I Will Miss You, Our House

I've taken some pictures of our house in Oak Ridge.  It was a beautiful home and has many memories for me, from Vinny's first steps and smiles to many countless enjoyable games and fun with my wife (get your mind out of the gutter, I'm not talking about that).  I'll miss all the tabletop gaming with friends, all the interactions with our wonderful neighbors adjacent as well as down the street.

I'm going to miss you Adam and Jody, and David (Sho), and all of our games, and Ann next door, your children Joe and Katie, and their children -Vinny's friends- Amelia and Bert, and Don at the end of the street (thanks for letting me borrow all that equipment all those times).  I'm going to miss shooting the breeze with Dirtbag, Angie, and all the Baglets. Goodbye Alyshia and Billy, and Dominic and Kiara.  Vinny will miss Kiara, I guarantee it.  I'll miss those hours debating philosophy with James, and associating myself with Vinny's Montessori school.  Goodbye Susan and Amy and Mary, and your children whom Vinny loves so much.

Dr. Fisher, I can't begin to tell you what you've done for me and how much I'll miss our discussions.

Family will be missed, of course.

I'm also going to miss you, Oak Ridge Tennessee.  I'm going to miss the vast mountainous landscapes of forest, the clean (ahem- upstream of the labs) rivers and streams.  I'm going to miss the nice people, all the huns, sweeties, sirs and ma'ams, and most of all the can I help yous.  At least for us you've been a friendly place (non-professionally) and I'm going to get homesick, I guarantee it.

We haven't left yet, but goodbye house.  If my arms were big enough, I'd give you a great big hug.  I'd hug Oak Ridge too, but then I'd be pretty huge and could probably wade my way to Australia.

Some people say you should only say good-bye when you're dead.  Some say you don't have to even then.  I like that idea.  Let's not say this is good-bye.  This is till we get together again.  I'm looking forward to more of that brisket and poppers, Billy.

Exchange Rate Change

I checked the exchange rate this morning and it seems to have changed.  $1 USD is now equivalent to $0.93 AUD. That may be good for us as we transfer some cash over, but it's starting to swing in a way as to make it less desireable to transfer money back.  I hope that it could stabilize closer to 1:1.  I hope the AUD doesn't fall much farther.

It is important to note that this information does not indicate any strengthening of the United States economy.  It is more than likely a result of the financial instability of the Euro.

Think Australia is Small?

People simply do not realize how large Australia is. I didn't either until we first thought of this move.  I swiped this photo off the internet (my apologies to its owners, but I'm using it for educational purposes) and it does a very good job comparing the sizes of the United States and Australia.

To top it off, the population of the United States is 311.8 million as of July 2011.  Comparatively, the population of Australia is 22.7 million as of September 2011.  The state of Western Australia, roughly the size of the United States from the Rockies and west, has a population of roughly 2.4 million as of 2011.

Perth itself has a population of approximately 1.74 million.  So let's think about that.  2.4 million - 1.74 million =  .66 million.  That means there are roughly a half million people living on a land mass the size of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and some of Washington, outside of Perth.  For the city of Perth itself, population is just a bit larger than what one would find in Philadelphia.  For comparison, the populations of Los Angeles are 3.8 million and New York 8.2 million respectively.  The entire population of the state of Western Australia - 2.4 million - would easily fit within the confines of Los Angeles alone with plenty to spare.

What does this mean?  For a land expanse the size of the United States from the Rockies west, you will find absolutely no one.  Western Australia's population density is currently 2.4 persons per square mile.  This statistic is skewed by Perth, as the true population density of the state of Western Australia is much less -figured at less than one person per square mile.

Does this mean anything else?  If you think about it, yes.  I'm looking forward to actually viewing the stars and Milky Way without haze and light pollution. I hear it's quite the sight to see.  I hear that you can see shooting stars quite often, and at least one per night that blazes across the sky leaving a fiery trail.

Once you get out of Perth and head north or east there aren't very many people at all, and as long as you are prepared, you can have a truly unmolested camping adventure.

This is another reason why the citizens of Perth, despite having criminals of their own sort, are more cooperatively minded.  I hear this is what makes Australians typically nicer, more respectful, tolerant, and engaged than most.  If they don't work together, they're alone.

Sounds like fun, eh?

Nothing to Declare? You'd Better Check Again...

My wife introduced me to this television show aired in Perth and the United Kingdom entitled "Border Security: Australia's Front Line."  You can find complete episodes of it on YouTube.  The stars of the show are the many customs screeners and immigration officials who work tirelessly to protect Australia's borders from exposure to invasive diseases, plant life, animals, the influx of drugs via couriers and mail, and to determine the legal status of everyone entering the country and if they have the means to survive the duration of their stay without violating the status of their visas and breaking the law.

She told me at once she was addicted to it, and after one episode, so was I.  Australia is very serious about customs declaration, so whatever you do, CHECK YES.  If you aren't sure, as they say on their form CHECK YES ANYWAY.  After watching the show you can see how even simple negligence or forgetfulness can doom you to hours of interviews and even fines and jail time.

There is one character on the show named Peter and both of us admit that if Peter ever sat us across his desk and interrogated us we'd end up telling him our most private sins (the man has a "just don't f$*k with me manner" and incredibly piercing eyes and intimidating mustache).  I joked with her that I was going to put the theme song on a voice recorder and play it behind her head upon our arrival in Sydney, immediately provoking a worried search for Peter from her.

Seriously, the show is very informative, and even if you aren't interested in visiting Australia, it is wonderful to see the extent these people go to protect their borders.  I think everyone stands to learn something, be you looking for ways to increase our security or find someone else to criticize other than the United States for treatment - justified or not - of illegal immigrants.

What I find most interesting is how many of their questions of arrivals would never be asked in our country as they would be declared invasive, personal, irrelevant, and rude, yet these are the questions that are the most helpful to them when identifying drug smugglers.  Also of note is how patient they are, as if many of the visitors becoming hostile and angry with them are simply talked down calmly or quietly escorted away, in the United States argumentative, hostile travelers would be told they could be arrested as a terrorist and threatened with detainment.

Check out the show.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Might learn something too.  Here is the first episode.

RPGs in Perth

As we are avid gamers we have been wondering what game stores / groups we might be able to find in Perth and how to get into contact with them.  I've been searching around; as a university town Perth would surely have some sort of gamers' union or game shops where you can find bulletin boards.

I came across http://www.meetup.com/PerthRPG/ off http://tabletopmanifesto.blogspot.com/ and signed up.  Hopefully it will work out for us.  I'd like it if we could find some relaxed gamers who've been around a while.  I'm always willing to take in new players or play with players with little experience but need to do so on a controlled, hopefully one-at-a-time so we can mentor pace.

If anyone heading to Perth wants info about Perth RPG groups, sign up on the forum.  When you get there, look us up.

I hear there is a good Quality Comics store at 872 Hay Street.  You can see their site here.  It will redirect you to their Facebook here.

I also read of a store Tactics where you can get good RPG materials.  I can't find any real info about it yet but will look it up when I get there and give an update.