Heisenberg


            It’s Saturday night and since I still have no friends here, I have decided to go out and peep the night life in this city.  I am planning to hit up a couple of bars and not the turbo clubs so here I throw on my gear: sun faded jean shorts, Toronto Maple Leaf socks, yellow and turquoise Nike Air Max Light shoes and the pièce de resistance…my Breaking Bad Heisenberg T-Shirt.  My deodorant has mysteriously gone missing so I am not wearing any and since I am out of razors, I have a 3 day old beard.  Before I go out I decide to make my lunch, since it could be a late night.


On the way to Scubar, a group of 5-6 dudes stop me and take picture with me and compliment my shirt.  When they ask where they can get one, I tell them that it’s one of a kind.  The bouncer at the bar lets me skip the line due to the awesomeness of the shirt and I nod at the 4 dudes in line who are all dressed the same.  This bar is packed with dudes, specifically drunk hipsters, and since the music is so irritating I decide to leave.  I walk down George Street for a few minutes and now dudes are yelling from their cars, “Fucking Heisenberg motherfucker!”  So I just throw horns and smile back when this happens.

 I sit down on the steps in front of Town Hall Station and grab a bottle of water.  Some drunk chick runs across the street and tries to stop, but slides about 5 feet in her high heel shoes.  She yells, “I slided!  WOOOOO!”  I guess she hears me laugh and tells me to shut the fuck up, which makes me laugh even harder.  Now she walks up to me with her two follow men friends and tells me that it’s not funny.  I nod and tell her,
“You’re right… that was fucking HILARIOUS!”  Now she giggles and asks me,
“What country are you from? America?”
“No.”  I reply
“England?”
“No.”
“Europe?”
“Europe is a continent.  I’m Canadian.”
“Canadia?  Where’s that?”
“The North.”
“Oh.  Are you coming clubbing with us?”  The two dudes she is with are practically invisible and stand there with their hands in their pockets staring at the ground.
“No, this is a Heisenberg only night.” Now she outs and begs me to come,
“Please?  We’ll have fun!”
“Sorry, maybe some other time.”  She gets angry and gives me the middle finger.

I am walking down George Street and I see all these Turbo hotties pouring out of one of these two clubs.  There is an endless line, about 30-40 dudes all dressed practically exactly the same: vertically striped pink or blue dress shirt with the top button undone, fairly tight blue jeans, black dress shoes and black belt.  Very generic indeed.  Since there is a fight happening outside of the one club called The Establishment, I decide to just walk in…wearing my black Heisenberg T-shirt into one of the classiest clubs I have ever seen.  For a few seconds I am terrified that some bouncer will stop me and when one who resembles a gorilla on steroids makes eye contact with me, he gives me thumbs up and smiles.  Sure.  The music in here is actually pretty decent and they play a few classic hip-hop tracks like Notorious B.I.G.’s Everyday Struggle and Meth n Red’s Da Rockwilda.


I feel like the shit and do a couple of warm up approaches and get blown out by this group of two girls who tell me: A) I am ugly as fuck, B) I should be on the bigger loser C) I already am the biggest loser.  This actually pumps my state and I get amused by this. 

There is this group of 6 turbo honeys sitting at a table with this very well dressed dude, wearing a feathered hat, who isn’t smiling or even moving.  These girls all have full make up deluxe, tight short skirts and high hell shoes.  “That’s for me!”  I tell myself and go approach.  When I walk up, I just sit down at the booth and yell over the music, “Hey guys, you all seem cool I just had to say hello.”  The guy high fives me and they all cheer HEISENBERG.  These girls get up and pull me to the dance floor and 3 of them are now grinding on me.  I pick the hottest one up, double legged claw style, and start banging her on my dick, fully clothed of course.  She complies and actually cheers while this is going down.  Since I am still out of shape, I start to lose my breath after about 15 seconds and put her down.  She pulls me over to the bar and buys me a Coke Zero, which ends up being 6 DOLLARS, but because she is a turbo, the bartender just gives her the drinks for free.
“Where are you from mate?” she asks.
“Heaven,” I reply “my girlfriend is there right now but she hasn’t contacted me in a few weeks.”
“That’s not very nice.  My boyfriend is at home right now watching football with his mates.”
“Oh, cool.”


Here I am: 5 star club, getting free drinks, groping a turbo I’ve known for less than five minutes (as hot as Cindy if not hotter), while wearing the HEISENBERG T-SHIRT!
“My name is Katarina and I’m Russian.”  She tells me.
“I’m Heisenberg, from Albuquerque New Mexico.” 
“Yeah, you sound American.” Her friend rolls up and tells me to kiss Katarina.
“I can’t.  Skylar would get jealous and what about Walter Jr. and Holly?”  Katarina sulks and rolls her eyes to back of her head.  I haven’t heard from Cindy now in a few weeks and I am getting to the point where I feel she might have bailed on our relationship.  You only live once right?  I spin Katrina around get up close in her face, grope her ass and kiss her gently on the lips for a few seconds.  She forces me to dance, which makes her laughs since I am the worst dancer on the planet and make an ass of myself as I usually do.  When I glance around the club, every person is watching us!  Katarina pulls me in and tells me that her friends are jealous because she always gets a lot of attention.  We kiss again and now I tell her to come and get food with me.  She nods and goes over to her friends and I guess tells them she is leaving with me, some smile while the feathered hat dude seems angry.


