Los Angeles Follow-up

As promised, I am writing to let you know more about the trip Caroline and I took to Los Angeles, California. Yes, I am actually doing it this time; I know that there have been previous occasions with empty promises of more info, but not this time (don't you guys feel special).

It all started about a week and a half ago, when Caroline and I thought (well mostly Caroline) we should go for another road trip out of the desert--it isn't exactly the most wonderful place to be here. We were thinking of going to San Diego, but a quick look into hotel prices and we quickly changed our minds (200 USD per night being the cheaper of the available hotels). So instead we thought Los Angeles would be something good to see (ocean, Hollywood, etc). We booked our hotel room for Friday & Saturday nights (at a much more reasonable 90 USD per night).

Now the thing about Los Angeles is that it isn't exactly close to Chandler...it is was about 650 km from the apartment to the hotel. And we didn't exactly get out of the greater Phoenix area in record time either. We left McDonald's at 5pm (now lets not go into whether that was a good choice as to eat there or not) and eventually got out of the GPA an hour later; so far, not so good.

So at about 11:15 we get into Long Beach (where our hotel is)...oh almost forget to mention not to stop at rest areas in California, they are extremely sketchy. But back to finding our hotel.

This is where we learn the lesson that addresses and directions are not fungible. You see Caroline didn't think of writing down the actual directions to the hotel. And as it turns out there happened to be about 3 Domingez Streets in Long Beach area...oh and that didn't include the one that the hotel was actually on. So we started to go through the possible streets, with no luck. We eventually found someone's wireless internet connection. :) So we go and check Caroline's email (which had the location clear as day). So after about an hour of driving around Long Beach we finally find the hotel. :)

Saturday we found ourselves going and checking out Hollywood Blvd with all the stars. :) Oh, and don't forget all the people who have left their mark on the side walk (in front of the Chinese theatre).

Afterwards took a tour down Sunset Blvd towards the ocean. Of course we took a quick detour through Bel Air to see how all the rich people lived. Mostly on narrow roads up very high hills. :)

Oh I forgot to mention the visit to the Wax Museum and Guinness Book Museums.

A waxed copy of Charlie

Ryan with the cast of Sienfeld
A poor representation of MarilynRyan and the King

As I was saying, we headed towards the ocean and found ourselves on the very beach that Baywatch was filmed. Doesn't this look familiar?
Well that was about all there was to day one. On Sunday the only real tourist thing we did was to go visit the Getty museum. Now the Getty was a very cool place. It had extremely neat architecture! I'd love to go back. The highlight of the art was probably the photo exhibit of Frederick Sommer, and the architecture itself. They also had some Rembrandt paintings, which I'd have to say were quite interesting, but still enjoyed the photo gallery more.

Back in the Desert

We made it back safe and sound to Arizona. Only about 1500 KM driven this weekend--good thing it is a rental. ;) Well I just finished downloading all my pictures to the computer, and I think I'll be off to bed.

Here are a couple photos from The Getty in Los Angeles (I'll upload some more tomorrow, along with some details of the weekend):

Welcome to LA

Well we finally made it here. In general it went quick and without incident...in general. It seems that Caroline didn't have the directions written down, we had the address though. After our second try at buying a LA map (we got an Atlas in Phoenix but were unable to get an LA city map) we find out there are 3 streets which match the one we were looking for. :( They end up not being anywhere near the right ones--very sketchy places. Tell me why the same street if found with different postfixes?

Eventually while driving down the street Caroline catches a wireless network--we are in business. She brings up her email, find the message about the hotel, and bingo we have found where the hotel is. By the way, the particular instance of our street never did occur in the index. :(

Well, I'm off to bed now. I'll fill you in on the trip as it progresses.

We're Off

I imagine many of you will be away from your computers for the weekend, but I'll post this now anyway. All of you get a lovely long weekend, but being stuck here in the States I'll be working Monday. But between now and then, Caroline and I will be making a journey out of the heat to go play tourist in Los Angeles, CA. What will we do? We'll find something to occupy our time.

The plan is to leave Chandler at around 4 or 5 (whenever Caroline is done working). We will stop for a bite to eat somewhere enroute. We have a hotel in Long Beach for tonight and tomorrow. So in a couple of days I'll present you all with what we did, along with photos since I'll probably just take my digital camera (we are going to scary LA).

