My lists

 I figured today was just as good a time as any to make my list of things I love about Australia and things I don't really love. Along with the things I really miss about home. So here they are in no particular order:

1. I love the fact that Australia has toll free "131" numbers. example, 131230 is the toll free number for the Brisbane Transportation Line. There is tons of these 131 numbers and they are all free and easy to remember! It is so much easier than trying to remember 1800 xxxxx.

 2. I love the Aussie way of life and the Aussie people. I have been helped out by tons of random acts of kindness in my 11 months here and in general people are just really cool here and life is just relaxed and chilled out.

3. I love the fact that there is 16 free to air TV channels that we can watch without paying a dime and they have great shows (a bit delayed from the states) like House, The Mentalist,Top Gear (The British version, this is one thing the Pommies do MUCH better than the Aussie or American versions) and my local Aussie favourite, the ever funny Good News Week.

4. I love the fact that the news anchors here are so informal with each other joking around and calling each other by nicknames. It is refreshing to see them not so deadly serious all the time.

5. Nothing beats Texas BBQ but Aussie BBQ and meat in general is pretty good.

6. I love the fact that I can get almost anywhere I want, anytime I want on public transportation for pretty cheap. Not having a car for almost 12 months has not been a huge problem for me.

7. I love Aussie money. It is all different colours and sizes so you always know what you have. It is also coated in a plastic so if you accidentally wash it, its no biggie! In addition to that awesomeness, they have no penny which is great! And tax is already included in everything you buy so you don't have to mentally add it on later. I love love that! It will be so hard to adjust when I get back home :(

8. I love the fact that I get paid double what I would get paid back home for the same type of jobs. (but stuff is also more expensive here)

9. I love the fact that I am a backpacker here in Australia and for 12 whole months I have been able to do what I want when I want with who I want and just enjoy my life and experience many new things in a lot of different countries all before the age of 26! Also, the Australian Government has been really good to us traveling/working backpackers because we get a good tax return and almost 100% of our taxes back when we leave :)

10. I love the weather here in Brisbane (Queensland in general) Not too hot, Not too cold. I am not a huge fan of the seasons being backwards though. (December is summer and July is winter) right now it is spring and it will go from being absolutely beautiful one minute to pouring rain the next! That is a little annoying. But, Brisbane is great city and I love it here. If I ever moved to Australia for good I would move to Brissy :)


Things I don't like about Australia in no particular order are:

1. The business hours at the banks and other related businesses suck! Generally speaking it is 9-4pm Monday-Friday. That is almost the exact hours I work! It is so frustrating not to be able to get stuff done because everything shuts early here and generally is not open on weekends! Man that makes me mad! Not to mention, banking isn't "free" in this part of the world they charge you usually 5-10 dollars as "account fees" simply for having a bank account and doing normal stuff that should be free! It sucks!

2. The fast food over here is not of great quality, they have basically zero drive thru's, only a few are open past 10pm and the portion sizes are pathetic! Plus you pay double or triple what we would pay back home! Basically eating Maccas or KFC here is just a rip off in my humble opinion.

3. I hate that the prices of food and almost everything is higher over here just because Australia is "isolated" Petrol,clothes,food, almost everything is more expensive than what we pay back home and just because Australia is more isolated doesn't mean they should be getting ripped off! Everything still comes from China anyway lol. Alcohol prices are outrageous over here! We pay 38 Australian Dollars for a 24 pack of "cheap" beer. Back home I wouldn't pay anywhere near that! and I don't smoke but if you want cigarettes you are looking at paying at least 15 dollars per pack,easy! it sucks how bad they "sin tax" everything over here.  Going out to drink is just as expensive or more :(

4. I am not a fan of Christmas being in summer and winter coming in July. I guess I am just not used too it but it is just weird to me. Although, I did spend last Christmas on the beach so that was fun haha.

5. I hate the Imperial (American version of measurement) system. I hate it because I came here to Australia I was at a huge disadvantage not knowing how to measure distance or weight or temperature. In the past 11 months I have learned it pretty well and actually found it easier. I wish everywhere in the world would just standardize!

6. I hate being 15+ hours ahead of my family back home. It is a cool feeling to be "in the future" so to speak but it is frustrating when I want to talk with them or do any business back home.

7. I hate that movies and tv are so delayed here. We are constantly watching re-runs or seeing "new" movies only to find out they came out in America 3 months ago! It is frustrating and unfair. They also play the same damn commercials over and over! So many times in fact that Ben and I have most of them memorized! $506.95, anyone? :) (Hint that is a reference for an insurance company lol) and I hate that they constantly recycle the same actors and actresses and use them in multiple shows.

8. I hate that some Australian roads are inconsistently signed so its hard to tell where you are going. Luckily my map reading skills have improved a lot!

9. I hate that Australia is so huge I didn't get to see all of it I wanted too :( and I also have a love/hate relationship with Aussie lingo. I speak "Aussie" now so I can understand almost all of it but, they shorten everything! The bottle shop becomes "the bottlio" relatives becomes Relos. There is many many more but you get the point. It is ok when you know how to "translate" it but, when I first got here I was totally lost! I haven't lost my Texas accent but I totally speak Stralian' now lol

10. I hate the fact that soon I have to leave because while America and Australia profess to be good friends Americans are unable to get a second year working holiday visa here like most nationalities for some weird reason, but such is life gotta move on to bigger and better things.


So there you have it. My love/hate list. Now time for my what I miss about home list in no particular order:

1. First and foremost of course I miss my family and my friends. I do have some great friends here even a few life long ones but I miss everyone back home.

2. I miss my mom's cooking,especially her homemade chicken noodle soup.

3. I miss fried okra

4. I miss biscuits and gravy

5. I miss good Texas BBQ and Steaks.

6. I miss real Dr Pepper

7. I miss Shiner Bock

8. I miss Blue Bell Ice cream

9. I miss cheap fast food that actually tastes good like Whataburger or Wendy that is open practically 24/7. Oh and Taco Bell too!

10. I miss my new car and driving somewhere, anywhere. and I miss going deer hunting!

You may have noticed most of my "I miss about home" list was related to food. I just really miss food lol. It's the small things I miss. The stuff I can't get here. Well that is all the lists I have for you. Just thought I would let yall know.

One month to go.......

Well today is my 11 month anniversary here which means I have exactly one month left here :( it has gone so crazy fast I can't even believe it! In just a month I will be in New Zealand and have to leave Oz behind. I really have grown to like it here. This weekend was Ben's farewell party. He is leaving tomorrow to go to Fiji and then we will meet up back here in ten days. We went out with work friends and had a really good time. We actually just recently started hanging out with them which is a shame because they are a good bunch of people and while our living situation is pretty good, we have a nice house to live in for now and it is close to work and everything we need, our social life has not been all that active since we moved to Brisbane five months ago ( I can't believe its been that long!) the plus side is that we have been able to save a decent amount of money for our ongoing travels.

I met Ben back in December in Sydney and we started traveling together regularly in April. It has been nice to have someone to travel with since I did come to Australia alone (as did he). This two week "break" will be the longest we have been apart in quite a while. It will be weird once he is gone haha. He really has been a good mate to me. As much as we have traveled together we have never really gotten in a big fight about anything. We have had minor disagreements just like anyone and almost had a punch out over Brussel sprouts in Coles haha but all has been well. I have already been to Fiji so I decided I would stay here and make some more money while he went and explored Fiji. We will be back on track when he gets back in two weeks.

I had the strangest dream I have had in a long long time over the weekend. It was like something out of CSI lol. I had a dream that I was with a female friend of mine and something bad happened to her. In my dream I didn't see what happened but I did see the guy who I thought had hurt her so I proceeded to beat him up and the cops ended up coming and arresting ME. They didn't believe my story that the other guy was the one who had hurt her and I kept protesting that I was just trying to protect my friend but they decided to take me to jail anyway and let him go! I woke up in cold sweats as they were taking me off to prison. I hadn't been watching any movies or anything, nothing that I can think of bring on this weirdness lol. Ever since I saw the movie Inception I have been hyper aware of all my dreams and now I always realise that the movie was totally right about something. If you think about it you never really know how you get in your dream (like the setting) so my friend and I we were in a park but I have no idea how we got to that park. Then my dream ended with me being transported to jail. Strange huh?

On Sunday we also saw the new movie (new here anyway) Dinner for Schmucks. It was the comedy with Steve Carrel. It was about an office worker who wants a promotion (Paul Rudd) the only catch is he has to bring an idiot to dinner so they can unwittingly make fun of them. Only Steve's character was such an idiot he didn't realise that the whole dinner was actually making fun of him and others. His character just thought it was all full of talented people haha. It was really funny! It came out on the 30th of July back in America though so it took forever to get here! I would recommend it for a laugh though. I give it 3 or 4 stars out of 5. 

I guess thats all I have for now. October is gonna fly by I feel. I will blog more soon. Yall take care,Tyler

My day off (again)

I was thinking just the other day about my whole trip here. This whole thing started for me mainly because I got laid off back home and once I lost my job I had to do something. Rather than stress about finding a new job in a bad economy and worry about everything that goes along with that I just decided to pack it up and move here for a while. I knew a few people here but no one REALLY well. So, it was a big adjustment for me moving here alone with just my backpack and my wits.

