Postal Experiments

I had forgotten about this link for a while, but decided to post it to remind people how fun it used to be to send stuff in the mail. I doubt you would get the same response from the now oh_to_jumpy_USPS but who knows.

We sent a variety of unpackaged items to U.S. destinations, appropriately stamped for weight and size, as well as a few items packaged as noted. We sent items that loosely fit into the following general categories: valuable, sentimental, unwieldy, pointless, potentially suspicious, and disgusting. We discovered that although some items were never delivered, most of the objects of even highly unusual form did get delivered, as long as the items had a definitely ample value of stamps attached. The Postal Service appears to be amazingly tolerant of the foibles of its public and seems occasionally willing to relax specific postal regulations.

Postal Experiments

Housewarming Party a SUCCESS!

Be sure to check out the pictures. I am going to send an Evite to all those that attended but their system is having issues with that part... here are the pictures.

/gallery/2004HouseWarming

Denise put some pictures up as well...

Another 50 Questions about me

[ Date ]: Tuesday May 25th, 2004

[ Name ]: T.J.

[ Born in ]: San Diego, CA

[ Resides in ]: San Diego, CA

[ Good student?]: Not really

[ Eyes ]: Brown

[ Hair ]: Whats that?

[ Shoe size ]: 8 (duh I drive a vette!)



Last time you...

[ Had a nightmare ]: Friday

[ Said "I love you" and meant it]: This weekend

[ Ate at McDonald's ]: Yesterday for breakfast... Gasp I love their coffee.

[ Dyed your hair ]: 2 weeks ago... goatee...

[ Brushed your hair ]: Shaved it off today... does that count?

[ Washed your hair ]: Washed stubble before shaving it

[ Cried ]: Feburary - breaking up sux

[ Called someone ]: 3 hours ago

[ Smiled ]: 1 hour ago reading  (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail104.html)

[ Laughed ]: This weekend... but not nearly hard enough... need funner things in my life!

[ Talked to an ex ]: Sunday

[ Smoked? ]: Hmm.... long time ago

[ Did drugs? ]: The Doc has me on a couple of them so... Today.

[ Had sex? ]: This weekend
Do you...

[ Sleep with stuffed animals? ]: Curious George

[ Have a dream that keeps coming back?]: Mostly when I have redbull, they have stopped lately

[ Play an instrument? ]: Piano

[ Believe there is life on other planets? ]: Yes

[ Remember your first love? ]: Yes

[ Still love him/her? ]: No

[ Read the newspaper?]: Online NYTimes.com / CNN.com

[ Have any straight friends? ]: Yes

[ Consider love a mistake? ]: No

[ Like the taste of alcohol? ]: Duh

[ Have any secrets? ]: Of course they are... oh wait.  Never mind.

[ Have any pets ]: Not yet, want a Cat... but Landlord says... NO KITTY FOR U!

[ Talk to strangers who instant message you]: Never

[ Wear hats? ]: When hiking

[ Have any piercings?]: Nope

[ Have any tattoos? ]: Not yet

[ Have an obsession? ]: Computers

[ Collect anything? ]: Coins, Music Videos, Music, Voodoo Hair Dolls

[ Have a best friend? ]: Yes!  Many...

[ Like your handwriting? ]: No

[ Have any bad habits? ]: Yes

[ Care about looks? ]: Yes
Current:

[ Dress ]: Dockers, Cool Black Shoes, Polo Shirt

[ Mood ]: Tired

[ Make-up ]: None

[ Music ]: Ready Steady Go... Paul Oakenfold

[ Taste ]: Steak - Bloody

[ Hair ]: Shaved

[ Annoyance ]: The number of cars that drive by my house in the morning!

[ Smell ]: Hazelnut Candles

[ Thought ]: I've wasted alot of time for 4 people to maybe read this?

[ Book ]: Between books, just finished Angels and Demons

[ Fingernail Color ]: None

[ Refreshment ]: Cold Coffee

[ Favorite Celebrity ]: Adam Sandler / Winona Ryder / Rachel Leigh Cook / Jimmy Fallon
Last Person:

[ You Touched ]: Gabe

[ You Talked to ]: Joel

[ You Hugged ]: Lorinda

[ You Instant messaged ]: Meiko

[ You Yelled at ]: I don't yell, I calmly tell you your wrong with a dead stare - That would be the Chevy dealer after having to return my car a 3rd time for the stearing LOCKING UP! 
Who do you want to:

[ Kill ]: No comment

[ Slap ]: Those fools at the mall trying to engage me in conversation so they can sell me a cellphone

[ Tickle ]: Nobody right now

[ Talk To ]: Henry Kim
Favorite...

