1. Had a dream about Australia.
In another part...We're all leaving our accommodations to go somewhere. Tracey ends up having to stay back to do something. I end up exiting the building with my family. You have to take a airplane-like device to get out (instead of an elevator?) and my dad misses it. He'll have to take another one. My mom's annoyed by this.
And then this part: Tracey and I are on a bus. While riding, we pass by Thérese Rein, Julia Gillard, and then some other celebrity. Tracey sees Gillard too. I talk about how it's different in America. You rarely see famous people. But here you see them all the time. I tell her besides Gillard I saw Rein, and someone else; but then I couldn't remember who (even in my dreams now, my mind goes blank). I worry that I'm pronouncing Julia Gillard's name wrong.
2. Read Andrew's blog post. He has lots of cool pictures of trains.
He also talks about the air-conditioning issue. He says, Do not believe all Australian's use air con when they mean heating, but as our old oil and subsequent gas heaters, and hole in the wall air conditioners are being replaced by reverse cycle air conditioning units, that is they heat and cool, I feel it is time to just use air con to describe heating or cooling.
That makes sense. It seems to me that most Australian hotels, holiday parks, and short-stay apartments have the reverse cycle air-conditioning things. I see that listed quite frequently. I never knew what it was. I just thought of it as an Australian thing.
Well, actually I kind of thought reverse cycling referred to how the cold air was created. Yes, I am so dumb when it comes to air-conditioning. Sorry.
I thought American air-conditions use one type of method, and Australians use another.
Now I get it though. Reverse cycle refers to warm or cool air.
3. Continued to read Nick Earl's 48 Shades of Brown. It has some major vomit in the story. I hate vomit. I think the level of my vomit fear is high enough to qualify as a phobia.
It amazes me that other people can be so casual about it. The characters in 48 Shades of Brown are very casual about all the vomit.
Why can't I be that casual about vomit?
Do I want to be that casual? Vomit is so disgusting, and it's full of germs. It's like shit coming out of someone's mouth.
4. Started a group on the Free Rice page. Please join! It's this website where you play learning games. And for each answer you get right, ten grains of rice are donated. It's fun. It's educational. It's for a very good cause. It doesn't cost anything, except our time. And it's time well spent. I played it in the past and there was just vocabulary quizzes.(as far as I know). That was great, but now they have a bunch of subjects. I just practiced some Spanish.
Anyway, if you want to join my group....here's the link. Or you can start your own group. You could also just play without joining a group. But you know, I'd love to have you in my group.
I'm in Australia with my family, My friend Tracey tells me she is going after this dream job; but she's very unsure of it. She wants to be a staff writer for this blogging group for mothers. The name of it sounds familiar to me, and I have this idea that many other bloggers, I know of, are part of it.
Tracey is doubtful she'll get the job because it's an American organization. It would be too expensive for her to fly to America when needed. That surprises me because I know of many Australians who participate in it. I assumed it was an Australian thing. My feeling is she could still work for them. Why would she need to be physically there?
In another part...We're all leaving our accommodations to go somewhere. Tracey ends up having to stay back to do something. I end up exiting the building with my family. You have to take a airplane-like device to get out (instead of an elevator?) and my dad misses it. He'll have to take another one. My mom's annoyed by this.
When we get out, I start to feel bad that I didn't wait for Tracey. But I also have insecurity. What if she wasn't even planning to spend the day with me? Are we going to spend any time together? If we were supposed to be together today, is she going to be mad that I didn't wait for her?
And then this part: Tracey and I are on a bus. While riding, we pass by Thérese Rein, Julia Gillard, and then some other celebrity. Tracey sees Gillard too. I talk about how it's different in America. You rarely see famous people. But here you see them all the time. I tell her besides Gillard I saw Rein, and someone else; but then I couldn't remember who (even in my dreams now, my mind goes blank). I worry that I'm pronouncing Julia Gillard's name wrong.
