Show Day Weekend

So tomorrow is like a Friday here. We have Show Day. I know, what the hell is Show Day? Apparently it is an Australian thing to designate a certain day of the year Agricultural Show Day and in the Northern Territory, it is on Friday, which is awesome. We don't often get Fridays off. I miss the days of Dept of Health in Halifax when I had every second Friday off due to a modified work week. In any case, the town is already busy and sure to get busier for the long weekend. School is also out for a break until the beginning of August when they start back again. Show day is also the only day of the year here in Alice Springs that you can purchase fireworks. It isn't the only day you can use them, but the only day you can buy them. Weird, I know. You can buy them at the dollar stores in Canada, but only on one day a year can you buy them here in Alice Springs. I've considered buying some but I thought it might be more fun to watch other people burn their fingers off, so I might mosey down to the riverbed to see what happens.
     I have no special plans for Show Day weekend, so it will just be a relaxing weekend, with the possibility of a bushwalk on Sunday. My bushwalking buddy has decided to brave another winter month here in Alice Springs. Poor muffin, it's too cold for him here. The coldest winter day has been -3C...yeah, I know. Suck it up princess...I am absolutely LOVING the weather here, in case I hadn't already said that about a million times. The sun is gorgeous nearly every single day, and the blue skies are just brilliant. I've been here about 10 weeks and we have had 3 days of rain, and 2 cloudy days. That's it. No fog, no thunderstorms, no grey overcast days that make you feel miserable, and certainly no SNOW. For a winter, that is stellar in my books, particularly after this past winter I spent in Canada on Vancouver Island where it started raining in November and was still raining in April when I left. I can count the number of sunny days on one hand and still have fingers left.
     My flat is being inspected tomorrow though I'm not quite sure why. My friend F. tells me it is quite common to have a yearly inspection, but I've only just moved in a month ago, so I'm not sure what they're looking for, since they just did a move-in inspection then. Whatever, it was motivation to get everything unpacked from Canada, and clean the whole mess up. They'll be here tomorrow morning while I'm at work. I hope they can manage to get into my place. They have been having issues with finding the right keys to get in, so for every tradie that I've had come for servicing, I've had to leave work to come home and let them in - electrician, handyman, delivery guys, satellite guy, plumber, etc. Not that it hasn't been pleasant to see all of these young fellas, as most of them were quite good looking dudes...
     Saw another big damn spider a few days back. I was taking a roll of garbage bags out of the cupboard and when I went to grab one, there was a HUGE BLACK HAIRY spider on the end, covering the whole roll...I screamed and threw the bags, and never did spot the spider again. I'm sure he was just as scared as I was when he heard me scream. So he is in here somewhere...great...my sister and her friend say they're not coming to visit until I find him, ha ha. They foolishly thought they would sleep out in hammocks in my courtyards...heh heh...then I reminded them of all the poisonous creatures that might come to call out there. Though it would be pretty funny to rig up a webcam and see what happens...my sister has serious issues with simple ants, let alone huge hairy spiders, snakes, lizards, cockroaches the size of small dogs...
     I was at a training session today for a decision making model that came out of the USA. One of the facilitators is an American. He started off by telling us how popular the model was in many of the states in the US, and just as popular in many of the states in Canada. Um, what? Please do not make me educate you. I did wait until a break to inform him that Canada has never had, and never will have STATES. I patiently told him we have PROVINCES and TERRITORIES, but NO STATES. No wonder people don't like Americans...they are so self centered they can't see beyond their borders. I know all Americans are not like this, but many of them are out there living up to the stereotype.
     I was told today by a lady in the grocery store that I have a lovely accent...who'd a thunk it? She was also a little strange, but I seem to be attracting the weirdos in this town. Yesterday it was some dude who hollered after me that he was looking for a rich white woman, and that was all he wanted, was a white woman, but she had to have money. He was an African dude. I didn't respond. Sigh...
     So there you have it, the latest from Alice Springs. Life is good.