ANTS

Our house has been invaded by ants.

Now, I find ants pretty fascinating, so my tolerance for having them around is pretty high. But after last night, I'm over them. You see, the problem isn't so much the ants, as it is that Marshall doesn't believe me about how to get rid of them.

First, he thinks the ants are after sugar. This is not so. We are both sugar maniacs and those ants haven't gotten into any of our food. This is not because we are so brilliant at ant proofing our food; it is because the ants aren't interested in our food. Early on I speculated that they are meat ants and that they will eventually tire of our meat-free house and move on.

After a bit, Marshall decided it was time to bring out the Ant-Rid. At first I was open to this. We put little dabs on the countertop and watched the ants swarm it. Apparently, the point of this stuff is that it gives them a belly ache and they go away. I eventually started to notice that there weren't very many ants...UNTIL we put out some Ant-Rid. I do not know where they come from or how they get there so fast, but suddenly there will be hundreds of them, climbing on top of each other to get at the stuff. This struck me as odd.

Yesterday morning, I noticed that the Ant-Rid spots had dried up...and then I noticed that the ants were climbing on the Ant-Rid bottle, trying to get in! So I scrubbed the counter of any Ant-Rid residue and left Marshall a note to let him know the Ant-Rid was contributing to the problem.

Last night when I got home Marshall had a friend over, making music (that's not a metaphor, though 'music' depends on your tolerance levels for trance). They had gotten pizza, one veg, one meat. And suddenly, miraculously, our kitchen was filled with thousands of ants! Way more than we had previously seen. After his friend left, I triumphantly pointed to the pizzas and said "they're after meat!" But, apparently the ants had gone for Marshall's veg pizza as well, which apparently rules out my theory (no, let's not consider the possibility that Mama's pizzas veg pizza might not be as vegetarian as previously thought!) And the Ant-Rid? "Haha! Ant-Crack!" He did agree to put the drops outside of the house and on the floor, instead of on the kitchen counter.

BUT THEN! He was up and off this morning way before I woke up. But what did I find when woke up? Two fresh dots of Ant-Rid on the kitchen counter, swarmed by a gillion ants.

The best way to get rid of ants, and it even says this on the Ant-Rid bottle, is to remove whatever it is they are after. I'm hiding that bottle!

Weekend in Monbulk

Last weekend I went out to Monbulk and stayed with my friend Lizzie. I had a wonderful time relaxing in the hills, watching movies, going for walks, talking to birds, and playing robots with her son.

There's been a lot of rain out in Monbulk lately, and as we drove up to Lizzie's house, we spotted a beautiful rainbow.

Lizzie's property was very green, with a lush garden full of beautiful plants and colourful flowers.

On Friday evening, Lucius and I had a great time playing robots together and working on a dinosaur puzzle. Then he was off to bed and the grown-ups had dinner and watched a movie.

Saturday afternoon Lizzie and I drove down to some of the neighbouring towns and had the most devine vanilla slice in Victoria at Cooks Corner Cafe in Kallista. It was amazing! Afterwards, since the rain had stopped, we decided to go on the Lyrebird walk, which goes through the beautiful forest and ends up at a bird sanctuary...though we didn't see any lyre birds.

The birds were great! We didn't buy any seed, but they still came up and checked us out. I picked up some of the seeds on the ground and managed to get a couple of cockatoos to come over and eat from my hand...which then resulted in them chewing on my fingers.

The rest of the weekend we spent lounging around at Lizzie's place, watching movies, cooking and chatting. On Sunday we had a wonder around the property, which is on a hill. Lucius came with us and was our adverturous protector.

We had to leave quite early (for me) on Monday morning to get Lucius to school and Andrew to work. I shocked a view people at uni when I showed up before 10am. But, before I said goodbye to Monbulk, I had breakfast with a king parrot.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Plans

Life is an adventure, and sometimes, no matter how much we plan, things go off course. When this happens, it's what we make of it that matter most.

Last night I met up with a friend for drinks and a movie. We went to see Ponyo, which was quite lovely and just a touch bizzare. We saw it at the Nova, which is on Lygon St. I frequently meet up with friends on Lygon St, so I was not concerned about how I would get home after the movie. I figured I'd take the tram up to Moreland Rd and catch a bus the rest of the way home. The other option was to take a tram back into the city, and catch my regular tram home.

