Ok, so my freak out session started about 48 hrs before I had to leave. I've never been so ill-prepared for a trip in my life. (And the worst part is I've had 2 years to prepare for this.) So, this morning/yesterday morning, I said goodbye to Nana, Petunia, and the rest of the boys and headed to Pusan. Now, its about 11:00 pm and I'm sitting in my hotel room in Pusan, sweating my ass off. Its not really hot, but its got to be 150% humidity. Seriously, there will be no hope for straight hair here. I guess I'll talk about my plane ride first.
I flew from Boise to San Francisco. I was just walking along to my gate in the international terminal, and I have Alysia on the phone. I'm just walking and talking and the guy in front of me stops and turns around and I go "WHOA.... PETE WENTZ" He turned and looked at me and then the guy right behind me goes... Pete Wentz! and Pete says "hey man".... I'm not kidding, I was right next to him... I nearly ran him over. Anyways, he was rolling through the airport with his body guard. No sign of Ashlee, but like I told Mary on facebook, I think they are getting things patched up. He's really tiny in real life... Seriously tiny. Oh, and Mom... he was wearing an Ed Hardey hoodie. Alysia told me to get a picture with him, but I was too embarrassed. So I took a picture of him after he walked past me.
Well, I get to my gate and wait for my flight. It wasn't a bad flight. I guess we had some rough weather because we had a little more turbulence than I usually have. I think at one point it was really bad, but I had drugged myself with Tylenol PM's and champagne and I was knocked out. But, I did have a dream that we fell straight down and were doing really tight flying circles around this dragon. I'm pretty sure in my dream we were over Japan. It was actually really scary because I hate that dropping feeling that you get on carnival rides and this felt exactly like that. I was so drugged that it was hard to open my eyes, but I did get them open long enough to see that we weren't crashing and that the Dragon Ball Z movie was on. That might have had something to do with it. Anyways, I got to Seoul in once piece. There were a lot of military people on my flight. God bless em! I wanted to shop at the Seoul airport really bad, but it was kind of overwhelming and I had a bunch of people trying to help me so I decided to check in and get rid of my bags before doing any shopping.
I checked in, and then went to Dunkin Donuts and got a coffee and a donut for free with my business class coupon. I like that. Dunkin Donuts is amazing... and Koreans love it too. After that, I didn't have any time to buy anything as the shops were all the way on the other side of the airport. I jumped on my flight and it was only 45 minutes to get to Pusan. I gathered all of my bags and went to find a taxi.
A nice man in a nice black suit was like "taxi?" and I'm like "taxi!" and he says "taxi?" and then I go "taxi?" and he says "Taxi! 50,000" and I say "lets go!" This taxi driver was extra special with extra special driving privileges. He didn't have to stay within any kind of lane boundaries. He was allowed to drive anywhere on the road that he liked... apparently. There were also a lot of other people with this special privilege. But, overall, its pretty civilized driving here. His GPS was amazing, as everything was in 3-D and it showed buildings - much more advanced than the GPS's we have.
I arrived to the Commodore Hotel and got checked in. I was kind of hungry because all I had for dinner was a donut and coffee. By the time I got in the room, it was about 10:30 and the restaurants were closed in the hotel. I journeyed across the street and there are a few little restaurants open, but I'm scared. Its so overwhelming to be in a place where you don't know anything. I can't read anything, but so far people have been pretty helpfull. Anyways, I was too scared to eat so I came back to the hotel and found some dried strips of some kind of meat, some dried anchovies, and a can of pringles. I went with the pringles and a coke. I'm sitting here eyeing this bottle of Hennessy, but I think I better not. Anyways, I'm freaking out about what I'm going to do for breakfast. I wish I would have learned a little bit more about Korea. Gaw! Also, I noticed a lot of racks for shoes in the front of the restaurants. I think I"m supposed to take my shoes off to eat.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sick...
Swine Flu... its taking over the universe. and I thought I had it. I have gotten extremely sick over the last 24 hours. Yesterday at 4:00 pm I started throwing up and it didn't stop for about 12 hours. I can't remember the last time I've been so sick. I was really scared that I had picked up the swine flu. Now, the swine flu can't be that bad as most people don't die from it, BUT... here's whats scarey. If you do come down with it, they quarantine you FOREVER. I was so afraid that I was going to be diagnosed with SF that I really didn't want to go to the doctor, in fear that I would be confined to my little tiny hotel room and the USA wouldn't let me back in. I went to the doctor today and he said I have a viral gastronitis. I caught a bug. Thank God its not SF. I am to stay home for a few days, and I'm so bored, but I can't really do much except just lay there. Anything else is too much for me.
Anyways, just wanted to check in. Looks like our rig still isn't ready for us. I don't think we will be getting the rig before its time for me to go home. Its too bad because I really wanted to be there for the startup. Write me some messages guys! I miss everyone! I miss the USA.
Love
Mitzi
Anyways, just wanted to check in. Looks like our rig still isn't ready for us. I don't think we will be getting the rig before its time for me to go home. Its too bad because I really wanted to be there for the startup. Write me some messages guys! I miss everyone! I miss the USA.
Love
Mitzi
Monday, June 1, 2009
Holiday Weekend
Well, it was a holiday today (Monday 1 June) I'm not sure which holiday it is, but everything was closed. I ended up working all weekend, but that is expected as I owe Chevron a full 28 days when I'm on my rotation. It was actually really nice in the office with nobody there. Its amazing how efficient I am without distractions. I spent quite a bit of time there today going over documents that we're reviewing tomorrow. I didn't get finished, but I left because it started lightening pretty badly outside and I didn't want to get caught in a storm. Funny thing is, it doesn't really rain here in Perth. If it does start to rain, it just sort of mists for a few minutes and then its over. So Friday after work, me and one of the other company men were going to have some sushi. The restaurant wasn't open for another hour so we went and had a few beers. We made it to the restaurant, sat down, ordered some sushi and had a few bottles of Saki. Needless to say, I was getting drunk. The waitress messed up and brought us a third bottle and I was thinking "please take it away... I can't drink anymore or I'm going to be really sorry!" Terry, the guy I was eating with was trying to convince the waitress to give us the bottle for free. Thank God she said NO and took it away. The sushi there was pretty good, but very basic. Your choices were tuna, salmon, prawns, or California roll. Very limited. They didn't even have my favorite, spicy tuna roll. What kind of place doesn't have spicy tuna roll? I mean that's like the most popular one! Anyways, I stumbled home and passed out.
Saturday after a stint in the office, Sophie came and picked me up because we had some big plans to go down to Freemantle. Her, Terry, and I stopped by a BBQ hosted by another Chevron person. It was actually a little weird. Terry was invited to the BBQ and we weren't. And that was no big deal, as it really didn't matter to me if I was invited or not. But it was funny to see who was invited... (mostly management). ha ha ha some people are such suck ups. So, Soph and I dropped off Terry, said hello, and left. Although I do have to say the food looked amazing. They had lobsters and tons of BBQ'ed meat, but we didn't eat there. Perth is a really pretty town. I loved driving around seeing the city. I have no idea how to get around, and if I had to drive, I would have been in serious trouble (with the lanes and steering wheel being on the other side). We went to a brewery in Freemantle called Little Creatures. It was a really cool place and Soph was telling me that it used to be an crocodile farm. The Little Creatures beer is really popular, but I was drinking Riesling, and it was GOOD! We sat out on the deck overlooking a harbor then went to the other building for dinner. It was a really nice and relaxing place! I could have sat there all night watching the seagulls and smelling the ocean. I can't get over how clear the water is in this ocean. Its really unbelievable.
It looks like I will be in the office another 2 weeks... our rig is still not ready. Hopefully somewhere around the 12th. I really like the people that will be working on my hitch. I think we are going to be the A-Team! There's 3 of us girls! That will be great! Also, the two senior company men (Terry and Terry) are great! I am really looking forward to working with them. Anyways, that's about all I have to report for now. Nothing too exciting. Oh, Erin Lyne will be arriving in Perth tomorrow! I'm really excited to see her. I think Matt will be here on the 9th. I am so happy to hang out with them!
Love Mitzi
Saturday after a stint in the office, Sophie came and picked me up because we had some big plans to go down to Freemantle. Her, Terry, and I stopped by a BBQ hosted by another Chevron person. It was actually a little weird. Terry was invited to the BBQ and we weren't. And that was no big deal, as it really didn't matter to me if I was invited or not. But it was funny to see who was invited... (mostly management). ha ha ha some people are such suck ups. So, Soph and I dropped off Terry, said hello, and left. Although I do have to say the food looked amazing. They had lobsters and tons of BBQ'ed meat, but we didn't eat there. Perth is a really pretty town. I loved driving around seeing the city. I have no idea how to get around, and if I had to drive, I would have been in serious trouble (with the lanes and steering wheel being on the other side). We went to a brewery in Freemantle called Little Creatures. It was a really cool place and Soph was telling me that it used to be an crocodile farm. The Little Creatures beer is really popular, but I was drinking Riesling, and it was GOOD! We sat out on the deck overlooking a harbor then went to the other building for dinner. It was a really nice and relaxing place! I could have sat there all night watching the seagulls and smelling the ocean. I can't get over how clear the water is in this ocean. Its really unbelievable.
