33 hours later . . .

. . . and i crashed down on my double bed in LaQuinta Inn, here in Orlando !

This trip took much more out of me than i thought it would !
It is also NOT the first time that i come to the US, so what is soo diff this time ?
For one, i did not go via Europe.
I had a 19hour & 9 1/2 hour flights back to back, with just 1 hout inbetween, but we could not leave the plane on Dakkar. We stoped to refuel (i think) and to "pick-up" 17 extra pax.

The Immigration in Washington DC was a lot quicker that i thought it would have been ! I was in and out (both primary AND secondary - for all seaman - inpections) in under 2hours ! My other friends alway told me how long that secondary one can be, but saying that, there was only one bloke before me, so i take it, it helped to be second in line !!!

It is now 2:25pm (FL time) and i am about to take a looooong shower, afer i forced myself to drink some of this bad hotel-room coffee - this stuff ir real bad.
On arrival at the hotel (w. the hotel shuttle) i saw a TGIF & Denny's within walking distance, so i will go there later this evening and get something to eat. Probably Denny's as i am not a TGIF fan - taste like ermmm, nothing !

Have to get up tomorrow, at about 7 for breakfast, and be packed and ready for the shuttle to take me to the port at 9am. They say it is about an hour's drive !

OK, so the next time i will be posting from the ship - i assume !

Later
JP

Half an hour to go !

So, i am packed and ready to go !

It is now 10:00am, and i checked and re-checked all of my stuff !
Passport, Letter Of Employment, cell phone (allthough i am not a cell phone person !), medical, the list can go on, and on, 'cause it is as long as my arm.

Not much to say right now - just felt that i have to write something, as i will be almost 24hours in transit, and do not know when i will have internet connection again !

So,this is me saying Good Bye to South Africa once again.

See you guys on the flip side !!!

Cheers
JP

Done with shopping !

Wow, what a hectic morning this was !


I got up at 8am (hey, it's my last day of "vacation"), and was infront od the Hair Salon by 9am.
I feel 5 pounds lighter ! And 10years older :-(
Seriously, the more the hairdresser shaved of, the more grey hair i saw.
I have very, very dark brown hair, and in most photographs it looks black, so the grey hair REALLY stood out among the locks of dark brown hair.

Shopping for a trip like this is not as quick n'easy as one might think !
What do i need ?
What will i not get in the States ?

Do 'they' have my deoderant spray that i am using since 1995 ?
How often will i be able to get off the ship to buy must-have stuff, like toiletries and what not ?
Contact lens liquid ? Do 'they' have what i use ?
OK, it is 1:10pm now, and in 24hours from now i will be in the air, on my way to Jo'burg.

Since 911 travelling became a major pain in the @rse, but i am actually looking forward to flying again ! Last International flight was last year October - am i getting withdrawal symptoms ?

What i will get is heartache - i can tell you this much !

Ever since Csilla left (Hungarian gril that came to visit me for 3weeks), i've been sitting in front of my laptop, with a guitar on my lap.
Hell, i am gonna miss that ! I will probably even forget all i taught myself in the last 5 months.
OK, so i think i figured out how to add a photograph, so this is just an exercise. I just might get a cheap guitar to have with me IF i get any time to faff around on it ! (BRAIN STROM !) . . . did anyone say Gibson Melody Maker for $350.00 ? MMMmmm, maybe !

Gonna try and post a photo of where i used to sit every evening and chat with good friends on the DOOM ROOM !
Mmmm, seems like this blog is putting the image at the top of the page !(?)

Well then, that is all for now . . . might write something later tonight, after everyone has left.
I have been travelling the world over since 1999, and everytime i leave, i get almost all my family and a few friends that wants to come and say, "Good Bye".
Maybe i should not complain, atleast i have a very good family that cares.

NP : Electric Wizard - Electric Wizard

The Big Clean Up . . .

Don't you just hate cleaning up ?
I DO !!! BIG TIME !!!

So Miami mailed me again today, saying (not asking), saying that i am not going to Baltimore anymore to meet 'my'. NO SIR, they just say, as if i should have know, "you are going to Orlando, oh, and here is your flight details !"

Does not feel like a very positive start for me, but hey, let's see where this will get me !
After being in South Africa for almost 6months, i have alot to clean up, pack away, and what not.
Guitars are getting a clean down, loosen the strings, take batteries out of stomp boxes (do not have a 220V power supply yet), unplugged the Blues Jr, put CD's away (each 80-stand has it's own custom made cotton cover), get all the PPW (paperwork = medical forms/flight details/letter of employment) together.
I am looking at my (old 80gig *BV) iPod being charged as i type this - gotta have tunes on those flights.
*Before Video

Oh, and those flights . . .
I am leaving Port Elizabeth at 12:25pm, the 23rd of April.
I live just 35min away from the airport.
I get to Johannesburg at 2:30pm.
Wait till 5:10pm, and i am off, on my way to Dakkar.
I land there sometime in the early morning. From there it is onward, all the way to Washington DC. Once through immigration, i am on my way to Orlando. I heard that can be a lengthy process . . .
I get to the "Disney City", at 12:45pm, on the 24th.
I will stay over, in some hotel, and take a shuttle to Port Canaveral to join the Royal Caribbean ship, the Sovereign Of The Seas, Friday the 25th.

But before i go through all of that travelling, i first have to pack !
So what do i pack for being away from home for 6-8 months ?
Yes, we're getting some sort of official uniform, but i was told to take some suits (evening wear), and clothes for our time off ! "Pack like you are going on a long week-end trip" they told us at the interview sessions. I am glad i am not a woman, wink-wink !!!
So, what do you wear in the Caribbean ?
Surely i will look out of place in my 12-up Doc's, jeans n' Hendrix Tee !???

OK, i take this is enough of my ramblings - don't even know it anyone is gonna read this !?
Back to cleaning this place up, and then it is finalizing my, "must-buy" CD List - a big thank you to thr guys from the DOOM ROOM in helping me putting a killer list together !

Cheers guys !