An Apology Regarding 'Thank You Cards'

Have you received a thank you card in the mail lately? No, I didn't think so. Well thats because so far we have only done..................(drum roll).......................... 10.

Thats right, in 6 months, we have done a total of 10 thank you cards. We promise to do at least another 10 in the next six months. At this rate, we will be finished in the next 20 years...

(Really, we are working on it over the next couple of weekends so hopefully we can get them out soon)

Monday wasn't really all that exciting...

lol, but I saw this turtle behind our apartment...
*Correction: Brandon and Krista came over in the evening and we went swimming and we watched Stomp the Yard. Brandon has a Lego crane and I was impressed. Can I have Lego Jenee?

Sunshine and a Bazillion Other People

Well, the day for our trip to St Augie, and the Lord certainly put it on. Clear blue skies, beautiful fresh air and the warmth of the sun. I got up early and set out to Target to buy an expandable sun gazebo, some food for us, and some food for the cats. After much deliberation I chose my Gazebo (10 x 10 ft or 2.5 x 2.5 m) I was headed back to the apartment. Jenee had been busy preparing everything else for the trip. Mum, you would be proud. Or payload included a sun shelter, kites, two fancy beach chairs, an esky / cooler, and two backpacks of stuff each. To top it all off, I bought an Aerobie too! I always wanted one, and I saw them for sale for $9 in Target! I could hardly believe it, as a kid in Australia they were $30-$40.

We had to make a stop at our work to get ice packs for the Esky before we left town. When we got there, Jenee asked me if I had got the Esky from the kitchen before leaving? Of course I hadn't, so I went into work, and she went to fetch the Esky. Or at least I thought she had. 5 minutes later she appears at my cubicle informing me that I have the house keys! LOL. Well, eventually we got everything together and made it to the beach.



Crescent beach is a little south of St. Augustine beach, and was literally filled with tens of thousands of people as far as the eye could see in either direction. We found a nice spot and set up camp. I was definitely the envy of a few of the blokes with my easy to assemble gazebo, despite Jenee making loads of fun of me, one bloke even giving me the knowing nod of 'I see your gazebo, and I want one because I am sitting out in the sun and I look like a lobster, and next to you I feel like less of a man', or something like that. Eventually Jenee conceded that the Gazebo was pretty cool and even sat underneath it.

Sadly there wasn't enough room for us to fly kites, but we did give the Aerobie a work out. I nearly killed an inoccent pregnant bystander, and another black lady who was minding her own business reading mills and boon. (I made the Mills and Boon up, but she was reading).

Later we did our usual walk around St Augie in the shopping district, and I even got to experience a boutique hotel bathroom. It was cool, they even had individual hand towels for you to wipe your hands with. Very schmick.

After dinner at Acapulco, we walked around some of old down town, and we fell even more in love with the place. The architecture is so original and different, and I love the use of colors on the homes. Sadly my battery died so I didn't get many pictures, but we are going back soon so I'll take some more.

Another Day at Lake Wauberg

What is going on? Why are continually going to Lake Wauberg? Well, this time it was for a BBQ for some undergraduates that have come from around the US, and the Virgin Islands to gain some research experience in a University. I didn't have much of a role other than being another face to feed, but I took my camera along (duh) and went kayaking in the hope of getting some cool pictures.



lake wauberg

Well, I think some of them are pretty good, my favorite is the one where all you can see is the body of a rather large gator. I guesstimated that he was about 7-8 ft long, and I managed to get about 10 meters from him in my kayak, I wouldn't dare get any closer. American Aligators don't have the reputation for attacking humans, hence why I was kayaking in a lake filled with hundreds of them, but I didn't really think it was necessary to get any closer to a rather large lizard with sharp teeth that could out swim me. Of course, should I be attacked I had my heat sensitive thumb prepared for an impromptu rectal temperature measurement... for scientific purposes of course ('come here Crocky!').

Tomorrow I am taking Jenee to the beach for a break. I think her schedule is a little too much for her, but she is managing very well. Looks like you will get another post with pictures from the beach, and then maybe another post for monday. Dreams can come true... lol.

