30 July 2010 - Work Week 2:
Spent some time each day with a new Underwriter in the Melbourne office reviewing various underwriting topics. Remainder of days spent working on couple of specific clients being handled by the Underwriter in the Sydney office, and when get to Sydney next week will continue to work on these clients. Also, will be spending time in Sydney with the new Underwriter there and with two new Account Managers.
Couple of rainy days again this week.
Monday after dropping stuff off at the hotel went for a walk in search of a new restaurant. Along the way passed by an interesting looking store - Wunderkammer which translates to Wonder Chamber. Small place but packed with all kinds of really unique items - very pricey. Items such as: butterflies, moths, spiders and insects framed in glass cases, old medical instruments, fossils, barometers, skeletons, etc. The older gentleman running the shop had a beard and horn-rimmed glasses and was sitting behind a small desk in a corner looking at the accounts book - all handwritten. Not a computer terminal in sight.
Had dinner at the Mitre Tavern nearby the hotel. Indicated to be the oldest building in Melbourne.
Not much to say about Tuesday - did find a good local place for lunch which serves huge bowls of soup. Had a quick sandwich for dinner and then stayed in for the evening.
Wednesday went looking for another restaurant for dinner. Many of the restaurants here have one or two people standing outside to promote the menu. Stopped off at one of these for dinner. First place I have been that actually had kangaroo on the menu. Nope - "'chickened" out - no pun intended, since I did have chicken for dinner.
Thursday evening walked over to the casino at a place called the Crowne Plaza. A huge casino on two levels. The casino is part of a big complex for a hotel, shopping, food court, etc. Had quick dinner there and walked back to the hotel.
Friday - no big deal. Last day in the Melbourne office since will be traveling to Sydney on Saturday. Stopped for a beer at the Mitre Tavern with a group after work, and then back to the hotel to pack up.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
25 July 2010: Sunday (con't.)...
This morning stopped for breakfast at a nearby cafe. There is no way to order just coffee here - it is like everyplace is a Starbucks. My cup of choice is a flat-white with two sugars.
Then walked over to the harbor area where the stadium (Etihad) is also located and where the "footy" match will be played. Etihad has a retractable roof and today is was closed.
See the pictures below...
Couple pictures of outside of building where the FM Global offices are located. 
Inside of Etihad Stadium during the "footy" match. A strange game - a hybrid of rugby and soccer. The playing field is circular and is huge. Four quarters. Two types of goals - six points or one point. Very fast paced and high scoring. The play is pretty physical, but the players are dressed like basketball players in the 1970's. Match I saw was between the Western Bulldogs (Footscray, Victoria) and the Fremantle Dockers (Fremantle, Western Australia). The Bulldogs are ranked in the top eight teams out of 16 in Australia. The score was pretty lopsided - 128 Bulldogs and 58 Dockers.
This morning stopped for breakfast at a nearby cafe. There is no way to order just coffee here - it is like everyplace is a Starbucks. My cup of choice is a flat-white with two sugars.
Then walked over to the harbor area where the stadium (Etihad) is also located and where the "footy" match will be played. Etihad has a retractable roof and today is was closed.
See the pictures below...
Couple pictures of outside of building where the FM Global offices are located.
An area around the harbor has outdoor artwork displays - Cow in Tree.
Inside of Etihad Stadium during the "footy" match. A strange game - a hybrid of rugby and soccer. The playing field is circular and is huge. Four quarters. Two types of goals - six points or one point. Very fast paced and high scoring. The play is pretty physical, but the players are dressed like basketball players in the 1970's. Match I saw was between the Western Bulldogs (Footscray, Victoria) and the Fremantle Dockers (Fremantle, Western Australia). The Bulldogs are ranked in the top eight teams out of 16 in Australia. The score was pretty lopsided - 128 Bulldogs and 58 Dockers.
Teams "huddling" during the break between quarters 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.
