Happy New Stadium Day

Its the best time of the year, unless you live in Australia, where it is still pretty good.  I have scoured the city and will not be legally watching the UW game as its not on any network up here.  Pirate websites it is for me...all season long...ugh.  It is kinda cool to be the biggest Dawgs fan in an entire country/continent.  Hope everyone has a great time, the stadium is awesome, and Dawgs win by 23.

As promised once I got my laptop, here is the mostly picture post.  Congratulations to my friend Bennett "such a good lawyer/Steffy belongs to the club now" Taylor and Lindsey "LGD 2" Stewart on their engagement.  Great people, very happy for them.

I still have zero skills at posting pictures, so these are in a random order (see above).  Ill try to give a little feedback on each.  UW kickoff in one hour, so I have 50 minutes to get this done.  Above picture is Ash Scott and me encountering yet another deadly Australian snake.  Ash was killed.

Sydney skyline at night, the picture is not blurry, the city is.  Australia doesn't do anything right

I just liked this one.  Then I drank it

The hostel in Airlie Beach had countries flags on each door.  This was ours.  Yep, 'Murica.

Repping my hoods.

"I want that"

This lady was a kick, and decided rules be damned she was going to let us try every wine they had.  Jessica, Karly and I drank a fairly good amount of each one of these bottles, which led to Kim's first experience driving in Australia.  There would be a 10th bottle later, but I must have taken this picture before that.  For the record I still dislike wine, but the results agree with me.

View from our airplane ride around Fraser Island.  It was about a 20 minute flight and Kim white knuckled it for about all 20 of it.  She was very excited to get on the plane, and then more excited when it landed safely on the beach again.  Amazing views, but as I said before, not a whale in sight.

I shipwreck, not really worth stopping the bus for.

Facial hair on display and some hometown love.

Really wish I would have been in Airlie Beach for this.  Having seen these people on the basketball court, I can assume they dont throw well either.  

This is my foot, it was weird.  Not worth the $15 cost

That is rain on my glasses, I was the only one laying out on a lawn that usually has about 100 people on it at all times.  I still managed to get burnt.

This place puts chocolate on everything.  Chocolate fries and chips were good, do we have these back home?

The skyline again, I didnt want to risk taking it off and mess this post up, so here it is again.  Contact me if you would like to come down and see it in person.

This is from the roof of my "hotel"  It was a 10 k fun run, about 100,00 people.  Is that a lot for a fun run?

I posted this on FB, but this is the billboard I see each night that is hypnotizing.  Wish it was Pepsi though.  Oh and they did not cost $3.00 a can.  1000% markup.

The other half of the billboard.  Its huge

Life on the road.  Upper left is the van with big Neil, slept next to him for nearly a month.  It was a tiny space, but no worries, we are both really big, so that was good.  When you travel with no power one of your biggest priorites is charging your electronics.  I spent about 5 hours in this laundry room charging my I pod, I pod, Kindle Fire, Shuffle, Galaxy, and cell phone.  The other picture you have seen.

This was a wallaby that creeped up on us.  He liked chips.

The overpriced ($25) Bundaberg Rum tour.  At the end they give you two drinks per pass.  I somehow was able to acquire 3.  Still not worth it, except a rum and coke is about $8 down here.  Downside is I was a bit tipsy at noon on a Wednesday and about to get back in a hot stinky van.

There is the yellow plastic again.  Come on!!!!!!

The boys at the waterfall.  We followed around the tour bus and stopped where they stopped.  The water was cold and it was raining.  But the sights were fantastic.

This was the boat in the Whitsunday's night two.  The better of my two sleeping spots.  Ash and I got up early to see the sunrise with some of the Germans on the boat.  Is it called waking up early if you never really went to sleep??   

That says USA.  The Brits made fun of me and then did it themselves, expect mine was bigger.  Everything is bigger in the US, And better.

The four of us at the beach.  Coolest place I have ever been

Mom and sisters first night in the country.  So glad they got to come down and see what this place is all about.

The family at the vineyards in Newcastle.