[Teacher]: Mr. Volger (11th + 12th grade pascal and assembler programming)

[Professor]: Mendelson (Great philosophy teacher... except for his passionate distaine of CATS!), and Brian (Data Structures in C++)

[Veggie]: Baby Asparagas with Butter and Lemon

[Radio Station]: 94.9, 105.3, 93.3, 91.1, 94.1, and 90.3 - depends on my mood

What is your Warning Label???

Hmmmm....

From Go-Quiz.com

Nerds have a Action Figure

http://www.happyworker.com/wholesale/gm_wholesale.html

GeekMan is 6 inches tall, made from plastic, and comes with 5 accessories (his weapons of wisdom and tech gadgetry):

• Geeky Glasses (the Geek Visual Input Device)
  
• Handheld Computer / PDA (attaches magnetically to GeekMan’s Waist)
  Notebook Computer / Laptop (the Cerebral I/O Device)
  
• Coffee Mug (to re-energize super powers)
  
• Wristwatch
  

CODE NAME: GeekMan

AKA: propeller head, computer nerd, uber geek

SUPER POWERS: ungodly coding abilities; opposite sex repulsion; analytical reasoning; ability to create technical acronyms; less than ideal personal hygiene routine

VULNERABILITIES: wedgies; dodge balls; unknown questions of existence; girls of the Internet

CATCHPHRASES: “Techno-nerd powers, activate!”,
“That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”

Sunscreen that doesn’t suck!

Well its no secret that I freakin HATE sunscreen. It just icky to put on, and although after going to burning man, I'm much more used to it. I still hate the sticky oily feeling you are left with after you put it on. I have been on a quest to find the best stuff. So here is a bit of my own review of which ones work and which ones were just expensive wastes of time.

Favorites:

Coppertone - Oil Free - Waterproof SPF 15 - 8oz - $9.99 - My daily wear

Solbar 30 Site 2 - Derm Recommended 4oz - $7.99

Coppertone - Sport - SPF 30 - 8oz - $9.99 - Oily, but good for active days

Other Products
Coppertone - Sport - SPRAY - Sucks doesn't get everywhere and evaporates before you can spread it. You end up using alot with little coverage

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer - Good, but expensive for tiny 3oz bottle - $8.99

Bullfrog - evaporation issues while applying, and well... it smells

Melbourne Day 4 – The Great Ocean Road

Ah... the Great Ocean Road. Got lots of reading on this trip. Because you spent alot of time in the Bus, and little time at the places we went. But it was a VERY relaxing day.

The first stop was the town of Torquay, the beaches here are designated surf parks. All the big names in surfing have huge stores on the main road to bells beach.

Got a couple good pictures of people surfing, but had alot more fun when we went farther up the coast, and I was able to climb down the cliff a bit and just relax and listen to the waves crash around me. I was about 5 meters down the cliff which allowed me to sit and relax without hearing tourists. I also got some good pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks below. The pictures in the distance were neat because there was a mix of sunlight and clouds, which always makes for an interesting contrast.

On our stop for "Billy Tea", I decided to pass since I'd had it on 2 other tours, and still seemed like just normal tea, with a different name. So I wandered down to the beach, which was completely empty and all to myself. I got several pictures of footprints walking down the bare beach, and of the coastline. It was a well spent 45 minutes. Again lots of relaxing waves. I was playing to close to the water and ended up drenching my shoes and pants... oh well. They dried.

We stopped in Apollo Bay for Lunch. I finally got to try the "Fish and Chips" that I had seen so many signs for. The local fish is called "Flake", and was really good! I got my order as Take-Away and walked down to the beach. I'm not really sure why nobody else from the tourbus ever went to the beaches we were stoping at. I sat and ate lunch as the local Seagulls found me... the kept getting bolder and bolder coming closer and closer. I was reminded of a scene from Finding Nemo where all the seagulls screach... "mine... mine..." I digress...

From my lunching spot I was able to watch 2 guys fish, and up the coast Star was playing fetch with a dog she found on the beach. After finishing my lunch with no surprises from the birds... and them not getting a single bite. I wandered over and chatted with the guys on the beach. If I haven't made this point clear yet... Australians are the nicest people I've met in my travels. Found out the guys live about 45 minutes outside of Melbourne, and were out on vacation with one guys son to do some fishing. They had wet suits and wading boots on. They would go all the way out into the surf to attempt to get their cast past the surf. They were fishing for Australia Salmon and White Fish... Flake! So far they had only mild luck in their fishing. And were planning on wrapping up that evening so they could make it home to catch the 'Footie' game... which I think there is one thing Australians love is their Beer, and watching Football.

