Contingencies - Part II

If you haven't read the first part of this post, do so here.

Well then....but I mean....he's just one recruiter, right? Things can't be that bad everywhere, right? Surely there are two office jobs for the two of us doing something, ANYTHING, in a city of over 4 million people, right? I was determined to give it at least another week. Back to the grind: see a job, write a cover letter, send a CV. While most of the time I heard nothing, as if my application had been sucked into a black hole, sometimes I was graced with an email reply. "Dear BLAKE MCGUIRE", they usually started, "Thank you for your recent application for Position 301268130-A. While you had a very impressive application, unfortunately you were not a close enough match for the position to gain an interview slot." Four years of college, two years of solid work experience, and I couldn't even get a damn interview, much less a job, pushing paper or answering tech support calls.

Thankfully, after another week, I got a callback on one of the jobs I applied for online. The role you were applying for has already been filled, the voice on the other end of the phone said, but I'd still like to meet you. That way if, you know, something comes up, we'll already have you in our system and we can call you then. How's 11am on Tuesday sound? Sounds great Grant, looking forward to it! Another interview, but basically the same story. Times are tough, he said, but he did see some signs of life. In fact, he'd just had a conversation with a client about a data entry type role that I might be great for. He'd keep me posted, he said. After a week, where I heard nothing other than that the client was still "considering options", I sat down to reevaluate my job search.

Maybe I had set my sights a little high, maaaybe I had been a tad unrealistic, expecting to waltz into Sydney during the middle of a worldwide economic downturn and score a well paying office job in a week or two. That's fine though, because surely, there is always restaurant or bar work, right? And anyway, maybe this would be for the best. After all, I'll probably be working in an office for the rest of my life, so a few months waiting tables, or hell, even washing dishes, wouldn't be so bad would it? Sure I didn't have much experience, but it's just waiting tables, how hard could it be? Still, not wanting to take any chances, I made a separate waiting CV, "polished it up" (lied a lot), printed out thirty copies, and took to the streets.

Are you hiring? Nope sorry mate. Any chance you guys are hiring? Not at the moment, no. Repeat ad nasueam, ad infinitum. After a few days of this, I began to notice a trend. And that trend was I was shit out of luck. I'd stopped by at least seventy places, maybe three of which were hiring, but they were all looking for someone who had been waiting tables or making coffee for years, decades, millenia even. Even Starbucks, where Steph and I had worked before coming to Oz, was only hiring permanent residents.

As I sat under the trees in Centennial Park, I reevaluated...again. So maybe finding work in Sydney just wasn't going to happen. I began thinking through my options. Number one was stick it out in Sydney and keep looking for work. A previous recruiter had told me that things always ease up a bit in the winter as the horde of backpackers make their way to Brisbane to escape the cold and rain of Sydney, and therefore my chances would improve. A second option was to use the money I had left in my travel fund to head up the East Coast myself and see the highlights of Australia, then head home early. The third option would be looking for fruit picking work in a rural area and extend my stay that way.

I quickly ruled out the first option. While Sydney is a great city, I'd already been there for six weeks, and had seen what I wanted to see. If I stuck around and kept looking for work and didn't find any, I wouldn't have enough money to do much else in Australia other than get to Melbourne and go home. The second option had potential, because at least I would get to see some of the best sights that Oz has to offer. The downside, though, was that I'd almost be guaranteed to be heading home way ahead of schedule, something I wanted to avoid.

The third option, fruit picking, had potential too. Not that history or common knowledge had been in any way helpful up to this point, but fruit picking was supposed to be readily available year round. The jobs were said to be ripe for the picking. Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, to add to that, I was honestly captivated by the idea of the work. While no doubt waxing romantic about the work itself, as it would surely be monotonous and backbreaking, the idea of putting in an honest days work in the hot sun with a group of other backpackers really appealed to me. Forget office work. I'd have the rest of my life to work in an office after all. I liked the idea of getting back to basics, and some good old fashioned hard work never killed anybody. Sure, the work would suck, but we'd form tight bonds with those around us, and help each other through it, as we'd all be working towards the common goal of getting the hell out of there.

As I walked back to the hostel, I had my mind made up. Fruit picking it was. Or so I thought.

To be continued, again....

