First Wedded Thanksgiving

Yesterday was our first Thanksgiving as a married couple - I guess you could say it was eventful, while definitely memorable.

We spent this entire week helping with a research project at Dookie that dealt with nutrition and physiology in pigs. This is what we did on Thanksgiving:

We took blood samples from 32 pigs every 5 minutes for 6 hours. It was mind-numbing at times but most of our Australian friends were there so that was fun.

For Thankgiving dinner, there was no turkey, stuffing or mashed potatoes. However, after a few sad looks and a pouty lip, I got Hyatt to drive to town and get me some charchoal chicken, chips and gravy. Roasted poultry with gravy; can't go wrong. Dinner with friends and Hyatt was a pretty nice Thanksgiving after all.

You're probably wondering what I"m thankful for (a lot) but I wrote it on another blog so please read here if you're interested in all the blessings I'm thankful for this year.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. To my family: I can't wait to see you all in less than three weeks for the Ohio gang and five weeks for the Kansas gang. Love you all!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Conferencing it up

As I said yesterday, Hyatt was invited to Perth to speak at the APL/CRC Pork Roadshow. (APL = Australian Pork Limited  CRC = Cooperative Research Center). So today he gave his talk about Lecithin Supplementation and Pork Quality and also about the current economic situation with the US pork industry.

I, being the photog that I am, of course had to snap some pictures of him being important.

He must have said something funny early on.

Talking about the sky high corn prices, ethanol and their effects on the livestock industry in the states.

This evening, we were invited to the Western Australia Pork Producers Association (WAPPA) annual meeting and dinner. As with any agricultural meeting, there's usually good food, good drink and good company. Tonight was no different. It was such a special dinner that we even got to dress up for the event -  I was much more excited about this than Hyatt. So here we are...

I'm wearing the most comfortable heels on the planet, courtesy of bf Vickey :)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention our hosts here in Perth. Dr. Bruce Mullan and the Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia have been so kind to Hyatt and I by putting us up for the week. Everyone has been so friendly (like all of the rest of Australia) and has been super keen to show us around. Yesterday we were fortunate to tour the department's farms (pictures to come later) and later in the week we're going to a piggery, a pork meat plant and a feedlot. This weekend, we'll be doing the touristy things around Perth so don't worry, I'll keep you posted with exciting pictures and commentary.

Miss you all - until tomorrow!

~ FroBuzz ~ 



Packing off to Perth

Hyatt was asked to speak at a swine conference in Perth which is in Western Australia. See visual below.

That may not seem like a long ways but it's actually about 2100 miles - which is almost the equivalent of driving from LA,CA to NY,NY.

We're flying, incidentally.

By the time you read this (depending on when you log on to get caught up on our exciting lives), we'll either be enroute to the airporto or in the air on the way to Perth. Don't worry, the blog will continue to supply you with roughly 3-5 minutes of entertainment while we're gone.

While in Perth we plan to go whale watching (I love whales), visit the Maritime Museum and probably go to Rottnest Island. Pictures will be provided later, duh. We're also going to visit some hog farms and a cattle station to get our ag on while we're there. I'll try to snap a picture of Hyatt while he's being all important and stuff. It should prove to be an exciting trip.

Stay tuned for more exciting FroBuzz adventures!

Until tomorrow,

~ Brandi ~

Another edition of grinding gears

Earlier this week I posted this about what really grinds my gears. I've decided to widen the scope of what qualifies for these types of rants and have compiled a list below of criteria:

• Things that don't make any sense or were developed during a period that was lacking quite common sense
• Stuff that sucks
• Stuff that ticks me off
• Ironic things
• Things that are hilarious because they're blunt or sarcastic

I realized that a lot of things could fall under these guidelines but that's ok because I don't have time to think of 18 different genres for different blog posts. This is all encompassing. Take it or leave it. Please don't leave it. I actually put thought and considerable sarcastic effort into these posts so that you can all be entertained for 3 minutes everyday.

Ok - so for this edition of You Know What Really Grinds My Gears (to be recognized as YKWRGMG from here on out):  Crappy Shoes From K-Mart

Hyatt needed work shoes when we first got here because bringing them from home wasn't an option. So we went to K-Mart and got what we thought were decent work 'boots' for him to wear during projects at Dookie and for general work-iness. They have recently crapped out on him. See for yourself:

It's safe to say his shoes have been telling him they're done since the soles are flapping about.

We're off to buy another pair tomorrow. No use spending a ton of $$ on some nices ones when we're moving in 2.5 months (but who's counting?).

Until tomorrow,
~ Buzzard ~

Battlewounds from Pork

Hyatt's trial is almost done. I have just finished washing off the sweat, pig crap, sheep crap, dirt and blood from a 12 hour day of livestock work. Yes, I said blood.

We loaded pigs this evening. I had a run-in with a nasty boar. This was the result.

Look at ma face!

While it's safe to say that the boar definitely won the battle after throwing the sorting board back at my face (literally), I can most assuredly claim I won the war. I'll be still be alive in 12 hours and he, well.....

I think I'd look good in a Bruce Willis movie.

Hyatt told me, "Guys dig scars."

Grrrrrrrrrreat.

You may notice that I am wearing my "I dig the pig" shirt from the Ohio Pork Producer's Council.

I am not, currently, digging the pig.

More tomorrow (but less blood),

~ Buzzard ~

Cast of Characters

I realized I've been going on about different people we've met here in Australia but haven't really given any background or indication as to who they are. My bad. Consider this your dictionary of Australia character's that play a role in the 'saga down unda'.

Dr. Frank Dunshea - Professor who Hyatt will be conducting his research with
Fahri Fahri - yes, his first name is the same as his last. He is a post-doc at the Uni and helped us move (twice). We also lived with him last week during this whole housing catastrophe. He is super helpful and super nice.
Vickey Russo -  new friend who I work with in the animal houses. She and her pal Kristy introduced me to a lot of Australia vocabulary, culture and how to have a good time.
Kristy DiGiacomo - See above. PhD student in Animal Production and all around great gal
Maree Cox - Manager of the animal houses where I work. Helped us get hooked up with our new car (pictures coming), gave me a job and her and her husband Dean helped Hyatt out in a pinch when the new car died.
Grattan and Glenda Savage - Pastors at the church we attend - Salvation Army Corps, Thornbury. They're the pastors but the Corp calls the 'Majors'. Are two of the nicest people you could ever hope to know, are giving us a TV (woot woot) and fed us a homecooked meal.
Natalie, Sally, Henny, Anna, Sarah, Shannon, Alex, Michelle - all current or past graduate students in animal science and have been very nice and accomodating in showing us around, inviting us to dinner and letting us help on their projects.

If I have forgotten anyone, I am truly sorry - there may be a 2nd cast post later after we've been here awhile.

Cheers,
FroBuzz

Workload

So I finally have a job - well, actually I have 2. And so does Hyatt. Yay, us!

I will be working part-time as a research assistant with the animal production group. This is the same group Hyatt is in so we'll get to work together a lot which is nice because I kinda like him. Hyatt has also started tuteing with me on Thursday nights at St. Hilda's college AND he gets to wear a robe too!

In addition to all this - work on my thesis is starting to pick up. I turn in a revised chapter next week and from here on out hopefully I'll be submitting something every 2 weeks. I'll be a Master in no time!

Cheers,
~ FroBuzz ~

p.s. I'm trying to get Hyatt to write a post but he needs some encouragement. This is where you come in - go clutter his facebook wall. Please.