Troy Archie – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Looky looky, an update.  It’s been a while as I’ve been a busy boy, working out lots, swimming lots, going out to eat at nice restaurants and working.  I work about 6 days a week, usually start at 5pm, work about 5-9 hours a day depending on how busy we are and average about 40hours a week.  Guessing if and when we’re going to be busy is like guessing when it’s going to rain while standing in a room without a window, it can be pretty bizarre.  You’ll get a Sunday that’s insane rush ass busy, a Tuesday where you don’t quit until 12 and then work a Friday that we close at 11.  But enough about work, how is life treating me?  Extremely well.  For the first time in a long as time I don’t care about money.  Pretty much every cent I make I spend and to top it off I have nothing to show for it.  I’m not spending my money on stuff and acquiring clutter but doing things, mainly eating at expensive restaurants and drinking good coffee.  When I first arrived here I thought for sure I’d be getting fat but since I’ve started to train with Andy and swim tons, I need all the food I can stuff down.

Fun
I’ve been thinking lately that I really don’t miss anything from back home.  Sounds bad but it’s true.  My work mate Joe put it perfectly, “The only thing that I miss about back home is playing football. Yeah I miss family and friends, that’s a given but they’re going nowhere, they’ll always to be there (home) and when I get back there they’ll be.”  I thought that was well put and pretty much the same way that I feel except the only thing that I missed was the gym.  Fortunately I don’t even miss that since I’ve started working out with another Crossfitter down here, Andrew and just recently another guy Don who are trying to set up a Crossfit Sydney.  Andy and I had a great session Sunday morning, with me on 3 hours sleep and afterwards went out to Don’s place for more fun.  Don’s got a pretty good garage fym he’s slowly building up and has some really cool toys to play with.  Seeing his set up has me thinking about my eventual garage gym. 
Having someone else to workout with, specifically Crossfit style workouts is a blast.  I’ve never had a training partner before and I have been missing out all these years.  It’s amazing how much more intense the workout of the day can be by having someone yelling at you while your pushing yourself to the limit.  Pretty much every workout ends with lying on the ground gasping for breath trying to keep your shit together.  Plus the whole social aspect of it is great.  Having someone else to talk fitness to beyond the basic bodybuilding crap is great, the amount that I’m learning through him is invaluable and even only after a week I can as if my fitness level has gone up.  To top it off having someone else to Crossfit with doesn’t make you look completely insane and have people treat you like an outcast.  I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my fitness crap but that’s to freakin bad because this is what’s on my mind.  Andy’s also introduced my to the C2 Rower, an amazing piece of equipment that some day I must own.  We did two 2500m rows with a 4 minute rest between and I just about passed out after the last 2500m.  Later that night what I call “The Truck Effect” set in and I was trying to figure out the license plate of the truck that hit me.  On top of the great workouts that I’ve been having I’ve been swimming lots lately and have been improving quite nicely.  I’m still a terrible swimmer but I’m really enjoying it and making ground.
Being exposed to Andrew and Don has left me thinking that I really need a sport and goal to reach with that sport.  I’m thinking that swimming might be just that sport and that my goal to be to attain the highest level of swimming that I can get to and even become certified to be a life guard.  I have no intentions to be a life guard, career wise but view it as a goal to get to.  I dunno, something to think about for when I get home or even play around with while down here.  Oh yeah, my knee has been feeling great lately and It’s getting better and better.  Did a workout with 300 squats in the other day pain free, the next day I hit a 135kg/297lbs deadlift and finished off with a 100kg/220lbs squat all with no problems.

Black Sheep
Since getting back to the city and such, I’ve been confirmed even more that I am a bit of a black sheep, hell you’ve read what I consider fun so that’s a given but also in regards to other travelers and what they do and want.  I’ve found and am finding that most travelers in Australia are and as Andrew put it, a bunch of piss heads.  What do you do in Auss?  You come down here on a 1 year working visa and get loaded, a lot; some people haven’t even seen a kangaroo yet or left Sydney.  At first I thought it was just me but talking to Andy, who’s traveled not only abroad throughout Asia but also in his own backyard, Australia is a haven for a lot of people to come and party and do nothing else whereas a lot of countries you’ll find more people out doing things like rock climbing and other specific sports.  I look back at my previous mindsets of viewing the piss tank scene as a waste of time and such but now realize that it’s definitely each to their own and that everyone wants different things at different times of their lives.  The thought of going back to wwoofing and back out onto a farm makes me shudder.  I can definitely see now that wwoofing is not for everyone but at the same time think that most people should give it a shot.  New experiences and I think all travelers will agree with me, is the reason why we’re here.  At the time it was great, exactly what I wanted, was having a blast and viewed the life I’m living now as a waste of time.  My how perceptions, goals and wants can change at a whim. 
Of course my views as to what I consider fun and the lifestyle that I live don’t really help me be part of the crowd.  The flack that I get from people about what I eat is insane.  I usually bring some cut up veggies, a piece of fruit or two and a can of tuna/salmon to work with me for dinner.  We’re offered food at work but the food comes in the delicious variety of chips, deep fired chicken and fish and pies.  I personally don’t consider any of that food but then again what do I know.

