An hommage to Melbourne Cup Day

Hello all! It is Melbourne Cup Day today in Oz. It's known as "the race that stops the nation" because most Aussie's will be tuned into the racing events throughout the day. From their office cubicles they will be watching it on their computers or listening to it on their radios. Some will take longs lunches or the afternoon off to watch the races at a pub and place their bets on their favorite horse. I, on the other hand, will be doing other things with my time. I partook in the event last year. The horse I bet on came in 2nd or 3rd. It's not only a sporting event, but a fashion one too. Big hats and fancy frocks are what it's all about for the ladies, mostly young women. The papers will be posting race results alongside photos of the young women in all their finery as if it were a red carpet event. As an hommage to MCD, I am inclined to post a list of a few of my favorite things about Australia:

• Electronic bill pay, also known commercially as Bpay. This is the ingenious all electronic way to pay bills in Australia that everyone uses. So convenient and no paper trail!
• EFTPOS. Another ingenious electronic banking development, eftpos is an ATM card that also works to pay at stores not just to withdrawal cash from ATMs. People haven't used checks in Oz for years (unless you own a business).
• Paying less than $60 for four tops from Target, but that's just an I Love Target thing.
• Getting paid a 'living' wage. I can work as a PART-TIME receptionist/ waitress and actually support myself off my earned income.
• Mailboxes. I realized how conveniently designed the mailboxes were in Oz. They simply have slots that the mail is put into. The 'posties' don't have to spend time opening and closing the box to put the mail inside. I was thoroughly appreciating this fact yesterday as I was taking outdoor furniture flyers around the neighborhood for a friend yesterday and putting them into mailboxes.
• As always, the weather. Can't leave this one off the list. You will hear no complaints about the weather from me these days as it has fined up nicely and the sun is almost always shining.
• The men. This one was SM's suggestion. Seriously, I think Australia produces some of the finest looking dads in the world. In other words, there are some serious DILFs living in this part of the world.

There you have it. I'll leave you to it as I go out and enjoy this beautiful day... {still looking forward to spending Christmas in cold Missouri!}