My first month here was rough trying to adjust to a whole new country with no one to depend on but myself. But, I survived my first month and still doing fine even now. I really have grown to like Australia a lot and have really adjusted to life here. I have everything I need to be happy and healthy. Some people would consider this just "traveling" and not really anything else. I consider myself really lucky and don't regret doing this at all. That being said, I don't consider this just some trip. Sure, I have been backpacking and traveling but I have also been working hard for money to support myself. So I will really look back on this whole experience with fond memories knowing that I did learn a lot and wasn't just traveling for the sake of pure travel.I have some great skills and knowledge I can rely on and use in future jobs and down the road in life.

I have learned a lot about myself as a person and what I can do for myself. When I was back home I had a whole network of people to depend on and support me and here I just have me. You know back home I never had to cook. (Because my dear mother is an amazing cook!) so I never really knew how to cook anything because I was never forced to try. Well here if I don't cook I don't eat. So while I still can only cook basic stuff at least I can cook something. Sure I can eat out but it is expensive here so cooking is just cheaper. Ben and I split the grocery bill 50/50 so it is a good money saver. So I have learned a lot of new life skills with my time here and new work skills too. I do laundry with no dryer and wash dishes by hand, live with no Air Conditioner and just generally don't have all the creatures comforts from home. I learned how to read a map well and use public transport. Sure I miss my friends and family back home but have really enjoyed my time here so far. Now that is drawing to a close here I just have a bit left before I go to New Zealand and learn new stuff there!

I had another unscheduled day off today. It really is a bummer that I am not working five days a week currently but it has been slow lately. I have had stuff to do though so I have stayed busy which is better than just laying on the lounge doing nothing. Today I went to get a new charger for my computer which was luckily still under warranty so I didn't have to pay for anything! After that I went to Target to return something I bought.

The "interesting" part was actually getting there. I had to take two trains and three buses throughout my day. So that was a drag because it seemed to work out that all day I JUST missed the train/buses so I ended up waiting like a half hour each time :( and normally if you have "continuing" travel on the public transport network, with our "Go Card" we can get free travel (once you pay the initial fare) but, if you spend more than 1 hour "off network" and you go to "tap on" and ride again it isn't free anymore. On the train today for the first time that I have noticed they had "undercover" officers checking for tickets on the train. Normally they are uniformed officers and people have found them fairly easy to avoid if you want too. Well not anymore. Lucky for me I had no issues because I had "tapped on" and paid for my ticket.

So due to all my friggin delays it meant that for most of the day I missed the "free" travel window :( I even missed one bus because I was at the bus stop and the driver clearly saw me I was even waving my hand and he drove right by! It made me really mad that he was such a jerk! But there was a nice lady at the bus stop to talk too. Anyway I got everything done I needed done so it ended up being an ok if not long day.

Well thats all I got for now.-Ty

The Weekend

I thought I would take some time to elaborate more on a few of my past trips. When I was in Germany it was my first trip alone and I went to Hamburg Germany and the Dalai Lama was speaking there! I really wanted to go listen to him speak but the tickets were all sold out. I also did a bicycle tour of Berlin Germany, called Fat Tire Bike Tours. It was so much fun and informative at the same time! I even got to go see The Berlin Wall. I also toured Auschwitz and saw the memorial for all the Jews who lost their lives in World War Two. That was rather depressing but good to see and remember history. My favourite place that I visited in Germany by far was Koln (Cologne). They have an amazing cathedral there that is over 1000 years old! It is so solidly built and just amazing to be so old! They also have great food and great beer there and the best brisket I have had outside of Texas! I got to see so much history there it was great! It was great to see the good history and the bad.

I was in England/Ireland 3 years ago for some time and I had a lot of fun. I did a walking tour in London all about The Beatles and I got my picture taken by Apple Studios on Abbey Road just like the album cover. All the traffic stopped for me and let me take the perfect shot it was great! I got to see the last place Jimi Hendrix played before he died. I also did a double decker bus tour of all the hot spots in London. Tower Bridge,Crown Jewels etc. Not only that but, I met a guy on my tour who actually went to medical school with my grandfather back in the 50's! I was thousands of miles from home and I randomly met him! It was a really neat "small world" deal.

We made it over to Ireland the day before St. Patrick's Day so obviously the atmosphere was amazing! There was partying everywhere and the river was dyed green and everyone was going wild! It was sooo cool. We did 2 brewery tours which were really cool :) The Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Both were really cool and it was neat to see and get to taste their brews. I also remembered a funny story I will share. Every morning for breakfast I would go down to the little corner store and grab something to eat. The girls working behind the counter, I still don't think they spoke English. I think it was Gaelic. So I would ask for something, like a sausage roll or a meat pie and they said something. Well I didn't understand what they said so I just said "yes" and smiled. Then they gave me a food that I totally didn't order! LOL. This went on for 3 days straight. I finally just gave up and ate whatever they gave me haha.

I had 2 days off work last week, it was nice to have the time off to get everything done that I needed to get done (I had a big to do list!) but it sucked for my pocket book. We decided we didn't wanna just sit at home and do nothing though so we went out to see a movie. (Can you tell we like movies lol) We saw that Wall Street movie with Michael Douglas. He made the first one back in the mid 80's (which I haven't seen) and this was the sequel. It was all about money and stocks and stock brokers and making money and all that stuff. Ben enjoyed it but all that money crap just went over my head. I guess it was an OK movie but I wouldn't pay for it again. We only saw it really because we were on a "time budget" so it just worked out. Michael Douglas was recently diagnosed with throat cancer so I do wish him the best with that. He smoked cigars in the movie so that can't be good for him! Hopefully he pulls thru though, he is a good actor.

On Sunday afternoon we went out with some mates from work to watch UFC at a local pub and had some drinks there. It was nice to get out and have fun so all in all it was an enjoyable weekend. No complaints here :) Just a few more weeks left here in Brisbane then we are off to travel up the coast before I leave for New Zealand! -Tyler

My day off/busy day!

I had busy day off today! It sucked not working (and not getting paid) but it allowed me to go donate blood (to save 3 people's lives and figure out my blood type and get free orange juice afterwards hehe) There was some dramas with all my medical issues from birth but after lots of talking and question answering (the nurse actually called 2 separate doctors!) They cleared me to donate and everything was fine. I have donated many times in the past in America and everything was fine. Not to mention I had the coolest nurse ever! She was so witty and funny and we got on really well. She made me laugh and really made having my blood drained out of my body an extremely enjoyable experience even though I am sure all the questions/calls she had to make on my behalf was a long process for her haha. All is well though :)

I also went shopping for a new pair of shoes,jeans etc,go to the tax office and the bank,get my camera fixed,get a 10 dollar haircut at the haircutting school that took forever (but totally worth it for the cheap cost) go grocery shopping and now I am home and wiped out! Got all my stuff done and dusted though. Feels good to get my whole list done :P

I just now realised that a while ago I blogged about my past trips and Panama was my first trip out of the country. That was 10 years ago now when I was 15! My memory has faded a bit but rather than go back and add these memories to the blog I wrote about Panama I will just do it here. I just wanted to tell you a little more about the trip. Right when I landed at the airport in Panama City I was just speaking basic Spanish back then I timidly went up to the airport counter and asked them roughly where the bathroom was. They told me or so I thought, I went to where I thought they directed me too and what I actually entered was something similar to a women's locker room. A woman screamed at me and I quickly left haha.

Also, I got a chance to go on a boat ride in the Panama Canal which a lot of people would consider a once in a lifetime experience. While I will admit it was pretty neat at first and I was lucky to do it, it took a long long time to go all the way through The Canal and I ended up falling asleep haha. The other big memories that stick out in my mind was how cheap everything was (10 USD for a whole meal!) my first experiences with haggling and third world traffic laws lol. Also, we had a CRAZY truck ride up a mountain on a truck that was most likely built in 1930 haha. We did have an amazing dinner with one of the best sunsets I still have ever seen in my life in any countries I have visited. Right there eating on the beach right next to the ocean it was amazing! But, I didn't actually sleep on the beach next to ocean until I went to Fiji ( I slept like a baby) I had a great hammock :) I have more to elaborate on with my other trips that I missed but I will save it for another time.

A lot of people are up in arms about Facebook and similar sites here recently. Facebook has 500 million users worldwide. (if it was a country it would be the 3rd largest in the world) I for one will admit that I am a fan of Facebook and slightly addicted. I have tons of Facebook "friends" all over the world and it is a great way to keep in touch with them and reconnect with old friends from childhood. So really the whole privacy thing doesn't bother me all that much. I mean if you really sit down and think about it almost everyone is in some kinda government database these days. I think the one exception would be my dear father. He has no email,facebook,myspace, no nothing. As far as the Internet (and its related databases) are concerned he doesn't exist. I know he prefers it that way. He hates computers lol.

