Making that leap...

Just a quick one tonight, but I've managed to muster the courage to tell people about what I've been doing all this time. Why do I say all this time?
My work authorisation still has not come through, and I still have no idea how long it's going to take.

It's over 8 months since we first started the process.
It took immigration services 6 months to (not really) tell us we had to restart the process.

If it wasn't for my loving wife, I'd probably have spent all this time playing computer games and watching old movies & TV series, but on her suggestion I've taken some online courses from a wonderful website/organisation called Coursera.

In the past 2 months I took two courses, as they advised a 10 hour study week each,
one is called Design, the creation of Artifacts in Society,
the other is Writing 2, Rhetorical Composing.

For the design project, we were tasked with designing an artifact over the arc of the course, for those that know me best, you know I will have made something, and you can see what I've made here. This is the blog we created to document the creation and refinement of our product through the course.

Oh God, they're multiplying!? 

For the Writing course, we did 4 assignments, and I wanted to share the last one here. In this assignment we were asked to engage an audience over an issue that we were concerned about, the aim being to produce a reaction in the reader, changing their mood, changing their mind. More specifically the piece had to be researched, and is intended to be part of an ongoing conversation within society.

Once again, for those of you that know me, I am sure you will the one thing I'm largely obsessed about, and as a result wrote about.

Unicorns, specifically their presence in pop culture, and their impact on the young impressionable minds of today's youth.

Just kidding. I know you know what I wrote about.
So with no further ado, my writing assignment.

Fuel for thought.

By the power of diesel.

It was the first couple of weeks I was in New York, and I was being introduced to our friend's relative who works at a BMW dealership in Manhattan. Being a mechanic myself in Australia, I thought this would be a good way to get my finger on the pulse of the state of the automotive industry in this city. Back in Australia, I had frequent exposure to diesel cars, I had worked at a BMW dealership myself, and there was at least one diesel model for each of the series, and they sold quite well, especially in the lower end of the price scale. I had recently read about the new diesel engine that BMW had engineered for its 5 series, and since America is a much larger market than Australia, I asked him to see if he'd had any experience with the new model. At that he told me, diesel cars generally haven't been taken on in America.

This struck me as odd, and I started wondering why, as my small home country of Australia was following the path led by the Europeans in accepting a form of fuel that is overall, more efficient. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia has just about 16million passenger vehicles on the road, so while you couldn't compare the size of the automotive industry in America to Australia, I'm sure a more meaningful comparison can be drawn of the industries of America and Europe. As of 2009, according to the US Bureau of Transport Statistics, there are over 250million passenger vehicles, a number that is coincidentally, similar to the number of cars in Europe, at 250million according to the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA).
Data collected by the ACEA in 2011 describes that in Europe 60% of new cars sold have diesel engines, but as of April 2012, according to the Detroit News, new diesel sales only account of 1% of the cars sold in America.

In this day and age of increasing environmental awareness, ecological conservation, it had become apparent to Australians that there needed to be an alternative to the cars that are solely powered by petrol, so why isn't this the case for America? Popular car buying informational websites like Edmunds and the Green Car Report all share the idea that the main problem is perception, many Americans still cling on to the notion that diesel should be the sole domain of trucks, that they are noisy, unrefined, and have a strange smell coming from the exhaust. But this is really not the case any more. Look for a review of any current European diesel currently offered by BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda and Chevrolet in America and you see a common thread that engine noise isn't very invasive, they don't feel rough or sound clattery any more, and that they often return more than 40mpg. In comparison, their gasoline counterparts usually have averages of around 30mpg.

The US has been slow to embrace diesel cars, but the last few years have shown a shift, with data from the Diesel Technology Forum showing that there has been a 24% increase in the proportion of diesel cars sold in the US since 2010, while this is promising, there is still some way to go to get the overall proportion of new cars out of single digit percentage. Some of the problem is down to manufacturers who are still reluctant to import diesels because of the aforementioned poor public perception. Of the 44 manufacturers selling cars in the US, only 7 of them sell diesel cars here. As consumers we need to pressure the manufacturers into importing more diesel cars here so that we have more choice when it comes to what fuel our car is powered by. Ultimately, everyone's individual case is different, and if there isn't a diesel vehicle for that customer, you have lost them. And that would be sad because that is a lost opportunity to put a vehicle that consumes less fossil fuel in their hands.

