Life + Times of Fenton et al.

  • Motorcycling to Gibraltar Falls

    Every once in a blue moon I manage to organise enough time to be able to take the motorbike out on a ride purely for pleasure. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty enjoyable way to get to work but it’s a whole other level of enjoyment to ride through some scenic country. Possibly because there isn’t a day of work waiting for you at the other end.

    In any case, as a follow on to enjoying some of the country surrounding Canberra I decided a ride was in order. The decision was made easier after getting to know Nick, who has a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road Glide and a wife that loves being chauffeured around on it. Being the easy-going people they are they left it to me to pick the route and, since it had been a while, a ride out around Tidbinbilla seemed a good pick. After meeting up with Nick and his better half, then fueling up, we headed out to see the scenery as you only really can on a motorcycle.

    Getting through the valleys I came across the road to Gibralter Falls. Being in lead I made the ‘executive decision’ to take a detour. After all, we were in no rush and I hadn’t seen them before. Pulling up on the side road, I failed to get my bike’s side stand down in time — an unfortunate combination of thinking about something else and jeans’ leg catching on the stand itself — and so Nick and Co. pulled up just in time to see me land on my butt with the bike coming a close second. Getting the bike upright was not that much trouble. The hassle came when I tried to gently straighten the now bent clutch lever. For the record, cast aluminium only has a few bend corrections in it and I guess they’d already been used up — the bike has definitely been dropped before, once by me, a low impact one, but at least one other, big drop.

    So there I am, Saturday afternoon[1] and a number of kilometres from home, with an essentially unrideable motorcycle. Fortunately, not so far that the mobile phone didn’t have some coverage. Calling my ever reliable brother-in-law netted phone numbers for two motorcycle shops. First one was closed and the second one answered, despite having supposedly closed an hour earlier. The proprietor was very helpful; identifying exactly the correct part, double checking the one he had was right, taking my credit card details ($15!) and leaving it in a convenient power meter box on the outside of his shop for me to collect.

    Missing clutch levers don’t do anyone any favours. Nick the Ferryman returns to help out.

    So, Nick dropped his wife off at the falls themselves (only another 7km down the road) and gave me a lift back to town to collect the replacement lever. We dropped his Harley off and came back in his car, just to give ourselves a bit of back up if the new lever didn’t pan out as planned. I have to say, the ride on the Harley was quite an experience. I’ve ridden a high performance, custom Harley around a parking lot in the US — also an experience! — but getting chauffeured around on the mobile lounge room that is a Road Glide was something else.

    In the end, the clutch lever fit was about 30 seconds and I joined them up at the falls a few minutes later. By this time the sun was setting, making for a pleasant twilight experience at the free flowing falls. Not exactly what we had planned but I think it worked out well in the end. Kudos to Nick’s wife for waiting patiently at the falls while we went back to town and double kudos to that ever reliable brother-in-law who also picked up Mara from ballet when it became apparent I would not make it back in time.

    View from Gibraltar Falls
    Despite the delay, the place and it’s view were worth it.

    [1] For those readers in the US who are unfamiliar with typical Australian customs, many shops, barring the biggest of retailers, usually close around lunchtime Saturday. I guess they value their lifestyle over the money I may want to give them.

  • Will Steffen: The Science of Climate Change

    As mentioned previously, being back at a university provides opportunities to listen to some well-informed people on topics beyond my own area. The Director of the Research School organises a series of colloquia throughout the year and earlier this month I listened to Will Steffen, Director of the Climate Change Institute and ANU discuss the science of the changing climate. If you wish to hear and see what he presented, an audio recording synchronised with his slides can be found at the bottom of that last link. I found it an informative colloquium and an unedited copy of the notes I took can be found below.

  • Note that the thermal energy reserve in the oceans is far bigger than that of the atmosphere & change in the energy content of the oceans is a significant indication.
  • Divergence between sunspot activity & Global Temperature Index (GTI) which were previous correlated.
  • Correlation between greenhouse gases & GTI but not to cosmic rays.
  • AIRS satellite observation of emission spectra (blackbody with absorption by H2O, CO2 & O3)
  • 1950 a tipping point in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations.
  • d13 CO2 signature shows burning of fossil fuel. (fossil fuels have depleted d13 CO2 due to being trapped away & not part of the regular cycle).
  • Albedo ~30%. Ice at poles does a lot of reflecting.
  • CO2 absorption is a bending mode of the molecule. N2 & O2 are transparent since they have no bending mode being a bi-atomic molecule. The reason CO2 is important is because 99% of the atmosphere has no effect on absorption of reflected light.
  • Land use (deforestation & replacement with grasses & crops) cools planet through increase in albedo.
  • Overall radiative forcing due to human activity.
  • Increase/decrease in radiative forcing increases/decreases intensity of hydrological cycle. Water vapour is a fast, strong GHG.
  • CO2 less soluble in warm water than cold.
  • Note that system is not in equilibrium (undergoing a perturbation) & so some equations & assumptions are not valid.
  • Troposphere is warming but stratosphere is cooling -> consistent with GHG warming but not solar (external).
  • Warming unequivocal but anthropogenic ‘very likely’.
  • Increase in number of ‘hot weather’ events & extreme weather events.
  • More deaths from extreme heat in Melbourne (2009?) than in the bushfires.
  • Earth oscillates between two stable states, glacial and warm with the glacial being slightly more stable.
  • Natural CO2 (last 400k years) between 200-280 ppm. Currently ~400+ppm.
  • Bifurcation point around 3 degrees C -> system moves to a much hotter stable state? Keep around 2 degrees C possible return to Holocene condition.
  • Previous abrupt changes show classic signs of a complex system.
  • Previously hotter ~1-2 degrees C & sea levels 5-9m higher than now.
  • Orbital (earth) variations account for cycling of the system in the past. More circular orbit gives a warmer period (Medieval Warm Period).

