October 29th

I ate dinner-breakfast with three strangers. Two of them design, build, fix, etc. the vehicle pictured. They are just in Antarctica for 7 days to service the 10 "Pisten Bullys" on the continent. They were fun to chat with, the one had started his career with a job that was mostly to cause avalanches. The third guy was on about his 20th season in Antarctica, he now works with precision GPS stuff and among other things is measuring how much glaciers travel in a year and how much the rocks near glaciers move, which tells them something about how much of the glacier is being lost every year. I enjoyed the conversations.

From what I understand, the last of the folks that spent all winter at the South Pole are here at the station tonight en route home. There also seems to be a large Asian population that arrived from somewhere and are en route to somewhere else.

After work I went for walk around town, which included a visit to the local greenhouse. They had tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and about 10 different herbs, all growing in water. One of my coworkers kept picking and eating the cherry tomatoes when nobody was looking. I very much enjoyed the greenhouse hammock.

October 28th

I had homegrown lettuce (from the greenhouse) with the evening meal. The sunday evening science lecture series was about building a road between here and the south pole, I had no interest in sitting through a two hour lecture of some guy bragging about how he can bulldoze Antarctic's natural landscape. Instead, I went to what is locally known as the 'gerbil gym'. It's the gym that has treadmills, stairmasters and the like. It's one of three gyms on campus.

The evening was cold. I've finally learned how to check the local temperature (which is a lot more difficult than one might expect.) It was -23C before the windchill, and it was a windy day. I've noticed that I am now able to tell the varying degrees of coldness. When I first arrived, everyday just felt freaking cold and that was about it. As I've spent more time here, I can tell the difference between a -5 and a -15, whereas before they just both felt extreme.

Myself and a coworker were 15 minutes late for the midnight meal this evening because we wanted to finish cleaning one of the restrooms before the meal. The boss lady insisted that we stay an extra 15 minutes on break to balance the late arrival. I said I would just work really slow for the next 30 minutes, which she thought was an excellent plan.

The Spanish words of the day were for 'pen' and 'pencil'. Another of my coworkers is from Thailand and taught me the Thai word for 'dirty'. I have apparently failed in committing any of these words to long-term memory as I can't recall any at this moment.

The day ended with a long and delightful phone call home.

October 27th

I went back to gear issue and got a costume that looks like an extra from a Dr. Suess book. Good stuff, at least in my humble opinion.

I enjoyed the halloween party very much. There were at least hundreds of folks, all is costumes, lots in very creative costumes, and everybody was dancing. My personal favorite costume was a shuttle driver who had a tire mark painted down her body from head to toe and went as 'girl who was driven over by a truck'. A group of four dressed as the ghostbusters and used the backpack vacuums as costume accessories. There were a high percentage of mad scientist and more than a handful of people shaved their head for their costume. I love living in a place where the townspeople like wearing costumes on halloween and dance at parties.

As last week, the weather was nasty on my night off. Instead of walking, I spent the evening writing letters and catching up on emails, etc.

October 26th

Tomorrow is the big Halloween party, I went to gear issue to pick up a costume, but couldn't take one home with me because I didn't bring the necessary $5 refundable deposit.

I used a vacuum that straps to your back like a backpack to clean the post office building tonight. I looked like one of the ghostbusters. In the lab building, we mopped the same floor three times and it's still dirty.

Here are some of my personal favorites from the janitor Haiku competition:

Did anyone take
the yellow extension cord
for the new vac pac?

Innocent mopping
An unwanted intruder
Behold! Dead beetle.

The vomit remains
Poor bastards spew out their brains,
another crime scene.

October 25

They finally started serving breakfast foods at dinner time. So I was able to eat sausage and eggs immediately after waking. My days are becoming more routine as time goes on. I work from 10pm to 8am, then I call Alex, then I sleep. I awake near 6pm, then I eat dinner-breakfast, then I shower, then I catch up on emails, this blog, Spanish lessons and/or attend an evening activity. I start working again at 10pm. It's funny to think that my life is more mundane and predictable while I live in Antarctica than it has been for the better part of my adult life.

I spent about a half an hour vacuuming a relatively large library in the science lab building, went to check to see if the vacuum bag was full and noticed that I had been vacuuming the entire time without a bag in the vacuum.

