I know you have been waiting for a picture of The Big Mango!

I love the Big Mango!!! Just kind of sitting there outside of Bowen on the way to Mackay!!! They do have great mangoes here!!!
And best wishes to Josh and Amanda who just got married outside our hotel room.....I feel like an eavesdropper or something! You gotta love a wedding where the groom wears a tux and flip flops and some of the guys in the crowd are sipping beers during the ceremony!!

Smash Bang Crash

So today I had an accident......not a bad accident and so totally not my fault!!! I was sitting in the car park at Cole's (grocery store) waiting to get out of the car while I was thinking about what I needed to buy when this woman tried to fit her car into the space next to mine (one empty space between me and the next car) unsuccessfully. It was like one of those slow motion things when I saw her coming and thought "surely she does not think she can make it in here at that angle....." and yet she continued to come in and scraped the passenger side of my car, stopped, pulled out, proceeded to go park elsewhere seemingly oblivious to what she had just done!!! So I sat there kind of in disbelief, thinking she was going to park and come over and see what she did but nope.....I got a paper and wrote down her license number and as she finally got out of her car i went over to her and said in my meek little American voice "excuse me, but did you realize you hit my car?".. To which she responded---"oh dear, did I? I didn't think I could fit through there." Sigh. So we walked over and she looked at it and told me that that would rub out. Well, since it is a hire (rental) car I didn't want to mess around with it too much so I made her write down her name, phone number and address and I wrote down mine to give her. She must have been about 80 and said that "they owned the bakery" which does not mean a hill of beans to me and I really didn't care---I just know she hit my car when it was parked!!! So....after I got in the store I called Chris and told him and since it wasn't that much damage he said as long as I had her info we would just call Avis and tell them. The poor thing was all flustered and confused and what was I going to do??? I don't know what you do here!!! Argh!!!
Then I got home and as I was unloading the car and had the door open a bird flew into the car and I had to chase it out!!! Gee whiz!!! My simple day got weird!!! And we have a bunch of geckos in that house---I gave up trying to catch them to relocate--they can eat the spiders. I picked Chris up around 2ish and we started for Mackay---I stopped to take a picture of the Big Mango (will post that later) and then we traveled on till we got here after 6 , unloaded, ate a yummy dinner and now we are about done in for the night. Chris will work tomorrow, I am going to go walk the beach and explore and then we will spend a nice relaxing weekend exploring.

And the headlines today in the Townsville bulletin were about Rogue Wallabies terrorizing Pensioners (senior citizens)> I will try to post the link here. You think you guys in the US have problems...they aren't anything compared to this!!! More later!
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/10/30/19695_hpnews.html

Wednesday

It's been a few days since I last posted so I thought I would throw up a few lines. We are in the Burdekin for 2 days----the good news is that there is water in the house again after last week when Chris got a shower but it disappeared once he left for work!!! All is back again so life is good. When we packed up the car this morning I noticed water bubbling out of the ground by the mailbox where the water cover was so that did not look good!!! Our landlord is in New Zealand until Nov. 23 so I contacted our realtor who came right out and checked it, sent a tradie out and they determined it was a council issue. Just got another email from her that it was passed on to the council and as far as she knew it had been taken care of so hopefully by the time we get back on Sunday night all will be well and taken care of.

Had a lovely lunch out today with a friend who I met through Lorrae and she invited another friend so there were 3 of us and it was just nice to get out. Everyone has really bent over backwards to include me in things and make sure that I get to know people and I really appreciate it more than they know. I know Chris has worried about me meeting people but I have met more people here in the 4 months (yep---it has been that long already!) than I did in a year in Iowa for whatever reason that is!

Tonight we have a dinner out with some of the guys that work at the mills down here and their spouses which will be a great way to meet some more people. Chris has been trying to do this for awhile but our schedules had not worked out until now to take advantage of it.

Tomorrow we are headed to Mackay and Chris will work on Friday and then we will spend Saturday night so that we can do some sightseeing and touring around on Sat and Sun. One of my friends told me about a great national park where the kangaroos come down on the beach at dusk to play and get water so I hope we can see that! We are trying to find some neat places to take Aaron and Thom when they come in a couple of weeks. it will be here before we know it!!!

