I had forgotten what a hot mess the update from 20.04 LTS to 22.04 LTS
was, so after ignoring the update reminders for months I decided I
finally had time to do the upgrade on two of my machines. Both
upgrades failed miserably. Both failed to complete the update. I got
them both going again, temporarily... My main machine is still
working, but it clearly has issues that are going to need to be
resolved. The other machine worked fine for a while, but a few days
ago it stopped booting. Initially it was saying that it was 24.04, but
prior to the boot fail it was reporting 22.04 again. Fortunately, I
had moved the user home directories to a separate internal hard drive,
so I haven't lost any data, but I've spent the last 3 days trying to
get a clean install working. Most things work on the first account I
created, but zero snap-based apps work on the second account (they all
completely refuse to run) and the user hard drive won't mount at all
for either account. The critical apps not working on the second
account are the final straw and the absolute deal killer.
After 20+ years using Ubuntu, and as my sole OS for the last 15+ years, I'm
kicking Ubuntu to the curb forever. There's no excuse for what is
supposed to be the most stable version being this bug-riddled and
unusable. Every LTS upgrade just gets worse and worse. It's never been
completely smooth sailing, but the last 3 or 4 have gotten so bad that
now it's just not worth it to me anymore to spend multiple days on
each machine fixing everything the update breaks.
The bizarre thing is that the Live USB (the same one I used for the
install) works perfectly on these machines. It recognizes all the
drives and everything is accessible and working. Why the heck is the
full install so broken when the Live USB it comes from works
perfectly?
One thing I know for certain: the Snap system is NOT ready for release
and needs to be canned until it actually works. I haven't had a single
snap-based app work completely, even in 22.04 that was otherwise
working fine. There was always some functionality in every snap that
didn't work.
Update: I installed Linux Mint 22 and the experience is 1,000 times better than Ubuntu so far. Everything works, it boots much faster, and all the stuff that was giving me fits with Ubuntu is just gone. The one caveat is that I can't (yet) get the start menu panels set up the way I like them, but that's a minor thing, especially considering all the issues that are completely gone.
07 January 2025
26 December 2018
My Favorite Comics
Cyanide and Happiness
For Better Or For Worse
Frazz
Mutts
Sherman's Lagoon
The Oatmeal
xkcd
Mobile Version
Zits
13 February 2013
South Head
October 30th saw us completing our collection of the Sydney beaches south of the harbour. But the real jewel of this crown came after. It was a warm but rather grey day for the most part, with the sun periodically breaking through the clouds.
Bondi Beach is world-famous for many reasons. One is that it is the closest ocean-side beach to downtown Sydney proper, so it is easily accessible and highly used. For the uninitiated, Australian (aboriginal) words that end in an "i" use the long sound and there is usually no stress on any one syllable, so it's pronounced "bond-eye". There's a shark net that makes it safe for swimmers, and there hasn't been a fatality due to sharks since 1937.
Bondi Beach from the northeast end looking south-southwest.
Aside from it being the typical gorgeous Aussie silicon and sea, the Bondi Baths on the south end are also the home of the Bondi Icebergs, whose mandate is to "compete" on three out of four Sundays throughout the winter, from May to September. The ocean ranges from a cool but refreshing 21°C/70°F in the summer to 16°C/61° in the winter. That may not sound like a huge range, but trust me, the former is actually quite comfortable, while the latter can quickly lead to hypothermia if not mitigated with a wetsuit. This club has existed since 1929 and was formed by local lifesavers who wanted to remain fit during the winter.
Artificial rock pools filled with sea water like the ones the Bondi Icebergs use are very common at beaches in urban or populated areas and sometimes can be found at relatively remote locations. This is the "North Bondi Children's Pool", on the opposite end of the beach from the Icebergs' digs.
For a story of "local colour", see this story and this article about Jhyimy "Two Hats" Mhiyles. I have some thoughts on the matter that I will share at a later date.
Leaving Bondi we headed north, stopping at Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights for a breathtaking view of the Sydney skyline across a Harbour dotted with sailboats. Ferries and other ships occasionally wended their way through the serpentine bay. North of Bondi, the eastern ocean side of the peninsula becomes rugged, rocky cliffs, while the other side mostly slopes down to meet the harbour.
Looking west toward Sydney's CBD (Central Business District). If you look closely (click on the photo to embiggen), you can see the outline of the Blue Mountains in the Great Dividing Range in the hazy distance behind the Harbour Bridge.
Further north, the views of the Harbour and the coastline just get better. One of the most intriguing features of the Australian coastline is the rock that fractures in very regular, rectangular patterns like huge black refrigerators stacked on their backs. They become more visible as we approach the tip of South Head.
These rocks are farther away than they look. The rock is covered with algae etc. that makes it look lighter in colour as well.
A view of those same rocks from a different viewpoint (looking roughly south) that shows the cliffs and gives a better idea of the scale.
A "head" or "headland" refers to a high peninsula usually with cliffs, whereas a "point" is usually a much lower landmass with a more gradual, sloping interface with the sea. I ran out of time and energy and was not able to make it all the way to the tip of the head where the colourfully candy-striped Hornby Lighthouse sits, but I'll certainly keep that on my list for another day.
A little way south of the area is Australia's oldest lighthouse, the Mcquarie Lighthouse, the current incarnation of which has been operating since 1883. The original lighthouse was built in 1818, and a navigational aid has been here since 1791.
The Mcquarie Lighthouse, taken from between it and the ocean looking southwest.
Next up: North Head to Palm Beach. (I think there's a "Palm Beach" everywhere in the world that has beaches. It's kind of like cities/towns named "Springfield" in the USA.)
NOTE: If you haven't yet noticed, you can click on any of the images in any of my blog posts to get a larger version. The results vary depending on the proportions of the image and how it has been resized to fit within the margins of the blog text area.
Bondi Beach is world-famous for many reasons. One is that it is the closest ocean-side beach to downtown Sydney proper, so it is easily accessible and highly used. For the uninitiated, Australian (aboriginal) words that end in an "i" use the long sound and there is usually no stress on any one syllable, so it's pronounced "bond-eye". There's a shark net that makes it safe for swimmers, and there hasn't been a fatality due to sharks since 1937.
