randomgram

It’s the little things…

• Why does my kitchen dishwasher have a light that says “salt” that is seemingly always illuminated?
• Why is the board game Clue named “Cluedoh? in Australia
• Why is our water closet so small that you have to close the door to have room to sit? Seriously, the sink is so small I have to wash my hands one at a time!
• Why don’t they sell scallions in the grocery store? OR why do so many of my recipes call for scallions?

Pika and Pot

Of course (Linda) we named our two lorikeets. We went with Pika and Pot though in retrospect maybe Lori and Lawrence would be better names. Thus far we have not fed these little darlings, though, it seems obvious that someone that lived here previously did fed them. It could be too that they are simply accustomed to being fed by humans so they are incredibly trusting. Yesterday, I was sitting on the patio working on my laptop when Pika and Pot appeared. I pulled out my phone to shoot video of them literally 2 feet away from me and that drew them closer… apparently, they thought my iPhone might have been food? Not wanting a bird to poop on my keyboard, even a cute bird, I closed the lid to my laptop and sat back to watch them. Pot (the mentally slower of the two) decided that my laptop might be food so he hopped down on the table and licked it (yep, they have little black tongues). Soon Pika joined in and once they realised that a laptop is not food they hopped onto my arm and squeaked at me. It was really fun and funny. I love these little fellas.

Free-wheelin’ in the US

Even though we have moved to Australia, apparently our US Visa card has not. We were alerted by Chase Bank Fraud Protection today that there was suspicious activity on our card. Sure enough, someone in California has been using our account to eat at really unhealthy restaurants (Burger King, McDonalds, etc.) All toll, they have spent about $300… That’s the bad news. The good news is they will not live long and healthy lives eating like they do. More bad news, they will probably need angioplasty and no doubt will show up at the emergency room without insurance to spend the collective money of all of us. Now, I don’t want to rant on this for too long but let’s face it, there exists plenty of ways to track down where the CC number was stolen, and, to track down the people perpetrating the fraud. Heck, snap there picture and google facial recognition can probably ID them. If only there was a will amongst law enforcement to track these people down and bring them to justice. Long story short, credit card cancelled. Next step is to identify all of our direct pay accounts and provide them with the new card number. We’ve already changed our user passwords for all of our internet accounts… even my little blog here.

And more free wheeling’ in the US

When we moved we had to get new cell phones. The US standard with Verizon is CDMA and that is not compatible pretty much anywhere else in the world. I left my iPhone5 with Jenna with a box to mail it to Connor after we left so he'd have a new data phone in Bend. Of course, it never arrived. No doubt it’s still in California with whoever stole it from the postal system. Years ago, our Disney souvenirs got stolen in California from our checked luggage. Let’s be honest people… California continues to be one of the most overrated places on planet earth. This is just another reason to dislike it. I have many other reasons too but again, let’s keep this blog positive. :-)

Date night Wednesday

Tonight is our date night in Oz… that means I won’t be cooking and we’ll go out to eat. I’ve been eager to try and Indian restaurant right here in Balmain East. There is nothing better than really good Indian food. Fingers crossed!

Visitors coming

Traci, Julie’s cousin, first introduced us to Brian and Shireen Wright at her wedding, We’ve seen them now and again since then and have stayed connected via Facebook too. They’re really good people and have been good friends to us and the kids. Shireen’s sister is backpacking around Australia (she is attending University in Melbourne) with one of her pals and it’s been arranged that they will spend three nights beginning this Friday at our humble little place. I hope they are prepared for our spartan circumstances. Our US freight shipment still hasn’t arrived so we are essentially living out of a giant suitcase we call our apartment. They have to bring their own towels. :-) Still, it’s better and safer than a youth hostel and it’ll be good to make a few new friends in Oz.

Team USA in the World Cup

It’s been exciting for sure. I didn’t like it one bit to watch the US fall to Belgium. I give props to the whole team for the whole cup except for Bradley (#4) - the guy was simply lazy and out of the game too much. They could have used his good passing skills and decision making — pity he never showed up!

Grocery Shopping challenges

It really is the stuff you don’t anticipate… having to convert your ingredient measures to metric equivalents… searching online for green peppers to realise they are called green capsicums… searching for stuff online like a clothes line and FAILING until you understand it is clothes airer…. I didn’t even know that was a word. Eventually I’ll learn the new names and be fine, eventually I learn that metric system more fully…in the meantime… pain in the arse.

I guess that’s enough for now. Catch you later blog stalkers…