Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Thanks to Deepak for the recent donation. Much appreciated and hard to believe it's almost worth R1,000.
One month until we depart Adelaide for Darwin on 27 April. Our first flight from Darwin to Brisbane hasn't been performing that well this week. It was 2 hours late on Monday which would have had us well and truly stuffed from the first flight. We have 40 minutes in Brisbane. Luckily I'll have some reconnaissance time in Brisbane airport in 10 days.
I've always seen that as a risk and that kind of adds to the fun of it all. I could almost make a reality TV show out of it and break the day up over multiple episodes; each ending in a cliffhanger about the next flight. But it wouldn't be reality TV if it were that contrived would it? (Rhetorical question, I was being sarcastic).
I've started monitoring the inbound flight preceding that first flight to see what kind of delays that one is experiencing to.
Our flights basically have a tight connection followed by a relaxed connection so hopefully our buffers will be in the right places...
The Qantas/Emirates deal was rubber stamped by the ACCC today. I doubt at this stage of the game there'll be any rescheduling of flights ahead of the big day. It's been about 4 weeks now since I received the last 'flight change notification' email.
My next post will most likely be from Las Vegas in a few days. Stay tuned.
27 March 2013
23 March 2013
Upstaged and usurped
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Okay, so this week we received a few fabulous donations from Debbie, Becq and Robyn.
Robyn is cycling from Melbourne to Sydney - the scenic route, not the shortest. Ride for Recovery participants hit Sydney the day before my 40th and fly back to Melbourne on my birthday - we're hoping to catch up for a quiet one in either SYD or MEL.
So if you're not keen to support my hijinks because of the C2H6O links then get onboard with the Ride for Recovery.
I've started monitoring OTP (on time performance) and it's all looking good so far. The tightest connections we have seem to be linked with our onwards such that our arrival delays cascade to the next departure.
I'm still a little nervous that Qantas will revise their schedule post 31/3 when the Emirates alliance comes into play but I think we should be okay...
I've started monitoring OTP (on time performance) and it's all looking good so far. The tightest connections we have seem to be linked with our onwards such that our arrival delays cascade to the next departure.
I'm still a little nervous that Qantas will revise their schedule post 31/3 when the Emirates alliance comes into play but I think we should be okay...
16 March 2013
So I found another video thingo...
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
That's right sports fans... Here's another little video thing I've cobbled together.
Xtranormal is the tool that I used to create this interview.
Thanks 200 times to Jeff and the amazing crew at Usage Business Solutions for their donation this week.
We're still +6 weeks from the mission and I'm confident we'll reach our target.
I may go a little quiet blog wise in a couple week's time due to Jo's 40th in Las Vegas, NV. But we'll see how we go. Apparently Donald is comping our internet access, so I may be able to post.
For those that have asked if I'll put my Vegas winnings into the kitty I'm afraid to say that I don't really gamble. Vegas has a lot to offer apart from gambling.
It's the last 2 days of Fringe in Adelaide this weekend. Congrats to all involved. Apparently it has been the best yet.
Remember that comedy doesn't finish when the Fringe does.
That's right sports fans... Here's another little video thing I've cobbled together.
Xtranormal is the tool that I used to create this interview.
Thanks 200 times to Jeff and the amazing crew at Usage Business Solutions for their donation this week.
We're still +6 weeks from the mission and I'm confident we'll reach our target.
I may go a little quiet blog wise in a couple week's time due to Jo's 40th in Las Vegas, NV. But we'll see how we go. Apparently Donald is comping our internet access, so I may be able to post.
For those that have asked if I'll put my Vegas winnings into the kitty I'm afraid to say that I don't really gamble. Vegas has a lot to offer apart from gambling.
It's the last 2 days of Fringe in Adelaide this weekend. Congrats to all involved. Apparently it has been the best yet.
Remember that comedy doesn't finish when the Fringe does.
12 March 2013
11 degrees of preparation
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
A massive thanks to Nat & Jorge for their wonderful donation! It was a big week donation wise last week. I couldn't help myself and chucked in a bit more to get us to the half way mark.
I should now confess that I entered a Qantas competition with a prize that would have conflicted with the mission. I must admit I hadn't thought that one through as to what we would have done if we won it! Jo was in good form having won a Dan Murphy's Valentine's day competition - a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and a bottle of Ciroc Vodka.
Needless to say we didn't win the Qantas competition (congrats M Flynn of Victoria) and our attention is now back onto the mission.