Bondi Beach from the northeast end looking south-southwest.
Aside from it being the typical gorgeous Aussie silicon and sea, the Bondi Baths on the south end are also the home of the Bondi Icebergs, whose mandate is to "compete" on three out of four Sundays throughout the winter, from May to September. The ocean ranges from a cool but refreshing 21°C/70°F in the summer to 16°C/61° in the winter. That may not sound like a huge range, but trust me, the former is actually quite comfortable, while the latter can quickly lead to hypothermia if not mitigated with a wetsuit. This club has existed since 1929 and was formed by local lifesavers who wanted to remain fit during the winter.
Artificial rock pools filled with sea water like the ones the Bondi Icebergs use are very common at beaches in urban or populated areas and sometimes can be found at relatively remote locations. This is the "North Bondi Children's Pool", on the opposite end of the beach from the Icebergs' digs.
For a story of "local colour", see this story and this article about Jhyimy "Two Hats" Mhiyles. I have some thoughts on the matter that I will share at a later date.
Leaving Bondi we headed north, stopping at Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights for a breathtaking view of the Sydney skyline across a Harbour dotted with sailboats. Ferries and other ships occasionally wended their way through the serpentine bay. North of Bondi, the eastern ocean side of the peninsula becomes rugged, rocky cliffs, while the other side mostly slopes down to meet the harbour.
Looking west toward Sydney's CBD (Central Business District). If you look closely (click on the photo to embiggen), you can see the outline of the Blue Mountains in the Great Dividing Range in the hazy distance behind the Harbour Bridge.
Further north, the views of the Harbour and the coastline just get better. One of the most intriguing features of the Australian coastline is the rock that fractures in very regular, rectangular patterns like huge black refrigerators stacked on their backs. They become more visible as we approach the tip of South Head.
These rocks are farther away than they look. The rock is covered with algae etc. that makes it look lighter in colour as well.
A view of those same rocks from a different viewpoint (looking roughly south) that shows the cliffs and gives a better idea of the scale.
A "head" or "headland" refers to a high peninsula usually with cliffs, whereas a "point" is usually a much lower landmass with a more gradual, sloping interface with the sea. I ran out of time and energy and was not able to make it all the way to the tip of the head where the colourfully candy-striped Hornby Lighthouse sits, but I'll certainly keep that on my list for another day.
A little way south of the area is Australia's oldest lighthouse, the Mcquarie Lighthouse, the current incarnation of which has been operating since 1883. The original lighthouse was built in 1818, and a navigational aid has been here since 1791.
The Mcquarie Lighthouse, taken from between it and the ocean looking southwest.
Next up: North Head to Palm Beach. (I think there's a "Palm Beach" everywhere in the world that has beaches. It's kind of like cities/towns named "Springfield" in the USA.)
NOTE: If you haven't yet noticed, you can click on any of the images in any of my blog posts to get a larger version. The results vary depending on the proportions of the image and how it has been resized to fit within the margins of the blog text area.
11 December 2012
The Royal National Park - And Beyond!
October 18th was another exploration of the near-Sydney landscape. First stop: Jibbon Beach at Bundeena.
Looking ENE from the western end of Jibbon Beach.
Jibbon Beach basically marks the northeastern corner of the Royal National Park. Depending on to whom you are talking, the Royal National Park is either the oldest (Aussie speaking) or second oldest (Yank speaking) national park in the world, the rival being Yellowstone. The scale and variety don't rival that of Yellowstone, but the beauty does. It it certainly much more convenient and accessible, being on the southern outskirts of Sydney. It is minutes from our base in Kogarah.
Next stop: Wattamolla Beach. But first, at the parking lot I snapped a (poor) photo of a few birds that I've been seeing around since I arrived in country but had never really got a good look up to this point. Here's a cropped and lightened version:
The first time I noticed this species was on our first incursion into the RNP, when I photographed Claude trying to get buddy-buddy with a cockatoo. I was intrigued, but never got close enough to attempt identification until now. With a little help, the species has been positively identified as crested pigeon, by no means rare but a little exotic-looking nonetheless.
Getting back to the original mission, we headed down to the lagoon. From this vantage point, it appears to be a river.
Looking "up-river".
This body of placid water is cut off from the open ocean by a sandbar most of the time.
That sandbar is the beach. Apparently at very high tides it is submerged.
Wattamolla is an idyllic spot, fairly unusual in its combination of attributes. The lagoon is a nice calm place to swim, and the water is crystal clear both in the lagoon and of course in the ocean, as it has been all along the coastline that I have so far observed.
Lagoon in the foreground, ocean in the right background.
The sandbar/beach is much broader than it appears at first sight. It's still a couple of hundred meters from the beach to the mouth of the little harbour.
Looking out to sea at Wattamolla.
Wattamolla is almost halfway down the park, and there are several beaches and areas of coastline that are accessible between there and Jibbon, but none of those are accessible by car. Most of them require a significant hike to see them.
Leaving Wattamolla and heading south(ish), the road winds and climbs through dense forest to over 700 feet (215 meters) of elevation at Otford Lookout. Although as usual, photos can't possibly do it justice, but I'll let you make up your own mind as to the quality of the view:
From the Otford Lookout looking south toward Wollongong
There is another lookout at Stanwell Tops Park, but it was quite busy and not that different from Otford, so we kept on truckin' to Sublime Point Lookout, which is over 1200 feet (365 meters) elevation. Another of the local residents that seems out of place in significant numbers in total freedom:
Lorikeets at the Sublime Point car park.
Sublime Point was the literal climax of today's excursion, with fantastic views overlooking Wollongong and its adjacent suburbs along the coast. It's unfortunate that the day was hazy.
The view to Wollongong and beyond from Sublime Point Lookout. It was all downhill from here.
We intended to take the most direct route home though the park, but immediately took a wrong turn and ended up making a grand loop to the west. As is often the case, that turned out to be a pleasant, although completely different, jaunt through a rural countryside, with a bonus crossing of the Georges River National Park (official link) near the end.
Looking ENE from the western end of Jibbon Beach.