Contingencies - Part I

Back in the US, as Steph and I planned our itinerary on my couch, everything seemed so...straightforward. After enjoying ourselves in New Zealand, all we needed to do was get ourselves to Sydney with enough money left over to cover living expenses for a couple of weeks until we found work, and then everything else would fall into place. Our plan called for us to work and save for a few months in Sydney until it started to get cold, then use the money to head north in search of warmer weather in Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef. From there, we'd head over to Perth in WA, which was, according to our guide book, in a labor shortage. All you needed to do was register with the appropriate temp agency and you'd be sorted in no time. After a few months making good money in Perth, we'd get back on the road and end up in Melbourne for a few months, picking up casual work if we needed it, before heading back to the US.

The first hints that things might not go perfectly according to plan was in New Zealand, where we heard rumors that times were getting tight in Australia, and that people were having a hard time finding work. We also met a few people, however, who were able to find restaurant or bar work after only looking for a day. We didn't think too much of it at the time; after all, most other backpackers were 18 or 19 years old without much, if any, work experience. Surely, we thought, with college degrees and a year or two of real world experience, we would have no trouble standing out in the backpacker crowd.

And things in Sydney did actually start off quite well. Within a few days of arriving and settling into our new hostel, I picked up a work for accomodation gig. I would stay for free in exchange for two hours of my time, from 6AM to 8AM every morning, cleaning the hostel common rooms. While I wasn't crazy about the hours or the work itself, I mean, who wants to get up at 6AM every day and clean up rooms where there had been a huge party the night before, it was nice because it took care of my biggest expense, rent. A couple of days after that, I found out the hostel was looking for a room cleaner, which Steph took them up on. Again, not great work, but it meant that were staying for free.

A week after we arrived in Sydney, we decided to begin our job searches in earnest. I finished my cleaning at 8AM as usual, went to wake up Steph, and headed to the kitchen to start making breakfast. When she came in, she told me there had been a guy knocking on the room door, waking everyone up in the process, looking for me. I should go to reception she said. Oh shit, I thought, what did I do? I JUST started this cleaning job and I lost it already? Well, not really. As it turns out, one of the guys staying in the hostel is a mover, and he had hurt his back the previous day, and would I mind subbing for him that day for $17.50/hr in cash? Ten minutes later I was in the truck headed to the suburbs, and eight hours after that I was back in the hostel with $140 in my pocket. Given how easily I fell into that job, I was looking forward to starting a formal job search the next day, anticipating locking something down within a week.

The next day, polished resumes in hand and brimming with confidence, we began making calls and emailing resumes to recruiters and temp agencies. We had some initial success too; Stephanie got a call from a banking recruiter the same day she emailed him, and I got a call from an agency within 30 minutes of submitting my CV. We set up interviews, both of which went well, and we waited. "The market is a little slow right now, but give us a couple of weeks and we'll find you something" was the story we both heard. Not wanting to put all of our eggs in one basket, we kept up the job search in the meantime, routinely spending three to four hours a day doing nothing but emailing recruiters and applying for jobs online.

One morning as we sat down for breakfast, I noticed a yellow flyer taped up in the kitchen. Travelling? And want to travel for FREE? Hand out flyers two hours a day. I called the number, spoke to a guy named Dane at a company called Tribal Travel, who told me to come in and talk to him. Steph and I paid him a visit, and each signed up for a couple of shifts. The "work" entailed walking up and down the same small stretch of road in Kings Cross, ignoring the vagrants, drug addicts, hookers and bouncers (harder than it sounds in KX), and hand out flyers to fellow backpackers. In exchange for the two hours of work, we'd get $20 in travel credit, which could be redeemed for things like surfing lessons or sailing the Whitsundays. In addition to being painfully boring, it sucked because I don't like it when people try to hand me flyers when I'm walking down the street, and now I was that guy. That said, it was work, and each day I got closer to being able to do the things I wanted to do for free.

The next afternoon, after wrapping up my cleaning and my flyer shifts, I was just about to head out for another afternoon of submitting resumes when I spotted a business card on the floor of our room. Craig Danvers, Accounting Recruiter, Robert Half. I picked it up and stuck it in my wallet, thinking I might have more luck emailing someone directly instead of sending email after email to jobs@tempagencyx.com.au and wedontreadthis@nojobshere.com. Turns out I was right, as I got a call the next day, and set up an interview for two days after that. I wasn't actually sure who the agency was, but Steph said that her sister used Robert Half all the time back in the US, and that if you got an interview, they would definitely find you a job.

