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Thursday, December 31, 2009

NYE in Sydney

My friends and I decided to go to Mrs Macquaire's Chair ( had a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from there) to ring in the new year. They shot fireworks directly off the Harbour Bridge at midnight so I watched that along with 20,000 other people. I know it was 20,000 because that is the maximum capacity of the view point we were at. We had an awesome view right up until the end once everyone stood up and blocked our view haha. But, it was a good show. Lots and lots of fireworks. After that we went back to my friend's place for a drink and then out for a bit. They closed most of the major roads in inner Sydney so we could walk wherever we wanted. It was pretty cool.

It always amazes me how in a city of about 4 million people once I got to know the city how small it becomes. I really dont need a map anymore to get where I wanna  go for the most part. You would also be amazed at how many times I randomly bump into people I know all over the place even though there is over 4 million people here. I just thought I would mention this. Oh ya I head to The Blue Mountains tomorrow I am excited to get out of Sydney and see that! it will be a good break :) 

So all in all I had a safe enjoyable new years and I hope you did too. For you north American's you still have about 15 minutes left until yours as I write this so I hope yours is great too. Hopefully 2010 brings you everything you want. It was kinda neat this year to celebrate my birthday and new years in 2 different time zones. Yall have a good one, be safe and have fun. -Tyler








Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My birthday

So today is the 30th here in Oz. I got a good call from my family and birthday brunch from my awesome roommate. so far its been a good day : ) I will be going out later with friends and out again tomorrow for NYE so I hope wherever you are in the world you have a good start to 2010. I will be in Sydney somewhere. Yall take care. Your newly turned 25,Tyler

Sunday, December 27, 2009

KFC

So just recently I went to KFC here in Australia for the first time because I was absolutely starving. I tend to avoid chain fast food restaurants here because they are expensive and not good. No Maccas (Macdonald's) Hungry Jacks (Burger King) for me. Well I paid 10 Aussie dollars for my meal at KFC. That is roughly 8.50 American dollars. For that amount of money you would expect a good amount of food right? WRONG!

I swear my meal was like a child's meal. I got 2 tiny chicken tenders, a very small amount of chips (French Fries) and you know those small round plastic to go containers for salad dressing back in America? they are about 2 ounces big, that is what my mashed potatoes came in. Don't even get me started on the drink, it was so small I finished it in 2 gulps.

I will never go there again. What a waste of money, on the other hand now I really feel that either Australia has really small portion sizes or America has really huge ones haha.

It is a public holiday here today so the bank and post are closed not much to do today but my rant is over now :) I am relaxing and enjoying my time off of work. I really had a great time up in Port Mac although the ride up there in Economy Class on the train left A LOT to be desired, next time I will go First Class for sure!

Australia sure has a lot of public holidays. Yesterday was like a continuation of Boxing Day (day after Christmas)  they gave us the Monday after off, so everyone who did work. Not many people due to New Years holidays got a 4 day work week. Most people dont go back until early to mid Jan they take longer breaks here than they do in America.

The other thing I forgot to mention was when I went to Port Mac I went with my friend to one of those really cool old stereotypical pubs you see in the movies with all the old guys and regulars and everyone knew everyone. It was really neat experience for me. I got to meet 2 Aussie World War Two veterans they were 94 and 91 years old! I still sharp as ever! Very funny and nice guys. That is an experience I will always remember. Now I am met WW2 veterans from more countries than just the US that is pretty neat actually. Alot of history there.

Near home today I saw that homeless guy who plays guitar and balances another on his head. Generally I dont give money to all of the  beggars who come up and ask me but he just amazes me so I give him some change.  It is 2 days until my birthday and almost new years. I hope yall have a good one. I had more to write but again it has slipped my mind. I am gonna start writing down my blog topics as I think of them so I dont
 forget. Yall have a good one,Tyler

Xmas for me

For Christmas this year I spent it with a friend up in Port Macquarie and had a great Christmas lunch/dinner with her family. They are Irish and we had Duck,Ham AND Turkey along with all the trimmings and excessive amounts of good Irish beer that was home brewed. I got to go to the beach Christmas day and toured around. I have uploaded some pictures to facebook. Christmas Eve was good as well. This year it wasn't spent with family but, all things considered I had a great Christmas and I hope yall did too. I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve too I will be here in Sydney for it. I am off work for a bit so I plan to do some day trips out of Sydney for a while and then back to work. I had more to blog about but I have forgotten so maybe I will remember later. Yall take care and I hope your holidays were great. -Ty