Jibbon Beach basically marks the northeastern corner of the Royal National Park. Depending on to whom you are talking, the Royal National Park is either the oldest (Aussie speaking) or second oldest (Yank speaking) national park in the world, the rival being Yellowstone. The scale and variety don't rival that of Yellowstone, but the beauty does. It it certainly much more convenient and accessible, being on the southern outskirts of Sydney. It is minutes from our base in Kogarah.
Next stop: Wattamolla Beach. But first, at the parking lot I snapped a (poor) photo of a few birds that I've been seeing around since I arrived in country but had never really got a good look up to this point. Here's a cropped and lightened version:
The first time I noticed this species was on our first incursion into the RNP, when I photographed Claude trying to get buddy-buddy with a cockatoo. I was intrigued, but never got close enough to attempt identification until now. With a little help, the species has been positively identified as crested pigeon, by no means rare but a little exotic-looking nonetheless.
Getting back to the original mission, we headed down to the lagoon. From this vantage point, it appears to be a river.
Looking "up-river".
This body of placid water is cut off from the open ocean by a sandbar most of the time.
That sandbar is the beach. Apparently at very high tides it is submerged.
Wattamolla is an idyllic spot, fairly unusual in its combination of attributes. The lagoon is a nice calm place to swim, and the water is crystal clear both in the lagoon and of course in the ocean, as it has been all along the coastline that I have so far observed.
Lagoon in the foreground, ocean in the right background.
The sandbar/beach is much broader than it appears at first sight. It's still a couple of hundred meters from the beach to the mouth of the little harbour.
Looking out to sea at Wattamolla.
Wattamolla is almost halfway down the park, and there are several beaches and areas of coastline that are accessible between there and Jibbon, but none of those are accessible by car. Most of them require a significant hike to see them.
Leaving Wattamolla and heading south(ish), the road winds and climbs through dense forest to over 700 feet (215 meters) of elevation at Otford Lookout. Although as usual, photos can't possibly do it justice, but I'll let you make up your own mind as to the quality of the view:
From the Otford Lookout looking south toward Wollongong
There is another lookout at Stanwell Tops Park, but it was quite busy and not that different from Otford, so we kept on truckin' to Sublime Point Lookout, which is over 1200 feet (365 meters) elevation. Another of the local residents that seems out of place in significant numbers in total freedom:
Lorikeets at the Sublime Point car park.
Sublime Point was the literal climax of today's excursion, with fantastic views overlooking Wollongong and its adjacent suburbs along the coast. It's unfortunate that the day was hazy.
The view to Wollongong and beyond from Sublime Point Lookout. It was all downhill from here.
We intended to take the most direct route home though the park, but immediately took a wrong turn and ended up making a grand loop to the west. As is often the case, that turned out to be a pleasant, although completely different, jaunt through a rural countryside, with a bonus crossing of the Georges River National Park (official link) near the end.
10 December 2012
Olympic Dreams
On the 15th of October, Claude had a volunteer job on the grounds of the Sydney Olympic Park, built for the 2000 Summer Olympics. While he enjoyed his menial tasks, I wandered around and took in the sights, imagining what it must have been like during the Games. The park is still used extensively, and is notably the new home of the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The Aquatic Centre is now a fitness center, and while it isn't exactly cheap, I was surprised at the relative affordability of membership, especially considering how the facilities stack up against the average rec center or gym. I was a little surprised that they charged me $3.50 just to go in and take photos, but I suppose that's a fairly common occurrence and it didn't deter me.
The Sydney Games by all accounts stands out as yardstick against which all other games are now measured. I wouldn't really know, having never personally attended any of them and only watching some of the events on television. Anyway, more than a decade after the games, the grounds are well kept and well used. The "Homebush" auto race circuit actually snakes through and around the Olympic Park, and the facilities are ideal for the booths and various displays and shows. But that's another post...
The main stadium
These poles have plaques with the names of all the volunteers who worked the 2000 Olympics
Claude's pole (he often goes by "Rob") - Christmas-y, no? Ho/Ho...
(Don't get up, I'll show myself out...)
Entrance to the Aquatic Center.
The kiddie pool and play area.
The play pool, spa and relaxation pool. Another lap pool is out of frame to the right.
The diving pool, with water polo practice in the near end.
The main lap pool. The diving pool is to the right of frame, the kids' area is beyond the wavy arch and to the left.
The Cauldron, with the ANZ Stadium in the background. The Cauldron was moved here from its original location, and is now an "interactive fountain", where the kids play and cool off in the summer. Water streams from all around the edges as well as myriad perforations in the bottom surface.
The Dome Hall, where scores of classic and custom vehicles were on display during the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars race. The more conventional attached rectangular Ross Pavillion Hall (behind and at an angle to the left) was the "paddock" where the V8 Supercars were stored and maintained. Race attendees with the proper tickets could wander around in the Ross Pavilion and watch all the goings-on.
Another view of ANZ Stadium.
Those towering latticework light posts all represent the various cities that have hosted the games, and there are benches dedicated to them as well, with their corresponding logos set into the sidewalks. There are many blank benches waiting for future events, and the London bench and logo were ready before the event began. It's not in-your-face obvious, but if you look closely the place is peppered with solar panels as well. As with the Jenolan Caves, it's really not practical for me to show, discuss or even mention but a tiny fraction of all there is to see here. If this kind of thing is interesting to you, I suggest you browse the links I've provided and even do your own Web searches. The details are amazing.
The Sydney Games by all accounts stands out as yardstick against which all other games are now measured. I wouldn't really know, having never personally attended any of them and only watching some of the events on television. Anyway, more than a decade after the games, the grounds are well kept and well used. The "Homebush" auto race circuit actually snakes through and around the Olympic Park, and the facilities are ideal for the booths and various displays and shows. But that's another post...
The main stadium
These poles have plaques with the names of all the volunteers who worked the 2000 Olympics
Claude's pole (he often goes by "Rob") - Christmas-y, no? Ho/Ho...
(Don't get up, I'll show myself out...)
Entrance to the Aquatic Center.
The kiddie pool and play area.
