April 15, 2013. Thoughts on an average day.

   I have gotten into such a predictable routine that I often wonder if I just stop noticing things along my way. Today afforded a few observations. Not necessarily brilliant, but I'll share them anyway.

    I approached  the red light across the street from my workplace and came even with the only other person on that corner. He said good morning and I could tell that he was a fairly recent arrival from Africa. I was a bit slow to respond-my being takes a little time to get up to speed in the morning-and he felt that he should explain himself.  It was his custom to talk to people he came across and he didn't mean to disturb anyone. I encouraged this happy practice while silently feeling a bit sorry for him.  This city, as so many others, is populated by people totally preoccupied by MP3 players, i-Pads, i-Phones, PDA's, readers and all sorts of electronic devices that isolate ourselves from others  while we delusionally think  we are staying connected. What an anti-social place this must be to this friendly young guy.

   The court I was working in today usually has a few slow moments  and I took advantage of that to fulfill an annual duty.  Yep, I finished my 1040 form during a criminal sentencing.  (Gee, what does that say about paying taxes?)  I usually get my return done on April 14. Why that date? Because it is the anniversary of my arrival in Australia. Yesterday, Sunday, was my fifth anniversary.  I never owe money (one has to make ridiculous amounts of dough before the IRS asks for a small percentage of the overage) but the US Treasury likes to hear from me.  And from all U.S. expats wherever they are.  I find that many American expats are not aware that they are obliged to file a return.  Hope they don't run into any surprises when they repatriate. I always have my envelope hand cancelled so that the postmark date can clearly be read by even the dimmest auditor eyes.

    I received my pink slip at lunch.  My company lost its contract after 25 years and most of us monitors are being "made redundant". We've known for awhile that we were getting the axe, so this was a mere formality.  I took a moment to share my company experience with the boss and silently hoped this wouldn't be too painful a day for him. Oddly enough, I am not sad or panicky.  I don't have new employment lined up for after May 17 yet but I must have greater confidence today than I did five years ago. Que sera, sera.

    After work, I went to the store to pick up some frozen apple juice concentrate. You know the stuff--just like orange juice it comes in a cardboard or plastic can which you mix with three or four cans of water in your own pitcher. Economical and ecological.  And nonexistent here in Australia. All juice is sold in cartons or jugs.  Kev said frozen concentrate had been trialled once upon a time but Aussies weren't sold on the concept. Just another thing OZ doesn't have but one learns to live without.

    And finally, this evening I made apple butter. Not quite as rich a brown as one expects but it tastes yummy.  I made a batch yesterday but absentmindedly added apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider. It's not ruined but I will put both up for my professional taste-testers to see which suits Australian sensibilities more.  No one seems to have heard of apple butter before so this will be an interesting session.  My taste-testers help me fine tune my recipes to Royal Show (state fair) winning standard. And since I lose my team in a month, I have to step up the R and D schedule.

   I am thinking this indeed was an average day.