Tuesday morning in Melbourne looks as if it will be a nice one. The temperature here has been rather mild, considering they’re in the middle of winter. The week forecast calls for mid-teens (Celsius) all week, so we’re certainly grateful for that.

Yesterday was a day of much work and no pictures. It is a business trip, after all.

We had breakfast at another breakfast bar and then went over to Matt’s house. I ended up on the phone with Dell Australia’s technical support and absolutely could not believe high quality of support I got. I had zero hold time, didn’t have to go through a call screener, and got a native Australian. In the States, you’ve got to jump through 17 hoops to get a support representative and then there’s a high chance he barely speaks English.

(Disclaimer: I’m not trying to be discriminating here…I’m just saying that the level of support in Australia is higher than in the States, and my initial perception is that it’s better because it has not been outsourced to a certain other country.)

Anyway…back to topics that are less likely to offend.

We stopped for lunch at a corner restaurant and had what Matt called “a real Aussie burger.” It had on top of it (and I swear I’m not kidding):

• Cheese
• Pineapples
• Fried Egg
• Pickled Pineapple Relish
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Beetroot
• BBQ Sauce
• Bacon

It sounds insane, but it was one of the tastiest burgers I’ve ever eaten. Ever. And I’ve had a lot of burgers in my lifetime.

We finished up at Matt’s for the day about 5:00 or so, and then he brought us back to the apartment. We went for some Italian food (chicken parmesan and sautéed prawns) around the corner and then grabbed a Coke and Crunchie bar on the way back. (I love those things.)

After a few episodes of Arrested Development (Best. TV Series. Ever.), we made our status calls with the guys back in the office (since it was Monday morning over there) and went to bed.

I’ve got some more servers arriving today (hopefully) and then we may get into our data centre earlier than expected. The folks at the data centre have been really working hard for us.

It’s time for brekky again. Cheers.

It’s 3:45 a.m. Monday morning here in Melbourne.  For some reason, I’m wide awake.  I’m not sure if it’s the caffeine from last night, but I’m pretty sure it’s not jet lag.  Since I can’t sleep, I thought I’d post about Sunday.

I went out walking around St. Kilda on Sunday morning.  St. Kilda is the suburb where we’re staying.  I wanted to get some pictures of the area, find some restaurants where we might want to eat, and get some caffeine.  Shane stayed here at the apartment to get some laundry done.

When I got back, I did a little work (not much) and we watched some TV while Shane finished his laundry.  Matt picked us up around 2:30 and took us out to see Melbourne.

First we went to an area known as the Docklands.  There are large apartment buildings, a walkway, and some specialty restaurants looking out over where many boats are docked.

Matt told us about this boat called the Sea Shepherd.  It’s a boat that goes out to the ocean and rams into whale boats, protecting the Australian coast (and whales).  As a result of all the aggressive behavior, the Sea Shepherd is quite a beat up boat.

From the Docklands, you can also see the Telstra Dome, a sports arena where they play Australian Football, better known as “footy.”  We hope to catch a game before we leave.

The Docklands were once very old and run down, but the city (state?) has done major work to renovate the area.  They take one old section at a time and rebuild it.  They’re mostly done now, and it looks really nice.

We left the Docklands and headed over to Brunswick Street, an area that is intentionally kept looking very old.  There were some interesting specialty shops there, and we walked around looking at stuff before heading back over to Church Street.

Church Street is the fashion district around here.  It’s where we ate that Japanese food the other night and is also the home of that cinema we found.  We walked around to look at the interesting shops and people, and then Matt brought us back to the apartment.

After a bit of a rest, Shane and I headed out to grab a pizza.  We then walked down to the Seven Eleven for some caffeine and a Crunchie bar.  I love those things.

I’ve got some photos online now.  You can see them here.  I tried to name the files a very descriptive name so you would know what you’re looking at (and so that I won’t forget what stuff was when I get back home).  I’ll have more pictures online later.

I’m going to try to get some more sleep.  There are only about 3 hours left before I need to be up, so maybe I can catch a little rest before the alarm goes off.

Cheers.

It’s Sunday morning in Australia.  Saturday was a working day for us.  I had to try to finish getting some servers ready for the data centre on Monday, which is when we think we’ll have access there.

Matt picked us up and took us to a breakfast bar.  When he said “breakfast bar,” my American mind thought of something like a Shoney’s.  Down here, “breakfast bar” is a bar that opens for breakfast.  While they have menu items like “Champagne Breakfast” listed, I opted for the Eggs Benedict, or “Bennie” as they call it.  They had freshly made orange juice, which was quite literally the best OJ I’ve ever had.

