Archive for February, 2014
A friend in Canberra collects fridge magnets and it is not uncommon for people, when they go away, to buy some fridge magnets for him and give them to him upon their return. Long before I left Australia I decided that, as I’m out of the country for about four weeks, it would be more fun to buy and post a fridge magnet each day than to simply return and dump a pile of fridge magnets in front of him. Buying a fridge magnet each day might be a bit tough, so instead I’ll be buying one on most days…and because of the cost of international postage, I am not going to post them each day, but once every three or four days instead. That said, today’s fridge magnet was posted today as it was a useful exercise in getting to know the minor differences in the US postal system compared to the Australian postal system, and it came with a bit of a story.
Until today, the only places I had seen any fridge magnets in the US was at airports (admittedly I haven’t looked around much), so after having lunch at the diner half a minute’s walk away from the TWiT Brick House (Hallie’s Diner), I asked the nice staff there if they knew where I might be able to find some fridge magnets (I figured that, being a popular local diner and probably receiving plenty of custom from tourists who happen to be TWiT.tv visitors, it’s a question to which they might know the answer) and they suggested Ace Hardware a couple blocks away. At first I thought they had misunderstood me as I certainly wouldn’t expect to find fridge magnets at my nearest Bunnings, but one of the diner’s customers chimed in and also suggested Ace Hardware. So I went along expecting to find a hardware store, and instead found a store which was part hardware, part general home-making stuff, and part tourist gift shop. Among their selection of fridge magnets I found this one:
You wouldn’t know it if you didn’t venture out of the urban town section of Petaluma, but the surrounding area is rich in dairy farming, among other agricultural activities.
I came across something else earlier this evening which may be of interest as well. In the wee hours of this morning I mentioned my first purchase with physical US currency. This evening while looking for something else, I came across the receipt.
This isn’t entirely irrelevant when talking about the fridge magnet as when I bought the coffee I was simply asked to pay the total amount of the transaction ($2.61) and didn’t notice that item prices are listed without taxes applied, and indeed this has been the case in all of the food outlets I have visited. It was only when I went to pay for the fridge magnet that the difference became apparent as they sales assistant had to look under a few fridge magnets until she found one which had a price on it…this price was an amount that I could easily make out of the notes and coins I had on me, but then as I was about to pay for it, she ran the magnet through the register and informed me of the after-tax price. It was a small difference, but it was one of those useful bits of knowledge which I had completely forgotten about.
Samuel
February 13th, 2014 at 04:24pm
A little later on this morning I will be heading off to the studios of TWiT.tv to say hello and watch the filming of Windows Weekly (which is scheduled to start at 11am Pacific Time (6am Canberra time)) and possibly also This Week In Google which starts two hours later. I had originally planned to see Security Now, but it moved from Wednesdays to Tuesdays as of last month which made it impossible for me to see it in-person this time around.
I will put some photos up online later in the day. Prior to that, there’s a decent chance that, if you wanted to play Where’s Wally Samuel between 11am and 3pm, you could keep an eye on TWiT’s live streaming video feed where you might catch a glimpse of me at some stage…or their Dropcams which will almost certainly catch me in full monochrome glory.
I have been a fit of TWiT.tv, and in particular Leo Laporte, for many years, so I have a few gifts for Leo and his staff which I hope they will enjoy.
Now, a quick check of the weather in Petaluma over the next few days (with Australian measurements). A bit of fog this morning then partly cloudy conditions prevailing. Currently it’s 9 degrees, so it’s all up from here, and the weather on Friday looks good for the start of my trip to Las Vegas.
Weather data via AccuWeather. Description by me.
Samuel
February 13th, 2014 at 03:25am
As I write this, it is late at night on Tuesday in Petaluma and I have comfortably settled in to the Quality Inn.
It started before this morning (Tuesday Australian time) in a way as my last decent sleep of any sort before I departed was on Monday.
