1001 Uses for a Toothbrush
Today, after I brushed my teeth, I also brushed my shoes. Because I am moving to a country where one must brush their shoes. You wouldn't want them to get cavities.
One of the most nerve-racking parts of moving to Australia for me has been preparing for quarantine. They are very strict with what can enter the country because it is so geographically isolated, and an introduction of a foreign species could be a disaster for the ecosystem. I literally could not sleep the night the movers had packed everything up because I was thinking about whether we found everything that needed to be removed before they shoved our things in boxes. The list of items you can't take into Australia is quite long. There are some obvious things, like fish, pests, and aliens, but even things like nuts and feathers you have to be very cautious with. I had to sort through our Christmas ornaments and remove anything with feathers, pinecones, potpourri, or birdseed. It sounds silly, but I had no idea how many items that meant until I went through everything. From what I've read, once our shipment gets to quarantine they x-ray the contents to see if anything poses a threat. There were also certain items we had to declare that they want to inspect as well - like any furniture containing wood. As you can imagine, the list starts to add up. They could throw things out or require that they be steam-treated and send us the bill for it.
So back to my shoe brushing. Silly me, I got those new running shoes with tubes on the bottom and wore them through some mud so now they have caked on goop inside the tubes. Caked on goop is a big no-no for quarantine, Phil had some on his bike shoes when we went to New Zealand and they ended up having to clean them. Luckily I realized this ahead of time on this trip, hence the tooth brush mutilation this morning. Now my shoes are clean, but can't say the same for my teeth. Good thing I still have some time this afternoon to run out and buy a new toothbrush. I just won't be wearing my clean tube shoes to run said errands.
One of the most nerve-racking parts of moving to Australia for me has been preparing for quarantine. They are very strict with what can enter the country because it is so geographically isolated, and an introduction of a foreign species could be a disaster for the ecosystem. I literally could not sleep the night the movers had packed everything up because I was thinking about whether we found everything that needed to be removed before they shoved our things in boxes. The list of items you can't take into Australia is quite long. There are some obvious things, like fish, pests, and aliens, but even things like nuts and feathers you have to be very cautious with. I had to sort through our Christmas ornaments and remove anything with feathers, pinecones, potpourri, or birdseed. It sounds silly, but I had no idea how many items that meant until I went through everything. From what I've read, once our shipment gets to quarantine they x-ray the contents to see if anything poses a threat. There were also certain items we had to declare that they want to inspect as well - like any furniture containing wood. As you can imagine, the list starts to add up. They could throw things out or require that they be steam-treated and send us the bill for it.
So back to my shoe brushing. Silly me, I got those new running shoes with tubes on the bottom and wore them through some mud so now they have caked on goop inside the tubes. Caked on goop is a big no-no for quarantine, Phil had some on his bike shoes when we went to New Zealand and they ended up having to clean them. Luckily I realized this ahead of time on this trip, hence the tooth brush mutilation this morning. Now my shoes are clean, but can't say the same for my teeth. Good thing I still have some time this afternoon to run out and buy a new toothbrush. I just won't be wearing my clean tube shoes to run said errands.
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