Home Sick Today...

Sometime I just miss home and its all a bit too much to take. Actually, probably the suckiest thing to deal with is when you really want something, and you cant have it. I cant remember how many times in the last month I have found my self wanting for a Farmers Union Iced Coffee. Now, the Americans reading this will have no idea what this is, or why it would be so desirable as they have their fluffy Starbucks Drinks that they pay way too much for, for bad coffee. Sorry, its the truth.


What I would do to get a FUIC right now... Well the next best thing is to look at that glorious carton and pretend that I am chugging a 600 mL'er and that refreshing coffee taste is filling me with Farmers Union goodness. Its a shame that you can't send them by air mail, lol.

Well the next best thing is to enjoy this ad I found for the drink that is liquid gold...

Yay - New Lens for Nate!

Well after much saving of money and waiting, I finally got my very own copy of Nikon's 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR super-duper all purpose walk around lens delivered by the Men-In-Brown (UPS) late yesterday. Before I go any further, I want to publicly thank my wife who selflessly helped me get this. Thanks babe, I love you muchly :-)

So, what's the big deal and what's it like? Well, the big deal is that in the old 35mm format, this lens is equivalent to a 28-300, which is a wide angle to a decent telephoto in one small and convenient package. What that means is that for more than 90% of the time I want to take pictures, this lens will satisfy all of my needs. The other thing is that the smart folks at Nikon also included some built in stabilization technology which allows the user to get sharp pictures in conditions typically intended for tripods.

Jenee entertained my excitement last night, and we went on a walk to get a package from the large delivery mail boxes we have on site (thanks Bek for that special something that you sent... O.o) so I took the new toy along for a try-out. (click on the picture to see differences pronounced)

The local theater. ISO 400, f/3.5 at 1/13th of a second. Comparison of VR on and off.

Comparison:
I, III, IV and V you can see significantly better detail in the images with the VR on.
II and VI - you can see there is better contrast and sharpness with the VR on.

So far I am very happy with it but I will put it through some more vigorous testing to see how good the lens actually is. I am really curious how well the sharpness and colors will hold up, as well as its low light/VR performance holds up. My original 18-70 lens was pretty sharp and had great colors, so if this new lens doesn't hold its end of the bargain up it will be off to Ebay...

Cocoa Beach Conference

Well I am back from my conference at Cocoa Beach, Fl and it was a good time. On the way there I was able to see some of the assembly buildings on NASA's facility, sometime it would be fun to go back there and do the tour. Actually there is a scheduled launch in the next two weeks, so if the weather is permitting, I might see that!



Cocoa Beach

The view from the hotel was pretty spectacular and I hope you enjoy the slide show. I learn't a valuable lesson though, never leave home with out your camera! We went out to dinner on the second night and I missed one of the most scenic sunsets imaginable.

Court House Warning...

Thanks to Rossen for this picture. I don't know what to say...


Last time I went to court they said no rocket launchers, now I can't even take pepper spray?

Being a grown up now...

Well, I guess I have been a big boy for a while now and in fact, I have been through what I am about to write of many times before, but still, sometimes being a grown-up is a lot of work. You see, Jenee is working full time and taking no less than 3 summer classes, AND volunteering at a school to get her practice hours for her degree. This week I have been at work at 7 and not left until 5 and sometimes 6 and 6:30. You see I have a sponsors meeting next week, and that means, preparing presentations, last minute organising and extra meetings, and I have to do all my other work too. Needless to say, we are both fairly tired.

I thought about listing all the things on my plate at work, but I decided that was too much to explain. I have probably in the vicinity of 7 or 8 main projects, 2 grad students who luckily don't depend on me, 4 undergrads who do, consultancy work, a purchasing list to fulfill and various other tid-bits. So as you can see I have a reasonable work load, but I love it, and I am learning that all of it fits into God's plan somehow and I should take it on with a smile and do my best.