Outside the club, I pull out another of jlaix’s moves the "wall slam make-out” and ‘cut it off as quickly as I initiate it’ (I really bite his style but it works so well).  People in the street are now eyeing me down and dudes approach Katarina to throw me off as I march her down the street.  In the past I would have acknowledged the dudes and tried to blow them out, but now I just ignore them and hold her hand firmly and trudge through the crowds (sort of like walking a dog).  At this point I am starving, so we split a kebab.  Surprisingly enough, she actually eats the entire thing and this is quite rare for a girl who is as thin as she is.  While we are eating I tell her, “Tonight I can’t…”. 
“I figured that.  We both have other people to deal with, but please take my number.”  Katarina says as she writes her number on a Kleenex from Yummies.  We hug and kiss in the street and I hail her a cab, who actually passes 3 or 4 dudes just to take her fare.  The door of the cab closes, she smiles and waves goodbye while keeping eye contact.

In Toronto I am the biggest chode in the city.  By this I mean that I have had nights where I go out and get blown out by 4’s and 5’s and the other dudes, who simply stand at the bar with their drinks pressed up against their chest, seemed cool to me.  In June and July this past summer, I went out about 20 nights in a row and at the end of some of those nights I actually cried because I found it so frustrating that I couldn’t even get a girls number.  I even broke my own personal code and made out with this chick I work with.  Even then, I had to actually lie to her and say I had to go home, just so I wouldn’t pull her home and bang her.  Some of the shit I was doing in June was retarded and I was even taking girls on “dates”.  WHAT THE FUCK?  Finally I met Cindy and we communicated well, until I came here.  In the past when a girl wouldn’t call me back or reply to my messages I would just keep calling or texting until they told me to fuck off, because I was being super needy.  In Sydney on the other hand, I am not even trying and I am getting success with women.

Strange paradox:  In Toronto I am Walter White, in Sydney I am Heisenberg.

Cougartown


On Friday I sold two 48 hour tickets to these two older women from the United States.  Both are old enough to be around my mother’s age.  At 1PM on Saturday the 4th, the younger of the two comes to thank me for being so helpful and praises me on how great the tour is.  I find out her name is Kathie and she is meeting her friend for drinks at the Star Room right behind my spot.  Kathie tells me she is from Hawaii, but originally from Ohio. 

Attributes: mid-forties, 6’2” in running shoes, blonde, glory rack, white teeth, funny, outgoing, intelligent, entrepeneuse.

This chick starts seeking deep rapport with me and actually starts touching me in very playful ways.  She also is giving me the classic “Indicators of Interest” like playing with her hair, scratching the backside of her hands, playing with her necklace, triangular gazing, etc.  When her friend Cynthia comes by, Kathie says, “Remember this really cute guy from yesterday?  He’s Canadian!  I have never been with a Canadian before.”  I tell them to go enjoy drinks and they go to the Star Room and get a seat on the patio facing me. 

Andy’s bus pulls up and when I tell him about this chick he lets me know that she actually asked him and another driver what my name was and if I was working at the same spot today.  Once his bus leaves, I glance over at the patio and Kathie is staring me down while playing with her drink (IOI).  


The last bus pulls up and ironically enough it’s Andy’s.  I hop on and announce over the two-way, “427 leaving IMAX…IMAX unattended.”  The bus doors re-open and sure enough Kathie gets…FUCK.  She is half drunk and sits down at the back of the bus, and since it is raining, all the seats downstairs are full.  I decide to stand and fiddle with my phone just to avoid Kathie.  Just to fuck with me Andy goes, “Excuse me sir!  By law there is no standing while the bus is in motion.  You will have to sit at the back… next to the young lady.”  Thanks dude.  Kathie now makes space for me and asks this little kid to sit on his dad’s lap.  They comply.  Once I am seated, Kathie grabs my hand and starts gently stroking it.  Anything I say, she mistakes for a joke and laughs (IOI).  At this point she actually leans in to kiss me…seriously.  There are about 12 passengers around us watching this go down: An older couple, two families and this group  of 4 or 5 Latino passenger chodes.  I tilt my head away, but instead of being denied, Kathie now starts SUCKING MY NECK.  Ludicrous.  This is probably the most uncomfortable I have felt in a while.  When we get to Circular Quay, the last stop on the tour, Kathie takes my phone and puts her number in and tells me that she is staying at the Hilton on George Street.  We hug and she blows kisses goodbye and when she has left I delete her number from my phone.

If Cindy doesn't contact me soon, I might take advantage of these situations I keep getting myself into.  I don't know how much longer I can hold on.

Ripped

            I am having such a great day and by 11 AM, on Friday the 3rd, I have already sold 481 AUD.  My attraction ticket pitch is getting better and I have realized that it is best to just sell attraction tickets for the Aquarium, Wildlife World and Sydney Sky tower, since there are the closest attractions to my stop and are all fast track tickets.  When Richard’s bus pulls up he tells me that Miles has been calling me on the two-way for about half an hour.  When I finally pick up the call MILES IS FURIOUS that I haven’t been answering his messages and since Patricia is so busy at Circular Quay and needs me to assist her with sales.  My best start yet and I have to leave IMAX… sucksssssss. 

I hop on the bus at stop 20 and ride to stop 1 where Patricia is frantically printing tickets.  When I see her approach I am actually quite shocked at how she sells.  It is almost arrogant, and in some cases she actually insults the potential passengers...yet it works.  There is this couple whom she lists off the first 10 stops to, while counting with her fingers.  When she gets to the 11th, she gets the husband to use his fingers to keep counting.  Now other people are watching and by the 21st stop, the wife is now holding up her fingers.  Not only does this couple do the tour, but another family ends buying tickets as well.  In another case, she just ploughs these German dudes down by overwhelming them with data about the tour and actually openly mocks them and gestures to me how dumb they are.  Ridiculous!

