15:16: Crazy days
Well, time has been absolutely flying by, and I have been very remiss with my communications of late! Its hard to believe that I am coming up on the fourth week in my new job already, and we're shortly about to embark on some more craziness, moving house.
So, life in the city has been a lot of fun so far. We found a nice little furnished apartment, with a great view, and settled in there pretty quickly. It is nice and comfortable, and well located, but it is a little small, and - well, I guess a little "corporate"? Thats not really the right description, but it definately feels like temporary accomodation.
So, shortly after moving in there (and the advantage, of course, was that we moved in with just a couple of suitcases), we started to look around at other accomodations. My first thought was that, in the property market, now would probably be a good time to buy. Interest rates were low, there were some great discounts being offered on top of that (I had an entire 1/4% discount lined up), and property prices are still dropping - when places sell at all.
Being slightly OCD, I of course analysed and planned and researched this all to the hilt, but the bottom line was, I came up with a number that gave us affordable payments (just!), and would allow us to find "something" in the right area. That area is known as "SOMA" (South of Market), and one of my requirements was that I should be able to walk to work. That put a pretty decent sized area within reach, and with a list of several dozen places, Jenny started visiting, analysing, and crossing places off our list.
As the fates always decree, no matter what budget you set yourself, you always wish for more. We pretty quickly decided that the "corporate-condo" places, like the one we are in now, didn't really suit us, and we also eliminated those that didn't have parking (a pity, because that could easily make a $100k difference in price!) What we were really leaning towards was the "loft" style, or at least, something in the converted-industrial style. After much deliberation, we narrowed our choices down to three. When I have time I will add links to those, but basically, none of them quite suited us - either too expensive, or not quite right (or in one case, perfectly priced, but stinking of urine!)
The problem with buying in this market is, because sales are few and far between, it is hard to make a good estimate. Many of the places we looked at were "valued" at the right price for us, but the asking price on those hadn't come down. The ones that were dropping in price, were usually the ones that didn't quite suit us. Sods law...
So, after a couple of exhausting weeks of that, we decided to put the purchase on hold, and find a rental place instead. That turned out to be a good decision, as we were suddenly spoiled for choice - the rental price budget we had allowed us to look at all the types of places that were just a bit too much for us to buy. We quickly had a short-list of 4 potential lofts, and managed to line them up to visit all of them in one day.
Now, Jenny is an easy-going girl, and I am the difficult one (who would have imagined it? :-> ), but I discovered an easy way to make decisions like this. As i had done my homework pretty well, each of the places we saw would have "worked". But as we walked into the third place, Jenny's face lit up, and she looked like a kid in a candy store. Decision made!
Jenny and I had actually seen the building before - in fact, we walked past, and I said "What on earth is that - Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory?" This picture doesn't do it justice, we'll post some better ones shortly:
We move in next weekend - real moving this time, as it is unfurnished. But this time, we're going to try and keep the minimalist thing going, and avoid the clutter that tends to build up where ever we go! ;^>
Well, its been a busy two weeks since we got back from Australia. We are now living in San Francisco!!! That all happened fast, huh? :->
I am working for a company called "Caustic Graphics". You guys know the deal, I can't talk too much about what I'm doing, but what I can tell you is, I'm having a lot of fun! We cut the deal last Thursday, and I started work at their office smack in the middle of San Francisco on Monday. Jenny and I moved super-fast, and also tracked down and moved into a nice little furnished apartment walking distance from work. I'm sitting here watching the twinkling lights across the Bay...
Phew! I'm about ready for a rest after all that, but you know what I always say - no rest for the wicked, and only short naps for the naughty...
So, come visit us in the city! (or The City, as the locals call it :-> )
12:45: Back in sunny CA
My my, I have been absolutely terrible at blogging lately! So, here we are, back in Sunny California - and sunny it is, a beautiful day, and the weather so far has been better than our few days in Sydney! It was sad to leave Perth, but it is nice to be home again. Now I have all the work of getting the house running - getting Internet set up again, getting a new cellphone (mine died), so busy times. I have two job inteviews tomorrow, so as usual, all is go! We'll get our act together to publish photos of the trip (and the wedding! We're running a bit behind) soon...
