hit and miss

I’m addicted to Craigslist.  I don’t know what else to do with 12 hours in front of a computer at work so I constantly refresh the gig section to see all the off-the-wall crazy scams that I can think about getting involved in before I talk myself out of them.  Friday I noticed a post about selling rally towels at the Newport News Obama rally – reallY?  Obama coming to Va again and open to the public?!  Sounds like a plan.

So, early Sat morning I get ready and hit the road and anticipate arriving at least an hour and a half early because its first come first serve.  We park at the event, walk over the 28th street bridge and line up to go inside.  There is already a huge line of people and it leads around all kinds of buildings and people are set up on the sidelines selling everything from buttons to hats to tshirts.  I almost felt like we were heading to a music concert – although none of this money was going to the campaign, so I saw no sense in purchasing any of these items (I know who I am going to vote for, I don’t have to prove it!)

We finally get in after security checks and we are by the James River and people are crowded around everywhere trying to get a glance of the stage – I can’t see a thing!  I move around a bit to where I can see a banner with the word Change on it and an American flag, but that’s about it.  I see lights and people pointing cameras to where the speaker should be standing, but when the presenters come in to give their speeches, I can’t locate them anywhere.  This is making me really frustrated.  I can hear them barely, but not see a thing.  Bah.

Obama comes on, the crowd goes wild.  Actually, not as wild as I thought, because it’s freakin hot (no way it was 75 degrees!) and everyone is starting to get burnt and dehydrated (since they made us leave all bottles outside the park).  I still can’t see this man that I drove an hour and a half to see.  Good god.  After straining and standing on tiptoes I give up and we walk towards the back of the park.  He speaks for about 30-40 minutes about his health care plan and then he’s off, and we’re back home an hour and half later feeling exhausted and disappointed (or at least I was).

Pictures on MSN.com show Obama speaking at this rally that I was at and there are people lined up all behind him.  I’m sorry but where was that?  My suspicions are that we arrived too late and got ushered to the very back of the park, way away from where he even was.  What a bummer.  I of course am still voting for you, Obama, but I would have liked to have seen you, especially since I’ve never cared enough to see a candidate speak before.  Maybe next time?!

The Moveon.org people contacted me about calling and going door to door on Thursday in Petersburg to help with the campaign and I said I coudn’t commit but might be interested so they signed me up anyways.  Who knows, maybe I will go down and help.  My coworker just ducked out to go register to vote (last day in Virginia) and maybe that is because I kept pressing him last week about how he’s crazy not to register. 

In other news, I live in a new apartment which is sparkly, clean, and nice and I love the area.  This is the first time I’ve had my own room with my own things in nearly a year, and is a much needed luxury.  Back to work…

The first night in San Francisco I am going to walk a few blocks from my hotel room and go to this:

Yesssss!!!!

Birthday Thursday

Today is Birthday Thursday.  On the first Thursday of every month, everyone at work celebrates the birthdays and accomplishments of that month, and then they binge on chocolate, oatmeal creme pies, and cream cheese danishes.  Since I don’t technically ever get a real “break”, they always wheel up the leftover goodies around 3:30 for us poor organ center souls to devour.  I can’t really go wrong since I had a creme pie for breakfast and snacked on tostitos and queso dip all day.  I somehow justify this by telling myself it’s ok since I’ve been taking exercise classes the last two days, which really isn’t even that amazing, but it makes me feel like I have somehow evened out the bad habits with the good.  Actually what it has made me is too sore to exercise tonight, which means I probably just gained 40 pounds.

What is it about sitting all day that makes me so bored that I can’t control my appetite?  I’m not using any energy!  I’m perplexed.

I fell asleep watching the Republican Convention last night and I had to finally turn it off because it was making my stomach turn.  I was excited to hear about McCain’s pick for VP at first because no one had ever heard of Sarah Palin (especially not myself) and I figured that would be a plus for Obama.   Then when all the media frenzy broke out about her husband and her daughter I figured that would be a good thing as well (although I don’t agree with the media publicity of the daughter’s pregnancy, and I don’t really think anyone cares about that so much as they enjoy gossiping).  But what did I see last night and on the news today?!  Everyone is in love with this woman because of her fantastic speech!?  This speech that she didn’t even write?! (is it true that president bush’s speech writer wrote this?) She sounded so mean!  I understand that sometimes in politics you have to get down and dirty, but I feel like her comebacks and her jokes were just plain over the top.  Her accent also makes me cringe. 