Monday I am off to the conference, and I found out yesterday that I am the last person to talk. Hmm, not necessarily where I wanted to present, but I get to do the final hammer stroke and impress those who matter. Its at Cocoa Beach, FL, which will be a change of scenery and it is right next door to the Kennedy Space Center!!, I cant wait to see the ocean, something I don't get to see a lot of here in flat Florida. If you can remember, please pray for safe travel and for Jenee while I am away, its not her favorite to be alone.

In other good news, we have had some rain which has alleviated some of the firefighters from their long days. The smoke levels have also eased in Gainesville so we can once again breath easy. Well, hope everyone is doing well. Why don't you give me a call:-)

Camera Epidemic!

Since I have owned my Digital SLR, I have successfully encouraged no less than 4 people to take the plunge and also buy a Nikon Digital SLR. So who are they? Well, my father bought a D80, my cousin a D200 and 2 friends here in Gainesville have each bought D40's with another seriously considering it, and another 2 coming to talk to me (where's my spotter's fee Nikon?).

Each and every one of them have absolutely loved their new camera. Why, you ask, would someone want a D-SLR when point and shoots are small, pocket sized, have big zooms, video, scene modes and dummy proof Auto everything? Well, have a look at this site for some reasons. Nikon Picturetown.

Now, in case you are two lazy to check it out for yourself, Nikon is so sure of its products, that it gave 200 of its D40 D-SLR camera's to townsfolk in Georgetown, South Carolina. So what did these in-experienced users think? I pulled some comments of the site above...

"I'll never go back to what I was using because you miss out and these pictures are priceless", "Its been fun as a parent, we turned off the TV and grab the camera and enjoy nature" and,
"I picked it up, and was like 'wow, it takes amazing pictures!'"

So there you have it, D-SLR's are awesome because they take amazing pictures, you don't suffer from shutter lag and they are actually large enough for a normal sized human to operate, unlike the ever shrinking point and shoot world. Go and buy a D-SLR* today and never look back!

*Buy Nikon, Canon are so-so and have white balance issues and bad menu's and all the others are knockoff copies and generally crap:-)

Mother's Day Weekend!

First of all, happy mothers day to Mum (Jen-Jen) and Mom (Lindy-Lou). I hope you both had a great day, I am sorry that I didn't get to spend it with at least one of you. So, how was everyone's weekend? Mine started a little early, on Wednesday afternoon as I drove Jenee to the Jacksonville Airport. As we drew closer to I-10, the connecting highway to the airport, the smoke from the fires in the region was so thick that visibility was reduced to about 200-300 meters at best. On the way home the smoke had once again extended all the way to Gainesville, and it was even thicker than before.

Thurday to Friday Afternoon Summary: Wake up, work, sleep, wake up, work - no Friday meeting! Friday night was movie night, so Rob, Sarah, Jason, Mandy, Mike, Mary, Brandon and Krista all came over and we played games till late and then watched The Princess Bride. Classic, it just never gets old. I think I want to bed at about 2:30am...

Aaaaaaaand I was awake at 6:30. Stupid responsibilities at work, I had to go to work on Saturday morning. What ever happened to sleeping in? Oh well, I spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pad. In the afternoon, Brandon and Krista had asked if I could take a photo of them and Krista's brother for Mother's Day. That was fun to try and be all experty and professional. Later Rob and Sarah invited me to see Spiderman 3!

I went along and it was fun to hang out with the Hammersma's, Rob was so excited he was running around the place looking at the Transformers and Silver Surfer displays. It's great to see someone else get excited and act 12, I was right there with you Rob :-)

Sunday was yet more relaxing. I actually missed church, so I made up for it by listening to no less than 6 sermons on CD during the day. Among other things, I cleaned the car, the apartment and did the washing. Later in the afternoon, I shared a very unusual experience with Rob playing disc golf. There were very few people on the course and so I was able to relax and take my time. As we made our way through the course, the sky darkend and by the 6h hole it had started to rain just enough that we didn't get wet, but cooled off enough. by th 12th, the rain was getting pretty constant, and the thunder was getting closer. By 17, the rain was bucketing down so we ran the last two holes so that we could finish our game.