We had a couple of beers before the movie, and, thinking it would be a pretty quick commute home, I decided I could live without hitting up the bathroom before I caught my tram. I'd just missed the tram I needed, so it was a bit of a wait for the next one. I got to my stop at 9:20pm and looked at the bus schedule to see how long I'd have to wait. The next bus wouldn't be coming until Saturday morning! It was at this point that I started to regret my decision not to use the bathroom at the theatre.

I was about 3km away from my house, which is a walk I'm quite used to, but isn't exactly a desirable distance to walk when you have to pee. I called Marshall to see if by some miracle he was home on a Friday night. He was not. My friend Gillian lives very near to where I had found myself stranded, and I thought about calling her, or just turning up on her doorstep, but decided against it. I didn't think it would be fair to ask her to drive me home, so I forged on without contacting her. This turned out to be a smart move, I'll get to that in a moment.

Now I'm certainly not opposed to finding a good bush to relieve myself in, but the street I was walking down was too open and well lit for that. Faced with the option of wandering down side streets trying to find a dark place to pee or continuing on and hoping for the best, I decided to hope for the best. The 3km I had to walk is on a hill, and let me tell you, was I ever glad it was downhill all the way home! I made it, and was humbly reminded of the life rule to never pass a toilet by.

This morning, I got a very unexpected call from my friend Gillian. It turns out the previous evening she had gone to a friend's house for dinner, and when she went to leave she realized she'd left her keys at uni. She ended up spending the night at her friend's place, and borrowing her friend's car today so she could get a spare key from her landlord. She wanted to go to the office to pick up her keys, but her keys to the office were IN the office... So, Gillian came by my place and we headed into the city and were able to successfully retrieve her keys from our office.

It seems to just be one of those weekends where things go pair shaped. But, it hasn't stopped us from having a good time.

Tradition

Last week it was my birthday. I am now a whooping 27 years old. I had celebrated my 26th by going to see The Burlesque Hour with a group of friends, mostly people from uni. This year I wanted to do something different. This year I wanted to start a tradition.

I've been in Melbourne for a year and a half now and I am quite settled here. I know the city fairly well, but am still exploring and learning new things about it. I have a developed a good, solid group of friends, even if they are still mostly friends from uni. I am starting to meet new people and expand my social circle. So this year felt like the perfect time to start a new tradition that I look forward to developing for many years to come.

This year, I celebrated by throwing a Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

I have been collecting assorted tea saucers for some time now, and made the trip out to Daylesford in July to complete my discordent set of 13. I borrowed tea cups from Kirsty, and over the coming year I will be searching out bizarre ones to purchase for parties years to come. I picked up 2 tea pots from the Vic Market, so if you ever come over to my place you can have a proper cuppa.

I filled the house with fresh and fake flowers, including these lovely daffodils that bloomed beautifully in their Womaton vase (another great Daylseford find). And I baked and baked and baked. Banana and chocolate muffins, rasberry and pear honey cake, seaseme tofu cubes with a dipping sauce, and leek and zuchini fritters.

I purchased all sorts of fruits (strawberries, pinapple, dried apricots, pear, passion fruit, mangsteen, grapes) and cheese and crackers and wasabi peas and M&Ms and Hello Pandas and even fortune cookies (though I put those in an obscure location and no one noticed them).

We had an Andy Warhol colouring book, along with a few obscure zines I had purchased a few years back in San Francisco that turned out to be a pretty good laugh.

There was 9 of us in total, which was a good number. My house is pretty small, and any more of us would have made it difficult for anyone to move around. It was a lovely mix of people and conversation flowed easily. Lots of food was ate; wine, champaign and tea were drank. Sugar rushes ended in sugar crashes and everyone went home feeling whimsically fulfilled.

What a great way to start a new year!

It's Not Worth The Risk

Sometimes a commercial just really gets to you...

Last month was Railway Crossing Safety Awareness month here in Victoria. The following add encouraged us not to race through railway crossings as the safety gaurds come down.