The play pool, spa and relaxation pool. Another lap pool is out of frame to the right.
The diving pool, with water polo practice in the near end.
The main lap pool. The diving pool is to the right of frame, the kids' area is beyond the wavy arch and to the left.
The Cauldron, with the ANZ Stadium in the background. The Cauldron was moved here from its original location, and is now an "interactive fountain", where the kids play and cool off in the summer. Water streams from all around the edges as well as myriad perforations in the bottom surface.
The Dome Hall, where scores of classic and custom vehicles were on display during the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars race. The more conventional attached rectangular Ross Pavillion Hall (behind and at an angle to the left) was the "paddock" where the V8 Supercars were stored and maintained. Race attendees with the proper tickets could wander around in the Ross Pavilion and watch all the goings-on.
Another view of ANZ Stadium.
Those towering latticework light posts all represent the various cities that have hosted the games, and there are benches dedicated to them as well, with their corresponding logos set into the sidewalks. There are many blank benches waiting for future events, and the London bench and logo were ready before the event began. It's not in-your-face obvious, but if you look closely the place is peppered with solar panels as well. As with the Jenolan Caves, it's really not practical for me to show, discuss or even mention but a tiny fraction of all there is to see here. If this kind of thing is interesting to you, I suggest you browse the links I've provided and even do your own Web searches. The details are amazing.
Sunsets
This Post will be updated from time to time with various sunsets. The house at Lake Munmorah is particularly suited for sunset photos because it overlooks the lake to the west and there are no tall buildings in the area to detract from the view.
05 December 2012
Live Tracking
This post is just a heads-up to any who have been following my adventures via the live-tracking service. They are closing up shop as of December 13th. I am trying to work out a replacement, but so far haven't come up with anything workable. If and when I do find something, I will pass on the info as soon as feasible. If you are curious as to why InstaMapper is going away, below is a forum post by their Admin. Stay tuned for more developments.
***************************************************************************
Hi all,
Thank you for the (mostly) supportive comments. I will try to answer some of the questions asked here and via email.
---------------------------------------
Why is the service closing down?
---------------------------------------
There are really a lot of reasons, many of which are show stoppers. In no particular order:
1) We have been losing money for the past 5 years. The model that we had, free service for donations, simply didn't work. If anyone is curious, we averaged about $1 per 1000 active users per month in donations. In other words, the average user actively using the service donated 1/10th of a cent per month. We are still very thankful for the donations that we received. Knowing that someone out there appreciated the service enough to send us money was important, and helped us to keep the service available to this day.
2) Software patents. This is really a topic for a separate discussion. We got accused of patent infringement in 2009. Even though there was no lawsuit, the matter was never fully resolved, and we were reluctant to invest additional resources into InstaMapper going forward.
3) Lack of time. All of us have busy lives, both at work and at home. Closing down the site will free up valuable time.
4) Finally, the service just wasn't growing very much in the past few years.
------------------------------------------------------
Can you offer a paid service?
------------------------------------------------------
This is actually hard. As an example, the minute we start charging for the service, we are no longer allowed to use Google Maps for free. Instead, we would need to buy a business license, which is surprisingly expensive (tens of thousand of dollars per year). There are other choices, such as Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap, but they are not as good, and switching over would require a rewrite of our frontend.
With a paid service, we would also need to hire some full-time employees, to improve service availability and to provide customer service to our users. With these additional expenses, and with our estimates on how much people would be willing to pay for the service and how many users we would have, it is not clear that we would be making any money.
That said, we will continue to consider our options. There is a chance that we will regroup and relaunch the service in one form or another in 2013.
------------------------------------------------------
Will you open source the code?
------------------------------------------------------
I am afraid the answer is likely not. The code is fairly complex -- we ended up writing a custom database for location data, for example. It would take a lot of time to clean everything up and package it into something usable by outsiders. Additionally, the code is valuable to us, and we might still find a use for it later on.
If you need a simple tracking app, writing one from scratch is probably a better option than trying to recycle our code. It should be possible to write a simple Android tracking app in a couple of hundred lines of code. The simplest backend / frontend solution is probably the Google App Engine. github is a good place to host the code, in case some of you decide to collaborate.
*********************************************************************************
***************************************************************************
Hi all,
Thank you for the (mostly) supportive comments. I will try to answer some of the questions asked here and via email.
---------------------------------------
Why is the service closing down?
---------------------------------------
There are really a lot of reasons, many of which are show stoppers. In no particular order:
1) We have been losing money for the past 5 years. The model that we had, free service for donations, simply didn't work. If anyone is curious, we averaged about $1 per 1000 active users per month in donations. In other words, the average user actively using the service donated 1/10th of a cent per month. We are still very thankful for the donations that we received. Knowing that someone out there appreciated the service enough to send us money was important, and helped us to keep the service available to this day.
2) Software patents. This is really a topic for a separate discussion. We got accused of patent infringement in 2009. Even though there was no lawsuit, the matter was never fully resolved, and we were reluctant to invest additional resources into InstaMapper going forward.
3) Lack of time. All of us have busy lives, both at work and at home. Closing down the site will free up valuable time.
4) Finally, the service just wasn't growing very much in the past few years.
------------------------------------------------------
Can you offer a paid service?
------------------------------------------------------
This is actually hard. As an example, the minute we start charging for the service, we are no longer allowed to use Google Maps for free. Instead, we would need to buy a business license, which is surprisingly expensive (tens of thousand of dollars per year). There are other choices, such as Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap, but they are not as good, and switching over would require a rewrite of our frontend.
With a paid service, we would also need to hire some full-time employees, to improve service availability and to provide customer service to our users. With these additional expenses, and with our estimates on how much people would be willing to pay for the service and how many users we would have, it is not clear that we would be making any money.
That said, we will continue to consider our options. There is a chance that we will regroup and relaunch the service in one form or another in 2013.
------------------------------------------------------
Will you open source the code?
------------------------------------------------------
I am afraid the answer is likely not. The code is fairly complex -- we ended up writing a custom database for location data, for example. It would take a lot of time to clean everything up and package it into something usable by outsiders. Additionally, the code is valuable to us, and we might still find a use for it later on.
