Branson is a genius!

I had pretty high expectations of Vaustralia, based on my love of VirginBlue and I have to say, I was not disappointed. The only thing I didn't like about my VA1 flight from Sydney to LAX was the fact it took 13 hours - and that isn't their fault!

Naturally, I wanted to fly International Business Class. Even more naturally, I flew in economy. The seats we a fraction bigger than regular, the plane was configured in three rows of three instead of the 747 style three-four-three. The entertainment system was impressive, food pretty reasonable and as one could expect from a Virgin airline, the staff were fantastic. Airline crews with a personality always impress me but also strike me as an essential ingredient to a good flight.

Arriving at LAX around peak time still wasn't as bad as I expected, although my luggage took forever and just knowing I was minutes down the road from a shower and a bed made the wait seem unbearable. The Sheraton Gateway looked big an impressive on arrival. The room is quite okay, great value for the price (US$95). At this point I didn't care about the worn surface on the bath and the not-so-Sofitel bed, I just needed a shower and somewhere to crash.

I did learn a thing or two about Californian taxation before heading to sleep. They will get you any way they can! I can't understand how Arnie has no money when I can pay $22 tax on the purchase of a phone package that cost $70!! They set the taxation at the 'full value' of the phone ($220) not the $20 it actually retails for! Then of course there was the $43 room service hamburger ($14 plus $10 for drinks, then tips, room service fee and of course, more tax). I had forgotten that by the time you pay tax and gratuities, you can easily add 30-50% to the price of anything. To those of you who got pissy about Howard's 10% GST that is included by default in the published price, get over it! Life seems so simple back home...

Anyway, just a quick rant to get the ball rolling more than anything, in about an hour or so I head back to the airport for a four-or-so hour flight to Chicago. I am very glad I didn't go straight through like last year. The shorter haul and a nights sleep in between means I won't sleep for the first three days of my trip like last year! Maybe the week off work helped a little too...

And so the journey begins again...

It is day two of the latest instalment of my epic struggle. Actually, it might be about day 60, I can never be sure when it is time to say the last attempt was a failure and that I'm starting again. I've started and stopped continuously for as long as I can remember, and in ernest for the last five years. Yesterday, I started again...

In case you are wondering, I am not talking about my ongoing search for love, happiness and success. Well, not entirely. I am talking about my single biggest battle, the one thing I have yet to gain any traction on, in spite of my other successes. I am talking about weight loss. Yep, my one epic fail.

I have had some short term wins after various attempts at the latest good idea. Notably were the great results I got from Tony Ferguson, however the results only lasted a week or two because the program is almost a starvation diet. It's Atkinsesque zero tolerance for carbohydrates drove me to the point of distraction. I love carbs. Simple. I love breads, I love breads with wine, I love breads with wine and cheese. Take those three things away from me and I have little reason to live! I have also tried a series of other things over the years - from Anthony Robbins detox, some NLP and more recently the Biggest Loser online.

Some of them have taught me lessons - some good, some less helpful. Robbins taught me that humans were never meant to go without meat and bread. Veganism is crazy! Whilst I am sure it is founded in a series of morally good principles, my body has needs and they were not met. Tony Furguson got me thinking about portion control and whilst I was never a big eater I still learned that my small (and indeed everyone else's) was not quite small enough. Unfortunately, I again learned that life without carbs is a life not worth living. The closest I have come so far is the Biggest Loser online. It prescribes a sensible menu, lets me have toast for breakfast and provides a great way to keep track of my daily calorie intake. It even plots it against my calorie burning for the day, based on my basal metabolic rate plus exercise. Alas, it is the latest in my hall of shame. Whilst it is a great system, it is time intensive. It takes time to keep track of every single thing you eat - looking it up on the menu, adding it, weighing portions, etc. If you want to save time on all of that, you can use the eating plan they provide. You then have to print a shopping list and spend hours wandering the aisles of Safeway trying to find 200gms of this and one sprig of that. Then, when you get home and unpack it all, you are faced with the stark realisation that the 4.2 minutes of free time you have in your life each day are now going to be consumed cutting, preparing and cooking. To make matters worse, you then need to eat it and clean up. It gets tough in the mornings having to prepare a whole day of food... and get it to work, and bring the things home and, well, you get my drift.

Enter Lite'n'Easy. They originally didn't deliver to the end of the Earth, or Sydenham. Fortunately, they now come as far as Sydenham which, consequently, is only a stones throw away from the end of the Earth. I've received my first order, an esky full of food neatly packed into "Day 1 Fridge" and "Day 1 Freezer", etc. The excellent news is, I need to grab a bag and go, I just need to heat stuff up. Suddenly, the issue of me being time poor is addressed.

