's orders to go and have a great honeymoon. Heck, the doctor heard which resort we are staying at and then said the last time he and his family stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, he actually ate breakfast one morning with....JACKIE CHAN!! (who actually sat at their table!!) Wow!!!! I don't care so much about us meeting anyone famous, but I wouldn't mind getting upgraded to a honeymoon suite or concierge level for free *crosses her fingers and sends vibes to the pixie dust fairies at WDW.*

THE DRESS

ANYWAY....my first outing in search of a wedding dress with my mum and sister-in-law was pretty much a disaster. Being on the 'busty' side and not being a 'stick-insect', dresses were always going to be more difficult to find for me. The first bridal salon we went to in Tampa (Demetrios Brides) was NOT a good experience. Their receptionist was snooty and rude, the place was very pretentious and the selection for those over a size 12 is not worth looking at...particularly at the prices they charge! Needless to say, I went home bummed and convinced I'd be walking down the aisle nekkid!! *lol*

However, our search this past weekend went terrific! First we went and had a trial run of my hair to see what type of veil we should look for (I've got short hair...way off the nape of my neck). When the stylist was done it looked like I had LOTS more hair than I do as she'd given me a faux up-do. We took photos to show the stylist that I'll have in North Carolina (I hope she can do the same style too!!). With my hair done, we headed off to David's Bridal (also in Tampa).

While the receptionist in charge of checking people in (we had an advance appointment) was more like a drill sergeant ("Here...fill these out...look at this book...write down dress style numbers...etc....) our attendant (I wish I could remember her name) was GREAT!!!

I had called earlier in the week to enquire whether they had a few dresses from their website in my size. I was told on the phone that they had 2 of them in...which I figured would be a good start. BOY was I in for a surprise!! Our attendant led us to a rack that must've had 30 dresses on it...ALL IN MY SIZE!!! About this time I really started feeling like a bride-to-be.

We chose 6 dresses to try on...a couple strapless, some halter styles and some short sleeve styles. After choosing dresses, our attendant sent us off to grab some shoes. Despite having some styles I loved, they didn't have them in my size, so I tottered around in a pair that were too small while trying on the dresses - quite a feat when you aren't used to dealing with volumous skirts! :)

Well, I'm not that much of a fashionista, but my mum and SIL did a great job choosing dresses to try on because we found a winning style in the 3rd dress I tried on!! That dress was a bit big, so we moved the next size down and it was PERFECT...like it was MADE for me. I was THRILLED. I truly felt like I was 'THE BRIDE' at that point. By the time we added an underskirt that poofed the skirt out a bit, the dress didn't even need hemming! I won't put a picture up yet (because I don't want Ken to see my dress) but as soon as we can after the wedding I'll post pics.

The whole 'trying on dresses --> purchase' process took exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes. When we make up our minds, we MAKE UP OUR MINDS!!!! Like I told the girl when I made the appointment, we're on a short deadline, if we found something we liked, we'd take it on the spot...which is exactly what we did. (What can I say...my mum ROCKS!!!)

THE VEIL

While in the dress we eventually bought, the gals at David's whacked a rhinestone & pearl comb and veil into my hair-do. It looked okay, until they quoted a price of nearly $300 US!! (GASP!!!) $300 US for a hair comb and a bit of netting?!?!?! Not for this lil black duck! :)

Yesterday my SIL and I hit Joanne's Fabric (a big craft chain in the US) and got a pre-hemmed veil trimmed with white satin ribbon for $15, a large decorative comb (with satin ribbon roses, white pearls and white leaves on it) for $10, and a small bag of tiny rhinestones for $2 (which I'm going to put on the veil with craft glue). So...I'm ending up with a veil that we (my SIL, mum and I) think is prettier than the one David's tried to sell us...for 1/10th the price!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?! :)

So...I've got the dress, I've got the veil, I've got the make-up...the hair-do AND the earrings...the only things left to get are shoes and a garter.

Tune in later for the continuing wedding saga.....next up on the agenda...finalising reception and wedding decisions (what kind of cake, appetizers, vows, etc....).

study buddies

2006-06-06T06:12:00.000-04:00

As I think I mentioned in the previous post, I (Ken) stayed behind in Australia to finish the semester at university. Fortunately for me, I've been granted deferred exams for all three subjects I'm studying at the moment, so I can go to the USA and get married.

Unfortunately, I had two assignments to complete before I leave. One of these was a 5000 word assignment which was dragging along sooooo slowly! However, I can always count on "Destiny" - our abyssinian cat. As you can see from this picture, I'm very lucky that I have Destiny - she was able to "proofread" my assignment before I lodged it.

building up to the "big day"

2006-06-04T16:56:00.000-04:00

Well! It's been a long time coming, with a couple of false starts along the way, but finally our wedding day is approaching! Yes, we've set a day, we've got a venue (take a peek), we've got fancy-schmancy clothes, we've got rings - gawd, we're set!

The pic to the left shows a manniquin with the style of clothing I'll be wearing on the day. Yes, I'm wearing a kilt, although I'll be wearing the Wallace tartan, not the one shown in this picture. I'll hopefully be wearing a different sporran too - that one's a bit too informal for my liking.

Dani spent many days (or should I measure that in weeks?) online checking out the details of our Disney honeymoon.... yes, while I'm not a Disney fan, my darling wife-to-be is a big fan! So, I was only too happy to indulge her with a stay at a Disney World resort in Florida, USA. Eventually, she arranged a great deal at the Wilderness Lodge resort.

Shortly after arranging the details of the honeymoon, Dani left for the USA (around mid-May) to finalise the arrangements, get a dress (I'm reliably informed that this is a "big thing" for a bride), and spend some time with her mom before the wedding. Meanwhile I stayed at home in Australia to finish up my studies for the first semester before leaving to join my future wife in June.

I thought that our preparations were thorough enough that very little would interfere with the wedding or the honeymoon. Dumb fool! I received a message from Dani in the first week of June telling me that she'd been taken to the Emergency Room of the local hospital.

Did I panic? No! Stoic to the end, I listened as Dani described the events that lead to her being diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure).... then she told me how much the US health system was going to charge her for her visit. $4000.00 US dollars!!

OK - if I didn't have high blood pressure before I heard that news, I think I have it now! OMG! However, we've got travel insurance, so it'll get sorted out eventually - once we wade through the ubiquitous red tape.

Stay tuned for updates as they come.