Footy Premiership Game

Not much happened this week beyond the usual boring work, laundry, shopping stuff, we all have to do to live. The exception being this last Saturday was the championship game of Footy. Think of it as the superbowl of Australian Rules Football. Something like 14 of the 16 teams are from Victoria. So it’s HUGE here in Melbourne. All week long it’s all people talked about. There was office gambling (you know I got in on that!), debates over who will win, and even the Crown Casino had set up a big enclosed outdoor stage and large screen TV for it’s elite club members to watch the game in style from. I had to walk past it every day, twice. Saturday morning before the big game people we’re milling about getting ready for the game to start at 2:30. Someone in my building was decorating the door to their apartment with the team colours. Blue and white for the Geelong Wildcats. Yellow and Green for the Hawthorne Hawks. Geelong being the highly favoured team winning 52 of their 57 matches this year. I went to the gym that morning, before the game. While getting my cardio in, I noticed everyone walking into the grocery store below my gym was coming out with either ice, beer or both! Parties were set up all over the city. Every pub in town, house parties, and public open spaces all had gotten ready for the throngs of people. Plus the more than 1000,000 people crammed into the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, where the game took place. I missed the first half of the game but did make it to Federation Square (Pioneer Square of Melbourne) for the second half (4-20 minutes quarters). The place was packed. Surprisingly this square was an alcohol free zone, unless you were in one of the restaurants around the edge. Which were all gated off and I was told at capacity even though there was open seating and more room than in the courtyard area. Coke Zero sponsored the event so there was free soda, meat pies and merchandise for those interested. I walked around a little to get some pictures from different angles. Then settled into a nice spot along the wall in the shade. They only have SPF 30 sunscreen here and my SPF 50 is running low. I’ve loaded some pictures and videos for you to get the feel of the event. The event even came complete with fire works at 9pm. Which I watched from the balcony of the place I'm staying now.

I’m sure you’re all dying to know who actually won the game. Well, it was the Hawthorne Hawks, of Tasmania, beating the local favourites. The winning team came down to Feds Square after the game. (I was long gone) Then they went to the casino for a banquet dinner. Drunken people were everywhere that evening. Out of 20,000 cars (according to the news the next day) stopped and tested for DUI only 2 people where arrested. Melbourne and all of Australia are very conscientious about responsible drinking. So all the drunken people were walking about, riding the trains or trams, and using the thousands of cabbie here. So just strolling around that evening was very entertaining, from my sober perspective.
Well then next blog update I hope to do will be after I move into my new flat with Michael on the 8th of October.

I need to say HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY to Ed Sharick. His big day is October 7th.

PS please go to my websites if you can, I need some hits from within the states PLEASE.

http://www.shopcheaperhere.com/ , and http://www.koistores.com/

The final seconds of the footy match, I'm way up to the left in the photo above when I took this video, in the shade.

I have found a place to live

Friends,
Another week has passed in the land down under. The most exciting thing to happen to me was I have found a place to live!!! Michael and I move in to our new apartment on Wednesday October 8th.

The formal address is 7/109 Westbury St, St Kilda East, Victoria 3183.

7 is the apartment number, 109 is the street number, St Kilda East is the suburb and 3183 is the postal code. It’s located about 10 minutes by train to my office and the central business district. It is close to the beach. I spent most of Saturday wandering around the area just to get familiar with the shops and people. There are 4 $1 style stores, several pharmacies (Chemists), a Safeway and a Coles for groceries, several fresh butchers, fresh seafood shops, plenty of restaurants and bars for entertainment. Of course I found the liquor store too. One of the shops I found is this one pictured. Chickbits! they sell only chicken. Whole, raw, cooked or in bits what ever you want. Top quality stuff too! I assume. The sign made me laugh and I saw a big pile in parts of a chicken I haven't seen in a long time. So I was a little scared to go in the shop just yet.

Most districts here have a vibrant sidewalk seating area. Great for people watching and enjoying the fresh air. It’s about a 10 minute walk down to Luna Park and the beach. Luna Park is a small amusement park with an old wooden roller coaster and other kiddie style rides. It’s located right on the beach and in the more affluent district of St Kilda. I had dinner last night, in this area, with a new friend, Tony Wilson. We met on a gay apartment sharing website. It didn’t work that we should live together but he’s a nice guy and we’ve become friends. There was lots of stuff going on all around us. People, trains, cars, and a deafening sound of lorikeets in the palm trees. Not to mention the men strutting thier stuff. I'm sure there were girls too. But I didn't notice them.....People are very fashion and health conscious. So you can imagine everyone looks oh so pretty.

