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August 7, 2005 (very late) That's it. We're currently in the air. We're going about 950 km/hr. The plane is a 747. It's a big sucker. I've never been on a plane this big or traveled this fast. We just got finished watching Monster-in-Law (sorry, Jim... I don't think she's that bad.) Today was just a comedy of errors. First, I miscommunicated my intentions for breakfast to Sheryl... so she was very late in getting to the hotel to pick us up. Completely not her fault. Then we set out for Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood. We got there kind of late, but Ella's friend was even later, apparently she was suffering from narcolepsy. Then we waited over two hours to get in... the host had misplaced our name on the list. Strangely enough, I can say that the waffles were so worth it. I also recommend the scrambled eggs and the fresh squeezed lemonade. The chicken was good, but not fantastic... and the chicken sausage I could have done without. Since we had spent so much time at Roscoe's, when we went back to find the topless carwash that we had seen on the way in, it was already closed. (Yes, Jim, I've failed you.) We also took a pass on viewing the Hollywood Starwalk. Ella fell in love with the name of this business. She kept chanting it over and over again like some kind of mantra. Notice the number on the building. Pink's must make pretty good hot dogs, the line was around the block! Instead, we drove out to Beverly Hills. We saw the Beverly Hills Hotel. We drove along Sunset Boulevard and saw all the snooty high priced stores. I will say that the people on Sunset Boulevard have good taste in art. The houses and trees in Beverly Hills were incredible. Some of the houses were just so artistic and all the landscape was manicured. Then we cruised out towards Venice Beach. We didn't bother getting out near Venice because time was getting short and it looked like they were having a HUGE event of some kind. We saw a twin to the Milwaukee Whaling Wall, a bordello, political statements, aardvark mannequins, and a Sushi Academy. By then, the time for departure was nearing and we had to get back to the airport. Thanks again to Sheryl for all her help and friendship. We love you and think you're awesome, no matter what your Kenpo instructor says about you! Once at the airport, we made our final goodbye calls until my phone started to die. Apologies to Ella's mom, since she got cut off. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to update this page, so I hope no one has started to worry if it takes a long time. We miss you already. -Bob (future antipodean) |
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August 7, 2005 Today Sheryl picked Ella and I up and took us for lunch at In-N-Out Burger. I've heard so much about it and had never been there. Well, now I have. Let's just say that it lived up to the hype. Think just a little better than a Culver's ButterBurger. Then Sheryl took us back and gave us massages. That's right. Not only has she driven 5 hours in the middle of the night, booked us into a hotel room, fed us, run us around and entertained us... but she went that extra mile and learned to give professional quality Kenpo treatments so that we would be comfortable and limber on our journey to Australia. I have good friends. After the treatments, Ella went back to the hotel for a bit while Sheryl, Jim and I took a hike up to a look-out ridge. It was a good walk, good conversation, but I wish the air hadn't been so hazy... apparently on better days you can see most of Los Angeles from that point. We finished up the day watching Chinatown and eating some decent Mexican food. Now I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow we are meeting Ella's friend, Jen, and going to Rosco's Chicken and Waffles. L.A. is a really strange place. -Bob (future antipodean) |
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August 6, 2005 Everything is going well, or as well as can be expected since we were stood up. Sheryl showed up early (quite pleased with herself that her car could do well over 90mph) and we were booked into the Furama Hotel, which we have since renamed the Futurama Hotel. We finally got to sleep around 5:00am by Wisconsin time. Long day. Jim asked me to take some pictures of the Denver Airport. Something about conspiracy theory or something. Sheryl took us out for food in the morning (read afternoon, because we slept in) at IHOP. I forgot my stickers in my luggage, though. Still, they had funnel cakes. They were good, but not as good as the ones at the fair. Then we went out to Santa Monica Pier. pic 1 pic 2 pic 3 pic 4 pic 5 pic 6 We walked on the beach, played some games in the arcade on the pier, and climbed on some of the adult sized jungle gym stuff. I really thought I was in better shape. I climbed the rope (3 stories) and I'm really sore this morning. Then we went back to Sheryl's friend's house (Jim and son Jeremy) and played guitar for a while. It may not sound like it, but by this point, it was after 11:00pm California time. I was on a second wind, but Ella was falling asleep on the couch. Two hours of time shift doesn't affect me much, but Ella was just out. So back to the hotel, a bit of writing for me, some napping for Ella, then lights out. A full day. -Bob (future antipodean) |
