so sayeth cramer anyway.
First off i should say that i don't condone selling right now..well, not for everyone. I actually have been asked this a few times in the last week. I must spend too much time on bloomberg at work. For most people this fall shouldn't prompt mass selling but it truly depends on your situation. If there's money invested in equities that you may need in the next 5 years (for retirement, a house whatever) then i would sell and horde cash. Never invest what you can't afford to lose. However if you don't need the cash in the next 5 years then turn to history and realize that markets in the long run will continue to perform as long as business's continue to exist.
I however am a bit of a hypocrite (don't say anything mel) because i liquidated virtually all my equities about 5 months ago. I'm not gonna pretend i saw this coming ..not exactly anyway, but i knew that our economy wasn't sounds and the cheap money policies of Greenspan would catch up. Lucky me i suppose. For someone in my position (relatively young, long investment horizon) this kind of drop affords some opportunity to really find some bargains. I plan to keep my investment strategy exactly the same...find a solid company....selling at a cheap price...go in big...hold!!! From that standpoint if you are riding this out...it would be a good time to re-evaluate where your money is and make sure the companies you own are solid.
Start with these questions...
Why did i buy this company? (hint: "To make money is a BAD answer"..or rather, a very incomplete answer)
What's it's competitive advantage?
Who are it's competitors?
Can i trust it's management?
There's a million more worthwhile questions to add...but start with those.
It's best to try to look at investing as if you're buying the whole company. Why buy a little piece if you're not willing to buy the whole company? That would be speculation. And if you're willing to buy the whole thing, would you sell your company if it went up 5%? 10%? No, most likely you'd continue to grow it until you need to sell..not just because the market says it's worth a bit more.
A few of my favorite quotes and my take on them.....i wont cite sources cause I'm lazy
"Short term markets are voting machines, long term markets are weight machines. " i.e....buy for the long term. The real value will reveal itself over a long enough horizon.
"When there's blood on the street, buy". similar to "when others are greedy be fearful, when others are fearful be greedy" i.e. situations like today may present some real bargains.
In a strange twist this fall is having some unusual impact on muni bonds. watch their returns...
As for what to do with your cash right now? Again...do you need it in the next 3 months...5 years? You can put together a CD ladder and get about 25% over 5 years guaranteed. Even just sitting on cash isn't a bad idea. I'd be very concerned with buying and commodities or other assets right now due to the risk of deflation.
ok, enough preaching. i just find economics and investing fascinating.
On a lighter note, we'll be getting some visitors this weekend. Maw, paw, mo and bro will be coming out for a long weekend. The weather is looking pretty good for a nice fall weekend and i think we'll spend sometime outdoors here in lovely oakland county michigan.
Regarding my treatments....they are progressing as planned. They don't give me any real bad side effects, just some mild stomach issues and a little light headedness, but it passes quickly. This time of year it's tough to eat well too...there's just too many opportunities to eat badly! But if I learned one nothing from AntiCancer it's that eating well is critical to being healthy and fighting cancer.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
So i understand...
...the solution to falling asset values (i.e. home values) is for the government to step in and by securities that the bank's hold whose value is dropping? Why should we, the taxpayers, take on these assets? at what price? for how long? For every winner, there's losers. The government saves a few banks but at the cost of investing taxpayer dollars in overvalued assets. Not to mention that anyone shopping for houses right now is HOPING for falling prices.
It's also apparently irrelevant that we don't have 700billion to spend, i think our rainy day fund was tapped...who am i kidding, we don't have a rainy day fund. We'll have to borrow the 700 billion.
Brilliant
So this "bailout" passed the house wed night, but the dow fell about 300 pts. Maybe the "market" isn't so convinced on this bill after all.
Oh, and remember this gem?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Economic_Recovery_Act_of_2008
This took effect Oct. 1. This little piece of legislation (agree or disagree with it) has the potential to prop up home prices much more effectively then the new bill. But politicians and the media seem to have forgotten about this bill.
It's also apparently irrelevant that we don't have 700billion to spend, i think our rainy day fund was tapped...who am i kidding, we don't have a rainy day fund. We'll have to borrow the 700 billion.
Brilliant
So this "bailout" passed the house wed night, but the dow fell about 300 pts. Maybe the "market" isn't so convinced on this bill after all.
Oh, and remember this gem?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Economic_Recovery_Act_of_2008
This took effect Oct. 1. This little piece of legislation (agree or disagree with it) has the potential to prop up home prices much more effectively then the new bill. But politicians and the media seem to have forgotten about this bill.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I'm (kind of) done
That's right, last Tuesday i had my final high dose treatment. It's hard to believe a month went by so fast, but it did. Overall it really wasn't that bad, fatigue was my biggest issue. Much to the surprise of my doc's i worked half days through all this and i even managed to be somewhat productive at work. emphasis on somewhat....
Last Saturday i turned 29. I got probably the best birthday present I could have hoped for (aside from learning that my cancer is completely gone), i was invited by my (awesome) girlfriend to attend a wedding. Oh, but not just any wedding..a lesbian wedding. I met the two girls getting married (hehe) a few months ago and have been looking forward to this ever since. I don't have any pics right now, but as soon as i get copies i'll post a few. It was a great time. There was nothing too off the wall about it...there was a ceremony, reception, food, drinks, dancing etc...but what made it just that little bit funner was when i looked around the dance floor, it was at least 50% girls dancing with girls.
life is..not so bad. :)
Last Saturday i turned 29. I got probably the best birthday present I could have hoped for (aside from learning that my cancer is completely gone), i was invited by my (awesome) girlfriend to attend a wedding. Oh, but not just any wedding..a lesbian wedding. I met the two girls getting married (hehe) a few months ago and have been looking forward to this ever since. I don't have any pics right now, but as soon as i get copies i'll post a few. It was a great time. There was nothing too off the wall about it...there was a ceremony, reception, food, drinks, dancing etc...but what made it just that little bit funner was when i looked around the dance floor, it was at least 50% girls dancing with girls.
life is..not so bad. :)
Monday, September 08, 2008
Short update
I started my interferon treatments about 2 weeks ago. Each day i have to go down to the hospital and sit in a chair for about 45 minutes while a bag of interferon is pumped into me. After 2 weeks of shots my arms look like those of a crack addict! I've also got to take a handful of pills everyday, they're actually quite colorful. So much so that i thought i'd put a pic up so everyone reading this can see. The injection itself isn't too bad but the first few nights afterwards were pretty rough, i had severe flu like symptoms (fever, chills, cold sweats etc.) but lately it's been much, much better. If i had a month of nights like the first night, well, i don't know how i would've survived without alcohol. Thankfully though i'm halfway done with the high dosage portion of the treatment. After this the dosage goes way down and i only need to give myself a shot 3 times per week.
I put a few more boat pics up too. This things allot of fun. I don't really have a proper workshop to work in, but i've been able to contain the mess so far. Thank god mel brought a proper vacuum cleaner with her.
I put a few more boat pics up too. This things allot of fun. I don't really have a proper workshop to work in, but i've been able to contain the mess so far. Thank god mel brought a proper vacuum cleaner with her.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
An update
What can i say, my life just isn't that interesting. It's been almost a year since i left Europe and i think i've written 3 posts? and not even text posts...video posts!!! like i said..not much going on.
Until now...
On June 23 i found out i have cancer. Stage III Metastatic Melanoma to be exact. I found a lump in my groin. After realizing that it wouldn't just go away on it's own i got it checked out and lo and behold...it IS a tumor (in my best Arnold accent). My first reaction was to google all the info i could find. Unfortunately the internet can be dangerous in these situations and needless to say the first few weeks were pretty tough. My online search told me that stage 3 is one stop short of Stage 4 (naturally) which is incurable. Melanoma, despite being “just” skin cancer turns out to be a pretty nasty disease, the survival rates are scary (no need to rehash them here...just take my word for it).
I was torn about whether to write about this or not. On the one hand, it's a private thing and I'm a pretty private person..why broadcast this to the world. But on the other hand, this is going to have drastic impact on the next year of my life...in fact the rest of my life...and writing about it is kind of therapeutic. Even if no-one's reading this any more.