A more significant issue surrounding the purchase of a diesel car is always of cost, as added technology and complexity will always add cost. In 2009, the price difference between a diesel and the comparable Golf, the hatchback that the Jetta is based upon, had a fairly significant price difference of about $3000. But even this notion is changing, the 2013 year model VW Jettas mentioned before have less than $200 separating their base price now. So while you are concerned that with diesel prices being more expensive, it will not take you long to regain the initial outlay. Yes, servicing a diesel car tends to be more expensive too, but if so many people switch to hybrid cars just for the ability to save fuel, why can't we do the same for diesel?

I don't want you to think that the diesel car is a cure all for the American population using less fuel, because that would be a lie. Currently hybrid cars are doing very well here for very similar reasons as to why diesel cars flourished in Europe. The article “The Future of Diesel in the US: Analysis” in Popular Mechanics, talks about US fuel taxing policy favoring gasoline, conversely European taxes started favoring diesel as their popularity grew. So naturally, Americans have taken better to the idea of electric gasoline hybrid cars. Strangely enough, this market share is just over 3% of new cars sold in the US according to information found on Hybridcars.com, this would lead you to believe they are on par with diesel cars in market share. But they aren't, because you must remember that diesel engines span the whole range of light to heavy duty commercial vehicles as well as cars, bolstering their numbers. Hybrids on the other hand are very nearly present in passenger car only, so their 3% is more representative of the numbers sold in the passenger car market.

The concern is that, the American population thinks that the Hybrid car is the cure-all for the population using less fuel, and this is equally flawed logic. A hybrid car works by using an electric motor in conjunction with a petrol engine. Utilising whichever motivation is appropriate for the situation. But the faster you go, the less able the electric motor is able to assist the conventional engine as this is the only way to conserve battery power, as a result, you use the gasoline engine more. Diesel cars on the other hand only have the one engine, that is more efficient all the time, just compare the VW Jetta TDI to its petrol counterpart, the 2.5 litre. The TDI will consume on average 39mpg, while the 2.5 can only achieve 28 at best.

A diesel should be a realistic option when considering purchasing your next car. If you do a lot of inner-city, stop-start driving, a hybrid will work, but if you drive in a mixed range of situations, a diesel may very well be the best car to cater to your needs. Either way, we must look to alternative fuel sources to keep us mobile.

[end]

Anyway, that's my piece. It's intended to be an article informing the American public (but really anyone that has the purchase of a car in their agenda should benefit from this).

Overall I highly recommend Coursera and its aims. Don't take it too seriously because it's freely offered, and as a result is peer reviewed. Your marks will be greatly affected by how others in the course understand the material. But the lecturers genuinely care about what they're teaching, as they're doing it of their free will, and it's evident that they put great care in what they present. If you have a spare couple of hours a week, taking a class on Coursera is a very worthwhile way to spend the time.

BBQ Block Party

Last week there was a BBQ Block Party in downtown, so of course being foodies, and BBQ fans we couldn't miss the chance.

It wasn't the nicest weather so we thought we'd have a better chance of getting food, despite being warned that it was very possible they'd sell out before the end of the day.

It was being held in Madison Square Park, so we headed down for an early dinner.We knew we were in good company when we were greeted by,

A giant Weber!

Unfortunately there were no appropriately sized giant steaks to go with it. Anyway, the park was taken over largely by a picnic and boozing area, but the streets at the side were all filled with BBQ stalls at least two blocks each way. We brought moderate appetites in case we would be disappointed with the stalls being out of stock, but we needn't have worried.

We eventually made it to the food area after a confusing wander through the park, we consider the Australian BBQ a cultural tradition, Americans on the other hand seem to take it much more seriously.

Today's special, BBQ hatchback.

Full trailer sized BBQs for city sized servings I assumed. They came well prepared, because in spite of the dodgy weather, there was a pretty large turnout.

Lost in the crowd...

The crowds were generally this large no matter which direction you went. And as further evidence that the stalls were well prepared, see the photo below.

Now that's a production line. 

Enough about the scenery, what about the food? First up we had some beef ribs,

They're as tasty as they are ugly.

Some beef ribs, done in the American dry rub style that I'm still warming up to, they were wonderfully cooked though, but the sad thing about the size of the party means that there's dozens and dozens of trays that are ready cooked up and sitting waiting for customers. Granted this means you get them quicker, but you never get the sense that they're really fresh, and they're always a little cold. Unfortunately this is a trend that hung around all day.

 The A B C's of B B Q

Next up was a pulled pork sandwich, this one having sat so long that the coleslaw dressing had soaked through the plate, once again, tasty, but lacking. A nice all natural, really sour lemonade that was ultimately necessary to cut through the oiliness that inevitably follows a BBQ.

Add 1 + 2 and you get, pork ribs!

