After 6 at night at the downtown Perth train station all the commuters are replaced by roving gangs of Aboriginal youths, some as young as 7, who have nothing to do and no money to do it with. The ride around on the trains just to have something to do.
They don't go to school, they usually sniff glue and other brain damaging solvents, and their parents are usually in jail or no where to be found. These kids move around in loud rambunctious groups. They can be dangerous, especially to teenagers alone on the train or station. They will surround a kid and attack him for his shoes or sunglasses. It is not a good idea for a woman to ride alone or wait alone at the train stations, because they could turn their attention to her.
I had a late ride home last week, around midnight or so. There was a large and unusually loud group of these boys on my train. They were pushing each other around and then started to harass the other riders. The transit police got on at the next stop and kicked them all off at my stop. So I was just me, one cop, and about 15 of these kids running around the station and parking lot at the Warwick. I had an hour wait for my bus, so I figured this was going to get interesting.
The boys headed off to the parking lot, so the police left. Then the gang came back to the station and started trying to tear the payphones apart to get some money. Then some fight broke out among themselves about who knows what. They sounded like a bunch a angry raccoons fighting in a tree. They were making so much noise that may have waken half of Perth.
The police came back from somewhere and told them to knock it off, which they did and then they drifted off somewhere. The cop and I had an interesting talk about these boys for the rest of the my wait.
He said that his job as a transit cop on the late shift is nothing more than being an overpaid babysitter for these youths. I asked him why none seem to be over 20 years old. He explained that most of them never make it that far. Those who make their 20's are either in prison, dead, or their brains are so fried that they can't even figure out how to get to the train station.
He said that he actually really enjoys his job, but finds it frustrating to see new young faces headed down the same path every month. He said that the Oz government pays their moms extra money for every child they have. The kids never see the money. The same group of a dozen siblings might have a dozen different fathers.
He told me that I don't need to worry about them when I travel for a couple of reasons. First, I very large. He said that they try to act tough, but in reality they eat so poorly that they can't even fight or run. He also said that to them I look like a cop, so they would be very wary. Funny. I've never been mistaken for a cop before.
Friday, November 30, 2001
Biking
Since I've taken to biking to work a couple of days a week, I usually end up riding back home around sunset, and the bike path goes past a couple of large wetlands. The problem that poses is that is when the flies and mosquitoes come out in great mass. The first time I rode at that hour I could not wear my sunglasses because it was too dark to see. So I ended up with bugs in my eyes. It was gross. The next day I bought some clear riding glasses to wear on the ride home.
There is no need to bring Powerbars on the bike ride home. Just open your mouth and you can get a pound of pure bug protein.
There is no need to bring Powerbars on the bike ride home. Just open your mouth and you can get a pound of pure bug protein.
Observations
Some odd little things I've noticed around here.
- There are no newspaper racks. You can't buy a newspaper from a machine anywhere. You have to go into a store and pay a human for it.
- I figured out why Australians don't do Halloween. It is because it involves dressing up, or different, which they simply never do. As a local explained it to me, they dress as Australians for Halloween.
- Even though Australians can be as bigoted as anyone else, they REALLY like American blacks. Although the reasons are very strange and based on incorrect information. For some reason they believe that all American blacks are excellent athletes, which they really appreciate, and they are American, which they like anyways. To the Australians, they are just better Americans. It's funny how an idea based on prejudice and ignorance has manifested itself into a genuine like over here.
- Fosters Beer is not favored here in Australia. In fact, I never seen it offered or anyone drink it. I've asked around and the the answer is that most Australian's consider it to be crap. They prefer the local bitter beers or micros, that have to admit are very good. There is a local Perth beer called Swan that I really like. So that whole Fosters advertising campaign seen in the States is pure marketing. Also, the beers are normal size. Perhaps the reason Fosters has to sell theirs in larger cans is because that is because it is the only way to convince someone to spend their hard earned money on it.
- Australians are very suspicious of anyone who manages to become wealthy. They tend to think that they must have broken some law somewhere to do so. Very strange.
Saturday, November 24, 2001
Some Photos
Sorry for being so quiet the last couple of weeks. I don't know where the time went. Not much exciting going on. Mostly work.
I've been taking photos for the last week now that I have my old camera working. There will be more next week as the next roll is developed.
I've been taking photos for the last week now that I have my old camera working. There will be more next week as the next roll is developed.
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 From left to right... Me, Trish Lentz, Martin Lenz (behind the smudge), Trish's oldest son Manuel holding one of his daughters. |
 Far left almost out of range is Trish & Martin Lentz, Manuel, Mario, Nancy (Trish's daughter), Nancy's friend, Trish & Martin's son Stephen, Nancy's older daughter - the birthday girl (barely in the shot), and Manuel's wife. |
 Note: Mario is the writer/publisher refugee from El Salvador in mentioned here. |
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Friday, November 23, 2001
Thanksgiving
I spent Thanksgiving at the Royal Perth Yacht Club at the American Women's Auxiliary Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a great little affair with about 130 people and an authentic Thanksgiving Dinner.
The only flaw was that the cook served the sweet potatoes with the dessert course. They thought it was dessert because they were sweet and had brown sugar on them. It just looked very odd seeing a pile of these potatoes sitting with the pumpkin and apple pies.
The Royal Perth Yacht Club is situated in a beautiful little bay on the Swan river between Perth and Fremantle. It overlooks the city about 2 miles away which is stunning at night. It was worth the view alone.
This club is famous for being the home of the America's Cup Yacht Race back in the 80's (or 90's?). It seemed that every wall in the club is dedicated to that event which photos and scale model replicas of the boats involved.
I was lucky enough to be seated at the President's table, that is the president of the American Women's Auxiliary Club. The club is mostly a bunch of American wives of executives who work in WA, mostly in the oil or mineral business. The husband of the president works in the IBM building upstairs from me.
I was unlucky, or lucky, enough (I don't know yet), to be seated next to an American woman named Yvonne. She is about 60 and seemed nice enough, very intelligent. She said she was from Palo Alto. Great! Another Californian. However, as the night went I one I discovered that her elevator doesn't stop at all floors, she's a few bricks short of a load, she's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. You get the idea.
She pulled me aside and asked me if I felt that Al Gore had really won the election last year. She told me that she and her group of intellectual friends in Perth have proof that Bush stole the election. The best I could gather was that she was confused by the popular vote and the electoral college and that her "proof" was nothing more than statistics of the popular vote. Fair enough. American's can barely understand it. I didn't think anything much of this.
Then she goes into this weird trip about how she believes Bush commissioned the terrorist attacks on the WTC. She bases this belief on the fact that she believes that Roosevelt knew of the attach on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and allowed it to happen in order to get the US into WWII. It turns out that she is the president of the local skeptics society.
