Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Middle-Aged Man

Yay! We have internet at home! It took several phone calls and a lot of patience, but Telstra finally got our ADSL working this afternoon. I promptly connected our Airport wireless network and Vonage, and both are working fine. That means our U.S. friends can start expecting phone calls very soon, and you can even call us at our old Atlanta number.

Since my last post, we moved into our new home and then headed off to a four-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Coolum at the Sunshine Coast, where I attended a research conference on emotions. This Hyatt is a world-class resort, and it will even be the meeting place for the APEC conference next month (Bush is attending, I think). The beach was fantastic. Kangaroos were jumping around as we walked to breakfast. I saw my first possum. V. had a wonderful one-hour massage. Will spent three hours at Camp Hyatt, and appeared to have lots of fun. Since then, however, our darling boy has not been so happy. He typically wakes up screaming 2-3 times in the middle of the night, and his parents are tired of it. It got so bad at the Hyatt that I had to drive V. and Will home for the final night. It's probably teething problems exacerbated by a cold. We gave him drugs when he went to sleep tonight, so maybe we'll see some improvement.

There's so much more to write about, but finally having home access to the internet means I can resume regular blogging (and read my favorite blogs too), so expect more details very soon. Tonight let me just mention my problems with our rental car. We have had this Mazda sedan for nearly three weeks and it is a great car. I have had no real problems driving on the left side of the road. The problem is with parking. For some reason, Australian parking spaces are narrower than in the U.S., and the rows separating the cars are much, much shorter. This means that parking has become a major headache. I now have several scrapes and a tiny dent in the front and rear bumpers, the result of navigating into spaces next to walls and poles. The rental agency is going to have a major fit when they see it. I need a smaller car! Alas, we plan to buy one later this week. When I went to the Honda dealership today to look at the Jazz (called the Fit in the U.S.), I inquired about whether I would be eligible for any financing (I have no credit history in this country, of course). The salesman used his mobile to call a woman in the business office. He began the call by saying, "I have this middle-aged man who recently moved from the States here..."

I guess I am getting old. But on the inside, I'm still about 24. Really.

8 comments:

Monica said...

I am happy to be able to read some new again. we troied calling sunday your time in hope we would get you but we will try again this coming weekend. we are leaving to go to Atlanta monday morning, we are anxious happy sad and nervous. Babies are doing well and I am feeling with nausea still now but it will pass. i am now in week 12th. Oh well we are in Maine on vacation until driday and then we go back to Boston get our things and head back. All the best of luck with your adventurre. We are having our last ultrasound this week up here in Boston I will tryt and send you guys a copy if it is a good one. Love to evryone!

Darron said...

Hey

We just finished our move from Madison to Janesville. I will never move a mobile home again. On the rental truck side, we rented a truck with major front end damage which
wasn't noticed until 24 hours later. As a result, we sweated it out until they finally believed we didn't cause the damage. I think Will's problem is that he misses his uncles. HA, D

Anonymous said...

I agree with that "darron" chap...the young lad simply misses his uncles. Trying showing him pictures of them....especially several of the ruggedly, handsome as well as much younger one. Dr. Sven Johannson

Unknown said...

Middle-aged, huh? Take Will with you ,that should knock 5-8 years off your perceived age.
Mm and the boys are at the beach in South Jersey, I'm stuck at home waiting for the probable start of a rush project in NY.
Maybe a Toyota Yarris is the answer for you. What's it called there? Mm says Hi!
E

Author! Author! said...

Smear dirt on the scratches before you return the rental car. Admit nothing. Also, try backing into spaces, it seems to work better here. Consider buying a 'banger' until you master the art of parking (parking and un-parking are my personal weaknesses.)

Kwirkie said...

Haha, I have been listening to my husband complain about the parking in Perth. He is driving a work vehicle now, a landcruiser, so you can imagine the headache. Plus he went to park in a parking deck and the thing scraped the ROOF! So not only are the spaces narrow, but the decks are low. He is looking into buying a car before we move over there at the end of Aug.
Sorry the bub is not feeling well also. Teething is no fun.
And I have to know the status of your sea container.

Mooselet said...

Middle-aged? Ouch.

I don't know what you gave Will, but if he's still having problems try Phenergan. It's available without a presciption here (unlike the US) and we use it for Her Majesty, who has sleep issues when we go away. It says age 2 and up on the bottle, but we used it for Her Majesty on our trip back to the US when she was 18 months, with the chemist working out the dose for us.

Parking spaces are a very tight fit - I tend to park away from everyone or take a few tries to get it right. I drive a 4WD (bad me, I know, but I've got the family to fill it at least) so I can relate.

The Prof said...

Monica--we will give you a call after Monday. Good luck with everything!

D & Loo--I will definitely show more pictures of his two handsome uncles to Will, although he did sleep 12 hours last night and was an angel today.

Eric--see the email I sent.

Good advice, Audra. The car currently has a dusty film on it, which I need to thicken somehow...

No word on our container, Kwirkie. I hope it shows up on time...we're sitting on camping chairs right now.

Thanks for the tip, Mooselet. We may be in the clear at last. Of course, it might just last a day or two...You are mighty brave parking that 4WD here. I'd just breakdown crying if I had to park it!