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and last updated July 18th.,1998.
Well, I am still here in Atlanta, still making up my mind whether to stay, backtrack a little, move on by air,
drive to the next stop..or a combination of all of the above....
The longer I stay here, the better I can understand the plight of the lotus eaters....
The little problem I was having with my spacebar sort of turned into a BIG problem, so I phoned the Toshiba
service agent here, wondering why my computer always folds on a Friday.. and explained that all my friends
thought I was either alzeimic or intoxicated each time I started to type...and the nice man said I needed a new
keyboard, and I could even get a cab over there and have it wait because they could insert a new one as
quickly as that!!
And since Dave had said he would take me somewhere that afternoon, I suggested we drive to the Toshiba
place..
which only took about an hour and a half...seriously big place,Atlanta!.....
But the warrantied repair did, indeed, take no more than five minutes, and no talk of paying a $50 expedite fee,
as I did in Vermont....
MOST impressive!!!!!!
And after that, 'Dave was hungry and took me to one of his favourite places, where they do some interesting
bun-type sandwiches,and I made the Aussie mistake of wanting coffee with my meal.....Americans just don't
DO that..they drink soft-drink with everything..
And the manager was trying to break in all-new staff, one of whom had no idea of using a register or making
change, or even, it seemed, of the American monetary system...
and they had the usual advertisement outside:
And when I reached 'home', it was to discover that Management had followed up
some of the observations I had made re. their services, (they ASKED me...I didn't volunteer), and agreed with
me there had been some problems, which they called mistakes
And there was a letter of apology from the Room Service team, together with a gift of.....aagghh...food and drink!!
Which, if you have been following this page, you will know has ADDED to an ongoing problem!!
And speaking of PROBLEMS, one of the big problems about my clothes-buying expedition was that I had to
look at myself from the back for the first time since I bought my swimsuit, when I first arrived here..
And I saw the back of my HAIR......aagghh!!!
NEVER again shall I BELIEVE an agreeable 28 year-old that my hair looks okay!
Think we could organize a joint hair-trimming session.....there is a Vidal Sassoon salon at the Plaza, I see!
On the other hand, I suppose I COULD wait till Manhatton Beach and get a card from some seriously swanky
place..
And sneak about in a hat or headscarf until then, hey?
Well, I have actually taken the Rodeo out at night...
Left the Happy Hour, here, to the convention guests and drove down to Phipps Plaza, the upmarket shopping spot, to hit the sales....
Now I have to tell you, Aussies, that OUR frustrating system of vanishing everything as soon as the season is started and only showing NEXT season's stuff doesn't seem to happen here, where you can examine overcoats on racks alongside the swimsuits...and SO MANY OF EVERYTHING TO CHOOSE FROM!!!
Yes, I KNOW I said I wouldn't come home with any American clothes..that I didn't need anything..had everything with me....
Year, well I SAID a lot of things that aren't happening, didn't I!!!
Dave bought 11 items, I think, and the bill was only $30....but I have GRAVE reservations about that
burnt-orange shirt,, Dave..I just don't think it's YOUR color!!
It was a different scene the day before..
WhenDave III said he had to organize HIS new Fall wardrobe, and
did I want to go with him to select and advise, I figured his tailor would show me fabrics and the latest silhouette....
Well, I have to tell you, folks, the American Thrift Shop is quite something!
I have always said you can tell a lot about a country by what its citizens discard...or make available for recycling..
In the case of America, one could write a whole PHD thesis about this very fact, starting with their toilet flush system and their garbage disposal units....
Rather wish the swarthy, thickset male checking through Ladies formal-wear, with a supermarket trolley for all his purchases, had let me
assist and advise HIM...but every time I came close he moved on,sort or looking over his shoulder....
Hmm..he probably didn't realise I am Australian and live only 13 hours' drive from the Sydney Gay Mardi-Gras!
And it is still seriously warm here, though the sky is still not as blue as in Australia,being kept paler, we decided, by the higher humidity..and everything is green, green, green, and lush
(And, yes, Jody, I CAN see why you and your friends were so homesick for the TREES of Georgia during your
tour of duty in Kuwait!)
Yes, I CAN see why you would be so conscious of the change in vegetation!
For myself, I continue to be surprised by the ENGLISH TREES, here, but I am seriously missing the SEA,
which I haven't seen, other than from the air, since I left home in May..