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Almost xmas

Well it is almost Xmas here and soon I will be off to Port Macquarie for Christmas (about 5 hours by train from Sydney) so it should be a good time with friends. I dont have to work the 24th like I thought so that is a good thing! Well due to the postal strike any packages I want to send/receive may not get here so I am not gonna be bothered about all that until after Christmas but thank you friends and family anyway :)

Work was good this week and now I just have one more day left of it til Xmas break. I did go to the beach this past weekend (Manly) and got a bit sunburned even though I used sunscreen but it isn't even the worst one I have ever had so I will live. I also got a map of South East Asia as I will be going there in Feb. Generally I am not a planner at all, just the plane ticket then I figure it out but I figured it might be good to at least have a general plan for my time over there. I will be going with one or two of my friends so anyway I have a month and a half to bum around over there and see how it treats me. I cant use chop sticks so I will be bringing a knife and fork lol.

I saw that new movie Avatar in 3D over the weekend. at first I thought it was gonna be quite stupid and I generally dont go for those types of movies but, even though it was a hair over 3 hours long it was really really good! It really kept your attention the whole time and you didn't feel like it was 3 hours. The computer generated graphics were the most amazing I have ever seen. I paid about 18 US dollars to go see this movie which is insanely expensive but it was worth it and honestly for 8 more dollars I could have seen it at the true IMAX theatre which would have been even better.

So you know how I mentioned about the registered charities here (red cross,heart association etc) how they want you to sign up with them for 1 or 2 years and automatically take money out of your bank account on a monthly basis. Crazy I know?! They should just ask for straight up donations but they dont. Well the employees are mostly backpackers and they work on a 100% commission basis so really they just act like vultures hounding you trying to get your money. I always turn them down because I dont have the money to spare and I wont be here more than a year anyway. ( I looked into getting a 2nd year visa but for Americans it is impossible)

Well just today I turned them down again saying I had somewhere to be. I honestly had to be at the bank! so I was in a rush. Well the guy kept talking even though I told him I had to go so I just walked off and then he said "You suck!" I thought it was very rude and if I hadn't been in such a rush I would have reported him. That is no way to get any money from anyone. But, to be fair I have been hounded many many times since arriving in Australia by these charities and this is my first bad experience.

Everyone is seeming to scatter for the holidays here in Australia and I am sure its the same all around the world. I dont have much else to write so I will go now. But whoever you are, wherever you are you have a Merry Christmas and take care. I will enjoy my time on the beach lol. -Tyler

Friday, December 18, 2009

Striking country

So apparently all of Australia is on strike it seems. First it was the postal workers striking right before Christmas and delaying the mail (still on going) then just last night the bus drivers decided they wanted to strike so this morning I had to get up extra early and walk a good ways to the train station in my heavy thick hot steel toe boots. But I finally made it work actually on time. I have also heard that British Airways is striking as well. I dont know what is up with Australia but alot of union's seem unhappy.

All of this was on top of the fact that two days ago I locked myself out of the house on accident by leaving my keys inside and having the door slam shut on me. My roommates were out for the night so I spent 6 very boring hours laying in our driveway like a hobo lol. But, I did sleep quite a bit and the concrete wasnt horribly uncomfortable. I finally did get back in and I learned my lesson so all is well now but that was no fun at all.

Yesterday at work it was 43 degrees C or about 103F so it was really really hot. On top of the fact that I work in factory so it felt like 100000 degrees I was guzzling water. Now today it was 40 degrees colder and raining. Crazy Aussie weather! But, my job did provide us free lunch a huge unlimited BBQ which was really nice of them and the food was good so I was real happy about that. I work up to the 24th then we are off for about 2 weeks so it will be a good break.

Not sure of my plans for the weekend yet but if the weather is nice they will involve the beach I think. Hopefully all the public transport is up and running and happy. Today on the train which was actually running we were randomly stopped on the tracks for about 20 minutes but not all that bad. Christmas is fast approaching I hope yall will have a good one. Soon I think I will write an Aussie to American dictionary for yall that sounds like fun.

I had something else I wanted to write about but now I have gone and forgotten, I think I am off to the movies now so yall take care. -Tyler

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Random People.