"What is the difference between a snowman and a snowwoman?" was written where day janitors are supposed to leave notes for night janitors. The Spanish words of the day were for 'clean' and 'dirty'. Sadly, I don't actually remember their Spanish translations.

October 24

I overslept, I didn't wake until 7:30pm (I typically rise between 5-6pm). This means I missed dinner and the Wednesday evening science lecture. I was sad and instead ate a bowl of cereal, which is always available, and the homemade granola isn't so bad. Spent the evening hours completing errands (mostly answering emails, Spanish lessons and a postcard to the girlfriend) before work began.

Most all notes on the janitor board are now being written in Haiku, a training we did yesterday morning had a large Haiku component.

Spent a good portion of the night cleaning a section of floor that looked no cleaner at the end of the night then it did at the beginning. Alex pointed out that if this was the worst of my life concerns then I was doing alright, which I think is a good point.

I ran a good 50 yards last night chasing a plastic bag filled with sanitary waste across Antarctica.

This morning's 45 minute safety training could be summarized by saying "Don't get too drunk at the Halloween party this weekend because janitors are easily replaceable."

October 23rd

I attended a "Live Presentation of the Movie: An Inconvenient Truth". I felt a little sorry for the presenter that had to talk about climate change to a room full of climate experts. The whole point of the presentation was to convince us that global warming was actually happening, which I reckon everyone in the room already agreed upon. Thus, it was a bit lame.

I am starting to notice a habit of myself volunteering for mopping jobs. I think I like mopping. Do you remember in that movie "Bruce Almighty" where God was mopping? I think I feel like God when I mop.

After spending the night mopping, my coworkers and I agreed to go for a hike, as the morning was wind-free and warm (at least 5F). We hiked the Hut Ridge Trail. I enjoyed the hike very much. You really notice the lack of trees and such when you are out hiking. My coworkers seemed to enjoy the hike as well, so I have hopes that this will become more routine.

October 22

I had to wake at 12 noon (the middle of my nights sleep) to take care of business at the post office, which is closed during my waking hours. The mid-sleep errand led to me sleeping in for a couple extra hours. Learned at work that one of the night janitors quit and was scheduled to be on the next plane outta here. The official word is that her mother is deathly ill, but I think she just doesn't like insomnia and didn't expect Antarctica to be cold.

I talked a fellow janitor into offering a Spanish word of the day. Today's words are "soy amable."

To answer some questions from emails: I applied for this job via the internet. I did a phone interview and that was about it. I had to get a doctor and dentist to say I would be okay to go to Antarctica. There are no indigenous people to this land. I work with several grandmothers and many more folks with adult children my age. The things on the ice in the sunset picture are loaded cargo pallets. I will take a picture of the nasty seal carcass next time I'm out that way. I have no desire to play in the rugby game as there are lots and lots of big, strong men in these parts.

October 21

After dinner I went for a walk to what is locally known as 'hut point'. There's a hut there that was built ~60+ years ago. It's locked. There was a dead seal laying outside the hut that's been sitting there frozen for about 60+ years as well. It's kind of nasty looking, but sort of exciting to see too. The entire walk is probably not much more than a mile and it was windy and cold. I enjoyed the walk very much so.

Attended the Sunday evening science lecture. The topic was about microbial activity in and about Antarctica. The parts I found most fascinating were 1) that there are these liquid lakes under about 4 km of ice in Antarctica, they call them sub-glacial lakes. The scientist have never been to the lakes, the Russians will drill into one in two years. In theory, there is probably microorganisms in the lake. As the glaciers move, they rub a thin layer of dust off of the bedrock and some of this dust would end up in the underwater lakes. The continuous introduction of new dust is, in theory, enough energy for the microorganisms to thrive. 2) They drill in and take these core samples of ice that has been frozen for like 1/2 a million years, and there's microorganisms living in the ice. Just been living there, doing their own thing. 3) Parts of Antarctica are colder than parts of Mars, so since things can live in the coldest, frozen of here, than they can probably do so in the frozen ice on Mars too.

Spent the better part of the night mopping hallways and scrubbing toilets. There were ~8 pair of women's panties scattered throughout one of the men's restrooms. Different sizes.

I witnessed it snow for the first time in Antarctica over the night. The weather was relatively warm and the snow was so dry and soft. About 4am the wind started up and it switched to condition 2 because of visibility issues.

