For the first time since I've been away, I'm writing an e-mail out of
boredom. There's nothing to do around here.

Frida told me that I was free to use the phone line as much as I want since
she and Michelle both had mobile phones. But Frida left last week on
business, and since then, Michelle has been complaining that I'm on the
Internet tying up the phone line too much. So I'm not allowed to dial up
during the day anymore.

I already offered to buy them a VCR provided they take the cost out of my
rent (pretty good deal, no?), and maybe I can work up a similar deal to get
a second phone line installed here. But Telstra says it'll be about $170
for the installation. Not sure if they'll go for it.

For the time being, no Internet during the day. So I'm bored. It's hard
keeping yourself entertained in a strange house in a strange city. Most of
the time, I try to keep myself occupied on my computer by playing games or
writing e-mail. TV sucks.

I don't have a car and wouldn't have a clue where to go on the bus, so
sometimes I just go for walks around the neighborhood just to get outside.
It's always cold in this house, always colder than it is outside. Strange.
Feels good to get out into the sun. Winter is coming, but it's still
beautifully warm and sunny every day.

A few days ago, I took one of my walks and found a Sizzler just down the
street from the house. It was the first family restaurant I have seen in
Australia. If you want to go out to eat here, you can go to a pub, a
street-side cafe, or to Hungry Jack's. I never saw true family restaurants
like Sizzler or Chili's or Applebee's. And then I found Sizzler.
Disoriented and amazed, I walked inside.

It was about 1 pm, and they had their lunch value menu posted. I decided to
treat myself to the Steak Lunch. I took my table and was again shocked to
realize that Sizzler offered free refills for my Coke. You get free refills
on soft drinks almost everywhere you go back home, but I had never been
offered the privilege in Australia.

Then my food came. A beautiful, lean cut of steak, cooked to perfection.
And a steaming hot, well-buttered baked potato. It was absolutely
delicious. It was the first time I had a real steak or a baked potato since
I have been away.

While I was eating, there was an Asian woman sitting across from me who was
showing off her six-month-old daughter and her four-year-old grandson (think
about that for a moment) to other parents with babies.

I finished my meal I washed it all down with a final refill of Coke.
Completely satisfied, I got up and walked home. The meal was $8.25, but
after figuring in the US-Australian currency exchange (the Aussie dollar is
at its lowest point in years = good news for me), the Steak Lunch only cost
me $4.69. Fantastic.

At nights, I've been going over to Jordan's house to chill out and watch
movies when she gets home from work. She's into being a lazy piece of shit,
so we get along pretty well. Sometimes she even makes me dinner.

On Monday, I start my job for a local Internet company. As far as I know,
I'll be entering movie times into a computer for six hours a day, listening to
my CDs and joking around with other backpackers who do the same thing. And
the money's decent. The hours suck, though. I'll be using Frida's bike to
commute.

But until then, I'll be bored. I'm finding myself looking for reasons to
get out of the house. A couple of days ago, I lost a filling (I think)
while eating a Cadbury's Fruit & Nut chocolate bar and watching Ally McBeal,
which means that tomorrow, I'll be able to go to the dentist. Yay. Then
maybe I'll come home and rummage through Michelle's drawers while she's at
school.

GELLAR ALERT: While going through Frida's stack of Cosmopolitans and Marie
Claires, I came across a Sarah Michelle Gellar interview in which she stated
that she spent New Year's in Australia. Apparently, she started in Cairns
and worked her way southward, which means that we undoubtedly crossed
paths somewhere along the east coast of Australia. It was meant to be.

Jeff