Oh on a side note, have a wonderful trip to Europe George & Carolyn. Take lots of pictures, let us know what you are up to if you get a chance. And if not we hope to find out about it in two weeks.

Something is....different

I think something is happening. We have lightning, and a very strong wind has started. The wind is howling through the cracks in the door jams and windows. Finally, some weather!

Productive Weekend

Well I just finished a little extra work--4 hours of it actually. What a way to spend a Saturday evening :(. Well actually as sad as it sounds it was actually very productive. I was stuck in this situation due to some very tight deadlines next week (actually they were pushed out from this week already). So hopefully that will be all the work I do this weekend...cross your fingers for me.

The funny thing about me working this evening is that I spent most of the day teaching myself the Ruby programming language. For those of you that may by some odd chance be interested you can find out more about it on the Ruby website, or from their very thorough documentation. Yeah, I know I'm a geek.

Well I should probably get to bed soon since I'm going for dim sum with Lacey, Yuki, and Tony. Mmmm, dim sum.

From the Desert

Well today will be my last day before I'm joined by other PEER developers for the next long while. Minh and Cindy arrive later today, they will be here for the week. Next week Caroline returns, so that means one last weekend of peace ;). Actually, it will be good to have people around again. It gets very quiet around here without anyone else around. So I won't need to mope around anymore.

For those of you interested in weather...no change here, still hot, still no rain. But did you expect anything else? It will be quite a shock for those coming down here from Kitchener. Hopefully they manage.

I still haven't heard anything about when PEER will fly me back next. :( I figure I'll come home around Labour Day, regardless of whether PEER foots the bill or not.

Back in the Sunny South-West

Did I mention it is sunny and warm here?

My trip to Ontario was an excellent time, but it has come to an end with me back in Arizona. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of family and friends throughout my time back in Ontario. I really can't wait to return back home. :( When will that be? I'm not sure yet, the latest would be for Thanksgiving but I'm set on being back for a camping trip around Labour Day (I know Joy is up for that), if anyone else wants to join us that would be excellent.

As some will agree returning to work after a break isn't the best thing (not just because it is back to work) but because the work that piles up--or rather doesn't finish itself. So it is looking like this week will require some overtime (un-paid I might add).

Well back to work. :(

Back in the Home Land

I made it safe and sound back to Canada. And boy was I happy to see trees, grass, and water (George I'll stop making fun of your tree hugging ways now). I arrived back in Bowmanville at about 18:15 PST (9:15 pm EST). Hopefully I'll see you all soon. :)

T-Minus 18 Hours

It is getting closer. Only thing left now is for a little sleep and a plane ride (and some packing). :) It is so exciting to be coming home tomorrow.

My next post will be from Canadian soil. :D

31 Hours and Counting

Well it is almost time. Tomorrow night at around 7 PM EST I'll be arriving at YYZ (Pearson Airport). Yes I'll finally be back in the home country. Can hardly wait...well don't have much longer to! :)

My flight (America West 262) will be leaving Phoenix at 12:11 PM PST and arriving in Toronto at 7:27 PM EST. So now those who wish to follow the flight of Ryan (probably Grandma and Dad) can.

See you all soon. :)

P.S.
Don't worry, I'll bring all 9 rolls of prints for everyone to see.

That was a busy day

Well today didn't turn out the way I intended. It was meant to include a trip to Tempe Camera's lab to get the prints that I didn't get with my many rolls of film, and maybe get Lacey to buy a camera. But as I mentioned that didn't happen.

I woke up to Gilberth knocking on my door with some slightly hysterical comments about the fact he should already be on his plane to New York. After I wake up and come out to see what the fuss is all about I learn that his flight to New York was not for Sunday morning, but rather Saturday...two hours prior! So I tell him to call the airline and sort out how to deal with it (since I didn't know anything better to do about a long missed plane).

So he spends a good 30 minutes sorting out his options and ends up getting a ticket for tomorrow (Sunday morning) at 7 am, and only $100 to reschedule. So with issue one dealt with it was off to his apartment to clean out (since it wasn't Sunday he needed to leave).

