Category: tech

10/19/16 01:48 - ID#60695

Playstation VR

(e:chris) bought it for his playstation. Compared to the Samsung VR, it's way more immersive. The helmet tracks your movement in the real world and you can walk around a little bit.

The controllers are also tracked by the console and you can see them in the games - the creepiest feeling was playing this clown shooting game and your hands were carrying guns. I didn't like that.

Here's (e:paul) in VR world, about to be eaten by a radioactive shark.

Permalink: Playstation_VR.html
Words: 84
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/23/16 11:35

Category: bikes

10/17/16 11:47 - ID#60692

Pearl Street bike lanes

They converted Pearl street to two-way, and added bike lanes in each direction. I'm actually surprised it turned out well. I think they gave the car travel lanes 11 ft which would be the absolute minimum. It should calm it down. Even the new paint, pavement and lights make the street look a little less like the ass-end of Main St.

Still wondering why we aren't opting for segregated cycle tracks on these wide streets though. Easier for someone with a snow blower to maintain and no parked cars to infringe. The west side would be great for it considering the truck and fire lanes on the eastern edge.


This week Terry and I made both a chana masala

and a terry-aki tempeh. I think I have these dishes down pat.

Permalink: Pearl_Street_bike_lanes.html
Words: 133
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/25/16 03:39

Category: working out

10/17/16 11:45 - ID#60690

Gettin' bendy

Terry and I have tried a couple times to do yoga in the living room. It's hard to keep up with these slinky Youtube yoga women, who seem to all inexplicably live in tropical retirement communities.



I can already do a yoga handstand.

Permalink: Gettin_bendy.html
Words: 52
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/19/16 01:34

Category: vacation

10/14/16 12:46 - ID#60689

Finally home

I was ready to go back home. I would have like to seen downtown Las Vegas to see if it was any different, but (e:paul) and his boss were at the conference and my flight left at 3.

I decided to walk to the airport because I didn't feel like being in a car anymore and thought I might run across something interesting. From the Cosmopolitan to the airport terminal was about an hour walk, including the pedestrian bridges.

I was actually suprised you could walk there at all but I got the idea here michaeldorausch.com/walking-from-the-las-vegas-airport-to-the-las-vegas-strip/

There was not much to see and I had to change my shirt when I checked in, I was so sweaty.

The plane ride back had a ridiuclous view. I never looked out a plane with a cloudless view. On the way to the stop over in Phoenix, you could see Humphrey's peak in Flagstaff from forever a way. The desert is really almost empty between besides mysterious groupings of trailers. I wonder why they're there.

You also could spot forest fires on the hills and the smoke choking the valleys next to them.

As you go back east so much light appears again. Almost an hour from Buffalo Chicago is completely visible. It's cool that you can see the gridlines via streetlights, just like a map.

When I got back (e:terry) brought me some vegetarian poutine. I think I realized I barely ate on this trip.

Permalink: Finally_home.html
Words: 251
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 01:22

Category:

10/14/16 12:45 - ID#60688

Lake Mead and another day in Vegas

Permalink: Lake_Mead_and_another_day_in_Vegas.html
Words: 13
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 12:45

Category: hiking

10/09/16 09:45 - ID#60687

Hiking the Red Rocks

Definitely my favorite part of Las Vegas so far. We drove out to the far west side, right up to the edge of the sprawl the park begins. The traffic was really heavy in the park loop, and there were a ton of cyclists riding around.

(e:paul) wasn't sure where he and (e:terry) had gone before. Well it wasn't in the new visitor's center area, it was at the first right turn coming in the park, in the Calico I basin. You can get right up to the red rocks with a short hike.

It really is an easy hike. Going up and down to the peaks, the climb is basically stairs - really wide and long. At the very top you keep thinking you're at the highest part, then there's another peak, and another, and another.

(e:paul) and I got up to the second highest red rock peak. It was about two peaks higher than (e:terry,55633) and him got the last time. You can see all across the mountains into the smog of Vegas from here, and there's plenty of shade to hide in on the way down.

Permalink: Hiking_the_Red_Rocks.html
Words: 200
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 12:40

Category: vacation

10/09/16 09:44 - ID#60686

I hate Las Vegas

Las Vegas Boulevard is an assault on all senses.

12 lanes of speeding traffic honking and barreling through pedestrians.
2 story screens screaming advertisements at you
A bigger, brighter 3 story screen, commanding you to DRINK. EAT. PLAY.
Homeless people with festering wounds begging on the sidewalk.
All while people walking by with a bag full of $9 miller lites.
Malls pumped full of perfume.
Stores with $10k fur coats and watches that cost more than my student loans.
Literally lighting water on fire in the desert.
People fighting with their prostitutes.
Strip club promoters throwing their cards at you.
Bars on the sidewalk herding you into the casino.
Desperate retirees pouring coins in the machine at 6am.

(e:paul) told me he referred to Caesar's Palace as satan's lair when he got there. I can't say I disagree.

The most impressive thing about this city is that they manage to convince so many people to move here.

Let's not ever come back here again.

Sorry if I killed your fun time (e:paul). I really tried to appreciate it lol. But you had a few more days without me, so I know you'd be fine.

