Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Good... I dig mint biscuits, which is a local snack similar to those chocolate covered mint Girl Scout cookies. The people in Australia are simply amazing and friendly. I'm addicted Boag's beer. Aussie tap water is on par with NYC. I've met several fans of my poker blog, which blows me away. Jules and Graham's wonderful hospitality made my transition here smooth. The entire Poker News staff is cool as shit. Tim Lavalli's stories are some of the most entertaining that I've ever heard. Shecky is a cool boss. The Crown Casino and Aussie Millions staff were pleased with my work so far. I find myself watching at least twenty minutes of cricket every day even though I have no idea what's going on. And there's a slight chance I fly to Paris for a week as my next assignment.

Bad... I got my credit card stolen. Sort of. It will take three business days to get a new one and even though Citibank assured me that I won't get stuck with the overseas Fed Ex charges... I don't believe them. Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot sent me a package (prior to my departure for Australia) to Nicky's apartment in Hollyweird via UPS, which never arrived although UPS says it was delivered yet Nicky nor Showcase signed for it which means someone stole it or UPS is lying. Although we kicked ass in rehearsals, we taped the first segment of the radio show for Poker News and it was flat.

Ugly... I've been up for 41 straight hours and have not done any high altitude training in five days. After sitting on the phone with Citibank for fifteen minutes and unable to understand what their overseas outsourced customer service rep was telling me, I snapped at the person on the phone and said, "I have no idea what you are telling me. I refuse to continue this conversation unless you connect me to someone in North America." I've been having thoughts about ending my most precious piece of work on the internet... Truckin'... after almost five years of existence because I don't have the time to put into each issue every month and it's a struggle to get quality stories even though friends of mine have continuously promised me pieces that have never materialized.

No comments:

Post a Comment