Odds & Ends

This blog entry is something of a catch-all, so I will ask your indulgence in advance for my lack of transition from topic to topic. Since there is no narrative, things might get a little disjointed.

Common Question: "So are you gonna get an Australian cell phone or a Satellite phone or just hope you get reception on that old Sprint PCS Treo artifact you carry around?" First thing: I know that Sprint PCS phones work down there (in cities). Second, much of Australia is on the CDMA network, like Sprint. But, as you may have noticed I will be in some remote places, so I'm leaving my US phone behind and I have just booked an Iridium satellite phone. My image of sat phones is Arnold Schwartzenegger driving a Hummer with a sat phone that has a baseball-bat-sized rocker arm for an antenna. Granted, it will still be bigger and heavier (13 oz) than any phone I've used this decade, but the Motorola 9505A (pictured) does at least look like a cell phone, allowing me to keep my sophisticated, urbane look when I am amongst sheep farmers or extras from the next Mad Max movie. From what I can tell it is the top of the line. Anyhow, based on price alone, I don't recommend renting sat phones unless you're really planing to be in the middle of nowhere (or a guest star on "Lost" or "Cast Away II"). The cool thing about this phone plan - for me, at least - is that incoming calls and texts are free. It will be pricey for others to contact me, but the estimated $200 extra in rental costs should be more than offset by the price difference between making & receiving calls if that tells you anything. Aneta can call us at times that work for her, which will be more convenient all the way around. She wants to chat with us every day, which is cool. We don't want Alex forgetting anyone. Knowing how articulate Alex generally is on the phone, I just hope her expectations are not too high. There is one exception: if there is anything I don't want her to hear, I am certain Alex will state every word clearly several times in both English and Bulgarian. I better start figuring out an innocuous word to say in front of Alex for scary animals: snakes, scorpions, crocodiles, sharks, funnel web spiders, etc (everything that is not a koala or kangaroo) - the word "mangoes" seems like a safe choice. He'll go on in an animated fashion about seeing lots of mangoes and she'll get on about her day without being too concerned. If you see her, don't tell her my plan. Thanks.

Aneta's flight & hotel plans to meet us in Melbourne are now set. She had considered Sydney because we wanted to meet some friends there, but the timing for Melbourne is better (Feb 24-Mar 2). Those Sydney friends will actually drive down from Sydney to see us in Melbourne for a day and then host me and Alex in Sydney. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Nice thing about technology - you can check the weather in every tiny town worldwide. Since we are within 10 days of departure, it is possible to see weather forecasts for days I'll be in Cairns. Every town from Cairns to Broome is either having a thunderstorm now, will have one, or is 100 degrees, so it looks like summer is going as scheduled this year. Since San Francisco is 50-something and cloudy (and the rest of the US is much colder as a co-worker in Minneapolis informed me today), the concept of skipping straight to summer looks very good. The fact that spring will be in full effect when we return is not lost on me either. I've spent much of my life trying to figure out how to have football season but no winter and I may have just done it this year.

Another cool thing about technology is the ability to track how many people visit the blog. A mere three months after starting the blog (and a week before leaving) I have installed something to track all you unique visitors. Don't worry about the low number (if it shows), I think the numbers are pretty good based on the published (and informal) comments.

One more fun development (getting back to the task at hand) is that in my research I have learned that many pubs and roadhouses across the outback like to have a variety of bumper stickers, license plates, and other decorations that one would associate with a tourist trap (yes, it is very highbrow, I love it). I don't normally get too excited by things like this, but since we're just out for a good time and we know this in advance, I thought it might be fun to be prepared. We can leave our mark without carving this web address in every gum tree between Noosa Heads and Gnoorea (no, I have no idea if it is pronounced like the disease). As a proud Virginia Tech alumnus, I figured it could be fun to leave a trail of Virginia Tech images around in the middle of nowhere (of course I'm a proud South Carolina alum too, but there could be a limit to how many silly-sounding bird mascots this nation can handle). If nothing else, it would cause future VT fans coming through to grin and wonder. So with 10 days to go until before the trip, I took a shot in the dark and wrote to the head of alumni relations, explained the story of my upcoming trip, and asked for a bunch of bumper stickers while making clear I want something that looks good in a bar (such as the Hokie bird - this image is from flickr via a Yahoo search), not a sedate proper "Virginia Tech Alumni Association" logo that might look good on some engraved desk set. I've met this gentleman a couple times - he's a good guy and very quick to respond (which I appreciate). He said he would hook me up. Thus, if the demand for high quality US collegiate mascot decorations is strong, I may become the Johnny Appleseed of Hokie bird stickers across remote stretches of the outback (forcing future generations of Australian beer drinkers to wonder just what a Hokie is). Last time I was in Perth/ Fremantle I saw some dude with a University of Virginia cap, so I know that the enemy lurks close by even on the farthest corners of earth. I'm just here to up the ante.

Lastly, in keeping with the title of this post, I am starting to put together my packing list with various odds & ends. One of my "bags" will be a cooler (that's "esky" in Australian). At home, we have at least one more cooler than we need or have space for so I plan to leave it behind at the end of the trip, but it is quite practical as luggage as well. It is a nice shape/volume for carrying odd items like Alex's potty and various stuffed animals. And of course, once we get there it is a big cooler, which will be handy in keeping drinks cold on the road. We're also packing all sorts of items: CDs & DVDs, sunscreen, prescription sunglasses (the only kind of glasses I'm bringing), industrial strength mosquito spray (deet), Cholula hot sauce... the basics. Then there is the list of things to get when I get there: water, juice boxes, caffeinated drinks, food that remains edible & not messy after getting blazing hot, a good Australian road map, fix-a-flat...well, you get the idea. There's more to do, but it is certainly rounding into form as we finalize things.

"Mangoes", Sat phones, Hokie Birds, devoted friends, thunderstorms, and mosquito repellant - things are looking good. This pre-game show will be over soon, kickoff is in 8 days.