16:36: You know you're famous when...
In the past few weeks, I have received dozens of emails, replying to an email sent by a "Mr. Chris Tann" of "Christann Clothing Inc." or "Christann Clothing Company". This email takes the form of a "letter of interest", sent to models and photographers listed on various agency websites. The emails refer to my website http://www.christann.com, and use my name, although they list an address and phone numbers (almost certainly bogus) in England.
Although I answered the replys I got, pointing out that this was probably some sort of scam (something like the "Nigerian Certified Cheque" scam), and didn't think too much of it. However, the emails continued, and then I was refered to a site called fraudwatch, which lists literally dozens of occurences (and variations) of this email. I realised the large distribution these emails have had, and it sounds like people have really been caught by this scam. It seems that in later emails, they stopped listing my website, but each time I see a new round of emails, it has a new return address - so this scam is still in progress!
Well, I guess imitation is the highest form of compliment - but in this case, I just feel violated. Not realy much I can do aside from publicise the fact that this is a scam, and has nothing to do with me. Yet, it shows just how frail our "internet identities" are. Be careful out there people, it's a jungle!
Here is an example of the emails being sent:
" Hello friend
My name is Mr Chris Tann. a retired actor presently based in the UK. and now own a clothing company(CHRISTANN CLOTHING INC. ).
16:02: Glorious
Jenny and I are having a great time in Perth. We are looking after a friends house in Hillarys for a couple of weeks - the house is fantastic, with views of the ocean, a pool and spa, and a huge, open plan living area. They also have a room with a treamill and excercise bike, so Jenny and I have been busy trying to work off the excesses of the silly season!
19:19: The countdown begins
Only 12 more hours to go until Jenny and I cross the bump into 2008. We wish you all love and happiness in the coming year.
Our stay in Perth has been great so far - lots of food, drink, and good company. I still have a gazillion people to catch up with, but once the "silly season" ends, we will become a little more dedicated on catching up with people individually. In the meantime - don't hesitate to invite us instead!
We will be staying at a friends place in Hillarys for a couple of weeks, then moving into an appartment in Freo for the rest of our stay. The appartment looks out on "Little Creatures" (an ex croc-farm, now a brew-pub), so we expect quite a few trips to the local!
We made it back safe'n'sound. In the end, Cyclone Daman didn't even get close enough to us to give us any rain, the weather remained calm and beautiful. It did delay the Air Pacific flights enough so that we missed our connection in Sydney, but they put us up at a hotel for the night, and we finally got into Perth at 9:00am the next morning.
Vatulele is just the most wonderful place on earth. Aside from a small mosquito problem, Jenny and I have been having the time of our lives. I'll blog more when we get back to the real world...
Well here we are, almost ready for leave for a fabulous 9 day Honeymoon in Fiji - exciting! It got down to 35 last night ( thats about 2 degrees C for you furiners), Jenny and I have both had colds, so we are more than ready to hit the heat.
Only one small moment of concern so far - while Jenny and I were out having our last-night celebratory curry, I got a message from Vatulele, the resort where we are saying. the girl said that they had a memo from Air Pacific that our flights had changed, and instead of leabing at 10:30pm, would be leaving at 4:30pm! Now, I am connected six ways from Sunday, so I usually get emails from the airlines if any such changes occur. As soon as we got home, I double checked, and to my relief, our flight is still scheduled to depart on time. Just for fun, I checked the next days flight - and sure enough, it is scheduled for an 18 hour delay! I'm glad we're not on that one...
20:58: Beat the fridge...
There is an age-old tradition, a leave-over from Student days where moving was a regular occurance, carrying was too much like hard work, and eating and drinking one of the favourite past-times - Beat-The-Fridge!
The game is very simple. Someone is leaving their house or appartment, and they don't want to carry the left over food and drinks with them, nor do they ant to waste anything. "Beat the Fridge" is simply that - eat and drink everything that the house has to offer. Traditionally this also extends to all the booze in the house, even if it doesn't happen to be stored in the fridge itself...
