| OK, this time it wasn't my fault. I've moved to a country that can barely manage telephones, let alone the internet.
I'm living and working in Walsall, which is about 10 miles north of Birmingham in the UK. I'm working a Walsall Manor Hospital for their Breast Screening Unit. I work on the mobile units, which are basically semi trailers with mammo machines on them, situated in carparks in Aldridge and Oldbury. It's quite cruisey and stress-free as far as radiography work goes, although we have appointments every 6 minutes, so it can be hectic, too.
Since I've been here, I haven't done much else except for paperwork and more paperwork. I think I'm finally set up to get paid this week, which will make me very, very happy indeed.
I have done a *tiny* bit of sightseeing. I've got a car as part of the job, and I've been able to use it to go to Cadbury World in Bournville (slightly scary, but there was free chocolate involved). I've also been to the Baggies' home ground, the Hawthorns, which I was very excited to do. I made flying visits to the Birmingham Botanic Gardens, and to Edgbaston County Cricket Ground. I had a proper Sunday dinner on the weekend with Ann, a woman from work, and her family. That's about as far as my adventures into British-ness go.
I've got a few bits and pieces planned - I'm going to Dublin in a couple of weeks time for the weekend, and I've got tickets to T4 On The Beach at Weston-Super-Mare at the end of July. This weekend, I'm catching up with one of my friends from uni, Louise, who's now living in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. | comments: Leave a comment   |
| | Current Music: | Lily Allen, "Sunday Morning" | | Current Location: | Baltimore | | Subject: | Baltimore | | Time: | 11:12 pm |
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| I've posted what I've typed of my trip diary so far - I had trouble getting it all in the right order, so if you're really interested in reading the whole sordid story, you might have to go to my journal page, because I don't think they'll all be on the Friends page (that is, if you're really interested in what I had for lunch on day 16, etc...)
Well, I was right – I was extremely busy today! I slept in a little bit – I had trouble getting to sleep, so I was a bit tired. Will Ferrell was on Jay Leno (I think – maybe it was Conan…) last night – it was really funny. I got stuck watching other bits and pieces on TV, and ended up not going to sleep until after 1. The same thing happened to me this morning – I became stuck watching ‘Saved By The Bell’ on TV, and ended up not leaving the hotel until 9.30.
I walked up to Fells Point first of all. It was about half an hour walk. The town was really quiet – I found out that most of the stores around the harbour don’t open until at least 10. I went to Fells Point because I’d read about a used CD/DVD store there, called The Sound Garden. It was pretty good – very big, but not as cheap as it could have been. I ended up buying the first two seasons of ‘Saved By The Bell’, and the SNL DVD of ‘TV Funhouse’. From Fells Point, I caught a water taxi back to Inner Harbour, and the National Aquarium.
The Aquarium was really cool. It was expensive - $25 a ticket, but it took over two hours to go right through. I saw a dolphin show, which was pretty standard fare, but impressive enough. It’s a really well designed building – it’s a big concrete monolith, but the tanks are really well set up – you get to see them from all levels, from being nearly face to face with the animals, to looking at them from above, to being able to see under the water. It’s cool.
They have a big exhibition on Australia, called ‘Wild Extremes’. It’s a replica of part of the Northern Territory, and focuses on the effects of floods and fires on the outback. It’s mostly about water-dwellers, but the habitat also has snakes, frill-necked lizards, kookaburras, galahs and cockatiels. It’s a bit strange for an Aquarium. You can buy lizard and kangaroo-themed souvenirs in the gift shop, emblazoned with ‘The National Aquarium’.
From the Aquarium, I walked to straight to Best Buy, across the street. I bought a lot more DVD’s to take home with me – seasons 3 and 4 of ‘King Of The Hill’, seasons 1 and 2 of the British version of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’, season 5 of ‘Kids In The Hall’, and season 4 of ‘Penn and Teller’s Bullshit’. My credit card is getting a very big workout. I also bought a book today from Barnes & Noble. My suitcase is getting heavier and heavier by the day.
