Just got back from our trip from Navarre, FL (east of Pensacola). It took about 12 hours to get there and 11.5 to get back, probably because traffic was a bit lighter.

We had a nice Thanksgiving and it was nice to finally meet Evelyn’s friends in Florida (these are the people that Evelyn visited with during 9/11). I’m glad we were able to make the trip, and glad that we made the trip safely. For now, I’m pretty tired, so will write later.

One other thing: Mike made a comment that we were following the reverse Katrina route, and that’s true. We didn’t dip down into New Orleans (we skirted north, along I-12), there were signs of high winds (Evelyn noted a lot of stripped trees). Regardless, when we got to the panhandle region, we saw a lot of what Ivan did to the area–and that was two years ago! They are still rebuilding the area–completely rebuilding the I-10 bridge. When we took that route there we were crossing the bay on steel grates sitting on barges. An interstate sitting on barges is quite a scary thing, let me tell you. Too bad it was dark and we couldn’t take pics.

One other cool part was in LA. There is a 19 mile stretch of bridge running through the swamps. It’s really amazing to see such a huge length of road held up with concrete piers sunk in the swamp. Quite an engineering feat. We got some pics of that and will post them soon.

Well, we’re getting ready to hit the road again. This time a 700+ mile trip to the panhandle of Florida. It’s estimated at 12-14 hours, so we’re going to try to do it in one shot.

Our route is US 290 east out of Austin, all the way to Houston. Then I 10 east through southern Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then finally into Florida. We haven’t taken this route before; previously we went through all these states, but to the north, along I 20.

It will be interesting to go through some towns we haven’t seen before: Houston, Baton Rouge, Lake Pontchartrain (we skirt north of New Orleans), Biloxi, Mobile, and Pensacola. The downside is that we go through those towns/cities, so traffic is going to be worse (thus the long travel time for a 700 mile trip).

With any luck we’ll be in Florida tonight.

I thought that this was an interesting concept: Geekcorps

It’s an organization that teams up tech experts with (extremely) poor communities to become “digitally independent”. Kinda like the Peace Corps with electronics.

When I’m sitting around wondering why I’m working on stupid IT stuff, this kind of thing sparks an interest and a lot of “what ifs”. The organization currently does most of their work with Africa, but I’m sure that there are a lot of Central American and Caribbean countries that could benefit. Hmmm….

After some thought, Ev and I will not be in Chicago for Thanksgiving. We’ve decided to stay in the south (possibly visiting friends) instead. Regardless, we’re still planning on spending Christmas in Chicago with family and friends (since we can be up there for a more extended period of time–2 weeks versus a long weekend).

I had to shut comments off because I was getting spammed too much. I’ll let you know when comments are on again. For now, e-mail us with any thoughts.

This has been big news in PR over the last couple of weeks:

Cornell University’s Arecibo radio telescope and radar observatory could be losing up to half its federal funding — about $4 million — a cut that could mean job losses in both Ithaca and Puerto Rico, where the facility is based. A report issued by the Senior Review, an advisory committee for the National Science Foundation (NSF), on Nov. 3 recommended that funding be cut for Arecibo by 25 percent over the next three years. The Senior Review also advised the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) to look for funding from outside partners to cover a 50 percent slash in funding in 2011.

The budget cuts that Arecibo faces led to changes in the way that the telescope and radar will operate.

“Arecibo will be in more of a survey mode where it will survey the sky rather than taking all of the individual investigations programs that it has. This will allow us to operate with fewer staff,” said Burns.

The Arecibo Observatory employs 150 workers in Puerto Rico and about a dozen here in Ithaca. Many of those workers are in jeopardy of losing their jobs as a result of less funding. According to Burns, 75 percent of the current $12 million budget is allocated for salaries.

“It’s very likely that Cornell employees will be laid off,” said Burns. “We have many people that can retire soon, and our hope is that they take early retirement rather than force us to lay them off,” he continued.

