Wow, not only did she cook a really great dinner tonight but that cookie took a great dinner and skyrocketed it into outstanding status. Yummy. I think she's really enjoying the house-girlfriend thing. [Leah here, actually I don't have much going on at the moment, so being a pro girlfriend really helps fill my day. Two weeks off, feel free to Skype away, much to Todd's dismay with his dad-face internet usage monitoring.]
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the train.
So a couple of times a month while sitting on the train, the "Rail-Police" come along and check people's tickets. I actually don't buy a ticket every day, I have a go-card that is a rechargeable card that can be used for buses, trains and ferries. You simply "touch on" to a reader at the station or at the entrance to the bus, and "touch-off" when you get to your destination. The system deducts the fare from your card balance. Translink, as public transport is called, is trying to get away from paper tickets entirely and force people to buy go-cards. If you use your card ten times in a week you get weekends for a 40% discount or something. I spend a little over $115 per month just to get to work. I guess if you compare that to the cost of driving it's not bad. No insurance, no car payment, and best of all no fuel. It would still be nice to have a car though.
The last couple of days I've caught a slightly earlier train than usual. 6:59 instead of 7:09. It gets me to work a little quicker but I'm not sure I'm going to stick with it. I enjoy those ten minutes with my coffee cup at home in the morning. But I digress. This morning I got on the train and the police (the rail cops don't have guns, so I joked with the guys today that I'm an American and not impressed by cops unless they have guns) were busy checking tickets, if you have a go-card, they have a little hand scanner that can tell if you've touched on or not. At the third stop, the police got off and at the fourth stop another set of them got on and checked my go-card again. About three people down from me a woman had no ticket or card and she was fined $200. Pretty stiff if you ask me. Then when I got to work I found out one of the mechanics had also gotten nicked on the train this morning also for $200. Glad I don't try and cheat the system.
Kate asked us yesterday about the Olympic coverage here. Australians seem to really like sport a lot, but I think you're right Kate, for the majority, winter sports are sort of off the radar. There is some coverage during the day, and tonight coverage starts about 10pm. (After my bed time) They are talking about it a bit on the news and any Aussie athletes get the most coverage as you might expect. It's hard to imagine skiing when it's full on summer. We haven't been watching very much at all, we don't watch a lot of tv in general, I watch a few minutes of news in the morning while ironing my shirt and maybe a show or two in the evenings. My evening free time is mostly spent surfing the internet and writing the blog.
I don't know if I've mentioned the fact that Ginger beer is enormously popular here. In the soda aisle at the supermarket there are at least ten varieties to choose from. At the markets last weekend there were two different stands selling the home made variety. Now I love the stuff but especially when you hit it with some vodka and a lime and call it a Moscow Mule. Unbelievably most people here have never thought of ginger beer as a mixer. I made a few for Kev at the pig pickin' and he loved them. Anyway, when we saw the stand at the market Leah really wanted to get a photo of me in front of it so I walked over and I don't know what happened but the picture turned out like this:
Yet another in a long line of photos that make Leah giggle uncontrollably
Honestly, I wasn't trying to look like a moron, it just happens. I mean what's am I doing? Looks like I'm doing my best pimp strut but not dressed for the part.
Enjoy your Thursday.
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Todd, I found this recipe and have always been meaning to try it. Maybe your stay at home girlfriend could give it a try and report back. Love, Jane :)
ReplyDeleteHome Made Ginger Ale
Ingredients
4 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
2 cups water
4 teaspoons honey
2 cups seltzer water
Lemon slices
Ice
1. Finely chop or shred ginger in a food processor or with a hand grater. Boil water and add the ginger to it. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain.
2. Add honey. (More can be added to taste.)
3. Allow mixture to reach room temperature. Pour 1/2 cup in a glass. Add seltzer, a lemon slice, and ice. Stir and serve. Any leftover drink must be refrigerated or the mixture will begin to ferment and you'll have ginger beer! Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition information (per serving): 23 calories; 6 g carbohydrate; 0 g fat; 0 g saturated fat; 0 g fiber; 0 mg cholesterol; 25 mg sodium.