I had lunch at the Hard Rock Café, so that I could say that I’d been to at least one in the USA. It was nice – just sitting at the bar, chatting to the barman, watching the world go by. I’d forgotten that you can still smoke in restaurants in the US – the guy next to me kept blowing smoke in my direction, it was just disgusting. After lunch, I wandered through the shops of Inner Harbour, and when it started to rain, I just sat at a table out on the balcony with a drink and looked out at the Harbour for an hour or so.
I went back to the hotel, took some packages to the post office for Jeff and Jan, and then decided to see a movie. There aren’t any cinemas near Inner Harbour, so I had to walk up to Mount Vernon. It wasn’t too far – about 40 minutes, and I liked just looking around at the row houses and the area. Baltimore’s a really nice city – it’s like a composite of my other favourite places. Inner Harbour is like Southbank and Darling Harbour combined, while the row houses remind me of northern England. Fells Point reminded me of the marketplace in Lancaster, but with shops like those in St Kilda.
‘Reign Over Me’ started today – I was really looking forward to seeing it. I wasn’t disappointed – it was absolutely brilliant. I was glued to the screen – usually I fidget endlessly during movies, but I hardly moved during this one. Adam Sandler is just fantastic – I never would have picked him as being capable of such a dramatic role. It’s a role that demanded a lot of sensitivity – while his character, who is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, says some very quick and brilliant lines, there’s nothing slapstick about it. Don Cheadle is equally fantastic. And B.J. Novak has a small part in it, which made me happy. Somehow, though, he manages to look even younger than he does in’ The Office’.
Off to New York tomorrow… | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Jeff messaged me just before I went to bed telling me that he was OK, and I’d called while he was driving down to work. That’s a relief.
I loved Washington – it was great. So easy to get around, I have no complaints about the city at all. I slept in this morning, and then repacked my bags, and went down to breakfast. I had a little chat to the innkeeper at the Bloomingdale Inn, and sat and read the paper before being on my way.
I got a taxi downtown, and left my bags at Union Station. I caught the Metro to Metro Central, and walked to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The museum was so-so – the dinosaurs were pretty cool, but the whole museum was pretty much as I expected. One cool thing that happened was that I stumbled across a cast of a turtle that Dad had taken a photo of when he was in Washington – I remember seeing the photo as a kid. I saw the Hope Diamond, and an exhibition on Australian mammals. There was an exhibition on Sikhism, which was interesting, but difficult to follow.
I’d had lunch at the Smithsonian – I had biggest Caesar salad, but it was mostly lettuce. It was expensive, too - $9.50! - but I was still hungry. I sat outside the National Art Gallery’s Sculpture Garden and ate a hotdog. From there, I went for a walk to the National Archives, across the street. This is where the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights are. The line was extremely long to get in, though, so I gave it a miss.
I caught the Metro back to Union Station, and walked over to the US Postal Museum, also run by the Smithsonian. It was actually pretty cool. I love the museums over here – they’re so big and overblown, but they’re more than glass cases. They replicate entire streetscapes in museums here. The journey through the Postal Museum started with wandering down a dark, rocky path, emanating the trips taken on horseback from new York to London by the first American postmen. There was a mock post counter, with interactive videos, and holograms and videos describing mail order catalogues. There was a big section on protecting the mail from things like identity and credit card theft, mail bombs, and anthrax. My favourite part was an exhibition on direct mail – you start off by putting in some details about yourself, and you get given a card with a barcode. Then, at each display, you scan your card, and add some more information about yourself. At the end, you get an automated, personalised letter, folded and presented in an envelope with your name on it. Unfortunately, mine didn’t work properly, but it was still a very cool idea.
