Do The Drains Swirl Backwards?

Almost exactly 24 hours after leaving the house Saturday afternoon, I arrived here in Sydney on a crisp cool Monday morning. The flight was not too bad. I managed to get enough sleep on the SFO to SYD leg to get through the day today. I checked into my hotel and then drove to the company offices in a north suburb called Thornleigh. The only navigation system I have is a map, although it is a very detailed one. I managed to get lost going to the office, but a few stops to examine the map got me going the right direction.

We made a little progress today getting the d10 lab set up. There were still quite a few components that weren't even unboxed yet, so there was quite a bit to do just getting the lab up and running. There's still quite a bit of staging and configuring to be done. I stayed in the office till nearly 7:30pm.

I probably should have left the office a little earlier because I had to find my way back to the hotel after dark, and I ended up getting lost again. The office is on one side of the Harbor Bridge, and the hotel is on the other. It's easy to get confused and turned around, and I ended up crossing the bridge 3 times before I made it back to the hotel. I think I have it figured out now though.

Driving on the left side is challenging. I find myself concentrating intently on my driving much more than I had to driving in France or Germany. But more disconcerting than driving on the left is driving from the right side of the car. The cars all have the steering wheel where you expect the passenger seat to be. Twice I got in the car from the wrong door and had to embarrassedly get back out. Some of the controls are reversed also, so every time I try to signal a turn, I end up turning on the windshield wipers. I'm sure the Aussie's see me going around the corner with my wipers on and laugh about another 'Yank' driver. The sensation of having all that car to your left is unsettling also. You feel like a new driver trying to judge how to turn a corner without hitting the curb. I've done that one a few times too. At least I haven't hit any pedestrians yet.