From meryl
Finally we have got our own phone and our number is (512) 4945904. I booked in for my first haricut but I really dont like it so I will have to keep searching for a hairdresser I like. Then I suppose we will have to find the doctor, dentist, physio etc. We are still having problems with our pay and until that is set up we can't set up our deductions which means any health or pharmaceuticals etc would cost a fortune. We are also still having problems with our bank so I wouldn't recommend the Bank of America to anyone at this stage.

The main road running through this picture is South Congress and if you keep following it over the river for about a km you will run into our apartment. Austin is famous for the one and a half million bats that fly in every night and sleep under the South Congress bridge.
We have found a shop that sells vegemite but it is so expensive I think we will just have to ration our jar. They have a web site and you can buy all those things like weetbix, arnott's biscuits, vita weets and of course emu oil and eucalyptus soap.
People at work are really interested in Australia and it is great to talk to them. Today I was asked if I had a boomerang and had I ever thrown one. The expectation was that kids were given them like frisbees, someone has missed a huge marketing opportunity. Everyone wants to visit Australia so we may have a run on American visits when we do go home. Sometimes it is hard to describe ourway of life and customs. Try explaining things like the "tall poppy syndrome", or why we don't give change of 1,2 or 3 cents and why we talk in kilos but weigh new babies in pounds and ounces.
I have been given a project at work- setting up a web site. Can you b
elieve that, they must be really desperate. We had a team meeting on Friday and it turns out I am the only Maximus employee that has been hired by the project. Everyone else is a consultant bar one and he is a Maximus employee seconded from another project.

Today is the first day the weather has not been in the high nineties and it is only the second day of summer. Yes summer started on 21st June not 1st. It will be a mild 78 degrees today. I think we might be in for a hot summer with a bit of rain. At least we are not getting the floods like Houston is although we do plan to drive down to Houston and Galverston for a weekend soon, so lets hope it stops flooding.
Today we did a tour of the Capitol Building (see photo). Unfortunately I cut the top off the Angel of Liberty who sits on the top and is 16foot tall. It is a pretty impressive building with pictures of all the Governors of Texas including of course George W.
Glenn attempted the written driver's test on Friday and he passed so now he has to go to The Department of Public Safety early on Monday (7am) and wait in a queue to do the practical. I will attempt the written on Tuesday night but I am not sure that they will allow me as I don't have a Social Security number yet. When I rang they said I needed it but the web site says I can just sign an affidavit so we will see.
HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY TO DANIEL for Tuesday