This was one of your more conventional BBQ parties, so of course we ended the day with pork ribs, once again, very nicely cooked in that melty, fall off the bone sort of way, but probably should have gotten more sauce, because there wasn't much flavour to the meat. I can't believe I'm saying this but at least this coleslaw was tasty...

Content to just walk around and chew the scenery for a bit before we went home to call our parents for the weekly report, we saw a few more things you definitely wouldn't see back at home,

 

More giant BBQs than you could poke a pig at.

 The Hobo Smoker™, not really, but that's what I'd call it.

Looking down on the little people.

Overall the experience was a little mixed, we decided that next time it would be more worthwhile taking a note of the restauranteurs that set up shop here and try to visit in store, as we felt for stuff like this, it was more important that it's hot and fresh instead of just being ready.

To cool down all this hot air (say it in Cantonese), we picked up gelato! Salted caramel and chocolate chip in a wafer cone at Eataly on the way home, always a fun item to juggle on a crowded subway on our way home.

Bonus Cat Pic!

Alright, you're adorable. Can I have my box back now?

Long weekend, long roadtrip!

Last weekend in America it was the Memorial Day Weekend. Pretty much the same as our Anzac day, it's a day to remember the troops that have been, and are fighting overseas for the country. For the civilian population, it's a day off, so with a long weekend we decided to take a short trip out of the city, to Niagara Falls. Unfortunately with Deb's internship schedule still TBA until the very last minute, we had to rent a car from Newark Airport. It ended up cheaper, as in the city they typically wanted $350+ for the two days we wanted to rent, but renting from the airport cost us $180ish. The downside was much more hassle than just taking a subway over to a rental station.
We had to take a subway to Penn. Station,
then we had to catch an Amtrak to Newark Airport,
and THEN we had to catch an Airtrain to the parking complex where our car was waiting for us.

Overcoming this first hurdle, we arrived at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car station about an hour late because of the Sunday schedule Amtrak was operating on. We had reserved an intermediate car, but they overbooked so they bumped us up to a "standard". Unfortunately there wasn't much choice in this category, with the only no-cost option being a Chrysler 200. It was a wholly unmemorable car in that it did no more than be a car. Although it had a relatively large 4 cylinder, it was tasked with dragging about 1.5tonnes of kerb weight, so it was also quite thirsty. Some noticeable aspects of the car are that it had huge wheels for its size, and a huge boot to boot. It also pulled off the feat of dwarfing a 3-series on the outside, while perplexingly having no more room on the inside as I remember 3 series' have. This is what you get when you try to improve on the pariah of Rental cars, the Chrysler Sebring, as no matter how much you dress up a mince pie, deep down inside, it's still horse toe nails and cow tails.

Anyway, enough about the car that even I'm not interested in, more about the trip. We decided to make it a road trip because we thought it would be nice to be able to stop at places along the way. As we only had two days, we made it one stop. The Corning Museum of Glass, which was about 4 hours out of Manhattan. It was a wonderful mix of Powerhouse, Art, and History Museum, in one giant glossy building, with about the largest souvenir store of any museum that I know of. If you are ever in the neighborhood I really recommend it as it's a fun way to spend a day with the family.

There were glass blowing demonstrations in the open air,

glass sculpting demonstrations on the inside,

 

glass breaking demonstrations,

models illustrating the production of glass,

weird interactive exhibits,

where if you spoke quietly on one side of the "egg", even with lots of ambient noise, the person on the other side, about 10m away could hear you clearly

glass as art,

glass in history, here you see Chinese opium flasks,

more glass as art, this was actually available in the store for purchase,

And scary sculptures in the lobby,

We knew we were pressed for time, so tried to get through it all as quickly as possible, we spent 2 and a half rushed hours inside, still having skipped most of the Art exhibits because it was getting late. By the time we left the museum it was 5:30ish and we still had a 3 hour drive ahead.

After a small detour trying to avoid a toll that unbeknownst to Google Maps was actually unavoidable, we eventually arrived at our lodging for the night on the Canadian side of the falls. As it was so late we headed out to get some food before exploring the falls. We settled on an Italian restaurant named Bravo! Pizzeria and Grill (see Deb's Yelp review here), that was open well into Sunday night, accepting our reservation for two at 10:30 at night.

It was quaintly decorated and we were served by probably the most friendly waiter this side of the equator. As I said, it was late Sunday night, so it was very quiet,

very rustic and vintage inspired decoration,

filled with pretty lighting,

The price of the food was average, but the portions were quite hearty, we had a duck poutine, which was essentially shredded duck, with french fries in gravy, a prosciutto and rocket pizza, and a seafood linguine. All in all a very satisfying meal after a hard day's drive.