After lunch we headed back up the coast towards the 12 Apostles. Along the way, we went through an area that they use for logging, they had a period of time that they actaully planted Pines for timber. Recently they had blown through a large area and cut the trees down. The devistation was shocking. To go from deep forest with huge trees to hills with nothing but the carnage of left over trunks, fragments of timber and branches. It looked like they just took a big bulldozer over the place leaving only stumps. It was rather ominous on this cloudy day. Luckly they do a good job of replanting, and we would be out of this area quickly.

The 12 Apostles were absolutely breathtaking. The first place we stopped I went out to the cliffs while Star went on a Helicopter ride above the cliffs. The breeze was cold, and strong. The pictures of the Apostles do a good job at describing what they look like. They call each Apostle a Limestone Stack. They are created by the surf eroding away at the cliffs, but some areas are left standing. Causing the stacks to emerge out into the water. I'm not describing it well. BAH! Regardless, there is a very shallow surf, which causes the waves to remain at a pretty constant height, and roll into the cliffs, rather than crash like they do in other areas. The view of rolling waves is hard to capture but creates a relentless stream of white froathy water under the stacks. I got alot of pictures, and then the battery on my camera died. So that is the last of the pictures.

On the bus ride back we stopped for a lame buffet dinner which I passed on. And instead lasted about 5 minutes before I fell asleep at the table I was sitting at (we weren't allowed into the bus).

We headed home and went to bed, since we had to be up at 3am the next morning to get to the airport.

Melbourne Day 3 – Nite time

Well as I mentioned before, i wanted to make it over to the Crown Hotel and Casino previous nights so that I could see the flame pipes they had. After updating my blog, I set out back to the Hotel. On my way there I passed the Hotel and decided to head over. Sadly the Aquarium closes at 6pm, and doesn't let guests in after 5pm. But I got a terrific picture of the Train overpass that they light up with blue lights. Its really a site, and looking at my pictures, it came out just the way I wanted... usually nite pictures are terribly blurry with my camera.

I wandered around the Crown for a while finding the place more like an expensive mall and resturant location rather than a casino... just probably needed to walk in the front door not the back. 😛 I eventually asked one of the people at the espresso stand if the flame pipes still go off every hour... she confirmed that they did, and I made my way outside to watch.

Sitting outside on the boardwalk, it becomes obvious that this is one of _thee_ places to go on dates. Which is understandable with the riverfront, the nice resturants, the stores, and FLAME PIPES.

I sat down under the east most town, and start my iPod up listening to Legion of Boom. I was very much in the zone... and then right on the hour... the wonderful sound of gas valves hissing open brought my attention to the top of the towers. The pilot light alone was a foot high, and was bluish purple color. The show was impressive. With 5 towers, they did simple 1 by 1 tower flame off's. They had a quick burst of flame that would shoot about 10 feet in the air, and fill the area with heat and light. But it was the 30+ foot high flames that roared into the air with a mushrooming cloud of flame at the top that would disipate into almost a flame ring floating upward.

The flame pipe/towers were everything I had hoped for, and made me yearn to go back to Burning Man... if only to see the flame vehicles and artwork. It will happen... yes it will.

On my way back to the hotel from the Crown, I stopped by the All Nations Pub. I walked past it, and got to the bar at my hotel, which was a bunch of business guys, so I turned around and went back since the All Nations definately cattered to a younger crowd. Talked to the bartender a bit since the place was pretty dead at that point. Had what I felt was the best dark beer I have ever tasted. Toohey's Old - Dark, Smooth, and not heavy. Talked a bit of politics with Dave, who was surprised I didn't have the 'bush is a great president' attitude, which he felt all americans did? That conversation could have gone on most of the night but luckly a women next to me ordered this wierd drink that looked like lemonade with a shot of some black syrup... its called Lime Bitters. This turned into a good conversation with her and her friend. They both work at a local news station doing Assistant Producing and Directing. They were there because Samantha wanted to see her boyfriend play (they live band at the place). She was also kind enough to give me a taste of her drink... which is not much to write home about.

Tomorrow - doing The Great Ocean Tour.