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August 5, 2005 I'm not sure if I should be dating this for the 4th or the 5th. According to my "Wisconsin" clock, it's 1:00 am on Friday. The thing is, I'm in Los Angeles! I've got some really cool friends. As I was finishing packing yesterday, Becky and Stacy carted my butt around to do some last minute errands, then gave me a really nice card on my way out the door along with some big, warm hugs. Jim and Tobi met me at the airport to say goodbye, they helped with luggage, stood for photos, and when one of my bags came in at well over the maximum weight, took said bag home and promised to FedEx it at a later date. Oh, and more warm hugs. Then, when ALL of Ella's "friends" neglected to either, pick us up from the airport, come through on letting us crash, or, in some cases, even offer any assistance at all, I called my friend Sheryl, and she drove 5½ hours to LAX to pick us up. On the way, she called a friend she had in L.A. and had him find us a reasonable hotel and book us a couple of nights. I have very, very good friends. So I'm sitting here waiting for Sheryl. There's a young black man, with a streak of bleached hair (slightly offset and shaped slightly like South America) walking into the baggage claim with a bouquet of roses in one hand... his other hand is down his pants. We're pretty sure he's here to pick up his mail-order-bride. I'm sure I'll have more to write later. For now, I'm going to try to conserve my battery a bit longer. Rest assured that I already miss you all. -Bob (future antipodean) |
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August 4, 2005 Today's the big day. We'll be at the airport at 3:00 if anyone wants to see us off. If anyone needs to contact us, my phone will still be working until the 8th. After that, the best way will be via email. Bob - noonesgod@gmail.com Ella - reallygoodname@gmail.com I'll be updating this page with all kinds of goodies (pictures, video) and info (address, phone numbers, etc.) as soon as I can find an internet connection in Austraila. -Bob (future antipodean) |
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August 3, 2005 Itinerary August 4, 2005
Today Jim and I drove up to see Kelly again. This time, we borrowed the Miles family van. After 3 days in a row of frying in this unbearable heat in a car with no air-conditioning, I was starting to feel like a well-cooked chicken, and the meat was starting to fall cleanly off my bones. Also, we packed up a bunch of my stuff and carted it off to my parents house for storage or later shipping. -Bob |
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August 2, 2005 Today Jim and I took another trip to the Jelly Belly factory for some supplies. Then it was off to an interview, for Jim, in Elgin. I noticed that all the banks were claiming 99° heat. Once again, in the car with no air-conditioning. All of you that think that, "It's no big deal, you're in a convertible," have never spent a goodly amount of time in a hot convertible. Sure it's fun for a couple of hours, but after your skin has been crisped by the sun and rubbed raw by the wind, having the top down is just a bad idea. So you're stuck putting the top up for a parasol of shade. -Bob |
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August 1, 2005 Today Jim and I went to visit Kelly. Even though I had called ahead and asked what visiting hours were, no one bothered to tell me that there was no visitation on Mondays. So Jim and I drove 6 hours for nothing. On the up-side, when we stopped to ask for directions to Kelly's, the lady at the gas station told us to take a left out of the parking lot and then take another left at the fork in the road. Obviously this was a mistake on her part, because in following her directions, we wound up here. We were just driving along, for longer than we should have. The area was nothing but swamp and trees. The road kept getting narrower and rougher. Finally, Jim squeaked out, 'Uncle Bob, I'm getting scared. If I start to hear banjo music, I'm out of here!" That's when we happened on the One Man Cemetary. At that point we were freaked out enough that we decided to head back and try to find a different way to Kelly's. We stopped and saw Ben on the way home. He fixed the sound on my computer for me, so I can now actually hear files and programs again. Thanks, Ben! Then drove back. A long HOT day. -Bob |
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July 31, 2005 Today Jim and Happy and I helped Mikey and Kristin move into their new apartment together. In 98° heat (with 83&per; humidity), we toiled. It was fun to have the old gang together, even if I was dripping with sweat. -Bob |
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July 27, 2005 Important Announcement! Finally, after many delays and false starts, we finally have a departure date. Ella and I are leaving Wisconsin, from Mitchell International, on Thursday, August 4th, at 5:05pm. We'll spend a couple days in Los Angeles before departing for Australia on August 7th. A full itinerary will be posted shortly. Ella wanted to write something here, but she was too busy deciding what font best would depict her doing the Snoopy dance. -Bob |