So where am i now on all this? What's the status? Well, after 2 biopsies, 1 colonoscopy (NOT COOL), 1 PET scan, 1 body MRI, 1 Brain MRI, a bone scan and a lymph node dissection i can proudly say that i'm cancer free....maybe. The last one on that list, the lymph node dissection was the culmination of all the other tests and involved cutting out 10 lymph nodes from my groin. I had (as of last tuesday) about 12 inches of stitches and 2 JP drains coming out of my legs. In addition i had to be on crutches and couldn't drive for the last few weeks. Luckily though i had some great pain killers! Not a fun way to spend 4 weeks of summer but they cut out the offending tissue...so i got that goin for me.
Thus far i think the recovery's gone quite well. I've never been under the knife for anything so this was a very new experience for me. The fatigue, pain and overall uncomfortableness (is that a word) were pretty intense in the beginning but it's improved every day to the point where I'm completely off the crutches and painkillers, the stitches are out and both drains are out. I drove my car last friday for the first time in 4 and a half weeks. SWEET FREEDOM!!!
That's the first half of the treatment. Now comes the immunotherapy part. 4 weeks, 5days per week 1 hr per day of IV interferon followed by 1 year of self administered interferon. This might get rough. I won't run through all the boring details but this stuff has a tendency to really knock people on their ass. I'm hoping to work as much as i can through this. In fact i worked last Friday, yesterday and today! albeit partial days, but i need this to get some sanity back in my life.
So that's my story. It's been a tough couple of months but luckily i've had some incredible help and support from my family and of course Mel. I can't imagine trying to do this alone and thankfully...i don't need to. It felt good to write it down and hopefully it wasn't too bad on the reading side. I'm not sure how much i'll write in the next few months, particularly if the interferon (immunotherapy) hits me hard, but i'll try.
On the plus side, here's a few “silver lining's” that i like to focus on
-i'll probably lose some weight
-i get a handicap parking pass
-i didn't drive for a month..i.e i probably wont be over on my lease
-i got a nice boat model to build as a gift
-i didn't have to work for nearly 5 weeks, but still got paid!
Oh, the boat model. Odd thing to throw in there right? Well one of my dive buddy's back home was nice enough to donate a really cool Chris Craft model to the “help occupy corrigan during his boring 4 weeks off” fund. Donations are tax deductible people.
Here are a few pics.
It's not done yet, but it's been allot of fun and i'll throw some more pics on as i move forward.
Until now...
On June 23 i found out i have cancer. Stage III Metastatic Melanoma to be exact. I found a lump in my groin. After realizing that it wouldn't just go away on it's own i got it checked out and lo and behold...it IS a tumor (in my best Arnold accent). My first reaction was to google all the info i could find. Unfortunately the internet can be dangerous in these situations and needless to say the first few weeks were pretty tough. My online search told me that stage 3 is one stop short of Stage 4 (naturally) which is incurable. Melanoma, despite being “just” skin cancer turns out to be a pretty nasty disease, the survival rates are scary (no need to rehash them here...just take my word for it).
I was torn about whether to write about this or not. On the one hand, it's a private thing and I'm a pretty private person..why broadcast this to the world. But on the other hand, this is going to have drastic impact on the next year of my life...in fact the rest of my life...and writing about it is kind of therapeutic. Even if no-one's reading this any more.
So where am i now on all this? What's the status? Well, after 2 biopsies, 1 colonoscopy (NOT COOL), 1 PET scan, 1 body MRI, 1 Brain MRI, a bone scan and a lymph node dissection i can proudly say that i'm cancer free....maybe. The last one on that list, the lymph node dissection was the culmination of all the other tests and involved cutting out 10 lymph nodes from my groin. I had (as of last tuesday) about 12 inches of stitches and 2 JP drains coming out of my legs. In addition i had to be on crutches and couldn't drive for the last few weeks. Luckily though i had some great pain killers! Not a fun way to spend 4 weeks of summer but they cut out the offending tissue...so i got that goin for me.
Thus far i think the recovery's gone quite well. I've never been under the knife for anything so this was a very new experience for me. The fatigue, pain and overall uncomfortableness (is that a word) were pretty intense in the beginning but it's improved every day to the point where I'm completely off the crutches and painkillers, the stitches are out and both drains are out. I drove my car last friday for the first time in 4 and a half weeks. SWEET FREEDOM!!!
That's the first half of the treatment. Now comes the immunotherapy part. 4 weeks, 5days per week 1 hr per day of IV interferon followed by 1 year of self administered interferon. This might get rough. I won't run through all the boring details but this stuff has a tendency to really knock people on their ass. I'm hoping to work as much as i can through this. In fact i worked last Friday, yesterday and today! albeit partial days, but i need this to get some sanity back in my life.
So that's my story. It's been a tough couple of months but luckily i've had some incredible help and support from my family and of course Mel. I can't imagine trying to do this alone and thankfully...i don't need to. It felt good to write it down and hopefully it wasn't too bad on the reading side. I'm not sure how much i'll write in the next few months, particularly if the interferon (immunotherapy) hits me hard, but i'll try.
On the plus side, here's a few “silver lining's” that i like to focus on
-i'll probably lose some weight
-i get a handicap parking pass
-i didn't drive for a month..i.e i probably wont be over on my lease
-i got a nice boat model to build as a gift
-i didn't have to work for nearly 5 weeks, but still got paid!
Oh, the boat model. Odd thing to throw in there right? Well one of my dive buddy's back home was nice enough to donate a really cool Chris Craft model to the “help occupy corrigan during his boring 4 weeks off” fund. Donations are tax deductible people.
Here are a few pics.
 |
| Chris Craft Model |
It's not done yet, but it's been allot of fun and i'll throw some more pics on as i move forward.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Election fun..
With Spitzer and Kilpatick doing such a bang up job gathering support for the democrat's this election season, i thought i'd share this youtube video to do my part.
Good stuff
Good stuff
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
to blog or not to blog...
that is the question. I didn't write that, it's a slightly modified version of something in a play by some dead guy.
In case i isn't obvious to those who've seen me i made it back from australia alive. I had a great 2 month vacation and in fact made it back to the states just in time to take another 2 weeks off. I don't know what all these unemployed people are complaining about. I loved it. But it had to end eventually and i started work back up here in MI in early January. I'm here and working like i never left. The natural question is whether to keep this thing up since i'm not technically at large anymore (at least in the national sense)...truth be told i don't know if i will or not. Depending on my motivational level it may become more of a photoboard..but we'll see. to kick it off i'll throw up a few pics of my new apartment in the gut of pontiac and also some from my upcoming beer pong tournament. 16 teams..but in the end, there can be only one.
In case i isn't obvious to those who've seen me i made it back from australia alive. I had a great 2 month vacation and in fact made it back to the states just in time to take another 2 weeks off. I don't know what all these unemployed people are complaining about. I loved it. But it had to end eventually and i started work back up here in MI in early January. I'm here and working like i never left. The natural question is whether to keep this thing up since i'm not technically at large anymore (at least in the national sense)...truth be told i don't know if i will or not. Depending on my motivational level it may become more of a photoboard..but we'll see. to kick it off i'll throw up a few pics of my new apartment in the gut of pontiac and also some from my upcoming beer pong tournament. 16 teams..but in the end, there can be only one.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
...a few more
Got some good questions, so continuing on....
Does the water in a flushed toilet really spin the other way?
YUP! incredible..i've been trying to get a video of it but its tough. particularly because i usually only remember after using the toilet and that would not make for a very good video.
Whats the food like?
Pretty good, but nothing special. Naturally there's a large asian influence on the restaurants but aside from that there's nothing reall much to brag about. Due to the historical link to Britian who are most assuradly not known for their culinary prowess the only thing that the Australians could really claim as “local” would be their meat pies and sausage rolls.
What is the rough route for your trip, how long is it?
We drove from Melbourne to Cairns. We covered about 6500 Km's over 6 weeks. It sounds like allot, but i never really felt rushed. We saw allot and were even able to continue further north from cairns to port douglas and thr Daintree rainforest since we got to cairns a few days before we needed to be there. Point of interest...The daintree is where paved roads ended and dirt roads continue on. Without a 4wd its not possible to make it any further.
How did you get that much time off?
hmm...how to answer. I'd like to say that i took a leave of absence but the more correct term would be i was unemployed. Who needs work anyway.