Well, today I saw railway crossing safety reach a new level. It's not a long walk from the train platform to the footpath where I can cross the tracks, but lets say it takes about a minute to reach from when I get off the train. And by this time, the train is long gone and the crossing gaurds are up, indicating that it is now safe for cars to continue along their way.

I came home during peak hour today, and when I crossed over the tracks I noticed that there was quite a lot of cars backed up along what is normally a busy but not backed up road. Since all the cars on my side of the road were grid locked, I walked through them into the middle of the road, looked to see if any more cars were coming, and suddenly realized something:

On both sides of the road, the front cars stopped at the railway crossing had remained stopped well after the train had left the station. What was even more bizzare was the fact that no one was honking at them to move it along. In fact, it wasn't until myself and another pedestrian crossed the road doing double takes of this bizarre traffic situation that the other drivers started to notice something was wrong and got on their horns.

Some things are worth waiting for indeed!

Sunny Winter Days

This year Melbourne has enjoyed a fairly mild winter. We could do with more rain, and there have been some very cold nights, but on the whole, it has been a lovely winter. The kind of winter I can sign up for experiencing year after year.

This past week I have been housesitting for friends who are vacationing in Cairns. Their house is in the south, and since I live in the north I don't know this part of the city very well. This afternoon I decided to go for a wander down to the beach. I walked along the boardwalk, then along the beach, being careful not to step in the jellyfish that had washed up along the shore.

Even though I have been here for a year and a half now, this was only my second time going to the beach in Melbourne. The first time I went during the heat wave and ended up with sun stroke, so I have been reluctant to return. But today, while the sun was out, it was still cool for me to actually enjoy my walk along the beach.

After having satified myself with the beach, I decided to wander back, taking a different route than I had come by. Fortunately I was not in any hurry to get back, as I ended up walking in the opposite direction from my friend's house.

I like to explore, and taking a wrong turn can often lead you to some interesting places. I try not to be so concerned about the destination when I set off wandering. After all, you can't be lost if you know where you are. And I knew that I had just walked through Elsternwick Park and was walking along the bike path beside the canal, since my friend's house is near the canal.

Eventually, I came across a train station. It wasn't a train station I was familiar with, but fortunately it was on the train line I needed. It turns out I had walked 2 stations further down the line from my friend's place. I desided it was time to get myself on a train and home!

I'm taking care of my friend's cats, Jack and Floyd, as well. The boys were happy to have me back home and I gave them both a brush as they came out back to play. Then I got myself an afternoon snack and went to sit in the sun on the front porch. I opened the door so the cats could join me. Floyd was quick to come and sit with me.

I was reading a book when Jack decided to join us. I looked up to see what Floyd was up to and noticed a ginger fuzzball on the other side of the front gate! The little sneak! When I opened the gate to get him he knew he'd been naughty and came running right back into the front yard. After that, he didn't try to escape again.

Now that the day is cooling off we are all snuggled up in the house. Tomorrow I plan to go exploring the markets at this end of the city during the day, and in the evening I'll be baking muffins as Lizzie's prize for winning our hair growing competition. She beat me by 2.5cm.

Until next time...

Psychic Colour Waves

In the time I have lived in Melbourne I have become aware of a strange fashion phenomenon that commonly occurs amongs this city's residents. I call it: Melbourne's Colour of the Day.

Melbourne is a very fashion conscious city to begin with, and it appears that the fashionistas of this city have developed a sixth sense for spotting trends and taking them up....on the same day. I usually notice this because a disporportionate number of unrelated people will be wearing the same colour schemes, or a particular style or accessory. Yesterday's esoteric fashion phenomenon: orange stockings.

I haven't quite caught on to the psychic wardrobe transmissions that are forcasting themselves throughout this city yet, and I'm not sure if I want to. I like that Melbourne has this vibe where people wake up and just know that today is the day to wear their orange stockings, but I'd rather retain what's left of my sense of fashion individuality. I don't have any delusions of having a totally individual sense of style -- I may not have caught on to the exact day that I should be wearing my orange stockings, but I do have orange stockings. As much as I love this city and want to be a part of it, sometimes I enjoy getting to be on the outside, looking in.