Will post more pictures soon. Hope you all were able to see my pictures on Picasa---if you didn't get the link and want to see them email me and I will send it to you!

A Lovely Day in Paradise!

View from Castle Hill overlooking Townsvile

Another view from Castle Hill

Dorky looking tourists with Townsville in the background

Is this not the coolest looking tree???? Found in Queen's Garden

View of Castle Hill from Townsville

Pretty pretty butterfly

Another pretty butterfly

Finally had a few more pictures to post today. I think I took about 125 today in a very short time but we went to a couple of very scenic places! Got up early (it is that middle aged thing of not being able to sleep in anymore) and headed into town to get a mocha and a muffin and hit the Cotters Market on Flinders Street. Didn't really find much other than a small basket an indigenous woman was selling made out of palm fronds which was pretty neat but it was nice to walk around. Oh Chris got a couple of pairs of sandals (buy one get one free--can't pass that up!) and then we headed up Castle Hill. We had gone there in March when his boss took us but we had no clue at that time what we were really looking at so it made a lot more sense today!!! It was a perfect day and if we ever move in town that will be my goal to walk Castle Hill several times a week. There is quite a following of Castle Hill walkers, runners and bikers and it is a grueling trek but would be incredible to be able to do!!! But today we drove!
Then we headed to Queen's Gardens which is a huge park with all of these wonderful plants and trees and birds and it was such a great place!!! I could have stayed there for hours!!! There were a few people walking dogs but not a lot of folks there when we were there so we just wandered around and I took tons of pictures that one of these days I will put on Picasa and share so you can see them. It was probably one of our best days yet here because it was just so relaxing!!! So relaxing that Chris came home, read the paper and now is napping!!!
We were happy to talk to Micah today and caught up with him. I think he is doing fine but I sure do miss him. He has a terrible cough and I made him promise me that he would find an urgent care to go to tomorrow---I would imagine it is bronchitus. That is the hard part about being on the road and living in a hotel----hard to get to the dr. if you need to go.
It will be a fun week this week---going to the Burdekin on Wednesday and meeting a new friend for lunch, going out to dinner with a bunch of the CSR folks from there on Wed night and then off to Mackay on Thursday so Chris can go to the mill there. We are going to spend a couple days sightseeing so that will be a wonderful weekend away. I can't wait!!! More to explore!!! More pictures so keep your eyes open!!!

Saturday

Some purty flowers of our neighbors.

Trying out the fabulous new electric mower.....reminds me of our Greenville, Ohio days when we had an electric mower and a really really long cord to mow an acre....

Part of my catch and release program!

Some kind of gecko guy who was in the house (I am waiting on Thomas for the proper identification) -----I know that they eat spiders and little bugs but he can do that outside, not inside. I am getting braver, aren't I??? These guys are cute actually and I don't mind them but they move FAST!!!! I had to lure him into my highly overpriced plastic pitcher (I think I had to pay $10 for this one!!) and get him transported outside to safety.

Going to go pick up Chris' new rental car today--they finally have figured out the best way to get him a car is to do a 4 month lease at a time and it will be cheaper so we are off to pick up the Camry and return the Holden, find a mower finally and spend the rest of the day working maybe on the yard???? We will see. We both crashed early last night---the weeks are catching up with us or something! Next week will be busy so we need to rest up now!!!

A better picture of the sugar cane burning!

A few pictures !

These pictures were taken at the Ayr Nature Display building. It was closed and I could find no hours posted when it would be open but it looked like a very neat place!!! I am going to have to find out when it is open so I can go in. They have a butterfly display that I saw advertised and that is what I was really interested in so I will need to ask someone who knows!!! But the wall was pretty neat to look at. I will have to take Chris there because he loves rocks and this would impress him!

And you just can't escape some things even in Australia----Ramen noodles and Spam! Yum Yum!

A bit worth reading!

My friend Gene from Epworth just sent me this and i thought it was worth putting up here!! I am thinking it is a good way to live your life....what do you think? Thanks Gene!


