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Saturday, 16 April 2016 - Legit

 
I know that's a bit hard to read but today I received notice from the immigration department that my application to extend the validity of my Green Card has been accepted, allowing me to live and work in the US for at least the next ten years. Hooray. Because I originally received my Green Card by way of a marriage that was less than two years old at the time, my card was only valid for two years after which I had to apply for this extension. The idea of this is to deter sham marriages for the purpose of gaining permanent residency here, as the application for this extension requires a lot of supporting documentation to prove the legitimacy of the marriage such as joint and binding and financial affairs. Anyway, this basically paves the way for me to apply for full US citizenship later this year once I become eligible. Although the practical differences between being a permanent resident and a citizen are virtually nil, citizenship means I can't be kicked out of the country for any reason, I can vote, and I don't have to deal with these complicated and expensive applications anymore. Plus, since both the US and New Zealand allow dual-citizenship, I can continue to be a New Zealand citizen as well :)

Friday, 15 April 2016 - Northern problems

 
Kristina's friend in New York just put a post on Facebook celebrating the apparent start of spring up there after what has been another never-ending northern winter. All I can say to that is, "That sucks." ;)
 

Monday, 11 April 2016 - Thick

 
 
Where I come from, this is called "Toast bread" due to the thickness of each slice, as opposed to "Sandwich bread" which is thinner. Well here in Texas, where everything is bigger, this just doesn't cut the mustard, and so it's labelled "Extra thin" hehe.
 
In Texas, this is what they call normal - the so-called "Texas toast" hahaha! Just another example of why what's also bigger in Texas is everybody's waste line.

Thursday, 7 April 2016 - Home is where the pool is

 
This is our quiet little street in the Spyglass - Barton's Bluff area of Austin, which is about four miles southeast of downtown. Not a bad wee spot with direct access to a highway on one side of it and the Barton Creek Greenbelt on the other.
 
And this is the apartment complex we're living in (at least until November when our lease expires) - Landmark at Barton Creek, just one of many around here but one of the nicest that we found during our original hunt. Now that spring is in full bloom and there are leaves on the trees again, I figured I'd take a few snappy-snaps of the joint.
 
 
The complex contains about 300 apartments divided between 13 three-storey buildings. Our building on the right consists of a dozen apartments and is plonked way down the back of the complex overlooking the Greenbelt - bonus! It's also brand new since the previous building on this spot had to be demolished after some idiot in one of the middle apartments somehow set fire to the place hahaha!

 
 
The complex is buried in a lot of greenery itself, and outside of work hours is usually full of folk hanging out, walking their dog, or hitting up the outdoor fitness center and volleyball court here.

 
Right here is the social focal point of it all, complete with cooking facilities outside and a fully loaded gym inside - awesome! And the kicker: we're paying less per month for all this than we were in New York for just our little studio apartment hahaha! Welcome to Texas :)

Sunday, 3 April 2016 - One less scumbag in the world

 
 
Kristina was working this morning so I figured I'd follow suit and do some Uber'ing. While parked downtown waiting for my next ping, about half a dozen cop cars went screaming past. I had a slight urge to chase after them but didn't. 30 seconds later another half a dozen went flying by as well as a fire engine, and I could hear many more sirens approaching in the distance. So with that, I joined them hahaha! We all ended up on the west side of downtown, where no less than two dozen cop cars were on scene as well as the fire engine, and an ambulance was just pulling in. All the action was centered on the parking lot of the pizzeria there. From my vantage point (which was much closer before the cops cordoned it all off) I could see one guy face-down and dead in a growing pool of his own blood while the ambulance and fire crews worked feverishly on a second guy. Within minutes they had him whisked off to hospital, but there wasn't much to be done for the dead guy. To make a long story short, the dead guy had been seen on security camera breaking into cars in an adjacent apartment complex's parking garage. The security guard on duty chased the suspect to this parking lot where an Austin police officer just happened to be driving by. They both wrestled with the suspect in an attempt to get him handcuffed, during which the suspect produced a gun and shot the cop once in the abdomen, just below his bullet-proof vest. The cop immediately returned fire, killing the suspect. So that was him laying dead on the pavement, and that was the cop being rushed out of there. Full story here. The cop is expected to make a full recovery, and meanwhile we have one less scumbag on the streets. I mean what a ridiculous way to go. He went from a simple breaking and entering or whatever, to the attempted murder of a police officer, to dead at just 25 years old. What an idiot. I've since learned he had been convicted of three burglary-related offenses over the past eight years, and had been out on parole since December 2014. So, no great loss to society. Ironically, my next Uber ride was going to the apartment complex where this guy had just been breaking into the cars hehe.
 
