One Adventure Ends, Another Small Business Begins!

Hi!

Well. Another sunny Sunday evening. Am a bit early for the birds to twitter the sun down, but they're still out there, hanging onto the trees in the lovely breeze that's crept up to cool a pretty warm day. Ahhhhhh. Summer's not here quite yet, but you can tell, the same way you can tell when winter's coming, there's that breath behind a breeze telling you what's about to come, and my god I'm afraid this is going to be a nasty hot summer. Hmmm.

So work. Yep. Well, work in the traditional sense is still in a bit of a holding pattern. In fact, that plane is still in the hangar. I have applied for a few gigs, but nothing has come through yet. Which is fine because it's left me with much more time to focus my thoughts and energies onto my little biz, which is taking a more tangible shape everyday. Cool! Am getting there slowly but surely. Bit of work in creating work! Am this close to having a basic website, will keep you posted. Otherwise, still narrowing down and finalizing things like rates and contracts - all very detailed and kinda boring for anyone not playing along at home. Plus I still have to fatten up my business plan - don't leave home without it!

So the week was good, quietly productive. Did take a break Thursday to meet my friend Dom who'd just returned from 2 weeks in Japan. We had lunch, wiggled our toes in his parents pool and headed into town for errands and a few drinks and more gossip. Was a most excellent day/evening and good to catch up. Now I want to visit Japan!

And then the weekend. Started off with a lovely Friday evening - I cooked dinner (Mexican of course) for friends at their house and we played board games until way past bedtimes. Ahhhh, almost becoming a most excellent Friday tradition!

And then Saturday started off with quick, basic chores in order to be fairly presentable for Kim when she came around, then we headed out for a good loooong walk along the river and for a spot of lunch in the 'hood of Toowong. Then we walked back home in time to just beat a pseudo-cloud burst, which was really nothing more than a cloud-spit. It was a fantastic walk and we're hopefully planning to do them for the next few Saturdays - gotta get fresh air sometimes and company just makes it more fun!

And then today. Laundry. Busy with the little biz and researching pricing and contracts and writing bits for the website (like "Services", "Rates", "About", etc), stuff I've thought about but haven't put on paper until now. It's all not as intimidating when you get the basics on paper in front of you. Cool! Getting there!

And that's been basically that! Kinda dull, but no pay equals kinda dull. That's ok tho. Get biz up and running, get a little tolerable part-time gig, and life will be good. And speaking of a good life, onto the last installment of The Big Trip! We left our heroes on their way to New York City..........!

Week #4 - Sept. 21st - 28th

21st - We were awake at a fairly reasonable hour to catch a shuttle-bus from Washington DC to New York City (it was only $21 bucks one-way - so cheap!) and took about 4 hours to drive there. Excellent. Once in NYC we wandered to our hotel, checked in, dumped bags and headed back out to explore. I have to say, I thought the last time I left NYC was the last time I'd want to see the place, but being back just a few hours I was pretty excited to be there again. Love the city. So much to do and see. And see stuff we did! This evening we wandered up to Times Square to buy ice cream and stare at all the neon. Then we wandered over to Rockefeller Center where we rode an elevator to the "Top of the Rock", the roof-top observation deck, and had a good look out over the city. I'd never been up there before and the view at night was stunning. Highly recommend it!

22nd - Today we wandered down to City Hall, where we stood for a while and watched the tv folks film an episode of"Law and Order - SVU". Pretty cool. Then it was down into Chinatown along Canal Street (we we went in circles for a fair while. Curse twisty streets!) until we made our way out again into Little Italy for a spot of lunch and a much-needed glass of wine (after wandering in Chinatown, you'd need it too). The we ambled our way back to the hotel for a much-needed rest before heading back out our own directions to explore. One of my very favorite things to do in NYC was to just wander and look at stuff. A term I just read in a Steinbeck book describes this wandering up and down streets with nowhere in particular to go, in Spanish, is called "vacilando", which means 'a wanderer' - yep.

23rd - Today we were up and out to pay a visit to the Statue of Liberty. Once we managed to clear the 3 security check points, which took at least an hour, we were in! We were able to go as far up as the top of the foundation stone that she stands on but no further (those tickets get snapped up months in advance), but oh what an amazing view both of the city and of the Statue. Always amazing up close and with the museum to support it all. Such history. Impressive. Makes me proud! Then we were headed back into the Staten Island Ferry Terminal to catch the Staten Island Ferry simply because it's free and provides a fantastic view of the Statue of Liberty, lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, the harbor, just all of it - and free and a chance to sit for a spell. Excellent. Then we headed through lower Manhattan to pay a visit to the World Trade Center site and memorial gallery. Very heartbreaking to see it all in person, especially since the last time I was there everything was, well, still there. I have to say, the memorial they have settled on is lovely and fitting. I mean, no memorial can fulfill everyone's expectations, but this is lovely and respectful without being too ostentatious. It'll be neat to see when it's all finished.