From there, I went to back to Union Station and hung around for a bit before getting the train to Baltimore. It was a quick trip – only 45 minutes. I really struggled with my suitcase – it’s getting heavier by the day. I got a taxi to the hotel, and was thrilled by it – the room is a huge suite, and it’s on the 27th floor, looking right out over the city. It’s very central, and right by a supermarket. I sat back and watched TV, and I’ve just had a wonderful warm bath, and washed my hair. There’s a lot to do in Baltimore – I think tomorrow’s going to be a very busy day! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I’m in Washington DC at the moment. I finally organised my replacement plane ticket, and my passport seems to be on its way, so I’m feeling a lot more positive. I have to say that I was feeling very apprehensive about coming to Washington – the guidebook that I have continually talks about how dangerous the area is. I haven’t felt that way at all – the bed & breakfast I’m staying in is just lovely (and not too expensive, at $A177 a night), and all the tourist areas I was in today were perfectly fine.
My day started a little unusually. Jeff called me, very drunk and very depressed. I tried to keep it lighthearted, but I’m really worried about him. I think he’s having the same kind of problems I was suffering with – not really getting anywhere, in limbo, job not working, car not working, trying to reach out and noone’s there. I’m glad he called me rather than going through it alone, but I wish there was more that I could do to help. We talked for maybe an hour, about random stuff and good stuff and bad stuff, but he was still pretty down. He apologised for not being there for me before I took all those pills, and that he understood how I felt. He was right – all I wanted to do was to connect with someone, which is all he wanted, too. He didn’t really need to apologise, though – he really did help me out after it all, more than anyone else. I told him how I’d missed him over the last week – how I admire his confidence, how outgoing he is, and how funny he is. He was really surprised to hear it – I can’t believe he doesn’t know that about himself.
I was in a taxi when he called again – he was standing in the middle of Pleasant St trying to be hit a passing car, and complaining about the lack of traffic. I got him off the road, but then he was yelling stuff out, and disturbing people. I really didn’t know what to do. I convinced him to go back home, which he did, noisily and complaining. I made him listen to The Whitlams – I don’t know why, I just hoped it would get his mind off it, and make him feel mopey rather than anxious. I had to hang up because I had to go to my photography course, but I hoped that he would just get tired and pass out. I haven’t been able to get through to him tonight – it’s about midday in Ballarat now, so I hope he’s ok. I don’t think there’s anything that I can do from here – I could only call Ross or Suzie. Ross is a long way from Ballarat, and can only call him like I can, and I’m sure that Jeff wouldn’t want Suzie to know about it, otherwise he would have talked to her last night.
Apart from all that, I really enjoyed my day in Washington. I went on a Photo Safari this morning, with a photographer called David Luria. He worked for Time magazine, and now conducts tours of the town, guiding you on how to best use your camera. My tour was very personalised – just David and I, and a girl called Inda. We met outside of the Renwick Gallery, and then went for a walk around Lafayette Park, outside of the White House. We sat down on a bench and David talked about different photographic techniques, then we practised on a statue of Andrew Jackson, in the middle of the park.
We took a few shots of the White House, and then drove to the Albert Einstein statue. It was really cool – if you stood in just the right spot in front of the statue and spoke, you could here are clear echo. We walked over to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. There’s so many people in Washington – lots and lots of school groups.
We went to Union Station from there, and took some photos of the interior of the station. I had lunch with David and Inda in the food court. When I said goodbye to them, I went shopping for a bit. I bought some Clinique makeup – it’s so much cheaper here than in Australia! I also bought a few DVD’s – Blood Diamond, Mad About You (Season 1), Crank Yankers (Season 1) and Bullshit (Season 3). I bought some souvenirs, too – postcards and cloth badges for my collection, and some gifts for Jan.
I went for a walk, up past the Capitol, and down to the Air and Space Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian. I mostly liked the exhibition called ‘Treasures of American History’. It had all kinds of iconic exhibits, like Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Albert Einstein’s pipe, and the puffy shirt from Seinfeld. I also walked up to the next museum, the Hirshhmann ,which is surrounded by a big sculpture garden. I took so many photos of the sculptures – I went through 6 rolls of film today! I saw some interesting pieces – my favourite was a big 3D paint stroke, by Lichtenstein.
