Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
What a lovely weekend!
I have no idea what these flowers are, I saw them on my
hike, growing wild along the path. I got out to hike both days, I got out early
enough to enjoy the park before it got crowded. And before it got too hot!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
And The Answer Is…
Plateau! Technically, a plateau is when your weight loss
stalls to a loss-or-gain of less than a half-pound a week for more than three
weeks running.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Arrival
It was a struggle but it was worth the struggle. I was able
to stay up until ten and then, a sleeping pill and a nice soothing playlist on
the iPod and I slept like the dead last night!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Lunchtime
Goodbye
Chicago ~ Hello Lakewood
==============================
How can it still be breakfast time? I've already crossed an
ocean and half a continent (well, a third…) and still it is not really time for
lunch yet. I do not care, since someone will serve me a salad, I am eating
lunch!
Travelogue: Australia – Homeward Bound
Goodbye
London ~ Hello Chicago
==============================
"I'm sittin' in
the railway station, got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one-night-stands, my suitcase and guitar at hand
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band"
On a tour of one-night-stands, my suitcase and guitar at hand
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band"
From "Homeward Bound
By
Paul Simon
Okay,
it’s an airport, I've checked my baggage, I haven't played the guitar in years,
and I've been in one place way longer than one night. But you get the point…
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Toys
There is something to be said for technology. Although I
could never muster the patience to actually do any serious writing on the new
tablet I bought to take on this trip. The touch-keyboard does not have the tactile
feedback that I need to be able to touch-type.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – That's How You Do It!
I really was jetlagged yesterday! Somehow I misread my clock
at the office and left an hour earlier than I thought I was. Granted, it was
still a full day's work, but somehow, I looked at my watch and thought
"Oh, good! It's five-thirty, time to leave." Only to discover that it
was five as I was leaving the train station at Kilburn Park. Oops!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Arrival
The flight was restive, but uneventful. It passed slowly, but it passed.
Travelogue: Australia – Five Minutes Of Beauty
Goodbye
Bangkok ~ Hello London
==============================
While it might be nice to sit next to a window, the five
minutes of beauty is not worth being trapped on the inside for the next nine hours.
I cannot sleep on planes so I am often getting up to stretch.
Travelogue: Australia – In-Flight Entertainment
Along with the standard in-flight entertainment one might
expect on an intercontinental/transoceanic flight; dinner, drinks, games,
movies, and music; this flight was special for the OTHER in-flight entertainment.
Namely, the dear ladies across the aisle.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Transfer
Goodbye
Sydney ~ Hello Bangkok
==============================
Goodbye
Australia
I suppose that there are places in the states where this is
also true, but I cannot understand why I have to go through a second security
screening to board my connection in Sydney!
Travelogue: Australia – Departure
Goodbye
Canberra ~ Hello Sydney
==============================
I've been packed since early this morning, Canberra time,
and have been working hard to get onto London time in preparation for my flight
today. It seems to work; if I spend a couple days getting ready for the trip,
moderating my diurnal cycle to more closely match the time it is in my target
time zone, and then it seems to reduce the amount of time that I spend getting
over the Jet lag.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Environmentalism II
Always one to give credit where credit is due, I must say
that the hotel I am staying at in Canberra (the Quality Hotel Dickson) does do
one thing right. They actually do follow their water-saving plan elements. If I
leave a towel hung-up they leave it there; drop it on the floor and it is
replaced by a fresh one.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – In The News…
Thanks to the friends and family who wrote me this morning
asking about my status. Thankfully, I am still in Australia, but I am watching
with great interest the activities going on back in London.
Travelogue: Australia – Happy Medium
I have always had the urge to giggle when I hear the
phrase "strike a happy medium." It springs always creates the image
in my head of a fortune teller skipping down a lovely garden path, her crystal
ball bobbing along and winking merrily in the sun when all of the sudden her
fun is cut short by a muscular arm whipping out from behind a tree and clocking
her right on her perky little chin! In my mind, she then gets the entire
cartoon treatment… Her eyes cross as she wobbles slightly and then, stars and
planets orbiting her head, she keels over backward into the daffodil-strewn
clover.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – …But It's A Wet Cold…
In the American southwest there is a specific city (which
shall remain nameless - sorry, Phoenix, no mention for you in this week's blog) that is fond of reminding you that
although their average temperature is somewhere between the temperature of an
industrial blast furnace and the actual surface of the sun, at least
"…it's a dry heat!"
Monday, August 08, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Canberra
One thing that I did learn this weekend is the reason that
this city seems so spread-out; it was planned that way!
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Wildlife (?)
The rain was apparently the harbinger of a cold front. All day long the temperature has been dropping, and whilst it is still well above freezing, it is cold enough that I decided that I needed my leather jacket for more than protection from the rain. It was a bit brisk as I set out for the city center this evening.
Travelogue: Australia – Wildlife
One of my colleagues who is here more-or-less permanently;
on contract for the long-haul of the conversion, made the very kind and generous
offer to take me to the wildlife park for the day. It is off to the north of the
town near where the NASA Radio Communications center is. This, I was assured,
would be my chance to see some of the native wildlife in its natural
surroundings!
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Friday, August 05, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Be Careful What You Wish For!
Yesterday as I got into the car on the way to work, I told
my colleague that "today's the day" and that I was going to get a
view of a kangaroo. I really wish I had been a bit more specific. I did get a
view of a kangaroo but unfortunately, it was kind-of like saying that I saw a
deer on the interstate. Sadly, it was road kill.
Travelogue: Australia – Local Flavor
When I travel, I always hope to take in a little of the
local flavor. I have been here and week and I am not at all sure what the local
flavor might be here in Australia. I have yet to see something calling itself
an Australian restaurant.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Offset
For those of you who have not traveled vast distances from
home, let me tell you; getting there and back is likely not to be the thing
that is likely to be the toughest thing that you have to deal with. For me, the
thing that is the hardest to keep straight in my mind is what time and day it
is.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Still No Sightings
There has been very little time for sightseeing since I
came to Canberra. I have had a chance to walk around the general area of the
hotel but have been too busy during the days to have the energy to go too far
at night.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – 'Roo Crossing
You see them all over the states, those deer crossing
signs; and yet, how often do you actually see deer at the crossing. (I wonder
if the deer actually know where they are supposed to be crossing the highway.)
Monday, August 01, 2011
Travelogue: Australia – Jetlag
It is fairly well known to my readers, friends, and
relatives that I have very little problem recovering from jetlag; at least when traveling this direction – east – around the globe. At least usually that is
true. But I suppose that it doesn't matter which direction you have traveled
when you make two-thirds of the circuit.
So I did everything I could to get over it. I took a nap
when I got in and then stayed-up most of the day; I explored the neighborhood.
Yesterday I was up only a bit earlier than usual so I made myself a bit of
coffee and did a bit of reading and around sunrise I walked down to the war
memorial and back, about a 10k jaunt. Other than that, I took it easy.
This morning, I am happy to report, I was asleep until
practically the hour I would have slept to back home in the states. Which is
good, my client meetings start today. Well, here’s hoping!
Wherever you are today, I hope that your week starts off
well!
Don Bergquist – 01 August 2011 – Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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