The Abyss Known as the Hyundai Getz

 Time to move.  It turns out that it can be pretty difficult to find a furnished apartment in Melbourne without paying an extra $50 per week.  The Mel-ites as I call them claim that the backpacking Irish are the cause, as they like to rent furnished places for short term stays.  So, I decided to go with a unfurnished apartment.  Instead of annoying people on 3 different types of mass transit to get my stuff to my new place, I decided instead to rent a car.  So, I was given the Hyundai Getz, which seems to be the go-to rental car these days.  Interestingly, they also give a Getz with a manual transmission.

 These cars are actually a lot of fun.  Even though they are 4 cylinders, they have a lot of get-up-and-go.  Anyhow, after moving, I decided to take another trip to IKEA.  There's a bit of a story with the first trip I took to the Melbourne IKEA, but that story can be saved for another day.  I figured that I would get the furniture delivered, since I was driving a car that is the size of a motorcycle... well maybe a little bigger.  So, I picked up a bed and a couch, plus some bits and pieces.  The furniture is shown to the left.

Although it wasn't planned, I managed to fit all of the furniture into the Getz, including a double-sized mattress.  I think the years of Tetris finally paid off.  The mattress had to be folded on itself a couple of times and it may have been sticking into the windshield, but it fit.  I guess a determined person can accomplish a lot, by fitting a apartment into a miniature car.  The other patrons of IKEA were worried about me and kept asking to help.  That's when I decided the Aussies or Mel-ites are a kind group of people.  Once the furniture was brought to the apartment, it was time to put it together.  Being a typical man, I decided to do it without instructions.  Because of this, I had to take it a apart and put it together 3 different times.  Oops.  Anyhow, the new bed is very comfortable and the new couch is decent.  IKEA to the rescue.   

The Fun House

 I moved into a new place and moved out of the bunker.  The new place is in St Kilda and is a pretty good size for me.  It's a little weird walking into a scary clown mouth to get into the new place and the power bill is a little expensive to keep the outside lit up all night, but you can't beat the location.  Actually the place I'm referring to is a theme park near my new place.  It is a little startling to walk by the place at night.  Luna Park seems to be like one of those abandoned amusement parks that you'd see on Scooby Doo.  I just tried to keep away from Mr. Jenkens and the Carnie Ghost of Tasmania.    

 I did find a wonderful place by the beach and also very near Alfred Lake.  It's a 20-30 minute walk to work.  Following in Mike Seaver's (Growing Pains) footsteps, I found a nice place above the garage, as pictured on the left.  I'm 1 house away from the beach.  I think it's time to buy a kite board.          

The leaves were just starting to change as I left for the U.S. for a conference and to see my new niece, Madeline.  I live on the street pictured on the right.  The problem is that there is a wonderful smelling restaurant on the corner.  It's not very conducive for suppressing my hunger until I have time to cook dinner.  Domino's pizza is a few doors down from there.  I just need to find a good local bottle shop and I will be set.    

Jingle Jingle

So many keys!  I'm a man who does not enjoy filling his pockets w/ too many items.  I feel as though a pocket full of stuff restricts walking ability and certainly hinders the ability to run for whatever reason.  I mean who knows, a kangroo or giant Golden Orb Weaver spider may run after you, so you have to be ready to be on the move and a pocket full of junk just doesn't lend itself to quick maneuvers.  However, during moving day, I had all of these keys.  To be perfectly frank, I don't know what half of them are for.  After receiving the ones on the left for the "bunker" or dorm room, I thought my new apartment would certainly have fewer keys.  My hopes were dashed.  I even have the pleasure of carrying around a funny remote that has 4 buttons and I only really know what 1 button does.  However, I do enjoy using the gold and the purple key.  There's just something that makes me feel special when I pull out a crazy colored key.  I am debating on taking the caribiner to the belt loop route in order to carry these keys.  The other night I was trying to get into the gate of my new place, which happens to be in a dark area.  I fiddled around for a good 15 minutes trying different keys and each time I'd completely miss where the keyhole was.  Suffice it to say, I now know that it is the gold key.... however colors aren't very convenient when you're trying to pick a key in the dark.  I have now added a little light to my keychain... now I have the pleasure of having even more junk on my keyring.  Anyhow, I hope you found delight in my key rant. 

"The Midnight Train Going Anywhere.. "

After taking the bus from the bunker (my apartment), I head to the train station.  Here is the wall for the tunnel for the train I usually get on to head to work.  Some may think that the art shown here was made in the 80s... but many in the Australia and New Zealand still find these styles fashionable.  The art does beat most of the graffiti seen on the outside of the train stations.

This is the station where I board a different train to get to work.  These trains get packed during rush hours.  I always find it funny when I smell a fart on the train and automatically assume it's the guy that's wearing the suit. 

Staff Housing

My new home, at least temporarily.  It's at the Monash Clayton campus.  The building looks like a brick bunker.  I'll try to share a photo later.  I don't know what bathrooms are like in typical bunkers, but mine is a bit of a tight squeeze.  When I sit on the toilet my leg knocks off the toilet paper roll, even when I sit a little sideways.  A little shimmy is required to get to the sink and the shower door won't open fully, as the toilet is in the way.  Otherwise, it's actually a pretty nice bathroom, with beautifully painted concrete block walls.      
Here is the bedroom, which really is part of the kitchen, bathroom , and entranceway.  There are some nice abstract art pieces along the wall, which keeps with the room's motel motif.   

