Category: travel

UK Travel

August 10, 2006

Well. I won’t be traveling to the UK any time soon.

What follows is the list of things which a passanger may bring on a UK aircraft. This information is taken from here:

· Pocket-size wallets and pocket-size purses plus contents (for example money, credit cards, identity cards etc (not handbags)

· Travel documents essential for the journey (for example passports and travel tickets)

· Prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight (eg, diabetic kit), except in liquid form unless verified as authentic

· Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases

· Contact lens holders, without bottles of solution

· For those travelling with an infant: baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle must be tasted by the accompanying passenger) and sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nappy disposal bags)

· Female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (eg tampons, pads, towels and wipes)

· Tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs

· Keys (but no electrical key fobs). All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be X-ray screened.

Yep, no books. No cameras. No electronics…

For one, I will not buy a flight case and then check the normal stuff I carry on the aircraft in order to ensure that it isn’t stolen by aircraft / TSA personnel. Two, I don’t want to have the airline’s seatback advertisements as my only source of entertainment (besides staring out a potentially darkened window) for the whole eight hour journey.

As it is right now, I may need to remove all liquids / gels from my luggage in order to get home, and this is simply the US reaction. < sigh >

UPDATE: The US’ take on this all can be found here. The specific part I see as being a problem is that the TSA is “…prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane.”

This means I will not have a bottle of water to drink (hello, dehydration), and I’ll have to toss out my personal products and camera lens cleaner. < sigh >

I should buy some of that chewing gum with gel in the middle. Or a new camera lens with a floating element.

Hrm, I wonder if I’ll still be able to bring a bagel w/ peanut butter on the flight. That’s kind of a solid. Or what about a bagel?

UPDATE 2: One thing I wonder about… The actual press release says “carried on the airplane.”. Perhaps I can check the stuff… That’d probably be fine with me, I guess.

At least there will be lots more room for carry-ons now that people aren’t bringing all of their stuff on. (This is because the default will be to check the whole bag if it has contraband on board.)

Hrm. Hopefully I can find a way to bring a bottle of liquor home. There’s some stuff I want which I can’t find around me.

Alaska Journal (2003)

July 15, 2006

Back in 2003 I went on a cruise in Alaska. Well, while I was there I wrote a journal of whatever happened to be going through my head. Since moving to the new site format I’ve neglected to post it. Until today.

Here it is, if you’d like to see it… I may still add some more photos, but for now I’m happy with it:

Alaska Journal (2003)

moved from livejournal nuxx.net travel

Communist Chocolate!

June 11, 2006

Lindt Cuba 55% Chocolate

It’s amazing the things one can find in Canada at the Duty Free shop. Here is a photo of the back of the package, if you are interested. It even says on the edge that it is specifically made with Cuban beans. Hopefully it’ll be good.

Oh, today I went to Pinery, an Ontario Provincial Park about 45 minutes (maybe a bit longer) from Sarnia. I was bored. I took a good number of photos there, and many more around the Blue Water Bridge area. Those will be uploaded later.

I also need to upload the photos from Alex and Les’ wedding. I think they are okay. I think.

food moved from livejournal travel

Thumb Area Redux

June 5, 2006

Point Aux Barques Lighthouse
(Click for more photos…)

Yesterday I left my house, got a cheese sandwhich from Jimmy Johns, some gas, and a bit of cash. Then I headed east down 23 Mile Road to I-94 and up to Port Huron. Once in Port Huron I headed north / west along M-15 until I reached Port Austin, at the tip of the thumb. After that I wound my way south, eventually ending up near home. Then I grabbed some Thai food and went home. Not long after that it was time for bed.

So, let’s see… While that description was short, what sort of things did I see yesterday…

· The longest pedistrian suspension bridge in Michigan. (photo gallery retired)
· White Rock, which in 1807 indicated the furthest northeast point where non-native people could settle.
· What had once been a seagull.
· The Port Hope Chimney, a memorial to the original town.
· A true two-hole outhouse. (Yes, they really exist.)
· The Point Aux Barques Lighthouse.
· Huron City, an old logging company town which is now a National Historic District. (photo gallery retired)
· A Gadsden Flag flying on a museum.

Oh, and of course, lots of Lake Huron. It was quite a nice day. Despite both suddenly having a sore throat (which has lingered throughout today) in the middle of it and walking into this window^† and hitting my head pretty hard I had a great time. It’s really nice to just get away and wander like that. I haven’t done such a thing since… Last weekend (in London) and the weekend before. And before that. Hmm. I think I notice a trend here.

Anyway, if you’d like to see all of the photos, they can be seen here: Thumb Area (June 4, 2006) (photo gallery retired)

^† I was walking through this small room of vending machines, looking at them, and not really thinking. When in the room the glass appears pretty clear, and being floor to ceiling there was nothing to catch one’s eye. Also, the glass is in a location where one would typically locate a door. All of this together with my inattentiveness caused me to walk into the glass panel, solidly hitting the side of my head on it. Heh.

moved from livejournal outdoors travel

SIDbox v1.2 — Boards Ordered

May 1, 2006

SIDbox PCB Layout v1.2
(Click for SIDbox Gallery…)

Well, I did it. I just submitted an order with PCBFABEXPRESS for six PCBs made to the board layout seen above. US$78 for the boards and $15 shipping, and I should have them some time next week. I also placed an order with Mouser for the ‘new’ PICs (PIC18F4620), the parts for the new MIDI input / output handling (the IIC MIDI Module as opposed to straight off the PIC), and the stuff for a PIC programmer I’m piecing together.

