In Cranberrry

O.k., so I’m in Cranberry, the capitol of Aussie-land -- or, what most people call ‘’Canberra’’.

Bored; too quiet here. T.V. but no radio. Have a laptop from work, so searched the hard drive for mp3, Windows media files, and MIDI files. Found a few of the two latter, so am playing them in a loop; right now listening to some cheezy “2001” variation on a theme MIDI file.


Haven’t blogged for most of this week; been busy. Thursday night stayed semi-late at work (7pm?), then came home, spent some time with the family, then stayed up ‘til about 1:15am doing my Aussie taxes. (Due Oct 31st; instead of Halloween, they have taxes due: scary enough.) Friday night, stayed until 10pm at work, getting things ready for Saturday’s interviews, plus prep a mass survey that needs to go out Monday or Tuesday. Which normally, I’d just do Monday and Tuesday -- except I’ll be in Canberra. Saturday, did the interviews (along with some co-workers, but I’m coordinating): met up at 9:15am, there until 4:15pm. Then, came home, spent some time with the family, plus packed.

NO work on the Dissertation for the last few days, due to working late. Bleh. But will be bored and lonely for all of this week’s evenings, so hopefully will get a lot done. Dumped my misc. word processing documents onto the laptop (which I’m composing my blog on, rather than Dissert-ing).


So, this morning (Sunday), watched The Bub while The Lady did her taxes this morning; then we ran some errands at the local mall, including buying me a little pouch for my LED flashlight, as my current one had completely worn out: the bottom was threadbare, held together only by black duct tape, and the strap kept coming off, despite duct tape reinforcements. AU$15 -- ouch! -- for a new one, as a knives ‘n’ things type of shop. Cheaper than the leather ones, though. Seems a little steep for a black nylon pouch. Could pick up a small camera case with a belt loop for eight bucks, but it would be much too big for the little LED sqeeze-light (which is surprisingly bright!). In Tacoma, found rectangular black nylon belt pouches for (IIRC) five bucks each -- at a sporting goods store, in the hunting section, for holding ammo clips. But apparently not as many guns in Brisbane, Australia, as in Tacoma, U.S.A.

Dropped off at the airport around 1:15pm; Brisbane to Sydney, Sydney to Canberra (direct flights sold out). After checking in, dumping off my stuff in my room, and phoning The Lady, I moseyed down to the restaurant (staying on the college campus, and didn’t feel like trying to make my way to civilization just to look for a cheaper dining option). All the main meals were around twenty-five bucks; ended up ordering the grilled lamb. Smallish proportion, but oh-so-artfully arranged on the plate. Enough that I wasn’t hungry, though. (Oh! And had a large-ish, and tasty, bread roll with butter beforehand.) Still, should’ve ordered the $5 side salad plus $5 side veggies instead -- maybe times two. Not sure what my per-meal reimbursement is...

Now 9:38pm laptop time, but 10:38pm local time (daylight savings, varies by state). Older room, but nifty that way: inexpensive but solid furniture, from a range of decades: desk from the ‘40s, wardrobe from the ‘50s, dresser from the ‘60s; bedspreads from the ‘70s. Has a mini-fridge, plus the food and drink they’ll charge you handsomely for if you take it. But, also has a small glass pitcher and two water glasses, so at least I get to have cold water -- plus somewhere to put my leftovers if I end up with any. (Actually, having dinner on Tuesday with a law school friend of The Lady’s who lives here; so, leftovers.)

I’ve a hankering for something sweet-ish to drink -- some watered-down cola, perhaps. (At least since my college days, I’ve watered down my soft drinks at about a 1:5 ratio -- although I do a 50-50 mix when I’m feeling sassy. Otherwise, too sweet, too bubbly, and -- for colas -- too acidy: melts your teeth.) Rather than sample from the mini-‘fridge, I’ll see what the soda machine out in the courtyard says.

Breakfast is paid for as part of my training here. I’m here as part of my new part-time Data Archivist position. Training starts around lunchtime on Monday, and ends around lunchtime on Friday. Lunch and dinner, I just save the receipts.


Hm -- is this what prison is like? Bored, small room. Think I’d go nutty. Well, actually, I’d survive. But I’d probably end up writing a play, or learning how to draw. Depends on if I was allowed paper and pen, or paper and crayons.


Waiting for a phone call from The Lady -- probably 10pm or so.


Hey! I suppose the room’s clock radio has a... radio! Could try that, instead of the cheezy MIDI files. ;)


Well, that’s probably enough. 9:46pm, laptop time.

Ayep!


--GG