The Umpteenth Journal Attempt (Version III)

Been meaning to write for a while, since over a week ago. But as usual, laziness crept in, in addition to a (un)healthy dose of lethargy, probably brought on by jetlag. What’s that, you say (or at least I imagine you do)? "Jetlag? Where’ve you been flying off too?"

The answer to that query would be Sydney, over a week ago. Sydney, Australia, that is - it’s very likely there are other Sydneys somewhere out there, hence my specifying it. The reason can be seen somewhere at the top of this page. It was a big trip for me - first time I’d been in a plane and out of Java in over six years, first time I’d been abroad in over seven, first time I’d been sent anywhere on assignment. Wish the timing were about a month later, specifically when Teenage Fanclub are scheduled to be in town. Ah, well - of all the places I could’ve been sent, I probably couldn’t have asked for anywhere better than the city recently voted the best in the world (look it up yourself - I’m not your Googling bitch). I’d ask for London, though sometime when things have settled down. Terrorist scum.

Anyway, since getting back I seem to have acquired a disturbing knack of using Sydney as a frame of reference. It just keeps creeping into my thoughts, and occasionally I have an inescapable urge to slip it into conversation. Don’t get me wrong, i had a great time during my short stay, but I don’t want to turn into some jackass who just happened to get out of the country and feels the need to brag about it. Why just this morning, I went for a jog/stroll around the neighbourhood, and one of the first things that came to mind was, "My, the cool air reminds me of Sydney!" Ack. Feel free to slap me should I ever slip in a gratuitous Sydney reference when I talk to you.

Speaking of jogging, I’ve been meaning to do it for a while (see previous post on issues of a fat-ass persuasion), but of course I’ve been to damn lazy to get out of the warm confines of bed, and I’m generally not even conscious during optimal jogging hours. As it turned out, I just happened to be awake at six and decided I might as well get it over with.

After five minutes, it became apparent that my current jogging endurance is on the wrong side of woeful, with my heart feeling like it was about to erupt like tenaciously-squeezed acne. So I walked for most of the outing, just taking in the scenery I don’t often get to enjoy, due to the fact that our house is up by the main road. Entering the neighbourhood complex means going downhill into the valley, and man, the view - enhanced by a generous helping of morning dew - is quite special. No wonder there are quite a few people who opt to do the morning fitness routine, even if it is mostly just pensioners doing their aerobics or walking their dogs. Everyone else is busy being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic from as early as 5:30 in the morning due to school being back in session, meaning parents have to leave earlier to get their kids to school before driving off to work and motorbikes are even more of a nuisance than usual (if you ever thought it possible) because they end up hogging the pavement in their annoying attempts to weave through the gridlock.

Have you ever stood by a busy road at six in the morning, watching the irritated, sleepy faces of men, women and children who’ve had to get up early to beat heavy morning rush hour traffic, only to end up stuck in it anyway because everyone’s too bloody impatient to get to where they’re going that they neglect common sense and courtesy to prevent road bottlenecks getting clogged up, thus causing vehicular movement to get reduced to the pace of dried-up snot dangling precariously from a blocked nostril, while you yourself are fortunate that you don’t have to leave the house for another two hours at the very least and can do nothing but offer a sympathy smile or a snickering sneer at the poor bastards, however you feel inclined?

I have.  And it feels GREAT.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2005 at 11:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.