Yesterday I went and watched a couple of stages of day 2 of the 2008 Rally NZ. I imagine that if you were really into Rallying it would be very exciting. For me I see one car zoom by, then some time later another follows, and then another. I find it’s much more interesting watching Rallying on TV. That way you can follow the drivers instead of just seeing a brief glimpse.

Then again, taking photographs of the television set isn’t very fun…

Apologies to the car drivers and teams but I can’t find your actual names on the NZ Rally site. Hence the reference to the car numbers.

Last weekend I flew down to Christchurch for a wedding. It was somewhat of a last minute decision, but seeing as I haven’t seen my south island relatives for several years it was well worth the effort. Fortunately domestic airlines are kind to procrastinators such as myself, so picking up a same day ticket was easy (and cheap!).

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Christchurch is the largest of the south island cities in New Zealand, and is located about half way down the east coast. For more information see Wikipedia.

Coming from a country¹ whose entire concept of public transportion is buses, the London underground is amazing. In most cases stations are within walking distance of one another and you can just grab a train from wherever you are, to wherever you need to go. After a while it was like playing monopoly; travelling from Leicester Square to Kings Cross station…

Don’t mind my attempts at being artistic. This first shot is completely unedited with the blur curtosy of a long exposure, low light, and being in a rush.

Meanwhile this second shot has undergone a crop, some cloning to remove unwanted intruders, and an overall soften portrait effect. All curtosy of Paint.NET.

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^1. That would be NZ, although the San Jose area didn’t appear to be any better.

Remainder of my time in California was a bit of a blur. All of last weeks work was integrated into the rest of the system and everything came together nicely. Unfortunately it didn’t leave me much time to get to the airport. I ended up leaving Santa Clara with two and a half hours to go. In that time I had to drive up to SFO (an hour drive), drop off the rental car, and then jump on a plane. When I made it to the check-in counter they complained bitterly and then suggested I run to the gate…

Anyway from San Francisco I made my way to London for the Plasa trade show held at Earl’s Court. Officially giving small technical demonstrations, having a look at the competition, and getting customer feedback. Unofficially I was the one who had to fix things when they go wrong.

Plasa was long as trade shows go and lasted for four days. During that time we got loads of good feedback (all feedback being good), and generated lots of interest. I was even given an opportunity to talk to some of the competition who were impressed with our system, and were kind enough to show us through theirs. It’s always amazing seeing the different ways that people approach the same problem. Thanks again guys!

The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose is a science museum focusing on interactiving with technology. Nearly all of the exhibits are controllable in some fashion; allowing you to create your own roller coaster or experience an earthquake. While more hands on for the kids it was still interesting.

In the medical section they have a picture of a human body populated with buttons. Pressing a button would result in a video clip being played describing the healing and replacement parts available for that region. So while I’m reading the instructions this kid comes along and presses the button over the brain. He then glares at the TV which explains that we can’t replace the brain yet. Not satisfied with that answer he presses brain again… and again… and again… I left him to it.

Originally I was going to drive down to Monterey to check out the aquarium. Unfortunately I had to pick up a work colleague from SFO in the afternoon, which is in the completely opposite direction and wouldn’t have left me much time to look around. So instead I explored the much closer San Jose.

After visiting the Golden Gate, the remainder of the day was to be spent exploring San Francisco. I’m using the term was because I took one wrong turn and ended up amongst four lanes of crawling traffic. Thankfully I managed to force my way across all of the lanes and escape via the second to last off ramp before being dragged across the golden gate. Been on that ride already thank you.

With traffic getting progressivly worse and being confronted with a host of no left turn signs I decided to cut short SF for now and instead take a coastal route. Remainder of the day was spent driving down to Santa Cruz, and then eventually back to the hotel.

Beneath the Golden Gate Bridge is the Fort Point national historic site. Fort Point was completed just before the American Civil War and while fully manned during that period it never saw any actual combat.