If you need a simple tracking app, writing one from scratch is probably a better option than trying to recycle our code. It should be possible to write a simple Android tracking app in a couple of hundred lines of code. The simplest backend / frontend solution is probably the Google App Engine. github is a good place to host the code, in case some of you decide to collaborate.
*********************************************************************************
01 December 2012
"It's a free country"
<soapbox>
I'm getting more and more fed up with the idea that freedom exists in a vacuum and that everybody should be able to say anything they want any time they want. While I believe in freedom of expression, I also believe that in several ways the pen really is mightier than the sword, and verbal comments can be as well. And in a very bad way. physical scars can heal and be forgotten, but emotional ones can fester and grow and last a lifetime, and there's no ointment or pill that can help.
The thing about freedom is that if there were only one being in the universe, that being would be truly free to do whatever they wanted. But as soon as even one other being enters the picture, one being's rights end where the other's begin. Having honest discourse directly with another human is one thing, but deliberately and publicly causing pain of any kind to another human is ethically and morally wrong, and should not be allowed, much less encouraged. That goes for everything, not just words.
That flippant comment "you can choose how you respond to other people's words" is utter hogwash. It's the worst kind of lie. If everybody had exactly the same constitution, and that included being able to totally ignore other people's harsh words, there might be something in it, but in the real world, it is simply a tool to further victimize and abuse people who are already victims of abuse. It is evil, unethical and immoral. There is no justification whatsoever for abuse, verbal or otherwise.
On the same note, it distresses me that society not only condones, but encourages ridicule of others as "humor". "Self-deprecating" humor is fine and can even be healthy, but deprecation of others is never funny, it's just sad. There is a whole universe of stuff out there that is side-splittingly hilarious without resorting to the abuse of others (or reveling in the misfortune of others) in the name of "fun". Just as you should never trust a statement that comes after the phrase "trust me", anything that is the subject of "it's all in good fun" is neither good nor fun. Truly, farts, belches and other natural functions are far funnier than cutting others down to size. An intelligent comic can find silliness and merriment in day-to-day life rather than resorting to what really amounts to bullying.
If you're wondering, this post was brought on by the recent withdrawal of Chris Brown, who was "cyber-bullied" by Jenny Johnson for over a year before finally snapping and responding. Also on my mind are recent comments about Jose Conseco, Lance Armstrong and others. I can't defend any of their actions, but as my mother always said, "two wrongs don't make a right." Singling certain people out for constant public humiliation (while dozens of others guilty of the exact same things go totally unscathed) is never a good thing. Give it a rest, people!
tl;dr:
Another of my mother's sayings that I strongly believe is this: "If you can't say anything good, say nothing at all."
</soapbox>
I'm getting more and more fed up with the idea that freedom exists in a vacuum and that everybody should be able to say anything they want any time they want. While I believe in freedom of expression, I also believe that in several ways the pen really is mightier than the sword, and verbal comments can be as well. And in a very bad way. physical scars can heal and be forgotten, but emotional ones can fester and grow and last a lifetime, and there's no ointment or pill that can help.
The thing about freedom is that if there were only one being in the universe, that being would be truly free to do whatever they wanted. But as soon as even one other being enters the picture, one being's rights end where the other's begin. Having honest discourse directly with another human is one thing, but deliberately and publicly causing pain of any kind to another human is ethically and morally wrong, and should not be allowed, much less encouraged. That goes for everything, not just words.
That flippant comment "you can choose how you respond to other people's words" is utter hogwash. It's the worst kind of lie. If everybody had exactly the same constitution, and that included being able to totally ignore other people's harsh words, there might be something in it, but in the real world, it is simply a tool to further victimize and abuse people who are already victims of abuse. It is evil, unethical and immoral. There is no justification whatsoever for abuse, verbal or otherwise.
On the same note, it distresses me that society not only condones, but encourages ridicule of others as "humor". "Self-deprecating" humor is fine and can even be healthy, but deprecation of others is never funny, it's just sad. There is a whole universe of stuff out there that is side-splittingly hilarious without resorting to the abuse of others (or reveling in the misfortune of others) in the name of "fun". Just as you should never trust a statement that comes after the phrase "trust me", anything that is the subject of "it's all in good fun" is neither good nor fun. Truly, farts, belches and other natural functions are far funnier than cutting others down to size. An intelligent comic can find silliness and merriment in day-to-day life rather than resorting to what really amounts to bullying.
If you're wondering, this post was brought on by the recent withdrawal of Chris Brown, who was "cyber-bullied" by Jenny Johnson for over a year before finally snapping and responding. Also on my mind are recent comments about Jose Conseco, Lance Armstrong and others. I can't defend any of their actions, but as my mother always said, "two wrongs don't make a right." Singling certain people out for constant public humiliation (while dozens of others guilty of the exact same things go totally unscathed) is never a good thing. Give it a rest, people!
tl;dr:
Another of my mother's sayings that I strongly believe is this: "If you can't say anything good, say nothing at all."
</soapbox>
04 November 2012
Spectacular Spelunking
On 11 October we struck out west through the Blue Mountains to the Jenolan Caves. The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range. The average elevation of Australia is only 330 meters (1082 feet), and the highest mountain on mainland Australia is Mount Kosciuszko in southern New South Wales, at 2,228 meters (7,310 feet). Kosciuszko is far south New South Wales, almost on the Victoria border.
On the way up, we stopped at Katoomba for lunch (meat and custard pies) and a bit of sightseeing. Here are a couple more links for Katoomba. We also grabbed some groceries for our stay at the caves.
Sulfur-crested cockatoos at Lilianfels Park in Katoomba, a hundred yards/meters from the overlook at Echo Park. Claude used to have a pet cockatoo.
The Three Sisters from the Katoomba overlook.
Shortly before Hartley the dense bush gave way to grasslands on the tumbling hills, which allowed much better views of the surrounding countryside. Immediately after Hartley, Jenolan Caves Road diverged from the Great Western Highway and headed south and west, mostly keeping to the tops of ridges rather than the bottoms of valleys as is the usual mode. This afforded many wide-open panoramas of this pastoral region, with occasional clumps of cattle, sheep and goats and widely scattered farmhouses. One detail contrasting with similar scenes in the USA was the omnipresent rainwater catchment tanks. That water is used for just about everything but drinking. Also distinct from the American landscape were the ubiquitous water and electric solar panels, which blanket the cities as well.
