A bit unusual

Did anyone see the debate between Kerry and Bush? I watched parts of it. I thought Kerry trounced Bush, which I thought was good. At least now people here may start thinking "that Bush guy, I ain't too sure about him..." if for some reason they weren't before. If you're even vaguely interested in politics, you should read this excellent article about the WMD that never were. Yeah, I'm fairly interested with what happens in this election. I think it's because Australia seems to align itself with the US so much that this election is more important than one back in Australia. The thing is, will Kerry do a better job? I really hope he has the balls to make some tough decisions coz he's got to fix up a lot of the Bush administration's "mistakes". It'd be good to see some heads roll in the "Intelligence" community too.

Now there is a conversation going on in the cubicle next to me about how Kerry talks like he has a silver spoon in his mouth, whereas Bush seems to relate to the common man. One of the guys is also talking about how Kerry dumped his first wife for a much richer second wife. He said the first wife was worth $300 million, whilst the second wife was worth billions. Heck, I don't know about those figures. Probably blown out of proportion to make a good Monday morning conversation though.

Speaking of a Monday morning conversation, I thought some interesting stuff happened to me on the weekend. Well, I was talking to my friend here at work, "da playa", about what he did on the weekend. He dumped 2 girls, hooked up with another girl, and attended a funeral. I'm sorry, I just can't beat that!

Friday night was a bit of a weird one. I went to the Bonefish Grill for some nice seafood for tea. Aside: I never ate that much seafood before coming over to the US. Now I'm eating it all the freaking time. I've always liked fish fingers but apparently that doesn't count... So anyway, I'm at the Bonefish and this woman comes over to me and asks me if I'd like to speak to her friend. I thought "yeah, this will be good for a laugh" and I went and sat next to them. Errr, her friend was in her late 40's!?! I travel around to the other side of the world and I still get hassled by older women (some people who know me well enough are cracking up laughing now, I just know it...) Anyway, I thought I'd humour myself and get into the conversation. I did get something out of this though, as I've been keen on going on a road trip to the Carolinas, one of the "ladies" was from North Carolina and she gave me a few tips on what to go see and when to go. So, I plan on going to the Carolinas in the next couple of weeks to catch the Autumn (I haven't allowed myself to get converted to saying "Fall") scenery.

Saturday was just one of those do-nothing days. I got back into playing my guitar on the weekend in a big way and my fingers are really hurting as I type this. I absolutely destroyed some songs by Coldplay, Travis, Nada Surf, Smashing Pumpkins and Steelers Wheels. For those of you who don't play instruments or at least don't attempt to sing when playing one, believe me when I say that when you first try singing and playing an instrument that it's a bloody hard thing to do. I'd like to take this opportunity to formally apologise to my neighbours :-|

Sunday I did a bit of shopping. Clothes are so damn cheap over here! I got a pair of Calvin Klein jeans for $40 and nice long sleeved shirt for $20. Unfreakingbelieveble. If you're so inclined, you can pick up brand name surf wear for like 10 bucks. God damn.

Sunday night I went to downtown Ft Lauderdale for some Margharita pizza at this place I know that makes it good. I was hungry and scoffed the pizza down fairly fast. The waiter came back and said "Oh Sir! Would you like another meal, perhaps another pizza?" Hehe. After that I went to Delray beach hoping to get some good moon-over-water shots. I don't know where the bloody moon got to, I thought it was supposed to be out but I couldn't see it anywhere. I did however snap a night shot that looks pretty damn freaky once you run it through Photoshop. I'll have to post it up (yeah, when I post up the baseball pics). I'm pretty unhappy with a lot of the shots I'm taking with the camera so far. I just can't seem to pick the right spot to stand to take a picture such that it conveys the essence and feeling of the location... ha!

I've been going on a full retro gaming binge recently, and was thinking how I could make my next flight that much more bearable. I think this would fit the bill perfectly.

Gotta go do some work now peeps, respecta!

A bit cryptic this one...

Well, this has been a pretty weird week. The *big* thing that happened this week has caused me to seriously think about where I'm going to be and what the hell I'm going to be doing in the near future... coz I sure as hell don't have a freaking clue at the moment. Some people would think 'dude, you're ok - nothing happened to you', but that's just it - now I don't know when it will happen. I know I can't believe anyone's promises to the contrary, because they seem to have very little control over the situation anyway. Am I being cryptic enough yet? Some people reading this would know what I'm talking about... I just want to get up, walk away, and not come back.

Apart from that, I've had Avis contact me today and say that because I haven't submitted a copy of my US license yet that I'm going to have to return the car tomorrow. Thus they completely ignored my e-mail days and days ago when I said I won't be getting a copy to them in time because I only just received my social security card (I received it late... probably because of the FREAKING HURRICANES???), and the earliest time I could book in a license exam was early October. So, I sent them the exact same e-mail I sent last time. I ain't returning the car. Sheesh, some people have been here for a LOT longer than I have and they haven't even made any attempt to get a license yet!!! Legally I'm obliged to drive on my Australian license for 6 months anyway.

On top of that, I was told if I didn't return a certain form then I'd get my overseas adjustment payments cut off. I was told at the start I didn't have to fill out that form. Maybe I'm on the wrong list somewhere. What gives? Is someone just trying to piss me off?

Other than that? Heck, I dunno. I just ordered 4 books from Amazon: Chain of Command, The second world war, The first world war AND A daily show book, because God damn, I love the Daily Show.

Has anyone ever noticed that when Dave Chappelle tries to look like a white man, he looks a bit like Dave Grohl?

Another weekend, another hurricane

I'm completely and utterly exhausted. God knows how I'd be if I actually *lived* here. It seems that just about every weekend a damn hurricane hits Florida and it's back to the bunker. What ever happened with hurricanes hitting *during* the week?

Hats off to the Power for winning the grand final on the weekend. I know a few bogans who would be pleased with the result. I was actually watching it live with a few Aussie mates in an English pub on Friday night. We were trying to explain the rules to a few other American people in the pub. They thought it was pretty cool how free flowing the game was and how there was a bit of biffo every now and then. I hear that there was just as big a celebration in Adelaide as when the Crows won a few years back so that is good. I saw little Johnny in the crowd at one point and said "look, there's our PM!" The Americans couldn't pick him out - he sorta blended in with the crowd. One thing I couldn't explain to the Americans there was the pre-game entertainment. I know the people who organised this were probably taking the piss out of footy, but I found it hard to explain the following to the Americans in the bar: a bunch of gay-looking guys wearing AFL uniforms; a slew of Human Nature wannabes (c'mon guys, aim higher than that); Kath and Kim; and of course Guy Sebastian.

I actually went to see a baseball game last week, and that was pretty cool. It was the Marlins vs the Phillies and the Marlins went down 2-4. I nearly got the opportunity to catch one of the balls that the outfielders threw into the crowd. It landed a couple of rows in front of mine. I've got some pictures from it that I took with my camera so I'll have to get my butt into gear and post them. It wasn't a packed stadium but it was still a great atmosphere and I could see how people would get hooked on it.

I've fallen in love... with my camera. I've been pretty much non-stop taking pictures with it and annoying the heck out of a lot of people. I love the fact that I can turn it on and instantly take a picture. When I press the damn shutter release button, a picture gets taken, just like a film SLR. I don't have to wait and completely miss the shot. There's nothing really to look at yet picture-wise coz they're all test pictures with varying apertures and exposure times and so forth. I have decided though that I do need a zoom lens however, and the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor fits the bill perfectly I think. I've seen it advertised for 1/2 the price these days, thank God. But of course, this is one of those 'lofty dream' things I always have. Give me some time and I'll probably settle for something more reasonable... or I might not. Heh. I need to take some photography lessons at some point too. I've found this site to be quite handy for photography stuff so far.

Ok, got a farewell lunch to go to. Check yaaaaa.

Settle down dude

Whoa! I'm in a sleep deprived state of mind at the moment. Another hurricane is heading this way (apparently), which I don't really give a damn about anymore. A group of women in their mid thirties are in the aisle next to my cube giggling about what singles bars are good. I'm trying to listen in but I'm just so spaced out at the moment I can't really understand what they're saying. I've been advised that taking Melatonin for a couple of weeks could help me out a little with this sleep problem. Oh God, they're getting really loud now. A guy has joined the group. I bet he thinks he's the bomb. Hats off buddy, and whatever.

Last night could have been a good night of sleep... if not for the guy who was up at 7am using a BLOODY CHAINSAW! I tell you what, bugger the Texas chainsaw massacre - there would have been one in Florida if he kept it up. Then there was the annoying 'tap tap tap' of hammers after that, like that drip drip drip into the sink of a leaking tap that you can never really bother to go stop but which keeps you up for hours.

Hmmm, I glanced over at my previous post. I was a bit angry yesterday...

American media is pathetic - a rant

This has been really, really bothering me lately. I am getting sooooo pissed off with the two completely and utterly different worlds that exist in America. I believe that the American media can be given a huge pat on the back for most of this. I thought Australia was getting a little bad, but over here it's ridiculous.

