laura_seabrook: (Default)
Feeling much better today.

Even so, everything is taking longer than expected. Not too fussed. Yesterday I discovered a plastic container full of stuff from last year, including the missing journals I was looking for, numerous souvenirs and magazines, stationary, old bills, and a variety of ephemera. Glad to know where it got to. Anyway, today I thought I'd continue on with yesterday's plan - do a library run to both Charlestown and Civic libraries, and go to Nesca House (part of the uni campus, and has an info commons and library) in the CBD, and do a little study there. Remember, in this case study means reading and re-reading my journals so that I can block them and write scripts for the graphic novels. Been two weeks and I've got nowhere with that yet. But I will.

I also discovered that this is a good location to study late at. I can study until about 7:40pm there, catch a 7:57pm train from Civic Station, then catch a local bus at Cardiff Station, and get home just before 9pm. That might not sound like much but it also means that I can attend gallery openings in that area as well! I won't be staying so late tonight, but it's good to know that I can.

I think staying home yesterday was the right thing to do. Keen to get at it today.

laura_seabrook: (Default)

Working my way through getting to and fro that Gig featuring The Church. OK, The Factory Theatre is sort of between Newtown and Marrickville as per this map.

If I ride my bicycle to the station, then these routes (via Transport Infoline will get me there. The one that leaves (from Cardiff) at 4:03pm and arrives at 7:57pm might be a bit too close, since the gig starts at 8pm, so the one that leaves at 3:48pm and arrives at 7:25pm will have to be the latest. Getting back, well these seem to work, though there;'s a big gap between leaving at 12:59am (and arriving at 4:23am) and 2:51am (and arriving at 6:29am).

Not riding the bike, going directly from and to home by bus gives different results. The latest I can leave is 1:49pm (arriving at 5:52pm!) and for coming back it's either leaving at 12:51am and getting home at 6:48am (with a 2 hour wait in Cardiff) or leaving after 4am from Marrickville! 

The difference is that these pages calculate connected travel. The first set doesn't include time spent riding from Barnsley to Cardiff Station or vice versa. I have some time to think this over, but riding the bike's looking good. It'd simplify things if I was going with someone and staying with them that night, but that's not an option.

And of course I still haven't bought a ticket to the show yet - that's going to involve a trip to a Ticketex agency sometime today (can't do it over the net as no credit card).

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To make things complete, I lost my mobile phone last night.

However, this morning I had a phone call to say that it'd been found at Woollies in Strathfield. That being the case, I caught the train / bus / train down, picked it up, went to a newsagents, bought some lunch, and caught the next train (which left a minute of my getting on the platform) back to Cardiff. It got there with 40 minutes to spare before the last us home, so I did some shopping at ALDI's (and a newsagent's) while I waited.

Nice to be home. While I was at Strathfield I bought two Linux magazines, one had DVD distros of Ubuntu, and the other SUSE. Lots more stuff on these than there is on the CDs.

I think maybe  long boring periods of travel (where the only things I did were look out the window and listen to my MP3 player) might have been good for me.

A Pattern

Mar. 5th, 2009 11:00 pm
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I was checking out timetables to get me to Sydney on Saturday by 3pm and noticed that there's track work on the Newcastle line and I'll have to catch a rail bus.

Funny about that - it seems that 6 out of ten times I've gone down to the parade, there's track work on. I wonder if that's deliberate?

laura_seabrook: (cheerful)

Instead of looking at web comics like I was going to, I spent a fair bit of time last night going through the Source Forge listings. And I found some great stuff!

I found a windows version of a solitaire game called Shisen-Sho, where you remove pairs Mahjong tiles until you clear the board. Sounds exactly like any of the hundred versions of solitaire Mahjong, doesn't it, but there's just one difference - all the tiles are flat in a rectangle, and you can only remove pairs that that can have an unblocked route of no more than three lines to each other (see pic at right). The only thing missing from the download was the rules - but I found these elsewhere!

This game is extremely absorbing for me, just like Links was - I love elegant puzzle games. Apparently it's a port of a version of the game that ran under KDE (a Linux GUI) and can use the tile sets for KMahjongg. I went out and found the download page and converted them (as simple as changing the extension from .tileset to .bmp). There are heaps of other versions out there too (and Ishido looks just as interesting). Cool!

The other big find at Source Forge was the number of train and railway games and simulations. I've always been interested in trains and railways since I was a child. My father was a guard on freight and passenger trains for over 30 years, and even took me with him on a couple of runs up to the Avon Valley marshalling yards.

In Simultrains you "build the transport networks, with platforms, quays, level crossings, signals and much more. Transport passengers between nearby cities with a commuter train or use a high speed train to earn big money by connecting cities further apart". I haven't tried it yet but it looks a lot like A-Train and Sim City (though there's also FreeTrain).