24 July 2010: Saturday...
Today got away from me and did not get accomplished what I wanted. Plan was first to walk over to the laundry and pick up stuff that had dropped off on Thursday. But, my order was not ready so needed to come back in the afternoon. So, had to head back to the hotel to pick up the things that had planned to get when returned with the laundry. Decided not to walk it back and instead rode the City Circular tram. Nice ride, but took way longer than could have walked it.
Got back to hotel, picked up what I needed and took walk over to the Melbourne Aquarium - see pictures below.
Okay as aquariums go, but lighting kept pretty low. Probably was expecting more than turned out to be. But was good to be inside on account Saturday was a pretty dreary day - chilly and drizzly. Wanted to see the octopus exhibit - too bad that the octopus was sleeping in the corner of its holding tank.
After leaving the aquarium hopped on the City Circular tram and went again to the Victoria Market. Stocked up on some fruit for the week and bought couple of scarves. Picked up a sandwich from one of the vendors.
Today got away from me and did not get accomplished what I wanted. Plan was first to walk over to the laundry and pick up stuff that had dropped off on Thursday. But, my order was not ready so needed to come back in the afternoon. So, had to head back to the hotel to pick up the things that had planned to get when returned with the laundry. Decided not to walk it back and instead rode the City Circular tram. Nice ride, but took way longer than could have walked it.
Got back to hotel, picked up what I needed and took walk over to the Melbourne Aquarium - see pictures below.
Okay as aquariums go, but lighting kept pretty low. Probably was expecting more than turned out to be. But was good to be inside on account Saturday was a pretty dreary day - chilly and drizzly. Wanted to see the octopus exhibit - too bad that the octopus was sleeping in the corner of its holding tank.
After leaving the aquarium hopped on the City Circular tram and went again to the Victoria Market. Stocked up on some fruit for the week and bought couple of scarves. Picked up a sandwich from one of the vendors.
Picture from outside the aquarium of the Yarra River.
Picture of Flagstaff Gardens on north side of city - on way back from Victoria Market.
Friday, July 23, 2010
19 - 23 July 2010: Work Week 1....
Decided not to put something down for each day. After all, who wants to hear much about work.
So far, not feeling that have been great deal of assistance to the office here, but expecting that to change next week when will be starting to work with a new hired (just this week) Underwriter. A new Underwriter has also just been hired in the Sydney office, so will be working with that Underwriter too when get to Sydney. Also, will working there with two new Account Managers. Might have been best to have spent more time in Sydney, but then would not have seen Melbourne.
The work pace here is slower than in the United States but seems a bit more formal, too. Of course, we are working in a center city area, but seems a lot more suits and ties are worn by the men. Have gone out for lunch everyday but one, and lunches are not eat-and-go back to work, but rather 90 minutes or so minimum to chat and eat and relax a bit. Wine to drink at every lunch.
Have had one of the people in office describe Melbourne as more European in style and Sydney more like San Francisco.
During week did need to locate a local laundry. The laundry service at the hotel is way too expensive - AU12.50 to do one dress shirt. The laundry is a bit of a walk to get to, but gets me out to see more of the area.
Interesting items:
-More formal or not, everyone just seems to dress in darker colors
-To Go = Take Away
-Coins = $2, $1, 0.50, 0.20, 0.10 and 0.05 - $2 and $1 are gold colored and others are silver. At end of day, easy to end up with a fist full of coins.
-Restrooms in the FM Global office building are not Men and Women - rather Male and Female
-Letterboxes and not mailboxes
-The office has a "Sickbay" and a shower
-Pound key on phone (#) is the "hash key"
-City streets are very much on a grid system, and generally between each main street is a Lane - a little bit wider than one car. Off from the lanes are many small alleyways. Seems like every alleyway has small shops and cafes. Most of the small cafes are a kitchen, bar and 8 to 12 tables. Lots of Curry, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. I have not been too daring yet on the food selections.
On Friday after work, attended the local "Mid Year Function" (Drinks and Nibbles) that the office holds each year - purely a social event for employees and "partners". (Partners used most times here and not spouses, etc.) This function is a tradition here generally to celebrate the big 30 June/1 July renewal season. At least the function was not preceded by a recounting of operating results, etc.