Then we went over to Matt’s house to work.  We didn’t really eat lunch, but there’s a Seven Eleven across the street from Matt’s place, where we were able to grab a Crunchie bar.  This candy bar is like a gift from the Father above.  It’s wonderful.  I think I’m going to ship a box of them back home.

About 4:00 yesterday afternoon, we were tired of working and ready to do something.  Matt took us to a driving range to hit some golf balls.  The folks there were nice enough to loan me a few clubs (I’m a lefty), and Shane just used some of Matt’s.

Matt dropped us off at the apartment, so we could drop off our laptops.  Shane and I wandered around St. Kilda (the suburb where we are staying) looking for the movie theater from the other night, but we weren’t able to find it.  Finally, we grabbed a cab and just let him take us there.

After a quick dinner (after a long wait) at TGIFriday’s (we wanted a burger), we watched “Knocked Up” in the cinema.  It’s a delightfully crude pro-life, pro-marriage movie.

Back at the apartment, I went to bed but couldn’t sleep, so I pulled out the laptop and watched an episode of “Arrested Development” (one of the best TV series ever) and finally got to sleep.

I got up this morning around 9:30 and after a shower, I headed out for a walk to see what I could find.  (Shane had laundry to do, so he stayed here.)  I found a few restaurants nearby that I wouldn’t mind trying.  I grabbed a Coke Zero and a doughnut from a Seven Eleven and walked back.

I shot some pictures on my walk, so I’ll pull them off the camera and get them online soon.  Matt is picking us up around 2:00 to show us around Melbourne and do some touristy things, so I’ll wait until after that to post some pictures.

I’m through with my first day in Australia.  It was a good day.

First, the airlines didn’t lose my luggage.  I was very happy about that.

I didn’t mention this in an earlier post, but I almost caused an international incident in New Zealand when I accidentally assaulted a security officer.  My dealings with the Australian security folks were uneventful.

They had a driver bring me back to our apartment, where I met up with Shane.  I got a quick shower, and our friend Matt came over to pick us up.  (Matt is our Australian friend who has been working with us for a number of months now.)  We grabbed lunch/breakfast at McDonalds and went back to his house to wait for delivery people to bring our order of Cisco equipment.

While at Matt’s yesterday, I was able to get most of the Cisco stuff ready for the data center, and I also started server configuration.  I got a lot done, especially considering that I was on a minimal amount of sleep.  I had to take a few breaks to walk around and wake myself up, but I wasn’t fighting sleep too badly.

When Matt’s girlfriend (Lisa) got home, we went out for dinner at a really good Japanese steak house.  I ate squid (not something I would normally eat), and it was actually pretty good.  The highlight of that meal was the steak though…it was amazing.  We also had prawns (better known to Americans as shrimp) that were brought out with heads and feet still intact.  The guy cut the feet and heads off and gutted them right in front of us.  My wife would have been highly disgusted.  At the end of the meal, we ate the prawn’s legs.  Yeah, just the legs.  They tickled a little bit as they were going down.

After eating, we walked to the cinema to watch the Simpsons movie.  We also learned that “cinema” is what you call going to the movies and “theater” is what you call going to a play.  The cinemas here all have reserved seating, which is nice because you don’t have to worry about finding enough seats all together.

When the movie was done, Matt brought us back to the apartment.  Shane went for his morning status call with the guys at the office (it was just 9:00 a.m. there), and I promptly collapsed on the bed and caught up on the sleep I was so desperately needing.

Now I’m off for a shower and whatever adventures day 2 in Australia brings.  I’ll post more soon.

Some initial thoughts upon arriving in Australia:

1. Where’s the loo?
2. Oh look, my passport has a stamp now.
3. Riding “shotgun” on the left side of the car is even stranger than I imagined.
4. McDonald’s here is as good/bad as it is in the USA.
5. There sure are a lot of foreigners here.
6. I wonder if I “look like a tourist.”
7. What day is it?
8. What time is it?

Seriously, the time change hasn’t thrown me off too much just yet.  We’re supposed to go watch the Simpsons movie tonight (if only to see it a full day before it’s available in the US), and I may fight sleep through some of that.  I landed at the beginning of the day, so it seems like a really long day.  The jet lag will really hit when I go home.
There’s much to be done…more later.  Hopefully I’ll get some pictures online before I head home.  Stay tuned.