Ok a few more things and I am done spewing haha. On the way home from the city today I saw a health worker for "Queensland Health or so his shirt said anyway" (the local hospital system) he looked to be about mid 50's early 60's. He had a shaved head and 2 ear piercings with tattoos and I very odd necklace. It was a cross shaped necklace but it was made all out of skulls! I can't imagine he could wear that stuff at work! He would scare the patients lol

Last but not least I wanted to make an observation and tell you a little story. First off my observation: I have noticed here in Australia there is some "uncontrolled" intersections. Allow me to elaborate, In Sydney on George Street there is one and here in Brisbane close to Central Station (Train Station) there is one. I haven't found any others so far. What I mean is instead of crossing the road properly by waiting for the green little man sign and crossing straight across, you can actually cross diagonally across the intersection. So, when the green little man pops up everyone from all four directions swarms into the intersection crossing any which way they choose. It is wild and crazy (by Australian standards) and its kinda fun. Sure cuts down on the time crossing the street.

Now for my story: As I was leaving the train station today coming back from the city there was a little boy and his mother that I passed going down the stairs. He saw me going down the stairs and he looked to be about 4 or 5. He said "But Mum HE isn't holding onto the handrails!!!! Her reply was "But he is a big man and your a little man" he said "NO I AM NOT! It really made me laugh. Because of how angry he got at that statement and also her referring to me as a "big man" because while I am a full grown adult as anyone who knows me, knows I am hardly a "big man" lol. I am totally and utterly average in body size but of course I am super duper in personality which is why everyone loves me! haha

I must apologise for some of my longer winded blogs. I never thought I would really enjoy the whole blogging thing but I really do. I sit down to just write a little bit and I end up going on and on and on haha. So I am sorry I hope this doesn't bore yall (for those of you who even bother to read this far lol) take care. -Tyler

Weekend News

The weather here hasn't been great lately. It has been raining a lot and just generally crappy. So, rather than be cooped up at home this weekend Ben and I decided to go into the city. The trains were down as the rail network was being worked on so we got free bus service into the city which was cool!

We had planned to see some free comedy as part of the Brisbane Festival but, we went to see a movie on Sunday and by the time we got out of our movie it was raining again and we had missed the comedy :( we saw "Easy A" which was actually fairly funny. It had that girl from ZombieLand (great movie) in it. Basically she spreads a false rumour about herself but rather than deny it she just goes with it. It wasn't an AMAZING movie but it was good, better than sitting at home and it did have a great supporting cast.

On Friday we saw "Going the Distance" it was a comedy with Drew Barrymore (Remember her in E.T.? did you know she was 35?!) and Justin Long (The guy from the Mac Commercials) it was about two people dating long distance. I have been there and done that so I could particularly relate I think.  Again, it wasn't AMAZING but it was funny and worth the money I thought. It also had a great supporting cast. I give both movies  3/5 stars. So we have had our fill of movies lol. We didn't do too much else over the weekend and now it is Monday and we are just back at work (well its over for today Thank God!) 

Our time is really winding down here and Ben and I are just finalising what and where we will go next before I leave for New Zealand and he leaves for Asia then we meet up again in January in New Zealand. Life is not to bad just chugging along doing our thing. It isn't totally exciting all the time but as much as I would like to just travel ALL the time and do nothing else I actually have to work to survive lol. So life is life but I am still having fun and doing my thing. Hopefully things are still good back home and  I will be interested to see what has changed once I do get back home.

Yall take care,Ty

South America here we come!

So Ben and I are officially going to South America for real for real now!  I leave Oz in Nov (it has gone SO fast!)
the day I leave Oz I fly to NZ. I land in Auckland and I am hoping to have a job already or get a job really quickly because I am going to save as much money as possible for South America so I don't have to worry about money while I am there! I will be in New Zealand until April. Ben arrives in New Zealand (from Asia) I am SO jealous he is getting to back to Asia! He arrives in January and we leave New Zealand in April to fly to Chile! :) I can't wait!

Oh ya, I forgot to tell you that the other day Ben and I went into the city to see that movie, The Other Guys but before we saw that we went to a free art exhibit at the Brisbane Festival. It showcased pictures by a Canadian photographer named Douglas Kirkland. Apparently he was even in Brisbane talking to people but we missed him. I had never heard of him but, I know he is Canadian born and was born in 1934.

He has taken pictures of some really famous people including Marilyn Monroe,Michael Jackson,Rob Lowe and tons of others! His pictures were really great. I enjoyed it a lot and it was totally free :) I wish I had pictures to show yall. There was a picture of him in 1961 with all his tons of huge cameras and equipment and stuff. Right next to it they had a picture of him in 2010 with all his fancy new (much smaller equipment. It was really neat to see the comparison!

Work has been slow lately but it is still work and we are still pulling a paycheck. The days are flying by here and it is inching towards October already! There is a lot I will miss about Australia and some stuff I won't miss. I have a whole list but that is gonna be for another blog entry. I can't be bothered to do it now.

Talk at ya later,Tyler

Its been a long time

Today is the 14th of September here. I am assuming it is still the 13th of September back home. That means its been 7 years :( I can't even believe its been that long since one of my best friends in the world passed away. It was really hard then for me and it has gotten better over time but never goes away. Everything I remember about her is still crystallized in my mind even after all this time. I still do miss her and I feel just like it was yesterday even though its been 7 years. :( -Tyler

Back at it for another week

Well Ben and I used our free ticket to the movies over the weekend. We saw The Other Guys with Will Farrell and company. It was so funny! It was a cop comedy and I really enjoyed it. I mean it was his usual humour but he is just a funny man. It was even better because it was free! We also walked around the city and heard some bands and stuff from the Brisbane Festival for free. I tried the new "chicken schnitzel sub at Subway here and it was quite expensive and not that good. I was unimpressed.

Work has been work..... Still working hard and getting a paycheck which is better than being unemployed but nothing too amazing going on there except today I caught a lizard at work! It was the biggest lizard I have ever seen! It scared the crap out of me haha. But, I quickly determined it wasn't gonna kill me so I had took it outside. I later found out it was a blue tongue  lizard. They have even bigger lizards than that here. That was the most exciting thing to happen to me all day haha.

Big news! Ben and I bought and booked our ticket to South America! We leave from Auckland on the 5th of April! I have already booked my flight from here in Oz to Auckland for the 4th of November so I am all set now :) I have done my taxes here and just waiting on my return for last financial year. I still have to do taxes for this year before I leave. I also still need to get a haircut and we need to plan our South America journey.

Soon it will be time for more traveling so bring it on! :) -Ty

Movie Extravaganza

Ben and I have a busy weekend ahead of us haha. I posted the pictures/videos from River Fire recently on my facebook page if you haven't seen them yet.  But, this festival is a month long everyday there is something going on (Brisbane is really good about free festivals and stuff) so we will be going back there soon to check out some more stuff.

Last night Ben and I saw The Sorcerers Apprentice. Its a new (well new here) movie with Nicolas Cage about a sorcerer who is trying to find the next "super wizard" and he finally finds his apprentice. It wont win any academy awards by any means but, it was a good cheap outing and it was nice to kill a few hours. Tomorrow Ben and I will be seeing another movie. He got free tickets from work which is awesome! We are gonna be seeing The Other Guys. Will Farrell (and company) its a cop comedy and I have heard its really funny so I am excited about that.

I don't want this time seem like a side note seeing as it is at the bottom of this blog page because it totally isn't. But, today is Sept 11th here. :( I can't believe its already been nine years since that bad day. I still remember I was 16 years old and home sick from school. I woke up just in time to watch the second plane hit the towers live. I had no idea what was going on and I was really scared. I called my mom's work but the lines were busy. I finally got through and talked to her but none of us really knew what was going on. Finally Peter Jennings (late and great) came on ABC (channel 8) and calmly and clearly explained to us what was going on. I still remember how soothing his voice was and it was just good to finally understand what was going on.

Sadly he died a few years later from lung cancer. Due to smoking, a habit he picked up again after 9/11. I don't know anyone personally who was involved in 9/11 in anyway and I have never even been to New York but I just remember how hard all that hit me and still does. So even though I am here in Australia all my best goes out to all Americans today. (Tomorrow for most of yall back home).

On the 12th of Sept. 2001 I wrote pretty much the only poem I have ever written in my life and I haven't written one since really but here it is. It isn't much but I will let yall read it anyway.

They laughed, they cried, they died. They
went for a fatal for a ride, not knowing it
was their last, because of someone else's
task. We lugged, We dug, We hugged. We dug
in the rubble, they busted our bubble. They
shed blood, We gave blood. We laid them to
rest. They gave it their best. We salute
their bravery. God Bless America, America
the Beautiful.

 Well thats all I got for today. Talk at yall later,Ty

RiverFire 2010

Mom, this one is for you. Last night we went to RiverFire 2010 here in Brisbane along with 600,000 people. They had fireworks everywhere all synced to music! It is a month long festival and last night was the opening night. They had the best fireworks show I have ever seen in my life! These Aussie's sure know how to put on a good fireworks show (even though personal fireworks are illegal) it was even better than New Years Eve in Sydney with the Harbour Bridge! We had the PERFECT spot too! Ben and I were right on the river and we had no one in front of us and no trees or anything blocking our view. They shot fireworks from 2 bridges and 3 barges all over the river. Also, they shot them off buildings right in the city centre CBD. It was so amazing! they whole sky was lit up! Along with that they had jets and helicopters flying over too.

