sha v 4.0

Archive for May, 2006

Lag

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Hi kids. Apologies for the lack of posts. I’ve been trying to hold off from making significant updates until I can get my Australia pictures up, but it’s taking a while (though I did pare them down to a measly 400 photos), so here’s a quick update. I fairly successfully made my transition back to normal life after getting back, save for a couple days of strange sleeping schedules. The long weekend probably helped. Amanda and I took Fatty McChu (i.e. Enzo) on a couple long walks to help him with his fattiness, and we started on season 1 of Grey’s Anatomy. Monday afternoon The CP boys hosted a Memorial Day BBQ in Cuesta Park, which was lots of fun. The weather was beautiful, and there was plenty of yummy food.

An unrelated poll: Do you think animals can be evil? If not, do you think they at least do intentionally harmful things to each other? In other words, do you think there are asshole dolphins?

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Posted in General | | 7 Comments »

Back in the USA!

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

Hi kids, just letting you all know that we made it back safe and sound. I have grand plans to post up my pictures, but I have > 500 to sort through, so it may take some time.

Time to go fight jet lag…

Edit: The “> 500 to sort through” was just a guess, and after uploading my photos to my computer yesterday, I discovered that with the photos from my portable camera as well as the photos from snorkelling, I probably have closer to 1000 to sort through! Doh.

Also, I picked up Enzo from the kennel yesterday, and he got fat! It’s probably because he never got walked, but I’m going to try my best to get him back to his slim self.

Posted in General | | 4 Comments »

Melbourne

Thursday, May 18th, 2006

Hello from Melbourne, our last stop on OzTour 2006! We left Uluru this morning, which was pretty spectacular. Hopefully I’ll have some sweet pictures to show when I get back.

Melbourne is pretty cool, and feels much more big-city than Sydney, even though it’s smaller (I believe.) And we all agree that is the CRAZIEST driving city ever. Ask me for stories when I get back.

I think it’s off to the big casino in Melbourne tonight; gambling with a good exchange rate, aw yeah.

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Posted in Travel | Melbourne, Australia | | No Comments »

Great Barrier Reef

Monday, May 15th, 2006

Hey kids! Today we went snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing — so many different kinds of creatures everywhere you looked. Unfortunately, me, Yar, Jan, Maureen, and Kurtis all got jellyfish stings! Yar and Jan’s were more severe than the rest of ours, but we were all okay.

Tomorrow is koala hugging for sure. I’m excited.

Edit: Here are a few photos from snorkelling (we rented a digital camera.)

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Posted in Photography, Travel | Port Douglas, Australia | | 3 Comments »

Port Douglas

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

Greetings from the Northern coast of Australia! We made it to Port Douglas today and are staying in a fantastic beach-front apartment. The weather is beautiful — warm, but not too hot. Planned activities include a nighttime rainforest walk, snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, fishing, and my personal favorite: koala hugging. Sweet!

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Posted in Travel | Port Douglas, Australia | | 1 Comment »

3…2…1…

Friday, May 12th, 2006

Hello from Wellington! Just a quick note to say hiya to everyone, and let everyone know that yesterday I may have gone bungy jumping at Mokai Gravity Canyon. Maybe.

Tomorrow it’s off to Port Douglas!

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Posted in Travel | Wellington, New Zealand | | No Comments »

Top 10 Holiday Park!

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

Greetings from Ohakune, New Zealand! Unfortunately, we had to scrap plans for the Tongariro Hike because it, um, might be snowing up there. It’s a cold and rainy day here, and we’re trying to figure out what to do instead. There are apparently Glowworm caves somewhere around here, so we might try to do that. I have no idea what a Glowworm is, but it sounds cool.

I got to drive last night from Wellington to Ohakune on the left side of the road! It was pretty fun, and not really difficult at all. The drive up was really nice. We passed through really lush farmlands with sheep dotting the hillsides, and we got to see the sun set along the coast. The skies were filled with stars (winter constellations) that I didn’t even know existed.

Well, we have to go figure out what we’re doing today. Seeya!

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Posted in Travel | Ohakune, New Zealand | | No Comments »

G’Day!

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

Hello from Sydney! Unfortunately, we have to run to dinner, but just wanted to let everyone know that I got here safe and sound. I’ve been having a great time so far, and looking forward to our wacky hijinks in the coming days. Tomorrow it’s off to Wellington!

Cheers!

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Posted in Travel | Sydney, Australia | | 1 Comment »

And Away We Go!

Friday, May 5th, 2006

Hi Kids! As many of you know, I’m leaving for Australia tonight! I get back on Sunday, May 21 in the morning. I won’t have cell access, but I’ll try to check my e-mail with some regularity. So if you want a postcard, e-mail me your address. If I have time, I’ll try to make a few posts from there, but if not, see ya in two weeks!

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Posted in Travel | | No Comments »

Bazillion Dollar Idea

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

Since my first two million dollar ideas didn’t really seem to go anywhere (and they weren’t “good ideas”, per se,) I came up with another one. This Sunday after following poor Mapquest directions to Stinson Beach (which was very, very nice), I came up with what I believe to be my finest Million Dollar Idea: a Mapping Wiki. The flaw with sites like Mapquest and Google Maps is that they give you the shortest route (by distance), no matter how stupid it is. The Mapping Wiki will let users (like you!) edit routes to reflect local secret knowledge like traffic, driving conditions, speed traps, particularly nice drives, etc. This way, when you search for a route, you will be returned the best route, which may not actually be the shortest route by distance. The definition of “best” can change to mean fastest, shortest, nicest (in terms of scenery, for example), etc.

Just hand me my millions, now, please. $100 bills will be fine.

Edit: Per Domi’s suggestion. PRIVATE ENTRY! Actually Buddy and I (mostly Buddy) are working on something now. Woo!
Edit 2: No longer private. :)

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Posted in General | | 2 Comments »