The Great Sandal Search of 2010

My plan was for the next post to be about Adelaide and the Clare Valley leg of our trip. This is where the trip really got good with wine tasting, great friends and Ned, the cutest dog in Australia. First though, I have to tell you about my frustrations finding a frikin' sandal in a frikin' size 4.

Have you ever wanted to see the world's ugliest collection of shoes (outside of Imelda Marcos' closet)? Yes? Good. Go to any shoe website (Zappos, Piperlime, Endless, Nordstrom) and narrow your search to size 4. Done. You will instantly see the ugliest shoes China has to offer. Seriously, try it.

I can't find a simple, flat, non flip-flop sandal in my size anywhere. I might have to fly to Hong Kong where more people have small feet. Ugh! Double ugh!

The worst part about the whole thing is that I work for a shoe company and I am surrounded by cute sandals that don't come in my size. Triple ugh!

Paying the Stupid Tax

Sometimes when somebody gets him or herself involved in a big expensive mess Dan and I are very critical and say things like, "they're paying the stupid tax" or, "stupid is expensive sometimes." It's pretty mean and judgmental. I have to admit I am paying the stupid tax this week. I went on and on in this post about the Beater Blade, the revolutionary device that was going to solve all my KitchenAid bowl sraping problems. The problem is, I didn't realize that it doesn't fit into an industrial size KitchenAid; like the one my MIL bought me for a wedding shower gift. Oops.
If you're lookng to benefit from my stupidity please leave a comment and we can work out some kind of deal for my Beater Blade. Send me your best offer. I'm a motivated seller.

Sydney 2/8-2/11

I guess I should blog about our trip. I've been putting it off for a long time, trying to figure out how to tell you about it without boring you to death or writing really long posts that you won't read. So, here's a quick list of what happened on our first tour of Sydney and some pics too.

1. Got in super early Monday morning, was officially welcomed to Australia by a bird crapping on my hand, sweet.
2. Walked in the rain to Circular Quay (pronounced "key") and saw the Sydney Opera House for the first time, slightly teared up, regained control of emotions and gawked for a bit. Felt immense happiness.
3. Walked through Royal Botanical Gardens, saw strange birds and beautiful trees.
4. Watched the Super Bowl at a bar by the aquaruim.
5. Marveled at formal dress of Sydney's working people.
6. Ate stupidly expensive fish and chips.
7. Went to Wildlife World and Sydney Aquaruim, saw koalas and kangaroos. Chanted "kangaroo power" in my head a few times in honor of LW. Felt silly for doing so.
8. Took a tour of the Blue Mountains and went to a beautiful place called Scenic World. Took a ride down the world's steepest railway.
9. Listened to 6 hours of tour bus driver (aka Rainman) repeat himself.
11.  Saw Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
12. Took a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Sydney and walked from Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach.
13. Ran into a couple we know Damon and Molly from Seattle at breakfast in our hotel. Small world, indeed.

First morning in Sydney, we were tired

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Koala sleeping at Wildlife World

The Icebergs club at Bondi Beach

Walking from Bondi to Bronte along the cliffs

The view of Darling Harbour from our hotel room

Olympic Stadium

Lunch at Doyle's a famous seafood restaraunt on Watson's Bay, a stop on our bus tour. Total yum and not a bad view either.

Sydney was a dream. There was so much to see; I was glad we would be there 2 more days at the end of the trip. Our next stop was Adelaide. In my next post I'll tell you how the McKinnon's gave us the first class VIP treatment with wine tastings and so many delicious meals and the very best of all, just spending time with us. It was fabulous, stay tuned.

Rain, Snow, Sleet, Hail and... Vodka?

It's almost impossible to get fired from the Postal Service. I know this because the postman at my work was arrested for passing out drunk in his truck in front of my office a couple years ago. The arresting officer told my coworker that his employer had sent him to rehab already, maybe more than once. Not long after he showed up on his old route again. I'm all for second chances but come on, put him behind a desk somewhere. Christ.

There was a news story today that the Post Office is considering cutting Saturday delivery. They are deeply in debt but not considering layoffs at this time.

I don't appreciate the rising cost of stamps if I know some of my money may go toward rehab for a repeat offender and potential child killer (a postal truck can be a deadly weapon). I think I'll start paying some more of my bills online.