Tuesday, December 27, 2005
So here I am in Airlie Beach, where the weather looks about like this, and I've got three hours to kill before we board the dive boat. I'm melting away in a internet cafe with really beat-up terminals, but the rate is by far the best I've found in Australia ($2/hour), so I'm not complaining. BTW, if you've been trying to get ahold of me via the earthlink account, I can't get into that account at the moment.
This morning we viewed some little platypi at Broken River Perserve up in Eungella. Some other wildlife I've seen on this trip include flying foxes, wallabies, 'roos, goannas, lace monitors, bush turkeys, loads of lorikeets and cockatoos, and kookaburras are everywhere. That's just in the wild - not counting our trip to the Australia Zoo just outside Brisbane. Tonight the tour heads out for 2-1/2 days diving in the Great Barrier Reef. We've had some changes to the itinerary because, at least in the rural areas where we've been visiting, everything shuts down between Christmas and New Year's.
Since I won't be there for the party this year, Happy New Year to Daystar Holt.
Back home in a week.
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This morning we viewed some little platypi at Broken River Perserve up in Eungella. Some other wildlife I've seen on this trip include flying foxes, wallabies, 'roos, goannas, lace monitors, bush turkeys, loads of lorikeets and cockatoos, and kookaburras are everywhere. That's just in the wild - not counting our trip to the Australia Zoo just outside Brisbane. Tonight the tour heads out for 2-1/2 days diving in the Great Barrier Reef. We've had some changes to the itinerary because, at least in the rural areas where we've been visiting, everything shuts down between Christmas and New Year's.
Since I won't be there for the party this year, Happy New Year to Daystar Holt.
Back home in a week.
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Sunday, December 18, 2005
Bloggin' from Brisbane!
This is gonna be a quickie because I'm paying buku at the Holiday Inn's coin-op kiosk.
Fiji was fun; in fact I'm considering doing the same cruise again next year. I know, it's a shock, me going the same country two years in a row, but there you are. Itinerary was a little different from the one on the Tui Tai webpage, due to (1) a big celebration at Rabi Island, and (2) the anchor winch breaking twice. Our final night they resorted to sawing the chain off so we could get back to port! Anyway, awesome trip so far, details and photos when I get back, yada yada.
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This is gonna be a quickie because I'm paying buku at the Holiday Inn's coin-op kiosk.
Fiji was fun; in fact I'm considering doing the same cruise again next year. I know, it's a shock, me going the same country two years in a row, but there you are. Itinerary was a little different from the one on the Tui Tai webpage, due to (1) a big celebration at Rabi Island, and (2) the anchor winch breaking twice. Our final night they resorted to sawing the chain off so we could get back to port! Anyway, awesome trip so far, details and photos when I get back, yada yada.
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Friday, December 09, 2005
Busy packing today, getting loose ends tied up before I head out tomorrow. Man, it's been a busy week! For you armchair travellers, here are my iteneraries so you can follow along. See you in 2006!
Tui Tai Adventure Cruises
Aussie Walkabouts
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Tui Tai Adventure Cruises
Aussie Walkabouts
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Thursday, December 08, 2005
Now that the trial is over, I can tell you what it was about.
It was a civil case regarding a private sewer system. After a cumulative two days of solid expert testimony, I now know more about sewage pumps and pump lift stations than I ever wanted to know. The outcome? Suffice to say the defendants could have saved themselves time and money by answering the phone and taking care of the problem.
During the trial, I was thinking it was too bad there wasn't a CSI-type show about what goes on in the jury room. There are and have been tons of shows about cops and lawyers, but in these shows the jury deliberations always occur ob scena, except for the odd one-off movie like Twelve Angry Men, which frankly wouldn't have given me a realistic expectation of my own jury service. No, a realistic jury show would have to be something more like The Office. I think the reason it's never been done is that you'd have to have an entirely new cast with each show.
Fun fact: Jurors at the Maricopa County Courthouse were once sequestered on all trials until they came up with a verdict. The shell of the old bunkhouse still exists at the Courthouse, though all the bunks are gone. According to our judge, they got verdicts a lot faster in those days.
Another fun fact: Your baliff is a great source of juicy details on the more interesting cases you didn't get assigned to.
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It was a civil case regarding a private sewer system. After a cumulative two days of solid expert testimony, I now know more about sewage pumps and pump lift stations than I ever wanted to know. The outcome? Suffice to say the defendants could have saved themselves time and money by answering the phone and taking care of the problem.
During the trial, I was thinking it was too bad there wasn't a CSI-type show about what goes on in the jury room. There are and have been tons of shows about cops and lawyers, but in these shows the jury deliberations always occur ob scena, except for the odd one-off movie like Twelve Angry Men, which frankly wouldn't have given me a realistic expectation of my own jury service. No, a realistic jury show would have to be something more like The Office. I think the reason it's never been done is that you'd have to have an entirely new cast with each show.
Fun fact: Jurors at the Maricopa County Courthouse were once sequestered on all trials until they came up with a verdict. The shell of the old bunkhouse still exists at the Courthouse, though all the bunks are gone. According to our judge, they got verdicts a lot faster in those days.
Another fun fact: Your baliff is a great source of juicy details on the more interesting cases you didn't get assigned to.
2 comments
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Why I'll never be on Planet's Funniest Animals
This afternoon I was standing on a stepstool installing new blinds in the windows in the breakfast nook (which have been blindless since the springs in the roll-up shades died and I ripped them out in order to paint the kitchen). Savannah leaped onto my shoulder to see what I was up to. Unlike many cats who jump up, scrabble for purchase, and wind up on the floor with half your T-shirt and a generous helping of human epidermus, Savannah is quite nimble and balanced quite nicely for a minute or so. Then she decided to walk out onto my arm and investigate exactly what was going on with that funny drill. This is where I decided she should get down. But it was adorable.
Unfortunately, there was no-one following me around with a video camera at that moment.
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This afternoon I was standing on a stepstool installing new blinds in the windows in the breakfast nook (which have been blindless since the springs in the roll-up shades died and I ripped them out in order to paint the kitchen). Savannah leaped onto my shoulder to see what I was up to. Unlike many cats who jump up, scrabble for purchase, and wind up on the floor with half your T-shirt and a generous helping of human epidermus, Savannah is quite nimble and balanced quite nicely for a minute or so. Then she decided to walk out onto my arm and investigate exactly what was going on with that funny drill. This is where I decided she should get down. But it was adorable.
Unfortunately, there was no-one following me around with a video camera at that moment.
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Saturday, December 03, 2005
This week I've been on jury duty. The trial I'm on is being held in the old Phoenix Courthouse downtown, which was built in 1939. The architecture is magnificent - spiral staircase, carved wood panelling, and so forth. However, the seating for the jury is apparently original and even the addition of new cushions doesn't do much for the comfort level. Our forebearers must have had butts of steel. The schedule's been kind of odd, with days and half-days off depending on the judge's and witnesses' availability. I told the baliff that I'm leaving the country on Saturday, and he said if the trial lasts that long they'll just make me one of the alternate jurors. It's unlikley though, at the rate we've been zipping through testimony.
During our breaks I've been reading Zelazny's Lord of Light, which makes for an interesting counterpoint.
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Trying to finish stuff up around the house this weekend, get everything in order for my trip. Hopefully I won't be in court this Friday and I can take the day off to pack.
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During our breaks I've been reading Zelazny's Lord of Light, which makes for an interesting counterpoint.
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Trying to finish stuff up around the house this weekend, get everything in order for my trip. Hopefully I won't be in court this Friday and I can take the day off to pack.
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