I walked up to Chinatown to buy yet another phone card, and I bought some food for dinner. It took ages to walk back to Union Station – I wanted to get a taxi, and they were difficult to hail. I finally got one from the queue at the station, and my feet were so sore by the time I got home. I stumbled up the stairs, and settled into my room. I spoke to Mum and to Ana on the phone, watched a great show called ‘In Case of Emergency’, and tried to call Jeff. I hope he’s OK. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I’m on the train going from Charlotte to Washington DC. Currently, I’m somewhere in the very northern part of North Carolina, about to cross the border into Virginia. It’s a long trip – about 10 hours. It’s pretty nice though – the train is comfy, there’s a power point so I can use my laptop and charge my phone and the scenery is ever-changing. I’ve seen some interesting sights – when we went through Durham, I could see several tobacco factories, a cotton plantation, and further up the line, we drove past some big trailer parks.
My last day in Charlotte was pretty quiet. Jordan had to go to work, so I was fending for myself. I made a few phone calls (and managed to score a job in the UK!). I went for a walk to the Arboretum to mail a passport photo to Mum so that she could organise my International Driving Permit. I also bought some food for today’s trip from Wal-Mart, and I had a browse around Barnes and Noble. The mall is really spread out. When I asked for directions to the post office from Barnes and Noble, the woman told me to drive around to another part of the mall! The stores weren’t very well marked, and it was difficult to find my way around. It doesn’t help that I keep looking the wrong way when I’m trying to cross the road!
I spent most of the afternoon on the phone – it’s absolutely horrible trying to work out all of this missing paperwork. Every time I seem to get somewhere, there’ll be another hold up, like my phone wouldn’t work properly, or I had to wait for someone to do something on the other end. The biggest problem I had was getting through to the British High Commission in Canberra. The regular phone number that they had listed just played a recorded message, and the other numbers that they had listed wouldn’t work from overseas. I ended up asking Mum to call the consulate for me. They had some bad news for me – I can’t work in the UK at all unless I have that visa in my new passport. And it seems that I can’t reapply for that visa unless I’m in Australia. So my plans have totally changed – I’m trying to get my plane ticket from Air Tahiti Nui reissued, so that I can go home to Australia. I’m going to have to stay in Australia for a few weeks, so I’ve asked Tony for a job, and Jeff for his house. I’m going to have to live off my credit card for a bit, and just sit and wait for that bloody visa before even booking a flight to the UK.
It’s all just so damn frustrating. Mum’s been great – really helpful, and doing things that I need done straight away. Jeff’s been very supportive, too – when I told him what happened, he was appropriately outraged for me. Ana’s been less helpful – I copped an earful when I asked her to do some things for me. I know that she’s busy, but I was so disappointed that she wouldn’t step up to the plate when I really needed her help. What are friends for?
Jordan took me out to dinner to a really nice Italian place. It was very nice – I was a little distracted because I was still in the midst of phone calls and emails and text messages. I had a couple of glasses of red wine at dinner, and decided to buy a bottle on the way back – there’s really strange laws in North Carolina about buying alcohol. You can only buy wine and spirits from state-controlled ‘ABC Liquor’ stores. I bought a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz for $40 from a restaurant.
I’ve been listening to a fair bit of Pete Murray since I’ve been overseas. I really liked ‘Opportunity’ when I was getting ready to go, and since all this crap has happened, I’ve been listening to ‘Better Days’. His music is kind of depressing but hopeful at the same time – I like these songs for the same reasons I like The Whitlams, I guess! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Well, I've been in Charlotte for a few days now, and it's been nice and relaxing. My train was delayed, and then further delayed, and then even more delayed.... until I got into Charlotte around three hours late. Jordan picked me up from the train station, and drove me to his apartment.