At the end of the say she tells Miles how good I am, but Miles is still angry with me.  He asks me why I didn’t pick up the two-way and I tell him that it’s because I was talking to potential passengers.  As well in Toronto when I work at the North side CN tower spot, I have to listen to Shop n’ Dine’s two-way radio and since it is distracting, my mind unconsciously tuned it out.  I also mention that the volume was low and sometimes it is hard to understand what people are saying because of the static.  Miles is having none of it and yells at me so loud that Patricia and Lenny actually leave the room.  I don’t remember ever being yelled at like that other than by my father or by my grade six teacher Ms. Ram.  This really makes me consider having a CSS franchise or starting my own company by myself.  My entire life I have always had a tough time following the rules other people have imposed on me.  Sure most social conditioning is good, but some of it I hate.  Not just at work or school, I mean the world in general and if I had the chance to escape our world to be alone and make up my own rules I probably would.

First Day of Summer



            December 1st is the first day of summer in Australia…although it doesn’t really feel at all like summer since it is DECEMBER.  While riding to work it started to rain a little bit and about half way to the depot, FULL TERENTIALL DOWNPOUR!!!  At the depot Miles and Noelyne were quite shocked at how wet I was and probably more so that I was grinning when I walked inside.  Noelyne asked me if I had spare work clothes and just to fuck with her I made a sad face with puppy dog eyes and said no.  She glanced over at Miles angrily, but before she could react I started cracking up and made it known that I was only kidding.  She gave me some hangers to dry my jacket, gloves, shorts, and socks in the washroom. 

On the bus ride to work Judy and Api were talking about cancer, after they said that the Opera house was lit up in red last night to spread the awareness of AIDS.  Apparently Barry had Prostate cancer a few years ago, but managed to survive.  Unfortunately it has come back even though the doctors “cut it all out.”  Api then goes on to tell us that his best friend’s wife has cervical cancer and her doctors have only given her a few weeks to live.  I was getting very emotional while the subject was being discussed and didn’t want to bring up my past.

Total sales:  535 AUD.  

Alex gave me a ride home in his van due to the fact that it was raining and also because he lives in Ultimo, which is right near Redfern.  Miles joked that Alex keeps a mattress in his van for when his wife gets mad at him, although when Alex opened the back door of the van, there was only a ladder in there.  Alex tells me that the Redfern Oval, which is the park right across the street from where I live, is where Russell Crowe’s football club the South Sydney Rabbits practice and that I should keep an eye out for him in one of the pub’s near there.  He has actually seen him many times in Woolloomooloo and has pointed it out to passengers, but they have never believed him.  After unloading my bike I thank Alex and tell him I appreciate the kind gesture.  

Milk Carton


            November 29th and 30th are my days off from work and since I can no longer deal with the slow, although free, WIFI from McDonalds or the other cafés in Sydney, I have decided to purchase a Broadband Mobile Internet stick.  On Monday, it rains nearly the entire day so I lazily sleep the entire day.  On Tueday, I purchase an 6GB pre-paid stick for $99 from Dick Smith’s, which is the Australian equivalent of Future Shop or Best buy.  After this, I treat myself to a Kangaroo Kebab, which ends up being quite scrumptious.   Outside my apartment, I am approached by a stranger who asks me if I know Dirk.  I tell him I am perplexed and that I do not anyone by that name and he begins to tell me who HE is:

“My name is Robert and I work with a German fellow who lives here or used to live here named Dirk Engelhardt.  We are both employed as engineers for a company called “FLAT”.  Dirk hasn’t shown up for work in almost two weeks now and as a close work friend of his, I am quite worried about him.  He mentioned to me, just before he went missing, that had become ill.  I have tried to call and text him every day for the last week or so and have been unable to get a hold of him.  Today I decided to wait here until he showed up and I have been sitting on this bench now for a couple of hours.  Please take my number and contact me if you see or hear from him, and ask your landlord if he knows anything about his whereabouts.  If he does turn up, tell him I was here and that it has nothing to do with work and as a human being I am worried about him. Everyone at work is quite concerned that something bad has happened to him and we would like figure out what exactly happened to Dirk.”

Upon getting Robert’s phone number, I suddenly put the pieces of the puzzle together and realise that I am living in this Dirks apartment.  He must have snapped or something.  I call Fred to ask him if he knows anything about this situation and just tells me the same story as before, that he came to pick up the rent and Dirk and all off his stuff was just gone.  Hopefully this is true and Fred didn't chop him up into little pieces to collect his bond.  When I text Robert back, I mention that maybe he could start a Facebook group so he can get closure to this situation.  I was going to say that if he has a picture of him, he could post it on the web page, sort of like they used to do on the side of a milk carton. 

Cast of Characters

"All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts” - As You Like It by William Shakespeare - (Act II, Scene VII). 