Even though Jo and I have 11 degrees/tertiary qualifications between us (she has 7) I don't think any of that study has helped with respect to this mission. The Nietzsche & Foucault texts that Jo had to study (and made me read so we could discuss them) in her M. Ed. may have come closest.
My grad cert in project management is probably somewhat useful if I am to be honest. Can I get a PMBOK or ISO 31000 anyone? The mission would make for an interesting risk matrix.
We've now booked our hotel in Darwin - we weren't sure whether we'd stay at or near the airport or in the CBD but decided on the latter. Even though we'll be in Darwin for less than 40 hours I have only ever been there for work previously so it'll be good to have a look around.
I should close by acknowledging Qantas' response through their Facebook presence. I had been contemplating letting Qantas know what my plans are and wasn't quite sure the best way to go about it. I merely wanted to advise them of my abnormal flight bookings in this post-911 world we live in. They responded next business day and included a link to their sponsorship application. Nice.
A massive thanks to Nat & Jorge for their wonderful donation! It was a big week donation wise last week. I couldn't help myself and chucked in a bit more to get us to the half way mark.
I should now confess that I entered a Qantas competition with a prize that would have conflicted with the mission. I must admit I hadn't thought that one through as to what we would have done if we won it! Jo was in good form having won a Dan Murphy's Valentine's day competition - a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and a bottle of Ciroc Vodka.
Needless to say we didn't win the Qantas competition (congrats M Flynn of Victoria) and our attention is now back onto the mission.
Even though Jo and I have 11 degrees/tertiary qualifications between us (she has 7) I don't think any of that study has helped with respect to this mission. The Nietzsche & Foucault texts that Jo had to study (and made me read so we could discuss them) in her M. Ed. may have come closest.
My grad cert in project management is probably somewhat useful if I am to be honest. Can I get a PMBOK or ISO 31000 anyone? The mission would make for an interesting risk matrix.
We've now booked our hotel in Darwin - we weren't sure whether we'd stay at or near the airport or in the CBD but decided on the latter. Even though we'll be in Darwin for less than 40 hours I have only ever been there for work previously so it'll be good to have a look around.
I should close by acknowledging Qantas' response through their Facebook presence. I had been contemplating letting Qantas know what my plans are and wasn't quite sure the best way to go about it. I merely wanted to advise them of my abnormal flight bookings in this post-911 world we live in. They responded next business day and included a link to their sponsorship application. Nice.
05 March 2013
You asked for it...
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Firstly a HUGE thank you to Visionaries, Sue & Graham and Dad for your awesome donations in the last few days. It's hard to believe we're almost half way to the target.
Just a little update on the last post. It turns out my nieces (5 & 7) were in the computer room at school and 'hacked' my sister's paypal account.
There's now $1,811 in the kitty and the site has had 1,572 visits.
I've been asked a few questions on a couple occasions so I thought it'd be best to answer them here.
Q: Why have you decided to support Pregnancy Loss Australia?
A: Thankfully my wife and I have not had to call upon their services but we know others who have and to see how much they help is the inspiration to help them. I was making a regular financial contribution to PLA and a couple of other charitable causes but had to hit the pause button after we bought our new house last year.
Q: What's the plan for the day and are you going to sample local brews in each city?
A: I won't publish the flight plan until just before (just in case it changes - there's been a few small changes in recent weeks - I don't like getting those emails). We'll be leaving Darwin at 1:15am at this stage and hitting Hobart at 8:15am the next morning. The aim is to imbibe a local brew in each port. Although I should have finished in Darwin. I'll probably take a couple safety cans of beer just in case
Q: How come you're not doing the whole country in one day?
To save you trawling through earlier posts we originally had flights booked that would have enabled us to take in Hobart on the same day but re-scheduling made it impossible to do the whole country in one day. We'll be landing in Perth to complete the mainland capitals 17 hours and 15 minutes after leaving Darwin. It'll be 35 hours and 45 minutes (from leaving Darwin) until we get home to Adelaide.
Q: How will we know that you're actually doing the mission?
A: We'll be packing lightly (carry on only) so the trusty iPhone 5 will be our documentary device. We'll be taking photos and videos and updating the blog as we go. Some of the transit times are really tight and the beer will outrank the blog posts. We'll have quite a bit of time in Darwin (beer 1), Canberra (beer 3), Melbourne (beer 5) and Perth (beer 7) so I'll be able to catch up on uploads at those ports if we didn't have time in transit. I'll try to get photos adjacent something showing the date and city in each airport. Or maybe it'll be more fun just randomly interviewing strangers...