I have found that when I travel I meet other travelers very easily. I think that people who are traveling and world travelers just kinda have a different mind set than your average person who goes from home to work 9-5 everyday of the week. I just think we are more open and available to meeting new people and new experiences. To some it may seem odd or like travelers are too trusting but, as long as you are smart about it and trust your gut instinct so far it hasn't lead me wrong. I have made many close friends just from talking to people at the bus stop/bar/on the street whatever. At home I dont tend to do that and I dont think others do either but, once I am traveling I find that I do and so do others.-Tyler

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Pictures! and other randomness

I finally got the pictures on Facebook for yall! just copy and paste that link :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064119&id=194600613&l=d30114b34f



So today will be another random topic day in no particular order lol. First I wanted to say that over here in Australia they have no Walmart or super large chain store like that. Not that I know of anyway, They have Coles and IGA and a few others but for the most part their grocery stores are a lot smaller with less things in them and smaller trolleys (carts) than back home. In Walmart you can buy pretty much anything you can think of. Over here really just food and that is it. They seem to have less of a selection of junk food too.

Here in Australia tax is already included in everything you buy. So the price on the sticker is the price you pay. Actually I really like it and its quite handy I do wish America had that. But, over here they have no penny so the sticker may say 1.46 but they round it down to 1.45. Or it could say 1.99 and they just bump it up to 2 dollars. I haven't figured out why they put 1.46 on the sticker if they are just gonna round down and charge you 1.45 anyway lol.

They also have no one dollar bills just one dollar coins and 2 dollars coins (which are actually really tiny while the 50 cent piece is huge!)Their money is coated in a plastic film so if you wash it in the washing machine or something then it really doesn't matter. I think that is cool. It is also quite colorful and fun while I think American money for the most part is pretty bland.

Free water/bathrooms are really hard to find here in Australia. Water fountains for free use are almost non existent and most restaurants and places wont even give you water unless you pay for it. Same goes for using the restroom, you dont get that privilege unless you are a paying customer so that has frustrated me more than once when I am thirsty and I have to pee!

The banking system is also different here they are only open M-F 8-5 generally speaking so if you work in those hours ( I do) its a little frustrating if you need to get something done. A lot of banks here charge you a service fee for using the branch services indoors instead of just on the Internet and you also have to deposit X amount of dollars per month or they charge you a service fee for not doing so. My bank charges if I dont deposit 2000 dollars a month! But, I was just told they are getting rid of that fee so that is good news for me :)

The petrol (gasoline) here is about 5.20 a gallon which is pretty freaking expensive so you dont see big cars here at all. I haven't seen a single SUV or truck since I have been here except for big work trucks. With gas prices like that I would drive something small too lol. But, traffic in Sydney is always a mess. backed up all the time due to the amount of people and really tiny roads. I would hate to drive here!

I took a free bus to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) and caught the ferry to Manly Beach then I took another bus to Dee Why Beach and it was really nice to relax today I did take pictures like I promised finally! Well at least I finally did it haha. I hope you like them. The girls I am living with got a new roommate today so now we are up to 3+ me. Life is good though :) I am still breathing, in one piece with food in my stomach and a roof over my head and a job. No complaints here.

Yall stay warm ( or cool) wherever you are. I am all done for today hope you enjoy my random blogs. -Tyler

Saturday, December 12, 2009

So I just wanted to blog again today

Just to say that for the first time in my adult life since being here I have had daily access public transportation. Back home we drive our personal cars everywhere because everything is so spread out and we have no public transportation network where I live.

The public transport here is a double edged sword, on the plus side it cost me about 40 dollars a week and I get unlimited access on the train,bus and ferry to anywhere I wanna go.

On the negative side the time tables seem to me more like "guidelines" and not set in stone because sometimes my train/bus/ferry is early and sometimes its late. You kinda just gotta stab in the dark and hope you get one roughly on time. Normally this isn't an issue for me but, if I miss my train to work in the morning that really causes a lot of issues! But overall its good and I like it. Sitting in traffic and trying to drive on the left side of the road is not my idea of fun at all haha.