Jess, Danny and I at the Bondi Beach.  I could write an entire post or posts about Danny.  Hell of a lad. (English speak)

This is the watering hole where the infamous snake appeared.  Joey did a back flip off the tree and into the water.  I got one foot wet and went running for my life

The Stand By Me picture.  No train came, or probably ever comes.

Sadly that is all the pictures I have for now.  Working has cost me a ton of free time and Kodak moments.  I also lost a ton of pictures that were on my stolen phone.  I hope someone is out there enjoying them.  Either way the Dawgs rolled today, I found a way to watch it down here, and I remain the #1 UW fan on an entire continent.  

Hope everyone is well, 6am fantasy football draft this week.  CANT WAIT 

You know how people say contact me if you really get into trouble, well..............

Quick status update. I am at a new place, left the Strand Hotel when I came home from work on a Friday and young French couple were making out on the extra bed. Good for them, but that was it for me, and with a job, it was time to move on. I am continuing the house hunt and staying at a much better place in the mean time.

 Now, on to this weekend. As like to do every Saturday I went to the park to play hoops. Things were going as planned as my teams were winning and I never had to sit out. After about a 2 hour run my team lost and I went home, except my bag was a little light. Got home and noticed that my phone was missing. Huge bummer, but I could fill out the insurance and maybe get it back. I was mad, but not pissed....UNTIL, I remembered that I took my wallet and that was missing too.

Saturday night status:
Bank of America account- $ in it, but I can't get to it, as I have no card, and there is no BOA in Australia
Amex Card- MIA
CommonWealth Bank of Australia- Card gone, $11.50 in the account
My paid for stay ends on Sunday, I have $11.50, my room for the week is $190, and my rail pass to get to work is $52.  I still have $11.50.  I have a passport, my cell phone just ran out of credits, I have to call and cancel my cards.

Sunday status:
Cards cancelled and on their way to Mom's house in Issaquh
I managed to get the wonderful Michelle George to purchase me a train pass for the week
My boy Stuart has looked the other way on rent, as well as loaned me $20 so I can buy something to eat.  I will be eating bananas, oatmeal and water for the week.  I still have $11.50.

Monday:
Things have managed to get worse.  Costco failed to pay me to an accounting snafu.  The last two digits on my direct deposit were transposed, no big deal though, the lady in accounting can handle it.  Big deal, she is on vacation and the replacement is worthless.  I will not be getting any money this week I have been told. F word.  I have eaten two of my 5 bananas.  However, I did get picked up for a basketball league and was 7-10 from three and this is an international 3, not that easy college 3 point line!!

Tuesday:
Still no money in my account.  I use my lunch break at work to go to the bank and ask if the money was put in my account, it wasnt.  I ask how much money I have in my account now, somehow it has decreased to $10.70.  I take $10 so I can eat at the Costco food court.  I am now the proud owner of .70.  People at the hostel still offer help.  Emma Miles to give me cash for whatever I need.  Fairly certain the .70 is all I will need for rest of the week.  My Co-rec team wins again and I am nearly late for the game as I got off at the wrong bus stop and have to run about 2k in my work clothes.  Pretty sure I am getting an eye infection.

Wednesday (today)
Accounting lady is back from vacation.  I again go to the bank for my daily bank account check.  Maybe one of the most intense moments of the trip thus far, as the teller lets me know there was in FACT a deposit into my account.  3 g's and I am back in business.  I have done a poor job here of explaining how dire a situation I was in.  And just as in this blog I tried to look at the whole thing with humour.  In reality if it wasn't for the great people that I am staying with.........I honestly don't know.  I mean really, I would have had zero money, zero access to money, no cell, and just getting on the internet to beg you guys to Western Union me money would have been insanely difficult.  Thank you again, Emma, Michelle, and Stu, you guys made this nightmare just a major inconvenience.

This will just be a quick one, as I really have figured out how to post pictures and will do a full picture/recent events updates later this week or weekend.

I guess this was not a "quick" status update.

Miss you all still.

Happy birthday Dad!!!!