It looks like I will be in the office another 2 weeks... our rig is still not ready. Hopefully somewhere around the 12th. I really like the people that will be working on my hitch. I think we are going to be the A-Team! There's 3 of us girls! That will be great! Also, the two senior company men (Terry and Terry) are great! I am really looking forward to working with them. Anyways, that's about all I have to report for now. Nothing too exciting. Oh, Erin Lyne will be arriving in Perth tomorrow! I'm really excited to see her. I think Matt will be here on the 9th. I am so happy to hang out with them!
Love Mitzi
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tomato Sauce Chips
I just had some Tomato Sauce Chips (Ketchup Potato Chips). They are incredible and they have changed my life. Why can't we get these in the states??!?!?!?!?!
Beers
Well, it feels good to be back in good ol' Perth. I have to say, it feels much more like I'm part of the team this time around. My rig doesn't look like it will be available until around June 12th. That means I'll be hanging around the office and doing important work until it is ready. I got in Wednesday afternoon, checked into my hotel, and came straight to the office. I got here just in time for the weekly meeting. There sure are a lot of meetings here. It was really nice to see everyone. I feel kind of bad because last time I was here, I don't know if I appeared very approachable. I didn't really talk much. I hope I didn't give anyone the wrong idea. Sometimes in new situations I feel if you don't have anything to say that adds value, you shouldn't say anything. And, with that theory, I really don't have much to say most of the time. I don't know if you guys are familiar with E-colors… It’s a program that I was introduced to way back in the Transocean days. It’s a great program and I love it. Its amazing how useful it can be. Here's how it works: You answer a series of questions stating which word is most like you and which word is least like you. Then it calculates out what your dominate personality types are. Red is the director - you like to be in charge, you're very "results driven", you don't like to waste time, and you want it done NOW. Green is the thinker - you like a lot of information, you love details and organization. Blue is the relater - You are concerned about how everyone around you is feeling, you want people to be happy. Yellow is the socializer - you like talking a lot and you are usually pretty bubbly, you like being around people and have a tendency to get loud sometimes. Everyone has all 4 colors in them, but two are dominant and they kind of describe your personality. This whole program is a tool to enable you to talk to people based on how they operate. For example, a high green person will need a lot of details so come prepared.
Well, my colors are Red/Yellow. I am a Directing Socializer. These have always been my colors since I first took the test about 7 years ago. I thought they might have changed over the years, and they did a little. Most engineers are red/green or green/red. When I first took the test, I had very little green. I always thought "uh oh, I'm going to be a terrible enginerd with such a low green!" My green has really increased and is almost equal to my yellow now. Also, my red has really increased. I'm very high red. Seriously, something like 45% red, 23% yellow, 20% green, 12% blue. Anyways, I'm getting off topic, but bear with me… this is related to what I wanted to say. Even though my colors are red/yellow and being a talker is a big part of me, I think that because I have such high red, I don't like to waste any time with chit chat in a new or uncomfortable environment. Therefore, people may mistake that for arrogance or shyness, which couldn't be further from the truth. Or, maybe sometimes I talk so much that I just need a break and not talk at all. I don't know where I'm going with all of this. New subject.
We had a meeting from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm yesterday on lessons learned from the last well. Long right!?! But, it was actually very interesting for me because #1: I had 5 cups of espresso. #2: This is very good information and I'm actually interested. After the meeting we all went out for some socializing. I had a HUGE beer (500 ml I think). It was called Hoegaarden and it was delicious! Then, I had a Stella after that. Bad idea. I usually like Stella ok, but it didn't compare to the Hoegaarden and it kind of gave me a stomach ache. (I just have to add here that NOTHING can even come close to good ol' Bud Light and Clamato.) It was really nice going out with everyone and I got to talk with a lot of people "outside the office". People totally change when you get them out. I like that. I stayed out with everyone until about 10:30pm and they were getting drunk. Sophie almost had everyone convinced to go social dancing. She's so adorable. I haven't seen her dance yet, but I think she's probably awesome and has some really good moves! Her specialty is salsa. I wish I was a better dancer. I walked a few blocks home and picked up a meat pie on the way. It was a beef and cheese meat pie. I don't know what it is, but the beef is tasting REALLY different this trip. It almost tastes like lamb. I like United States beef. It was a little rough this morning getting up at 4am. I laid in bed for an extra half hour. In fact, I didn't make it to the office until about 5:45am. This was ok, because most everyone else was hung over and came in late also.
Today (Friday) was a pretty good day also. Its 5:45pm right now and its dark outside. I am going to go grocery shopping when I leave the office because they stay open until 9pm tonight! Yay! Anyways, back to my day… A big group of us went to Schlumberger and took a tour of their new facilities. It was actually really interesting! We took a look at where their data collection system. I can barely watch one drilling screen all day without going crazy. They have people that sit in a room and watch up to 16 screens at once! I would kill myself. Then we got to see where the motors, rotary steerables, MWD, LWD, etc come in and are taken apart, tested, inspected, reworked etc. Also got to look at the logging tools and some completions stuff. It was a really nice/clean/organized facility. I didn't get any work done today. Uggggg. I actually spent the whole morning with the IT people trying to get my password reset, my account unlocked, and a new smartbadge activated. That only took about 2 hours. Its okay because I didn't have much to do anyways. It’s a long holiday weekend for Australians. Unfortunately, I'll be working all weekend. The glory of a 28/28 rotation. Well, its almost 6pm now and its dark out. I better get rolling to the grocery store.
Love Mitzi
Well, my colors are Red/Yellow. I am a Directing Socializer. These have always been my colors since I first took the test about 7 years ago. I thought they might have changed over the years, and they did a little. Most engineers are red/green or green/red. When I first took the test, I had very little green. I always thought "uh oh, I'm going to be a terrible enginerd with such a low green!" My green has really increased and is almost equal to my yellow now. Also, my red has really increased. I'm very high red. Seriously, something like 45% red, 23% yellow, 20% green, 12% blue. Anyways, I'm getting off topic, but bear with me… this is related to what I wanted to say. Even though my colors are red/yellow and being a talker is a big part of me, I think that because I have such high red, I don't like to waste any time with chit chat in a new or uncomfortable environment. Therefore, people may mistake that for arrogance or shyness, which couldn't be further from the truth. Or, maybe sometimes I talk so much that I just need a break and not talk at all. I don't know where I'm going with all of this. New subject.
We had a meeting from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm yesterday on lessons learned from the last well. Long right!?! But, it was actually very interesting for me because #1: I had 5 cups of espresso. #2: This is very good information and I'm actually interested. After the meeting we all went out for some socializing. I had a HUGE beer (500 ml I think). It was called Hoegaarden and it was delicious! Then, I had a Stella after that. Bad idea. I usually like Stella ok, but it didn't compare to the Hoegaarden and it kind of gave me a stomach ache. (I just have to add here that NOTHING can even come close to good ol' Bud Light and Clamato.) It was really nice going out with everyone and I got to talk with a lot of people "outside the office". People totally change when you get them out. I like that. I stayed out with everyone until about 10:30pm and they were getting drunk. Sophie almost had everyone convinced to go social dancing. She's so adorable. I haven't seen her dance yet, but I think she's probably awesome and has some really good moves! Her specialty is salsa. I wish I was a better dancer. I walked a few blocks home and picked up a meat pie on the way. It was a beef and cheese meat pie. I don't know what it is, but the beef is tasting REALLY different this trip. It almost tastes like lamb. I like United States beef. It was a little rough this morning getting up at 4am. I laid in bed for an extra half hour. In fact, I didn't make it to the office until about 5:45am. This was ok, because most everyone else was hung over and came in late also.
Today (Friday) was a pretty good day also. Its 5:45pm right now and its dark outside. I am going to go grocery shopping when I leave the office because they stay open until 9pm tonight! Yay! Anyways, back to my day… A big group of us went to Schlumberger and took a tour of their new facilities. It was actually really interesting! We took a look at where their data collection system. I can barely watch one drilling screen all day without going crazy. They have people that sit in a room and watch up to 16 screens at once! I would kill myself. Then we got to see where the motors, rotary steerables, MWD, LWD, etc come in and are taken apart, tested, inspected, reworked etc. Also got to look at the logging tools and some completions stuff. It was a really nice/clean/organized facility. I didn't get any work done today. Uggggg. I actually spent the whole morning with the IT people trying to get my password reset, my account unlocked, and a new smartbadge activated. That only took about 2 hours. Its okay because I didn't have much to do anyways. It’s a long holiday weekend for Australians. Unfortunately, I'll be working all weekend. The glory of a 28/28 rotation. Well, its almost 6pm now and its dark out. I better get rolling to the grocery store.