To be sure, this interview did look a lot more promising than the first one. There, the "interview" consisted of 10 minutes of paperwork and a 5 minute chat about my resume. The email from Craig Danver's assistant suggested that this interview would be much more involved, and it was. There was a 30 minute, detailed interview and a 70 question Excel skills test on top of the usual load of paperwork. As the interview was wrapping up, I asked him how the market was, and what he thought my chances would be. Two years ago, he began, when I first started here, I was getting people work within a day or two. Even people fresh off the boat from China were getting temp jobs, nevermind that they didn't speak any English. Things are different now, mate. I mean, we even had to lay off four of our own recruiting staff because the work just isn't there. Listen, you're a qualified guy, but honestly, the odds just aren't very good for you right now. The few jobs that are coming across my desk are going to Australian citizens. It sucks, but an Aussie will beat you out every time mate, every single time. If I were you, you know, travelling around, and I had some money in the bank, honestly, I would go sit on a beach in Thailand mate.



Part two here.

We're still alive!

Just a quick note to our loyal readers to say that we are alive and well. Steph and I are currently staying in a hostel in Kings Cross, and have started our job searches this week. We'll post a full update, including our last few days in New Zealand, first few days in Sydney, and an update on our job hunt, in the next couple of days.

South Island Adventures

Hello all! It's been a while since we've updated, so let's get right to the action.

As Steph mentioned in the last post, we took a ferry from Wellington in the North Island to Picton in the South Island. We'd been wanting to do a wine tour, which we had planned to do from Nelson, but since the heart of NZ wine country is in Marlborough and Blenheim (only ~20km from Picton), we decided to do our tour there instead. We opted for a half day tour and visited four wineries plus a liquer maker. As is typical in NZ, our guide was absolutely full of relevant information about the region. During the tasting, I discovered pinot noir/chardonnay champagne, which both Steph and I really like. Definitely pick up a bottle if you see it.

After Picton we headed to Nelson, which our Lonely Planet guidebook touted as the "most livable city in New Zealand". While it did have some cool shops and bars, it was the first city I was slightly underwhelmed by. It could be because the weather was rubbish, or that all the other cities we'd been to had exceeded expectations, but Nelson didn't do a lot for either of us. The one highlight of our time in Nelson, for me anyway, was the side trip through Abel Tasman National Park, which contains one of New Zealand's Great Walks. We hiked roughly 22km through coastal forest and got some great views of the beach and sea. Much to Steph's dismay, it was not a coastal beach walk like she thought, and we had to book it for the last 6km to catch an earlier bus, but all's well that ends well, eh?

Leaving Nelson behind, we once again boarded the Magic Bus en route to Greymouth, an old, small town on Wild West Coast. Along the way we stopped to check out Cape Foulwind, so named by Captain James Cook due to the, you guessed it, foul winds he encountered when he discovered the area in the 18th century. About 300m from the cape was a fur seal breeding colony, which we also got to check out. From there it was on to the mysterious Pancake Rocks (which scientists still don't understand the formation of) before pulling into Greymouth.

In Greymouth we stayed at a nautical themed hostel, Neptunes. I'm not sure if it was the Magic Bus driver or the hostel owner who got the number of people wrong, but he didn't have enough dorm beds to accomodate everyone. Rather than send us to another place or charge us extra to upgrade to a premium room, he gave a few people single rooms for dorm prices. To decide who got the last one, he asked if there were any couples travelling together, and since Steph and I fit the bill, we got a great single room for only $25 NZD each, the same amount we're used to paying to share a room with 4 to 10 other people. If any of you have stayed in hostels before, you can appreciate how grateful we were. As far as Greymouth itself goes, there's wasn't really much to do, with the exception of a tour of Monteith's Brewery, their all you can drink sampling room, and an all you can eat sasuage buffet. $13 USD well spent is all I can say about that.