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July 26, 2005 The first part is finished. I just paid off my credit cards. I wrote out a check to pay my mom back for some money she owed me. All that money I just got from my 401K is dwindling quickly... but at least I'm not paying interest anymore. I went from paying 4¢ a minute in interest, to paying none. I also find it quite interesting how cheaply one can live when they're not working. It's not that I'm not doing anything, I just don't spend as much. I don't leave the house as often, so without a car to suck up gas, repairs, and insurance... that right there is a big chunk of change that I save. I also find that I don't spend as much on other things, like food or toys, because I'm constantly relaxing rather than trying to relax after work and trying to find fun things to do. Okay, next project on the list... buy some plane tickets. Check back soon! -Bob |
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July 25, 2005 Hallelujah! It's about time. Today that stupid 401K check finally showed up in the mail. Ella and I borrowed a car and drove down to my mom's house to pick up the check and then hurried to a branch bank to deposit the check. The funds will be released to my account on Wednesday, so now I can finally start planning the trip! -Bob |
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July 19, 2005 Yesterday was a dark day. I started out the day planning our trip, finally. Called the travel agent, got a whole package put together, talked with people to make sure that the dates were okay. In doing so, I found out that Australia is no longer using "visas" but are now using something called an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority). So all the research that I had done on how to get a "visa" was so much wasted time. My travel agent questioned my desire for a one way ticket and didn't think that this new organization would allow me to just buy a one way ticket unless I had the proper papers to do so. So I combed the internet, called the Australian Consulate in Washington D.C. and spent roughly two hours on the phone just trying to find a human being who could answer the question that my travel agent had posed. Come to find out that they're pretty strict on that sort of thing, but I had to prove that I had enough money to pay for a ticket home and pay for my time there. No problem, I've been looking for that 401K check, right? I call up my mom to see if the check came in the mail yet... I mean, it was supposed to be here last week Thursday, it HAS to be here, right? Nope. Then I called the company that is dealing with my 401K and asked them what the deal was. I was promised it would be here last week... I'm leaving the country. I'd like to take care of that and not leave it sitting on the porch for a year. The guy on the line was really smug, "Well, I told you two weeks ago [actually it was three weeks ago, but who's counting] that it could take up to 3 months." No you didn't, moron. You told me it would be here on the 14th. It is now the 19th and it STILL isn't here! I had to call the travel agent back and cancel the plans because I didn't have the money to back our time in Australia yet. So here I am, back in limbo. Will this waiting never end? -Bob |
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July 1, 2005 That's it. I am now homeless, jobless, transportationless... and for the most part, broke! Today I sold my house to Jerry Wheeler. I had to show up at closing with nearly $10,000. Now, don't let that number scare you. It was a bunch of stuff that had to be paid up front so that I can be paid back later. For instance: I had a second mortgage that was charging me over 20% interest. Well, since we closed on the first of the month... and my mortgage company compounds the interest on the first of every month... I had to pay all that interest up front for the whole month. Of course, the mortgage company will pay me back for 30 of the 31 days in July, but I had to show up at closing with that extra money. Now imagine that had to happen with about a dozen other things as well. First mortgage, water bill, taxes, tenants rent, etc, etc. So it was pretty stressful, but I'm finished now. Now I just sit back and wait for all my money to come pouring in. On top of that, I sold Jim my car today. It's no big deal, I don't need transportation for the next couple weeks. It's not like I have a job to go to. Plus, Jim promised to be my chauffeur if I needed to go anywhere. I didn't sell a car. I hired a driver. So that's it. I only need to wait for all my big fat checks and then I'm off. Until then, I'm really enjoying my vacation. Oh, and I updated my web design section of my website today, so check it out. -Bob |
