Wildlife

Someone recently commented on Australian wildlife - teasing me with memories of home. :P ;)

Just to annoy you further, did I mention about the huge flock of lorikeets that reside in the car park trees?

Well, I think it's time to describe some of the Canadian wildlife. The first, of course, is the squirrel. It has the most amazing wave motion as it hops over the ground. Its long tail follows exactly the path of its body, but just a bit later.

The next is the raccoon. About the size of a large possum, and much the same appetite. They'll dig into your garbage, though they're a bit more aggressive than your average Australian animal. Consider them a cross between a large possum and a Tasmanian devil.

The last that I've seen is the skunk. One lives across the road from my apartment. You can smell him a couple of times a week on the walk home from work. The smell isn't too offensive, but you certainly don't want it in concentrated doses. The one thing I like about the skunk is the cool "gangster" walk that says "don't mess with me". :)

I haven't mentioned birds here because there really isn't that much to say. The seagulls are twice the size of Australian seagulls, but there doesn't seem to be the variety found in Australia. Nothing like the cockatoos or the galahs or the kingfishers.

That's all I've really seen. Until I find a moose. :D

Physio Report

So I went to the physio yesterday. She was so happy to see my chart of all my problems, especially the exercise descriptions.

You've been listening!
Yeah, but doesn't mean I've been doing them.

One thing I was apparently missing was my pelvic torsion. Who knew that, with enough weakening of your core muscles, your left and right pelvis would rotate in different directions? Or that each week it would vary as to which side was more forward rotated?

I've been given exercises to do on my gym ball. I now have a place to start, and that feels good. I always liked rolling around on the ball too. "Superman" exercises again!

Manual Automation

I used to believe that the TV held miniature men who performed lots of different plays. Seems someone still has that idea for website design:

Normal access times for this site are Monday-Saturday 6:00AM-11:30PM Eastern Time. Sunday is reserved occasionally for system maintenance and technical upgrades.

The miniature men need their rest.

Macca's Demolition

The Sydney Morning Herald just reported that a truck ran into the McDonalds near my old place in Fairy Meadow.

Ten people have been taken to Wollongong Hospital after a truck crashed into a number of parked cars outside a fast food restaurant.
NSW Police said a table-top truck carrying scaffolding was travelling east down Mt Ousley Road in Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, about 12.30pm (AEDT) when it went through an intersection and crashed into cars parked outside the restaurant.
According to a McDonald's spokeswoman, Sarah Gibbons, the truck ran into a parked car in the McDonald's parking lot
``Then the truck sort of went through the McCafe then through the drive through, and then the load came off and fell onto a car in drive through.''

That could've been me!

Thomas Flanagan

I just had dinner with Thomas Flanagan, a drunk Irish homeless man. The accent was very difficult to work through, all things considered. I initially thought he was Russian.

He served in the war and, like his Hungarian friend, suffered under the communists. He's scared about the North Koreans, and fears for his son in Japan, though his two daughters should be OK. He promised to pay me back the money that I gave him, but I said it was OK. He gave me his number just in case, and its sitting here in front of me, scribbled on a torn-off piece of Filet-o-Fish box.

Hope he does OK.

Envy

OK, I'm officially envious. Or jealous. Whichever.

A good friend of mine is currently working in Port Macquarie. She just sent me a postcard, and here is the worst bit:

I've been to the lighthouse, the beaches and the riverside. Went to one of the weekend markets. Went to SeaAcres Rainforst Reserve. There's a koala hospital here - haven't been there yet. Saw wild kangaroos along the road outside where I work. I've got kookaburras outside my window for my alarm clock. Enjoy your winter.

I swear, there's me and a dozen Canadians ready to pack up and come down there right bloody now. :P

Sick Of My Joints

Left work a little bit earlier today because of back pain. Just as I was leaving, I turned, my right leg swung outwards, and I heard two popping noises. That was my right knee subluxing - bending to the left/right instead of the usual front/back.

Went and bought myself a pair of better knee braces. Getting sick of this.

More Therapy

I've yet another appointment with the physiotherapist on Wednesday morning. Back is slowly getting better, I have less occurences of knee pain, and my shoulders are OK (though still not quite right). I took the time out to construct a little diagram showing where all my problems are, and the current solutions. Will take it with me to the physio to check I've understood everything.

