Depression...

Lately I've been feeling very depressed, and I cannot stop crying. Every morning my husband goes off to work and I go watch USTVnow, watch some Pennsylvania tv and catch up on Facebook as a newspaper. I see so many people having fun, doing things I only wish I could, no job, one income, tight budget, no real luxuries allowed, except the freebies my husband gets working for the media.  I'm in my pj's most of the day, I used to think that would be an awesome thing, it can be, if you win lotto, but in reality, it sucks big time. I've tried to make friends, but most people have kids and all I have is my fluffy T. I miss having daily conversations with people, I now know why the old ladies would do their banking on a daily basis and talk your ear off, they do that to keep themselves sane, to get some sort of communication or else they become those reclusive cat ladies. I want to go to the beach, I can't, because petrol is $1.63 a litre which is $6.27 a gallon and we can only afford to put fuel in one car.  I need to get an oil change, and again, I cannot afford it. I've never been in this situation and it makes me shake with sadness. I don't care about things anymore, don't want to leave the apartment at all, don't really feel like eating anything, thought of food make me nauseous.  I just spotted a bottle of Bermuda Pink Sand on my desk and it makes me long for the days I could afford to go on cruises or go visit my relatives in Croatia, I can't even go visit my parents. It's just not fair. 

Coffee in Australia...

My first memory of coffee was my parents lying in bed and asking me to make them coffee. In the 70's the maker they had was a percolator and I remember assembling it and making them coffee. I wouldn't touch the stuff, I hated the smell. I remember also going to Croatia as a child and everyone drinking "Turkish" coffee, basically espresso with grinds on the bottom and again, I'll pass thank you. Women were known to read the coffee grinds, it was interesting to see. Sanka comes to mind, the commercials for iced Sanka. When I was working in Waldbaums' I would occasionally get a coffee from this store in the Metro Mall.  Diet Coke was always my coffee, already sweetened and no chance of burning myself drinking it. Working for the bank, we would go to these WASI meetings and I started my coffee drinking, also when I went to Community Bankers, coffee was served with dessert and I started liking it. Barbara and I had gone on two cruises together (great times) and she would have coffee and I wouldn't, this was back in 2004 & 2005. I started liking cappuccinos at this point, but it was never anything I HAD to have, that's my feeling on diet Coke. :) 
I remember going to Starbucks with Laura and she ordered a cappuccino and there was a shot of espresso and foam, very airy foam and she showed the barista and they said that's a cappuccino, um no it's not and she got a different coffee. One day I was in Macy's in the city and felt like having a cappuccino and I totally forgot what had happened to Laura and I was drinking forever before I got to that shot of coffee. 
Arriving in Brisbane the first time, my then boyfriend took me to Coffee Club for breakfast (Coffee Club is a cafe' chain that serves coffees and meals). I had a cappuccino and it was pretty good, good thick and creamy foam, like someone had put warm CoolWhip in it. It was delicious. Since moving here, I've tried my share of coffees, there are so many cafes. Brisbane is known for it's coffee culture. One day I decided to have a vente cappuccino in Starbucks, and I was not disappointed, it was done properly, I was so happy. McCafe makes really good coffee too, they grind the beans before they make the coffee, it's not some pre-ground stuff that's been sitting around. There are chain coffee places here, Starbucks, McCafe, Coffee Club, Gloria Jean's Coffees, Aroma's, Cibo Espresso, Michel's Patisserie and Zarraffas Coffee. Now, these are just the chains, then you have your little independent cafes too. The coffee I love, love so much because I do not need to put any sweetener in it, is Rouge Coffee. Rouge Coffee are boutique coffee roasters and I don't know what they do, but I can't get enough of their cappuccinos.My husband loves their espressos, but it does come with a kick so he needs one packet of sugar.  Another one that I like is Merlo, they have pretty good beans too, and if you want you can buy beans directly from them from all sorts of places for all sorts of prices. 
Then you have Campos, also no sugar needed. DiBella, pretty good, haven't tried Elixir yet, and there are a few others I can't remember at this time. 
One thing I've noticed since living here, you don't just walk into a coffee place and ask for a cup of coffee, there's no such thing as coffee sitting in a glass pot waiting to serve you, they make it when you order it. A cappuccino is a cappuccino. My typical order at McCafe is: small cappuccino, full cream milk to have here.   An espresso is called an espresso or a short black, depending on the cafe. If you want a black coffee, no milk, that's a long black. If you want milk in that coffee, you order either a latte or a flat white. Basic rule of thumb, check out the menu and if not sure, ask the barista. Yes, I said barista, no one just gets you a coffee, they have to be trained to make the coffee. If you want Nescafe, then I'm sorry you're going to have to make it yourself, as every place that serves coffee, has a full on coffee machine, no hot plates keeping your coffee warm ever. 

My Vent About Banking and Christmas...

So this Christmas has to be one of the worst ones I have ever experienced. I went to go Christmas shopping and had gone to the ATM and my card spit back out saying it was expired. Lovely! I was "supposed" to have gotten it before the end of the month, but here it was the beginning of December and nothing had arrived. I had no money whatsoever to buy Christmas presents, to get my hair cut, to buy myself a Christmas outfit or to purchase anything. My parents had deposited money in my US account but the stupid effin bank must have made a mistake. I received my statement, two weeks after it was mailed, so why the fuck had I not received my debit card? I had moved in May, and sent a letter stating I had changed addresses, I get my statement so you would think the address would have been correct.  To make matters worse as of today January 17, 2014 I have NOT received my debit card AND I sent an email to said bank on January 3rd and I still haven't gotten a response. WTF????? If I sent an email to my Aussie bank, I would have gotten an email response within a day or two......I'll bet you any amount of money none of the workers at said bank would have let this happen to them. Have I not received a response because I used to work there? Their motto is "we treat you like family", really? Where's my fucking debit card? Every day I wait for the postman and run to the mailbox to check to see, has it arrived yet. This is getting ridiculous, if it was sent by boat it would have arrived already, someone fucked up and they fucked up bad. I hope whose ever fault this is, has no access to the only money they have when they really need it.