Miles Milligton Wallace:
- owner of City Sightseeing Sydney
- born in London England
- base controller
- late forties/early fifties 
- short grey hair and beard 
- slightly overweight
- very authoritative and loud voice
- smoker (cigarillos)

Patricia Milligton Wallace:
- Miles’ wife
- born in Seville Spain
- ticket seller/controller
- early/late forties
- very expressive
- short
- brown hair
- smoker (trying to quit)

Noelyne Watson:
- Manager of City Sightseeing Sydney
- born in Melbourne Australia
- base controller
- Irish/French Canadian descent
- very short
- chubby
- short grey hair
- very outgoing
- smoker
  
Scott Mitchell:
- ticket seller/controller/central controller/bus driver
- born in Adelaide Australia
- mid thirties
- extremely skinny
- missing tooth
- know it all
- nickname “wonderboy”
- strongly resembles Dobby from the Harry Potter movies
 Dale:
- head mechanic
- born somewhere in “The Bush” Australia
- sounds like Crocodile Dundee
- comedian extraordinaire
- smoker

Vicky:
- Dale’s wife
- controller/central controller/ticket seller
- early fifties
- classy dresser
- whiny voice
- smoker

Patrick:
- main bus driver
- Chinese descent
- short and chubby
- very competitive
- joker

Richard:
- bus driver
- born in the Philippines
- early/late fifties
- grey hair and moustache

Ricky:
- bus driver
- Japanese descent
- mid fortie
- gambler

James:
- bus driver
- born in the Philippines
- 47 years old
- hair always gelled
- hair combed perfectly
- looks like an older version of Tony Jaa
Johnny:
- bus driver
- Chinese descent
- late sixties
- speaking patterns nearly impossible to understand
- thick rimmed glasses
- Asian version of Larry’s dad in Curb your Enthusiasm
 Pedro:
- bus driver
- born in Argentina
- very thin
- reminds me of Pepe the King prawn from the “Muppets”
- smoker

Api:
- bus driver
- born in Fiji
- late sixties
- balding with grey moustache
- very kind and gentle hearted

Tony:
- bus driver
- born in Fiji
- late forties
- muscular build

Geoff:
- bus driver
- born in Australia
- early fifties
- sounds like a radio host
- grey hair
- thin
- tall
- health nut

Andy:
- new bus driver
- born in London England
- early forties
- white hair and moustache
- very overweight
- rides motorcycle to work
- constantly cracking jokes
- smoker
Michael:
- bus driver
- born in Australia
- late sixties
- lived all over the world
- spent time in the Australian Army

Donna:
- bus driver
- born in New Zealand
- “butch”
- tomboy
- short hair
- glasses
- smoker

Wani:
- bus driver
- born in Indonesia
- early sixties
- very short
- quiet
- smoker

Benny:
- bus driver
- Chinese descent
- late forties
- shaved head
- serious/joker
-smoker
Stephen:
- bus driver
- born in Sudney Australia/Chinese descent
- mid thirties
- get vexed very easily
- always has his Blu Tooth earpiece on

Lenny:
- bus driver
- born in Liverpool England
- early fifties
- ex-boxer
- balding
- slightly chubby
- ex smoker

Alex:
- bus driver
- born in Sydney Australia
- early fifties
- balding
- tall
- smoker
- very nice guy
- trustworthy

George:
- bus driver
- born in Egypt
- late thirties
- short curly black hair
- thin rimmed glasses
- owns another bus company

Judy:
- Central station controller/ticket seller
- born in Australia
- overweight
- short
- glasses
- missing teeth
- sweet

Barry:
- Judy’s Husband
- born in Australia
- works at the Airport
- used to work for City Sightseeing
- early seventies
- white hair
- glasses
- sunburnt skin
- smoker

Avelina:
- ticket seller
- born in Sydney Australia
- early twenties
- very tall
- sort of cute (7)

Eddie:
- mechanic
- Avelina’s brother
- early twenties
- skinny

Natasha:
- bus driver
- born in Turkey
- short curly black hair
- short and stalky
- very annoying

WARNING!!!

At this point I have decided to change the structure of the blog since I am working 4-5, even 6 days a week and have limited time to focus on it.  I promise though that it will still be QUALITY!  Again, if you don’t like it…

November 28th

On my ride home last night I realized how close all the people in this company are.  They are like a family that has been building a company together for years… and I am an outsider.  This is so much different from City Sightseeing Toronto, where people come and go every year.  The workers in Sydney have been together for a long time and all get along well and know everything about one another.  Sure there are a few newer workers, but most have been with the company for 5-10 years and are a close knit family.  I guess it was only a matter of time that they took over the Explorer bus.


(How fucking gay is this cover/book?)

City Sightseeing has the monopoly in Sydney and since they have taken over the brand, they also get the bus stop which is located at Circular Quay, which is a veritable hive of people swarming about transferring from busses to trains to ferries to overseas passenger vessels.  Stop 1 on the tour was at Central Station, but now it’s at Circular Quay and between 8:30AM and 4:00PM there will always be a bus there.  Similarly, in Toronto, the yellow bus company, Shop n’ Dine, always has a bus at Yonge and Dundas and sometimes I think if it weren’t for great salespeople like Theo, Barbara, Steve, Cal and Myself, City Sightseeing Toronto would not survive.  The people who work for Shop n’ Dine are just not on the same level as us in any way…we destroy them every day at street selling.  The owners of the location in Toronto though DISAGREE and don’t see the skillset we have developed and we are so underappreciated…and UNDERPAID!  Workers who we train become great too because we know how to sell!  As long as there is an abundance of tourists in the city, we will sell lots of tickets.  What sucks in Toronto too is that there are 5 tour companies including City Sightseeing, whereas here WE ARE THE ONLY ONE.  Miles has actually spent years in the streets, so have Noelyne, Scott, Patrick and Patricia. They understand how hard and frustrating it is to get people on the bus sometimes.  My manager Chris in Toronto, who is overall a pretty cool and chills guy, is a TOUR GUIDE.  Sure he can manage the bus schedules and keep most things running smoothly, but he doesn’t know or get SALES.

