Being a Check-out Chick in Australia in the days of Covid-19...

Being at a register during this Covid crap is a little scary. The store I work in doesn't have a minimum spend on card transactions and payWave is very popular here, you'd think more people would use it. When these "lovely" customers ask are you still taking cash, I can't say no but some of these people are wearing gloves and then handing me cash like they're trying to stretch their arms longer then they are to avoid touching me by handing over cash. If you want minimum contact, use your card. The other day everyone was using cash, to the point I had no change for a $50 because every order less than $20 some person was handing me a $50. Thank goodness I wear gloves as I still see people lick their fingers before pulling out a note out of their wallet, eew, gross. One of the major supermarkets here have plexiglass as a sneeze guard of sorts, which is impressive to me as they're promoting social distancing rather well. My place has us butt to butt, no social distancing in between workers. Plus wearing a mask here isn't required for anyone.

Someone once told me there was no money in Toowoomba, I think this person needs their eyes checked out. Working at a produce store I've seen the amount of money people spend on fruit and veggies among other things we sell, like smallgoods, cheeses and salamis and nuts and milk and these little Russian cookies shaped like walnuts that sell for $10. This week little punnets of blueberries are going for $10 and people are still buying them. They spend lots of money after they've already gone shopping at the supermarket down the way, I can tell as their shopping carts are full of bags.

On an average day going for a walk around my neighborhood we see so many cars, and they're not old dumpy humps of shit, they're brand new shiny cars that come with a hefty price tag. I was curious as to the cost of some of these cars. Once, putting fuel in my car we saw a McLaren which retails here for about $350,000.00, I'm sorry if you own that car you have that kind of cash to spare. I see Range Rover's dropping kids off to school here by me, those go for $420.000.00, you could buy a decent house for the price of that one. There's a guy we pass regularly and he owns 2 Porsche 911's and they retail for about $302.000.00 each. This morning we saw a Jaguar F-Type, retail $315,000.00 zipping down a side street. The other day at the supermarket parking lot there was a Tesla  Model S parked, that goes for about $142,000. Currently there's a Porsche Cayenne picking up their kid from school, retail $195,900.00. Going to the bakery the other day we saw a brand new Maserati Levante, retail $330,000.00. There are plenty of Mercedes and Audis and BMW's parked practically on every street and doing the school drop off and pick up, so yes there's plenty of money in Toowoomba.

Beaches...

I have always loved the beach. I can remember being a child and being at Coney Island and Rockaway and Sunken Meadow and a few beaches in Croatia. As I grew up and started to drive, my exploration of beaches expanded. Jones Beach became my favourite, to the point I purchased a New York State Parks pass practically every year, because it was cheaper to do that then pay every time I wanted to go. I loved going to Provo, and especially Aruba, that water was so warm and inviting. I've swam in the Atlantic, the Adriatic and the Caribbean. Moving to Australia made me see how many beaches there are here. The one thing I noticed is how beautiful they are, the other thing I noticed is that they are all FREE! Doesn't matter which beach we decide to go to, it's free. Find a parking spot and enjoy the day. 

Jones Beach

Currumbin Beach

Noosa Main Beach

Bulcock Beach, Caloundra

Bottle Refunds and Wastage...

November 1st, Queensland started a bottle refund scheme. You return your bottles, cans and glass and receive 10 cents for each return. This gave us an idea, go to the local mall and start digging for dimes, in my head 10 cents will always be a dime. The coffee drinks are the most popular, second are Coke products and various flavoured milks. What we've noticed in almost a month of collecting is the amount of wastage out there. People will pay between $3-$6 for some of these drinks and they will toss them in the trash half empty. We found a bottle of diet Coke 3/4 full, if that was mine it would have been fully drank. I can't afford to throw out that much liquid gold, it is my favorite drink after all.We've found half drunk orange juices, waters, teas, sodas, even those ready to drink alcoholic beverages, like rum and coke in a can. If we see a can or bottle on the side of the road, we will stop the car if it's safe and pick it up, hey you don't find 10 cents lying on the ground everywhere now do you? All drink companies have raised their prices but not just the ten cents, some have gone up 20, which I think is utterly ridiculous!