2. Read Andrew's blog post. He has lots of cool pictures of trains.
He also talks about the air-conditioning issue. He says, Do not believe all Australian's use air con when they mean heating, but as our old oil and subsequent gas heaters, and hole in the wall air conditioners are being replaced by reverse cycle air conditioning units, that is they heat and cool, I feel it is time to just use air con to describe heating or cooling.
That makes sense. It seems to me that most Australian hotels, holiday parks, and short-stay apartments have the reverse cycle air-conditioning things. I see that listed quite frequently. I never knew what it was. I just thought of it as an Australian thing.
Well, actually I kind of thought reverse cycling referred to how the cold air was created. Yes, I am so dumb when it comes to air-conditioning. Sorry.
I thought American air-conditions use one type of method, and Australians use another.
Now I get it though. Reverse cycle refers to warm or cool air.
3. Continued to read Nick Earl's 48 Shades of Brown. It has some major vomit in the story. I hate vomit. I think the level of my vomit fear is high enough to qualify as a phobia.
It amazes me that other people can be so casual about it. The characters in 48 Shades of Brown are very casual about all the vomit.
Why can't I be that casual about vomit?
Do I want to be that casual? Vomit is so disgusting, and it's full of germs. It's like shit coming out of someone's mouth.
4. Started a group on the Free Rice page. Please join! It's this website where you play learning games. And for each answer you get right, ten grains of rice are donated. It's fun. It's educational. It's for a very good cause. It doesn't cost anything, except our time. And it's time well spent. I played it in the past and there was just vocabulary quizzes.(as far as I know). That was great, but now they have a bunch of subjects. I just practiced some Spanish.
Anyway, if you want to join my group....here's the link. Or you can start your own group. You could also just play without joining a group. But you know, I'd love to have you in my group.
How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
5. Learned from Facebook that Liam Hemworth is going to be in The Hunger Games. I might have already known that. But if I did, I forgot.
Tim's reading the series right now and says it's worth its popularity. I want to read it. He has it on the Kindle though, and I don't like using that.
I think my sister likes Liam Hemworth. Or maybe it's the other Hemworth guy she likes.
6. Looked at Liam Hemworth on IMDb. He's the one that my sister likes. She likes that movie; The Last Song. I don't know if she has a minor interest in him, or some kind of major crush. Maybe it's somewhere in between.
7. Followed the Facebook link to Entertainment Weekly. They have publicity photos for The Hunger Games.
8. Tried to understand the American debt thing. It goes way over my head. I'll just choose to remain ignorant....and scared. Well, yeah. I'm smart enough to know it's all very bad.
9. Saw that the Australian dollar is now worth 1.10 American dollars. Seeing that the American economy is completely shit right now, I'm not sure that's a huge accomplishment.
10. Decided to watch interview with Liam Hemworth. I want to see what my sister sees in him.
11. Read article that says a death adder snake was left in the yard of a police officer. It was a message of intimidation. It sounds like a scene from a bad political thriller. Tim listened to one in the car once, and we had to hear it too. The bad guys attacked someone with a blue-ringed octopus.
12. Saw that there's someone who says he has a blue-ringed octopus as a pet. That's a strange choice.
13. Read website warning people against owning the blue-ringed octopus. It's probably the same as owning a gun. Having one makes people feel cool and strong. They can't imagine an accident would ever happen in their house. But it IS possible.
The website says, if they don't kill you, they could kill your daughter, grandson, or the neighbor kid down the street. Inquiring hands get into tanks, and octopuses get out of tanks.
I can understand the thrill of owning one. And they're beautiful. The risk of accidental death might be small. But the website also points out that it might not be a good thing for the animal either. You are encouraging the collection of an animal that is relatively rare over much of its range. Even with moderate demand, given considerable wastage in collection and shipment, the numbers taken soon may place undue pressure on these animals. Couple this with rampant environmental degradation of the inshore habitats in which blue-rings occur, and we must be concerned about the conservation of these octopuses.
Then again, it might be less scary to swim in the Australian ocean if I knew that most of the octopuses were now living in the homes of exotic pet collectors. Maybe they'll take all the Irukandji as well.
