A Little Vent About Deodorant....

Deodorant is something I've been using my entire adult life. Over the years I've tried my share of the brands out there. I remember going to Croatia with my mom and forgetting to pack my deodorant. I thought, hey I'll just go to the store and get some, or so I thought, they had antiperspirant or deodorant, not a combo of both. I want the product to stop me from sweating and at the same time to prevent me from being smelly if/when I sweat.When I came to Australia, I brought 2 Secret Clinical Strength Lavender scented deodorants with me and of course eventually it ran out. They do not have Secret here, they have Rexona which is Degree, I've been using their clinical strength but they don't have lavender scented. My observance of product is that the type of deodorant mostly available here is spray, then roll-on and lastly stick, they have very few choices in stick but at least 20 in spray and 10 in roll-on. I don't want my pits to be wet, what's the point in making them wet, so they can stay dry? I just don't get it. Another thing I've noticed is that there are quite a few people out there that do not use deodorant and it makes you want to gag when they pass you. This is tropical Queensland, shower and deodorize, you will sweat in practically all of the seasons. People have actually complained that companies should not discriminate because of B.O. Of course you should discriminate in this instance. Shower for goodness sake! Why would an employer hire someone that doesn't shower and stinks of B.O. when that one person could cause their fellow co-workers to be physically ill.  
The brands of deodorant they have for women is Rexona (Degree) sprays and roll-ons and 2 clinical strength ones, Dove, Garnier and Nivea and I believe a Lady's Speed Stick. They also have that mineral rock.  Yet for men they have Old Spice, which is owned by P&G, if they can sell Old Spice here, why not Secret? Very annoying in this tropical state. 

Look at all the spray deodorant

Swooping Magpies...

This morning my husband and I went for our daily morning walk. We had found this lovely path through a park that takes us just under an hour to walk, but since we had heavy rainfall last night and high winds, I was weary of walking through the park. I said why don't we just walk the street instead of going into the park. As we were going down Eighth Avenue a car was backing out of it's driveway so my husband motioned me to cross the street, (there are no sidewalks here so we have to walk in the street) all of a sudden a magpie comes flying high speed and hits my husband in the face, it happened so fast I don't know how it got him with it's beak, but he was bleeding, we cut our walk short and decided we'll be staying away from Eighth Avenue till at least November. A guy that lives across the street from the stupid bird said he sees it swoop on many people, even him, he walks out of his house with an open umbrella to avoid getting attacked.  So I've decided to write about these annoying birds. 
Australian Magpies are a fairly robust bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5–17 in) in length, with distinctive black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, and can be distinguished by differences in back markings. With its long legs, the Australian Magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.  . I've seen them take their time crossing roads, it's almost like, you wanna hit me? so hit me! In your face sort of mentality coming from a bird. Spring in Australia is magpie season, when a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) around the country become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests, especially bike riders. This species is commonly fed by households around the country and is the mascot of several Australian sporting teams.
One of Australia's most highly regarded songbirds, the Australian Magpie has a wide variety of calls, many of which are complex. Pitch may vary over up to four octaves, and the bird can mimic over 35 species of native and introduced bird species, as well as dogs and horses. Magpies have even been noted to mimic human speech when living in close proximity to humans. Its complex, musical, warbling call is one of the most familiar Australian bird sounds. In Denis Glover's poem The Magpies, the mature magpie's call is described as quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry, and in the children's book Waddle Giggle Gargle by Pamela Allen.
Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. The percentage has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%. Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male,and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around 50 m (150 ft) from their nest, and cyclists at around 100 m (300 ft). Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest.
These magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders. Least threatening are alarm calls and distant swoops, where birds fly within several metres from behind and perch nearby. Next in intensity are close swoops, where a magpie will swoop in from behind or the side and audibly "snap" their beaks or even peck or bite at the face, neck, ears or eyes. More rarely, a bird may dive-bomb and strike the intruder's (usually a cyclist's) head with its chest. A magpie may rarely attack by landing on the ground in front of a person and lurching up and landing on the victim's chest and peck at the face and eyes. Scary shit to be attacked by a bird. 

