Been watching some of the World Championship swimming, which is taking place in Melbourne this week. Saw the young Korean swimmer Park come out of nowhere to steal the gold medal from Tunisian and Australian Grant Hackett. Last night was even better, with Michael Phelps winning the 200m free by an entire body length, and a new world record. Natalie Coughlin held on to make another, and Katie Ziegler set a blistering pace for the 1500m and managed to sustain it to win the gold, though not a WR. Piersol also won. Good stuff!

Welcome to Kangaroo Ground

There isn't much to tell... as you can see, it's quite country. Mostly farms and vineyards around here.

I promised some kangaroo pics, so here they are (including the albino kangaroo in pic 3)

Liven up your next customer service training with these romantic comedy clips...

1) Keeping customers waiting (BAD SERVICE) (Movie: Maid in Manhattan)
Jennifer Lopez is at the cosmetics counter in a department store. The counter clerk is yakking on the phone and keeps Jen and the other customers waiting, blatantly ignoring and being rude to them, until Jen ticks her off, to the cheers of the other customers.

2) Too much of a good thing (OVER-SERVICE/BAD) (Movie: Love Actually)
Alan Rickman is at the jewellery counter in a department store. He is trying to buy a gold necklace without his wife finding out. Rowan Atkinson (a.k.a. Mr. Bean) is the fastidious store clerk who, with great flair, takes a very long time to wrap up the present, while Alan tears his hair out, figuratively.

3) Customer delight (GOOD SERVICE) (Movie: Sweet Home Alabama)
Mr. Really Nice Guy, rich, handsome, and the Mayor's son, wants to propose to Reese Witherspoon. Reese enters a dark room through a back door. The lights go on, and there she is at Tiffany's. It's after hours, but every counter is manned by a smiling staff person, ready to serve just the two of them. Mr. Nice Guy proposes, etc., and after a few hiccups, she says yes, the manager waves his hand, and the staff open up their cases of glittering diamonds, ready for business.

4) Knowing your product (CONTRAST GOOD & BAD) (Movie: You've Got Mail)
I don't remember this so well. Meg Ryan is in Fox Books, the megastore that is running her out of business. She overhears a customer asking the young staff person a question, and the Fox staff can't answer. She, from running her children's book store, is able to tell the customer about the book, the series, recommend others like it, and generally be much more helpful than the clueless Fox employee.

Well! The post below (on Australia Day) was actually for an Anthropology assignment. But since now I know how to put in pictures, to some degree, I shall try to do more similar things from time to time.

Blogging is a bit tricky here as I don't have Internet access in my room, which means I have to come to the computer lab, which is why I don't do much online nowadays. Also if I go over 100 MB downloads per month, I get charged for each extra MB. I'm waiting for the bill from the first 6 weeks, as I have definitely gone over quite a bit.

Anyway, I hope to put up posts on: a) the place (including kangaroo pics!) b) haven't thought of other stuff yet.