I picked up another one of Nintendo’s “Touch Generations” games the other day. It’s called Club House Games and is pretty cool. It has a bunch of games (over 40) of all types (board games, single-player, cards, etc). I really like this line of games because they are easy to play and have good multiplayer support. For example, Ev and I can play checkers together.

(I must say that the DS’s download feature is one of its best. It’s nice to be able to play multiplayer games without having to have multiple copies of the game. All in all, I use the DS about 99% of the time and the PSP the other 1%. Completely opposite of what I originally thought.)

The downside to Club House Games is that there are a couple of Japanese games on it that I have no idea how to play (with Kanji characters, no less)…some I’ve been able to figure out, but 2 or 3 are beyond me. Also, some of the controls on the “action” games (bowling, darts, pool) are crappy. Not a lot of skill invoved, more of chance. Finally, at $30 I think it’s a bit expensive. It’s more of a $25 game. But, given the amount of games, and the multiplayer, it’s not a bad deal.

In other news, the Wii console will be out in two weeks. I’m really looking forward to this machine as it looks to be a lot of fun. No way will I be buying the PS3–I don’t like the action games, it’s too expensive, and I don’t intend on buying any HD or BluRay movies–not until they have players that play both. I’m not going to be waiting in line for a Wii, and will probably wait until after Christmas to pick one up (would rather a kid have one for Christmas than me). However, if I spot one in Target, I may just grab it….

 

Things have been busy, and yet quiet, down here in Austin. My regular consulting work for the Conservation District has been fine. Nothing too exciting there, but nothing too stressful either. Over the past week I’ve been working with my old company to assist with a data center move. Right now I’m testing stuff, but will also be assisting a bit over the next couple of weeks. So, things are going to be getting busier over the next couple of weeks.

We’ve got the apartment pretty well organized. Got any unneeded furniture into storage and have all of the boxes out of here. It’s finally starting to look like a real home, which is always a nice feeling. We also managed to find space for two of our bikes (the ones we got in Puerto Rico). I’m glad to have the bikes in the apartment, since then we’re more likely to use them. Austin has bike lanes almost everywhere, and there are at least half a dozen well marked routes right in our area.

Speaking of bikes, these new Schwinn Electric bikes seem pretty interesting. They have some interesting styling that hides all the electrical bits. Might be a good option instead of a gasoline scooter.

Spent part of today trying to get health insurance for us (since I’m an independent contractor, I’m not covered). Let me just tell you that if you have ANY sort of pre-existing conditions you might as well lie, because if you don’t you won’t get any coverage. I tried to get plans with $5000 deductibles and they wouldn’t take me–even though they wouldn’t cover any pre-existing!!! I hate insurance companies. What a freaking scam they are. On the bright side, I was able to get coverage for Evelyn, so I feel a bit better. Still, all I want is coverage for a catastrophic event (ex. surgery or whatever) and I’m having a heck of a time finding some. If anyone has ideas, please let me know.

In other news, I’m greatly relieved that the Dems were able to take control of the House and Senate. Don’t get me wrong, I think that all politicans are a bunch of power-hungry goons*. Regardless, it’s good to know that at the worst nothing will happen for 2 years–and the chances of Chimpy McMoron taking away even more liberties will greatly decrease. I can safely say this in Texas because I’m currently residing in the Peoples Republic of Austin.

*Speaking of power-hungry goons, I found it interesting that two Chicago politicians dropped out of the mayors race today. They are both reps–and now that the dems are in power they figure they have more power in congress than as mayor. In the end, no matter what they say, they always go for the job with the power. Anyhow, I think they are still fools, since the mayor of Chicago is far more powerful than some always-looking-at-the-next-election representative. Ah well. I’m sure Daley will sleep well tonight knowing that two opponents are gone.

Ev and I went to Fry’s this evening to pick up some parts for her camera project. On entering the store, we saw a guy in a long brown coat and a huge multi-colored scarf. Looked just like Tom Baker’s Dr. Who. I was waiting to see K-9 or Sara Jane Smith walking around. Only in Austin.