Americans in Australia...

On Facebook I've joined two groups to help me "fit in" or to find people that miss certain things from the US that's not available here and where possibly to find these hidden gems. One of them Yanks Down Under and the other one Americans in Queensland. Now, I love to complain about stuff I can't get, like Cool Whip, or frozen orange juice concentrate. But one thing I did do before making the massive move here is to research brand names, now brand names are one thing, the other is who owns that brand name? For example I was an avid Crest toothpaste user, it's all I bought, and when it was on sale I bought quite a few. Crest is owned by P&G I remember this from the Sunday coupons when the whole P&G lineup had coupons. Sadly they do not have Crest here, but they do have Oral-B, which I'm liking a lot. Most people hang their laundry outdoors to dry, it's rare for people to own dryers and the thing the Americans are complaining is that the stores don't carry Bounce (they do but only in Costco) and Queensland won't have a Costco till around January-ish. I'd rather have a proper clothes line outside, in this sun, if you hang it let's 9am by noon it'll be fully dry, whether it's towels or clothing. These people complain there's no Dawn, yet I'm happy with Palmolive as that's what I was using in New York. Soap on the other hand bothers me, I hate that I cannot get Irish Spring (only on USAFoods.com) and my biggest pet peeve is that Bath & Body Works is not here in Australia and to make it worse they won't ship here, YET they are set up in anti-American countries like Kuwait and United Arab Emirates? They're promoting these candles, saying they're the world's best, um until you make it available world-wide you cannot claim that. You're lying to promote your stuff. Party Lite on the other hand IS available world-wide, so technically they have the right to say world's best. Someone was looking for canned black beans on one of the sites and I happened to mention a store we like to go to called Pennisi Cuisine, they have stuff from Spain, Mexico (they have real NACHO cheese!) :) they have Goya products, pickles and sauerkraut from Poland and Germany, they have products from Croatia, Vegeta seasonings and Ajvar and one of the women on the Americans in Queensland said, oh we've been there and we weren't overly impressed. I thought, there is nowhere else in Queensland that I've found that has proper Nacho Cheese. In some aspects I like the groups as when Tide laundry detergent was available at our local supermarket was great, it leaves my towels and blankets smelling oh so nice, but I'm not silly to spend $21 for a 50fl oz bottle when I'v seen double the size in Stop & Shop for $12, yet these Americans are going ape shit and spending the $21 for it, um I bought it when it was on sale for $15 and I won't buy it again until I'm out and it's on sale. Even if we had two incomes I still wouldn't pay that amount, I'm sure P&G has other Australia made laundry detergent that works just as well, Tide works great and it has that nostalgic scent to it. Clorox as a brand in not available here, yet Chux is (same shit) only thing is they don't have Clorox bleach yet they do have Chux antibacterial wipes, I mentioned this and some know-it-all says, "it's not the same". They complain about no Stouffers lasagna, of course they don't, you're living in the land down under, try some of their frozen foods. I have, they have meat pies and they're not huge, one pie is a serving and it's just enough meat, gravy and crust for a meal. Winge, winge, winge, serious shaking of my head about some of these Americans in Oz. 

Minimum Wage and Salaries...

