What time is it really?

 As I write this I have no concept of time.I have reached a point of complete fatigue that can no longer comprehend time. At home it is yesterday evening.  Locally it is 6:45am on Feb 17th in Sydney, Australia, but my body clock is still on Perth time after a red-eye plane trip. It will be a 6 hour lay over here in Sydney and then a 12-14 hour flight home.  After 24 hours we will land in Los Angeles at 6:25am on Feb 17th, my current time.  If my body clock is screwed up now, I can't imagine how dysfunctional it will be in 24 hours, when I will once again repeat this day. 

Before we caught our late night plane in Perth we walked around Fremantle. At one o'clock in the afternoon they shoot off a canon at the "round house". That is a stone building on the coast that was the first settlement. It looks like a fort but was actually a jail. I think the distinction is functional rather than structural.  The docent told us that they built the jail first and then the church.  He said you can tell the locals from the tourist in Fremantle at 1:00. The canon is very loud when it goes off and a tourist will duck and flinch... a local will simply look at his watch.

One of the world travelers on the ship said that dealing with Australians is very easy. He said you simply think of them as Texans. I am not exactly sure what that means. Having been born in Texas perhaps I am too close to the metaphor to understand. It could explain why I feel very much at home down under. I really do love these people. They are a very friendly lot, ready with a quick "G'day"  and "No Worries".  Sort of like Brits without the cucumber up their arss. Or perhaps rednecks that talk funny.  I don't know what it is, really, but I feel like I could live here fairly comfortably. 

Their economy seems to be doing rather well.  The American dollar has lost a lot to the Australian dollar since the last time I was here. In Sydney construction cranes are at work everywhere, and the city is bustling.  The locals are defensive about the image Paul Hogan created for Australians with his Crocodile Dundee character. I guess it would be the equivalent of thinking that all Americans are like Larry the Cable Guy, although I think there may be more of him around than I want to admit.

So now we only have five and a half hours till we board the flight home. Must close my eyes for a minute and see if I can pass the time in suspended animation.  More later.

As you were,

Jay