Rhonda Bracey: At Random

This is a long story about how two people who met 40-something years ago met again recently. But first some back story…

Very old history

Between 1890 and 1903, an English family had six children — four sons and two daughters. We’ll ignore the two girls for this story as one stayed in the same English town her whole life; the other came to live in Australia, but she isn’t part of this story.

Two of the sons went to Canada as young men and joined the Canadian armed forces. One (Alfred) died in World War One while fighting for Canada in Belgium; the other (Fred) was declared medically unfit for service and remained in Canada for a while. Another son (Jack[1]) emigrated to Canada and joined Fred, then Jack[1] emigrated to Michigan to work and to start a farm. Meantime, Fred went back to England and then he and the youngest son, Charles, emigrated to Western Australia (1923).

Charles was my grandfather, and Fred and Jack[1] were my great uncles. Fred died in Western Australia in 1967, so he’s not part of this story either. Jack[1] remained in Michigan his whole life, although he did take a trip back to England in the 1970s to meet up with Charles and the sister who had remained. Jack[1] died in Michigan in 1995, aged 95. Charles lived in Western Australia from his arrival in 1923 until his death in 1981.

Mid-20th Century

Jack[1] had three children — two sons (H and C) and a daughter (J). All lived in Michigan for much or all of their lives, with only C moving to Florida and then later Iowa. All married and had children (my second cousins).

For those who know I have family in Michigan, it is H’s family whom I visit.

1970s and 1980s

In the early to mid 1970s, some of the distant family from Michigan were living in Sydney, Australia and on their circuitous way back to the US, they stayed in Western Australia with my parents for a few days and then with me (in Perth) for a few more days. I was never quite sure how we were related (like most teenagers, I had no interest in the family tree then), but have since found out that Jack[2] was a nephew or cousin of Joan, who was married to C. Jack[2]’s wife at the time, Judy, was with him, and it was Jack[2] and Judy who visited me. In other words, they were likely 2nd or third cousins once or twice removed! And only related by marriage to C. Judy was even further distant as she was related by marriage to Jack[2] and then he by marriage to C. It’s complicated…

When Jack[2] and Judy were staying with me, they gave me a sweatshirt from Michigan State, a sweatshirt I wore with pride for several years before it wore out! At that point I had never been to the US — and nor had most Australians — so to have a sweatshirt from a US university was a ‘big thing’ 😉 This sweatshirt appears again later in this tale…

In the mid-1970s, I lived in Carnarvon, Western Australia and would occasionally go out fishing with friends. Yes, this is relevant…

Skip forward to the mid-1980s, which is when I lived in Canada for a year. I visited my Michigan family twice that year — once at Easter when I first met many of them, and then again at Thanksgiving (or thereabouts). I spent most of my time with H and his family, including my great uncle Jack[1], but never met H’s daughter S as she lived away from home at the time.

Are you still with me?

1990s and 2000s

During the 1990s and 2000s, I had the opportunity to travel to the US on numerous occasions, and whenever I could, I visited H’s branch of my Michigan family. At some point, I eventually met my second cousin S and her family. She moved around a bit in the intervening years, but eventually settled in northern Michigan, some three to four hours’ drive from H and the rest of his immediate family.

Early October 2014

In the week before I left on my recent NZ and US trip, my husband and I were watching an Australian food show — ‘Paddock to Plate’. The host/chef was in Carnarvon and showing the produce from there, including some pink snapper he had caught. During the 1970s when I lived in Carnarvon, I caught a couple of magnificent pink snapper and told my husband that the TV host’s fish were just tiddlers compared to what I’d caught. I went to my old photo albums and found a photo of me proudly holding up my pink snapper, which I showed him.

His first reaction was ‘Is that you?’ followed by ‘Why are you wearing a Michigan State sweatshirt?’ So I briefly told him that some people called Judy and Jack[2] gave it to me and that they were from Michigan and had spent time with me in Perth many years ago (about 40 years ago!), and that they were distantly related somehow. Neither of us thought any more about it, though I did wonder what had ever happened to these distant relations of mine, and thought I should ask how they were related to me when I got to Michigan in about 10 days’ time.

