Friday, June 27, 2008
Petrol perspective
I know you all are going into shock over the rise in fuel costs in the U.S. But you don't realize fuels is cheaper in the states than in Canada, which is cheaper than in Australia which is cheaper than here in New Zealand and we get it cheaper than in the U.K. And cost of fuel is rising here just as it is there. I did some calculations from NZD to USD and liters to gallons...petrol costs over 6USD/Ga here and diesel costs about 5.50USD/Ga including the extra road user charges us diesel owners have to pay. I know the sudden rise is a shock, but adjust your frickin' life style! If you bought one of those largest SUVs to get that Bush tax write-off, you might be thinking that wasn't such a great idea now. Get a more fuel-efficient vehicle, walk to the store, learn how to ride a bike again, combine several errands into one trip! It's good for your pocket book, the environment and your bum!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The U.S. is neglecting diseases of the poor
Summary of a news article from msnbc.com:
9 parasitic diseases afflict 10 million Americans, predominantly minorities living in the Mississippi Delta and the American South, in disadvantaged urban areas, along the U.S.-Mexican border and in disadvantaged white populations in the Appalachia. The diseases include Ascariasis, the most common human worm infection; Toxocariasis, a roundworm transmitted in dog feces; Strongyloidiasis, another roundworm; Cysticercosis, pork tapeworm; Giardiasis, or beaver fever that causes diarrhea; Cytomegalovirus, which causes deafness and mental retardation in infants; Chagas disease and Dengue fever. These are not killer diseases but instead cause people and children to be anemic, weak and unproductive. With global climate change and increased flooding many of these diseases will be promoted. Yet the U.S. tolerates these diseases of our poor while spending $1 billion per year preparing for outbreaks of diseases the have not occurred, including smallpox, anthrax and avian influenza.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Videos from the trip
Videos of my trip with Leah and new albums to the right...really Leah was with me even though I don't have a single photo of her!! Every photo I took of her was with her camera, and I didn't always have my camera so Leah has heaps more photos, especially from Milford Sound when we took her disposable camera, but I probably won't get those from her until I come home...
Jack's Bay in the Catlins
Purakaunui Falls, Catlins
"Moving" picture of me in front of the falls
Moeraki Boulders - the Maori legend is that gods came to visit mother earth and when leaving one of them messed up the chant and came crashing back to earth in his canoe, New Zealand is the canoe partly upside down with the ridge of the canoe forming the mountains. The food baskets spilled out of the canoe and these boulders are those upside down baskets...
Dunedin Railway Station
Jack's Bay in the Catlins
Purakaunui Falls, Catlins
"Moving" picture of me in front of the falls
Moeraki Boulders - the Maori legend is that gods came to visit mother earth and when leaving one of them messed up the chant and came crashing back to earth in his canoe, New Zealand is the canoe partly upside down with the ridge of the canoe forming the mountains. The food baskets spilled out of the canoe and these boulders are those upside down baskets...
Dunedin Railway Station
More penguin videos from Sand Fly Bay...
Can you see the 3 fur seals laying on the rocks behind this penguins?
And another sea lion video
Round and round the South Island I go
I have soo much to share!
The first week of June I spent doing fieldwork with Dave from my lab and Andy, another PhD student in my dept. We went north and west over the mountains to Lake Poerua. I wanted to collect snails from a creek that runs into the lake and a student from Indiana U told me these snails were highly infected with the parasite I work with. Well, we get there and the creek is dry - damnit! So I collected snails from another creek and 3 locations of the lake. I'll be screening these snails this week to determine if they're infected. We stayed in Shearer's quarters on a farm on the lake - a complete shit-hole with mouse turds and faulty heating and no hot water for the first day - I took pictures. The good thing was we had easy access to the lake since this farm was on the lake. Then we drove down the west coast - absolutely beautiful! - to Haast area for Andy to collect some fish. The drive was windy and up and down...horrible when you're in back pain and want to lay down but laying down makes you carsick! Yes, I was in back pain when we left for this trip, then I spent the week sitting long hours in the truck or bent over collecting snails. By the time we got back Friday night, I couldn't sit or stand very long. I had a ticket for a whiskey and chocolate tasting for Friday night. Haseeb in my lab put together the tasting and the chocolates were designed and made by his wife who is a chocolatier. The chocolates were made with the whiskey they were paired with...ahhh, whiskey was great for the back pain....until Saturday...I could barely move - I couldn't even sit up in bed, I had to roll over and roll my legs out so my knees were on the floor and then stand up. It hurt to sit, stand, walk, so I spent most of the day in bed...then something must have happened in the middle of the night because Sunday morning I felt great, just had sore muscles and by Monday I was feeling perfect - weirdest thing.
