That’s a sandwich. We’ll get into that later.

This is the first Hilton we saw on the first leg of this trip. You can count on a Hilton hotel to be at least 4 star or higher and more expensive compared to other options that may be as good or better.

This Hilton is in the Auckland port, directly across from where our ship is parked. This is the second one we will see on this adventure and certainly not the last one, they are everywhere.

This is my view from the 22nd floor at the Hilton on George street in Sydney. It is directly across from the Queen Victoria Mall, QVB rail stop. I discovered that when I woke up. I rode the train into the center of the city from the airport, and it was dark when I started looking for a place to stay. I had no plans made for any of this. I’m totally winging it. I got this room on a Priceline blind express deal for $229. That’s more than I wanted to spend but it’s really good considering this is the central business district in a city like Sydney, which I’ve been referring to as the Manhattan of Australia.

“More like London, but who knows what’s that like? I’ve never been there, but everybody knows about Manhattan, NY, NY, so I’ll let that pass.”

Gee, thanks for the pass. I talked to the desk clerk and mentioned I had a Hilton Honors member number and the card in the room said it guaranteed* me the lowest price. That means I could get the room for even less? Wow, I’ll take that, this is an excellent location.

I’d like to stay another night please Ling.

‘That will be $549. Shall I add that to your account sir?’

That’s not even close to what I paid for last night Ling. You have really nice skin, you really take care of yourself, you’re really pretty. I’m so jealous. I’m dealing with skin cancer. Can I get the room for the same price as last night?

‘I’m sorry sir. We are full so the pricing is different.’

Ok, thank you I’ll pass on the extra night then.

“Oh really! WTF!! This is bullshit. How can I get another night if you are full? Sounds like you are lying about being full. Do I look stupid to you? What does the asterisk mean on lowest price guaranteed* – NOT REALLY* Hilton is such a rip-off!”

Thanks Ling, have a nice day 😊

This is the Queen Victoria Building, which is a huge mall with at least 20 coffee shops inside.

“I didn’t really like the place we stayed last night. Smaller than the place we stayed at in Tokyo. 130 square feet and It had paper mâché walls and was right next to the train. I could hear some guy hacking up his morning. There were new people setting up for business deals in the lobby which was also the lounge. The restaurant was closed that day so we had cookies and soda from the vending machine for dinner. The hotel wasn’t great and it cost almost as much as the other places we stayed. We should have stayed at the Hilton.”

That’s a lot of complaining. You know we aren’t going to spend $549 a night on a hotel. This one was affordable and it was only for one night. I slept fine and we had our own shower and bathroom. That’s better than those backpacker hostels. I won’t share my bathroom no matter how much less they cost. We wanted to check it out anyway. The reviews said it was chic and hip. It was in a trendy part of town too. Redwood or something like that. It’s called a boutique hotel.

“Boutique is code for crap. It works on the new people. You should know better than to fall for marketing.”

You done complaining?

“Not yet! You used the TV set USB port to charge your iPhone. That’s ghetto. We even had to watch the local news while it was charging. You know I despise the ‘news’. It’s just propaganda poisoning your mind. Something about Prince Charles cancer, Harry flying back on a commercial jet, and the fact his brother isn’t speaking to him. I thought that was strange the Australian news was about that. Was it on the USA news too?”

Idk if it was. But you can see Australia is closely linked to Great Britain. The British flag is even part of the Australian flag. We were in Queensland and New South Wales, there were clues everywhere. They called the architecture ‘Victorian’. We walked through the Royal Gardens. The school kids were wearing uniforms. Remember the rail stop named QVB? That was Queen Victoria Boulevard. There were pubs everywhere. The Aussie accent sounds a whole lot like an English accent. Pretty obvious this was a colony. 

“I never thought about it. The United States used to be a colony. We don’t give a crap about England now, why should they? What’s the difference between Great Britain and England anyway? How come we can’t stay at the Hilton every night? There’s one everywhere we go, even third world countries have a Hilton. It’s like the American consulate for rich people. Why don’t we stay there more often?”

Because we aren’t rich. We weren’t trying to be rich, so that’s why we aren’t now. If you aren’t doubling your income every 5 years you are falling behind. You need a 20% increase every year to have any hope of improving your life. That might only maintain it so that’s the low number. 