She gave me her opinion of her ex-husbands. She said they were all brilliant and highly paid chemists but they could not handle the fact that she was smarter than they were. She also has a daughter in the Bay Area who is a physiologist but is crazy because she has gone through 25 boyfriends in one year. Wow. That's two relationships a month. Business must be slow for shrinks in the Bay Area right now. I could never find the time to even keep one going.
I assured Yvonne that her daughter is crazy because every physiologist I've ever met is. That's why they are in the business. Yvonne added that her and her daughter don't speak to each other anymore because her daughter feels that she can't compete with her brilliant mother. She said that she told her daughter that she will never be as smart as her because she has a 25 year head start on her. What a nice supporting mom. Yvonne better pray she never comes down with Alzheimer's. What's the old saying?.. "Be kind to your kids. They get to pick your old folks home"
The evening wasn't wasted talking to insane people. Another guy and I really clicked. He is the toilet paper king of Western Australia. No shit (aw come on, I had to say it). Seriously. He owns the largest TP distribution company in WA. He sure knows paper. He recently married a Canadian woman, and it was their first American Thanksgiving. His wife wanted to introduce him to the holiday and I think he liked it. He kept buying me different West Australian beers all night and like an idiot I kept drinking them.
He is short stocky guy with an intense but cheerful demeanor. He reminds me of the British actor Bob Hoskins. He is the kind if guy who can be a fierce competitor and your best friend. He owns a large riverfront house on the Canning River (a tributary of the Swan River). He said that often schools of dolphins swim and play in the river in his back yard. He claimed that the dolphins often have orgies my his house. Since we were both very buzzed at the point and tired of Yvonne's far out theories the discussion turned to who we could stuff into a dolphin suit and dump in the river next time that happened.
I certainly hope to see more of him. He wants to meet me in Fremantle for beers next weekend. I might take him up on it.
The only flaw was that the cook served the sweet potatoes with the dessert course. They thought it was dessert because they were sweet and had brown sugar on them. It just looked very odd seeing a pile of these potatoes sitting with the pumpkin and apple pies.
The Royal Perth Yacht Club is situated in a beautiful little bay on the Swan river between Perth and Fremantle. It overlooks the city about 2 miles away which is stunning at night. It was worth the view alone.
This club is famous for being the home of the America's Cup Yacht Race back in the 80's (or 90's?). It seemed that every wall in the club is dedicated to that event which photos and scale model replicas of the boats involved.
I was lucky enough to be seated at the President's table, that is the president of the American Women's Auxiliary Club. The club is mostly a bunch of American wives of executives who work in WA, mostly in the oil or mineral business. The husband of the president works in the IBM building upstairs from me.
I was unlucky, or lucky, enough (I don't know yet), to be seated next to an American woman named Yvonne. She is about 60 and seemed nice enough, very intelligent. She said she was from Palo Alto. Great! Another Californian. However, as the night went I one I discovered that her elevator doesn't stop at all floors, she's a few bricks short of a load, she's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. You get the idea.
She pulled me aside and asked me if I felt that Al Gore had really won the election last year. She told me that she and her group of intellectual friends in Perth have proof that Bush stole the election. The best I could gather was that she was confused by the popular vote and the electoral college and that her "proof" was nothing more than statistics of the popular vote. Fair enough. American's can barely understand it. I didn't think anything much of this.
Then she goes into this weird trip about how she believes Bush commissioned the terrorist attacks on the WTC. She bases this belief on the fact that she believes that Roosevelt knew of the attach on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and allowed it to happen in order to get the US into WWII. It turns out that she is the president of the local skeptics society.
She gave me her opinion of her ex-husbands. She said they were all brilliant and highly paid chemists but they could not handle the fact that she was smarter than they were. She also has a daughter in the Bay Area who is a physiologist but is crazy because she has gone through 25 boyfriends in one year. Wow. That's two relationships a month. Business must be slow for shrinks in the Bay Area right now. I could never find the time to even keep one going.
I assured Yvonne that her daughter is crazy because every physiologist I've ever met is. That's why they are in the business. Yvonne added that her and her daughter don't speak to each other anymore because her daughter feels that she can't compete with her brilliant mother. She said that she told her daughter that she will never be as smart as her because she has a 25 year head start on her. What a nice supporting mom. Yvonne better pray she never comes down with Alzheimer's. What's the old saying?.. "Be kind to your kids. They get to pick your old folks home"
The evening wasn't wasted talking to insane people. Another guy and I really clicked. He is the toilet paper king of Western Australia. No shit (aw come on, I had to say it). Seriously. He owns the largest TP distribution company in WA. He sure knows paper. He recently married a Canadian woman, and it was their first American Thanksgiving. His wife wanted to introduce him to the holiday and I think he liked it. He kept buying me different West Australian beers all night and like an idiot I kept drinking them.
He is short stocky guy with an intense but cheerful demeanor. He reminds me of the British actor Bob Hoskins. He is the kind if guy who can be a fierce competitor and your best friend. He owns a large riverfront house on the Canning River (a tributary of the Swan River). He said that often schools of dolphins swim and play in the river in his back yard. He claimed that the dolphins often have orgies my his house. Since we were both very buzzed at the point and tired of Yvonne's far out theories the discussion turned to who we could stuff into a dolphin suit and dump in the river next time that happened.
I certainly hope to see more of him. He wants to meet me in Fremantle for beers next weekend. I might take him up on it.
Wednesday, November 21, 2001
Pimp Problems Part II
I had mentioned before the problems I was having with a form that my agency wanted me to sign [click here to read about it]. The situation came to a head and I blew up. I came within minutes of them firing me or me firing them.
Every since I got here they have been pressuring me to sign this form. I kept "forgetting" to sign it hoping they could take a hint. They would call me at work to remind me and I would ask them to send it to me again as I had "misplaced" it.
Finally, a very angry woman from their Sydney office (the top manager from what I gathered) called me at work to chew me out. She tried the carrot and stick approach with me. She told me that only the top managers at the agency could use this privilege and that I would get a courtesy call before they did so. Then she "reminded" me that they are the sponsor of my work visa. I read that as threat which ticked me off. So I blew her off.
My first payday arrived. That morning I got a call from the local Perth manager. He sounded very embarrassed. He told me that I would not get paid unless I signed the form. Then he started into this explanation that he too felt that the form was not right at that they were asking too much of their contractors to sign it, but he was being forced by upper management in Sydney to require me to sign it.