The first day of the Explorer takeover seems like it will be quite eventful.  Judy tells me that today, unlike yesterday, I will be travelling to stop B on the Bondi tour, in Chinatown, get off there and walk to Darling Harbour by foot.  I don’t mind since I enjoy walking, but she makes it seem like a big deal.  A family of 5 from Tasmania have been waiting at the IMAX spot since 8:55 and when I tell them I am from Canada, they mention how much they love the band Nickelback.  By the way…I HATE NICKELBACK AND CHAD KRUEGER CAN EAT A COCK.  Since the bus is late though I decide to sing the theme from Spider-man which is one of their songs… They say that a hero can save you…I’m not gonna stand here and waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit!!! They enjoy this and the wife notes that the song is not a Nickelback song and it is only sung by Chad…word.  At 9:35 AM this group of 6 Spanish people, who have explorer passes from the day before and are steaming because they have to wait twenty minutes for our bus.  I tell one lady that I appreciate her patience, but instead she is like, “This is outrageous!  If you had to wait this long would you be angry?”  Instead of playing it cool and agreeing with her, as I usually would, I decide to take the low road: “My ancestors came on a boat over to North America from Europe and it took them between 6-8 weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean.  Over a quarter of the passengers died and many over the surviving ones became ill with scurvy, cholera, typhus and other diseases.  They were cold, thirsty, hungry, tired and crammed in a vessel that was overcrowded.  When they left they were happy, on the ship they were happy and when they arrived…HAPPY.  You are fine…there is nothing wrong with this moment.  Relax for a few more minutes and enjoy your day.” I smile and for minute I suspect she is going to burst, but manages to calm down and the bus actually arrives early to pick her and her compadres up.

(I hate Nickelback so here's a REAL Canadian band) 


It is overcast and begins to rain at around 11:30AM.  There is a new street performer in front of me doing magic with his metal hoops.  He seems to actually have talent, unlike the guy who was here yesterday.  This kid is YOUNG though, like 14-16 years old and his voice has barely broken.  His delivery is slightly off and I often his tricks are ill-timed, but I bet if this kid keeps at it he will be a master at his craft in no time.  A cab door slams behind me and a suitcase clunks on the ground…it is the guy from yesterday who sucks.  He seems happy though to see someone else performing and greets me with a hello and claims that he remembers me from yesterday.  When I tell him I am Canadian, he lets me know he was just there performing in Banff and Edmonton and has been touring around the world for a couple of years now doing his craft.  Yesterday he had an off day and after performing for about 8 days straight, he was exhausted.  His name is Joe and he’s from the Blue Mountains, a few hours West of Sydney.  What kind of upsets me is that this guy starts to BAD MOUTH the other performer.  He starts saying stuff like, “This guy looks like Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist.  He isn’t good at pulling the crowd in.  He isn’t loud enough.  I’ve seen other performers do that same trick…better.  The songs he plays are unoriginal!”  I find this odd because this Joe’s show yesterday was one of the worst acts, in any form of Entertainment (even worse than Chad Krueger), that I have ever seen in my life.


Once it is Joe’s turn to perform, he actually puts on a half decent show.  After his performance, he gives me just suggestions on places I need to check out in Australia like Ayers Rock in Uluru as well as the Fringe Fest in Adelaide.  He also tells me to get a Swag and that when you sleep under the stars in Uluru, you may never want to come back to the city ever again.  Just as he’s saying this, ironically enough Ranger Roger comes by and overhears our conversation and finds it jocular that Joe recommends getting a Swag.  It is now pouring rain, but luckily for me I am sheltered by the Western Distributor Highway.  This overpass acts not only as a canopy from the rain, but also provides shade from the strong sun until about 3PM on hot days.    I don’t sell anything much after 2:00 PM and this frustrates me since, so I decided at 4:00 PM to get ice-cream from Gelatissimo.  I order the Italian version of cookies n’ cream, which cost me $4.20 (yes that much for a cone).  After taking only a few licks I am STRONGLY disappointed by what I taste.  This ice-cream fucking blows and is nothing like REAL cookies n’ cream with real chunks of Oreo, so I chose to throw it out after only consuming a small portion.  WHAT A WASTE! 

 I finish the day with $720 in sales…better than yesterday I guess.
On my way home I decide that I want to go out tonight, but after arriving into the city, it is dead and no one is out partying.  Near Central Station I decide to get a Milkshake from Macdonald’s.  To my chagrin, it is the WORST MILKSHAKE EVER…tastes like chocolate syrup mixed with homogenised milk and soft serve, then blended with Big-Mac.  I guess Australian don’t know what real ice-cream products are supposed to taste like.  This upsets me and since I am really hungry now after not eating all day, I decide to take an alternative root home.  In the distance I can see a man near U.T.S. screaming very loud while kicking the wall…oh boy.  I try to walk by casually without him noticing me and start reading a free newspaper I grabbed at Macdonald’s, but of course that doesn’t work and he gets in my path, right in my face and I am forced to stop.  This MASSIVE aborigine, who resembles Danny Trejo from Machete, reaches out and rips my headphones off to listens to some Jedi Mind Tricks and bops his head to the beat.


“This is fucking great fucking shit man.  Fucking great shit…see man they don’t know about the great fucking shit those fuckers over there…see them…you know?  They don’t get it like I and you get the shit that we do!  Shit… I got to stuff ”

Thankfully he leaves me alone, although I will now have to clean my headphones with hand sanitizer.  His piscatorial scent is actually quite REFRESHING after tasting that milkshake and ice-cream today.  About ten seconds after he walks off, I see police lights flashing and he is swarmed by cop cars.  They should be at Gelatissimo and Macdonald’s, arresting them for making such shitty iced treats and not harassing this guy who is probably on crystal methamphetamine and drunk.  He is only hurting himself anyway and if children were to eat the ice-cream products I have just consumed, they would resort to doing drugs themselves.  This distresses me make several wrong turns and end up lost in an area on the wrong side of the train tracks (geographically speaking) called Eveleigh…I knew I shoulda tooke that left turn at Albuquerque.