If you have any more questions you can ask by commenting below.
Firstly a HUGE thank you to Visionaries, Sue & Graham and Dad for your awesome donations in the last few days. It's hard to believe we're almost half way to the target.
Just a little update on the last post. It turns out my nieces (5 & 7) were in the computer room at school and 'hacked' my sister's paypal account.
There's now $1,811 in the kitty and the site has had 1,572 visits.
I've been asked a few questions on a couple occasions so I thought it'd be best to answer them here.
Q: Why have you decided to support Pregnancy Loss Australia?
A: Thankfully my wife and I have not had to call upon their services but we know others who have and to see how much they help is the inspiration to help them. I was making a regular financial contribution to PLA and a couple of other charitable causes but had to hit the pause button after we bought our new house last year.
Q: What's the plan for the day and are you going to sample local brews in each city?
A: I won't publish the flight plan until just before (just in case it changes - there's been a few small changes in recent weeks - I don't like getting those emails). We'll be leaving Darwin at 1:15am at this stage and hitting Hobart at 8:15am the next morning. The aim is to imbibe a local brew in each port. Although I should have finished in Darwin. I'll probably take a couple safety cans of beer just in case
Q: How come you're not doing the whole country in one day?
To save you trawling through earlier posts we originally had flights booked that would have enabled us to take in Hobart on the same day but re-scheduling made it impossible to do the whole country in one day. We'll be landing in Perth to complete the mainland capitals 17 hours and 15 minutes after leaving Darwin. It'll be 35 hours and 45 minutes (from leaving Darwin) until we get home to Adelaide.
Q: How will we know that you're actually doing the mission?
A: We'll be packing lightly (carry on only) so the trusty iPhone 5 will be our documentary device. We'll be taking photos and videos and updating the blog as we go. Some of the transit times are really tight and the beer will outrank the blog posts. We'll have quite a bit of time in Darwin (beer 1), Canberra (beer 3), Melbourne (beer 5) and Perth (beer 7) so I'll be able to catch up on uploads at those ports if we didn't have time in transit. I'll try to get photos adjacent something showing the date and city in each airport. Or maybe it'll be more fun just randomly interviewing strangers...
If you have any more questions you can ask by commenting below.
01 March 2013
'twas the night before Soundwave and not a roadie was sound checking
Raising money for Pregnancy Loss Australia - please donate through Everyday Hero
Thank you to my nieces Bethany and Amelie for their donation today. I won't ask how they managed it at 9:45am on a school day...
So we just got home from seeing the Angry Cabbie at the Maid and it was a pretty solid set. On our walk home we were serenaded by messrs Suffa, Pressure and Debris. They're still going now at 11:06pm.
Looking forward to seeing Metallica tomorrow night. Bad news is they played my favourite song of theirs (Leper Messiah) tonight in Melbourne so it's unlikely to be in the rotation tomorrow night. I'd settle for 'The Day that Never Comes' in lieu of Leper.
Anyway, back to the mission. Because February is so inconsiderate I never got to call 'It's two months today until take off'.
I have been intrigued for a while as to the whiteboard animation videos I've seen from time to time (Weeds intro). Turns out there's software such as Sparkol VideoScribe so I downloaded it last night and had a bit of a play. Here's the result.
It's actually pretty easy - I wrapped my head around the software and cut a first draft in 30-40 minutes.
Thank you to my nieces Bethany and Amelie for their donation today. I won't ask how they managed it at 9:45am on a school day...
So we just got home from seeing the Angry Cabbie at the Maid and it was a pretty solid set. On our walk home we were serenaded by messrs Suffa, Pressure and Debris. They're still going now at 11:06pm.
Looking forward to seeing Metallica tomorrow night. Bad news is they played my favourite song of theirs (Leper Messiah) tonight in Melbourne so it's unlikely to be in the rotation tomorrow night. I'd settle for 'The Day that Never Comes' in lieu of Leper.
Anyway, back to the mission. Because February is so inconsiderate I never got to call 'It's two months today until take off'.
I have been intrigued for a while as to the whiteboard animation videos I've seen from time to time (Weeds intro). Turns out there's software such as Sparkol VideoScribe so I downloaded it last night and had a bit of a play. Here's the result.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)