I have decided to blog everyday focusing on what was good about the day.Recent Updates RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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jimmah
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jimmah
good o’ 140
So, 15 hours on a plane isn’t as much fun as I thought it was going to be.
After about 4 hours in, I thought I wasn’t going to survive. That’s when we almost got re-routed to Hawaii.
There was a medical emergency on the plane (and no, it wasn’t Alisha). I had just fallen asleep, and they made an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board and if there was someone who spoke Vietnamese. A few people scrambled to help this lady out for about 45 minutes and then everyone went and sat down. We turned south of Hawaii and kept going. I have no idea what happened to this lady and then how she turned out to be fine, but I was thankful it wasn’t Alisha… although, I wouldn’t have minded a break.
Sydney is absolutely incredible! We rented a Hyundai Getz from a company called RedSpot… they’ve got a lot to learn. The service was terrible, but the price was right. The Getz is basically a two door Accent (you should rent one sometime, I think they come with 2 complimentary bags of trash in the back). It’s probably good that I didn’t get a bigger car, because I have never driven on the left side of the road. It takes a lot of getting used to!
The car is completely backwards. The volume knob on the stereo is on the right hand side. The turn signal is on the right. Alisha always walks to the right side door. The only thing that is right about these cars are the brake and gas pedals are on the correct sides. I haven’t wrecked yet, but I have turned the wipers on a lot!
Well, after a few trips over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, some photo ops at the Opera House, and lunch right on the Circular Quay (a very popular waterway just off the Harbor- great views of the Bridge… oh, and I ate Kangaroo!)… we headed to the Blue Mountains to stay at this nice little cottage and sleep like we have never slept before. I don’t think I have ever had jet lag before, because I have never felt so tried and awkward- at one point I thought I was going to pass out. 2 little cat naps in the car kept me going… Nothing 12 hours in bed can’t fix though!
Sorry, this post has come so late… free wi-fi is tough to come by. Cheers!
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sister
thanks for blogging. Have fun! PRAYING Debbie
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Ron
Yeah! they are THERE! Your sister has been worrying herself silly. We miss you, love you, and are praying for peace, rest, and wisdom. We are also praying that you don’t kill yourselves in that car.
Have a blast!
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jimmah
good o’ 139
I think we would do well on the Amazing Race.
We started off this morning in St. Louis and flew to Phoenix where our short layover was increased a little due to a engine failure from a bird strike during landing (not the plane we were on, the one that we were about to get onto). They got another plane situated fairly quick to get us on our way. While we were waiting, we noticed a woman who Alisha insisted looked just like Laura Woods (with blonder hair) in 30 years… this is the best picture I could get, it doesn’t really do it justice cause it was remarkable…
the woman in the beige shirt, not the pink!
When we got into LA, we rented a car and took off in search of something cool. We took the ‘PCH’ up the coastline to Santa Monica and Malibu.
It’s nice to know people… I got a convertible mustang (in honor of Ron) for our afternoon adventure.
Our mission for the few hours that we had was to see something cool and to get Alisha a pedicure (because her nails were unsatisfactory). The ‘PCH’ (Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu is pretty awesome… it made the the convertible all worth while. I was a little paranoid about making it back to the airport on time considering how brutal the LA traffic can be- and it lived up to it’s word.
We made it there on time and was ushered to the front of the check-in line ahead of 200 people flying to Guatemala with 8 bags per customer (there was only 2 Delta employees working the counter). Anyways, they are about to let us on the plane where they are going to lock us in for the next 15 hours. We are tired, but still excited.
apparently i gained 15 pounds, all in the face, today.
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Ron & Debbie
Actually, I think the girl in the pink shirt is closer. I guess we’ll see in 30 years (if I make it to 84.) Ain’t Malibu cool?!
You are somewhere over the Pacific Ocean right now. Happy times! We love you!
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Bella
it’s so weird when people say you look like other people and you don’t see it. but honestly, you see my face more than i do really. I see it for a few moments in the mirror in the morning, other people see it all day. so i guess ya’ll would know better than me.