To be honest, after that sweatshirt went into the ragbag, I had completely forgotten about Judy and Jack[2] in the intervening 40 years. When you’re not even 20, you really aren’t that interested in relations from afar 😉

Mid October 2014

I hadn’t been staying long with H and L (his wife), when L mentioned that Judy was now working for S in her store in northern Michigan! And when I later got to S’s town, I met Judy again, some 40 years after last seeing her! She is S’s right-hand person in the store, and they didn’t know each other or that they were vaguely related by marriage until relatively recently.

Judy had been a customer of S’s for a while, then S offered her a job. At one point after they started working together, something came up about a school (a small high school in rural Michigan, three hours away), and they did the ‘Do you know so-and-so…?’ thing and found out that S’s uncle C and his wife were related to Jack[2], Judy’s ex-husband of many years.

That was freaky enough, but when S mentioned to Judy recently that her cousin Rhonda from Australia was coming to visit, they put two and two together and Judy realised that it was me — the person she had stayed with in Perth all those years ago! Much squealing and ‘OMG’ing ensued, I believe 😉

So after 40 years, I got to re-meet the person who had given me a sweatshirt that I remember so fondly. Judy and her husband had dinner with us the only night I stayed with S and her husband, and we marvelled at how spooky it was that we’d caught up again and the circumstances. Especially as I’d only talked about her less than two weeks before.

As I said, cue the Twilight Zone music about now…

Judy and I are now Facebook friends 😉

While going through my photos from the trip, I spotted this one that I didn’t realise I’d taken. I was trying to capture the landscape outside the bus, and in the process I captured the reflection of me looking outside the window.

Spotted on the drive home from the airport last week… check out the size of the tires, compared to the size of the tires on the truck carrying this load!

I observed a gratifying bit of chivalry and kindness today.  I was seated on the shuttle bus between the Sydney international and domestic airports when a lady got on. She was probably in her 70s… perhaps a little older or younger.

A young man  (in his late 20s or 30s) gave his seat to her and moved to stand in front of where I was sitting.  His boarding pass was in his jeans pocket and I saw his name. He was Darren Glass from the West Coast Eagles (I don’t know if he’s still playing); I recognised his face after spotting his name.

When we got to the domestic terminal,  there were a few stairs to climb.  I was struggling to balance my carry-on luggage along with my newly acquired Duty Free liquor for my husband,  and he offered to help.

No doubt the upbringing from his parents had a lot to do with his behaviour,  but I think the Eagles did too. He was the only younger person on the entire bus who offered their seat to an older person. It was good to see that basic good manners aren’t dead yet.

I’ve travelled to the US/Canada from Australia about 20 times since 1985, with most of those trips occurring from 2001,  which is when I started attending and speaking at conferences. You’d think I’d be used to the long flight across the Pacific and would have got the sleeping on planes thing worked out by now,  especially since much of the travel since 2001 has been in Business Class, and in more recent years on lie-flat beds.

However, I’ve never been able to do more than cat nap in short bursts. Sleeping on the plane had been impossible. I’ve tried prescription and over-the-counter sleeping medications,  to no avail. Ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones (provided in Business Class on Qantas) dull the noise of the plane, but don’t eliminate it entirely. I’ve always assumed that my issue is related to the noise and vibration of the plane.

But perhaps that isn’t the reason at all. I had a light bulb moment in Santa Fe, New Mexico earlier this week – perhaps it is a combination of several other factors unique to me.

Here’s my logic…

I start getting altitude sickness symptoms at approx 7000 ft. I’ve known this from when I trekked in Nepal back in 1987 or thereabouts, and have had it confirmed whenever I go above 7000 ft. Well it seems that the air pressure inside an aircraft is set to be the same as the air pressure at an altitude of 6000 to 8000 ft. All the recommendations for flying and dehydration etc. are to ‘avoid alcohol’. Typically I have a couple of glasses of red wine with dinner when on the plane, not thinking that the combination of air pressure and alcohol might be affecting me.