This excursion turned into a little ordeal as well. It seems the apartment (well actually it is a golf resort) had not been charging his corporate card in $1000 increments as they said, so instead he was stuck with an $8000 bill. Quite frankly his card didn't cover that. So after an hour or two of sitting while he tries to sort this out I take off (with his car) to go to the Hertz rental to renew my own rental. Note that it is about 2pm when I pick up my car....I have missed the Tempe Camera lab, they closed at 1pm. :(

After I eventually get my car renewed and pick up Gilberth and get back to the ranch it is 4:30, so much for dim sum. So there goes the days original plans. The new start with breakfast, lunch, and diner all at once, at BJ's (they make excellent deep-dish pizza). After a satisfying meal John joined Lacey, Gilberth, and I for some Cold Stone ice cream. Think of gelato, but with ice cream and they mix in real items like raspberries, chocolate bars, etc. Very tasty.

The remainder of the evening was filled with visiting the used CD store, returning Gilberth's rental and a night at Iguana Mack's. But more on that later.

Something is missing

I can't seem to find the car keys. The car is still there, but I haven't seen the keys since I grabbed my wallet from the car on the way to Tempe Camera. Hopefully a night of rest will allow the old brain to sort out the mess.

The Pictures Are In

So today was the day Graeme made it here. Well that isn't the real news of the day, just something to keep you in a little more suspense. What really happened was that I picked up my 9 rolls of film. 8 from the last two outings: first to Monument Valley, second to the Grand Canyon (both with a bit of Sedona); and one mystery one that came for the trip to Arizona in my camera--this one containing some Christmas photos (games night I think), as well as the hike Alex, Kat, Joy, and I took on a winter river (Elora I think). After a small donation to the Tempe Camera lab of almost $90 I was racing back home to see how they turned out. [As a little jump ahead note, the prints turned out great and don't regret paying a little more to get them done at a professional lab.]

As soon as I get home, I sit down and start to go through all the rolls of prints--of course being sure to re-sort them into their proper order. I seem to be missing 7 prints, I'll have to call/visit the lab tomorrow to clear this up. There are some beautiful pictures contained in these prints, I must find a way to share them with everyone as soon as possible (George I think you might be jealous of the night shots). So it looks like I might have to go and look at either print scanners or bed scanners this week, since I don't know anyone here with a scanner.

Oh and before one comments on the potential need for a digital SLR--*cough* George *cough*--wait until you see these photos.

Canyon Crew

From left to right: Mas, Caroline, Ryan, and George

For our trip to the Canyon we had a bit larger group this time. This picture is taken just after we had the sunset photo-shoot. Note that this picture was taken with George's D70.

Away from home

I don't know about you guys but I could really use being at home. I miss Joy, I miss my family, miss my friends. I miss home. And I'm tired of stressful weeks of work and then being the entertainment coordinator for after hours. I think I need a rest.

Change of plans

Well after a day of helping people fight fires and such we didn't leave for the Canyon early Friday afternoon. :( Instead we all had to give extra attention to work. So, our new plans are to go up tomorrow morning and be in Sedona for lunch, maybe get to the Grand Canyon for sunset (doubtful that we will make it for the entire sunset). And then just go with whatever happens. We'll see what happens.

It is an addiction

So today around 3pm or so George and I found ourselves at Tempe Camera again. I was looking for a used wide-angle lens, 24mm in particular. I just so happened that they had just received one that had not yet been put into the display case. It also ended up being in mint condition and only 200 USD. So it has found its way into my growing collection of lenses.

The new lens is a Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 fixed focal length wide-angle lens (you can see it here). This should be excellent for doing landscapes of such places as the Grand Canyon. Which we may find ourselves at this weekend.

On Monday of this week we had Caroline and Mas arrive down here in Chandler. I don't know if they are planning on the Grand Canyon or Las Vegas for the weekend. I do believe however that George is wanting to go to the Grand Canyon for his last weekend here. Given that I have all of negative 30 minutes in my available working time for the this week, we may get an early start tomorrow. ;)

The Joy of Work

Hi everyone,

How is your week going? Is it as busy as mine. Just like to say that as fun as it is to be done early on Friday I don't enjoy the consumption of my time during the rest of the week. I'm just about at my 40 hours for the week and it is still Thursday with plenty of work to go. Sigh.