Love Mitzi
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Atwood Eagle
Sorry its been so long. Obviously I've been on my days off. Nothing much to report other than me and Nana have been working like crazy on the yard. We got a cement patio poured on the back of the house. We've planted Rhodendrums (spelling?), Clematis, Honeysuckle, Lilacs, Peonies. We also got an Aspen grove, a purple lotus and a honey lotus tree, but they didn't make it into the ground before I left. We transplanted the rose bush and I don't think Its going to make it. We also built an elevated rock garden and filled it full of herbs. Gardening is hard work. I bet we've made 30 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot this month. Ridiculous. Its looking good though! I left Nana to put in the trees in the ground and also plant the pumpkins and tomatoes. Oh, I almost forgot... I went to Haggerman, ID with Kassie, Emily, and Jason for Kassie's birthday. We spent the night at Miracle Hot Springs in a space dome. It was totally amazing. On my way home I had a brilliant idea that I would buy some land up there. I looked into two acres by the river. Around $200,000. I think I'll wait on that. I can't wait to go back there though!
It just dawned on me that I haven't written anything about the rig from my last hitch at work! I wasn't planning on visiting the rig but my stay was extended so I went out there.
I was going out to the Atwood Eagle. Late, the night before I was to arrive, a girl working for a service company had her finger smashed while trying to remove a lift nubbing off of one of her MWD tools. It crushed the tip of her finger and as we got to the rig, they flew her in the next morning and she had surgery on her finger. Not a good way to start of a hitch! She had her finger worked on and she is ok. I think she lost the tip (about 1/2 of her nail). So, a bunch of VIP's had come out on the same flight as myself to investigate.
The Atwood Eagle is a cool little rig. Its an older rig and not very big, but I really liked it. The people on the rig were pretty cool. There were only 3 Americans on the rig. Terry - the head company man, Joey - a toolpusher from Louisiana, and Ripply - a driller from Louisiana. Ripply had an orange beard on his chin that was really thick and trimmed just so it was on the base of his chin. It reminded me of a scrub brush. I liked it. I like beards. There was an ET (electronics technician) named Viko I think. He looked like a vampire and he even had fangs. Ripply told me he was from Transylvania but I think he was Armenian. I don't know. Joey was from Northern Louisiana I think, but omg... total coon ass. He was hysterical. He said I was a Yankee and I replied "No, I grew up in Montana... We are Pioneers." He said "Oh God girl, are you kidding me? Pioneers!?!?!?!?!?! Hell no!" I love people from Louisiana. We also had a fight about KFC vs. Popeye's Chicken. I think that you can't beat Popeye's chicken. I actually don't think I'd ever even had fried chicken from KFC. I got some when I got home and it was actually pretty good. I still think Popeye's is better though.
Towards the end of my time on the rig, we got to a coring point and we had to make a couple coring runs. That means a ton of geologists like to come out to the rig to watch them core. One of the geologists was Clay. Isn't that a great name for a geologist... Clay. Clay was really cool, and since I've only seen coring once, i learned a few things also. I left just as they got the core to surface so I don't know how successful they were with the first run. I guess I'll find out when I get to Perth later. So, Clay was a really cool guy. He asked me if I had ever done a Tim Tam straw. I was like huh? So, after the grocery box arrived at the rig, he got a box of Tim Tams from one of the catering hands. (All the Tim Tams before that had been eaten and we had to wait like 3 days for the next grocery box to arrive so we could get some Tim Tams.) I was lucky enough to experience the Tim Tam straw with the whole galley watching. It changed my life. Oh, I also have to mention my new friend Sophie! She is amazing! She has just graduated from college and come to work for Chevron. Her title on the rig is Field Engineer. She's very smart and nice and I really like her! Maybe someday I'll get to bring her to the states and everyone can meet her!
My last day on the rig something awfully happened. A guy got his hand crushed. Two of his fingers were degloved down to the first knuckle. (Degloved = all the skin and flesh was removed leaving just bone.) I don't feel like talking about this very much right now. It was a terrible thing. He was life flighted into Barrow Island and then a jet took him immediately to Perth. He had surgery on his hand and I think they were able to reattach his middle finger and save his ring finger. He is ok, but will have a long recovery. In fact, I don't really feel like writing anything else at the moment. I better go get ready to catch my flight.
I've been writing this from the Quantas Business Lounge in Sydney airport. I had FOUR pieces of toast with Vegemite on them. Gaw I love Vegemite toast. I've also been downing free pop and apple juice, but they give you such a small glass you have to get a refill every 5 seconds. Next time I'm bringing a big drinking jug.
Ta Ta for now folks. Leave me some messages on here so I don't get lonely.
Love Mitzi
Friday, May 1, 2009
Rottnest Island
Ok, I've been a total slacker! I haven't had much time in the last week and honestly I just didn't feel like writing. So, I guess this is where I pick up the slack. On Sunday April 18 I paid a visit to Rottnest Island, or as the locals call it "Rotty". Rottnest is the weekend get away or vacation destination for a lot of the people in Perth. So, I walked down to Barrack Street Jetty and hopped onto a ferry. The houses on the river are amazing. There were a strip of them that were simply unbelievable. One of them was worth $85 million and was supposedly the most expensive house in Australia. There are photos on myspace. (link below) The ferry took about 30 to 45 minutes to travel down the Swan River and then we made a stop at Freemantle. Freemantle is like a suburb of Perth and is right on the ocean. There's a bunch of loading docks for ocean freighters and a lot of markets and other things to explore. I am definitely going to have to dedicate some time to Freemantle on one of my other trips. We picked up some more passengers at Freemantle and then headed out to sea. I think the whole trip took almost 2 hours as travel was pretty slow. If I remember right, the ferry left at 8:30am or something and we got to Rottnest at about 11:30. Here's the link to the ferry service I took http://rottnestexpress.com.au/ Oh! As we were left the Barrack St Jetty and went down the river, I could not believe the jelly fish! There were a TON of them in the river. I could see two different kinds, but once we got to sea, they all disappeared. http://www2.sese.uwa.edu.au/swan4kids/mpallaboutjellyfish.html On with the story... so I get off of the ferry and I have rented a bike and a snorkel. It was like a mad house trying to get a bike. Pretty much everyone on the ferry bum rushed the bikes and I got a crappy one... a really crappy one. (You can't drive a car on Rottnest, but there's a bus service and they have service vehicles on the island. But, most everyone rides a bike, and when in Rome...) So off I go with my crappy bike, a crumbling bike helmet, and a snorkel kit. I hit the shops first, just to get a layout of where everything is. You know me and shops right... All I bought though was a hat, sunscreen, and 2 bottles of water. There would be more time for shopping after my beach adventure. Off I go on my POS bike. I'm cruising along and I guess its been awhile since I've rode a bike because it really hurt my ass. (When I get home I'm buying a bike though.)