There are a few options to return your recyclables, the one I love is the reverse vending machine. I'm used to this as NY has had them for years, but these are better! They also have places you can drop it off and they'll count it for you, um, no I want to do the counting.  One machine takes only glass, the other machine takes plastic, cans and flavoured milk cartons and juice boxes. This is a great idea compared to what I'm used to with plastic, glass and cans having to be put into separate machines.  Also unlike NY reverse vending machines, you can get a cash voucher or you can set up a PayPal account and have the money transferred into your bank account almost the same day except on weekends where you need to wait till Monday. The cash vouchers can only be used at one supermarket which kind of sucks if you don't have one nearby. The Tomra reverse vending machines are very popular, we stopped by the other week and there wasn't a parking spot to be found. It's fairly clean inside with people always coming in. This is a great way to clean up the streets and earn some spare money, boy do we need it.

The Other Day I Became an Australian Citizen!...

After living in Australia for 6 1/2 years, the other  day I  became an Aussie Citizen! I am now required to vote in all elections, serve jury duty and get my Aussie passport. It's been a decently long journey, 11 months to be exact. The test I took in January was fairly easy, I got a 100%, but that's because the government here is very similar to that of the US. The things I had to really memorise were the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags and the dates the Constitution were formed and so on. Before taking the test I had to be a Permanent Resident for 4 years before applying for citizenship. I applied in October 2017, received notice to take the test in January 2018, received my acceptance letter in May 2018 and had my official ceremony in September 17, 2018, so all up almost a year to become a citizen. The Ceremony was cool, I sat in front with all the other soon to be citizens, there were 93 of us. Quite a few were families, most were well dressed and some wore jeans and sneakers, one girl wore leggings that had holes in them.  The ceremony began with the Town Cryer (that's funny Toowoomba has one). Mayor Paul Antonio began the formal proceedings. Some of us stood and recited the Australian Citizenship Pledge: From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.  The others stood after us and recited: As an Australian citizen, I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I uphold and obey. Hubby noticed most people stood for the first one.We then got called up alphabetically by name, received our Citizenship certificates in a sealed envelope and a grevillea (yay another addition to our collection) and our photos taken with the Mayor. Those photos will be sent to our homes in a few weeks, how cool! After everyone received their certificates everyone stood and sang Australia's National Anthem. Afterwards we had refreshments of lamingtons and 2 types of sandwiches.

Volunteering at an Op Shop....

Since I can't seem to find a job, volunteering is the next avenue to somehow get out of my funk. At least this way I'm somehow contributing to society and talking to people, the cat cannot talk back to me, so sometimes I need a little more company. I'm volunteering at a Red Cross Op Shop for about a month now and it's really cool. I thought op shops were just places people donated their old clothes and other people bought them cheap. It seems stores donate too, so technically it's brand new clothes, in a recognised brand that's never been worn, at a considerably reduced price. For example yesterday a box came in and I opened it, tagged the items and priced them. I saw a lovely black cardigan from a brand I love and can no longer afford. As a volunteer (unpaid employee) we get a 20% discount on any purchase, so I paid $12 for my cardigan. When I got home I googled my cardigan and full retail price is $80! I could not believe it! I need to rethink how I purchase clothes from now on. Some of the donated brands are from Myer and some are from K-Mart and Target and other stores I'm not too familiar with, both high and low end brands. Also by volunteering here I've learned which brands are low, mid or high end. Some I already knew, like Calvin Klein is high end, it's high end in the US so of course here too. R.M.Williams is an Aussie high end (knew this - bloody expensive even when it's on sale).  Someone donated a dress from Banana Republic and it made me smile, there is no Banana Republic here so a little bit of nostalgia for me. I did see an I.N.C. blouse the other day, I miss that Macy's brand. No one there had ever heard of INC and therefore priced it as a low end blouse $7. I laughed in my head as INC is definitely a mid.