Here's a few more pics.
Next up, the lightning round. off to the dive boat!!
Does the water in a flushed toilet really spin the other way?
YUP! incredible..i've been trying to get a video of it but its tough. particularly because i usually only remember after using the toilet and that would not make for a very good video.
Whats the food like?
Pretty good, but nothing special. Naturally there's a large asian influence on the restaurants but aside from that there's nothing reall much to brag about. Due to the historical link to Britian who are most assuradly not known for their culinary prowess the only thing that the Australians could really claim as “local” would be their meat pies and sausage rolls.
What is the rough route for your trip, how long is it?
We drove from Melbourne to Cairns. We covered about 6500 Km's over 6 weeks. It sounds like allot, but i never really felt rushed. We saw allot and were even able to continue further north from cairns to port douglas and thr Daintree rainforest since we got to cairns a few days before we needed to be there. Point of interest...The daintree is where paved roads ended and dirt roads continue on. Without a 4wd its not possible to make it any further.
How did you get that much time off?
hmm...how to answer. I'd like to say that i took a leave of absence but the more correct term would be i was unemployed. Who needs work anyway.
Here's a few more pics.
 |
| 2007 11 Australia 2 |
Next up, the lightning round. off to the dive boat!!
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Q and A
Greetings from the Whitsunday's. As time marches on down under i thought that rather then giving a play by play of the trip i'd attempt to answer some questions about the country I'm in and the journey I'm on. These are questions that either have been asked, might be asked or just popped into my head while writing this. Here we go., the first installment.....
1-Where is Australia?
Just south of california. Actually, its a bit further than that. I found myself setting foot on Australian soil after 3 flights and nearly 24hrs of flying. The 3 flights took me from JFK in New York to LAX in California, then on to Sydney where, despite being in Australia, i had another 2 hr flight to get to Melbourne. Once in Melbourne i was finally at my kicking off point. That's where Bonnie picked me up from the Airport.
2-How big is Australia?
It's pretty big. Not Texas big, but big. Actually, Australia is the only country that is also a continent. Size-wise it's about the size of the entire US (excluding Alaska). However Australia contains only about 20 million people. If you compare that to the app. 300 million living in the US, Australia is roughly 1/15 as populated. Feel free to check my math on that one. Of those 20 million nearly all are concentrated on the east coast and a few spots on the west coast.
3-What language do they speak in Australia?
Ask any Australian what they speak and they will no doubt answer “English!” but don't let them fool you. They speak English in the same way that people from the UK speak English..that is, a very strange cousin of proper American english. Here's a few choice words translated from Australian to American English.
hotel – usually means bar or pub. sometimes it also means hotel though.
how ya goin – how are you
bottle shop – place to buy alcohol
ute – strange el camino like vehicle that is very popular
pissed – drunk, as in “last night i got pissed”. note: can also be used in a negative tone as in piss off...i.e. f*ck off
bugger – i'm still trying to decide exactly what this one means.
cheers - goodbye. or cheers.
Boot – trunk
i'm sure i missed 1 or 2..or more
4-What currency do they use?
Australians use a mixture of kangaroo heads and boomerangs as currency. Although it can be difficult to store and transport this sort of currency, it makes quite a bit of sense when you consider that kangaroo heads can be eaten if lost in the outback and boomerangs can be used to solve any disputes, should they arise.
In truth, the Australian dollar (where'd they get that name...friggin thiefs) is quite stable and normally sits very close to 1:1 with the American dollar. The currency itself though is quite interesting. The coins range in size from 0.10 up to 2 AUD (Australian Dollars) and decrease in size the more they are worth. The paper money is actually not paper at all but some sort of super plastic type material that is both waterproof and tearproof. I know..i tried. It is not however microwave proof which we were informed of by a teller in Echuca. Nuke it, and it shrinks and shrivels. He of course did not learn this first hand, but merely relayed it on to us from an unnamed source.
Speaking of money, Bonnie and i did attempt to visit the mint in Canberra. With visions of giant stamping machines and billions in coins at our fingertips we thought it would be a neat experience. Unfortunately it was rather lame, the highlight being the souvenir 1 dollar coin you could make by pumping in 2.50.
Brilliant.
6-Are things generally expensive there?
In short, yes. Over long periods of time one of the best measures of the relative costs of living and value of a currency was the cost of bread. More recently other commodities have been used such as a McDonald's Big Mac. I on the other hand like to use the cost of a beer. As this is something i plan to buy where ever i go i am very sensitive to the price parities between locations when sourcing a beer. By this measure Australia is very expensive. Figure on 7-10 AUD for a beer at a bar. It is true that tipping here is not quite on par with the states but that still does not account for the entire difference.
7-Any thoughts on the Australian Government?
I don't understand it, and don't really care to. It's a strange system similar to that of the UK but with allot more yelling and funny words. I didn't think that it was even possible to be stranger than the UK parliment, until i came here. The names of the parties are switched when compared to America, meaning a conservative in the states would be a liberal down under, but since we're south of the equator that makes sense. They happened to be holding elections while we were here and as an interesting side note..voting in Australia is 100% mandatory. If you don't vote you must pay a fine.
Despite their insane government and ridiculous income tax (as much as 47% i've been told) most australians seem to have an odd fondness for their government. I can understand this though, they do live a pretty good life down here..good infrastructure, anything you could want is readily available... The biggest problem seems to be the ongoing struggle with the aboriginee's. No easy answer on that one.
8-Did you go to the outback?
Yes. No. Well, i'm not really sure. There are no signs that inform you when you are entering or in the outback. But since we drove behind allot of people's houses and will cover about 5000km this trip, i have to imagine we will be or have been in the outback at least once.
9-Did you see Kangaroo's?
Yup. Even ate them..twice. We saw wild Kangaroo's at pebbly beach and then again when we went to the Australia Zoo (otherwise known as the Steve Irwin Zoo..go ahead, say it...CRIKEY!!). Petting them was interesting, the zoo has two large enclosures where they roam free and anyone is free to approach any animal and try to feed it, pet it, ride it..whatever. Well, maybe not ride it. I dont think something like this would work in the states because the zoo would be too worried about lawsuits. But down under if you were to try to sue the zoo, they would drag you over to the croc pits and settle the case early.
9B-But what does a kangaroo taste like?
Well quite good actually. it's very tender. Now before you start crying a tear or swearing about the cruelty of eating such a unique creature, understand the kangaroo's here are much like deer in the US. They're all over and often times a nuisance. We had no trouble buying Kangaroo steaks and got no funny looks when discussing eating them with other Australians. They are so plentiful in fact that the camper company we rented from informed us that we should not drive after 6pm due to the abundance of kangaroo's crossing the roadways. There was even a friendly little reminder on the speedometer in the form of a sticker that said “Kangaroo's, RUN THE FUCKERS DOWN”. I'm serious.
10-Do Australian's have small hands and smell like cabbage?
Nope, that;s gypsies.
and some people from Virginia.
11-Do Australian's drive on the right side of the road?
No, they drive on the wrong side of the road. Har har. Seriously though, they drive on the left which does take a little getting used to, particularly in the very abundant roundabouts. I was reminded of this fact this morning while leaving Hervey bay, i entered a roundabout and went right...i quickly realized my error as did some oncoming drivers. Much to my surprised and delight though they did not react like most americans would with that of a 1 fingered salute and shouted obscenity, we merely got a wave and a loud “Americans!”.
And thus ends the first installment of me answering questions that i posed to myself on the country i'm in. I've got a few more typed out but feel free to post some and i'll answer them to the best of my ability. When said ability is not good enough..i'll just make something up.
Last but not least..a few more pics.
Off for a boat tour of the islands...
Cheers!
1-Where is Australia?
Just south of california. Actually, its a bit further than that. I found myself setting foot on Australian soil after 3 flights and nearly 24hrs of flying. The 3 flights took me from JFK in New York to LAX in California, then on to Sydney where, despite being in Australia, i had another 2 hr flight to get to Melbourne. Once in Melbourne i was finally at my kicking off point. That's where Bonnie picked me up from the Airport.
2-How big is Australia?