Packing a lunch

As of July 29th, I rejoined all you working stiffs and took a position at the corporate giant that is Costco. I am not happy about it, but after four months the bank accounts need the income. Here are some thoughts on my first two weeks of work, and a little comparison to how amazing I had it in Issaquah compared to Costco out here. -We do not have any chefs to make my breakfast and lunch everyday and low low costs. Nor do we have an inexpensive cafeteria. We have some fridges, benches, a coke machine, and the worst smelling breakroom of all time. More on that later. I really took Ian and the rest of the Costco cooks for granted, and forgot what is was like trying to assembly a lunch day in and day out. I hate it. -No one in the office uses headphones at their desks at work. Meaning I don't. No more Harry Potter/Jason Bourne books on tape, no more podcasts or hours of music. I sit there in silence and work, or zone out, and the time draaaaaags. That was a perk of the last job that I did not undervalue. I had not read that much since high school, with a loose use of the word "read." - THE BREAKROOM: You ever been in an office and a person heats up fish, and everyone under their breath complains or makes a little jab like "oh god, Jeff nuked some fish, what an ass, we are going to be smelling that for the rest of the day." Even something like popcorn, that smells good, will waft through and office like the bubonic plague. Well in this place, that is about 80% international, most pc way to say that and I do include myself. Most people bring their own lunch- see point 1- this entails mostly of leftovers or meals from their home countries. These are the curries, seafood, and whatever else you could call food. I am sure it tastes good to them, and I might not even mind it that much, however, when you reheat 18 hour old curry chicken, and open that container, its not just a smell, it makes your eyes bleed. I have been eating my meals out in the blazing sun and gusting wind to avoid it, and now I am the anti-social American, which is fine with me! -My Headphones trick- In order to avoid conversation with most people I put headphones in my ears, sometimes with nothing playing, that way they leave you alone. Not in this place. I am semi-flattered that people have US questions for me or would just like to get to know me a little better, but mostly I don't care and would like to be lest alone. This has to be some sort of problem with me, but I am never going to be best friends with these people, therefore if you see the headphones, leave me alone. -Monday Meetings: We all gather in huge room, whole office, and talk about last week and whats coming up. This is the whole office, about 80 people, 5 of whom are listening and we have a family dinner discussion. My god. That is just the tip, but I see this is getting kind of long, so I will just make this round one of things at work I would like to complain about. I almost left of 7 minute commute, has turned into hour and 15 minutes. Thank god for podcasts!!!! Not sure if I mentioned this before, but at the local basketball courts there was a guy wearing a Russel Wilson shirt. That is pretty cool- picture to follow when my laptop arrives. I have been staying in a dump for the past 3 weeks, but its been worth it because I have had my own room. Last night a nice french couple magically appeared on the other bed when I got home from work. I felt like my world was shattered. They are nice enough, but I got up this morning and tip toed around and felt bad about every noise I made. Needless to say the search for a new place has reached def con 1 priority. Heard the Hawks won, that is great. I will be getting up around 5am on Sundays to go watch college football. Pros will be "watched" from my desk at work. My fantasy draft will be at 6am on a Tuesday morning. I am going to miss football this year...... I mentioned earlier that I may have lost some man cards since arriving in Australia. The first being the incident with the snake, but I can defend that because the two weeks before I left Issaquah Head Basketball coach Jason Griffith was sending my youtubes top ten most deadliest snakes and engaging me in conversations about which snake was going to be the one to take me out. I am not scared of snakes, but snakes in the wild at a swimming hole. No thanks. The second card was easily lost because I started watching and liking the show Gossip Girl. Now again to defend myself I have ZERO tv options. This was off a hard drive I copied from fellow travelers and after having watched all of Modern Family (again) and all of Big Bang (again), and just about every movie on there, I turned to the dark side. Well the show is terrible and pretty much a NY version of the OC, and I love it. I suck. I do think I deserve a card back for the hellacious drive up the coast, it got a bit dodgy there for a stretch and I toughed it out. I lose another card however, because I recently signed up for a Men's basketball league. I told them my experience, age, height and skill level. They put me in a co-rec league. I'm not that bad yet, come on. This is a stupid story that blew my mind and I might be typing it just so I don't ever forget, but last Saturday I saw the same guy and girl three separate times over two hours apart in very different locations. That would be like not only running into a stranger that you were somehow able to recognize 3 separate times, but seeing them on Queen Anne, Bellevue, and then one last time on the bus coming home from a Seahawks game. I think I recognized him because he was probably selling drugs, was 6'5 and with an Indian fat woman, but still........ I got my haricut yesterday, first paid for haircut in 4 months, $10. First good deal since I arrived. And as promied here are the signs that you are travelling on a budget/backpacking (I or someone I know, really these are most likely all me, but if its embarassing, then at least I can say that one wasn't me, has done everything on this list) -You can easily go a day without going to the bathroom, and not going to the bathroom, I mean going inside a bathroom, no shower, no teeth brushing, nada. -Go through 2 razors in 3 months. the travel beard looks terrible, is easy to manage and cost effective. Does mess with your face tan. -Ask strangers or whoever you can to cut your hair, and strangly it turns out looking bad. -You did powerhour is box wine. You know it as Franzia, here it is Goon. Cheap and effective. -Sleep in your car. -Worn the same pair of underwear, or a bathing suit acting as underwear for a undesired length of time. I did this in college as well. -CLEANED your plate at every meal. Does not matter if the food was good, you are not wasting it or the $$ -Had the same $20 bill in your wallet for two straight weeks. Not spending money and getting by is an art that you don't really get to do at home. I have created my Opus on this trip. -Added to your wardrobe with an array of others people clothes that don't really fit. Thanks Kar for the jacket, I got the zipper to work even. -This one was great. Stayed in a restaurant for an hour after you are done eating to not only get hunger again and eat some more, but beacuse they were running back to back reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It was like we died and went to heaven, and got seconds. -Bartered taxi fares to the point of pitting them against each other. I don't go by the meter, just what is in my wallet, what I am willing to pay, and how bad does this guy want it. I am bringing this practice home with me. -Walked for miles and miles and miles because you are lost or too cheap to pay for transport. -Gone out sober with your friends, remained that way the whole time. -And, as my sister and mom recently learned, the feeling you got as a kid the night before and then subsequently the morning of christmas, well that is what the words FREE WIFI are. Like unwrapping your new Zeplin. Again sorry for no pictures and also if the format is weird, it made me type this is HTML for some reason. Hate HTML. Ill fix it later if I can from a different computer. Miss you all and also Congratualtions to Mykel and Stacey on ending their 18 year engagement and tying the knot this weekend. Really wish I could have been there for this one too. Scott