Maybe I’m just totally frustrated because I really want Obama to win.  This is the first year I’ve truly paid close attention to the presidential race and I’m getting totally aggravated!  I can’t wait for the debates…

On a related sidenote, my body hates me and I have totally lost faith in the medical system.  After almost three years of weird symptoms and no diagnoses and jumping from one medication to another that never do anything, I have found another doc who wants to try me on some funky medicine that costs $87 for one month (thats with insurance).  God forbid I didn’t have the insurance, and I would probably have had a heart attack dealing with all the stress of not being able to go to the doctor when I needed to.  So, even though I have had it up to here with docs, I am still grateful that I am able to see them.  And, I still enjoy working in the medical field, and feel that my experience in it has made it easier on me to navigate my way around it.  It seems strange that a patient needs to be their own advocate but that seems to be the way it is at times.  I keep reminding myself to relax and stay positive and as productive as possible.  Another reason I feel so passionately about universal health care (in Australia you pay to see the doctor and then they reimburse you!  Amazing!!)  We still have a long way to go but I think it is totally possible, so why not?!?!

I am off for the next 5 days.  My family was going to have the most massive yard sale on earth Saturday but Hurricane Hanna or whatever her name is has threatened rain so they’ve cancelled.  My parents are the most packratty people and I am super excited that they are getting rid of some of their stuff (ok, like 5% but that’s still a start!)  I was also going to take Chance to the pug meetup in Richmond at Byrd park sat morning, but I suppose that will be postponed as well.  Last time I tried to take him he freaked out all night and was so nervous that I had to take him back to my parents house at 3am!  The yard sale I suppose will be happening next sat instead, and that is the day I am moving into my new apartment!  There are talks of an Ikea trip on Sunday if it is nice, so that should be good.

I feel lately like I am just going through with the motions in life.  I keep worrying about everything and something just seems to be missing.  I miss Matt and am totally looking forward to him coming to visit in November.  Although even with that, I am already thinking about how I am going to be sad because he’s only here for two and a half weeks, instead of being happy that he is visiting at all!  I always knew that the long distance thing would be difficult but it has taken me and still is taking me a lot of self control to pull myself back and lower my expectations instead of being a super needy crazy girl like I was doing for a while.  Obviously without having face to face interactions with someone can distance two people, and I am super anal about keeping up communication (to the point where my phone bill is ridiculous).  Basically, I am taking a step back to ease the tension and will see if this has a chance of working out.  Not knowing what the future holds for this is stressful but I’ve come to terms with it for the time being. 

Totally excited about going to San Francisco in Nov and exploring the redwood forests and all that city has to offer!  Can’t wait to also show Matt the ins and outs of Richmond since he didn’t have the greatest opportunity to explore last time he was here!

Phew.  I’m done for today.  I can’t wait to crawl into bed and read. 

Happy birthday, Thursday.

The other day I dreamt I was at a restaurant and ran into a very close friend that I’ve since lost touch with.  I tried to get his attention and he ignored me.  I called his name and he looked at me, acknowledged my presence, and walked straight by.  I started breathing heavily and basically it seemed I was having a panic attack in my sleep.  I woke up gasping and choking for air and it was most unpleasant and kind of frightening.

I feel like my entire day has been stuck in this awful dream.  Maybe if I pinch myself I will wake up.

the future

Am I the only one confused with the 401K?

I probably shouldn’t really be complaining since I am fortunate enough to work for a company that offers a 401K, but I am a tad bit lost.  I spent the first hour today at work trying to figure out where to allocate my money that I won’t even see until I’m like 80 (if I live that long).  What is all this economic mumbo jumbo talk?  What is the benefit of a short term vs. long term fixed income form?  Do I feel comfortable letting some invisible person put my money into some amazing company only for them to crash and burn?!  Psht.  My solution was pick the investors with the best looking pie charts (similar idea to bet on horses with awesome names, or picking books or cds with the coolest covers).  I don’t think I would recommend this strategy, but we’ll see how it goes.

A weekend off?!

means that I don’t know what to do with myself.  I’m so used to working when most people are having fun that I almost forgot that Fri and Sat are important.  I’m sad to say that this weekend will be spent moving home to mom and dad’s.  Wow!  It is only for about three weeks – I have been subletting in the fan for the past 2 months (that has flown by!) and the girl who I have been subletting from is arriving back from Mexico Saturday.  And, I have agreed to shack up with another one of my coworkers (I am bed hopping through the organ center), but that apartment isn’t available until mid-Sept. 

It’s funny, I used to think of my parents house as a kind of safe haven and a nice escape out of the stress when the “city” was getting on my nerves, but now I feel totally sad and awkward and crazy when I’m there.  I suppose this is just because I’m 25 and am not supposed to want to live with my family, but I never thought I would feel so out of it down there.  I will keep reminding myself it’s only for a few weeks and hope that I can make lots of plans to try to stay out of my room that still houses all my porcelain dolls and strange furniture with doilies on top.  eee!