  • ANZAC Day Dawn Service

    Dawn breaks at the Australian War Memorial following the Dawn Service.

  • Namadgi Hike

    As the children get older finding time to do this together as a family does seem to become more difficult — independence is overrated right? But we still reserve most public holidays as family time and the recent Canberra Day holiday was no exception. Traditionally we’ve done many picnics — and with Gaynor organising the food this is hardly a poor option — but I wanted something a little more active so we decided on an adventure instead. Of course, with a three year old amongst the mix one’s adventures are a little more subdued than the word might suggest.

    Nevertheless, since Canberra is situated among such natural beauty, it seemed a shame not to get more up close and personal. The only down note was that Joshua was unable to join us, being laid up with a head cold.

    Responding to the call of the path undiscovered …

    Never ones to shy from a cautionary sign (or tale).

    At this age, Micah often likes to go it alone.

    But sometimes he still needs a bit of motherly help.

    Lookout! And so we did.

    The rewarding view from our destination.

    I suppose we could be grateful he wasn’t trying it head first.

    On our way back down.

    I also tried out a new GPS app on the iPhone which spits out a map and trail — and a KML file if you want to put it all into context on Google Earth.

  • Merry Christmas 2011

    Merry Christmas for 2011 and a Peaceful 2012.

  • Winding Down 2011

    Many things are drawing to a close at this time of year. For us, a lot has been happening, in part, simply due to the number in our family but also because of some significant milestones.

    Most significantly, Joshua has successfully completed college. For those outside Canberra, this is essentially the final two years of high school. The system here is for high school up to Year 10 and then a separate school, called a college, that very much like half university and half high school. The dress code goes from uniforms to free style, the teachers prefer to go by first names and the hours of attendance are more relaxed. Out of all our children, Joshua and Mara — mostly simply due to their ages — have had the least settled formal education. Joshua has attended six and, by the time she finishes, Mara will have attended eight schools across three countries and educational systems. In any case, after a less than certain start while he readjusted to the Australian educational style, Joshua put in a good effort to finish the year strongly. He mostly enjoys the humanities with Spanish, sociology and history being his stronger subjects. He’s already secured himself a full-time job and plans to work, pending the outcome of university entrance offers.

    One Last Touch
    Joshua gets one last adjustment from his mother on the way to his college graduation.

    Mara has concluded one and a half years of Year 10 — half in the US and one here — and is onto college next year. In graduating she received the Kylie Souter Gift which recognises team work and quality commitment in the Performing Arts. Obviously, dance is still a big part of her life.

    Elijah, Ariana and Bryna all had good academic years too with Elijah set to graduate from college next year, Ariana getting one B grade and an award for physical education and Bryna just enjoying her studies.

    For the past few years, ‘end of year’ for us has also meant ballet productions. This year, Bryna joined Mara on stage in their ballet school’s production based on the Sound of Music. Bryna was in two numbers and Mara performed in six or seven, including one as a queen bee tending to some very cute baby bees. They were both very busy the past couple of months with rehearsals and the performance was superb. A couple of weeks after the performances and ballet was done for the year with a good two months off before resuming.

    Favourite Things
    Bryna poses on the front lawn in her costume from the ‘Favourite Things’ number in a recent ballet school production. And dance and costumes really are a few of her favourite things.

    For myself, a deadline at work, plans for the house and car repairs as well as the typical end of year goings on have taken up whatever spare time I had laying about. A couple of weeks off over Christmas, relaxing with family up in Brisbane, seems like just the tonic at the end of a fairly busy year.

  • End of a Rented Era

    Today marks the official end of our years spent renting houses to live in — 10 places and just over 19 years in total. Settlement on the new place was completed late last week and today was the final inspection on the most recently rented property.

    I’m also pleased that we’ve never lost a cent in bond/security deposit money. A few were close — mostly due to the distance the landlord/lady/property manager was from Earth — but the many hours spent scrubbing, cleaning and fixing someone else’s house paid off. Of course, this wouldn’t have been the case without our family and many good friends (in three countries) who helped us and were right there beside us scrubbing, cleaning and fixing. We are grateful.

    So, now we’ve joined the Masses of the Mortgaged — only 30 years to go baby!