America back in the 1960's designed a fighter jet called the F111. The US doesn't use it anymore but, Australia still has some that they have continually updated. So for this riverfire they fly the jets RIGHT over our heads! They turn on the afterburners and dump fuel directly into the engine creating a HUGE flame! It was SO loud and SO fast... It was awesome! It was over it just a few seconds but, it came back three times. I loved watching that jet! It was so fast that it broke the sound barrier! I heard the sound and I literally thought there was a second jet but it was just the sound from the first jet flying by! We actually witnessed history because this is supposed to be the last year the F111's are doing the "dump and burn" fly by as they are being retired. Australia is the last country in the world to use them still so it was neat to see them as they are being retired.

The Australian military was also there recruiting and they brought out their weapons and vehicles for us to play with that was really cool. They had one of their attack helicopters do a fly by which was neat. All of this was free and it lasts all month!

After we finished watching the fireworks we went into the city and had dinner at a really good interesting Italian place called Vapiano's. Ben had raved about this place so I wanted to try it. Basically they give you something that looks like a credit card and then you go up and order your food. They make it right in front of you in the kitchen and you can say I want more of this, less of this etc. Then you go sit down with a buzzer and when its ready you go pick it up. It is all like self service. It was expensive but good! So all in all a good night had by all :)

The only downside to our whole day was when we got to the fireworks like 5 hours early! we were looking for a spot to watch them and we saw some ladies in a spot so we wanted to get near to their spot. Now keep in mind we weren't "taking" their spot in any way, just close to it. But boy did they bite our heads off! it was just the two of them but they SCREAMED at us. We have been here since 1pm and this WHOLE area is ours! (its not legal to "reserve" spaces there) but they were just jerks and it wasn't even worth fighting with them so we left and then we found our even BETTER spot. So I just laughed to myself. On the way home our train was packed with literally like 50 or 60 people wall to wall and thank god we had a spot to sit down because a girl ended up throwing up in our train carriage and it was really gross. It got all over some people and all over the floor and we were stuck with it :( Apparently she drank too much. Thank God it wasn't on us though! But, other than that everything was fine : )

Talk at yall later and enjoy your weekend wherever you are,Tyler

P.S. Check out my facebook page for more great pictures. I should give credit where credit is due and let you know these are Ben's pictures/videos.

My bucket list

You know this whole leg pain at times has been really severe, so bad that I went to a doctor and then a hospital thinking it was something REALLY bad. Luckily it wasn't but, it did make me think my about my life and how I live it and what I have done with my life. My life is by no means perfect and I haven't done everything I want yet but, overall I am happy with my life and I think I have lived a good one. I have seen a lot of amazing things in just 25 years that most people never get to see a do in a lifetime. So, if I was to kick the bucket tomorrow I would die a pretty happy and blessed guy with family and friends who love me.  

I figured I would share with yall my "bucket list" of things I want to do before I die. So here it is:

Love and be Loved                         
Be more positive                    
Find a meaningful career                    
Talk with my brother more                    
Give more and take less                    
Pass on some knowledge                    
Don't burn bridges                    
Take more Chances                    
Be different                    
Get another tat     4th Nov 2011    1 year 2 months, 1 day          
Workout more     30th Dec 2011   1 year  3 months, 27 days          
Get laser eye surgery     30th Dec 2011   1 year  3 months, 27 days          
Learn to dance     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Learn to play an instrument     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Shave my head     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to Brazil with Ralf     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to Africa     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to South America or Mexico     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
To Learn Spanish     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
To try sword fighting     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Drive or Buy Eleanor From "Gone In 60 Seconds"     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Fly in a jet     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Take military style survival training     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Retire at 56     30th Dec 2040     30 years, 3 months          
Travel round the world     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months          
Complete this list!     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months          
Go to Cuba     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months    

Semi Pain Free

Today was the first day since my leg injury that I have gone all day with no pain pills. Just wanted to let yall know in case there are those of you who were concerned. Today wasn't totally pain free but I think I am slowly slowly getting better. A day with no pain pills is a step in right direction.

Tomorrow here in Brisbane they will be having River Fire a large festival/fire works/air display. Ben and I will be going and it should be a good day. I am glad work is over for the week and now we are in the weekend! I can't believe its already September! I don't have too much time left here in Australia! Then I will move on and see what life holds for me :)

You know this whole leg pain at times has been really severe, so bad that I went to a doctor and then a hospital thinking it was something REALLY bad. Luckily it wasn't but, it did make me think my about my life and how I live it and what I have done with my life. My life is by no means perfect and I haven't done everything I want yet but, overall I am happy with my life and I think I have lived a good one. I have seen a lot of amazing things in just 25 years that most people never get to see a do in a lifetime. So, if I was to kick the bucket tomorrow I would die a pretty happy and blessed guy with family and friends who love me. 

Yall take care,Ty

Its been a while and I dont have much

Well I haven't blogged in a while and I really don't have much to say. But, I thought I would just give yall a little update. As I said before, the hospital/doctors said I had a severe muscle sprain/tear but there is really nothing they can do. I have been on some strong pain killers and an anti inflammatory which are helping. I can feel my leg slowly getting better. There is still pain but it is much less and I can at least get through a work day generally in not a whole ton of pain.

Other than staying busy and working hard, Ben and I haven't been doing much. This upcoming weekend is River Fire, a big fireworks show here in Brisbane so that should be good. I saw the movie Inception for a second time. (I really like that movie). On the weekends in city down by the river they have a weekend market which is pretty cool to go too. I really dont have much else but it is just good to be working and staying busy and making money! Ben also has a 2nd job as a waiter at Suncorp Stadium and next weekend he might get to see U2/Jay Z for free!

I know its not much but thats all I got for ya. Take care,Tyler

I got this from a friend

I got this from a friend in an email but I liked it so much I wanted to post it here. Wish I could take credit for writing it.

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:

Everything that you didn't spend during each day  
would be taken away from you.

You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

You may only spend it.

Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:

The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, it’s over, the game is over!

It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?

Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?

Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?

You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY This GAME is REALITY!

Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.

The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!

Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost.

Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about that, and always think of this:

Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and enjoy life!

Here's wishing you a wonderfully beautiful day.

Start spending.

Tyler.

I am all clear

So I spent six hours of my life today in the emergency room at the PA Hospital here in Brisbane. They examined you based on how sick you appeared to be so it took them three hours to even call my name. Once I was seen the doctor asked me questions about my leg/stomach pain and did some muscle tests. Then he took some blood samples and urine samples. He said he thought it was a muscle tear in the muscle that goes from my upper thigh/groin to my lower abdomen but he wouldn't know until my test results came back.

It was three more hours laster and finally he came back and told me that I had a fairly severe muscle tear but not bad enough for surgery. Unfortunately it is the muscle that I use to walk everyday (and I do a lot of walking at work) so it wont heal quickly (it has been over a month already) but all I can do from this point is manage the pain with medicine and hope for the best. It really sucks that I still hurt and there is nothing they can do.

The good news is that this isn't anything that is going to kill me or force me to have surgery or go home. I also wasn't charged for the visit to the emergency room other than wasting six hours of my life there haha. Well I am not dying anytime soon so there ya go :)

No worries. Yall take care,Tyler

Work/Life/Various Updates

Now that I am back from New Zealand visiting my family (had a great time seeing them again) Now I am back working at my new job I figured I would update yall. My new job is pretty good. At first I started out on the "benches" sorting,labeling and packing clothing and accessories orders to be shipped out to stores all over Australia. But, now I have been reassigned to "runner" duty. I do a lot of jobs all at once now. There is 14 work stations each with a minimum of 2 people on them. They are constantly unpacking stock and breaking down the cardboard boxes that the stock comes in. So, one of my jobs is to take all the rubbish to the bin and throw it away.

That is a job that never ends! 14 work stations and one of me. So as you can imagine I stay busy just dealing with the rubbish! Not only do I do that but I also move stock around and reorganize so they always have priority stock at the front of the line to do. I label boxes and build new cardboard ones for them to use. I also just do general cleaning and whatever else they need. There is 4 to 5 "bench controllers" or floor managers plus 2 managers above them. So, I am going a million miles an hour being pulled in 1000 directions all day!

I am on my feet all day not stopping. There is an upside to all this though, it makes me day go really really quickly and unlike the people who work on the benches who have "targets" to hit in the number of units they process etc. I have guaranteed work hours because they always need a runner even if it is slow and I am pretty much guaranteed five day work week which is not true of every casual worker there and working 7:30-3:30 close to home isn't a bad gig. I don't have any of that pressure I just make sure everything is clean and in order and running smoothly and I get the same amount of money. So it is a fast job and I have to multi task all day but overall I do like it! At least I am getting a paycheck and not unemployed anymore!