October 20

Had a New York Strip Steak for breakfast (rare), along with a baked potato and a slice of key lime pie. Attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival, held in the dining hall. The dining hall staff placed signs on all of the front tables (best seats in the house) that said "Reserved for dining hall staff. Please vacate this table for dining hall staff". I was happy to see the signs were for the most part ignored, often crumpled and tossed on the floor. I enjoyed the film festival. My favorite movie is about this couple that bike through Mongolia, China, Tibet, and India on down to the Ocean. The trip was 6 months and 8000 km. They talk a lot about enjoying the simple things in life.

I ate midnight lunch with this dude's dude, he was mostly just bragging about how long he can stay outside in the cold, and how if your hands start hurting you are fine because its when you can't feel your hands anymore that you have to worry. He didn't understand why people would say they want to go inside because their hands were in pain, because that means your hands are fine. And today some guy was begging to go in but dude wouldn't let him because he was only complaining about parts of his body that were painfully cold, which is fine. I told him I was glad I didn't work with him.

Spent a few hours of my off night sitting in the cluster lounge with a few drunk people, they were talking about God and grace and some firefighter kept talking about how great the fire department is and how they do shots of alcohol together, which is an indicator of good teamwork. I told him I thought it was mean that they make the firehouse dispatcher shave. (The firemen have to shave so they can properly wear the fire mask, but dispatcher dude doesn't ever need to wear a fire mask and his face isn't one that's made for shaving.)

October 19th

Started the day with lamb chops at the evening meal. Then visited with a clustermate who has been diagnosed with the flu and thus practicing social distancing. She essentially hasn't left her room for the past 3 days. Her food is brought to her. She doesn't even go to the computer room to check email or anything.

A fellow night-shift janitor that arrived here last Friday has slept less than 4 hours every night since her arrival. She was sent home early tonight as the boss lady thought there was too much potential for her to be the cause of an accident. Several people have said it's common to see insomnia-type symptoms around here.

A note left in the janitor closet read "What do you call a line of rabbits jumping backwards?"

It was cold last night, not just cold because of the wind, but cold. Someone said -34C. We only have to be outside for the amount of time it takes to walk between buildings, and the big red parkas are so effective.

October 18th

Attended open mic night at the wine bar this evening before work. Among other songs, I heard Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" sang in some Eastern European language and a song about Antarctic love and "ice wives". I noticed for the first time that the front doors of the big lab building look amazingly similar to a walk-in freezer doors. I saw a sign on a wooden box that read "Extremely fragile contents. Please do not put anything on this box. This means coats, gloves, etc." My co-worker spent the entire evening thinking of as many things that were 'black and white and red all over' as she could think of. My favorite on her list was a penguin in a blender. My supervisor gave me a hard time at breakfast when I couldn't resist a fresh, homemade Bavarian Creme donut (with homemade Bavarian Creme and all covered in sugar). My newest roommate arrived near 3:00 pm (which is in the middle of the night's sleep, for me). I said hello and went back to sleep and haven't seen him since.

October 17

My evening activity was a science lecture on global warming stuff, the lecturer talked a lot about isotopes, which I didn't really understand so much. I learned that if all of the ice melts the ocean would be up to the chest of the statue of liberty. He talked a lot about how there used to be forest and plants and just a wee bit of ice in Antarctica. I learned a lot of other stuff too, mostly about how they measure what the world's climate was like millions of years ago. Most of it I've already forgotten or just really never understood from the start.

The lecturer said there is 20% less ice in Antarctica today than there was this month in 2005, 20% less in just two years! He had satellite pictures of the continent that showed a significant, dramatic difference between the years.

Spent the bulk of the night with my supervisor, a buffing/scrubbing type machine, a gallon a degreaser and the mailroom floor. In the end, the industrial-grade floor scrub and subsequent mopping led to dirty mop water the same shade of grey as the floor is painted. Some guy named 'Shuttle Bill' complimented me on how well the 'Movement Control Center' office was cleaned.

Posted in '007' (the big janitor supply closet) was the first entries in the Janitor Haiku Competition.

Urine dripping down
Why is aiming hard for men?
They have peed since birth.

It is not our fault
Doesn't matter where you stand
There's always splash back.