Kiss me I’m Irish
I get a kick out of this one; what’s the place in the world that people think that I’m from?  America? Nope.  Canada?  Guess again.  Ireland.  I get more thinking that I’m from Ireland than anywhere else.  Boggles my mind but it happens at least twice a week and I get it from not only Aussies but also Brits and Scots too.

9 Cups a Day
A couple weeks ago I was right into the thick of things with work, moving and just life in general.  I had worked the previous night and was up again first thing in the morning to work again.  To top it off I had just moved into my flat and didn’t get to bed until late because I was unpacking and trying to get myself half-assed organized so I was pretty much on no sleep most of the day and it didn’t look like I was going to get to bed until late because we were having a staff night out.  The World Cup was in full swing and on this particular night Germany and Italy were about to face off at 5:00 AM the following morning so I figured I might as well pull an all nighter and stay up for the game.  Anyways, the day started with two cups of coffee before I shipped off to work , I usually only have one but this morning was a tough one thus far.  At work throughout my shift I had another 2 cups to help me through the day.  We have amazing coffee at work and I take advantage of it when I can.  After work I went home and had another cup before I hit the gym to get the juices flowing and again had another one a bit after my workout with my post-workout meal.  From there I set out for a night out with everyone from work and went on my way to meet everyone at work.  When I arrived Jenny, my boss, was pouring free drinks for everyone and since I don’t drink she poured me a cup of black goodness.  I couldn’t refuse as she makes the best coffee in the world, she’s definitely a pro on the espresso machine.  By this time I realize that I’ve had 7 cups throughout the day, just a little bit more than usual and quite a bit insane.  From there the night began and we set out to a number of bars before settling down at one pub at around 3:30 to watch the game.  This is where lack of sleep really stepped in and my head started to nod up and down so I figured I needed a hot shot of black.  Number 8.  The game started up at 5 AM and by then I was pretty tired and as the game progressed on I only got more and more tired so much that eventually I had to stand up to keep myself awake.  Even though I only lived like down the street and could have gone home at any moment, the atmosphere of the place was great with all the German and Italian fans going crazy over the game so I wanted to stay.  At half time I was just staggering with exhaustion and was a bit puckish so I decided to make a quick run home, which was like a 3 minutes walk away.  At home I had a quick snack and again, a cup of pure black coffee, number 9.  Insanity and definitely not the healthiest but either is 9 beers or 9 shots in a night.  I guess we all have our poisons.  I went back to the bar and watched the second half of the game up to penalty time where by then I was so tired I had to stand and just about fell over a couple times anyways so I went outside and watched the penalty time outside of the pub through the window just so the fresh air would keep me awake.  After penalty time was up and it was going to go into overtime after a short break, I decided that I was being just completely insane for standing out of the street watching the game through a window and that I needed sleep.  I went home from there and crashed and ended my insanity of 9 cups of coffee in one day.  The next two days I didn’t have a single drop of coffee and didn’t have a cup until three days later and since that insane day have averaged 2 per day.  Surprisingly I didn’t have really too bad of with drawls the couple days after that I went without.  I expected headaches and such but all I felt was a bit groggy the first day and I’m sure that was because I still didn’t get much sleep the following morning as I would have liked.

