Categories
general

epic epic epic

I cycle away from the marina. As the bike path draws close to the river again, I notice a flash of light near the ground, then another – fireflies? I push my sunglasses down and coast along, watching the sides of the path – woohoo, fireflies! I dump my bike, and catch a couple, to stash in my backpack net pocket. Hey, this is easy. I cycle on a bit further, then get tempted by the fireflies and grab a few more, to keep the other ones company.

Home – next phase of my mission is to get quarters for the washing machine, so I can do laundry. I have no cash, so I decide the logical way to proceed is to go to CVS, seeing as it’s 50 metres from my house; buy something, get cash out, and ask for some quarters as part of my change. I wander up and down the aisles – gah, I don’t really need anything. Grab some hairties, queue, they are busy. Do I want to donate $1 to some random charity? Yeah, fine. What, I have to write my name on a star? Whatever, I just want some quarters. I have no money in my American bank account, so I go to use my Australian debit card. Does not go through. Damnit, try again. Does not go through. Fine, I’ll use the credit card. Goes through fine, but hang on, I’m getting my receipt, and walking out the door, there was no cash out option. Argh! Fine. Walk down to the ATM, withdraw $100 cash using Australian debit card. Where to get change? Well I could just grab a kids meal from Chipotle I guess. Oh, but instead of the sign about kids meals, there’s a sign telling me that Solstice is on Tuesday June 21st, and if I buy a burrito on that day, I can come back any time that week and get a free burrito. Distracted. Fine, I’ll grab some soft tacos, I should have dinner anyway.

I hand my money over to the manager man who always reminds me of Billy Joel. He has the manner, however, of a clown at a children’s birthday party. Every time he hands me my change and says “There you go”, I feel like I’m being handed a balloon animal. As I walk back to my apartment I remember the fireflies in my backpack – aha! I hope they’re still ok.

Dash home, grab laundry, throw it on by 9.30. Go back up to my apartment, look for my fireflies. Three remain. One wanders off as I’m getting them out of the backpack, and disappears into my apartment. I leave the others to hang out on my windowsill. They don’t seem to be doing much. I hope they’re ok. By the morning they’ve all disappeared. At least I got my laundry done.

Categories
general

tremble, puny earthlings!

Melbourne – most liveable city in the world (or one of them, along with Vancouver and Vienna), according to the 2004 poll by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Melbourne’s been rating up there for a few years now.

DC – not the most liveable city in the world. I think it rates 57th. Which I can understand on the grounds of the weather alone – hot and sticky in Summer, but just a few months ago, there was snow, and I couldn’t go outside without wearing gloves. On top of that, I bought new deoderant last night, which turns out to be boy-smelling deodorant. I’m finding it very confusing.

Categories
general

life in dc

Sitting in the window of my apartment, watching the lightning. The thunder is distant now, and the rain has died away. Earlier we wandered down to the Potomac and took some photos as the thunderstorm was first rolling in, only to scarper home when we saw a solid sheet of water coming towards us.

potomac river thunderstorm
Categories
general

sailing on the potomac

The Albacore fleet, and some Lasers (smaller one person boats) sail on the Potomac River a few nights a week. I went and played with them last night. (The Washington Monument and the Ronald Reagan National Airport in the background)

sailing
Categories
general hiking

leafless

I went hiking in Great Falls Park today. There were frozen waterfalls, and icy puddles, and trees without leaves. Hoards and hoards of trees without leaves. I can understand now why people get so excited about the leaves in autumn (or fall), as it would be pretty spectacular. Just about all Australian natives are evergreens, so our autumn isn’t anything special.

These are the Great Falls of the Potomac. Hmm, apparently many people consider them to be the most spectacular natural landmark in the Washington DC area (according to google). The Potomac is actually the dividing line between Maryland and Virginia – these photos were taken from the Maryland shore. More photos if you click on the link thingo underneath (the later photos are taken further downstream, earlier on in the hike).

Potomac at Great Falls