OH! and my grade school classmate Brett Harris is playing the Camel on Aug 23rd, so everyone should come out and check him out because I discovered that he was making music and touring around and I thought this was just great. 

By the way

I love the two girls I have lived with the last two months.  Full stop.

Zumba…

is tonight and I could think of no better way to exercise – african caribbean beats, girls screaming and whistling, salsa mixed with the butterfly and booty shaking.  all we need are a few fine fellas and tequila shots. 

an update.

Hello Richmond.  I probably made a big mistake by not updating my blog since I’ve been back home, because I think I actually had a few people who cared (or were bored) and actually read what I write.  I think I thought that I was only interesting if I was overseas and doing lots of fun new stuff that was adventurous and exciting.  I figured no one would want to read about what I had to say now that I have fallen back into a somewhat normal routine in Richmond doin the same old same old.  The interesting thing to note though, is that I feel like my life is maybe just as interesting now, just not the same.  I have traded kangaroos for my pug and surfing lessons with swimming lessons (wait, is that backwards!?), but that’s ok with me.  There are a few things (mostly people) that I have left behind, but we need an entire other blog for that.

So, what was set up only for a keeping up kind of travel blog has become something that I would like to actually keep up with!  We’ll see what happens.  Come back, friends, I’m not totally lame yet, you’ll see.

home sweet home

I have returned to good ‘ol VA.  Interestingly enough it has been two weeks since I’ve arrived but yet has felt like two months.  I am still trying to adjust to being back since I had just begun to finally adjust to life in Australia and now things are strange again!  After traveling for a good day and a half I got home only to find out that I had caught something on the plane and instead of hanging with friends and catching up with family I was forced to stay in my bed for three days with a puke pan and ginger ale.  No fun.  I have seen a few friends and that has been nice but haven’t really had a chance to go out properly yet.  I did manage to head down to the Outer Banks (aka my favorite place on earth) to my wonderful family timeshare with Amber, and we soaked up some sun and hit up some thrift stores.  We also went on a drive along the beach in search of wild spanish mustangs, which we found 7 of.  Beautiful.

I have no idea how long it is going to take me to adjust.  I thought that I would be totally excited to be home but now that I am home I am feeling really lost and confused.  I have managed to get my old job back which is amazing because at least I will be making money and be able to go to the doctor while I am lost and confused.  I think most of it stems from being taken away from the one person I have grown to be very close to in the last 7 months, and then not knowing when I will be able to see that person again.  There are a few obstacles in my way that are important for me to deal with properly before I can attempt to think about leaving again, and that in itself is frustrating because these obstacles have been quite difficult for me to deal with during the last few years of my life.  Without going into detail I will just hope for the best and see what each new day brings.

I bought the new book that is edited by Jeffrey Eugenides entitled “My mistress’s sparrow is dead” and is a book of “love” stories.  So far so good.

Goodnight.

eeeee

I am now coming home on the 14th. 

Matt is sick with some sort of allergic reaction that has taken us to the ER twice in the last two days.  He is sleeping and I’m a bit upset knowing that he’s fallen ill the last couple days I have here.  That sounds selfish but sorry!

I just emailed my former boss about possibly getting my old job back, even though I have no idea what my plans are when I get home.  (just knowing that I will need money and definitely health insurance).

I can’t wait to come home and play with my dog.  My world is going to be turned upside down for quite awhile.  I suppose it already has been.

Wireless mouses are cool.  Ibook chargers, not so cool. 

I am thinking of getting a tattoo when I return, who wants to come with? EEEEEEEEEeeee.  Australia is too far away.  I can’t decide which is harder – living here or leaving here?

time flies

Sooooooo that’s it!  The 3 week vacation is over and I’ve officially driven up the eastern coast of Australia and stopped at all the little towns and sights in between.  I now feel like I have a pretty good taste of this country, and although I didn’t make it into the technical “outback” outback, I think this was a pretty good start. 

I arrived back in Melbourne today from our flight from Cairns.  When arriving in Cairns we turned over our beloved campervan that became so near and dear to our hearts (never though I would like sleeping in a van so much!) and spent a good 5 nights in this touristy city on the coast.  Cairns is most known for its easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, so it was undeniably the most touristy place that we visited the whole way up on the trip.  This meant that there were a) tons of annoying international backpackers and b) lots of overpriced food and cheesy Australiana souvenirs that were actually “made in Korea”. 