Charlotte's very pretty. The houses are mostly weatherboard, and pastel-coloured, with the exception of a few big old-style mansions. It's a well-planned city, with wide boulevards, few traffic lights and lots of trees (which are all barren at the moment, as we're coming out of winter). Jordan's apartment is part of a big sprawling complex with many identical-looking 3-story apartment blocks and houses.
On my first day here, I slept in really late - all that doing nothing on the train must have really tired me out!! I discovered to my horror that while I was asleep, Jordan had taken a photo of me and posted it on his LiveJournal. How embarrassing!!
Jordan went into work for an hour or so, and when he came back, we went out for a drive around the area. We went through the downtown area, and through the medical district. We went to lunch at a restaurant called Harpers, where I had the biggest caesar salad I've even seen in my life (the plainest one, too - mostly lettuce and chicken). We hung out at his place for a couple of hours and then went to the movies. We saw 'Black Snake Moan' at the Arboretum. It was fairly average - I liked it, and it kept me interested for two whole hours, but there wasn't really any point to the journey. I think Jordan was fairly ambivalent about it, too. After the movie, we went to a place called McAllisters for dinner, where I had the biggest baked potato that I've ever seen in my life.
Yesterday, Jordan had to go to work in the morning, so I managed to sit down at my laptop and book hotels and things for the rest of my trip here. I still feel pretty anxious not knowing when I'll get my passport, so I've been quite conservative with money. I've booked all my hotels, now, though, so I feel better knowing that that's all done.
We went for a drive out to the University of North Carolina Charlotte, where Jordan went to art school. He showed me around the campus, in particular the galleries and the art department. It was interesting to see a working department, and all the areas in it, like ceramics, sculpture, illustration and digital design. I had my photo taken with a statue of a gold miner, the university's mascot.
From there, we went to North Davidson Street, which is an artistic area of Charlotte. We visited a couple of expensive galleries, had lunch at a big restaurant/pub, and just wandered around the street, mostly. It was nice - it was a beautiful day. Jordan's parents took us out to dinner last night to an Italian restaurant. It was really cool to meet them and see their house.
Today we didn't do much during the day. We went for a drive again, this time out to Mint Hill, where Jordan showed me a really nice housing development that he likes. It kind of looked like the rest of Charlotte to me, but slightly bigger. Jordan then took me out to lunch to a Chinese place called 'The Buffet Dynasty'. We went to Barnes and Noble on the way back, and I had fun just wandering around there. I mostly hung out in the sections near Starbucks, because it smelt like cinnamon.
We went to a NBA game - the Charlotte Bobcats played the LA Clippers at Charlotte Bobcats Arena downtown. I was very excited to be going. It was a huge event, with cheerleaders, fireworks, an indoor blimp - it was just awesome. The Bobcats lost by about ten points, which was a pity, and the stadium wasn't very full, but I really had a good time. Jordan was filling me in on the rules I didn't know - it's a little different to the NBL, like the teams get 5 time outs each per half. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm on the train from New York to Charlotte at the moment. It's a long trip - almost 13 hours. The train is comfortable, though, and the view is ever changing - much better than being stuck on a plane for 8 hours!
I stopped writing in my diary because jetlag finally caught up with me. I was like a walking zombie for a couple of days, until I eventually crashed completely. After writing my last entry, I checked out a couple of minutes later (after having a good cry). I called every branded hotel listed in my New York guide book, and found a room at the Radisson on 32nd St. It was expensive, so I only checked in for a couple of nights. It was in a great location - right on Herald Square. On Friday morning, though, I moved up the street to the slightly cheaper and more basic Red Roof Inn.
After moving to a nicer locale, I was ready to have a good time. My first full day in New York I spent walking around the area. I walked through Times Square, past Rockefeller Center and up around the border of Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I joined a tour at the Met, showing highlights of the collection. We looked at a portrait of Gertrude Stein by Picasso, and a huge stained glass window by Tiffany.