A DOG ' S PURPOSE ( FROM A SIX YEAR OLD ) Being a veterinarian , I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker . The dog's owners , Ron , his wife Lisa , and their little boy Shane , were all very attached to Belker , and they were hoping for a miracle . I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer . I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker , and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home . As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure . They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience . The next day , I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him . Shane seemed so calm , petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on . Within a few minutes , Belker slipped peacefully away . The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion . We sat together for a while after Belker's Death , wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives . Shane , who had been listening quietly , piped up , I know why . Startled , we all turned to him . What came out of his mouth next stunned me . I'd never heard a more comforting explanation . He said , People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice , right ? The Six-year-old continued , Well , dogs already know how to do that , so they don't have to stay as long Live simply . Love generously . Care deeply . Speak kindly . Remember , if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like : When loved ones come home , always run to greet them . Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy . Take naps . Stretch before rising . Run , romp , and play daily . Thrive on attention and let people touch you . Avoid biting when a simple growl will do . On warm days , stop to lie on your back on the grass . On hot days , drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree . When you're happy , dance around and wag your entire body . Delight in the simple joy of a long walk . Be loyal . Never pretend to be something you're not . If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it . When someone is having a bad day , be silent , sit close by , and nuzzle them gently . ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY

A Fun Day!

Sunset in the Burdekin

Cane field fire at night (Irrigated crops get burned before harvest so that there is minimal excess plant material left on the ground which would interfere with the irrigation)

Cane Train Locomotive looking for some cane bins to transport to the mill.

Beautiful sunset in the Burdekin

Thought I would post a few pictures for you to see of some of the sights in the Burdekin area. The cane fires are pretty spectacular but we could not get close to this one to really get a good picture but it kind of gives you the idea of what it looks like. The down side to these----what they call Burdekin Snow which is the soot that comes into your house as a result of the burning.

Chris had a flat tire today (darn nail!!!) so he got up and changed it (good to know he can still do that and not have to call AAA to come to Australia!) and we packed the car and headed into Townsville. He dropped me off at Lorrae's and we chatted for a bit before going to the butcher and veg store to get some supplies for a salad to take to craft. Lorrae fixes a great salad--I need to take some tips from her and I loved these 2 shops she took me to so I will have to go back to them sometime. We headed to Gillian's where the other ladies trickled in and we had such a nice time catching up and sharing lunch together! I love these Tuesdays when i can get there because there is always lively conversation and I learn a lot about the area and about the lives of these new friends! Cheers to Gillian for always making me feel so welcome and comfortable!!!

Lorrae dropped me off at the shopping area so I could go to the bank and transfer some money to the US ---we had been trying to hold off as long as we could in hopes that the exchange rate would get better but had to move some money to pay some stuff on the house . It was an incredibly slow transaction......but we did it and I think I have it all set up now to do it myself online now which will be much easier! Then it was off to CSR to find Chris and head down here to the Burdekin to spend 2 nights this time. We found an absolutely wonderful Chinese restaurant that was actually open earlier than 6 pm so we could eat on the way in and then go to the house and chill out where we are now. Our company tonight---a noisy dragonfly who we can't seem to corner since the ceilings are so high in this house! Hopefully he will calm down later on and sleep. And we turned the ac on in the bedroom and shut it all up so hopefully we won't hear too many wild noises. Neither one of us slept well last night as Chris got a 1:30 am phone call from our insurance company wanting to talk to him about his life insurance and a wrong number at 4:00 am for someone looking for a contractor....the downside of having our US phones forwarded to our Australian phones!!!

It is a beautiful night as you can tell from the sunset pictures---gonna put on my trainers (tennis shoes) and walk in the morning after I get Chris to the one mill! Can't wait!!! Haven't had the chance to really walk here yet so it will be nice to scope it out and maybe even head to the beach that is about 5 kilometers from here. We will see what trouble I can get into!!! Lots I am sure!

!

A new week!!!

Rowers off of The Strand

Veranda Visitor

Neat Sand and Water Image

Backyard Buddy

Hi all!!! Another week has started and for some reason my eyes are all bloodshot today!!!! Hmmm----I have been sneezing a bit so me-thinks that I am allergic to something again so I guess I may have to find something to take for it! At least my bug bites have finally gone away!!!!