 

 Rails is a java implementation of the 18xx series of board games. What's 18xx? I have an original copy (with Northern expansion) of 1829 by Hartland Trefoil. This was an elegant board game based on the first railways in Britain in the 19th century. Each player bought shares in one or more companies and built track (by placing tiles), bought engines and ran trains for profit or loss. It was deceptively simple, requiring a mixture of strategy and shrewd management. Like Diplomacy, the game seems to have created an entire following and variants.

Crayon Rails MapAnd then there's the Crayon Rails game (not open-source, I found it while looking for Cyber Rails, which doesn't seem to have anything to download yet) which is clearly inspired by Empire Builder. Years ago when I was in Fandom, they used to have Rail Baron tournaments at Swancon. I used to own a set of that but I really found it difficult to play the game because the board would freak out my vision and (Rail Baron Maplike Monopoly) I'd always end a game with a migraine headache! An alternative to RB was Empire Builder. I own two sets - America (the original) and Britain. The thing about these games was that you built rail networks by drawing in crayon on a laminated map. Much more interesting than Monopoly styled RB.

Actually, there seems to be a whole site devoted to these old board games, called Rail Game Fans. I must investigate this more thoroughly, as I should at Rail Serve as well.

But, without a doubt, the big "gob smacker" of a discovery in my browsing would have to be Rail World and Yard Duty. Both are railway simulations that use satellite photos of real railway complexes to simulate railway management. There's no "winning" as such, but by golly, the most realism I've seen yet! I must see about adding the Kewdale Freight Terminal and other locations sometime.

 

Yes, I know this all sounds obsessive, but trains (and train games) have been a passion for a long while.

 

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There were some minor difficulties getting back to Barnsley after the adventure in St. Clair. Thousands or pilgrims are in Sydney for the World Youth Day (which mysteriously takes a week to happen) and it affected public transport.

The train back to Newcastle stood at Strathfield for half an hour while several trains used its rail line going the other way (and other trains curiously stood just off from the station). As it was so late, the express for once didn't stop at Cardiff, and I was forced to alight at Fassifern and wait for the next regular train.

As I was on the platform there seemed to be a party of pilgrim there (a number had very prominent crucifixes). There was a whole slew of announcements about "staying behind the yellow line" and so forth. The last one said "passengers wishing to travel to Cardiff should travel in the rear four cars". This is sound advice on an eight car train and I automatically moved to the centre of the station. So did the pilgrims. hen the next train came, it was a two carriage "rattler" from Morisset. The pilgrims were surprised at how small it was, and it just seemed to funny to me.

It was another hour before I got home, and Pegasus was all over me with licks and jumps. I slept well last night (with the weirdest dreams). It just so nice to sleep in your own bed!

laura_seabrook: (Default)

The highlight of my trip today was using the Liverpool-Parramatta T-Way.

The Details )

So yeah, I was impressed with the T-Way. What a neat idea!

laura_seabrook: (Default)

I've been experimenting with the EasyRide scooter.

Last Monday saw me with two appointments at Wallsend Hospital. I rode the bike Wallsend Library and then the hospital, and after that to the library at the University. Then I rode it back to the hospital for the 2nd appointment, and and from there to the Bi-Lo  in Elenore Vale for some pet food, and then back home (see map below).

07-10-08 Moped Trips Map - click for a full sized image

I'd been using the "A" battery until it died on the trip back (marked "A" on the map above) and then I switched to the "B" battery - which also died on the trip back (marked as "B" above) when I had to switch back to the "A" again and run off its surface charge.  The same thing happened to me after I visited Jenny in Wallsend. What wears out the batteries is struggling up hills, and there are a lot of steep hills between there and back again.

The "B" battery gave me some trouble on the following Wednesday. I was going down to Wetherill Park on an errand for Kevin. Wasn't sure when I'd get back, so I thought I'd drive the EasyRide to Cardiff Station and catch a train from there. Then it'd be there when I returned. Parked the bike in the lower car park, though the "B" battery (which I'd been using on the way there) cut out just as I went up a hill to get there. I locked the bike to a post with a sign that said "LOCK IT OR LOSE IT!" and yes, it was still there when I got back about 6-7 hours later.

Now this is quite significant. One of the problems I had was that before when I had a working car, I could easily drive to a railway station, catch the train to Sydney, come back much later on the same or next day, and then drive home. Otherwise I was limited to the last bus to Barnsley, which (from Cardiff Station) is 6.58pm weekdays, 5.27pm Saturday, and 5.55pm Sunday. Whereas now, I don't have to worry about the last bus, as I can get home on the EasyRide.