As we left Greymouth, we left civilization, along with cell phone coverage, gas stations and the like, completely behind; nothing but mountains, forests and rivers between here and the Franz Josef Glacier. If driven directly, the journey should have taken three hours or so. However, the Magic Bus incorporates a number of stops into the days to break up the tediousness of a long bus ride. Sometimes this is great, and sometimes, like that day, it was not. Our two stops were the Outback Adventure Center, which featured a real live caged deer AND a live possum (rarities in Oklahoma), but also the Ross Gold fields, where you could try your hand at panning for gold! They guaranteed you'll find some gold in your pan, because they put it there. Exciting times.

What really was exciting, however, was the chance to hike on a glacier, something I did in Franz Josef. The relentless rain kept Steph in the warmth of the hostel, but I donned my waterproof and cold gear and headed out on a half day hike. We had a fantastic walk through the valley the glacier carved during the last ice age, and spent a couple of hours climbing around on the glacier itself. Definitely one of the best experiences of the trip for me. As we were walking back to our bus after the hike, what struck me was not how cool it was to have been on a glacier, but how amazing it is that so many natural wonders are within such a small space in New Zealand. Within the 50 miles surrounding me were several 10,000+ ft mountains, miles and miles of beautiful beaches, the Tasman Sea, two glaciers and tons of rain forest.

We left Franz Josef early the next morning to get a good start on a long, long ride down to Queenstown. The drive down featured more of what I've come to expect from New Zealand; stunning mountains which drop right into deep blue lakes, dense bush and forest and green, lush plains and valleys. It's the kind of landscape where you can pretty much point your camera out of the bus window and be guaranteed a brilliant photo. Making this day even better was a welcome break from the rain (which, afterall, is what keeps the area so green and pristine) which meant that we stayed dry during our short walk out to Lake Matheson. It also meant that the picture postcard reflective views of Mt. Cook weren't spoiled by anything other than a few ducks and a lost kayaker.

Just before we came into Queenstown, we stopped at Kawarau Bridge Bungy, the site of the first commercial bungy center in the world. This was something both Steph and I had talked about doing, and were pretty excited about it. I was all set to go that day, and after some convincing, Steph was as well. We got weighed in and headed out onto the bridge where we got in line. One of the guys working there noticed I weighed more than 80kg, which meant I would be jumping off of a different platform, the one with the heavy duty bungy cord, rather than the lightweight cord. Since there was no line at this platform, they immediately started to harness and strap me in, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the wheels came off the wagon for yours truly. My heart started pounding, my chest began to tighten up, my legs went a little weak, and I lost the ability to think about anything other than how to get myself off of this tiny little platform 150 feet above the river. I stood on the edge for about two minutes, and despite repeated attempts by the staff (one of the guys even offered to hold my hand), the crowd (who cheered me on several times), and our bus driver (who offered me free drinks if I did it), it just wasn't happening. Before any of you rush to call me a pansy (not that you'd be the first or the last I'm sure), let me say that I am terrified of heights, and it runs in the family. I remember when I was maybe 10 years old, and my family took a trip to the Grand Canyon, my dad wouldn't even look over the edge because he's that scared of heights. I'm a little better, but not much; simply being up on the bridge was enough to really freak me out, and there was just no way, even though I knew I couldn't get a refund, that I was jumping off.

As I was getting unstrapped and trying to remove my heart from my stomach and vice versa, Steph was still standing in line, having witnessed this whole debacle. I'll let her tell her side of it, along with the details of her jump:

"Having been convinced to jump TODAY, rather than waiting till tomorrow like I was planning, I had little time to think about what I was doing. All I knew was there were about 50 people travelling with us and they would be watching, yikes. I don't have a fear of heights per se, this is just something I never thought I would do. It seems dangerous to say the least. Anyway, I filled out my 'toe tag' (ominous, don't you think?) and handed over my credit card. I was then informed that this purchase would be non-refundable; that's when I knew I would do it. If you know how I am about money, you'll understand that. I was a little jealous when Blake immediately got pulled to the other side and strapped in, I had about 5 people waiting in front of me and in cases like this the more time you have to think, the worse it gets. However, I watched Blake stand there for about 2 minutes with an extremely terrified look on his face and that was enough to make my legs start shaking. Despite just witnessing Blake's experience, I made it to the front of the line (all the while trying to convince Blake to try again), got strapped in and was suddenly standing on a ledge 43 m high with nothing to hold on to. The guy told me to smile for the camera and counted to three and I just lept off the edge. I fell for about 5 seconds before I realized what I just did and then started screaming bloody murder. It was worth it all, after bouncing back up a few times, I dangled above the river with an incredible feeling and a great view. I also have the pictures and DVD to prove it. Sweet as. :)"