Dosed
In order to enter my apartment you need a electronic key swipe card that you use in the elevator in order to access the floor you live on.  It only works for your floor and the 5th which is where the pool and gym is.  My fat has 3 of these such cards and I share mine with my room mate, Lionel and what we do is put the card in the mail box if we’re the last one to leave the flat so that other or yourself can get back in.  Being the dumb ass that I am I would normally carry it around with me during the day because I knew Lionel wouldn’t be home until 5 and by then I’d be at work and would have left it in the box by then.   This day was no exception and I made my rounds throughout the city going to Physio and then the gym with it in my pocket the entire time.  Somewhere between the gym and home, while texting and playing around with my Mp3 player, it fell out of my pocket.  I didn’t realize this until I got home and began to retrace my steps.  I retraced my steps twice that day and then twice the next day with no avail.  I must have looked like a lunatic walking through the streets starring and panning the ground, walking left to right looking for that stupid thing.  Luckily on the day that I lost it, just as I was getting home, my landlord was there and I reiterated everything to him and he was cool with it.  Unluckily, it was going to cost me 100 bucks that would come out of my deposit.  Now as many of you know I am a cheap bastard.  100 to me is big bucks and I relate it to 10 hours of my time and money that I could be spending elsewhere.  I decide as punishment to myself that I’d instead of having the money come out of my deposit, which is money that I took from my savings, that I would use money from my pay.  The week before it had rained a lot and I only got to put in minimal hours so my last pay check was pretty small plus I had to pay for physio sessions so I was going to pretty much be living off of what tips I made in the up coming days.  Yeah it’s stupid, I know.  Why put myself through such stress and strife when the whole reason I’m here in the city is to work and have fun.  So I go to work that night punching myself the whole time and bitching about how stupid I am.  I wasn’t so much pissed off about the 100 but just how boneheaded I was and how I lost it.  That night after work I headed off with friends from work for a going away party for one of our co-workers, Kat.  Now Kat’s been away from home, traveling and living abroad for 4 years.  She left home when she found out that her boyfriend/fiancée of 4 years had cheated on her on her birthday so she said screw it all and the life they had planned together and took off traveling the world.  I personally think that’s simply rad how she took a shitty situation and made the best and most out of it instead of sitting at home crying about it.  Very strong women she is.  She was originally going to take off to Thailand before heading home but changed her mind a couple weeks earlier, deciding just to go straight home back to Ireland.  I had talked with her a bit how crazy it must feel and how she must be in a very interesting state of mind to be heading home after all these years.  After all the amazing experiences she much have experienced over the years that this must be a really cool and exciting new one to be taking on, even though it seems rather mundane and normal.  We talked about her plans of what she was going to do when she got home.  Her main goal was to go and take a course that would let her teach English abroad and take off to Korea where she had lots of contacts.  Our boss Jenny, who’s from Korea, was pretty much a second mother to Kat so she had lots of contacts in Korea and was pretty much set.  Before the party we fill out a card and in my portion I write about how strong of a woman she is for making the best out of a shitty situation and how she shouldn’t stay in Ireland for too long and get to Korea as quick as she could.

So I go to the party and it’s a rather sober mood in the air.  I don’t think much of it as it’s still pretty early and these are the type of people who go until 10 the next morning.  A lot of the people there are making comments about ‘Little Michael’ and a couple of people at work were kidding about it earlier too.  I chalked it up to an inside joke and nothing more.  People started to joke that Kat would rather have a little Irish lad than an Aussie bloke.  That’s when things started to click in.  Save for a couple weeks earlier, I had always seen Kat in a black top and tonight she was wearing a green one.  She had a bit of a belly but nothing huge.  A couple weeks earlier she had complained that she had to stop eating chips and junk food so late at night and needed to start going to the pool in the morning as she was getting a ‘beer gut’.  I chuckled at that and thought nothing more of it and I’m sure she did too.  Ends up that beer gut was a little more that beer and chips.  Ends up it was/is a baby.  She had just found out two weeks prior that she was pregnant, 7 months pregnant to be exact.  I guess she had still been having her periods and missed her first one a couple weeks earlier which prompted her to go see a doctor.  I’d heard of women not having their period and not being pregnant so I don’t see why the opposite couldn’t happen.  She’s a shorter girl and a bit plump so I personally never noticed and either did anyone else.  When she told Joe, one of our co-workers, a week later he was in complete denial and our boss Jenny, who helped through all of it and took her to the doctor and was shocked too.  So much for Thailand, school, Korea, life abroad and everything that she knew and called life, instead back to Ireland with only a suspicion of who the father is and plans to keep the baby.  So here I am punching myself about losing this small piece of grey plastic and being out of 100 and here Kat is, pregnant and heading back home after 4 years of a care free life to a world completely opposite as to what she had been living.  Definitely put my flaming little pile of shit life and problems into perspective.  The next day Kat flew back home.  I said screw my 100 plans and went out to eat at a nice restaurant.

Well that’s about all I’ve got to say for now.  Thought I’d also throw my address on here just in case anyone wanted to send me something.
Troy Archie
58/418 Pitt St.
Sydney, NSW
Australia
2000

Cheers