Back in "the day", this game used to be relatively simple. When I left my shared house in Romsey (shared with one John "Psycho Biker" Moore), the game took all of twenty minutes, at which point we had to head off to the pub to actually have a meal and some drinks to fill ourselves up. As the years wore on (and, I guess, I got more "civilised"?), the game got harder and harder. As many of you may know, I am also cursed by a following of Gnomies (that is pronounced "Ge-no-mees" by the way), that tend to take great delight in messing with the contents of my house - especially where alcohol is concerned. So, the last few times I have played, we were so thoroughly whiped by the fridge, that we wound up with more booze than we started with!
Fast-forward to the present day. I have been living in the same house for 10 years now, with a string of room-mates who tend to buy assorted foodstuffs and then leave them (we just finished the cans of coconut cream that Jame Osbourne left 3 years ago...). And after 10 years, the Gnomnies have become fat and happy, and really take great delight in hiding things, and them springing them on us when least expected. Oh, and we of course have two fridges now, one for food, and one for drinks... Jenny and I are heading off shortly, for an extended trip, and so we are playing a small, personal beat-the-fridge game. I decided this time that I would take a running start at it, so we have been playing for two weeks now - and while the fridges have taken a beating, they are showing no signs of slowing down. I thought we were doing well, when I finally started drinking the "St Pauli Girl NA" (NA stands for "Non Alcoholic" - thanks to whomever brought a six-pack of it along to the Halloween party, and didn't even drink one!). But, sure enough, the Gnomies had a surprise for us - I walked out to the fridge tonight, and "found" an entire case of beer that I had overlooked!
I won't complain about the Gnomies of course. I'm quite happy for the fridges to win a technical victory in this one - as long as the Gnomies keep springing booze on us by surprise!
09:41: Food for thought..
I wonder why we say "food for thought". If I want to think, the last thing I want is food. The best thing to get me thinking is a good, long drink! Which leads me to the topic of this blog...
I read this article in the Mercury News today. In the story, a 21-year old man is in jail, charged with "'providing the alcohol that led to" a fatal traffic accident. It is unclear from the story whether it is just because the driver involved in the accident was under 21, or if it is just a general crime. He faces up to a year in jail.
So, of course this leads me to think about the many parties I have here. Could I be at risk of prison, should someone leave one of my parties and be involved in a traffic accident?
Now lets be clear about this - I think the idea that an 18-20 year old is considered a "minor", solely for the purposes of being able to drink alcohol, is completely ludicrous! I don't see how they can give people the right to vote, own weapons, fight in a war, etc. etc., but then say "oh, but we don't trust you with alcohol". What a double standard - and I am sure, this must be unconstitutional. It is purely and simply discrimination based on age. Add that to the fact that the US is the only Western Country (actually, the only country I know of at all) that holds this ridiculous double standard, and it makes the whole thing seem even more bizzare.
But, who is going to stand up for the young people? Who is going to be a campaigner for their right to drink alcohol? Not many people are going to take on that one, and the 18-20 year olds I have talked to seem quite happy just drinking illicitly anyway - its more "fun" that way!
Saying that, i do not knowingly supply alcohol to these so-called "minors". However, when I hold a party, I have alcohol available, and I am not going to baby-sit full-grown adults every second to make sure that they don't drink - I think they are more than capable of making their own decisions on that front. I find it offensive that the government are now trying to frighten people into enforcing their immoral laws - that just smacks so much of Facism, that I don't know where to start!
If the above case is not about providing alcohol to someone under the legal drinking age, then it is even more frightening. If we become directly responsible for preventing the action of other adults, this again is a step on the path to Facism! I'm sure the 21 year old man didn't force alcohol down the girl's throat, and then lead her to the car, sit her in the driver's seat, and turn the key.
Of course the danger of speaking out against a case such as this, especially in this post-9/11 America, is that I will quickly be painted with the "You're either for us or against us" brush. If I am against the fact that a man can be arrested on the basis of someone else's actions, they I must be for drunk driving. Of course, that is far from the truth, but is just an example of the dialectic thinking that is being propogated today.
Whenever I host a party, I make it clear that there are plenty of extra beds for those who over-indulge. If anyone is obviously extremely drunk, I will look after them, and ask them not to drive. If anyone leaving seems tipsy, I will make sure that they think a moment before driving, to make sure they are capable. I might even be a little stronger about it if someone is obviously far gone. But I am not going to physically restrain someone who may be over the limit from driving, if they are clear that they want to. Does that make me a criminal?
