pikihia

Simon a mate and his company a-ward attachments are sponsoring some guys to break the world speed records on a 1350cc. A bit of background history on their challenge can be found here but bascially:

The bike is a 2004 Suzuki Hayabusa in the MPS-1350-BG class which means Modified production, partially streamlined, 1350cc, blown gasoline. Rider is Richard Assen who is very casual about everything he does (crypes he is going to sit on top of a bike and control it going over 400 km/h), the technician is Jason Swan who loves to tinker and make everything go faster and faster until it pops.

During September this year, they will be taking this extremely fast bike to Bonneville, USA and get the following records:

The first event is BUB Speed trials (2^nd to 7^th of September) where they will be challenging the AMA (American Motorcycles Association) record which stands at 217.85 MPH (350.52km/h) for their class. Also, at this first event they will also be challenging the FIM overall world record for a motorcycle which stands at 252MPH (405.5km/h).
The second event is The World of Speed (17^th to 20^th of September), where they will be attempting to break the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) record of 233MPH (374.9km/h).

All I can say is GOOD LUCK!!!!!

more details to come on how they are geting on……………..

written by Hardman

Finally bit the bullet and have purchased the new “bits” and built a new PC (with assistance from Snork!) My old PC was built when I was in the UK in 2001! - i.e AMD 1.25GHz, 512k RAM, 40GB Hard drive etc…. it was about to die and the fans sounded like they were about to take off!

So here is the spec of my new toy (cost about $1200NZD with Vista Premium and Office s/w included in that price) : hmmm more power…..

• CASE - Asus VENTO TA-915 ATX Mid Tower
• DVD DRIVE - Asus DRW-2014L1T LightScribe SATA DVD-RW
• MOTHERBOARD - Asus M2N-VM HDMI Socket 940 AM2 GEFORCE 7050PV DDR2 1066 PCI-E
• RAM - Adata 4GB Dual Kit (2GB*2) DDR2-800 PC6400 240Pin UNB PC2-6400
• PROCESSOR -AMD Phenom 9550 Quad Core 2.2GHz
• HARD DRIVE - Western Digital 7200rpm 640GB 16M SATA Hard Disk
• TV TUNER CARD - Hauppauge WinTV-HVR4000 HD Quad-mode TV receiver

 You’ll notice I have a TV tuner card in the mix - next project is to get it to work so I can get Freeview (DVB-S or DVB-T) and record TV onto my hard drive.  A bit of a mission I believe with New Zealand specs using the latest codecs and standards for HD transmission. 

Will let you know how I go with setting this up…..

written by Hardman \\ tags: Freeview, PC, TV Tuner

My cycle route to and from work.

written by Hardman \\ tags: cycle, work

Howdy, both of us have not really not been up to much this winter - I’ve been busy at work with quite a few projects for TVNZ in progress and enjoying these. 

House DIY is slowly progressing and waiting for some fine weather to measure up the backyard so Amanda can use her landscaping skills she obtained on a course to design it. We hope to get the a new backyard built before summer arrives.

and the BIG news is…..

Amanda is pregnant.  Been trying for a while and finally it happened so we are both really happy!  Amanda is due late January 2009 so will be doing all those pre baby things before our life changes significantly. (I need a boys holiday!!). 

We went for the 12 week scan a couple of weeks ago and all is well. The bean sized person has a head, 2 arms and legs and all they are all in the right places. Hit home when I saw it “live” in the scan and made me really starting thinking about being a Dad (Shit!! - but guess most of you have already been through all this and will start giving me all that advice on how my life will never be the same again!)

Amanda is doing well and so far the pregnancy has been pretty good with only mild symptons, being tired, hungry and weeing a lot more.  I’m fine too except for the occasional reality check when I look into the future, but guess I move to #3 in the pecking order of the family now so I don’t count

Pic below just to confirm this is real

PS:  I will  be updating this site regularly (at least once a week) so come back for more updates, news, views and photos in the coming weeks….

written by Hardman \\ tags: baby, BIG News, pregnancy

Auckland’s dismal rail service continues.  As of 13 July Auckland Rail says they are introducing more trains, more often.  Well for me catching a train from Ellerslie station everyday there are no extra services at peak hour and the times are even less convenient at peak hour to and from work. 

Not sure where the statement “more trains more often” comes from - does this mean that service reliability will improve too?  Currently the southern line which I take everyday has just over a 80% statistic for being on time!  Yes, that means at least once a week both to and from work I can expect the trains I catch to be late (or even worse cancelled!). 

You can check out the delays and increase in costs for the ARTA projects and also the reliability of the Auckland Rail Service in the ARTA monthly business reports.  Will Auckland ever get a reliable and efficient rail service?

For me, a Tui billboard I made up sums it up nicely!!

written by Hardman \\ tags: ARTA, Auckland Transport, Rail, Trains

Added some more photos, 6 new sets and over 200 photos to look at…..

• Otago Rail Trail - Biking the Otago Rail Trail, Easter 2008
• Tiritiri Matangi Island - Day trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island (A conservation project)
• Auckland Botanic Gardens - Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens at the Auckland Botanic Gardens, Jan 2008 Some weird and cool art (bit $$$ to buy though!)
• Awhitu Camping 2008 - Awhitu Regional Park Camping - Last camp trip for Stu and Ange before off to Oz.
• Xmas 2007 and Gizzie - Xmas in Hamilton and Gisborne, Dec 2007 (Boxing Day, Tolaga Bay Beach Races too)
• Amanda’s Birthday 2007 - Tapuaetahi Beach, Purerua Peninsula, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

So check out the photos section…..

written by Hardman

Off to Gizzie for Xmas with Amanda’s folks and down in the Tron the weekend before with my folks. 

Looks like we might be helping to tidy up a bit in Gizzie this year after the biggest earthquake in NZ since 1987 struck 50km NE from Gizzie luckily offshore.  Amanda’s folks said the place was a mess with all the drawers open, wall hangings fallen down, all the pantry food and plates on the floor and the office a mess with quite a few breakages. 

One ornament to miss the quake was the Christmas tree - the tree was still standing with all decorations intact and only the angel on top had fallen off….whew!

Article, photos and you tube link from the paper here…..

MERRY XMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!

written by Hardman

I’ve uploaded some more underwater photos from our Borneo trip and included some more house photos.  Been busy outside in the garden (rather than at my PC) clearing and pruning the place so we can start to look at landscaping it.  We want to put in a new large patio, lighting new plants and a vege garden (plus loads more ideas) to make the outside more useful.  A few before and after shots for you….

written by Hardman