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June 30, 2005 I found out some interesting news last night. Not neccesarily bad... but not really what I wanted to hear. I called the company that is handling my 401K and they said that I would be receiving my payout by the 14th of July. I figured on a three week period for all this to get organized, but it's going to end up being six. Still, now that I have that date, Ella and I can now begin making some concrete plans. Providing everything goes well tomorrow, we're planning a July 21st departure (or somewhere around that weekend.) I'll be talking to a travel agent either tomorrow or next Monday to get hard plans made. Currently, friends in California are being contacted to advise of availability. -Bob |
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June 29, 2005 Friday is the big day. Stefanie has contacted me and let me know that the papers were all signed and they're on they're way back (actually should already be in the title company's hands.) So my plans for Friday are to close on the house in the morning, give my car to Jim in the afternoon. I really hope it happens this time. I'm getting very frustrated with all the false starts. -Bob |
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June 25, 2005 Ella's folks decided we should have a Q&A tonight. They ordered some Boston Market chicken and we all sat down to a very nice meal and conversation. Nothing all that out of the ordinary. Ella's father couldn't understand why we didn't just go for a couple weeks. I had a hard time explaining that I didn't want a vacation, I wanted a life change. Two weeks just wasn't going to cut it. They still seemed a little like deer caught in the headlights. Like they really couldn't fathom the concept, let alone that we were serious. One thing that kind of surprised me was when Mr. Miles asked if Ella and I were planning on getting married. Like with everything else, I had already run over this in my mind and had an immediate answer, but I did find it surprising that they asked the question. Kind of like a "What are your intentions with my daughter?" kind of tone. You always prepare for it, but never really expect to hear it. It was a good meal and a good talk, though. We just kept chatting on for hours. Finally, Mr. Miles and I both stood up and were kind of stretching, trying to get the girls to just stop talking long enough to wrap everything up. Yeesh! Women! We finally broke away around 9:30pm (started dinner around 6:00pm) -Bob |
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June 23, 2005 Today was both good and bad. Ella and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry and saw the Body Worlds exhibit. For those of you that haven't seen it, I highly recommend going. You have to pay to get into the museum and then another $12 per person for this exhibit, but it was more than worth the money. Unfortunately, tomorrow I was supposed to close on the house. This isn't going to happen... AGAIN! This time, it's Stef's fault. Ok, that may be over-simplifying it. Stefanie is still on the deed for the house, so I need her to sign some papers, which makes it all quite difficult because she's in New York. So, a lot of people share the fault on this one. I should have done some more research into whether or not she was going to have to sign anything. Jerry should have made sure that his broker had my wireless number instead of just my work number so she could have contacted me earlier. The broker could have pressured Jerry for more information and gotten in contact with me sooner. The title company could have been on the ball and noticed that there was a second signature on the deed. All this information I had to cram down everyone's throat on Wednesday... when they finally got in contact with me. This has all been put off for MONTHS and they decide to contact me two days before closing when I've been begging ANYONE to give me some answers? I was livid. It wasn't an easy question to answer, either. The title company couldn't answer my question at first and had to "research" whether or not Stefanie had to sign. So we set up a closing for Wednesday, then had to change it to Friday because Jerry is in Arizona until then! I just can't catch a break here! It is SO much easier to BUY a house than it is to get rid of one! So I had fun at the museum, but half the day was spoiled because I was so angry about the situation. I just couldn't get it out of my mind. So closing has been put off until the first, which of course causes me all sorts of havoc... rent due, I promised my car to Jim on the first, both mortgage payments are due... and it's not like I can just wait an extra day because we have a bloody 3 day weekend! Oh, sure, you're all thrilled about the three day weekend, aren't you! While I'm here suffering because the banks are closed! I'm better now. At least for the time being. -Bob |
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June 21, 2005 Sorry I haven't updated this to let everyone know what happened. It just slipped my mind. So we all went out for sushi, we ate. For the most part, everyone was pretty adventurous in at least trying some of the interesting food that I was offering them. About ¾ of the way through the meal, Ella did her best to blurt out the news. Things got kind of quiet. Now considering that her parents probably thought that we had gotten them there to:
