Spiders, Taxes, and Desserts!

The after-effects...

As I mentioned in my last blog I was ready to pick up all of my audio equipment from the zoo. That was the first thing I did on Monday which proved to be more interesting than I expected. The tiger keepers had collected all the equipment for me so when I got there I just had to pack it up in a duffel bag I brought with me. I had two cables attached to mic's that were zip-tied to metal brackets and I couldn't remove the zip-ties so I just shoved cables and brackets into my backpack. When I got to my bus stop to leave the zoo I decided to try again to cut the zip-ties off. After cutting them all off I noticed there was a bunch of web stuff on the metal bracket. I poked it and some baby spiders started crawling out. At this point I freaked out as it was all still in my backpack so I frantically ripped open my bag and pulled out the cables and metal brackets. One metal bracket had a couple spiders on the webs so I found a stick and started scraping all the web stuff off and killing any spiders I could find. With my limited knowledge of spiders in Australia I assumed they were the very deadly funnel web spiders and wasn't taking any chances of them to hang around. Later my lab mate Tim informed me that they were definitely not funnel web spiders and I have since decided they were sac spiders. Still, who wants those hanging out in your backpack near your head?

The rest of the week did not have any other surprises thankfully. I did have some frustration with other stuff though. To keep a long story short, Matt and I have had all kinds of complications dealing with our US taxes. Because Matt is self-employed we owe taxes to the Oregon Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Services. When trying to pay with check information I was told our Oregon bank account was closed. Early Tuesday morning (5 am) I had Matt get up to call our bank to find out what was wrong. When I showed him the checks he told me "Oh, these are really old checks!" Although I had made sure I was using the information on checks that had been used, it turns out Matt had brought a whole box of old checks from a closed account to Australia. He found the current checks and I was finally able to pay the Oregon taxes. Needless to say, I was quite annoyed he not only had kept those checks, but decided to bring them all the way to Australia with us.

Tax frustration continued as I tried to contact the IRS early Tuesday morning. Because we owe so much we need to do a payment plan which requires us to call and make an agreement for that. Also I wanted to understand the bill I had received describing some penalties we had received. I called around 6 am and was told that there would be about a 30-60 minute wait! After being on hold for an hour (I just did other things at the same time) the call just dropped. I didn't have time to try again so I figured I would just call the next day. Wednesday I got up earlier, still had the same issue, and the call ended at an hour. I decided to just try again and this time there was an automated system which of course never understood anything I said. When it put me on hold it somehow was stuck on Spanish. I hung up and called again getting the automated system, but was able to get English. After being on hold another 40 minutes I gave up. Online it said the office was on Eastern Time so I thought perhaps I would try when they were open in the morning (7am EST = 9pm AEST). I tried calling them at 10 pm my time and apparently they were closed! So, at 5am the next day I called again and after 51 minutes of being on hold I finally got a person!! After another hour of being on the phone I sorted out all of our taxes. I hope I never have to go through that experience again.

Unfortunately, there is more to this tax story. After my call finished I did some research and confirmed that even if we become permanent residents here in Australia we will ALWAYS have to do US taxes. This does not mean we pay taxes twice, but the US requires you to claim all foreign income as long as you are a US citizen (see details here). Someone also said because we are on student visas we don't have to pay Australia taxes. Apparently, because I am studying here for more than 6 months Matt and I are considered Australian residents for tax purposes (see details here). So every year we are here we will have to file US and Australia taxes. For all those reading this and thinking that I am wrong....this information is as clear as day on the government websites and I am not willing to risk getting penalised later. In fact, if you live overseas and are a US citizen and not filing US taxes it is possible you will get a large stack of penalties when you return to the US. It's amazing all the things you don't think about when you move to a foreign country! Ignorance is definitely not bliss when you might get a heavy penalty later.

Luckily, everything else this last week has been so difficult. I've been busy getting work done and on Friday I had to attend a compulsory meeting for the Faculty of Science introducing me to Higher Degree Research. It was very boring since I only have three months left and already knew most of what they had to say. The upside is that they had great food and on my way back to the lab I finally remembered to take a picture of these guys...

On my path there are about 20 or more galah's that are just happily snacking on something. This whole week a ton of birds have been there and you have to walk through them. I love Australian wildlife!

The rest of the weekend was great. Matt wasn't working so we got to spend time doing some fun things. One night we went to get burritos and then decided that after spicy stuff we needed some ice cream and went to Gelato Messina. This was Matt's first time going there and he is now addicted of course!

Matt with Salted Caramel with White Chocolate

The next day we needed to go to Penrith (40 minute drive) to drop off some of my surveillance equipment that I needed to return. The place was closed but luckily I called them and somebody was there and just had to open the door for us. We decided to check out the local shopping centre and Matt was able to get a new Lifeproof iPhone case. His previous Lifeproof case was completely falling apart and he was using electrical tape to hold it together. We had an early dinner at Hogs Breath Cafe where Matt complained about their $30 steak and decided to get a cheaper meal. I'm hoping we'll go again sometime and try their special 18 hr slow-cooked steak when Matt isn't such a whiner :).

Saturday was also my monthly night with Josie Mackie. We went to Max Brenner for dessert and had amazing cheesecake and a chocolate soufflé. I had forgotten how amazing that place is!! If it weren't so expensive I would definitely want to go more often.

To top off the weekend Matt and I also bought a Wii Guitar Hero set off ebay and picked it up on Sunday. It was a funny endeavour because Matt wouldn't let me bid on it until the last minute. I'm so impatient that I struggled to wait, but in the end Matt was right as there were no bidders until the last five seconds! It was exciting to win since I have searched for this set forever, but the bidding system is ridiculous. Hopefully I can test out the system tonight!

