Complete Dumass

And a sick one it turns out but we'll get to that.

Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I'll begin.
(wasn't listen with mother great?)
Over the past few weeks I have been stupid to, let’s say, Mr Bean proportions.

Firstly, I received my new car registration sticker a few weeks back and removed the old one from the windshield (windscreen) and replaced it with the new one.

A week or so later I realised that I had in fact removed my state inspection (like the MOT but less strict) sticker by mistake and so was driving around (illegally) with two registration stickers.
The inspection cost $12 back in January and lasts for one year. Since that time the price has gone up to around $30 due to emissions tests that have been added to the inspection. After a little research it seemed I would have to get the car re-inspected so I took it back to groovy lube and the guy confirmed this and told me to leave the car with the keys and the insurance out. So I grabbed my bike from the trunk (boot) and went to work. Around three hours later I called them up to ask if the car was ready.

"no, we don't have any keys"
"but I left them in the ignition"
"no, there weren't any in the car"
reaching to my pocket - "oh, sorry I'll bring them right now"
"ok, and unfortunately we had to get the car towed because it was in the way"

Of course I'd parked in front of the garage door. So now I have two extra rides in 100+ heat, a towing fee and the car hasn't even been inspected yet!
So I give them the keys, apologise for being an idiot. They inspect the car and funnily enough find that the windshield (windscreen) wipers and gas (petrol) cap seal don't pass. So all in all I end up paying $66 instead of paying nothing until January when it would have cost $30.

Excuses? Excuses? Indeed. I have been feeling ill since the weekend and I actually decided to use the US healthcare system after UT has put in over $6000 on my behalf. It turns out I have Pleurisy in my right lung. This would explain the pain in my lungs and general tiredness that I've been feeling. The sound my lung makes is seemingly a text book case that my doctor had only heard three times in her twenty year career.

But yes, I am still a dumass.

Austin City Limits

This weekend it is the acl festival 2005 in Zilker Park Austin. Apart from the fact that it is stinking hot and as Tom from Keane said 'us English aren't designed for this heat' it has been a great show so far. It seems that most of the good bands are British or Irish (except for the Texas country musicians of course).

On Friday I was very impressed with Kasabian who really rocked and I shall be buying their CD. Keane put in another clinical performance and played a few new ones which sounded good. Slightly Stoopid were pretty interesting and on the country side of things Asleep at the Wheel were a lot of fun. In the evening Lyle Lovett and his large band played. They are not really my thing but musically they were very impressive.

Saturday’s CD to buy came from The Frames from Ireland. One for Howard, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band who play some great jazzy funky brass tunes. Another CD to buy came from Bloc Party who had impressed me on a web cast from The Glastonbury Festival 2005 and were equally as good here preceding Oasis to end the night. The set was awesome and it was great to hear those songs we used to dance to at Rock City in Nottingham ten years ago – some good hairs on the back of my neck standing up action. Liam is still a ‘insert profanity here’ and I still don’t like the attitude but I had never noticed before how awesome Noel is on the guitar. To me his sound is quite unique and very tuneful. A very good set indeed. Worthy of mention is also Widespread Panic who had two sets again this year. If you like to listen to a good band just jam then this is your band.

Preparing for what never came

As I insinuated in the last post, things got a little crazy around here last week. On Wednesday Hurricane Rita was still predicted to pass nearby and people were ‘preparing’. This meant that there was no water left in the supermarkets and some gas stations ran out of petrol. Crazy. The poor old guy that normally checks my shopping out in a quiet store in the late evening was run off his feet.

As it turns out she moved North East at the last minute and we had another blazing hot day. There was a little more wind than usual which was welcome except for the fact that it created a dust storm out of the ACL music festival.

Baton Down the Hatches

I'm not scared.

I have stocked up on water, alternative fuel and lights, non-perishable food. The car has a full tank of gas.

I have my shotgun.

If Rita wants to take my house then she's gonna have to take me with it.

Night Rider

Last night at midnight I was happily tucked up in bed watching a DVD when I got a call from JD.

Four and a half hours later I was on top of a multistory car park with a few hundred people on bicycles looking at an awesome view of the Texas Capitol having just completed an approximately 20 mile ride through the streets of Austin.

After I got off the phone with JD I got dressed and jumped in the car with my bike and met him for a bottle of Lonestar at Donn's Depot. From there we cycled to the pedestrian bridge over Town Lake to meet the rest of the riders.

At approximately 2.15am we took off through the streets of downtown Austin not stopping for lights or stop signs. We literally took over the streets and some of the looks on people’s faces who had just come out of the bars and clubs were priceless. The ride then went at break neck speed through neighborhoods in West Austin heading north before heading back through central Austin, down the drag past the University and back to downtown where we stopped in the car park.

Surprisingly, we saw no cops the whole time or any accidents except for the guy carrying a flag who managed to come off his bike going downhill at 15-20 miles per hour but stay on his feet and continue to fly his flag throughout. As you would expect for Austin there were a few odd people and bikes. One guy rode a penny farthing, another a unicycle, and there were many customized bikes including one with

a flame thrower! I found the pace of the ride quite difficult so I am amazed by the people who managed it on BMX's and random old kids bikes from the 70's!

Needless to say I don't think the French would have had any trouble finding dodgy urine samples from these Austin cyclists!

Ashes Return Home

Today England won the ashes back from Australia after nearly 20 years since the last time we won back in the days of Gower, Botham, Smith, Lamb, Gatting, and the neck-less Gladstone Small.

I got up at 0430hrs to listen to Test Match Special via the internet with my wireless headphones. It was well worth it.

I’ve always wondered how people get so worked up over sport but I have to say, even though I am thousands of miles away, I have got quite excited on a number of occasions during this series. The hairs on the back of my neck stood right up when the umpires removed the bails to signify the end of the match today even though we had known the result for over an hour.

Let’s just hope this England team doesn’t go the way of the rugby team after they beat Australia not so long ago.

All in the name of 'weirdness'

Recently I ‘ran’ the third annual Keep Austin Weird 5K with some buddies of mine from the rugby club. We finished with the super speedy time of 36 minutes, approximately equal to the time we achieved last year.

You may be thinking that the time is a bit slow but on the way we did stop for bacon, donuts (doughnuts), ice cream, BBQ brisket tacos, and a couple of beers. On top of that it was over 100 degrees out. Last year the course went through the downtown entertainment district and we stopped in a bar on the way around.

Many people run in costumes and plenty of them are quite risqué. Maybe next year the thong will come out!

Of course, being Austin there was a free concert afterwards. As Tom,who has recently returned from the not so cosmopolitan College Station, said this is one of the things that makes Austin such a cool place to live. You can’t beat hanging out with your mates in the sun, beer in hand listening to some live music.

It was a little hot though.

It’s funny how things work out

For many years I used to take the piss out of my brother for being a yankophile with his love of Rees cups, (American) Football and basketball etc. I think it all stemmed from him having an American friend who is now in the air force. I never had the urge to come to the states and in fact the first time I was sent here I was not all that happy about it. Strange that he is the one living with a girl and two cats in a flat on the south coast of England and I’m sitting here in Texas after another long day in the lab wondering over the prospect of living in this country for a significant part of the rest of my life.

He still asked me to bring Oreo cookies over with me last time I went home though.