(I typed this on the plane and am posting it now that I’m on the ground.  I’ll post again soon.)

It’s currently 9:36 a.m. on Thursday morning in Atlanta.  We land in Aukland, New Zealand in 3 hours.  After a (hopefully) brief stop there, we’ll fly over to Melbourne.

I’m on a Qantas aeroplane (that’s Australian for “airplane”) that’s actually pretty cool.  I figured a 12-hour flight across the Pacific would be me squeezed between two oversized individuals with poor hygiene.  Fortunately, that’s not been the case.

I’m on an aisle, with some guy who doesn’t speak English sitting at the window.  The seat between us is wonderfully vacant.  Across the aisle from me is the supply closet for the Qantas staff, which is also nice because I don’t want to give my life story to some stranger.

The seats in this plane all have an LCD monitor in the back of the headrest with a little remote control.  You can watch movies, TV, play (mostly stupid) games, or watch your flight info on the screen.  Right now it says we’re crossing the International Date Line.

I planned this trip very carefully, as far as battery life in my portable devices goes, but with the screens in the seats, I have been pretty content to let that occupy me.

I watched “Blades of Glory” (finally).  Chris was right.  That’s all I’m saying about that.

The flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles left an hour late but somehow arrived 15 minutes early.  I guess the pilot was speeding or there was good wind or something.  I certainly had no complaints about that.

When I checked my bags in Atlanta, I considered checking them to Los Angeles.  Then I could pick them up from Delta and deliver them personally to Qantas.  The lady at the counter told me she had been to LAX before, and that I wouldn’t have time to do that unless I had a 4-5 hour layover.  Mine was 3, so I checked the bags all the way to Melbourne.

That lady was right, too.  I think I walked the better part of a mile from the concourse where we landed to the international terminal.  Then I had to go through security again, and I went to find my gate and get some supper.  So I walked what seemed to be the better part of another mile to get to my gate.  The only food place down there was a hot dog place.  So I paid $11 for a really lousy supper.

Back to the luggage.  This is the 4th trip to Melbourne that somebody from our company has taken in the past 2-3 months.  On all 3 previous trips, the luggage was lost.  I blame Delta.  And if my luggage gets lost, I’ll blame my friend Rick, who works for Delta.

Well, the screen tells me there’s 2 hours and 25 minutes left until we land.  I want to save some laptop battery life for later, so I’m going to close.  I’ll post again soon.

This morning I awoke way before my alarm (”The Final Countdown”) went off.  My mind is in gear with all we have to do down in Australia, and that - mixed with the anticipation of the trip down - got me up early.

So now I’m on to the other final countdown.  I’ve got another 20ish minutes before I head out of the office, drop by the house to get my wife and the boy, grab some lunch, and get to the airport.

I’ll probably type up a blog on the plane and post it from Melbourne when I get online.  If my layover at LAX gets extended, I may jump online there.  I’ve been instructed to blog the whole trip, so I’ll do my best with that.

If any of you in the dozens of people who read this blog are in Melbourne over the next 2 weeks, let’s get together.

I haven’t traveled for work in more than 5 years (2 jobs ago), but this week I’ll more than make up for the lack of travel over the last half decade.

Wednesday afternoon I leave for Melbourne, Australia. For a guy who’s barely been out of the South, that’s quite a trip.

I’m looking forward to seeing the country, working on the project at hand, and hearing that really cool accent all over the place. I’m not looking forward to the extended plane ride over the pond though. We 6′5″ people aren’t really built for airplanes. I’ll get over it though.

I’ve got some new music for the trip. I’ll post on that from Melbourne (or maybe from LAX, depending on layover and delays).

My parents were married 33 years ago today. I’d say that’s worthy of a blog post.

My most recent anniversary involved a romantic trip to Wal-Mart; theirs will probably involve Mexican food and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

This post comes to you from about 3200 feet up in the beautiful mountains of Tennessee.  We’re at a week-long vacation/reunion with my wife’s family.  There’s a Comcast modem in our cabin, but it doesn’t work.  So I’m out on the porch enjoying the internet access here on an open wireless access point.

We got up here on Friday afternoon.  We spent some time in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg as well.  The weekend was VERY crowded, but the population has dramatically thinned out since Sunday afternoon.

We’ll be up here another couple days, so posting will continue to be light until I’m back at home.  I’ve got some cool photos for the flickr account as well, so stay tuned.