On Sunday, will be going to a"footy" match = Australia rules football. The office here has seats at one of the local stadiums, so looking forward to that. Several people from the office will also be going so I will have someone to explain the rules.
Enough for now - need to get moving....
Decided not to put something down for each day. After all, who wants to hear much about work.
So far, not feeling that have been great deal of assistance to the office here, but expecting that to change next week when will be starting to work with a new hired (just this week) Underwriter. A new Underwriter has also just been hired in the Sydney office, so will be working with that Underwriter too when get to Sydney. Also, will working there with two new Account Managers. Might have been best to have spent more time in Sydney, but then would not have seen Melbourne.
The work pace here is slower than in the United States but seems a bit more formal, too. Of course, we are working in a center city area, but seems a lot more suits and ties are worn by the men. Have gone out for lunch everyday but one, and lunches are not eat-and-go back to work, but rather 90 minutes or so minimum to chat and eat and relax a bit. Wine to drink at every lunch.
Have had one of the people in office describe Melbourne as more European in style and Sydney more like San Francisco.
During week did need to locate a local laundry. The laundry service at the hotel is way too expensive - AU12.50 to do one dress shirt. The laundry is a bit of a walk to get to, but gets me out to see more of the area.
Interesting items:
-More formal or not, everyone just seems to dress in darker colors
-To Go = Take Away
-Coins = $2, $1, 0.50, 0.20, 0.10 and 0.05 - $2 and $1 are gold colored and others are silver. At end of day, easy to end up with a fist full of coins.
-Restrooms in the FM Global office building are not Men and Women - rather Male and Female
-Letterboxes and not mailboxes
-The office has a "Sickbay" and a shower
-Pound key on phone (#) is the "hash key"
-City streets are very much on a grid system, and generally between each main street is a Lane - a little bit wider than one car. Off from the lanes are many small alleyways. Seems like every alleyway has small shops and cafes. Most of the small cafes are a kitchen, bar and 8 to 12 tables. Lots of Curry, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. I have not been too daring yet on the food selections.
On Friday after work, attended the local "Mid Year Function" (Drinks and Nibbles) that the office holds each year - purely a social event for employees and "partners". (Partners used most times here and not spouses, etc.) This function is a tradition here generally to celebrate the big 30 June/1 July renewal season. At least the function was not preceded by a recounting of operating results, etc.
On Sunday, will be going to a"footy" match = Australia rules football. The office here has seats at one of the local stadiums, so looking forward to that. Several people from the office will also be going so I will have someone to explain the rules.
Enough for now - need to get moving....
Monday, July 19, 2010
19 July 2010:
Okay back to reality and the real reason I am here - to work for the Australia Operations.
The FM Global offices are in the CBD and on the Level 37 of the building where located. The Client Service Manager that I am working for is just back from the US today after two weeks away so did not get off to a quick start, but expecting that will change tomorrow.
The offices are very nice, and the views are terrific! Couple pictures of the view from the office where I will be sitting for the next two weeks. Beats the view of the parking lot that I have in North Olmsted!!!
18 July 2010 - Sunday:
I think that my body clock is just about caught up with the time zone/date line change.
Today started out like a beautiful fall day in Cleveland but ended like a rainy early winter day.
Walked down to the Flinders Street Station. The Melbourne Visitors Center is located across the street at Federation Square so spent some time collecting several brochures and other info. The Station and Square area is a pretty busy place and lots of people out and about. Once it started to drizzle, I figured that I better find a store to pick up an umbrella. (I had intended to bring an umbrella along with me, but.... - forgot!
So, jumped on the free tourist bus and traveled to the Harbor Town Shopping Center. Had to travel all the way to Australia just to buy a new umbrella - go figure.
Ate lunch at a restaurant at the shopping center and got on last bus back into the city. Lots of traffic as there was an Australia rules football (AFL) match at the nearby stadium. I had been thinking about getting a ticket for one of the AFL games this weekend. But will probably go to a match next weekend and use ticket from FM Global.