On Tuesday morning I left for the airport. I have posted intermittent messages since then, but the day deserves a proper summation. Getting through Canberra Airport was fine and it was fairly quiet there as well given that it was early in the morning. Sydney Airport was also fairly easy to get through…it helped that I had already checked in my luggage in Canberra and thus did not have to see it again in Sydney. I had roughly four hours to spare in Sydney so I stopped for an early lunch at Pie Face, and then proceeded through the next round of security screenings to the international waiting area and bizarre sprawling duty free shopping area (which felt like a larger, less organised version of Myer if they were to hire a bunch of foreign actors to make the place look busy). I listened to some of Inga Barks filling in for Mark Levin via the stream of Inga’s station KNZR in Fresno) and occasionally listened to the somewhat amusing messages about certain people with very unpronounceable names needing to go to some gate immediately. It was particularly amusing when the person making the announcement could not work out the gender of one of the names and referred to them as “passenger [name]” rather than “Mr. [name]” or “Mrs. [name]”.
I think I came close to dozing off a couple times in the waiting area, but didn’t have that problem while standing around waiting at the gate where there was a catering delay.
Once the Sydney to L.A. flight got underway I decided to try and get some sleep with minimal success. I think I dozed off a couple times, but on most attempts I woke up just as I was starting to drift off to sleep either because my mind suddenly doubled the volume of the aeroplane noises, or because I was stupidly and unwittingly applying logic to the often nonsensical thoughts which occur in that state and catching myself not making sense.
I decided not to have lunch on the plane as I was not hungry. I did have a couple snacks though.
Annoyingly, at 3pm Canberra time, with direct sunlight still beaming through the windows, all the lights were dimmed and the cabin crew requested that the window shutters by closed “for sleep”. At the time, I was reading a very thought-provoking part of Mark Levin’s book “Liberty & Tyranny” which explains why direct election of federal US senators was not part of the original constitution and why Mark believes it should not be in there now…unfortunately the personal overhead light spills a bit too much light on others for me to be comfortable using it for an extended period of time, so I stopped reading. I instead, listened to Mark Levin’s podcast of his show from Friday and most of TWiT.tv’s This Week In Tech podcast, plus a little bit of music at one stage. I also took the time to draft a letter which I have been meaning to write for a very long time, and attempted to get more sleep without success.
Thankfully the person next to me (I chose a seat on the A380 which is in a row of two seats rather than three) also did not sleep much during the flight, and thus didn’t mind my constant activity. By the end of the flight we had (perhaps unwittingly) gotten ourselves in to a habit of getting up and having a little wander if the other person had to get up for one reason or another.
The A380’s in-flight entertainment system (which kept the person in the seat next to me entertained for most of the trip) had a flight tracker which showed the plane’s current location and stats such as current speed and altitude, plus estimated arrival time and the current temperature outside the plane. It also had a view from a camera mounted on the plane’s tail. I had planned on taking a photo of the tracker and of a view from out the window just prior to the “please turn everything off” announcement so that I could use those in the blog post upon my arrival at Los Angeles Airport…but I made a little mistake. As the sun started to come up and the lights were returned to a useful level of brightness, I went to change the SIM card in my phone, forgetting that iPhones have to re-activate when they receive a new SIM card (which is usually a simple process as it is done via the new SIM card’s data connection). With AT&T’s network being out of reach (and proximity being irrelevant given the restrictions on the use of phones outside of “airplane mode”) I had effectively bricked my phone for the rest of the trip. Not a big deal, but an inconvenience. Once on the ground in LA, the phone was happy to activate itself and all started to work, and I was able to finalise my call diversions on my Australian numbers knowing that the US number was correct.
One thing which I had planned on mentioning prior to the flight was my plan for keeping my Telstra SIM card safe while I’m in the US as it is such a tiny thing and four weeks would give it plenty of options to get lost.
I have a bunch of SD cards for my camera, but until recently I did not have enough cases for each SD card and had left some of them in their original packaging, unopened and unused, instead. While ordering cases for those SD cards, I realised that such a case works well for a SIM card as well.
On the left, the SIM card in a case. It doesn’t lock in to a position in the case like the SD card does, but it has limited scope for movement so as long as it is not placed in checked luggage it should be fine (the AT&T SIM card was fine). The next case has a paperclip, which is needed to eject the SIM card tray on an iPhone, and the third one has an SD card.