So having filled up our own fuel tanks, we had a short walk to see the falls bathed in moonlight. On the walk down we actually crossed paths with a skunk, I was too bewildered to take a decent photo of it, but it came out of a small park, crossed the road, and disappeared into the rock wall on the other side.

Upon arriving at the dimly lit falls with a point and shoot at our disposal, this was pretty much the best photo we could manage. Pretty good for a combination of rudimentary knowledge of camera technique and humble equipment.

Fast forward to a very well earned night of sleep, and a peaceful one since we didn't have a certain cheeky feline keeping us up, we woke up early to catch the falls at sunrise, to hopefully catch them at their prettiest, and beat the crowds.

What spoiled what was otherwise a very beautiful scene was the horrid commercialisation of the falls. And while this eyesore that Deb is pointing is funnily enough on the American side, it was probably the Canadian side that is probably the worst offender when it comes to exploiting the falls.

we tried to enjoy it in spite of the rampant comercialisation,

cue wistful photo,

I may not have caught that skunk, but I caught a squirrel... on camera...

the horseshoe falls,

 the American and bridal veil falls, (the larger and the smaller one respectively, seriously, that tiny one on the right, don't ask me why it isn't all just the American Falls.)

an attempt at a photo composed in an artsy way,

the falls throw up enough mist to make it constantly sprinkling at the side of the falls,

obligatory meta photo of people taking photos,

walking as far up the side of the falls as possible, you can get so close to them that they're running pretty much under your feet.

tourist-ey happy snap,

After our sunrise stroll on the Canadian side of the falls, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap, and after that made our way over to the American side of the falls. It's probably worth explaining that the Canadian side of the falls is vaguely reminiscent of a very crappy Las Vegas, or more appropriately a crappy Atlantic City, complete with a Casino and main street that doesn't seem to want to allow the rest of the neighbourhood any peace. We were walking back at about midnight and still people were out and about. This left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths, Deb because she was just disappointed at the sheer incongruence of natural beauty and tacky commerciality, and me because pop culture had always portrayed the Canadian falls as far more homely and quaint. Pop culture lead us astray? No... never...

ANYWAY, we slept in a little more than we wanted, we couldn't physically make it out the door until about 10:30 in the morning, we had hoped to stop at Howe Caverns on the way back, a similar halfway house to the glass museum, but being pressed for time, settled instead for a wander around the American side of the falls. We were glad we did, because as much as we were disappointed with the Canadian falls, the American side was much more of a pleasant surprise.

The way you are introduced to the falls on the American side is by a very pretty public park, being a public holiday, lots of people is probably par for course,

you could get up very close to the rapids leading up to the falls,

looky-loo over at the Maid of the Mists departing with their blue penguins,

this is your view of the American falls, and Horseshoe falls off in the distance,

 

an observation deck for you to walk out on, a snip at $1 for entry,

a picture of us out on the deck,

the view you get from the deck,

seen from the observation deck, Rainbow bridge (just like Tokyo?!) the only way you struggle back into America,

for the price of admission you can also ride an elevator down to the foot of the falls,

looking silly is purely optional, spray from the falls drenching you can be mandatory to non-existent, depends on the wind's mood, 

another helpful tourist helping us take a photo up at the American falls,

 

as you can see, there were plenty of tourists...

shot of the falls, slightly more withdrawn,

Overall, I don't think I need to tell you that this is a worthwhile trip to take if you're on the continent, the falls themselves are amazing, breathtaking, awesome and unfathomable all at the same time, just adjust your expectation of the surroundings accordingly. Do what we didn't, stay on the American side, spend most of your day in the park, pay the dollar to go on the observation deck and down to the foot of the falls as it's well worth it, and make a day trip out to the Canadian side because while the atmosphere of the American side is better, the views on the Canadian side are not to be missed. 

If you like the idea of a road trip, give yourself an extra day, make a tourist stop on the way up, go spend a day at the falls, then come back with a tourist stop in between. A good way to break up the drudgery of what is about a 9 hour journey start to finish. This way you get a well rounded holiday experience.

So that was pretty much our adventure out at Niagara falls, the drive home was long, but largely uneventful, one detour because we missed some directions, and a massive detour trying to find fuel to fill up the car, unless you have patience in reserve, or hair to spare to tear out, I recommend against renting a car at Newark airport if you can get it, we would eventually arrive home at 10:30 at night.

Home to a bed covered in cat hair, and some very empty stomachs, the cat's included, somehow he's always hungry and bugging us for food no matter what time of the day it is. As long as he hears fussing in the kitchen, he thinks there's food.

I don't get any instant noodles? You're getting extra hair in the bed tonight while you sleep...