Back in Texas (Early)

In yet another unexpected turn of events, I am back in Texas.


Tuesday, July 15th, I was working around the homestead of Gamboola when it became time for my lunch break. Just then, my mother called from home saying that the Ft. Worth Fire Dept. had called looking for me. Back in December I had taken an initial entrance exam for that fire dept, and had been given a ranking that led me to believe that I wouldn't be called up. It had been pretty frustrating to be denied my most desired job after such a trivial test, but I just resolved myself at that point to put all my efforts into moving to Australia.

So imagine my suprise when they call me up 7 months later, saying that they are interested in me after all! The biggest catch was, I had to be in Ft. Worth on Sunday, July 20th. Basically I had five hours in order to figure out wether I was going to drop everything I had built up with my Australia trip to go for the fire dept. It's not even a sure thing (by any means) that I'll even get a job with the fire dept. yet, as there are a few more tests, interviews, polygraphs, and such that I need to get through. If I was going to get a ride out of Gamboola, I'd have to hitch a ride with Lisa the next morning... she just so happened to have already planned on going to Cairns that very day, something she only does every 3 to 4 months!

I realized I would need to have the discussion with Tony about my options by about 5pm, before he retired to his own building for the evening. Five hours to make a huge life decision. Do I stay on Gamboola, a place I felt had become my new home, where I was having the best time of my life working outside everyday in the Outback... or do I put all my chips in to fly back to Tx on the drop of a hat for a shot at my most desired job as a Ft Worth firefighter. If I came back to Tx and don't get the job, I'll have no car, phone, job, or place of my own. So quite a bit on the line!

Tony was VERY understanding of the situation. When I explained the phone call that I got, he was straight to the point saying that basically I'd be stupid not to try and go for it. I don't think I could have left on such short notice without his complete blessing on the situation. I decided that cutting the trip shorter than expected was not selling out, but simply pushing it in a different direction. Here I was about to, for the second time in six months, pack up everything and move across the Pacific ocean with no guarantees. So I packed up everything that evening, and decided that this is the time in my life that I'm able to take big risks and move across the world for reasons like this.

I took the ride with Lisa at 7:30 the next morning from Gamboola Station to Cairns. It is impossible to explain how hard it was to leave Gamboola on such short notice. I had begin to take for granted that I'd be out there for several more months, and looked forward to the projects and experiences that would have been in store. I think it's for the best that I left so fast, as the reality of what was happening didn't set in for a few days. When I got to Cairns, I called up Charlie Marino and his wife, the couple who been such excellent hosts for me every time I had been in town. I couldn't leave town without saying goodbye! Well I had the chance to hang out with them one more evening, and then I was at the airport early the next morning.

Luckily for me I had my mother, cousin, and sister looking online to find the best return ticket for me, as I wouldn't have been around a phone or computer to be able to do it myself. By thursday evening I was back in the ol U.S. of A.

..

On Sunday I was in Ft. Worth to attend orientation and to do a practice of the physical ability timed course that we have to complete within 5.5 minutes. I was pretty apprehensive about the test, it seemed like it would be exhaustive, and I would be amazingly embarrased if I had cut my trip short and got a ticket back to Tx just to FAIL a physical ability test. Well, when I ran the course in practice, I finished in 4 mins 8 seconds no problem at all. So by this time tomorrow hopefully I will have made the same time on the actual test! After that there are a few more parts of the process, and I should get a job offer / not get a job offer within one month from now. Please wish me luck!

July on Gamboola

As my internet time is pretty limited (less than an hour, every 8-9 days) I decided to copy the bulk of a message I just sent to one of my friends to the blog. That might be cheating, but it's the only way I was going to have time to put something up here!



This weekend we had a big aussie bbq out on the station with a few blokes from Cairns, a great change of pace for a night! Last week my boss and I completed our first and main round of fence work(600 miles worth) that began over two months ago, so that feels nice to have accomplished. It's the middle of winter here, so lucky for me the afternoons got down to a mild 84 degrees F the other day. Jeez, summer will really kill me here, with temps constantly over 110 and humidity you can cut through with a knife.. but the whole point of being out here I guess was in a way I felt like I was getting a bit too 'soft' in the city, and wanted a place to harden up, and this place offers as good a challenge as any for it!
The weeks seem to be slipping by pretty fast here. We work 6 full days a week and take Sunday off, which I usually take advantage of by lounging around, playing guitar, and reading some Tom Clancy. This week we had a couple of real solid blokes from Cairns hangin around, so we all went fishing on a 'secret' part of the Mitchel River this morning. No fish, but still had a great time talkin and relaxing.

Quite a bit of time out here I will completly love it and completly hate it at the same time. I guess hate is the wrong word, but the duality of the emotion is still overwhelming. It's hard work and the isolation is pretty taxing, plus the cumlative effect of all the subtle cultural differences that remind me that 'home' is something far away... but at the same time I'm absoultly loving the challenge, the people, and the landscape. I don't have to remind myslef that for years to come I'd kick myself if I didn't soak up every moment of my time out here to the fullest..

every day when we stop for to have our lunch under some tree along the river or elsewhere, we always survey the surroundings, sit down, and ask eachother 'I wonder what all the people in the cities are doing right now?.... poor bastards'.

Pictures and Updates

Check out some new additions to the layout, plus I've added a few pictures to the last 6 postings. My trip visiting my family is going great... I've had a few more 'firsts' which I'll write about soon. Hope everyone is doing great, hope to hear from all of y'all!