Catching up

Sorry for not posting any photos the last couple of days. It turns out the problem I've been having with Blogger is a known issue, and clearing the cache solved it. Now I can finally post pictures (having seated Junior in front of the TV so that I have some time to myself).

I went out partying the last couple of nights right after work, which is highly unusual for me. I turn into a pumpkin long before midnight, now that I have my own little alarm clock that wakes me up at 6 every morning, demanding a cup of milk.

I took pictures though.
Here's a little tube of Vegemite, made especially for travelling Aussies. It should last us the trip to Israel.

And here's a small guitar I got at KMart. I couldn't help it... I was shopping for undies (20% off!) and saw this in the bargain bin. It was marked down by about 60% because it had been returned without the box. How could I resist? Junior loves it.
It's been raining the last couple of days.

I don't think the grapes will be ready for harvest by the time we leave.

Sculpture by the Sea

Plenty of uncovered meat at the beach in Tamarama. This sculpture is called Unveiled.

I suspected that

Australia in top five livable countries

Norway, Iceland, Australia, Ireland and Sweden rank as the best five countries to live in...

...and of these 5, I reckon Australia is the only country I'd actually want to live in.

The United States was ranked in eighth place, after Canada and Japan, in the report that rates not only per-capita income but also educational levels, health care and life expectancy in measuring a nation's well-being.

Horse Feathers

Today was Melbourne Cup Day, that yearly event that stops the nation for a few minutes as everyone tunes in to the big race. The entire country stops while the horses run.

Personally, I don't see the big deal. But that's probably because I wasn't born here.

Everyone bets something, whether it's $1 in the office sweepstakes or the really big bets made by people in expensive suits at the race.

It's also an important fashion event, especially for the women who strut around in spring dresses and big hats. The latest fashion is to have a few feathers instead of a hat.


I always find it amusing to watch them walking to the races at the nearby racecourse with their high heels in their hands because nobody can walk in those shoes anyway.

Here are some New Zealanders at the race.

Bondi

You don't have to put on the blue light

Lately in Sydney the Electric Co. has been handing out free six-packs of energy efficient light bulbs. You can get them if you sign a form saying that you won't take more than one pack, and that you promise to install them in your home.
Like many people I happily took the freebie. I wanted to change the light bulbs in the dining room anyway because they were rather dim. But after about an hour with the weird bluish light of these new bulbs, I got hubby to switch back to the good old yellow ones. The blue tinted light is just weird, it messed with my eyes. I couldn't stand it.
We replaced the light outside on the porch, and also my bedside reading light, but that's it. The others we keep as spares.
Apparently we're not the only ones who didn't install them. And of course, there's quite a lot of politics and money involved in the whole story, and not just green concern for the environment.
When it comes to reducing carbon emissions and all that, I reckon the best bet is to invest in fusion technology. Australia missed the wagon but is now trying to jump back on, while France and Japan are firmly in the lead.
In the 19th century, people thought that cities reached their population limits because of the incontrollable amount of horse shit on the streets. Help eventually came in the form of the internal combustion engine. I think energy from fusion will one day--maybe in 50 years, maybe in 100--bring about a radical solution to our dependence on fossil fuels. I long for that day both for the political changes that it will bring, as well as the environmental.

Steve Irwin z"l

The man who was the face of Australia for most of the world has died.
He did so much for nature conservation and education. And he represented the "good old Aussie values".
It is indeed a cliche but he died doing what he loved most... and apparently he also died quickly and with little pain.
He left behind a wife and 2 children. His wife was climbing a mountain in Tasmania at the time of his death. I was quite shocked to read in the news reports that she had not been told yet, while all the news shows were running the story. I hope she was told by someone close and not by hearing the sad news on the radio.
Update: I just watched the opening of question time at the Parliament. Prime Minister Howard and Opposition Leader Beazly opened the session with moving words about Steve. John Howard had a close relationship with Steve and you could really feel his sense of grief. He was loved by all.