On another note I bought a bed this weekend. I found a wholesale furniture shop and found a nice mission style double bed with a pillow top mattress for a mere $620 AU ($515 US). I’ll be picking it up on the 8th when we have a rental van to move our stuff. Currently I’ve been sleeping on a futon in the shared place I have now. By the kindness of my new room mates, but it’s not very comfortable and I’m looking forward to something to call my own again.

Band practice went well they have a concert coming up on November 1st. There are 10 pieces the group is playing. I have hopes of learning 3. A piano Concerto by Stratochofsky. (or something like that) A piece I’ve heard many times called Typewriter, but I can’t place it. I think it’s from a musical? Then another piece called Misty that is very slow only 70 beats a minute. Some of the other selections are Peter and the Wolf, a swing song form the 1940’s called American Patrol, A Ray Charles piece and some others I can’t recall at the moment. Many of these other musical scores have several speed changes and intricate timing. So I’ll be happy if I can play the 3 easier ones I mentioned and pipe up for a few notes here and there. The MRB (Melbourne Rainbow Band) is planning a road trip to a town about 2.5 hours north of here to participate in a rural gay group event day in a few weeks. It’s a bus trip full of queens with a few wine shops on the way back. So it sounds like a fun day.

I have started back at the gym. 3 nights a week with weights and 30 minutes of cardio on a seated bike (so not to hurt my back too much). Then a long 8km walk on one weekend day is helping. I've lost the 4+ lbs (2 kilos) I gained since my back went out in March. On one of my walks I watch this tourist helicopter take off from it's perch on the Yarra river. It was neat to see it right in the middle of town. Leaving from a grassy area and going straight up with trains, buildings and people all around.

As part of my errands on the weekends, I noticed something several weeks ago I've been wanting to share with you. When you go into a store that has shopping carts they are all chained together. Which at first I just thought was a way to transport a group of them easily and some employee forgot to remove the chain. but when I tried to take a cart I couldn't disconnect the chain. Luckily some Australia noticed the dumb American was having trouble and filled me in on the proper way to dislodge a single cart from this long line of chained carts. You have to put a $1 coin into the slot and then you are able to removed the red keyed chained on the other side. You do get your dollar back when you return the cart to the line and place the key back in. It pushes your dollar back out and you take it and go home. Now it makes me wonder if I was homeless and really wanted a shopping cart to store my life's belongings in, a $1 is a deal! For some reason you don't see homeless people pushing around shopping carts.

I have started to plan a couple little excursions to national parks. Something I’ve wanted to do since arriving, but let’s face it finding a place to live was more important. So the first weekend in November! ( I know, November already! Yeah it’ll be warm here) is Melbourne Cup weekend. It’s a 4 day weekend for a big horse race where the locals dress up in their Sunday best and get drunk at the track. I plan to leave the city and take a loop trip in south western Victoria going to the famed PORTLAND Victoria at the end of the Great Ocean Drive and then heading north to the Grampians Nation Park. This is only a 3 hour drive from the city. So in 4 days I should have plenty of time to see the country side. I’ll pack my camping gear and my sax and hit the road. I have another more exciting trip planned for the 2 week Christmas break, it requires a 4x4 and a ferry trip, but you’ll have to read future blogs to see what that’s all about.

Until next time friends.....

PS: Happy 40th!!!! Birthday on the 23rd for Melissa Adams and Happy 15th Birthday for my niece Erica on the 22rd.

The apartment search goes on.....and on and on.....

Friends,

It's been a week or so since I updated the blog. Life has been full of little episodes. for example, Sprint billing me for another month's phone charge of $80, back in Portland. When I put the account on hold and should have only been billed $12. Or URS saying they wouldn't extend my stay at the hotel and having 4 days to find some other living arrangements, unless I want to pay the $160 (AU dollars) a night. Little things that suck at first, then a few hours later they're solved. But some episodes don't solve so easily. Try paying a US credit card with Australian money. Now that's a true pain in the ass! (It can't be done on line) This obstacle has taken many many phone calls to Bank of America, Chase Platinum and ANZ (my bank here) with the best solution, so far, being to mail a check to Phyllis and having her deposit it in my checking account in Portland. Paying a 3% international exchange fee and losing 20% since the Australian dollar is now only at 80 cents to the American dollar. Which reminds me I need to give Phyllis HUGE HUGE THANKS! with out her helping me from Portland all of these trials would have been astronomically huge pain in the ass! So THANK YOU Phyllis! You are a life saver and I owe you big time for all your help!