I cannot believe how censored the media is over here. Every swear word, no matter how tame it is, is "beeped" out. I watch a few shows on the comedy channel where the sound channel is nearly a constant "beeeeeeep". There is no blood shown of incidents for where there should be lots of blood. They're very careful not to show that because that would indicate, heaven forbid, that someone could have died. Most importantly, no-one seems to be pointing out enough that Iraq never had any weapons of mass destruction... which is the whole reason why innocent civilians and Americans over in Iraq are getting killed right now, isn't it? Where is the media asking the hard questions to get the people thinking? Why has president Bush got such a high approval rating at the moment (47%)? Are these people who make up the 47% doing their research? Are they really analysing why Iraq was invaded? They were lied to!!! The Bush administration itself says they were "misinformed" (or so they would like us to believe). That's a big f%$ken cock-up. Now they've got a hell of a mess to clean up. But take a step back and look at the situation: they went and invaded another country WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM THE UN. These people in Iraq didn't pose a threat to them. North Korea poses more of a threat by saying "look here - we have nuclear weapons!" but they're silently ignored. American has killed thousands and thousands of innocent people in Iraq and they've gotten themselves killed in the process. Do the people back in America realise this? Do they really believe that by being in America they're doing the right thing? Do they really believe the bullshit that Bush is saying? Sure, some would believe that ousting Saddam Hussein was a good thing. Was it America's right to go and do that? They have replaced him with a US puppet. A lot of people are pissed off because these Americans have come and invaded Iraq, because they don't believe America's reasons either and they want the US to get the f*$# out of their country. Howard decided to support the US because they're big and powerful and if in the future Indonesia or someone opposed to us decided to attack Australia then we could say "hey we helped you in Iraq, remember? ... help us". Oh, and then there is that free trade agreement thingo too. It's just a big game of chess.

So where does this 47% approval rating come from? I think it's partly because Kerry doesn't seem like the best alternative either. I wish there was an Al Gore there or another Clinton. Kerry seems smart - but anyone would be against Bush. Kerry seems to lack a really big spine. I dunno - I get a feeling that if there was someone like Clinton going for President then the 47% would be a lot, lot lower. I think the general feeling over here is that most people are opposed to Bush, but they're not too fanciful of Kerry either, so they say "well, maybe Bush will realise his mistakes and make some changes..." yeah, right. Don't give a nitwit like that another chance to f$^k up the world for another four years. People don't generally perceive you as being that great anymore, America.

Which gets me back to the point of media censorship. Continually there is news that people are getting killed by some terrorist. There is news that more Americans are getting killed over in Iraq. Well, all that translates to over here is a concerned looking news presenter with censored images playing in the background. SHOW THE REALITY! People die from this sort of stuff! If people see what is really happening - pictures of corpses, limbs, everything, they're going to make more informed decisions because they've been given a dose of reality. They're going to think "gee, war is a really bad thing. It should probably only be used as a very last resort" NO FRICKEN DA! The war in Iraq was not America's business. It is the business of GREED. America made the middle east their business, so some extremists made America their business.

I dunno, I'm pretty fired up about a lot of stuff here. It's my blog, my opinion, but I just had to get it out there. I'm getting so frustrated that not enough information is getting out to the general people, and it's the media who should be doing that. Everything seems so corrupt. Everything IS so corrupt.

I HOPE people choose Kerry for president. He's not the most enticing candidate but he's the only one who isn't Bush. Bush and his administration are very, very dangerous people. America should realise this.

Down here in south Florida there are a lot of rappers who are trying to get this exact point out. They are trying to get people to "slam bush" and are having anti-bush demonstrations and urging people to vote, and vote against Bush (as far as I've heard, it's all anti-Bush). There is a debate coming to Miami University between Kerry and Bush at the end of this month. I'd love to try and get to see that... we'll see.

signing off for now. I'm tired.

A sad day

This is probably the one thing that makes being on the other side of the world really suck. My mum called up this morning to say that our family's cat had died. His lungs had filled with fluid, the vet thinks this may have been due to cancer, so it was decided that he had to be put down to save him from any more pain. Up until the last couple of weeks he was still being the larrikin cat he's always been, but his condition deteriorated rapidly.

He was a charger of a cat and had a real personality - much more than some people I've met in my lifetime. He outlived a lot of other cats by nearly making it to 15 years old. Some people may think "dude, it's only a cat, get over it" but it's the memories I associate with him that make it all the more painful. I'm very big on memories and I get extremely attached to things, so I spent the whole day reminiscing about the time from when we first got him (when I was in primary school for crying out loud) up to this point. I just wish I could've said a last goodbye to him before he went.

He was a cat model I reckon. If he hadn't been neutered all the girl cats would have been forming lines blocks long for a chance to see him, and I would have had to tell them to just leave the poor guy alone for a few minutes.

RIP, and thanks for the memories...

No Internet

Heck, what a weekend. I've got a bit of a headache today (very unusual for me to get one unless I'm listening to an annoying person) and I actually didn't do much to cause it... honestly. The good thing is that I did receive most of my stuff on Friday. Yes, I finally have a digital camera! Problem is I didn't receive a memory card in the time frame promised by Amazon so I couldn't do anything with it anyway. The instruction manual looks nice though. I also received some Event TR5 monitor speakers for music production stuff. For the moment though they're doing a fine job of being a part of my improvised stereo system until I actually have the equipment/skills to use them for their intended purpose.

I'm currently being hassled by Avis reminding me that I've been here for 50 days and they still haven't received my driver's license details. I only *just* received my social security number. Well, considering it took a while to have me entered into the system for some reason (approx. 3.5 weeks) and then processing delays (it took 3 weeks for me to get my SSN - we had something called hurricanes?) that brings me up to about this date. I've got a booking for a license test this Tuesday anyway. Cool, I'll have a Florida driver's license (assuming I pass the test :-)

Now to the title of this post, I think I fried my network card in my computer on the weekend. Maybe I was downloading too much stuff? They probably don't like the fact that I'd have around 5 Gigs of virtual instruments on the download queue. Whatever the case, I'm going to find it a bit harder to update this site until I figure out what the heck's gone on. Actually, that's a big fat lie. The more furiously I work the more often I update the blog because I actually *need* to take a break. So now you'll know if I'm working hard or not...

I'm also thinking of getting some home contents insurance over here, I've got a lot of $$$ invested in the stuff I've bought over here already. I'd be a broken, dribbling mess if I lost that.

Oh, I won't be answering any phone call or replying to any SMS to my Aussie number until I get back from the US. The reason? I went a bit crazy calling people when I first got over here, knowing that it would cost me a lot but making the calls anyway. Now I have a very expensive phone bill from the Telstra bloodsuckers. I should have grabbed one of the fairly cheap phone cards over here to make my calls... stupid me.

Nerdy site of the day: http://www.physorg.com/

Insomnia

I don't know what the freaking hell is wrong with me (there are probably some people who could give some suggestions... wisearses) but lately I seem not to be able to get to sleep. I've been lying in bed for the last couple of hours trying to get to get some shut-eye but it seems impossible. My mind continues to race. I get up for a bit and play a few chords on guitar, and then I end up wishing I had my piano. Next I'm listening to some songs on my ipod, sampling anything from Rachmaninoff to Roxette to Rammstein. I'm freaking jumping around my apartment like the people in the iPod ads (except to Rach - can't really jump around to classical... at least I haven't yet figured out a way to yet). Why is this? Is it because the succulent, sumptuous, salivacious (???) pork ribs over here are just so good? Is it because the amount of fat in the food I'm eating is much more than it would be over in Oz? But hey - it's all "low carbs"... yeah, whatever that actually means. Take the stairs every once in a while instead of the lift pilgrims. Maybe it's not the food. Maybe it's the humidity. Maybe it's the fact that the air conditioning isn't working properly at work and I'm so bloody cold I have to wear a jacket. Then I get outside and instantly I'm covered in water from condensation. Maybe the sudden changes in temperature are causing the meninge of my brain to expand and contract weirdly which could somehow adversely affect the sleeping centres of my brain, if they're located on the periphery of the brain... which they probably aren't... wtf am I talking about now???

Maybe I can't get to sleep coz I'm looking forward to Christmas tomorrow (or rather, later on today). I ordered a bunch of stuff online on Monday, and I should be receiving it soon. Not getting the stuff instantly gives me time to get over the buyer's remorse so when it finally does arrive I'm as happy as Larry.

I've taken on a promise to myself to not rely on other people as much as I used to. On several occasions now I've changed plans to wait for people who in the end never call to say they'll be late or not even coming. Bastards. That really, really pi$$es me off. Screw 'em, I'll make my plans without them.

And... how the heck do venus fly traps work? And why am I asking that question when I'm not even drunk? People answer that by saying 'the doomed insect stimulates the cilia-like hairs which causes the trap to shut'. That ain't enough I'm sorry. I think I concluded last time by saying that the stimulation of the hair may cause a cell laden with a saltier-than-normal substance to release said substance. It could also be less saltier than normal too I guess. Through osmosis and some sort of cascade effect enough water gets moved around which causes the trap to shut. That's probably utter B.S. and I should really do some reading to find the true answer. Maybe then I could sleep...

