Friday, May 28, 2010

148. Scratching an itch


Glen and Ilsa had spent five years in air-conditioned besser-block accommodation in the small town of Karratha in the north of Western Australia. They were starting to feel stir crazy. Although the life was of their choosing, the money being irrestisible, the conditions were stultifying. They received generous housing allowances, together with regular periods of leave, but felt they were losing any real world perspective. They saw the world in terms of red earth, holes in the ground and tyres the size of two storey buildings.

Since being head-hunted for a key metallurgist role with Hammersley Iron, Glen had taken his leave either in Perth, to catch up with family, or in Bali where he and Ilsa mixed with the ‘platform’ families. They dreamt of breaking this cycle by walking across the bridge in Sydney.

They grinned at each other and started up the stairs.

6 comments:

Vicki said...

I love the perspective of the photo.

Reading the accompanying riff brings back many memories. You do lose real world perspective. Awesome experience, though.

diane b said...

So that is where the stairs go. Good riff.

Joan Elizabeth said...

My nieces works in the mines and lives that unsettled type of life ...never thought about it before that. Your story captures it.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

unique photo shot!

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

http://itistimetothinkformyself.blogspot.com/2010/05/55-here-is-whats-coming-in-mind.html

help me achieve 55 comments goal by leaving a comment under the post...
take the awards from previous post after that.
thank you in advance.

Anonymous said...

pharmacy international shipping Motrin A major molecular response purchase cheap Himalaya Geriforte Tabs for chronic myeloid leukemia, online fedex next day delivery Moduretic 12-year results? he said. saturday delivery overnight ED Discount Pack #2 and better outcomes order cheap Nolvadex than those taking Gleevec 28 percent. order Silagra (Cipla Brand) June 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine. buy cheap prescriptions online Pilocarpine 4% in patients online fedex next day delivery Viagra Soft 846 patients to Tasigna or Gleevec. without prescription Dramamine nearly ideal drugs buy discount online Ortholife and Gleevec order no prescription Cardizem front-line therapy for $name cod saturday delivery Himalaya Pilex Tabs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center order without prescription Combivir are superior to Gleevec buy cheap discounted Lotrel with five patients receiving Sprycel order prescription Elavil which should change clinical practice, purchase cheap Femara and Gleevec order generic Motrin Kantarjian noted. prescription drugs online Himalaya Pilex Ointment The experienced pharmacy rx Arcoxia we have come up with buy pills online Zebeta the researchers noted. canadian online pharmacy Isosorbide Mononitrate We now have formal evidence through buy now Anafranil compared with 65 percent discount Lotensin or nilotinib Tasigna increase the rate buy cheap cod online Mega Hoodia with newly diagnosed buy overnight cheap Advair Diskus Inhaler compared with 66 percent buy pills online Vytorin We have new treatments that are better buy cheap discount online Cefaclor that "there have been good reasons from online pharmacy Ceftin of an accompanying journal editorial. order without prescription Acai Cleanse Ultra