More to the point, I can travel into Newcastle and elsewhere as much as Sydney or points south (and via the bus as well). Which means I might have a social life again! There are still a few things to sort out. Wherever I lock up the bike will have to be secure, and reasonably public, so that there's less incentive to steal it. And if I'm away for a couple or more days, it might be better to leave it at home.

But we'll see - I can get to (and more importantly back from) events at night at the uni and elsewhere now. Hmmm.

laura_seabrook: (cheerful)

A friend of mine, who runs her own wind turbine business, has written a set of notes about stuff she wished she'd known about Linux before she'd mucked with it!

Actually, I really admire Kali - she and James have carved out a niche for themselves at Flowtrack, not only with wind turbines, but by designing (and maintaining) railway traffic control software. No mean feat, considering that they're based at Tuntable Falls (not far from Nimbin, hippy capital of Australia)!

laura_seabrook: (Default)
...happened on the train back to Cardiff last night.

The Newcastle Line runs from Fassifern to Broadmeadow (with accepted pronounciations in brackets) as:
Fassifern (Fas-ee-fern)
Booragul (boor-ag-ul)
Teralba (ter-alba)
Cockle Creek (cock-el-creek)
Cardiff (car-dif)
Kotara (ko-ta-ra)
Adamstown (adams-town)
Broadmeadow (broad-med-ow)
Just after Fassifern the guard started announcing "Next stop Booor-raga-raga-raga-ul"; at Booragul he announced "Tery-lerry-alba, followed by the Cockles of my heart Creak"; and finally just before Cardiff: "Cardyardywardif comin' up, followed by Ko-o-o-o-o-tara and Adminston".

I got off at cardiff, so I don't know why he changed his style of announcing. Earlier on the train when we stopped at Wyee the following was heard:
Will the person smoking please note that this service is a non-smoking service
.
.
.
Will THAT person smoking in THAT carraige please stop smoking!
.
.
.
This service have been a non-smoking service for the last 15 years and will the inconsiderate person smoking please stop
.
.
.
Will that inconsiderATE perSON pla-EASE stop smoking!
The train left after that, so I guess they did.

I love train travel, you never know what you'll encouner. :-)
laura_seabrook: (Default)
Things got better after I left the uni.

Went to Jenny's and phoned the contact for the QC meeting (James), so they knew I was coming. and then went to the station. Though I'd just missed one train to Sydney, the next, in 40 minutes only got in 10 minutes later at central. I went to Cardiff library and borrowed something to read, and then had a Egg & Bacon roll in an arcade.

I had a chat with the guy who ran the take-away there (Gerry) and when he heard that I had Muscovy drakes he was interested. He has Muscovy ducks and will come over Saturday afternoon and pick one of my drakes to take (yay!).

Got to the QC meeting just at the end, and though there wasn't really much to discuss, I touched base and that was really important. Travelled with James on the bus to Newtown (we chatted about Mardi Gras, mutual acquaintances and bi-folk) and then caught a train (which came almost immediately) to Stanmore where I visited [livejournal.com profile] _blubloo_ and [livejournal.com profile] zelieq for a bit. Good to see them again in person, and nice to see their share house has one or two more bits of furniture.

Didn't get home until 1:10 this morning. Fed the pets and brought Xena inside. Couldn't get to sleep so I watched the first episode of Angel, season four. Gasp, what a long day, but it ended well, and that's what counts some days.
laura_seabrook: (Default)
I was supposed to be going down to Gosford and meet Roderick and go hunting for Buffy DVDs today.

I got away at the right time (the 8:39am train from Cardiff), and then just coming into Tuggerah Station, I wasn't sure if that was the station I was supposed to meet him at. I jumped off, looked around, didn't see him, and jumped back on. Then I got out at Gosford, and waited. And waited. No Roderick.  I phoned him (answering machine) and sat down and read a library book I brought with me. I helped some Japanese tourists find the local hospital, and made room for a small girl to sit down.

But still, no Roderick. I waited until noon and phoned again leaving another message for him. I went to Tuggerah just in case, but he wasn't there either. I came back as soon as I could, phoned again and then went browsing the shops. I found and bought a copy of "Coles Funny Picture Book #1" (perhaps the un-funniest book ever written, but I had a copy as a child) for $1.50. Then I caught the train back to Cardiff and went home.

I thought I'd got mixed up, but the details I'd made on my computer confirmed Gosford as where we were going to meet. What the fuck happened? I don't like to be stood up, but maybe something happened to Roddo, as well. Sent him an e-mail asking what the story was.

Really disappointed with this - I was looking forward to a "day out" with him, but all I got was tired, sweaty and bored, instead.

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