Well, the time finally came and at 12:30am monday morning, I got to see my princess! Talk about Red-Eye, we didn't get to bed until 2:35am. That is love folks, driving 2 hours to pick up your wife, and then two hours home. Well, thats whats new in my neck of the woods, and as I write this, my wife has passed out on my shoulder so I am going to take her to to bed. Night everyone.

Crazy Weather for the Whole Family

Well I am officially a Bachelor for the weekend as my wife is in Texas to see her folks. To commemorate my weekend, I have played loud music, eaten whatever I feel like (a plain meal - no fancy sides here) and cleaned up a tad. Ahh, feels good, but I miss her already.

The weather here is so crazy. Currently, there are 200 fires burning in Florida and Georgia, and one beast in California. The smoke here is reducing visibility to 1km. In fact driving Jenee to the airport a few hours ago, you could have been forgiven for thinking it was night. And to top this off, there is the seasons first Tropical Storm (first stage of a hurricane / cyclone) off the east coast of Florida.



Fires, Floods and Tropical Storms


In Minnesota, there is mass flooding. Texas is getting huge thunderstorms, and a town in Kansas was literally wiped from the face of the earth on Friday by a Category 5 tornado with a 1.6km wide funnel (at the ground). There is nothing left, nothing.

Australia is in a similar state, with a terrible drought, the worst in history, so much so, that some outback towns have been evacuated as there is no water to survive...

It shows how little power we really have, and how it's all in His hands. During your prayer time, you might wanna remember to pray for the fire fighters, families, friends and goverment authorities in charge of making decisions for us, the citizens.

Our Apartment - Inside and Out

Ok, here is our apartment. We have just painted the dining area (and shortly the kitchen) in a warm gold / yellow color. There are a few picture frames missing on the walls that I will put up shortly.

The lounge is going to probably be a white room and we are going to print some of my arty pics and put them in large frames to enjoy. The TV and stereo is going to be in an entertainment center to keep things tidy, and I will have to think up a good solution for mounting / positioning my re-commissioned speakers. You can see it here.



Our Apartment

Next to the kitchen, we are going to have a shelf thingy that has two shelves top and bottom and two draws dividing the middle to put extra dishes and things on. My wife has amazing taste and I am learning to just trust here and enjoy it, cause she can see what she wants better very well.

Rossen's 2007 World Tour of Gainesville!

Well for two and a half wonderful days my friend, colleague and supervisor, Dr Rossen Sedev, from my PhD studies was here in Gainesville. Rossen came on Sunday afternoon and we met at his hotel. During his short stay we took him around for the full Gator experience. We went to a baseball game at UF, saw some of the campus sights, went to Paines Prarie to see some real Gators (7 actually), ate dinner at several of our favorite establishments such as the Gainesville Ale House, Chipolte, and now BallyHoo and Jenee and I really enjoyed hosting him in our home for a dinner (I am not sure if he has quite forgiven me for an untested, rather spicy curry). Have a look at some of the photos I took during his stay.

Rossens visit to Gainesville

Much of out time together was spent chatting and catching up on the news from my home institute, The Wark, and sharing some professional education and perspectives now that i am on the other side of the PhD fence. Rossen also picked up a new friend here. Who? None other than my traitor of a cat, Sable. Check out the slide show for the evidence.

When he left on Tuesday night, it hit me how much I had enjoyed seeing him and I was genuinely sad to have to say goodbye. It also reminded me of how much I miss everyone back in Australia. Believe it or not, I think about all of you, my family and friends, almost every day. Don't think for a second that I have forgotten you, ever. I love you all, and I really can't wait to come back and visit...

Monster Trucks!

