Monday, August 12, 2013

quicko: new archbishop

Sydney has recently elected a new Anglican archbishop -- Dr. Glenn Davies, who replaces Dr. Peter Jensen.  You can read more about it here.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

public service announcement: make your own magnum



In the Pitt Street Mall Westfield, there's a little pop-up Magnum store ... with a little pop-up line about 35 minutes long!  At the end of it, you can make your own ice cream dessert, topping it with all sorts of rather up-market topping options (rose petals and sea salt, for instance -- I actually love the sea salt, though it does rather overpower most the other flavors.).  All for the everyday high price of $7 -- which is bad enough and even worse if, like me, you have the misfortune of paying while in conversation and handing over a $20 and a $2 ... and only realizing an hour later you didn't get ANY change.  Sigh.  I would have gone for seconds another time, but I refuse to give them any more money now.


Friday, August 9, 2013

quicko: cheaper in america

I think this one pretty much goes without saying (or have I said it a hundred times?), but pretty much everything is so much cheaper in America -- and you can still get quality stuff.  Clothes, books, electronics, food, etc. -- you really do get such better value for your money stateside.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

quicko: milk for tea

While in America it's reasonably common for there to be teabags available -- at work, at conferences, in hotels, etc. -- you'd be lucky to come across milk nearby, unless possibly there was also coffee.  However, in Australia (like England), it's just naturally assumed that if you're using a teabag to make a cup of tea, you're also going to be needing milk, and it's generally hiding somewhere cool and close at hand.  Huzzah!

(Sugar, too, of course.)

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

quicko: "skiing"

... in Australia is not exactly the same as skiing (no quotes) in, say, Colorado.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

quicko: election upcoming

So this last weekend the Australian government announced an election.  For September.  2013.

(Yep, that'd be roughly a month out.)

Somehow, suddenly, it hit someone:  time to vote!  Make haste, make haste!

And so, on September 7, all Australians are required to vote.

At least this time they get to vote instead of having the leaders of various parties go changing it all around on them willy-nilly some drizzly (or sunny, it doesn't really seem to matter) morning.  Wonder how long it'll all last this time.

Incidentally, it is a pretty contentious decision coming up.  Basically (as I think is usually the case worldwide) nobody remotely likes either of the two major candidates (though, again, it's not the candidates, but the party, the people are voting for ... though you wouldn't really know that from the campaigns ... not that I've actually really noticed either campaign, but my friends are certainly vocal in their sentiments).  Not sure who will win, but I get the impression nobody's going to be happy about it.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Friday, August 2, 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

quicko: no election day holiday

In Australia, where voting in mandatory, there is no federal holiday for election day.  In America, where it's not, there is.  (The first Tuesday in November.)