At home I make a ham sandwich and check my inbox and still no reply from Cindy…

November 27th

            Today is my first day of work for City Sightseeing Sydney.  I am equally nervous and excited to start since I really have no idea what to expect.  Upon arrival at the bus depot I am greeted by Noelyne and Miles who introduce me to other staff members whose names I immediately forget.  I put on my fresh uniform (including my dragon belt buckle) and grab my ticket machine, two-way radio, maps and folder.  The names of each driver and bus are posted on the wall so the ticket sellers know who is driving which bus in the specific order.  Noelyne tells me to get on the first Bondi Tour bus with Judy and the spare Bondi driver Api.

As the first bus departs Judy explains to me that when the bus comes by my spot at the IMAX theatre, I have to go up on the top of the bus and give a little spiel to sell attraction tickets to any of the city’s attractions.  Already though, she is telling me how hard it is to do and she tells me that is the reason why she hates working the IMAX spot so much.  Not exactly the best attitude to have I guess, although I just shrug it off and remind me of something my old boss Ben Stewart used to say: It’s never the route (spot) that’s bad, what makes a bad route is the person on it and their attitude that day.  Judy also tells me to hand people brochures about the attractions, but not to show them the page that has the Discovery Pass.  This pass allows the customer to buy a combo value pass for both the Sydney Aquarium (34.95 AUD) and Sydney Wildlife World (34.95 AUD) and save 20% or include the Sydney Tower (65 AUD) and save 25%.  Our tickets are undiscounted! However, they are Fast Track tickets and allow the passengers aboard our tour to skip the lines!

Once Judy is dropped off at her spot at Central station, I’m off with the driver to IMAX.  Once I get dropped off there are about 8 people waiting there and I think that this is going to be a great day!  Unfortunately for me, they are all passengers aboard the publicly owned and run Explorer busses, which have been running since 1980.  The brand is well known throughout Australia and even in my Lonely Planet guide I recall reading about this tour bus service.  The disadvantage to their bus service is that they are not open top busses and they cost $40 for a 24 hour ticket, while City Sightseeing is $35.  The advantage is that their bus goes over the Harbour Bridge and into the Botanical Gardens and it is included in the price of the 3 day, 5 day or 7 day Sydney Pass which allows unlimited use of all the public busses, trains and monorails in Sydney. 


 The bus leaves and here I am alone at my spot in Darling Harbour in front of the IMAX theatre…terrified.  Here I am alone in a city I barely know and am unfamiliar with the surroundings of this spot.  The first people who approach me ask me where the World Tower is and I have no clue.  The next ones ask me how to get the Chinatown…no clue.  The first people who want to actually BUY A TICKET ask me where the nearest ATM is… no clue.  The group of people waiting for the Explorer bus actually find this quite amusing and they tell the people that there is an information booth just around the corner behind the construction area, where they are making additions to the IMAX theatre. 

Any embarrassment.

When the first bus comes by my spot I go up to the top of the bus and start nervously handing out flyers to the passengers and quietly asking them if they want to buy attraction tickets for any of the attractions as I list off them off 1 by 1.  No takers.  As I exit the bus I ask the driver where the nearest ATM is, and after looking at me like I am a complete idiot (at this point I would agree), he points to one about 25 metres away.

ANY EMBARRASSMENT!

 The driver tells me I have to call in his bus and I am quite perplexed by this.   He has to actually SHOW ME how to use the two-way radio and finds it quite amusing that Noelyne or Miles didn’t tell me that I had to do this or even show me how the radio works.

ANY EMBARRASSMENT!!!

“Bus 428…with driver…Richard leaving from the IMAX theatre at…um…Cockle Bay...in Darling Harbour.”  I nervously say into the radio as bus 428 drives off.  Richard appears less than impressed by what he has just witnessed. 

A group of Italian people approach me and I manage to make MY FIRST SALE!  Thank fucking god.  After they get on and I let the next bus depart, a security guard asks me if I am allowed to sell tickets here and if he can buy one.  Miles told me I can’t sell them in the street and that I am only allowed to get money on the bus.  This guy must think I am a complete retard, and since both Miles and Noelyne told me these Rangers would test me, I tell him I can get them for him on the bus.  He laughs and tells me nice work.  I tell him I am from Canada and he starts to list off places I must see while I am here in Australia.  This guy is actually fairly cool and he also tells me that I should get something called a “Swag”.  A swag is basically a one person sleeping bag tent made of canvas and he tells me that there is a website that lists off all the safe spots to swag in Australia.  The ranger, who tells me his name is Roger, also jokes that it will also keep out the snakes…but not the spiders.  


More busses come and go and I have made about $200 in sales by 1PM.  On my way to the bathroom, I am approached by a crying little girl who tells me that she can’t find her parents.  WHY ME?  I guess since I am wearing a fluorescent yellow vest with a two-way radio on my hip and holding a clipboard, I must look like I am in charge.  I tell her that my name is Matthew and that I will help her find her parents.  She tells me that Matthew is her father’s name and I tell her that Matthew actually means Gift from God.  She seems calmed by this and I go over to the fairly busy restaurant called Ice Cube just near my spot.  I tell one of the chefs, a younger Filipina, that this little girl is lost and I need to find the ranger station so she can be re-united with her parents.  This chick looks at me drably and declares, “I don’t care.” WHAT THE FUCK?  She goes back to cooking and I actually see two customers overhearing this, leave the restaurant in disgust.  The people walk over to me and tell me to talk to the manager in the Star Room, which is the bar adjoining Ice Cube.  This guy is happy to help and he tells me that it is just around the corner, next to the washrooms and information centre.  As me and this little girl are walking to the ranger station, she shouts DAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYY and runs towards a larger man with a look of concern, followed by relief on his face.  He thanks me and firmly shakes my hand.