Retraction, sort of

If you know me well, you probably know that I am not good at admitting that I was wrong or did wrong.  I will argue something that I was blatantly wrong about into the ground until you just submit.  I am working on that, and wanted to take this time to say that I was a bit hard on Kim and Karly previously.  I did a great job of painting the picture of them and anchors and such.  Well that could not be further than the truth. (Except when it came to planning and driving, but they were on vacation!!)

They were both troopers from start to finish.  Staying places that were too small (Surfer's Paradise, the car), too dingy (just about all of them), or just had bad weather.  I was honored that they both came all the way down to Australia to visit for me for a whole month and will cherish it for the rest of my life.  These are the reasons I made this pilgrimage.  To make memories that will never be taken away no matter how broke I get.  I wanted to say publicly to both of them that their visit already made this all worth it and I hope we start to make this a tradition of some sort.

I addition on the 43/50 states, I mean they did not work well together, were too excited, and might have had a cocktail or two and rather than waste time they moved on to the next challenge.  The entire thing had a time limit.  Yeah, 43 out of 50 is still pretty bad though!!!

-Mattie and Dev-

I know I put it on Facebook, but I wanted to say again congratulations to two of my favorite people on getting married this past Friday.  Very happy and proud of you both and if you get the time in the upcoming weeks, I would love to hear about the event, since I was not there to get too drunk and attempt to steal your thunder.  You guys are the best.  Devin are you taking her last name??

For the past 6 days I have been on a house search the likes of which you have never seen.  I figure since I have started working its time to get out of the hostels and shitty hotels.  I have been to about every part of this city.  Seen places with 4 people living in the living room, shacks in the middle of nowhere for $180 a week (they do it by the week here), and a place that had to have snakes, it had to!  Locals have described the areas I have been going to as Middle Earth, and N'va, as in never going to see you again.  I even managed to look at a place that was in the projects.  Well I saw where I was headed and when I saw 4 high rises in an area where high rises made zero sense I turned around and walked away.  It was straight out of the wire minus the couch in the middle of the terrace and D'angelo (Max/Egan). 

