Daily Musings

Monday 13/10/08

Monday was by far the most relaxed day of the trip so far. We slept in, though we all got up more or less on our own by 9. Between the 4 of us and the places we have been in the last couple weeks, I think we have about 7 different timezones fighting one another for control. By 10:30 we were out on our way into the city to stop by the Helping People and run a few errands.

Living in the suburbs of LA most all my life, a functioning bus and train system is still very incredible to me. Unfortunately, service to Rose Bay has not been phenomenal. According to the schedules, buses stop in front of our house every 15 minutes or less. Since moving into our apartment yesterday, I would approximate our average wait time at the bus stop at 18 minutes or so. Somehow we barely miss a bus when we get out there because it is possibly running early, and then we sit and wait for the next one which is always running late. Every Time. Tomorrow we are experimenting with the ferry and expect better results.

I don't want to give the impression that this frustration was a theme for our day. There have been times when it has been tough acclimating to city life, but overall Monday was a lot of fun. After errands and a quick lunch we were back to Rose Bay by 3. Then it was time to sample the fabled Rose Bay beach. The walk down by the bay to the beach was pleasant and by pleasant I mean took us 2 minutes. The beach is quiet and out of the way. It is small but we had it to ourselves. The sun and the sand were great and the water was not cold at all. Unfortunately that is mostly because the water is not too deep either. I walked out into the bay from the beach a couple hundred feet without the water reaching my waist. So I will have to find somewhere else to get my swimming in. Still though, it was a lot of fun to play in the water. We tossed a ball around in the water trying to skip it off the surface making it harder for the other person to catch. We enjoyed this game immensely. Overall, I hope to spend a lot of time down at the beach. Even if I go down there to just read or sit, I am excited to frequent our own personal beach quite often.

After a quick shower around 6, we were back running errands busing it back up to Edgecliff to buy some serious groceries. Unlike the night before, we stocked up and each purchased food to last us a few days. It was really nice to make a sophisticated meal (did not include take away (which is how they say 'take out' down here), frozen pizza, or hamburgers) for the first time in Sydney. Jerin had some chicken pasta and sweet potatoes that looked excellent while Taylor and I (maybe Braylor) concocted an excellent chili from baked beans, beef, onions, and mushrooms. It was a good first run at perfecting a chili recipe and we have a lot of creative ideas on how to improve upon it for next time. Don't worry we'll keep you updated as further trials occur.

Finally the grand finale of the day was when the Rescuers (or maybe the Fabulous 4 or some other more ingenious name for this most intrepid quartet) viewed the new Office "Business Ethics". We laughed, we cried, and it was the first of many times the four of us sat down to watch our favorite show. Huddled around Taylor's laptop with Jesse's mini speakers providing a slight improvement over the mac's onboard supply with the four of us packed onto one couch in the dark in the living room, I want everyone to understand that this trip is no walk in the park. We are really roughing it out here. So all in all, it was a good day. Also, Taylor and I conversed briefly with a random cute girl on the bus today. I enjoyed it. Step in the right direction. More to come tomorrow hopefully.

Business Ethics

Overall I felt the episode was ok. I think part of it was watching the show on a laptop with lower sound and picture quality than what I have become accustomed to. We didn't see Pam at all which I thought was terrible. There were excellent moments (there always are) but overall I didn't feel it was as nonstop as the last couple episodes (the premiere of this season and the finale of last season). The whole story line with Meredith sleeping with some guy felt a little forced and didn't really resonate with me (whatever that means). Meredith is one of my least favorite characters so maybe that is why I didn't really appreciate the episode too much. Jim's surveillance of Dwight was amazing though. How can you not get excited when Dumbledore Calrissian begins his epic quest to Mordor? Anyways, I think I want to watch the episode again before I really decide how I felt.