I honestly could not think of anything more appropriate than the above title. Honestly.
Yes, Ft Lauderdale and surrounding areas got hit by hurricane Katrina last week, which meant we got Thursday and Friday off of work! Of course, that didn't really mean you could do anything... it was too dangerous to go outside not only because of what might be lying around, but because a lot of traffic lights were out and that's just scary.
Katrina grew up and is now going to turn New Orleans into the next Atlantis or something. I hope they hold out alright because that place is awesome.
Car. Stupid car. I still haven't got my car. I have insurance for the car, but no car. There is a hold up in getting the leasing company for the previous owner to get up off their arses and cash the damn cheque so I can receive the title to the car. That may take over another week yet!
Apart from that I am settling into my new apartment and finding the joy that is a couple of hundred TV channels. Actually, I really only like a couple of them, they being the independent film channel and comedy central. There are a couple of others that have the odd interesting thing on here and there. My flatmate knows the channels off by heart pretty much. Convenient yet scary.
Well, it seems this week I'm actually gaining some of my energy back. I've been utterly exhausted recently as has been shown by the lack of posting, but that's probably also in part due to the fact I have no internet connection at home yet.
Anyway this was just a quick post to prove that I am sort of still alive. And Goldberg, yes, at some point I will take a listen.
29 August 2005
24 August 2005
Here we go again
Righty, another storm looks like it's going to hit here. Whether it will be a hurricane by the time it makes landfall is another story, however from the brief visit to the Target store I just made I could plainly see that some people were in a state of hysteria again. It was all "hurricane this... hurricane that" at the cash registers and people were stockpiling big time.
Onto other interesting things, there was a discussion with my lunch group regarding gay marriage and whether it should be allowed or not. The discussion got very heated but I didn't really join in as I have not formed an opinion on the issue yet. I don't think I ever will actually as I don't really care about it. Some people in the discussion were against it because it would indicate to people that being a homosexual was normal, when in fact they argued it was not. Others argued against that saying that it's their right to get married if they want to. The counter arguement to that was that the only real rights we have are to food, shelter and safety or something like that. This went on for a while and it sort of got into a "think about the children" case.
And this is something I've noticed here in the states. People spend their time discussing stuff that really doesn't make a f^*ken difference to anything, or they argue how it will make a difference when the effects will probably be quite minor.
But there is a war going on overseas that will make a heck of a difference in the future if it hasn't already now (but of course it has). People are either sick of talking about it or they just give up realising there isn't much they could do about it anyway. Meanwhile of course the conservative right seem to be taking over this country, just to add to the woes. There are two real points for discussion: an unjust war and how you solve the problems caused by it, and the extreme Christian right who can't see two inches in front of themselves who are taking control of the country. In the end, who gives a flying f@#k about gay marriage.
Think about the children.
Onto other interesting things, there was a discussion with my lunch group regarding gay marriage and whether it should be allowed or not. The discussion got very heated but I didn't really join in as I have not formed an opinion on the issue yet. I don't think I ever will actually as I don't really care about it. Some people in the discussion were against it because it would indicate to people that being a homosexual was normal, when in fact they argued it was not. Others argued against that saying that it's their right to get married if they want to. The counter arguement to that was that the only real rights we have are to food, shelter and safety or something like that. This went on for a while and it sort of got into a "think about the children" case.
And this is something I've noticed here in the states. People spend their time discussing stuff that really doesn't make a f^*ken difference to anything, or they argue how it will make a difference when the effects will probably be quite minor.
But there is a war going on overseas that will make a heck of a difference in the future if it hasn't already now (but of course it has). People are either sick of talking about it or they just give up realising there isn't much they could do about it anyway. Meanwhile of course the conservative right seem to be taking over this country, just to add to the woes. There are two real points for discussion: an unjust war and how you solve the problems caused by it, and the extreme Christian right who can't see two inches in front of themselves who are taking control of the country. In the end, who gives a flying f@#k about gay marriage.
Think about the children.
19 August 2005
A tiring week
Right now I am completely and utterly exhausted. Hold on, I think I've written a post starting like that before. During the week I sealed the private purchase of my new car. I've sent the cheque off to the seller's financing company but I won't be actually picking up the car until next week. Once I get the existing title, but more importantly the insurance sorted out, then I can pick up the car.