Otherwise life has been good. I spend my days doing the same things you do. Going to work, running errands, hitting the gym, taking long walks around huge parks in the city and playing my sax with the Melbourne Rainbow Band (which I'm really enjoying. We have a band camping coming up and a recital on November 1st) OK maybe a few of them you don't get to do. But that's what make each of our lives unique.

Now back to the topic that titles this blog...... Apartment Hunting!

Micheal (my hopefully, new room mate at some point) and I have spent the last several Saturdays and one evening a week going to viewings, inspections as they're called here, of apartments. It's kind of like Russian roulette. Some times you hope the gun doesn't have a bullet, some times you just pray it does so it'll all be over! There are typically 10 to 20 and once for a not so stunning apartment there must have been 40 people waiting for the rental agent to arrive for an apartment that's only open for 15 minutes. A 2 bedroom, 1 bath, where the kitchen and living room are in the same room goes for about $1400 to $1600 a month. Now there are cheaper ones, but it's a building that's 50 to 70 years old and the fixtures are too, or so tiny it's more like a dog house, or on a street so busy you can't hear yourself think, or in an area that has no public transit.

In defense of Melbourne's rental scene. Michael and I have been fairly selective. We don't want an apartment on the 3rd floor. They don't have lifts (elevators) and I'm not hoofing my crap up several flights of stairs every time I come home. Most places don't have air conditioning either and since it's already 70 degrees during the day. We are still technically in winter. I don't want to think of living on the 3rd floor or higher. We want a place with a balcony so we can go outside for fresh air. We want a place with a dishwasher and a washing machine. (dryers are uncommon, because let's face it Australia is a big desert), a place that has some class (because let's face it we're not 21 and we are gay!). 3 weeks ago we found a place put in an application on Monday morning. Tuesday we were told we had the place. Wednesday we were told someone else had the place and on Saturday we looked at the same apartment again. Only for it to be given to someone else. The next week we applied for a place that was over $1600 a month, were told we had it on Tuesday. I liked it more than Michael, but we decided we both had to want it. Besides it was too far from public transit and too expensive so we turned it down. Now in hind sight that place is looking good. Which brings us to this last weekend. We found the perfect apartment. The right location, a classy place, a great balcony overlooking a decent street, for $1550 a month. So on Monday we put in our application. Tuesday we were told another person was willing to pay $1575 a month. We said we'd pay $1580 a month. Only for us to be told we weren't selected.

That's the point at which URS said, oh no buddy, we're not paying the bill after your 1 month is up. Which started this weeks frantic search for some place to live. What I have come up with is a place for $220 a week. Where I can stay until October 6th, maybe the 7th, without signing a lease. Not a bad place. it's on the 20th floor of a 21 story high rise about 4 blocks from were I am now and at the west end of the casino. (I live and work at the east end of the casino) Now here's the catch. It's a 3 bedroom place with a Indian couple and a Canadian couple, that's maybe 800 square feet total. I get to share a bathroom with the Canadians and a used futon to sleep on. While it's not my ideal arrangement it is better than the back packer hostels, the office or paying the bill at my current location. So I'm going to make lemonade out of my lemons and play my sax in forte. Forte is either Italian or French, sorry Meg (my Portland instructor) I don't remember, for really loud! Michael and I are heading out again tomorrow to look at more places and hopefully find the one. I don't want to do this temporary thing again so we might have to settle a little more than we'd hoped.

At my new temporary place I'm not sure if I'll have an Internet connection and for now I'd rather not be updating my blog at the office. I'm fairly busy at work and by the time 5pm comes along, I'm ready to go. My friends back at URS Portland know me well and my true nature is starting to come out (that's a joke, I'm coming out! I want the world to know! You've got to let it show!) a little more. I'm starting to lose my political correctness. It might have come when my boss told me I was doing a great job and I was exceeding his expectations. So I think that allowed me to let guard down a little bit more. I hope to keep updating this once a week and will do my best. For now take care my friends, know that I am well and want you all to come visit!

Brian

Eureka Tower and Queen Vistoria Market

As promised from Thursday's blog, entitled "I finally got a digital camera".