It's pretty big. Not Texas big, but big. Actually, Australia is the only country that is also a continent. Size-wise it's about the size of the entire US (excluding Alaska). However Australia contains only about 20 million people. If you compare that to the app. 300 million living in the US, Australia is roughly 1/15 as populated. Feel free to check my math on that one. Of those 20 million nearly all are concentrated on the east coast and a few spots on the west coast.
3-What language do they speak in Australia?
Ask any Australian what they speak and they will no doubt answer “English!” but don't let them fool you. They speak English in the same way that people from the UK speak English..that is, a very strange cousin of proper American english. Here's a few choice words translated from Australian to American English.
hotel – usually means bar or pub. sometimes it also means hotel though.
how ya goin – how are you
bottle shop – place to buy alcohol
ute – strange el camino like vehicle that is very popular
pissed – drunk, as in “last night i got pissed”. note: can also be used in a negative tone as in piss off...i.e. f*ck off
bugger – i'm still trying to decide exactly what this one means.
cheers - goodbye. or cheers.
Boot – trunk
i'm sure i missed 1 or 2..or more
4-What currency do they use?
Australians use a mixture of kangaroo heads and boomerangs as currency. Although it can be difficult to store and transport this sort of currency, it makes quite a bit of sense when you consider that kangaroo heads can be eaten if lost in the outback and boomerangs can be used to solve any disputes, should they arise.
In truth, the Australian dollar (where'd they get that name...friggin thiefs) is quite stable and normally sits very close to 1:1 with the American dollar. The currency itself though is quite interesting. The coins range in size from 0.10 up to 2 AUD (Australian Dollars) and decrease in size the more they are worth. The paper money is actually not paper at all but some sort of super plastic type material that is both waterproof and tearproof. I know..i tried. It is not however microwave proof which we were informed of by a teller in Echuca. Nuke it, and it shrinks and shrivels. He of course did not learn this first hand, but merely relayed it on to us from an unnamed source.
Speaking of money, Bonnie and i did attempt to visit the mint in Canberra. With visions of giant stamping machines and billions in coins at our fingertips we thought it would be a neat experience. Unfortunately it was rather lame, the highlight being the souvenir 1 dollar coin you could make by pumping in 2.50.
Brilliant.
6-Are things generally expensive there?
In short, yes. Over long periods of time one of the best measures of the relative costs of living and value of a currency was the cost of bread. More recently other commodities have been used such as a McDonald's Big Mac. I on the other hand like to use the cost of a beer. As this is something i plan to buy where ever i go i am very sensitive to the price parities between locations when sourcing a beer. By this measure Australia is very expensive. Figure on 7-10 AUD for a beer at a bar. It is true that tipping here is not quite on par with the states but that still does not account for the entire difference.
7-Any thoughts on the Australian Government?
I don't understand it, and don't really care to. It's a strange system similar to that of the UK but with allot more yelling and funny words. I didn't think that it was even possible to be stranger than the UK parliment, until i came here. The names of the parties are switched when compared to America, meaning a conservative in the states would be a liberal down under, but since we're south of the equator that makes sense. They happened to be holding elections while we were here and as an interesting side note..voting in Australia is 100% mandatory. If you don't vote you must pay a fine.
Despite their insane government and ridiculous income tax (as much as 47% i've been told) most australians seem to have an odd fondness for their government. I can understand this though, they do live a pretty good life down here..good infrastructure, anything you could want is readily available... The biggest problem seems to be the ongoing struggle with the aboriginee's. No easy answer on that one.
8-Did you go to the outback?
Yes. No. Well, i'm not really sure. There are no signs that inform you when you are entering or in the outback. But since we drove behind allot of people's houses and will cover about 5000km this trip, i have to imagine we will be or have been in the outback at least once.
9-Did you see Kangaroo's?
Yup. Even ate them..twice. We saw wild Kangaroo's at pebbly beach and then again when we went to the Australia Zoo (otherwise known as the Steve Irwin Zoo..go ahead, say it...CRIKEY!!). Petting them was interesting, the zoo has two large enclosures where they roam free and anyone is free to approach any animal and try to feed it, pet it, ride it..whatever. Well, maybe not ride it. I dont think something like this would work in the states because the zoo would be too worried about lawsuits. But down under if you were to try to sue the zoo, they would drag you over to the croc pits and settle the case early.
9B-But what does a kangaroo taste like?
Well quite good actually. it's very tender. Now before you start crying a tear or swearing about the cruelty of eating such a unique creature, understand the kangaroo's here are much like deer in the US. They're all over and often times a nuisance. We had no trouble buying Kangaroo steaks and got no funny looks when discussing eating them with other Australians. They are so plentiful in fact that the camper company we rented from informed us that we should not drive after 6pm due to the abundance of kangaroo's crossing the roadways. There was even a friendly little reminder on the speedometer in the form of a sticker that said “Kangaroo's, RUN THE FUCKERS DOWN”. I'm serious.
10-Do Australian's have small hands and smell like cabbage?
Nope, that;s gypsies.
and some people from Virginia.
11-Do Australian's drive on the right side of the road?
No, they drive on the wrong side of the road. Har har. Seriously though, they drive on the left which does take a little getting used to, particularly in the very abundant roundabouts. I was reminded of this fact this morning while leaving Hervey bay, i entered a roundabout and went right...i quickly realized my error as did some oncoming drivers. Much to my surprised and delight though they did not react like most americans would with that of a 1 fingered salute and shouted obscenity, we merely got a wave and a loud “Americans!”.
And thus ends the first installment of me answering questions that i posed to myself on the country i'm in. I've got a few more typed out but feel free to post some and i'll answer them to the best of my ability. When said ability is not good enough..i'll just make something up.
Last but not least..a few more pics.
 |
| 2007 11 Australia |
Off for a boat tour of the islands...
Cheers!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
blogging sucks
I brought my computer with me having good intentions to blog and post pics from the road. But so far i've found that i have 0 motivation to do so..not when there's beaches, bars and so much to do. But here's the quick update...I'm writing this from Brisbane. Thats about 3400Km's into the journey. Our route was roughly as follows.
Melbourne to Echuca
Echuca to Gundagai
Gundagai to Canberra
Canberra to Pebbly Beach
Pebbly Beach to Sydney
Sydney to Port Macquire
Port Macquire to Byron Bay
Bryon Bay to Burleigh Heads
Burleigh Heads to Brisbane
That route wasn't planned, we just grabbed a map and pointed the wicked camper north.
more to come...
Melbourne to Echuca
Echuca to Gundagai
Gundagai to Canberra
Canberra to Pebbly Beach
Pebbly Beach to Sydney
Sydney to Port Macquire
Port Macquire to Byron Bay
Bryon Bay to Burleigh Heads
Burleigh Heads to Brisbane
That route wasn't planned, we just grabbed a map and pointed the wicked camper north.
more to come...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Greetings from the future
After a short stay over in NY i flew down under last week. It takes around 24 hrs of flying to get here and you not only gain 16hrs time wise but you cross the international dateline. Therefore, as i write this..it is currently 5:23 PM EST Saturday and 9:23 AM Sunday in Melbourne. So as i said, greetings from the future! Much has happened in the last 16hrs, Hillary dropped out of the campaign, Al Gore finally admitted he's an idiot and i won the lottery in 3 different countries. Things are good.
Here are a few pics from our hike in NY (Cascade and Porter) and the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. We pickup the camper tomorrow. More to come..
Here are a few pics from our hike in NY (Cascade and Porter) and the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. We pickup the camper tomorrow. More to come..
 |
| 2007 11 Porter & Cascade Hike |
 |
| 2007 11-09 Otway Fly and Great Ocean Road |
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
What a looong, strange trip its been.
The curtains are closing, the lights dimming, troops of janitors are lined up to swoop in and clean up dropped popcorn and spilt mike and ikes…yes folks this show is coming to an end.
I was trying to think of a song that would sum things up…Truckin’ came to mind but only because of the “long strange trip” line. Then it occurred to me..”The Final Countdown” by none other than “Europe”. In reality I think the song had something to do with the end of communism, the wall coming down, nuclear disarmament..something unimportant like that. They were one hit wonders though so I don’t think they’ll mind if I hijack it for my purposes and get some more miles out of it. So here you go..