I should start off by saying that the one thing that is interesting about the tropical northern part of Queensland is that the Great Barrier Reef travels down most of it, making the beaches not so beachy and not really good for swimming in and/or surfing in.  This area is too dangerous to swim in because of “stingers” or basically jellyfish that can be fatal and are invisible to the naked eye.  When we went out snorkeling or diving, we had to rent “stinger suits”, or basically special wet suits, so that we wouldn’t have to bother with deadly stingy monsters.  Yikes!  A few beaches are swimmable but only because they have roped in one little area with stinger enclosures to keep the stingers out.  Everywhere else is pretty much swim at your own risk.  No thanks!

So yeah, we booked three different amazing tours when we arrived and they all turned out to be fantastic.  The first day we went out on a boat called the Ospry V to the Great Barrier Reef, and it was a perfect day to see all the beautiful coral and marine life that lives within.  The tour boasted offered an introductory scuba dive for just an extra thirty dollars, so I signed up for that even though I was scared out of my mind to actually do it.  I figured what the hell, and as we were traveling out to the reef, our guide gave us some brief instructions about how to dive.  When we arrived, we were giving all our gear, lowered into the water about one meter, and then asked to prove underwater that we were able to clear our masks and also able to clear our mouthpieces.  This meant taking a deap breath, removing the mouthpiece, blowing out the air, then shoving the mouthpiece back in while simultaneously yelling the word “TWo” to blow out any water that may be in the mouthpiece.  After proving we had that down, we all linked arms and began our descent down.  We only went 10 meters, which is about 30 feet, which doesn’t allow us to be certified, but it was a good way to get a feel for diving.  It was totally weird being underwater and totally unnatural, especially trying to swim around coral with big flippers and a huge tank strapped to your back!  But it was fun!  While down there I got to sit at the bottom of the reef and hold a sea cucumber – I also saw lots of clownfish (nemos!) and lots of other fish.  The worst thing that happened was my ears kept popping and at one point my left ear wouldn’t pop out and it hurt so bad that when I arrived back up to the surface it was ringing and it still hasn’t returned quite to normal yet!  Such is life.

But yeah how cool is that!  After the dive I had the option to dive again but I didn’t really want to spend the money so I snorkelled instead.  There were huge flourescent colored fish that you could actually hear eating the bits of coral.  I’ve never seen such beautiful colors of marine life ever!  Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Second day we took a sky cableway gondola type ride to Kuranda, a small village about 35 km from Cairns.  We then took the scenic railway back that meanders through the rainforests, waterfalls, etc.  While there we went to an Aboriginal Park called Tjapukai which tells the history of this aboriginal group that lives in the area and their beliefs and such.  There was a man playing the didgeridoo and I got to throw a spear and a boomerang.  Little did I know that I was doing it wrong my entire childhood by throwing it like a frisbee, when really you are supposed to throw it over handed with a flick of the wrist (and it actually does come back!)  The nice aboriginal man gave Matt a boomerang for being able to get it to return all the way, and then he let me have a few more tries when everyone else left.

Third day we took a bus tour up to the Daintree rainforest which is another World Heritage area along with the Reef.  We walked around a bit and learned about the rainforest and how it differs from other rainforests, and we evern went on a crocodile river cruise (and actually spotted 4 crocs! crikey!)  hehe.

After that we were exhausted so we did nothing yesterday, and now we’re home and I’ve got to figure out everything I need to coordinate in order to come HOMe home!!  aghhhhhhh.

I’m going home now, because I’m still not home home.  It’s cold in Melbourne and I miss tropicalness.  ciao ciao!

 

Hello!  We’ve escaped the rain for the moment and are in sunny Noosa in Queensland.  This place is adorable.  I decided to be brave and take a surfing lesson today and guess what – surfing is really difficult!  I think the hardest part was actually getting my board out to the freakin wave!  After that it was alright.  So, after two banged knees, thigh chaffing, and a butt sand plant, I managed to stand up twice on my board.  This makes me happy.

But now I ache and I’ll be lazy and then tomorrow it’s more driving to go.  Final destination – Cairns/Great Barrier Reef fun.

Spent a few nights in Brisbane where we found a cool cocktail bar that spun missy elliot tunes and I was happy once more.   Met up with a buddy from my Contiki tour and walked around – I think any city with palm trees is fine enough.

I just realized that as I am sitting here typing I”m getting the sensation of water pulling me out so I think this may be my cue to go get some food (at the supermarket at the moment paying top bucks for pricy internet! 

I Just realized today that I”m’coming home in about 3 weeks.  I can’t believe it’s been over half a year.  I suppose I’ll write more and reflect and all that good stuff later.  Right now, snags on the barbie (sausages!)