Couple of pictures below:
This picture for you Luke - all these train tracks, and no trains in sight.
I think that my body clock is just about caught up with the time zone/date line change.
Today started out like a beautiful fall day in Cleveland but ended like a rainy early winter day.
Walked down to the Flinders Street Station. The Melbourne Visitors Center is located across the street at Federation Square so spent some time collecting several brochures and other info. The Station and Square area is a pretty busy place and lots of people out and about. Once it started to drizzle, I figured that I better find a store to pick up an umbrella. (I had intended to bring an umbrella along with me, but.... - forgot!
So, jumped on the free tourist bus and traveled to the Harbor Town Shopping Center. Had to travel all the way to Australia just to buy a new umbrella - go figure.
Ate lunch at a restaurant at the shopping center and got on last bus back into the city. Lots of traffic as there was an Australia rules football (AFL) match at the nearby stadium. I had been thinking about getting a ticket for one of the AFL games this weekend. But will probably go to a match next weekend and use ticket from FM Global.
Couple of pictures below:
This picture for you Luke - all these train tracks, and no trains in sight.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
17 July 2010:
So, now it is Saturday, and I am visiting a few of the sights around Melbourne...
Lots of riding around on the free tourist transportation bus and walking.
Took a lot of pictures, but only downloading a few here. Will be glad to show the rest when I return if anyone is interested to see them. Don't worry, my feelings won't be hurt if no interest to see all the pictures.
Flinders Street Station - main City of Melbourne train station.
Yarra River which runs through the metro Melbourne area.
Yarra River again - looking toward the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground.
View from 88th floor Skydeck of the Eureka Building. Several more to follow - you will know which ones. While on the Skydeck, I did not take advantage of the view by standing in an enclosure (called The Edge) that projects from one side of the building and is 100% glass - including the floor of the enclosure. Heights usually do not bother me, but I decided not to test it for the $12 cost to enter the enclosure.
Royal Botanical Gardens. Not many flowers considering the season here. But, you know the drill - trees, bushes, lakes, ducks and geese, etc.
Only flowers I could find blooming - Camellias.
Still in the Botanical Gardens - building in the background is the Eureka Building with the Skydeck.
Shrine of Remembrance - war memorial.
View of city from steps of Shrine of Remembrance.
So, now it is Saturday, and I am visiting a few of the sights around Melbourne...
Lots of riding around on the free tourist transportation bus and walking.
Took a lot of pictures, but only downloading a few here. Will be glad to show the rest when I return if anyone is interested to see them. Don't worry, my feelings won't be hurt if no interest to see all the pictures.
Flinders Street Station - main City of Melbourne train station.
Yarra River which runs through the metro Melbourne area.
Yarra River again - looking toward the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground. 
View from 88th floor Skydeck of the Eureka Building. Several more to follow - you will know which ones. While on the Skydeck, I did not take advantage of the view by standing in an enclosure (called The Edge) that projects from one side of the building and is 100% glass - including the floor of the enclosure. Heights usually do not bother me, but I decided not to test it for the $12 cost to enter the enclosure. 
Royal Botanical Gardens. Not many flowers considering the season here. But, you know the drill - trees, bushes, lakes, ducks and geese, etc.
Sign at container to dispose cigarettes. Unsure whether this was a comment of a disgruntled smokers rights group or whether I should drop my pants to obey the direction. Anyway, I just kept on walking along. (Debbie - took this one for you.)
Only flowers I could find blooming - Camellias.
Still in the Botanical Gardens - building in the background is the Eureka Building with the Skydeck.
Shrine of Remembrance - war memorial.
View of city from steps of Shrine of Remembrance.
16 July 2010:
Okay - so was able to get back to sleep at least until about 3 a.m. - then just laid in bed and read and dozed for several more hours. Then after getting up and moving real slow to get ready decided to get out and start learning my surroundings.
Melbourne is a great place to walk, and lots of people on the move that way. (But, more hilly than I would have expected.) Lots of car traffic, but also many people on motor cycles and bicycles. The motorcycles and bicycles are driven up on the sidewalks and parked there for the day - good thing the sidewalks are very wide. (Remember - here drivers are on the right side of car and driving is on the left.)