I had my first experience of the Subway. It's pretty easy to navigate, except the stations are huge - much bigger than the tube stations. If you pick the wrong exit, you can end up several blocks away from where you intended to be! It's fairly cheap, too - only $24 for a weekly ticket, and you can jump on and off as much as you like.
On Thursday night, I went back to Webster Hall and saw Gomez. I missed seeing most of Ben Kweller's set because I fell asleep at the hotel. Gomez were fantastic - you could tell that they really enjoy playing live. They're very talented musicians - they would swap and change around instruments all the time.
On Friday, I relented and went and bought a winter jacket - it's been so cold here. It's just starting to warm up now, but I was pretty miserable when I first got here. My lips are all cracked and chapped, and the skin on my face was so dry. I found a jacket at TJ Maxx - such a bargain. It's a Michael Kors overcoat, and I got it for $70. I was stoked! I also had to buy some winter pyjamas - my satin nightie just wasn't cutting it in a New York winter!
From there, I caught the Subway down to the World Trade Center site. It's not very exciting - mostly just one big construction site, with barriers and cyclone fences around it. There are a few photos, and a list of names put up on the wire, and there's a couple of people just hanging around promising to tell you 'the real story' of that day, but honestly, there's not much there to visit. The main reason I went down there is because it's next to Century 21, a bigger, department-store version of TJ Maxx. It was crazy in there - like the first day of the Myers Stocktake Sale. Luckily I escaped with me (and my purse) intact.
From there, I went to Rockefeller Center. I wandered around for a while, and saw the famous ice hockey rink. It's such a maze inside - it's bigger than a city block, and so easy to get lost in. It is beautiful though - an art deco masterpiece. I went to the NBC store at the Center. I went on a tour of NBC studios. It started with a video about the history of the channel, and then we went and had a look at a few of the studios. I saw the nightly news studio, which is permanently on standby, ready for breaking news stories. I also visited the Dateline studio, and then we went to see the Saturday Night Live studio. It's not very big - I'm amazed that they manage to fit so many sets in there, and that the whole GE Smith band fit on the middle platform. I had my photo taken on a mock-up of the news studio, and later on, on the couch at 'Central Perk'.
Leaving NBC, the jetlag really set in. I had such a headache, which was threatening to become a migraine. I worked out that I'd had only around 10 hours sleep in three days, and I'd hardly eaten anything. I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel. When I did, I fell asleep for 15 hours!!
I felt so much better after the sleep. Saturday was a very full day. I started it off by visiting the Museum of Modern Art. I didn't recognise many of the artists, but I did get to see 'The Dance' by Matisse, and a triptych by Monet. My favourite piece was a room done to look like a library, but the 'books' were actually a plaster cast of books - like a negative image of the space the books would occupy.
My next stop was the 'Top of the Rock' observation deck at Rockefeller Center. The deck is on the roof of the Center - I couldn't believe how high up it was. The elevator takes around 45 seconds to get to the top. It was on the 70th floor, and I was able to go outside onto the balcony. I'm glad it wasn't too windy! It was a little hazy, so I couldn't actually see that far - looking south, I could just see as far as the Statue of Liberty.
I stood in the line at the Tkts booth for over an hour to get tickets to a Broadway musical. I saw 'The Apple Tree', a revival of a 60s musical that was made up of three smaller stories. The play was performed at Studio 54, the former nightclub. Kristen Chenoweth, the star, had such an amazing voice!
On Sunday, I went to Madison Square Garden to watch the ice hockey. I saw the New York Rangers play the Carolina Hurricanes. It was fantastic - a big crowd (but not a sell out), and they were all going for the home team. It was one of the final games for the season, and the winner of the match would be going into the play offs. It was a 1-1 draw by the end of overtime, so they went to a penalty shootout, which the Rangers won 2-1. The game was so much fun!
On the way back to the hotel, I did some shopping at Macy's and at Borders. I bought the Lonely Planet for Boston to read, and I also bought a book of snippets of overheard conversations in New York.