  • 3D Printing Ahead

    Elijah has been enjoying CAD at school and now, thanks to Fenton’s colleague, he has entered the world of 3D printing.

  • Bryna’s Got Talent

    While it’s no surprise to us how talented all our children are, it’s great to see some of the rest of the planet give them a little recognition. Bryna took up ballet while we were still in California and has continued to dance, along with Mara, since we got back. Her primary school (elementary/grundschule) recently ran a competition using the now seemingly ubiquitous ” … Got Talent” and she did well enough in the heats — run on a weeknight at the school — to be invited back to the finals that were held at the school fête a few weeks later. And she won! She performed a self-choreographed dance routine to the first few minutes of Ben Fold’s Still Fightin’ It. There were even prizes — well done Bryna. 🙂

  • So … We Bought a House

    After nineteen years of wedded bliss and six children, Gaynor and I feel it is time to settle down[1]. While we certainly aren’t ruling out relocating to other countries in the future — if it’s a disease, Gaynor and I should probably both be formally diagnosed — but for the time being putting down some stable-ish roots is our plan. We believe it is the right time for the children and, financially, it makes more sense for us too. Actually, this is probably our first real opportunity to buy a house. No-one would give me a loan as a student and once I finished my studies we fled the country almost straight away. That was always our plan and hope anyway. Although we came close to buying a house in California — the market was certainly good for buyers and we were looking — uncertainty in our longer-term plans made us hesitant.

    So once we had decided to move back to Australia, and with the certainty of at least a few years of employment, we knew we wanted to buy a house as soon as possible. As much as we would have liked to, we didn’t think we could stay in temporary accommodation until we purchased but we talked to a mortgage broker soon after settling in (and taking care of the very hectic stuff) and he helped us understand our financial reach. Then all we had to do was find something with that reach.

    Unfortunately, what seemed to be within our reach was a small cupboard “far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of [Canberra]”. Somewhat deflated, but nevertheless undeterred, Gaynor started scouring the web and newspapers but this time for real. Our plan was to try and find something that needed improvement, preferably with a larger block in case the house also needed extensions. We also thought that if we could put in most of the work ourselves we’d be getting ahead a little, or at least providing a little protection if the market were to take a downward slide.

    Gaynor has had strong opinions about houses and their designs since she was young. I have lived in houses. So one of the challenges for Gaynor was not only to find a house within our budget, our preferred area and our improve-it-while-you-live-in-it plan but to negotiate with her husband and his quickly-formed opinions. Fortunately, I’ve learnt a lot about houses recently and, combined with a bit of travel, I’m now far more amenable to ideas outside my traditional purview. Still, I provide the occasional resistance, just to help me feel like I’m part of the action.

    Despite all this, we did find a few houses that fit our criteria and they were all being offered via auctions. The first house was on a massive block but was riddled with termite damage. We estimated about $20,000 worth of materials alone to make it livable. In order to get the hang of auctions, I had attended one that I did not register to bid in. Interesting to see how quickly several thousand dollars can be added to a price. At the auction for the Termite Castle we were eventually outbid by a guy who almost certainly will sub-divide the block, knock down the Castle and put in a couple of new houses. Hard to compete with that kind of money.

    At that auction was another real estate agent who approached us afterwards to inform us that there was another similar place, just around the corner, coming up for auction in a few weeks. After looking through it, it also needed a fair bit of work but not as much as the first place. The auction eventually rolled around and it turns out, we were the only bidders! My opening bid was, obviously, too low and so we negotiated with the seller afterwards. In the end, she had an over-inflated sense of what the house was worth and would not come down to something closer to reality. We’d always maintained the position that we had to be prepared to walk away if it didn’t work and we wouldn’t put ourselves into something we couldn’t afford. And in this case, we walked.

    Finally, we found a small place, better maintained than the first two but with a slightly smaller block and a little further out. From the outset there was very little interest in this property and when the auction arrived, we were the only registered bidders. I did feel a little awkward as the auctioneer asked repeatedly for an opening bid, knowing that I was the only one who could start. One might think that the previous auctions had helped me relax a little but I still find committing to that much money a bit stressful. My starting bid was naturally low and, as per auction regulations, the seller, via the auctioneer, can enter one bid. He did this but it was already beyond what we felt we could comfortably afford and more than I was prepared to commit without further consideration. The house was passed in unsold and then we started a tense 20 minutes of back and forth between us and the vendor and discussions between Gaynor and I. Eventually, we decided came to a price slightly lower than half way between his initial price and ours. I note that it was slightly lower because he wouldn’t budge and we daren’t go any higher and so, to make the sale, the estate agents knocked the last thousand off, out of their commission. We can live with that.

    So now we have a place. Settlement is in a few more weeks with plenty of paperwork and financial decisions to worry about in the meantime. And, even though the challenges of renovations and, hopefully, extensions are still ahead of us and, even though it’ll be smaller and older than we have become accustomed to in the past few years, Gaynor still seems pretty happy and it will be ours.

    [1] I believe I have worked through my fear of commitment.