Last but not least, Matt and I tried to make cookies last night. Although, I am usually quite good at baking, cookies are not my specialty. The dough was great but the cookies turned out very flat and gooey despite leaving them in for extra time. Oh well!

Two Weeks Notice

Recently I made an interesting observation. My new years resolution of blogging each week has been blown out the window. Truthfully, I just felt not much had happened in the last two weeks since my last blog. Nevertheless, this is my two weeks notice... my new goal is to at least blog every two weeks.

The last two weeks have gone by fast! Last week has involved a few events. One day I went to the shopping centre and saw a bunch of cops and sections closed off. I found out that a man had been stabbed to death in a store that morning (click here for the story)! Crazy!

News truck outside the shopping centre

I also was able to visit a friend who just had her baby. Her daughter is adorable, and I'm glad they are doing well and that I happened to visit at a good time!

The biggest events last week involved 21 BYU students. A friend of someone I know in Oregon contacted me months ago about a study abroad trip they were organising for some students. Stacey and her husband were doing a big trip with 21 students from BYU (as part of a course) including New Zealand, multiple stops in Australia, and Fiji. Stacey and I arranged for the students to come help with my tiger research for them to get some research experience for a couple of hours. It was a crazy day!

I met the students at the train station and escorted them to my building where I set them up in pairs on computers. One computer died on me, I had issues with two other computers, and my instructions were way too confusing. In the end I was proud of what they were able to accomplish despite my confusing instructions. It was also really nice to hear their comments at the end of how hard they found it. I'm glad they learned that research isn't always easy and that what I do is long, difficult, and tedious at times.

To my surprise the following day I got a call from Stacey. Everyone was stranded at Epping station with all their luggage! They had missed the last bus and couldn't get to the LDS temple housing in Carlingford. I arranged with another church member, Racheal Laugery, to help me pick them up and take them to the next place. Luckily Racheal has a big 7-seater van, I had the car that night, and we live pretty close! I wish I had a picture of them all on the side of the road with their bags. It took Racheal and I three trips back and forth to take all the student and their luggage! I'm glad it all worked out in the end.

As for this week things have been kind of up and down. Sunday I felt very sick to my stomach and I was surprised I survived church. The next day my abdominal pains continued and I felt a lot of fatigue. I couldn't find anything online that fit all my symptoms and I finally decided I needed to see a doctor. Tuesday my supervisor Jennifer drove me to the doctor. I didn't find out what I had, but the doctor told me it was probably bacterial or viral and to just take it easy and see if it gets better. The pains did get less frequent and only flared up sometimes with food. Finally, on Thursday I could eat normal food and had no pains! I still got tired easily, but the last few days have been great and I have gotten some much needed uni work done.

After months of stress working with the zoo trying to get video surveillance of the tigers, Jennifer and I finally decided to give up and move on. Although I'm frustrated I couldn't get any video, this has been a huge relief! Now I can collect my equipment from the zoo and work on just getting through my data instead of still collecting it. Just three months more and I'll be done with my project!

Finding Little Pleasures

Sometimes when life seems "dark and dreary" it is the little pleasures that can make things seem bright again.

Over a week ago I found something to really look forward to. I was able to book a timeshare at the Gold Coast (courtesy of my dad) for November after my Master's is due! Additionally I also lucked out on getting cheap airfare ($130 roundtrip for the both of us) and a cheap hire car! Now I have something to look forward to after my Master's is over. 

As for some other little pleasures. I had a couple of really great experiences last week. We had a Saturday church activity where members of the ward got together had lots of food, games, and fun. My team ending up winning! 

Musical chairs

We were the Toucans

The next day I had mixed feelings because it was our ward conference where the stake leaders were in charge.  This was the day for my little ward choir to perform as well as a two hour long sacrament meeting. I was nervous about our choir performance and not sure I had the attention span for a long two hour meeting, but in the end it was amazing. The choir was awesome and I could tell all their practice had really paid off. Even the stake president said that he had heard some large ward choirs that would "shake the roof," but our little ward choir "shook [his] soul!" What a compliment! The talks were all awesome and it was a great day. I was also really glad that my last choir directing experience (for a while at least) was a really great one. 

Two of the missionaries that were in the choir and were transferred the next day.

As for the rest of the week not much has happened regarding my project. I have been working at home more and am significantly less stressed! I set goals for myself each day and do my best to meet them. I have gotten through a lot more work at home. I still am no where near the productivity level I would like to be, but for once I am decided to just set small goals and try to do better each day. At this point I have now come to terms that it's not possible to do all that I had originally planned. 

Working late...don't know why it's so dark though.

Shade sometimes thinks he can help

Aside from doing work I also realise its important to do something fun each day as well. I really need something each day to boost morale for the next day. Lately I have spent a couple of hours before bed doing something I want to do. A couple of times I have been playing Mario Kart with Matt. I've also finally gotten back to cleaning once in a while although I'll typically watch Netflix while I do the dishes. At least that way I don't mind doing it. 

Last Saturday we had dinner with our Indian neighbours. It was fun to get to know them better and I'm so glad Matt has been so outgoing in our area. He now has two more side jobs lined up! 

Some days I really just have to find the little pleasures like a beautiful sunset, making and eating yummy food, cuddling with my cat, or good times with friends! Never dismiss the little things!

Orange-soaked bundt cake!