Nearer to Jenolan, the serpentine road became positively convoluted, and in many areas was only one lane wide as the track hugged the slopes of the ravines. The long open views once again gave way to severely limited glimpses of walls of leaves and rock. Mobile phone service vanished and didn't return for the duration of the stay. Another car appeared behind and followed us for some distance before zooming ahead as I stopped at a pullout to provide passage for a bus coming the other way. Claude had pointed it out to me out a few bends ahead. Sure enough, the backing lights of that impatient auto reappeared shortly, making both of us laugh. Just as I wondered how much further it would be, we rounded a bend and saw what at first I thought to be a tunnel. That turned out not to be the case.
The Grand Arch contains the entrances to several caves as well as the road to the visitor center, Caves House and lodging. Yes, that's a real truck down there, not a toy or model.
The Grand Arch isn't much longer than it is tall, but the path makes a double curve through it and you can't see all the way through. When you come out the other side, you are greeted with the picturesque Caves House, which contains a gift shop, restaurant, cafe and hotel.
Caves House
Caves House itself is quite expensive, but the Gatehouse adjacent is reasonable for "backpacker style" accommodations, with a shared bathroom and a kitchen and dining area.
Gatehouse is attached to the Caves House with a couple of smaller buildings between, but there is no connecting passage.
That afternoon we explored the immediate environs and took a little hike down the river walk trail past Blue Lake, its dam and on down beside the Jenolan River. Blue Lake is incredibly clear, but at the same time is a brilliant turquoise colour from minerals leeched from the stone in the cave system.
After a much cooler night than we had been experiencing, we awoke to a light rain mixed with snow. Throughout the morning it varied constantly all the way between rain and huge fluffy snowflakes, but there was no accumulation. However, a few vehicles came in covered with snow. Later that day we learned that the road in had been closed because of the snow, which explained why there were only a handful of other tourists present.
The tour of the Imperial Cave at ten forty-five consisted of the guide, Claude and myself and the departure point was inside the Grand Arch, on the far side from the Caves House. It was truly nice not having to compete to ask questions and to be able to see exactly the features we wanted to see in the amount of detail we wished, to go at our own pace and still have plenty of time. In fact, our personal guide gave us a bonus tour a little further past what would have been the end of the usual tour. Of course, the caves keep a more or less constant temperature throughout the year, so the weather outside was irrelevant.
We grabbed lunch at the cafe rather than cooking for ourselves as we did the rest of our stay, and then Claude took a nap (there were many, many stair steps on the tour) while I took another tour starting at 1:30 pm, this time to the Oriental Cave. This time a younger couple joined me and the tour guide for a whopping total of four persons on the tour. It was even more fantastic than the Imperial, with amazing features everywhere. Something that seemed quite common here at Jenolan but is apparently very rare in other caves were "speleothems" called "helictites" that appear to defy gravity.
Helictites. See that there are some traditional stalactites in the mix, illustrating the orientation of the photo.
Once again, our little group was treated to a "special", personalized tour, with a bit of a bonus at the end. As before, we came out retracing the steps we took into the earth. We had taken a shuttle van from the tour gathering point below the lodge and opposite the visitor center to a hefty steel door in base of the precipitous hillside around and above Caves House. We were chatting on the way and I wasn't paying any attention to where we were going, so it was a complete surprise to me when we emerged from the tour only twenty yards from the door to the Gatehouse where we were bunking. The guide told us that the "easy way back" was the road, and the "scenic route" was the footpath hugging the side of the hill. The three of them took the road, and I was twenty yards down the footpath before I realized where I was and quickly reversed to rejoin Claude.
Freshly oriented, we took the scenic footpath back down the slope to the visitor center, where we obtained the electronic devices for our final cave tour, the self-guided Nettle Cave route. I had to make a quick trip back to the visitor center for a replacement after a false start caused by a malfunctioning volume control in one of the audio wands. In retrospect, it would have been better to start out with that one, because as you might expect, the unsupervised tour was drab and featureless compared with the others. It did however include some awesome views from great heights. Claude wasn't a fan of all the steps, though.
Because I took so many photos and the tours were so extensive, I'm not going to attempt to give even a pictorial overview here. Suffice to say, it was by far the most spectacular caves I've ever seen. For a complete photo album, go to my Picasa album. Note that there is a map that shows the locations of many of the photos. The locations are fairly accurate, with most being close to the viewpoint and a few being more like the location of what's in the image. This one album is using 60% of my Picasa space, so it may not be there permanently.
Here's one teaser photo to whet your appetite and yet not reveal too much. (Go to Picasa for the whole album.)
That evening we shared the kitchen/lounge with a middle-aged couple and their teenage son from California who were exploring Australia in many modes, from auto to ambulation, hotel to sleeping bag. We had a good chat about their and our experiences so far, and some of our plans for the near future. The son had seen a platypus in Blue Lake. This was the one room that had an effective working heater (and an analog TV with reception on a whopping 4 channels), which made it desirable for spending down time. The rooms had portable oil radiator-style heaters, and ours' overheat circuit kept shutting down on all but the lowest of the three heat settings, leaving the room a bit too cool for comfortable lounging, but fine for sleeping.
The elevation in the vicinity of the Jenolan Caves is about 840 meters (2,750 feet), although the highest point on the road to the caves is 1,290 meters (4,230 feet).
The temperature was 3 degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) when we left Jenolan the following morning. Rather than head back the way we came, we continued on to Oberon. Because of our conversation with the family the previous evening, we deviated from the original plan and made our way down to the Kanangra Walls. On the way we observed the remnants of the accumulated snow from the day before, which while not impressive from a Colorado point of view was totally unexpected for this area. According to the locals, it had been 17 years since the last snow in that area at that time of year. We also enjoyed the incongruity of a number of kangaroos foraging in the snow.