So I finally narrowed it down to 2. 

House #1- In a great part of the city, seconds from the train that I will be taking everyday to work, cheap, by the park where I have been playing basketball.  Not a very clean kitchen, small bathrooms, and my room will make you laugh when I post pictures.  Its so tiny that I am not sure I can even fit my 3 total outfits in there.  There are about 6 roommates, what is about 6??  Nice backyard and free wifi (huge)

House #2- Also in a great part of the city, no hoops, seconds from a different train, right next to the famous King St, which is an area just like Cap Hill, but just one long awesome street.  Clean and huge kitchen, 1 bathroom, 6 roommates for sure.  More expensive, like $300 a month more.  HUGE room, that comes with a flat screen and a ps2.  Here is the catch, no noise after 10 pm, no guests, and no fun.  Its like the town from Footloose.

I chose house #1, and will stay there, make some money and then move to a place like house 2 without the rules.  Hard to say no to that tv and PS2 though.  I am not in Australia to watch tv, I guess.

No more for now.  Next post will most likely be a shout out to another wedding, the signs of a backpacker, first week at Costco, and how I have lost almost all my man cards Australia gave me at customs.

Happy Sunday to all.

Scott

The Return.......

Not of the blog, although I finally figured out that I could get 7 hours free internet at the library, but this post marks my triumphant return to......................

COSTCO.  I start Monday.  I am thrilled.  Just thrilled.

Going to be working in the "Sydney" corporate office, doing whatever they want to pay me to do.  I say "Sydney bc its about 12 train stops outside of Sydney.  I am actually very happy to be back at Costco, where I know I will be taken care of, its just the working part that is no good.  Best part of the interview, "We work from about 8ish to, ah heck, whenever they let you go."

I am going to try my best here to recap what has happened since Fraser Island.  Surely I am going to miss stuff and will fill in the blanks on future posts.  I also have an exciting segment of "Wow, Kim, Wow" hilarious quotes from my mom, and a post about backpacker life for those who have never had the pleasure.  I might throw those in here if I have time.  Library closes soon.

I forgot to mention that I have added to my animals seen list since last post so here is the running tally.
- Saw some possums (not opossums) in the park.  A 12 year old kid was feeding them apples and trying to hold them.
- I smashed a ??? driving up to Cairns, we briefly saw it and heard the crunch
- The car in front of me smashed a snake and the guts got on my windshield a bit, Ill count that as me killing a snake.
- FINALLY, saw a shark snorkeling the Whitsundays.  Was with Karly, saw it, and took off after it.  It was about my size and would have chomped me in two if I hadn't had my serious face on.  We stared into each others souls and knew if either attacked we'd both end up dead.
- Bats, duh
- Eels, creepy
- Turtles, they don't do much, I don't really see the fascination
- Bulls on the road.  Kinda like the Rage Against the Machine song, "Bulls on Parade," but not like that at all cause they never move.
- Roos
- A suicidal wallaby that attached us for our chips.  I have hence stopped eating chips.
- Huge lizards, slightly smaller then the ones in the last Bond movie
- and a tree in the Sydney botanical gardens that when it heats up the nectar ferments and the birds that drink it get drunk and fall out of the tree.  I didn't "see" this cause its like 65 here, but imagining it was funny, and Ill be back to that exact spot when it heats up to watch.

Well, F, I just tried to load all the pictures that will make all this funnier and they are not allowed by my system admin.  SO, I will do it at Costco "after" my shift is over.  Sorry, maybe that will lead to my all photo blog post.

Since Airlie, Karly, Kim and I headed on a terror drive up the coast stopping to sleep twice.  Once in a tiny motel that had amazing wifi (funny what you judge places on these days).  And then stopping again once we got to Cairns to sleep in the car.  Big ups to Kim Hall for sleeping in a car for a night.  I mean we got there at about 4:00 AM and didn't really have a choice, but still impressive.  The next morning we also killed the battery, were late returning the car and had no place to stay.  Leave it to me to find the Avis car return and place to stay.  I wish I could take credit for this, but as luck should have it they were right next to each other.  NEXT DOOR, in a fairly large city. 