And this is where stuff starts to bite. Because I have not been licensed in Florida for a year yet I will be paying through the nose for my insurance. Oh, the other factor is that insurance in Florida is crazy because people have too many accidents. From what I've seen lately: people reading books while they're driving; people driving with their sunshield reflector things still up; people driving and eating cereal; people constantly lane surfing; this doesn't surprise me at all. At the moment my insurance will cost me 8 times that of what it did in Australia. Freaking unbelieveable. I do have other things to try yet but I really have to have this sorted out by Tuesday next week.
In other news I've been preparing my move to a new apartment with a friend from work. This is going much better and the pricing is going to be much more reasonable, thank god. Luckily we're both experienced with living with other people so problems should be kept to a minimum.
And this is where stuff starts to bite. Because I have not been licensed in Florida for a year yet I will be paying through the nose for my insurance. Oh, the other factor is that insurance in Florida is crazy because people have too many accidents. From what I've seen lately: people reading books while they're driving; people driving with their sunshield reflector things still up; people driving and eating cereal; people constantly lane surfing; this doesn't surprise me at all. At the moment my insurance will cost me 8 times that of what it did in Australia. Freaking unbelieveable. I do have other things to try yet but I really have to have this sorted out by Tuesday next week.
In other news I've been preparing my move to a new apartment with a friend from work. This is going much better and the pricing is going to be much more reasonable, thank god. Luckily we're both experienced with living with other people so problems should be kept to a minimum.
15 August 2005
Attack of the drones
Today when I arrived at work I witnessed something quite amazing. What I saw could be best described as a sure-fire way of finding redundancy candidates.
At my work there are boom gates such that when an employee pulls up next to one, access into the facility is granted via waving an ID in front of the scanner to raise the boom gate. Sounds complex? No bloody way.
So what do you think would happen if there was no boom gate? What if the boom gate had been broken off by some fuel guzzling SUV earlier on in the morning? Do you think people would analyse the situation and not bother scanning their ID because it isn't fricken required? Some people would, BUT, statistical analysis showed over half the people wouldn't. If you want comedy that comes in the "I can't believe I'm seeing this" flava, all you have to do is watch this for 5 minutes to see that over half the people at your work are drones.
At my work there are boom gates such that when an employee pulls up next to one, access into the facility is granted via waving an ID in front of the scanner to raise the boom gate. Sounds complex? No bloody way.
So what do you think would happen if there was no boom gate? What if the boom gate had been broken off by some fuel guzzling SUV earlier on in the morning? Do you think people would analyse the situation and not bother scanning their ID because it isn't fricken required? Some people would, BUT, statistical analysis showed over half the people wouldn't. If you want comedy that comes in the "I can't believe I'm seeing this" flava, all you have to do is watch this for 5 minutes to see that over half the people at your work are drones.
13 August 2005
Insane
This week has been absolutely insane, hence, no updates. I think I pissed off a lot of car salesmen last weekend when I went looking for cars. That tired me out a lot. I think for most of the day I was saying "no, I'm not interested in buying!" They are extremely persistent buggers over here, much more so than what I experienced in Australia. Once they actually realise you're not going to buy they turn into incredibly rude people. Mind you, I was looking at used car dealerships where they're not really interested in forming a relationship with the customer so maybe that had something to do with it.
As if purchasing a car, cancelling stuff over in Australia and initiating stuff over here wasn't enough, work has been an absolute hassle. Put it this way: people have gone well past their limits, including myself, and we're all a bit in the "care factor zero and rapidly falling" zone at the moment. I am completely and utterly exhausted.
This may be causing me to have the weirdest dreams ever and sleep quite irregularly. Case in point: I had a dream that I was back in Pata (in country Australia where I grew up as a kid) and I was lying down in some shade next to the shed enjoying the breeze. I then heard something say "Master... Master" and I turned my head and saw a kitten that was talking to me. It then said "Feed me". As if that wasn't scary enough, I also had some birds later on in my dream asking the same damn thing. It's like the scary movies that have the scary children playing - good example is "the ring".
Luckily though I've got Pendulum's debut album "Hold your colour" to get me through. I had to download a torrent of the album because my CD won't be arriving for at least another month! That was an insane time to wait and so I've been listening to the album for the last week. Highly recommended even if you don't listen to drum and bass very often or don't really know what it's all about.