October 16th

The day began with a dinner conversation on the intensity of the local dodge-ball league. I spent the evening janitoring the mailroom and two office buildings, one of which is named 'Dilbert Zone' because the entire building is filled with little cubicles.

The weather was fantastic over night, the best I've seen down here thus far. I took trash out to the dumpster wearing only a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans. Like yesterday, we had all of the work done before the day ended and were thus forced to clean things that were not necessarily dirty. I spent an hour hand-scrubbing steps that looked no cleaner after I finished. Better than having too much work, I presume.

The Rugby team is starting to recruit heavily for the Antarctic US vs. New Zealand annual rugby game on the ice, the game happens in January. Rumor is New Zealand always wins.

October 15th

Awoke near 5:30pm. My newest roommate is apparently sick and seems to have spent the entire day sitting in front of the television in the lounge. I spent the my evening putting together the blog. They brought the first Andrill core sample into the lab tonight. Apparently the core had tons of volcanic rock, which was mostly totally unexpected. The scientist seemed much more excited about this than I am. We finished the cleaning to do list about halfway through the night and spent the rest of the work shift cleaning things that weren't ever really dirty.

My newest roommate has moved out, opting for a room with his girlfriend instead of me and Richard (my other roommate). Richard is leaving for an overnight camping trip, so I have the room to myself until tomorrow.

October 14th

Had wonderfully prepared prime rib for breakfast (at dinner time, remember I'm working nights) and then attended a science lecture on "diving a remotely operated vehicle under the sea ice". Basically the lecture was about this little robot they built that can travel under the Antarctic ice and take pictures of everything. The robot is special because it is small enough to fit through the holes they drill in the ice. I think the robots biggest discovery thus far may be that young Antarctic sponges grow much faster than their older counterparts.

Started my first 'real' work shift at 10:00 pm. Spent most of the evening sweeping and mopping. Time went by fairly quickly. My co-worker unclogged a vacumn cleaner four times before realizing she needed to change the bag. Talked to a computer guy working on the Andrill project, which is the big, fancy Antarctic science project of the year. Staring at a stuffed penguin in a sleepy haze at 7am I realized for the first time in my life that penguins actually have quite a tail.

October 13th

I awoke near 5:30am to realize I had drifted off to sleep in the community lounge. I went for a quick breakfast and headed back to sleep, this time in my bed. I set the alarm for 10:00am to attend an outdoor safety lecture. My just-showered wet hair froze instantly as I walked between buildings on my way to the lecture. By attending the lecture, I am granted permission to hike the trails around campus. The class mostly just told us that we would die if we didn't follow the marked trail and that we have to check out and check back in at the firehouse for certain trails. After lunch and a phone call to Alex, I finally made it back to bed and slept until dinner time.

There was a pig roast, in the evening, at the heavy equipment shop, which I attended. I mostly just stood in the corner talking with other janitors. At 11pm, I did my first hike on the continent, an hour long hike up and back down the "Observation Hill" that borders our campus. I hiked with Talie, the night janitor lead.

The temperature reached a high of 9F. Many folks are walking around in light jackets. I am still wearing the big red parka, but I didn't need to wear a hat or zip up the parka, which made me feel cool.

Bringing laundry back to my room at 3:30 am I walked in on a somebody's-hand-down-somebody-else's-pants situation in the lounge to my room.

Went to bed at 7 am after spending the evening with email, laundry, Spanish lessons and the telephone.

October 12th

I awoke near 3:30pm as my new roommate was moving in. My roommate, his girlfriend and her two roommates from states all decided to come to Antarctica together. The janitors had a get-together dinner at a nice building on campus which is reserved for such purposes. We served overcooked pasta, deep-fried cheese, raw chocolate-chip cookie dough and a chocolate/chow mein noodle no-cook cookie things. I drank too much wine and spent the night sleeping instead of staying up all night transitioning as I ought of.

October 11th

The day started with French Toast for breakfast and then the morning janitor meeting, which included a class on the different types of falls: slips, trips, and falls from a distance (presented by whom I later learned was the campus hairdresser). We were told to "practice social distancing" if we believe we may be sick.

They ask again for volunteers to work the night shift, I spent most of the falling class convincing myself the night shift wouldn't be so bad as it is always daylight out, and I will still be off during the hours when all of the social events happen. I volunteered for the night shift. They gladly accepted my offer and gave me a special card which, among other things, allows me to buy alcohol from the bar in the morning.

