Apologies! It’s been two weeks since I last updated. After getting back from my whirlwind back-to-back trips (Melbourne for fun, Esperance for work), I promptly got a head cold. As my father often has told me, I was ‘Burning the wick at both ends’. Too much fun and not enough sleep, it seems, can be somewhat dampening to the adventurous spirit. So, instead of heading north for the three day weekend to discover what mysteries lay there…I slept. And ate. And emailed. And visited the beach. And spent money at the bookstore. If not for hanging out with one of my co-workers Friday night and my time emailing and facebooking (I’m not sure if the last two count as social activities?), I would have been a complete recluse.
The ANZAC holiday for which we got Monday as a day off is similar to our Memorial Day, stands for something like this: Australia and New Zealand Army Corps – not totally sure about the last part. Anyway, it is a really big deal here. People go out of their way to honor the veterans, there’s a huge veterans parade (just veterans and bands), and almost everyone goes to at least one of several public memorial services that are held for fallen soldiers. That’s one thing I wish more Americans had. A little pride in their flag would be nice. It doesn’t mean that we hate others or that we live in a perfect place, but let’s face it. I enjoy the freedoms and privileges of being a U.S. citizen. Sometimes (and only very rarely) I wish we were a little more like Canadians. They put their little maple leaf on everything. Let’s see a little more stars and stripes!
Still feeling slightly under the weather, but on the mend, I worked Tuesday and Wednesday with the CPT rig. Cone Penetration Testing. As it was my first time working with the rig I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. It was marvelous! The probe gives real time data, which I find cool and the accommodation was wonderful…fully enclosed with windows, music, and if necessary, there’s air conditioning. Because of the shelter hard hats and sunscreen weren’t necessary – always a plus. And the company was good. We talked about everything from the latest commotion/scandal in the government to music and health care and cars and tv shows and accents. Really interesting. Maybe it’s easier to talk when you don’t have to yell over the sound of the rig too.
Before I knew it, the weekend was upon me. Fridays in the office are always great in the Perth office. Everyone takes turns throughout the year and whips up a BBQ on the roof at noon…yep, every Friday. Then at 4:30pm, the tech talk begins. The talk is usually on a variety of subjects, such as a new sampling method, or a visiting expert, or someone telling about an interesting project they’re working on…and it’s always supplied with refreshments and followed up with social time.
Last weekend was one of my favorite times in Perth. I’m feeling like I’m finally getting plugged in with some good people – at last! It’s so nice to have some friendly faces around. Last Friday after the tech talk, I joined two gals from the office for Chinese take-out and a movie. Wasn’t sure I’d like it, but if you haven’t seen Zombieland yet, get off this blog and go watch it! Hilarious!…in a sort of morbid way, if you feel bad for zombies. They also turned me on to a ‘new to me’ tv show called ‘The Mighty Boosh’. Let me know if you’ve seen it! On Saturday night I joined a bunch of gals, many from the office, for a potluck-style dinner. So yummy! We watched and critiqued the Iron Chef together and chatted up a storm. I have plans to hang out with one or two of the gals this weekend!
Sunday morning turned into a beautiful sunny day. I went to a church that had been recommended by one of my Brisbane friends and met some really lovely folks. Very
friendly and even got an invite to a family Mother’s Day lunch the following weekend. From there I finally went and explored the King’s Park right behind Golder. If I were to try and explain it, I would say that it’s a slightly smaller and less manicured version of Central Park in New York. It has several war memorials and is situated on the edge of a bluff that overlooks the city. There are botanical gardens and manicured lawns, sports fields and café’s, footpaths throughout and elevated treetop walks. Following my trip through the park, 
I met my housemate, Alfonso, to go watch Iron Man 2. Both of us really enjoyed it! If you liked the first one, you’ll like this one. I would definitely give it the thumbs up. I think it had the same fun factor as the first one and didn’t make the mistake other sequels by relying on the first one’s success.
I’ve been working on a new project this week that has required a large amount of coordination between the different contractors, sub-contractors and of course our client. It’s a high-security part of the Port of Fremantle where they have had trouble with several piles subsiding. My job is to figure out what’s down there and find out why the piles are sinking as a result, the engineer will decide how to drive the piles and how deep.
One hole is approximately 10 feet from the edge of the wharf while the other will be approximately 3 feet from the edge. The dolphins come in in the morning and play in the mouth of the river, huge freight ships dock about a hundred meters away, and pleasure crafts of all kind pass by almost constantly. Can’t complain about the weather either, it’s been cool in the mornings but warms up very nicely in the afternoons to about 75-80 degrees F.
During the last week, I’ve been talking to both the Perth office and my Redmond office about an end date and I finally have one…approximately. I will be working for Perth through the end of June, taking a couple weeks vacation to travel around, and be back home around the end of July. It’s so nice to finally have a plan. I’m going to be sad to leave Australia, but also happy to come home and see all you, my family and friends. Besides, I can’t wait for Seattle summer! My backpacking gear and the mountains are calling!
Next weekend is Golder’s 50th Anniversary (May 14) and I had a little scare over it. Each office has planned to do something special to celebrate and Perth is having a semi-formal night out at the Perth Convention center. This posed a fairly significant wardrobe problem for me as I didn’t bring a fancy dress for my field work. Between the work day and the odd shopping hours here, I was quite worried that I would end up wearing something only ‘business’ dressy. Except for Friday night ‘late shopping’ downtown, all the stores close at 5pm weekdays and have very limited hours on the weekends (if I get the weekend off!) Yikes! Luckily, I found a shop on my lunch break…tried on 3 dresses and got came out with one successful purchase. Found the shoes and appropriate shade of nail polish at late night shopping on Friday. I’ve never shopped like that in my life! So successful! I must give quite a bit of credit here to one of the girls I met at dinner the weekend before who helped me find all the shoe shops so that the perfect shoe was found. Will post pictures. Crisis averted!