The road into the park is unsealed (AKA "dirt" for Yanks), and dead-ends at a small parking area. There were understandably few tourists present, but a group of rescue personnel had apparently been practicing and were preparing to leave when we arrived. After a short and disappointing exploratory jaunt down the rather flat and bush-lined trail, I returned to Claude and the car, but fortunately one of the guys packing up spoke to me and told me not to leave without going all the way out to the overlook. It turned out not to be all that much farther than I had gone, but much farther than the 100 meters the sign indicated. The overlooks at the Walls emerge abruptly from the flat bushland and consist of yet more spectacular panoramas of steep and distant densely vegetated ridges and river valleys. The "walls" are vertical and nearly unbroken sandstone cliffs in the relative foreground. And the lookouts don't have railings or any other man-made modifications...
Yes, that really is the edge of a cliff on the other side of me, and I wasn't about to get any closer!
After that invigorating hike, it was back to the car to continue our adventure. Lunch was meat pies at picturesque little Oberon, with this colorful art deco building
and the ornate Ramsgate Guesthouse & Tea Rooms
just a half-block apart. Then on through the rolling hills and grassland to Bathurst.
Just a week before, a major auto race had taken place at Bathurst's famous Mount Panorama Speedway. As a road race, the Bathurst 1000 is much more exciting and interesting to me than NASCAR going round and round a boring oval. Claude had told me about this track before, and the fact that you can actually go and drive around the track. It turns out that it is actually a street, with residences, farms and businesses lining the sides, so they really have no option but to keep it open to the public any time a race is not underway, but with an absurdly low speed limit of 60 kph (37.3 mph). I am told that the police infamously love to lie in wait for those inclined to try it at more than a snail's pace, but we didn't see any while we were there. While it is famous for the "V8 Supercars" competition, it was actually a motorcycle track much earlier.
We circled the track three times, once with me driving and twice with Claude behind the wheel, one circuit being recorded by me on HD video - or so I thought. I was much chagrined when we got home to find that I had not had the camera running. I was concentrating so hard on the framing that I didn't notice the indicator was not blinking the correct color! I guess I'll just have to make another trip up there. The other two circuits we stopped several times to watch and photograph other vehicles, and once even stopped at a farmhouse and bought some honey, strawberry jam and marmalade, of which we have not yet partaken. The grey-haired lady who waited on us responded to my obvious interest in a beautiful flowering tree with its name: pawlownia.
The day we were there also happened to be the day that a club of kit car owners were having a "fun run" to and around the track. They were all the same kit, but were from different years and versions, and the nature of kit cars is such that no two were alike. The Eureka is the same as the Nova in the U.K. and the Sterling in the U.S.A., so the shape was very familiar to me. There were more than a dozen cruising the track, with a photographer documenting their rides, and they eventually queued up near the starting line. Some of these examples were modified more than others, and there were lots of different engines, from the original VW Beetle engine to V6s and Mazda rotary engines.
It was literally all downhill after Bathurst. We completed the loop back to Lithgow, where we spent some time fruitlessly searching for the train depot, then pointed our wheels back to Hartley and retraced our track from there home. It was an amazing three days, and the memories will linger forever.
On the way up, we stopped at Katoomba for lunch (meat and custard pies) and a bit of sightseeing. Here are a couple more links for Katoomba. We also grabbed some groceries for our stay at the caves.
Sulfur-crested cockatoos at Lilianfels Park in Katoomba, a hundred yards/meters from the overlook at Echo Park. Claude used to have a pet cockatoo.
The Three Sisters from the Katoomba overlook.Shortly before Hartley the dense bush gave way to grasslands on the tumbling hills, which allowed much better views of the surrounding countryside. Immediately after Hartley, Jenolan Caves Road diverged from the Great Western Highway and headed south and west, mostly keeping to the tops of ridges rather than the bottoms of valleys as is the usual mode. This afforded many wide-open panoramas of this pastoral region, with occasional clumps of cattle, sheep and goats and widely scattered farmhouses. One detail contrasting with similar scenes in the USA was the omnipresent rainwater catchment tanks. That water is used for just about everything but drinking. Also distinct from the American landscape were the ubiquitous water and electric solar panels, which blanket the cities as well.
Nearer to Jenolan, the serpentine road became positively convoluted, and in many areas was only one lane wide as the track hugged the slopes of the ravines. The long open views once again gave way to severely limited glimpses of walls of leaves and rock. Mobile phone service vanished and didn't return for the duration of the stay. Another car appeared behind and followed us for some distance before zooming ahead as I stopped at a pullout to provide passage for a bus coming the other way. Claude had pointed it out to me out a few bends ahead. Sure enough, the backing lights of that impatient auto reappeared shortly, making both of us laugh. Just as I wondered how much further it would be, we rounded a bend and saw what at first I thought to be a tunnel. That turned out not to be the case.
The Grand Arch contains the entrances to several caves as well as the road to the visitor center, Caves House and lodging. Yes, that's a real truck down there, not a toy or model.
The Grand Arch isn't much longer than it is tall, but the path makes a double curve through it and you can't see all the way through. When you come out the other side, you are greeted with the picturesque Caves House, which contains a gift shop, restaurant, cafe and hotel.
Caves House
Caves House itself is quite expensive, but the Gatehouse adjacent is reasonable for "backpacker style" accommodations, with a shared bathroom and a kitchen and dining area.
Gatehouse is attached to the Caves House with a couple of smaller buildings between, but there is no connecting passage.
That afternoon we explored the immediate environs and took a little hike down the river walk trail past Blue Lake, its dam and on down beside the Jenolan River. Blue Lake is incredibly clear, but at the same time is a brilliant turquoise colour from minerals leeched from the stone in the cave system.
After a much cooler night than we had been experiencing, we awoke to a light rain mixed with snow. Throughout the morning it varied constantly all the way between rain and huge fluffy snowflakes, but there was no accumulation. However, a few vehicles came in covered with snow. Later that day we learned that the road in had been closed because of the snow, which explained why there were only a handful of other tourists present.