It might be really bad though. Remember what happened in the political thriller? People could start using them as weapons. Like the death adder.
14. Consulted Lord Wiki about the death adder.
There's an anti-venom now; so there have been less deaths from the snake. It still gets to keep its name though.
15. Watched video about the blue ringed-octopus.
They're beautiful, but terrifying.
There's no anti-venom.
The good news is the victim can survive if they get prompt medical attention. This website talks about that.
The patient will likely need artificial respiration and mechanical ventilation. Why? The venom causes paralysis of all the muscles, including the heart.
Within 24 hours the toxins leave the body and the patient can recover. So...if you get bit by one, hope that you're near a place that has good medical facilities.
16. Went to Tallygarunga. Today I'm going to read a story thread called Dinner And Some Fun. It takes place in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, at the Blair-Black beachfront apartment. This page describes the Blair-Black beachfront apartment.
Located in Brighton, the penthouse is a virtual miniature palace in accordance with the wishes of the 'Princess' of the house. Not only complete with more than enough modern conveniences, but is also located a mere hop, skip, and jump across the road from the beach. Not as cold upperclass as it seems from the outside though, inside is very warm and homey, full of life (especially its mini residents) a comfortable place to visit or stay over.
I think "princess" refers to Jezabel Blair. She lives there with her man, Viktor Black.
I guess they have a lot of money.
17. Looked at the characters in the story. There's Jezabel, Viktor, and Vladimir Valentin VII. I forgot who that is. Oh....wait. Is it Viktor's twin brother?
18. Skimmed through Vladimir's biography.
Yes. He's the twin. He used to think Viktor was dead, but then he learned it wasn't true.
This family's story is very much like Days of our Lives. You think someone's dead. Then later you realize you were wrong.
19. Started to read the story thread.
Vladimir is with his children (twins). They've just apparated to his brother's house. Little Ivan wants to go to the beach.
20. Looked at Brighton on Google Maps. It's south of St. Kilda.
Since Viktor's and Jezabel's penthouse is supposed to be near the beach, I wonder if it's on Esplanade.
Here's a Street View of the area. It would make me worried living there with young children. There's a busy road between the houses and the beach.
21. Went back to reading the story and learned that Jezabel had been kidnapped in the past.
22. Continued to read more of the story. Jezabel offered Viktor's niece and nephew some flavored milk. Their father said no to that. They have to drink regular milk. But they can drink flavored milk after dinner. That sounds fair.
In some Australian restaurants, we went to, they called flavored milk "milkshakes." We learned this after Jack ordered one. It wasn't like the milkshakes we have in America.
It could depend on the location though. Some restaurants might have milkshakes that are similar to what we have in America.
23. Consulted Lord Wiki about flavored milk. He says Australia has the highest consumption of it.
24. Thought more about milkshakes. Even in America, it varies. Sometimes they're very thick. You can hardly drink them with a straw. Other times they're pretty thin. Still, though, I think they're usually thicker than flavored milk.
25. Learned that Vladimir's twins are Dhampirs like their father. They have little fangs.
They might like blood-flavored milk as much as the strawberry flavored kind.
26. Watched video of people dancing in Brighton Beach.
The colored shacks starting at 2:33 are really awesome. Is that the right word—shacks? Or would they be called beach sheds?
Do people rent those, or do they own them?
This website says they're called Beach Boxes. Some are privately owned, and some are owned by the government.
27. Found a whole website about the beach boxes; although here they're called bathing boxes.
It's like a work of art. And like many works of art, it's protected. If people buy one, they're not allowed to repaint it. That way the city can preserve the original look. I don't blame them. The beach boxes are lovely.
28. Started watching video of Liam Hemworth on Neighbours.
His character uses a wheelchair. His name is Josh Taylor.
He likes a girl, but she only likes him as a friend.
In another scene he thanks someone for saving his life. Then he tells this same guy to stay away from Bridgett. Who's Bridget? Is that the girl Josh loves?
