There is much to be said about road navigation. Most of my far-from-home road trip experience has been to Florida or otherwise in the direction of vaguely south. This means travel through a magical land where roads are designed as the crow flies - much in contrast to New England where the roads are designed as the cow grazes.
I guess it doesn't need to be said that Adam and I are in constant conflict when trying to get around an area neither of us knows, particularly when bouncing around looking at apartments in such an area. Yeah, he almost died. (And he'd likely say the same about me, in all fairness. I'd totally win, though.)
Concluding that court fees for assault charges could be high, I decided to buy a GPS talking navigation system instead. I got a tomtom 910 - a little wedge of genius that attaches to a windshield suction mount. It can use the data connection from one of our Treos via bluetooth to get traffic and weather information, and interacts well with OSX. It's so much easier than fussing with Google maps on the Treos.
It uses text-to-speech and so it announces not only directions and turns but also street names. It labels exits with nice perspicuity - the name at both the separation point and then a bit along the exit ramp. I like it.
It did lead us to one non-existant gas station in New Jersey, but it has otherwise greatly improved the quality of our driving experiences.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Puzzle Addiction
I have a new nemesis: P4x riddle. It's like an introductory mucking about in steganography with a dash of lateral thinking.
It requires free time, an attention span, knowledge of website structure, some computer editing tools, and the Google. It works just fine in Firefox. If you like puzzles, I highly recommend it.
It requires free time, an attention span, knowledge of website structure, some computer editing tools, and the Google. It works just fine in Firefox. If you like puzzles, I highly recommend it.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Lookie, fishies!
Oh yeah, here are the underwater photos (edited highly due to my stupid standards) I took during the Puerto Rico Adventure. Land photos are located here.
Adam took these as well as many others that I can link to when he has uploaded them. I wish I had taken more on the trip from San Juan to Ponce since the scenery was so dynamic along the route. It shifts from rainforest to dry very quickly as you pass over the mountains. Maybe nexttime.
Also, I can walk in heels again. Some more skin has fallen off, but it's not as gross as my emo moment with the original burns. :)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Old San Juan and Fajardo
Adam's sister's wedding went well and was very enjoyable. I learned that Johnnie Walker is a great painkiller for burnt feet, too.
Sunday and Monday we mostly played around in the ocean and the pool. We visited Old San Juan on a day that there were no cruise ships and roamed around the fort there. I think it is the biggest fort that I have been in. It's kind of built into a cliff on the coast and has neat layering as a result. Then the afternoon rain appeared to be headed in our direction so we abandoned the fort.
Tuesday we got to dive and so we headed for Fajardo at around 6:30 AM and got on the boat around 9. A dolphin followed the boat part of the way to the first dive site. The first dive sucked and I was unhappy. I got nausious walking across the boat with all the weight of the gear on, then the depth was only around 10 feet and the current was terrible. Thankfully we aborted that dive and went to a different location to finish off the first tank.
The second site was far better; it and the third dive were near the Conquistadore's private island. The reefs were healthy too. Also this time I put my gear on in the water, and that helped with my visual/vestibular disagreements. This and the quality of the latter two dives vastly improved my mood.
This week's trip in general and this dive excursion in particular marks the furthest point east that I have traveled. I think if I go back again I'll try to dive off the south coast which is more Caribbean than Atlantic, and I'll also go to the bioluminescent bays. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to the bays on this trip.
And remember, don't walk barefoot on the surface of the sun.
Sunday and Monday we mostly played around in the ocean and the pool. We visited Old San Juan on a day that there were no cruise ships and roamed around the fort there. I think it is the biggest fort that I have been in. It's kind of built into a cliff on the coast and has neat layering as a result. Then the afternoon rain appeared to be headed in our direction so we abandoned the fort.
Tuesday we got to dive and so we headed for Fajardo at around 6:30 AM and got on the boat around 9. A dolphin followed the boat part of the way to the first dive site. The first dive sucked and I was unhappy. I got nausious walking across the boat with all the weight of the gear on, then the depth was only around 10 feet and the current was terrible. Thankfully we aborted that dive and went to a different location to finish off the first tank.
The second site was far better; it and the third dive were near the Conquistadore's private island. The reefs were healthy too. Also this time I put my gear on in the water, and that helped with my visual/vestibular disagreements. This and the quality of the latter two dives vastly improved my mood.
This week's trip in general and this dive excursion in particular marks the furthest point east that I have traveled. I think if I go back again I'll try to dive off the south coast which is more Caribbean than Atlantic, and I'll also go to the bioluminescent bays. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to the bays on this trip.
And remember, don't walk barefoot on the surface of the sun.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Puerto Rico, Day 5
So I am in Puerto Rico. It's warm, it's pretty, the food is good, and I have second degree burns on my feet. I said "merci" to someone on accident.
