Author Archive

There have been a lot of pictures of the devastation, some of which I have shared elsewhere. However, this picture below is different as I think it shows the acceleration and force. I lifted the remote control off the couch about an hour after the quake, and expected to find a clean outline of the remote (dirt flew from everywhere and has totally embedded in the couch).

However, what I found was that not only the outline of the remote, but the buttons had been impressed into the couch. Given that nothing fell on the remote to drive it into the couch, the only explanation was the force of the quake lifted and drove the couch into the remote at such an acceleration that the remote didn’t bounce but became imbedded into the couch!

The Hubble Telescope.

One of the Apollo Crafts.

I went to the Holocaust Museum – Chilling. Here is one of the carriages. “As many as 100 victims were packed into a single car. … Frequently, the trains halted for hours or days at a time on side tracks or in stations along the way.”

The Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court.

I was very fortunate to get a tour inside this address. Unfortunately, photos inside were not allowed.

The Jefferson Memorial

President Kennedy’s grave at Arlington Cemetery

We were very fortunate to have our Grandmaster from Australia visit. It always amazes me to watch someone gifted in taking people from where they are to a skill level beyond what they think they could achieve in only a few hours – pure leadership.

 

I’m in Florida at the moment for a conference. This is the view from my hotel room, and I had anticipated going for a swim in the afternoon. Unfortunately, about an hour after this there was a tornado warning with an amazing thunder and lightening storm. That’ll teach me for being smug about an afternoon swim.

These photos are the clean streets, yet just off them, well, not terribly pleasant.

This is an overview of Trinidad.

This is a typical street (although this one isn’t cobbled). And yes, more horses and carts than cars!

This is the image on the quarter coin (see below)  – a famous Trinidad scene.

This is one of the main highways – 4 lanes. A couple of interesting things. First, note the condition of the road. It was full of potholes and uneven surfaces and the driver frequently changed lanes or slowed down to avoid these. Second, where is the traffic? Not many can afford a car so not much traffic at all. In fact, look at the photo below to see how people get around in Cuba.

Hitching (and often paying for it) is the most common way to get around outside of the cities.

This is the major department store in Cienfuegos (about 150 000 people). I don’t think Harvey Norman has anything to be concerned about.

Rubbish collection in Cienfuegos.

This is my favourite – you’d take your chance wouldn’t you? Give up or run? Run! Mind you, if they catch you, have a look below to see where they send you.

The prison just outside of Cienfuegos.

Went to Disney World and got on all the rides I wanted too – OK, so a big kid at heart.

Went to the Kennedy Space Center – an absolutely amazing experience.

The Space Shuttle Atlanta on the launch pad for the last ever launch scheduled for 24 February.

Saturn 5 which was the rocket to launch the Apollos. This is over 100m long and is totally overwhelming to look at.

A space suit.

I am in Washington at the moment and attended the Hershey Car Show. This is huge. Here is a selection of some of the cars.