Alternate Universes

I'm back in Melbourne now, settling back into my old routines, after a very relaxing and wonderful week in Hawaii. Being back, I feel like I've travelled to another planet and back -- my lives in Calgary and Melbourne are so different from one another, and well, let me explain.

I was so prepared to have a horrible time when I came back to Calgary that it took me quite awhile to realize that I was actually enjoying myself. When I finally did realize that I was having a pretty good time I was a little flabbergasted by the discovery. I was also a little saddened (just a little) by it because it meant leaving behind a bunch of really great and amazing people, again.

Over the past year and a bit, I've lost a lot of contact with my friends, and a lot of family, in Calgary. When I came back, I was surprised to find myself surrounded by a group of amazingly talented and supportive friends. I was also amazed at how easy it was to pick up with lapsed connections. Sparks of life were reignited in friendships that I thought had dwindled down into acquantanships. It seems the time apart and the growth we've all done in that time has really allowed for connections on new levels to develop and blossom. I am truly sadden at having to leave those friends behind, once again. I hope, though, that the friendships continue to grow, even if we are on opposite sides of the world.

Being so far away from any sort of biological family means that I have to be independent in ways I otherwise would not. For instance, this evening when I got off the tram and discovered it was pouring rain and I was not properly dressed for the weather, I couldn't pick up the phone and call a parent, sibling, or grandparent to ask for a lift the kilometer back to my house. (That being said, if my housemate had been home, he probably would have come right out to get me if I called and asked.)

But in the year or so I've been living in Australia, I have learnt not to ask for help. This is something I am starting to unlearn as I realize that I have many friends who are happy to help me, and that there is a difference between asking for help and expecting to receive it. Being back in Calgary, where it was easy for me to pick up the phone and ask for a ride or whatever, I often had to stop myself from relying on others to chauffer me around. Leaving Calgary, I realized how much I would miss the convience of being able to call on family for help with various simple things. I also realized how much I need to buy my own car.

So, while I was happy to be leaving Calgary, I was also keenly aware that I was leaving behind some pretty great things too. And, having been away from Melbourne and out of contact with much of my circle here for a month, I was also feeling a bit less like I was heading home and more like I was heading back into the great unknown.

The week I spent with my Mom in Hawaii was wonderful. It was a true vacation. It completely took my mind off of the sorrow I was feeling about the people I left behind in Calgary, and the anxiety I felt about what I would be returning to in Melbourne. It really wasn't until I was well on my way hurling down the Pacific that I started to feel anxious about returning to Melbourne.

After arriving for Melbourne for the first time in February of last year, it really didn't take long for me to start feeling like I was at home. In fact, I felt more at home in this strange country where I hardly knew a soul than I had ever, anywhere, in my entire life. But, as I made my first big trip to this place I so strongly proclaim to be home, I started to question why Melbourne, above anywhere else, is the place I call home. I knew that my feelings for this city were intense, but on that flight from Honolulu to Sydney, I wasn't sure as to why.

As the plane began its decent, the woman sitting next to me struck up a conversation. She was also from Melbourne. We talked about what would be involved with transferring flights in Sydney, discovered that we weren't on the same connecting flight, and joked that I might end up on her flight as I was unlikely to make my connection (which I didn't. We ended up being on different flights, but we arrived in Melbourne at the same time.) We talked about the footy and what teams we barrack for. And slowly, I started to remember.

Once we touched down in Sydney, I turned on my phone and started to reconnect with the social circle I've built up for myself here in Melbourne. Because I had to switch flights at the last minute, I lost out on my vegetarian meal on my flight to Melbourne. The flight attendant gave me some cheese and crackers, and some buns from first class, and the man sitting beside me offered up his cheese and crackers for me as well.

When I got off the plane, my housemate was waiting for me at baggage collection. Over the years I've gotten so used to having no-one waiting for me when I get off a plane that I had forgotten how welcoming it is to have someone meet me and help me with my (ridiculously large and heavy) bags.