And there you have it folks. I was planning to include details on our time in Queenstown, but since this post has turned into a novel already, it will have to wait until next time. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Photos from this portion of the trip are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289686&id=9605303&l=43de3

Northland adventures

Hello again from Auckland! Steph and I are sitting in the same internet cafe we posted from last time, only this time we have pictures of our excursion up to the Northland of New Zealand to share.

After a couple of nights in hotels, we began the backpacking portion of our trip in earnest when we boarded the Magic Bus bright and early, 7:15 AM, last Thursday. The first pickup spot was the office, and we were a little surprised when there were only six or seven people on the bus. Once we made the rest of the pickups at the hostels, however, we probably had twenty people on board for the trip up North.

It was a pretty uneventful ride up, with the exception that I tried my first pie for breakfast, a delicious concoction of steak, cheese and pastry. Yum. A couple of hours after we left Auckland, we arrived in Paihia, gateway to the Bay of Islands. We originally planned to stay for only one night, but after learning about the opportunity to swim with dolphins, something Steph has always wanted to do, we decided to book a day tour out on the water to try and do just that. Since Magic only picks up and drops off on alternate days, this meant we would be in Paihia for a total of three days.

While we had some initial reservations about the cost of the trip, we got our money's worth within the first hour when we spotted several pods of dolphins swimming together, sometimes within feet of the boat! Steph got some amazing pictures and I got a good video of the sightings. The trip also included an island stopover where I got to do a bit of tramping and Steph got some beach time, a trip to the famous Hole in the Rock, and some boom netting, where I and several others were dragged in a big fishing net alongside the boat. After the boat trip, we tried our first fish and chips, I learned the rules of cricket and rugby, and we spent some time out with a lovely British couple, Roz and Nick.

On the last full day it rained lightly most of the day, but that didn't stop us from doing a few things around town. I went on my first real tramp, which was great, and Steph and I took a grueling bike ride to some rather sad looking falls (especially compared to what I saw in Yosemite earlier this year). Not wanting to ride the hills back, we took a 5K tramp to get to higher ground, so as to be able to coast on the bikes back to our hostel.

We woke up bright and early this morning to catch the Magic Bus back to Auckland. Along the way we stopped in a few quaint towns, and drove through the Waipoua Forest, which showcased the way New Zealand was before it was settled. The biggest attraction was the massive kauri tree, Tane Mahuta, thought to be over 2,000 years old. Pretty incredible stuff.

The pictures from this section of the trip (and a brief dolphin video) are on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2286152&l=3a988&id=9605303

Tomorrow we are headed down south to Rotorua and Taupo. We'll post an update on those adventures in a few days.

Greetings from New Zealand

Hello all! Steph and I are sitting in an internet cafe in downtown Auckland, which means we made it safe and sound. We don't have a ton of time at the moment, since we're paying by the hour, but we did want to get some photos uploaded so everyone out there can see some of what we've been up to. Rather than uploading everything here, we've decided to post the pictures on our facebook pages, make the albums public, and then post the links here. Here's the first batch:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2285124&l=6c28b&id=9605303

We'll write more detailed descriptions of the flights, our customs encounters, the hotels and our excursions into Brisbane and Auckland when we're not on the clock.

We made it!

Hey everyone, checking in from Brisbane! We made it into the city this morning and I was able to open a Westpac account and deposit my Australian dollars. We also got some delicious curry in the city center. Pics and a longer update once we get to a computer you don't have to rent by the hour!

I'll show you mine...

It's 12:32 AM on D-Day, and my pack has finally come together. Choosing what made the cut was a little tricky. We're going to be spending a good amount of time backpacking, so it's important to have lightweight, functional items, but we'll also be living city life in Sydney and Melbourne, so it's almost important I not wear the same thing every day or look like a slob. I also need clothes with an eye towards form with a dash of style. Here's what made it, in no particular order:



Carry on - Inflatable travel pillow, gum, No Jet Lag pills (homeopathic medicine made in NZ), Dramamine, ear plugs & eye mask (I'd like to get SOME sleep on the flight), watch, camera & cable, water bottle, AU guidebook, book (Gulliver's Travels), smartpac toiletries (two servings of everything you need, should come in handy during the infinite layover in Brisbane), travel wallet, sunglasses, eye drops, ipod & cable, headphones.