We had a great weekend-----very relaxing and that was just what Chris needed. I picked him up at the airport on Friday night and we came home and had leftovers---the plan was to go out to eat but he was really tired and not in the mood so we came back to the house and chowed down on meatloaf and mashed taters! YUM! Sometimes I think the leftovers are better than the first go round.

I had a call on Friday that Austar was coming out AGAIN on Saturday so we waited around ALL day! About 5 I made Chris call (Yes--I made him!) and the conversation was pretty funny because the guy on the other end said that the tech had come out that day and he hadn't. Then he said that it was hung up on landlord approval, which it wasn't since he met with them on Tuesday and then finally he said he would call the installer.....after awnile he came back on and said that the installer had tried to call us but that Austar had given him an incorrect phone number. They had scheduled the appt because we are on this high priority list now (troublemakers that we are) and did not know that he was waiting on a part which had not come in. Typical miscommunication thing. So.....we are still waiting and supposedly someone is coming today but my guess is 1) it won't be the installer that was here on Tuesday who figured out what needed to be done and had talked to the landlord, and 2) that they part won't be in anyway to install it. So the story goes on and on and on.....I can't fault any of these people but good grief---TALK TO EACH OTHER or write it down. I think our file must be very thick by now!!! One of my friends said that she did not think we would ever get it and I am inclined to agree but it makes for a good story!!! A long drawn out story maybe!!!

Sunday came and we had made arrangements to meet a couple for brunch at Cbar on The Strand. They were here from Perth checking Townsville out as he has interviewed for the CFO position at CSR. We had a nice long brunch with he and his partner. Oh yea--that is another thing that I have had to learn here. Marriage is treated a bit differently here than in North America. Traditional marriage still exists and probably most of the people we know here are married but many long relationships have never been blessed by the church or legal systme and so the term "partner" is used. From what I understand (and I could be wrong on this) some just never formalize the relationship with a ceremony because what they might feel that it is not any concern of the state or any religious organization. These people are referred to as "de facto" (de facto wife, de facto husband). In South Australia de factos who have been together for 3 years or have a child together have all the legal rights of a marriage if the relationship breaks up---such as child custody, support payments and the like. Just another small difference here!

Oh Yippee!! My favorite postie just came and gave me a pack of mail and my first official personal letter from a friend in the US came!!! (Thanks, Regina!) I am so excited!!! I had missed Jared--he was gone for 2 weeks (and he didn't tell me he was going to be gone!!! LOL) and I am glad he is back because he is a nice guy. So now I am going to go fill up my coffee cup and read my letter!!! And you KNOW that I will keep you posted on the Austar saga.....

Thanksgiving dinner perhaps???

Not sure how well you will be able to see this guy but I am thinking since he comes and hangs out in our bushes and driveway that he should be Thanksgiving dinner....which of course is a foreign idea here in Australia!!! Not sure if I am up to the whole killing and cleaning process and my bet is that they are protected here like everything else so I may be in heaps of trouble if I did get brave! Unfortunately as soon as I got back out with my camera to capture his essence he left.....quickly. I think he knew I was sizing him up. May have to remember where I saw a turkey breast for sale and just settle for that on the big day. I do know I am going to have to make Aaron a pumpkin pie.......

The Ballots are in the Mail

So I mailed our ballots today--------the guy at the post was clueless....they are in these huge envelopes which are a couple millimeters over the size so it was going to cost 4 times as much to mail them and he said "bugger it---we will send them regular rate" so I hope they get there okay. I did find out that the regular rate to the US had gone up to $2.05 and I had sent some letters at the $2 rate and I think they got through okay so I think this will be fine. He wanted to fold them and I was afraid that would invalidate the ballot or something so I told him I would just pay the rate. Well, it is out of our hands now---not sure if our two votes make THAT big of a difference though!

I drove Chris into work today since he is flying to Brisbane today for a presentation to the CSR folks of the 5 year forecast. There are a bunch of them going to do the presentation I guess. I drove back in later to the mall and just really wasn't into shopping--can you believe that I am saying that??? I did find a couple things at Target that I needed and walked around the mall a bit before doing the grocery shopping. Chris will be happy that he won't have to do it.

