Day 26 - The Liquor Baron

May 4th, 2015

Keep it together, man!

Yet another day of dragging my feet, I decide to actually go to some of the shops to see what I can get for a decent rate. I have no alcohol, and I figure I’ll be in need of it at some point or another, so DAN MURPHY'S it is! Discount Baron of the Western State, he brings the liquor for those in need, post haste! “Dan Murphys” is the name of a discount liquor store. Yeah, they have those here. I know, right?

This tiny truck amused me

First, however, it’s  food and gym. Daredevil, the comic, is even better than the show and I’m far more addicted since discovered the ability to read it on my phone. At the gym, I ran into a Brit guy that was friends with Ruby, Rory. Sorry, not British, I made that mistake the first time - he’s Welsch. He doesn’t remember me at all, and seems taken aback that I’m saying hi to him at the gym. Well, that’s a... something. Later, I find those weight insert things you can put on machines for when you want to do an amount that’s between the set numbers. Like, the machine says 10, 20, 30, right? You can do 20 easily, but can’t do 30. You get an insert and stick ‘er right on there - Whamo! 25lbs. Well, here the numbers are all kg, as mentioned before, and I don’t really know what these little things weigh here. I asked this German guy, but he seemed standoffish earlier when I had asked if he saw anyone using a machine. He didn’t know. Nearby is this rather buff looking woman deadlifting, so I figure she’ll probably know. She was more friendly that this other bloke. Her name is Summer (Summah), she works at the gym as a personal trainer, but most importantly: she doesn’t know how much it weighs. I concluded that it was 2.5 and went with it.

I come back to find Alexander in the kitchen with his girlfriend, Manny. They’re cooking and blocking the fridge that has my food, so I decide to shower and eat after. Having finished both of those, I head on down to DAAAAAAAAAN MURPHYYYYYY'S alcoholic emporium. I decide to check out the prices on beer because I wouldn’t mind being able to drink one without selling the top of my head. Lo and behold, they actually have reasonably priced beer! I bought a carton (a 2-4 as you may know it) for $32. This isn’t bad, really, even for back home. Some of them went up to the 70’s, and 6-packs range between 15-20 dollars. Insanity! How can it be that much to make here*?! There’s so much land and the ingredients are pretty easy to grow! Then again, that’s completely ignoring the types of land. Enough griping; I have my beer, and potentially a beer fridge that was on the corner when I walked by.

Couldn't remember if we
had this at home, but it's
popular here, I'm told

The internet is being a witch today, so I don’t think I’ll be getting much work done in that regard. I speak with Alexander a little bit, but also meet Ricardo, the Columbian guy who lives next door to my room. I haven’t seen him at all, but he’s a very friendly guy, and I do so enjoy a good Spanish accent. He tells me about this sugar cane Columbian alcohol (we talked about how expensive it is here) and a few other things, like his work (he’s a painter) and how long he’s been in perth (I want to say.. 4 years.) While talking with him, the Frenchman, Marc, who lives in the back warehouse heard my accent and came running into the house to meet me. 

“The Canadian Ghost!” he exclaimed “I had heard about you, but never to be seen!” We talked about the west coast of Canada, as this is where he had been. He tells me he has been traveling a lot, staying here and there for 6 months, but keeps coming back to Australia "like a boomerang!" He’s an animated fellow, and talks often with his eyes closed. Quite friendly, he said he just wanted to make my acquaintance. I reciprocated the sentiment, saying goodbye on my way to Tran’s Emporium.

They have such strange candies there, I can’t help but get a different one each time I go. They also have milk, I discovered. The reason I was there today was cooking oil and rice. Check, check. Back at the place, I run into Alexander’s roommate, Italian Matteo. He seems a little worn down, and with good reason: he’s working 10 hours a day, getting up at 5, and has no life outside of work. Well, then... He’s friendly enough, and we talk about how he likes Australia and what his plan is. There are 5 more months on his visa, so he’s planning on working until near the end and traveling around for two months. I tell him the time will probably fly by, then he’ll finally get to enjoy the relaxation. He agrees, and seems slightly less deflated.

"They got along like Seals and Rabbits!"

I end up on the phone with Eloise talking about their weekly political show, Q&A, and about jobs in the area. She offers to help me with my resume, and offers help in actually locating and locking down a job. Further than that, she offered to pay me to do her garden because she really can’t be bothered to do it. Hell yeah, good ideas and points. She works in the Government, so I figure she’d probably have some decent insight on the resume part, and she’s generally a laugh to talk with.

I call it a night shortly after that and read some more daredevil comics, though the writing has gone a bit downhill since I got past the part that Bendis wrote. Oh, Bendis, hold me in your arms and never let me go.

*: Turns out they have quite a bit of alcohol tax, and it varies from the type and size, apparently. I haven't cared to really look into it, but someone said it was related to cutting down on alcohol problems/marketing to teens.