Melbourne Day 1

Well this is just a quick note, that I will prolly update once I get some more time. I made it to Ozzie land just fine. The flight wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. And my back is doing just great. So far I've met a couple nice people on the flights, and walking around.

I met up with Star yesterday, and we went on the Penguin Parade at night. Most things are a long bus ride to get to. The Penguins were no exception, but we did get to drive through a real nice beach area on St. Kilda Street. The houses here are very historic, with each little house having a name (Majestic, Peddles, etc). Reminds you of a time when street addresses were less common. Some of the places have been restored to their original glory, where others have been torn down and replaced with houses that look like something from the bluffs of Del Mar.

We stopped by a little wilderness park on the way out, its called Warrook, and they had Kangaroos that you could pay a AUS $1 to feed. I can tell you I was a little worried that the Kangaroo would bite me. But after Star started petting him under his neck and on his chest a little. I warmed up to the idea and he really liked it. Apparently they hate having their ears and top of head pet. So no problems. Its amazing the size of the Kangaroo's feet. Just look like a really long dog paw. Check out some of the pictures. They also had a special exhibit for the Wombats... apparently they are really good escape artists. They put special pen's together for them utilizing wire messing about 1 foot under the ground. This effort still didn't stop the female Wombat from escaping her pen... never to be seen again. For food I ate a wonderful Curry Beef Pie. Yum.

The Penguin Parade is on 'island' in the southern part of Melbourne bay. Its one of the few places you can watch the local "little penguin" (about 1/3 the size of normal penguin's) come out of the ocean from their day of fishing, and waddle up the beach to their Burroughs. Its really cute to watch them come out of the water... look around for bad guys (foxes and ferrel cats), the book across the beach. When we got there it was pretty cold, and packed, so we went to the farthest row of seats from the visitor center, and was pleasantly surprised it worked out to be one of the best seats in the place. The penguins come out of the water in two locations. Cruising right up by where we were sitting right on the beach. When you walk back up the paths, you can actually look down off the wooden raised paths and see the Penguin's continuing to work their way up to their specific burrow. They are noisy little guys. They make grunting sounds... at one point we were looking at a penguin about 15 feet away... and one of them started grunting, and something that sounded like it was right under my feet started grunting also... completely camouflaged in the bushes was 2 other penguins... i never did see them, just heard them 'bark' back.

Day 2 Really
Today we did a rather usual trip around Melbourne. Saw several parks, cathedrals, the botanical garden, WW-I memorial (Shrine of Rememberance), a piece of art that I think looks like the Eiffel Tower(sp?) and they say looks like a ballerina's Too-Too... which based on the 4 times I have been told it looks like a Too-Too... i figure they have to keep reminding people NOT to think of it as the Eiffel Tower. Really... the sky is red here too... and several other sites in Melbourne. Its an awesome town. The people are friendly and diverse. People are nice, and there is lots to do. I think I could eat my way though this town and never want to leave. I'm not nearly doing this place the justice it deserves. I am dashing into this Cafe between tours... the next one leaves in 30 minutes and I still haven't had lunch.

OK, I'm back from my tour off to the Dandelons, which is one of the highest mountains in Melbourne... it was supposed to give me a spectacular view of the Melbourne city. But it was overcast and cold today (12 degrees) so we could barely see the trees let alone a city from the top of the mountain. I did get some pictures of some beautiful wild parrots... but they seemed pretty used to tour buses stopping so they could get fed. Regardless got some good pictures. Also on the way up, the Eucalyptus Trees (called Gum trees) were the tallest I've ever seen. Easily 70+ feet high. I tried to take a picture that would do them justice... we'll see. There were also all sorts of Tree Fern's. Which made the whole area seem quite rain forest/prehistoric.

Mostly spent time on the bus, caught a little bit of sleep. Star went off to do a haunted tour of the city and I'm wandering around town, and most likely going to goto "Crown", which is a Casino / Movie Theater place. The key thing is they have 5 flame towers out on the river that go off every hour. I hope to see and feel that. Give me a little flash/flame back to Burning Man!

More soon, taking less pictures than I normally do, but still odd pictures of drinking fountains and scenery.

Cheers Mates

Melbourne Day 3

Well Day 3 started off just like any other. I decided to take it easy this morning, since I went to bed last night at 8pm.... which is basically 1am San Diego time, and didn't really wake up until 5:45am. I obviously haven't adjusted to the time yet. It feels like its 11pm at night right now, but its just 6:30pm. My body is still all wack. I've also been reducing the amount of coffee I have been consuming... which isn't hard to do here. Its just so accessible at home. Honestly it is everywhere here, but when you are on a tour all day it doesn't afford you much opportunity, and it being 6:30pm at night, I can't drink any now or I'll start to get those fucked up dreams I used to get. Funny how the voices stopped when I stopped drinking Red Bull/Coffee after 7pm.... thats another story.

