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When I left DC on Thursday the temperature was in the 40's (below 10 C)......    when I landed in Sydney, Saturday morning, it was 100!!  (38C). 

I got heat stroke walking from the terminal to the car -  of course we walked further in the sunny car park than necessary because my son forgot where he parked. 

His car does not have air conditioning.......

I spent Saturday afternoon lying on his couch trying to cool down.

I spent a hot & balmy Saturday evening with my 3 children and my daughter-in-law-to-be and fifty of her closest relatives.

Sunday (still hot)  I spent with a friend I have known for over 40 years, in her air conditioned apartment.  We drank gin & tonics and laughed a lot.

Today I drove an injured friend around in his stick shift car.   I have not driven a stick shift in over 10 years.  I only stalled it twice.

I just learnt that, whilst the manservant is winging his way to Australia his bag is still in Chile.......  he arrives on Wednesday.  He is told his bag will arrive on Friday.  The wedding is on Saturday. 

My son has a 20 year old computer and internet connection slower than dial-up.  He has an iPhone so he doesn't care.

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I love tourists ... really I do because they help my local economy but.. 

-  please stand to the right on the metro (train) escalators so that we locals, with things to do, can walk past on the left.  There is even a sign asking you.

-  and when you get to the top, or bottom, of the escalator please do not just stop there while you figure out where to go next.  There are 50 people about to trip up behind you.

-  Oh - and if a machine has a diagram of how a ticket should be inserted they really want you to insert your ticket that way!  

I think someone needs a drink ....... 

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I wish all Americans a Happy & Safe Thanksgiving - even the tourists! 

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The population of Washington DC is around 592,000.  (and there are an estimated 12,000 homeless).

According to the DC MPD website there have been  127 homicides since January 1st 2009  (to  Friday 11/19). 

On top of those Homicides there have been  6,529  "Violent Crimes"  which cover Sexual Attacks, Assault with a weapon, Assault without a weapon and Robbery (against a person).

In addition there have been  23,718  "Property Crimes"  a group which includes Burglary/Theft,  Stolen Auto and Arson

Those are pretty shocking figures!!

Recently on a walk along 16th Street I was amazed at the number of churches in a 2 or 3 mile stretch -  many different denominations.   

I guess having all these churches does not make all of us more law abiding or likely to follow the Ten Commandments. 

If you can't make it to church the bus will come and get you:  

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More churches around my area (by no means an exhaustive list): 

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Remember my Diet Aids ....   Remember December ?    Well here I am just over a week away from December so I thought it was time to check in.   

I have lost 16 lbs (about 7.3 kg)  since I posted those signs all around the kitchen.   With one week to go I might squeeze out another couple.  That result is not too bad - it's the equivalent of 1.5 dress sizes.   I did not increase my exercise;  actually I don't do any exercise other than the walking required to get places and our weekend strolls which are usually 3-5 miles each Saturday and Sunday.

I just stopped eating all the nice things in the cupboard and freezer and as silly as it might sound those signs really made me stop and think about whether I really wanted to eat something.  It didn't always work because the impulse part of my brain would over-ride everything and say "of course you want that lovely cream puff or ice-cream, or that entire packet of Tim Tams!" .

I continued to have a glass of wine when I got home from work; sometimes two if I'd had to be particularly nice to people at work that day.   On the weekends I was easier on myself when it came to eating the "good" stuff and I definitely had more than a couple of wines!

Now I have to come up with more rhymes to get me through 2010!   But, until then, what's for dinner tonight?  PIZZA!  

On Sunday I watched this shapely lady wobble along on stiletto heels - unfortunately they do not show up well in the photo,  nor does the wobble.

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Bus shelter ad

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I speak English and Americans speak English but  there were times when I first moved here when I was nearly in tears because I could not understand what someone was telling me. This was especially so when dealing with public transport employees when it was pretty important that I understand their direction.     

I can only imagine how hard it must be for someone when English is their second or even third language.  This  morning I saw a Latino woman at my metro station almost crying with frustration as she dealt with the station master.     

Our metro ticket machines are specifically designed to confound anyone trying to use them. In high season there are long lines of confused tourists standing in front of them while help in the form of station attendants stays well hidden.     

Now, I am no slouch with train ticket machines.  I have successfully operated them in China, Paris, Italy and Spain where there can be minimal help for those who don't speak the respective language.  But, the first time I stood infront of a metro machine with some English words thrown around it, I was confused. 