Over the weekend I mostly just relaxed and worked on adjusting my body clock to Melbourne time, but I also caught up with my former housemate, Kirsty, who is, essentially, my big sister. Today was my first day back at uni. I was a bit nervous about going in, partially because it's been so nice to take a break from my PhD, and partially because that break meant telling my supervisors I didn't finish my ethics application.

As soon as I got to my campus, I was greated with lots of warm "Welcome Backs" and, from one of my bosses, a "thank god you're here!" Oh I missed those boys! It hasn't taken me long since I've been back to remember why I'm so adament about Melbourne being my home. It's the people. In Calgary I have some amazing friends, but the people in the city tend to be angry, dissatisfied, unfriendly, and rude. No matter how many people meet me at the airport, it doesn't feel particularly welcoming there.

The difference is so stark, that being back in Melboune has been like returning to a different planet. That being said, going back to Calgary was like visiting a different planet too. A lot has changed in the city I used to call home since I left. But going back made me realize how much I've changed too. Coming back to Melbourne has been humbling. It's strange, to be a migrant. To have a place that is unquestioningly considered home from the outside, but where I don't want to live; and to have a place that unquestioningly in my heart is my home, but where I don't have the legal status to permanently call it my home (yet) ... it's all a little strange.

Ah, Calgary

My time in Calgary is quickly coming to an end -- in under a week I will be relaxing in the sun in Honolulu. This trip hasn't been so bad though. I was prepared for the worst and it turns out I have actually enjoyed my time back. That being said, I'm looking forward to getting back to Melbourne and am definitely feeling like 6 weeks away was a bit too ambitious. Maybe part of that is the guilt I feel for not having worked on my ethics application, which was supposed to be approved by the time I got back. Or maybe it's just that being back in Calgary is not my ideal way of spending my vacation time.

Regardless, it has been good to be back, on a number of levels. I've enjoyed catching up with friends and family. And I haven't broken out into horrible rashes, confirming that I am allergic to suffites, and not the water in Calgary. The best thing about being back has been realizing that it's not so bad to be back...for a visit. I could never live here again, not if I wanted to be happy.

Calgary is still the soul sucking place I remembered it to be, and it seems like things are slipping backwards instead of creeping forwards. I admire the people that stay on and try to challenge the repressive corporate cuture of this city, but I don't blame anyone for leaving the moment the chance arises.

It's been amazing to see how much the cost of living has risen here. It's nearly on par as Melbourne, which is shocking considering how much less value you get for your money here. Public transit, for instance, is only slightly more expensive in Melboure (and a day pass is less expensive) than Calgary, but in Melbourne you can actually get to nearly every corner of the city at nearly any time of day or night.

In Calgary, if you're downtown past 6pm, not only are you walking along empty streets, but it's really not safe. I have heard a ridiculous amount of stories about people being harassed and attacked by anyone from drug addicts to police officers in the still civilized hours of the evening on the streets of downtown Calgary. The more I see of this city the more I think it really has disintigrated into a wild-West era vigillante run city.

If I'm downtown at night in Melbourne, I'm not really worried about being harassed by anyone, and I'm certainly not concerned about police brutality or vigillante street chapels. Seriously Calgary. What the fuck?

One thing I have come to realize from this trip back is that Canada and Australia have both taken very different traits from the British. Canada took on the polite, PC, never-stick-your-nose-in-anyone-else's-business traits. Australia took on the humour, spelling, and gardening. Australians stand up for themselves, and for others. Canadians could learn a lot from this.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the land of smiling faces and sun burns, where community is important, and people help one another out.

Bending the Space-Time Continuum

I believe the closest we have come to inventing time travel are direct flights to/from Australia and North America and Europe. Sure, it’s true that crossing the date line from any 2 points results in the loss or gain of a day. But this is particularly poignant when travelling completely to the other side of the earth.

This morning, Saturday morning, I woke up around 5:30 am and got the last of my stuff together. Kirsty picked me up at 7:30 am and we went for a proper Melbourne coffee before she dropped me off at the airport, around 8:30am. By 10am I was settled into my seat on the plane and ready to head back through time and space.

As I am writing this, at LAX, it is 8:30am on Saturday. It’s as if I have been given a chance to redo the day, although, I know the price of this is that I will lose a day when I return and travel into the future. I would rather not lose a day in Melbourne to gain a day in LA, but that’s the consequence of time travel.

