Old Musings - May through June 2004

Phew, this trip is almost over already. How time flies when you're busy discussing embedded operating systems! :)

Ironically, now that I am stuck inside for most of the day, the skies have turned a brilliant blue. I managed to get out into the sun during the odd lunch break or two, so I even have photos to prove it.

I also popped back over to Coronado beach in the hopes of getting a good sunset shot. It didn't turn out to be that spectacular, but I'm happy with the results anyway.

*** Special Treat***
Because of it's size (~1Mb), I won't keep it on my site for long, but here's a quick little video I made. It shows the dramatic colour change that occurred as the sun set over San Diego. It was made by combining 60+ photos that I took over a 90 minute period. Of course, the trick was trying to keep the camera on / tripod still for the duration of this experiment! But I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the final results - hope you like it!

VIDEO

Yikes. Just as I was getting ready to settle down, looking for a house, ready to pick up my stuff from the wharf...

Welcome to sunny San Diego!

For the 4th time in twelve months, I find myself in North America. I am at the point where the immigration people are suggesting that I apply for an 'INS pass' to speed up processing. Apparently I qualify now with the amount I travel. Not sure if I'd want to though - it would mean fingerprinting and getting your face scanned every time you enter the country. Visitors from visa-waiver countries (which includes Australia and New Zealand) don't need to undergo this harsh treatment yet, but I'm guessing that it's just a matter of time before that changes.

But what did you go to San Diego for? I hear you ask. A couple of weeks ago, work asked me if I wanted to go - and I wasn't about to say no. So I'm here to learn as much as I can from the Microsoft people at the Embedded Windows Developers Convention (DevCon'04).

Of course, I'm not going to restrict myself to just these geek-centric activities while I'm here. Already I've managed to get out and about and see some of the sights - the beaches of Coronado, the San Diego Marina, and even the odd shopping centre or two (but I have been a good boy so far and resisted the tempation to buy gadgets)

Here are some of the photos taken so far. Hopefully I will be able to take (and post) some more in the next couple of days - but we'll have to wait and see how DevCon'04 goes first.


GeekTalk: Ok, this might be of interest to some and not others. Feel free to stop reading now if you think that a hard-drive is a golfing term.

If you can read this, then I have successfully posted this update using a... umm... 'borrowed' internet connection. My laptop has WiFi/802.11g installed which previously allowed me to connect to the internet using my wireless ADSL modem/router when I lived in Australia. This kind of setup was still reasonable uncommon there. Here in the US however, wireless devices are a dime-a-dozen. And despite the fact that the media are constanlty telling people to secure their connection, either by employing encryption or some kind of firewall, there are plenty of areas around town where you can freely connect to these wireless access points. That allows you full access to the net! Some of these 'open' access points are deliberate, for example when the local library hangs out a flag stating that there is a public wireless 'hot spot' in the area. But more often than not, it is simply because wireless access points were left in their default state by unsuspecting owners.

As some access points are deliberately left open for customers/residents to use, it is often hard to tell whether or not your access is permitted, leaving a lot of this kind of tinkering in a moral grey area. Of course the signal is often a lot weaker when you scan for other networks, simply because you're not in the intended reception area. This may result in drop-outs and lower data rates - but hey, it's better than the USD10 dollars a day the hotels are trying to charge :)

I suppose I should do a big update, with some witty comments, but I'm just too lazy.

In a nutshell:

• After a week of cleaning, my landlord returned all of the bond
  
  • Buying cleaning products to get the the apartment ship-shape again: 50 dollars
  • Call to landlord to remind them that we arranged an inspection,15 minutes after it was due: 18 cents
  • Landlord not making a claim against the bond and returning it all: 840 dollars
  • Department of Fair Trading only giving 73 cents interest after holding the bond for 3 years: Priceless
• All my 'stuff' is somewhere between Wollongong and Christchurch. Expected delivery date - any time between tomorrow and August. (2004 hopefully)
• On the other hand, I arrived in Christchurch 15 minutes ahead of schedule
• Started my new (old?) job less than 36 hours after getting off the plane, but had a long weekend that week - ended up heading over to the West Coast to check out the Franz Joseph Glacier again. I lucked out and managed to get one of the last seats going on the heli-hiking tour. So, I was able to go on a brief two-hour meander on a big block of ice and explore some of the ice caves.
• Since then, my weekends have been gobbled up by driving around town looking for a suitable domicile. I managed to get pre-approved for a mortgage (effectively making me a cash buyer), but still nobody seems to want my money. Last Monday I put in an offer and it got rejected. Apparently someone submitted an offer without requesting a property check first, and that was accepted even though it was for a lower amount. So this week the game starts from square one again...

Ok, first off the bat - some important news in case you hadn't already heard. I am now a man of leisure. That is, I am no longer of fixed employ! Furthermore, on Sunday I have the moving people coming around to take my stuff away. Now, some may tell you that I lost it all in a crooked card game and that this is the only way I could settle my debt. Although there may be some truth to this, the main reason is that I've decided to return back to the land of the long white cloud, back home to NZ and a plentiful supply of CookieTime biscuits..

So, before I return home on Monday, I thought that it might be about time for me to check out some of the rest of Australia. Which explains why I (started) writing this update at 37,000 feet after 4 days and 3 nights at the Ayers Rock Resort, deep in Australia's Red Centre.

I have to admit that I'm pretty exhausted right now. For the last 4 days I have been getting up an hour or two before dawn to ensure that I am at the right place when the sun rises. I did this for both Uluru (which used to be called Ayers Rock until the late nineties when it was officially changed back to its aboriginal name) and the nearby (give or take 300km) Kings Canyon. Of course, you can't just sit there and look at the sunrise. No - you have to get out there and experience your surroundings, which explains why I am also feeling a bit sore and achey.  After the sunrise at Uluru I did the base walk, walking along the circumference for about 8-9km and the stint at the Kings Canyon involved a good 500 step climb to the rim, back down again to see the 'Garden of Eden' - a splendid watering hole in to middle of desolate rock, up again and then finally the trek back down to the carpark. Ignoring the up and down parts, that's another 6km.

So, anyway - gotta keep this update short. Still have lots to do before the big move back home!