More pics pics pics

Quick update: I've put up some of the pics from the Keys and some stuff from hurricane Frances. There ain't a heck of a lot there (I think I've got more somewhere...), and I couldn't think of any decent comments for some of them, but hey you're reading this so you've obviously got nothing better to do anyway. Knock yerself out, yeeharrr! The Keys, Hurricane Frances

What - you want more? Ok. I've uploaded some movies to my Ozemail account. I've got two from the time I saw the booty shaking at the Clevelander in Miami's South Beach. The other one is from the visit to the Everglades. All of them don't have sound, sorry. For the Clevelander movies, put some RnB music on. For the Everglades movie, put your lips together and blow. Add a "whoa!" at the end when you see the camera shaking a bit (that's me trying to hold onto the camera). The movies are in Quicktime format so you'll need the player from Apple to view them. Also, if you can't download the movies that's probably because Ozemail have reached their download limit for the day. This is probably not much more than the 10MB space limit they give me. Cheap bastards. Try downloading them again another day.

Clevelander 1 - disabled
Clevelander 2 - disabled
Everglades - disabled

Sinking feeling

I don't know why, but every place I want to go to or have been to in this part of the US seems to get hit by a hurricane. Orlando (Disney World) got hit a week before we went. Palm Beach got hit by Frances just last week. Jamaica got pummeled and now Ivan, not content with killing 60 odd people in the Caribbean, has somehow sneaked into the Gulf of Mexico and is poised to hit New Orleans. Of course that's what everyone at work is talking about at the moment. I was reading this story this morning and that picture of traffic looks all too familiar. Apart from reading that article I was also reading the latest advisory on Ivan which I've got an excerpt from here:

IVAN CONTINUES AS AS A EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON SCALE HURRICANE SCALE...WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 140 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS...BUT IVAN IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AS A MAJOR HURRICANE...CATEGORY
THREE OR HIGHER. OCCUPANTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA CAN EXPECT HIGHER WINDS THAN THOSE EXPERIENCED AT THE SURFACE...ABOUT ONE SAFFIR-SIMPSON CATEGORY HIGHER AT THE TOP OF A 30-STORY BUILDING. AFTER LANDFALL... HURRICANE FORCE WINDS COULD TO SPREAD INLAND UP TO 100 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF THE CENTER.

IVAN IS A LARGE HURRICANE...WITH HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTENDING OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTENDING OUTWARD UP TO 260 MILES.

That is a HUGE hurricane! It's much bigger and potentially much more destructive than Frances was and the worst part of it looks to hit New Orleans. Wow wow wow. In Australia I'm used to cold fronts as the worst sort of weather, and that's it. In the southern parts of Oz we're only really affected by slow droughts and quick bushfires (mostly lit by wankerchop fire bugs). This is just a completely other type of natural disaster that has me fascinated. Heaven forbid I was thinking of visiting Kansas - now they're going to get tornadoes. It just amazes me how much the US gets hit by these natural disasters. Oh, add another tropical storm/hurricane to the list: Jeanne may hit the east coast of Florida. It seems to be heading pretty much in the same direction that Frances was. Is someone playing Sim City with the US? Now all I'm waiting for is a monster attack and then I'm out of here!

A stupid weekend

If anyone asked me what I did on the weekend, I'd have to be given some time to think about that. I sure as hell know what I felt - incredibly pissed off. In fact, I haven't been that angry in a long time. Long story short, someone was supposed to catch a flight out on Saturday and we couldn't find them anywhere as we were going to drive them to the airport. I spent 5 hours trying to locate this person and nearly got to the point of calling local hospitals. The hotel didn't know where the person was - they were supposed to check out but hadn't changed their hotel booking. At 8:30pm Saturday night, just as I was about to drive to work to attempt to find out flight details, the person showed up. They'd changed their flights till the next day and had spent the afternoon having fun in South Beach. The person didn't let us know this because they didn't want to wake us up. F$#K OFF! That has to be the lamest excuse I've ever heard and when they told me that that I got in my car and sped off back to my apartment. I tried to spin the wheels but an Oldsmobile Alero is too gutless for that. I was just so angry I couldn't actually say anything. Not only did that incident stuff up my whole Saturday afternoon it also stuffed up my whole Saturday night. I was planning on going out and meeting some people in South Beach but of course that didn't happen because it was too late to get ready and head off to Miami. Yeah, I'm still pretty angry about that.

Sunday was a much better day. I went swimming at Ft Lauderdale and was thinking how nice it would be to have a hammock. There was a guy later on who'd obviously had that idea before and had set up a hammock between two palm trees. What I saw next was just plain cool - he had a pet squirrel on a leash! I sat there watching the squirrel run around for a little while. I wish I had a camera with me at the time.

Talking about things on leashes, in downtown Ft Lauderdale the previous night I saw a couple walking around. They looked like a pretty normal couple until I noticed that the guy was holding a leash... that was attached to a collar around the woman's neck. I'd heard that Key West (notorious for that sort of stuff) had been evacuated due to Hurricane Ivan (which will miss this part of Florida by a long shot) so that couple must have taken up temporary residence in Ft Lauderdale. Yerrrrr...

Time to get the hell out of dodge

Nobody really knows where hurricane Ivan is going to hit. Whatever the case, we'll probably feel some of the effects here. I and a cow-orker are contemplating getting out of Florida for the weekend through to early next week and heading to somewhere like... ooh New York. A few reasons for this:

1) It's far enough up North that the hurricane couldn't hit us there.
2) It would be cheaper flying North than West (so we've been told), also taking into account the considerable costs in getting a ticket at such short notice.
3) It's New York.
4) Due to the emergency situation, the company will pay for all costs (within reason - it may turn out that New York is too far - or too wishful thinking).
5) The Sheraton that I was going to shack up in for the weekend has recently had an influx of what I would call 'questionable' people. Ok, they're here to fix up things that have been damaged from the previous hurricane and their company has provided them with accommodation. Normally it wouldn't worry me at all. There are, however, over 100 of them. They will be locked down like the rest of us in the hotel for the whole weekend and they'll probably have copious supplies of alcohol (hell, we did for the last one). Yes it's cliched and you may think I'm being pretentious, but I don't give a shit what anyone else thinks at the moment. I'm not going to take the risk of being in the same hotel with them. They're snorting and belching already and I feel like I've already been sized up. I just wouldn't feel safe staying there.
6) The other choice of course is my apartment here, but if a hurricane did hit I am on the top floor and on the corner. That's practically one of the most exposed apartments possible. Plus, there is no backup power here.

So, I'm in for another interesting weekend. I'm curious to see how this one pans out.

P.S. Oh and Mum, don't worry :-)

Potentially another hurricane to deal with

This is unbelievable. This link *should* spin you off to a saved image of the predicted track of hurricane Ivan. I've marked a red cross indicating my approximate location. If the image link doesn't work, this site has the latest updates on the hurricanes that may be threatening the region.

Ivan is currently a category 5 hurricane (the worst you can get) with wind speeds up to 165 mph (~260 kph). That is bloody fast. I was reading up on hurricanes and I think the worst winds recorded have been 200 mph (320 kph) so Ivan has a way to go yet. If the hurricane continues on that predicted track then it could be worse than Frances was. I was lucky with Frances because I was on the south-western side of it. Plus, I was a little south of where most of the damage was. *I think* the north-eastern side is typically the worst in anti-clockwise hurricanes/cyclones, and it looks like it may be that side that hits here. We'll see what happens.

I just received a funny e-mail about hurricane preparation in Florida:

Subject: Notice to Florida Homeowners regarding Hurricanes

Notice to Florida Homeowners

You are about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological points:

1. There is no need to panic.
2. We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you are new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one". Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1. - Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
STEP 2. - Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3. - Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:
If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:
1. It is reasonably well-built
2. It is located in Nebraska.

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane George, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.

SHUTTERS:
Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:

Plywood shutters:
The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off.

Sheet-metal shutters:
The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

Roll-down shutters:
The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.

"Hurricane-proof'' windows:
These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the
salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.

"Hurricane Proofing" Your Property:
As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc. You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

EVACUATION ROUTE:
If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says ``Florida," you live in a low-lying area.) The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES:
If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida
tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM. In addition it is best to leave your cars gas tank on Empty. And plan to fill it after the storm. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:

1. 23 flashlights - At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.

2. Bleach - (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some)

3. A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.

4. A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)

5. An Assault rifle. (This will be used to fight off the looting mobs afterwards!)

6. A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Camille; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)

7. $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay inside.

Good luck, and remember: It's great living in Paradise!

Heh, all so true.

I've finally swung around to thinking in US dollars and an Eastern US timezone. Hence, you may notice that the posts have all been reset to more reasonable times since I changed the settings for my blog (i.e. not Adelaide timezone anymore). With that little bit of info I'm sure you'll sleep well tonight.

Well, I reckon I might go study some hurricane/cyclone theory now. I'm such a freakin' nerd.

Disney World pics are up

I've only got a few of them uploaded. For some reason I've become really picky with pictures lately and a lot of the ones that were taken just don't cut it. I had to put some up from Disney World though, so you can find them here. There are a few other pics from Miami Zoo that I haven't put up, and probably won't put up. I mean, if you want to see a giraffe, go to the zoo.

I should really try and get to bed *before* 12 for once...

