I’m entering the final days of “Gro-vember” and could use your help.  If you can donate a few bucks to 3 worth charities, please click the link below and help me out.  You will be helping out people that need it, and you’ll have my undying gratitude.  Who knows…I might bring you something kangaroo from Australia.

But seriously…please consider giving a few bucks under my name so I can shave this awful moustache off my face.

Mike’s Grovember Page.

So, just to keep the separation of work and personal, I will only say that the job is pretty much everything I expected.  Great group, lots of talent and a wonderful culture.

Non-work has been pretty fun too.  As you might have seen from Sunday, I’ve been all around Sydney doing all the tourist-y things that you’re supposed to do.  There’s a few more pictures (and a few videos) I’ll put up later.

Let’s see…I climbed on top of the Harbour Bridge on Wednesday…not on the road part, but on the metal structure part.  I stood on top of one of the highest points in the city and got a great view of everything around.  It was breezy, but we were hooked on a static line the entire trip, so we weren’t likely to plunge into the harbour below.  I have a picture to prove this, but I’ll have to scan it I think.

After the bridge climb, I went to a well known pub called The Australian Hotel.  There I had a spiced eggplant pizza…really.  Now, if you think that’s a bit…exotic, some of the folks with me had duck pizza, bacon pizza and kangaroo pizza.  Whenever someone here says I should try kangaroo, I’m always convinced they’re pulling my leg…like, let’s see if we can get the foreigner to eat kangaroo (snicker, snicker), but apparently people do eat it.  Farm-raised is the way to go.  The wild version is too gamey.  Vegemite is another suspect food that people actually eat.  There are those at the office that eat it on toast all the time.  I haven’t been brave enough to try either Vegemite or kangaroo…at least not yet.

I got the opportunity to ride a ferry out to Manly Beach twice this week.  The beach is really nice even though not tremendously busy (it is just turning spring here now), but the ferry ride was very nice…especially coming back on Thursday night when the city was lit up and the stars were out.  I rode on the front benches of the boat (outside) and it was a kick.

Saturday was spent doing a little shopping at “the shops” in Hornsby and getting my desktop computer up and running.  I built a small form factor desktop computer to be my home away from home while apart from the rest of Guentzel network.  I had some spare parts, but I bought a nice, tough Thermaltake case that did the trick.  I was able to stuff it in my carry-on luggage and didn’t have any issues going through US security or Australian security.  Anyway, I lacked a keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers.  The shops helped out with that.  Everything was up and running by Saturday night. Woo-hoo!

The Sydney Running Festival (on Sunday) was also a lot of fun.  It reminded me of the Capital 10,000 in many ways; a huge number of people coming out for a running event.  I wore my Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot t-shirt and a Texas flag bandanna to represent my home town.  I ran the 9K in about an hour, but because of a misunderstanding of the bus schedule (mine), I had to run from the house to the train station (around 7K) to make the train in time.  Afterwards I was wondering why I didn’t just do the half marathon instead…oh wait…because it’s 13.1 miles!!!

The first week is in the books and I’m in the second week now.  If I can manage it, I’ll post more.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Sydney is actually quite beautiful.  When you hear about a remote city these days, you immediately go the Google and start reading up (especially if you’re going to visit there).  And while the internet an prepare you for what you might see in Sydney, predictably, it doesn’t do the place justice.  You don’t really know about the place until you walk through the shops, talk to the locals and sample the wildlife.  It’s been 3 days and (while I’m still jet lagged) I’ve seen so many cool birds and plants that seem just mundane to other Aussies.  No snakes yet…they’re not mundane to anyone.

Things I’ve liked so far:

• Sydney is a Metropolitan City – As you might expect, a city of approximately 4 million people will probably feel like a big city.  There are cafes on every street downtown.  There are coffee shops everywhere (more on that later) and there is a rich variety of cultures.  I’m currently writing this blog post on the CityRail system (a train that takes me from Hornsby to the Central Business District) and despite what the locals say, it’s actually pretty good.
• Interesting wildlife – I’ve seen (and heard) birds that are unlike what I’ve experienced in other parts of the United States.  Not surprising, but still pretty interesting.  There’s a breed of cockatoo that is as common as grackles in central Texas…and about as loved as Grackles too.  These are large white birds that look like the bird in Baretta (old reference, I know) but these birds are as large as a small cat.  The reason that they’re reviled is that they are extremely destructive to trees, houses and electrical lines (although when the bird hangs upside down peeling insulation from the power lines, they are occasionally electrocuted).
• The Food – While the price of food is quite a bit higher here than in Texas, the diversity of cuisine (so far) is pretty nice.  There is a huge Asian influence here, so you often get the choice of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian or Vietnamese to name a few.  When I arrived, my friend took me to a food court at Westfield Mall and the vast majority of selections were one of the previously mentioned varieties.  Thankfully, I love Asian food and I’m looking forward to trying them all.

Myths exploded thus far:

• Toilets swirl the opposite direction in Australia – Not true.  The water just gets poured on top…no swirling.
• There are dangerous snakes and spiders everywhere – While I’m sure there are in lots of places, it’s not something you have to worry about day to day.
• Men At Work plays 24/7 – Alright, I made this one up.  They don’t play Men at Work 24 hours a day.

I’m still trying to get established (electronically speaking) so I haven’t unloaded my camera data card yet.  I’ll need to grab a reader from a store somewhere.  When I do, I’ll post more pictures.  I’ve also neglected to get a cell phone because I’m still trying to figure out a way to jailbreak my iPhone to work with other carriers.  My AT&T plan doesn’t work here and my phone is “locked” to AT&T.

It’s hard to believe it’s just been 3 days.  It seems like so much longer.

OK.  I know I probably put a finishing flourish on this website several months ago…saying that Facebook had taken its place.  However, while I’ve enjoyed Facebook, I’ve found that it doesn’t really allow you to do long form type posts with any elegance.  And what business do I have doing long form?  Well, there are thoughts that I’ve got that might be of interest to someone (ok….probably just my mom) and I thought it might be a good idea to open this up again.

I’m still playing with the theme (although I like this one), but you get the general idea.  This is a place for me to post my random thoughts. I will probably post a few recipes here too.  Sounds weird, but you’ll get the hang of it.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to write me: mike at guentzel period org.

Have a nice day.