I have often joked about my house being Australian soil. Now that I am an American Citizen as well, I guess that makes it tougher, but I still feel after this incedent that I am going to print a disclaimer and fix it on the wall. "Drink at your own risk". There, if I was a criminal before, a sign like that should make me innocent, right? At least, thats how it seems to work...
Hmmm. Do you think that if OJ had stuck up a sign in his house saying "Cheat on me at your own risk", he would have been found innocent in his civil trial? Quite possibly - although then he would probably have been found guilty in the criminal trial!
“Hi, this is Chris. I am testing voice posting on to my blog. Apparently they have some fancy computer software that is supposed to automatically transcribe my post. We'll see if this works. I have my doubts. Bye.”
19:21: Lets try sending a picture
I'm posting this blog via email, as a test. It looks like it works OK, though i would rather have the picture appear inline than as a link...
I am currently watching the Darpa Urban Challenge, which is simply amazing. Dozens of teams entered vehicles that are capable of totally autonomous driving, in real-world conditions. Its quite exciting, down to six teams, and local boy bot "Junior", from Stanford University (last challenges winners) is holding his own.
As an example, one of the robots just came to a stop sign, with real traffic on the cross-street (stunt-drivers, carefully monitored, of course). It paused with no problems, waiting for the cars to pass, and then continued merrily on its way. It is simply amazing just how far this technology has come, and although it is not yet ready for the big-time - you mark my words, in 20 years time, there will be real Autonomous Robots in every-day life.
And appropriately enough, today is the 50th anniversary of the famous Russian Space mission, where the first living mammal was sent into space - a dog by the name of Laika. I remember how upset I was as a young child, learning about the exciting realm of space (I was 4 years old when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon), when I realised that they sent this dog on a one-way trip. Still, the story puts into perspective todays Autonomous car competition.
In other space-news, The Nasa Ames research facility (Thats Moffet Field in Mountain View, where the old Zeplin Hangars make an impressive landmark) was just nominated as the technological center for USA's stated goal - of a permanent settlement on the Moon. Sign me up! Interestingly enough, they are coming under quite some criticism, mostly from two different camps - those that say the Moon is a mistake, and that we should concentrate on Mars, and the others (who have missed the point entirely), whe say that we should send robots, as they are cheaper and more effective in this sort of task. (and yet another camp that says the trees were a mistake, and that we never should have crawled out of the ocean in the first place.)
So many choices for a young Engineer - head for the Moon, get involved with a Robotics company, or sit back and write about it all ... hmmmm, so many choices!
23:08: Ding ding ding - Mooooooooo!
A big thankyou to everyone who contributed to the Halloween "Buy a Waterbuffalo" fundraiser. We hit the goal of $250, enough to buy a Waterbuffalo for the Waterbuffaloless. As promised, Jenny and I kicked in the extra to make it two Waterbuffalos (Waterbuffali?).
Today is an important day for Jenny and I - the first anniversary of the day I proposed to her. In honour of the day, we decided to have a little tremblor... (not, not Rene'. And if you don't get that reference, you didn't watch enough "Carry On" films...)
It was about 8:00pm on Tuesday night, and I had just got home from work. I had read the mail, and headed into the Bathroom (The Rockstar Bathroom, for those who know the house). I started to pee, and shortly afterwards - the room started to shake! My first thougth was that the spin-dryer (which is just the other side of the bathroom wall) must be working really well - and then I realised that it was an Earthquake. And then, I was struck with a dilemma - in California, everyone is taught to "Duck and Cover" during an Earthquake, but the never teach you about "duck, cover'n'pee". My options were to calmly finish my business, or make an undignified dive for the nearest safe place. Well, to be honest, if I'm going to be trapped in a collapsing house during an Earthquake, I want to make sure I've finished peeing!
Anyway, I hurried things up as best I could, and by the time I'd finished, it was all over. A little 5.6'er, not bad (the earthquake, not the pee). No damage for us, although a pile of CDs fell over. At 5.6 there is probably a little damage around - and although Jenny's parents house is much closer to the epicenter than us, it seems the only damage there was a few paintings falling.
