Airplanes and ATM Cards...

Greetings, all. 

I hope you're getting to enjoy the weekend wherever you may be.  Unless you're an early riser, my guess is that you're in the middle of sawing logs right about now.  It's a sunny Sunday afternoon here in Perth. I've got an icon of Seattle's weather on my desktop and notice that the sun has been shining and the temps have been warm the last few days in the jet city.  I imagine the trees are in full bloom and the Lake Washington Boulevards and other byways are filled with the sweetness of spring.  Sunshine with snow on the mountain tops, trees and flowers showing off their prize, and the sounds of life all around...postcard Seattle...perfect Easter season weekend, I'd say!

Remember that Red Bull Air Race I mentioned last post?  I was fortunate enough to get nearly a birds eye view of the action.  John from the office invited a few of us newcomers to watch the race from his 10th floor apartment overlooking the Swan River.  Awesome views and what was really cool was that the planes flew in and out from a makeshift landing strip located about 200 feet from his balcony!  I learned that there are eight places in the world that hold this event...never would have thunk I'd catch see such a thing...let alone in Perth.  There were a few Americans in field...one guy made it to the second-to-last round, but didn't qualify for the finals.  An Austrian fella took the gold and a local Perthian(???) took second much to the applause of the crowd.  I posted some pix of the planes and other things.

Yesterday after Mass I was strolling home and was debating whether or not to grab a bite on the way back or to eat a makeshift dinner at the apartment.  I had a taste for Italian and a Moretti or Peroni.  So, I decided to deck into the first Italian place I found.  I came across a place called Venizia a few blocks away from the cathedral and grabbed a table outside so I could enjoy the plesant evening air and take in the sights and sounds as people came and went by.  I ordered up a ravioli dish with a side salad...and yep, a bottle of Peroni.  I prefer Moretti, especially draft, but it's hard to find...in fact, the only place I've found it on draft is the place I was introduced to it...The Lasagna House on the corner of Westheimer and Eldridge in H-town.  The LH was actually the very first resturant I ate at when I moved to Houston back in 2001.  Vinny, one of the best servers I've ever known, got me hooked on the blue collar Italian brew.  My mom, dad, and I ate there after moving my stuff into my apartment and Vinny took care of us that first time.  Good grub, but a bit out of the way.  It was probably six or eight months later that I popped in there again for supper.  And sure enough, Vinny was there and I sat in his section.  Right off the bat Vinny asked, "Hey, buddy.  Haven't see you in a long time.  How are you doing?  Settled in by now, I imagine?  How's your mom and dad doing?"  I couldn't believe it.  I ate at the LH at least once a month thereafter...Anyway, I threw down the dinner and beer and when it was time to pay I realized I didn't have my US ATM card, but only my Aussie ATM card and credit card (still figuring out what to carry when and where).  I'm trying not to use my credit card here because I get shelled with a 3% international transaction fee when I do, but in a pinch, it's there. So, no problem, right?  Not really, except Venizia doesn't take plastic and the Aussie ATM card in my pocket was pretty much useless to me because I forgot the blasted PIN!  So there I was with a bill of $41.90 (ridiculously expensive for a basic plate of pasta, little salad, and a beer considering that the Aussie dollar is nearly 1 to 1 with the US dollar...I just realized that the bastages charged me $3.50 for the glass of tap water!...welcome to Perth, I suppose...probably one reason why dinny didn't taste too good.) and no way to pay for it.  I went up to the lady behind the counter and explained my situation, frank and to the point. Much to my surprise, she simply said, "No worries (a common Aussie phrase).  Just come back and pay tomorrow."  Surprised indeed!  I swung by the resturant this afternoon on the two-wheeler to pay my debt, but the doors were closed...I just called and no one home.  I ought to mail them an envelope with $38.40 in it, tell them thanks for allowing me to leave the resturant premises without some guy named Guido coming out to teach me a lesson...but tell them they can kiss my blarney if I'm going to pay three-fiddy for a glass of tap water.  Perhaps I'll just stop by during the week, pay the bill, and try a new Italian resturant next time around. 

Reminiscing of Vinny serving up homemade lasagna and yesterday's dinner has got my belly barking.  It's pushing 18:00, so I guess it's right on time.  And whaddaya know?  A colleague from Redmond who is working here in Perth too, Jill, just called and asked if I wanted to grab a bite.  So by golly, I'm going to go grab a bite with Jill.  You kids have a fantastic Sunday.  Til next time, take care and God bless you. 

Scotty