If you google maps the drive from Sydney, NSW to Cairns QLD, I think its about 28 hours give or take.  I drove about 26 of it.  The girls were a great help-disadvantage!!! 

The Halls made a brieif stop in the hellhole that is Airlie Beach for a quick day trip into the Whitsundays.  We snorkeled, ate on the beach, and kinda just putt around for a bit.  It was a nice break from the car.  After that it was straight to Cairns and the 10 day or so stay.  We stayed at the Koala something or other and had a nice big room.  The sun and rain were off and on so I was not able to get my tan back before heading back to Sydney, which was a bummer since I am headed to the office for the next 6 months.  I have other Cairns stories, but will save them until I can post these pictures.

We flew back to Sydney on a 5:50 AM flight and moved on to our amazing sleeping quarters atop The Strand Hotel (hotel means bar in Australia).  So, this place is a dump and I am still here.  The price is right and since I am going broke (Spent $100 the last 5 days and that is including $76 for a room), I am calling it home until I get a paycheck. 

The girls had 3.5 days to see as much of the city as they could and we about saw it all.  This was my third tour around town, so I was getting much better at getting around.  We stopped at the Opera House and even took in a one man show of all three Star Wars movies.  It was pretty good, but overpriced.  Saw the bridge, botanical gardens, Darling Harbour, Paddy's Market, and some other stuff.

Time for some bullet points

- I am no longer addicted to Candy Crush, due to the fact that I have extended the date range on my phone past 2030 and I cant get anymore lives.  I was lazy and when I needed more I just moved the date ahead a year, thus tricking the game into giving me more lives as it thought time had passed, well you run out of space at 2030 on I pods, so I quit.  I am not starting over (I will, lots of train rides in my future).

- Finished another Ender Book.  That makes 6 of 8.  Please link over to my other blog of Ender's Game reviews to see my full thoughts.  For now, "They are pretty good" is all I have to say.

- The rooms in the Whitsundays all have a flag on them; there are about 170 of them or something like that.  We had the American Flag room.  Top 10 happiest I have been on this trip.

- TOP 3 KIM HALL QUOTES

3. "What was that first Finding Nemo movie called??  Was it Little Mermaid?
- Kim Hall, while trying to list as many Disney movies as possible for a mother daughter Amazing Race

2.  "Is there a West Virginia"
- Kim Hall when attempting to name all 50 states in the same challenge.  Karly and Kim are teachers.  They got 43/50, quit and took the 7 penalty drinks.  They missed 7!!!!!!!!

and this is barely a quote but the situation was amazing

1.  "Karly I am going to need your eyes...."
Karly- Cuts Mom off and replies "They are on your head"
- Kim and Karly as mom was about to ask for her daughter's help in finding her glasses.  Sad, funny, senior moment, anyway you look it, I laughed for about 5 minutes.

- Kim cut my hair and I am surprised I was hired at Costco, they obviously do not have hair standards.  Can't wait to meet the rest of the staff.

- During our European trip Karly discovered Arrested Development, well on this trip it was Modern Family.  She cruised from season 1 to finishing season 3 in about 3 days. 

HUSKY FANS
- We arrived the the Koala and were greeted by some nice girls at reception.  I was greeted with a go Cougs, as I had my UW shorts on.  I turned and began talking to two girls that went to WSU.  One even went to Skyline.  So that is UW/Issaquah talking to WSU/Skyline.  The next day that same girl came to clean my room.  I could not help myself.
"So you took the advanced cleaning up after UW grads class while at WSU and skipped serving me fries." Day 1 of her cleaning
"This has to be the highlight of your vacation, cleaning my room" Day 2.
- She never came back............

Things I need in a care package
-Gum (picture of how much it costs coming in next post)
-Right Guard white deodorant (They only use spray here and someone needs to tell them it only lasts about 2 hours)
-Diet Pepsi, doesn't exist

Ok, that is it for today.  Next up, pictures, backpacking insights, and my first day/week of work.

Pray for me,

Scott