What a pity it wasn't tomorrow night, during trick-or-treat!
OK, I have to talk a little more about Duck'n'Cover - I don't care what they say, in a serious earthquake, I would much rather be inside instead of in a building. I am not suggesting that I would run outside in a blind panic, but I would definately try and get out of the building (if I wasn't busy peeing). I'm sure many people will tell me that this is exactly the wrong thing to do - but the whole "Duck'n'Cover" thing was started by the government, and in a major disaster, they are much more concerned with stopping panic than saving individuals. I am not suggesting that anyone else follows my earthquake plan (or any of my plans for that matter!), but just letting you know that if you see a Chris-shaped blur zooming past you, there is probably a pretty good reason!
Well, that was a cracking good Halloween party! THe decor was amazing, and I haven't seen the loungeroom full of dancers like that for several years. Thanks to all of those who came and made it a great night, and special thanks to the "late-night-Twister" crew! As usual, a few items of lost property (some scary gloves, a battery charger, and various costume pieces), please let us know if you are missing something.
Also, thanks to all of you who donated to the "Heifer Fund". The bad news is, we were a little short of our goal. I had aimed to raise $250, enough for one Waterbuffalo, with my personal pledge to donate enough for a second Waterbuffalo if we hit that goal. So close! We raised $210, just $40 short of our target. So, for any of you who missed out on donating - there is still time. Just email me and let me know. Come on, just $40 more, and I will buy a Waterbuffalo too!
10:54: Having fun, and doing good - live
As you all know, "Halloween at The Lounge" has been a regularly yearly event for a long time now. Jenny and I decided to try adding a little something extra this year, so we can "do some good", as well as having a horor-ble time! What's more, you can see it live here: Camera1 Camera2
We are dedicating this Halloween Party to the "Heifer Fund" (http://www.heifer.org). Its a charity fund with a difference - they have one clear and definate goal - to provide useable, productive livestock to those in need.
And what is better than one Water Buffalo? Yes, two! If we manage to raise over $250, then we will personally add another $250, to make the donation into two Water Buffalos. (I can just imagine the Monty-Python-esque scene where, due to a mix-up in shipping, two Water Buffalos turn up on our doorstep! :-> )
We will have an appropriately themed donation tin at the party. If you want a tax receipt, please include your name and address, and the amount you are donating. Needless to say, every penny that goes in the tin will be going directly to the Heifer fund. For those who aren't coming, but still want to donate - just drop us an email, and we'll work something out.
I don't really go to a lot of concerts, and most of the ones I have forked out for over the last few years have been Pink Floyd related - David Gilmour at the Paramount, Roger Waters at Shoreline, and so on. My dream, of course, is for the dudes to finally bury the hatchet (unintentional Cranberries reference there), and go on the road together. In the meantime, however, I guess I'll have to fill in with the odd Pink-Floyd Tribute band, and if there happens to be an Australian Connection, all the better.
So, I saw the tickets for the Australian Pink Floyd show come up. I had heard of them before, and so I figured, why not? It is Jenny's birthday in a few weeks, so as the show was up in San Francisco, I figured I'd turn it into a surprise birthday-trip. The concert was on a Sunday night, so I turned to good-old Priceline.com to find a nearby hotel. Honestly, for the sort of traveling I do, priceline is absolutely perfect! So, I threw in some details, made a stab at a price - and wound up with a room at the 4-star Stanford Court, just a block from the concert venue - for just $120 including tax. These rooms regularly go for $350+, so thats a pretty good deal...
Sunday rolled around, so we climbed into the Saleen, and headed off to San Francisco. We made it up in good time, threw the keys to the Vallet (Vallet-parking is a rip-off, but sometimes the extra convenience is worth it for just one night), and headed off for Brunch at "The Top of the Mark". This is the restaurant at the top of the Mark Hopkins International, right at the top of Nob Hill. It is reputed to have one of the best brunches around - and I have got to say, it was amazing! I mean, five flavours of caviar! That just gives you an idea of the sort of spread they put on. Jenny and I settled in at our table, tucked away in a corner with a view right out over the bay, the Golden Gate, and Alcatraz. The weather was being pleasantly co-operative, with just enough fog around to keep things interesting. No sooner had we sat down, than the Champane started to flow - and did so non-stop for the next two hours (although in their website, they say only one glass is included). The meal was just superb, and top prize goes to - the bacon! Yes, you all know I am a bacon aficionado, and this was definitely the best bacon I have had in a long time, helped on when it is wrapped around eggs benedict.