Thank god for (insert your favourite mp3 player here)

If you have one, I guess that is. I'm amazed it took me this long to get one. I gots me a new 40GB iPod yesterday and I friggen love it. I've been walking around everywhere listening to my music collection, probably looking like a bit of a wankerchop, but oh well. I also realised how disorganised my mp3 collection was. A lot of the mp3 tags are all screwed up and iTunes reorganised the directory structure... shit. Now I don't know where a lot of my music is hidden. I've half filled my iPod already and have currently around 4000 songs to choose from. Would you believe *most* of them are actually legit? I forgot some of the music I had, which was probably a good thing. I think my mind was actually protecting me in some way by doing that. Ooh - INXS is playing. Gotta love that shuffle function :-)

Whilst I was couped up in the Sheraton hotel on the weekend I got the opportunity to meet a few new people. A couple of them were from Jamaica, and hearing them say "three" as "tree" and "theatre" as "tear-ter" cracked me up mun. I hope to catch up with them when/if I go to Jamaica, or at least I could get some good advice on where to go.

Ooh - "Run Away" by the Real McCoy is playing. Ahh the memories...

I'm a-ok.

G'day everyone. I'm safe and well! I just arrived back from the hotel to find my apartment still intact. There isn't a huge amount of damage around the place - a few downed trees here and there but in my neck of the woods we seem to have gotten off pretty lightly. I didn't even lose power at my apartment. I'll be writing some more stuff later - I have to get ready to go out now :-)

The calm before the storm... or not?

I need to see something happen here. My mind normally races at a million miles an hour, and I have some mechanisms built in place to filter out a lot of the crap that could come out. I do it for all you lovely people out there. If I didn't of course, you probably wouldn't be reading this because you probably would write me off as being 'a bit of a weird wanker'. But, my mind is racing and I have nothing to occupy it with. I'm turning into a freaking psycho here. I'm going to turn into one of the performers at Key West, sprouting out mis-guided gibberish at harmless tourists passing by for measly tips.

As you may or may not have guessed, I'm running on alcohol at the moment. It's nearly 1 am in the morning. Hurricane Frances has decided to park its flossy butt about 150 miles east of where I am. Not only that, it's decided to turn into a bit of a wuss by downgrading itself to a category 2 hurricane. I don't know what is going on with this hurricane, I ain't used to them, but it seems the local weather presenters over here don't have a clue of what's going on either. Not even the guy on channel 7 who wears the pin-stripe suit and as far as I can tell, has not mispronounced a word so far, knows what the dickens is going on. It seemed like when it was first approaching the Florida coast that Frances' vengence would be swift and harsh. Now it's crawling along at 6 miles per hour and it's wreaking havoc on the Bahamas. That's pretty bad because the infrastructure in the Bahamas for this sort of thing is pretty crap, according to one of my civil engineer friends over here who frequents the place.

I think I would speak for a lot of people when I say that impatience is growing. Everyone is waiting for something to happen. 2.5 million people have evacuated Florida because of Frances. By now it was supposed to be half way over Florida, but the bugger has decided to be a prick and taunt us. Do nothing or do something Frances! Leave the Bahamas alone. Come and pick on someone your own size (reality check - it is as big as Florida state).

We can't go outside. All the shops are shut for tomorrow and probably the next day and the next day after that. People want to return to their homes. People want to get out of their shelters. Personally, I can't keep on drinking - do you know how expensive drinks are in a Sheraton hotel?

It's now or never Frances. If you're going to do something, do it now. If you're not, stop prancing around and get the f out of here.

Hurricane Frances

This thing is bloody HUGE with a 185 mile radius, which is quite unbelieveable. Coverage on this hurricane is on every channel there is, and at work yesterday the *only* thing I heard people talking about was the hurricane - where they were going to get enough wood to shore up their houses, making sure they had enough supplies, where their evacuation zones were. Theoretically, I should be at work today. However, the office has been closed down for today and possibly tomorrow. Given that it's also the labor day weekend over here, that's 5 days I've potentially got off. I have to find some good reading material I think...

I know that if it does hit this far south, which seems like a possibility, then I sure as hell ain't staying in my apartment. I'm on the top floor (number 4) and am located right on the corner. I'm practically in the most exposed position you could get. Yes, there will be shutters being put up and yes the glass is shatter proof but I don't know how much safer that really makes me feel up here. So, I'm going to shack up in a hotel with some friends for the weekend. Plus, they've got back-up power generators there (I haven't heard about any for here yet) so that'd be handy for keeping up to date on stuff.

I've bought enough supplies to keep me going for a few days. That's about half a supermarket, but hey. No really, I do have to go buy some more though.

Well, I'd better get going and sort some stuff out. I'll see if I can fit in another update post before too long. Meanwhile, you can go check out this site for an image loop, and this site for an update on the expected path of Hurricane Frances (click on the link called 'maps and charts').

This category 4 hurricane (max sustained wind 140mph) has a few people in Florida a bit worried... including myself. 

Key West

Was fantastic, well for the most part anyway. Saturday night was an absolute blinder and I'm still trying to figure out what went on there. Luckily I was with a group of friends the whole time and they took good care of me.

We headed off to Key West at about 7am in the morning. Our first stop was for a canoeing trip and then snorkelling. The canoeing trip lasted for about an hour and was heaps relaxing. I must point out that from Key Largo to Key West there are no natural beaches. It's all mangroves, so that's what we were canoeing through.

Next we went on the snorkelling trip located about 5 miles off the coast . I haven't been snorkelling before and I had an absolutely fantastic time. The people who had snorkelled before said it was one of the best trips they'd been on, mainly because I spotted one of these guys:

He's a Hawksbill Turtle, and it was absolutely amazing to follow one of them around watching them eat. Apart from the turtle, I saw lots of different types of fish and coral. It was all very, very cool.

We had lunch and a couple of pina coladas and then decided we'd better get moving to Key West. We arrived at about an hour before sundown and decided to have a few more drinks. I had a couple of mudslides (I literally nearly sculled them) and because we were running late we had to get down to the main strip to see all the Key West freaks come out. We got there just after sundown and saw a lot of freakshows. Guys shoving swords down their mouths, other people getting out of straightjackets whilst dangling upside down, people jumping through hoops - it was all there.

After the initial perusal we headed back to the hotel to get changed for going out. I noticed a catwalk setup and I thought to myself "Hmmm... have to check out the people walking on that later..." Well, I did check out that catwalk later on and there was a swimsuit competition on. The models were later chucking shirts out to everyone and I was wildly jumping up and down at one stage trying to get one model's attention. She threw a shirt straight to me. Booya.

We also checked out a 'clothing optional' bar. C'mon people, it's one of the things you just have to do. I started talking to a few people up there. Oh, they were all clothed and pretty damn normal. I didn't see many people who weren't clothed actually. I don't have any pictures by the way ;-)

I can't really remember what happened next, the rest of the night was a blur. I did wake up in our hotel room however in one piece. Take note people - if you're going to go out to Key West, make sure you go out with a good bunch of people like I did. Things could get pretty bad otherwise.

We ended up having to head back home immediately because some of our group had to catch flights from Miami and Palm Beach. We never got one of the people onto the Palm Beach flight. Not to worry - we went back along the coast to Delray Beach. I saw some of the most impressive houses I've ever seen in my life. My god! We found a sports bar where I had some much needed pork ribs and then we all chilled out on Delray Beach. I've got some good photos from that - it was an absolutely fantastic night.

Anyways, I've just done some housekeeping stuff. I cleaned up the blog entry about the Ebay scam a little bit - it should make a lot more sense now. I've also edited some of the entries in my webshot account. I found the name of that little charger of a bird whose name I forgot. Oh, and photos from Miami's South Beach are here.

Hooroo!

First batch of photos online

I've uploaded a selection of photos that were taken at our visit to the Everglades, a national park located on the southern tip of Florida. See them here.

Fraud on Ebay

I came very, very close to being done in by a fraud on ebay. My undying want of a digital SLR camera was nearly the undoing of me, and I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Luckily I stopped any transactions that could have gone through to this guy but what is left are some interesting e-mails between him and some of the other potential buyers on Ebay I have been corresponding with. Here is one such e-mail thread:

The fraud

The buyer

Hello, Dear Sir there is no need to bid so you can buy one camera. I still have 10 for sale. Please e-mail me back and tell me how many cameras do you want so i can make you a good price. The price of the one Nikon D70 is 1000 USD shipping taxes included. It is brand new in it's original box and it has full warranty.

Good morning, I would like to have one camera. What are your preferred methods of payment?

Hello, For the shipping I use UPS Express Air and the package will arrive to you in 2 days. For the payment I use Western Union Money Transfer.

Excellent, if you can send me all of your payment instructions and info. I'll send you a money order right away. Is it possible to e-mail me a shipping tracking number after the item has been sent?

Hello Dear sir it is very simple to work with Western Union. All you have to do is to go at the nearest post office or bank near you where you can find a Western Union Office. You have to complete a form with your name and address and mine and then the people there will give you a code named Mtcn number which you must give me to check if the transfer really exists. My payment address is: [address removed]
Now please e-mail me with your fullname and address so I can send you the package and please tell me if you have other questions. E-mail me soon. Thank you.

