Adam, Janet, and I met at the Blue Star for a very late breakfast, then rambled over to the Rocket Factory to have a look around and see what sort of work was in front of us. We were pleased to find that the landlord had followed through on his promise to replace the roof, and there was no sign of any recent leakage. We ran some errands, got some supplies, and then set to work. I rigged up a stereo system, using John M.’s old PA speakers; we consolidated and packed away the contents of four palettes, which opened up a lot of floor space; Adam donned respirator and mask, and cleaned up the mold on the ceiling; and then we set up a basic workbench. After that it was time for beer and sandwiches over at the Hale’s brewery.

There is a lot of work to do, but I feel more positive about the space now than I did back in December. The landlord has agreed to do something about the crumbly part of the concrete floor, and we have mapped out a substantial but finite list of construction projects that will create a solid work environment. The building looks smaller than our old Georgetown shop, which was 400 square feet, but I measured the new place today and it actually comes out to 500 square feet. I guess it is an illusion caused by the lower ceiling.

There is a Bad Things show over at the Sunset tonight, but I was out late last night and worked hard today, so I think I will take it easy. There are a few sewing projects I’ve been wanting to work on – I still have three more frogs to sew onto my white vest, and I’d like to convert a few of my shirts to use cuff links.

Here’s an instructable about building an LED work lamp, including some helpful commentary about running LEDs on AC power. This is basically the same way those LED christmas light strings work.

This essay arguing that “inheritance is evil, and must be destroyed” puts its case a bit strongly for my taste but articulates a fundamentally solid point. One thing I’ve always liked about RB is its stylistic preference for shallow class hierarchies.

I’m back home. It is, of course, raining. Two weeks of mostly sunshine was a nice break, and it will be spring here soon enough, but the dark skies on top of the jet-lag leave me feeling a bit disoriented.

I left my phone at the San Francisco airport. I had a longish layover, so I plugged in the charger, found a comfortable spot in the departure lounge, and settled in with a magazine. Next thing I knew I was waking up to the sound of my name on the PA. I made the flight, but forgot all about the phone until the plane landed. Oh well – the phone was pretty old anyway, but rebuilding the contact list will be a lot of work.

The Blackberry Pearl is tempting because it’s small, has email, and comes in red. I’m not completely sure about the whole mobile internet thing, but it can’t hurt to try it out.

Driving on the left was easier than I expected. I had a couple of slightly disorienting moments when dealing with complex roundabouts, but never actually ended up on the wrong side. On returning home, however, I find I have mentally swapped the turn-indicator and windshield-wiper controls.

I went surfing yesterday at Smith Beach, out on Philip Island. I stopped at a wildlife sanctuary on the way back and hung out with some kangaroos. I’ll post photos when I get back. Right now I’m in the Sydney airport, waiting for the long transpacific leg of the trip home. This has been a very good couple of weeks away, but I’m tired, and ready to get back to my life. There are projects and life changes and a great busy summer ahead.

I had kangaroo for breakfast. It was good, rich, a little strange, and did not taste at all like chicken.

Miss Black took me around downtown Melbourne yesterday. It’s a great place, clean but a little disorderly, approachable, and very pedestrian. It’s full of sidewalk cafés, arcades built on twisty little passages not the least bit alike, odd little alleys, overhanging awnings. I felt like we could have wandered for days, in, around, over, through, at every corner some new fashion boutique or chocolaterie or art shop.

I took no pictures, despite the bounty of opportunities, because my camera’s charger and spare battery are packed away in my still-absent suitcase. The friendly Qantas agent assures me that it will arrive later this morning – we shall see.

Despite a series of minor mishaps involving delayed flights, extra-special security screenings, and a trip through customs in a country not on my original itinerary, I have arrived safely in Melbourne. My luggage, I have been assured, will follow shortly.

It’s three o’clock, and my plane leaves in four hours. This is probably a good time to start packing.

This will be fun.

I feel as though an international trip lasting a little over two weeks ought to require substantial preparation, but I can’t think of anything I need to do beyond packing my suitcase. I usually travel with a small carry-on, and packing involves careful selection of wardrobe, but this time I’m just going to throw everything I might conceivably need into my keyboard flight case and check the whole thing.

Oh, I will need to pack my shiny new iPod with appropriate airplane music, too.

From Make (of course), a clearly written, comprehensive starting guide to building projects with AVR microcontrollers.

There are two web projects I want to undertake after I come back from Australia. First, I want to make more use of my Flickr account, so that the photos I post here go up there, too. Most likely you’d be able to click on the photos here to see larger versions there. I also imagine flickr as a good place to put all the pictures that I like but which don’t necessarily need to show up on my blog.

Second, I want to create a catalog of my creative projects. Making stuff is an important part of my life, and it would be nice to have a more organized record.

I am back home. Seattle has grown brighter and more springlike in my absence. A bluejay hopped along the balcony railing this morning, as if to inspect my ferns.

A sleek new iPod Nano arrived on Friday – thanks, Nathan, for hooking me up, and Lesley, for being here to receive it. I hopped onto the MP3 bandwagon a good ten years ago, but this is my first portable music player. Packed just so, in its tiny clear case, it feels like a gift from the future.

MJ, Cat, and I watched an episode of “Project Runway” the other night. The competition-show format is a bit overdramatic, but the design work was a lot of fun to watch. The show was so inspiring, in fact, that I bounced off to a bar down the street afterward and spent a couple of hours sketching. This sparked a conversation with the waitress, who asked if I had seen a show called “Project Runway”…

I leave for Australia on Friday. I made up a partial to-do list this morning, and it will be a busy week.