Each station has a little box where the station master sits.  They rarely deem it necessary to actually come out of their little box to demonstrate the workings of the machines.  They talk at you through glass using a funky tinny speaker which distorts their voice to that of a cartoon character and they don't seem to care how many times they repeat the same sentence even though before you will have figured out their instruction they could have come out and actually helped. 

Many times when I walk past I hear a frustrated passenger shouting from our side and the tinny response of the metro employee and I think "poor person, half a dozen trains will have gone past by the time they understand"

Back to this morning.  As I walked into the station I could hear the poor woman trying to tell the attendant that she did exactly as she was told and it hadn't worked. The attandant's cartoon voice came back saying well she didn't press the "minus sign".  The passenger asked "what's a minus sign?".  The attendant just kept repeating:  The minus sign; the minus sign. On the machine there is a minus sign; you have to press the minus sign."  

The woman said "I don't understand minus".  The attendant repeated the mantra that the minus sign must be pressed.  

Seriously how helpful can that be if you don't know what a "minus sign" is ?!?!?!?!    

Feeling terribly sorry for the woman I said "I'll show you"  and took her back to the evil machine and pointed out the + and -  symbols which allow you to get a farecard for more or less than the amount that comes up on a screen.    

This episode annoyed me for most of the day - so, a big minus to Metro for customer service this morning.   At 6.40am I'm sure they are not overworked with paperwork or whatever else it is they do in those little boxes. 

How apt is this photo which I took on our Sunday walk (mural in Columbia Heights) - it says "Immigrant Rights":

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I want this house and car: 

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Today, while we were walking, I was thinking of a comment  Apolline had left on my Missing Strangers post about social movements and urbanization.  We turned a corner and here was exactly what I had been imagining loneliness all together to look like:

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Do you ever wonder what might have happened to people who are essentially strangers to us?   

Next door to my office building is a retirement & assisted living place -  it used to have the word "Alzheimer's"  in the name and we joked about just trading one place for the other as our minds went; usually with the assumption that too much work was going to cause such a decline.

Anyway - over the last couple of months every morning, as I've walked past, an elderly man has been outside hiding behind a pillar enjoying a cigarette.  Every morning I would say "good morning how are you?" and he'd respond with a loud and cheery: "Good morning to you and I'm great"   

The last few mornings he was not there and I wondered if he had died or been caught.  It crossed my mind that I might never know -  I don't think I would've gone inside to enquire about the health of a man having a forbidden cigarette.   

I was so relived to see him back this morning that I almost said "oh thank God you are ok"....    I really had been quite concerned about someone whose name I don't even know.

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The bike below used to appear near the office during the day and then be gone by evening.  Then it arrived and stayed.  And stayed and stayed.   If this had been anywhere near I live, it would've been stripped within a few hours.  After more than a month the rear tyre is flat but no-one has stolen the helmet or attempted to steal spare parts from the bike.  

So,  where is the owner?   Did they die at their desk?  Did they walk to the shops at lunch time and get run-over crossing the road?   Or perhaps they developed Alzheimer's and forgot they owned a bike.

I hate not knowing.....  and unlike the missing elderly man, where I could've enquired if I'd wanted to, there is no-one to ask about the bike's owner.  

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With us all diligently slapping hand sanitizer on our hands to kill 99.99% of everything that might make us sick.....   where do all the killed germs  go?

These have nothing to do with dead things on hands - I just thought they were pretty.  Taken on walk around the neighbourhood next to ours on the weekend:  

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I am scared of squirrels.   Irrational I know and I'm annoyed at myself for being afraid of such a cute looking little thing. 
I'd never seen a "real" squirrel until my first day here and when I saw them I raved over their sweet little faces and bushy twitching tails. 

My second day here I met a kamikaze squirrel.  Instead of running away from me it ran straight at me and stamping feet and noise did not deter it.    It only stopped when I ran away and then, looking over my shoulder,  I swear I saw it smile. 

This fear is especially pathetic as I come from the land of more than a few of the world's top 10 deadliest snakes, the small Funnel Web Spider and the Blue Ringed Octopus. I have a healthy respect for these but am not particularly terrified of them.

But squirrels...  I give way to even if it means walking onto the roadway; I give wide berth to trees where I spot a squirrel and I never stand still in a park!

We don't have any squirrels in our little yard;  I suspect because of all the pepper (chili) plants we have around but yesterday I noticed a neighbour is actively encouraging them ....   I would never be able to leave the house if this was at my front door!

This little girl was having a feast.  Of course this was taken from well back on the sidewalk! 

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