So what are the likely challenges? Well, now I am eating five smaller meals a day - so my metabolism appears to be functioning normally. I have gone from a two meal a day average, and even then I could mostly have survived on one - to developing an incredible hunger that is only just met every couple of hours. Realising this of course is probably a good thing, I battle on.

The only other challenge that I imagine will be stronger than my will is my lifestyle. I will get through this week, get my next delivery, get through that week, then I am off to a conference for a week. Last time I checked, it was hard to get an esky with a weeks meals on a plane and then eat them at a conference. So I'm hoping I can still stick to a decent eating plan and then get back on the wagon when I get home.

The lifestyle thing is the next big challenge. It has made going to the gym really tough so far too. Somehow, in this crazy and hectic life I have created for myself, I need to find some routine - that's a story for another day.

A

...at last my friends, I say goodbye.

Wow, what an amazing trip! I write this sitting at the desk in my hotel room where I have been begging for more sleep. It's no surprise that on my last night in the USA I was out until 4am or thereabouts.

Rather than tell you about the number of drinks I had last night with the guys, I feel like some kind of chunked up summary is a better option.

Over the last couple of days I have met some amazing friends. Amazing in the sense that they have been so kind to spend so much time with me and amazing in the sense that they are so good to each other. David and Jeff have kept me laughing every minute of every day even when the things that have happened have realistically been anything but funny! Last night was certainly no exception, dinner and drinks with Melissa, Joe Gray, David, Jeff, Sam, Sam, Steve, Steve and David was a possibly the biggest highlight of my trip to Chicago.

I want to come back to Chicago, as much as I want to go back to New York. I feel like coming back to Chicago though would almost be like coming home, USA style. I've been shown the city right through to the outer suburbs and feel like I really need some more time here. David turned around last night and said "don't go home, don't worry about your flight, just stay longer". I laughed and said no way but secretly started plotting how I could work that out and what the consequences would have been! I guess somewhere in there I had a moment of rational thought and stopped myself from just calling AirNZ and cancelling my flights - it was tempting.

Suffice to say, this has been the best 3 week "vacation" I have ever had, I've seen and learned so much and now have a few really good reasons to come back. It's only a matter of time...

Better late than never!

I am impressed that some people have actually noticed the lack of my daily blog... Let me explain, it's mostly simple. I arrived in Chicago on Friday night after yet another horrid experience with Kevin Rudd Airlines (United Airlines say Sorry a hell of a lot) and was pretty wrecked. The real reason though, before starting my chronology of events is that I haven't had a photo to post because every time I have pulled out my camera I have remembered that my memory card is back here in my laptop so no pics!

Believe me, I'm in Chicago!

Saturday was a really early start, I got picked up by Steve from Red Cross at 6am to head out to Aurora (just under an hour west of Chicago) to see the Team Firestoppers event being run by the team over here. We get out there and I meet up with David who runs it and his buddy Jeff - Jeff was along to play with the Comms truck they were showing off for the day. Being childishly excited by cool toys, I spent the first two hours hanging out with Jeff checking out their gear - satellites, radios, 52 feet masts and the scariest little childrens toy you will ever see (more on that another day :P). It was a seriously impressive rig but we had some site selection issues and I didnt get to see the satellite connection all fired up in the morning.

I then went in and saw the Team Firestopper seminar which was being held in partership with the fire service to teach the vulnerable parts of the community about fire safety. Whilst there were no more satellite dishes and crazy cool toys, it was incredibly effective. The opportunity to partner with our fire brigades and do something very similar is quite exciting because the program has a visible impact on the participants and goes along way to getting them "REDi" to prevent and prepare for housefires.

David, Jeff and I then grabbed some lunch at "Outback" the USA's attempt at a genuine Aussie experience. Laughably and perhaps not so surprisingly, I struggled to find one thing about the place that was even remotely Australian - having pointed out that Fosters doesn't count, since we can't even buy it! Lunch was good none-the-less and we then ventured out on a bit of a suburban shopping trip. Now this was enlightening! I got to see a real Abercrombie & Fitch store and the all time American Shopping Extravaganza that is Costco. Costco is the Bunnings of grocery shopping, it's big, bulk and cheap. CK Jeans for $23, Movado watches for $300 and the list goes on. I also bought a USA bomber jacket for $14.98 at Jen's favourite store, Steve and Barry's.