Two years overseas was a great experience that I would gladly do over again and highly recommend to anyone with the opportunity. The people you’ll meet, the places you’ll see, the new cultures you’ll be exposed to and so many other things will remain with you for life. Before I left I made a list of things that I had to do while I was over here. I’m sad to report that I didn’t make it through more than 25% of the list. But I wrote that list from a naïve position and looking back I had far better experiences then I could have ever planned for or thought of. Besides, that just leaves me with a ready made list of things to see and do when I come back. Speaking of which I have an interview in Germany next week…maybe this little European vacation will be extended. If I have to do it over again I want to find a better location. This area has allot of positivies, but It would’ve been nice to be in a bigger city with more people. My move from Liechtenstein to Switzerland last year was a big improvement but it would’ve been even better to live in a proper sized city like Zurich or Vienna. Maybe next time.
My last 2 weeks have been occupied by selling furniture, filing my taxes, and having one last beer with anyone thats up for it. We're starting to get snow here but unfortunately i wont be able to ski before leaving.
So what am I taking away from all this? Well, a bit of German language skills, a hell of a lot of great photo’s, some new friends, a new found appreciation and respect for what we have in America, a deeper loathing for the IRS and a bad case of crabs. Just kidding on the last one. But seriously……
America, here i come.
I was trying to think of a song that would sum things up…Truckin’ came to mind but only because of the “long strange trip” line. Then it occurred to me..”The Final Countdown” by none other than “Europe”. In reality I think the song had something to do with the end of communism, the wall coming down, nuclear disarmament..something unimportant like that. They were one hit wonders though so I don’t think they’ll mind if I hijack it for my purposes and get some more miles out of it. So here you go..
Two years overseas was a great experience that I would gladly do over again and highly recommend to anyone with the opportunity. The people you’ll meet, the places you’ll see, the new cultures you’ll be exposed to and so many other things will remain with you for life. Before I left I made a list of things that I had to do while I was over here. I’m sad to report that I didn’t make it through more than 25% of the list. But I wrote that list from a naïve position and looking back I had far better experiences then I could have ever planned for or thought of. Besides, that just leaves me with a ready made list of things to see and do when I come back. Speaking of which I have an interview in Germany next week…maybe this little European vacation will be extended. If I have to do it over again I want to find a better location. This area has allot of positivies, but It would’ve been nice to be in a bigger city with more people. My move from Liechtenstein to Switzerland last year was a big improvement but it would’ve been even better to live in a proper sized city like Zurich or Vienna. Maybe next time.
My last 2 weeks have been occupied by selling furniture, filing my taxes, and having one last beer with anyone thats up for it. We're starting to get snow here but unfortunately i wont be able to ski before leaving.
So what am I taking away from all this? Well, a bit of German language skills, a hell of a lot of great photo’s, some new friends, a new found appreciation and respect for what we have in America, a deeper loathing for the IRS and a bad case of crabs. Just kidding on the last one. But seriously……
America, here i come.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Oktoberfest!!!
-The stakes are high.
If I said we'd been preparing our whole life for this that would not be far from the truth. However in truth the more focused intense training had only recently begun.
Technique was studied.
Previous champions were benchmarked.
Tests were made, results analyzed and the tests remade.
Endurance and brute strength pushed to the limit.
An athlete(s) was born.
A level of perfection was achieved never before seen in those hallowed halls.
-A place where the few carry the hopes and dreams of the many.
With the weight of the world our shoulders we entered the arena. Under the watchful eyes of millions the sweat poured out of us. In times like these a man either rises to the occasion or is crushed under defeat and driven into the deep recesses of a suicidal depression. Failure is not an option.
-The competition is intense.
Competitors from all over the world converge for this special event. Some with years or even decades of experience thrill at the defeat of newcomers. They eat the newbies for breakfast, lunch, dinner and never look back.
Only the best can enter and only the best of the best achieve greatness.
Champions are immortalized in the memories, in the photos and on the mugs of countless observers. The losers are forgotten, often left to wallow in their own spinning, dizzy, puke covered hungover worlds, never to recover physically or emotionally. Defeat will haunt them to their grave and often beyond.
I speak of course…of Oktoberfest.
Unlike Hollywood’s polished, pre packaged for the masses version of this life and death event, the actual is much closer to that eternally classic movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
Two men enter.
One man leaves.
Or in this case...4 men entered....4 men left. Most of the time. We all survived but our livers (and perhaps reputations) may never recover.
Here's the official website.
www.oktoberfest.de
With only 3 weeks left this vacation came at a great time. 3 buddies from the states flew over. I picked them up from the airport and after hitting the hotel (who's rooms did NOT look anything like what they did on the net) it was off to the festival. I'd like to tell all sorts of funny stories...but i dont remember most. just going through the pics is tripping my memory on allot of whats happened. Therefore, here are some visual aids to better portray the experience that is oktoberfest. Darian couldn't figure out how to make his pics smaller which is too bad because he got some of the best ones...but i only have so much space for uploading!
Start training now folks....gotta make reservations for next year before christmas!! This is a MUST visit spot for anyone..young or old there is something for everyone to do and enjoy.
Pics from Sunday
Pics from Monday
Pics from Tuesday
Pics from Wednsday
I can only share pics from the first half of the day. Pics from the second half...well, for those in the know you'll have to ask one of us that was here. What happens at oktoberfest, stays at oktoberfest.
Pics from Thursday
Pics from Friday
and thats all she wrote!
If I said we'd been preparing our whole life for this that would not be far from the truth. However in truth the more focused intense training had only recently begun.
Technique was studied.
Previous champions were benchmarked.
Tests were made, results analyzed and the tests remade.
Endurance and brute strength pushed to the limit.
An athlete(s) was born.
A level of perfection was achieved never before seen in those hallowed halls.
-A place where the few carry the hopes and dreams of the many.
With the weight of the world our shoulders we entered the arena. Under the watchful eyes of millions the sweat poured out of us. In times like these a man either rises to the occasion or is crushed under defeat and driven into the deep recesses of a suicidal depression. Failure is not an option.
-The competition is intense.
Competitors from all over the world converge for this special event. Some with years or even decades of experience thrill at the defeat of newcomers. They eat the newbies for breakfast, lunch, dinner and never look back.
Only the best can enter and only the best of the best achieve greatness.
Champions are immortalized in the memories, in the photos and on the mugs of countless observers. The losers are forgotten, often left to wallow in their own spinning, dizzy, puke covered hungover worlds, never to recover physically or emotionally. Defeat will haunt them to their grave and often beyond.
I speak of course…of Oktoberfest.
Unlike Hollywood’s polished, pre packaged for the masses version of this life and death event, the actual is much closer to that eternally classic movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
Two men enter.
One man leaves.
Or in this case...4 men entered....4 men left. Most of the time. We all survived but our livers (and perhaps reputations) may never recover.
Here's the official website.
www.oktoberfest.de
With only 3 weeks left this vacation came at a great time. 3 buddies from the states flew over. I picked them up from the airport and after hitting the hotel (who's rooms did NOT look anything like what they did on the net) it was off to the festival. I'd like to tell all sorts of funny stories...but i dont remember most. just going through the pics is tripping my memory on allot of whats happened. Therefore, here are some visual aids to better portray the experience that is oktoberfest. Darian couldn't figure out how to make his pics smaller which is too bad because he got some of the best ones...but i only have so much space for uploading!
Start training now folks....gotta make reservations for next year before christmas!! This is a MUST visit spot for anyone..young or old there is something for everyone to do and enjoy.
Pics from Sunday
 |
| 1 Sunday Octoberfes |
Pics from Monday
 |
| 2 Monday (not monay) Octoberfes |
Pics from Tuesday
 |
| 3 Tuesday Oktoberfes |
Pics from Wednsday
 |
| 4 Wednsday Oktoberfes |
I can only share pics from the first half of the day. Pics from the second half...well, for those in the know you'll have to ask one of us that was here. What happens at oktoberfest, stays at oktoberfest.
Pics from Thursday
 |
| 5 Thursday Oktoberfes |
Pics from Friday
 |
| 6 Friday Oktoberfes |
and thats all she wrote!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Misc..
I'm heading to oktoberfest sunday AM...here are a few pics i recently got that are helping to keep me motivated. Of course liters of beer and chicken is a pretty good reason too.
