November 8th 2011
Packing: I spent most
of the day packing, unpacking, repacking and then wondering if I didn’t pack
enough or I packed too much. I hate packing, Almost as much as I hate folding
laundry. I don’t have a problem doing
the laundry, I have a problem folding the laundry, don’t ask.... The night before I made a 4 page list
(post-it notes) of things I needed to bring including clothes, baseball stuff,
electronics and other stuff. Clothes
wise I didn’t quite know what to bring since Melbourne seems to have really odd
weather patterns. Similarly to Denver,
they can get all 4 seasons in a week. I
ended up packing a little of everything, collared shirts, tshirts, jeans,
shorts, running shoes, flip flops and a bathing suit, because I do plan on
showing those Aussies what a real athlete looks like at the beach! After I settled on what clothes to bring I
went about gathering all my “I” electronics.
Thanks to my neighbor Matt Schultz I brought and Ipad 2, I packed both
my Ipods (workout and casual), My Iphone which I bought specifically to unlock
and use down under (long story but I also have a blackberry, Thanks Alex). I also packed my macbook and all the accessory
cables I could find. I have a virtual
rats nest of chargers, data cables and things I brought because they looked
like they might work. Needless to say I
am completely teched out and should have no issues communicating with the
internet world. Hence why you are
reading this now =) Finally and most
importantly I packed my Xbox, because what would a professional athlete be
without his video games. Hopefully it
works down there, Im pretty sure I did the research and all I really need is a
step down box to lower the voltage from 220 to 110. I made sure to go out and get Modern Warfare
3, Batman Arkham City, Dead Island and Gears of War 3…that should keep me busy
for awhile. Other than clothes and
electronics I figured Im going to need to get outside once in awhile so I also
brought along my golf clubs to test out, what I hear, are some of the most
beautiful golf courses in the world. A
full day of packing to say the least, but at last it was done and I could sit down
and relax for a minute. Then it was off
to the airport…
Airport: My beautiful
wife and children took me to the airport this evening. Brady fell asleep in the car as usual and
didn’t get to “see” me say goodbye to him.
Hudson was wide eyed and bushy tailed and was able to give me a smile
and a coo before I left. Pam did her
usual girl thing and began to well up and I had to say goodbye but it was quick
so she didn’t have time to go into full on water works. American airlines might be the worst airline
in the world. Kind of ironic they are
named “American” because everything they do seems to be done to cut
corners. As Ron White would say, I got
put on a pack of gum to fly from Denver to LA.
It was one of those Canadian Regional Jets (American airlines?) so it
was small. In typical fashion I got the
seat way in the back next to the other biggest dude on the plane. Luckily for both of use the flight wasn’t
full and I switched to the row behind and had it all to myself. Instead of sitting next to the biggest dude,
I sat next to the jet engines which output a lot of heat and most of that heat
seemed to penetrate the wall I was sitting next to so needless to say it was a
bit toasty. I think is started to
pre-tan. Upon arrival in Los Angeles,
our gate was occupied so we had to sit on the runway for 15 minutes while our
gate cleared out. Since the plane was so
small almost everyone had to check their carryon luggage because it was too big
for the overhead bin and when I exited the plane finally, half the passengers
were waiting on the tarmac for their bags to off load. I don’t know if you have been to LAX on
American on a pack of gum, but you arrive at what can only be described as
temporary bungalows, similar to the ones you see at most schools and construction
sites. You exit the plane on the
homemade rickety steel ramps, walk down to the tarmac, pick up your bag then
walk into the bungalow. From there you
have to take a shuttle to main terminal, from which you can make your
connections. Needless to say Im not a
fan of American and I only flew them because I have a boat load of frequent
flyer miles saved up from my credit card spending habits (Thanks Citi
Bank). Once I got settled in the
terminal I went to try out the wifi on the phone I am taking down with me. However, LAX still exists in the early 90s
because they don’t offer free wifi unless you are a TMobile subscriber. What crap!
I can goto the Dayz Inn or Starbucks and get free wifi. The Denver airport offers free wifi to all
visitors, yet LAX feels the need for me to buy a day pass? Hell no!
I may sound snooty or stuck up but hey we live in the technology age where data gets passed
around like a joint at a bob marley concert.
Everywhere, especially massive public hubs like airports should offer
free wifi to its patrons. Yet another
reason I love Denver!
Welcome to Auckland:
Let me start by saying I love Qantas.