We finally managed to drag ourselves back to the hotel for the scheduled afternoon siesta, and then off to the concert. It was in the "Nob Hill Masonic Hall" - quite an interesting place, with lots of Dan-Brown-esque symbolism everywhere you turn. We had quite fantastic seats - right around the side of the stage, but just three rows back - I don't think there could have been a better place to watch from. The music was solid, and the shoo-op girls really shone in "Great Gig in the Sky". The concert was often accompanied by a video on the hallmark circular-screen behind the band, and although I found the computer-animations to be a little dated technically, they were a great compliment to the show. The first half was the entire "Dark Side of the Moon" Album, followed up by a second half of Greatest Hits - a little too heavy on "The Wall" content I thought, but hey, thats what the people seemed to want...
All in all, a great show. If Pink Floyd ever go on the road again, the chances of me being this close to the stage (or as close as I was when I saw them in Fremantle in the late 80's - right at the front) are slim.
After the concert, we dropped off at Tonga, an over-the-top Tiki-lounge in the Fairmont, and then back to our Hotel for a late-night room-service snack - Tattinger and strawberries to wrap up the evening. I orignally ordered "Perrier Jouet", and I was nervous because I realised that I wasn't sure if it was "Joo-ay" or "Joo-ett" - and I didn't wan't to mess up something important like that in a 4-star hotel. I needn't have worried - the room service waiter said they didn't have that one, would "Vervy Click-ott" do (Veuve Cliquot). That made me laugh, because he pronounced it exactly how my Dad always pronounces it (although my Dad does it on purpose of course...).
17:42: So what do I know?
Jenny and I settled in for movie-night on Tuesday. Movie of the week? 300... I had heard some mixed reports about it - I know that my gamer-buds had loved it, but I didn't reall know what to expect.
The movie kicked off, and I've got to admit it was balls-to-the-wall - 100% testosterone from the word go. Yet, something just wasn't grabbing me. They made a lot of use of that "slow-down/speed-up" filming technique, which might work for some people, but I just found it distracting. Even the beautiful scene with the half naked Oracle floating in the air just didn't seem to work. The accents were distracting too - as in "Marie Antoinette", they just used whatever accents the actors came with - so in the case of 300, we had a Scottish King, ans Australian Narrator. Again, its a choice, but another one that I find distracting.
After about 15 minutes, we gave up, and watched a good-old classic "The Charge of the Light Brigade" instead. But I wondered just why I had found 300 so poor...
I did a little research, and peer-revew wise (i.e. imdb and netflix), it rated extremely well. I had said "it looks like it was idrected by a 15 year old" - turns out it was directed by Jack Snyder, who is the same age as me, and did a great job of directing "Dawn of the Dead" (you may remember my blog about that one - some fantastic, almost film-noire moments).
So, I may just give 300 another try. Perhaps a copious quantity of alcohol beforehand might help? But I just have a feeling that, for whatever reason, this one just isn't going to grab me.
As any faithful blog-reader will tell you, I have had a few issues with wasp-stings over the years. These are kind of worrying, as I had a major allergic reaction to a bee sting back when I was 19. The wasp stings, however, just gave me a mild tingle and made me feel like crap for a while - so, in my ever-optimistic mind, I figured my body had learned to defend itself against whatever it was that I was allergic to in Hymenoptera. Tuns out, that was not quite the case....
So, I'm tooling along the freeway on "The Wasp", idly musing as I sometimes do about how this is a reasonably dangerous past-time, and being very careful and watchful zipping along in the car-pool lane next to the almost-stopped cars in the other lanes. I was on my way to a job interview, and I actually felt ill-prepared for it, as I had only found out about it that morning - so I was in motorcycle gear, unshaven, and not feeling particularly impressive.