So breakfast was a simple scrambled eggs on toast... read some more of my vampire book (I'll be finishing it tonight)... they were playing acapella Bon Jovi... kinda wierd. After breakfast I walked around to find another place for breakfast tomorrow... no luck. All places want 19-22$ AUS for breakfast usually contential... Sorry breakfast is breakfast... saving my money for something else... like COFFEE.

Todays tour went back up to the Dandenongs.. this time the sun was shining. After returning to the exactly place the bus went yesterday to visit Parrots and Cockatoo's... i decided to avoid the birds, and wander into the rain forest. Very lush, and green, and smelled wonderful... but sadly no neat bugs or animals. The trees reach heights of 100 meters! with a girth of 20 meters! WOW! I am told its too cold for most of the cool bugs. And once I get to Brisbane and Cairns it should be better.

The Puffing Billy train ride we went on that snakes through the hills was really cool. Getting up towards the front while they fired off the engines was damn cool. Lots of big white clouds came out the top, and the smoke smells like gun fire. When the train took off, we were allowed to sit on the edge of the train and dangle our feet out above the plants... looking up at the engine sounded cool until ash rained down into your face... eww. Chatted a bit with Eddy who was on a 30 day leave from the Navy... hadn't been back in the US for over a year. So he was interested to hear how Arnold got elected. Don our tour guide was a hoot! I ended up taking a picture with him so I could visually remember his face... why you ask. Because I think I was the only one on the bus that actually looked down the aisle and saw him talking in the rearview mirror. He was SOOO animated with the way he pronounced what he was saying, and his facial expressions went along with it. It was priceless. Definately made the tour unique and something to do again.

Our trip finally took us to Fergenson Winery for lunch... everything just looked OK... so I ended up with a Beef and Guinness pie... yes folks, a beef pie made with Guinness beer! And let me tell you... IT WAS GOOD! Which made up for the bad wine... I'm not sure what it is about my palate, but reds from Australia do nothing for me. So much for hopes of bringing one back... maybe the duty free shop will have something (grin).

We then got to goto a nature reserve, which specialized in only Australian animals. It was kinda cool, because it was built right into the bush... natural dirt trails to each exhibit, which were large, and had individual animals in it. It was odd seeing the Dingo's... they look kinda like golden retrievers... but with a REALLY beautiful coat of fur, with very bright yellow/gold fur. The aviary seemed like it would be boring until you realize that there about 4 dozen bats hanging from the ceiling. I got some cool pictures of one of them spreading their fleshy wing out. A couple others were squabbling... all very animated for being the middle of the afternoon. Chatted more with Chris and Joel from London. We came across a bush that grows Kangaroo Apples... which sounds nice until you find out when they are poisonous. They were/are? used by the aboriginals to abort pregnancies? Apparently when they are green, they are toxic... orange make you real sick, and red are OK to eat. Why this bush was on the trail in the park... I have no idea. Is there anything in Australia that doesn't kill you?

There was a long ride home where I read more of my vampire book... did I tell you the author does a really vivid job of describing the details of the violence in the book... I have very vivid images of the amount of blood being spewn everywhere in this book... she has at least 8 other books... I think I found a new book to read... and share with Tina.

Tonight after the bus ride, I took off and looked for a place serving Fish & Chips... not because I love them, but there are shops for them all around town... it seems to be quite a thing here. But as I walked up by the 2 movie theaters (showing the likes of Scooby Doo 2 and 50 first dates)... all I could find were Japanese places... I was running parallel to China Town. So I wandered into some very Japanese Arcades with tons of multi-player arcade games, all in Japanese. 20 of those Sega racing games they have at Dave and Busters linked together all at once. WOW. I ended up eating Sushi from a "Walk Away" place.. meaning in US English "To Go". I sat out in front of the restaurant, and people watched (90% Asian in this part of town). I felt in a way that I was no longer in Australia... but in Japan or Hong Kong. They aren't kidding about Melbourne being a hugely diverse city.

I'm now sitting in an Internet cafe (slash) LAN Party computer place in the basement off some store off the street. Its filled with people playing Counter Strike... In some very basic levels... doing the Counter Strike meets Deathmatch thing. Bahh... enough of that.