When I got to LAX I tried to upgrade to business class for obvious
reasons. Unfortunately it was only cash
transactions at the gate for matters like that so I was SOL but the two gate
agents, Ken and Carl (Who was sporting a wicked mullet) hooked me up with a
primo exit row window seat. Once I
boarded the plane, they paraded me past the business class seats I tried to
purchase and then back to the cattle pen they call economy. I found my seat to be extremely roomy yet
comfy enough to where I didn’t feel cramped.
My seat had a folding arm attached which housed the in flight TV
entertainment unit. My seatmate was a
gentlemen from New York by way of Alabama who happened to the a former head
baseball coach at Auburn University. He
made the first several hours of the flight “fly” by. We of course talked baseball and careers and
injuries and world series…the usual.
Qantas then served us dinner, with my choices being Mahi Mahi and
Chicken. I opted for the fish because I
wasn’t really in the mood for chicken.
Needless to the say the first was cooked to death and lacked much
flavor. I wasn’t extremely hungry I
picked around the fish a bit and ate the accompanying veggies and desert. After dinner I thought I would check out in
the flight entertainment system. To my
surprise everything was free of charge (take note American). I opted to Captain America as I had wanted to
see this movie in theaters and because Im the proud father of a 2 year old, I
was unable to. I ended up passing out
about 15 minutes into the movie which was fine by me because I was exhausted
from the days travel and packing adventures.
When I finally awoke it was 745am Denver time and we were somewhere over
the Pacific. I cleared my head,
stretched out, used the spacious lavatory and when I returned to my seat
ordered a coffee from the flight crew. I
opened my window and to my surprise saw a bright full shining moon staring back
at me. It was 745 my time but definitely
not wherever we were. The coffee was
refreshing and I resumed the movie where it left off. At the conclusion of the movie, which was
very entertaining, the rest of the cabin had begun to stir with activity. Cabin light were being switched on and the
line at the bathroom was several people deep.
Breakfast service then began and I ordered the asparagus omelet, which
again was flavorless but satisfying.
During breakfast I started my second movie of the morning; The Hangover
Part II. Apart from being ridiculous and
absurd it was very funny but felt like it was just a rehash of the first movie
just set in Asia. I was entertained and
that’s all I ask today of movies. By the
time the movie had finished we didn’t have much time left in our flight. I buttoned up all my belongings in my bag,
filled out my immigration card (which I later found out I didn’t need to) and
talked to the friendly flight attendant sitting in front of me who happened to
be from New Zealand. Overall I would
have to say that was a pretty easy 12 hour flight all things considered. The food was decent the service was excellent
and the seat was about as comfortable as an airplane seat can be. Once I deplaned I found the nearest coffee
shop, bought some fancy coffee (Plain White) and sat down and relaxed in the
beautiful international terminal and enjoyed the views of the ocean just out of
the reach of the airport.
Melbourne: I arrived
in Melbourne after a fairly long flight in from New Zealand. For some reason I thought it was only a 2
hour flight but it ended up being more like 3.5 hour flight. I did manage to knock out another movie I
hadn’t seen in “Bridesmaids”. I started
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 but fell asleep after about 30 minutes, not due to
the movie but more due to my confused internal clock. Once I deplaned I went though customs with
nary a hiccup and grabbed my bags from the carousel. I was happy to see all 3 of my bags arrived
safe and sound and unscathed (edit: Just noticed that TSA either cut off or
took the “TSA Approved” lock that was on my clothes bag).
Once
outside of customs I was greeted by a team official. She drove me to my hotel where I was
staying. Along the way to the hotel I
played 21 questions and tried to find out as much as possible about where I was
staying, about cell phone plans, the field and anything else that came to mind
that I was curious about. She said
that I was staying at the “Union Hotel” which was about a 10 minute walk from
the ballpark. She mentioned it was an
older place but I took it in stride because Ive stayed at older places before
and be quite happy. When we finally
arrived at the Union Hotel we unloaded my bags and walked inside. I was immediately greeted by charts
representing horse race betting, a bar, several TVs and the customary older
gentlemen sitting in the corner chewing the fat. I was beginning to get concerned that this
place was going to suck and suck badly.
Soon after arriving a gentlemen came in and showed us up stairs to where
I was staying. He used the key to unlock
the door to room 16. Upon entering
several thoughts ran through my head, the first of which was “Oh Hell No!”. The room itself was about 12 foot by 8
foot. There was a queen sized bed with
never looking sheets and two pillows.