Then I felt a smack on my neck, just under my jaw, and a sharp, burning pain. Oh-oh! I could tell by the feeling that this probably wasn't a wasp sting this time, and I was concerned about what would happen - but, determined to be tough, and hoping that it was either a wasp, or that I was now immune to beestings, I continued on to the high-tech companies office - I also figured that if I was going to have a reaction, that would be a better place to be than stuck on the side of 101.
I got there, and started the sign in procedures. I had just about forgotten about the sting, but then I had some troubles when it came to writing the date. Not a good sign! I told the receptionist what was going on, and asked him to call 911 as I sat down to try and control my suddenly racing heartbeat and breathing. Looks like we're in for another wild ride... I tried to make it to the bathroom to splash some water on my face, but then passed out just outside the bathroom door. Had some wonderful hallucinations while I was lying there, but unfortunately I can't remember them. I came to surrounded by paramedics, who shot me up with some Epinephrin and benadryl, and slapped me on a gurney for the ambulance ride to the hospital. Whatever they used wasn't as good as the Perth ambulance drivers - when I was 19, the ambulance ride was great fun, as I was high as a kite. This time, it just hurt, and then I started to get extremely cold and shivery. I have a feeling that was the Epinephrin, from what they said...
After a short lie-down in an ER room at El Camino Hospital, I was feeling much better, and they released me around 7:00pm, about 2 1/2 hours after the bee sting. I now feel like I am hung over, but without the fun of the party! So, I guess I have to start carrying around an "Epi-pen" again, although if I am going to get stung once every 20 years, thats going to be tough to discipline myself to. We were laughing about it in the emergency room - as you can imagine, they get a lot of motorcyclists in there, but rarely for bee stings! Plus, I was wearing full gear, and the bee managed to pick the one vulnerable spot - I guess we can rename "Achilles heel" to "Chris' Jaw". I wasn't wearing my scarf, but even that wouldn't have helped, as the bee must have been sucked upwards by the wind of the motorbike, and would have probably gone over the top of my scarf. Hard to say really - have I been hit by dozens of bees before, and just didn't notice? Or was the one that got through the only one?
Anyway, for any of you out there silly enough to ride your motorbikes in shorts and T-shirt, let me "bee" a cautionary tale!
Yup, I picked it! Santa Clara County has shut down all motor-sports activities, making it probably one of the least motor-sport friendly counties in California. THEN, they try to fool us all with a "San Jose Grand Prix".
Even before the first Grand Prix had started, I predicted a 3-year life span. And, Miss-San-Jose-Camel-Toe, aside:
21:18: Gremlins in the works
So, just as I thought I had all the kinks worked out of the wedcast, something messed up with the hosting company, and now the whole wedding website is down! I guess I should have forked out a bit more for the service with 24/7 tech support! Anyway, I'm working on my own fix, so hopefully I should have it all up an running again. If not, and you want to catch the wedcast, then please go directly to the ustream.tv site:
Its been a busy week - My parents arrived last Saturday, and on Monday morning - I started a new job! Thats always a tough time, but this is even tougher during this busy time - no internet access during the day! So, no email, blogs, etc. Also, I have to actually be in the office to work - i.e. no telecommuting, and I haven't had a job like that for a _long_ time (11 years at least). I am working at ST Microelectronics, surrounded by Italians. By Friday, I was getting up to speed with the job and making some good progress. I have a greater appreciation now for those poor souls who live the "cube-life" - I'd forgotten just how lucky I was to be able to telecommute! Anyway, this is a short-term contract (three months), so I can put up with anything for that long.
So, at 4:00pm today, I am going to run a test-transmission of the Webcast - we'll see if this stuff is actually going to work. I'll include a clock in the image, so you can all sync up time-wise. As far as I know, 4:30pm is 7:30am Sunday morning Perth time, and 00:30am Sunday morning UK time. You can find the wedcast here, or else on the ustream.tv website here. I hope this actually works!
One week to go! The final details are starting to fall into place, so fingers crossed for smooth sailing!
confused
cheerful
drunk
annoyed
rushed
lethargic
crazy