We arrived with little consequence other than Adam not knowing what his duffle bag looked like as it rode 'round and 'round on the baggage claim belt. We didn't do much the first day other than hang out and drink while details were sorted and crises were averted. My first impression of the driving here is that the concept of the social contract seems rather loose. The best way to describe the highways is as a manifestation of tragedy of the commons. Instead of using rules to make things smoother and safer for everyone, each driver seems to select his speed and movements with no regard to the actions and positions of other drivers. At least they mostly pay attention to lights and signs.
Thursday we went to a nice remote beach on the southwestern tip of the island. Unfortunately it was a college holiday so the beach was not quite its usual emptiness. More unfortunately, we took off our shoes to prepare for a muddy trek only to instead take a dry concrete path, halfway along which, better judgement kicked in and we went back for our shoes. Enter the aforementioned second degree burns. Later, I got a sympathetic look from a guy with a walker.
Friday we dove at the Figure Eight in San Juan. We were out for just over an hour and spent much of the time feeding fish and playing with some various critters. I saw one of my favoite black with blue spots and yellow tail fishies too. Photos of the ordeal to come soon.
Friday night one of my feet was hurting really badly, so I consulted with my private burn unit (aka, the MDs among the wedding attendees). Effectively, I got handed a leatherman and told to stop being a weenie and go cut off the blisters and then apply antibiotic cream. I spent the most emo hour ever cutting up my feet and, quite possibly, experiencing mild shock. I am officially exempted from wearing dress shoes to the wedding.
We arrived with little consequence other than Adam not knowing what his duffle bag looked like as it rode 'round and 'round on the baggage claim belt. We didn't do much the first day other than hang out and drink while details were sorted and crises were averted. My first impression of the driving here is that the concept of the social contract seems rather loose. The best way to describe the highways is as a manifestation of tragedy of the commons. Instead of using rules to make things smoother and safer for everyone, each driver seems to select his speed and movements with no regard to the actions and positions of other drivers. At least they mostly pay attention to lights and signs.
Thursday we went to a nice remote beach on the southwestern tip of the island. Unfortunately it was a college holiday so the beach was not quite its usual emptiness. More unfortunately, we took off our shoes to prepare for a muddy trek only to instead take a dry concrete path, halfway along which, better judgement kicked in and we went back for our shoes. Enter the aforementioned second degree burns. Later, I got a sympathetic look from a guy with a walker.
Friday we dove at the Figure Eight in San Juan. We were out for just over an hour and spent much of the time feeding fish and playing with some various critters. I saw one of my favoite black with blue spots and yellow tail fishies too. Photos of the ordeal to come soon.
Friday night one of my feet was hurting really badly, so I consulted with my private burn unit (aka, the MDs among the wedding attendees). Effectively, I got handed a leatherman and told to stop being a weenie and go cut off the blisters and then apply antibiotic cream. I spent the most emo hour ever cutting up my feet and, quite possibly, experiencing mild shock. I am officially exempted from wearing dress shoes to the wedding.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Ohh shiny
It's fairly clear that I have thesis work that I should be doing because in the last week I have completely rewritten quax.org, signed up and studied for an enriched air diving certification, created/updated a profile for every tolerable networking site I could find, and drove to Philadelphia to visit Hallie...and, well, it's not like I update this thing religiously. :)
The class I was teaching has ended, thank God. I won't go into details on that because I am confined by ethics on how much I may rant. While teaching was a good experience, I've concluded it's not something I'd want to do long term.
Anyway, that was my primary thesis distraction for the last 6 weeks, and now I am having trouble filling that void. I think the problem is that I've got some picky details that I need to clear up before getting into the more interesting sections such as computational tree logic and the whole Kripke structure with neighborhoods ordeal. I'm also encountering the phenomenon where I would like to read a novel but then I conclude that reading books should rate second to my writing - so I get neither reading nor writing accomplished.
I think I'm going to compromise by going shopping.
The class I was teaching has ended, thank God. I won't go into details on that because I am confined by ethics on how much I may rant. While teaching was a good experience, I've concluded it's not something I'd want to do long term.
Anyway, that was my primary thesis distraction for the last 6 weeks, and now I am having trouble filling that void. I think the problem is that I've got some picky details that I need to clear up before getting into the more interesting sections such as computational tree logic and the whole Kripke structure with neighborhoods ordeal. I'm also encountering the phenomenon where I would like to read a novel but then I conclude that reading books should rate second to my writing - so I get neither reading nor writing accomplished.
I think I'm going to compromise by going shopping.
New location for photos
Thursday, July 20, 2006
I'm a hurricane god
Tropical storms really like being close to me. First Alberto formed right over my head and now Beryl has set its trajectory for New England this weekend. This is a rather unwelcome trend.
