Tuesday, November 21, 2006

G'day Australia

SYDNEY-- I awoke today with a heaviness in my chest, but I wasn't surprised. It's come to be a familiar feeling now. It happens every year about this time.

It's called leaving.

Last night I stopped by for a wonderful dinner and drinks in the 36th floor restaurant called Altitude. As I looked out on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the melancholy crept in. I didn't bother to push it off. That has never worked for me. I know that in time, probably by the weekend, the weight will lift on its own.

I'll go now and say goodbye to the Opera House and the Bridge and thank them for making me smile. I'll look down on the street and remember to Look Right or Left so as not to become a permanent part of the Sydney pavement. I'll get a flat white with my breakfast and savor the smoothness that Starbucks did not invent.

I've enjoyed a fortunate business life that has allowed me to come to Australia an amazing FIVE times. With the changes in my corporate atmosphere, I can't really say when I'll be back.

But I will.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Mea culpa

SYDNEY -- I was just re-reading one of my posts and decided that my post about the speed with which I met a man in Establishment could have been taken wrong. It could have been construed as bragging.

Hopefully, everyone that knows me (and some of you who don't) will realize that I was amazed, no, try SHOCKED at meeting David so quickly. Or any guy, for that matter! That's not my kind of luck.

Oh, and by the way, I was supposed to meet David today, but I didn't answer my cell phone. The first time was by accident (really didn't hear it on the bus to Bondi Beach). The second time was on purpose.

Who asks out a woman he's only known a few seconds? !?! Weirdos, that's who. If he was a cute weirdo, I might have given him a chance. Oh well!!

Gotta love Australia because...

SYDNEY - - I was going to title this post "you know you're in Australia when..." but it's more than just identifying features of the country. It's just stuff that's downright fabulous (sometimes in a bent kinda way, but whatever!)

  • To prevent from getting flattened by a bus or taxi, there are Look Right> and
  • In an effort to conserve water, you have a choice of full or half-flush, depending on the activity within.
  • The Aussies (at least near Sydney) have a store that sells alcohol that's called The Lick Her Shop. Gotta love it!
  • In Port Douglas, the garbage trucks are handled by just one man - the driver. That's because the truck is equipped with a giant mechanical arm that picks up the cans, empties them upside-down into the top of the truck and replaces them on the street. Fabulous!
  • To keep the little ones happy, Melbourne has a postal drop box for "the big guy." No, I don't mean God. I mean Santa Claus. The box reads "Santa's mail only."
Don't you wish you were here, too?