He tried to explain to me that the bank would never allow such a debit to go through anyways without calling me. Riiiiight. Did he really think I am that gullible to believe that the president of the biggest bank in Western Aust. is personally watching the transactions that come to my account. What rubbish!
I told him that I refused to sign it. I was really mad now. I fired off an email to him and his boss telling them that I refused to every sign such a form and that I had better be paid that day. Later that afternoon he called again. He said that they had backed down and were going to write a special form just for me that would satisfy my demands. Happy, I went back to work.
About two hours later the new custom form arrived in my email box. I read. It was the same crap! I was so pissed off now. The form had my name on it, but still it was a permission slip for the bank to allow them to debit my account. The only modification was that they added "only to the amounts deposited by them".
I called the agency on the phone and chewed them out. I told them what I thought of their new "form" and where they shove it. Then I wrote a short letter telling that I would sign a letter promising to return any money I may steal, that I'm not in the business or habit of stealing money from my clients, and if they have a problem with me, all they have to do is call me. I told them that would be the only letter I would sign.
Thirty minutes later they wrote back saying that would be acceptable. Amazing. The next morning one of their secretaries called me to tell me that they got my letter and to thank me for signing their "DC6" form.
"But I didn't sign the DC6 form" I protested.
"I know, but it the letter amounts to the same thing", she answered.
No it is not the same thing. I did get paid, but I expect that from time to time some low level clerk in Sydney is going to discover that I never signed their damn DC6 form and start the whole process all over again.
Every since I got here they have been pressuring me to sign this form. I kept "forgetting" to sign it hoping they could take a hint. They would call me at work to remind me and I would ask them to send it to me again as I had "misplaced" it.
Finally, a very angry woman from their Sydney office (the top manager from what I gathered) called me at work to chew me out. She tried the carrot and stick approach with me. She told me that only the top managers at the agency could use this privilege and that I would get a courtesy call before they did so. Then she "reminded" me that they are the sponsor of my work visa. I read that as threat which ticked me off. So I blew her off.
My first payday arrived. That morning I got a call from the local Perth manager. He sounded very embarrassed. He told me that I would not get paid unless I signed the form. Then he started into this explanation that he too felt that the form was not right at that they were asking too much of their contractors to sign it, but he was being forced by upper management in Sydney to require me to sign it.
He tried to explain to me that the bank would never allow such a debit to go through anyways without calling me. Riiiiight. Did he really think I am that gullible to believe that the president of the biggest bank in Western Aust. is personally watching the transactions that come to my account. What rubbish!
I told him that I refused to sign it. I was really mad now. I fired off an email to him and his boss telling them that I refused to every sign such a form and that I had better be paid that day. Later that afternoon he called again. He said that they had backed down and were going to write a special form just for me that would satisfy my demands. Happy, I went back to work.
About two hours later the new custom form arrived in my email box. I read. It was the same crap! I was so pissed off now. The form had my name on it, but still it was a permission slip for the bank to allow them to debit my account. The only modification was that they added "only to the amounts deposited by them".
I called the agency on the phone and chewed them out. I told them what I thought of their new "form" and where they shove it. Then I wrote a short letter telling that I would sign a letter promising to return any money I may steal, that I'm not in the business or habit of stealing money from my clients, and if they have a problem with me, all they have to do is call me. I told them that would be the only letter I would sign.
Thirty minutes later they wrote back saying that would be acceptable. Amazing. The next morning one of their secretaries called me to tell me that they got my letter and to thank me for signing their "DC6" form.
"But I didn't sign the DC6 form" I protested.
"I know, but it the letter amounts to the same thing", she answered.
No it is not the same thing. I did get paid, but I expect that from time to time some low level clerk in Sydney is going to discover that I never signed their damn DC6 form and start the whole process all over again.
Oz Political Cheat Sheet
The Liberals: The current government, headed by John Howard. Recently re-elected to his 3rd 6-year term as Prime Minster. Similar to the American Republican Party.
Labour: The opposition, headed by Kim Beasly. Yes, they misspell it as they do in Britain. Similar to the American Democrats. Mr. Beasly is now out of a job for loosing the election.
There are two other parties of minor significance, the Green Party and the Democrats. The Green party is the same as in the US, and the Democrats are similar to the Ross Perot alternative for those who feel that the reigning two party system doesn't work. Both of these parties lost seats in the election.
Labour: The opposition, headed by Kim Beasly. Yes, they misspell it as they do in Britain. Similar to the American Democrats. Mr. Beasly is now out of a job for loosing the election.
There are two other parties of minor significance, the Green Party and the Democrats. The Green party is the same as in the US, and the Democrats are similar to the Ross Perot alternative for those who feel that the reigning two party system doesn't work. Both of these parties lost seats in the election.
The Federal Elections
The Australian Federal Elections were held a couple of weeks ago. The incumbent government was re-elected.
The last couple of days before election day were very surreal. One of the problems Australia deals with are boatloads of illegal immigrants who sail to Australia's northern coasts and islands. Every week a new boat sets sail from Indonesia full of Pakistanis, Iraqis, and others. The boats are not seaworthy enough to make the voyage of most often flounder and sink. The Aussie navy ends up rescuing them, or what is left of them.
The goal of the boat people is to set foot on Christmas Island. It is a tiny tropical island northwest of Australia way out in the Indian Ocean. It has the feature of being the closest Australian territory to Indonesia. Once the boat people step foot on the island, they claim political asylum and then manage to milk the asylum system for years of time in Australia.
It has been become a game. The navy does everything they can to keep these boats from making landfall, and the smugglers do everything they can to set foot on Australian territory. The latest trick is to allow the navy to approach the boat, then scuttle it causing everyone to end up on the middle of the ocean. The navy then has no choice but to rescue them.
Good idea, except half these people can't swim. So usually a couple drown in the process. Considering that some boats don't have the luck of sinking in front of an Australian navy boat and nearly everyone drowns, perhaps they consider themselves lucky.
So the navy now rushes over with a small boat to prevent the crew from sinking the boat. The crew fights with the navy sailors to keep them from boarding until the boat can sink.
To prevent the navy from keeping the boats from sinking, they have taken to setting the boats on fire. A couple of weeks ago this was attempted with disastrous results. It seems that the one refugee woman who was in charge of setting the boat on fire when the navy showed up had failed to buy a copy of "Arson for Dummies" before leaving Iraq. She failed to understand the fine art of setting of fire that burns hot and fast enough to destroy the target, but not the surrounding assets. She saw the barrel of gasoline on the deck, and when the navy ship was spotted, threw a match in it. As you can guess, the boat was destroyed, along with most everyone of board.