Op Shops sell women's clothing, all sorts of tops, from summer tank tops to heavy sweaters, dresses, skirts,  jeans, slacks and shoes and jackets of all sort. They have men's clothing  and some kids clothing too. There's a store in Brisbane that sells wedding gowns, why pay thousands? They sell homewares, tea and coffee cups, some are antique and crystal. Brand new, never used blankets, candles, costume jewelry, hats, gloves and even watches. Discounted books anyone? They sell them too, along with CD's and DVD's. Donated bags, some Coach and other leather no name bags. They sell scarves, summery ones and thick wintery ones that we need right now. Belts and sunglasses too, it's amazing what you can find for a bargain in an op shop. Here's a photo of my little coffee cup set I got for just $8.00.

Toowoomba - The Garden City

The sign that greets you when you reach the top of the range,

The first time I visited Toowoomba was back in January 2011, it was the middle of their summer and everything was flowering beautifully. Toowoomba is in the mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range, it's situated on the crest of the Great Dividing Range and it's 700m (2,300ft) above sea level. As of 2016, the population is 165,168. It's nickname is The Garden City.  It's a much smaller town then Brisbane, Brisbane's population is 2,308,700 (2015) but I didn't realize this, is that the population of Queens is 2,339,150 (2015). So basically I moved from a 2 million population to another 2 million population, but now we've moved to Toowoomba, much smaller but still big. Toowoomba is the most populous inland city in the country after the nations capital, Canberra.

There are many things to do in Toowoomba. They are expanding the Grand Central Shopping Centre, they've recently opened an H&M. There's still construction going on, this mall is going to be huge. The reason for this massive expansion is that the powers that be would like people to shop in Toowoomba, not take there money to Brisbane or the Gold Coast. There are plans for new eateries to open, one of them is a place called Schnitz, I've eaten there and they are very yum! Of course we're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a Carl's Jr, they did say they plan to open 20 more in Queensland. There are many cafe's and restaurants to choose from. We have a few good butchers in the area, hey the Darling Downs are known for their beef, I see the poor cows on trucks going east, and even though I like steak, it still makes me sad.

In September every year, Toowoomba hosts the Carnival of Flowers. Every park and green space is coloured up with gorgeous flowers, from tulips and gladiolas, to sunflowers and pansies, and impatiens, to flowers I've never heard of but are gorgeous. Everyone with a green-thumb is encouraged to enter their garden, as they do have a judging contest. A couple that lives a few blocks from us won first prize, this man's lawn looks fake, and he said he'll never tell his secret, but all-in-all their garden is awash with snapdragons, and lilly pillies, and graevillias and other Aussie native plants.

How Toowoomba got it's name:
For some time leading citizens resented their rapidly growing town being named "The Swamp" and on New Year's Day 1858, during a sports meeting a red flag was hoisted bearing the name "Toowoomba" in white letters.
Of the many opinions regarding the origin of the name "Toowoomba" the most favoured is that it is a corruption of the Aboriginal word "Tchwampa" meaning 'water sit down' or 'place where the rushes grow'.(1)

Flowers at Picnic Point

The Warrego Hwy going to Toowoomba

Kookaburra sitting on a gum tree

That's 2,382.5 feet above sea level

Distances from Toowoomba

View from Picnic Point

Short sunflowers at Picnic Point

(1) - http://www.toowoomba.org/16-literature/38-toowoomba-where-the-water-sits-down.html

Living in a Townhouse...