29. Learned about Bridget from Lord Wiki. She's physically disabled, and almost drowned. That's when Declan saved her. Declan must be the guy that Josh was arguing with in the video.
30. Learned from The Perfect Blend website that Josh Taylor became paralyzed in a surfing accident.
31. Learned that Liam's two brothers have also been on Neighbours. Luke played one character in 2001 and another character in 2008. Chris played a character in 2002.
Which Hemworth brother was in Thor?
32. Consulted Lord Wiki about Thor. He says Chris is the star of that. Lord Wiki says that Chris was in Home and Away. He doesn't even mention Neighbours. So I looked at The Perfect Blend site. His character description is very short. I'm guessing it was a small role—probably just a few episodes.
33. Saw that I have two Australians of the day today. They're brothers; and both of them were printers. One was George Anderson and the other was William Anderson.
There was a big age difference between the two of them. George was eleven when William was born.
George was born in Scotland. William was born in Melbourne.
They had two siblings between them.
34. Learned the George read a lot and had a prodigious memory. I'm not sure I've seen the word prodigious before. I'm guessing it's related to prodigy.
This dictionary site says prodigious means wonderful or marvelous; abnormal, monstrous.
35. Went back to reading about George and William. Well, they did printing things. That's about all I want/need to know.
Well...here's something. George liked Astronomy. From 1953-1955 and 1961-1962 he was President of the Victorian Branch of the British Astronomical Society.
36. Saw that there's an Astronomical Society of Victoria. I wonder if they grew out of the British Astronomical Society.
Well, no. It looks like they didn't The site lists their past presidents. George Anderson isn't one of them.
37. Went to Mousie's Australian database so I can get exposed to more Australian music.
The song for me today is "Touched By Love" by Eran James.
I remember this song.
It reminds me of Christian rock. Although it's not like I've heard a lot of Christian rock.
Wizard rock reminds me of Christian rock too.
I'm not a big fan of wizard rock—at least not the stuff I've heard so far.
I do like this gospel song.
Why do I like that fandom song, but not the Harry Potter ones? I don't know.
38. Decided to find another Flickr person to stalk. I like doing that.
39. Found Flossy1040's 2007 Australia trip. That's the year of our first trip there!
40. Saw that Flossy1040's name is Lynne; and she has a blog.
She's from Sutton in the United Kingdom. That's about 40 minutes south of London.
41. Noticed that Flossy1040 went back to Australia in 2008. I'll look at those photos too.
42. Started to look at the 2007 set.
I see that the photos were taken in December 2007. That's when we were there.
43. Saw that on Boxing Day (if the camera date is right), Flossy1040 was in Cooma watching sheep shearing.
We didn't go to Cooma. Where is it?
44. Looked for Cooma on Google Maps. It's about 4 hours south of Sydney.
45. Saw that Flossy1040 visited Narrabeen. I looked at Google Maps. It seems to be part of the Northern Beaches (in Sydney)
46. Saw that Flossy1040 visited the Queen Victoria Building. She took some pictures of the clock.
47. Felt envious when I saw Flossy1040's accommodations. They had an apartment right on Manly beach. You go out on the porch and you can see the beach.
She forgot to take a picture of the inside of the apartment. Andrew needs to talk to her about that.
48. Loved this photo from Cooma.
49. Started to look at Flossy1040's 2008 Australian photos.
Why did she go back so soon? Is she a fan of Australia like me? Or does she have family and friends there?
50. Saw that this time she spent time in Melbourne. I love this shop photo.
She also went to Beechworth. Is that in or near Melbourne?
51. Found Beechworth on Google Maps. It's about 3 hours north-east of Melbourne.
The shopping centre there looks cute.
52. Saw that she went back to Cooma. I wonder if they have family or friends there. Or maybe she just really loved it the first time.
Here's a beautiful photo from Cooma.
53. Proud that I have donated 3500 grains of rice today. Again....if you want to join my group, I would totally love that. Here's the link.
If you start your own group, I'll join that (if you'll have me). I think it's fun to play other people. Then we can get all competitive. And in this case, I think competition is a fantastic thing.