Random observations

So with this daily posting challenge I was worried I wouldn't have anything to write about. I warned BT that it may be rather boring but she wants to hear about my day to day stuff. Things I see on the bus to and from work and such. So the following are some of my wandering thoughts while at the supermarket today.

Germs
The people who inhabit this country are incredibly germaphobic or whatever term you would like to use:
Mysophobia - An abnormal fear of dirt or contamination
Microbiophobia -An abnormal fear of microbes
Bacillophobia - An abnormal fear of bacilli
Bacteriophobia - An abnormal fear of bacteria and other microorganisms
This obsession is made obvious by the number of antibacterial products you can get. Even G thought the antibacterial wipes that are available free from a dispenser to wipe down the handle of your trolley at the supermarket was rather over the top. N was telling me today how a woman she works with is quite germaphobic and after returning home from travelling on a plane she wont hug her son until she has had a shower because of the germs.

Milk inflation
Frustrations. I have been avoiding dairy food for the last two weeks due to an upset tum and so I have decided to try milk again and see if I still have a bad reaction. In the two weeks in which I haven't bought any milk, the price has risen $0.70US. Fortunately today milk was on special but it was still more than I use to pay.

Wrapped shopping bags
I miss the green grocery shopping bags we have at home. I noticed today my supermarket has started to sell the same thing in black for just over a dollar. It comes wrapped in a plastic bag... But don't get me started on the issue of over-packaging that happens here.

Segway not segue
Yes that very bizzare form of transport, that of course is popular here because why would I want to use the legs I was born with when there is an easier way, the Segway. I saw a guy on one this afternoon travelling on the footpath up my street. In the past I have seen people who are information contacts using them because they stand out in a crowd. G and I saw a group of people in Austin mucking around on these. It was a tour group. Definitely a unique way to see the sites of the city -beats the Wally bus as my family call it (because you look like a Wally sitting up there). It would be kinda fun to hire one to play with for a bit however I would still prefer using my legs for the walking. Here's a pic of the group we saw in Austin:



Crazy backward, stubborn, wanna be different country
Spelling - it's the Queen's English I tell you. Making it simple, poor widdle 'mericans can't cope with a few extra vowels.
Measurements - Metric just makes more sense!!! Why are Americans so stubborn?! "Oh it's too hard to change now..." -crappy excuse if you ask me. I am thankful everyday that I work in a scientific field that uses the metric system.
Paper size - why is Letter the US standard? A4 and the other series are all lovely ratios. Maths is wonderful. I remember first looking at Letter sized paper and thought it was weird, all short and fat. I am sad to say that I have become used to it so that when I see A4 it looks so strange and skinny!
Driving - on the WRONG side of the road (it's fun actually because I know it's wrong!) just to assert their independence from England.

Challenge

Okay, so BT challenged me to write a blog entry every day for a week. It may look like I missed a day, but technically although it was after midnight when I wrote the last entry, I hadn't gone to bed yet -the previous post still counts as the 3rd of July. This one is a second post to make up for it.

I would just like to point out:
Good one BT, challenging me to posting daily the week you are going away!!! Fine leave and have fun in NZ then. At least there will be stuff here to read when you get back.

Not much happened today (that's what you get with daily postings...). Today was a public holiday and it rained most of the day. Fortunately it stopped so the fireworks still happened. They were breath taking! I have seen so many that after a while they seem same old-same old. But this was a huge display (apparently the largest land based display). It went for ages and had some cool elements I hadn't seen before. Lots of great bangs. Today felt like a Saturday. Unfortunately it isn't and the boss is back from holidays tomorrow. There goes the peace and quite. Everyone is so more relaxed when the boss is away.

More pics from out trip to Zion NP:
I love how the snow brings out the cracks int the cliff faces. I love snow.





This Zion pic is my desktop pic. What's your wallpaper?