I will be off work from the end of today until Sunday at 10pm, to "transition" to working night shifts, which mostly means I have to see how late I can stay up the next 3 nights. There is a meal served at midnight, so my goal is to stay up until at least then. Spent the morning cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming a dormitory. In the afternoon, I was taken on a long tour of the big lab on campus, apparently where the night crew spends the bulk of their time. And then I mopped what is locally known as 'Highway 1' (the main hallway in the main building on campus).

Today's weather was rated condition 2. Which means that it's not okay to walk around outside for recreational purposes. The temperature felt the same as yesterday, just a lot more wind.

In an effort to stay up late to transition, a movie date was set for 10pm with my night-shift co-workers (who all happen to be 50+ year old women) who are also trying to transition. The movie chosen for the dinner date was Steel Magnolias. I spent the rest of the night with a long phone call to the girlfriend and another to the parents, some time surfing the internet and a bit of time working on Spanish lessons. I was able to stay up until 6am, late enough to eat breakfast before heading to bed.

October 10th

My first day janitoring. We worked the morning being taught how to clean a dorm and the afternoon touring campus and cleaning a few building that people work in. The temperature today was -29C (-20F). We walked around outside for a bit and it was much colder than the brief walks from building to building or from plane to van.

I saw funny looking fish in an aquarium in the main science building. The fish apparently have white blood. Met lots of folks with great stories. One of my supervisors has been to 54 countries, another is a traveling nurse, another owned and operated a backpacking guiding company. One of my fellow janitors has been to all seven continents in the last year, another owns a dude ranch outside yellowstone. Lots of great stories, more than I can remember really.

The resident physical therapist/yoga instructor gave us an hour long course in proper stretching techniques, we have a scheduled 15 minutes of stretch time each day.

The evening ended with janitor-sponsored Bingo at the local bar. We decorated the bar with toilet paper and rubber gloves. High-end, 2-ply toilet paper was among prizes distributed.

All-in-all I would say the first full day has flown by. It's already 30 minutes past my pre-set bedtime and I haven't even started on my Spanish lesson yet. All is well.

October 9th

As I walked a letter to the post office this morning, I saw a midget riding a motorcycle that was much too small for him, he was riding on a busy city road in Christchurch. Enjoyed a final briefing before the flight to Antarctica. They seem to consistently stress the importance of taking it easy the first couple days on the ice and staying hydrated. They keep saying that many people feel overwhelmed their first couple of days on the ice. They keep reviewing the safety rules with us, mostly don't go anywhere you aren't supposed to and don't get dehydrated.

Like most all flights on this trip, the flight was delayed for about an hour. The military plane, a C-17 if I heard correctly, was loud and didn't have any windows. But the seats were plenty comfy and the ride didn't seem too long. I listened to the Ipod for a good part of the trip.

The plane landed on frozen ocean. The landing was smooth. It was kind of scary walking outside into -25C temperature, mostly because I have no idea what -25 feels like. I quickly realized I was overdressed, which made me happy. Vans with monster truck tires picked us up from the ice runway and drove us to the campus building where we had dinner, safety briefings and were given our room assignments. Saw 2 people jogging the McMurdo streets at one point.

I was assigned to a room in the same building as the dining hall, which also happens to be the building where the janitors meet every morning and the main building on campus. Met my roommate who is a firefighter from Northern California but is working here for the summer as a general assistant in the heavy equipment shop, meaning mostly that he moves stuff around and cleans. He seems calm, pleasant and well mannered, which is excellent. I slept better than I would have expected for my first night on the seventh continent.

October 8th

Started off the day with a stroll through the botanical gardens in the rain. Then received NZ$230 cash from my employer to make up for the fact I had to spend an extra day in New Zealand. Life is hard. Visited the Antarctic Centre (www.iceberg.co.nz) with co-janitor Tiffany. I figured it would be good to learn something about Antarctica before I head there tomorrow. I didn't realize how big penguins grew. It's freaking amazing.

I learned its -25C today at the station I am heading to tomorrow morning. Watched a video of folks skinny dipping in the Antarctic waters in the middle of winter. Enjoyed an expensive meal out with several of my coworkers and went to bed early for the big day tomorrow. I'm anxious to see what this whole Antarctic thing is all about.

