weekend

I've been in Mudgee for about a day and a half and have yet to visit the jobsite.  Mudgee is a small town about 150 kilometers west northwest of Sydney.  I left Brisbane on a flight to Sydney at 5:00 AM yesterday, but the more interesting flight was the one from Sydney to Mudgee, New South Wales.  I walked across the tarmac to board the plane and to give you an idea of how small the plane was, the mobile stair to the seats was only four or five risers.  There were a total of 18 seats on the plane and its motive power was twin propeller engines.  I think it only needed about 50 feet of runway to get airborne, but thankfully, the skies were clear and it turned into a very enjoyable flight.

The reason I haven't visited the jobsite yet is that the saftey constrictions here are more stringent than anywhere in the USA, and I'm required to have training for a "14 day induction" prior to being allowed on site and, even then, I won't be allowed to walk the site without a chaperone.  There isn't much more to tell. 

There is much more to do in Brisbane than here.  I'm told that Brisbane is the third most populated city in Australia and there are many things to do there within walking distance.  There is nothing within walking distance in Mudgee and although I haven't been to the jobsite, I'm told it's about an hour drive from Mudgee (in which direct I don't know).

I'm signing off for now and will post again if anything interesting happens.  I'm scheduled on a return flight to Brisbane on Friday, but the construction manager here is all ready making phone calls to keep me on for an additional week.

So long for now.

this week

I will be spending the following week at a field site in Mudgee, New South Wales.  It's about 1000 kilometers from Brisbane and it should be interesting to see Australian construction techniques.  I will post more when I have an opportunity.

This place is great.  I miss my wife.

That's all I have to say.

Del

A Brand New Day

I was brought here for political reasons.  Company political reasons.  My boss in the states is firing five (5) emails a day to my boss in Australia to bring all six of us back early to the states because he can't handle the workload without us.  Though I hate being in the middle, I can't say I'm not enjoying myself.  I'm working plenty of hours--between 50 and 60 hours per week--and I have little time to do anything.  But the money appeals to me as well as the weather.  The weather is conducive to motorcycles, but it's $200 per day to rent a bike and, frankly, I'm uncertain about riding on the left hand side of the road.

Gotta go for now.  I hope to give more after the weekend.

Del

The first picture is dawn . . . right before I leave for work.  The next two (2) pictures are the pedestrian bridge I cross on my way to work.

I might go to the zoo this weekend . . . there should be some good pictures from there.

Thanks for tuning in.

Del

yesterday

I promise to bring several photos to this blog--the ones I don't bring, I'll distribute with CD's for anyone who asks.

When I ride the elevator, it's a 50-50 chance who I'm riding with doesn't speak English.

It's a multi-cultural place . . . there are chinese, japanese, korean, indian, pakastani, saudis, celtic, brits, new zealanders, south africans, mongolians, and Americans.  Oh, yeah, there's some Australians, too.  But there is a shift going on here.  Something that is detrimental to this city.  It's being overrun by everyone except for the Aussies.

I must sign off now . . . 60 hour weeks mean an early wake-up call.

Del

And . .  . I still haven't run into an Aussie I don't like.  These people are bend-over-backwards friendly.  You should visit here.



Del

brisbane from our apartment window

This is the casino--ironically, it was once the treasury building.

casino

I went to the casino tonight.  It's a beautiful building and I'll be posting pictures of it, but just not right now  Maybe sometime tomorrow.

Remember to root for Pitt tonight against Villanova.  Enjoy the game--it's the only one I'll get a chance to see while I'm here.

It's amazing to me to be in another country.  It really isn't too much different--they like steak, they're passionate about their sports, and they speak the same languge (sort of).

Did you know that most of the Aussies think that everyone in America is packing heat?  I was asked if I've ever killed anyone--that's a question I was never asked before.  I've been told that when there is a shooting in Brisbane, it makes front page news for two weeks.  The crime rate here is much lower than in Pittsburgh.

I'll try to post more photographs tomorrow, but I don't want to cart the camera so I'm not sure if I will.  In the meantime, I wish you all a good night (the next time it's night for you) and sweet dreams (the next time you're sleeping).

Del

My apartment is in South Brisbane at the corner of Albert Street and Charlotte Street, just a few blocks from The Exchange.  This is a pub we will watch the Pitt/Villanova game on Sunday at noon.  It airs in Pittsburgh at 9:00PM on Saturday on ESPN.  I've talked the other guys into coming along and they've agreed, so we'll be six strong at tip-off.  Representing . . . go Pitt!!

The office is on Montague Street across the river.  See if you can map it on Google.  We walk the distance and when we cross the river, it's over a pedestrian bridge.  I smoke two or three cigarettes on the way--you know, for medicinal purposes.  Can anyone tell me how far it is between my apartment and my office--feel free to use miles or kilometers, I'll convert (the last time I said that was to a Rabbi).

This place is absolutely beautiful and I have yet to encounter an unfriendly person.  The downside is that you never know when the rain is coming and I have a suspicion that I won't have time explore the beauty.

It's early yet and maybe I'm being a curmudgen.  Time has yet to tell.

There is not much new to report other than we started work yesterday.  One of the older draftsman in the office collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital--we'll find out today if he's okay, but it imbued us with a sense of being a "bad luck charm" to these overly friendly people.  The incident happened within two (2) hours of our arrival in the workplace and it created minor chaos for the next two (2) hours. 

As anticipated, the Aussies' way of engineering varies from what we do in the states and it will take us some time to assimilate, but the task at hand doesn't appear to be overly daunting.  When I first found out about our pending trip to Australia, one of the questions I posed was why it was necessary that we go to Australia to work on drawings that could be electronically sent from Brisbane to Pittsburgh in a matter of seconds.  No one ever gave me a satisfactory reason, but after having a chance to witness how they work, suffice it to say that the engineering group here has no real sense of urgency (it appears to be more of a cultural thing than anything else).

We ate dinner at nice pub last night called Gilhooley's.  It specialized in steaks and I ordered a New York Sirloin.  The cost of the steak and the one (1) pint of local brew I had was in excess of $35 (Australian dollars are trading about evenly with the US dollar).  This seemed overpriced to me until I considered that our habit of tipping does not exist here.  That is mostly because the minimum wage here is more than $15 per hour--it provides a livable wage for all workers, but creates much higher prices for consumers.  The steak, however, was very tasty and I'll have to get used to the fact the the menu describes the weight of a piece of meat in grams and not ounces (the steak I ordered was 300 grams and I ordered it not knowing how big it would be).

That's enough for now--I have to get ready for work.  I'll post again in a few days or when I something interesting to add.

Arrived in Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane at about 8:00AM Sunday morning (5:00PM Saturday in Pittsburgh).  We tried to stay awake until about 9:00PM--I made it until about 7:00 which wasn't bad since I hadn't slept for 44 hours. 

We got an opportunity to walk around the city for a while--the climate is hot and humid and the city is beautiful other than the occasional scars of the recent flooding here.

The Superbowl will air in about 6 or 7 hours.  We intend to watch it at a local establishment that has advertised opening early for the specific purpose of showing the Superbowl.  There is a mild interest here in the game, but I haven't seen anyone wearing Steeler gear yet.

I'll write more late and try to post some pictures.