In the last week, all I've gotten is a dictum that I must sit down at some point for a formal Q&A... which is to be expected. Also, in the past week, I bought couple new pair of Converse for the trip and had some new hats embroidered. That's about it. I'll write more when I have more to write. -Bob |
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June 15, 2005 Ella and I have been dating steadily for the past 8½ months. We decided back in November that we were going to move to Australia. We planned to leave in March. Things got hung up on my end and Ella has been waiting patiently for me. During that time, she hasn't been going to school, hasn't been working (at least not at a standard 9 to 5 type job) and has been living at home with her parents. Also, during that time, her parents have been unaware of her plans to move in with me... let alone that it will be on the other side of the globe. So for the past few months, they've been getting more and more agitated about having a shiftless-layabout for a daughter... not understanding that it's more my fault than hers... and it's all for good reason. In the past couple weeks, it's been getting really bad, so something has to be done. Tonight we tell them. To say that I'm uncomfortable with this is an understatement. I understand why Ella chose to keep this from her parents until we knew for sure that it was going to happen... and I understand putting it off. Me, I'm the type of person to blurt out all kinds of info just because I'm excited about it. The few times that I've had an opportunity to talk to her parents, I've had to concentrate on Cody (her beagle) as a distraction to avoid slipping up. I mean, for the past few months, my entire life has circled around one goal, getting to Australia... it's tough to tell your girlfriend's parents about your life without tripping over something that pertains to that. So the plan is, we're taking both her parents and my parents out for sushi under the guise that we want the parents to meet. A fun outing. Thinly veiled, I know... but we thought it better if her parents could have someone to talk to about all this. All I can say is that I hope everything goes well. I'm nervous, Ella's nervous, even my parents are nervous because they already know. So stay tuned. I'm as anxious to update this as you are to read it. -Bob |
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June 14, 2005 I apologize to everyone who has been checking this site and has gotten an error message. Ben, my brother, hosts my site for me. In the last couple weeks he had to make an emergency move from his apartment due to some inconsiderate and manipulative housemates. So we've been waiting for internet access to be installed at his new digs. Sorry for the inconvenience. Also, everyone should know that Ben is the coolest brother in the universe just for giving me the opportunity to put all this stuff up and not pay for it. Everyone say, "Thank you, Ben!" because otherwise there would be no Australia blog for you to read, no Tuesday Movie Night website, no Tuesday Movie Night Message Board... He keeps it all running. -Bob |
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June 9, 2005 Today I drove out to Madison and had breakfast with my good buddy Jerry Wheeler. Signed some more papers and got a final closing date for my house... June 24th. Looks like this time it's in the bag. Cross your fingers for me. It may have been a little frustrating over the last few months, but if things hadn't happened like they did, I wouldn't have gotten the severance from Country Maid. Plus, I should be receiving my 401K about the same time that the house closes, so it will be mere days after the 24th before I'm gone for strange lands. -Bob |
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June 7, 2005 YES! Big day today! Bought a new laptop for the trip. My first check from Country Maid cleared, so I went on a spending spree and bought a new Vaio. My previous laptop, also a Vaio, developed power supply problems after 5 years. It was time to upgrade anyway. So here is what I got:
-Bob |
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May 28, 2005 A lot of people have been asking: "Why Australia?" and "How did you decide to do this?" So I suppose it's time I answered those questions. It really comes down to Ella and Jim, two of the most important people in my life. What first started the idea of moving, was Ella. I had dated Ella before, but we were just hanging out as friends now. She didn't want to be in Wisconsin anymore. She wanted to move to California. She kept mentioning that she was moving to California in the fall. At one point, I realized that I just didn't want to be without her. The thought of her not being around was really difficult for me to handle. So I asked her to go out with me again... and told her that, if necessary, I would follow where she led. That's only the first part of it. So Ella and I decided that I would take care of my responsibilities and as soon as possible, we would move to California. Then Super Tuesday happened. Jim had been ranting about the President for months and threatened that if Bush was re-elected, he was going to move to Australia and claim political asylum. Well, we all know that Bush did get re-elected. On November 3rd, Jim came into the office