I was going to go to Penn Station to confirm all of my train tickets, but on packing up my bags, I discovered that my wallet with all my train tickets, insurance details, banking papers, cheque book and, most importantly, my passport, was missing!! I have no idea what happened to it - the last time I remember seeing it was at the airport. I could have sworn it was in my backpack, but it definitely wasn't there any more! Any plans I had for the next day went out the window, as I spent the next 8 hours on the phone to Australia, and the next day trying to organise a new passport. It was such a nightmare. I had to go to the police station, to the Australian Consulate to apply for a new passport, get new passport photos taken, back to the police station to file a report, to FedEx to send an express form to Ana to get her to be my guarantor for my passport. I got approval from the insurance company to re-buy all of my train tickets, so they're all locked in now. I was so mad at myself for letting it happen - I really don't know if someone stole it, or if I did something stupid like leave it in the taxi. It's been such an expensive exercise, too.
It took me all day to run around - I think everything's sorted. Hopefully, my new passport will be ready for me when I get back to New York on 24 March, but otherwise, I still have a week before I have to head to the UK. I'll be up in Boston until then, so if worst comes to worst, I can make a day trip to New York, or extend my trip another week. My whole experience of New York has left me with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth - it was just so stressful being there. It was a very cleansing experience getting on the train this morning to Charlotte.
I'm really looking forward to getting to Charlotte. I spoke to Jordan on Sunday (before all the passport dramas) - it was good to hear his voice. It'll be nice to be in a place where I don't have to worry about being mugged or having my handbag snatched 24/7!! I'm planning on posting some of my stuff onto Julian - my suitcase is getting really heavy, and there's some stuff (like my hair straightener, and my book on Tahitian fish!) that I just don't need to carry around while I'm in the US. I was planning on doing some of it yesterday, but I just ran out of time. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm in New York at the moment. It's crazy early because i'm jetlagged.
Tahiti was awesome, but really, really hot and humid. I did all the token stuff - a 4WD tour around the island, visiting maraes and plantations; I swam with stingrays and black-tipped sharks, and I went scuba diving off the coral reef. I also spent lots of time on the beach and in the lagoon, and sitting around under coconut trees reading. It was a really nice, relaxing break.
I've had fun in New York so far, but I'm so horribly, horribly jetlagged. It was -7C and snowing here when I arrived, and it's been down as low as -12C while I've been here. It was a huge shock getting off the plane from Tahiti!! I don't even have a real winter jacket, so that's going to be today's trip - to Macy's and Bloomingdales. I have to go buy a card for my mobile phone as well.
The hostel that I'd organized to stay in was absolutely terrible. The rooms were smaller than a cupboard, the walls were paper-thin and the bedding was stained and had *bedbugs* in it. It doubles as a homeless hostel, and the whole place had a horrible, scary vibe. I left my stuff there, and went out to get some dinner and watch Badly Drawn Boy play live at Webster Hall. I got back, and couldn't sleep - I was exhausted from the flight, but I could feel things biting me, it was really cold, and the plastic-covered mattress rustled with every movement. Out of sheer frustration, I checked out of the place at 2am, and caught a taxi straight to the Radisson on 34th St - thank god for credit cards! I'm shivering now just thinking about the place. If only I'd read these reviews before booking in there. I've decided that I can't face picking hostels any more - I had booked into one in Washington DC, but after reading these reviews that compare it to a crack house, I've decided that it will be name brand hotels all the way.
So yesterday was New York, Take 2. It was wonderful waking up in a proper hotel - it was so luxurious to be able to wake up in a proper bed, have the TV on, and have a hot bath. A full breakfast was even included. I think this'll be my base until I head down to Charlotte on Tuesday.