I ran across this picture on bloomberg the other day. I now dub thee....hitlary.
I ran across this picture on bloomberg the other day. I now dub thee....hitlary.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Victory By Design
A while back Speed had a series called "Victory By Design". The NY times described it as car pornography..and i cant agree more. Courtesy of youtube, here's a sample.
I ran across this to. It's amazing how close instanity and genius are.
I love youtube.
I ran across this to. It's amazing how close instanity and genius are.
I love youtube.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Canyoning
I headed to interlaken last weekend with a few friends to try canyoning. Here are some photos along with a few from the Jungfrau. Great weekend.
The canyoning site
http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/en/summer/canyoning/
....and if you need to waste massive amounts of time at work, download google earth and hit ctrl+alt+a. This will bring you to the flight simulator. its a blast!
 |
| 2007 08 Canyoning |
The canyoning site
http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/en/summer/canyoning/
....and if you need to waste massive amounts of time at work, download google earth and hit ctrl+alt+a. This will bring you to the flight simulator. its a blast!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Europe fights back
This weekend started out with so much potential. Friday night i went to a fashion show with a few friends. Now wait, before you pass judgement let me give you a few more details. It was...
Outdoor
with multiple beer tents
and with live music
Pretty good right? Oh, and did i mention it was a lingerie show? Right..,,that's probably the most important part. Live music, beer, good weather and hot girls in lingerie. Now that's what i call a good start to a weekend. Despite my best efforts though none of the models believed i was Hugh Heffner's European talent scout. Crazy, right?
After a very fun friday night i woke up early to go visit Ferrari in Italy. I knew it was going to be a long drive but this was one of the things that i really wanted to do before leaving and besides this was one of my last free weekends here..what the hell.
A few hours of Mtn driving later i arrived in Modena. The Ferrari museum was pretty cool but unfortunately the factory is closed to the public. I posted a bunch of pics (link below) and I'll let them speak for themselves. I once mentioned my visit to the Guiness factory as being akin to visiting mecca for me.....but this was just as good. The entire town of Modena is Ferrari crazy but somehow forgot to put up any signs for the factory or museum (Galleria Ferrari).
Side Note..I've enjoyed all my visits to Italy over the past few years but it wouldn't be my first recommendation for someone visiting Europe for the first time. Very few people speak English and for whatever reason everyone there always seems to have a bad attitude. I guess i bring out the worst in people.
Anyway, after my visit it was off north through San Bernadino pass and back home. The sun was setting on the Mtn's and the views were great but the roads through the pass are challenging so enjoying the view was a low priority. Lots of switchbacks, blind corners, glacier runoff..not exactly a leisurely cruise. And then it happened, just as i was approaching a very sharp uphill left hand curve a sasquatch jumped out right in front of me and tried to attack my car. Naturally i was very surprised and, being the animal lover that i am, I attempted to avoid killing one of natures most notorious creatures but in doing so i went off the road and hit a rock.
A big rock.
At an angle.
A big angle.
The result? Well, a VW polo and a big rock don't mix too well and i found myself on the side of the road looking out the windshield with the asphalt out my left window and the sky out my right. (pics in the album below)
Now, if you ever happen to find yourself in this situation there's really only one thing you can do...pack your stuff up, climb out the passenger side, push the car back over and get your ass in gear before the police show up. And that's exactly what i did, or rather, what i tried to do. Unfortunately the previously mentioned big rock popped the right front tire and pushed the driveshaft out of its socket. That left me with only 2 options....a 4 hr taxi ride home or crash in a cheap hotel and take advantage of the excellent swiss bus/train system the following day. And with that..i was off to find a hotel.
Since i know you're just as interested in bringing the perpetrator to justice as i am i can share that the polizia assured me that they would do everything in their power to bring bigfoot in and employee the full extent of the law in his prosecution. After i passed my breathalizer test of course.
Well thank god for that.
F*in sasquatch.
all my pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/corr0864
Outdoor
with multiple beer tents
and with live music
Pretty good right? Oh, and did i mention it was a lingerie show? Right..,,that's probably the most important part. Live music, beer, good weather and hot girls in lingerie. Now that's what i call a good start to a weekend. Despite my best efforts though none of the models believed i was Hugh Heffner's European talent scout. Crazy, right?
After a very fun friday night i woke up early to go visit Ferrari in Italy. I knew it was going to be a long drive but this was one of the things that i really wanted to do before leaving and besides this was one of my last free weekends here..what the hell.
A few hours of Mtn driving later i arrived in Modena. The Ferrari museum was pretty cool but unfortunately the factory is closed to the public. I posted a bunch of pics (link below) and I'll let them speak for themselves. I once mentioned my visit to the Guiness factory as being akin to visiting mecca for me.....but this was just as good. The entire town of Modena is Ferrari crazy but somehow forgot to put up any signs for the factory or museum (Galleria Ferrari).
Side Note..I've enjoyed all my visits to Italy over the past few years but it wouldn't be my first recommendation for someone visiting Europe for the first time. Very few people speak English and for whatever reason everyone there always seems to have a bad attitude. I guess i bring out the worst in people.
Anyway, after my visit it was off north through San Bernadino pass and back home. The sun was setting on the Mtn's and the views were great but the roads through the pass are challenging so enjoying the view was a low priority. Lots of switchbacks, blind corners, glacier runoff..not exactly a leisurely cruise. And then it happened, just as i was approaching a very sharp uphill left hand curve a sasquatch jumped out right in front of me and tried to attack my car. Naturally i was very surprised and, being the animal lover that i am, I attempted to avoid killing one of natures most notorious creatures but in doing so i went off the road and hit a rock.
A big rock.
At an angle.
A big angle.
The result? Well, a VW polo and a big rock don't mix too well and i found myself on the side of the road looking out the windshield with the asphalt out my left window and the sky out my right. (pics in the album below)
Now, if you ever happen to find yourself in this situation there's really only one thing you can do...pack your stuff up, climb out the passenger side, push the car back over and get your ass in gear before the police show up. And that's exactly what i did, or rather, what i tried to do. Unfortunately the previously mentioned big rock popped the right front tire and pushed the driveshaft out of its socket. That left me with only 2 options....a 4 hr taxi ride home or crash in a cheap hotel and take advantage of the excellent swiss bus/train system the following day. And with that..i was off to find a hotel.
Since i know you're just as interested in bringing the perpetrator to justice as i am i can share that the polizia assured me that they would do everything in their power to bring bigfoot in and employee the full extent of the law in his prosecution. After i passed my breathalizer test of course.
Well thank god for that.
F*in sasquatch.
 |
| 2007 08 Ferrari and crash |
all my pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/corr0864
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Bob Lutz on...
Diesel
Buick
Questions
I like this concept..other corporate leaders should do this sort of thing.
Buick
Questions
I like this concept..other corporate leaders should do this sort of thing.
Monday, August 20, 2007
I've got the RLS
I’ve been sleeping like crap lately and i’m not sure why. I’m normally a light sleeper anyway, but for the past week and a half or so I haven’t fallen asleep before 2AM and I wake up long before the alarm goes off at 7:15. I’ve been racking my brain over why this is happening…and here’s what I’ve come up with as possibilities.
1-Moving back to the states
2-Subprime woes and the impact on the markets i.e. my retirement goal of 40 years old.
3-What the meaning of the word is, is
4-The trapped miners
5-Will the upcoming voltron movie be better than transformers?
6-I’ve been eating allot of cereal lately
I know, lots of things to keep one awake on that list. After thorough analysis I’ve decided that the root cause of my recent near insomnia is actually none of the above but rather restless leg syndrome. Maybe someone..somewhere..someday will develop a drug for this painful affliction. We can only hope.
This past weekend I had planned to go to Trier to see the Germany WRC race but a last minute weather downturn changed my plans. In lieu of Gernamy I wound up playing poker Friday night with a few friends and winning about 150 Francs. Normally I’d make fun of how few US dollars that is but right now the dollars pretty week so 150 francs is 125 bucks..not bad for a nights work. Like any bad gambler the money immediately burned a whole through my pocket via the indoor gokart track and the Hooters in Zurich. What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for go karts and nice, uh, service.
