So, it looks at the moment like my travel schedule for the next month will look a bit like this: 30 September: Arrive in Canberra 3 October: Melbourne for LUV meeting 4 October: Return to Canberra 10 October: Melbourne for AUUG conference 13 October: Sydney 26 October: Canberra for CLUG meeting 27 October: Return to Sydney, SLUG meeting 2 November: Return to Mountain View Let me know if you're interested in meeting up when I am around.
Another old thing to visit when next I happen to be somewhere: the the wreck of the Dominator in LA. Via SJH who found it on Metafilter. Oh, and the the guide to forgotten LA places is cool too (via Dan Goods).
Now that I am back on my bunker kick dad points out that there was a bunker in Canberra (my home town) as well. Some references I can see online make it public now, including this heritage list. I'm wondering if it's the same as the Bunker Theatre in the same building now. That would be cool...
I'm on another work trip to Phoenix, although the office is really in Tempe. There's not a lot of difference really, given that a lot of American cities seem to be much like suburbs of large conurbations. Not much to say, apart from that the hotel is nice and has a water slide, in fact a water park. More to report later.
A while ago I was watching a documentary about the bunker under the Greenbrier resort. The Greenbrier is one of those swanky resorts close enough to Washington DC to be in easy reach for the powerful people who hang out there. That's why it was chosen as the location for the bunker that Congress would hang out at come the apocalypse. The bunker was built in secret, and the documentary mentioned cool bits like they had to move so much earth that an extra golf course was built with the rubble in order to disguise it's source. This sums it up pretty well: It was built at the suggestion of then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a way of preserving the balance of power among the three branches of the U.S. government in the event of nuclear war. But now, the Government Relocation Center, located under the luxurious Greenbrier resort in the mountains of West Virginia, is a unique and eerie tourist attraction, a monument to a nation's Cold War fears. That's from a CNN article on the topic. In fact, there is no shortage of content about the bunker. Anyways, back to my excitement... The bunker is now open for…
Andrew is having some pain with his I-94, I suspect the first problem is that he flew United who are self admitted cunters. Secondly, you're meant to hand in the I-94 at boarding not check in (or at least that's my experience). All is not lost though, apparently you're meant to mail the I-94 back to them, although that wont be processed in time for your return to the US. Update: my brother assures me that it's no big deal to mail the I-94 in, even if you're returning quickly to the US, as they're not processed in real time at the airport either. So, perhaps the delay isn't a problem...
Custom number plates in the US are really cheap (less than $100 USD). Some states even give you online simulators for them too: California Virginia California only has a few custom backgrounds, whereas Virginia has over 180! The fight terrorism Virginia plates are pretty odd too.
Gordon is in Texas and having a ball, which is good to hear. His picture is quite cool too. He points out some interesting aspects of America in the post as well. Let's work through them one at a time together: I haven't stayed in a Best Western yet, but so far I would have to say that the hotels I have stayed in have all been pretty good. Now, that might be because I am willing to spend money on hotels, but I think it's also because it's so easy here to change hotel if the first one sucks. For example, the hotel I stayed in in Portland had a many in a silly hat: I have also seen churched with threatening signs, again in Portland for me. It seems to me that perhaps the clergy don't want to be too bothered by the huddled masses? Parking places with funny little boxes to poke money I thought was a Pacific northwest thing (as I've seen them in Oregon and Washington). It's reassuring to know that other parts of the country have these too. And yes, in general people here are wonderfully friendly. Oh, and Gordon, don't forget to checkout…
Image stolen from Woolworth's Homeshop My two favourite Australian beers would have to be Coopers Pale Ale, and the Malt Shovel Brewery Amber Ale. In fact, I am half way through a MSB now, which might explain my terrible spelling in this post. Then again, it might also be that I've been working away for 12 hours now. Anyways, back to the story... Since moving to the US I have been subsisting on these terrible American beers that they have around here. Some of the micro-brews are ok-ish, and Sierra Nevada is better than a punch in the face, but they're really nothing special. For a start, their weak. On the non-micro-brew front, I recommend Coors if you're in a no-beer emergency and you have to get something mainstream. The other fall back drinking plan has been to develop a taste for Margaritas, which we have been serving in 500 mil pint glasses for effect. Anyway, back to the story... So yesterday Catherine and the kids and I ventured out to try to fix this. BevMo was rumoured to have Australian beers, and I thought it might be worth a try. The exciting news is that it turns out that…
You know that somewhere has to be special when people tell you that the good points of a place are that land is cheap, it's geologically stable, and there are lots of banks. Well, that's Phoenix and the bit they're not mentioning is that you're in a desert. It's warm. Really warm. Oh, and dry. It's a nice spring afternoon as I write this, and it's 108 Fahrenheit (42 Celsius). Fortunately that seems to be about as hot as it gets here. Phoenix is so far a nice city, although I have only haven't seen much (I'm here on business). Not very built up, and quite spread out. Some parts of town I drove through also have billboards in Spanish only.