Public transportation is great! Good train and tram systems (both electric powered by overhead catenary). The trains run to/from city to outlying suburbs, and the trams run inside city. The trams have the inside lanes on streets where they run, and car traffic is in the outside lanes. Gets real interesting when drivers want to make a right hand turn from far left hand lane across cars lanes and tram lanes.
Anyway, just a short walk from hotel to the building where the FM Global offices are located. Saw a McD's nearby, so stopped there for breakfast. This one had a big screen TV on wall playing nothing but old Michael Jackson videos.
The season here is winter, but more like very late fall for a Clevelander. So, a sweatshirt and light jacket is plenty to be comfortable.
The City of Melbourne operates a couple of free transportation lines. One a bus line that stops at 13 points of interest on a big circuit around the metropolitan area, and the second a tram line that navigates the CBD (Central Business District). So, i jumped on the bus line at a nearby stop (11) and got off at the Queen Victoria Market (8) to get some snacks, cheese and fruit for the room. The market is very much like the West Side Market (or Solard Market in St. Louis) but, it is HUGE! Vendors sell everything from meats, fish, fruits and veggies to clothing, belts and underwear.
Of course, the weights and measures here are metric and not imperial - good thing I have a converter app on my iPhone. Otherwise, I would have no clue that 1 kilo = better than 2 lbs.
From the market, decided to walk it back to the hotel to learn some of the street names, look for restaurants, etc. After returning to the hotel and dropping off my supplies, walked over the FM offices to see the IS guy for a PC wireless card that will work in AU.
Some interesting things so far:
-Automatic rotating doors in buildings turn clockwise so you enter on the left.
-Melbourne is pronounced "Mel-bun"
-Canberra is pronounced "Can-bra"
-Brisbane is pronounced "Bris-bin"
(Reminds me of Louisville pronounced as "Lou-vul".)
-Parts of the city are not termed as areas or zones but rather as precincts
-If you walk a couple of city blocks in any direction you will find at least one 7-11, one Subway and one McD's. (Many McD's include McCafes = special coffee blends and fancy pastries.)
-TV programming includes a lot of sports, but can watch only so much rugby, Australian-rules football and/or cricket.
-TV programming includes many US programs and commercials
-Politics is a big deal here - a big election is coming up in late August - lots of news programming
-Big population of orientals
-Many people (men and ladies) wear scarves around the neck - seems like two favorite ways to wrap the scarves
That's enought for now...
Okay - so was able to get back to sleep at least until about 3 a.m. - then just laid in bed and read and dozed for several more hours. Then after getting up and moving real slow to get ready decided to get out and start learning my surroundings.
Melbourne is a great place to walk, and lots of people on the move that way. (But, more hilly than I would have expected.) Lots of car traffic, but also many people on motor cycles and bicycles. The motorcycles and bicycles are driven up on the sidewalks and parked there for the day - good thing the sidewalks are very wide. (Remember - here drivers are on the right side of car and driving is on the left.)
Public transportation is great! Good train and tram systems (both electric powered by overhead catenary). The trains run to/from city to outlying suburbs, and the trams run inside city. The trams have the inside lanes on streets where they run, and car traffic is in the outside lanes. Gets real interesting when drivers want to make a right hand turn from far left hand lane across cars lanes and tram lanes.
Anyway, just a short walk from hotel to the building where the FM Global offices are located. Saw a McD's nearby, so stopped there for breakfast. This one had a big screen TV on wall playing nothing but old Michael Jackson videos.
The season here is winter, but more like very late fall for a Clevelander. So, a sweatshirt and light jacket is plenty to be comfortable.
The City of Melbourne operates a couple of free transportation lines. One a bus line that stops at 13 points of interest on a big circuit around the metropolitan area, and the second a tram line that navigates the CBD (Central Business District). So, i jumped on the bus line at a nearby stop (11) and got off at the Queen Victoria Market (8) to get some snacks, cheese and fruit for the room. The market is very much like the West Side Market (or Solard Market in St. Louis) but, it is HUGE! Vendors sell everything from meats, fish, fruits and veggies to clothing, belts and underwear.