With any luck I’ll have a working SIDbox prototype by the time I head off to the UK. This will be nice. If everything is as I hope, from here on out I’ll just have to etch one more PCB and everything after this will be soldering and assembly. Well… Except for the design of the rear panel for the case, but that won’t happen until I’m certain that I have a functioning board / synth.

Oh, I just remembered that I also need to pick up a USB to MIDI adapter… Hrm. Okay, have to find one of those. Still, things are coming along nicely.

This weekend I headed up to the northern Lower Pennisula (of Michigan) to visit my grandparents and meet up with for dinner. I also went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (and received a mighty sunburn) and Hartwick Pines State Park. Photos from each are forthcoming.

I guess tonight I’ll just go and try to acquire some PCB etchant from Radio Shack. Then I’ll confirm / finalize this PCB design for the PIC programmer, etch it, and… That’ll probably be the whole evening.

electronics making things moved from livejournal travel

Macro Lenses

April 28, 2006

Well, I think I’m going to get a new macro lens. I’ve currently got the EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro with the Life-Size Converter EF and it makes for a really nice setup. However, with the Life-Size Converter attached, I can’t focus past maybe 2m, so it makes the lens macro / close up only.

I think that I’m going to purchase the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM and off the 50mm and Life-Size Converter on eBay. I should be able to get enough to at least cover the cost of the new lens. The 60mm should be a good replacement, because then I can use it for both macro and walking around, and as a USM lens it should be a good bit easier to focus manually.

So, yeah. New lens. I think. I’ll probably wait until Monday to decide, though… I don’t want to rush into this decision too much. Also, the two camera shops I’d likely order from are Jewish-owned and thusly closed for the Sabbath. Even if I order the lens now, it won’t ship until Monday.

I also finially ordered a circular polarizer. I should be getting a 67mm Hoya S-HMC Circular Polarizing filter via eBay well… Hopefully soon. I wish I had it for tomorrow, but alas… I don’t.

Oh, yeah, I’m hoping to go to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes tomorrow. That should be nice. I hope.

acquired things moved from livejournal travel

Yes! Michigan

March 14, 2006

Ice on the breakwater off of Port Austin, MI.
(Click for more…)

So, yeah. On Saturday I had nothing to do and no one to do anything with, so I made my way over to M-53 and drove to the top of the thumb. While up there I ended up stopping at the State Dock in Port Austin before heading west along M-25. I took M-25 all the way to Bay City, then I-75 down through Flint and such, and eventually home. I also stopped at another breakwater / beach in Caseville, saw the Pioneer Sugar Company’s plant in Sebewaing (if you’ve eaten Michigan Beet Sugar, it probably came from here), walked around on some beaches, and got a bunch of photos. So, if you want to see those photos, either click on the photo above, or click here: Thumb Area (March 11, 2006)

moved from livejournal outdoors travel

Cryostatis Lecture Potluck

February 19, 2006

On the way home from The Henry Ford Museum, Tiffany and I made a slight
detour and found The Cryonics Institute building at I-94 and Shook.

(Click for moblog…)

Yesterday and I headed down to Dearborn in order to visit The Henry Ford Museum. While I haven’t posted the pictures of the museum itself yet (I’m still picking through them), I wanted to put this one up.

From time to time I have read about The Cryonics Institute, but it was only a few months ago when I realized exactly where it is; right at I-94 and Shook.

Also, it appears that they are having a potluck / lecture at 6pm tonight, right at their facility. It may be interesting to go to one of these lectures sometime. Hopefully I could catch a glimpse of the actual facilities used to house the 72 humans and 42 pets currently in cryostasis at the facility.

Hmm. If I wasn’t already going skating, I’d find someone to go with. Oh, and bake cookies or something first. I think a visit to one of the US’ two cryostasis facilities is worthy of tasty chocolate chip cookies.

moved from livejournal outdoors travel

Detroit Historical Museum and Belle Isle

February 13, 2006

Inside of the ship’s bridge which overhands the Detroit River at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.
(Click for more…)

Back at the end of December 2005, , , and I went to the Detroit Historical Museum, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the Scott Memorial Fountain, and a few other places on Belle Isle.

I finally got around to captioning the photos today, and they are available by either clicking on the photo above, or this link: Detroit Historical Museum, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the Scott Memorial Fountain, and a few other places on Belle Isle (photo gallery retired).

No, I’m not going to write much about them right now… Hopefully you’ll enjoy them, though.

Oh, and yes, I know the pictures are mostly crap. This was the first day I took my new camera out to actually give it a try. I’ve become a lot more familiar with it since then, and thusly the photos have gotten considerably better.

moved from livejournal outdoors travel

NAIAS 2006

January 20, 2006

Honda Sports Car Concept
(Click for more…)

As mentioned previously, on Wednesday , his younger brother, his brother’s friend, and ‘s sister Andrea and I headed down to the 2006 North American International Auto Show. It wasn’t anything too special, just the standard auto show.

Not wanting to be carrying such a large camera around the show, I took along my older digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 5400) instead. Now I see why I replaced this camera… It’s a comfortable size, but it’s slow to focus, doesn’t focus that well in low light, and is just rather blah. The 20D (photo gallery retired) was definitely worth picking up.

So, yeah. Either click the photo up above or at the link below if you want to look through the photos:

2006 North American International Auto Show (photo gallery retired)

By the way, that vehicle pictured above? I really rather like how it looks… Also, I’m not a huge fan of sports cars, but I also think the Ford GT is rather nice. Oh, and Allstate‘s area where they had bumper cars was amusing.

And this may have been fairly wrong of me, but I also grabbed a picture of a rather powerful femullet.

automotive moved from livejournal travel