HI, Where is the package leaving from? On e-bay, it is mentioned that the address that the item is located in Jersey Shore, Penn. Why is the payment address in Spain? Since this is an interesting sum of money, what kind of security can you offer me on this transaction?

Yes sir but for 2 months I'm in Spain. I have a store here. You don't have to worry about this deal because i'm a honest man and a very respected person who has many friends who trust me. I'm 53 years old, i started from somewhere very low and i reached a high level by work,by honest business and I never stole a dollar from anyone.

I know how hard is to earn money I mean no disrespect and I do not wish to demean your good reputation, but i still have a few questions: -Will the package be sent from Jersey shore or from Malaga? -If it is sent from Spain, is it compliant with North American power supplies? -Can you offer a tracking Number to help me figure out where the package is and to estimate it's time of arrival? I would like the package to be sent to my parents address. Thank you for your patience.

Dear Sir I will send the package from Malaga, Spain by UPS Express Air and the package will arrive to you in 2 days. The camera is USA model, it is brand new in it's original box and it has full USA warranty. Yes of course I will give you the tracking number but after I will receive the Western Union confirmation code so I can check if the transfer really exists. Yes I can shipp the package in Canada. Now please tell me if you have other questions

Can we find another way of payment? Western Union does not offer me any type of proctection whatsoever. I did receive a paypal invoice from your partner. I would much prefer going through them.

You don't have to worry about this deal because i'm a honest man and a very respected person who has many friends who trust me. I'm 53 years old, i started from somewhere very low and i reached a high level by work,by honest business and i never stole a dollar from anyone. I know how hard is to earn money

You gave me the same answer yesterday. I'm sure you are a very honest man, but I don't know you and I don't know your friends. Work with me and we'll make this deal happen

Dear Sir I prouse you tp close the deal in this way: you will send me now half of the money and I will send you the package. After you will receive the package, you will inspect the camera nad in 24 hours you will send me other half of the money Please tell me it is ok?

Sounds interesting, but it is still $500 and I still don't get any protection. How about we go through escrow (www.escrow.com). I'll pay all the fees and you'll get all of your money through a wire transfer as soon as I receive the camera and the kit

I don't accepr escrow. You have seen in the auction

Nowhere in the auction does it mention that you do not accept escrow. I have seen 3 different e-mail contact for this item ([contacts removed]). I need more than your word for security. If you have any good options, I'm very willing to listen.

Hello, Dear Sir my partener's, [name withheld] is in vacantion. You will clouse the deal with me. The total price is 1000 USD. I will pay the shipping taxes and the insurance of the package. For the shipping I use UPS Express Air and the package will arrive to you in 2 days. For the payment I use Western Union Money Transfer.

Hi, You have not answered my question in a straightforward way. Are you going to offer me some real security for my payment or what? Please, none of these pre-generated answers again. I'm sorry but I don't send the package first. What kind of security can you offer me?

First of all i want to tell you that I am a 52 year old I have a family and 2 children. For me my family is important not the money! I'm not a 15 year old boy who is playing tricks on the net! And do you think I'm that silly to arrive in jail for 1000 $ and destroy my beautiful life together with my loved ones? Please think about it and you will see that money is not all!

Dear sir, if you have been in business for such a long time and have started from very little, you will understand that there is not much room for such blind trust in business transactions. There are just too many things that don't add-up in all of this auction. First, the different item location, then the fact that you only accept money transfers (even if E-Bay AND Western Union strongly discourages auction payment made through money transfers), then I received a paypal invoice from [name withheld]. Later, you refuse complete the transaction through Escrow, even after I offered to pay all the cost associated with the process (even if that incurs an extra $100 for me, because it costs extra to send a money transfer through Escrow...) AND you keep on telling me that you are an honest man. Prove it, let's complete this transaction via Escrow (or any trusted 3rd party financial institution). That way I will be able to fell secure in this transaction and I won't feel that I am taking an very expensive chance with this deal. You have to understand that, I too, work hard for my money and I too am a trusted individual in my community. As you probably know, Escrow will send you an e-mail notifying you of my payment due payment. You do not have to send me the package until you receive that notification. When I do receive the camera, and confirm that it is in good working order, Escrow will send you the money, by money transfer as you wish. Please go on their site to see all of the details. (escrow.com) My dear sir, you have to realise that $1000 USD is an expensive leap of faith to make for an anonymous transaction on E-bay. It is not a chance I am willing to make without any type of protection You have sent me at least 3 e-mails stating that you were an honest man, that you have never stolen a dollar in your life... I am more than willing to believe you. But I am not willing to take that chance with MY money. Let me feel good about this transaction, let me have some type of protection.[name withheld] P.S. Are you 52 or 53 years old?... There seems to be a lack of consistency between you last and previous e-mails...


After that the buyer didn't receive any more e-mails from the fraud. Here is what happened with me (pretty much in parallel with the previous winning bidder):

The fraud

Me

Hello, Dear Sir my partener's, [name withheld] is in vacantion. You will clouse the deal with me. The total price is 1000 USD. I will pay the shipping taxes and the insurance of the package. For the shipping I use UPS Express Air and the package will arrive to you in 2 days. For the payment I use Western Union Money Transfer.

Western Union money transfer should be fine. Please send the transfer details and I will get the money to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

Hello Dear sir it is very simple to work with Western Union. All you have to do is to go at the nearest post office or bank near you where you can find a WesternUnion Office. You have to complete a form with your name and address and mine and then the people there will give you a code named Mtcn number which you must give me to check if the transfer really exists. My payment address is: [address removed] Now please e-mail me with your fullname and address so I can send you the package and please tell me if you have other questions. E-mail me soon. Thank you.


[At this point I sent some 'details']

In this moment i came back from the Ups office where i have sent your package at your name and address. As soon I will receive the Western Union confirmation code from you I will check if the transfer really exuists. If the transfer in OK I will give you the Tracking Number from UPS so you can pick up your package. I wait your e-mail. It has a pleasure making business with you. Grettings your family.

From where will you be sending this package? I'm sorry, but the address in Spain and the whole fact that I will be transferring money through Western Union (something ebay advises against), and the fact that it will be $1000 of my hard earned money, makes me worry. I'm sure you'll understand! I can arrange an escrow service (www.escrow.com) to hold your money until I receive the item. I will pay for all charges, I will even re-imburse shipping costs if this inconveniences you in any way. I hope you understand this. I want to believe you in what you say but because I haven't met you before, understand that I am a little wary. I understand that you would not have sent the package yet, so please do not send it until we have sorted this issue out. Please respond.Thanks.

I'm sorry Sir but I can use escrow service now because I send you the package yestarday. First of all i want to tell you that I am a 52 year old I have a family and 2 children. For me my family is important not the money! I'm not a 15 year old boy who is playing tricks on the net! And do you think I'm that silly to arrive in jail for 1000 $ and destroy my beautiful life together with my loved ones? Please think about it and you will see that money is not all!

That is ok! I have not received the package yet nor have your received your money. Escrow is the perfect service for such a transaction. I can set this up today. Otherwise, there is no logic to you not chosing an escrow service. Believe me I want this transaction to go ahead but I do not know you personally and thus it would be stupid of me to send $1000 via money order to someone I do not know. Western Union themselves advise against such transactions. I understand you may have family and that your family is important and not the money - but you were selling goods on ebay. You are selling those goods>to make money. Trying to tell me otherwise is just foolish. Please let us resolve this issue as quickly as possible so we can both get what we want.

I'm sorry but I can't use escrow now because I send you the package. If you don't send the money untill tomorrow the deal is off and I cancel the shipping


Do you have a phone number by which I can contact you? If I can talk to you and believe you are who you say you are, then perhaps this deal can still go ahead. Please advise...P.S. How can you cancel a shipment if it has already been sent?

First I want to tell you that the package arrive at the UPS office not at your home. You can pick up the package only with the Tracking Number. Tomorrow I will call at the UPS office to send me the package back. I will lose only 48 $ the money that I paied for shipping.But you will lose a very good deal. Sorry again. My phone number is [withheld]

Out of interest, I tried calling that number. Disconnected. I had been collaborating with a few other people who were involved in the auction and eventually I received this from one of them. It was an e-mail from the person who actually belonged to that user id - the one who actually had the good reputation:

EBAY WAS SUPPOSE TO CONTACT YOU THIS IS A FRAUD I HAD THE ACCOUNT SUSPENDED FOR 3 DAYS IT WAS JUST REACTIVATED TODAY PLEASE DO NOT PAY THIS GUY WHAT IS THE ADDRESS AND THE WAY HE WANTS YOU TO PAY I AM TRYING TO NAIL THIS GUY HE HACKED INTO MY ACCOUNT GOD PLEASE DONT SEND YOUR MONEY THANK YOU

What interesting times we live in :-)

Remember to slip, slop, slap

Freaking hell, I remember the ads with that stupid Pelican. Slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat. Do you think I paid any attention to that at all? No! I didn't wear sunscreen, or a hat, or a shirt when I was at the waterparks on the weekend. My back and shoulders are the most burnt I think they've ever been. I am an idiot. I deserve this. Thank *God* for Aloe Vera gel though.

