16 July 2010:
Okay - so was able to get back to sleep at least until about 3 a.m. - then just laid in bed and read and dozed for several more hours. Then after getting up and moving real slow to get ready decided to get out and start learning my surroundings.

Melbourne is a great place to walk, and lots of people on the move that way. (But, more hilly than I would have expected.) Lots of car traffic, but also many people on motor cycles and bicycles. The motorcycles and bicycles are driven up on the sidewalks and parked there for the day - good thing the sidewalks are very wide. (Remember - here drivers are on the right side of car and driving is on the left.)

Public transportation is great! Good train and tram systems (both electric powered by overhead catenary). The trains run to/from city to outlying suburbs, and the trams run inside city. The trams have the inside lanes on streets where they run, and car traffic is in the outside lanes. Gets real interesting when drivers want to make a right hand turn from far left hand lane across cars lanes and tram lanes.

Anyway, just a short walk from hotel to the building where the FM Global offices are located. Saw a McD's nearby, so stopped there for breakfast. This one had a big screen TV on wall playing nothing but old Michael Jackson videos.

The season here is winter, but more like very late fall for a Clevelander. So, a sweatshirt and light jacket is plenty to be comfortable.

The City of Melbourne operates a couple of free transportation lines. One a bus line that stops at 13 points of interest on a big circuit around the metropolitan area, and the second a tram line that navigates the CBD (Central Business District). So, i jumped on the bus line at a nearby stop (11) and got off at the Queen Victoria Market (8) to get some snacks, cheese and fruit for the room. The market is very much like the West Side Market (or Solard Market in St. Louis) but, it is HUGE! Vendors sell everything from meats, fish, fruits and veggies to clothing, belts and underwear.

Of course, the weights and measures here are metric and not imperial - good thing I have a converter app on my iPhone. Otherwise, I would have no clue that 1 kilo = better than 2 lbs.

From the market, decided to walk it back to the hotel to learn some of the street names, look for restaurants, etc. After returning to the hotel and dropping off my supplies, walked over the FM offices to see the IS guy for a PC wireless card that will work in AU.

Some interesting things so far:
-Automatic rotating doors in buildings turn clockwise so you enter on the left.
-Melbourne is pronounced "Mel-bun"
-Canberra is pronounced "Can-bra"
-Brisbane is pronounced "Bris-bin"
(Reminds me of Louisville pronounced as "Lou-vul".)
-Parts of the city are not termed as areas or zones but rather as precincts
-If you walk a couple of city blocks in any direction you will find at least one 7-11, one Subway and one McD's. (Many McD's include McCafes = special coffee blends and fancy pastries.)
-TV programming includes a lot of sports, but can watch only so much rugby, Australian-rules football and/or cricket.
-TV programming includes many US programs and commercials
-Politics is a big deal here - a big election is coming up in late August - lots of news programming
-Big population of orientals
-Many people (men and ladies) wear scarves around the neck - seems like two favorite ways to wrap the scarves

That's enought for now...