Friday evening I walked around the city at night taking some pictures. Melbourne is lit up in many different ways and colors. It's a very beautiful city at night. So here are some of those pictures.


This first picture is of the spire towering over the art museum. This is just 1 block from the company apartment and cycles through colors and display patterns. It has a blanket of lights that canopies over the building itself before rising several 100 feet into the air. As with most museums there are some standard exhibits and rotating special features. On Sundays the covered walkway around the museum host a hand made crafts fair. Much like Saturday Market in Portland. I found this little shopping gem on Sunday morning while out on a exploring adventure. It looks like a great place to get some fabulous gifts for the coming holiday season.


The next photo is of one of the 3 Ferris wheels in town. This is the middle sized one and is visible from the many bridges crossing the Yarra river. It too has an array of colors and patterns to light up the night. My favorite is this pinwheel like pattern that crosses the rainbow of colors as it shoots out from the center. The shot I have posted captures a beautiful reflection in the river.












The next picture is of this mural projected onto the side of a stainless steel building in Federation Square. (The Pioneer square of Melbourne) This is the first time I noticed it. So I don't know if the image changes or not. The lights you can see illuminated at different angles are scrolling text messages promoting different things happening in the square. It kind of draws you into reading them. I found myself tilting my head at weird angles to try and read them better. There's also a large movie screen in Fed's Square that is always on, as far as I can tell. It was showing the Olympics for a while but now always seems to be showing "Footy". A sport that is a cross between soccer and rugby. I'm still trying to figure out the rules. But the HOT men in skimpy (NO padding) outfits keep distracting me.







In the last blog I posted a picture of the building housing Flinders Train Station. Here it is at night from a different angle.


On Saturday I looked a some more apartments in the morning. Then needed to pick up some groceries and took the tram up to Queen Victoria Market. I have mentioned this place before and it was the perfect opportunity to get some pictures to show you my shopping experience.


The first photo is of the produce area. it's probably at least an acre in size. With everything you can think of , passion fruit and broccoli, to somethings I don't know the names. There's a lot of the sames things from multiple vendors. I'm finding it's helpful to walk around first and check out the prices. I found red peppers for $6 each at one booth and $4 each at another. It's also my preference to go to the stands that allow me to pick the actual items. If it's a booth that is crammed in and you can't reach the item you want. The vendors end of handing you a crappy item that is on it's way out just to move the goods.




Then there's a indoor deli section. This part has lots of of choices on things I have never seen. Like a marinated figs stuffed with marscapone cheese or chili marinated smoke mussels and more varieties of dip, hummus, and stuffed olives than you can sample in a life time. I have been picking up small bit of as many things as I can, just to try every thing. The chili smoked mussels aren't that bad. I bought one of the figs but haven't tried it yet. Again here there's a variety in quality too. The chili marinated kalmata olives I got last week are better than the ones I got this week. But I'll be damned if I can remember which booth I got it at! There's also bread and pastry bakers here and some hot food vendors selling meet pies and more things I couldn't name, but I keep trying the booths with big lines. I figure the local must know something I don't and I have yet to be disappointed.




Now I've moved on to the fresh seafood area. I haven't bought anything from this section yet. But plan to once I have my own space and can try out some new recipes. As you can imagine seafood is expensive and I just don't want to spend the money when I'm just cooking for myself and there are so many other things to try. But I have included a couple pictures so you get the idea. First is some GIANT lobsters that go for $60 a kilo (2.2 pounds), Or whole fish. I'm not so butch that I want my dinner staring back at me. Let's not forget the raw squid either.

Last but certainly not least of the Queen Victoria Market is the meat section. This area, like all the others, is full of vendors trying to sell you their goods and promoting them over the person selling the same thing 10' away. I have posted a video instead, because pictures just won't do it justice. Now this is at the end of the market day (about 2pm, they open at sunrise) and there's only about 30% of the people here that are shopping in the morning. I've learned to come later. Prices get cheaper to move goods before closing and there are just fewer people to have to maneuver around.

Saturday evening I went out and met some new friends at a bar called "The Sircut" It was some special event commemorating the gay liberation movement here in Australia. Back in the 70's the police raided a gay bar arresting its patrons. This solidified the community and started most of the civil right movements here today, much like Stonewall did for the movement in the states. So anyway this bar charged a $30 cover to get in and it was supposed to be some special who ha event. I did meet with some new friends from the Melbourne Rainbow band and had a good time. but it certainly wasn't anything different then last weekend and not worth paying the cover to just get in the bar. Lesson learn, skip that event next year.

