As the snow of winter melted in April and May life seemed to take on a new turn. I found that I was getting out and about more and enjoying the nicer weather..... unfortunately it went from 10 degrees to 30 degrees in a matter of days and we seemed to miss spring altogether at first but it did settle down

With the weather warming up in spring, life around the lake seemed to be a little different. We could see families coming out and being more active. People were literally coming out of hibernation. We suddenly saw dogs being walked and kids playing games. It turned out to be a mild spring with a little nip still in the air. It was great to see the lake melt and to finally see the wildlife come out and enjoy the water on our lake. The swans, geese and ducks were and still are wonderful to watch.

We both got our New Jersey driver's licences and this meant that we were now officially part of the mad traffic that makes up New Jersey. We both love to drive the Volvo and enjoy the comfort that it gives us. Most days I would take Dom to work and then head off in the car for a day of shopping, visiting friends or just exploring. Driving on the other side of the road has not been as hard as I first thought. The roads here are quite well marked and easy to follow, however we had to learn the hard way some of the unwritten New Jersey road rules. Some examples are: blinkers are optional and turning across traffic at lights is acceptable.

Being a housewife has been wonderful as it has allowed me to not only catch up on the soaps but it also allowed me to get into sewing. I bought a sewing machine and have taught myself to sew a few basic things. I have made a table cloth, skirt, dress and have fixed a number of clothing articles that needed mending over the past six months. I had hoped to do a sewing course but found it difficult to find anyone to help me find a class. Oh well I guess my year 9 and 10 sewing classes will get me through.

In May we decided to take a long driving trip into central USA and to explore a bit of the country. We decided to drive to Detroit where our friends Matt and Shana live. Dom had to finish a project for work before we left and so was extremely busy right up until the night before we left. We then spent 12 hours traveling from New Jersey to Detroit. It was a great drive as it was all freeway driving and we saw some of the countryside. Dom loved it when we arrived in Detroit as the speed limit went up to 70 miles per hour (113km/h). We spent a wonderful week with Matt and Shana and really enjoyed the whole experience. It was great to see both Matt and Shana in their work environments and to realise that there are people who do such wonderful things to help make the world a better place. While in Detroit we visited the Henry Ford Museum (of course) which was something spectacular. Not only did it have cars but it also showed history of various electronic devices and aviation equipment.

During the week in Detroit Dom popped down to Dayton Ohio for the biggest Radio Hamfest in the world. It was a great once in a lifetime experience that he thoroughly enjoyed. Dom: See Below

Once our time with Matt and Shana was up we decided that that we would go and visit an old friend from Sydney. Trudy is living and working in Urbana-Champagne Illinois. We had a wonderful two days catching up with Trudy and looking around Urbana-Champagne. On our way back to New Jersey we thought we had better pop in and visit the President in Washington DC. We spent two days looking around the Capital city and I finally got to stand in front of the Whitehouse and have my picture taken. The President was not home the day we went to visit but we may try again another time. Dom: We also went to the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of American History & then walked the Mall from Congress to the Lincoln Memorial via the Washington Monument: we then cut back through the Vietnam memorial which was overflowing with visitors being Memorial Day Weekend

Life back in New jersey was plodding along until two weeks after the trip Dom received the sad news that his whole department was being laid off in Sydney and that he would no longer have a job. This was a blow to say the least. However we were told that we could stay on until after the baby was born in order for there to be no unnecessary risk by travelling during the late stages of pregnancy. We therefore settled down knowing that our child would be born here and that we could enjoy the summer. We have decided to return to Sydney in Mid September when bubs is about 6 weeks old and big enough to travel.

During our time here we have been to see quite a few movies and enjoy going on bargain night (Tuesday) when the tickets are cheaper. So of the movies that we've seen include Pearl harbour, Artificial Intelligence, Crocodile Dundee 3 (not the best), America's Sweethearts and Legally Blonde. Most have been allright but we can suggest the waiting until they're out on video could be just as good and cheaper. Dom: Pearl Harbour is worth seeing on the big screen. Although a little hampered by the love story the recreated action scenes are really fantastic.

Our church in New Jersey is a very pretty church and not far from our house. We could walk to church if we got up early enough. It is full of nice people and is run by two priests. We go to Mass but have found it difficult to join in any groups etc. We do miss our parish at home and look forward to seeing everyone soon.

