Street Box

Street Box, Wickham and Ann,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

Another street box in Brisbane. It seems a number of them are signed "Worth"

Goin Back to Cali

(Big ups to LL Cool J) I have to sign some legal documents back in the States, so I'm heading back to California the week of the 9th. If you're in town and want to get together for a coffee or some conversation, give me a bell or drop me an email. I can't stay too long; I have to be in Sydney on the 20th, so I leave San Francisco bound for Brisbane on the 16th. I'll take whatever time I can get, for sure. I hope I can spend a few weeks in the States next time I visit; it's so time consuming to travel there and back, it hardly seems like a visit since 3-4 days are just travel time. I feel fortunate I have the means to do so, and it's even possible to travel across the Pacific in less than a couple of weeks. Just to give you a sense of travel scale, if I wanted to travel from Brisbane to Cairns in anything except an airplane, it would take me roughly 36 hours. Cairns is still in the same state in Australia as Brisbane.

Something Different

Street Box, Railroad Terrace,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

Here's a more common street box from nearby my work. This is actually a box used for telephone connections.

Australia is fun and perhaps more modern than the US, in that everyone has a mobile/cel phone. Generally, businesses have land lines, but every businessperson I've met will give you their mobile number, if it isn't already on their card. I saw a phone tech open up this particular one once, so I know it was phone lines. Quite different from your usual US phone box, and very different from the rest of the painted street boxes in Brisbane city.

Street Box, Creek and Ann

Street Box, Creek and Ann,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

The magpie, looking across to one of the entrances for Central Station in Brisbane city.

Storm Season

It's storm season in Brisbane. For the last 6 days, it's been mostly cloudy and humid. Temperatures in the high 20's Celsius. And it has rained every day. Usually just after dark. But, the rain has been accompanied by thunderstorms. Big thunderstorms, along with squall lines of high winds and rain. Our biggest worries is bushfires...wildfires caused by lightning out in the bush. We're set for another few days of this weather, followed by a return to sunny days.

On the personal side, I splurged and bought a digital SLR camera. I found a Canon EOS 400D on sale, along with a basic lens. I'm taking it out and about the city to get used to all the adjustments. My phone cam has been good to me, and I intend to keep it around. The phone has good resolution, but it's really best for snapshots. I'm hoping the new camera will allow me to take much higher quality photos. And, since it's digital, I can throw away the vast quantity of bad photos I expect to take, without having to pay for developing film.

I start working for the new company in a few weeks. I'll be getting some new computer equipment and commuting to a different office. I'm looking forward to the change. It's a busy time, but I'm really enjoying it!

Look Up!

Hands, CUA, Queen St.,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

Look way up!

These hands are sculptures in front of the Credit Union of Australia House in Brisbane.