Sunday morning I slept in and then went over to the famed Eureka tower to capture the view of Melbourne. The first shot is looking east toward the area that houses all of the large sports areas. The big oval in the middle is the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. A stadium that seats 100,000 fans. You can get a good idea on how large the city is. In the fore ground of the picture is one of the many parks. It contains several statues and monuments to Australia's political figures and it's war heroes. It also has the Royal Botanical Gardens. The circumference of the park is more than 4 kilometers. I know because there is a walking trail around it that I did today. Things are just starting to sprout here. Some of the trees have buds and the early ones are starting to flower. I'm looking forward to spring and watching the foliage come to life.

I have a few more pictures but I've taken so long type up this blog that my digital camera's battery just died and I don't have the power cable with me so. They'll have to wait. Besides it's now 6pm on Sunday evening. I'm going to go up stairs make some dinner and watch a movie. Tomorrow is Monday and even though it's a national holiday in the states. It's not one here and I have to work. Take care all my friends! I'll type something new some time soon.

I finally got a digital camera

I know I haven't made a post in 9 days, but I wanted to wait until I got a digital camera. I bought one yesterday and took some pictures today.

Work has been very busy! There's a lot to do here. They have 6 full time CAD staff (plus me). They work in Microstation and AutoCAD and the people I supervise are from all of the world. Russia, Italy, China, America and 2 Australians. So there's a lot of different perspectives and accents. All of these foreigners, like myself, are 1st generation transfers and on visa. 1 year ago the CAD staff was only 2 people. So there's been a lot of growth. These guys are all good people .(although the other American is kind of a egotistical biker dude and one of the Australians reminds me of a cross between the "Family Guy" dad and Archie Bunker) . The group has done their best with no real CAD leadership and they have some good procedures in place but a lot of inconsistency in following them. Needless to say things are a disorganized mess at best! I think the office will soon find out I'm only diplomatic and politically correct for so long. Here's a picture of my cubical (step down from the nice window office I had in Portland).


Life in Melbourne is good. I have found a band to play with. It's the Melbourne Rainbow Band. Made up of about 40+ members .With all kinds of instruments, (Sorry Omar, no accordions) There are 5 saxophonist including me. They meet every Thursday. I've only gone once so far, but plan on going again tomorrow night. Last week I was only able to follow along reading the music as they played and occasionally chime in with a stray note. I had 2 very good alto sax players on either side of me, Adrian and Bob. At one single moment they both played an F when an F sharp was written and I played it right! It was totally AWESOME! I learned a lot just by sitting there and listening to them. (Meg, you'd be proud) They're practicing for a early November concert, with pieces from Phantom of the Opera and a Glen Miller swing band song. Far beyond my current skill level. So following along with the music and hitting a stray note isn't bad for me.

My weekend was spent looking at apartments mostly. I have found a person, Michael Richards, (No not the bartender at the Cove, but the same name). That I think I could live with. He's gay in his mid 40's and a Physic nurse at a local HIV Clinic. I'll post a picture when I can. I've decided to find a place together with him instead of moving into someone else's place. It will probably be in St Kilda (south of downtown). We're looking at more apartments this weekend. Apartments here in town are hard to come by. When we looked last weekend there were 5 or 6 other groups of people in each flat. Most are only being shown for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. (customer service, in any field, here is NOT what it's like in the states, no one basically gives a shit!) So the consumer does all the leg work and beg and pleads for some help!



I did have dinner with Giacomo, friend I met on line before moving, Friday night. He's Italian, only been in town 6 months and a pastry chef at one of the bakeries. A really nice guy that reminds me a lot of my old friend, Sven Gomez, (for those that remember him). We had dinner at a Thai place then went for Italian hot chocolates. Think melted chocolate in a glass, FABULOUS! A place called Burnetti's where he used to work. He then took me to "The Sircut" a ALL male gay bar. I had a good time when I was with Giacomo, but I did feel a little out of place. Maybe it's because in Portland I knew everyone and the scene very well. Giacomo introduced me to a few of his friends and those people made me feel welcome. After he went home I felt more out of place, I finished my drink and headed home.


Saturday night another on line friend. Brian (we could be brothers we look so much a like) took me to a bear function at "The Laird". Again all nice guys and I was more relaxed there. I met up with Melanie and Darrin about 10pm for a few drinks and then headed back to "The Sircut" around 1 am, which I found out doesn't close until 9am! The Sircut has a cruising area upstairs and it's more like club Portland than a bar, enough said, Mom is reading this!