Drunken ramblings

The party tonight was at P's boss' new house. Very nice. Quite modern and geometric. Great colour schemes too. Red, grey and black with a black spiral staircase leading to his study being the main feature in the living area -very cool. Pina Colada's were also very yummy and someone finally made me a margarita that I liked. Quality of your Tequila makes all the difference. P was the DJ for the party as it was good practice for him. He has new software that allows him to mix MP3s but he still has two spin tables for scratching (ok so I know nothing about DJ terminology...). It looked impressive. P's Boss had his Real Estate agent (realtor they are called here) there too, which was a little odd but they are good friends. We were all given take home lolly baggies supplied by the realtor -a plug for his business but the tootsie rolls (chocolate caramel chewy lollies) went down very well.

One highlight of the night was playing with an iphone. Yes I have now touched one. I was very excited. As much as I like technology I am usually hesitant and take a while to come around to wanting what everyone is raving about. Usually on principle. However, before I even touched one, I couldn't help but want one!!! Iphones are very funky!! They are so easy to use. It was fun to play with. I read in the SMH about two Aussies over here for holidays who bought iphones and are hoping to hack them so they work back in Australia. They may have just bought $600US souvenir paperweights if they don't succeed.

Tonight on the way to the party I had to stop and get petrol. While this may not seem newsworthy, it seems to shock people that it is the first time I have had to fill up since G left Houston end of March. I filled up after I dropped him at the airport and then tonight the petrol light came on. One tank (~38L) lasted over 3 months. I do drive my car a couple of times a week but I guess I just don't go very far! Benefits of not having to drive to work. One thing that bugs me here is everyone complaining about the cost of fuel. Wah wah. Petrol ranges $2.74-$2.93US/gallon. That's still ~$0.70-$0.80US/L. They should try living in Australia or Europe... Someone at work actually told me they were cancelling their holiday because the cost of fuel had gone up so much. I know it is all relative but please! Also if they didn't insist in driving gas-guzzler cars, I mean trucks, maybe it wouldn't cost so much. But that's Texas for you. Everything has to be big here. I am unfortunately use to it now but when I first arrived, I felt dwarfed in a normal car. I still hate it with a passion when I park in a carpark and after shopping find that my car is between two enormous truck-like cars. It makes backing out of your car space very scary because you just can't see what is coming until you are nearly all the way out of your spot.

Here's a picture of an Armadillo outside of a restaurant I pass often:



Here's a real one I saw (Jan 2006) in Brazos Bend State Park just south of Houston. We saw so many of these little guys. They are so cute.



G really wanted to see an armadillo when I took him to Brazos Bend (March 2007) but the alligators were out inforce. Alligators are what people usually come to see at the park. They are all wild and just laze about. We saw so many! They are so huge and scarily close just sitting on the path.

I miss the sound of silence

After 8 peaceful quiet months, I finally have neighbours in the apartments either side of mine. Before I moved one apartment over, the guy who used to be in the apartment I am in now was very noisy. He often played loud music and had loud parties. His girlfriend was even louder and would turn up late at night and bash on his door yelling his name at the top of her lungs. I wouldn't have let her in either. This use to go on and on. When they moved, so the apartment could be renovated, I was very relieved. At least the renovators worked 9-6pm. I then moved into this renovated apartment last October so my old one could be renovated. It has been vacant since then as has the apartment on the other side. This weekend both apartments were filled. I swear the walls are made of paper as I can hear the tv clearly next door. When my new neighbour in my old apartment has people knock on her door it sounds like they are knocking on mine. She was up late last night hammering her pictures up. I guess I became use to not many people around because right now I am very aware of people constantly walking up and down the balcony outside my window or hanging around and talking out there -I hear it all. Tonight neighbour on the right made friends with neighbour on the left and they have been going to and fro from each other's apartments. I like living in houses!!! I miss houses!!! I am thankful everyday that I live on the top floor. I am sure people below hear people thumping around above. When I first arrived at this complex I will never forget the couple below my apartment and the huge fights they use to have. Full on scary rows of slamming doors, screaming and shouting. I was always worried about them injuring each other. One night I distinctly remember after one of their rows, hearing the woman crying in the bedroom directly below mine. At times I had almost considered calling the police. For now if I need to block it all out I just turn up my tv or music.

