A Mobile Phone in 1990

When mobile phones were first sold in Australia in 1981, the people who sold them were shysters, crooks and thieves. It's 2010 and nothing much has changed. By comparison, used car salesmen and real estate agents are trustworthy, honest, upright and worthy citizens. That said, I paid $1700 and a $300 deposit which after I left Telstra, took me over two years to get back. It was the best money I ever spent. This is not a diatribe against salesmen - I've been one - so if you're one of the good guys, read on.

Twenty years after my first mobile phone, it is interesting to note that my original Motorola 8800 analogue phone had 50 speed-dial numbers and moving them around was considerably easier than my current phone with ten speed-dial numbers. Technology doesn't always move forward.

To say that phone saved my life may be a stretch but it felt like it at the time. I was working night shifts as a cab driver in Sydney which no matter what you hear is lots of fun. But I was uncontactable and losing all my few friends at a rate. I was meeting a tremendous cross-section of society in the cab and they were vastly entertaining but those I held nearest and dearest were slipping away from me.

Once the mobile number got around, Carolyn, my dearest but almost estranged sister (I can think of no other way to describe her at the time), rang me and talked to me for 45 minutes. Gee. We'd hardly spoken twenty words in as many years and she rang me and spoke for 45 minutes! I don't want to hear about the good old days and complaints about bad mannered people with phones and kids making video of violence. A phone is phone and my life changed forever. I have hardly ever been without a mobile phone ever since. That said, that old analogue from Motorola was some phone - I made calls from places I still can't believe - out at sea twenty miles, under the Harbour (tunnel), out fishing on the rocks and many late night calls from a hard working
taxi which kept my friends close and social life alive. In places like the taxi and on the rocks, I sometimes left it turned off but it was great comfort to know that it was there.

I made calls from Dee Why Headland late at night while rock-fishing and the connection went through Gosford! I was alive and well on the rocks and "Please don't call the Police". These days they have GPS chips and Policemen can find lost bushwalkers who are in range of a tower and have their phones on. What's up with that? Sure, it will be abused but would you change it. No way. 2010 is a nice place to be for all the troubles in the world. At least, because of improved communications, we now know what's going on out there. Some of the time ...
Christopher

Pink Lady and Centaur - Success for Both

There is good news for both. One is successfully rounding the Horn after a big build-up - Jessica Watson's Pink Lady. The other is now found at last and is being heavily documented. The navigator of the Centaur, Second Officer Richard G. Rippon, has at last been vindicated as the Centaur has been found very close to the position he gave at the time. Wikipedia says that the position of the Centaur as found is withing one nautical mile of Rippon's position which he calculated from his dead-reckoning position fix ten minutes before the sinking. Given the accuracy of the navigational tools of the time, the position is pretty good. These days with GPS, finding a position within a few feet is not much trouble. But in 1943, the instruments and methods of navigation in general use had changed little in more than a century. Any position that was within five miles was pretty good and it took a good professional navigator (Rippon) to do any better. Jessica may or may not be able to use a sextant but the electronics are holding up and she is doing very well. I was concerned about the way the Pink Lady was set up and I was especially concerned about how well Pink Lady would behave if she took a wave over the bow. So far, she's getting away with it and she sure has got a big smile on her face right now. It's a tiny little boat to be rounding the Horn in but, what the hell, it's still afloat and going really well. I am absolutely delighted that my worries have been put to rest. My next worry is the Great Southern Ocean in that part of the world between the Southern Indian Ocean and South of Western Australia (around 50°S 100°E). A couple of real pros came to grief there a few years back - Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois - and their rescue was part miracle. Jessica is not in a race, so she doesn't have to "push the edge of the envelope". I'm still a bit edgy about getting Jessica back on dry land but, now that the Horn is past, I'm much less worried than I was. Fair sailing, Jessica!

Jessica, Pink Lady and Cape Horn

I am following Jessica Watson and her boat Pink Lady closely on the net and I'm worried by what I see on the synoptic charts of the area. Jessica is not experiencing much bad weather and has just found a bit of wind at 12 knots. For the Cape, this is no weather at all. The synoptic charts look quite grim by comparison. I shall follow closely and say a prayer for her. From what I've read on Google Earth clicks in the area, it's possible for her to wait in the lee of one of the many islands if the weather turns bad. Then she can proceed again when the weather clears. She could get a rough time of it if she is unlucky. Sir Francis Chichester had a bigger boat and when it got rough, he continued at a rate with a storm sail. Observers said that the sail was about as big as a bath towel but enough to keep him going at quite a rate. His boat was a bit of a pig to handle but it was very strong - it was timber but made from hand laid timber laminate and was quite thick - he never had to worry about rough water. Here's luck and a prayer to Jessica. For the charts relating to weather go to the link at http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/nmoc/latest_D.pl?IDCODE=IDX0532

A new day dawns ...

Here 'tis - it's gestation has been closer to that of an elephant than a human and a whole wave of technology has swept past but no matter - it's utility is the whole point.

Welcome world to Christopher's world!