Apples, Tours and Myer's

This might just be a small update on what's happening Down Under, because of my computer problems. But then again, I never know how long my blog entries will be until I've finished typing them (especially if I start on Friday, with still the entire weekend ahead of me), so it might actually turn out to be a long one anyway. So, my computer still suffers from the occasional blue seizures, lapses of consciousness, short term memory loss and disorientation (doesn't always seem to recognise its own hard drive or DVD drive, and goes looking for a LAN network that isn't there). I reckon that this is an incurable disease, therefore I'll have to buy a new computer so I can let this one die a peaceful death. You might have noticed, but I've kind of had enough of Windows, especially its blue screens of death (3 in the span of half an hour Sunday night, in its worst state so far) and the numerous Microsoft updates after 2 reformats. So I had pretty much made up my mind already that if I WAS going to buy a new computer, it'd be a Mac. I went to an Apple reseller in the city on Monday, after the dreadful night of before, my mind set on which computer I wanted. "Sure, you can order a Macbook," the person at the desk told me. "But you could also wait two days. That's when Apple will announce its new upgraded Macbooks." That sounded like good advice, so I went back home, hoping my computer would last just a few days longer. On Wednesday, I checked the Apple website as soon as I woke up, curious about what the upgrades would be and if any of the rumours were true. The new aluminium (yes, aluminium, Aussies don't speak American, so we say aluminium, not aluminum, just as 'we' say nuclear, not nucular *wink*) casing and glass screen cover and trackpad made it look pretty... pretty. The new NVIDIA graphics card was the best upgrade, with a few other minor ones. But the downside was, they made it a whole lot more expensive, especially here in Australia. The Aussie Dollar has dropped dramatically in the last week, therefore, Apple decided to charge more than you'd think if you just converted the US Dollar for Aussie Dollars, to compensate for 'future fluctuations'. Luckily, the poor state of the AUD vs. the Euro made up for that, so the cost of a Macbook here is actually the same converted to Euro's as if I'd bought it in the US. But still, I hadn't made up my mind yet. It was a lot of money, but in the end, I decided to just go for it. And hope this one would last longer than the 2+ years my Acer lived for. So it's been ordered (with upgrades of course, so I don't have it yet), and I hope to get it by next Friday or the Monday after. I can't wait!

I found out there was some kind of road cycling event on Saturday, because Lygon Street was going to be closed for that event. I checked on the internet and found that it was the last leg of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour: 33 laps of 2 km, mostly on Lygon Street itself, literally around the corner from my apartment. Most of the contestants were Aussie or New Zealanders, but there were also cyclists from other countries, such as the US, Canada, Japan and several European countries. No Dutch contestants unfortunately. So on this afternoon, I went to the balcony of our building before going out, just snapping some pics from above. Then I walked around part of the circuit, taking pictures here and there. At one point, I saw someone also walking around, who I thought I recognised. However, when you're in a strange country where you know NO ONE, you always think you recognise about 1 in 20 people you see. Suddenly my mind came up with a name to go with that face: Lance Armstrong. Now I'm not sure whether that was really him, but if he was actually there, I've seen him. He wouldn't have been in the race, since he isn't cleared to race yet. But that doesn't mean he wasn't there, checking out the competition. I'm just going to believe that it was him. Yay, I've seen a celebrity! After taking my share of pictures I left again. If there had actually been Dutch cyclists in the race, I would've stayed until the end, but I was here only to get the feel of the event. Here are the pics:


The "Tour de Down Under"

After leaving the cycling event, I went to Myers, one of the two biggest department stores in Melbourne. Within a few seconds, I went from the 31° outside, down the escalators, to the air conditioned... Christmas department? You know that Christmas is in summer here, but I haven't been able to imagine it yet. This did give me a good taste of it though, and it felt odd standing there between all those Christmas trees and decorations in nothing but shorts and a shirt, instead of long pants/jeans, a shirt, sweater and preferably a nice and warm winter coat. But I think this is still a far cry from experiencing Christmas itself in 30+ degrees. Anyway, I managed to buy new sunglasses (mine broke three weeks ago, and you DEFINITELY need 'sunnies' here) and a new belt. My best deal was on a pair of jeans, which were originally 70 dollar, but were now down to 30 bucks, with a weekend special 30%, making it a mere A$21 (or €10,50). Feeling like I've spent enough money this week (including the new computer), I went back home, making just the shortest detour past the KFC.

On Monday I decided to risk bringing my laptop to work again, as it had been relatively stable during the past 5 days, only occasionally crashing, and mostly restarting in one go, sometimes two. That was probably my last attempt at bringing this computer to the hospital. When I got back home and 'woke' my computer from sleep mode, it gave an annoying two peeps, and gave a 'failed disk' message, seeing my hard drive as something else. Reboots, turning it off and on again, nothing helped. Until I closed the lid, gave it a few shakes and smacked it a few times. I opened it again, started it again... voilą. It was working beautifully again, even waking from sleep mode instead of thinking it had to fully reboot. I thought this was so funny, I wanted to write on my Windows Live Messenger: "Laura - Amazing what a little physical violence can do to a computer :D". Before I finished typing: CLICK. Off. Nothing. Reboot: successful until the disk check --> click - off. I tried several times, each with the same result. Exasperated, I resorted to apologising to my computer. One more try: it worked! I am now fully convinced that my computer is a living being. I'll treat it nicely from now on. I can't wait until I get my new Macbook though (no offence to you, my dear Acer).

I think I'm simply no longer able to write short entries... There's simply so much happening that I have little time to be bored. Stay tuned for more adventures next week! Hopefully the entry will be written/uploaded from my Mac!

Love, Laura


Next entry: 27 October 2008 - The Monster of Loch Albert
3 November 2008 - Welcome to the World of Mac
10 November 2008 - Multicultural
17 November 2008 - The Car, Santa and Italian Festa
24 November 2008 - Global Cooling
1 December 2008 - The Dutch Shop, Take Two
8 December 2008 - Parties, Night Life and Back Pick-Up Lines
22 December 2008 - The Grampians
29 December 2008 - Christmas, OZ style
6 January 2009 - Happy New Year!
12 January 2009 - Empty
20 January 2009 - Boiling Hot
9 February 2009 - Worst Day in History
1 April 2009 - No April Fools - An Update


Previous entries:

13 October 2008 - Hanging Out with Friends and Hanging Rock
6 October 2008 - Blue Skies and Blue Screens
29 September 2008 - AFL Grand Final Weekend
22 September 2008 - Dutch Weekend
15 September 2008 - Typical Melbourne Weather
8 September 2008 - Wildlife: Out in the Wild
1 September 2008 - Koalas, Kangaroos and Other Australian "Idols"
25 August 2008 - Bugs, Killer Birds and the Olympics
18 August 2008 - Exploring the City
13 August 2008 - The Longest Day
Welcome to Laura's Weblog


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