**Side note: everyone in Perth "cycles"... and I mean everyone! They love riding bikes.
I'm thinking I'm doing pretty good and the ride is a total of 4.4 kilometers to Little Salmon Bay and the snorkel trail. Then comes the hills. ha ha They weren't even big hills, but I couldn't switch gears on my bike because the chain would fall off. I did my best, but ended up walking up a couple hills. The island itself seems kind of harsh. There are some really cool trees, but besides that, there was a lot of terrain that reminded me of South Texas. A lot of brush and shrubs and it looked very thorny and full of snakes. It was really beautiful though! (I didn't actually see any snakes. I did, however, see a big lizard that got ran over by the bus. He was in two pieces.) It looked very hot and dry. So after the second most miserable bike ride in my life (the first being at Georgetown late with Cory Benjamin) I finally arrive at Little Salmon Bay. I can't really express how beautiful this is. You're just going to have to see the pictures. I put them on my myspace page http://www.myspace.com/mitzid I park the POS bike and headed down to the beach. I dumped all my stuff in a good spot on the sand. There were a lot of boats anchored in the bay and a lot of people just lounging around on their boats. I don't know how much those boats were worth, but they were really nice. Now its time for snorkling. My snorkeling experience is limited to Flathead Lake Montana. So, in short.. I have pretty much zero to none. I know how to put the mask on and the concept and I'm going to give it my best shot. The water was cool, but it felt great and it was absolutely crystal clear. I get my gear on and here I go. It really wasn't too bad. Initially I felt a little like hyperventilating, but I got over that... for the moment. There is a snorkel trail that you can follow that winds through the coral. You are defiantly not supposed to stand on the coral because it can damage it. To get to the beginning of the snorkel train you have to swim over some coral and some plants on the sea bed. As soon as I went over the plants, I freaked out a little. I wasn't ready for snorkeling where I couldn't see sandy bottom and I couldn't stop to stand up. I will give it another go next time though. So, the only fish I saw were just some little silver minnow looking things. I spent about another hour in the beautiful water. Mom, you never would have gotten out. Then I curled up on the white sandy beach. I slept for about an hour on the beach. I wanted to stay there all day, but I had to catch the ferry back at 4pm. The bike ride to the beach was kind of bad. The ride back was pure hell. It was really hot and I was tired! I also looked like I was mentally handicapped. I really didn't want to get sunburnt so I wrapped my green turtle sarong around my shoulders to keep the sun off. So, picture this: Me, ridding a bike, flying down a hill trying to get as much speed as possible so I can make it up the next one, with a crumbling bike helmet, a red face, ratted beach hair, a green cape flapping in the breeze. I'm sure I gave the locals a laugh... stupid American tourists. I was almost back to town, but I really needed to stop for a drink of water. I was kind of disappointed because I hadn't seen a Quokka yet. That was one of my main objectives and I'd been looking all over for one while I was riding. The Quokka is a marsupial and is pretty much only found on Rottnest Island. They have been killed off on the main land by foxes and cats that were introduced by the Brits. It is really really cute too! It looks like a little stuffed fluffy but with a big rat tail. I pulled over at this little hut on the side of the road, and what do you know... there's a freaking Quokka sitting right in the middle of the hut. I was freaking out... OMG... LOOK AT THIS THING.. OMG ITS SO CLOSE. It was just sitting there looking at me with the cutest face I've ever seen. So, I said "hi buddy". And he goes "hop hop" a little bit closer to me. He was looking at me like "oh please kind American tourist... give me a treat". How can you resist that? I didn't have any treats, but I was sucking the water down and the bottle just happened to have a little cap on it. I filled the cap with water and he came right over and started drinking. He wasn't afraid of me at all. I could sit there and pet him and he didn't care. He was REALLY thirsty though. Pretty soon I look over and there's a bunch more in the bush just sitting there with that same look. "Please give us some treats" After about 20 minutes and some good conversation with him I had to leave to make my ferry. I really wanted to take him home. I loved him. So, I get back to the shops and turn my bike in. I don't know what came over me, but I was starting to feel sick... really sick. I got on the ferry and the whole way back, it took everything I had not to puke all over. At Barrack St Jetty I wanted to get a taxi home soooo bad and just my luck, I couldn't find one. I ended up walking home and when I got there, I puked my guts out. I laid in bed all night sicker than a dog. I don't know why? I don't know if I ate something bad or what... it wasn't pleasant though. Not a good ending to one of the greatest days I've had in awhile.
**Side note: everyone in Perth "cycles"... and I mean everyone! They love riding bikes.
I'm thinking I'm doing pretty good and the ride is a total of 4.4 kilometers to Little Salmon Bay and the snorkel trail. Then comes the hills. ha ha They weren't even big hills, but I couldn't switch gears on my bike because the chain would fall off. I did my best, but ended up walking up a couple hills. The island itself seems kind of harsh. There are some really cool trees, but besides that, there was a lot of terrain that reminded me of South Texas. A lot of brush and shrubs and it looked very thorny and full of snakes. It was really beautiful though! (I didn't actually see any snakes. I did, however, see a big lizard that got ran over by the bus. He was in two pieces.) It looked very hot and dry. So after the second most miserable bike ride in my life (the first being at Georgetown late with Cory Benjamin) I finally arrive at Little Salmon Bay. I can't really express how beautiful this is. You're just going to have to see the pictures. I put them on my myspace page http://www.myspace.com/mitzid I park the POS bike and headed down to the beach. I dumped all my stuff in a good spot on the sand. There were a lot of boats anchored in the bay and a lot of people just lounging around on their boats. I don't know how much those boats were worth, but they were really nice. Now its time for snorkling. My snorkeling experience is limited to Flathead Lake Montana. So, in short.. I have pretty much zero to none. I know how to put the mask on and the concept and I'm going to give it my best shot. The water was cool, but it felt great and it was absolutely crystal clear. I get my gear on and here I go. It really wasn't too bad. Initially I felt a little like hyperventilating, but I got over that... for the moment. There is a snorkel trail that you can follow that winds through the coral. You are defiantly not supposed to stand on the coral because it can damage it. To get to the beginning of the snorkel train you have to swim over some coral and some plants on the sea bed. As soon as I went over the plants, I freaked out a little. I wasn't ready for snorkeling where I couldn't see sandy bottom and I couldn't stop to stand up. I will give it another go next time though. So, the only fish I saw were just some little silver minnow looking things. I spent about another hour in the beautiful water. Mom, you never would have gotten out. Then I curled up on the white sandy beach. I slept for about an hour on the beach. I wanted to stay there all day, but I had to catch the ferry back at 4pm. The bike ride to the beach was kind of bad. The ride back was pure hell. It was really hot and I was tired! I also looked like I was mentally handicapped. I really didn't want to get sunburnt so I wrapped my green turtle sarong around my shoulders to keep the sun off. So, picture this: Me, ridding a bike, flying down a hill trying to get as much speed as possible so I can make it up the next one, with a crumbling bike helmet, a red face, ratted beach hair, a green cape flapping in the breeze. I'm sure I gave the locals a laugh... stupid American tourists. I was almost back to town, but I really needed to stop for a drink of water. I was kind of disappointed because I hadn't seen a Quokka yet. That was one of my main objectives and I'd been looking all over for one while I was riding. The Quokka is a marsupial and is pretty much only found on Rottnest Island. They have been killed off on the main land by foxes and cats that were introduced by the Brits. It is really really cute too! It looks like a little stuffed fluffy but with a big rat tail. I pulled over at this little hut on the side of the road, and what do you know... there's a freaking Quokka sitting right in the middle of the hut. I was freaking out... OMG... LOOK AT THIS THING.. OMG ITS SO CLOSE. It was just sitting there looking at me with the cutest face I've ever seen. So, I said "hi buddy". And he goes "hop hop" a little bit closer to me. He was looking at me like "oh please kind American tourist... give me a treat". How can you resist that? I didn't have any treats, but I was sucking the water down and the bottle just happened to have a little cap on it. I filled the cap with water and he came right over and started drinking. He wasn't afraid of me at all. I could sit there and pet him and he didn't care. He was REALLY thirsty though. Pretty soon I look over and there's a bunch more in the bush just sitting there with that same look. "Please give us some treats" After about 20 minutes and some good conversation with him I had to leave to make my ferry. I really wanted to take him home. I loved him. So, I get back to the shops and turn my bike in. I don't know what came over me, but I was starting to feel sick... really sick. I got on the ferry and the whole way back, it took everything I had not to puke all over. At Barrack St Jetty I wanted to get a taxi home soooo bad and just my luck, I couldn't find one. I ended up walking home and when I got there, I puked my guts out. I laid in bed all night sicker than a dog. I don't know why? I don't know if I ate something bad or what... it wasn't pleasant though. Not a good ending to one of the greatest days I've had in awhile.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday
Not a whole lot to report today. I slept in which was really nice. I'm still feeling a bit "off". I have been getting dizzy all day. I went out sometime after noon and did a little bit of shopping. I got a pair of new safety boots to go to the rig. Guess what!!! They are PURPLE!! I really love them! And, they're super comfortable. Also, I got a new cell phone for all my worldly travel. My new Australian mobile number is.... 0450 178 026 Its a pay as you go sort of a deal, so I probably won't be using it much, but when I'm on land in Australia I'll have it on. Mom (or anyone else who skypes), if you are using skype to call me, try to reach me at my appartment first. Our free unlimited calls on skype do not apply to mobile phones in Australia. But, I put a credit on the skype account, so you can call me no problems. I also added my new number to your contacts list. So, I did a little more browsing, but didn't really buy anything else. Some socks for the rig and some candy to bring home. You guys are going to LOVE the Cherry Ripes. They're so good. I also bought some Vegemite.... don't know how you guys are going to feel about that lol
Anyways, I think I will head to Rottnest Island tomorrow. That will be an adventure. I will probably get a bike and ride around, then go snorkling. I hope the weather is nice, it was a little rainy today. http://tour.rottnestisland.com.au/rotto/
Anyways, I think I will head to Rottnest Island tomorrow. That will be an adventure. I will probably get a bike and ride around, then go snorkling. I hope the weather is nice, it was a little rainy today. http://tour.rottnestisland.com.au/rotto/
Friday, April 17, 2009
Extended Stay
The last few days I have felt a little weird. My equilibrium is off. I feel dizzy and kind of like I'm on a boat with wavy seas. Also, my throat has been a little sore. Today it feels a little more sore. I've been telling myself that this dizziness is some residual jet lag or maybe because this building is really tall, it moves a little. I don't know. Some thing's not right. I better not be getting sick.