After the SIM card was changed in my phone, breakfast was served on the plane. Sausages, scrambled eggs, spinach, a hash brown blob, and some as-yet unidentified substance smothered in tomato sauce. It was actually quite nice, although opening the packet was an art in which I am not trained and so I just cut the packaging to pieces until I could rip it open.
The early morning arrival in Los Angeles meant it wasn’t too busy and was relatively quick to get through Customs. Customs processes happened in the opposite order to what I was expecting…first up was the “who are you, what are you doing here, how will you react if I bluntly ask you a couple seemingly random personal questions in an accusatory tone” interview. I thought I was going to get dragged in to an office for a moment there when I was asked if I have any family in the US and I said “no”…a few moments passed and then just as he was about to say something I jumped in with “actually…ummm…I think I have some relatives on Mum’s side of the family somewhere in California, but I’m not sure who they are or where they are”…but he just went on and stamped my passport and away I went.
After that I collected my luggage so that it could go through Customs inspection…or in this case a quick look at the declaration form I had filled out on the plane and one very quick question about it. My baggage may have been scanned before I picked it up, but it certainly wasn’t check at all as I went through Customs. My detailed list of the values of all of the gifts (including the multiple different prices of Tim Tams from the various purchases I made in the weeks prior to the trip) and to whom I had allocated the gifts seemed like a waste of time and effort…but I’m glad I did it anyway as it was a useful document for my own reference.
I had expected that I would pick up my luggage and then go through Customs where both I and my luggage would be examined…I probably looked a little lost and confused as a result.
After this it was off to another terminal to check in my luggage again and wait a few hours for my flight to San Francisco. For this, I made my first ever purchase with physical US currency: a cup of coffee, and put the batteries back in my radio (I had removed them prior to the first flight and stored them in a separate compartment of my carry-on backpack so as to prevent accidental switching-on of the radio) where I tuned in to KEIB 1150 AM “The Patriot” (an almost new station in Los Angeles in that the same people who run KFI run it, and recently flipped it from progressive to conservative talk, allowing them to clear shows in LA which were dropped by Cumulus and a few other shows too, and allow them to expand the local content on KFI). I listened to most of the last hour of Glenn Beck’s show and roughly the first half-hour of Rush Limbaugh’s show, but I was quite tired by this stage so I decided to walk around for a bit instead which helped a bit.
Samuel’s Blog file photo: Samuel’s WM-F57 walkman
The flight from LA to San Francisco was delayed for an unspecified reason, and was then further delayed on the tarmac for another unspecified reason. Neither occasion was too long, adding up to about 45 minutes in total. I got quite a bit of sleep on this flight. During the delay on the tarmac I dozed off…I don’t remember dozing off, but I do remember the 20 minute delay feeling like it took about three minutes, and I remember the Captain’s message at the start and end of the delay where he noted the same amount of delay in both. The plane then taxied around LAX for what seemed like an eternity of maze-like craziness, and I dozed off during this as well as at one stage we were taxiing and the next thing I knew was that my seventh sense woke me up to obtain a cup of coffee which was about to be offered to me by the cabin crew.
San Francisco airport was, for me, an interesting series of escalators and automated trains to get from the plane to the rental car facility via Baggage Claim. My original plan had been to drive straight to Petaluma and then make the necessary phone calls to home to advise of my arrival, however the scheduled time for this call was “somewhere between 10am and 11am Canberra time”. It was close enough to 1:30pm in San Francisco and 9:30am in Canberra, and knowing the approximate morning schedules of the people I had to call and knowing that I might not get to Petaluma by 3pm, I decided to call from the rental car prior to driving off, which worked out well.
After this, the fantastic website Radio-Locator.com came in very handy as auto-tuning was not very effective from within the carpark and I wanted to find the frequency of Sean Hannity’s affiliate in the area KSTE 650 AM and avoid the pseudo-conservative Michael Savage who occupies that timeslot on KSFO these days.