Also today at work we had an unexpected 45 minute break. Near the end of the day the fire alarm went off and everyone had to be evacuated. We were told it wasn't a drill. But, there was no smoke and no fire so no one was really freaking out or anything. They ended up giving us all the all clear and I  still don't know why it went off. By the time we were cleared to go back inside our day was over :) 

Other than that, I have a big to do list tomorrow. At the top of that list I actually have to go to the hospital. I have been having some severe unexplained leg/stomach pains that haven't been going away. I went to the doctor here and she couldn't figure out what was wrong so she referred me to the hospital. I hope it isn't anything too serious and I can still work and travel etc. I will keep yall updated for sure. I am still among the living don't worry :)

Ben and I also saw that new movie (it just came out here) The Expendables. It had a huge all star cast with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham,Terry Crews,Mickey Rourke,Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eric Roberts (Julia Roberts brother)Jet Li and a few others. Our very own California Govenator Arnold Schwarzenegger ( I was surprised to see him in the movie due to him currently holding public office) and Bruce Willis both had very funny cameos. It was your typical shoot em up action movie but it was pretty good. I enjoyed the action/fight scenes and it kept us occupied for 2 hours and we got cheap tickets. I would give it a 3/5 stars. So all in all a good night. 

Well thats all for now yall take care,Tyler

mountain picture nz

Economy Class Hell

I really just felt this deserved a blog entry all on its own. I wanted to tell you about my flight from hell back home to Brisbane from New Zealand. Considering I have flown probably over 100 times in my life and this was the first time I have ever been sat next to children I guess I should consider myself lucky.

That being said, I told you I thought economy class from Sydney to Brisbane on the train was hell, that was a cake walk compared to this! I was the 2nd person on the plane to board (just random luck) I go to my seat and then I see a family coming towards me. A father,mother and 3 kids. 2 little boys and a girl. I am secretly they wont sit next to me but no such luck. :(

I flew on an airline that shall remain nameless but lets just say it starts with J and ends with Star lol. I didn't have much option for any kind of upgrades with them considering they charge for everything! Before they even sat down the mother said to me "I apologise in advance" I knew I was in for it then lol. The 2 bros were 6 and 8 and sat next to me. The little girl was 4 and next to her parents in the row in front of me. Directly behind me was some hooligans who would NOT get their freakin knees out of my back! There was also a baby in the row across from me. I was surrounded and just had no luck! :(

About half way thru the flight the 2 boys were driving me nuts going crazy and their parents weren't doing much to stop it. My ipod was totally dead and I had no book to read. It was impossible to sleep and I was going nuts! I decided to listen to the radio that was pre programmed on the plane and it was crap. There was nothing good on except a comedy channel that kept me occupied for about a half hour of the 4 hour flight. By that point I would have been happy to skydive out of that plane into the ocean and swim to freakin Australia lol.

I had a crappy flight but it got me thinking. The airline did their job getting me there in one piece so I am thankful for that. I am also sure that some of my readers have young children and have to fly. I understand you can never have a childless flight but in all seriousness I know how these greedy airlines put more and more fees on us these days. Taxes,baggage, security fees... all of it. Well if they could GUARANTEE me that I would have a seat on the plane not in the vicinity of a child and/or baby or crazy person  I would totally pay extra for that. I would pay up to like 40 dollars extra for the comfort of having a peaceful flight and I am sure others would too, so if there is an airline executives reading my blog. HINT HINT! lol. I just thank God I was not on a long haul flight a la Sydney to LA.

Ok rant over. I am just congested and a little sick and cranky ( I am sure I caught something from those kids on the plane lol). Anyway yall take care,Tyler

NZ Round Two

After I finally got to New Zealand I was not able to get transport directly from Christ Church to Franz Joseph. So I was finally able to book a really scenic train ride from Christ Church to Arthur's Pass. From there I was supposed to take a bus to Franz Joseph. I wasn't looking forward to all of this at all because this whole train/bus journey was after I had basically been on a train for 23+ hours and had to rebook my flights and spend all that money due to me forgetting my passport. I was just SO over it! Not to mention when I finally did land in Christ Church after all that travel I ended up having to sleep in the airport under the hertz rent a car desk. On the ground. Ya it sucked lol.

Well the good news was that my parent surprised me and met me in Arthur's Pass! Which meant that I didn't have to take yet another bus journey to meet my family. I was happily surprised to see them for sure! Exhausted and frustrated from all my travels but happy. Honestly though the train ride from Christ Church to Arthur's Pass really was super scenic and really amazing. I have pictures on Facebook and I will put some up here. Not to mention I got to sit next to a really cool British girl who shared my love of travel so the time went fast!

Once I finally met up with my parents we drove from Arthur's Pass to Franz Joseph and my parents and brother walked on the glacier in Franz Joseph ( I didn't because I have hurt my leg) lucky for me I have already been to New Zealand and done most of this. So it was a bummer not to be able to do everything with my family but it was just good to see them and be there even if I couldn't join in on everything. From Franz Joseph we drove to Wanaka and stayed there for a while which was nice. From there we drove to Cardrona and my family skied for a day while I at inside where it was warm haha. It was quite cold and windy there and apparently we left just in time because a lot of people got stranded on the mountain! From there we drove to Arrowtown (close to Queens Town). We drove into Queens Town for the day and tooled around.

The BEST part for me was the ever amazing Ferg Burger! Only the best burger joint in all of the southern hemisphere. I LOVE that place and I was SO excited to go back! My parents and brother liked it too :) It is open 21 hours a day 7 days a week! If you ever get to Queens Town you MUST go to Ferg Burger. But sadly for the rest of us there is only one of them. The owner refuses to franchise :( After our time in Queens Town  we drove back to Christ Church and spent the night there. The next day my family left to go back home and I flew back here to Brisbane on the flight from hell, which I will tell you all about in my next blog.

I guess that is it really,Ty

The Saga of the Forgotten Passport

Wow what a mess! I am going to try and remember everything that has happened over the past few days and give it to yall in a coherent manner haha. Basically the plan was for me to leave Brisbane on the 8th of August and travel by train to meet my mom and little brother in a town about half way between Brisbane and Sydney (where we were all going to fly to New Zealand).

That part of the plan went without a hitch. What I didn't account for was that I got a new job recently and I had to use my passport for them to verify my work visa etc. So I took it out of its normal spot and forgot to replace it! So that meant I got all the way to Sydney with no passport!!!! :( Which meant I had to re-book a train BACK to Brisbane the very next morning! So after spending 23 hours total time on the train there and back I finally arrived back in Brisbane.

Well all of my flights were non refundable so I lost all those flights plus I lost a day of time with my family but, I finally did get to Christchurch 1 day ( and a lot of money spent) later. I landed in Christchurch and I knew they wouldn't be there. So I had to take a train to a town called Graymouth. Then I bus from Graymouth to Franz Joseph where they were.

I really was marathon traveling for them! By the time it was all said and done I had spent almost a grand and over 40 hours of my time just because I forgot my passport! I can promise you I will never ever do that again! But, actually the train ride from Christchurch to Graymouth was actually really scenic and totally worth the money. I loved that train ride and met a really cool British girl who was my seat mate and that helped pass the time quickly (it was a 4 hour train journey).

Once we got to Graymouth I only had 30 minutes to get on my bus to Franz Joseph so I was rushing to get my bags and get on the bus! But, who do I see there? my family! My parents and my little brother were waiting there at the train station for me and I didn't even know it! So it was a happy (but expensive) reunion for me. After 9 months getting to see (most) of my family again. Jason is still back home in Texas.

So now we have all gotten here in one piece and had a good time. I have a bum leg so I can't do a lot of the activities but luckily for me I have already been to New Zealand and seen and done most all of it so I really am not missing anything. It is still good just to be with my family and they seem to be having a lot of fun which is good!  I can not wait until later today in Queens Town I get another Ferg Burger! mmmmmm

So I guess that's it for now. Yall take care.-Tyler

P.S. It is MUCH colder here than it is in sunny Brisbane and I miss the warm! Its about  30 degrees colder here than it is back in QLD :(

-

Tomorrow is the day!

I will see my family for the first time in 9 months tomorrow :) I take a train at the butt crack of dawn from Brisbane to Taree. Its about an 8 hour train ride and once I get there my mom and bro are picking me up. From there we will drive close to four hours down to Sydney and spend the night near the airport. I will be seeing a friend from Sydney tomorrow night before we leave so that will be all good.  Tomorrow we will get up and take our flights to NZ and spend our week there!

What else? I worked 3 days at my new job and they are cool with me leaving for a week so that is good! The job is gonna be ok its just repetitive and boring. But the hours seem to go fast as we stay busy! The people seem nice and I am learning more and more about the job. They have a finger print scanner to clock in and out for your shift!

I am still having some leg/stomach pain but I am gonna get all that checked out for sure soon and its not gonna kill me ( I hope) so such is life. Anyway things are pretty good and I will enjoy my week in NZ then be back here in Brisbane and back to work! It will be interesting to see if my family has changed any in 9 months or if they think I have. I still dont have the Aussie accent but, I do speak "Aussie" which may be weird for them.  I also also used to left hand driving now haha.

Talk to yall in week,Tyler

First day at my new job

Today Ben and I started our new job. There is more too it but basically we sort and count and label stock in the Rip Curl Distribution Centre. We even get a discount in their retail stores! The factory is laid out real nice and everyone seems great. It will be a good place to work but they do set "performance goals" for us. and we work on a roster so as we get better we get more shifts. It will take a little but but, the job isn't hard and I am sure we will get quicker and quicker. Also, its only Monday-Friday which is great and once we get good enough we can be working five times a week instead of just three.