Ok so I need to get out more. Lucky for me there is a party tomorrow... Wednesday is 4th of July and so we have a public holiday. I have been invited to a party which was going to be on Wednesday night until everyone invited convinced the host to make it Tuesday night so we don't have to worry about going to work the next day. Fortunately he was convinced. Makes sense to me.

Here are more pics of the Art Car Parade:
This one reminded me of contact that you use to cover school books with:


Starlight Starbright...


I love the feet sticking out of the inverted car, and the person upside down is real:


Gargoyle car:

Up to speed

I've been very busy over the last week so I thought it was worth jotting down some of the things I have been up to.

Concerts
Last Thursday N, P and I saw John Butler Trio. Then on Sunday F and I saw Wolfmother. Both concerts were at the Warehouse, which is a rather nice venue, a 1920's era warehouse revamped to hold concerts. Wolfmother sold out for a second time in Houston, even though the Warehouse is a bigger venue -and so much nicer- than the Meridian, where they played last time. I was prepared this time and bought my tickets early. The lighting at the Warehouse is great, although the sound at the Wolfmother concert could have been a bit better. F had never heard any Wolfmother before, even though I gave her a CD 6 months ago -she is so crap! I was happily singing along, but was worried the sound meant that you could hardly understand what was being said or sung. F still had a great time. Also got a chance to catch up with M and meet his lovely girlfriend. He told me he'll be able to come to our wedding which is cool! I was worried he'd be too busy.


Weddings
Speaking of weddings, I went to a wedding of a girl in my lab. She and her new husband are Chinese and so were nearly everyone attending the wedding. All the vowes, hymns and speeches were in Chinese. The booklets had a translation of the prayers so we had a little idea of what was happening. The sheet music and translation of the hymns were also printed so I could at least follow the notes... The MC, who was hilarious -so energetic, translated most of the jokes he told. It was a lovely wedding but it was the first dry wedding I have been to. No dancing or anything either. The reception went for 1.5hrs. It was all over so quickly. If it were ours I would have been disappointed. But there is no way our wedding will be dry!!!

More on weddings, G and I have a date!! I was sick of not making decisions and having our wedding being pushed back and back trying to please everyone (my boss). So I grew a back bone and put my foot down. Besides some v. important people need to organise plane tickets!!! :) Finally setting a date makes things more real and very exciting. It was a big cheer up. I have been suffering bouts of homesickness. This time last year I had a trip home, but I wont get one this year. I just had a meeting with my boss and the work is piling on. Head down, bum up, get it done so nothing jeopardises the end of the year and getting the hell out of here.

Movies
Caught up with some movies I have wanted to see:
-Spiderman3
-Pirates of the Caribbean3
-Shrek3
[heh three third instalment movies... although this is the summer of the sequels]

There is also a plan to go see Transformers on IMAX. F is going home to the UK for two weeks and so wont here when Harry Potter is released (she is rather dissapointed but I told her I'd wait for her). I mentioned the IMAX release of HP and her eyes lit up, so we'll see which version we end up going to.