I went for a big walk yesterday morning - up past the Empire State Building, past Times Square, to the Apple Centre, and along the borders of Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum's really cool - it would take weeks to look through it properly, but the highlights tour that I did showed me so many famous pieces. I went back to the hotel and had a nap before going back to the East Village to Webster Hall to see Ben Kweller and Gomez. Gomez were awesome - so full of energy. They started the night off with "Bring It On", which I love - my music taste is stuck in the late 90's. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but I've been incredibly busy lately.
I started my new job - Ballarat Radiology is now open for business. After leaving St John's, I spent a month in Sunbury learning how to use a Siemens Emotion 16 CT, so I'm now the CT queen (as this story in the Ballarat Courier attests. We opened our Ballarat practice two weeks ago, and it's going really well. I'm enjoying spending lots of time in CT - I used to only spend about 1 day a fortnight in there when I was at St John's, but at the new practice, I'm the only one that can do it. I went to a cannulation course the other week, so I'm doing all of my own injections now, too. The Siemens machine is excellent to use, and we got some good software packages with it - NeuroDSA, Dental CT, and the full version of InSpace. Swank.
The practice is all brand new, and all digital. We've got a CR room, a CR mammo room, two ultrasound rooms and the CT. We're bulk billing all of our patients, which means none of them are out of pocket for any examination, which is a first for Ballarat. Anyway, it's all very exciting, if fairly quiet at the moment - I'm spending most of my days visiting doctors, giving them request pads and such to try and get them to refer to us.
Outside of working all the time, I haven't been up to anything exciting. I went to Adelaide for a few days between jobs. I went to see Evermore at the Palais the other week. I'm fighting with the council over some parking fines again. Ordered a sexy new MacBook for work. Hanging out with Ana. Jeff and I reached some sort of happy relationship agreement (which, as far as I can tell, means that we're boyfriend and girlfriend except that he's not my boyfriend and I'm not his girlfriend. It's complicated, but it seems to be working)
This weekend's been good. I hung out with Jeff and Ana at Jeff's place Friday night. Did a screening session for BreastScreen on Saturday morning. Dinner at Ana's place with Tracey and Travers last night. Went to the filming of 'Collectors' at the Mining Exchange this morning. Shopping at the Pleasant St Market. Saw 'Talladega Nights' with Ana this afternoon. Going down to Melbourne tomorrow night to the Canary Club (for their Makeover, Manicure, Massage and Martini night!) for Ana's birthday.
I've spent most of tonight on Monster.com applying for US Rad Tech jobs. My plan was to finish up working in Ballarat next March, then head to the US for a month's holiday, and then go to the UK and work as a locum. I'm thinking, though, that now that I've got my ARRT certification, I should actually use it. I can't work in the US without sponsorship, though, so I'm trying to find an employer that can do that (if you've got any tips or contacts for me, *please* let me know). Otherwise, you're just going to have to marry me, Jordan, so that I can get a visa ;-). And I'm striking this out, because I know that you read these bits first :-). I've sent my resume off to everywhere I can think of - and I've posted it in a Friends-only post here, so that you kind RT-types can even print it off for me, if you like :-). | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Time: | 11:55 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/pink/angry.gif) annoyed |
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| Because Stephen, or one of his friends, is still being a fucktard, more than six months after we broke up, I'm changing this to friends-only. A friend of the petty douchebag that claimed to be sending back all of my possessions, including old receipts, an empty tampon box and an empty perfume bottle, but neglecting to return my phone, or the watch or DVD player I gave him, has been calling me at all hours, and being a twat. This first started not long after we broke up - the emails, the phone calls, and finally a parcel in the letter box.
If Stephen can't handle the fact that I'm going out with someone who can afford to take me out to dinner regularly, spends less time out of the house than in it, and doesn't wear socks while having sex, then fuck him. I don't know why one of his friends has taken it on as a personal crusade, but fuck them, too.
I would wish Stephen nothing but the worst, but his own social ineptness, alienating cleanliness, and the way he walks around playing pocket billiards before disappearing into the toilet for half an hour will assure him that in the future, anyway. Thanks for giving out my details, wanker. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
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