My past couple of days have been kind of messed up because the high tide has been right when I usually walk first thing in the morning. There just isn't a lot of beach when the tides have been as high as they have been the past couple days so I have had to walk later in the morning and yesterday I actually got a little bit sunburned to my dismay! The difference of a few hours makes a huge impact on the old skin so I am going to have to slip slop, slap as the slogan here goes!!! Slip on a shirt (well I do that already!!! ), slop on the sunscreen slap on a hat. It is a catchy little motto, don't you think? Complete with a pelican (or something) singing it.

So the Austar folks called today to schedule my next appointment. DECEMBER 2nd!!!!!!! This is getting just a tad ridiculous!! I told her that the installer here this week had to order an extender arm and promised he would be back this week so she was going to follow up on that. I am NOT going to hold out any hope. We may never get it installed. It is really crazy and I have tried to be nice and patient but good grief----how can you keep in business with service like that/?? Because people like me are so nice and understanding.....

So tonight is my first night alone in the house ........i am a little nervous!!! I don't know why but I am!!! I have a good book someone recommended and I am going to stay up and read and eat junk food!!! Well, maybe just popcorn!!!

Some more Australian Language lessons

Since I don't have any great pictures or stories to share today I thought I would give you some more Australian language lessons!!! I have a great book that has helped me out a lot so some of this will be coming from Rusty Geller's Americans' Survival Guide to Australia.

Australians are fun loving, intelligent witty people and they will turn a word into a plaything in a heartbeat. Breakfast becomes brekkie, wishful thinking becomes airy-fairy and waving flies or in my case mozzies from in front of your face becomes the Aussie salute which is not unlike the Lakeside wave for those of you familiar with that!

Lots of words are abbreviated with an ie or y added ---a bricklayer becomes a brickie and an umbrella becomes a brolly. Lots of words are abbreviated with an o on the end---ambulance drive becomes an ambo and a garbage truck driver is a garbo. Not too hard to figure out!!!

Some words are from Cockney rhyming---yank rhymes with tank as in septic tank. So they take the word septic and Aussize it to seppo and an American becomes a Seppo. Did you follow that one? Another one is a lie is a porky. Why? Pork pie rhymes with lie so ...porky.

Cheers means thank you and you hear a lot of the younger folks saying that a lot----when we watch Australian Idol (see why we need satellite tv???) the contestants always say "cheers" which took me a bit to figure out. Whilst is used instead of while and a jersey is a guernsey.... First names are given or Christian names and last names are surnames.

Okay that is enough for one day!! I need to save some for another day!!! Talked to both my boys today so I am happy, happy, happy!!!! Aaron is apt hunting in Raleigh from Melbourne and hopefully has found something and then we will have to do the whole lease thing, find a notary, verify he is who he says he is, do the paperwork, transfer some money and hopefully the Aussie dollar will be up a bit.....life goes on!!!
Aaron is on top of all of it so I am happy that he is doing it!!! Micah is still in Michigan and will be through the end of the year probably so say a prayer for him--living out of suitcases in a hotel is not always the most fun thing to do but he is hanging in there. I think he is wondering why he bought that new tv since he has not been home in JAX to enjoy it!!

Tata for now!

Ahh.....Austar came but still I am disappointed!

So Austar (satellite tv folks here) came bright and early today but after looking at the house they could not install !!! Sigh. The landlord does not want it mounted on the roof because of breaking the tiles which I can totally understand but the wall mount thing was not going to bring it out far enough to position it correctly....so.....they have an extended wall mount they can get ordered in but it is not cyclone proof. Now how often have you ever thought about making sure something was cyclone proof??? So the installer is going to try to get the right thing that will make it work, make Austar happy and make our landlord happy at the same time which is the most important thing. I don't want to do anything to mess up his house!!! The installer is going to work on it and hopefully be back sometime this week to do the install. I am not going to hold my breath. We may be back living in the US by the time this materializes!!! Who would have thought this was going to be such a drama ??? But there are a lot of variables involved and that is why I guess. Nice guys though so I don't mind having people do work when they are nice and explain everything to you like you have a brain!!! So the saga continues!!!!!

No Clever Title Today!!!

Low tide on Saunders Beach

Little guy trying to act all big and scary with me!!!

