Merced must win some sort of award for being the most healthy place to stay so far. My host Jerry is a member of the local gym and Jerry, Glen and I have been for 40 mins of so every morning. It has been great! Jerry powers out the miles on the cross trainer and the bike, so Glen and I have been joining him in that. After a while I have to leave cardio and go play with weights, but Glen has been sticking with Cardio the whole time. He about tripled the amount of work he was doing over the week (measured according to the Calorie metres on the electronic cardio gear...). We followed up the gym trip by going for a 40 minute odd run around the river. Very nice.
The highlight of the gym week for me was a 38 year old african american ex marine who I bumped into and spoke to early in the week. He was in super shape, and while I was doing chin ups (or maybe make that chin up) nearby he was doing dips. After about 10 dips, he slowly rotated his body in mid air until his feet pointed straight up and then did a few more dips! Very impressive. Another item to add to my list of things to do some day...
OK, so what did we actually do today? Well, nominally it was a rest day, so we all went our different directions. Sarah hung out with the police for a change. My memory is getting fuzzy as to what she did on which day, but I think she went to some elementary schools to be a campus cop on this day. I do remember that it was along day for her!
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From Sarah:
I headed to the Atwater Police Station and was introduced to their school resource officer. We spent time checking out some of the local schools and also a separate school for kids that aren't fitting into the normal school life or who are in a little bit of trouble with the law. The kids were all very well behaved and I couldn't believe how many of them purchased their lunch! It was a cool lunch though....cheeseburgers and chips! I spent most of the day here and then went home for an hour before heading out with the SCU (Street Crime Unit) for the night. These guys are fairly tough looking and don't mess around. We patrolled the gang areas and the trouble spots and I'm grateful that Tasmania is not as affected by gangs, guns and drugs.
BREATH TESTING SITE!
I finally got to see a Random Breath Testing site! The CHP had a static site set up in the middle of the road and it was very Hi-vis and safe for the officers. This one car came through with a young guy driving. The car smelt of liquor and the guy said he'd only had one beer....he forgot to mention the 2 beers in the car that his passenger and he had open! Naughty Naughty! CHP gave him a field sobriety test which is where you stand on one leg, look up to the sky, count to 30 etc. He passed and was warned about his behaviour. His female passenger looked like she was freaking out!
It was a late night but lots of fun again!
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Michelle had adventures with a training mob somewhere, and I can't remember who or where. We'll get back to you on that...
I went back out to the new UC Merced Campus to meet with the IT staff. Securing a meeting had been tough because the staff were on a planning retreat all week. Ideally, I'd have liked to speak with the gentleman who planned the ICT system for the campus. It would have been interesting to find out where he did his research and what he discovered. Unfortunately, he was too busy... I did get to have a very interesting walk around and tour with one of the classroom AV specialists. We have fun checking out their projectors, video conferencing gear, and lecturing recording gear.
Westy and Glen had a great day. They played in an ambrose golf tournament with Glen's hosts Carol and Ralph, and Westy's host Roger. These guys can all play a bit. Carol and Ralph will be in Tassie soon to play Barnbougle, so that gives you an idea of their commitment level! Glen's team won in the end I believe, and a great time was had be all. Even if there wasn't enough beer at the party afterward...
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Coyotes are not the most attractive of the US animals
Now, today is ANZAC Day. For all you US readers, ANZAC day is our memorial day for returned service men and women and those that have passed away. ANZAC is an acronym for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. The ANZAC spirit grew out of joint Oz & NZ action at Gallipoli in the first world war, and has been remembered ever since. We actually recognised ANZAC day over here on the 24th (which was the 25th at home in Oz). At the Atwater Rotary Club meeting, Sarah led us all in the Ode of Remeberance:
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them
Lest we forget
The other thing worthy of mention is that there is a little zoo down the street from Ralph and Carol's. Glen and I both had a chance to pop down and meet the animals. My favourites were the bear (pictured) and the mountain lion (no picture). I had great fun playing peek-a-boo with the lion. It was very cool...
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A black bear with places he'd rather be...
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