I had three margaritas the night we arrived in in Santa Fe from Houston. Santa Fe is 7000 ft above sea level. Some 2+ hours later I felt very strange… Just like I feel on the plane when I can’t sleep. I should have been tired but I was wide awake and my pulse was a little faster than usual – almost tingly. At 10:40pm Santa Fe time it was 12:40am in Houston and I’d been up since 4am Houston time. I should have been dead on my feet (I walked more than 10,000 steps again that day… in low air pressure, but not thinking about it), but I didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. I had no symptoms of a hangover next morning.

Could alcohol plus air pressure plus my propensity for altitude sickness symptoms be the reason I don’t sleep on planes??

I searched for altitude sickness and alcohol and found a few medical sites that stated that anyone with that condition should not drink alcohol, and preferably not have caffeine, and that some sleeping meds should also be avoided as they don’t work – something to do with oxygenation of the blood, from memory.

As I can’t change the air pressure or my low tolerance of altitude, I guess I should have NO alcohol at all on the flights home and see if that makes any difference. And no Diet Coke either, thus avoiding the diuretic effects of caffeine too. I had two glasses of Diet Coke with lunch that first day in Santa Fe too, so that might have also contributed to the plane-like feeling I experienced that night.

Does this make sense? It could also explain why sleeping drugs don’t work on me, and why I have no  trouble sleeping at sea level, despite Diet Coke and alcohol.

I’ll provide an update after my long flight home in about 10 days time…

Update June 2015: Realised I hadn’t updated what happened… For 24 hours prior to the long flight home from the US (Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to Sydney to Perth), in the lounge, and on board, I had no alcohol or Diet Coke (I don’t drink tea or coffee). I cat napped, perhaps a little more than usual, but not appreciably so. And I may have got 2 hours actual sleep, which is definitely more than usual. So while no alcohol or caffeine may help, it didn’t put me into a long restful sleep on the flights home.

One thing I’ve noticed this time in the US is the proliferation of other services and/or businesses inside the confines of a supermarket. It used to be (and still is in much of Australia) that the supermarket was pretty much only for groceries,  perhaps with some kitchen utensils or basics like socks. And other stores in a mall provided the other good and services.

I’ve been to at least one Meijer and one Walmart store and both had services inside the walls (but outside the checkout area) for things such as flu shots (and other vaccinations),  pharmacy (full prescription one too),  bank,  opticians,  finance providers,  even a Subway. Walmart branded all these (except Subway) with the Walmart logo,  so I assume they are all subsidiaries or franchises within Walmart.

I’m not sure what I think of this,  though I do think that having nurse practitioners give flu  vaccinations etc. in a place where people go every day or so is a good thing.

Just another observation…

I spotted these food prices in some US grocery store catalogues. They are all much cheaper than prices in Australia for similar items.

As a comparison,  $2 per pound of chicken breasts would be equivalent to about $5 per kilogram,  which would be about $6 Australian  (AUD).  The cheapest I can buy chicken breasts for its about $8 AUD,  and is often $12 AUD per kg; same for pork. Avocados where I live are cheap if they are $1.70 AUD each,  and are often $3.40 each. And I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get peppers (capsicum) for that sort of  price.

But this one is the biggie! I pay $160 AUD per month just for cable TV (and not 200 HD channels either,  and not even cable – instead satellite that drops out in bad weather),  another $130/month for internet and phone and definitely not 60 Mbps (the maximum where I live is 24 Mbps,  but the reality is more like 15), and another $70/month for mobile phone. That’s some $360/month for what this US company is advertising at $30 / month.  No,  I know nothing about this company,  its services,  or its reliability,  but I wonder why we pay 10x what the US pays for similar services? Those Australian prices seem like a rip-off to me!

We don’t get autumn/fall colours in much of Australia,  though I did experience the wonder of their brilliance when I lived in Ontario,  Canada many years ago. I’d forgotten how stunning they were.

Yesterday I drove from Grand Rapids,  Michigan east on I-96, exiting at Lowell,  then driving east along M-21 towards St John’s. The trees along that route were in full colour and were just magnificent. The corn was ready to harvest, and there were pumpkin stands too! As well as quite a bit of decoration on houses and in yards for Halloween.

Here are a few of the photos I took.

Some oddities from the train trip yesterday…

Why is this bank temporary and in a donga?

Fishing right where they're told not to... and why

A small block of wood can hold back a train?

The idiot risking his head by going beyond the safety rail