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Jeff your Brother
Good job… I hate the travel part of traveling. I once spent $30 on a sandwich, drink and a bag of chips in an airport. They were really good chips.
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jimmah
good o’ 138
Down to the last 8 hours!
I could stay up all night worrying about what stuff we are forgetting, but that doesn’t seem productive (outside of pre-adjusting to the time change).
I am very thankful that God has provided us the resources and ability to go on this trip. I really don’t know what to expect out of our time there… other than spotting a gaggle of roos.
All I know, is that we are going to be in LA tomorrow preparing for the extremely long flight to Sydney. I have been loading as much entertainment on my ipod as I possibly can. Hopefully between that, my laptop, Nacho Libre (which I am convinced they are going to show), reading, and sleeping I can stay sane.
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debbie
i have been up waiting on your blog. ENJOY your time and your love of your life.WE love you both.
from sleepless swansea-
jimmah
wow… that was a quick reply! we will enjoy.
now go to sleep!! you’ve got no time zone readjustment to look forward to.
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Diane
We wish you both a fantastic time!
Love,
Diane -
Jeff your Brother
I hope the travel is good, The time spent in Australia is great. I wish you a ton of fun…..
I wish me and Jeanne were going too.
We love you and Alisha. -
Ron
You will be missed but have a great time, Jim. I can’t think of anybody who needs or deserves it more!
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jimmah
good o’ 137
Down to a little over 30 hours left!
We’ve got a lot to do to be ready. The worst part about preparing for a trip like this is the paranoia that we are going to forget something of major importance… like our passports. I’ve got them laying out already, but I can’t help but worrying about it. Maybe I’ll forget to take Alisha with me… that would be bad. I’ll do my best to remember her.
While we are on our trip, Alisha and I are going to spend a lot of time seeking God on a bunch of different things. We feel like God has been giving us direction, but we haven’t done a great job of not listening. Honestly, we feel like many of our friends and family are at a crossroads in life right now…
We want to pray for you also (if you wouldn’t mind). Please let me know if there is anything we can pray for… you don’t have to leave a comment that everyone can read- unless you want to make it public. You can email me… jim.a.barnard on gmail.com (broke it up a little to try to prevent a complete spam attack).
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Harry Walls IV
Thanks for the talk last night. I appreciate that.
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Jeff your Brother
I am probably not the oldest(In age) reader of your blog. (Ron probably is…hehehehehe…LOL) Everyone is at various crossroads all the time. Sometimes we take a road and see what happens other times we sit at the crossroads and worry about which way is good and which way is bad. We almost always know the good and the bad. (Sometimes we choose the bad.) Other times we worry which way is best.
So while I read you blog I thought about it for a few minutes and thought of what did Jesus say? He said quite a lot. Don’t worry about tomorrow for it will take care of itself. Matthew 6:34.
But sometimes we worry about suffering. Do not worry about suffering. You will suffer. John 15:18-21.
There was but one thing we could do and find satisfaction and that is to follow him. Mark 8:34… Bearing the burdens of worry and pain and sorrow and still follow him.
Sometimes we are not at crossroads we are a desperate times, we are lost looking to find hope, and an identity. We are shaken by the fact that are plans have not yielded the fruit we dreamed. We believe we failed in establishing ourselves. Yet there is no failure. We are OK, if we love Jesus. We are good if we follow Jesus.
We will suffer.
Just my thoughts after reading your blog…
Pray for me that I might be better tomorrow…-
jimmah
the thought that the birds are looked after really speaks to me!
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jimmah
Scrubs
Did anyone see the premere of scrubs. It is sad how quickly you can kill a good show… It was unwatchable.
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Jeff your Brother
It was ok as far as it was. It lost alittle… It was not the worst…
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jimmah
good o’ 136
My new assistant (to the) manager started today. No, it’s not the one guy that I wrote about a few weeks ago. I think I am going to really like her though, she seems pretty solid. She came just time… Tomorrow is my last day in the office for a while. ’Welcome aboard! Good luck!’
On Friday, we leave for Australia! It is going to be so great!! Alisha just reminded me that I am going to drive on the other side of the road… how cool is that?