The other day I was listening to the news about something that happened in the States with fast food workers striking to double the minimum wage. I say, good on ya! The US minimum wage is ridiculous, anyone making that, after taxes needs another, if not 2 or more jobs just to support themselves and if they have one, a family. Think about this, if you're just starting a job and you're grossing, let's round up just a bit, $16,000USD, that's BEFORE they hit you with taxes, and social security and medicare.  How can you live in New York? Waitstaff get paid peanuts and they rely on tips to survive. Things are not overly expensive in the US and the reason is the owners are not paying their employees much, therefore they don't need to defer the cost onto the customers. Australian prices are a little on the high side, I don't like the higher prices, but I do understand the reasoning behind it.  
In Australia the general minimum wage for an adult 21 years of age and over is $16.37 an hour, which equals $622.20 a week, $32,254 a year and that's before taxes, which is just the federal tax, plus superannuation which is minimum 10% I have heard some companies are doing more, which is basically you're 401K. I remember while living in New York my husband was grossing about $655 for the week and yet taking home $565 clear, that was more than I was taking home at the time and I was grossing way more than $600 at the time.  If you are under 16 years of age, your hourly wage will be $6.03, 16yrs = $7.74 an hour, 17yrs = $9.46hr, 18yrs = $11.18hr, 19yrs = $13.51hr and a 20 year olds minimum wage is $16.00 an hour. So in order to pay their employees, companies need to defer that cost onto the consumer. McDonald's employees are not walking out for poor wages here. Waitstaff here, your servers and busboys are not relying on tips, matter of fact tipping isn't done here, unless of course you absolutely LOVE the service, but it's not necessary. You won't see on your menu 15% gratuity will be added on for parties of 5 or more. Nope, not done here. Hairdressers, same thing, if you love your haircut and want to throw them a $5 that's totally up to you, but again it's not really done. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some people here that need to work more than one job to make ends meet, maybe they have a family and mortgage payments and car payments and private school tuition. But a single person earning minimum wage can afford to rent near the city or even perhaps in the city if they have a flat-mate. 

Holy Flying-Foxes Batman....

A few weeks ago my husband and I decided to do our cardio walking when he got home from work. There are not many sidewalks or footpaths as they're called here, so you basically need to walk in the street. We were walking around the streets that were decently lit up. We love walking along the Kedron Brook Bikeway but there are no lighted paths, so that's out of the question. Being that this is a subtropical area, there are a decent amount of bats in the around. We were walking and one came swooping down out of the tree, scared the shit out of me and I wound up running down to the next corner. They make screeching noises and I just hate them. There are many varieties of bats here in Queensland, Yellow-bellied Sheathtail Bats, Norther Blossom Bat, Little Northern Freetail Bat, Lesser Long-eared bat, Large Bent-wing Bat, Greater Long-eared Bat, Ghost Bat, Eastern Tube-nosed Bat, Dusky Leaf-nosed Bat, Common Sheath-tail Bat, Common Blossom Bat, Coastal Sheathtail Bat, Black Flying-fox, Beccan's Freetail Bat and Bare-rumped Sheathtail Bat. Yuck, yuck and more yuck. The ones I saw were decently large and black with a total wingspan of about 2 feet. Like I said I ran like hell. When we were on our honeymoon up in Port Douglas we saw a whole swarm of flying foxes darkening a certain section of the sky, made me feel uneasy while were in the swimming pool at dusk. Normally they don't bother people, but I've heard that they love to hang out in Palm Trees, so now I know when it's time for us to buy our own house, we will make sure there are no Palm Trees on our property. 

My Second Birthday in Australia...