A few years ago we decided to rent a townhouse instead of the standard issue apartment, the first place we rented didn't allow pets, the second did but the poor muppet fell out the window and there was a heavy smoker beneath us. So we found a townhouse that we had thought looked decent, allowed pets and were told it was a nonsmoking complex. Guess what?  After we signed the lease and got the keys, we went to do the official inspection and what do we find out, that we are bookended by smokers. After doing the inspection we went back to the agency and asked what the deal was with the smokers. They tell us that it's a nonsmoking complex inside, but all residents have the right to smoke in the courtyard which is where all the master bedrooms face. One night we were trying to eat dinner and it was as if the people were sitting in our kitchen, smoking, so my husband said something along the lines of effin ferals and slammed the sliding door. Next thing we know someone's knocking on our front door, guess who, the neighbour that was smoking. Turns out the same real estate agency told them that they could smoke inside and outside, while lying to us. Eventually they moved, thank goodness and almost every weekend there was a party going on and really who needs or wants that noise when you're trying to fall asleep. Our "lovely" neighbour to our left owns her unit and every morning around 5:30am she's out there tapping her lighter on the patio table, I don't always hear that one or smell it as I'm usually still passed out that early. The other clockwork thingy she does is smoke at midnight, here we are in bed enjoying the lovely breeze coming in through the window and what do we hear but the tapping on the table and the flicking of the lighter, then all of a sudden we are hit with a wall of smoke in bed. Mind you they have the air conditioner on all day practically every day and she runs out to have a ciggy with no consideration to the neighbours that don't smoke. Personally I don't care if they smoke, just smoke inside, stink up your own house, not mine. We even complained to the realtor saying that all the clothes in the master closet stink like smoke. It will be interesting to see how long the unit stays unrented after we leave.

There are a few good things about this place, it has 3 toilets and 2 bathrooms. In Australia, the toilet is often set up in its own separate room. The ensuite has a shower stall, a sink and a toilet, the main bathroom has a shower over tub and a sink, the toilet is at the top of the staircase and in our situation has been set up for the cat's litter box. The third toilet is just off the garage, but the corresponding sink is the laundry "tub" in the garage. I love the fact this unit has a dishwasher, before living here I've never had or used one, and I am hooked. The bedrooms are decently sized, the master fits our king size bed, the walk in closet fits almost all my clothes. The second bedroom fits a full size bed and has decent closet space too. This place has a courtyard, which could be lovely, except for the problem of a big spider that loves sitting over the wash line and the stink wafting over from the neighbour to the left, plus we're set lower than the units next door, so we are in a hole that stinks of cigaretttes. The only nature we see is that horrible spider, the occasional turtle dove and sometimes a possum, oh and let's not forget the lizards and occasional geckos.  There's no real view to speak of, comparing to the units we've rented before, this is just garages, a driveway and roof lines of the other units. The kitchen counterspace is dismal, it's so small, you're better off preparing your meal on the table. It does have a gas cooktop and fan forced electric oven, which works decently. The other thing that is majorly lacking is cupboard space, no pantry, no real place to put your pots and pans, the space under the sink is full of pipes because of the dishwasher, so there's not much you can put in there. The two corner cabinets are deep and the openings are narrow, so that when I take out a roasting pan I have to play tetris to take it out of there. There is no peep hole on the front door, so if someone comes knocking at night, you can't tell who's there before you open the door. A few weeks ago it seems someone tried breaking into our place by putting a hole through the security screen to see if they could pop open the lock. We always lock the screen door with the key as you can't rely on the simple latch.  I seriously cannot wait to leave this dump, I won't miss the neighbours, their cigarette smoke, the 6:30am motorcycle dude going off to work. the guy in the adjoining complex that leaves his fluoros on all night, thereby making our bedroom light as day. And last but not least, people talking so loudly I can hear their whole conversation.

The things I will miss is our local coffee shop, she knows our order by seeing our faces (how great is that?)  and the bike/footpath of Kedron Brook, which to this date has helped me lose 7 pounds, 26 more to go! I will miss the short distance into the city.