Now getting back to the elections. Australians are a very secular people. It is difficult get get citizenship, or a visa here. The unions don't carry enormous political weight, and they don't want any non-union people doing an Australian's job. These boat people really distress them. It is the perfect political issue and the ruling Social Liberal Party made is the centerpiece of their campaign.
As the election got closer, the challenging Labour Party started to make headway. They started promising cash for each family that had a baby, promises of beds in the state retirement homes for when you get old, and job protection issues such a preventing the privatization of the national airlines.
Three days before the election there was another boat people crisis off Christmas Island. This time the navy reported that the adults on board were throwing the children overboard in to ocean. There was no information to go with the news. The Howard government seized on the issue to demonstrate that this crisis had gotten out of hand and that they were the best party to deal with it. The navy then reversed it's story claiming they don't know what happened on the boat, and the boat sank anyways.
The press, never to let facts get in the way of a good story, took the idea and ran with it. For the last few days before the election all the media talked about was if the boat people were throwing children off the boat and why the navy claimed they did. The press got hold of a bad home video that was shot from the navy ship as they approached. The video shows nothing but a bunch of people running around a sinking boat. The reporters insinuated that the navy manufactured the story to help the Howard government.
No matter if it was true or manufactured, it did the job. All the other issues were swept aside as the newspapers and television reporters argued over the details of the video tape and if the head of the navy should loose his job over this.
I mention this because I was very impressed with the skill that the Howard government deployed in the last days. This incident landed like a gift from heaven into their laps and they plaid the media outlets like a violin. The opposition was completely outclassed and outgunned. The best American political advisors would be so proud.
I spoke to a few people since then about the election and they all seem to have a consistent answer to why they voted for Howard. They all feel that in time of crisis since Sept 11th that they don't want to change governments. They feel things are going ok for Australia considering how bad things are in the rest of the world, so why mess with it?
The brilliance of the Howard campaign seizing this boat issue is that it kept the other party from being heard enough to change minds. The labor party had an uphill battle anyways, and the Liberal Party simple keep the agenda on their turf.
The last couple of days before election day were very surreal. One of the problems Australia deals with are boatloads of illegal immigrants who sail to Australia's northern coasts and islands. Every week a new boat sets sail from Indonesia full of Pakistanis, Iraqis, and others. The boats are not seaworthy enough to make the voyage of most often flounder and sink. The Aussie navy ends up rescuing them, or what is left of them.
The goal of the boat people is to set foot on Christmas Island. It is a tiny tropical island northwest of Australia way out in the Indian Ocean. It has the feature of being the closest Australian territory to Indonesia. Once the boat people step foot on the island, they claim political asylum and then manage to milk the asylum system for years of time in Australia.
It has been become a game. The navy does everything they can to keep these boats from making landfall, and the smugglers do everything they can to set foot on Australian territory. The latest trick is to allow the navy to approach the boat, then scuttle it causing everyone to end up on the middle of the ocean. The navy then has no choice but to rescue them.
Good idea, except half these people can't swim. So usually a couple drown in the process. Considering that some boats don't have the luck of sinking in front of an Australian navy boat and nearly everyone drowns, perhaps they consider themselves lucky.
So the navy now rushes over with a small boat to prevent the crew from sinking the boat. The crew fights with the navy sailors to keep them from boarding until the boat can sink.
To prevent the navy from keeping the boats from sinking, they have taken to setting the boats on fire. A couple of weeks ago this was attempted with disastrous results. It seems that the one refugee woman who was in charge of setting the boat on fire when the navy showed up had failed to buy a copy of "Arson for Dummies" before leaving Iraq. She failed to understand the fine art of setting of fire that burns hot and fast enough to destroy the target, but not the surrounding assets. She saw the barrel of gasoline on the deck, and when the navy ship was spotted, threw a match in it. As you can guess, the boat was destroyed, along with most everyone of board.
Now getting back to the elections. Australians are a very secular people. It is difficult get get citizenship, or a visa here. The unions don't carry enormous political weight, and they don't want any non-union people doing an Australian's job. These boat people really distress them. It is the perfect political issue and the ruling Social Liberal Party made is the centerpiece of their campaign.
As the election got closer, the challenging Labour Party started to make headway. They started promising cash for each family that had a baby, promises of beds in the state retirement homes for when you get old, and job protection issues such a preventing the privatization of the national airlines.
Three days before the election there was another boat people crisis off Christmas Island. This time the navy reported that the adults on board were throwing the children overboard in to ocean. There was no information to go with the news. The Howard government seized on the issue to demonstrate that this crisis had gotten out of hand and that they were the best party to deal with it. The navy then reversed it's story claiming they don't know what happened on the boat, and the boat sank anyways.
The press, never to let facts get in the way of a good story, took the idea and ran with it. For the last few days before the election all the media talked about was if the boat people were throwing children off the boat and why the navy claimed they did. The press got hold of a bad home video that was shot from the navy ship as they approached. The video shows nothing but a bunch of people running around a sinking boat. The reporters insinuated that the navy manufactured the story to help the Howard government.
No matter if it was true or manufactured, it did the job. All the other issues were swept aside as the newspapers and television reporters argued over the details of the video tape and if the head of the navy should loose his job over this.
I mention this because I was very impressed with the skill that the Howard government deployed in the last days. This incident landed like a gift from heaven into their laps and they plaid the media outlets like a violin. The opposition was completely outclassed and outgunned. The best American political advisors would be so proud.
I spoke to a few people since then about the election and they all seem to have a consistent answer to why they voted for Howard. They all feel that in time of crisis since Sept 11th that they don't want to change governments. They feel things are going ok for Australia considering how bad things are in the rest of the world, so why mess with it?
The brilliance of the Howard campaign seizing this boat issue is that it kept the other party from being heard enough to change minds. The labor party had an uphill battle anyways, and the Liberal Party simple keep the agenda on their turf.
Sunday, November 04, 2001
Fremantle
I rode my bike down the coast to check out Fremantle, Perth's port city, that I've heard so much about. I've heard so much about what an fun place it is, and how it is THE cool place to live and hang out.
I'm sorry to report that I was under whelmed. Perhaps my expectations where too high, or I did not find the cool area. It is very dense, like Santa Monica or Venice Beach, with lots of restaurants and cafes with sidewalk seating. There were a lot of people down there enjoying themselves.
I stopped and one of the cafe's and has what I have to admit was one of the best fish lunches I have ever had. It was interesting people watching. On the weekends are the Fremantle markets, a large flea market.
I will come back when I have more time and explore in depth. Obviously I am missing something here.
