So Saturday saw us competing in the Gravity 12 hour, hurling ourselves round a 13km mountain bike course – single-track, firetrail, and swathes of mud.
Three teams of us competed, I was in a team of three that became a team of two after losing Nick to injury. Lap times, all around an hour. Final laps completed in the dark, complete with bikes covered in red LEDs and tinsel.
In short, it was muddy, and lots of fun.
So when I first arrived in the States, I started making lists of all the weird differences I noticed. Today is Part One – The things I did not like.
Sugar or honey being in everything! (sultanas, cereal, bread, etc)
The weather in DC being freezing cold (having to wear gloves just to go outside my house!) or stinkingly hot and humid (sweat dripping from every pore, without me even moving)
Cars having indicators included with the brake light, so they are red, and hard to see – if people actually use them that is (saves money)
The money being paper, and all the same size and colour
Still having one cent coins (pah!)
The real estate system involving a ridiculous number of people
Climbing gyms using tape instead of coloured holds for routes
Tap water having chlorine in it – as a result, newly washed clothes smell like swimming pool
Roads having numbers and directions instead of signs to places, and names
People still being allowed to smoke where you’re eating
Greasy American food
The lack of birds in Winter
Lousy selection of chocolate
Sneaky taxes being added onto the shelf price
Difficulty finding good vegetarian food
The unorganised and messy garbage system
The evil non-working plugs that are incorporated into the sink, so you can’t buy a functioning plug to replace it
The pizza
Having to pay individually for ingredients on pizza
So many places being closed on Sundays (including Saigon Cafe, damn them)
The Mars Bars are called Milky Ways, and they’re absolute rubbish
The Snickers don’t taste as good either
The lack of an automated computer banking system – so you have to use cheques for everything!
I regret that I didn’t look at the weather before I left home to cycle to work this morning.
I regret that I didn’t bring spare pants to work with me.
I lament the fact that I will be sitting in wet pants all day today.
(Oh, and I also regret that my horse in the Melbourne Cup came fourth in a photo finish, swine horse)
And then, as Corey and I decided to escape the city for the afternoon, we drove out to Donna Buang, and managed to catch a hang-glider launching from the launch pad there. There wasn’t even much of a breeze, but he got sick of hanging around waiting for one.
For those of you who are feeling like you’re getting too much done at the moment… as well as the original GROW game, there’s now GROW CUBE and GROW RPG. Enjoy… banging your head against the desk in frustration.
Edit – Oh, and I really meant hufu in the title… eat hufu, the healthy human flesh alternative.