The best part is they were cool with me leaving for a week to see my family which is awesome because my family is here and I am going to see them in 3 days! We will have fun and it will be good to see them again. So, after a week with family its back to work :)

Oh ya one last thing, today I was shopping at Coles (local grocery store) and the girl at check out, her name was Tyler. Just like mine haha. I had always thought Tyler was a total male name and never had met a girl named Tyler until now. Imagine if we married haha! Confusing! Anyway just thought I would mention it.

So life is finally getting back on track now! Have a good one,Tyler

I got a new job!

So luckily today Ben and I both got new jobs! The same job :) we start tomorrow at 7:30am. I can only hope it goes well. I am sure it will. I am real excited finally get some more money coming in. The only rough thing for me is that I am leaving to see my family on Saturday. That means I will only be working for 3 days before I go away with my family for a week. But, they have flown thousands of miles just to see ME! I did also tell the people at this job went I interviewed so I can only hope they didnt "forget".

Anyway, my family is here and safe and I will see them here this weekend in Australia. Then we will go for 1 week to New Zealand and after that they will fly home and I will fly back to Oz and (hopefully) still have a job! Well thats all for now. Take care and good on ya :) -Ty

Our night at the movies and other random assorted stuff

Last night Ben and I went out to see that new movie with Aston Kutcher and Katherine Heigl called Killers. We got our usual cheap tickets so that was good. The movie was pretty good, it wasn't amazing but it was good and better than just sitting at home. I don't regret paying for it. Katherine was looking particularly gorgeous (as usual) and Ashton has the six pack abs I can only dream about haha. One of these days  I WILL get into better shape! I know I need too because the way I was huffing and puffing when I had to run to get on the train, everyone was looking at me and I am just getting out of shape lol. Not to mention I strained my leg muscle :(

The weather here the last few days has been so weird. Dumping rain one minute, and unseasonably warm the next. It is winter here but right now its about 27 C (about 80-85ish F) so its not feeling like winter! Which doesn't bother me a bit. I hate the cold haha. Just Yesterday it was so foggy and Brisbane Airport they diverted flights for 4 hours! I am telling you we are having wild weather lol. Its hard to know how to dress for this kind of weather.

In a week my parents and little brother will be here and it will be worse for them because they are coming from Texas summer! Right now back home it is about 40 degrees C on average easy. They will be flying into Sydney where it is about 6 degrees C (about 40 F) so it will really suck for them haha. I hope they brought warm clothes! On top of that all of us will be headed to New Zealand for a week where it is even colder than that :(

I will be happy to see my family again after 9 months though. I am missing the little stuff about home so my mo is bringing a list of assorted goodies for me :) What great parents I have. I hope their flight goes smoothly because I am used to long flights all over this world but, I know they haven't been out of the country in a while and they have never been on a flight this long. (My mom can't sleep well on planes) I can only hope they will adjust well to the 15+ hour time difference so it wont ruin their trip. It never bothers me, I only get bothered coming up. By the time I get home my body clock is gonna be SO outta whack lol! I am gonna be messed up for days!

I have three months left here on my Australian visa which due to Aussie Immigration laws means I can't get an extension on. So come 4 Nov I will have to leave the country. I got approved for my New Zealand visa so I have the option of going over there if I want. I am tossing that idea around but haven't decided totally yet. I am still waiting on news from this job Ben and I went thru the interview process with. They say they are verifying our references so fingers crossed :)

Oh one last thing, I had dinner a couple nights ago with my ex roommate from Sydney. She was up here in Brissy on business. Anyway we got to pose for a picture in front of the office of the Former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. K Rudd's local district is the Brisbane Area. That will mean nothing to non Aussie's but it was exciting for me haha.

Late Edit: I just got an email from my Mom, They landed safe and sound! :) 

Yall take care til next time. Be safe and have fun! -Ty

My crappy day with the Australian health system

Today I had a frustrating day with the Australian health care system. Australia has a semi socialized health care system. That means all Australian born residents get most of their non specialized health care needs largely subsidized or totally paid for. Just show your Medicare card and off you go (they may pay a small co-pay though.

So I had to go get a refill on my medicine, I have a valid prescription script from my doctor back home but, they wont accept it here. Which is frustrating because that means I have to pay to see a doctor here and since I am not an Australian resident I have to pay all out of pocket for it.

Well I went once in Sydney and paid for a doctor to write me a script then I paid the chemist (Pharmacy) to fill my order and give me my medicine. That was all well and good until now when I am running out and I need more pills. So I went today to get a refill on my pills but I found out that the doctor in Sydney only wrote me a one off script. That means I have to go BACK to the doctor and pay again all over to get yet another script for more pills and then I have to pay for the pills.

I was even more frustrated but I had no choice. So I made my appointment to see a doctor at 6:30pm. I sat there and sat there for an hour! I was finally seen at 7:30pm! The doctor didn't ask me much and I had everything I needed in literally 5 minutes. So I waited 1 hour for 5 minutes lol. Very frustrating! After that I paid the 60 dollar fee and off I went to the Chemist to get my pills. (At least this time I got repeats on it so I dont have to go back to the GP again!)

I get to the Chemist and they tell me they are out of my pills until 2 days from now. I have enough meds to last me so I am not worried about running out it was just a really frustrating night. But what can ya do right? Had to be done and hopefully (maybe) I can claim it back on my insurance when I get home who knows? The only good thing to come out of this situation was my trains were on time and I didn't have to wait haha. Anyway I just needed to vent. So there you have it. -Tyler

P.S. I tried to milk a free flu shot out of them but they wouldn't give me one :P for all my complaining about this though, I think overall it is still cheaper and easier for me to get what I need medically over here than it is back home!

Inception

Last night Ben and I saw the new movie with Leonardo Dicaprio and company called Inception. I am not going to give away a lot of plot points in case there is some of you who haven't seen it yet. Basically though its about a guy who can enter people's dreams and steal information from their mind's. There is also a way he can insert memories into people's minds. It is a great movie but there is A LOT of twists and turns and if you dont pay attention its hard to figure out what is going on. It was the first movie I have seen in a while that made me "think".

Ben and I spent our 30 minute+ train ride home talking only of the movie and what we did and didn't understand haha. There is also already a TON of websites breaking down this movie and talking about everything because of all the twists. A la "Lost" websites. Basically I am saying its a great movie you just have to pay attention then go home and read about what you didn't understand haha.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Once the movie is out of the theatres I will give my full review so I don't give anything away. -Tyler

This could be my shortest blog ever

I just wanted to say that since I have come here to Australia ( I have been here over 8 months now!) I have gotten used to not having a dryer,dish washer or central heat/ac. These things while standard at home are just not standard here. So, before I considered these things just basic rights of all humans lol. I mean I have had them my whole life I now realise that they are luxuries.

So basically what I am trying to say is, that I have gotten much better at general house work,cleaning and cooking (using the clothes line too!) as opposed to when I was back home. If I hear anyone back home, when I get back home that is.... If I hear them whining about having to load the dish washer and/or dryer or saying its too hot or too cold inside with the heater/AC on I am gonna be mad! I will tell them to try doing it all manually!

I am not quite sure why I thought this was blog worthy but I just wanted to throw it out there. Tonight Ben and I are gonna go see that new movie Inception (I hope it is good) and we just went grocery shopping, spent a lot for 2 people but, groceries are expensive here and at least now we are stocked up. By Friday I should hear about that new job. So fingers crossed.

Well I just realised I turned my shortest blog entry ever into a not so short one haha. You know me I love to talk/write about whatever.

Talk at ya later,Ty

Interview Day

Today Ben and I had our interviews for this new job. Its close to home and it is a factory job per my usual.  But, it is very similar to what I did in Sydney and I think it will be a good fit if I get this job. The interview went well and I really hope I get it because I need it! So we will see how it goes, hopefully we get a call back soon. Fingers Crossed :) If we both get this job it will be great, we can split cab fare to work and it would just be a lot more convenient for both of us. Tonight we watched a really funny comedy debate show on channel 10 (free to air TV) it was a good laugh.

My family is coming soon so that is exciting to see them again after 9+ months. It should be a good time going back over to New Zealand to see them in the dead middle of winter so that part I am not looking forward too haha. I had something else I wanted to blog about but I have forgotten now....grrr! Well its election time here in Australia. 21st of August anyway and we are getting SLAMMED here with Election commercials and crap. I just want it to be over. I am sick of it already! There seems to be a lot of drama in Aussie politics but no worse than anywhere else I guess. I cant vote here but I know who I like and who I don't lol. Voting is mandatory here in Australia so everyone has to vote though so all the citizens will be out voting soon.

Not much else is going on really. A new movie with Leonardo DiCaprio comes out soon here, its called Inception about a guy who can insert himself into people's dreams and steal their memories. It looks really good actually. I read a news article that said this isn't possible yet but, it is closer to reality than it is to science fiction. Kind of a scary thought but I think really my grand kids will be the ones seriously worrying about that, not me.