We have had a pretty uneventful day today so far!!! We got up and planned to go in to the mall to get a haircut for Chris and do some other little things and of course once we got there the place was not open today. Oh well. He will just have to find a place at lunchtime and go this week I guess. We did manage to put our outside table together (gotta love the Chinese and their great easy to assemble furniture) and got that all set up so we can enjoy the outside with our own furniture now. We took a little walk on the beach, happened upon some nude sunbathers (though they got clothed as we walked closer) and didn't see a lot of anything on our walk to be quite honest! We were going to check out a church that meets in town on Sunday afternoons but naps got the better of us.......I feel like I have jet lag or something. Maybe I have some dread Saunders Beach Virus from all the mozzie bites I have--they seem to love me.
Chris just booked Aaron's ticket from Townsville to Sydney--he and Thom are flying back via Sydney so they needed a flight to there and wanted to spend a day there or so sightseeing so now they are all set. Not without some drama though---for some reason the booking ended up being confirmed as January----not December. So a phone call and $30 additional and now they have flights for the right day. Now we just have to figure out when we are flying back to Australia ourselves after Christmas. That is taking some thought!!!
I told Chris i needed to blog about his job and he just looked at me---I don't think he wants to participate in my blog!! That's okay. I was just trying to spice it up since today's is definitely dullsville! I will find something to write about this week!!!!!!!

Our other froggie......sorry the picture rotates and I can' t get it right....

A new day---a new frog!

Now there is a frog in the "safe" toilet---or at least what I thought was the safe toilet.....it is a smaller version of "Carla" according to Chris who spotted it. Maybe it is "Christopher" as the males are smaller than the females.......I just know I am not thrilled.

More Australian Words to learn!

I have had requests for more words so here it goes!!!!

adjustable spanner = crescent wrench
back-to-front = opposite
cane it = drive fast
diary = appointment book or calendar (Day Timer0
easy peasy = easy job or task
fine = (weather) clear and sunny, used instead of "fair"
give a gobful = to verbally abuse
his blood's worth bottling = a great guy
ice cream spider = soda float
jaffle = toasted sandwich
kip = to nap
lay by = lay away
Macca's (pronounced Macker's) = McDonald's
niggle = minor complaint, pain, inconvenience
oil = information (Give the oil on that project.)
panel beater = auto body repairman
p/w = per week, referring to rentals. Our house is a p/w rental as are most.
quids = something you feel strongly about (I wouldn't move for quids!)
rattle your dags = to ride your bike
sausage sizzle = weenie roast, cooking hot dogs on the BBQ. Great fundraiser here---they have stands set up all over on the weekends especially. A hot dog in a slice of bread with onions and some tomato sauce---yum!!!
toe-up = to set up an appointment
underdaks = underwear
village bike = promiscuous woman
waist pack = fanny pack (fanny in Australia means female genitalia so it is not normally used)
yabber = lots of talk
zine = small magazine

There you go---a few words to add to your vocab!!!!

Vote!

We got our absentee ballots in the mail yesterday!!! Woo hoo!!! Now to fill them in and get them sent back to the US! Just a reminder to everyone to vote though I imagine most of you readers are already decided on who your choice is ---it is important to exercise that right to vote. In Australia it is MANDATORY to vote---not a choice. One place I read that if you don't vote you get fined $20. But the source goes on to say that "once you get ticked off the list you are free to vote, to not vote, to throw away, deface or eat your ballot." (Americans' Survival Guide to Australia, Rusty Geller, pg. 172) So I guess it is mandatory to show up at the poll!!! Anyway, to recognize the time of year it is in the US please notice the new poll on the blog to the right and make your tick!!!

A little Australian humor for the day!

Signs and notices can simply indicate the bare facts about their purpose; or
sometimes the originator can enliven it with a bit of humour. Some examples:

Sign over a Gynaecologist's Office: --- "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."

In a Chiropodists' clinic --- "Time wounds all heels."

On a Septic Tank lorry: ---- Yesterday's Meals on Wheels

On a Plumber's van: --- "We repair what your husband fixed."

On another Plumber's van: --- "Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber."

On an Electrician's van: --- "Let us remove your shorts."

On a Maternity Room door: --- "Push. Push. Push."