It looks like my trip is going to be extended for a little while. I am going to try and make it to the rig next Wednesday. That means I probably won't be leaving until at least April 30th. I will probably be getting home sometime around May 2 or 3. I don't know how I really feel about this. I don't want to think about it.
It looks like my trip is going to be extended for a little while. I am going to try and make it to the rig next Wednesday. That means I probably won't be leaving until at least April 30th. I will probably be getting home sometime around May 2 or 3. I don't know how I really feel about this. I don't want to think about it.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Good Morning
Well, Its Thursday morning here. Its about 6am which makes it 4:00 pm on Wednesday in Boise, Mom. There are only a few people in the office. I feel pretty good about getting here earlier today. (Got here at about 5:45 am) The great thing is that my apartment is only 1 block away so it only takes me about 3 minutes to get to the office. I wore some comfortable black pants and a cute white t-shirt today. I've been on the rig too long because I HATE office clothes. Give me some coveralls and boots with no makeup and messy hair any day! Today's outfit is good though. The Australian women wear very cute clothes. They are fashionable, yet very laid back and kind of casual. A lot of them wear skirts, but nobody wears nylons. I also see a lot of flip flops, but there are a lot of high heels too. The clothes in the stores are really cute, but I'm sure they are extremely expensive. The women here are really beautiful too, but very natural. There are a lot of blond and strawberry blond women. The cab driver said that Perth has the prettiest women in all of Australia. They are all really tiny too. Everyone here is very active and fit. They do a lot of outdoor activities. I don't see many really tan people. Sun screen is a big deal here. Everyone uses it. There are no orange people like you see in the US magazines or in LA. I know everyone is hoping that I'll find an Australian boyfriend down here. Don't hold your breath. #1 - I work all day and when I get home I'm exhausted. I have no desire to go out and cougar around. (Maybe this weekend though.) #2 - There's no way I could ever land one of these hotties. There's way too much competition. I see a lot of couples too. I think that Australians like to go on dates and do couples things. Honestly, I don't want an Australian boyfriend or any boyfriend for that matter. Who has the time and effort to put into that? Plus, if I did find a man down here, that would suck! I'd spend all my off time down here and I'd never see my friends and family. You don't want that do you?
Like I said, I went for a walk last night. I walked around for about an hour. I really wanted to go to bed, but I made myself walk and I'm glad I did. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Tonight I"m going to make a new iPod playlist "Walking in Perth". It gets dark very early, around 7pm because we're going into winter here. Seriously, dates, times, sunrise, sunset, seasons are going to make me a very confused person. Pretty much everything was shut down last night by the time I got out, except for a few pubs. I haven't eaten out much because I'm trying to eat healthy, and most of the restaurants and fast food or fried foods. I did have lunch at a place called My Own yesterday. I think I will eat there again, as I really liked it. Its kind of like a salad bar. You go in and there are rows of vegetables, lunch meats, etc etc. You can make a wrap, a sandwich, a pizza. I made a wrap yesterday with ham, feta, lettuce, thousand island, peas, celery, carrots, cheddar cheese, hummus, green onions. It was awesome. Ya know, they eat a ton of beets down here. They call it beet root. I don't know if I like beets or not.
Well, Its almost 6:30 now. I better get my butt in gear and start going over these drilling progs.
Love Mitzi
Like I said, I went for a walk last night. I walked around for about an hour. I really wanted to go to bed, but I made myself walk and I'm glad I did. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Tonight I"m going to make a new iPod playlist "Walking in Perth". It gets dark very early, around 7pm because we're going into winter here. Seriously, dates, times, sunrise, sunset, seasons are going to make me a very confused person. Pretty much everything was shut down last night by the time I got out, except for a few pubs. I haven't eaten out much because I'm trying to eat healthy, and most of the restaurants and fast food or fried foods. I did have lunch at a place called My Own yesterday. I think I will eat there again, as I really liked it. Its kind of like a salad bar. You go in and there are rows of vegetables, lunch meats, etc etc. You can make a wrap, a sandwich, a pizza. I made a wrap yesterday with ham, feta, lettuce, thousand island, peas, celery, carrots, cheddar cheese, hummus, green onions. It was awesome. Ya know, they eat a ton of beets down here. They call it beet root. I don't know if I like beets or not.
Well, Its almost 6:30 now. I better get my butt in gear and start going over these drilling progs.
Love Mitzi
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Barrow Island
Ok Mom, I’m going to lay the time thing out… Right now its 5:45 pm on Wednesday in Perth. Its 3:45 am on Wednesday in Boise. I don’t feel like today was very productive. I got to the office at about 6:30 am. I finished my Barrow Island training (which took another 2 hours plus the 2 hours that I worked on it the day before). When I go to work, I will fly from Boise to LA (2+ hours), LA to Sydney (14 hours), Sydney to Perth (4+ hours), spend the night in Perth, wake up the next morning and fly from Perth Domestic Airport to Barrow Island (2 hours), grab the helicopter from Barrow Island to the rig (+/- 2 hrs depending how far out we are) Add a few hours in for layovers and that gives us a grand total of approximately 50 hours of traveling time from leaving Boise to arriving on the rig. I will NEVER complain about sitting in traffic on my way to work again. That means I will be losing about 2 or 3 days each way on my days off. So, instead of being home for 28 days, it will be more like 23 days. And, from what I hear it takes about 3 or 4 days to recover from the jet lag on the trip back – and I believe it. But don’t’ worry… I’ll only be doing this for the next THREE OR FOUR YEARS!!!! What the hell am I doing.. ahahah luckily I’m the kind of person that can just zone out and not think about these things too much. That’s why I’m good for this job. I can just not care about it, cuz what am I going to do about it anyways. It’s a major career move right? Right? Haahhaahhaha I pretty much lived offshore for the first two years of my career. This should be a piece of cake. Right?.....
So, back to Barrow Island. Its located North West off the coast of Australia and is a seriously protected Nature Reserve. Barrow Island is an island that is virtually undisturbed. Sounds cool right?.... Well here’s the crazy thing… There has been over 900 wells drilled on this island!!! And, there’s a major oil and gas facility there. Gorgon, the project that I will be working on, will have a huge LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) plant built on the island in 2010 or 2011.) There are 9 mammal species that live on the island and some of them are totally exclusive to the island – meaning, they are not found anywhere else in the entire world. All of the mammals are little fuzzys like wallaby’s. There are also a lot of sea turtles that lay their eggs on the island, and lizards and birds. They’ve done such a good job preserving the island, that no plants, animals, bugs, etc have come to or left the island since the 1960’s. I think its really cool because it goes to show you that you can produce oil without ruining the ecosystem. In fact, I believe that the oil and gas industry has helped preserve the island because they police it HEAVILY! Any person or thing going to Barrow Island must pass through quarantine first. That means, any shipments of equipment or food or whatever are inspected and sealed in quarantined transports before they can be shipped to the island. All planes and boats coming to the island must be free of any rodents, insects, or dirt…. That’s right dirt. You cannot go to Barrow Island if you have dirt on your boots. No flaura or fauna can enter or leave Barrow Island. You’re not allowed to take ANYTHING off the island either. Also, any trash from the camp at Barrow Island is incinerated or removed from the island. I think its pretty cool that they are taking such extreme measures to ensure this little island stays unchanged. Its costing a fortune I can guarantee that. They have a camp for the people that are working there and when the sea turtles come to lay their eggs, they have to keep their blinds closed and outside lights turned off because the lights disrupts the turtles. Here’s a website about Gorgon and Barrow Island: http://www.gorgon.com.au/03moe_barrow.html#frames(content=03moe_barrow_body.html)
Anyways, that’s pretty much been my day. After trying to find the drilling files on the O:/ for about 3 hours I finally got it figured out at 5pm. I guess I’ll have a lot to look at tomorrow. I think I’m going to head out for a walk. It’s a beautiful day out! Oh! Before I go… its really funny about the cross walks. I’m just getting the traffic lights figured out. I’ve been so afraid to J-walk because they told us you get in really big trouble. I look like such a tourist waiting for the light lol …. Anyways, the lights turn and the cars each take their turn going, then all the lights go to red and all the cars must stop. For about 5 seconds, the green walk symbol comes on and you can cross the street. The amazing thing about this is, you can cross any direction you want – just go from one corner to the other kitty corner across from you. After work, outside of our building, its like a mad house with everyone crossing the street in every single way. I don’t know if that really accurately paints a picture of street crossing, you might just have to experience it for yourself.
