The other day Daniel & I were on our way to� well, I can�t remember and I�m sure it wouldn�t add much to the story if I did. Ikea, probably. But there was this massive � wait, let me do this in upper-case, MASSIVE � dirty truck pulled over on the side of the road, and a little car pulled over next to it. And there was this couple, the big beefy truck driver and the petite woman from the car, locked in this blissful embrace.

They didn�t care that they were on the side of a major road in full public view, and for a moment I fully understood the concept that everybody around me, everybody I walk past, everybody stuck in other cars in traffic jams, has a life of their own and problems of their own.

I�m pretty self-absorbed a lot of the time so it doesn�t often occur to me. If a guy honks at me and flashes his lights at me for no apparent reason, in my books he is automatically a wanker. End story. I might go home and rant indignantly for a little while about how this idiot flashed me, and then I�ll forget all about it. I never really stop to consider that maybe his wife�s in labour, or maybe he�s got to make it to the airport in a hurry, or maybe he�s just really got to pee.

And there was this couple. They stood out because they looked so odd together, but they couldn�t have been happier.

Sometimes I take Daniel for granted, I know. I really shouldn�t because I am a difficult person to live with and not only does he put up with my weird foibles, but he actually seems to like them. That is just weird.

Though I�m still waiting for the ring�

Also, I might as well put this in writing so that perhaps it�ll make it come true, or at least make me look more like a windbag when it doesn�t, but we�re thinking of spending a year in Canada and/or the States, starting at the end of next year. The main issue with this idea of course is employment. Do we look for �real� jobs, knowing that �real� Canadian or US citizens will always get preference over us � especially in full-time work � or do we just go for dead-end stuff that keeps the money rolling in? Do we want to be working crappy hours waiting tables for a year? Or should we get seasonal work at a ski resort? (This would certainly keep up fed for close to half of the trip. Unlike Australia, ski seasons over there are close to half the year long, and even after the season�s over there�s still glacier skiing.)

Daniel�s got family somewhere near Calgary, and they run a ranch out there. I just thought I�d throw that in because for me ranches are this really novel concept that we don�t have in Australia (a lot like reindeer actually). Well, we do, but really we just call them �farms�. If you ever see the word �ranch� in Australia it�s because we�re trying to be worldly. It�s kind of like when you see a crappy motel called the Chateau. It just sounds more exotic, you know?

Speaking of reindeer� I remember when I was in primary school, about Year 3, there was this campaign to Australianise Easter � everybody say hello to the Easter Bilby � because most things we associate with Easter and Christmas are very heavily based on European ideas and are hence wildly inappropriate for our climate. At Christmas we spray paint snowflakes on everything with a hard surface, even though it�s usually around 35 degrees Celsius (I dunno, I think that�s about *counts on fingers* a million Fahrenheit) over Christmas. It�s such a unique Australian experience to see houses with little snowy decals all over their windows whilst in the background there are towering pylons of smoke where the huge Christmas bushfires are rampaging towards other people�s homes.

In Australia, Christmas isn�t about snow. It�s about barbecues and swimming pools and salads and having this constant bead of sweat down your back. It�s so relaxed and I wouldn�t have it any other way.

Anyway, I am at work so it�s about time I went back to staring blankly at my Excel spreadsheet.

Oh, something I saw on the back of a truck a few minutes ago: �Nobody likes getting old � but it�s nice to ripen.