At an Optometrist's : --- "If you don't see what you're looking for you've
come to the right place."

On a Taxidermist's window: --- "We really know our stuff."

In a Vets waiting room: --- "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"

Radiator repair workshop: --- "Best place in town to take a leak."

The Color of Money

In light of all of the financial woes today I thought it only appropriate that I blog about Australian currency today! Today the exchange rate is a low low 74 cents which means if I transfer $100 Australian dollars to the US it will only be around $74. Not good for us when we have US bills and a mortgage to pay but hopefully it will come back up a bit.

The Australian money is colorful and it makes sense! The bills come in different sizes and colors as do the coins. The bills vary in size and increase slightly in size as the denomination increases. they come in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. They are made of polypropylene polymer plastic which translates to waterproof and un-tearable!!! Go through the washer??? No worries!

The coins are 5 cent, 20 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1 dollar and 2 dollar. The dollar coins are gold in color and the others are silver. the 50 cent piece is interestingly enough 12 sided! They also go according to size with the smaller gold coin being the $2 coin and the larger one being the $1. The smallest of the silver coins is the 5 cent coin.

There are no pennies here so cash transactions that come to less than 5 cents are rounded up or down to the closest 5 cents. If you pay by credit card or check they use the exact cents.

There is a 10 % sales tax called GST for Goods and Services Tax that is included in everything that you buy. So if I bought a singlet (tshirt in the store) and it was $20 I would pay that---$20. No fooling around with trying to figure out the tax on it which is kind of nice in my book! There is no GST on food from grocery stores and on some medical expenses I believe.

So there is your money lesson for the day! The thing that took me the most time to get used to was that if I use money out of our bank account and use what I consider a debit card it is really a savings card and you have to hit savings on the screen. And you have a limit on how much you can spend in a day also which makes no sense to me since the money is there!!! I think you can raise the limit and I am sure that there are other ways to get to your money but I have not asked the right questions yet and so far we have been fine with what we needed to do but it is just a little different than what we are used to doing in the US where if you have the money in your checking account you can use your debit card until it is gone--no limits!

Ta ta for now!

Sunday Stammerings

It bothers me that the date is always messed up on my posts----it is set up on US time and to change the blog it messes everything up so I have just left it as it is but it bothers me.....silly, I know! But it is quite honestly Sunday afternoon here even though the heading probably will say Saturday night or Sunday morning in the wee hours.

We headed out to our little church today---our attendance increased to 19 this week and there were actually 4 men so if we could get everyone there on the same Sunday it would probably double the congregation. I took my shoebox--the deadline is this Saturday and they were happy to get it and take it to the collection point. It is just kind of neat to be able to continue something that I have done for years! Today was World Wide Communion Sunday I think but since there was no pastor there today (they rotate lay speakers on the Sundays the part time pastor is at the other charge) I noticed that communion at this church was next Sunday. Olive was the speaker today and she was very good. We sang only one song that we knew (Amazing Grace--but they left off the last and my favorite verse) but we muddled through. And we found out what benches NOT to sit on. Whew---most uncomfortable seats I have been in for awhile! Poor Chris was moving around and I knew that he had to be very uncomfy if I was!!! So next time we will go for the more comfy ones

I tried to wash off the veranda but it actually ended up to be work! There is a low spot so all the water pools there and you have to sweep it off, it keeps going to the low spot, etc. And the stuff I was using to clean it didn't seem to be all that great or maybe it was just me. And the hose kept coming apart at the sprayer so I got a couple of showers! I may get this figured out ! Funny how something that I thought would be so simple turned out a lot more work than anticipated! Isn't that the way it is?

Chris is doing his reports now and has a busy week ahead of him. Early meeting at one of the northern mills at 7:30 am and then a dinner meeting back in Townsville in the evening so he have a long day. We are getting our new outside furniture and dining room table and chairs on Tuesday along with the AC guy coming to put in 2 AC units in the bedroom so I need to get stuff done tomorrow so Tuesday I am not in the way! So much for our exciting news for today!

Our Beach Friends

Our beach buddies for our walk today---Sparky and Kelly.

Sunny Saturday!