I turned out the best part of my trip to Fremantle was not the destination but the journey there and back. I followed the coast on my bike south from Karrinyup. The further south I got, the nicer the neighborhoods became and the beaches became very nice. I think the best spot was a place called Cottesloe Beach. This little community has an fantastically beautiful beach. The houses are very nice, just the right size and very well tended to. Nothing too extravagant. I would have to compare it the northern San Diego County beach cities between La Jolla and Oceanside. It looks like a place that I would love to live in. I've heard that area is also very expensive.
To leave Fremantle I decided to take the river ferry that connects it to downtown Perth. It takes about 20 minutes to go up the river. I picked the right day to do it. Saturday is the racing day for all the sailing clubs in Perth. There must have been 500 sailboats sailing around the bays between Fremantle and Perth. It was so cool to watch. The views from the river cat ferry are awesome. I highly recommend that you take this journey.
The river is much larger than at the mouth. It opens up into a series of deep and very wide bays all the way up past downtown. The water is salt for a few miles inland.
I'm sorry to report that I was under whelmed. Perhaps my expectations where too high, or I did not find the cool area. It is very dense, like Santa Monica or Venice Beach, with lots of restaurants and cafes with sidewalk seating. There were a lot of people down there enjoying themselves.
I stopped and one of the cafe's and has what I have to admit was one of the best fish lunches I have ever had. It was interesting people watching. On the weekends are the Fremantle markets, a large flea market.
I will come back when I have more time and explore in depth. Obviously I am missing something here.
I turned out the best part of my trip to Fremantle was not the destination but the journey there and back. I followed the coast on my bike south from Karrinyup. The further south I got, the nicer the neighborhoods became and the beaches became very nice. I think the best spot was a place called Cottesloe Beach. This little community has an fantastically beautiful beach. The houses are very nice, just the right size and very well tended to. Nothing too extravagant. I would have to compare it the northern San Diego County beach cities between La Jolla and Oceanside. It looks like a place that I would love to live in. I've heard that area is also very expensive.
To leave Fremantle I decided to take the river ferry that connects it to downtown Perth. It takes about 20 minutes to go up the river. I picked the right day to do it. Saturday is the racing day for all the sailing clubs in Perth. There must have been 500 sailboats sailing around the bays between Fremantle and Perth. It was so cool to watch. The views from the river cat ferry are awesome. I highly recommend that you take this journey.
The river is much larger than at the mouth. It opens up into a series of deep and very wide bays all the way up past downtown. The water is salt for a few miles inland.
Pimp Problems
I work as a contractor with IBM as the client. I don't work as an employee of IBM. I technically work for an contracting agency that IBM hired to find me. I call them my pimp. After all, they get paid to have me work there. Last week they called me into their office to sign some papers that were outstanding. One of the forms was permission for them to debit my checking account should they over pay me. I refused to sign it. We have been fighting it ever since. They claim that I am required to sign it. I don't care. They claim that all their employees have signed it. I still don't care. I am going to ask them for a form that allows me to debit their account should the accidentally under pay me. On Friday the manger called me to "get firm with me". He failed to convince me and I told him that it is going to take one hell of a lot of persuasion to get me to change my mind. I think that they feel they have a trouble maker in their employ. We will see what happens. Perhaps I need to fire them and find a new pimp.
What I Do Here
I've had a lot of people ask me to explain what the hell it is I do down here for IBM. It is kind of technical, so those who don't care can skip this.
IBM has somehow managed to end up with many of their development and high level support people to Perth, the ass end of the earth. The department I work for is the department responsible to supporting IBM's customers that use the VSE mainframe operating system and the subsystems.
The reason IBM asked me to come down here is because I've been working on VSE and VM system for almost 15 years. The wanted someone who knows these systems and who understands what their customers are doing. They also wanted me for my TCP/IP integration experience since that is becoming a larger part of a lot of VSE's enterprise integration plans. In fact the first project I worked on was debugging an obscure TCP/IP problem that a customer discovered when a special sequence of events occurs.
I work with about 10 other specialist in a an open area. We all have our cubicles, but they have low walls so that we can share information and pitch in when one of may not know the answers. My desk has a nice view of the freeway and the hills beyond.
The products and systems used to track, develop, change, test, and distribute are very complicated. It will take me about a year to get to the point where I can even say I know what is going on. Needless to say, it has been an intense two weeks so far.
We work in the Perth IBM building, a modern glass building 4 stories tall on the west end of downtown. It is a 5 minute walk into downtown and all the cafe's, restaurants, and stores. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to the central train station.
My co-workers are an interesting bunch of people from all over the world. What we all have in common are years of experience on IBM mainframe systems. This one place probably has more years of experience on the field that any other place on earth. There are some characters, such as Crazy Vern. The guy that is training me is from New Zealand. Some are from Europe, South Africa, and North America.
The atmosphere is very relaxed and casual. Jeans and tennis shoes are normal. We set our own hours. As long as the work gets done, and done right is all they care about. I've only met one workaholic so far. Everyone else seems to have a life and wants to go back to it when they leave work at then end of the day.
The only thing that I am used to is trying to get to the security requirements. They are pretty strict because much of the material I work on is proprietary IBM software internals. I can not leave anything on my desk when I leave and I have to have all materials locked up.
I've only been there two weeks, so I really haven't had a chance to establish a routine. Perth has an excellent public transport system that I use. There is a bus stop two blocks from the house. Buses come by about every 15 minutes that go to a nearby train stop. The trains run about every 10 to 15 minutes during rush hour. From the downtown train station it is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to IBM, or I could hop on the free buses that run a circuit through downtown. Going home is just the opposite.
I don't have a car. I have noticed that the freeway traffic between the northern suburbs and downtown is very heavy. The train is faster, cheap, and I don't have to fight for parking.
Last week I started riding my bike to work. I think that it will take about 45 minutes once I find a good route and get in strong enough shape to get going at a good clip. They have a network of excellent network bike trails throughout the city that I am exploring on my new bike. IBM has a special locking bike locker in their building and showers to use. About a dozen IBM's ride bikes in (Vern walks) on a regular basis.
The only odd thing about work is that I get all the milk I can drink. I fridge full of milk is stocked every morning. The coffee at work sucks, but there are plenty of food cafes downtown that serve excellent coffees.
IBM has somehow managed to end up with many of their development and high level support people to Perth, the ass end of the earth. The department I work for is the department responsible to supporting IBM's customers that use the VSE mainframe operating system and the subsystems.
The reason IBM asked me to come down here is because I've been working on VSE and VM system for almost 15 years. The wanted someone who knows these systems and who understands what their customers are doing. They also wanted me for my TCP/IP integration experience since that is becoming a larger part of a lot of VSE's enterprise integration plans. In fact the first project I worked on was debugging an obscure TCP/IP problem that a customer discovered when a special sequence of events occurs.