INSTIGATOR! GRAVE DIGGER! TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE! STONE CRUSHER! MOPAR MAGIC! Has Nate gone crazy? Is he just saying random words because he has been sitting in the sun too much? Umm, nope, these are the names of Monster Trucks that we saw on Saturday night. Well what is a monster truck? Well for the Aussies here, take a Holden or Ford ute, or even an old F150, take the body off, and replace everything with huge truck wheels from a combine harvestor, and a 1500HP drag car engine and there you have it. Americans, you should know what a monster truck is, but if not, take a Ford, Chev of Dodge F250 or so truck equvalent, and do pretty much the same thing. Alternatively look at the picture below.


Well, after a long day where Jenee took her SAT test (5 hours long) and I worked and played Wii and then we both worked some more, we set out for Ocala, just 30 minutes south of here for the Ocala speedway. We quickly learn't that Ocala is much more relaxed about organizing large events and parking than gainesville so we just parked where ever we wanted and joined the rest of the Ocala country folk in the pilgrimage to the racetrack. We were early, but apparently not early enough. The stands were full and there were no good places for taking pictures, and then I saw a spot on the top of the highest stand just for us. It turns out that it was a great spot and I was able to get some fairly good pictures. Lesson learnt though, while I was taking some test shots, my flash batteries died - annoying.

The show was pretty cool, those big trucks are actually pretty maneuverable. They were racing one on one, at the end of the 400 meter or so long track, and then would pop up over some cars which was the coolest part .Some of the trucks were 5-7 meters clear of the ground!.



Monster Truck Jam


Everything was going well until the lighting started to flash around us, and then it started to rain. We decided that sitting on a larger conducting stand and being at the top of it probably wasnt the greatest move in the world so we packed up and went home, only 1 hour into the show. It was a shame to leave so soon, but needless to say we had fun. The sucky thing was that half way home it stopped raining. I chose to ignore the possibility that the show continued on with out us. Oh well, next time I would like to go to an actual indoor stadium event where you can get closer to the action, and not have fences in the way. No matter what, we had a great time, and we stull got to mingle with country folks :-) Just another "Jenate Adventure".

The End of Another Busy Week

Well, its Friday afternoon and its the end of another busy working week. So many things have happend, that as I sit here and reflect, I have realised how much I have actually done. Here at work, I have some-what of a routine at the moment where first thing in the morning, I spend about an hour and a half tending to my consultancy samples. The need a lot of attention to keep happy. Then, it into the office to start doing whatever needs to be done, be it, lab work, writing, one-on-one sessions with students, Service Center meetings or taking photo's of this years grad students at their graduation ceremony. Yup, sometimes I even get to play with my toys at work.


Here are PERC's happy graduates. From left to right we have, Vijay Krishna, Marie Kane, Dr Brij Moudgil (Director of PERC), Dr Keving Powers (my supervisor), Maria Palazuelos who is married to Scott Brown and on the far right, Kyong Ho Bu. Well done all of you!

After work, Jenee has been applying herself to revision for her up coming SAT test (Saturday). The silly SAT's expire after 3 years so you have to take it again if you want to apply to college. Personally I think that it is an excuse for colleges to fleece you of even more money. During this time, I have been doing all the house work I can so that Jenee can concentrate on studying. I have pretty much been working up to 11pm every night this week getting things tidy and organised. The good thing is that we now have more room in the apartment and it looks better thanks to my wife's creative eye.

The weekend and following week are going to be no different, Saturday we have the Monster Truck Jam (1500HP trucks and bad clothes - SWEET!) and then on Sunday, my PhD supervisor is in town for a couple of days, so I will be spending time with him. Then on Wednesday, I drive Jenee 2 hours to Jacksonville Airport. Maybe I will get to sleep in on Thursday morning.

Well, I think we are due for some more pictures soon, so I will post them after the weekend. Hope you are all doing great, love youse all.

Nate

The First of May, 2007

The sunset photo was taken Monday evening. There is a huge fire happening a few hundred kay's north of us and the smoke is blowing down to us. If you remember, pray for the brave folks who are doing their best to fight the fire.


I could take this photo because there is so much smoke haze in the sky. When looking through the view finder I could have sworn I saw a sunspot on the surface of the sun, but I guess it must have been my wishful thinking...