Welcome to Canberra

So I’ve now been in Canberra for a week. And in that short time I’ve racked up a speeding fine and a parking fine.

It seems the cops down here are more zealous about speed than Qld cops. On the drive through NSW and ACT you are constantly assaulted by speed warning signs and threatened with loss of licence. As a result, everyone drives to the limit, ignoring all else. It is especially infuriating particularly when most times, roads around Canberra are so quiet. And while I’m on it, a baffling feature of roads here is the general lack of merging lanes. Lanes here tend to just end whilst your driving in them. One minute in you’re in one lane, the next, its gone!

The parking inspectors certainly don’t miss you. I was out of my car for about 3 minutes to check my PO Box, and by the time I’d gotten back to the car, some dude was already writing me up for being in a loading zone.

The weather has been scorching down here. Every day I’ve been here has been above 35 degrees, and on one day, it hit a record 41.5, which wouldn’t be so bad if I was at work in aircon, but as I don’t start for another few weeks, I’ve been sweltering in an un-airconditioned house. Of course, this is made worse by the fact my 3 flatmates all have their doors shut, all the time, meaning there is no airflow through the house, resulting in it being stiflingly hot and stuffy. On the plus side I guess we won’t have a huge electricity bill at the end of the month.

I tried to escape the record heat by heading to the Canberra Centre to hang out for the day. Of course, the problem was that even at 5pm, it was still 36 degrees outside! Apparently it is hottest between 2-5pm before beginning to cool down after 6pm. I guess this is exacerbated by daylight savings.

And speaking of the Canberra Centre, it must be the most poorly designed shopping complex I’ve ever encountered. It is an enormous complex that appears to have been cobbled together in stages without any coherent thought. You never know quite where you are within its confines and it has a bewildering number of different entry and exit points. And certain sections are only accessible from a certain section on a certain floor. It defies all logic. I’m sure I’ll get used to its randomness eventually. Oh, and before you blame QIC, the Westfield at Woden is similarly baffling, albeit to a lesser extent. Maybe it’s a Canberra thing.

Tomorrow I’m heading to the annual Australia Day concert held on the lawn of Parliament House. Hopefully things will be a tad cooler. Sitting around in the mid afternoon sun surrounded by bogans who have probably been drinking since midday doesn’t bode well. Who knows, maybe I’ll be part of another Australia Day riot…

Lumia update

I’ve now had the 920 for almost a month, and I’m loving it. The slipperiness of the yellow case is a concern as it potential for scratching. I’ve bought a screen protector and a thin yellow rubberised case for the back which feels very similar to the finish on the HTC 8X. Since the phone is already fairly bulky, the case doesn’t add that much to it.

I’m still disappointed in the weight of the phone – it is still to heavy for my liking. I even find myself leaving it behind more often that I did with previous phone. For instance, if I’m ducking into the shops, quickly, I’ll leave it in the car rather than take it with me. I don’t take it with me when I go for a ride on my bike or when I go for a jog, where I used to always take my previous phones with me.

The camera performance has been pretty good, so no real concerns there, but I am looking forward to the update.