So good that I felt back to normal cause Leah arrived that Monday. I had to take care of my snails so they'd live while I was traveling with Leah and she mostly rested on Monday since she had vertigo from traveling. Then Tuesday we made a couple of stops in the Catlins and then headed to Te Anau and stayed at a backpackers. We went to the glow worm caves - they were pretty cool - insect larvae that glow to attract other insects upon which they feed....they have these little sticky fishing lines that insects get caught in. On Wednesday we went kayaking in Milford Sound - that was the highlight of the trip for me! Kayaking is sooo much easier than canoeing. I got to try Sea Urchin, raw, for lunch - very, very salty! Thursday we shopped for souvenirs and drove to Queenstown, which we decided was too commercial and touristy so we continued on to Wanaka via the Crown Ridge road over the mountains. Spent the night there at another backpackers and on Friday we had lunch and a tasting at one of my favorite vineyards, Mt Difficulty, which has incredible views of Central Otago. Then we drove like hell to get to the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast and we arrived there just at dusk and in time to take a couple of pics before it was too dark. We had dinner at Fleur's in Moeraki, a place many folks have recommended - it's a run-down looking place with the best food ever and the fish on the menu were caught that morning! And finally by Friday night we were back at my place. We spent Saturday going to the Farmer's Market, shopping, and Rachel came over for dinner and we made Roasted chicken and vegetables, then we headed to town for a few drinks - the latest Leah stayed up the whole time she was here! Sunday I drove her around for some sight-seeing and then headed to Sandfly Bay for the penguins. There were heaps of sea lions and fur seals so I didn't know if we'd see any penguins. We saw one right away but I was worried that was it until right before dark and two more popped up over the cliff and then another two popped up on the rocks. Leah was so excited and said that was the best experience of the whole trip. And Monday I saw her off at the airport...talk about a whirl-wind of a trip!
Albums and videos will be posted shortly...
Now I'm trying to get back to the swing of normal life. Still haven't been able to infect my fish...argh. But hopefully I screen these snails and find infected ones so I have more parasites to sort out the problems I'm having with the infection procedure.
The first week of June I spent doing fieldwork with Dave from my lab and Andy, another PhD student in my dept. We went north and west over the mountains to Lake Poerua. I wanted to collect snails from a creek that runs into the lake and a student from Indiana U told me these snails were highly infected with the parasite I work with. Well, we get there and the creek is dry - damnit! So I collected snails from another creek and 3 locations of the lake. I'll be screening these snails this week to determine if they're infected. We stayed in Shearer's quarters on a farm on the lake - a complete shit-hole with mouse turds and faulty heating and no hot water for the first day - I took pictures. The good thing was we had easy access to the lake since this farm was on the lake. Then we drove down the west coast - absolutely beautiful! - to Haast area for Andy to collect some fish. The drive was windy and up and down...horrible when you're in back pain and want to lay down but laying down makes you carsick! Yes, I was in back pain when we left for this trip, then I spent the week sitting long hours in the truck or bent over collecting snails. By the time we got back Friday night, I couldn't sit or stand very long. I had a ticket for a whiskey and chocolate tasting for Friday night. Haseeb in my lab put together the tasting and the chocolates were designed and made by his wife who is a chocolatier. The chocolates were made with the whiskey they were paired with...ahhh, whiskey was great for the back pain....until Saturday...I could barely move - I couldn't even sit up in bed, I had to roll over and roll my legs out so my knees were on the floor and then stand up. It hurt to sit, stand, walk, so I spent most of the day in bed...then something must have happened in the middle of the night because Sunday morning I felt great, just had sore muscles and by Monday I was feeling perfect - weirdest thing.
So good that I felt back to normal cause Leah arrived that Monday. I had to take care of my snails so they'd live while I was traveling with Leah and she mostly rested on Monday since she had vertigo from traveling. Then Tuesday we made a couple of stops in the Catlins and then headed to Te Anau and stayed at a backpackers. We went to the glow worm caves - they were pretty cool - insect larvae that glow to attract other insects upon which they feed....they have these little sticky fishing lines that insects get caught in. On Wednesday we went kayaking in Milford Sound - that was the highlight of the trip for me! Kayaking is sooo much easier than canoeing. I got to try Sea Urchin, raw, for lunch - very, very salty! Thursday we shopped for souvenirs and drove to Queenstown, which we decided was too commercial and touristy so we continued on to Wanaka via the Crown Ridge road over the mountains. Spent the night there at another backpackers and on Friday we had lunch and a tasting at one of my favorite vineyards, Mt Difficulty, which has incredible views of Central Otago. Then we drove like hell to get to the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast and we arrived there just at dusk and in time to take a couple of pics before it was too dark. We had dinner at Fleur's in Moeraki, a place many folks have recommended - it's a run-down looking place with the best food ever and the fish on the menu were caught that morning! And finally by Friday night we were back at my place. We spent Saturday going to the Farmer's Market, shopping, and Rachel came over for dinner and we made Roasted chicken and vegetables, then we headed to town for a few drinks - the latest Leah stayed up the whole time she was here! Sunday I drove her around for some sight-seeing and then headed to Sandfly Bay for the penguins. There were heaps of sea lions and fur seals so I didn't know if we'd see any penguins. We saw one right away but I was worried that was it until right before dark and two more popped up over the cliff and then another two popped up on the rocks. Leah was so excited and said that was the best experience of the whole trip. And Monday I saw her off at the airport...talk about a whirl-wind of a trip!
Albums and videos will be posted shortly...
Now I'm trying to get back to the swing of normal life. Still haven't been able to infect my fish...argh. But hopefully I screen these snails and find infected ones so I have more parasites to sort out the problems I'm having with the infection procedure.
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