The tour of the Imperial Cave at ten forty-five consisted of the guide, Claude and myself and the departure point was inside the Grand Arch, on the far side from the Caves House. It was truly nice not having to compete to ask questions and to be able to see exactly the features we wanted to see in the amount of detail we wished, to go at our own pace and still have plenty of time. In fact, our personal guide gave us a bonus tour a little further past what would have been the end of the usual tour. Of course, the caves keep a more or less constant temperature throughout the year, so the weather outside was irrelevant.
We grabbed lunch at the cafe rather than cooking for ourselves as we did the rest of our stay, and then Claude took a nap (there were many, many stair steps on the tour) while I took another tour starting at 1:30 pm, this time to the Oriental Cave. This time a younger couple joined me and the tour guide for a whopping total of four persons on the tour. It was even more fantastic than the Imperial, with amazing features everywhere. Something that seemed quite common here at Jenolan but is apparently very rare in other caves were "speleothems" called "helictites" that appear to defy gravity.
Helictites. See that there are some traditional stalactites in the mix, illustrating the orientation of the photo.
Once again, our little group was treated to a "special", personalized tour, with a bit of a bonus at the end. As before, we came out retracing the steps we took into the earth. We had taken a shuttle van from the tour gathering point below the lodge and opposite the visitor center to a hefty steel door in base of the precipitous hillside around and above Caves House. We were chatting on the way and I wasn't paying any attention to where we were going, so it was a complete surprise to me when we emerged from the tour only twenty yards from the door to the Gatehouse where we were bunking. The guide told us that the "easy way back" was the road, and the "scenic route" was the footpath hugging the side of the hill. The three of them took the road, and I was twenty yards down the footpath before I realized where I was and quickly reversed to rejoin Claude.
Freshly oriented, we took the scenic footpath back down the slope to the visitor center, where we obtained the electronic devices for our final cave tour, the self-guided Nettle Cave route. I had to make a quick trip back to the visitor center for a replacement after a false start caused by a malfunctioning volume control in one of the audio wands. In retrospect, it would have been better to start out with that one, because as you might expect, the unsupervised tour was drab and featureless compared with the others. It did however include some awesome views from great heights. Claude wasn't a fan of all the steps, though.
Because I took so many photos and the tours were so extensive, I'm not going to attempt to give even a pictorial overview here. Suffice to say, it was by far the most spectacular caves I've ever seen. For a complete photo album, go to my Picasa album. Note that there is a map that shows the locations of many of the photos. The locations are fairly accurate, with most being close to the viewpoint and a few being more like the location of what's in the image. This one album is using 60% of my Picasa space, so it may not be there permanently.
Here's one teaser photo to whet your appetite and yet not reveal too much. (Go to Picasa for the whole album.)
That evening we shared the kitchen/lounge with a middle-aged couple and their teenage son from California who were exploring Australia in many modes, from auto to ambulation, hotel to sleeping bag. We had a good chat about their and our experiences so far, and some of our plans for the near future. The son had seen a platypus in Blue Lake. This was the one room that had an effective working heater (and an analog TV with reception on a whopping 4 channels), which made it desirable for spending down time. The rooms had portable oil radiator-style heaters, and ours' overheat circuit kept shutting down on all but the lowest of the three heat settings, leaving the room a bit too cool for comfortable lounging, but fine for sleeping.
The elevation in the vicinity of the Jenolan Caves is about 840 meters (2,750 feet), although the highest point on the road to the caves is 1,290 meters (4,230 feet).
The temperature was 3 degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) when we left Jenolan the following morning. Rather than head back the way we came, we continued on to Oberon. Because of our conversation with the family the previous evening, we deviated from the original plan and made our way down to the Kanangra Walls. On the way we observed the remnants of the accumulated snow from the day before, which while not impressive from a Colorado point of view was totally unexpected for this area. According to the locals, it had been 17 years since the last snow in that area at that time of year. We also enjoyed the incongruity of a number of kangaroos foraging in the snow.
The road into the park is unsealed (AKA "dirt" for Yanks), and dead-ends at a small parking area. There were understandably few tourists present, but a group of rescue personnel had apparently been practicing and were preparing to leave when we arrived. After a short and disappointing exploratory jaunt down the rather flat and bush-lined trail, I returned to Claude and the car, but fortunately one of the guys packing up spoke to me and told me not to leave without going all the way out to the overlook. It turned out not to be all that much farther than I had gone, but much farther than the 100 meters the sign indicated. The overlooks at the Walls emerge abruptly from the flat bushland and consist of yet more spectacular panoramas of steep and distant densely vegetated ridges and river valleys. The "walls" are vertical and nearly unbroken sandstone cliffs in the relative foreground. And the lookouts don't have railings or any other man-made modifications...
Yes, that really is the edge of a cliff on the other side of me, and I wasn't about to get any closer!
After that invigorating hike, it was back to the car to continue our adventure. Lunch was meat pies at picturesque little Oberon, with this colorful art deco building
We circled the track three times, once with me driving and twice with Claude behind the wheel, one circuit being recorded by me on HD video - or so I thought. I was much chagrined when we got home to find that I had not had the camera running. I was concentrating so hard on the framing that I didn't notice the indicator was not blinking the correct color! I guess I'll just have to make another trip up there. The other two circuits we stopped several times to watch and photograph other vehicles, and once even stopped at a farmhouse and bought some honey, strawberry jam and marmalade, of which we have not yet partaken. The grey-haired lady who waited on us responded to my obvious interest in a beautiful flowering tree with its name: pawlownia.
The day we were there also happened to be the day that a club of kit car owners were having a "fun run" to and around the track. They were all the same kit, but were from different years and versions, and the nature of kit cars is such that no two were alike. The Eureka is the same as the Nova in the U.K. and the Sterling in the U.S.A., so the shape was very familiar to me. There were more than a dozen cruising the track, with a photographer documenting their rides, and they eventually queued up near the starting line. Some of these examples were modified more than others, and there were lots of different engines, from the original VW Beetle engine to V6s and Mazda rotary engines.
It was literally all downhill after Bathurst. We completed the loop back to Lithgow, where we spent some time fruitlessly searching for the train depot, then pointed our wheels back to Hartley and retraced our track from there home. It was an amazing three days, and the memories will linger forever.
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