As if purchasing a car, cancelling stuff over in Australia and initiating stuff over here wasn't enough, work has been an absolute hassle. Put it this way: people have gone well past their limits, including myself, and we're all a bit in the "care factor zero and rapidly falling" zone at the moment. I am completely and utterly exhausted.
This may be causing me to have the weirdest dreams ever and sleep quite irregularly. Case in point: I had a dream that I was back in Pata (in country Australia where I grew up as a kid) and I was lying down in some shade next to the shed enjoying the breeze. I then heard something say "Master... Master" and I turned my head and saw a kitten that was talking to me. It then said "Feed me". As if that wasn't scary enough, I also had some birds later on in my dream asking the same damn thing. It's like the scary movies that have the scary children playing - good example is "the ring".
Luckily though I've got Pendulum's debut album "Hold your colour" to get me through. I had to download a torrent of the album because my CD won't be arriving for at least another month! That was an insane time to wait and so I've been listening to the album for the last week. Highly recommended even if you don't listen to drum and bass very often or don't really know what it's all about.
07 August 2005
Crazy lightning
Over the weekend there have been some massive thunderstorms here in South Florida. Today in fact there was a strike so close that it made my speakers squeal from all the interference. Here is one of the shots I was able to get. The lightning in this shot was striking ground somewhere behind the apartment. Still pretty damn close though.
05 August 2005
Err, pick another consulate
A little while back I had to book a Visa renewal interview at a consulate outside of the US. This interview was set for early September at the consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. I actually would have liked to have found one in Canada because that's further away and I can visit Mexico pretty easily from where I live, but I couldn't even find free slots in Canada before the end of the year for some weird reason. It seems I'll be trying Canada again though.
I got curious today and decided to find out what was is goin' down in that part of Mexico. According to this article: "The United States will close its consulate for one week to assess the security of its employees and consulate visitors in this Mexican border town [Nuevo Laredo] after a shootout between drug gangs using machine guns, grenades and a rocket launcher."
Right... I think I'm going to change some plans :-)
I got curious today and decided to find out what was is goin' down in that part of Mexico. According to this article: "The United States will close its consulate for one week to assess the security of its employees and consulate visitors in this Mexican border town [Nuevo Laredo] after a shootout between drug gangs using machine guns, grenades and a rocket launcher."
Right... I think I'm going to change some plans :-)
04 August 2005
Car purchasing
I'm now getting pretty excited about the whole car purchasing thing, and I'm finding it quite fun to go about looking for cars. I felt I was restricting myself to the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix thing too much because I really hadn't researched what else was out there.
So I went for a walk around in a caryard to see if I could find anything that I liked. What was the closest caryard? The one just outside. There are probably a couple of thousand cars in the parking lot and this gives me the perfect opportunity to go around and look for something that fits the above criteria. I found one that caught my eye: the Mazda Protege5. This is based upon the reliable Mazda Protege platform and from what I've been reading on the Internets is pretty good value for money and very reliable. I'm leaning towards a second hand version of whatever car I get because, believe it or not, I'm in money saving mode at the moment and I'm really tightening down the screws so I can afford to travel around.
Anyway this weekend I will be test driving the Mazda Protege5 plus anything else I notice. I think the only thing that will really be a thorn in my side will be car insurance, but with some advice I've received from friends I should be able combat that.
Ooh, and where am I going to be living? Not far from where I live now, which makes it about 10 minutes from work. This is good, because not only is it still close but it's also cheap and I can carpool to work. Thank god that was organised without too much hassle. Whatever the case, Aug 25th is approaching fast and I want to have this all sorted.
So I went for a walk around in a caryard to see if I could find anything that I liked. What was the closest caryard? The one just outside. There are probably a couple of thousand cars in the parking lot and this gives me the perfect opportunity to go around and look for something that fits the above criteria. I found one that caught my eye: the Mazda Protege5. This is based upon the reliable Mazda Protege platform and from what I've been reading on the Internets is pretty good value for money and very reliable. I'm leaning towards a second hand version of whatever car I get because, believe it or not, I'm in money saving mode at the moment and I'm really tightening down the screws so I can afford to travel around.
