Me working hard... 

This is what I do at work... sometimes 

A Poem, By Alison

In response to our tragic loss, our dear friend Alison composed a poem, which I feel is worthy of being repeated here:

Now Brad has to catch the bus
I'll bet he makes such a fuss
a new car he might want -
i think he'll call it GUS

And Bogie... what a sad little birdy
he feels so very nerdy
without his wheels to make him sturdy

little miss diamond
about her, i do not know what to say
Hey! She catches the bus ANYWAY!

In rememberence of GLEN...

Tribute to Glen

I'm not the type of person that gets emotionally attached to cars, but Glen HAS been in the Schultz family since late in 1991 when Dad bought him for Karen when she was going to University in Toowoomba. He later fell into my hands when I was at uni. I later bought Glen off Dad and he has been the Di and Brad family car (and truck) for the last 5 1/2 happy years... He even forgave us for ditching him for a year when we lived OS. And for blowing his engine head on a subsequent 24hr trip to Adelaide...

Yesterday, at approximately 12pm, I walked out to the driveway to drive him somewhere, and alas, there he was not.

The police assure us that there is a chance he may yet turn up, victim of a prank, or possibly needed to give someone transport home. If that IS the case, I pray that he gave that person as happy a ride, as the many he has given us over all these years.

Did that last sentence make sense?

Anyway I gotta go catch a bus.

Just for kicks - here's a map of LA and where I drove on Monday. This is the hugest, craziest freeway system in the world! (My route is the blue line, with LAX airport being the start and finish down the bottom left) 

Shruti - the magician in the kitchen! 

YUM!!!!!!!! 

Just after meeting Agustina again 

Agustina on her 1996 Jeep Cherokee 

With Agustina, Shruti and Ambrish at Raleigh-Durham airport before I leave. 

The Ford proving ground from the plane, Dearborn, Detroit 

Suburban Detroit - Flying back through Detroit on the way from Raleigh to Los Angeles 

Industry in Detroit 

Grandma! 

Grandpa! 

Cabellas. Cheap guns and things killed with them. 

The tunnel of hallucinations, Detroit Metro airport 

Krispy Kreme donuts are by FAR the BEST donuts I have EVER TASTED. I cannot stress this enough. We think we know what donuts are in Australia... but WE DON'T. Our donuts are crap. These donuts are heaven. The glazed donuts, straight out of the bakery melt in your mouth... 

Damn they were good... 

Me and Shruti in front of the store... 

Beers at 'The Federal' in Durham 

Duke University Chapel - I used to work here! Well, not in the chapel. In the Engineering building nearby. 

We went ot Sarah P Duke gardens and some high school kids were having their Prom photos taken, so I joined in. 

Ambrish and Shruti's place - Raleigh, NC 

Ambrish and Shruti at Lake Johnson, near their place in Raleigh. The rocking chairs are a nice touch I think. 

I love American News

Some headlines on Detroit local tv news...

"Why police shut down two lanes of the I-94. Shots fired. We'll tell you who got hit - tonight at 10!"

"Britney Spears is Pregnant!" - Actually, that was on ALL the news. But then, that was probably big news in Australia too.

"Next, we'll cross live to Detroit Metro airport to see how travellers are coping with the new 'no cigarette lighters on planes' rule"

....

....

"There were 5 seperate shooting deaths in Detroit on the weekend"

A walk in the city

At lunch today, I left the conference and went for a walk around downtown. First to the Renaissance Center - GM world headquarters. The most modern, hugest, most recognisable building in the city. There must be tens of thousands of people working there, along with foodcourts and shopping centres and a hotel.

Then into the heart of downtown. Probably about 30% of the buildings are empty - some have been carefully boarded up, as if they're awaiting better days. Others have just been left and there are broken windows etc.

there's a lot of construction going on everywhere around the city - Detroit has the Superbowl in January so they're attempting to clean up the city's image a bit. I was talknig to a guy about it and asked if the downtown 'renewal' will continue after the Superbowl. He doesn't think it will...

The photos I've posted are in the nice downton areas. I haven't been to any of the inner city suburbs around the city. Frankly, I'm not sure I want to go walking around those suburbs! the Lonely Planet recommends that travellers do NOT go near 12th street, where the 1967 riots occurred, where 43 people died and several blocks burnt to the ground...

I might drive down 8 Mile Rd on Friday - see if I can spot any of Eminem's posse!

As sad as this city is - it IS fascinating! Home of the Motown sound (Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Diana ross...), lots of African American culture and an amazing history of boom then bust...

Seeya!

This monolith isn't empty - it's the 'Renaissance Center' - GM world headquarters. I checked it out inside - it's an entire city of it's own. Probably one of the reasons so many of the other buildings in the city are empty... 

Non-empty building. This is a cool oldschool sckyscraper!