24th - Brooklyn was the name of today's adventure! With the subway as our chariot we headed into lower Manhattan to the footpath across the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping for a bagel and coffee, as you do, then over the bridge we went. Ahhhhhhhhh my absolute favorite thing in NYC has to be the Brooklyn Bridge, and favorite time is to cross from Brooklyn to NYC at dusk - the skyline never looks more beautiful. But today it was morning, the sun was struggling through the clouds and we wandered across and into my old 'hood. Ahhhhhhhhh. We wandered through Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade and into Carroll Gardens where we split and headed on our own adventures. I wandered into my other other old section called Red Hook, which was pretty run-down when I was there and since then they've built an Ikea and are still trying to clean the place up. Well, having an Ikea like 2 blocks from my old apartment was a little bizarre, but nice in a kind of miragey kinda way, just wierd to see it there. As could be expected, I couldn't resist a wander through and a cheap lunch. Yep. One Ikea in Brisbane is much like one Ikea in Brooklyn. Cool. Then it was time to meet the girls and head back into the city for a look around the Empire State Building! My second favorite thing in the city! Always stunning and way cool. Highly recommended especially at sunset and really late evening when the air cools and you can hear the cabs and cars below fighting for lane space. I love it.

25th - Today was a day to be vacilando, aimless wandering. After a healthy breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted roll (my favorite city junk food next to pretzels with mustard - YUM!) I took myself up through mid-town to Grand Central Terminal - always imposing and slightly intimidating for those new to the city. What can I say, it's just grand! Then I wandered over to the United Nations, hoping to go in and tour the place. But alas, it was in some serious lock-down due to the General Debate. Every head of every nation on the planet was in town to, well, solve the problems of the world. Complete with huge dump-trucks filled with fine sand barricading every street in a ten-block radius and snipers on rooftops. No potatoes in getting in to tour the place this time around. Bummer. Thus disappointed, I continued uptown along 5th Avenue, stopping at H&M for a spot of shopping, a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral, then up through Tiffany's (how could I resist) and along Central Park, for a peaceful wander through the Frick Collection, one of my favorite galleries. Happily cultured, I thought I'd wander over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but as I stood in line at the bag-check, I scanned the crowd and thought it was a visit better suited to more time and more energy. So, calling it a productive day, I took my tired little legs back to Chelsea and a spot of early dinner.

26th - Today, being my last day in NYC, I vowed to conquer The Met. And boy did I. Both floors,. One of the best museums on the planet. Can't recommend it enough. A visit to NYC just wouldn't be complete. And to think I wasn't going to go because "I've been there a hundred times before". Tisk tisk. So happy I changed my mind and went and took my time. And I still didn't see everything! But I saw 98% of it and that's pretty good. Then, because I magically had energy and some time to spare, I took myself along to The Whitney (a modern-ish American gallery). After a most excellent lunch I headed for a look at the new Georgia O'Keefe Abstracts exhibit and a look around the other floors. Usually a lot of Edward Hopper works live there (I quite like him), but not this time around. Bummer. But pretty cool nonetheless. Like I said, there's just so much to do in NYC. Suitably cultured, and a little sad to be leaving, I headed back to Chelsea and a last fantastic dinner!

27th - Today we were up really early to catch our flight back to San Diego, where we intended to relax a little and get in any last minute shopping, which we actually managed to do! Once back in SD we dumped our bags and headed over to Horton Plaza for said last minute shopping and a quick wander around downtown. Well, I have to say it's changed LOTS since I lived there. Well done San Diego! It's livable! It's someplace you'd actually want to go! Shops and restaurants and bars, stuff - cool! The it was back to homebase for a lovely dinner with family and Dad's famous cocktail - YUM!

28th - Today we head back to Australia! We took our time getting sorted and packed. I discovered I'd forgotten to pick up a couple things for Kim, so headed off to CostCo, then as a last-minute treat, was off to get a pedicure. Next thing, we were waiting at the train station for the train to LA, then we were on the shuttle bus from the train to the airport, then we were waiting in the terminal, and next thing we knew we were on the plane and then next thing we knew we'd arrived at Brisbane International Airport to the waiting arms and cars of friends and family! W H E W !

What an excellent trip. It was just absolutely fantastic, and on one hand seemed to go by in slow little bits, but on the other it simply shot by. We did so much in those few weeks it boggles me to even think back on it all. Like I mentioned before, I'm sorry for not being able to stay for long and catch up, but I'll be back, either that or I'll see you here first! Hope you're all well up there and that you enjoyed the Summary of The Big Trip as much as I enjoyed (yet struggled to keep it short and sweet yet cover everything) writing about it!!

BYE!
J!