with a plan he and Tobi had cooked up, of selling off all his belongings and moving to Australia. He was serious. I talked it over with Ella, and to my surprise, it wasn't California that was the draw, but getting out of Wisconsin. So we decided to join Jim and Tobi on their trek to Australia. Since then, Jim has decided against going, partially for monetary reasons, partially because Tobi landed a sweet job with Potawatami. Ella and I, on the other hand, have never lost our resolve. My thinking is, I'm only 32, if I can get myself out of debt and sell my house, I have nothing holding me here. I have no children, no property, no responsibilities. I have a nest-egg of cash that I have plenty of time before I retire to re-acquire. If I don't do it now, I never will be able to. "Why did you decide to make this huge change?" I needed a change. I looked around at my life and realized that I've been in the same, dead end job for nine years. My creativity was getting stale. I also realized that I had seen most of what I wanted to in Wisconsin. Although I absolutely love the area, how can I know if this is where I want to live if I don't visit other places? How can I be creative and forward thinking in my projects if I am immersed in the same static stimuli? Jim and Ella were simply the catalyst that made me realize this. "Why has the locale not moved back to California?" Well, the way I look at it, as the way I look at a lot of things in life, if you're going to do something, give it everything you can and pray for the best. Like my tattoo... if you're going to go, go big. We have one life to live, why not give it everything you've got? Australia is literally as far away as I can get without coming back. It's on the complete opposite side of the globe. Wisconsin is Western and Northern hemispheres... Australia is Eastern and Southern. I can't go any bigger than that. California would have been a big move, but what would you rather tell your grandchildren... I packed up and moved to California... or I packed up and moved to the other side of the globe? I want to have stories to tell. I don't want to settle down in a typical life, ever. Even when I got married and bought a house, I still had my odd adventures of skateboarding, hearse rallies, Halloween parties, etc.... Like I said before, we only have one life to live... we're only here for a short time... let's make the best of it. -Bob |
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May 27, 2005 Well, I finally got Wayne nailed down on an amount for my severance. $5K cash. That's right, up front cash. It's not as much as I was hoping for, but hey... for a lump sum, I'm willing to take a cut on the bottom line. Only 5 more days to go. Saturday & Tuesday through Friday. It's all finally going to come together. All the money is rolling in, all the loose ends are being tied up. It's not going to be much longer. Once I work my last day at Country Maid, I only have to wait for my 401K to clear, pay my credit cards off, and we hit the road (or the skies, if you think about it.) I still think it would be fun to take a slow boat to Australia, but Ella seems to think that 14 hours on a plane is long enough. I didn't close on my house today. It's ok, I'm pretty confident that Jerry is going to come through with the money, especially after the house appraised higher than I thought it would. Truth be told, he's getting a heck of a deal, now. I'll just be happy when I don't have any more bills to pay. This is an interesting feeling. Knowing that in less than a month, I'll have all my bills paid off and no one will be mailing me every month for money. I have no utilities, no car payments, I'll have no credit card payments, no insurance payments, no house payments... even no phone payments once I leave. This after realizing, only a couple months ago, that I was literally paying 4¢ a minute, of every hour, of every day, on interest ALONE. All this time I've been working my tush off, and for nothing more than interest. Very humbling moment. Now, though, I'm going to be interest free.... no debt, no interest. You have no idea how freeing that feels. Well, it's now 8pm, on Friday night. I'm almost through with work for the day. I have a thousand labels printing behind me... and then I'm done. I can finally go home. I'm up to about 70 hours now... and I still have tomorrow to work. Yes, it's official. This has been the busiest week that Country Maid has EVER had in it's some 50 year history! After 9 years of doing the same work, I like to think that I'm pretty efficient at it, and I'm still swamped. Yet, here I am, assistant-less, and knowing that I only have 5 days left to work. I really feel for whomever has to fill my shoes. -Bob |
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May 26, 2005 Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news? My house appraised for $127,000.00 That's $2K more than the highest I had hoped for! Bad news? Well, Jerry's broker apparently fell off the face of the earth. Tomorrow was supposed to be the big day, but if we can't find the mortgage broker, who is supposed to have all this stuff set up and is supposed to be giving US the information, then there is no closing tomorrow. It's still going to happen... especially with the new high appraisal value. It's just not going to happen on time. What does that mean for the itinerary? Not much. The house is going to close, and it's going to be in the next few days... it would be faster if not for this stupid 3 day weekend.... Pretty much, this is just par for the course over the last few months. -Bob |