End-of-year Lunch

We just had our "end-of-year lunch" for the company. We're a non-denomenational organisation, so it's not related to any upcoming conspicuously large holidays for dominant religions. ;)

I have to say this: we went to a very classy restaurant, the food was delicious... but this was never going to make the lunch special to me. The people did. I've never imagined a corporate lunch that was so full of laughing and stories and no awkwardness. It was just damned nice to sit around. Feel happy at this company, with these people.

Lights, Camera, Blog

It's getting close to Christmas, and I some people in neighbouring buildings with Christmas lights setup. Even our foyer has them set up. I figured it might be time to set some up myself, so wandered over to our "dollar" store and picked up these lights for $22. Not bad. I can hopefully leave them up and they can double as cobwebs for next Halloween.

Now let's hope I don't get grinched. :D

Update: I didn't get grinched! Actually, she was quite eager to have the decorations up. Now I need to find an automatic power on/off adapter as (stupidly enough) I actually won't be here for Christmas.

Returning Gifts

When I came back from Australia, I brought a host of souvenirs. Part of that was an army of small koalas holding Australian flags. One of these was given to each of the people in the office. Of these, one found its way to a young daughter of one of our employees. Over the past few months I've been told stories of just how well she's kept it, including making a small home and bed for it to be comfortable.

Then when I came to work today I received this - a gift from her to say thank you for the koala. I can honestly say I've never felt so touched. This young girl I've never met liked the koala so much she handmade a card for me. And I get chocolates!

I'll have to return the gesture in style. I'm thinking a boomerang is suitable for a returning gift. The card is going up on my fridge to stay. I don't know why, but it feels special to me. :)

My Pay Pal

Here's a challenge for you. Move country, and try to use your new credit card with Paypal. Oops, you can only have credit cards from one country. You have to close the PayPal account and reopen. Fair enough, except Paypal keeps noticing that you used an Australian credit card once, and so keeps identifying you as an Australian. Time to call the help desk:

Paypal: Can I have your phone number please?
Me: [gives phone number]
Paypal: Um, that doesn't seem to be working.
Me: I don't have a Paypal account. I'm trying to open a new one.
Paypal: OK, can you give me your email address?
Me: Sure. peter dot a dot harvey at gmail dot com.
Paypal: Uh, can you spell that for me?
Me: Sure. peter p e t e r dot a dot -
Paypal: p a t a r dot i dot -
Me: No no. p e for elephant t for terry e for elephant r for rhinocerous.
Paypal: b e t e r dot -
Me: No no. p!
Paypal: Oh, like p for peter?
Me: .... Yes, p for peter. That is the first word.
Paypal: OK.
Me: Then its dot a dot -
Paypal: Can you spell that please?
Me: ... It's the letter a, just under the letter q!
Paypal: I ... q ? (OH THE IRONY!)

After all this I found out an interesting nugget of information:

Paypal: We cannot reopen as there is a transaction with a different name.
Me: Sorry?
Paypal: There is a transaction with a name that is not yours.
Me: And?
Paypal: We cannot verify that you are that person.
Me: But I closed the account!
Paypal: This is not an account. This is a single transaction.
Me: So someone made a transaction using my email address?
Paypal: Yes. And I am not allowed to tell you their name.
Me: And I cannot tell you their name, and so cannot open my account?
Paypal: Yes.
Me: Is it [name of ex]?
Paypal: No. The surname is correct though.
Me: ... Is it [alternative name of ex]?
Paypal: No.
Me: ... Is it [name of cousin of ex]?
Paypal: No. But I can tell you the transactions if it would help.
Me: ... Go ahead.

Got it mostly sorted in the end. Apparently all 3 accounts are now closed, and I'll try opening a Canadian account later today.

Warm Break

I went outside this morning; nice sunny day, good opportunity for a swim at the local pool. I was seriously walking down the street thinking "nice warm break in the weather".

Then my inner Australian kicked back in. What was I thinking? It's 2C! There's still snow everywhere. I'm wearing 4 layers of clothing. It's "warm" only because I don't need the scarf, gloves, beanie and extra jacket like yesterday.

Still went to the pool though. It's indoors and heated. All of $2 to get in! Brilliant! :)