Overworked & underpaid,
Ryan

Monument Valley Update

The trip to Monument Valley went well. George and I left Chandler at about 3:30 got out of Phoenix city limits by about 4:45 (long weekend and there is no quick way across the greater Phoenix area). Our trip found us in Sedona for sunset. From the sunset itself I'd say I got some very nice pictures, but the proof will have to wait until I get the film developed. That is the mixed blessing of film. You are forced to wait until you get around to developing it, but then you have the anticipation and excitement of get the prints back and going through them.

We spent a good couple hours taking photos of plants scenic views and the sun dropping behind the surrounding hills. You will have to just wait and see how the photos turn out. After the sunset photo session we took a break and had dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Our journey continued up through Flagstaff towards Monument Valley. The trip across the desert at night has very little to look at. We did stop a couple times to try and get some night shots of the stars but clouds kept drifting across the stars...Or cars going by on the roads. We did try to find a side road but it is quite a challenge since they don't like to mark them with signs of any kind. And as soon as you leave the main road you are on a dirt road--not gravel, dirt.

Eventually we found ourselves in Monument Valley around 1:30 or so. Instead of finding a hotel we decide since the sky is clear that some night photography of the moon, stars, and surrounding landscape was in order. Also, why bother sleeping when sunrise is but a few short hours away.

So for the next 2 hours George and I play with our new toys, both thoroughly pleased. Until the unthinkable happens. George's battery on his camera dies. This as you can imagine puts a damper on things. So we try to think of how we are going to get his camera back up and running. We are out in the middle of nowhere the only nearby town is Kayenta and they got nothing, zip. But what they did have was hotels. George braves the random wild dogs that seem to roam the town at night and asks the clerk at one of the hotels if he can charge his camera battery. They do so without and problems and George bought some postcards from them. We are back up and running in 20 minutes.

With the sky getting brighter by the minute George has us tearing though the desert at 90mph crossing the 23 miles back to the valley in record time. I got a few shots using my digital camera as we are speeding towards our chosen photo location (see the picture below).

For the next hour or so we captured the sun rising over the many stone monuments in the valley. I have no idea whether my photos will turn out but we will see. Once the sun was full up we both came to realize that we were both extremely exhausted, so we got back in our car and drove back towards home until we found a tree on the side of the road to provide a little shade. We parked and slept from 6:30 until 9:30. We couldn't sleep any longer since the sun had made it far too hot to survive without the air conditioning. So we got back on the road and headed for home.

Back in Flagstaff we stopped to check out the sunset crater (a volcanic crater). The weather was starting to turn bad with cold rain. But we did get some good shots of the Francisco Mountain that overlooks Flagstaff.

So that was pretty much the weekend, we got back in Chandler around 6:30pm to find Adam still at our place. Pictures will hopefully be ready later in the week (I plan on getting a photo CD to allow me to upload the pictures).

Sunrise in Monument Valley 

Off into the wild blue yonder

Well George and I just got back from doing a little lens shopping. After chatting with the guy at the camera store we both left with a new lens. George with a used Nikkor 70-210mm and the Sigma 70-300mm (w/ macro mode) for myself. The macroscopic mode is very nice. I'll somehow get all the photos I take from this trip digitized so I can share them with everyone. Or maybe I'll just make you all wait to see the prints. :)

The pseudo plan is to head monument valley in north-eastern Arizona. We hope to get some sun set/rise pictures and also some night ones from there. After that we may find ourselves in Zion National Park in southern Utah.

Wish us happy hunting and I'll get back to you on how the trip went.

Camera Lens

So I think today is the day...I buy a new lens for my camera. George was nice enough to bring my Nikon F65 down when he came to Arizona, so I have it here now. And with all the nice scenery around, and plenty of night photography opportunities it would be extremely nice to have a telephoto lens. So, I am looking at the possibility of buying a Sigma telephoto lens 70 - 300 mm focal length. You can find out more about it here.

So I'm currently waiting for George to get back from a meeting before we go and try out the lens using my camera (just looked at it yesterday...which tells you very little about it). I don't imagine there would be any issue with actually trying the lens out with my camera to ensure everything works as expected. The lens sells for about 270 USD which brings it to about the exact same price as from Henry's.