I celebrated my second birthday in Australia on the beach again, it is tradition after all. This year my husband took the whole day off and we left around 7am, stopped for fuel for car and for us and kept driving north to Noosa Heads. We drove up here once by accident when my husband first got his new Falcon and I thought it reminds me of the Hamptons and this is where I'd love to go for my birthday.When we arrived in Noosa Heads we were looking for a parking spot that was longer than an hour, it's free to park but there is a Traffic Enforcer putting chalk on your tires and if within the hour that chalk mark hasn't moved, you are getting a ticket. The parking lot was full so we drove over the creek bridge and found a spot on the street that wasn't Hastings Street as that's the only place that has limited time parking. We walked to Hastings Street, passing the Sheraton and some other Hotels. I was prepared for the warmth, I wore shorts and a t-shirt, I did wear a light sweatshirt in the morning as it was just slightly above 50F but while walking around it became a lot warmer, around 76F, what awesome weather for the second to last week in winter. We did some window shopping and looked at the cafe menus. I needed a new sun hat, something to wear now that it's getting closer to summer. I have a hat that I bought in Split in '05 but it's seen better days. I tried on a ton of hats until I came across this one that wasn't too light or dark in color and it had little beads along the rim, and my husband bought it for me for my birthday. We looked at clothing, and he tried on this lovely polo shirt that was a great color for the summer but it was tight only on his arms, such a shame as it looked really good on him. We then went to the beach and walked in the water, it was warm enough to swim in. We were having fun, being silly in the water, taking photos and enjoying the sunshine. Then it was nearing lunch and we decided to go to the Nossa Surf Club as it overlooks the beach. We arrived, signed in and headed towards the balcony, at first there were only the high tables away from the view, then the couple left and after the crew cleaned it I swooped down, hubby didn't realize at first as he had gone to get us drinks. I had the perfect seat on a perfect day, with a lovely glass of white wine and my husband by my side with that amazing view. We ordered a dozen Oysters Kilpatrick and 2 BLT's that came with chips (fries), everything was delicious. After lunch we walked back to Hastings Street and went for gelato at Gelatissimo, I had hazelnut and he had choc chip mint. We sat around, bought a lottery ticket, walked a bit and stopped at a cafe for some coffee. We went to a few more shops and finally found a hat for my husband. The owner of the store was one of those that was very friendly, he guessed I was from New York but couldn't guess my age, he did get my husbands fairly correct. :) Hee Hee :) We decided since we had 7:30 dinner reservations, maybe we should start heading south, we stopped at Mooloolaba Beach, I wanted to see the sunset but always forget that the beaches here face east and that the sunset would come behind the building, oh well, one day we'll take a trip to Western Australia and I'm sure the sunsets over the Indian Ocean are amazing. My in-laws shouted us dinner at our favorite Malaysian restaurant. We ordered fried calamari as an appetizer but the dumb ass wasn't listening and put it together as the main meal. We also ordered, spicy herbed chicken, spicy herbed beef, some spicy lamb dish and a seafood dish along with a large steamed whit rice. For all that food and 3 sodas was just under $90, pretty good for 5 people to eat, and eat well. 

Voting and politics in Australia...

Australia's Coat of Arms

Australia is a Democracy, under a Monarchy, yep. Instead of having a President, they have a Prime Minister who is voted into office. This year is the time to vote for Prime Minister, Tony Abbott or Kevin Rudd.  The Liberal Party and the Labor Party are the two major ones, in another blog, I'll go into the differences of them and the other minor parties. Voting in Australia is VERY different than in the US. Voting is compulsory for every Australian citizen aged 18 years or older. If you do not vote and do not have a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote, a penalty is imposed. Imagine getting fined if you don't have a valid reason for not voting? Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty.

If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs. During the last election I received one and because I'm not an Australian citizen I checked off the box that stated "non-citizen."  I understand that voting is a right, but in one way I like the US version, what if you dislike either party, what do you do then......and here there is an answer to that,  other than not voting.  Show up, sign your ballot and put an X to state you were there, but you don't like either party so you check off nothing. Voting here is always done on a Saturday and it's not the same day every year. I've recently read that ballot places provide pencils since they are more stable in sub-tropical climates, but I think if I were to vote, I'd make sure I'd bring my own pen. 

 There's a funny clip on my Facebook page from the US Daily Show and it's only 3 minutes long but it basically sums up a good amount of it, and makes fun of some of the silly shit that's been going on.  

There is NO months or years of campaigning, there's only ONE month, that's right, one month. Seriously why drag an election campaign for longer? I know the US is more populated but there is no VALID reason for the campaigns to run as long as they do.