We then got to go and play with the ECRV (Comms Truck) again and set it up on a good site. It reminded me how much I used to love doing comms in St John and made me think a lot about how much a small amount of enabling technology could make the absolute world of difference for Red Cross back home. After that it was off to a nice place called Carmines for dinner. It was Italian and some of the nicest food I have had in the USA.

Sunday was brunch in Algonquin, yes Jen - we went there! - with David and Jeff, followed by a follow up visit to a cheap suit place where I put aside a couple of suits for prices I can't imagine. Just for Matty, when we got back into the city I went to the Apple Store. It was enormous and packed full of Apple heads just playing with stuff - really cool. David and I headed north for some drinks and dinner before retiring for the day.

Today I went into the Red Cross office for the first of three pretty full on days. I spent the morning meeting and greeting and chatting with people in the various parts of their Disaster Services department. I learned about the administrative systems behind the residential fire response programs before grabbing lunch with some Americorps people (something else we should do in Australia) and heading out to see their warehouse. When we got back I got to go out on a fire response where the house had been destroyed and see the team in full swing. The level of financial assistance is lower than back home but delivered in a really timely way and it allows a good bit of personal support to happen early in the piece. I'm absolutely convinced, having seen the impact on the client, that this is the way for us to go. I can already start to picture how we can tailor the program to start out with the resource levels we have and I can certainly see the potential for doing things on a much grander scale.

So for Mairead, I can see applications for us of best practice, national guidelines and minimum standards. I also think that across Victoria, we would probably operate at different levels. There are elements of the New York way that I think we would be best to use and elements of the Chicago way. I can't wait to tease some of that out with Jen and talk over the differences between NY and Chicago.

I had dinner tonight with the Disaster Action Team leadership group of staff and volunteers at Goose Island Brewery. It's a nice little spot not too far away with nice and pretty unique beers.

Tomorrow is a pretty full day again, meetings, presentations and hopefully one or two more fire responses for me. Not sure of the dinner plans tomorrow night, but I'm pretty sure it will involve a couple of drinks and a good laugh with David and Jeff and whoever else we manage to drag along with us!

It's probably worth me mentioning some of the things you want to hear about Chicago, since I imagine you're not too concerned about how much of a good time I am having doing work stuff. Chicago really is a beautiful city, certainly much cleaner and friendlier than New York, but not as busy, bright and exciting. The area I am staying in is down town, just opposite the lake that looks like an ocean, and is bordered by really nice parks and gardens. The architecture here is pretty amazing, as is my hotel room! I could certainly live in a city like Chicago.

I hope all is well back home, and although I am not looking forward to another 34 hour journey, I am looking forward to being home.

Ads

Last stop Grand Central Terminal

I will start this post with a massive sigh.

I think I have taken this New York thing too literally, here I am awake after 2am again - it's the Adam that never sleeps, not the city! No idea what it's all about, and I swear it's not the litre of Mountain Dew and sugary goodness that is responsible.

So a quick recap on yesterday, as I said in my last post, a quiet day really, I did a little souvenir shopping then got organised to head off to see Spring Awakening again. This time from seats on the stage, which was kind of cool, it added a different perspective and I got to see some of the technical elements of the show. I also got bashed a couple of times by the microphone stand as they threw it aside on their way off the stage in the dark. There are some really talented performers on Broadway though. Often times I think we associate true talent with the level of celebrity someone has that normally comes from the screen. Hunter Parrish has done four seasons of a popular show in the US and rates performing on Broadway more challenging. Interesting... he needn't be concerned, he was brilliant, again.

I was walking back past the comedy club just in time for the 10.30 show so I went in for that before heading home. Truly the most awful ever. I resented drinking the two drink minimum because it meant I would have to tip them, for an awful show.

I got to sleep quite late and then almost slept in for my breakfast appointment with Prof Goldsmith. Fortunately after a very rushed trip to the Grand Hyatt (WOW by the way) he was also running late. The poor guy was in a right state of affairs, having been held up in his previous appointment, having his wallet stolen and having to borrow $2 for the fair to get downtown to meet me! Any way, we caught up for coffee and some NY Cheesecake which was awesome. Whilst we only got to chat briefly as we both had to head off before mid day, it was nice catching up, I only wish we had done so earlier in my trip.

Then it was the moment I had been least waiting for - check out and come to the airport. After stuffing my bags to the point of bursting, i jumped in a cab and came to the airport hotel I am in right now. After a dinner of disgustingly cheesy NY pizza i tried to get off to sleep, freaking out about having to be up at 6 to get to the airport early enough for my flight to Chicago.