Baby Boom

The Australian government wants us Aussies to have more babies. At least three, in fact ("one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country"). Two years ago the government started paying new parents $3000 for every new little Aussie brought into the world. And it worked! People were cynical, and said that nobody would have a baby just for the $3000.... true, I don't think anyone did, but it sure helped them decide to have one when that was added to all the other reasons. In fact, more babies were born in Australia on July 1, 2004 than on any other day in the last three decades.

When the baby bonus policy was first announced, in the big-spending pre-election budget of 2004, the families minister at the time, senator Kay Patterson, was asked whether it would have been better to have announced and introduced the policy on the same day. She said: "Well, I don't believe mothers would put (their babies) at risk."

Yeah right!! Hardly any babies were born on June 30!
This year the baby bonus will be increased to $4000 and this time they are expecting another mini-boom.
I just hope the government is planning to increase the number of day care workers and centres because even now there is a 2-year waiting list for some of them, especially in Sydney.
I know what would make me keener to have another bub: better maternity leave benefits at work. The only reason I'm waiting with #2 is because if I wait a bit more, I'll get better benefits. I couldn't imagine having nothing more than 12 weeks off. What am I supposed to do, put a 12-week old baby in full time day care so I can keep my job? As it is, with the waiting lists I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted.
Having extra cash to help with the expenses involved in caring for a new baby is great. But I need more than that; I need to know that I'll be able to raise my kid and keep my job, if only part-time, until I'm ready to go back to full-time work.

From Darkness to Light

After 14 days trapped nearly a kilometer underground, the two Tasmanian miners have finally been rescued.
What an amazing story! I must say that when I first heard the news of the mine collapse two weeks ago, I had very little hope that they would be found alive, especially after the body of their colleague was found.
It's rare to hear any good news lately, but this is an amazing story and the whole of Australia were watching and hoping for the miner's return to safety.
I think that's a primal fear that all humans share; the fear of being buried alive, with no air, light, water, and not knowing if you will be found and rescued. I don't know how those guys survived for so long. I'm sure they will write a book about it and maybe a movie will be made? They deserve whatever the get in royalties!

Tim Tam

Ahh, Sunday afternoon and the boy is taking a nap.
A cold iced tea with fresh mint from the garden. Galgalatz on internet radio. A few minutes to relax and get ready for another week.
And here's a reason to celebrate: yesterday at the supermarket I picked up a pack of the new Tim Tam Latte.
Tim Tam is a yummy chocolate biscuit, with chocolate in the middle and on the outside. It's nice on its own, but if you want the true experience then you have to do the "Tim Tam Suck".
First you nibble a bit of one corner, then you nibble a bit of the opposite corner. Then you dip one of the nibbled corners into your hot drink (coffee, tea, whatever), suck on the other end until you feel the drink in your mouth, then in one quick deft move, you put the whole thing into your mouth.
The sensation of melting chocolate has been likened to a chocolate orgasm.
It's guaranteed to cheer you up if you are under the weather...
The original Tim Tam is with milk chocolate, but there are lots of variations. Double Coated is for people with acute depression I reckon. The other flavours are ok, but my favorite is Classic Dark.
Tonight I'll try the new Latte flavor and let you know the verdict.