With all the preparations and bitching about coming back, it hadn’t really hit me that I was returning to North America. It seemed obscure and unreal. Not even 13.5 hours floating over the Pacific in a tin can was enough to really make me believe I had really left my home. It wasn’t until I got off the plane at LAX that I really realized I’m not in Australia anymore. Australians are warm hearted, friendly people. When I got off the plane there were some airport workers standing at the gate, and I gave them a friendly smile. Instead of getting a friendly smile in return, I just got glazed over looks that told me I was not, by any means, a unique individual human being. All my hopes and dreams that I hadn’t really left Australia were shattered and I resigned myself to accepting that I am back in North America now. I’m looking forward to leaving already.
(As a side note, since I am in Calgary now, I am actually enjoying being back and having a break from uni.)

Sign at my gate at LAX:

WARNING
This Area Contains
Chemicals Known To
The State Of California
To Cause Cancer And
Birth Defects Or Other
Reproductive Harm.

I love that Every Word Is Capitalized And Yet They Still Put A Period At The End Of The Sentance. This sign makes me want to know a lot more about these chemicals, like, how much exposure to them causes cancer and birth defects and other reproductive harm? And where in the 'area' are they? See, the problem with this warning is that it's not really informing me of anything other than that I should be fearful. It doesn't actually tell me anything useful. Ah, America.

Bracing For The Shock

It is only a matter of days now before I return to Calgary, and I am starting to get some excitement mixed in with the general sense of dread I've had about the trip. For all my years of travel, I have learnt how to manage culture shock when I arrive somewhere new. But I have never learnt how to manage the culture shock of returning to Calgary. And this time is set to be especially intense!

In Melbourne, I am surrounded by incredibly intelligent, open minded, progressive people who are constantly challenging each other to grow, both as researchers and as individual people. A sizable minority of the people I know are either (or both) queer or vegetarian. Going out for food and coffee I am presented with a plethora of amazing options. There are interesting museums and plenty of cultural events going on all the time so there's never a reason to be bored. Plus, the shopping is indescribably amazing. My experience of Melbourne is not at all representative of the city itself, I know. But my experience of Melbourne is basically that it is my own personal paradise on earth.

In Calgary, I have not found people to be particularly supportive or open minded or progressive. The culture in Calgary is based around commerce, which I find disgusting. What I feel about Calgary I feel strongly and I'm not going to hold my feelings back. I find the people in Calgary challenging in their refusal to change. The queer culture in Calgary seems to mostly be there because they haven't yet found a way to be elsewhere, and as a vegetarian, you can't walk into any restaurant and be garuanteed to have options to choose from on the menu. My experience of Calgary is not at all representative of the city itself, I know. But my experience of Calgary is basically that it is my own personal hell on earth.

I am very much looking forward to seeing friends and family and pets. And I know the experience of coming back will probably not be as bad as it gets played out in my head...my expectations are, as I'm sure you've gathered, low. I also know that I would regret it if I didn't come back when I had the chance, which is why I will actually be getting on that plane on Saturday.

I'm not interested in having the same experiences that I've had living in Calgary before. I don't know what has changed with people in Calgary, but I know what has changed in me. And soon, Calgary will know too.

As March Goes Marching By

Apologies for the long delay in posting! I was incredibly busy with my proposal and moving house in February, and have been dealing with the aftermath of those things for most of March. That makes it sound like things are bad, which they aren't.

My proposal was a sucess, sort of. My theory and critique of the literature wowed and amazed my colleagues, but my methodology sparked a rather heated debate amongst my panel, the result of which was that I had to change it. That happened at the beginning of the month and I have been working to figure out how best to go about doing some very complicated and multifascited research. Yesterday I emailed my supervisors my proposed methodology...the response to which was "let's meet on Monday." Everyone is very busy with the IASSCS conference only a couple weeks away, so that is an understandable response, though I would have appreciated some inkling about if they were happy with my justification or not. I suppose I could just ask them. At any rate, I know what I want to do and why I want to do it and why it is the best way to go about doing my research, and I'm not taking no for an answer.