About an hour ago I thought I would do the web check in thing to save some time and drama in the morning... and in a true demonstration of United Airlines complete and unmitigated incompetence, I found my flight had been cancelled! So now I'm booked in for a later flight which means a sleep in, but it also means that right now I could still be in the little wine/piano bar I found last night, enjoying my last night in this magic city. Oh well, my pokey little room will do.

All up, despite any of my rambling in the last ten posts, and in case it is not obvious, this is the best money (multiplied by 1.442, thanks George W.) I have ever spent. I am already trying to work out when the next best time to come to New York would be. I imagine it is after a substantial lottery win, but never-the-less.

My Chicago trip is going to be fairly full on, Jen has planned an action packed Red Cross schedule for me. I'm a little relieved about that actually, two weeks off work completely (almost) has been great for me but I have realised how much I also need to work. I need a vehicle to express my passion for doing stuff and although I needed a break, I equally need to get back to being productive. There is an enormous sense of satisfaction for me in doing things that matter and seeing Broadway shows over and over doesn't quite cut it! Having said that, I did elude to a need to be a bit more balanced about things in an earlier post and I still agree with that. In all senses a bit of calm and balance won't kill me overall.

If you have been reading along over the last fortnight, I want to say thanks for sticking it out with me. On reflection, I think this trip has been more eye opening for me than I have been able to document. Every kids first international journey is life changing, I got here late, but I think in so many ways it has still had the impact it would have if I was fresh out of school. Being somewhere unfamiliar, on my own, so far from all of my comforts can only have added something to the way I see the world.

As it turns out this blog has been more a way for me to keep a personal record of my trip than it has been to keep you up to speed on anything exciting or interesting about New York. I hope you haven't minded being too exposed to the inner workings of me.

Much love,
Adam

"Always Remember"

Yesterday was a big day! I saw more of New York yesterday than all up so far by taking a 3 hour cruise around Manhattan Island. There is about 120 photos of New York from the water on my facebook and I could honestly have taken about 10 times that many but figured I wouldn't remember what most of it was anyway! The tour guide on the boat had written a book about New York's history so we got a lot more than just "thats the Empire State Building" - we got the full story behind the competition between Empire State and Chrysler to be the biggest, we saw the memorial to a dead bankrupt president and the Medieval Musuem lodged up on a hill.

He explained the construction of every one of the 20 bridges around the island, every old building and the fortresses that were originally installed to protect New York. It was a really good tour and it really helped to understand this place in more detail - only making me love it more of course!

After that I caught up with Charlie from Red Cross and he took me down to Ground Zero. I didn't take any photos, it just didn't feel right to glorify the scene. Right now, it is heavily under construction, all of the footings are almost complete for the new Freedom Tower. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the 9/11 story from Charlie, there were a couple of other cool things I had learned about Ground Zero. The US Navy is about to commission a new ship, built using the steel from the World Trade Center towers - "On September 11 2001, our nation's enemies brought their fight to New York. The USS New York will now bring the fight to our nation's enemies well into the future." I couldn't think of a more fitting tribute to the fallen than to reconstruct our great losses, which can never be replaced, into a battle ship that stands for the freedom of the American (and indeed Western democratic) people.

As we parked on the North East corner of the WTC site, Charlie started recounting his day for me. Starting 20 minutes after he dropped his kids off at school, to the call as Deputy Fire Chief about the collapse. On arrival at the scene he was charged with establishing the medical team and areas. The North West Corner, by the Marriott was the chosen site to begin with. Moments after starting up he heard what he thought was a car bomb, little could be seen through the dust, at that point the buildings began to collapse. The Marriott fell around he and his buddies. Trapped for what seemed like an eternity but was only 20 minutes, they struggled out of the rubble and sea of bodies carrying as many others as they could. He went on to tell me that the collapse of the second tower was so powerful the remainder of his team were blasted across the road and through the plate glass windows of the World Financial Centre. Another struggle ensued to escape the wreckage and rubble, sharing breathing equipment with other fire fighters to get through. It took him more than hour to struggle 80 feet across the atrium of the financial centre and out the other side. Desperate, with eyes burning and every car and fire truck near by in flames, Charlie made it to the deli across the road. We stood there looking at the place through the window as he described getting in and pouring water, soda, anything all over his face heal the pain of his burning eyes and so he could see again. At that point a voice calls to him "Are you Charlie?" he looks down and sees a photo journalist he had known for 20 years, the guy had been dragged there after the first evacuation, with a broken leg. Charlie and a buddy then took him down to the pier, where everyone in Manhattan was heading to jump on the rows and rows of boats moving people from New York to New Jersey.