From there, the interesting fun of getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. This was a little harrowing when it wasn’t possible to get in to the correct lane for an exit and I had to drive through some busy roads in San Francisco for about twenty minutes, which well-and-truly fixed any confidence issues I had, corrected the instinctive “move the car a bit to the right so the lane markers look like they’re in the right place for where I’m sitting” thing, gave me plenty of pre-freeway time to re-learn mirror positions, and mostly get rid of the instinctive “when turning left, aim for the left of the road” habit. Evetually I got on to the freeway and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and all the way to my hotel in Petaluma, the Quality Inn. On my way I passed an electronic message board advising people to save water due to the drought, and as I got closer to the hotel and it passed 3pm and the end of Sean Hannity’s show, I tuned in to KSFO 560 AM for Mark Levin’s show, which was interrupted by an amber alert (I’ve heard the automated alert system used for weather warnings, but not an amber alert before…it caught me by surprise).
My Mustang (well, it’s mine for ten days) parked at the Quality Inn, Petaluma
My room at the Quality Inn, Petaluma
The Quality Inn has some really lovely staff and the rooms are very nice. The free wifi is a useful added bonus and I’m particularly impressed by the semi-automatic lighting in the bathroom which turns on when you walk in and turns off a little while after you leave if you don’t override it…and the lighting in the main living area is functional, effective, and can be controlled on a light-by-light basis, which means I don’t have the problem I have in many hotels where the lighting has two options: two bright and too dim. The tap system used on the bath and shower which controls whether water flows to the bath or shower via a pin and water pressure system of some sort is quite interesting and effective too. I’m also a fan of the coffee-bag based coffee machine in the room. I also quite like the interesting layout of the hotel which makes it look and feel like a mini town of a bunch of little cottages…it looks and feels both pretty and relaxing.
One thing to note is that the hotel has a breakfast service, but not a lunch or dinner service, not that it matters as there are plenty of great food options nearby. I took the five minute (or thereabouts) drive to a Mexican restaurant (Don Pancho‘s) and had a fantastic dinner…and it gave me the excuse to get in a bit of night-driving.
Prior to dinner, I relaxed for a little while in the hotel room and flicked through the local TV stations. (Alas their DirectTV lacks Fox News Channel…oh well, it is California). I turned on the TV and was greeted by the local Fox station running Dr. Oz…apparently I can’t escape from him. Some of the stations were running continuous coverage of the amber alert while others were running updates on it, as well as a traffic snarl caused by a police officer getting injured after stopping to assist a broken-down motorist.
I was flicking through the stations so I forget who said what, but I noted two stations, at roughly the same time, informing their viewers that they knew about the amber alert before everyone else because they were under a police helicopter when an announcement was made from the helicopter about it…they both showed roughly the same footage of it. One of the stations even had a story about that electronic message board sign about using less water (yes, I did mention it earlier for a reason) which unfortunately ran in to a few minor issues…the first of which was the amber alert which took over all of the electronic signs and ruined the live cross to the reporter standing in front of the message…the reporter’s package about using less water had an unfortunate but predictable shot of the reporter talking directly to camera about practical ways to use less water such as having shorter showers, illustrated by having him present this piece in front of a running shower which was running for very long time before he stopped talking about it.
While I have been writing this, I have had the radio tuned to yet another station. KKSF 910 AM for George Noory’s Coast To Coast AM. The relevance? Two reasons, my blog post upon reaching LA mentioned George Noory, and more importantly KKSF is Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” San Francisco affiliate…today (I started writing this when it was still Tuesday, but it’s now early in the morning on Wednesday) I’m visiting Leo’s TWiT.tv studios, so I should probably go to bed now and stop making a supposedly short blog post even longer.
Samuel
February 12th, 2014 at 08:42pm
As I enjoy my coffee and the foggy view while I wait for my next flight which is about two hours away, I’m listening to Glenn Beck on KEIB 1150 AM The Patriot…and at the top of the hour Rush Limbaugh begins.
Life is good.
Now to hit “submit” before the phone battery dies.
Samuel
33.941231-118.406294
February 12th, 2014 at 03:23am
SGS News Alert: Samuel has landed in Los Angeles. At this time he has not been through Customs.
To borrow some lines from Coast To Coast AM’s George Noory “From the city of angels…good morning or good evening wherever you may be”.
