Finally getting settled [non-work]

Back on August 24th, we finally got internet at the apartment.  That was kind of like the last missing piece.  It wasn't a very critical one, though, so more like icing on the top.

So let's back up a bit.  On the 18th we bought a car.  That was definitely a big missing piece of the puzzle of our life here.  Going back further, Ruthie moved us into our apartment on the 4th of August.  It's been a bit of a process, that's for sure.

Continuing with the backwards trend, let's just recap: plane lands, stay one night in Sydney, drive to Canberra, keep going and stay over night in Gundagai, arrive in Melbourne, and begin our stay at the hotel.  We only had a few days before the in-country-travel portion of our trip stopped and switched to temporary quarters status, and our compensation from Uncle Sam reduced.  So the onus was upon us to find a place reasonably quick.  Got that done.  Short story of that one is that they do things different here about how they put things on the market, and really without Ruthie, I don't know how I would've found a place.

Then came the car.  We debated quite a bit about that one.  And during the debate, I bought a bicycle.  [Actually, before we even moved into an apartment, I bought a bicycle - it was very obvious from the moment we got here, that the city was pretty bicycle friendly.]   Weighing in on the debate was the fact that we got an apartment that is roughly 4km from work, and with the bicycle, it's an easy trip to/from work.  Plus there is actual public transit here, and I could even use it to get to/from work if necessary.  Also weighing in were the facts that our apartment is two blocks from the Port Melbourne shopping district, where you can get just about everything you need for day-to-day life.  Oh, and then the motorcycle will eventually be here.  But with all that going against the need for a car, then came the considerations about what to do when we wanted to go outside of the city?  So we looked into the occasional car rental.  There's a few car share programs that are around here, so we looked at those, too.  But then we realised we were kidding ourselves and we wanted to do more than just the occasional road trip.  So the selfish American in each of us won out, and the comfort of having a car was filled.

Then it was like suddenly a weight had been lifted off our shoulders.  Suddenly we were settled.  Sure we were missing some luxuries, like half our furniture and regular access to the internet.  But it definitely felt good to be here then.  No longer were we burdened with trying to make some pretty huge decisions.  And so since then, we've just been kinda cruising into life here.  A couple road trips since we bought the car, Ruthie's driven me to work on the mornings it's been wet out, and life's been pretty good.

Bringing this full circle, getting internet at one's abode is also very different from home.  This country is not built on an infrastructure like it is in the States, and so we've technically got a dial-up connection.  Regardless, I'm online and posting again.  Like I said, icing on the cake.

-EP