Easing the commute

A thing of beauty.



This is my commuter. D's Dad's old bike.
Some of you will recognize that pink smoke paint job on the GT Tequesta. It's odd riding a 7 speed bike, and those thumb shifters!

It's parked in front of my bike locker at the train station. There's a waiting list for bike lockers, but the deal is you pay a $50 deposit for the key and check in with them every three months. If you loose the key, it cost $50 to replace, but if you finish with the locker and turn in the key, you get the 50 back.
Riding the bike cuts 20-30 minutes off my trip to and from the station. Yay!


I ride the roads, then cut through the neighborhoods and over a stream that divides subdivisions on this little path. The bike slot on the left of the stairs is handy...the GT weighs a good 35lbs... Well...maybe not, but it is too heavy to carry up the stairs.

Morning walks

Some mornings, if we're not riding our bikes, D and I take a walk in the state forest across the street. We're usually out there by 5am and only hike a couple hours because the heat comes up so quickly.

The forest is in the middle of subdivisions, so it is well traveled by trekkers, mountain bikers, and trail runners.

This gives you an idea of the sorts of hills they have around here, short but steep. The tree across the trail is a remnant of the recent heavy storms here in Brisbane.



In the midst of the tree


There's quite a bit of rock here. This poor tree went over in the same storm.

Cranberry, where for art thou Cranberry?

You never know what you're going to miss. I was missing home a bit so I decided to make Thanksgiving dinner. And of course, you need cranberries to complete the plate, right? Just for color?

Cranberries are so ubiquitous in Michigan this time of year with stacks of fresh berries in all the markets, pyramids of cans of cranberry sauce in the aisles, umpteen types of gourmet cranberry sauce in the fancy foods stores and catalogs.

Well...cranberries are NOT big in Australia.
We're coming up on Christmas, I thought perhaps there might be some in the organic markets or in the bigger chain stores, but no.

This is all I found. Turns out the canned sauce has wheat in it (yeah, I don't know why they need to put wheat in there either...) and the snack pack of cranberries was presweetened (even though it said it wasn't. I used them in an orange/cranberry sauce that was a shade of the real thing.



and how about Turkey? Also NOT a big seller in Australia. Best I found in one store was a couple huge turkey legs. Anyone who has eaten enough turkeys over the holidays know that those legs are not going to be very tender...Ah well. (After purchasing these in Woolworths, I wandered down to the IGA to check for another ingredient I was missing, they had cute little 8lb frozen turkeys. Next time.

Pumpkin pie. No luck there either. Although the squash they call pumpkin would probably work well in a pie, it's a bit stringy, so I made a butternut pie instead. Darrell can't really tell the difference, but those of you who make pie know that there is! I'll see if I can find some pie pumpkin seeds and get them started for pie in fall...about April.

Here's Darrell with his first pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey leg, stuffing, grandma's sweet potatoes, and veggies.




And here's the pie

Surviving the storm

Well...we were in the city center when the big storm came through near our house on Sunday. Big electrical action in the city, lightning bouncing around. The damage from the high damaging winds and heavy rain reminded me of tornado damage back home. Big trees knocked over and roofs lifted off houses.
We had taken the train into the city and getting home was a nice little adventure. Fortitude Valley had been evacuated and they ran the train right past it, then put us on buses after the Bowen hills station. It was a long trip home, but it wasn't bad.

12-2 sucks

It's official. While Darrell and I managed with the 12-2 time difference, it really sucks when trying to keep up with friends back home. Bah humbug.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos from a trip D and I took up the coast a bit. HAIL! I never equated subtropical Australia with hail...but there it is.
When it hails, and people ask about snow and I start explaining different types of snow and how very little of it is really like hail people seem fairly surprised. Just as I am that it hails in sub-tropical Australia.

Whiplash!

Or...I'm now gainfully employed in Australia!

I was getting a bit depressed, the HR departments around here are very prompt in their rejections.
Evidently, if you're a good match they're just as quick in the other direction as well. I applied for a job that I wanted at a company I wanted to work for Monday of last week and had a verbal offer by that Friday. Signed my contract this week and I start next Monday.

Thanks to everyone who supplied leads, references, and support!

What is wrong with this photo?

Dazza just located this photo. Here I am, arriving in Australia, clearing customs...see anything odd?



Other than my carryon and my computer, no luggage. My luggage decided it wanted to spend some time in LAX.

Lesson learned: NWA counter agents don't realize that Northwest does not have a luggage agreement with Qantas.

