Only about two weeks now, before we leave Springfield VA and face the 15 hour plane flight back to Sydney, en route to Perth.
It was another beaut day in northern Virginia and we celebrated by taking down all the faux brass outside light frames;
and painting them in the oil rubbed bronze shade;
happily provided for us by Rustoleum.
Getting these frames down and then back on their wall, wasn't a great drama, but there was ample potential for the little glass windows to slip out of their frames and crash in too many pieces for even a good jigsaw puzzler. It didn't happen though one pane slipped out and was caught unbroken, by the ladder.
I had an interesting conversation today with a receptionist at Rubbermaid (the folk who produced the garden shed we bought). I had called them to get some additional wall anchors and when I made clear what it was I wanted, she said "Are you Australian ?" and went onto say that a friend of hers had met a fellow Australian on the internet. It seems he had come over to Ohio to meet this friend and the receptionist had in turn, met the Australian. We got to talking about a comment this fellow had made, concerning how cheap things were in the US, but I reminded her that the minimum wage is vastly different in the two countries. Here in the US it muddles along at $7.25 per hour (effective from July 24, 2009), while at home it is in excess of $15 per hour. That alone, has a major impact on the price of goods and of course, the ability to pay for these items.
Gizmo experienced another bad day - he seems to be occasionally seized by a fit of the shakes and has lost his appetite, quite apart from his wonky rear legs. Leanne has made an appointment to see the neurologist tomorrow at eight, so we're hoping there will be some answers there.