The only other thing that frustrates me about Australia is that most businesses including the bank/post office etc are closed on weekends and the businesses that are open on the weekends shut by 5pm generally. This wouldn't really be an issue for me except that I work M-F 8-4pm and I am generally not home until 5pm or later so if I need to get anything done its really hard! I know I might sound like I whine a lot about Australia but I really dont mean it sound that way. These are more just daily observations spilling out of my brain and onto here. In fact I quite like it here and things are pretty good. Sydney isn't so bad and in a few months I will be traveling anyway!

Yall take care,Tyler

Friday, December 11, 2009

Portion Sizes

I just noticed the size of our trashcan today at our new place. Its really small! I guess it isnt small for Australian standards but it sure is for me. Back home we have a green trashcan on wheels and it just seemed normal size to me but you could fit 2 or 3 of our Aussie trashcans in the American one we have back home.

I never really noticed that our food portion sizes were larger than everyone else until I got here. I am not quite sure why they are so small here (or so big in America if you like lol) its just different. I went to a Mexican restaurant with some friends and paid like 26 Australian dollar which is over 20 bucks American and I got fajitas. They were good but the portion size was pretty small. I was left still hungry and I paid more than I would back home.

Maybe that is why America has an obesity problem, we are given larger portions not even realising that what we are given is larger than everyone else's. It may seem like I am really ragging on America here but I am not. I am just trying to note a difference because Australia does have one of the world's worst obesity rates. I guess it just has something to do being in a developed nation with access to everything you could want.

That being said, the only "fast food" places I have seen in Sydney so far like chain style is Maccas (Macdonald's) and Hungry Jacks (Burger King but with a different name) and Subway there is no Wendy's or anything else like that. Its just kebab stands and other random restaurants plus all your food in China Town.

Everything just seems to be downsized here as far as portion size goes. My Aussie roommates jokingly call me the lazy American because I am used to having a dishwasher,dryer,a large oven (ours is really small) and having AC in the house. All of these things are luxuries but I guess after having them all at your disposal for your whole life you think of them more as a God given right lol. Well I have a different perspective on things which is good.

It has been an adjustment for me getting less stuff for more money haha but such is life. I really cant complain, I have a roof over my head. a steady job. food in my stomach. Life is good :) Not many people get the chance to come half way across the world and do this so I am luckier than most to have a supportive family and friends who let me randomly pack up and move half way across the world. So all is good so far.

Thats all for today I guess. Your traveling Texan,Tyler

Thursday, December 10, 2009

More about work

I have nothing else to blog about today so I will blog about work. I got this job thru a temp agency meaning I get zero benefits I can be let go at anytime but, as long as the keep asking for me back I keep coming back. I work for Fuji/Xerox about an hour outside of Sydney. All day long I stick labels on boxes but, today I got to do something different. I put warranty paperwork in boxes!

The warehouse I work in is full of hot sweaty people as it is about 1000 degrees in there all the time. So by the end of the day I am hot dirty and tired. (But dont worry mom I am drink alot of water!) for those of you who know me, you know I dont drink as much water as I should but I am doing better.

My job might sound boring and it is sometimes doing the same thing over and over ( I have blisters on my thumb from the sticker gun lol) but, I work with good people and I really like it there. I dont know how long it will last but I hope quite a while because I get paid well to do any easy job.

I say my job is easy and it is but, it isn't just a flat out cakewalk because you have to be really fast as the pallets of boxes dont stop coming and the labels have to go in a certain spot so I mean it does take some skill.

The only real fun the guys and gals at my work have is driving the forklifts at insanely high speeds and honking loudly at each other while playing chicken with overloaded pallets haha. So, you gotta watch where you walk! But, as long as you stay on the designated foot path then you are alright. I would love to be fork lift certified but it cost 400 dollars and takes 3 days and I may not even have this job for that long so it really wouldn't be worth it for me. So I just let them do all the loading and unloading and I do my job.

Well its almost Friday here so only 1 more day of work for me til the weekend that is exciting! Payday is next week too :)
Ok I have been off work for like 30 minutes now after my hour train ride home and I am quite tired so that is all the effort I can muster for today. Yall have a good un'. -Tyler

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Working and such

So I got a new job, I really like it a lot! I work with great people and I work at the Fuji/Xerox plant about an hour (by train) outside of Sydney. I get paid a ridiculous amount of money to put labels on ink cartridges for printers. It sounds really easy but, you have to be really fast and the stickers have to go in a certain spot and after 8 hours of that it really wears you out I have a blister on my thumb from the sticker gun lol. But, I am happy! I got this job thru a temp agency so it may not last long but, I have already been there longer than they said I would be there so that is good news. It is nice to have money coming in instead of just spending it all!