When I showed up at the counter with five pieces of luggage, my carry on and my computer bag, the agent says (in reference to the luggage): I'm checking these through for you.
"Great! I don't have to find them in LA and check them back in through customs? (I had to switch from the domestic terminal to the international terminal last time...that entailed finding my bags and lugging them down two terminals.)
No, you just check back in yourself. Your bags will go straight through.
"Great!"

In LA I checked with the counter agent there: "Do I have to go back and get my bags?"
"No, they're checked straight through."

Only on paper baby, only on paper.

When the five pieces of luggage were delivered two days later (always always carry a change of clothes in the carry on!) one of the pieces wasn't mine.

That one didn't show up until I'd been in OZ for a week! It was damaged...badly...but nothing inside was broken!

Qantas seems to be on top of the replacement process though, we dropped it off at their claim service and we're waiting on the settlement. The best part of the whole experience was when the poor luggage guy who I was dealing with the evening I landed said to me:
"You're the most reasonable woman I've ever dealt with in this situation, most of them are screaming by now."

Ah, but I was on the ground safely. Yes, I did pack things I wanted to have with me at the start of my new life, things I didn't want to have to buy again, things that had some sentimental value to me...but it wasn't his fault that they weren't with me. It was partially my own for believing the people at the ticket counters of two different airlines. It all worked out, and screaming just would have upset the nice dinner that Wisey and Kay brought over to share that night in celebration of my arrival.

Kangaroos - not a hoax!

"So, tell me, why haven't I seen any of you outside a park?"



Darrell suggested we do a touristy thing on my first Sunday afternoon in O so we wandered on down to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: http://www.koala.net/index.htm

I've now met a kangaroo or two. I'm still suspicious, but they appear to be real. These guys aren't too big though. I suspect as they allow small kids into the enclosure, they keep the large ones apart.


Here's a cute Wombat for Lisa!




And of course, the koalas. I passed on cuddling the koalas, they seem to be quite happy hanging around in their trees.





And we met some interesting local birds
A wedgetail hawk


barn owl


sea eagle


quack


Darrell has one of these purple flowered trees in the backyard, it's beginning to flower



So, my goal is to find all these critters in the wild and take pics of them there as well.

Saturday Morning at the Westend market

T-minus

Well, time has come and the house is not empty. How does one amass so much stuff that needs to be looked at and decided upon? There's not much else to do now but let some very fine people take that project over. Thanks so much for rleasing me from the stress of just one more box to go through.

Time to pack the bags!

Meals with family

There is no replacement for the connection of family. My lovely Aunt took my sister, cousin and I out to lunch at Inn Season in Royal Oak yesterday for a "bridal shower" because I should have one of those before I go. The things you say in the company of people with shared history, family history, are a bit different than what would be understood in mixed company. It's the lifetime family connections that seem to spawn those simple phrases or a look at a comment that can set the whole table laughing. We always get some nasty looks from others in a restaurant...but Yes. We do this at home too.
And the flannel PJs are fabu. No. I'm not posting a picture.

(There might be something to that Italian good luck charm given by an Italian...I received a call in the afternoon for a second showing on the house...Thanks!)


Ceoliac note: Inn Season has their menu marked with wheat free options, ask the server if those items are gluten free as well. Most of them can be made gluten free, but some can't.

A Public Service Announcement

Never ever ever purchase an HP with an AMD chip. Ever.

I needed to get that off my chest after spending yet another interlude with HP technical support after a MS live update rendered my HP unusable.

No time for tears

I realize, after 11 years on the job, you leave friends and professional relationships behind that will be difficult to duplicate anywhere else. It was a sad day, but sometimes the beginnings of adventures start that way. A bit of sadness mixed with the excitement. Good luck to DELMIA and to all my friends and co-workers! I'll miss you all.

Moving on

Renovations never unfold the way you think they will. There is always some unseen catastrophe or small joy found under the lath and plaster when you rip out a wall or repair a ceiling. This house has all the bones stabilized and some nice new additions completed and it's ready for a new owner to take it to the next level.
www.1576wtroy.com
This will be a photo catchall of another renovation of sorts. After spending most of my life in Michigan I'm moving to Brisbane Australia to start a new adventure. New life, new love, different environment, different country. If you're reading this, you're probably a friend or relative who is curious on the progress of the move or our life in Brisbane. I don't promise anything fancy here. Just a few notes and photos as I adjust to my new world. Drop me a line and say hi sometime, I'm sure I'll be glad to hear from you!