Anyway this weekend I will be test driving the Mazda Protege5 plus anything else I notice. I think the only thing that will really be a thorn in my side will be car insurance, but with some advice I've received from friends I should be able combat that.
Ooh, and where am I going to be living? Not far from where I live now, which makes it about 10 minutes from work. This is good, because not only is it still close but it's also cheap and I can carpool to work. Thank god that was organised without too much hassle. Whatever the case, Aug 25th is approaching fast and I want to have this all sorted.
03 August 2005
Percentage of valid voice mails
To my work number: 0%
Every damn phone call I get is not addressed to me. It's either to someone who no longer exists (1% of the calls) at my number, or some damn telemarketing company (99%). I get about two of these calls a day and always have some on voicemail when I get to work. I actually ended up putting my work number on the "do not call" list. Fingers crossed that works, although I'm not holding my breath...
Every damn phone call I get is not addressed to me. It's either to someone who no longer exists (1% of the calls) at my number, or some damn telemarketing company (99%). I get about two of these calls a day and always have some on voicemail when I get to work. I actually ended up putting my work number on the "do not call" list. Fingers crossed that works, although I'm not holding my breath...
31 July 2005
One year in the US of A
Today marks exactly one year of me living in the US, up from the original 3 months I was supposed to spend here. By the end of August I will have officially severed the ties with my job in Australia and will be paid in US dollars. This also brings to an end the fantastic benefits of being an expat: free car, free accommodation and a daily spending allowance. I have already made plans to stay with a friend either as a flatmate or until I find somewhere else to live. I haven't decided yet, but that decision can wait.
Car wise I have been looking around but I've decided to go for a Pontiac Vibe which is what I've been driving here for the past 8 months. I've found it to be reliable, have good handling and good fuel economy and it's not an eyesore. It can also take a bashing as we loaded one up and drove it all over California. It the same as a Toyota Matrix and so is based on the reliable Corolla platform. By far it's the best of the five different rental cars I've had whilst I've been over here. Now I've just got to find one *in black* (very important to have it in black) for a reasonable price before the end of August. Thank god for sites like Kelley Blue book.
Car wise I have been looking around but I've decided to go for a Pontiac Vibe which is what I've been driving here for the past 8 months. I've found it to be reliable, have good handling and good fuel economy and it's not an eyesore. It can also take a bashing as we loaded one up and drove it all over California. It the same as a Toyota Matrix and so is based on the reliable Corolla platform. By far it's the best of the five different rental cars I've had whilst I've been over here. Now I've just got to find one *in black* (very important to have it in black) for a reasonable price before the end of August. Thank god for sites like Kelley Blue book.
29 July 2005
Flickrgraph
I found this cool Flickr app that shows the social relationships between people at Flickr.
http://marumushi.com/apps/flickrgraph/
You just plug in the user name and off exploring you go. Mine is "daecks" (without quotes of course) and you'll see how much of a lamer I am with only 2 contacts (currently, of course!)
http://marumushi.com/apps/flickrgraph/
You just plug in the user name and off exploring you go. Mine is "daecks" (without quotes of course) and you'll see how much of a lamer I am with only 2 contacts (currently, of course!)
26 July 2005
How to nearly miss a shuttle launch viewing
1) Get up at 3:30 in the morning. Have a quick shower and then get the hell on the road because I've got to get to the Kennedy Space Center at 7am (3 hours is normally plenty of time. I've done this before. I'm a professional.)
2) Cruise north along the I-95. When going through West Palm Beach, get delayed for over 1/2 hour due to a traffic jam at ~5 in the morning!
3) Keep cruising. Know that last launch viewing attempt there wasn't very much of a line up with the route I took, so take it again.
4) Get in the line up of cars. Hit forehead several times as I realise every man and his dog is using the exact same route I chose, and that the line up is several miles long. At this point realise that I'm *not* really that professional and probably quite the amateur.
5) Move 3 miles in 2.5 hours.
6) Get past the Kennedy Space Center checkpoint. Arrive at Kennedy Space Center at 9:30am, 2.5 hours late.
7) Race through security and get on the VERY LAST BUS LEAVING FOR THE SHUTTLE VIEWING AREA.