In the corner was a table with a flat screen tube tv (not a an LCD or
Plasma flat screen). Right then I knew
my hopes of playing video games went down here were shot. To my right was an armoire covered in a thick
layer of dust, a crumpled pack of old cigarettes on top and no coat hangers
inside. I did have a bathroom with a
toilet, sink and shower which wasn’t the case for the other American staying at
the same place. He instead had a
community bathroom just down the hall with toilets and showers. I looked at the man who was showing us the
room and asked politely if there was wifi or internet in the room and he
politely said no, in fact the people who were staying at this “hotel” probably
had no idea what the internet was or even how to use it. You see the clientele of this place is
generally older (read 60’s +) gentlemen who have basic needs, kind of like an
old folks home. I made it sound like it
was ok, but deep down inside I knew it wasn’t.
With a wife and 2 kids back in the States I needed internet to be able
to Skype and exchange emails with them.
I was very disappointed in the team for providing such awful
accommodations. I dropped my bags off in the room and drove with the team representative to the ballpark to check out where I was going to be playing. We pulled in the Melbourne Show Grounds and parked in left field. I met several of the people working behind the scenes to make the ballpark look good for opening day , including the ground crew, scoreboard operator and General manager. They all seemed excited that I was there. After checking out the field which looked pretty good , we went to go check out the clubhouse. Their idea of the clubhouse was a couple of lockers thrown in a corner of a storage area usually reserved for the horses that occupy the show grounds when baseball is not in season. It wouldn’t be so bad if I were commuting from home where I could keep most of my wares and just take to the ballpark what I need. However that isn’t the situation, I’m staying at the Union Hotel and I get to the ballpark on foot or by tram. The hits keep coming however. We asked a front office member where the showers were and not surprisingly he didn’t know or seemed to think there were not showers available. Once again if I was commuting from home this wouldn’t be that big of a deal but for those of us without that luxury its going to suck. I later found a shower in the portable bathroom that was hitched just outside the clubhouse. Its just big enough for one person however where it is placed it looks like Ill either have to walk outside in a towel to get to it or it might be accessible to the general public. Overall the facilities are not that bad, I suppose they could be worse. The field is in good shape, the locker rooms are passable and the showers are going to be a problem all season.
I played some catch with fellow American import Nick Ungs. He is a 32 year old pitcher from eastern Iowa who decided to play some winter ball instead of hanging them up. He has been here a few days longer than I have so he has a good lay of the land, so Ive been bouncing questions off of him. After our catch we walked back to the hotel which wasn’t that bad of walk. Along the way we exchanged stories of how we got to where we are today both professionally and personally. Upon our arrival the hotel I told him I was getting a bit hungry so we decided to grab a drink and a bite to eat at the “The Union” restaurant which was conveniently located next to the Union Hotel. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the menu was the price of things. Australia is expensive and since the American Dollar is such crap right now it makes the sting of the Aussie prices that much more. We started with two pints of Carlton Draft, a light hoppy beer that’s native to Australia. Nick picked up the first round which came to 24 dollars! Are you kidding me! 24 dollars for two pints of beer? That’s absurd! After the sticker shock wore off we ordered our meals. I had the chicken burger with chips (read: fries) which came to 17 dollars. Again sticker shock. While we waited for our food to arrive we both took in some cricket that was playing on a nearby TV. I try and understand the rules but I usually just start inventing them to make the game make sense to me. I kind of understand how the game is played but I also know there are variations to the game and some other nuances that I just don’t notice. However, Im sure by the time Im done playing down here Ill become a cricket, rugby, Aussie rules football expert. Our first pints had run dry so I told Nick I would pick up the second round since he got the first. I walked over to the bar, ordered to two drinks and prepared for the 24 dollar hit I was about to take. The kind lady behind the bar told me it came to 16 dollars. I was surprised, was it happy hour now? 16 dollars is still expensive but a lot more tolerable than 24. I walked back to the table feeling a small sense of victory and told Nick it only came up to 16 dollars. He thought the same as me, was it happy hour? Our food arrived shortly after I sat down and to my amaze looked really good. Looks carried over into taste and we were both satisfied with what we had ordered. Midway through our meal we grabbed a waitress and asked her about the beer price discrepancy. She said that I had paid the correct price for the beer and Nick had been mischarged. She then offered us both a pint on the house, which was nice since we both didn’t really feel like paying that much for two more beers.
After dinner I was tired. The days travel has taken its toll me and I was ready to wind down for the night. I headed back to my room and after a quick shower and scrub of the teeth, I fell asleep for the night.
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