October 7th

Started off the day by walking aimlessly around Christchurch for hours, just to see what the town is all about. We had to pick up all of our issued Antarctica clothing. They call it ECW which stands for extreme cold weather. It was kind of fun trying on the big red down jacket I see in all of the Antarctica pictures. I felt pretty cool. After we tried on all of the clothes to make sure it fit, we were told the flight for tomorrow was canceled. So tomorrow and I get to spend the entire day sightseeing around Christchurch. Pretty exciting. This evening, Jason and I walked to the closest grocery store and bought food to cook up tonight and tomorrow night. We went for veggie stir fry and an assortment of fruits.

October 6th

Sometime in the early morning, the Captain announces we have to make an emergency landing because some passenger is deathly ill. We landed in Tahiti about an hour before sunrise and enjoyed the warm, humid air from an open air concourse. After Tahiti, I watched two episodes of The Office and passed time playing lame video games, suduko, as well as music and Spanish lessons from the ipod. After arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, we calculated that we had been traveling for 30 hours, with a few hours more to go. I read from the Lonely Planet guide to Antarctica in the Auckland airport. On the plane ride to Christchurch, I sat next to and had a pleasant conversation with a fire truck designer/builder and a geologist from Stanford, both on their way to Antarctica. Arrived at the Hostel in Christchurch at 3:30 on Saturday October 6th. There is a 17 hour time difference between here and the east coast, USA; if my calculations are right. It's so confusing. Spent the evening checking out the Botanical Gardens in town by myself. Absolutely amazing place. The trees are huge. Rhododendron and irises are in bloom. All is well.

October 5th

I never lived October 5th, 2007. We crossed the international date line and skipped the day.

October 4th

Started off the day with a hotel breakfast and an engaging conversation on the joys and challenges of croquet. Morning orientation was mostly safety briefings and don't bring any plants or animals to Antarctica. My most memorable quote from the training "It's Antarctica, it's slippery." I scored a few penguin cartoon stickers. Learned the proper way to install earplugs, what asbestos is, not to enter tight places that say do not enter, and things along those lines. The final training was rushed so we could get to the airport in time to wait 5 hours for the flight to LA. The flight from Denver to LA was uneventful.

The LA flight to New Zealand left about 9:20 p.m.. Another round of free red wine with the meal served on the plane. We had are own television on the plane. I watched two episodes of Little Britain, a movie about a modern day guy who has to build and Ark, played a Tetris wannabe video game and slept.

October 3rd

Awoke at 6am Denver time to catch the 7:00 free shuttle to orientation. We had orientation classes on IT, finance, benefits and like topics.

My two favorite parts of the day included:
1) learning that part of the job description includes being a pleasant member in the community and that people will be kicked off the island if they aren't good community members
2) being handed $440 cash for travel expenses between here and Antarctica.

I learned 70% of my coworkers are returning from previous years, which I think spoke highly of the whole experience. During one orientation we were told of the story of the man who passed out from drinking too much alcohol last summer and was, as a consequence, not permitted to return to the ice this summer. We were Antarctica recycles 65-70% of all waste produced. Not so shabby. They tried to introduce us to some of the lingo, but really I didn't catch on so well. My computer passed the security test and I had a discussion about culinary history with a chef and two dining hall attendants. Good times.

I've met all types of people during orientation today, everyone seems pleasant, well-traveled and intelligent. Many have held other unique jobs and few (no one I've met yet) seem to be too overly Republican. All of the firefighters seem to be good-looking and typically former military guys. The mechanics have their own look. Lots of airport and cargo folks. So far so good. I like the crowd, I like that its a job responsibility to be a good neighbor, and the company seems to have a good HR focus (from what I've seen so far).

The hotel gave us free red wine with the free dinner to finish the evening.

October 2nd

My first day of the Antarctic adventure. My most-gracious parents drove me to the airport, waited with me and said goodbye, my father's final advice being "don't do anything stupid", which upon reflection, seems to be excellent advice. On the plane to Dallas I met a medical doctor on his way to work in Antarctica doing telecommunications and a mechanic on his 8th trip to the ice.
After waiting long enough to realize a free hotel shuttle wasn't coming, I spent $33 to get a bus ride to the hotel, only later to learn there was indeed a free shuttle. Had a large cheese Papa John's pizza for dinner, called Alex and quickly drifted to sleep.