I work with about 10 other specialist in a an open area. We all have our cubicles, but they have low walls so that we can share information and pitch in when one of may not know the answers. My desk has a nice view of the freeway and the hills beyond.
The products and systems used to track, develop, change, test, and distribute are very complicated. It will take me about a year to get to the point where I can even say I know what is going on. Needless to say, it has been an intense two weeks so far.
We work in the Perth IBM building, a modern glass building 4 stories tall on the west end of downtown. It is a 5 minute walk into downtown and all the cafe's, restaurants, and stores. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to the central train station.
My co-workers are an interesting bunch of people from all over the world. What we all have in common are years of experience on IBM mainframe systems. This one place probably has more years of experience on the field that any other place on earth. There are some characters, such as Crazy Vern. The guy that is training me is from New Zealand. Some are from Europe, South Africa, and North America.
The atmosphere is very relaxed and casual. Jeans and tennis shoes are normal. We set our own hours. As long as the work gets done, and done right is all they care about. I've only met one workaholic so far. Everyone else seems to have a life and wants to go back to it when they leave work at then end of the day.
The only thing that I am used to is trying to get to the security requirements. They are pretty strict because much of the material I work on is proprietary IBM software internals. I can not leave anything on my desk when I leave and I have to have all materials locked up.
I've only been there two weeks, so I really haven't had a chance to establish a routine. Perth has an excellent public transport system that I use. There is a bus stop two blocks from the house. Buses come by about every 15 minutes that go to a nearby train stop. The trains run about every 10 to 15 minutes during rush hour. From the downtown train station it is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to IBM, or I could hop on the free buses that run a circuit through downtown. Going home is just the opposite.
I don't have a car. I have noticed that the freeway traffic between the northern suburbs and downtown is very heavy. The train is faster, cheap, and I don't have to fight for parking.
Last week I started riding my bike to work. I think that it will take about 45 minutes once I find a good route and get in strong enough shape to get going at a good clip. They have a network of excellent network bike trails throughout the city that I am exploring on my new bike. IBM has a special locking bike locker in their building and showers to use. About a dozen IBM's ride bikes in (Vern walks) on a regular basis.
The only odd thing about work is that I get all the milk I can drink. I fridge full of milk is stocked every morning. The coffee at work sucks, but there are plenty of food cafes downtown that serve excellent coffees.
Saturday, November 03, 2001
Odd facts...
Here is an assortment off odd facts that I've come across.
- Voting is mandatory in Australia. All citizens are required on the upcoming federal elections for Prime Minister.
- Kangaroos meat is a common pet food here. They dice up the lower quality roos and sell it in large bags at the grocery store. Eric the cat here at Holland house loves kangaroo meat. They also raise some roos for human consumption. Trish has promised to cook up some kangaroo for dinner soon.
- Don't use the work "fanny" down here. It does not mean the same thing as it does in the States. And if you are a woman named Fanny, good luck visiting down here. You will get some strange reactions. No, I'm not going to tell you what it means. I need to keep this site somewhat clean.
- I'm glad to learn that Australians hate the "Shrimp on the barbee" phrase as much as I do. It seems to be a great source of embarrassment for them now.
- Many of the shops in the pedestrian malls downtown have criers on microphones and speakers. As you walk by there is some well dressed woman standing out front speaking into a mike to no one in particular telling all that pass in their crisp Ozzy accent all about the products contained within. It's rather unnerving. I suspect it is just a matter of time before that starts happening in the States.
- The state government here has decided to patrol for sharks at the swimming beaches this year by chopper. The flying shark patrol will be armed with rifles and a shoot to kill policy. They are also going to try out underway firecrackers that they can toss in the water near the sharks to scare them back into deep water. Having tourists eaten by sharks like what happened last year is bad for tourism.
- Hamburgers here in Oz come with a fried egg on them.
Crazy Vern
Years ago Martin used to work in the same department at IBM that I do. Many of the people who work there have been there forever and will probably stay there until they retire. Ever since I started working, when I get home Martin asks me the same question. Did I meet Vern yet?
Martin told me that Vern is another Yank who works there who is an old hippie and very interesting. He calls him Crazy Vern. Martin told me that Vern lives near by Karrinyup and walks to work. He told me that Vern is an incredible programmer, but is very strange.
This week I met Crazy Vern. Martin was right. The guy is nuts.
I kept seeing this guy with long white flowing hair and intense manner about him racing by my desk. He would always where shorts and hiking boot. I suspected it was Vern, but it wasn't until I glimpsed his name tag did I confirm it. So I stopped him and asked him if he knew Martin Lentz.
Vern remembered Martin, but had to rush off. He seemed nice and normal enough. What was odd is that Vern did not have an American accent. He spoke as if from South Africa or even Ireland. His speech and accent were NOT American. So that night at dinner I told Martin that I met Crazy Vern, but that he was mistaken about his accent. Vern is not American.
Martin was flabbergasted. He swore that Vern had a very American accent. I told him the he did not. So the next day I stopped Vern as he whizzed by. This time I found out why he is Crazy Vern.
I asked him where is was from. It turns out that Vern is, or was, America. He is from Chicago and migrated to Australia in 1972 at the age of 27. In his early 20's he lived in Boston. After he came to Oz he gave up his American citizenship for an Australian one.
Vern has a very, very intense manner about him. As we talked he got more excited and intense. He keep inching closer and closer to my face, and his speech became more excited. His eyes had a crazy look about them. I kept backing up my chair and he kept getting closer and more intense.
I asked Vern it was true that he walked to work from Karrinyup. "Yes", he answered. "It takes about 4 hours.".
"So you walk 8 hours a day to work 8 hours?", I asked.
"Sure", he answered incredulously, as if everyone does this.
I pointed out to him that he had lost his American accent, at least to my ears, yet Aussies still detect it. He speaks with a mixture of American, British, and Australian speech. He uses many words that most Americans would not understand. This comment started a whole triad about some time he spend in the States a few years ago. It turns out that the last time he was in the States he had a problem with the locals understanding him while at a fast food restaurant. While ordering dinner he asked for meal bread. The clerk did not understand what he meant. Vern was shocked that the clerk did not know what "meal" bread was.
"You know, meal. The same stuff bread is made out of. How on earth can they now know what meal bread means? I mean for Christ sakes, what to they make corn bread out of? Corn meal! So what would you make bread out of? Grain meal! It isn't so hard. Those idiots in the States don't even try to understand foreigners. At least here you can use terms from American, England, and Australia interchangeable and people will understand what you mean. I mean you can say 'boot' or 'trunk', or 'windscreen' or 'windshield' for a car here and everyone knows what you are talking about. I know that might be from so many American and British television programs being shown here. But they don't even try over there."