Thick fog in LA this morning. Thank the Lord for ILS!
Samuel
33.947735-118.419127
February 12th, 2014 at 01:41am
As I write this, I am at Canberra Airport waiting for my flight out of Canberra. The many things I had to do yesterday took longer than expected, but that was mainly because I decided to spend a bit more quality time with Pebbles than I had originally planned…still, it was hard to say goodbye to her this morning and she looked disappointed that I was leaving. I’ll see her on Skype soon enough, and hopefully she’ll recognise me.
In the meantime, my three flights today (in local timezones) are
QF872: Canberra to Sydney 7:30am – 8:25am
QF107: Sydney to Los Angeles 11:55am – 6:30am
QF3219: Los Angeles to San Francisco 10:30am – 11:50am
After this, I should get to Petaluma mid-afternoon, which will be late-morning Wednesday in Canberra. The only downside I see to any of this is that the fantastic Inga Barks is filling in for Mark Levin today between 10am and 1pm Australian time and I won’t be able to listen to much if any of it live.
I have dug out my old iPod and am taking that along as well as my phone. I believe my Sydney to L.A. flight on an A380 has power outlets, but just to be on the safe side, and because my phone eats through battery power much faster than an iPod, I will be using the iPod. I’m not convinced that any of the movies or TV shows available on the plane will interest me much, so I have stocked up on TWiT.TV podcasts This Week In Tech, Security Now, and Windows Weekly, as well as the podcast of Mark Levin’s radio show. Between that and some music and a very good book, I think I’m set…plus I plan on trying to get some sleep on the 14 hour Sydney to L.A. flight.
I was going to embed tracking maps for the flights, but alas that’s more complicated than I had hoped. You should be able to simply enter those flight numbers in to any number of flight tracking websites or apps if you wish to see the progress of my flights.
Over the weekend there was a bit of flash flooding in Petaluma and surrounds, but the rain has now stopped and the rest of the week is looking like it should be reasonably sunny with daytime highs of about 17 Celsius and overnight lows of about 8 Celsius. At this stage it looks like I have a good chance of seeing some snow in the midwest later in the trip.
Now some photos…
Yesterday on my last walk with Pebbles before my absence
One of my suitcases is filled with presents for friends in the US. Here’s a sneak peek.
And I have taken these books with me to the US. I might not get much reading done, but it’s nice to have the option.
Of these, the one I have taken in my carry-on luggage and will endeavour to read some of on the plane is The Liberty Amendments.
Finally for now, some important notes about contacting me during my time away from the US.
My standard Australian mobile numbers 0405 302 499 has been diverted to my Skype service (02 6100 3640) which will in turn divert to my US mobile number (347) 205-5732. Calling one of my Australian numbers will divert at no extra charge to you, although there will be a delay in the call connecting to me (be prepared for ring times of 30 seconds or longer) and the sound quality might be great or awful depending on what sort of day Skype is having…calling my US number directly will cost you more (unless you’re in the US, in which case it is the cheapest option) but it will also have the best results. Note though that I am on holidays, so if I don’t recognise your number, there’s a good chance I’ll be sending you to voicemail.
My email works as normal.
Mail sent to my PO Box will not be seen until I return in mid-March.
With all going well, I will talk to you again after I arrive in Petaluma.
Samuel
February 11th, 2014 at 06:30am
At this time tomorrow I should be at Sydney Airport, having flown from Canberra, and be awaiting the boarding call for my flight to Los Angeles.
There is quite a bit to do today. Not much of it has to do with preparing for the trip itself as that is mostly taken care of (apart from packing…I still have to pack as I’m not keen on packing well in advance. I know what I want to pack; I just haven’t packed it yet), but instead has to do with ensuring that all of the arrangements for my absence are taken care of…again that is mostly sorted, but I have a few things to do which could not be done until today, so that should keep me busy.
I also have a few blog posts planned for today regarding the preparations for my trip, and an update to the weather forecasts for the trip.
I will also have to spend a decent amount of time playing with Pebbles today. She seems to know that I’m leaving soon and has even taken up sleeping in my room’s doorway, which she has never done before but something which Nattie used to always do when she was still around.
For tomorrow, while I’m in-transit, I was hoping to embed a little map on this page tracking the progress of my flights…alas that is easier said than done. I should be able to provide links to tracking maps though, in case anyone is interested (it’s funny to think that people in Australia could have more knowledge of my exact location than me while I’m in the air). As I won’t be able to embed a tracking map, I will instead try to find time today or tonight to put together a blog post which I have been planning on writing for quite some time, and which should provide you with some interesting information while I’m flying. Time shouldn’t be an issue as I couldn’t sleep much last night and I doubt I’ll be able to sleep at all tonight, so I’ll need something to keep me busy…but we’ll see how I go. I won’t elaborate on what that blog post might be at this point in time as I don’t want to do what I so often manage to do on this blog (and which brings me much guilt): over-promise and under-deliver.
Right now I must go to the post office, so stay tuned for further updates throughout the day.
Samuel
February 10th, 2014 at 09:29am
An email to 2UE’s George Moore and Paul B. Kidd in regards to the Griffith By-Election where, unfortunately, the brilliant LNP candidate Dr. Bill Glasson looks set to be defeated despite winning first preferences 43.6% to 39.0% (at latest count) over the Labor candidate.
Hi George and Paul,
I feel sorry for Dr. Bill Glasson. He’s a great man who has put in a lot of effort in Griffith and was forced to put in his time and effort a second time by the duplicitous Kevin Rudd taking his bat and ball and going home when he lost the Prime Ministership to Tony Abbott.
Bill would have been a great MP, but I hope that he can now get away from politics and focus on his medical career.
As for preferential voting…what a joke. A system based on the idea that if you can’t get an absolute majority, you have to rely on the preferences of the least popular politicians…in other words a system which favours the supporters of fringe kooks. First preferences should be the only preference…whoever gets the most votes wins, absolute majority or not. It’s the only fair way.
Regards,
Samuel
P.S. I’m leaving for the US for a few weeks on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to listening to US talk radio while I’m over there but will be sure to tune in to you as well. Keep an eye out for a postcard!
February 9th, 2014 at 10:17am
It’s Super Bowl Day. I must profess to knowing little about American Football (it probably looks as foreign to me as Australian Rules does to Americans) but I am interested in the Super Bowl…this year I have an extra reason to be interested.
Last year, a friend in the US (Hi Gordon) sent me an NFL jersey from the Seattle Seahawks (a replica of the one worn by quarterback Russell Wilson to be precise). Seattle are in today’s Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos. I’m wearing my Seahawks jersey and will be supporting them from afar.
A well-framed selfie (if I do say so myself) of me in my Seahawks jersey.
Go Seahawks!
Samuel
February 3rd, 2014 at 06:43am
Roberta Flack had, without doubt, one of the most beautiful voices heard in the 1970s. Her song “Killing Me Softly” stands the test of time as one of the most beautiful, moving, and soothing songs of all time.
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly… with his song
I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him
To listen for a while
And there he was this young boy
A stranger to my eyes
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly… with his song
I felt all flushed with fever
Embarassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly… with his song
He sang as if he knew me
In all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn’t there
And he just kept on singing
Singing clear and strong
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly… with his song
[Musical interlude with non-word vocals]
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me
He was strumming my pain
Yeah, he was singing my life
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song
Samuel
February 2nd, 2014 at 06:53pm
Good morning and welcome to the 2nd last edition of The Sunday Bits before I depart for the US. The Sunday Bits might go on hiatus during that time, but I’m not sure…I’ll make that decision when I’m over there.
In This Edition
*NT speed limit trial should be a pilot program for the rest of Australia
*I think I’ll give Gary, Indiana a miss
*The US is slightly closer to independence from middle-east oil
*The Commission Of Audit in to the ABC and SBS is long-overdue and very welcome
*NT speed limit trial should be a pilot program for the rest of Australia
The Northern Territory is trialling an open speed limit on a 200km stretch of road. The results should be carefully monitored by other governments.
OPEN speed limits have returned to the Territory after a seven-year hiatus.