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May 24, 2005 Nothing like adding some stress to my life. Country Maid still has not gotten anyone in here for me to train. I keep explaining to them that I only wanted to stay until the 27th... and that June 3rd will absolutely be my last day, but they don't seem to understand the urgency in that statement. If that wasn't enough, Jerry's mortgage company had some trouble getting in touch with my tenant, Stephanie, to do an assessment of the property. They finally have an appointment for tomorrow, but now the closing may be pushed back a week. To make matters worse, I may have trouble with the closing because my ex, Stefanie (Isn't that confusing?), is still on the paperwork. To make matters so much worse, because I have no assistant/trainee, and because it's the week before Memorial Day, I was at work from 6am until 10pm yesterday and today isn't looking much better. In all the years that I've worked here, it has never been this busy. Part of it has to do with all the new designs that we started months ago, but because of a lazy, incompetent, printing house, the new preprints aren't here and I'm printing all of the labels on my printers in-house. Did I happen to mention that the design company is in Canada and the print house is in Belgium? Parlez-vous français? So to sum up; I've quit work and now I'm working twice as many hours as before. It's just one predicament after another. It sure keeps life interesting though. -Bob |
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May 17, 2005 Well, nothing new to report. I'm at work, on Tuesday, and they haven't introduced me to my replacements yet. I don't know how easy they think this job is, but they'd better get off their kiesters and get them in here. I'm not going to wait around forever. -Bob |
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May 16, 2005 Ooh! Great news! On Saturday, I finally quit Country Maid! Yes, after nine long years, I've finally told management to stuff it. Ok, so I was a little more cordial about it than that, and as a result, I'm being rewarded. In exchange for staying on and training my replacements, I'm being given all of my vacation time, an increase in wages for my remaining time there, and $7,000 in severance! That's right, I'm finally getting paid back for all the years of bad wages and lousy treatment. Anyway, what this means for the big trip is that I have two or three more weeks of work, then I wait for my 401K to clear, then Ella and I are on a plane! w00t! Really, it's like a giant weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Not only am I being released from a place that has been sucking the life from me, but I don't have to worry about finding a new job until nearly the end of summer! Australia is looking better and better. -Bob |
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May 12, 2005 Ok, obviously some things have changed since Ella put up her FAQ. I expect she'll be updating it soon. Just so you all know. We are still planning on going. I've run into a little trouble with my mortgages and the property I own. Suffice to say, things are finally on track and I don't think it's going to be much longer. My good friend, Jerry Wheeler is buying my house from me. The biggest obstacle in this whole thing was that I didn't want to have to kick my tenant, Stephanie, out. She's a really nice person. She wanted to buy the house, but didn't have any credit. I did everything I could, but it just wasn't enough. Jerry agreed to do a rent-to-own with her. So everything is taken care of and everyone is happy. Now it's just a matter of closing on the house, quitting my job, and getting some plane tickets. We're all very excited. I suppose I should welcome everyone to the new section of my website. I have a lot of people asking me for details.... When are you leaving? Where are you going to stay? How long will you be gone? Are you insane? You're not really leaving, you were just getting our hopes up, weren't you? How can we get rid of you? Sweet Jebus, roll down the window, was that you? So this is my answer to all those questions and more. I'm starting a little blog about my adventure. I'll try to update it as often as I can. I'll throw up pictures. I'll post new contact information. All that good stuff. So check back here regularly. -Bob |
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February 1, 2005 Australia FAQ Pt. 1
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May 11, 2005 Ok, this is day one... kind of. Just got this section of the website created. -Bob |
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To third 3 months (February to May) To second 3 months (November to February) To first 3 months (August to November) To Pre-Australian preparations (February to August) Back to Odds 'n' Ends |