Carded
It's official: I got my open water diver certification card in the mail today.
In other news, I am going to Manhattan tomorrow. Now, of course, my brain's island programming requires certain latitude ranges to be excluded as uninhabitable, but it's summer, so I can deal with this whimsical northern place. Yankees suck.
I visited Grandma this afternoon and showed her all of my California and Grand Cayman photos on my laptop. She really liked the idea of keeping all the pictures on the computer in one place; her digital camera attaches to a little printer, so she just prints them straight out from there once she decides which to keep, without them ever being on the computer. I promised that I would take some pictures for her this weekend. :)
In other news, I am going to Manhattan tomorrow. Now, of course, my brain's island programming requires certain latitude ranges to be excluded as uninhabitable, but it's summer, so I can deal with this whimsical northern place. Yankees suck.
I visited Grandma this afternoon and showed her all of my California and Grand Cayman photos on my laptop. She really liked the idea of keeping all the pictures on the computer in one place; her digital camera attaches to a little printer, so she just prints them straight out from there once she decides which to keep, without them ever being on the computer. I promised that I would take some pictures for her this weekend. :)
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Home
Yuck. I want to go back to the pretty warm place. :(
The last day was dive, dive, snorkel, snorkel. The diving, of course, was way more fun, but I did get to be attacked by about 5 stingrays on a sandbar when they realized I had a squid in my hand. They are soft and tickle. Being attacked by stingrays is much more pleasant than having an octopus stuck on your arm.
The dives were boat dives, as described by Adam. I did not have fun on the boat. It was terrible. I was overheating and hadn't eaten enough so I felt horrible. Then I cut my arm on aircraft cable. Once I was in the water I was 100% better. The temperature was better and I wasn't getting tossed all over the place like on the boat. Burping underwater is funny. Sneezing is not funny.
The snorkeling was with a lot of those annoying cruise ship tourist types which I can't stand. There were a ton of incredibly rude kids, and their equally obnoxious parents. Once I got away from the main group of snorkelers, I felt much better and was able to enjoy myself.
I think the name of my mystery favorite fishy is "yellowfin damselfish", as determined from a little card with fish pictures on it. The flounder was also neat; it lays/swims flat on the bottom and blends in really well when it isn't moving. Turtles are awesome. I didn't get to eat them, but I did get to see a few at about 100 feet deep.
Now that I am home, however, I need to do the standard errands of developing photos and returning my drowned watch to REI. Oh yeah, and maybe show up at my office...
The last day was dive, dive, snorkel, snorkel. The diving, of course, was way more fun, but I did get to be attacked by about 5 stingrays on a sandbar when they realized I had a squid in my hand. They are soft and tickle. Being attacked by stingrays is much more pleasant than having an octopus stuck on your arm.
The dives were boat dives, as described by Adam. I did not have fun on the boat. It was terrible. I was overheating and hadn't eaten enough so I felt horrible. Then I cut my arm on aircraft cable. Once I was in the water I was 100% better. The temperature was better and I wasn't getting tossed all over the place like on the boat. Burping underwater is funny. Sneezing is not funny.
The snorkeling was with a lot of those annoying cruise ship tourist types which I can't stand. There were a ton of incredibly rude kids, and their equally obnoxious parents. Once I got away from the main group of snorkelers, I felt much better and was able to enjoy myself.
I think the name of my mystery favorite fishy is "yellowfin damselfish", as determined from a little card with fish pictures on it. The flounder was also neat; it lays/swims flat on the bottom and blends in really well when it isn't moving. Turtles are awesome. I didn't get to eat them, but I did get to see a few at about 100 feet deep.
Now that I am home, however, I need to do the standard errands of developing photos and returning my drowned watch to REI. Oh yeah, and maybe show up at my office...
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Departure
Sad! :(
More information will be provided soon, and a link to photos will be provided when available.
More information will be provided soon, and a link to photos will be provided when available.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Adam ran over a crab
I think *that* story tells itself just fine.
As for other events, the stingray trip got cancelled today due to poor visibility, Adam and I both got new scuba fins (they are much easier to use than my snorkel fins), and I got to ride a horse named Johnny. I made the mistake of saying I'd ridden a bunch, so I got the stubborn one. :) He was good for riding though; he took off running while I was missing a stirrup and I didn't have any problems keeping my balance. It felt good to ride again, even if just down the beach and back.
Oh, I tried a cigar. I made two semi-successful puffs. It tasted interesting, but I am not sure how to describe it; a) I only took two puffs and b) I don't have anything to compare it to. I only really know how tobacco products *smell*.