8) Once on the bus find out that I got on with 15 seconds to spare.
9) Breathe a massive sigh of relief and get ready to watch some big firecrackers!
2) Cruise north along the I-95. When going through West Palm Beach, get delayed for over 1/2 hour due to a traffic jam at ~5 in the morning!
3) Keep cruising. Know that last launch viewing attempt there wasn't very much of a line up with the route I took, so take it again.
4) Get in the line up of cars. Hit forehead several times as I realise every man and his dog is using the exact same route I chose, and that the line up is several miles long. At this point realise that I'm *not* really that professional and probably quite the amateur.
5) Move 3 miles in 2.5 hours.
6) Get past the Kennedy Space Center checkpoint. Arrive at Kennedy Space Center at 9:30am, 2.5 hours late.
7) Race through security and get on the VERY LAST BUS LEAVING FOR THE SHUTTLE VIEWING AREA.
8) Once on the bus find out that I got on with 15 seconds to spare.
9) Breathe a massive sigh of relief and get ready to watch some big firecrackers!
Shuttle pics
Some of them have been uploaded to Flickr.
There aren't heaps of them as I got a bit experimental when taking the shots and I botched some of them up. Plus, I was shaking like crazy when I was trying to take the pictures. Eh, nuff excuses. The Flickr folder is here.
Liftoff!
Wow wow wow.
I saw the Discovery Shuttle launch just over 6 hours ago and my hands are still jumping around with excitement as I type this (or perhaps that's from the Jolly Rancher 'Screaming Sours' soft and chewy candy that I just ate). Whatever is causing this feeling, I know that what I saw today was just freaking amazing.
Cross another item off the "things I've always want to see and do" list. Pics coming later. I am f#%ken stoked.
I saw the Discovery Shuttle launch just over 6 hours ago and my hands are still jumping around with excitement as I type this (or perhaps that's from the Jolly Rancher 'Screaming Sours' soft and chewy candy that I just ate). Whatever is causing this feeling, I know that what I saw today was just freaking amazing.
Cross another item off the "things I've always want to see and do" list. Pics coming later. I am f#%ken stoked.
24 July 2005
What the?
I was sifting though the documentation for a new power supply I had been given at work when I came across a gem of a cartoon regarding lightning protection, which is oh so appropriate for Florida. Note this piece of equipment is made by a reputable company so I'm wondering why they have an offbeat cartoon like this. Not that it's a bad thing of course.
Yes, "Unprotected power/control lines and antenna installations can be hazardous to equipment and personnel" (and your butt).
Yes, "Unprotected power/control lines and antenna installations can be hazardous to equipment and personnel" (and your butt).
I need access to this when choosing movies
I'm a sucker for blurbs on movie rentals that I haven't really heard anything about. If something says "Fantastic! A wild ride" by even some anonymous John Doe sort of reviewer, I'm prone to being wooed in by the review snippet and I'll rent the movie. After I've watched some movies though using that method as a guideline however I tend to end up thinking "that reviewer must be on crack", but I don't end up changing my ways. There are two people who may be reading this blog (seriously people, get outside and get a breath of fresh air or something, it's much more beneficial) that I know of who are probably nodding their heads right now. Nav is one of them.
Enter Blurb Racket! This site takes the review snippets and puts them back into context. Now if I could access that site while choosing movies I would probably be a bit more careful in my movie choice. Or maybe I wouldn't. That Spanish flick had R all over it so perhaps I should just remember to *think*...
Pffft, yeah right!
Enter Blurb Racket! This site takes the review snippets and puts them back into context. Now if I could access that site while choosing movies I would probably be a bit more careful in my movie choice. Or maybe I wouldn't. That Spanish flick had R all over it so perhaps I should just remember to *think*...
Pffft, yeah right!
20 July 2005
Shopping at Bal Harbour
Update: Google maps has been updated again. Now you can see the Bal Harbour shops from above hybrid stylie
I had to get a new Amex card recently which required me to travel to the Amex travel centre at Bal Harbour shopping centre. I only got a quick glimpse of what this place was like at the time, but hell, the fact that I had to pay to park and that everyone looked like millionaires made me want to check this place out some more. I did that recently and holy crap, I've never seen stuff cost so much before.