Last night I saw the movie Zombieland with a German friend of mine. I really did enjoy that movie. Woody Harrelson and all the cast is great with a great cameo from Bill Murray. Anyone who knows me knows I hate horror movies but this is a horror comedy so it isn't scary at all. In Australia the movies are more expensive than back home but not TOO much more as long as you dont buy candy/drinks/popcorn etc... In Australia they actually assign you a seat in the movie theater. That was odd to me, you can pick your section but not your actual seat.

On the way to the movie theater we saw a street performer. In Sydney there is quite a lot of them and most of them are not good at all but, this guy was playing a guitar AND balancing one on his head at the same time! it was amazing. I gave him 5 bucks.

I got a pass that gives me unlimited travel on Sydney's public transport for 8 days so its quite convenient for me. But the damn rail station still owes me money!. I will be here in Sydney until Feb 1st then I am off to Thailand with a friend so I am excited about that!

What else, I am still unpacking the house getting the girls and myself all moved in but its not too bad. I really wanna relax this weekend though. I had Vietnamese food for dinner last night it was good but, I still need to learn how to use Chopsticks or bring my own silverware to SE Asia lol.

I wanna take a trip to the Blue Mountains soon I think its just a day trip outside of Sydney. I know I still have no pictures for yall but the problem is now I am becoming less of a tourist and more of local it bores me lol. But I promise sometime soon I will go out and wander with my camera and get some pictures.

Ok I think I am done for today. I know that was a lot of random written diarrhea just all over the place lol. But soon it will be Xmas and my birthday and I hope yall are all having fun and staying nice and warm wherever you are! ( or staying cool if your here in Oz) -Tyler

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Moving Day

Today I helped the girls move out of their old place and into the new one. In return I get to stay there for a while which is awesome. But, there was a lot of packing to do! Living with 2 girls I didn't really realise how many clothes,shoes and various other stuff girls had until I had to pack it all lol.

Its all said and done and we are moved into the new place. (I dread the unpacking though :( ) really it isnt a horrible deal for me though. Some packing/unpacking and I have a place to stay so I cant really complain too much. The new place is nice but, it was built quite a while ago so it only has 1 bathroom and NO dishwasher and NO dryer and NO AC! Hear that Americans? lol I have to do my clothes on a clothes line and my dishes by hand! crazy huh? they think I am lazy for wanting those things I on the other hand just like to have a more efficient use of my time lol. For the first time in my life I will have to "pre plan" laundry so that I can give it enough to dry on the line outside and be ready to wear.

Well after a day of moving packing/unpacking I am quite tired and dont have much else to say. I go back to work on Monday which is a good thing. I like my new job and it pays well. It was supposed to just be temporary but I am hoping I can stay around for a while. Tomorrow will be full of more unpacking and I dont know what else.

To pull a Jerry Springer, "Yall take care of yourself and each other" haha. -Tyler

Friday, December 04, 2009

My one day as a door to door salesman

Well I lasted one day as a door to door salesman lol. Some people can do that and I really admire those who can. But that isnt me. I observed a guy ( he did all the selling and I just watched). We were out there for 6 hours and we must have knocked on 50 or 60 doors. Of course not everyone was home but in that 6 hours we got 4 confirmed sales. That isn't many at all. and the new guys got zero. it was commission only so I just couldn't risk making no money day after day. But, on the bright side even though I quit I did learn some valuable sales skills and how to read people and try and convince them of things.

Honestly, the product we were selling was actually a decent one. Basically the Australian govt has subsidized "green eco power" making it just as cheap as polluting coal power. ( a great move I wish the states would do). So it literally costs the customer nothing to switch over to green power. The power lines and such are still owned by a "distributor" so they dealt with all the blackouts,meter reads etc...

All we were supposed to do is be a "retailer" just putting green energy back into the grid to be sent out thereby reducing pollution.Literally the only thing that changed was the name on the electricity bill and who sent it out. I think its a noble concept but its a hard sell. I am sure the company I was going to work for gets their money somehow from the Aussie govt I am just not sure how. There was honestly no catch to this thing that I could figure out but it was so hard to convince people to do it!