I attempted to defend the fast food workers of the U.S. I pointed out that the average American doesn't encounter strange foreign words, especially if they choose not to. Besides, most suburban American teenagers have never baked bread in his or her life and wouldn't know what corn meal was if it bit them on the ass. I told him that perhaps his expectations where too high.
Vern told me that he reads a lot. He said that he has read almost every English language book that he has ever gotten a hold of and that he found that they bored him, so he switched to French literature which he said is much more enjoyable. After a few years of reading only French he has switched to early Australian writings which are full of words that have fallen out of use.
Then Vern went into this whole discussion about how a few years ago he discovered that if he worked for 6 months in the US, he would have enough credits when combined with the work he did in his 20's in Boston, to collect Social Security when he turns 60. This is in addition to the retirement benefits he will collect from the Australian government for working here since 1972. So he managed to renew his US citizenship to have dual citizenship, went over and worked for 6 months. Pretty damn clever of him. He figured out maximize his citizenship benefits from two countries. He mentioned that he will be dead before the US Social Security system goes bankrupt, so he is not worried at all.
I sure learned a lot in 15 minutes. He is one intense dude. Martin mentioned that he thinks that Vern served with the US military in Vietnam, which would explain a lot.
Martin told me that Vern is another Yank who works there who is an old hippie and very interesting. He calls him Crazy Vern. Martin told me that Vern lives near by Karrinyup and walks to work. He told me that Vern is an incredible programmer, but is very strange.
This week I met Crazy Vern. Martin was right. The guy is nuts.
I kept seeing this guy with long white flowing hair and intense manner about him racing by my desk. He would always where shorts and hiking boot. I suspected it was Vern, but it wasn't until I glimpsed his name tag did I confirm it. So I stopped him and asked him if he knew Martin Lentz.
Vern remembered Martin, but had to rush off. He seemed nice and normal enough. What was odd is that Vern did not have an American accent. He spoke as if from South Africa or even Ireland. His speech and accent were NOT American. So that night at dinner I told Martin that I met Crazy Vern, but that he was mistaken about his accent. Vern is not American.
Martin was flabbergasted. He swore that Vern had a very American accent. I told him the he did not. So the next day I stopped Vern as he whizzed by. This time I found out why he is Crazy Vern.
I asked him where is was from. It turns out that Vern is, or was, America. He is from Chicago and migrated to Australia in 1972 at the age of 27. In his early 20's he lived in Boston. After he came to Oz he gave up his American citizenship for an Australian one.
Vern has a very, very intense manner about him. As we talked he got more excited and intense. He keep inching closer and closer to my face, and his speech became more excited. His eyes had a crazy look about them. I kept backing up my chair and he kept getting closer and more intense.
I asked Vern it was true that he walked to work from Karrinyup. "Yes", he answered. "It takes about 4 hours.".
"So you walk 8 hours a day to work 8 hours?", I asked.
"Sure", he answered incredulously, as if everyone does this.
I pointed out to him that he had lost his American accent, at least to my ears, yet Aussies still detect it. He speaks with a mixture of American, British, and Australian speech. He uses many words that most Americans would not understand. This comment started a whole triad about some time he spend in the States a few years ago. It turns out that the last time he was in the States he had a problem with the locals understanding him while at a fast food restaurant. While ordering dinner he asked for meal bread. The clerk did not understand what he meant. Vern was shocked that the clerk did not know what "meal" bread was.
"You know, meal. The same stuff bread is made out of. How on earth can they now know what meal bread means? I mean for Christ sakes, what to they make corn bread out of? Corn meal! So what would you make bread out of? Grain meal! It isn't so hard. Those idiots in the States don't even try to understand foreigners. At least here you can use terms from American, England, and Australia interchangeable and people will understand what you mean. I mean you can say 'boot' or 'trunk', or 'windscreen' or 'windshield' for a car here and everyone knows what you are talking about. I know that might be from so many American and British television programs being shown here. But they don't even try over there."
I attempted to defend the fast food workers of the U.S. I pointed out that the average American doesn't encounter strange foreign words, especially if they choose not to. Besides, most suburban American teenagers have never baked bread in his or her life and wouldn't know what corn meal was if it bit them on the ass. I told him that perhaps his expectations where too high.
Vern told me that he reads a lot. He said that he has read almost every English language book that he has ever gotten a hold of and that he found that they bored him, so he switched to French literature which he said is much more enjoyable. After a few years of reading only French he has switched to early Australian writings which are full of words that have fallen out of use.
Then Vern went into this whole discussion about how a few years ago he discovered that if he worked for 6 months in the US, he would have enough credits when combined with the work he did in his 20's in Boston, to collect Social Security when he turns 60. This is in addition to the retirement benefits he will collect from the Australian government for working here since 1972. So he managed to renew his US citizenship to have dual citizenship, went over and worked for 6 months. Pretty damn clever of him. He figured out maximize his citizenship benefits from two countries. He mentioned that he will be dead before the US Social Security system goes bankrupt, so he is not worried at all.
I sure learned a lot in 15 minutes. He is one intense dude. Martin mentioned that he thinks that Vern served with the US military in Vietnam, which would explain a lot.
Adam
The 19 year old kid who comes over for dinner every night turns out to be a very interesting kid. He let it slip that in two years when he turns 21 he will inherit the largest ranch in Western Australia. I mentioned Adam earlier as the permanent house guest that started eating over here years ago because his own family is too screwed up to put a meal together. Based on some of the clues he has mentioned, it think drugs (heroin) is involved with problems.
He doesn't even now big it is. It is larger than most counties and most states in the US. Millions of acres. His grandfather passed it on to him, bypassing Adam's mother. It seems that Adam's mother and her father did not get along and was disowned by him. However, his mother is the trustee until he turns 21, so she has control of the place right now.
Adam describes the ranch as nothing but empty desert. They lease it to sheep farmers. It is so barren that it takes an average of 30 acres just to raise one sheep. There is a lake that only holds 3 inches of water for one month of the year.
He can't go visit the place. He mother would find out and raise holy hell somehow, so he is just biding his time for now. He attends a local community college and lives with his grandmother down the street.
He promised that he would take me out there as soon as he is able to go himself. Should prove to be interesting.
He doesn't even now big it is. It is larger than most counties and most states in the US. Millions of acres. His grandfather passed it on to him, bypassing Adam's mother. It seems that Adam's mother and her father did not get along and was disowned by him. However, his mother is the trustee until he turns 21, so she has control of the place right now.