Anyway, tonight Kristina and I went to see an old favorite of her and her friend's performing, Dave Barnes. He might look a bit nerdy but he's quite the talented and funny dude, whose 15 years of work spans rock, acoustic, soul, and Christian - hallelujah!

Friday, 1 April 2016 - The battle continues

 
 
We were woken at 5am this morning by thunder, lightning, torrential rain, violent winds, and just generally rowdy weather. So I closed the window and went back to sleep hehe. While making breakfast later I noticed our back deck was covered in debris, courtesy of the green belt behind our apartment.
 
And it's hard to make out in a small photo but the car is once again covered in shit too, though for once it's not pollen. I think I need to invest in a car cover.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016 - The daily spring battle

 
This is my lovely car, and this is how it's looked every day since the start of spring - coated in a thick layer of fucking pollen. Each and every day I thoroughly dust it off and wipe it down, only to find it covered in shit again the next day. So why bother you ask? Well for starters I'm a clean freak (which I inherited from my mother). Second of all, I'm driving part-time for Uber now, and not the cheap class of Uber that all the drunks use but a slightly more luxury service for which I can't be rolling up in car that looks like this. And thirdly, if I don't deal with this on a daily basis, it gets beyond the point of no return and needs a proper wash, which gets me in trouble because the apartment complex don't want me using "their" water to wash my car (though I do anyway), and commercial car washes are useless at best and bad for the paint job. First World problems.

Sunday, 27 March 2016 - San Antonio Easter

 
Kristina and I were down in San Antonio for Easter, hanging out with her family, during which time I found a lost dog, got beat up by a bunch of pre-school kids who refer to me as "Uncle Aaron", and took care of all the usual technical issues that plague Kristina's parents (such as how to work the On Demand feature of their TV). I didn't take any photos so instead I thought I'd put this YouTube video up, which I happened upon during the weekend and should appeal to anyone who's ever had their bike stolen (myself included).
 

Thursday, 24 March 2016 - In with the old, out with the new

 
On the left is the New Zealand flag, current since 1902. On the right was a proposed replacement flag to take effect later this year. However, after a hotly-debated referendum, us Kiwis have voted to retain our current flag. Over two million people (almost half our population) went out to vote, and 56.6% opted to stick with the status quo. I personally would have voted to change. The Union Jack is of course a symbol of New Zealand being a constitutional monarchy under Queen Elizabeth II, and a nod to our British colonial history. However, we slap the silver fern on pretty much everything else (not least of all our international sports teams), to the point where it is instantly recognizable as a symbol of our country. No disrespect to the crown but our current flag looks dated to me, and the proposed flag I think looks awesome! Be that as it may, it appears the old folks won out on the day. Incidentally, if anyone is interested, the four stars depict the Southern Cross, representing our geographical position in the South Pacific.

Saturday, 19 March 2016 - Pocket money

 
Say hello to your newest Uber driver hehe. I signed up last week as a means to earn some extra pocket money and to familiarize myself with more of the city (and because I love driving). It was a hell of a weekend to start given the South by Southwest festival was wrapping up! I gave rides to festival goers, festival performers, and festival escapers - people just trying to get the hell out of the city to avoid it all. That was all well and good but moving forward I'm going to enroll the car in what they call UberSELECT here, which is more of a luxury service for which the car has to meet specific criteria (and is does), and thus pays more. No point using a car like this just to transport drunken assholes to town and back.
 

Friday, 18 March 2016 - Springtime show time

 
Back in New York we used to look forward to spring simply due to winter finally relinquishing its bitter grip on us, and cycling becoming fun again. Now in Texas it looks like I have a new reason to look forward to spring hehe. I mentioned a big thunderstorm we had a last week, and tonight we got another beauty! Initially we got a lot of bright cloud-to-cloud strikes that lit everything up in this beautiful purple-blue light.
 
Then it got rowdy! Kristina happened to be outside with me when this one flashed in front of us, at which point she turned and ran back inside hahaha! Chicks ;) These strikes appeared to be a chain reaction to an initial strike way off in the distance, which over the course of about an entire second triggered more and more strikes that would get progressively closer and closer until they were right on top of us. Awesome show!

Thursday, 17 March 2016 - Picking flowers

 
 
St. Patrick's Day today, and while the Irish may have their shamrocks, the Texans have their bluebonnets! They've only just started to make their appearance for the season over the last week or so, but before long will be several inches high and densely lining highways all over the state. As the official state flower of Texas, urban legend has it that picking bluebonnets is against state law, and in fact even Kristina believed this to be the case hehe. Just as well it isn't however, as I think I squashed a few to get these shots.

Monday, 14 March 2016 - Lunch spot

 
This, is a bridge. I don't think it has a name, but thanks to this lookout it's a highly photographed Austin landmark. Spanning the Colorado River below, the bridge is part of the Texas State Highway Loop 360 which runs for 14 miles (23km) through the scenic hills of West Austin.
 