The kitchen is actually fairly nice.  Please notice the Mac and Cheese box!  It's about 5x the cost and the box is a little weird in shape, but it's nice to actually be able to buy Kraft Mac and cheese.   I have my fire blanket on the wall, in case my food gets a little too warm, and if the fire burns through the blanket, there is a fire extinguisher right next to the bathroom.. 

All in all, it isn't too bad.  It's just very far away from work in a suburb that lacks in excitement. 

Finding Residence

On my first day to work, I just happened to pass by the Belgium beer cafe (directly behind the hospital).  Apparently, it's quite the summer hot spot.  They have a huge outdoor area with a stage.  I can see myself spending many evenings wasting away in belgium beerville.  On that same note, my new boss took the group out for lunch the following day.  We ordered some beer and wine... and more wine... and more wine.  10 pm and 2 locations later, I found my way home.  It was a good introduction to the lab.  Unfortunately, I think a standard Friday involves many more microscopes, mice, meetings, and writing. 

I started searching for a residence near work, to avoid the 1.5 hr metro commute.  The issue is that each rental application must be accompanied by a viewing of the property... and apartment searching in Melbourne is highly competitive.  Most real estate companies, here, will hold open houses, but they hold them within 15 minutes of each other.  So, I've been literally sprinting from one place to the next.  The adjacent picture is the park that I plan to live by.  Oddly enough, there is a ocean beach 3 blocks down on the left in the picture.  Not a shabby place to live.  I encountered shin splints after running around between apartments.  I guess the apartment search is allowing me to get my daily exercise. 

"Signs, signs, everywhere a sign..."

Inspired by another blog, I've started to notice some funny things about my new residence.  To the left is a sign that states "In case of impact with this bridge, please ring __ immediately".  I saw this as I drove along in the rental car on my first day.  A couple thoughts came to mind.  The sign certainly is based on many assumptions, including that it is not hit in the first place, that you are conscious and can operate a phone, and that the bridge hasn't fallen on you. 

The next sign corresponds to a sign in a green area "reserve" in the middle of Monash University. 

A friend of mine noted that soft-ball games are okay.  Motorized skateboards and 4 wheelers should be fine... or maybe just in designated areas.  I thought it would be funny to have someone riding a horse and discharging firearms in the middle of campus... but then again there was a nearby pond that might have ducks... so it might not be such a bad idea.

The beauty is that these are the only limited activities in the area.  Everything else is fair game.  One could ride a pony through the reserve and if there are any complaints, you can just point out the sign.  You could use dynamite for fishing in the nearby pond.  The list really goes on.   

The other beauty of the southern hemisphere is that they have no reserve toward being pc in their advertisements.  I'd show some examples, but if my mother is reading this, she might appreciate the lack of information. 

Mel-bin, Oz, a new adventure

 My last night in Christchurch included a beautiful sunset, viewed from the top room of the Kookabura Nest.  I will certainly miss the port hills that can be seen from most parts of the city. 

I arrived at the airport in the evening.  I got myself a nice cheap phone and a good bottle of whiskey at duty free.  What else does one need when starting a life in Australia?  After getting a free boot cleaning at customs, I was off to find my rental car from Alamo... while lugging around all of my luggage. 


After searching around for my rental agency, I gave up and went to the information desk.  The person behind the desk had no idea where the rental car companies were and had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up the need to get a pass for going through the toll boths.  It slowly became obvious to me that there was little information to be found at the information desk.  Then I looked at my reservation and saw a phone number to call in order to get a shuttle to the car.  I called for a shuttle (Europocar, not Alamo) and when it arrived, the driver told me that the rental car place was closed and that I maybe should talk to the Europocar people at the airport.  Finally, after talking to them, they explained that they are "Alamo" and looking back I'm still slightly confused by the adventure, but I did finally have my car.     

 Anyhow, the rest of the adventure to get my new apartment isn't as exciting... although it wasn't much easier. 

The following day, I headed to the mall to get a phone, internet, and other such things.  I started to realize that things in Australia aren't very cheap, as can be seen by the kettle price in the above picture.  By the way, this was at Target!!  It was strange to see a Target.  Then I thought about getting a coffee grinder, but realized that $169 may be a little steep for grinding coffee, but at least the particular grinder was on sale for $379, as seen below.  The espresso machine I wanted, was not much of a deal either, $300.  So then I gave up on Target.

Then I walked around to find some coffee and saw Burger King... I mean a Hungry Jack's?!?  Apparently they have a Whopper, so Hungry Jack's is apparently Australian for Burger King.  Speaking of which, Fosters is looked down upon here.  Apparently Fosters is not Australian for beer. 


As an update on the espresso machine, I found one for free from my new best friend.  Well technically, he's my office-mate and getting an espresso machine from him is a great way to start off the relationship.  My boss is pretty great too.  I got a free lunch yesterday... which turned out to last until 10 at night and about 10 drinks later.  Another good start.