Last Week In Sydney

The past month has been something of a blur as most of my time was spent at work or walking to and from work. Late nights turn into late mornings which never leave enough time to do anything other than wake up and go right back to work the next day. I'm a bit sad that after finding a job I like and developing a base that I have to hit the road again. But not sad enough I guess.

In all honesty it hasn't been all work and no play as that would make for a very dull boy. The crew I work with never seems to offer a dull moment or a dull personality. As in any restaurant you have your interesting characters and the not so interesting ones. So maybe there is one or two dull personalities there but overall I'm a fan. The other night we had to clean the beer lines from the keg cooler which involved staying after and making sure the excess beer was 'properly' disposed of. The only downside to the job is that on Tuesday mornings I have to get up at 5:30am to restock the keg room. Carrying full kegs down two flights of stairs at daybreak is quite the rude awakening and has proven to be rather exhausting after a late night. But on the bright side, I am in better shape than I used to be so that ain't bad. I also got a nice work shirt which is the uniform and would actually be a shirt I would, and probably will, wear out one night.

I've also been doing other stuff in my time off. Seeing a movie here and there or simply buying bootlegged DVDs from a shady Thai movie store for $2.50 a DVD. I've got a nice little collection now and I'm sure they'll come in handy on the trip north (The Hurt Locker, Couple's Retreat, Year One, The Road to name a few). It's really too bad that I can't bring them home with me as they are not compatible with American DVD players. I went to a conference with some men from the church I've been to and they're a great group of guys. Today, I have a poker tourney lined up and although it's been some time since I've played maybe it'll all come back to me.

There's also another job that I occasionally work. I'm basically the guy on call whenever he needs someone to fill a shift. It is at a breakfast cafe in Circular Quay in an office building in the lobby. It is fairly small and the best part is that I get paid under the table or, as they say here, it's cash in hand. The guy who runs it is a Vietnamese man named Martin. Every time he calls me he leaves a voicemail saying his full name and where he is calling from (Mirebelle Cafe). It's quite funny every time I listen to it because I can't say there are many people with a Vietnamese accent who call me. Much less someone with a Vietnamese accent named Martin. Much much less from Mirebelle Cafe. In fact, I believe he is probably the only one. But without fail he never neglects to fully identify himself to perfection so that there is no way I could ever mistake him.

But with a week to go I've finished making preparations for the trip and will board a bus next Monday, March 22. A friend I used to work with in Melbourne is coming to travel with me so I won't have to ask random strangers to take a picture for me. Won' t that be nice? I also can't wait to move out of my flat as one of the roomies is really testing my patience. One more week though. One more week.