Back at the bus stop I notice a street performer is now setting up his stuff to do a show.  I have heard that the street performers in Sydney are some of the best in the world… but this guy is fucking terrible:
- his clothes are dirty
- he is unshaven
- his microphone, iPod and speakers are not properly set up which causes distortion
- his jokes aren’t funny
- his delivery of the jokes is badly timed
- he stutters
- he comments on how no one is stopping and that his show sucks anyways
- his tricks suck
- he actually chokes on one trick and ends his show in the middle
- he gets booed and laughed at by onlookers

Wow, I feel the same way right now since none of my best material is working to sell to the people who are passing me by.  In this instance I see myself back in Toronto wearing my grubby unwashed sun-bleached uniform with a three day old beard, mocking people who walk by and bragging about how well I know the city.  THE ERROR OF MY WAYS IS NOW QUITE EVIDENT.  I do feel handcuffed though since I can’t hand out maps to prospect, the way I can in Toronto.  This is my strength and I guess I will have to adapt to a new form of street sales.  I really want master the “art of street selling” and this will be quite difficult.    

Suddenly, a Caucasian lady, with three kids following her, walks up to me carrying, what appears to be, a less than a year old black baby.  She found the baby playing alone a few feet from the water’s edge.  She asks me if I am the ranger around here and I regretfully tell her no, but luckily there is one right behind her, Roger, who helps her find the baby’s parents.  My first day and there have already been two missing children reported in Darling Harbour.  After doing this job in Toronto for two years, I have not once encountered a single lost child and it has already happened here TWICE!  As one of the final two busses of the day goes by, I see this little baby being practically DRAGGED by the mother who looks filthy.  Two older children, both under 10 years of age, are inappropriately running around near her fighting and bumping into other people.  RIDICULOUS! The baby is crying as the mother yells at it in some language I can’t quite decipher.  I make eye contact with the child and for a brief moment and if that kid could talk I know it would say PLEASE SAVE ME!  But remorsefully I can’t help.


At 4:30PM I am picked up on the bus and end up finishing the day with 584.85 AUD in sales.  At this point I have no idea if that is good or bad.  At the depot, I hand in all my stuff and Noelyne asks me how my day went and instead of giving her a longwinded description of the day’s events, I simply tell her “It was fine.”  She checks my numbers and says, “Not bad…for your first day.”  Noelyne and Miles tell me that there is a mandatory meeting tonight at 8PM that all staff MUST ATTEND. 

A few of the workers have begun to set up a barbecue outside and are grilling some meat.  I grab a Coke Zero from the fridge inside and am the first to fill my plate with some of the items on the table.  The menu includes:

- scalloped potatoes
- greek salad with homemade dressing
- macaroni salad
- grilled sausage
- Shish-kebobs
- hamburgers
- chicken wings


While eating, I notice that more workers come in and everyone seems to be quite content and familiar with one another.  I feel like an outsider here and instead of socializing, I just stuff my face with more and more food.  Miles’ wife Patricia introduces herself to me and to their three kids: Max, Pia and Leo.  Everyone is having a great time and joking around, chowing down the great feast in front of them.  One of the drivers shows the kids how to grill the food properly and even allows them to flip the burgers and sausages a few times with the tongs.  Miles appears out of the office and gets everyone’s attention:

“May I have everyone’s attention please?”

Silence occurs instantly

“Right, so I hope everyone is having a great time and thank you for bringing the food James and Noelyne.  We all know by now why we are here and it has been a secret…well not really a well-kept secret…but I am happy to inform everyone here that as of tomorrow we will officially take over the brand known as Explorer.”

Applause and cheers of joy from the workers

“This franchise will officially be called ‘City Sightseeing Explorer’ and run 7 double decker Sydney Explorer busses and 3 double decker Bondi Explorer busses.  I would like to firstly thank Patrick who has been helpful in pulling off this deal with the government.  He has been a loyal driver and a close friend to us for over 10 year!.  We couldn’t have done it without you buddy!”

Applause

“Next I would like to thank Noelyne who is the hardest working woman I know…other than my wife Patricia.”

Applause

“And finally I would like to thank Scott Mitchell, who has been with us for almost as long as the other two. A lot of you often get angry at him for being mean, but he is the best controller I have ever met and if it weren’t for him and Dale, our mechanic, things would not operate as smoothly as they do!  THANK YOU ALL!”

STANDING OVATION OCCURS

November 26th

I had the dream last night


            8:30 wake up and I feel very refreshed, although my body is still fairly stiff from Insanity.  After eating some oatmeal, I head out and do my 4th day of Insanity, which is basically all stretching and very little actual exercising.  Once I have completed the stretching, I am limber and ready to walk around the city to find hotspots to tap into free Wi-Fi.  Apparently almost every Mcdonalds in this country has free Wi-Fi, so that is the first stop I make.  I grab a small cappuccino from the McCafé and a pamphlet that shows you how to get free hooked up.  This might be quite the process since it appears that I will have to delete all my old network profiles I have used in the past.  Finally I am online…YES!!! 
Some places and things I really must find include:

- bike shops other than City Bike Depot, since they are overpriced and not very knowledgeable
- karaoke bars
- good clubs and bars to gain social calibration
- a music store to get a cheap ukulele
- cheap souvenir stores to buy stuff for all my friends back home
- an electronics store
- a store that sells emu, kangaroo and other exotic Australian meats
- other hotspots for free internet