Side note, the gokart track I went to was indoor, which is a bit unusual, but even more unusal was the fact that these were electric go karts. I’d never seen anything like it. I was skeptical at first, afterall it’s a bit strange to walk into a gokart track and hear nothing but the sound of squealing tires and electric motors. But lo and behold these hair dryers on wheels were actually pretty fast and I represented America well by consistently beating my friends with sub 30 second laps. Maybe there is hope for the Chevy Volt afterall.
1-Moving back to the states
2-Subprime woes and the impact on the markets i.e. my retirement goal of 40 years old.
3-What the meaning of the word is, is
4-The trapped miners
5-Will the upcoming voltron movie be better than transformers?
6-I’ve been eating allot of cereal lately
I know, lots of things to keep one awake on that list. After thorough analysis I’ve decided that the root cause of my recent near insomnia is actually none of the above but rather restless leg syndrome. Maybe someone..somewhere..someday will develop a drug for this painful affliction. We can only hope.
This past weekend I had planned to go to Trier to see the Germany WRC race but a last minute weather downturn changed my plans. In lieu of Gernamy I wound up playing poker Friday night with a few friends and winning about 150 Francs. Normally I’d make fun of how few US dollars that is but right now the dollars pretty week so 150 francs is 125 bucks..not bad for a nights work. Like any bad gambler the money immediately burned a whole through my pocket via the indoor gokart track and the Hooters in Zurich. What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for go karts and nice, uh, service.
Side note, the gokart track I went to was indoor, which is a bit unusual, but even more unusal was the fact that these were electric go karts. I’d never seen anything like it. I was skeptical at first, afterall it’s a bit strange to walk into a gokart track and hear nothing but the sound of squealing tires and electric motors. But lo and behold these hair dryers on wheels were actually pretty fast and I represented America well by consistently beating my friends with sub 30 second laps. Maybe there is hope for the Chevy Volt afterall.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Back Again....for now
I arrived at work monday morning expecting a normal week. A few meetings, some phone calls..blah blah blah the normal BS. I should've known it would be a bad week as my email file opened and the number of mails with a little red exclamation point next to them outnumbered the ones without. I got called to an emergency meeting for one of my projects..in Cleveland. Great. So tuesday afternoon it was off to detroit where i arrived just in time to check in and sleep for a few hours before waking up and driving 3 hrs to cleveland. Following my meeting i drove back, slept a few more hours then went back into work in detroit before flying back out on thurdsay afternoon only to arrive friday AM in zurich and head straight back to the office. Was that sentence a run on? eh, screw it. All i can say is thank god i got some frequent flyer miles out of this, maybe its enough for a first class upgrade on my flights to Australia! Fingers are crossed.
As i write this..i'm pretty sure its Saturday, but i'm not 100% sure.
I went to bed last night looking forward to not waking up until monday morning. Unfortunately this cozy, quaint little friggin town i live in had a different idea. They have some sort of fair going on in town, complete with horse rides (with annoying little bells), a merry go round (with annoying friggin music) and a band (who sing annoying friggin songs). They temporarily extended the rail tracks and rolled a vintage train into town! ok, that part is actually pretty cool. But the kicker? it started at 8AM today. damnit switzerland!
I had plans to go to italy this weekend but those were cancelled. Next weekend i plan to go to Trier, Germany, hopefully i have no more last minute travelling next week! Anyway, here's a few funny clips i ran across recently. the first one is particularly funny..i sent it around to a few people at work who, oddly enough, didn't find it funny at all.
Cheers!
another one about liechtenstein.
this one they should show in schools
reminds me of living with my brothers
i miss SNL
As i write this..i'm pretty sure its Saturday, but i'm not 100% sure.
I went to bed last night looking forward to not waking up until monday morning. Unfortunately this cozy, quaint little friggin town i live in had a different idea. They have some sort of fair going on in town, complete with horse rides (with annoying little bells), a merry go round (with annoying friggin music) and a band (who sing annoying friggin songs). They temporarily extended the rail tracks and rolled a vintage train into town! ok, that part is actually pretty cool. But the kicker? it started at 8AM today. damnit switzerland!
I had plans to go to italy this weekend but those were cancelled. Next weekend i plan to go to Trier, Germany, hopefully i have no more last minute travelling next week! Anyway, here's a few funny clips i ran across recently. the first one is particularly funny..i sent it around to a few people at work who, oddly enough, didn't find it funny at all.
Cheers!
another one about liechtenstein.
this one they should show in schools
reminds me of living with my brothers
i miss SNL
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Summer slowdown
Things are pretty quiet over here right now. Its vacation season which means that 90% of the office is out, not to return until late August or even September in some cases. I on the other hand have very little vacation left, and what i do have left is reserved for my upcoming trip to Oktoberfest.
I went to an outdoor festival in Austria yesterday. It was a pretty good time, despite that I'd never heard of most of the bands. The highlight for me was an American that was playing, Matt Boroff. They played a rock, blues, county, mexican type music. That's the best description i can come up with right now. Check 'em out if you're interested.
http://www.mattboroff.com/
I was watching two lane blacktop the other day and it got me wondering what happened to the '55 Chevy from the movie. Well thanks to google, the answer is out there. I thought I'd post it since I'm sure that I'm not the only one thinking about this.
http://groups.msn.com/TwoLaneBlacktopHomePage
I went to an outdoor festival in Austria yesterday. It was a pretty good time, despite that I'd never heard of most of the bands. The highlight for me was an American that was playing, Matt Boroff. They played a rock, blues, county, mexican type music. That's the best description i can come up with right now. Check 'em out if you're interested.
http://www.mattboroff.com/
I was watching two lane blacktop the other day and it got me wondering what happened to the '55 Chevy from the movie. Well thanks to google, the answer is out there. I thought I'd post it since I'm sure that I'm not the only one thinking about this.
http://groups.msn.com/TwoLaneBlacktopHomePage
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Roll That Never Ends
When my little brother was here a few months ago we ran into a bit of a problem with the toilet paper situation. I hadnt anticipated the added volume of paper required by 3 additional peoples, uh, movements. Needless to say it was a bit of a challenge week, i kept forgetting to buy it which led to going through allot of paper towels and of course a few stolen roles from the trains.
Anyway, when they left my little brother and crew left me with 2 parting gifts..a bunch of beer and a huge box of toilet paper. The beer is gone but the toilet paper lives on. Upon taking stock recently i realized i still have about 5 rolls left. My time here is winding down and in the past whenever i knew a big move was coming up i always took it on as a personal challenge to time all my food, toiletry etc. purchases just right so that i had just enough but left nothing behind. See where i'm going? I'm not cheap, i'm frugal.
So I think i can make these rolls last till the very end. The last square will be flushed the morning i leave..mark my word! I'll be sure to post an update as d-day approaches. I'll call them, the paper trail.
If you can't tell by the subject of this post there's not much going on right now. I do have a cool hike planned this weekend..
http://www.klettersteig.com/
These trails look crazy, should make for a good hike and some good pics.
Corrigan, out.
Anyway, when they left my little brother and crew left me with 2 parting gifts..a bunch of beer and a huge box of toilet paper. The beer is gone but the toilet paper lives on. Upon taking stock recently i realized i still have about 5 rolls left. My time here is winding down and in the past whenever i knew a big move was coming up i always took it on as a personal challenge to time all my food, toiletry etc. purchases just right so that i had just enough but left nothing behind. See where i'm going? I'm not cheap, i'm frugal.
So I think i can make these rolls last till the very end. The last square will be flushed the morning i leave..mark my word! I'll be sure to post an update as d-day approaches. I'll call them, the paper trail.
If you can't tell by the subject of this post there's not much going on right now. I do have a cool hike planned this weekend..
http://www.klettersteig.com/
These trails look crazy, should make for a good hike and some good pics.
Corrigan, out.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Countin down
I suppose i should post some content here other than pics. Bloggings tough though..to begin with i always feel like I'm talking to myself. Not that i don't do that normally, but when posting it there's a record of it and of course, other people can read it. I suppose that's the point though. Secondly, it's pretty difficult to write something that's not completely boring. I always seem to come up with subjects when I'm in the car or on the toilet, but they are inevitably forgotten when i sit down at my computer. The last few sentences, for example, would be an example of the boring content i just mentioned. But that's what I'm thinking right now..so that's what I'm writing. Thank god for pics, right?