People were so worried that everything would change and they just couldn't handle that idea. There is always people that will say no to anything. Even a corvette for 1.50. There is people who are on the fence and people just ready to say yes. Many people were skeptical that this could be free AND good for the earth. But, honestly I would be too. We were threatened with physical violence once. Saw a really scary dog once. Had doors slammed in our faces and rude people. But, there was also some really nice people too. All the Aussies liked that I was from America. Anyway long story short door to door sales isnt big back home in America and it is big here but people hate it just as much lol. you CAN make a living like that but its extremely hard and just not for me. So I quit.

But, on the same day I got a call from a job agency offering me work at a factory. So of course I took it. Get this: I get paid quite a bit of money to put stickers on boxes. Now this has to be done quickly and in a certain order so it isn't TOTALLY easy and its mind numbing as there is about 50,000 boxes to do but its a job! and apparently I am good enough at it for them to want me back Monday! So I am making more money than I ever made back in America and I am putting stickers on boxes lol. The people were great there and really made me feel at home. I had a good day but I was dead tired after it! They said it would only be temporary but I go back on Monday and I am hoping they keep asking for me back :) I am a happy man! Finally a decent real job that is good.

Also this weekend I moved. Still with friends but we moved to a house. Its a nice place but it was built quite a while ago so its small but cozy and I like it. I will be there for the next month or so I think. My friends really treat me well and both of them take good care of me and help me out. In return all I had to do was help them move. Pretty good deal I think :) So this weekend I will be unpacking all their stuff. But really I cant complain. Money is flowing again, I am doing something productive and have a job for the moment anyway. Life is good :)

Ok I will stop rambling. Yall have a good one back over there on the other side of the pond. -Tyler

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

My trip to South East Asia

So a friend and I have randomly decided to go to Thailand,Laos and Cambodia on Feb 1. I have never been to SE Asia and I am excited! I cant wait to travel around somewhere, where it is still cheap and I wont be spending a whole ton of money. I will be keeping yall updated as much as possible over there and it is still  two months away but I am pumped.

After my trip I will be flying back to Australia to work some more and travel and then I will be doing New Zealand too. I will be here in Sydney til Feb then after that I am off! :) so I am happy to be starting my real adventures soon-ish. Until then I will be here working.

I got thru my training yesterday and on Thurs I officially start my day at the new job. It will be difficult I think but hopefully not impossible to make some cash. I am now a self employed business owner/contractor according to Australian Law so that is kinda exciting. I dont get any benefits from this new job such as health care etc... But, I dont pay much tax at all and what tax I do pay I can claim when I leave Australia.

Today I am just gonna relax and pack a few more things before my big move to my new house on Friday. so hopefully that goes well. Yall have a good one,Tyler

My first day at work

So today was my first day of training. This job is going to be difficult but I hope not impossible because I need the cash. Thurs is my first day of observation out in the field. I work on a commission only basis so that makes it a little more pressure oriented but, I will either make a lot of money or no money at all. I am willing to give it a shot and see how it goes.

Really that has been all of my day today just went to training and that was it. I had 50 bucks eaten by an automated ticket machine at the rail station last week and I am still waiting on my freaking money back but the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly.... sometimes I HATE technology. Speaking of that, if I will be going into the city everyday for work my next purchase will be a weekly rail pass to save me money. We will see how this job goes first. I am now officially a "contractor" which means according to Australian Law I work as my own business so I can write stuff off as business expenses. Never been able to do that before so that is kinda exciting.

Australia is actually really good to travelers/backpackers because all of the tax I pay here while I am in Australia I can get refunded to me when I leave this country. Tonight is Trivia night at my old hostel so I plan on showing up for that, always a good time to be had :)

You know I haven't been extremely home sick yet but, strangely its the little things I miss. I miss being able to make a debit card purchase for 1 dollar. I miss Dr. Pepper. I miss fried Okra. I miss my mom's cooking. I miss my new car. (I hope its still in one piece??) I miss good BBQ and Mexican food. I miss Shiner. and of course I miss my family and my friends. But all in all this has been great and I am glad I took the leap of faith to do this. It will be a good 11 months that I have left here.

I guess thats it for today folks :) thanks for reading. Sometimes I feel like im just spewing drivel on here but honestly I kinda like this whole blogging this. I just write about whatever I feel like but hopefully its fairly entertaining in a non professional way because I always hated English/writing in school. -Tyler