Blood Moon aka The First Few Days
So, this is really the first chance I’ve had to take any time to blog since starting my journey down the yellow brick road to Oz. I have to say, the first few days have been pretty good.
The plane ride(s) down were pretty good. Some how or other I managed to only share a row with one other person for the LA to Auckland and Auckland to Brisbane flights. This meant that I got to stretch my long legs into the space for the middle seat. I’d hate to think what it would have been like if I had to stay in my one small seat. As it was I made sure to get up and walk around a bit.
The first leg, from Vancouver to LA I shared the row with an older couple from Ontario (California). The lady noticed the book I was reading (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency) and started up a conversation. She had just finished reading the fifth book of the series.
The bit from LA to New Zealand was fairly uneventful. Most people slept. I watched Spider Man 3, Shrek the Third and most of The Last Mimsy and still managed to get in about 5 hours sleep.
During the final hop to Brisbane, they were having difficulty with their in-flight entertainment, so I pulled out the laptop and me and the german girl sharing the row watched Kill Bill Vol 1. That is until she gave in to urge to nap. I thought 20 hours of flight time was bad, but she was into the 30s.
Monday ended up being a bit of a write-off. From the airport I got to my apartment style motel room. It’s actually quite nice, with 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, big open living room and balcony and full kitchen. Just too bad that almost all the time I’ve spent here has been in bed or in the alcove where the internet connection is. After a quick nap I went in to meet the team and go over expectations for the next four weeks. After that I spent the rest of the evening fighting off sleep until a “reasonable” hour so that I wouldn’t be getting up at 4 am. I saw a good bit of downtown during that meander, but I definitely don’t remember it all. (And that not just due to my normal swiss cheese memory-ness.)
Tuesday proved rather interesting in a free food sort of way. Free sandwiches at lunch for the entire project team was nice. The free drinks and dinner after work was nicer. And things took an interesting turn during dinner (and after about 2 of the 4 bottles of wine were gone). Let’s just say I’m looking forward to a fun filled two weeks on the road with these people. And just to add a bit of flare to the night, it was the lunar eclipse Tuesday night. Then full moon was out and shining brightly. We ran out (along with our waitress) during the meal to check the progress every now and then. Pretty cool for a celestial event (even if it wasn’t stop sign red.)
And to top the night off I probably spent an extra 20 minutes trying to make my way back to where I’m staying. Zigged when I should have zagged.
Pictures to follow on facebook, or perhaps here if I find the time. Gettin kind asleepy now.
The plane ride(s) down were pretty good. Some how or other I managed to only share a row with one other person for the LA to Auckland and Auckland to Brisbane flights. This meant that I got to stretch my long legs into the space for the middle seat. I’d hate to think what it would have been like if I had to stay in my one small seat. As it was I made sure to get up and walk around a bit.
The first leg, from Vancouver to LA I shared the row with an older couple from Ontario (California). The lady noticed the book I was reading (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency) and started up a conversation. She had just finished reading the fifth book of the series.
The bit from LA to New Zealand was fairly uneventful. Most people slept. I watched Spider Man 3, Shrek the Third and most of The Last Mimsy and still managed to get in about 5 hours sleep.
During the final hop to Brisbane, they were having difficulty with their in-flight entertainment, so I pulled out the laptop and me and the german girl sharing the row watched Kill Bill Vol 1. That is until she gave in to urge to nap. I thought 20 hours of flight time was bad, but she was into the 30s.
Monday ended up being a bit of a write-off. From the airport I got to my apartment style motel room. It’s actually quite nice, with 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, big open living room and balcony and full kitchen. Just too bad that almost all the time I’ve spent here has been in bed or in the alcove where the internet connection is. After a quick nap I went in to meet the team and go over expectations for the next four weeks. After that I spent the rest of the evening fighting off sleep until a “reasonable” hour so that I wouldn’t be getting up at 4 am. I saw a good bit of downtown during that meander, but I definitely don’t remember it all. (And that not just due to my normal swiss cheese memory-ness.)
Tuesday proved rather interesting in a free food sort of way. Free sandwiches at lunch for the entire project team was nice. The free drinks and dinner after work was nicer. And things took an interesting turn during dinner (and after about 2 of the 4 bottles of wine were gone). Let’s just say I’m looking forward to a fun filled two weeks on the road with these people. And just to add a bit of flare to the night, it was the lunar eclipse Tuesday night. Then full moon was out and shining brightly. We ran out (along with our waitress) during the meal to check the progress every now and then. Pretty cool for a celestial event (even if it wasn’t stop sign red.)
And to top the night off I probably spent an extra 20 minutes trying to make my way back to where I’m staying. Zigged when I should have zagged.
Pictures to follow on facebook, or perhaps here if I find the time. Gettin kind asleepy now.
posted by Yendor at 6:37 a.m.
1 comments