Star Wars

So the fact that everyone bailed on ritualistically Thursday night drinking turned out to be good. Joy and I ended up seeing Star Wars (Hitchhiker was only showing until 7:40). I must say that it was probably one of the best of the double trilogy. By far out shining the lack luster Episode I & II.

The unfortunate thing with prequels is that there are some things that can't surprise you since you know the future...takes a little out of fight scenes when you know what happens to the participants.

Another fun aspect is seeing all the old models of ships that lead to various craft such as the Imperial transport, ATSTs, A-Wing, etc...

All in all I think that it is worth a trip to the theatre.

Death by Sun

So the weather here is starting to become undesirable. Today is on meager 34 degrees (with a high of 38). But the killer is Sunday with its forecasted high of 44 degrees (and low of 25). This could get very interesting here. I don't think I have ever experienced such high of temperatures. So we will see how I fair. For anyone interested you can find the current weather conditions here.

Lucas strikes at Bush

So I happen across this article about the latest Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith, which point out that Lucas has made clear some of his political views. In particular where Darth Vadar quotes a statement from Bush "If you are not with me, you're my enemy!". For more of this fun you can read this article. No I'm even more excitted about seeing this movie.

That Clown Bush

I don't know if any of you have seen/read this. I personally watched it on Fox News (what a joke that whole station is). Basically Bush is comparing his war on terrorism to the war against the Nazi's. You can find it here.

Eventful Saturday Night

Hi all,

So what are you guys up to? I personally am sitting around waiting for my dinner to cook..honey garlic chicken wings. But they are going to be quite a bit longer...I should have pre-cooked them on the BBQ.

So the plan for the rest of the night is to: eventually eat something, drink some more Canadian beer (yes they have Moosehead here), and play some games...with good music to cover it all.

Let me know what you would do with all this free time (pretty much everyone I know here took off for the weekend).

-Ryan

Road trip updates

Hi all,

I have finally gone and done what I have said I was going to do for weeks...an update! There are pictures from Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

The trip to Las Vegas was a few weeks ago now. On our way there we (well Dave, Amy, and I) went via the Hoover Dam (the other car got lost and found themselves in California and didn't go via Hoover Dam). Now I was expecting something a little larger. I always had this grand impression of the dam, but when I actually saw it I was shocked at it size--well the lack of size. Since we were kinda in a bit of a rush to get to Vegas, we didn't take the time to do any tour of the dam.

When we eventually found ourselves in Vegas, had about 24 hours for our whirlwind tour. Most of our time was spent checking out all the various hotels/casinos. You really need more time experience it all. All in all it was a fun time, didn't spend too much money (really I didn't).

Last weekend Adam and I made the trek to the Grand Canyon. Saturday morning we got up and started off to the Canyon. Our trip had stops at Sedona, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon itself. We broke up the drive there with a stop in Sedona for a drink on a very nice patio. We arrived at the Canyon about an hour before dark, so we only got a brief view of it then. We went back into town and found a Red Feather Inn to stay in for the night. After we were sure we had somewhere to stay we went to the local steak house...quaint place, not the best selection but good food.

Sunday we headed back to the Canyon and did the tour of the south rim, stopping at all the look-outs. During the drive along the Canyon (and back to Chandler) we got to experience all the seasons: we got sun, rain, snow, hail. I don't know what to say about the Canyon, other than you really have to see it. There is good reason for it being one of the natural wonders of the world. As a little side-note, the Celica was very good to us: one tank of gas for the approximately 550 miles; handled all the weather well; and it was fun to drive. :)

Well that is about all for now. Oh, Gilberth and I are going to California for a concert this weekend. The main reason I want to go is that Coldplay will be at it. I'll let you know how it goes. I mean it.

Hillside around Sedona 

Where is the road runner?

Adam had been in the car too long...I had to let him out ;) 

Leaving Flagstaff 

Adam and I on the edge of the Grand Canyon 

A long way across 

Have to see it in person 

Storm rolling in along the canyon 

My current rental 

Luxor has a taste of Egypt 

View across Bellagio's pond 

Vegas even has Paris 

THE MGM Grand