Of course, the weights and measures here are metric and not imperial - good thing I have a converter app on my iPhone. Otherwise, I would have no clue that 1 kilo = better than 2 lbs.
From the market, decided to walk it back to the hotel to learn some of the street names, look for restaurants, etc. After returning to the hotel and dropping off my supplies, walked over the FM offices to see the IS guy for a PC wireless card that will work in AU.
Some interesting things so far:
-Automatic rotating doors in buildings turn clockwise so you enter on the left.
-Melbourne is pronounced "Mel-bun"
-Canberra is pronounced "Can-bra"
-Brisbane is pronounced "Bris-bin"
(Reminds me of Louisville pronounced as "Lou-vul".)
-Parts of the city are not termed as areas or zones but rather as precincts
-If you walk a couple of city blocks in any direction you will find at least one 7-11, one Subway and one McD's. (Many McD's include McCafes = special coffee blends and fancy pastries.)
-TV programming includes a lot of sports, but can watch only so much rugby, Australian-rules football and/or cricket.
-TV programming includes many US programs and commercials
-Politics is a big deal here - a big election is coming up in late August - lots of news programming
-Big population of orientals
-Many people (men and ladies) wear scarves around the neck - seems like two favorite ways to wrap the scarves
That's enought for now...
Friday, July 16, 2010
15 July 2010: (con't.)Now - we cannot get to the hotel fast enough so that I can unpack, take a shower and start to feel human again! The hotel arranged for me is an old bank that has been converted.
A few pictures:
Couple shots of the hotel room:
The room is pretty comfortable and has a small kitchen area - a microwave and small refrigerator only, but not like I would be planning to cook anything anyway.
A few pictures:
Couple shots of the hotel room:
The room is pretty comfortable and has a small kitchen area - a microwave and small refrigerator only, but not like I would be planning to cook anything anyway.
Views from the balconey of my room: (Hard to tell, but room is on the 7th floor.)
I took this picture for you, Rob. What a pretty pink truck!!!
Did the best I could to stay awake until it was nighttime here in Melbourne before going to bed so could get my body clock aligned as soon as possible. But then I woke up at about midnight here which would have been about 10 a.m. in Cleveland. Hopefully, I will get in synch with the local time by Monday (your Sunday).
15 July 2010:
Finally - the plane arrives in Sydney. But, my journey continues to Melbourne. Had to switch to another plane, but thankfully, the flight was only about another hour in length.
Some pictures:
So, off the plane in Melbourne and headed to immigration and customs. In all, a pretty simple process in spite of fact that the person in Johnston who filled out my entrance Visa paperwork inputted "May" and not "Mar" for my birth month. Had to clear that up, but did not turn out to be a big deal - Thank God!
The car service driver arranged to pick me up was waiting for me outside customs and ready to roll. When I went to get into the limo, of course I went to the right hand side of the car - NOT!!! - unless I wanted to be the driver. By now, it is around noon time in Melbourne which means it is about 9 p.m. in Cleveland - so, I have either been in an airport or on a plane for about 30 hours.
Finally - the plane arrives in Sydney. But, my journey continues to Melbourne. Had to switch to another plane, but thankfully, the flight was only about another hour in length.
Some pictures:
Leaving Sydney...
So, off the plane in Melbourne and headed to immigration and customs. In all, a pretty simple process in spite of fact that the person in Johnston who filled out my entrance Visa paperwork inputted "May" and not "Mar" for my birth month. Had to clear that up, but did not turn out to be a big deal - Thank God!
The car service driver arranged to pick me up was waiting for me outside customs and ready to roll. When I went to get into the limo, of course I went to the right hand side of the car - NOT!!! - unless I wanted to be the driver. By now, it is around noon time in Melbourne which means it is about 9 p.m. in Cleveland - so, I have either been in an airport or on a plane for about 30 hours.
