Sunday, November 13, 2016

I took three zeros in Adelaide to avoid a big storm, but it didn’t feel like a long time, maybe because Adelaide is a city instead of a small town and getting places takes more than a few minutes. I was expecting my roommates to hate me due to my odd schedule, but coincidentally we all rose somewhat early and went to bed somewhat early, so it worked.

On my way to mail a resupply package to Mount Compass, I ran into a Christmas pageant. I’ve never seen a Christmas pageant before, so I thought that maybe I should watch, but then I thought ‘WHY IS THERE A CHRISTMAS PAGEANT IN MID-NOVEMBER?’ and I just couldn’t stand to watch… there are Christmas decorations along Rundle Street too, and carols playing… not sure how anyone can get into a Christmassy mood so early.

Australian post office employees have previously mailed my resupply boxes without asking questions, but the employee in Adelaide asked what was inside and said I wasn’t allowed to mail my olive oil (it was in a small Nalgene bottle) since it might leak and damage other customers’ goods. I asked whether I could mail it if it were inside a baggie, but he said they like items wrapped in something absorbent in case the box is crushed. All right man, but if the box is crushed to the extent that a baggie is shredded, I think the surrounding boxes have bigger problems than my olive oil getting on their goods.

I wanted to visit the library to read The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest after the post office, but that required getting past the pageant. Security officers were allowing pedestrians to cross the street during breaks between floats/entertainers. I jogged when my turn came, and one of the officers shouted ‘Don’t run!’. Were they worried about people tripping and getting crushed by the parade? Grotesque… seems like a suitable ending to a 1.5-months-in-advance Christmas pageant…