Research completed and since I start work tomorrow, I need to do some groceries to make my lunches.  Back at home I never make my own lunch and usually eat out, which is not only hard on my wallet, but is generally unhealthy as well. Since this McDonalds is in Chinatown and right next to the Entertainment Centre, I notice that there are little girls everywhere wearing the same black T-shirt.  They each have full make-up on and are practicing their dance moves together.  There must be a few thousand of these little girls; seemingly they must be here for a dance competition of some kind.  All of them are dressed alike, with pushy parents telling how to dance and act properly.  Makes me happy that I had the parents I had, who let me be MYSELF and didn’t make me live up to their standards or society’s for that matter.  Sure when I was out of order they had to knock be back on my path, but they did it well and were rarely that angry when I made a mistake. 

As I leave Chinatown I notice there is an older man on stilts with white make-up on his face, a long green and red dress with boas streaming down from his waist and he is spinning a fluorescent green hoola-hoop around his waist.  He seems very happy and his sign reads:

 “I am a 74 year old war veteran from Viet-Nam.  Please give me donations as I was severely injured by Americans during their invasion.  You can see bullet holes on my shoulders from being shot many times.  If you cannot give me money, at least give me smiles!”


I decide to give this guy a couple of dollars since he seems to be enjoying life and I generally like to reward happiness.  Guaranteed, this guy has done this for quite a while and I find it amazing how something so simple can make him so happy.  He has most likely stood here for years doing the same thing day in day out.  In his mind though he is giving value, sure he is getting donations from time to time, but he enjoys what he does 100%.  Other human beings might see him and think that this is boring, but he doesn’t live up to their standards, only his own.  At some point, I recall reading about how giving value, as opposed to taking value, is the most satisfying thing a human being can do.  When you do so, serotonin is released into the brain and it helps protect the body from disease.

On my way to the Waterloo IGA for groceries I can see this group of 6 hipsters trying to fix a couple of bikes.  As I have previously discussed, cycling has recently become one of my passions in life.  Not just riding them, but actually fixing up and restoring them is something that I enjoy more.  When I was a very young, my father showed me how to fix many mechanical things, including certain parts on bikes, and I can easily say that I can fix bikes now a lot better than he ever could.  Not sure how I feel about this, but he could easily fix cars and planes better than I will ever be able too.  Sure I can’t fix every bike, but it makes me happy and practicing everyday makes me happy.

When I walk up to the hipsters, I tell them I can help and examine the bike and it appears that they are trying to get the inner tube out of the rim, without taking the rim off of the bike.  This is a NO NO and they have entangled the tube in the spokes and have even managed to wrap it around the frame of the bike.  I decide at this point to head back to my apartment, only minutes away, and grab my tool bag.  After removing the tire from the rim and unravelling the inner tube to its original form, I commence in diagnosing the problem deductively:
These hipsters have quite the conundrum:
A) Solve Problem: What is wrong with the bike?
B) Hypothesis:  The inner tubes are leaking because they have holes in them.
C) Experimentation: Using my tire pump, I will force air into the inner tubes of the bikes tires and if I hear or feel a leak the inner tubes, they will have to be either replaced or simply repaired.  After inflating the tubes, not only can I hear air leaking out of multiple holes, but I can SEE holes and feel air escaping the tubes. 
D) Conclusion: The hypothesis was correct and the inner tubes are leaking because they have holes them and will have to be replaced and not just repaired.


When I tell them the problem, they tell me they happen to have 10-15 inner tubes at one of their places.  2 of them head out to grab them.  I’m guessing these bikes are stolen and so are the inner tubes, but I won’t judge and besides I am enjoying fixing these old bikes.   When they return I read the size from the side of the tire itself that reads 700 X 23C.  I rummage through the tubes and find several clean ones of those specific calibres.  Using some water from my camel back and a rag they have provided, I clean the tubes and check for minor leaks and to my avail, none appear.  I slip the tubes into the tires, which I have just placed back onto the rim.  By means of my pump, I inflate the tires to the desired pressure.  Sure I don’t have my pressure gauge, but I have almost come to the point where I know when a tire is properly inflated.  Just to be safe though, I tell them to go to the gas station down the street and check the pressure with one of their gauges.
Mission accomplished. 



Once I am done I tell them if they need anything else fixed I would be more than happy to help them.  They all look at each other puzzled and I decide say, “Maybe we could all hang out sometime!”  Now their eyes get wide and they analyse the faces of one another for a brief moment and start to laugh and point at me.  The group of hipsters now rides away high fiving each other and making fun of me. 
“What a loser!” one shouts.
“Was he really serious about him being OUR friend?  HAHAHA!” another exclaims.
“Oh my fucking god!”

Now they high five each other.

“We are so cool to have manipulated an idiot like that guy.”
“FUCK YAH MATE!”
“OI OI OI OI OI OI OI!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”


 I should feel depressed that they didn’t accept me.  Boo fucking hoo.  The thing is, I enjoyed helping them and they would be lucky to have me as their friend.  When you do something you enjoy doing, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is.  On my way home after getting my groceries, I feel happy to have gotten my hands dirty and helped out.  Besides they are fucking hipsters: tight ripped jeans and t shirts, lens-less thick rimmed glasses, strange hairdos and facial hair, converse shoes, lame tattoos, unfiltered self-rolled cigarettes, brown bagged beer, generic jewellery (one had a pacifier necklace) and…the icing on the cake…FIXED GEAR BIKES.