We have been lucky enough to catch up with other Sydney friends living in Connecticut. Sheridan and Brett and their baby boy Lachlan have been a real source of strength and friendship. We spent a wonderful weekend with them in June and stayed with them at their lovely home. Dom was even able to participate in a cricket practice with Brett's team, The Mad Dogs. This was great and a lot of fun was had at Indoor Cricket USA where they use converted baseball pitching machines to bowl 'em down like Thommo used to. In general we find that American's do not know anything about cricket and often comment that it must be our form of baseball because it has a bat (we try to educate them).

New Jersey is pretty cool state and we have enjoyed the `diner' scene that is here. Diners are fun and are relatively cheap to eat at. They're just like you see in the movies with the regulars and the friendly waitresses. We have fun visiting our favourites on occasion and will miss them back home. Mmmm, Home Fries!

There is another Australian from my Sydney office, Andrew Fraser, who is working over here. He & his partner Laurel announced that they were to be married which was really exciting. Being part of their wedding was really nice & we tried to help make it special, including the `wedding car' complete with chilled champagne and of course I had to go along to Andrew's Bucks night at Double-D's Gentlemens Club and make sure he returned home unscathed!

We wanted to get out & see a Major League Baseball game so we enlisted Brian Gismot, who is a dam serious New York METS fan. Brian used to contract where I am working (I'm actually keeping his seat warm) & Darren (Junior, Dazza, Derwood, hey you) came along too. Brian wanted to give us the full experience, so we went in early so we could go down near the fence for warm-up. Arriving at Shea Stadium & parking in Brians personal spot (he *always* gets there early enough to get `his' spot), we walked around the outside of the place & watched as a couple of the players arrived. Nice to see that they don't ALL drive Mercedes sports cars :-) The Mets were playing the Montreal Expo's & won the game 4-1 in what was a close game until the last innings. Having Brian there explaining all the intricacies of the rules was great.

Having Amateur (Ham) Radio as a hobby I really couldn't pass up the chance to head to the Mecca of it all: Dayton Ohio for the largest Ham Radio convention (ie Hamvention) in the world. Many places around the world have these & the largest in Australia is the Wyong Field day in February. The Dayton hamvention is simply 10times the size of anything I'd seen before. I purchased my ticket the day before & was there at the opening of 3 days of mayhem. Being early, I got into the crush of people wanting to `be the first' to see all the junk (read: useful pre-loved equipment) that was being sold from car `trunks' (boots). There was simply line after line after line of parking & must have had thousands of these private stalls selling mostly second-hand items. Fantastic! Then, inside where there are about 7 `sheds' together, were all the retailers peddling their wares as well. Yes, this hamvention is three days long as it takes 3 days to see everything.

The weather was foul but I had the gear to cope so I could keep plodding through the downpours clad in driz-a-bone & Akubra. Needless to say I bumped into a few Aussies who'd made it over just for the hamvention. Like Russell VK2BYN says "It's good to go to these things to find out that compared to the average amateur nut, we are comparitively quite normal"

I camped at a `Trailer Park' 40mins out of town to beat the crowds which worked out well. After 3 days of this, *lots* of rain & walking the beat all the time I was quite stuffed and almost glad it had come to an end. It was only then that I realised I'd taken no photo's hence these two taken in the dying stages after many people had left. I had come away with a little loot including two DSP Clearspeech Speakers (1 for James), a TH5 rebuild kit, a TH3 jnr rebuild kit (for Tim), an american 4a Power Supply, a handful of DC connectors & other sundry items. I was at serious risk of buying a new radio there but somehow restrained myself, although I now wish I'd bought that Rohn 50ft guyed mast for $45!! :-) Needless to say, I have great memories of this experience.

A tip for any hams visiting the Dayton hamvention: If you are gonna drive and park at the hamvention it costs US$7.00 If you can walk a couple of hundred yards, head west one street & park there all day for free. Pleanty of room.

Oh well, that's just a taste of spring over here. Summer promises to be full of fun with visitors, a baby and plenty more plus heading home so stay tuned, same bat-channel, same bat-time...

Dom & Susanne