Main pack - Four tshirts (three cotton, one dri-fit polyester), two of pairs shorts (one khaki, one dri-fit polyester), hoodie, three pairs of shoes (athletic, flipflop, going out/work), jeans, khaki jeans, polo, white button-up, hat, four pairs underwear, four pairs socks, small towel, windpants, lightweight waterproof jacket, swimsuit, glasses

Journal & pen, book (Oliver Twist), two dryer sheets, two earplugs, three packets of tide (designed for sink washing), safety pins, Febreeze, contact solution, contact case, small maglite flashlight, tide pen, vitamins, ibuprofen, antihistamine, tums, hand wipes, bandaids, emergency electrolyte tabs, whistle, 100oz camelbak bladder, downy wrinkle releaser, face wash, leatherman multitool, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, gel, mouthwash, razor, shaving cream, floss, lighter

And believe it or not, all of that fits with room to spare...



Next post should be from Brisbane!

Getting things done

A lot has happened since the last time we updated this. For starters, we are only twelve days away from departure! This is not a drill people, this is the real deal. Less than two weeks from now we'll be on a plane headed to the other side of the world. It's both terribly exciting and a little scary. We're on our game though, and have been getting prepared:

• We booked seats on a group bus tour in New Zealand!
  
  More specifically, we booked the New Zealand Discovery tour on the Magic Travellers Network (aka a bus), a 14 stop tour of both the North and South islands. They arrange for hostel accommodation each night and there's a ton to do each day along the way.


• We booked hotels for the first couple of nights.
  
  Turns out getting to Auckland from Tulsa takes a while, especially when the direct LA to Auckland flight is booked up. As such, it will take nearly 24 hours of flight time over 2 days to get there. We decided to be kind to ourselves and book hotels for the first two nights while we overcome jetlag.
  
  BK's Pioneer Motor Lodge fits the bill for the first night. It's five minutes away from the airport, has a free 24 hour shuttle service (handy since we don't arrive until 11PM), and the room has a whirlpool tub. We chose the Auckland City Hotel downtown for the second night, giving us the second day to make our way into and around town.


• We booked a flight out of New Zealand.
  
  Christchurch to Sydney is the route. Our bus tour finishes in Christchurch, and we're planning on living in Sydney for our first few months in Australia. We found a cheap fare on Virgin Blue through http://www.airninja.com/, which I kept wanting to call Fare Ninja.

• We bought travel insurance. Yeehaw.
  
  Atlas is their name, travel insurance is their game. Our policy includes $500k in medical coverage for the duration of the trip plus 45 days after we get back. It also covers things like lost bags or an emergency flight home if necessary.

• I opened a new checking account (I live an exciting life).
  
  I heard from numerous sources that I needed to get a myAccess checking account from Bank of America. You can use their ATM card for no fee internationally and you get a competitive exchange rate. They are somehow related to Westpac, a large Australian bank, meaning if you have accounts at both places, you can move money back and forth between the two. Very convenient. There's no monthly fee or anything else if you open it online.

Aside from working both jobs and trying to save as much as possible before we go, that's what has been keeping us busy for the past couple of weeks. We're doing a packing dry run soon to see how much we can realistically fit in our packs, so stay tuned.

Flight confirmed!

We booked our flights!  The route is more than a little circuitous, going through Australia to get to New Zealand, but we booked using my mom's AA Advantage Miles, so you won't hear me complaining!

If you can't quite make out the image, here's our route from Tulsa, OK to Auckland, NZ:

Tulsa to St Louis (1h10m flight, 2h layover)

St Louis to Los Angeles (4h5m flight, 2h35m layover)

Los Angeles to Brisbane (13h55m flight, 7h30m layover)

Brisbane to Sydney (1h30m flight, 1h5m layover)

Sydney to Auckland (3h flight)

Only 23 hours and 40 minutse of flight time! Oh yeah!