We walked down to the pier and saw the memorial. It is low key, which is appropriate, but all the same it is beautiful. We then talked about him losing his brother in law, a fellow fire fighter and hundreds of his colleagues. His brother in law was found on New Years Day, on the previous evening his two sons (Charlie's nephews) had graduated the Fire Academy to become fire fighters themselves.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind me recounting the tale, although I have missed a lot of the detail, I think you can get the picture about how much 9/11 is still so real for so many New Yorkers. Hearing the story standing in the World Financial Center looking out over the site is an experience I will never forget, or more fittingly, to use the motto on the posters all around New York - Always Remember.

By this stage we needed a beer. We went for a short drive up to McSorley's ale house - one of the oldest ale houses in New York and largely in original condition. Built in 1854, it features just two beers, light or dark, and is complete with sawdust on the floor. After a couple beers we moved on to Virgils BBQ, for some American style BBQ ribs and burgers before calling it a night.

Yesterday was definitely my favourite day in New York so far, the afternoon was beautiful, the evening very moving. I've got an FDNY pin on my lanyard now, I'll wear that with pride and respect.

Today is a much quieter day, not a lot left that I desperately want to do. I'm off to see Spring Awakening again from on-stage seats this time. Tommorrow morning I catch up with Professor Barry Goldsmith - a professor of comedy, no less, and good friend of Veronica from work. In the afternoon I head on out of Manhattan to the hotel I am staying at overnight to catch a plane to Chicago early Friday morning.

I'm coming home - almost with a sense of reluctance - people were right, New York really is me. Despite that, I miss you all and can't wait to be home to see you again.

Adam

Oh man, my head hurts [We are sailing (reprise)]

I didn't post last night, and that's probably a good thing! After the fall I had when I got home, resulting in me hitting my head on a cabinet I thought that perhaps I'd had a little too much to drink so I shouldn't try to type!

Let me explain :P

The day started out innocently enough with a beautiful stroll through Central Park. I think I only got about two thirds of the way through it before realising that I had walked half way across Manhattan and that I had probably had enough! There were some street parades going on as well that added to what was a pretty nice afternoon.

I got back home and then on a whim, decided I would go and see Altar Boyz again and this time meet the cast afterward. After the show, which I loved again, a mother and daughter celebrating her 16th birthday and I were the only ones hanging back to meet the guys. We met them at the stage door and chatted for a bit before heading on to the bar. This my friends is where my night began! Long story short, I drank a lot. It was one of the guys last shows so there were shots, many shots. I fell out of there some 3 hours later and started the journey home (about 4 blocks). On the way I somehow, quite randomly, started chatting with a couple of Navy guys who were in NYC for a couple days. The chatted ended up at O'Flahertys and five hours later I came home. Whilst we were there we got talking to a Canadian couple who were great value, especially after the boys left (3am ship curfew, sucked in!).

I woke this morning, not feeling so good. Not good at all. The guy from Red Cross who was going to show me around and take me out for drinks called to say something had come up (relieved at the prospect of not have to drink within the next few hours) and that we couldn't meet up today. He managed to get me on a ride along though with one of their Disaster Response trucks. We got to see a couple of house fires and I learned a fair bit about the way we could be doing things back home. It's a fraction different in New York to what I have heard about Chicago but I am sure that both will provide valuable lessons.

I finished up at RC at 9.30 tonight and got a phone call from McCoy - one of the two Navy guys I was drinking with last night. So we caught up again and drank some more. All a little tamer tonight than last night because they had the Cinderella curfew tonight (midnight for those playing at home) as they leave for New Jersey tomorrow morning. They've been great fun to hang around, well, any company at all would be good but to hang out with some reasonably intelligent Americans (They're Navy Meteorologists) was kind of cool.

I haven't decided what adventures tomorrow will bring yet, although the clock is ticking and there are still some things to do. The good news is that my sleep patterns have finally settled in. Tomorrow night though, I'm heading out for a drink with Charlie, the Director of Response for RC in NYC and Wednesday night I see another show. Thursday night I behave because I have to be at a hotel in the middle of nowhere to get to La Guardia airport on time for Friday morning to head to Chicago. It's a shame that I can't do too much on my last night in this amazing city but never-the-less, just being here is enough.

Lets see what tomorrow brings. That is all.