14 July 2010...
And now boarding gets underway which takes some time due to the size of the plane (Big Ass 747) and the number of passengers since the flight is full. Then, just when it looks like the doors are about to be closed...
Another announcement - 25 passengers need to volunteer to be kicked off the plane to make the proper weight and so that more fuel can be added for the non-stop flight to Sydney. The incentive - $800/person and overnight hotel, meals, etc. until the next night's flight. Again, I did not step up to volunteer, but I was really surprised at the number of people who did. Enough people did volunteer, but again it took some time to get the processing done. Finally, we got away close to three hours late.
I was able to travel Business Class, so the seating unit was pretty cushy. Controls of the unit allowed you to lay flat out to sleep. (But, even at that, David's knees would probably still be up in the air due his height.)
Other differences with Economy Class:
- able to select movies and music at each unit
- nicer presentation of the food (but, still not much on taste!)
- much easier to move around to be able to stretch legs
I did note that window shields were all kept closed - probably to trick your brain not to know when it was night or day.
Also, the temperature in the plane was kept pretty cool.
Once we were in the air, I put on the headset to listen to some music and what is the very first thing that I hear? - the same tune used as the background music for Isa and David's wedding slideshow!
WOW - what a long flight!!! Just when I thought that we had to be close, we had another five hours to go. Somewhere along the way, the date became...
And now boarding gets underway which takes some time due to the size of the plane (Big Ass 747) and the number of passengers since the flight is full. Then, just when it looks like the doors are about to be closed...
Another announcement - 25 passengers need to volunteer to be kicked off the plane to make the proper weight and so that more fuel can be added for the non-stop flight to Sydney. The incentive - $800/person and overnight hotel, meals, etc. until the next night's flight. Again, I did not step up to volunteer, but I was really surprised at the number of people who did. Enough people did volunteer, but again it took some time to get the processing done. Finally, we got away close to three hours late.
I was able to travel Business Class, so the seating unit was pretty cushy. Controls of the unit allowed you to lay flat out to sleep. (But, even at that, David's knees would probably still be up in the air due his height.)
Other differences with Economy Class:
- able to select movies and music at each unit
- nicer presentation of the food (but, still not much on taste!)
- much easier to move around to be able to stretch legs
I did note that window shields were all kept closed - probably to trick your brain not to know when it was night or day.
Also, the temperature in the plane was kept pretty cool.
Once we were in the air, I put on the headset to listen to some music and what is the very first thing that I hear? - the same tune used as the background music for Isa and David's wedding slideshow!
WOW - what a long flight!!! Just when I thought that we had to be close, we had another five hours to go. Somewhere along the way, the date became...
13 July 2010...
Ok - so here's the start of this adventure. WOW - what a long journey from Cleveland to Melbourne, AU!!!
The start in Cleveland on 13 July was about an hour delayed due to bad weather to the East where the flight originated. But, no worries, I was to have a three hour layover in Los Angeles anyway. Just before the flight was to board, the TSA decided that the flight was to be one they would randomly check by hand searching carry-ons of various passengers. That's right, you guessed it, I was one of the randomly picked passengers. Luckily, the check was pretty cursory and quick, so no major imposition.
Flight to LA was uneventful - of course, it was nice to be flying first class. The food in first class looks nicer but tastes just as bad. What else? - CHICKEN!
Once in LA - needed to walk quite a distance between terminals for the flight to Sydney but that killed part of the long layover.
Now - here is where things get interesting. About an hour before flight was scheduled to leave, it was announced that 75 passengers needed to volunteer to take another flight due to weight restrictions. (No way that I was going to volunteer!) A lot of people did volunteer, BUT 75??? So, now all the volunteers needed to be processed off the flight, and by the time we were an hour past the scheduled take-off, another announcement was made that - NEVERMIND, everyone would be flying as planned, but that the flight would be stopping off in Hawaii for refueling. It was going to take several more hours for the volunteer processing to be done and only an hour or so to make the stopover in HI, so the stopover actually saved time. Anyway, by now it is...
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