We snorkeled off the pier at our condo today for a little while. We saw some fish and three gigantic lobsters hiding under a rock. The water was about 4 feet deep and about 95 degrees. Adam and I then went diving because, frankly, we are addicted. (There was a BIG damned spider at the dive shop; holy crap, I almost had a stroke and wouldn't go within 10 feet of it because I have this fear that they can sprout wings or something). We are going diving again tomorrow morning off a boat, and then we are going on a snorkel trip in the afternoon to try to see the stingrays again.
I got postcards, so I will send those out before I leave.
As for other events, the stingray trip got cancelled today due to poor visibility, Adam and I both got new scuba fins (they are much easier to use than my snorkel fins), and I got to ride a horse named Johnny. I made the mistake of saying I'd ridden a bunch, so I got the stubborn one. :) He was good for riding though; he took off running while I was missing a stirrup and I didn't have any problems keeping my balance. It felt good to ride again, even if just down the beach and back.
Oh, I tried a cigar. I made two semi-successful puffs. It tasted interesting, but I am not sure how to describe it; a) I only took two puffs and b) I don't have anything to compare it to. I only really know how tobacco products *smell*.
We snorkeled off the pier at our condo today for a little while. We saw some fish and three gigantic lobsters hiding under a rock. The water was about 4 feet deep and about 95 degrees. Adam and I then went diving because, frankly, we are addicted. (There was a BIG damned spider at the dive shop; holy crap, I almost had a stroke and wouldn't go within 10 feet of it because I have this fear that they can sprout wings or something). We are going diving again tomorrow morning off a boat, and then we are going on a snorkel trip in the afternoon to try to see the stingrays again.
I got postcards, so I will send those out before I leave.
Monday, June 12, 2006
God save the queen
It's the queen's birthday, so few places are open today. This is good because it gives my muscles some time to relax. Also good, it is both a very nice day and not a day cruise ships come to port; we are going down to the nice sandy beach to take advantage of these conditions.
My feet are a little torn up from fins, but a little duct tape should be enough to keep them in line for the stingrays tomorrow. Then after stingrays I get to ride a horse!
I'm going to try to get in a final dive (or dives) on Wednesday of some form or other. I'm not sure what the viable options for that are yet.
Alright, enough sitting on the porch messing with the computer. I have a hot date with the sun.
My feet are a little torn up from fins, but a little duct tape should be enough to keep them in line for the stingrays tomorrow. Then after stingrays I get to ride a horse!
I'm going to try to get in a final dive (or dives) on Wednesday of some form or other. I'm not sure what the viable options for that are yet.
Alright, enough sitting on the porch messing with the computer. I have a hot date with the sun.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Open water dives 1 and 2
The tropical depression moved off to bother Florida so we got to dive today. The visibility was surprisingly good considering all the rain nonsense that has been going on. The water was also nice and warm, and I now have adorable rashguard tan lines. My favorite fish from today was a black one with pretty blue freckles on top that seem like they glow. My contacts worked out well and I was happy with my first real dives. It is great having so much mobility and control in the water. I will have to put some work into agility as I am almost as graceful as my split-tail fancy goldfish, Jacques. :)
The dive folk here are incredible. They don't act like the usual annoying "Texan" tourist types and are mainly interested in discovering the environment. I find these people to be much more pleasant company than those who come in off a cruise ship only to shop, lay on the beach, and visit tourist trap spots.
REI has a good refund policy: return it if you aren't happy with it for any reason. Well. I am not happy that my 100 metre water resistent watch broke somewhere between zero and 37 feet. Hmpf.
I think I may take the the little underwater camera out tomorrow. Someone's going to die if that breaks too.
After diving tomorrow, I am going to take a book outside and try to even out this tan...
The dive folk here are incredible. They don't act like the usual annoying "Texan" tourist types and are mainly interested in discovering the environment. I find these people to be much more pleasant company than those who come in off a cruise ship only to shop, lay on the beach, and visit tourist trap spots.
REI has a good refund policy: return it if you aren't happy with it for any reason. Well. I am not happy that my 100 metre water resistent watch broke somewhere between zero and 37 feet. Hmpf.
I think I may take the the little underwater camera out tomorrow. Someone's going to die if that breaks too.
After diving tomorrow, I am going to take a book outside and try to even out this tan...
Friday, June 09, 2006
Arrival
Well, it's warm.
It's also pouring rain, windy, and threatening to turn into a tropical depression right on top of us. I am not content.
It's also pouring rain, windy, and threatening to turn into a tropical depression right on top of us. I am not content.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Countdown
I leave for Grand Cayman early Friday morning, which is good because now I will stop buying crap for the trip. Objectives include: dive, ride, eat a turtle, feed Ros to a stingray, send annoying postcards to everyone.
Don't believe anything Adam says.
Don't believe anything Adam says.
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