Plans for this weekend are to head to Key West. I've been looking forward to this for a while. I think the whole idea of driving on bridges in the middle of the ocean is pretty cool. A breakdown on what we will be doing:

Key Largo - take a boat out and go snorkelling
Islamorada - Chill out to some reggae bands
Key West - P*A*R*T*Y!

I still haven't actually bought anything that I wanted while I was over here. The SLR digicam has been delayed because some weird stuff is going on with my bank balance. I think it has everything to do with the exchange rate and me spending too much money...

This is insane!

I went to Disneyworld on the weekend with a few friends, and "this is insane!" was pretty much the only comment that was ever coming out of my mouth. I have to say, we absolutely fluked the whole weekend. I don't think we could have planned it better. There were the hugest thunderstorms I've ever seen each afternoon, but if you waited through them you pretty much could go on any ride with little waiting time. Awesome.

If you know me reasonably well you'll know I'm freaked out by heights. I also don't normally do things one would consider risky, even if it is a theme park attraction. I pretty much threw all those attributes out the door on the weekend.

We started off on Saturday with a view to seeing Blizzard Beach. However, a massive, massive storm brewed up and we were stuck in a bus for an hour. After this cleared, we decided to go to the Magical Kingdom. That place was insane! We went on a few rides there, but there was nothing that really scared the absolute crap out of me. Ok, there was a bit of a drop on one of the water rides that freaked me out a bit, but that was about it. We got to watch the parade with all the Disney characters at night (this only happens on a Saturday - we completely fluked this) plus a huge fireworks display and that was all a real bonus.

I was blabbering on about how I couldn't wait to see Pleasure Island that night. We didn't get there until very late and it was only open till 2am. Soft!!! Anyway, we headed back to the hotel room and found that our keycards to get in the room were not working. One of the people with me said that they heard at the front desk they were having problems with the system, so we were there for a few good minutes kicking the door, cursing the keycard system, and nearly forcing our way into the room (we were all pretty damn tired at that point). Then all of a sudden the door opened and a guy said "I think you've got the wrong room". Silence. Comprehension. I realised we'd walked up two flights of stairs instead of just one and that our room was directly below us. I think the guy took it pretty well.

The next day I'd have to say was one of the most insane days in my whole life. This is the day I broke a few personal records. Our first destination was Blizzard Beach, which we never got to go to the day before. We went on most of the rides there, but one that I was initially too scared to go on was Summit Plummet. Did I end up going on it? Hell yes! I was freaked out by having to wait in line on some stairs that were way up high, and I was even more freaked out of taking the actual plunge. But hell, it was so worth it. It was so good I actually forgot to scream on the way down.

The next park we went to was .Typhoon Lagoon. This had an insane wave machine that generated huge 6-foot waves. The only problem was there were soooo many people there you kept on hitting them. That fun was short lived though as a cranking storm came along and we had to take shelter. It lasted for over an hour and then the theme park got shut. Bugger! I still had an excellent time there though.

The last park we went to was Disney-MGM studios. I went on the Rock and Rollercoaster which was just insane. 0->100kph in 2.8 seconds. 5G turns. Wicked. That ride was heaps of fun. I think my favourite ride though was Tower of Terror. This thing took you up 13 floors, opened up the elevator doors so you could see how high you were, then took you back down again at 1.3Gs. Then it did some crazy random stuff - up, down, up, up, down you didn't know what to expect next because the ride is supposed to be different each time. It's pretty funny watching the ride from the outside because each time the outside elevator doors open everyone is screaming their heads off.

So, now I have to calm myself down and try and get some work done today. How the hell am I supposed to do that?!? I should be putting some pictures up tonight so stay tuned!

Ooh yes, I mentioned to some people that I was originally supposed to go to the Kennedy Space Centre on the weekend as well, but we just ran out of time.

Milo - it's all good

I went to a Jamaican diner today for lunch. The whole place probably wouldn't have been more than say 7x10 metres in size. It was very, very simple but I liked it. The thing I found appealing about it initially were the speakers they had that made up some sort of divider. No kidding, there were 2 massive speaker cabinets with *at least* an 18-inch driver in each of them, plus another 4 speaker cabinets that had a couple of 12-inch drivers per cabinet. They must have some bloody massive Rastafarian parties there! The place doubled as a small (very small) convenience store, and I saw that up on a shelf next to the ovaltine and other crappy substitutes for milo was, in fact, a few tins of milo itself. The heavens opened, choirs sang, so I bought some. I'm the happiest Aussie alive I reckon. *tear.

I've still no guitar

and none of my music, and no computer, and 1/2 of my clothes. It was actually a blind, dumb-arse mistake of mine to put my music CDs in the wrong suitcase, but oh well. Originally though my air shipment was supposed to arrive a few days after I did (it is an air shipment after all) so I wasn't really that worried. However, that isn't the case as I've been here for nearly 2 1/2 weeks and I ain't seen anything yet. Yeah, whinge whinge whinge, I know :-) Supposedly it's in customs at Miami airport still... those buggers are playing my guitar (good luck it's left-handed), wearing my clothes (good luck that's mostly my winter stuff) and listening to my CDs (yeah, um, good luck).

There are some album releases I am waiting on that may tide me over if my stuff never arrives. One of them is Way out West's "Don't look now". There is a little article here. I've been listening to some of their songs using Distinctive Records' streamer. I'm also waiting on some more CDs I ordered through Amazon, namely an earlier CD of Way out West's and the new album by Brit group Keane.

That was another big weekend...

I was waiting on some pictures from somebody else's camera before writing this update, but due to technical difficulties, that'll have to wait!

Friday night I didn't have anything planned. I was sitting home, absolutely buggered from the week and I nearly went to bed. Note that I said nearly. There is a switch in my brain that comes into effect on the start of the weekend. It says "Don't stay home on a Friday or Saturday night by yourself you friggin loser or I'll give you nightmares and make your sleep general hell". I payed heed to that switch, so I called up some friends and met them at Delray Beach. It's half-way to Palm Beach and I found it was a pretty nice place to go to. Beers were a flowing everywhere when I arrived at the pub, so I joined in. A couple of hours later we moved on to somewhere else and I had a couple of Jagermeisters. That's because they didn't have any Absinthe (it's prohibited) or Chartreuse. So after all that I couldn't drive anywhere and I had to get a lift back to my apartment, which was ok since the people I was out with were staying in a hotel not far from me. The problem is I had parked my car next to the beach in a pay-zone, and I was worried I would get a fine the next day...

Anyhow, I got a lift to Delray Beach and arrived early afternoon - thank God I didn't get a ticket! We then drove to Ft Lauderdale and continued on to South Beach in Miami. In a few words, I had a friggen awesome time there! We went for a bit of a swim and then went to the Clevelander. Uh, that place was out of this world. You can look around their website and, uh, see what I mean. I got some good pictures too! I'll update my webshots account with those asap. The pork rib meal there is excellent. It was commented that I had a smile on my face the whole time - actually, I've got that smile cranking again as I think back on it :-) We headed home at about 8pm or so.

That switch was on in my head again so I met up with some other friends for line dancing at Roundup. I don't know any line dancing moves but when the more conventional nightclub music starts I'm out on the dancefloor in a flash. Roundup is where I met the guy who wanted me to try out for the reality show. His girlfriend also gave me her business card - she's a massage therapist and offered me a discount. Sweeeeet!

I just turned down a reality show opportunity - I had to

This is all a bit surreal as I write this, but Saturday night (at line dancing of all places) I was asked if I wanted to try out for a pilot of a reality show. I thought I may as well check it out first and so I called up the production company involved. The deal is a printing company who were funding/creating the show were looking to cast a white, single, heterosexual male. They couldn't tell me much more than that because of the non-disclosure agreement. The thing is I couldn't take the opportunity due to the Visa conditions that I'm over here on. Bugger, eh?

I'm also inclined to think - what sort of reality show was this? :-)

Tobacco Road review

I am absolutely blown away by this place (and I ain't only talking about Tobacco Road). It's true when they say that everything is bigger in America. I was driving to Miami last night with a pretty good set of directions, thank God, and I was amazed by the sheer amount of concrete used in the construction of the highways. As an engineer (or just a generally inquisitive person), I am in awe at how all of this stuff is designed and built. I start thinking about it and then give up because it hurts my head.

I must also add however how unimpressed I am by some engineering efforts, especially in car design. I will have to review the Oldsmobile Alero in a following post and give my thoughts on just how crap I think it is. Thank *GOD* I am not paying the rent for that thing.

Anyhoo, I found my way to Tobacco Road ok. It's a very narrow, long, 2 story building and its claim to fame is being the oldest bar in Miami. The place just absolutely oozes character. It has an outdoor beer garden, a downstairs section which normally accommodates a Jazz/Blues band, and upstairs is normally reserved for the rockier acts. Both floors have acts going at the same time. I started my night in the beer garden and some guy says to me "where are you from, Australia?" after he heard me talking on the phone. Now I befriended this guy called Mark who originally was from England but has lived in the US for the last 15 years or so. He's a pretty funny chap - early 40s I think and an absolute geezer. He's been going to Tobacco Road for the last 10 years and was absolutely amazed that I'd discovered Tobacco Road already, as it took him years before he found the place. I guess I'm just ahead of the curve :-) One very interesting thing that Mark the Englishman said was that Miami has very little original music performers. Most of the bands are cover bands, and he said this was probably because they get paid a lot more for that than they would performing original songs. Personally, I'm not a huge cover band fan, nor would I like to be in one. There is only so far one can go regurgitating other people's songs.