I particularly miss the SMELL of it...each afternoon here, as the thundery-times approaches, it seems as
though one should be able to smell the ozone...
And it probably IS time I moved on, because I am getting into relaxed Georgian ways, enjoying the long twilights
and the gentle cadences of the speech....
Of course, lots of reminders that it is not so long since this place was being burned by its neighbours!!
And I suppose I wouldn't really feel at home in a place were there no `evacuation alarm
At least this time I wasn't in the bath as I had been at Bradford/Leeds...
But I am so far from the stairs, in this apartment complex, that it was a scary procedure this time....all the lights
in the long corridors are blue-flashing during an alert, and look as though they are arcing, so one does not know
whether to pass or not...
And forget the idea of helpful staff at each intersection guiding one with calm smiles.......at each evacuation
procedure I have shared, the staff were always grouped on their own assigned part of lawn, talking only amongst
themselves, well before any hapless guest eventually located the way out......
But I met a nice American family on the way down the stairs..they only live about 100 yards along the corridor
from me!
Although some things seem to be pretty much the same the world over...
At least that's what I was thinking as both Daves, father and son, took me to a Computer Users' Group, right
across town, with the universal male-competitive-driving spirit lurking somewhere there beneath the polite
surface....
and who should be there, and saving seats for us but the Very Old Netfriend who had behaved so STRANGELY;
in so, well, HOSTILE and CONDESCENDING a fashion at the weekend....
And when he gave me the Microsoft TShirt he had won in the Lucky Number draw, I couldn't help wondering
if the fact he wasn't accompanied at THIS meeting by his wife and mother- in- law might be what was making
such a DIFFERENCE to the way he was reacting to my presence ...
Interesting, that, the idea that some American men seem to be AFRAID of their womenfolk!
I met another netfriend, who chats as "Iron Eagle" when he
made the two-hour drive from his home south of here. He had quite some trouble getting anywhere near me...he had completely
forgotten my surname, and knows me mainly as AQ, so the hotel staff were a bit reluctant to locate me
or my unit for him...told him he would need a NAME, which was on his computer back home, of course....
So the poor guy had to drive about looking for a friend still awake with his computer running, who
would let him log onto ICQ in the hope I might still be online and awake enough to remember my roomnumber...
and my other name....
And do you know the WORST thing about being woken from a sound sleep to open the door to someone one
has never met offline?
It is the discovery that the 50 year old one thought would be at least as Used-looking as oneself does, in fact
look to be in his late twenties or early thirties, and that he is thinking of partying on through the night like
someone of that vintage..
Dave says perhaps we should all listen to Iron Eagle's claims for a particular herbal preparation he uses...
.he says any guy who looks as young as that must be doing SOMETHING right!
Iron Eagle said he was surprised that I get about
so well..he had pictured me as moving rather slower!
Hmm..lucky for HIM he didn't bring his TENNIS SHOES....we would SEE who moves slowly then!!
With Iron Eagle driving for more than two hours just to make possible a meeting,, and Lady J and Beth driving more
than four hours from Massachusetts to Vermont, I suppose I AM a bit sad about the reaction of someone I
really did want to meet...someone who put the idea of this trip into MY mind and into the mind of my son,
which is how it all got started...
Now I know this person is horrifically busy in his job, and stresses at a faster rate than I do, but his suggestion
that my timing is a bit unfortunate made me wonder how far I would have to come, and how much notice I
would have to give, before my unexpected, ( HE says, though I sent regular location EMails) materialization might
bring a smile in the voice... and not that irritated tone..
I mean, it isn't as though I have just popped in unexpectedly from
around the corner, with a better time easily available...
Guess my son should have consulted that particular time-management authority on a convenient date for his
wedding so that his mother would only be let loose at an appropriate moment...
But, Mea Culpa,, I'll come back another time!!
Of course, Of course!! No trouble at all!
And to those of you still asking, 'Are you still coming home early?', the
answer is "er....NO!!".
I'm homesick, of course, and I would LOVE to go out at night just a few times,but this driving thing will take
time, and there is all this food and drink to use up since I am not consuming supplies as fast as folk are
donating them !!
And I hadn't scheduled my time so severely that changes couldn't be made, and I seem to be
thriving on the warmer weather , so I am actually staying longer than planned in Georgia, and might stay
longer still, and to heck with California, and we might even have that party we had originally planned!...
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