Thought I would toss a picture up on here of one of the beautiful bushes/ plants in our back yard today. We really have quite a few beautiful lush plants and trees growing around in our yard and they are kind of taking over things right now since it is spring I guess they are getting all revved up! And our landlord has an irrigation system that he has going so that is part of it I am sure!

So we had an adventure already this morning! I had gotten a package that needed a signature when we were in the Burdekin and so I had to go pick it up at the post office. I called yesterday as the card they left said the hours were only during the week from 2-5 and that was not going to work to get in there. After a couple calls they finally put me through to this guy who said someone would be there in the morning so we headed out looking for it. We missed it the first time but I finally spotted the red Post sign and here it is a combination mini mart/post office/take away/gas station/bait and tackle store. No wonder I missed it. Of course there was no one in the post office part so I went in the store and asked the young guy about it and he said he would go find the guy. New guy came out, opened the door and found my package and I signed for it so all was good. Also found out that it is a pretty laid back post----he said to just ring them if we had another package there and we could pick it up early in the morning or late at night as long as we made arrangements ahead of time. I had him write his phone number down on the tide chart (so now I know when all the tides are too!) and we were on our way!

The other nice thing was that they had vendors in the parking lot with fruits and veg and I got a gob of stuff for only $15 and I am sure it is much better than what I get in the stores so I was happy to find that they do that on Saturday mornings. I would rather buy from the farmers anyway.

So instead of running around like ninnies today we are going to stay home, grill some chicken and enjoy the weather. The nice thing about going to the other house in the middle of the week is that I can do the grocery shopping then and not tie up the weekend other than maybe getting some of the cold stuff. And Chris likes not having to go grocery shopping!!! He didn't complain but I know that it is not his favorite thing to stand around while I decide what to get!!!

Hope all is well in the US. I did watch the v-p debates yesterday and really got more confused about things. Waiting for our absentee ballots to arrive from South Dakota so hopefully those will come in time. Sounds like the financial picture is trying to get sorted out but it won't for a long time I imagine. We just keep praying!

Back to the Beach

We are back at the beach after 2 days. I picked Chris up at the Pioneer mill and we came home but stopped in Townsville to try to find the last remaining pieces of furniture that we needed. The stores are open till 8 on Thursdays (woo hoo) so instead of wasting a Saturday driving in we thought we would try this approach and we were successful! We found a little round glass table and chairs for our eating area and an outside table and chair set that was marked down so we did well and the good thing----they will be delivered Tuesday!!! Yay!!! None of this long waiting!!! All we really have left to buy now is a mower and maybe eventually another bed but for now we will just keep the one the owner left for when Aaron and Thom come. For as much as we will use it we don't want to put the money out for one that will never get used.

Last night we went to one of the restaurants in Ayr for dinner and had a really good meal. I had pan fried barrimundi which was yummy and Chris had surf and turf which he said was yummy too. The thing we saw that I had to comment on was a gentleman who came in who was probably in his late 50's and nicely dressed except...........he had on a pair of capris!!! Now I don't know what you men out there might call pants like that but to me they were capris and did not look like something any man should wear. Am I missing an upcoming fashion trend or what??? Do enlighten me if you know about men wearing capris!!!!

The satellite tv saga continues-----they called me today and were sending out a technician today despite the fact that I told the guy yesterday that I would not be home today!!! I told him Fri, Mon or Tues would be fine---not Thursday!!! So of course she hemmed and hawed around and said that they would have to do another booking in order to get me bumped up on the schedule which makes no sense because I already had a booking and was here and they did not show!!! But regardless she insisted that this was what had to be done and that they would move me up on the list but the earliest she could book me was Nov. 18th.....now bear in mind that we scheduled this back on August 9th. So I do not think we are meant to have this. After talking to Chris tonight on the way home I am going to make another call back tomorrow and see if I can talk to a supervisor and see if I can get this resolved. If not we may be telling them to forget it. this is crazy!!! Why is this so hard??? I don't understand. We can't get cable out here or else we would have done that. And the 5 channels of TV are driving me nuts since that is basically our entertainment at the moment (other than the beach and outside!!). Oh well. It is teaching me something but I am not sure what! In the big scheme of things this is very minor but still irritating!

Chris is now watching Australian Supermodels so if that tells you anything about our selection.........