Adam describes the ranch as nothing but empty desert. They lease it to sheep farmers. It is so barren that it takes an average of 30 acres just to raise one sheep. There is a lake that only holds 3 inches of water for one month of the year.
He can't go visit the place. He mother would find out and raise holy hell somehow, so he is just biding his time for now. He attends a local community college and lives with his grandmother down the street.
He promised that he would take me out there as soon as he is able to go himself. Should prove to be interesting.
Mario from El Salvador
A friend of the Martin's attended. Mario. He is a very interesting man. He is from El Salvador and fled to Australia in 1985 at the height of the civil war there. He was a respected editor and also a friend of the president. Although he was not directly threatened, he felt it was just a matter of time before he was kidnapped and possibly killed, so he took his wife and son and became a political asylum seeker here in Oz. He lost everything he had.
Trish, being from Holland and being an ex-flight attendant, speaks multiple languages fluently. Besides English, she speaks fluent French, Spanish, and German. In 1985, her and Martin were living in Melbourne. One day she was walking down the street and overheard Mario speaking to his wife in Spanish. The were discussing how lost they were and how they couldn't find anything. Trish and Martin became instant friends and helped him and his family get oriented and established.
When the Martins moved to Perth, Mario and wife followed them here. Mario never really adapted to Australia. He struggles with English still, but his Spanish reveals his intelligence and upbringing. It is very clear and distinct, so much so that even I could understand what he was saying. I haven't heard Spanish like that since my SBCC Spanish teacher who was from Barcelona.
He never really adapted to life here. He tried to get back into publishing but could not get job. He now cleans toilets part time. He wrote two books and managed to get them published. Both are in Spanish. The first was a political satire that was well received but not a successful seller. Trish read it and says it is excellent. His second book was a flop, and even he admits that he didn't put any effort into it.
His wife died of cancer a couple of years ago. His son is 19 and attending college. He is in his late 60's and seems very sad. We talked about his plans for the future. He wants to go back to El Salvador in two years after his son graduates from collage. I asked him is he felt there was any danger to that, if anyone there had a grudge against him after all this time. He feels that he doesn't care. His wife is gone, his son is grown, and he wants to spend his last days back home. He said if he gets killed, so be it.
We had a long talk about San Francisco. He used to live there in 1947 and really loved it. He lived in a house near GG Park. He has not been back since. He asked me if it has changed much and if he would recognize the place. He was surprised when I told him that he would probably find it very familiar. The streets are same, and many of the old buildings are still there. Just a lot more people.
Mario really loves to play golf and asked me if I play. He really wanted me to say yes, but I had to tell him truth. I only played once and was horrible. Who knows. Next time he comes over I may take him up on it. He'll kick my ass, but it should be fun, assuming he doesn't take it to damn seriously.
Trish, being from Holland and being an ex-flight attendant, speaks multiple languages fluently. Besides English, she speaks fluent French, Spanish, and German. In 1985, her and Martin were living in Melbourne. One day she was walking down the street and overheard Mario speaking to his wife in Spanish. The were discussing how lost they were and how they couldn't find anything. Trish and Martin became instant friends and helped him and his family get oriented and established.
When the Martins moved to Perth, Mario and wife followed them here. Mario never really adapted to Australia. He struggles with English still, but his Spanish reveals his intelligence and upbringing. It is very clear and distinct, so much so that even I could understand what he was saying. I haven't heard Spanish like that since my SBCC Spanish teacher who was from Barcelona.
He never really adapted to life here. He tried to get back into publishing but could not get job. He now cleans toilets part time. He wrote two books and managed to get them published. Both are in Spanish. The first was a political satire that was well received but not a successful seller. Trish read it and says it is excellent. His second book was a flop, and even he admits that he didn't put any effort into it.
His wife died of cancer a couple of years ago. His son is 19 and attending college. He is in his late 60's and seems very sad. We talked about his plans for the future. He wants to go back to El Salvador in two years after his son graduates from collage. I asked him is he felt there was any danger to that, if anyone there had a grudge against him after all this time. He feels that he doesn't care. His wife is gone, his son is grown, and he wants to spend his last days back home. He said if he gets killed, so be it.
We had a long talk about San Francisco. He used to live there in 1947 and really loved it. He lived in a house near GG Park. He has not been back since. He asked me if it has changed much and if he would recognize the place. He was surprised when I told him that he would probably find it very familiar. The streets are same, and many of the old buildings are still there. Just a lot more people.
Mario really loves to play golf and asked me if I play. He really wanted me to say yes, but I had to tell him truth. I only played once and was horrible. Who knows. Next time he comes over I may take him up on it. He'll kick my ass, but it should be fun, assuming he doesn't take it to damn seriously.
Martin's Birthday Party
Sunday was Martin's birthday and the family threw a BBQ in the back yard around the pool for him. I of course was invited so I got to meet the rest of the family.
The Martins have 4 children, two in their early 30's with their own kids, and the two boys still at home (ages 21 and 19). Their older kids have 5 granddaughters between them. Also, Martin's mother lives nearby and Trish's father from Holland manages to spend about half his life in Perth.
Their older daughter Nancy has a 16 year and a 11 year old daughter. They live in a house nearby that the Martins also own. I don't think she works. She is divorced and I guess raising two daughters takes up all her time. Their older son is married and works as for the juvenile court system as a bailiff transporting prisoners between prison and court.
The Martins have 4 children, two in their early 30's with their own kids, and the two boys still at home (ages 21 and 19). Their older kids have 5 granddaughters between them. Also, Martin's mother lives nearby and Trish's father from Holland manages to spend about half his life in Perth.
Their older daughter Nancy has a 16 year and a 11 year old daughter. They live in a house nearby that the Martins also own. I don't think she works. She is divorced and I guess raising two daughters takes up all her time. Their older son is married and works as for the juvenile court system as a bailiff transporting prisoners between prison and court.
The Country Farm is Nixed
Trish drove Martin out the to 50 acres she bought on Sunday. He still did not like it. He felt it was too far from town (about a 30 minute drive to the nearest store), and there where not enough trees on the property. Trish was disappointed, but being a real estate agent, she had slipped enough weasel clauses into the sales contract to slip out.
On their way back home they tuned down the wrong road and ended up in an area closer to civilization that they liked even more. The lots cost more, but Martin said he would rather spend a little more to get what he wants. Trish is going to start scouting for properties in the area now.
On their way back home they tuned down the wrong road and ended up in an area closer to civilization that they liked even more. The lots cost more, but Martin said he would rather spend a little more to get what he wants. Trish is going to start scouting for properties in the area now.
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