Love Mitzi
So, back to Barrow Island. Its located North West off the coast of Australia and is a seriously protected Nature Reserve. Barrow Island is an island that is virtually undisturbed. Sounds cool right?.... Well here’s the crazy thing… There has been over 900 wells drilled on this island!!! And, there’s a major oil and gas facility there. Gorgon, the project that I will be working on, will have a huge LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) plant built on the island in 2010 or 2011.) There are 9 mammal species that live on the island and some of them are totally exclusive to the island – meaning, they are not found anywhere else in the entire world. All of the mammals are little fuzzys like wallaby’s. There are also a lot of sea turtles that lay their eggs on the island, and lizards and birds. They’ve done such a good job preserving the island, that no plants, animals, bugs, etc have come to or left the island since the 1960’s. I think its really cool because it goes to show you that you can produce oil without ruining the ecosystem. In fact, I believe that the oil and gas industry has helped preserve the island because they police it HEAVILY! Any person or thing going to Barrow Island must pass through quarantine first. That means, any shipments of equipment or food or whatever are inspected and sealed in quarantined transports before they can be shipped to the island. All planes and boats coming to the island must be free of any rodents, insects, or dirt…. That’s right dirt. You cannot go to Barrow Island if you have dirt on your boots. No flaura or fauna can enter or leave Barrow Island. You’re not allowed to take ANYTHING off the island either. Also, any trash from the camp at Barrow Island is incinerated or removed from the island. I think its pretty cool that they are taking such extreme measures to ensure this little island stays unchanged. Its costing a fortune I can guarantee that. They have a camp for the people that are working there and when the sea turtles come to lay their eggs, they have to keep their blinds closed and outside lights turned off because the lights disrupts the turtles. Here’s a website about Gorgon and Barrow Island: http://www.gorgon.com.au/03moe_barrow.html#frames(content=03moe_barrow_body.html)
Anyways, that’s pretty much been my day. After trying to find the drilling files on the O:/ for about 3 hours I finally got it figured out at 5pm. I guess I’ll have a lot to look at tomorrow. I think I’m going to head out for a walk. It’s a beautiful day out! Oh! Before I go… its really funny about the cross walks. I’m just getting the traffic lights figured out. I’ve been so afraid to J-walk because they told us you get in really big trouble. I look like such a tourist waiting for the light lol …. Anyways, the lights turn and the cars each take their turn going, then all the lights go to red and all the cars must stop. For about 5 seconds, the green walk symbol comes on and you can cross the street. The amazing thing about this is, you can cross any direction you want – just go from one corner to the other kitty corner across from you. After work, outside of our building, its like a mad house with everyone crossing the street in every single way. I don’t know if that really accurately paints a picture of street crossing, you might just have to experience it for yourself.
Love Mitzi
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Office with a view
Well, I went to work today. I got up really early around 4am. I was going to straighten my hair so I plugged in my new power transformer that converts 220v to 110v. I plugged in the straightening iron and within two minutes it was ruined. I knew that was going to happen. I soooo should have known better. I had a similar incident in France. NOTE: IF YOU ARE EVER TRAVELING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY THAT HAS 220V POWER - DO NOT TRY TO USE YOUR AMERICAN STRAIGHTING IRON!!!! JUST BUY ONE FROM THAT COUNTRY IF STRAIGHT HAIR IS IMPORTANT TO YOU. I hope I didn't ruin my iron, it was really expensive.
I went into work a little later than I like, but I guess the people that had to get me my pass and everything don't come in until about 8 so I didn't feel too bad about it. I'll be going in earlier tomorrow. I went around and met everyone in the office, trying really really hard to remember every one's name and what they do. We don't have a huge operation in Australia, so I think we only have 3 floors in the building. My boss and most of the people I will be working with are on the top floor (Floor #37). You wouldn't believe the view from up there!!! There is also a lawyer's firm up there and its flipping amazing! So, I spent the day doing the "first day" stuff. I was filling out forms, getting my server transferred to Australia, taking orientations and training courses. In fact, I have a IIF training course in the morning. I hardly saw my boss all day. I think he was in meetings cuz when I left at work he said he had to stay late because he hadn't gotten any work done. I feel bad for him. I wish I could have done something productive today to help him out. I skipped lunch today because I didn't feel like leaving and then we had a meeting at 1:30pm. Its amazing how many meetings they have during a single day.
It was hard to concentrate when I could look out the window into the Swan River Harbor and watch the boats going up and down the river and dolphins splashing around. This city is beautiful.
After work, I hauled ass to Target to buy an Australian hair straightener. (Surprisingly it was only $42. It was hard not to buy the $90 with diamonds on it, but I think I made a good choice.) Next, I stopped by Woolworth's to get some groceries. Can you freaking believe it?? WOOLWORTH'S!!!!!! I remember the Woolworth in the Butte Plaza Mall. That was probably 25 years ago. Woolworth's is going strong in Australia!!! (But its mostly a grocery store here)
So, let me talk about Woolworth's for just a little bit longer. Perth is really strange. Just about everything down here in the city closes at 5pm. Target stayed open until 6pm Thank God! But seriously, there's a ton of shops and restaurants and they are all closed at 5! Even the grocery stores around town close no later then 7pm. On Thursdays they stay open until 9pm. It really blows my mind because the people are around and they would eat and shop if they stores stayed open. There's one or two pubs that are open and they are ususally packed. So, as I go to Woolworth's this evening around 6pm, it was a freaking MAD HOUSE!!! Talk about grocery extravaganza! There had to be 500 people in there trying to buy groceries. Everyone only buys a little hand basket of just whatever they're going to eat for that night. I don't know how they do it. If I had to go through that every day I would kill someone. The lines to check out were super long, but they were surprisingly efficient. You zipped right through pretty quick. Most of the things in the stores are pretty much the same as in the states, but not as much of a selection. I got some more of those wonderful milk mocha drinks but in "Light". I'm super stoked about that. I also bought some grapes, apples, and oranges. I just had an orange and some grapes for dinner and they were delish!!! The grapes freakin cost me $10 though. I also snagged one of the last loaves of bread. Seriously! All the bread was gone! Grocery shopping is CRAZY.
I went into work a little later than I like, but I guess the people that had to get me my pass and everything don't come in until about 8 so I didn't feel too bad about it. I'll be going in earlier tomorrow. I went around and met everyone in the office, trying really really hard to remember every one's name and what they do. We don't have a huge operation in Australia, so I think we only have 3 floors in the building. My boss and most of the people I will be working with are on the top floor (Floor #37). You wouldn't believe the view from up there!!! There is also a lawyer's firm up there and its flipping amazing! So, I spent the day doing the "first day" stuff. I was filling out forms, getting my server transferred to Australia, taking orientations and training courses. In fact, I have a IIF training course in the morning. I hardly saw my boss all day. I think he was in meetings cuz when I left at work he said he had to stay late because he hadn't gotten any work done. I feel bad for him. I wish I could have done something productive today to help him out. I skipped lunch today because I didn't feel like leaving and then we had a meeting at 1:30pm. Its amazing how many meetings they have during a single day.
It was hard to concentrate when I could look out the window into the Swan River Harbor and watch the boats going up and down the river and dolphins splashing around. This city is beautiful.
After work, I hauled ass to Target to buy an Australian hair straightener. (Surprisingly it was only $42. It was hard not to buy the $90 with diamonds on it, but I think I made a good choice.) Next, I stopped by Woolworth's to get some groceries. Can you freaking believe it?? WOOLWORTH'S!!!!!! I remember the Woolworth in the Butte Plaza Mall. That was probably 25 years ago. Woolworth's is going strong in Australia!!! (But its mostly a grocery store here)
So, let me talk about Woolworth's for just a little bit longer. Perth is really strange. Just about everything down here in the city closes at 5pm. Target stayed open until 6pm Thank God! But seriously, there's a ton of shops and restaurants and they are all closed at 5! Even the grocery stores around town close no later then 7pm. On Thursdays they stay open until 9pm. It really blows my mind because the people are around and they would eat and shop if they stores stayed open. There's one or two pubs that are open and they are ususally packed. So, as I go to Woolworth's this evening around 6pm, it was a freaking MAD HOUSE!!! Talk about grocery extravaganza! There had to be 500 people in there trying to buy groceries. Everyone only buys a little hand basket of just whatever they're going to eat for that night. I don't know how they do it. If I had to go through that every day I would kill someone. The lines to check out were super long, but they were surprisingly efficient. You zipped right through pretty quick. Most of the things in the stores are pretty much the same as in the states, but not as much of a selection. I got some more of those wonderful milk mocha drinks but in "Light". I'm super stoked about that. I also bought some grapes, apples, and oranges. I just had an orange and some grapes for dinner and they were delish!!! The grapes freakin cost me $10 though. I also snagged one of the last loaves of bread. Seriously! All the bread was gone! Grocery shopping is CRAZY.
