Being that I’m currently more interested in doing rather than typing, feel free to take a peek at some pictures I posted over at the Mandolin Cafe…

Recap: Madison (-11˚) to St. Louis (flight canceled) Chicago (missed connecting flight; stayed the night in a dump); Chicago to LA at 4:20 12:15 11:25; Sit around LAX for 8 hours; LAX to Melbourne Sydney (16 hours); 3 hours in Sydney (turned out to be just barely enough time) and then Sydney to Perth. Piece of cake!

I myself, and more disturbingly, American Airlines/Quantas, have no idea where my bag is so it was off to Target to buy a couple of t-shirts and some shorts.

After diner, a few beers, some fabulous wine, some mandolin and a bit of sleep, I’m feeling almost normal this morning… this will surely not last but I will roll with it while it lasts!

I’m sitting in LAX, gate 45, hunched near a column that is graciously supplying me power and blocking the sun from my screen. I had decided I would try and get the hell out of Chicago asap and was able to switch flights and get out before noon. This worked out but now gives me a copious amount of free time in LA. Oddly, in LAX, time passes exactly as slowly as you’d guess.

SIDEBAR: While I was typing the paragraph above, a woman came up to me, looked out the window and said “what hapened? It was just sunny”. I looked up and sure enough, in the last few minutes, LA is covered in fog! REALLY weird. No way can I miss ANOTHER flight! Eek!

Anyway, I never explained WHY I’m going to OZ…

FLASHBACK SEQUENCE

It all started a few months back. I was chatting with Mr. Mike Compton and he was telling me about his plans to tour around Australia. It would include both West and East Australia legs (thus making it suitable for pants) and would include, but not be limited to, guests Paul Duff and Steve Gilchrist. I was surprised when he invited me along… and he seemed surprised when I said “hell yeah I’ll go!”. I don’t think it would surprise anyone that I would trade Wisconsin’s -20˚ for Perth’s 100˚… nor a chance to hang out with Mike and two of the finest mando builders in the biz. All in all, it sounded perfect for a mando-centric vacation in OZ! How could I miss?!?

FADE IN: GATE 45

I’ll tell you how I could miss… I could miss another damn flight!

I thought I was clever when I booked my flight to Australia and chose to go through St. Louis rather than Chicago. Yeah… not so much. So after my St. Louis flight was canceled, I got to go to Chicago anyway. And what went from 20 minutes to catch my connection turned to -10 minutes to catch it. I ran two terminals but just missed it regardless.

So after spending 6 hours to go from Madison to Chicago I’m stuck here. Funnier still is that being the genius I am, I packed my jacket, hat and gloves in my checked bag, thus forcing me to run around 20˚ Chicago in sweatpants, shirt and Crocs :) Fun! American put me up at the lovely Wyndham Hotel (and by lovely, I mean shitty and by hotel I mean construction zone). Wyndham… where the free Wi-Fi is $10, the coffee is always Starbucks (and $3) and the beds are made of rubber.

So… long story longer… I’m off for my trip to OZ… part II (the revenge). Tah.

In a few hours, I’ll be leaving for Australia. Should be an entertaining trip! It’s currently -1°F in Wisconsin and according to the unofficial forecast for Perth Australia, it’s to be “Fucking Hot” (officially 96°F). It’s about as long of a plane ride as you can take… and will consume an entire day (I show up Wed!). But once I have a gut full of piss and grinning like a shot fox, my blood should be worth bottling!

Now, bugger off, I have to pack… feel free to catch up on some OZ slang if you’re bored…