I reckon that dumpster dive was swish. Can I get a high-five?

Before I begin my blog today, I just want to give a bit shout out to two men in my life.  One has just celebrated his one-year sobriety.  Another has stopped smoking.  Word up and much love.


As many of you know, I'm keen on dumpster diving.  Today, I had a successful go at it.  I took pieces of concrete, added some paint and...voila!  Two bedside tables for me and Hugo.  Please observe:

Not bad, I reckon.  It was a bit of a hassle getting the dirt off of the concrete but I got it sorted out.   I chiseled away at unruly pebbles and slapped some grey and white paint on them.   I stuffed up a little on the white paint, but went back over with the grey.  It's now really swish.


**note Aussie expressions/slang in red 


I have come across "whilst" fairly often.  I just can't imagine that being picked up in the US.
For example: "Don't stand whilst the bus is moving"  Could you imagine that being posted on city buses?  We are programmed to envision an uptight, old white man or woman with their nose pointed towards the air.  Is it because of the Grey Poupon commercials?  (they are on youtube if you find you want to go down memory lane)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGZ7cOZ0Kr8&NR=1


I'm not gonna lie.  I miss high-fives.  I miss giving them and getting them.  Whether it's a greeting or moment of shared celebration.  The couple of times I have witnessed it, people actually said "high-five!"  I don't want to have to warn someone that I'm going to spontaneously share some enthusiasm in the form of a high-five.  It takes away from it.  I don't know...maybe they were kidding.  Hugo still gives me high-fives, though.  (Thanks, sweetie.)


I pruned our tomato plants and inadvertently ripped off some green tomatoes.  I carried them gingerly into the house and looked through some possible recipe options.  Of course there's Fried Green Tomatoes.  Then, I found Green Tomato Cake and Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie and Green Tomato Chutney.  Since we cook a lot of Indian and Thai, I thought I would give that one a go.  As I type, two glass jars are being sterilised and the chutney has been cooking for two hours.  It smells pretty darn good in here too.


**note the "s" instead of the "z"


Wildlife update:  Last week, I went outside after the sun had set.  Balanced perfectly on the fence was this opossum.  They look quite a bit different than the ones I'm used to seeing.

I haven't been keeping the worm farm wet enough and so ants welcomed themselves into the container and tried to party with the worms.  Needless the say, the worms weren't very happy about that.  Hugo and I did some damage control.  We will check on them tomorrow.  I'm also going to buy a soil pH tester kit so that I can make sure it's not too acidic.  I'll also check the acidity of the soil in the garden because we hope to plant strawberries in the coming months.  From what I understand, strawberry runners can be a little cranky.


Then, there's this animal:

Remember that super tax that the Prime Minister was going to put on mining companies?  Well an agreement has been made to make it only 30% (instead of 40).  One thing I don't understand is this:  would the companies REALLY just pick up and move somewhere else?  If there is still is coal in Australia (and there is heaps), I reckon that another company would be glad to move right in and make a killing.  There needs to be hefty taxes on the minerals here; I am all for it.   

Something that strikes me about the Australian news coverage regarding the war in Afghanistan is that it seems quite balanced and less like Liberal or Ultra-conservative propaganda that people in the US have grown accustomed to.  You even get up-close-and-personal shots of Aussie diggers (soldiers) in action.  The war isn't being sold here like it is in other areas of the world. Objective journalism that doesn't feel the pressures of capitol hill or big-money lobbyists seems harder and harder to come by in mainstream media in the United States.  Even The Australian (nationwide newspaper owned by News Limited, CEO=Rupert Murdoch) consistently offers well-rounded news coverage that doesn't seem censored by some higher organization.  From what I can tell, News Limited owns every major paper in Australia except for The Age (in Melbourne) and The Sydney Morning Herald.  Anyway, I have spoken to a couple of men who served in Iraq or East Timor.  They were surprised to work with soldiers from the USA and learn that their basic training was limited to only ten weeks (whereas Aussie diggers train for 10 months before deployment).  Although I don't support the war, I wish the men and women received comparable training time.  Anyone with firsthand knowledge about basic training, please comment as to whether you felt it was enough preparation.

I will leave you with a few more language differences:

   Car hire = car rental

   Bike track = bike path

   Foot path = sidewalk

   Car park = parking lot

   Bush walk = outdoor trail; can also be a verb

   Schmick = swish.