Monday, April 13, 2009
My first adventure
This time thing has got me screwed up! Yesterday I was sooooo flipping tired that I was passed out at 7pm. Well, I was wide awake, up and at em at 3 am this morning. I watched TV, took a shower, finished reading my book and was out of things to do by 5am. So I just hung out and lounged until 10am when I could call my boss. I am having serious trouble phoning people in Australia. I have no idea how the phone system works. I guess telephone numbers are six digits, but cell phone numbers are eight digits and start with a 4, but you have to start with a 0 because its a long distance call. I don't know. Calling people on the phone is apparently above my skill level, so I call the front desk and they call and then connect me. Anyways, today (Monday April 13th) was a public holiday so the Chevron offices were closed. No work today. I set up a dinner time with my new boss and headed out on the town for my first adventure. I walked down to the Chevron building to make sure that I could find it tomorrow. Its only a block away so that was easy. Then I kept walking down to St George's Terrace and down to The Esplanade which borders the river. There is a huge Ferris wheel and a bell tower next to the river ferry. Didn't have time to check those out, I was on a mission. A zoo mission.
I paid $3.60 for my ferry ride and that includes the return! Cheapest thing I've bought so far! In fact, a ferry ride over and back is cheaper than a small bottle of water. Amazing. The ferry ride was pretty sweet. Its just a little water bus. No cars drive on the ferry - just people (not like going to Galveston Island mom...) So after my ferry ride, I walked a few blocks and was at the Perth Zoo. I pay and get my ticket and as soon as I walk through the gates, here comes two zoo keepers with a huge elephant, just taking it for a walk. I knew this was going to be ossim.
First thing I did was get some lunch cuz I was hungry. I had a crappy chicken sandwich, a bottle of water, and a mocha thing in a milk carton. Came to $17.00. Let me just tell you about these mocha milk things. They are so amazing and they're everywhere. They are a drink that comes in these little milk cartons and they come in a million flavors. The best one (and the only one I've tried) is the mocha ones. Its like chocolate milk and coffee mixed together. So after I got some lunch, I went to find some animals. I can't remember what the first thing I looked at... I better get the map out. BABOONS!!!! Baboons were the first thing I saw. They were ossim! They had shiny pink butts and there was about 6 of them. They were mean suckers and they fought each other a little bit. One had his lipstick out. So after that I saw some lions, a couple rhinoceroses (which were incredible! they are bad asses), a cheetah, some hyenas, giraffes, zebras, meerkats. Those were the African animals. I guess I won't name all the animals I saw. We could be here all day. I will say that my ultimate favorite animal was the koala bears!!! I think that was the first time I got to see Koala bears awake. I wanted to hug one so bad I couldn't stand it. They're so soft and fuzzy and cute. OMG... I loved all the Australian animals! There was a wombat that was asleep in his little den and it was hysterical. I will have to download the picture on here later. He looked just like Petunia when she's asleep. In the Australian walkabout part of the zoo (where all the Australian animals are), kangaroos are just running lose all over. There are paths that the people have to stay on and the have short little rope barricades to persuade you to stay on the path. So, I'm sitting there watching the roo's with two other people and one of them decides he's going to cross the path. When he went to jump over the rope, he tripped and fell right on his face. I really felt bad, but I laughed my ass off. It was hilarious. Oh, I also got to see a dingo. The only think that I could think was "A dingo ate my baby" I've been saying that in my head all day. The dingo looked like a red dog. I saw a ghost bad eat a mouse. I had a monkey pee on my head (thank God I was standing under a glass dome and the pee didn't actually get on me.) When I was at the orangutans exhibit, it started to raid. These two orangutans had burlap sacks and they used them to keep from getting wet. They started fighting each other to get all the burlap sacks. Those orangutans had an amazing home. They had these HUGE metal and wood structures to play on. I have to say there are some amazing trees and vegetation here. The gum trees look they have skin instead of bark. Really cool! I can't think of anything else to say about the zoo.
It was still raining pretty good so I decided I better head back so I could get ready for dinner. I crossed the river and got back to my apartment. Took a shower and my boss picked me up for dinner at 5:30 pm. We went back across the river (drove this time) to a restaurant named Coco's. It was delicious! We had some crab for an appetizer and it was so good. I had some chicken risotto and broccoli for dinner with a lemon brulee with honeycomb on top. An amazing meal. For 3 of us at dinner, total came to $260. (My boss's fillet was $42. My dessert was $17 Small Risotto $24, Broccoli $8) We didn't even have cocktails! I can't get over how much things cost here. I really liked my new boss and his wife. They are really nice and I think that things are going to be good. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes - my first day at the office.
Peace out -
Mitzi
I paid $3.60 for my ferry ride and that includes the return! Cheapest thing I've bought so far! In fact, a ferry ride over and back is cheaper than a small bottle of water. Amazing. The ferry ride was pretty sweet. Its just a little water bus. No cars drive on the ferry - just people (not like going to Galveston Island mom...) So after my ferry ride, I walked a few blocks and was at the Perth Zoo. I pay and get my ticket and as soon as I walk through the gates, here comes two zoo keepers with a huge elephant, just taking it for a walk. I knew this was going to be ossim.
First thing I did was get some lunch cuz I was hungry. I had a crappy chicken sandwich, a bottle of water, and a mocha thing in a milk carton. Came to $17.00. Let me just tell you about these mocha milk things. They are so amazing and they're everywhere. They are a drink that comes in these little milk cartons and they come in a million flavors. The best one (and the only one I've tried) is the mocha ones. Its like chocolate milk and coffee mixed together. So after I got some lunch, I went to find some animals. I can't remember what the first thing I looked at... I better get the map out. BABOONS!!!! Baboons were the first thing I saw. They were ossim! They had shiny pink butts and there was about 6 of them. They were mean suckers and they fought each other a little bit. One had his lipstick out. So after that I saw some lions, a couple rhinoceroses (which were incredible! they are bad asses), a cheetah, some hyenas, giraffes, zebras, meerkats. Those were the African animals. I guess I won't name all the animals I saw. We could be here all day. I will say that my ultimate favorite animal was the koala bears!!! I think that was the first time I got to see Koala bears awake. I wanted to hug one so bad I couldn't stand it. They're so soft and fuzzy and cute. OMG... I loved all the Australian animals! There was a wombat that was asleep in his little den and it was hysterical. I will have to download the picture on here later. He looked just like Petunia when she's asleep. In the Australian walkabout part of the zoo (where all the Australian animals are), kangaroos are just running lose all over. There are paths that the people have to stay on and the have short little rope barricades to persuade you to stay on the path. So, I'm sitting there watching the roo's with two other people and one of them decides he's going to cross the path. When he went to jump over the rope, he tripped and fell right on his face. I really felt bad, but I laughed my ass off. It was hilarious. Oh, I also got to see a dingo. The only think that I could think was "A dingo ate my baby" I've been saying that in my head all day. The dingo looked like a red dog. I saw a ghost bad eat a mouse. I had a monkey pee on my head (thank God I was standing under a glass dome and the pee didn't actually get on me.) When I was at the orangutans exhibit, it started to raid. These two orangutans had burlap sacks and they used them to keep from getting wet. They started fighting each other to get all the burlap sacks. Those orangutans had an amazing home. They had these HUGE metal and wood structures to play on. I have to say there are some amazing trees and vegetation here. The gum trees look they have skin instead of bark. Really cool! I can't think of anything else to say about the zoo.
It was still raining pretty good so I decided I better head back so I could get ready for dinner. I crossed the river and got back to my apartment. Took a shower and my boss picked me up for dinner at 5:30 pm. We went back across the river (drove this time) to a restaurant named Coco's. It was delicious! We had some crab for an appetizer and it was so good. I had some chicken risotto and broccoli for dinner with a lemon brulee with honeycomb on top. An amazing meal. For 3 of us at dinner, total came to $260. (My boss's fillet was $42. My dessert was $17 Small Risotto $24, Broccoli $8) We didn't even have cocktails! I can't get over how much things cost here. I really liked my new boss and his wife. They are really nice and I think that things are going to be good. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes - my first day at the office.
Peace out -
Mitzi
Sunday, April 12, 2009
$$$$$$
I can't believe how expensive things are here! I just went across the street to a little convenience store. I bought 3 bottles of water, a small jug of milk, one of those Kellogg's mini cereal boxes (6 pack), 1 microwaveable mac and cheese, ramen noodles, some chocolate, a fruit cup, and 2 yogurts. Total comes to $50!!!!!
Also, I just had my first Australian meal. I ate a hamburger across the street at Fast Eddies. It was good. The beef does taste different here, but its ok. I had water to drink. Apparently, they like their water room temp with no ice. It didn't taste very good, but I managed to drink the whole pitcher.
Now that I have a full stomach, the jet lag is kickin like Bruce Lee. I feel like I'm on a boat on a really wavey ocean. Also, I'm kind of brain dead. I'm going to take a nap.
Love Mitzi
Also, I just had my first Australian meal. I ate a hamburger across the street at Fast Eddies. It was good. The beef does taste different here, but its ok. I had water to drink. Apparently, they like their water room temp with no ice. It didn't taste very good, but I managed to drink the whole pitcher.
