Well , hound dawgs . It’s the middle of summer in California . Everything is almost normal . The new normal that is . Covid is floating around in the background . The numbers are on the rise again . It’s all about the beds here . If the ICU beds fill up , restrictions come back . It’s become a choice thing here . There’s plenty of vaccines to chose from . It’s up to you to decide which race you’ll run . For us , we’ll run with the flock and be vaccinated . With 95%+ ( I’ve read 99%, but that was a couple of weeks ago ) of all Covid hospitalisations coming from the unvaccinated it looks like a simple equation . Time will tell , but I’m confident we’ve done the right thing .
There are little things about living here that still frustrate . Taxes . Every year we are subject to both countries trying to tax us for anything we have . It can become complicated and costly . With accountants in both countries costs are definitely higher . This year we were left with a confusing tax bill on our superannuation fund in Australia ( it’s called a 401 here ) that left us gobsmacked when California decided we owe them a substantial sum . We are still flattened by this development, especially during Covid when earnings have been lower . I guess we can be taxed by both countries …..pricks .
Petty fraud is another bugbear . Every year we are forced to change our keycards due to card skimming fraud . This year we’re getting supermarket transactions on Emma’s card in Utah weeks after we came back . The banks are always prompt at recognising the fraud and reimbursement but it still shits you when you’ve got to cancel your card and wait for another one to come in the mail . To add insult to injury Emma’s new card didn’t arrive at all . Hilariously it also was stolen in the mailing system before it even got to our house . 2 and half weeks later Emma finally got her card . It’s a big country , with a lot of people and unfortunately a lot of crooks .
Well kiddies , I do feel sorry for the lockdown situation back in Australia . It must be depressing and it is a fortunate reality of living in the USA that vaccines are plentiful and civil liberties are fiercely protected . We’ll live with the frustrations that can come with living abroad and also enjoy its benefits . There’s no virus suppression here . It’s get vaccinated and at least in the short term you’ll be safe ( I think long term too ) or take your chances to not vaccinate and that you won’t catch it or have an immune system that will handle it . Good luck with that . Selfishly I see the Aus situation with frustration …… We can’t come back and we can’t get back and at the moment we’ll get by , but geezus to all my friends back home just get yourselves vaccinated for your own sake . And selfishly if you do that …..we may just get back to see you . Cheers
aussiehowieinla 