To followup on my Lemans post a few weeks ago...... i went, i saw, and i conquered. Well, more accurately, i went, i slept, i watched, i slept some more, it rained, i watched some more, and then i came back. A buddy of mine from the states came over with some friends and family of his and during his European vacation we met up at Lemans to watch the race. It was nice to avoid Genglish for a few days.
As far as the race goes, i think that this year's race was better than last years primarily due to the weather. Why is rain better for racing you might ask? Well, i suppose for the driver's its not, but the rain made the race much more interesting (read: risk of crashing) and the cooler weather accompanying the rain made things all that more enjoyable. Last year it was unbearably hot and when you're trapped in within a race course with 250,000 other people and only a few dozen showers..well, you get the picture. The vette's did not followup their wins of the last two year with another this year but the if they're gonna get beat then at least it's by an Aston Martin. Even more interesting though was the addition of a diesel challenger to Audi. Peugeot brought 2 cars to race and put up a good showing finishing 2nd in their class. Could diesel be the future of racing? I don't see a diesel Chevy in Nascar next year but in endurance racing it certainly appears that diesels are the next evolutionary step.
But Corrigan, How did the audiobooks work out? Glad that you asked..i'm a convert. I didn't think i'd like listening to someone else read a book but it was actually a pretty good alternative to music. One of the books i got, “I hope they serve beer in hell” kept me laughing out loud for the entire trip. Literally. The book about the supreme court was also good but naturally wasn't as good at keeping me awake as the first one. The other two I'm still working on.
Following Lemans and a few days back at work i headed off for another vacation to tour Austria with my parents, brother and sister in law. This was the second trip over for my rent's but the first for Brian and Maureen. We spent a few days around my town in Switzerland followed by a few days in Vienna then a few days in Salzburg. I won't bore anyone with too many details except to say that it was a great trip and everyone went away smiling. We ate allot of swiss cheese, saw allot of mountains, a former nazi mountiantop retreat, saltmines and various other interesting cultural things of interest. Great english right? Well piss off
.
Anyway, one of the funniest events of the week involved my mom, a liter of beer and a stone mug. Over the past 2 years I've built up a nice collection of glasses and mugs from pubs all over Europe, for free. I suppose i could say that its a more interesting way to get some glassware for my unfurnished apartment but truthfully i just wanted them. While in Vienna we stumbled across the Auginstiner Brauhaus (brewhaus) that was formerly run by a bunch of monks. Today its a huge indoor/outdoor drinking parlor. They sell beer, that's it and it comes in these really cool liter or half liter mugs. If you want food you can either bring your own or buy munchies from one of the few outside vendors that maintain booths. Basically, its the perfect bar.
But back to the mugs....so my brother and i were determined to get a few of these 1 liter beer mugs and hatched a plan. I say plan....basically planned to spirit a few away in our bags while others weren't looking. Brilliant! This wasn't the first time on this trip that we'd done this and my mother was being a typical mom and laying the guilt on pretty thick for stealing mugs and giving Americans a bad name. I've been giving Americans a bad name here for nearly two years, whats one more time? But when we announced we were going to steel mugs from a monestary, from Monks!, well it was clear to her where we'd be going..straight to hell!
The plan was enacted and upon leaving the brewhaus and arriving at the bus station we were both pretty happy with ourselves. We had escaped without incident. Naturally we expected some flak from our mom but when we looked over she smiled, reached into her bag and pulled out one of her own. But as she explained, it was for our other brother mike so it was ok.
Right ma. See you in hell.
Anyway, i've given up on posting individual pics and decided to post albums direct to google. With that in mind, i think the whole album is up so enjoy!
One more thing..time for in informal pole. If you had to choose between living in Vista, California, Detroit, Mi or Danville, Illinois...where would you live?
Cheers!
KC
To followup on my Lemans post a few weeks ago...... i went, i saw, and i conquered. Well, more accurately, i went, i slept, i watched, i slept some more, it rained, i watched some more, and then i came back. A buddy of mine from the states came over with some friends and family of his and during his European vacation we met up at Lemans to watch the race. It was nice to avoid Genglish for a few days.
As far as the race goes, i think that this year's race was better than last years primarily due to the weather. Why is rain better for racing you might ask? Well, i suppose for the driver's its not, but the rain made the race much more interesting (read: risk of crashing) and the cooler weather accompanying the rain made things all that more enjoyable. Last year it was unbearably hot and when you're trapped in within a race course with 250,000 other people and only a few dozen showers..well, you get the picture. The vette's did not followup their wins of the last two year with another this year but the if they're gonna get beat then at least it's by an Aston Martin. Even more interesting though was the addition of a diesel challenger to Audi. Peugeot brought 2 cars to race and put up a good showing finishing 2nd in their class. Could diesel be the future of racing? I don't see a diesel Chevy in Nascar next year but in endurance racing it certainly appears that diesels are the next evolutionary step.
But Corrigan, How did the audiobooks work out? Glad that you asked..i'm a convert. I didn't think i'd like listening to someone else read a book but it was actually a pretty good alternative to music. One of the books i got, “I hope they serve beer in hell” kept me laughing out loud for the entire trip. Literally. The book about the supreme court was also good but naturally wasn't as good at keeping me awake as the first one. The other two I'm still working on.
Following Lemans and a few days back at work i headed off for another vacation to tour Austria with my parents, brother and sister in law. This was the second trip over for my rent's but the first for Brian and Maureen. We spent a few days around my town in Switzerland followed by a few days in Vienna then a few days in Salzburg. I won't bore anyone with too many details except to say that it was a great trip and everyone went away smiling. We ate allot of swiss cheese, saw allot of mountains, a former nazi mountiantop retreat, saltmines and various other interesting cultural things of interest. Great english right? Well piss off
.
Anyway, one of the funniest events of the week involved my mom, a liter of beer and a stone mug. Over the past 2 years I've built up a nice collection of glasses and mugs from pubs all over Europe, for free. I suppose i could say that its a more interesting way to get some glassware for my unfurnished apartment but truthfully i just wanted them. While in Vienna we stumbled across the Auginstiner Brauhaus (brewhaus) that was formerly run by a bunch of monks. Today its a huge indoor/outdoor drinking parlor. They sell beer, that's it and it comes in these really cool liter or half liter mugs. If you want food you can either bring your own or buy munchies from one of the few outside vendors that maintain booths. Basically, its the perfect bar.
But back to the mugs....so my brother and i were determined to get a few of these 1 liter beer mugs and hatched a plan. I say plan....basically planned to spirit a few away in our bags while others weren't looking. Brilliant! This wasn't the first time on this trip that we'd done this and my mother was being a typical mom and laying the guilt on pretty thick for stealing mugs and giving Americans a bad name. I've been giving Americans a bad name here for nearly two years, whats one more time? But when we announced we were going to steel mugs from a monestary, from Monks!, well it was clear to her where we'd be going..straight to hell!
The plan was enacted and upon leaving the brewhaus and arriving at the bus station we were both pretty happy with ourselves. We had escaped without incident. Naturally we expected some flak from our mom but when we looked over she smiled, reached into her bag and pulled out one of her own. But as she explained, it was for our other brother mike so it was ok.
Right ma. See you in hell.
Anyway, i've given up on posting individual pics and decided to post albums direct to google. With that in mind, i think the whole album is up so enjoy!
One more thing..time for in informal pole. If you had to choose between living in Vista, California, Detroit, Mi or Danville, Illinois...where would you live?
Cheers!
KC
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Short Update
I'm a bit overdue on posting something and i dont have it in me to write anything now. But here's a few pics in the meantime...i'll expand more sometime this week before heading to the states next weekend.
lets try this...
lets try this...
 |
| 2007 06 M&D B&M Visit |
Lemans Pics
Vette in the rain.
Gulf Prototzpe car after coming out of the race.
Overview of one of the Spyker cars in the pit.
Lemans Pics
Vette and a Peugot
Aston Martin. Astute readers will notice a small green light behind the door. These indicate the position (1, 2 or 3) and class (different class-different color) of each car. Assuming they're running in first second or third place that is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