Off in the distance is the city center. Not a bad spot to eat your lunch with the wife (and it's close to her work).
 
 
These limestone cliffs are a common sight throughout the area.
 
Good way to spend an idle Monday, while the rest of us went back to work!

Sunday, 13 March 2016 - A week of storms later

 
 
After mostly drying up over the previous several weeks, a good bout of storms and torrential rain has refilled our creek.
 
I've mentioned this before but this is Barton Creek and the Barton Creek Greenbelt. The trail follows the creek upstream from the Colorado River for about seven miles (12km), and is a popular spot for swimming, kayaking, hiking, off-road cycling, rock climbing, and getting intoxicated.

 
 
Apparently the creek actively flows only one to two months out of the year, depending on precipitation, and has been mostly dry for the last several years as Texas was going through a period of drought (which was especially bad when I was first here in 2011.
 
The Greenbelt is characterized by these large limestone cliffs and dense foliage, and is a pretty bloody nice wee spot to have in our back yard.
 
Normally this would result in two broken legs and a broken ass, but right now is the exception.

 
While walking back I realized I hadn't put up a shot of our street yet, so here it is - Spyglass Drive. The entrance to our apartment complex is at the top of the hill there.
 
Beer on the back deck for sunset, overlooking the Greenbelt below. Nice :)

Saturday, 12 March 2016 - SXSW

 
This is East 6th Street in Downtown Austin, a recognized historic district with buildings dating back the 19th century, and the focal point of the downtown night life. This is a pretty typical scene on a weekend night with the road closed to traffic. However, for this weekend and next, it'll be especially manic.
 
South by Southwest (stylized as simply "SXSW") is an annual set of film, interactive media, and music festivals in Austin that span a two-week period every March. This is the festival's 30th anniversary, and despite the ticket prices it never fails to draw an enormous crowd into Austin with events taking place at dozens of locations in and around the downtown area.

 
 
Like most of the locals, we weren't interested in paying exorbitant prices ($895 just for the music festival alone), so instead we're lapping up some of the ad-hoc and free entertainment taking place, particularly along 6th Street.

 
 
This guy dragged his entire drum kit into town...
 
...whereas this guy just brought a few buckets, and was equally impressive hehe. Video of him here.
 
And then an elephant went past.

 
 
The elephant was followed by, whoever this is.
 
And whatever these are.
 
Then we set fire to the witch.

 
 
This little man didn't know what the fuck to make of it all, and frankly neither did we hehe.
 
With the witch dead, we stepped out of the chaos and into a bar to wet our whistles :)

Wednesday, 9 March 2016 - Spring storms

 
It's not quite spring yet but we're starting to get a taste of what we can expect as spring moves in. The forecast for this whole week is thunder storms and possibly even tornadoes, and we've had a bit of the former but none of the latter yet despite plenty of warnings. In fact as I write this the weather man on the news is getting very excited over his Doppler radar detecting some rotation in the atmosphere (the early stages of a potential tornado) about 100 miles outside of Austin. No such action in the city itself though - just a nice moody sunset.
 
Fast forward a few hours as Kristina and I were getting into bed about midnight, and the best storm we've had so far started to light up the sky with a reported average of 200 lightning strikes per minute. I shot straight back out of bed to grab my camera gear hehe! Lightning aside, we got a torrential downpour and some awesome thunder that vibrated the deck beneath my feet. Video here of some of the action, including what I think might have been a transformer blowing nearby towards the end of the video (the prolonged blue-green flashes immediately following a huge lightning strike). Spectacular stuff!

Saturday, 5 March 2016 - Tough winter

 
Greetings!
 
Another glorious winter day in Texas, although I've been assured this lack of a winter is not normal. While we've been getting temperatures around the 77-degree mark (25 Celsius) every day, that's quite a bit higher than the typical average of 60-65 (16-18 Celsius) for this time of year. Either way, I'll take it! Meanwhile, I heard from my work colleagues up in New York that it's currently snowy and horrible hehe.

 
 
After Kristina got off work this afternoon we jumped on the bikes and followed a series of trails that meander along Shoal Creek here, which winds through northwest Austin.
 
No shortage of green space in this city.

 
 
When I go to the park, I like to kick a ball or throw a Frisbee. Not this guy.
 
Eventually the trail got a little more interesting. This geology is pretty typical for this part of Central Texas. Lots of limestone and granite with a thin layer of soil on top. As a result, there are a lot of natural attractions in and around Austin such as caverns, caves, and natural springs. We'll be checking some of those out in due course :)
 
Eventually the trail ended and we popped out in suburbia, somewhere in northwest Austin. Then we turned around and went home again. Lovely.

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