I heard Tom Petty started a new concert tour back home and I am so jealous! He is one of the last "greats" I haven't seen yet. I want to see him real bad before he retires! I hope I get the chance because I have already been lucky enough to see Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton with my dad. (Both put on great shows!) My credit card is expiring soon-ish and I called to have them send my new one here to my address in Australia but they refuse to do it. It is really frustrating and stupid! I wish they would just send it here.

I wish I could remember what I wanted to tell yall but I forgot! I am so sick of winter already I am ready for summer to come back! I hate this cold! brrrrr! and we dont have central ac/heat here, just blankets. But I do manage to stay warm enough most of the time. With lots of blankets! I am hoping to save enough money to go back to NZ in Nov and work there for a while and continue my travels to South America but we will see how it goes.


Oh! I finally remembered what I was gonna tell yall! Today Ben and I walked home from where our interview was (about a 45 min walk actually) but we saw a rainbow! It has been a while since I have seen one so it was good to see one again. I know its nothing super special but still I enjoyed it. Ok, Now I can sleep in peace haha.

Night my blogosphere fans,Tyler

Time is moving on....

Time sure does fly when you are having fun huh? The 4th of July has already passed here, my mom's birthday has passed, and so has the middle of July! Soon it will be August! Well the last job I had was only temporary and did not last long so I have been on the job hunt since then. I haven't been having much luck lately as hard as I have been trying. Until yesterday that is. I must have registered with 30 job agencies and been out and out and about and applied online for so many jobs but I got a call from a woman about a factory job and I have an interview on Monday!

They also asked if I knew anyone else who needed a job so I recommended Ben and it would be great if we both got the job, same schedule,same place so that way we could split taxi fare as there is no public transport out that way. So if we are lucky both of us will get this job!

So wish me luck :) I do need this job. Also, my parents and brother get to this part of the world in early August and I will be seeing them for the first time in 10 months. I am sure they are excited! and I know this is the longest flight any of them have ever been on. I on the other hand am used to it because I have been lucky (or unlucky) depending on how you look it, haha. to fly all over the globe to many neat places and have taken lots of flights so I am quite used to it by now. I hope their flights go well and it should be fun.

Other than that, the only other new thing in my life is we saw Knight and Day that new movie (well new here) with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. It was pretty good. Not amazing but it was entertaining. Also, I have been getting progressively better and better at poker. I play in Tournaments as I said before, where I don't use any of my real money but am able to win real money and I have won some actual money. Just like 10 bucks total but its better than nothing and I fun way to exercise my brain because poker is a very "mental" sport. Especially online since you can't see their faces. I even got 4th place in a tournament and that was because I had to leave. If I could have stayed for the whole thing I seriously think I had a good chance at winning it all.

Oh ya one other thing, at least for me this year has gone SO fast! and November (when I leave) is fast approaching! So I will have to decide at that point whether to come home (because Americans are unable to get a 2nd year visa to Australia)  or to go work in New Zealand for 3 months and then travel South America for 3 months. That is an enticing option for sure.... I have always wanted to go to South America but that will all depend on the money situation. So I will keep yall updated on my decisions.

Well thats about it for now. Talk at yall later,Ty

Movie Night

So last night Ben and I went to see The Karate Kid, the new one with Jaden Smith. That is Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's son so he comes from a very rich and powerful acting background. It was not as good as the original but, it was worth the money. It was actually set in China and had Jackie Chan as the teacher. But, the movie theatre was packed with kids! There was so many families and kids and Ben and I couldn't even sit together! The worst part was, I was sat next to a family that didn't speak English. That fact alone wouldn't bother me but what did bother me was the fact that they would not shut up! I politely told them to be quiet but I guess they didn't care or didn't understand because they kept talking the whole freaking movie and I had to suffer through it!

Ben and I also did some grocery shopping and managed to get our lowest grocery bill ever! that was really exciting haha. I am not much of a cook but, I have been cooking a lot more since I have been here and I can now do a pretty mean brekkie :) Eggs,Toast,Bacon the usual. I am also starting to be a pretty professional dishwasher because here in Australia a machine dishwasher is a rare thing so you have to do it all by hand!

I dont have too much else going on lately. I have started playing some online poker recently though. Not for real money of course. But, I am able to enter tournaments for free and have the chance to win REAL money if I place high enough. My first tourney I placed 300th out of 875 people. Not amazing by an means but for my first actual poker tournament I was pleased! So practice will make perfect :)

Late Edit: I have been getting progressively better and better at this online poker! I enter tournaments for free but, I have the chance of winning real money. So far I have placed 100th out of 806, 300th out of 875 and just tonight I actually got 22nd out 869 people! I only won 2 dollars (because the prize pool was split between all the top players) But, I did really well and I think I can qualify for more tournaments worth more money as I get better :) Its a fun hobby anyway and it isn't costing me a cent so far!

Talk to yall later,Ty

My awesome night!

Ben persuaded me to go into the city with him and watch the World Cup even though I honestly don't have much interest in it, soccer has just never really been my thing. So we decided to go to The Treasure Casino here in Brisbane and watch it there on the big screen. We get there and walk around and explore the casino then grab a beer.

So the game started and honestly at first I was not very interested, it just didn't grab me. So I went to gamble a little. I started out with 5 dollars on the pokies or slot machines. Well my 5 dollars went really fast and I didn't win anything lol. Slots are not so easy! Then I thought about trying blackjack or 21. I know how to play black jack but I found out there were a lot more "casino rules" than I was used too. So I decided not to embarrass myself and not play.

I didn't have enough money for the poker tables so all that left me was roulette. I had never played roulette before but I knew the concept and I had a 1 in 37 chance at winning at a minimum. So I went over with my 10 dollars and I placed a bet on number 21 and won 45 bucks! :)

After I won my money I went back to the game and watched the 2nd half and it was actually quite good. Germany won 4 to 0! so all in all I had a good night and so did the Germany soccer team! After the game we went home and I managed not to spend any of my winnings.

Oh ya, its the 4th here so HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! :) 234 years strong!!

Talk to yall later,Ty

Its been a while and not to much has happened

Well I haven't blogged in a while but I just thought I would give yall a little update and write a few things just to let you know I am still alive haha. It just seems like yesterday I was writing that I had my 7 month anniversary here and now I am coming up on 8 months here! I seriously can't believe how quickly time flies! It may not seem to go that fast for yall back home but for me this whole experience is just flying by for sure. People ask me if I am home sick and sure I miss my friends and family and the little things from home but I am not overcome with homesickness yet which I guess is a good thing.

I can tell you this though, whenever I do get back home it will be an adjustment for me. Australia is not HUGELY different from America but, there is some major differences in vocabulary and some of the foods are different here, not to mention they drive on the left side of the road so I have totally gotten used to that now and going back home and trying to drive my car again on the right side of the road will take a little bit of getting used too! But, I think the biggest major difference will be getting my body used to the time change when I do get back home because right now I am about 15 hours ahead of Texas. I am future man ;)

Here in Australia we do get American television shows and movies just usually with a big delay so movies most of you have already seen I am just now watching. Last night we saw "Grown Ups" with Adam Sandler and company. At first I thought it might not be so good because there was so many "funny people" in one movie but actually it was quite good! I got a good laugh out of it.  We also saw "Get him to the Greek" recently which was a semi sequel to the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (both of those movies are good) and Get Him to the Greek was actually pretty funny as well! We have found a former IMAX theatre here in Brisbane where we can get tickets for $6.50 and $5.50 on cheap tues so its a good deal to get out of the house and do something without spending too much money.

Speaking of House, Ben and I are big fans of the show House. I am sure most of you have heard of it. I bet alot of you watch it too but, if you haven't heard of it, its a medical drama show that centers around a doctor and his team and they have to fight to cure various people of various illnesses each episode. It is really a great show and Dr House (actually played by Hugh Laurie) is British in real life but he puts on the most amazing American accent I have ever heard! For the longest time I had no idea Hugh Laurie was even British!

In addition to House we have added to our TV schedule The Mentalist which is a really good crime drama and a purely Australian show I doubt yall get back home called Underbelly. It is a crime show that is all about the real life police corruption in NSW (New South Wales aka where Sydney is) in the late 80's to the mid 90's. That show just had its season finale but its a great show! They set up something called The Royal Commission to root out police corruption and something like 19 officers ended up killing themselves and like 30 "retired" a few even went to prison. Back then they were totally in the bad guy's pockets! With just a few honest cops around who ended up bringing down the whole system!

I wanted to tell you one other thing about Aussie TV besides getting shows and movies late the only other thing I hate about Aussie TV is the commercials. You might say, well everyone hates commercials! But this is worse!  You see they have NO variety on their commercials here! They show the same ones over and over and over! It has gotten to the point now where Ben and I can literally talk through the whole commercial word for word before it has barely begun.  There is an insurance commercial where a lady says something about a rate quote and then they have a (real rugby star) in the commercial he says "$506.95" Ben and I always say it before he does lol its kinda sad how well we know all these freaking commercials but they just need new ones! It is annoying to watch them over and over but our "guess the commercial" game is fun to play. Thank God its not a drinking game haha.