Parades
Back on May 12th, a bunch of us went to the Art Car Parade here in Houston. It is a huge event and people bring their cars from all over the country to enter the parade. I have some wacky photos. At the Art Car Parade there was advertising for Houston's Pride Parade. I went along to the Pride Parade in 2005 and had a great time so I was disappointed that I missed it last year and was determined not to this year. This year's was on last Saturday. The night started with Cocktails at F's house. I was so grateful that I had a friend living in Montrose, a block from the parade, I could park in their driveway. Parking was impossible. Dinner was at a restaurant on the parade route that specialises in mussels which were washed down with more alcohol. I was also on a mission to collect more beads from the parade than last time I saw it. I had never really seen the beads thing before (except docos on the New Orleans Mardi Gras) but everyone goes crazy with the collecting. Thankfully you don't have to flash you boobs to get beads -which is what you are supposed to do in New Orleans apparently. We all moved on to Poison Girls which was packed with bead-wearing party-goers. Poison Girls is a bar in Montrose that has a great atmosphere. It was one of G's favourites when he was here. It is all red inside and there are tasteful and sexy paintings of women on the walls. One table, which is popular and a great idea, is a chalk board (chalk provided). The night moved on back to F's with more cocktails until the sun came up. It has been a while since I have had an all-nighter and I paid for it on Sunday! But I had a blast so it was worth it.

Here's an art car from the parade. All shells..

The power of nature

It is fitting that I write this blog while there is a huge thunderstorm raging outside. I love the power of nature and weather. I am addicted to following storms and hurricanes on the radar and seeing images of tornados etc. Hurricane season has begun again in this part of the world. Last year was a quiet one, there are predictions this year will have a number of big hurricanes. The news programs here all try to out-do each other with the most high-tech radar systems and weather reporting. Due to Houston being so amazingly flat, there always seems to be so much sky which leads to amazing clouds and storms.

Sydney has definitely had its share of horrific storms lately. I hope everyone is coping ok. I was reading about the waterspout seen off Bondi last week. Very cool (SMH article 1 and SMH article 2). While searching SMH website I came across this huge waterspout seen in April this year near Wollongong. Then footage on YouTube of a waterspout off Croatia:



G travels to Somersby occasionally for work and has travelled many times over the road that collapsed in the storm and claimed lives. In fact some of his work colleagues would have used that road earlier that day. While up near Newcastle G dropped by to take his own photos of the beached ship. This one was one of his favourites. To paraphrase G: "I think the ship's captain failed to notice the no parking sign"

So insular

Visiting the bank yesterday to deposit a check my dad sent me for my Birthday (yeah I know it has been months since my Birthday) I had to hold back my laughter. There was a new girl in training who was watching the teller process my dad's check. She looked up at me all inquisitive and asked "oh does Australia have its own money?". I think I was a too shocked at first to laugh. After I replied in the affirmative, she responded with "huh, I did not know that!". Now I know the cliché is that American's don't know what is happening outside there own backyard but jeez. I mean the girl is going to work in a bank, where there is money, all kinds of money.

N was telling me yesterday about a girl in her lab who went to Toronto for a conference, who was surprised to notice such a thing as an exchange rate and that it changed each day. It was her first trip to another country and therefore dealing with other currencies but to never have heard of exchange rates or that they change. Hmmm.

As an aside to the story above, I nearly wrote 'overseas' instead of 'another county'. I still think of travelling to other countries as going overseas seeing that's what we do as Australians, but of course US to Canada there's no sea to go over -duh. The concept of changing countries by simply crossing boarders is still strange to me. When I was in Niagara Falls last year (a day trip during my Toronto holiday) I saw the falls from both the Canadian and US side. It was so novel to cross the boarders by walking. It was kinda strange that my mobile phone worked on the US side but not on the Canadian side there isn't that much distance between them (I called mum so she could hear the roar of the falls). Incidentally, the US side is beautiful, all parklands, while the Canadian side is like Las Vegas, incredibly tacky. I was surprised because I kinda expected the opposite, but the view is better from the Canadian side so they have exploited that. The US tried with their viewing platform that attempts to provide a better view by stretching out from the cliff face but that's the limit of the tourist attractions. Even the hotels are understated in comparison, lacking the sickly neon lights which make the Canadian side seem as bright as day. At least when you are looking at the falls from the Canadian side, all that is behind you and you aren't as distracted from the view of falls at night by bright lights.

Looking at towards USA:


Looking towards Canada:


Returning to Canada after spending the afternoon in the US enjoying the parks: