• Category Archives Life in the USA

  • TAO 2009

    Posted on by beno 1 Comment

    I’m probably going to be judged pretty harshly for this one, but I still think I should blog about it……..

    Amy found out that our favorite DJ, Armin Van Buuren, was going to be playing at a huge rave party over new years eve…… she wanted to go since it was an ‘all ages’ event. (A lot of raves are 18+ or 21+ only).
    I checked out the event reviews from last year and decided that it sounded pretty good. The only concern that I had was the number of people there. In past years the event has pulled around 45,000 people…. Yeah, you read right….. forty five thousand people…… Ugh, for a guy that does not do crowds, it was going to be some night…….

    I went for a ride, had some lunch, we had a sleep and then E-tickets in hand, we headed off at 5pm.
    The traffic was pretty mad around the LA convention center where it was being held, but that’s to be expected.
    We picked up our real tickets and joined the growing line for our security checks. The line took about an hour. Latter, it was taking up to three hours to get in, glad we got there early. If we go again next year (which is not a given, it will depend on the DJ(s) that’s playing), we will get there earlier still.
    Once in, you just follow your ears…….
    Armin is an amazing DJ. Both Amy and I really like his style. Its hard to describe, but its very mellow with lots of soothing vocals, big strings and often, acoustic or electric guitar, of course all this is overlaid with that trance beat that’s hard to miss.
    He has been playing 9 hour sets now for years. Its his trademark, as his his style. He started playing at 7pm, we did not get in till 8pm, so sadly we missed his first hour.
    We spent the first two hours on the floor. It was filling up by the minute, so it was good to be down there before it got really crazy.
    At 10pm the curtain that he was playing behind came down and things really got cranked up a few notches.
    Amy wanted to get closer, so we moved through the crowd and ended up a few rows of people from the stage. It was pretty squishy, so we did not stay long, but Amy was thrilled to be so close (even I have to admit that it was pretty cool to see him ‘just there’ and feel the energy of the front rows. This is something I have never done at the other raves I have been too).
    We then headed back, way back. I really liked the view and sound from the back center seats. The back sides were packed because there was nothing blocking the main view, but having less people around you was a plus for me!
    We spent the next 6 or so hours just sitting, standing, dancing and just drinking in the huge sound and light show……..

    To answer your obvious questions…….Yes, it was a human zoo. Yes, there was a lot of flesh. Yes, there were drugs there. Yes, there were clearly people on said drugs. Yes, both Amy and I were offered drugs. Yes, I felt safe. Yes, I am glad that I took my 15 year old daughter. And yes, if Armin plays again next year, and regardless of if Amy wants to go or not, I would go. (Given the amount she enjoyed it, I think I am going to have zero chance of going to any all ages rave without her ever again).
    The crowd was huge, but well behaved. People were clearly looking out for others, I saw no one on their own, people were there with their friends and were looking out for each other. I did not see a single scuffle or incident all night.
    My only concern was the sheer number of people there…..if there had been an earth quake or some sort of incident that had caused a panic, there would have been some real trouble. That was my big concern, not the drugs or the people around me.

    Amy and I were there for the music and Armin did not disappoint. It was a fantastic 8 hours that we heard. I hope that there is a recording of it released at some stage. The light show that went with it was just spectacular. The two together, as one, was well worth the price of admission. Amy could have kept going, but at 4am, when Armin finished his set, this old bald geek had to head for home.

    You can see our photos here, and I put together a video, which you can see on YouTube. Here is the high res version (by far the best if you have a good internet connection) and here is the standard YouTube low res version.


    Life in the USA Music

  • 9 + 2 = 7

    Posted on by beno Comment

    I used to go through 9 sets of traffic lights to and from work when we were living at the apartment. Since I went home for lunch each day, that was a total of 36 sets of lights I had to put up with each day…… Not a lot of fun. Because I was on the bike, the commute was barley tolerable.
    Now that we are at the house, I now go through 11 sets of lights, two more than before……..that’s 44 sets a day, 5 days a week means 220 traffic lights……
    Ok, so, how then, does 9 sets, plus the extra two sets I now get on the new route come out to be 7 sets?
    Well, in fact, it feels more like 6 sets………
    I have a YouTube video in the works of my ride to and from work, but until then you will just have to…… heh…… trust me….. It feels like only 7.
    The trip to work goes a bit like this; The first set I hit change real quick. The bike has no problem triggering the sensors in the road and if I go slow, you almost dont have to put your foot down. It’s nice to have such responsive lights.
    The second set is a little slower as its more of a major road. But, because of the extra traffic, I normally am behind a car or two, so they have already triggered the lights.
    The third set is for a very few houses and a fire station. I have never got a red light at this one, and wonder if I ever will, so you just sail right through this set.
    The forth set, I turn right at. So, even if they are red, I can just sail right through these as well.
    The fifth set is hit and miss. Its a ‘T’ intersection and while a little busy, its just chance if you get stuck at them.
    The sixth set is a park, so 99.9% of the time you can sail through these as well.
    The seventh set is a big one. I have yet to catch these.
    The eighth set is the freeway on ramp, so its hit and miss.
    The ninth set is the freeway off ramp, they are hit and miss as well.
    The tenth set is a biggish one. Its hit and miss, but mostly hit.
    The last set is a left turn, so I have to wait for a green arrow. I mostly always get caught on these. I don’t like this wait as you are out on your own on a busy road. I feel pretty exposed. There is no easy way around this set. I could go a lot out of my way and add another two sets of lights. I might try going the long way again (I tried it when I first got here) and see how it goes.

    So, there you have it, more lights, but it feels less. In fact, it’s now a pretty easy commute. To the apartment, it was 2 miles (3.2km), so you had 9 sets of lights in not very far. Constant stop start with no chance to get into top gear most of the time. To the house its 4.3 miles (7km), so its over double the distance, but it only takes me 2-3 minutes longer to ride it…… AND as you will see in the video, at this time of year, for an Auzi, its a really nice ride for a good whack of it.

    So, in my little messed up world 9 + 2 = 7!


    Goldwing Life in the USA

  • May as well call it moved!

    Posted on by beno Comment

    We handed the keys to the apartment in on the evening of the 24th.
    Thus we are out and in.
    I have to say, its changed the feel of the whole family. For the past 8 and a bit months we have been thinking the apartment was home, but now that we are in a ‘real’ house, its amazing how much more settled and ‘relaxed’ every one is.
    I got Freddys head cold (despite the ‘no kiss’ rule I enforced for over 4 days), so on xmas day I spent my time tinkering with the web site while dribbling mucus from my nose and such. You can see the new Temecula rain radar web page here. You can see the new Temecula area earthquake and visible satellite pass web page here. I am about done with the radar page, the other needs some more work, but its a good start. I also did some other tweaks that are under the hood and we may look at in time.
    It was nice to spend some time tinkering. I have forgotten so much of my night school course I did year before last at Ballarat Uni…. If you dont use it, you lose it.
    Anyway, I enjoyed a nice easy day doing that, it was raining pretty good outside so it was nice to just relax.
    The 26th we stepped it up a notch and got stuck into the unpacking thing. I also installed the weather station on its pole. I also got the allsky star camera up and running. (Yes, it is adjusted, there are just not as many stars in the north as in the south…. screen shots soon on this very topic).
    The garage is still to be sorted. We really wanted to get the house sorted for Freddy and the kids. Im looking forward to tinkering in the garage getting it sorted ‘properly’. I just hope its done by the time my buddy Dan gets here (the 16th of Jan). I have a nice long to-do list for him, so his 1.4 days will not be idle.
    I have also put a bunch of photos up. There are new photos in the ‘rental house‘ album, new photos in the ‘Temecula‘ album and new photos in the ‘Assorted‘ album. There is also a whole new album called ‘Amy‘. She wanted some photos before we left the apartment, so here is the start of her own little space in my Picasa albums.
    Not all the photos have captions, so if you have any questions, just ask and I will tweak them as I go.
    Yesterday we got a lot of the garage roughly sorted, we got my new electronics work bench assembled and the rain gauge mounted.
    All in all, Im pretty tired, but its good to be ‘in’.

    In a few days I will have been at work for 9 months, it seems like every month we think ‘Thats it, we are here’ only to find there is more settling down to do.
    I guess my 27th move means there is one less thing to do this month than last….. Phew…. I aint getting any younger!


    Life in the USA

  • The power of the slope.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    As we took loads from the apartment to the house, I began to notice just how much of a slope the driveway at the new place has.
    I was thinking ‘Hmm, thats going to be unfun going down that backwards on the bike’.
    Yesterday was the first time out, and it was a little bit of a hand full, but we went straight down and it sort of worked. The problem with going straight down is that you then have to push backwards hard to get it up onto the road.
    This morning I thought I would try going diagonal, that way, I would be going at the road at an angle.
    Well, angle is right, the right leg is a little short to the road, so, yep, you guessed it, over she went.
    Blah. And because it fell to the right, I had to lift it up hill to get it back on its feet. Not a nice lift when going that way. Now I know why I had heard so many stories of guys spinning them on the mounts so you lift it from the easy way……….
    Anyway, no damage done (to the bike) and I will continue to experiment on how to get out of the garage….. watch this space.


    Goldwing Life in the USA

  • 99% out = 68% in

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Well, we have moved. Pretty much. Mostly. Sort of.
    We are mostly out of the apartment. There is the piano, a small table lamp and some bike/telescope stuff left and that’s about it.
    The day off went well enough. The cable guy was very efficient and we were up and running in about an hour. So Gary’s threats were largely ignored. There is more down time coming as I move from the hall way to the desk, I’m sure I will get caught one of these days, but for now, the web site going down and up has passed SMS free.
    The weather station is slated to be put up over xmas. I think I found the brackets yesterday. Its ‘funny’, but I know exactly who to see and where to go to do this simple task in Ballarat, but here, its turned in to a real hassle….. Anyway, like I said, I think I found some hardware that will work. I hope to buy the parts in the next few days (before all the shops shut for xmas) and then get it up and running as soon as I can. I want to catch a full year of weather data to compare with whats happening back home. We have about 1-2 inches of rain forcast for xmas day, so I am not going to be on the tile roof in that! I have plenty to do setting up the computer and garage, so in some ways, if its pouring rain, it will be nice to be busy inside.
    No photos of the actual move with Steve, we were flat out between 7am and 4pm. The house is a sea of boxes and furniture.
    Freddy is feeling a little better. She is over at the apartment this morning doing a load and rough clean. The kids have the next two weeks off school, so they are just milling about. Amy has some school work she needs to be reviewing, and Terry wants to spend some more time on his Freebord (I would link to the website, but its truly appalling. Its pretty much a skateboard with shopping trolley wheels mounted in the middle. Thus you can go sideways down a hill, like a snow board… Their slogan is ‘Snowboard the streets’). I have cut back their internet time, so I am not their favorite person at the moment, but hopefully it will pay off in the end.

    So, we are 99% out of the apartment, and 68% unpacked and settled into the house. Im really looking forward to having some time off over the next few days.


    Life in the USA