Sunday was spent looking at more apartments, shopping at the market and catching up on household chores. (Boy, do I miss Michelle! doing the laundry myself SUCKS! I don't think I every thanked her enough. So THANK YOU MICHELLE!!!!)


I'm really getting used to the city and am able to find most of the services I need now. I have a good understanding of which train I need to be on and how to function on public transit. (My PDX coworkers are thinking.... You better! you spent the last 15 years working on public transit projects!). The city itself lies on the Yarra river. The picture to the left is a pedestrian bridge, named Sandbirdge. It links the south side of the river, where my office is, to Flinders Street Station, a major transit train station with 14 platforms.



Which is housed in the basement levels of this beautiful old building. The building 3 full city blocks by 1 city block in the photo to the right. It's a major hub of the city's transit system and thousands upon thousands of people flow through this spot every day.



The next picture is of the 92 story apartment building, Eureka Tower. It's the tallest building in Melbourne and touted at the tallest apartment building in the world. (Jan Newton, might be able to contradict that with some new building in the UAE) I mentioned this place before I left Portland. It's located between my office building and my current apartment building. I have not been up to the 88th floor observation deck yet. But hope to this weekend now that I have a camera. It's supposed to be around 70 degrees (19 Celsius) and sunny, not bad for the middle of winter! Everyone says spring starts on September 1st. (we all know the equinox is on September 21st) Not bad since in Portland spring starts around May 1st! about 5 weeks after the equinox!

Well friends I think that's enough for tonight. I have another big day at work tomorrow and my plans for the week are more mundane things. I hope you've enjoyed by thoughts and ramblings. I miss you all greatly and wish I could hear your voices. Have a great weekend and I'll try to post again next week. Brian

Week 1

Well friends and family,

I have been here 1 week now. A lot has happened, mostly mundane stuff , but I've learned something everyday. I'm sorry but I still don't have a camera. Hopefully this weekend I'll get one. Then you'll be seeing a little of what I see.

I told you about my adventures on Wednesday in the last blog. Thursday was spent pretty much the same wandering around trying to get familiar with the city. This time heading north of the CBD (Central Business District). I did try to get a cell phone but without a permanent address it's not possible. So I decided to get a bank account set up instead and was successful at doing that.

Friday, I stayed a little closer to home and attended, the first of many to come, happy hour sessions that take place in the main lunch room of my new office. I met a number of people and had a beer (I know, I drank beer, but when in Rome...) After that I headed to a bar, Transport, just across the river to meet with Luke Olson's sister in law Melanie Smart and her boyfriend Darrin. They are very nice and have made me feel quite welcome in a short period of time. Melanie had just gotten a new mobile and gave me her old one which has been very helpful. My mobile number is (61).04.3139.7120. Melanie and Darrin had a big day plan for Saturday so the evening ended early around 9pm. My plan was to hit some gay bars... but plans change quickly sometimes. As I headed out of the bar it was raining and cold maybe 48 degrees. not really knowing which tram to get on or how late they run I decided to hit the casino instead of the gay bars. This proved interesting. They do have slots (or as they're called here Pokies) but it's not like what we're used to. They're all 5 column style with pretty crappy payouts. No video poker at all. The table games are more computerized than what I'm used to. Roulette and blackjack have monitors where each player makes their own choices and the dealer stands in the middle hitting buttons for the next play. They also have more traditional tables too. but the rules are all slightly different. I dropped $50 bucks and went home.

Saturday, I went to the largest market in Melbourne. The Queen Victoria Market (Vic Market for short) This place is AWESOME! I'm going to get pictures and post them to you can really get the feel. But suffice to say it takes every farmers market, butcher, deli seafood and wine shop you can imagine. Then throw in some crap tourist shops for t-shirts, kids toys and cheap leather goods plus some good quality shoes and jewelry stands and other clothes. All in one place. It's crowded, noise full of strange aromas and exciting things I just must try. Prices vary greatly from one stand to another and some don't list any prices at all so it's best to shop around. I wandered around this place for almost 3 hours. Buying little bits of this and that and sampling as many things as I could. It was very cool! There's are 5 or 6 of these types of markets around town all with their own style. Most are open 5 days a week But none are open on Wednesdays and they all seem to close by 3 pm. Like I said you'll have to see it to believe it.