Since we have been here Ben and I have been saving money by cooking for ourselves. We always seem to end up with a big grocery bill and a lot of groceries to carry though! Even so it does save us money. Usually Ben does the cooking and I do the dishes but, I have been cooking some and I am definitely better at cooking then before I got here! I recently got some recipes from my dear mother that I am gonna try out soon and see how it works out :) Ok, I think I have gone on for long enough now lol.

Yall take care,Tyler

I survived my first day!

Well today was my first day at work. I took a taxi to work this morning and got there in plenty of time but it cost me almost 14 dollars (Australian) 1 way. So I have decided I am just gonna wake up early and walk there from now on. Once I got there I had my safety induction and got shown around the warehouse. Everyone seems really nice there and in the whole company there is only 9 people (me included).

Basically my job consists of moving aluminum rods out of prepackaged boxes, there is 30 in a box. So I just get the order sheet and put them in the new box based on what the customer wants in their order. Along with that I do basic cleaning and just helping out around the shop. I really want my forklift ticket but as of yet I don't have it. It would help out for sure but it is quite expensive! So I am just happy to have a good job with good people on a good wage for now :)

This job is really dirty though! All day I am surrounded by metal dust and shavings and saws going off all the time. That aluminum is pretty freaking sharp too! I managed to cut myself on and off through out the day but nothing major. I still have all my digits :) Tomorrow I will be wearing gloves for sure. Well I guess that's it for now. I will be back at it tomorrow.

Talk to yall later,Ty

I start tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the first day at my new job! I start at 7:30am until 4pm. I will have to take a taxi to get there for the time being as there is no public transport near my job but hopefully until I get a bike I can work out a deal with the driver to take me everyday and give me a discount. I will have to get out my boots and hi res clothes for work tomorrow but other than that I am ready to go! Gonna have to do laundry soon though..... Well it is a beautiful day today even though its winter here I wish summer would hurry up and come back! Talk to yall later,Ty

So guess what?

This is gonna be short but guess what?! I GOT A JOB!  I start Monday and I will be working at an Aluminum factory 10 min drive from where I live! The only slight problem is that it isn't close to any public transport so I will have to walk or get a bike or take a taxi to get there but if that is my only problem then I am happy and  I am just really excited to be working again and making money so I can save for my ongoing travels! Yay me :) That is all. :) -Tyler

Oh, I should add that Ben is now working a restaurant job too so life is good for both of us!

Late Edit: Ben and I saw that new movie (well new to Australia) "Get him to the Greek" it was pretty funny and it follows the story of Adolphus Snow the rocker guy from the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" so do give both those movies a go, they are funny!

Well now that I am over 50% done...

So, now that I am over half way done with my time here in Oz I figured I would write a little bit about all the friends I have made here. I really do miss my best friends and family from home for sure but, I have made some great friends here too! In the 7 months I have been here I have literally met hundreds of people and met even more people in Asia and New Zealand. So needless to say my friend base has grown considerably. All over the world there is good people if you just have your eyes open.

Of course not all of those people I have kept in touch with and not all of them I would even consider good friends but, everyone I have met so far even if just for that brief amount of time has been a good friend to me. Out of all the people I have met I would say I have met roughly 10 people here that I will consider life long friends (Yep I am talking about you Wolf Pack ). On top of those 10 people there is about 20 or 30 more that are really good friends who I still do keep in touch with. All the rest were friends for a while but now gone. Even when people just pass through your life its good to have them there for the time being.

I have the ability and/or gift to meet people really easily anywhere. I am a talkative guy and I love to travel and meet other travelers. When your traveling most people who are travelers as well are in a "traveler mindset". It is different than being at home. You are way more open to talking to strangers and spontaneously doing things. I love doing this! I have met multiple people at bus stops,train stops etc (including Ben).

I guess I should give you a little background on Ben and I. I actually met him on the bus in Sydney way back in Nov. I saw him looking lost at a map on the bus so I decided to be nice and help him out and chat him up. So, our friendship started there and now all these months later here we are traveling Oz together. He is a pretty cool guy and we get along well. Not only did I meet Ben but, I also met a former house mate of his who happened to be American so we had a lot in common and Josiah and I get along well. Both of those guys I would consider life long friends.

My mate that we are staying with , Bernie he is a really good guy. He has taken us in and let us stay at his house which is really helpful while we are trying to get on our feet here in Brisbane. So, I really couldn't ask for much more. Every now and again the 3 of us have little disagreements just like a marriage haha but so far nothing major so there is no "divorce" looming in the future Thank God!

I know this blog might have seemed a little random but I just thought I would mention all my friends and just let yall know everything is pretty A OK now :).

I got an interview!

Well Hi there! I know it has been a while since I have blogged but really not much is going on that I haven't already told you about lol. So this will be a quick update but I just wanted to let yall know that I got a call from a lady who said she liked my CV (Resume) and she was forwarding it on to the hiring manager at this warehouse job about 10 minutes from where I am staying! So soon I am gonna go in for an interview and hopefully finally get a job! :) happy dance!

Other than that, I am going into the city with my mate and we are gonna just hang out there. Haven't done that in a while actually. We just saw the A-Team movie and it was pretty good. It wasn't great but we got cheap tickets so it was ok. That movie ( I think its already out in the States) "Get him to the Greek" comes out here on the 17th. I am pretty excited about seeing that actually it looks pretty good, Russell Brand is pretty funny!

When I was younger I played a game on the Internet where I used fake money to place bets on real movies. So, however a movie did in real life I got a corresponding amount of "money" in the game (if I bet correctly that the movie would do well or flop) well I just found out now they are gonna do that exact same thing for real with real money! I would be really good I think because I love movies lol. But I have no real money to bet haha. :(

The World Cup has started now and my mate Ben from Germany is going crazy over it! lol he is soccer crazy but I guess I just never really caught onto it. Its not hugely popular back home like it is in Germany. I have a feeling I will be watching a lot of it though lol. He is even getting up at 4am (our time) to watch the first game, hes a nut! haha

Well its winter here now and I don't like it! It isn't as cold as Sydney here in Brissy for sure but, at night time it can get down to 10C or below (that 40F and below) :( and I really want summer to come back so we can get warm again! Cairns stays warm all year round so I really wish I was there for the middle of winter lol. But, this cold is nothing compared to how cold New Zealand is! So I guess I am lucky :)

I just recently got a haircut finally so now at least my hair isnt so long and I can stop using so much shampoo all at once haha I am happy for that! and last night Ben cooked a new style of pasta I have never had before. Its called Noki (I think) it was ok but it was pretty doughy and the sauce we had wasn't that great but, it filled me up at least! We are like pasta addicts now lol I never used to eat this much pasta but it is cheap and filling so it helps!

Well I guess thats it for now. Signed, your hopefully soon to be employed again Traveling Texan Tyler

I just missed it!

Well I had planned to write a whole big blog on the day of my 7 month anniversary here but I missed it by a day! It totally just slipped by me and now I have been in Oz for 7 months and 1 day. Well this is close enough. So, 7 months has totally gone by super fast for me! I feel like I have just been here a month! It may not feel like that to those of you back home but it sure does for me. I have to leave Oz 4th of Nov of this year but whether I go straight home or not is up for debate. I haven't totally decided what I want to do or where I want to go next.

Today Ben and I paid 20 bucks for a guided tour of the XXXX Brewery here in Brisbane. Four X is a fairly decent beer brewed right here locally in Brisbane and lots of Queenslander's love it. The tour itself wasn't so bad we learned alot and got to tour the factory which has been in the same spot since 1878! After the tour we got 4 free beers which was a good deal I think and we even got to taste one straight out of an old school oak barrel which was pretty cool and tasted good too :)

Later tonight we will be going into the city to meet some friends and hang out for the weekend so its been good so far. Well that is it for now. Yall take care til next time,Tyler

Our Sailing Day

Well today Ben and I went sailing for free. Here in Brisbane at the harbour they have something called WAG's (Wednesday Afternoon Gentleman's Sailing) basically we signed up to sail with someone on their sailing boat. We got introduced to our skipper Michael and his crew. Everyone was very nice and they showed us the basics of sailing. What I didn't realise was that we were actually going to participate in a race and we got 5th out of 40 boats! It was just a friendly race nothing super serious but it was cool to get real sailing experience and for free to boot :)

After sailing we went back home and had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner really that was it. I will make this a short entry today. Talk at yall later,Ty

I finally got a new netbook!

Well I finally broke down and bought a new net book to replace the one that was stolen in Surfers Paradise, hopefully this one doesn't suffer the same fate! It has Windows 7 on it the newest operating system from (cough) Microsoft. I am not to happy about making the change ( I wish I knew how to use a Mac and could afford one) but, actually other than a few features missing or changed I actually like Windows 7 and it isn't too bad (lets hope it doesn't crash).
I did also buy myself a nice pair of new sandals after almost 7 months! I even got a 30% discount on them! I really have become the bargain hunter haha. Seeing as my 7 month anniversary here is coming up in 2 days I thought I would treat myself to new shoes and they look good!

We decided to forgo seeing a movie on cheap Tuesday since we are going sailing on Wednesday (today) and I also decided to wait on that haircut and let it grow a little more those hair cutting students take quite a while to cut it and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon haha. We also got a lead on a job offer! Well that is really I have to update yall on.

Your Aussie for a year,Tyler