I am all moved in and settled into my new place and really enjoying it. It's a lot smaller than my previous place, but the layout of the place is a lot more practical. I was worried my new housemae and I would be on top of one another, but that hasn't been an issue, other than when we both try to make breakfast at the same time, but we manage. Living with a boy has been, well, different. It's definitely taken some adjusting. On the whole though I am enjoying the change. We have very different outlooks on the world, and I'm enjoying challenging his views. ;) I make up for it in baked goods and coffee and that seems to be an exceptable balance.

I can still hardly believe that I'll be back in Calgary in just over 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends and family again, and I'm really looking forward to my vacation from my vacation in Hawaii! To be honest, I have mixed feelings about returning to Calgary and I am glad that it is just for a visit. I don't ever plan to live there again as living there always made me deeply unhappy. I don't consider Calgary to be home anymore -- Melbourne is my home. But Calgary is where I am from, and will always be a part of who I am and I'm not interested in denying that.

Up In Smoke

If you've been keeping tabs on what's happening in Victoria right now then you know that the state is largely on fire. The death toll from the fires has reached 35 and is expected to rise. I'm posting some links to news clips of the damage. When you see the helicopters dropping water on the fire, the scale of it looks like someone is pouring a glass of water onto a burning house.

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-au&brand=ninemsn&vid=a4940727-deea-492a-826f-296ed34fccb0&from=imbot_en-au_general&fg=rss

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-au&brand=ninemsn&vid=a4940727-deea-492a-826f-296ed34fccb0&from=imbot_en-au_general&fg=rss

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-au&brand=ninemsn&vid=a4940727-deea-492a-826f-296ed34fccb0&from=imbot_en-au_general&fg=rss

My power went out earlier and Kirsty, who volunteers in the fire department, said that across the state the power lines were burning down. My power was out for about an hour and a half so I figure that they're cutting power in rotating grids again to prevent a state-wide blackout. They had to do that during the heatwave last week.

We've gotten some rain today and the humidity has gone up (thought, yesterday there was virtually no humidity in the air so I suppose going up isn't a big ask). I witnessed a few dust storms yesterday while out with my new housemate picking up some of my new furniture. I talked him out of washing his car yesterday, which he thanked me for today as it was completely spattered with dirt from the wind last night.

Speaking of new housemates and furniture, I'm set to officially move on the 27th and have just about got myself sorted out for new furniture. The room is smaller than my current one so I'm getting furniture to better fit that space. My proposal is still set for Feb 25th and I've got lots of work to do on that still. I was hoping to get more done this weekend, but with the heatwave yesterday and the blackout today I've put study aside.

Finally, I've got all my flights booked for my trip back to Calgary, which is happening in April. I'll be back for a month, which is pretty exciting news. I managed to get ridiculously cheap flights, saving about $1000 in airfare. I'm glad I spent so long researching different options. I'm flying on Qantas from Melbourne to LA, and I was a bit suspect of flying with them, but I've actually been incredibly impressed with their website and service. I just hope my flight wasn't so cheap because of all the outsourced labour! At any rate, I expect to arrive back in Calgary in a couple of months, more or less in one piece. ;)

Heat Wave

I heard a story that in the recorded history of Melbourne there has never been more than 2 days over 40 degress in a row. Well, we're sure blowing that record out of the water this week! Yesterday it was 43 degrees in the city at 4:35pm. It actually got hotter a couple hours later. It's 1pm now and it's 41 degrees and expected to continue rising. Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter. Fortunately, the heat wave is supposed to get a break by tomorrow evening, bringing us down to the mid 30's.

Now, before you go thinking "ooh I wish I was there" let me tell you, no, you don't! Yesterday over 120 trains were cancelled in Melbourne because of the severe heat. It's likely to be the same story today and tomorrow. The sun in Melbourne is not like the sun back in Canada. It is much more intense here, so the risk of sun stroke, heat exhaustion, sun burns, and skin cancer are higher. I went to the market to pick up some lunch today, and on my way over I saw an egg that had been fried on the pavement. I kid you not.