I walked into one store that had a nice white polo shirt that in place of buttons had a zipper, and under the zipper there was a small colourful section. Hard to describe but it looked pretty cool. I walked in and felt like I was severely underdressed but started looking for one in my size. The shop attendant came to help me and we couldn't find one in my size, thank god, because the bloody shirt cost US$400. By that time I knew I was completely out of my league in this store, so I faked disappointment at the fact they didn't have the shirt size I wanted and quickly exited. I paused to catch my breath once out of the shop and out of sight of the shop attendant. Once I had regained my composure I soldiered on. This happened at a few other stores - I saw really cool stuff that was just way too expensive. However all was not lost. GF Ferre were having an up to 70% off sale on selected items. There was one shirt there that was just fricken awesome. I tried it on and I felt like a million bucks. I had to buy it. I did. It was actually a sort of reasonable price, but I think that was because I was used to seeing jeans and so forth upwards of $300.
Anyway, that was a brief overview of my shopping experience. There is so much cool stuff there that is so far out of my price range it makes me want to cry, but oh well. I'm sure I'll get over it.
Right, that's the first and last metrosexual post I make to this blog :-)
I had to get a new Amex card recently which required me to travel to the Amex travel centre at Bal Harbour shopping centre. I only got a quick glimpse of what this place was like at the time, but hell, the fact that I had to pay to park and that everyone looked like millionaires made me want to check this place out some more. I did that recently and holy crap, I've never seen stuff cost so much before.
I walked into one store that had a nice white polo shirt that in place of buttons had a zipper, and under the zipper there was a small colourful section. Hard to describe but it looked pretty cool. I walked in and felt like I was severely underdressed but started looking for one in my size. The shop attendant came to help me and we couldn't find one in my size, thank god, because the bloody shirt cost US$400. By that time I knew I was completely out of my league in this store, so I faked disappointment at the fact they didn't have the shirt size I wanted and quickly exited. I paused to catch my breath once out of the shop and out of sight of the shop attendant. Once I had regained my composure I soldiered on. This happened at a few other stores - I saw really cool stuff that was just way too expensive. However all was not lost. GF Ferre were having an up to 70% off sale on selected items. There was one shirt there that was just fricken awesome. I tried it on and I felt like a million bucks. I had to buy it. I did. It was actually a sort of reasonable price, but I think that was because I was used to seeing jeans and so forth upwards of $300.
Anyway, that was a brief overview of my shopping experience. There is so much cool stuff there that is so far out of my price range it makes me want to cry, but oh well. I'm sure I'll get over it.
Right, that's the first and last metrosexual post I make to this blog :-)
14 July 2005
Ultrafest 2005
You wouldn't believe it, but I finally got the movies from Ultrafest from my friend. You need Apple Quicktime to view these files. The files are of a Drum and Bass tent, Moby, Oakenfold (I think it was anyway) and a quick location shot. Click on this link to get to the files. If you don't feel like waiting to download them (who would?), you can log in using the username "iwannalook" and the password "letmein" (without the quotes). Someday I'll find a hosting site that's a bit more friendly. Someday.
Here are some crappy snaps of some of the more interesting groups of acts for the festival. I didn't get to see all of them as we arrived later in the day.
Here are some crappy snaps of some of the more interesting groups of acts for the festival. I didn't get to see all of them as we arrived later in the day.
Don't try this at home
For some reason, I had not eaten since last night when I had a red bull at 3pm today.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! THIS IS A BLOODY STUPID THING TO DO!
Although I was typing at a rate that seemed like 100 words per minute and thinking relatively clearly after consuming the Red Bull, at 5pm I can safely say I can no longer think straight nor can I even type. My mind is wandering off far from home base. I have all the symptoms of being drunk but I have not consumed any alcohol. This is fricken weird.
Yes, Red Bull gives you wings, but where the f?#k have I landed?
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! THIS IS A BLOODY STUPID THING TO DO!
Although I was typing at a rate that seemed like 100 words per minute and thinking relatively clearly after consuming the Red Bull, at 5pm I can safely say I can no longer think straight nor can I even type. My mind is wandering off far from home base. I have all the symptoms of being drunk but I have not consumed any alcohol. This is fricken weird.
Yes, Red Bull gives you wings, but where the f?#k have I landed?
13 July 2005
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