Today, a 12-month trial begins to remove speed restrictions on a 200km stretch of road between Barrow Creek and Alice Springs.
The Northern Territory Motoring Council believes the trial could save lives but health experts say lives are at risk and it promotes an unsafe driving culture.
[..]
“When you had long, open road, you put the foot down. When you had hills, blind corners, or if you drove at sunrise or dusk … you slowed down accordingly.
“I find on a lot of the open and long stretches of road it can be difficult to stay awake … driving faster speeds, you find the momentum of the vehicle makes you concentrate harder and helps you stay awake.”
But Mr Palamountain suggested a 150km/h cap could be better than open limits.
He also said there were stretches of Stuart Highway where the 130km/h limit should be reduced to 110km/h, particularly the leg from Darwin to Katherine.
(h/t Zach Hope, NT News)
What the article doesn’t mention is that when open speed limits were abolished, the road toll increased. This has also happened in many other places around the world where an open speed limit has been replaced with a low limit.
This trial should be monitored carefully by other Australian governments as if, as I expect it will, this causes the road toll to reduce, there are many roads around the country which should have their speed limit increased (the Federal and Hume highways, for example) while others might need to have their speed limit reduced a tad until the road is improved.
*I think I’ll give Gary, Indiana a miss
The other week I noted that the town of Gary in Indiana seemed to find its way in to every route I plotted from Fort Dodge, Iowa to South Bend, Indiana. What I didn’t say at the time was that this bothered me greatly and I couldn’t quite figure out why. Now I know.
A terrified mother claims she watched in horror as her demon-possessed 9-year-old son walked backwards up a wall and ceiling. Her claims would be easy to dismiss if a child services case worker and a nurse weren’t reportedly there to witness it all.
[..]
Strangely enough, the scary-sounding incident is outlined in official documents. Further, Gary police Capt. Charles Austin told the Star that he is a “believer” after making several visits to the home and interviewing witnesses. He first thought the family was making stories up as part of a get-rich-quick scheme.
Ammons’ home was “exorcized” by a catholic priest in a number of ceremonies that were reportedly authorized by the Diocese of Gary. The story apparently became so believable that officers with the police department said they were too scared to stay at the house and some city officials wouldn’t even step foot on the property.
(h/t Jason Howerton, The Blaze)
The article goes in to much more detail, and there have been quite a few follow-up article since then.
Well I believe that this is why I felt uncomfortable about Gary, Indiana when it first started popping up in my plans. To be on the safe side, I’ll take the half-hour or more detour to avoid Gary.
I should probably also note that I won’t go through Braidwood at night. Something isn’t right in that place.
*The US is slightly closer to independence from middle-east oil
The most bizarre thing about the US’ dependence of middle-east oil is that they have more than enough domestic oil to be energy-independent and to save a lot of money in the process. One of key parts of this is the Keystone XL pipeline, and it looks like it’s a step closer to going ahead.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared a major hurdle toward approval Friday, a serious blow to environmentalists’ hopes that President Barack Obama will block the controversial project running more than 1,000 miles from Canada through the heart of the U.S.
The State Department reported no major environmental objections to the proposed $7 billion pipeline, which has become a symbol of the political debate over climate change. Republicans and some oil- and gas-producing states in the U.S. – as well as Canada’s minister of natural resources – cheered the report, but it further rankled environmentalists already at odds with Obama and his energy policy.
(h/t Matthew Daly, Associated Press)
Hopefully Obama does something good for a change and approves the pipeline. The possibility of the US exporting oil at a cheaper price than the existing oil suppliers is great for all of us.
*The Commission Of Audit in to the ABC and SBS is long-overdue and very welcome
I was very pleased to hear about the commission of audit this week. I doubt it will go far enough (I support selling the ABC and SBS) but if it can at least help to stamp out the institutional left-wing bias, that will be good.
The ironic thing is, if the ABC and SBS were private organisations, I wouldn’t have a problem with them having a left-wing bias because I wouldn’t be funding it, and yet the ABC’s leftie supporters don’t like the idea of selling it.
Samuel
February 2nd, 2014 at 06:38am
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