Now that I have a full stomach, the jet lag is kickin like Bruce Lee. I feel like I'm on a boat on a really wavey ocean. Also, I'm kind of brain dead. I'm going to take a nap.
Love Mitzi
Toilets
I've been flushing toilets like a crazy person. I've yet to witness the Coriolis effect. I went pee after we left LA. Unfortunately, the toilets on the plane are a vacuum suction type. There is no swirling, just a few splashes and everything is gone. I tried it again when we were almost to Sydney just to see if there was some kind of change. Nothing. So I got off the plane and tried out the toilet in the Sydney airport. Its amazing... all the toilets use very little water and I really don't see any swirling motion at all. Just splashing and then its gone. I tried it in the Perth airport and again in my apartment. We'll see what the Chevron toilets have to offer. If we can come up with Techron, I'm sure we can get swirling toilets that operates in reverse. This is a major disappointment.
I just realized there's spell checker on this thing! OSSIM!
Anyways, I made it to Perth. Shit that was a long ride. And I lied earlier when I said I wasn't going to drink on the plane. First thing I did after I sat down was drink some champagne. Then after they served us dinner, I downed some Tylenol PM's with a glass of Chardonnay. I have to admit, its going to be really hard to take a crappy little plane after traveling in the business class section. Oh, I almost forgot!!! I got to sit in seat 14K which is ON THE TOP FLOOR. That's right. The plane was 2 floors. I hope I never get to go first class because it will ruin me. I had my row all to myself. My chair was automated and you could select "take off" position, "the casual lounger" position, or the "sleep" position. Or, you can adjust it to how ever you'd like to sit. It was fantastic! We ate dinner first thing, as it was pretty late (take off at around 10:30 pm). I had a salad with Asian citrus dressing, some raw salmon (which I didn't eat). (#1 - I'm not a salmon fan. #2 even though I love sushi, who the hell eats raw fish ON A PLANE.) Anyways, I also had some beef stroganoff and carrots with cheese and grapes for dessert. Not a bad meal. Then I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was ok. I cried like once. So I ended up sleeping the rest of the way and listening to Al Greene's new CD on the tv menu. It is GREAT! I think I'm going to buy it.
Got to Sydney this morning at 6. We actually had to slow down because the airport didn't open until 6, therefore we couldn't land any earlier. Customs was a breeze. Australian men are hot. The customs people were very nice and I zoomed right thought. I did throw away my skittles before I went through though.
So, now I'm in my little 1 bedroom apartment. Its great. Tiny, but has everything you need. Not too fancy, but there's a jacuzzi bathtub. I def need a bath. I'm so freaking disgusting from flying for the last 20 or so hours.
The flights weren't as bad as I thought and so far all of the people here have been very nice. I had a great cab driver. I think he was from India though. Anyways, that's about all I have for now. Internet is about $7 an hour so I can't stay too long.
Love you guys!
Mitzi
I just realized there's spell checker on this thing! OSSIM!
Anyways, I made it to Perth. Shit that was a long ride. And I lied earlier when I said I wasn't going to drink on the plane. First thing I did after I sat down was drink some champagne. Then after they served us dinner, I downed some Tylenol PM's with a glass of Chardonnay. I have to admit, its going to be really hard to take a crappy little plane after traveling in the business class section. Oh, I almost forgot!!! I got to sit in seat 14K which is ON THE TOP FLOOR. That's right. The plane was 2 floors. I hope I never get to go first class because it will ruin me. I had my row all to myself. My chair was automated and you could select "take off" position, "the casual lounger" position, or the "sleep" position. Or, you can adjust it to how ever you'd like to sit. It was fantastic! We ate dinner first thing, as it was pretty late (take off at around 10:30 pm). I had a salad with Asian citrus dressing, some raw salmon (which I didn't eat). (#1 - I'm not a salmon fan. #2 even though I love sushi, who the hell eats raw fish ON A PLANE.) Anyways, I also had some beef stroganoff and carrots with cheese and grapes for dessert. Not a bad meal. Then I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was ok. I cried like once. So I ended up sleeping the rest of the way and listening to Al Greene's new CD on the tv menu. It is GREAT! I think I'm going to buy it.
Got to Sydney this morning at 6. We actually had to slow down because the airport didn't open until 6, therefore we couldn't land any earlier. Customs was a breeze. Australian men are hot. The customs people were very nice and I zoomed right thought. I did throw away my skittles before I went through though.
So, now I'm in my little 1 bedroom apartment. Its great. Tiny, but has everything you need. Not too fancy, but there's a jacuzzi bathtub. I def need a bath. I'm so freaking disgusting from flying for the last 20 or so hours.
The flights weren't as bad as I thought and so far all of the people here have been very nice. I had a great cab driver. I think he was from India though. Anyways, that's about all I have for now. Internet is about $7 an hour so I can't stay too long.
Love you guys!
Mitzi
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Waiting to go
So this is my first blog. I have no idea what I'm doing. And, please excuse the spelling and punctuation. I'm way better at math. Also, I use a L33T kind of computer typing that you guys probably dont' really know about. Anyways, I thought this would be a good way to document the trip.
OK, I remember how excited I was when my boss called me out of the blue and asked me "How would you like to go work in Australia?" What the hell happened to all that excitement. I think that was about 5 months ago.
I can't begin to describe the anxiety I've had over all the paper work and forms and medical exams and hold ups etc. I have had about 3 serious nervous breakdowns to get that crap taken care of. Now, I'm finally going. And I don't want to go.
This trip shouldn't be too bad because it will only be for 2 weeks. I can handle two weeks. Plus, I'm not even going to the rig. I'll be working in the office and staying in a nice little hotel appartment thing. (Oh, I'm staying at the Quest West End in downtown Perth if anyone's interested.) My first flight from Boise to L.A. wasn't too bad. It was only a little over 2 hrs. I didn't sleep at all. There was a talkative little girl behind me that was cute, but wouldn't shut up. Thanks for letting me use your noise canceling Bose headphones Mom.
(Crap, I'm down to 35% on my battery.)
So I'm getting ready for the longest plane ride of my life. I ordered a pizzza margarita from Wolfgang Puck's. I ate half and stuffed the other half in my backpack in case the airplane food sucks. I have no idea what to expect right now. I'm flying buisness class so that should be pretty good. I think I can plug my laptop and iPod in. Also, I'm sure there will be lots of moves. I'm not going to drink because it makes me sick on the plane. Instead, I'm going to dose myself with some Tylenol PM. Hopefully Australia customs are nice to me. I know Canada hated my guts.
So far, nothing hillarious to report. I haven't seen any famous people in LAX. I've been looking.
I'm so scared! Blah! I'm not scared about going, but this job might be way toooooo much responsibility for me. I'm going to try not to think about it until I get there. I've been having nightmares about it for 3 days.
(Down to 29% battery now)
I'm going to just publish this and I'll write more later. I'm scared of running out of batteries.
Love
Mitzi
OK, I remember how excited I was when my boss called me out of the blue and asked me "How would you like to go work in Australia?" What the hell happened to all that excitement. I think that was about 5 months ago.
I can't begin to describe the anxiety I've had over all the paper work and forms and medical exams and hold ups etc. I have had about 3 serious nervous breakdowns to get that crap taken care of. Now, I'm finally going. And I don't want to go.
This trip shouldn't be too bad because it will only be for 2 weeks. I can handle two weeks. Plus, I'm not even going to the rig. I'll be working in the office and staying in a nice little hotel appartment thing. (Oh, I'm staying at the Quest West End in downtown Perth if anyone's interested.) My first flight from Boise to L.A. wasn't too bad. It was only a little over 2 hrs. I didn't sleep at all. There was a talkative little girl behind me that was cute, but wouldn't shut up. Thanks for letting me use your noise canceling Bose headphones Mom.
(Crap, I'm down to 35% on my battery.)
So I'm getting ready for the longest plane ride of my life. I ordered a pizzza margarita from Wolfgang Puck's. I ate half and stuffed the other half in my backpack in case the airplane food sucks. I have no idea what to expect right now. I'm flying buisness class so that should be pretty good. I think I can plug my laptop and iPod in. Also, I'm sure there will be lots of moves. I'm not going to drink because it makes me sick on the plane. Instead, I'm going to dose myself with some Tylenol PM. Hopefully Australia customs are nice to me. I know Canada hated my guts.
So far, nothing hillarious to report. I haven't seen any famous people in LAX. I've been looking.
I'm so scared! Blah! I'm not scared about going, but this job might be way toooooo much responsibility for me. I'm going to try not to think about it until I get there. I've been having nightmares about it for 3 days.
(Down to 29% battery now)
I'm going to just publish this and I'll write more later. I'm scared of running out of batteries.
Love
Mitzi
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