Alisha has always wanted to show me Australia… because she used to live there. She studied abroad while she was in college and then moved back there to do an internship with the Australian government. It is going to be awesome!!!
We leave in 2 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes and 51 seconds. Not that I am counting or anything. At this point, it’s all I can talk about, but at the same time it doesn’t feel real at all.
I have resisted blogging about it until now, because I knew that it would become my primary topic of conversation… and that would get annoying. But it is time…I am too excited not to talk about it. So…I think I will put another shrimp on the barbie. Tell all my mates I am going to pet a kangaroo. Yet, for now I am knackered and must go to bed!
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Ron
knackered?
you’ve driven on the other side of the road before. but that’s an entirely different story…
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jimmah
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Harry Walls IV
I’ve been to that non-mentioned restaurant. I didn’t have the bread though because I went for lunch. I thought the lunch was good though. Oh well…thanks for bringing the video back. I was getting sad.
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Jeff your brother
You and mom do look a alike. I have not seen you and mom at the same time in long time. Did you kill the real mom and you are now being mom and you?
Just wondering….hummmmm…..And now you are Kevin….hummmm…
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Jere
Your Creepy…
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jmboulicault
WOW! What a video blog!
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jimmah
nothing o’ 134
Well, no vlog tonight. I’ll make good on a rain check, but tonight I had to work on something else a lot more unpleasant.
At least this post keeps the whole thing going! (weak, I know.)
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Jeff your Brother
Sorry I have not been replying to your blog lately…. I have been busy working on the basement at the office.
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Jere
What was unpleasant?
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jimmah
good o’ 133
I had a fairly lazy morning today. My mom and I watched a lot of Animal Planet, apparently this is her new favorite hobby- I never knew how much she liked it. We then went to Fitz’s (a really cool root beer bar/restaurant) to celebrate Scott’s birthday. Scott and Amanda were down from Chicago for the holiday and that is where he wanted to go… good choice!
We had a pretty long wait to get in, about 45 minutes. While we were waiting, a street performer dressed in a newsboy kind of outfit was setting up an old fashioned record player (a gramophone, if you will) and a sign that said “I need money”. There were a few guys helping him, but their main duty was to set up camcorders. As this guy was about to begin, the pager went off telling us that our table was finally ready.
I verbalized my disappointment in missing out on the performance after watching such a drawn-out set up. The guy heard me and said, “don’t be sad, this isn’t going to be very good”. It seems like he was right… from inside, I watched out the window as he yelled at people as they walked down the sidewalk.
I wish I could have heard what he was saying, because I can’t quite figure out what the point of the “performance” was. Either way, he did it and got through it, and then went home. I can’t really relate with a street performer, but I can relate with doing something that you don’t think is going to be very good and is going to be criticized or looked down on as weird. I’m proud of him… most people wouldn’t have even shown up, opting to not risk embarrassment.
Jan, 
Angela and 2 others are discussing. 
sister are discussing. 
Jeff your Brother, 
Diane and 2 others are discussing. 
Ron 11:49 am on December 7, 2009 Permalink |
that Mythbuster part was TOTALLY unsatisfying! i demand a do-over!
Jeff your Brother 4:09 pm on December 7, 2009 Permalink |
I agree the Mythbusters segment was a joke. I think you should go door to door and find a toilet that swirl flushes and see which direction it flushes. The trip down there will not be fulfilling otherwise.
Angela 5:54 pm on December 7, 2009 Permalink |
You guys look like you are having a great time. Alisha the November month end stats came out and I am still in 3rd!!!!!! Rob is a little less than a point behind but the number 4 spot is over six points behind him. Maui is closer than before. Alisha looks good. The pictures are awesome and you both are very missed. Be safe have fun Love you!!!!! Your sis
Jan 7:28 pm on December 7, 2009 Permalink |
Plug up the sink, fill it with water, pull the plug. Watch which way the water swirls as it goes down the drain.
Forget the toilet.
Jere 8:55 pm on December 7, 2009 Permalink |
You dont even put the lid down at home