Sunday, Melanie and Darrin took me out with them on a Scuba diving trip they had planned. We went to a town way at the end of the peninsula called Portsea. It's cute little town with not much besides the dive shop, a pub and a general store. I spent the day wandering the beach, of course playing the sax and catching up on some reading.It was nice, quiet and very relaxing way to spend me last day before starting work.

Monday morning came along and I had to get back to work. The day wasn't too eventful. Lots of forms and small talk with new coworkers. I did start to get a handle on the needs of this group. But it's going to take time to fully understand the needs. I left the office around 6pm and headed home for a quiet evening.

Tuesday and today (Wednesday) were just full of work. I found out today I get to do the employee reviews of my 6 staff. YEAH! They're due at the end of August and I've been here 3 days. So we'll focus on the future and wing it!

The bars here are really different. Drinks are expensive like $6 to $10 EACH! They only have about 1/2 of a shot glass of booze! My liver is definitely drying out. I can't afford to get drunk here! I can barely afford to get buzzed! Thank god I bought my limit of duty free booze on the way in to AU. Last night I did go to one of the gay bars. I had 3 drinks in about and hour and barely caught a buzz. Then headed home around 9pm. They really restrict alcohol consumption! I've heard about what my friend Jan Newton is going through in the United Arab Emirates. Where you have to have a passport like book and all your booze purchases get logged and reported to the government. I don't like it this way but it's better than there! I only have found 1 gay bar open on a Tuesday night out of maybe 10. All are closed on Mondays. Most don't open until between 5pm and 10pm either. But some stay open until 9am or later on the weekends.

Boy, do I miss drinking with all of my Portland friends or just going to Starky's and have a few stiff ones and some dinner for $25 bucks! Anyway HUMP day is over and I need to go home and practice the sax and sew a button on my dress pants (you don't want that story!).

Take care I miss you all!!

Once again I'd like to thank everyone that was able to come to the airport and see me off. It really meant a lot to me. When I made my last posting I didn't have any pictures from that day. So I have posted a few below.

my last days in Portland....

Friends,

Before I start telling you about my new adventures down under. I have to tell you about how those final days were in Portland.

Thursday night before I left Omar, Dale, John B, Seth and I hit the Ambassador on Sandy Blvd. for one last night of binge drinking and karaoke! As you can imagine we had a great time and got way too drunk! To the right is Dale, Me, Seth, (Seth's room mate, sorry but I've forgotten his name), and John. Singing that famous Men at Work song "I come from a land down under"! Omar was running late and glad he missed this one.


Omar and I had our chance to belt one out together. But for the life of me, right now I can't remember what song we sang. Like I said, we got pretty drunk. Some other songs that made it to the stage where me doing a solo of Bob Seger's "Against the Wind" and a big group rendition of John Denver's "Take me home country road" was done by all the guys. With Angie and Heather laughing their asses off! Luckily we had the smaller back room to ourselves so the crowds in the front room had no idea of the awesome performance taking place in the back!








Omar and I managed to make it into the office by 10am on Friday. I'm pretty sure I was still drunk. Some power drink thing Omar gave me at 3am helped me not have a hang over. Which would have been a huge without it. So THANKS OMAR!



Friday evening it all started over again at the Mandarin Cove. My last, of many, going away parties. I went in saying to myself I wasn't getting drunk. Hell, I still could feel the vodka running through my veins from the last night. But I couldn't disappoint my fans (oh I mean friends). About 20+ people showed up to wish me well. Emily Moshofsky even came and didn't drink at all now that she's preggo! and due in January (Sorry, Emily you know I had to blab that one somehow). Jamie and Alan, Michelle and Rob, Ed Alcantar, Roger, Luke, Phyllis, Ruth, Bob Post and many more showed me how much I'll be missed. There was no camera at this event so you have been spared a few pics.



Saturday before the flight was spent hanging out with some fabulous friends Roger Vines. Who I met 15 years ago when I first moved to Portland and then Leslie Jones, The twin sister separated at birth I met at the Mandarin Cove bar. We did our usual (NO BOOZE AT THIS EVENT thank god!) gossiped about our lives, our dreams and our men.