You don’t realize what’s happening. You get something and make payments. You think you have something because you can still make those payments. You keep making payments long after the value of what you received is gone.

Prices rise and you sacrifice. You only notice the small increases that add up to make you poorer. You don’t see that more and more becomes out of your reach. You will never get what they are getting. Your portion gets smaller and smaller but you don’t see. You are the lobster in the pot. 

You are a slave. You make someone else rich. They may be friendly, and maybe you even you think they care about you. Maybe you think they respect you. They don’t. You aren’t like them. You are their slave. You will lose everything before they give up anything. 

When times turn down, they don’t reduce their profits, they eliminate you. You aren’t one of ‘them’. They won’t sacrifice anything for you.

Your savings are stolen from you when money loses its value. Your investments are really holes in your pockets which drain away your money. You save and invest but it isn’t enough. It will never be enough. You save a dollar today and it turns into 2 dollars in ten years if you are lucky. But that 2 dollars is only worth 50 cents, half of what you put in, or even less. You are a lobster in a pot. 

They aren’t like you. They live. You die. 

“It doesn’t have to be like that. Everyone can make choices. They are free. A wage slave isn’t like a real slave. And you seem to be very fixated on lobsters. They really aren’t that special. It’s only because you live in the desert lobsters are expensive and are served fancy so you’ll pay. In coastal cities and on the islands they are plentiful. Maybe even a common food for the locals. They put them in sandwiches and eggs and all kinds of rice and pasta dishes.”

I guess that’s true, but I never ate lobster in Las Vegas. Lobster sandwich you say? In Vegas they would serve lobsters with butter and a steak. Surf and turf they called it. $$$$ 

Rich people think of poor people food as garbage. Rubbish they call it. They don’t get to eat regular people food because their personal chefs can’t serve a plain meal. It has to be special, with some seasonings you probably don’t have in your cupboards, and a fancy presentation.

“They probably never get to eat hot dogs! You know Prince Harry likes hot dogs so much he had to move to America so he could enjoy them without the family being snobby about it.”

You’re talking about Meghan Markle, aren’t you. She’s not special. Not unless you think a half black and half white B actress ex yacht-girl psycho with freckles is something special. She’s nobody’s lobster. Are you saying she’s Harry’s hot dog?

I like Lucy Liu. She’s a Ling Ling. I wanna be her hot dog. 

“You and 300 million other guys! At least she’s age appropriate for you. But you’ll never meet her, and she is married. But you can have this lobster salad sandwich.”

Ok, I’ll take it.

“I’m getting very confused now. Is lobster good or bad? Is a hot dog a hot dog? You like hot dogs and now you’re saying you wanna be someone else’s hot dog? What’s a Ling? What’s a Ling Ling?? My brain is hurting.”

Like all words, there can be multiple meanings. And sometimes we say one thing to mean another.

“Code? Slang?”

Could be. Depends on the context. You’ve heard this before. Someone might say

That’s the bomb

That’s fire

That’s dope 

“So what’s a lobster?”

• It’s a crustacean. 
• A person who is dying but they don’t know it, killed slowly like a lobster in a pot. 
• Something or someone you think is special or exotic but really isn’t. It’s common to a lot of other people. 
• Could be a hot dog

“What’s a hot dog then?”

• A tasty food item. Sausage is another word for them but hot dogs are usually inexpensive and served on a bun.
• Some common thing or person. Not sophisticated but still wanted by a lot of people. 
• A surfer or skater.
• Could be a lobster 

“My brain still hurts. And a Ling?”

That’s easy. It’s an Asian girl. That word means pretty. 

“So Ling Ling means a really pretty Asian girl.”

A very special one. Not just pretty. Ling Ling is special.

👍 

“Wait, you said you wanna be Lucy’s hot dog. Don’t you mean Lucy’s lobster?”

No, lobsters are bad.

“But you keep wanting lobsters! You are all about lobster this and lobster that. I’m so confused.”

I did say sometimes we say one thing but mean another. You just have to know the context.

“You made all that up! I’ve never heard any of that! Are you for real?”

“Well, if you can’t tell, does it matter?”