The highlights I would say we found were a delicious ramen stand that was sanely priced along with a cheep beer store, right next to our hotel.

I'll update this as I think of more reasons why the Vegas Strip is the worst place in the country.

Permalink: I_hate_Las_Vegas.html
Words: 247
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 12:26

Category: vacation

10/09/16 09:42 - ID#60685

Hoover Damn and Lake Mead

The drive between Flagstaff and Las Vegas was about three and a half hours. The landscape changes from cool, mountainous pine forest to a hellish 90F+ gravel desert, with no vegetation. At one point we stopped for (e:paul)'s coffee in one of the touristy route 66 towns called Williams. It was the most western looking town I've ever seen. It had cow hide stores and shops full of Navajo trinkets.

On the drive over you cross the Hoover dam. (e:paul) and I pulled over and walked across. It's really impressive, especially for something engineered before computers, CAD and finite element analysis programs. Constructed in the span of only four years!

On top of it in the 2000s they constructed one of the largest concrete arch bridges I've ever seen. Wikipedia says it's also the highest. It crossed probably double the height of the dam itself.

The water in Lake Mead was many meters under the usual level. You could tell by the bath ring up the canyon walls.

Anyway the dam overlook was pretty crowded with a million tourists, so we skipped the tour of it, and drove down to Boulder Beach on Lake Mead. I'm glad we did.

The water was clear and felt icy cold in the sun. It got deep so quickly. I wonder how many people have swam across from that beach.

On the way back we drove up the Lakeshore Road to Las Vegas. You could see a dry marina that used to be in the water, probably a mile from the actual water now. There were houses perched on a hill, probably sold for a previous water view that now just had the view of a dry gravel pit.

Permalink: Hoover_Damn_and_Lake_Mead.html
Words: 309
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 12:37

Category: hiking

10/09/16 09:40 - ID#60684

Bye Flagstaff

That night we had to find a hotel but they were almost all booked. Except roach motels on the outside of the town, and even they were going for $115+.

I found a hostel ran by the same company we stayed at earlier for $80, called the Grand Canyon International Hostel. It was right next to the Downtowner where (e:paul), (e:terry) and (e:jacob) used to live.

I really thought it was pretty cool. There were a ton of people staying there, including Germans. It was cheap, and also had free breakfast and coffee. (e:paul) was not happy at all, because it had shared bathrooms. Didn't you sleep in the car the last time you drove all through the southwest? ;)





Anyway I agreed to go to Vegas the next day because he didn't want to stay there and hike the volcano.

Something about staying in Flagstaff made me feel ganz anders than ever before. It felt magical and bottom a Sedona vortex way. Maybe it's because I love (e:paul) and (e:terry)'s stories, and was always wished I was on their old adventures. Or it could be it was a cheap college town full of people close to my age. Probably the endless federal woods and things to climb around us. But I felt like we could do anything there and I wouldn't hesitate to bet it has an impact on the mindset of people who live there. Imagine crazy landscapes that run for miles with no one in them. Nothing to compare it to in Buffalo. The trip with (e:paul) was one of the best adventures I've been on and I wish (e:terry) could have been with us.

Then we headed to Las Vegas...

Permalink: Bye_Flagstaff.html
Words: 292
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 01:49

Category: hiking

10/09/16 09:39 - ID#60683

Flagstaff Lava River Caves

On the way back from the Grand Canyon, we passed by the Lava River caves outside of Flagstaff. (e:terry) had taken (e:paul) there before so (e:paul) had a vague idea of where it was. But it was night and he wasn't sure about where exactly.

Basically, you turn west off of 180 about 15 miles north of Flagstaff.
We drove 4 miles down a washboarded fireroad in the dark. (e:paul) was freaking out about the car getting stuck.

I stole a map from here so you can see how to get to it.




Once you park there's about a quarter mile hike into the forest. It seems hard to figure out where you're going in the dark but there's trail signs and an old road. Then you come across this circular stone fence that opens up into a pit.

It was no Sedona vortex but the cave was awesome. There were two parts. One (e:paul) and I went in, and you could stand most of the way. There were huge smashed boulders all over the floor. Either the tube was maintained or chunks fall off.

The weirdest part about the cave probably was the moldy food all over the ground. Since there are few animals and it's just dark and damp, all the trash left in there just molds and never completely decomposes. Including sunflower seeds, ahem (e:paul).







It goes for a little over kilometer. When you're in the dark it's easy to hype yourself up thinking about someone coming across you the other way. Sometimes we'd turn off our flashlights and just sit. (e:paul) swears he can still see in the dark. If I lived in Flagstaff I might set myself up a hobo shelter in here and just chill in the hole all day.

On the way out of the first cave, I found a tiny tunnel you have to slither down into. I squiggled in by myself and saw how deep it goes. It opens up to a few chambers and tighter tubes you'd have to crawl in. Unfortunately they were blocked off by boulders and I need to drop 50 pounds or so to even think about squeezing in lol

I don't think I've ever seen so many stars as on the walk back to the car - and the moon was partially out.

Permalink: Flagstaff_Lava_River_Caves.html
Words: 397
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/14/16 12:45