This isn't even the kind of weather that you'd want to have to go to the beach. There's no shade at the beach and the water won't do anything to protect you from the sun. This is the kind of weather where you find a dark, air conditioned room and pass out with as little clothing on as possible.

I was going to start moving some of my things over to my new place yesterday, but even though I'd be rewarded with A/C when I got there, I'd still have to brave the heat to get there. In retrospect, I may have been able to catch a bus from the tram stop instead of walking a kilometer in the heat. Oh well, it'll be cooler this weekend.

In other news, I'm officially not going to the IASSCS conference in Vietnam this year. I'm actually not that disappointed about it though because it would have meant a lot of extra work and money at a time when I've got plenty of work, but not so much with the money. Plus it means I'll have more funds from my student money to advertise my survey, which will make my life easier in the long run.

So now all I have to do is book my trip home. Right now I'm thinking about coming back towards the end of April. I'll know better after the weekend.

Moving House

This has been an interesting week. Over the weekend I decided that I can't afford to continue paying what I'm paying in rent, let alone pay more. So on Monday I told Kirsty that I would be moving out as of the end of February. I set up a profile online to find a new sharehouse and started contacting people. I heard back from a good number of those people and set up times to view places. On Wednesday I had my first viewing, and although the place is really small, I quite liked it and the area it's in. The guy living there said I could have the room if I wanted it and I said I'd let him know by Monday as I had some more places lined up to see.

On Thursday morning Kirsty and I talked again about the housing situation and she said that she doesn't want to stay here either and pay the higher rent, since we actually don't have a leg to stand on in fighting the increase. (Our new oven and stove top, while electric, are a good brand. We looked it up online it the landlord spent about $2600 on them. We'll be sending cookies. We've come to realize that while the landlord is pushy and has boundary issues, he's not completely evil.)

So today we are going to go and look at some rental properties and see if we can continue to live together. The most likely bet is that we'll get a 3 bedroom place and bring in a 3rd person. We still have to figure out if we are going to give notice on this place at the end of the month and take a leap of faith or wait until we have something lined up.

I'm still looking at the sharehouses that I had already agreed to see. I looked at a place yesterday but it wasn't a good fit. I've got 2 more places lined up to see on Saturday. It's possible that within a week of having decided to move out, I may have the who what when where and how sorted out. At the very least I'll have the who and when figured out.

Happy New Year!

And just like that 2008 comes to an end. It still feels like just yesterday that I was packing up my life in Calgary to move out here. I guess that old saying "time flies when you're having fun" has some truth to it.

This year, instead of spending Chirstmas at home with my family in the dead of winter I stayed in Melbourne and spent Christmas with one of the women from my campus, Sue, and her family. It was a really nice way to spend Christmas. I took the train out to her place in Frankston, which was about an hour and half from my place and got there in time to see her grandkids open their Christmas presents. It was great to watch their reactions to all the different presents. Her grandson, Thomas, reminded me a lot of a young Patrick. The rest of the day consisted of lots of food, TV, and good conversation.

I spent the night at Sue's place and then in the morning me, Sue, and her daughter Naomi hit up the Boxing Day sales. After a day of shopping and relaxing I headed back home. It was really nice to be welcomed into Sue's home for Christmas and spend it with her family. It definitely made being away from home a lot easier.

As some of you know, my housing situaton has been a bit up in the air lately. Well our landlord has decided to up our rent, but we have a good case to fight against the increase, so that's what we're going to do. We thought about moving for awhile, but have ultimately decided that we've got a good place here, and we're not going to give it up because of our crappy landlord.

Worst case scenario is that our landlord does give us notice to vacate and we have 3 months to find a new place. The rental market has slowed down, so that's doable. And if for some reason we can't find a place in that time, we can stay with Kirsty's partner until we do find something.

I had been kind of hoping that we'd move into a new place, but when I reflected on why what I realized was that I haven't put a lot of effort into making my current place feel like home. I've had ideas and plans, but mostly they haven't gone anywhere. So today I decided to do something about that and I have started to redecorate my room. Normally when I move into a place I cover the walls with postcards from around the world. My walls here are still largely bare...and a horrible peach colour. So starting today, I guess you could say it's my new years resolution, I am turning drab into fab.