Sunday, I spent the day doing something I LOVE with some people I LOVE just as much. Ed Sharick and Corina Aspaas! We did a hike on Mount Hood to Tamanawas Falls. This was another hike in the 100 best hikes book that is so popular in Portland. It was a beautiful day and we did everything we would have traditionally done! Stopped at Jack in the Box on the way out of town for breakfast, smoked too much, hiked a beautiful hike, and hit Paola's in Sandy on the way back for drinks, video poker and a huge amount of carbs. Just as we had done a 100 times before.




That's me standing at the base of the 100'+ Tamanawas Falls. The spray was all around me and the sun was out making it an awe inspiring final day in Oregon, a place I have grow to love very much. There's nothing like the Pacific Northwest. So for those that haven't seen it yet. You have to put it on your must do before you die list. I spent 16 years there going every where from the Redwoods of Northern California to Vancouver BC and at every turn there is more beauty than I have found anywhere else!


Sunday evening came and it was time to actually start packing my stuff for the plane. Thanks to Michelle's superb packing skills I managed to fit 150+lbs of stuff into 3 suitcases. Monday morning I had to run some final errands. I got my driver's license renewed and dealt with Sprint about getting my phone shut off. Sprint was a huge pain in the ASS! Way worse than DMV! I'll never go back to them. Then I let go of the anger and had lunch with the girls from the office, (Phyllis, Robin E, Jennifer, and Tara (so sorry I forgot to add you. Tara, when I first posted this.Please let me blame it on the jet lag!)) and my roomy Michelle, one last time at Gandhi's. Some good Indian food we used to go to all the time. After lunch it was off to the airport for more drinking and some tears. Robin M, Ed, Corina, Ken, Michelle, Aaron, Dale, Phyllis all came to send me off. Several others tried but weren't able to make it. The highlight of the event was that Ed brought this cute card with very colorful birds on it and everyone signed their drag names. Which is the first pet you remember and the first street you lived on. So mine is Checkers Turnpike! We did take pictures but I haven't gotten a copy yet. Look for them in my next blog. At 4:15 I had to get to the gate. My flight was leaving at 5pm. We walked out of the bar and thanks to Ed the tears started to flow. I hugged everyone and held on as long as I could and looked back from the security line waving to all my friends and trying not to cry again. It's not pretty when I guy my size is bawling his eyes out in the security line at the airport.


My first flight to LAX was good. It seemed to go by very quickly. I had to go from the domestic terminal to the international terminal which can be quite the walk at LAX. I had a 4 hour layover so in the open, smog filled air of the airport I broke out my sax and jammed! It was GREAT!!! Bringing me some inner peace I didn't realize I needed! It also netted my first paycheck as a professional musician! 75 cents!













In true LA fashion I couldn't find a person nice enough to take my picture. So I did it at arms length. The guy that threw me the money was gone too fast for me to ask him. After that I found my way through security and to gate 120. Then right to a bar (who'da figured!) I had 2.5 more hours to kill and a wanted a buzz to go with the pain killers I was going to take to sleep on the plane. So I had some crappy sandwich for dinner and 4 vodka's on the rocks, Met a very nice lady, Toby, that was going to Perth to live as a nanny and watched the Olympics. The flight it self wasn't bad at all! I watch the movie 21 (blackjack in Vegas movie) and then fell asleep. My planned worked because much to my amazement I slept for about 5 hours! without my CPAP! The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful Watched another movie, Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. Is no Christian Bale! Played some video games and read my Melbourne travel books.

The flight landed pretty much on time at 8am Wednesday morning and a coworker, Emilio Depaulis, picked me up. He took me to the apartment, which is right near the office. If you want to call the direct number to my room is 61.03.9694.5631. but please remember I'm 17 hours ahead of the west coast. Yesterday, I walked around trying to get familiar with the Prahran (pur ran) neighborhood. Picked up some groceries and got a massage. I made myself some dinner, ate Tim Tams and was in bed by 6:30. Now it's 4:30am and I've been up since 2:30 replying to emails and typing up this blog. Today's task is to try and get a Iphone so I can take some pictures and post them here. I also have to run to the office and meet the HR person, Patricia Lynch.

Melbourne is a beautiful city there are palm trees, subway, 7-11 and Parson Brinkerhoff (URS main competition) It's the middle of winter which means a light sweater. but no gloves, hat, parka like the people here are wearing. I want to save more of my travels for the next blog when I can post pictures too. So that's all for now.

I miss you all very much!

Brian

PS: please go to my website when you can (see past blog "the boxes are gone", is the one that has the links, I think) Shopcheaperhere.com one is bringing the most $ so please do that one if you can.