funontheupfield

As an experiment in using QGIS the open source Geographic Information System I attempted to map the busiest public transport stops in Melbourne.

I was motivated by a work problem - where should a Government authority put a handful of bus stop shelters (and focus footpath upgrades) when there are thousands of potential locations on the tram and bus network worthy of attention?

Fortunately there's publicly available data for bus and tram boardings, and people movements in and out of train stations based the transport ticketing system. Unfortunately its a dogs' breakfast of data formats and half abandoned spreadsheets.

So what started as mapping practice has quickly become a data cleaning exercise to make these three datasets "travel mode agnostic" (i.e. to map those features that all common to all there datasets).

When I get something worth showing off (even a decent work in progress) I'll provide links.

About four years ago I bought a Yuba Mundo cargo bike with intentions to use it for work. I wanted to use the bike as a showpiece at community events, but I didn't ever get it set up properly. After a few months of it sitting in my shed, I loaded it to a family and Dad and Ms under-5 use it a couple of times a week commuting to the swimming pool and to child care. This weekend I made a start at the project that inspired the bike purchase.

Part of my job involves going to community festivals and getting people excited about riding bikes, to get people thinking about the travel choices they make and to encourage them to use energy efficient options as often as possible. A lot of the time that's about getting people to question using the car as their default travel option and pointing out that a lot of the time there are better options than using a 1 tonne car to transport a 100kg person + bag.

Attending one of these events involves carrying a lot of kit - tables, pamphlets, banners, giveaway trinkets - so I usually come with a station wagon full of stuff. Driving to one of these events in order to convince people not to drive always struck me as a double standard.

The aspiration was to create a cargo bike that could also be a festival stall. Part of the aspiration involved using the bike as part of the attraction - as an alternative to using semi-disposable trinkets to attract people. That would involve putting the bike on chocks and taking advantage of the drive train to do something fun.

This weekend's goal - create a table for the back of the bike.

I've gotten back into table-top role playing. Its was something I enjoyed at uni, gave up for most of my 30s and got back into last year.

Once a fortnight on a Wednesday after work I've been visiting A* place to catch up, to binge on greasy take away and tell a story with friends using dice. It's been fun, and we've been trying a bunch of new games that didn't exist back in the day.

The table top role playing games I played in the 80s and 90swere epic, complicated and took up many hours a week, every week for months at a time. (Does anyone remember Rolemaster?) I fell out of the hobby when I got busy and meeting every Saturday for a regular campaign felt like a big commitment.

Of the newer games FATE and Fiasco are my current favourites. They have simple rules that are quick to learn, quick to get started and help tell great stories. Both allow for short format (one - three sessions) storytelling) and look like great fun. I've played FATE (in an adventure were we played magic using cats), and I've read the rules to Fiasco and am inspired to give it a go.

Fiasco is a game inspired by Cohen Brothers movies and improvisational theatre. Each gaming session tells a complete story and can be thought of as a two act movie with a closing credits montage. It looks like a lot of fun.

The Fiasco Companion also has tips to running a game via video conferencing. I'm keen to try it out. I'll keep you posted with the results.

It's been a good week.

On the grand final weekend we went to Sydney. It was a bit of an impulse decision. M'Lady is in studying and at that point where all the assignments are getting close to the due dates. She's been spending all of her time in her study nook and going a little stir crazy. She still spent most of the weekend studying, but this time her view was of Sydney Harbour. I spend the weekend 'riding the trolleys', exploring Sydney's public transport network, comparing how their system against Melbourne's. Its a rare city gets public transport 100% right, but I found a lot to like in Sydney's PT network.

Work keeps me busy organising a community breakfast event in to support Ride to Work Day. I really like these events (The event is happens in the morning of Wednesday 12 October). I really like these events. They are a chance to meet the people who use the bike paths and other stuff my colleagues build. We hand out food, people are happy to see us and most of the feedback is positive. Getting a 'well done' from the public means a lot to me and helps recharge the batteries. So thanks everyone who comes along.

Outside of work I'm making slow progress with German DuoLingo. I've completed about a third of the lessons but my comprehension is still pretty bad. I've hit that difficult spot in the middle of a course; too far in to quit, to far away from the end to be excited about completing the program. I also need to revisit the question "What am I learning German for?", at the moment I don't have a good answer.

I commenced learning German because I harboured a fantasy of using my British citizenry and thus EU membership to migrate. Germany is a fascinating federation of places and to paraphrase Hegel always seems to be the embodiment of global historical trends. It has socialised medicine, affordable housing and car-free university towns. Its a place I could see myself living in.

The Brexit referendum has complicated that fantasy. My British passport is no longer a gateway to permanent residency in European nations. Soon it will be no better than my Australian passport, which is to say I'll need a professional sponsor who can offer reliable employment before I can seriously entertain migrating there. Seeking professional sponsorship means answering the question 'what kind of work could I do in Germany (better than a local) and who might be interested in hiring me'. Accepting professional sponsorship would also put me in a rather vulnerable position if the employer turns out to be .... difficult. Brexit didn't kill the idea of migration, but it does make pursuing it more complicated.

All in all I'm too far in and have too far to go (before I can listen to and understand conversational German) for "Let's learn German because its a nice to imagine maybe living there" to be a motivating factor. I need a new source of motivation - possibly a binge of German Language films.

So if I start developing an interest in DDR nostalgia, submarines, the surveillance state, 1970s revolutionaries or running around Berlin you'll know I've been keeping myself inspired watching classic German films with the subtitles off.

I'm having difficulty rejoining city life after my big bike ride. It's a problem I was aware of - and had hoped to address by keeping myself busy with some professional development activities. I've made a start, but it's too early to have a satisfying emotional pay off. Meanwhile my travelling partner has really thrown herself into her project and it's occupying most of her time. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I'm feeling a bit left out.

Borrowing from Abraham Maslow I find myself worried about my sense of belonging, longing for community, and asking 'who is my tribe?' These concerns are distracting me from my personal improvement projects. Developing confidence from proficiency in new skills is a great long term goal but in the meantime I need to work on strengthening my circle of friends.

I was recently listening to a Future Tense podcast that discussed some of the shortcomings of using on-line socialising as a proxy for face to face contact. It resonated with me. Internet contact with friends was great on my travels - and really the only option available - but now I'm back I'm finding the medium doesn't have what it takes to be my main source of social contact.

One creative solution I really liked was the 1000+ coffees project . Matt Kulesza is guy who has set himself the goal of arranging a one on one, face to face meet up over a cup of coffee with each of his 1000+ Facebook friends. I think it is a cool idea. I'm going to shamelessly copy it.

Anyone for coffee?