A tale of three countries

Sunday morning, and it's my turn to sleep late but due to a 6:30 AM tantrum by my son I couldn't go back to sleep. So I sneaked into the office and now I'm enjoying some quiet time at the computer. Now, I didn't have any caffeine this morning so please take that into account.
We live a comfortable and good life here in Sydney, and still I find myself going over the same dilemmas every day it seems. Is this where I want to live in the long term? Is this where I want to raise my family?
I've lived in 3 countries and all three have a lot to offer. Let's start with where I am now, Australia.
I think that the thing that I like most about Australia is how 'normal' it is. It's a free country with an established democracy, a great economy, wonderful health care, good education. People spend a lot of time participating in, talking about, and watching sports. The people are relaxed and polite. On a personal level, I have a job that I actually enjoy (the first in my life!) with colleagues that I like working with. All in all, it's a great place to live.
So what's the problem? I guess it's more of a personal thing. Why are all my friends here Israeli? I can't seem to connect with Australians the way I do with Israelis. I have no problem with English, and I try to immerse myself in Aussie culture (I even tried to learn the rules of cricket, but I still only see a bunch of men standing around on the grass for 5 days, scratching themselves), but I still can't seem to connect on a deep, personal level.
In Israel I have friends I can call at any time and talk about anything with, even though I haven't been living there for 10 years. Here I just don't have that, and it's hard.
Now in Israel, there are numerous problems and a long list of things that make me cringe when I think of moving back. Terrorism doesn't scare me so much as such, but it's the secondary effects that are a daily problem: people are stressed and aggressive, they drive like maniacs, the economy has suffered immensely, there's not enough money or time to think about things like education or health care, because of the more immediate security issues.
On the other hand we have family there, and good friends, and that support network is missing from our lives now.
The third option is to move back to California. Life was good there for us, and there's a lot more money to be made than here. But that comes with a price: you have to work long and hard to get it. In Israel people also work an incredible amount of hours, but get a lot less in return. Australia certainly takes the lead when it comes to work-life balance.
The important question, and the reason why I am thinking about this so much in the last 2 years, is where do I want my son (and his future siblings) to grow up? I know that once he starts school, he won't remember any of the Hebrew he's learning now. I'm not religious, but it's hard for me to see him at the day-care centre end-of-year party, singing Christmas carols and getting a pressie from Santa Clause. I know that in Israel he would get the language and culture that I would rather have him know.
Oy.
There is no good answer. Having too many choices sure makes things difficult.

Go Australia

A few days ago I was listening to Question Time at the Parliament on radio (there was nothing better to listen to) and I was thinking to myself how proud I am to be an Australian and to have leaders that are mostly smart, speak to the point, are polite, and get things done. I can't help but compare this to the Israeli Knesset where the politicians are rude and loud. That's when they bother to show up of course.

And then the next morning I heard the news of the police raids that narrowly averted a catastrophic terror attack here in Sydney and in Melbourne. Australia is lucky to have such good leaders, who are not afraid to do the right thing in face of harsh criticism.

I must say I was saddened, but not surprised to hear that a major terror attack was planned. I know that it's not a matter of if, but when, it will happen. When we moved here 4 years ago I thought it was wonderful to be able to live in a country where I can ride the bus without worrying about it being blown to bits by a suicide bomber. Now I don't take that for granted any more. Rather I feel like I did when I lived in Israel during the late 90s, when buses were being blown up quite a lot. You go to work and live your life and deal with it.

I just hope Australia doesn't have to learn how to deal with it, and all planned attacks will end like this one did.

In other good news, the terrorist responsible for the two Bali bombings suffered spontaneous combustion.

Horsing Around

Last Tuesday was an important day in Australia, The Melbourne Cup -- the race that stops the nation. I decided to try to get into the spirit of things since I'm now a citizen. I tried hard, but found it difficult to get too excited about a bunch of horses. I don't think I'll ever reach the point where I'll wear an expensive dress, huge hat, and high heels to actually go to a race, however I did put $2 on a horse at the office sweepstakes. My horse came in last, which is good because there's a consolation prize. But he didn't actually make it across the finish line, being the only horse to not finish the race, so that according to the sweepstakes rules I didn't win anything. The damn horse should have been shot and dragged across the finish line. Oh well, I suspect it's at the glue factory by now.
Meanwhile, everyone loves the big winner (for the third time in a row!), Makybe Diva, (sounds a bit like Macabee) and some new parents have even named their daughters, born on Tuesday, Makybe. How awful is that, to be named after a horse.