At around 10:30pm I headed upstairs to because Santos Renuentes were supposed to have already started playing. I don't know where Mark the Englishman had gotten to at that stage, I think he was off having a smoke somewhere. Santos Renuentes were fantastic. The lead singer, Sophia, had an absolutely fantastic voice. In fact, she sounded a lot like Gwen Stefani from No Doubt. That's pretty darn good! Omar is a great bassist too. He's got that whole bass player groove thing going on, and actually has a 5-string custom made Fender bass guitar. It sounded really, really good. The group as a whole was just amazing - hats off to Santos Renuentes!

The next act was called Cana. They most certainly didn't look like a real rock band, but they sure as hell sounded like one! I must admit to start with I was only mildly impressed. However after they had warmed up they were fantastic! The lead singer sounded a lot like the singer from Hootie and the Blowfish. Good stuff!

I didn't get the name of the last act. I don't think they were on the list as three bands had already played for the night. They seemed to have a significant goth influence but their music still sounded pretty good. I had a chuckle to myself because when they were setting up there was a geeky goth band member with a Legend of Zelda t-shirt on. Ok, I'll admit, I wanted that shirt. Truth be known, I wouldn't mind that shirt and another one with Kid Icarus on it. That would rock! Anyway, the geeky goth was the gizmo guy in the band who used his laptop to generate effects sounds over the top of the guitars. It seemed to work pretty well.

I ended up leaving at around 1:30am to the most vicious rain I've ever been in. It was absolutely *bucketing* down. I couldn't see 10 metres in front of me and I don't know how the hell I navigated my way back home. I think that sort of rain is going to be the story of the weekend what with all these tropical storms and hurricanes hitting Florida. One really unusual thing I did see driving home was the clouds being illuminated orange and blue by the lightning. I haven't seen that before. Weird.

Hasta luego

Tobacco Road

yeah, I'm still at work (7pm here) but I've been studying the directions for making it to Tobacco Road to see Santos Renuentes play (plus the other bands there!). I think I'll be able to find the place... expect a review tomorrow!

Fort Lauderdale - Part II

Fort Lauderdale - the return. This time around I spent a bit more time actually walking around and enjoying the sights rather than trying to find some place at some address that was completely wrong. I had lunch at some European cafe and they actually had a pretty decent margarita pizza (or margharita - I see it spelt every possible way under the sun) - booya! I didn't think I was going to be able to eat all of it, but my stomach thought otherwise. There was also a pretty good jazz band playing next door that provided a nice backdrop. The cars going past this place were all class - BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche, Corvettes, and nothing like the equivalent of a Commondore or Falcoon.

Next we headed down to the beach. I didn't bring any real swimming clothes with me but gosh darnit I wish I had! The water was so darn warm and I so just wanted to go for a swim. I'll save that for this weekend, maybe. There are supposed to be hurricane warnings in effect which should be pretty fun (don't worry Mum, I ain't going to be going outdoors if there is a bleedin' hurricane outside my door!) Anyway, after that we headed to a series of places all overlooking the beach. I was drinking lots and lots at each one. Luckily I didn't drive so I drank some more. Eventually we got some food from the Hooters restaurant. Yeah, they actually had some pretty good food there - and a pretty good view of the beach among other things. I'll have to take some pictures from up there so you can see what I'm talking about. I had some chicken strips that came with chili that could be either mild, hot, very hot, or 911. Can you guess which one I chose? After putting out the fire in my mouth (this time with something that wasn't beer) I asked the waitress for a picture of her with my friend with the black eye from Friday night. I told her he had a pretty rough weekend and getting a picture with her would make his day. I'll post it up once he scans it for me :-)

After that I headed to the theatres to watch Collateral, the new Tom Cruise movie. I'm still a bit undecided whether I liked it or not. Watching my first movie in the US seemed... weird, and the movie had a completely different feeling to it. Maybe that was because Cruise boy is the bad guy. I had one problem with a scence in a danceclub where people were getting shot left, right and centre. It took a little while for people to clear out of the club - I know I'd be heading out of there pronto rather than running back and forth trying to steal more camera time. I ended up getting home around 1am. This again probably adds more weight as to why I've been so buggered this week (apart from pulling 12 hour work days... yeah, I'm a wuss, I know)

Roundup - it's more than just a herbicide

This entry is coming in late - mostly because I've been busy as heck at work and I'm just plain buggered.

I spent most of Saturday recovering from the previous night since I only ended up getting home at 4:30am or something like that. Saturday night I didn't have anything planned - but that didn't particularly worry me at 2pm in the afternoon. At 8pm however, I was starting to get worried so I called Chet the player to see what he was up to. He was at this place called "Roundup" - a country themed bar out west of where I live. I was told there were lots of guys wearing cowboy hats but hey, I wanted to meet some new people so I didn't really hesitate. Chet the player hadn't been there before either so it was all new for him too.

I rocked up to this place, had the security guard scrutinize my license details for ages and then a grin started to form on his face. I rewarded him with a "thanks mate" and moved inside. Whoa! I wasn't really prepared for what I saw. There were lots of guys in cowboy hats but even more - there were dozens of people line dancing. Sheesh, they weren't joking about it being a country bar! Some of the people had the biggest belt buckles in the west I reckon. I could see Chet and his friends right from where I walked in so I headed over to where they were, pronto.

Chet the player started chatting to some girls who I later found were from Miami - this was also their first time in a country bar, so we all had some common ground there. One of them had taken a keen interest in country music and was telling me the names of a lot of the songs. I sorta found this a bit weird since she was very South American looking, and South American and Country music just don't go together. Anyways, I have to admit I did participate in some of the line dancing routines and, surprisingly, I had a ball! It was the most fun I've had in ages - I didn't think synchronised dancing could be so fun! I am seriously contemplating at this stage in doing the line dancing lessons on Thursday nights from 7-9pm. Hehe.

So anyways, the girls we met up with promised me a tour around Miami - they were probably under the influence of too many Bud Lights though so we'll see about that :-)

Speaking of Bud Light, the 'light' doesn't mean low alcohol content - just low carbs (everything over here is "low carbs this" and "low carbs that"). The alcohol content isn't anywhere on the bottles so you have to guess at how many standard drinks you've had. The Bud Light commercials at http://www.budlight.com/index_flash.html are pretty funny but.

So after Roundup I headed back to Chet's place to meet up with the rest of his group. He had Hootie and the Blowfish's album on repeat for 3 hours or so. I ended up drinking some really bad red wine, crashing on the couch and falling sleep at around 4am. Is anyone getting an idea of why I'm so tired this week?

Soon enough I'll write something about Sunday - which involved more of Fort Lauderdale, Bud Light, and Hooters.

Fort Lauderdale - Part I

Friday night I was due to hook up with a few people from work at a place called the Baja Beach Club. Here was the invite I received:

Baja Beach Club, Riverfront. Upstairs, just past the movie theater. 3 for 1 from 6-10, with full dinner buffet. Come on out, and bring anyone you can.

I hadn't been to Fort Lauderdale yet, but this sounded as good an excuse as any to go. Because I was uber prepared, I decided to do a quick internet search to find out where this place was, just in case. No problemo, I had an address and I said I'd try to arrive at around 8pm.

I headed out after work but could not for the life of me find this damn place. I spent a good 2 hours driving around Fort Lauderdale, in what seemed like peak-hour traffic, to no avail. The address I got off the internet was just plain wrong. Shit. What was I to do? I was down and depressed. Luckily I found a Krispy Kreme store and I bought a few donuts from there. Mmmmm, sacrilicious. I never thought that food could pick me up so well. I asked the guy who served me whereabouts the Baja beach club was. His directions sounded ok, but after another 1/2 hour of driving around I decided to cut my losses and head back home. Five minutes into my journey home one of my Aussie mates called and so I went to pick him up and, feeling reinvigorated, we headed back to Fort Lauderdale. I couldn't believe it, I found the place and there was no way in hell I would have found it by driving around. Of course I found it 4 hours later than anticpated. Oh well.

There were stacks and stacks of people everywhere. It is at this point in the story I'd like to say something to all those people who, once I told them I was going to Florida, said: "Isn't that where old people go to retire?" Ummm, yeah. You've been watching too much Seinfeld. Take the clientele of the Savvy bar in good ol' Adelaide. Multiply that by, ooh, 50. Empty them on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. Got the picture?

Actually truth be known, the Baja Club is very much like the New York Bar and Grill in Adelaide. Think popular RnB music with a smattering of dance music and there you go. It probably would've been a lot better earlier on but I wasn't going to hang around much longer. A couple of the other clubs we went to were like those in Adelaide. There were slight differences, but not enough to invoke a "wow!" Actually, the biggest difference I found was in the toilets - there are guys who wait next to the hand basin who offer to wash your hands for you, for a tip of course. Yeah, right! I couldn't believe it. I said "no thanks" and proceeded to wash my hands myself like I have for most of my life. Because I felt like being a bit cheeky, I washed my hands again. I can't believe there are people who would hang around in the Men's toilets (of all places) all night for tips!

It was about 3:30am that I was in this club with my mate and he said that he was going to the toilet. He didn't come back for ages. I went looking for him and saw him standing outside - I tried calling out to him to ask what the hell he was doing but he couldn't see nor hear me so I headed outside. What I saw was both funny and shocking at the same time - some guy had punched him in the face. He couldn't remember exactly what provoked the attack apart from him accidentally bumping into some guy, but he had a nice black eye brewing. He was very drunk too so I decided to call it quits for my Friday night out and drop him home.

A MASSIVE weekend

Wowsers, I think I just had the hugest weekend in a while - my first real weekend in the United States. I'm going to have to break it into several posts I think. I made it into work this morning, so that's a good start I guess.

There are some crazy-ass drivers over here

I thought Adelaide drivers were supposed to be bad! Things I've noticed:

1. The indicator is just a novelty item and rarely gets used.
2. If a person driving in an adjacent lane notices that their vehicle will fit in the gap between you and the car in front of you, then they'll take that gap. Refer to (1).
3. There is no such thing as a safe distance between cars. If you can count "1001, 1002" you're too far away from the car in front of you. Refer to (2).
4. Don't expect anyone to safely let you in even if you have your indicator on. You'll have to barge your way in. Refer to (2)
5. Stop signs are red and octagon shaped. That's about all people notice about them though.
   

Then there are some other things I've noticed - like the number of crashes between my residence and work (a 5 minute drive). I've seen the result of three crashes so far, and the one this morning was a doozie. It looked like an SUV had rolled a couple of times and was lying on its side - and that was in a 45mph zone!

Also, the location of places is given as the intersection of streets, not actual street numbers. This is probably better than using street numbers as you rarely see street numbers anywhere.

I nearly made a fool of myself on my first day of driving because I was going to tell someone their brake lights weren't working properly. Then I realised a lot of cars had the same problem. Then I realised the brake lights over here doubled as indicator lights in a lot of car models. But then again, I dont' see this very often - refer to (1) above.

I need to learn Spanish

Especially if I want to spend a couple of days in Miami, I've been informed. Ok, so learning Spanish is probably not essential, but it would probably help to know a bit more than just "Yo quiero taco bell".

I met a guy today who works here, Omar, who is in a band called "Santos Renuentes". If you go to their website you'll see pics of the whole band. I've listened to a couple of their tracks and it really can be best described as Spanish alternative rock. There are a couple of links to their tracks on their website, and it sounds like really cool stuff. Apart from being the bass player of the band, Omar does the mixing too. That then got us to discussing all things Reason, Cubase, Logic and VST plugins. He is also involved in a trip-hop band (think music that sounds like Morcheeba). Actually, I just had a quick look at the Morcheeba site - they actually mention the Adelaide show that got cancelled just over a year ago. This is what they had to say:

Morcheeba would like to apologise for having to cancel their show in Adelaide on the 12th April. All other shows are 100% confirmed. They look forward to seeing you all there.

"Much apologies to those in Adelaide for the cancelled show. We hope to be back as we LOVE it there." Ross Godfrey

Well, that's just weird. I've still got the four tickets that myself and a few other slightly disappointed fans had for the night.

Anyways, I'm going to see if I can make it to the Santos Renuentes performance at Tobacco Road in Miami next week. Here's hoping :-)

One thing I'm missing the most is my guitar. I really, really hope it arrives soon - I've got a funny feeling that it may have arrived today, hopefully with the rest of my luggage. That also reminds me that I have a list of things to buy whilst I'm over here:

Kawai ES-3 Digital Piano
Nikon D-70 Digital SLR camera
iPod 40GB rev 4

I think after purchasing all that I'll be pretty satisfied.

Second "work day"

It's funny how some things just don't happen sometimes. Even though there were lots of delays in getting to the US, there still isn't a computer ready for me and I've had to use another computer whose owner is currently on holidays. Of course, this computer doesn't have any of the tools I need to do my work, but oh well.

I had lunch today with some American guys plus a couple of Aussie blokes at pizza place. The waitress we had was pretty darn friendly, and the service was so good I could see why the American guys always went there (no, this wasn't a topless pizza place in case you were wondering). Everyone was ordering pizzas with toppings I haven't really seen before, for example, pizzas with sausages on top (and I mean full sausages just laying on the pizza base. WTF?) One of my Aussie workmates tried ordering a ham and pineapple pizza but they didn't have any pineapple. I went for my normal Margarita - except the waitress didn't know what a Margarita pizza was. I told her tomatoes with basil on top. The American guys sitting with us looked at me a bit weirdly, although I must say that one guy there knew what I was on about. I got back a pizza that had ham and basil instead. The waitress said "that's not what you ordered, is it?" I shook my head and she got me another one, this time with the correct toppings. I ate both of them anyway, and it only ended up costing me a few bucks (I had 2 large cokes as well).

Next the American guys started talking about what was concerning them in the world. First there was the issue of many devices being "melded" into a single device. Consider the mobile phone for example - once only used as a communications device it can now be used as a PDA and pretty soon it will be your music device as well. What happens to the companies that used to produce the other products? I guess the most limiting factor with mobile phones is their small screen size. In the future there will probably be some technology that enables the "screen" to be beamed directly to the brain anyway, so you won't actually need a screen at all. Hmmm...

The other thing the guys talked about was the rising superpower China, whose economy is absolutely skyrocketing. They were concerned that with Chinese people now starting to buy and use cars more that the world's oil reserves would be even more punished. Add to that the technological capabilities that China may develop over the US in the future. I would expect the US Government would be seeking to make some treaties with China in the near future... this may have started already, I don't really know. I haven't done any research on it yet.

I really hope the rest of my stuff arrived today. This included my guitar and my computer which has all my music on it. I learned that my apartment has a cable internet connection. Booya!

I'm here!

I can't actually believe that I'm in the US at the moment - it's all sorta a bit weird still.

I think I most enjoyed the flight from Adelaide to Melbourne - mainly because it was the shortest. The flight from Melbourne to LAX was just plain painful. For over 14 hours I was right at the back of the plane and a Mexican dude in front of me had his seat right back which cramped my legs up. I lost count of the number of times I had to get up and walk around. I tried getting sleep on this stretch but it was just plain impossible. I chatted a lot to some Australian guys next to me who were biologists heading to Oregon. There was also an Australian girl, a vegetarian who was planning on hiking through South America. Talking to them made the time pass a little faster. I got to watch "Starsky and Hutch" and "The Girl next door" on the inflight entertainment channels, as well as a couple of documentaries. Woo hoo!

Coming to land in LAX was just weird - for the first time I actually saw with my own eyes cars driving on the other side of the road. Yeah, it's a small thing, but enough to bring in a reality check. LAX is a mess. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I was able to find my luggage and my way to the domestic terminal *and* to the gate that my flight was leaving from. I needed to call the limo service that was picking me up from the airport to tell them I was going to be late. I didn't know why the phone number I had been given wasn't working, so I asked some American guy for some help. Half way through my question he cut me off, pointed to the service desk and said, quite arrogantly, "Ask him". He didn't look at me the whole time I was talking to him. What a prick! Thank God I haven't met any other people like that. Everyone else has been really friendly.

Ok, next I had to catch a plane from LAX to Fort Lauderdale. It was here that I noticed a bit of a difference between Qantas and American Airlines. The flight attendents on Qantas are quite strict in not letting you get up while the seatbelt light is on. Not so on AA. People were getting up all the time, and the flight attendents didn't really seem to care a heck of a lot.

I arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport and proceeded to get my luggage. Actually, I was surprised it even came in the end. I was waiting there for about 45 minutes, tack onto that the flight was about 45 minutes late. I didn't see anyone walking around with my name on a card so I assumed my limo driver had gone already, or didn't even come at all. Not to worry, I caught a cab to the apartments.

Next thing to happen: my apartment number had changed. This was something I was supposed to check before I left, but I forgot to do this in the rush. There was someone else in my supposed apartment, and since I had arrived after-hours there was no-one to help me at the front desk. I had no idea what to do at this point. My phone was not working and I was looking at a bench and thinking I'd have to sleep on that! Luckily, I remembered that the US used a slightly different GSM network and that explained why my phone wasn't working. I changed my phone settings and - voila! - I was able to select from a couple of service providers. After a few phone calls I found out what my apartment number was and got to bed pretty bloody quickly.

The next day it rained and rained and rained - due in no small part to tropical storm Alex. I think nearly 2 inches of rain fell in a couple of hours. I was going to go pick up my rental car but decided against doing this for reasons of localised flooding.

Today I drove on the right-hand side of the road and successfully navigated my way to work. I'm pretty stoked about that! I also had lunch at a Thai restaurant across the road with one of the people I'm working with and I also got introduced to no less than 20 other people. I also found out how bloody huge this place is!!!

Well I'm going to have to sign off now. I'm bloody tired and I have to go buy some groceries and stuff.

Ciaobella!