I had to create some smaller thumbnails to display the photos of The Wave at Coyote Buttes that I took with my Sony Alpha 200.

The thumbnails link to the full resolution jpegs. So be aware that if you click through the photos are large.

The entrance to the wave, wide angle photograph:

In the mouth of the wave, looking at a pool of water from a recent desert rainfall. This same location is used as a Windows 7 default background:



Lying on the sand, taking a picture of the reflection of the pool:



Standing at the center of the wave looking North West:

Standing in the Wave and Looking North:



Standing east of the center of the Wave and looking west from the narrow slot:



In the slot at the wave facing East:



Another view of the entrance to the wave. This shot is facing south:



Standing to the South of the Wave, looking North West. The small size of the formation can be determined from this image:



Looking South East across a small desert pool that lies above the wave. This pool was teeming with tadpoles and freshwater fairy shrimp:

Looking South West from above The Wave at the strange patterns on the rocks. I climbed the cliff in the center of the photo to go and see Melody Arch and the Grotto:



The sun begins to come over the cliff behind me and the shallow pool of desert pond water:



Wider view of the pond:

Another look at the whole formation of the wave:

The Middle of the Wave can be seen here. The narrow slot is just to the center left of the photo. Parts of this are used as a default background for Mac OS X:



In the narrow slot, looking west:

The Grotto. A very seldom seen part of Coyote Buttes, it lies only a few hundred feet away, but high up a cliff. The sandstone has been eroded in a beautiful formation surrounding the area:

Similar to the Grotto, Melody Arch is on the cliff above the Wave, but few people ever venture to see it. You can see the arch and the window looking out of a cliff face across the desert:

The Window looking out across the desert inside Melody Arch. This window looks out of a sheer cliff that is 300 feet in height. The Tee pees formation can be seen in the distance through the window.

I hiked the Wave at Coyote Buttes a few months back – I got some amazing photos. Unfortunately, these are so large and at such a high resolution I can’t link them directly on my blog until I make some thumbnails.

To view the photos in their full sized glory look at the directory of photos here:

http://www.walford.ca/hiking/coyote_buttes/

After an important Apache update my blog asploded. (See Strongbad if you don’t know what Asploded means…)

I updated all the files and everything seems to be back in order again.

As I wait for my Delica L400 to arrive, I can really appreciate this video:

Mind you, most of these are short wheel base Delicas – mine is a long wheel base so it won’t go offroad quite as well as these – but it will have more storage!

My 1995 Royal Exceed should be here in the middle of May. I thought it was going to be April, but getting JDM import vehicles can take some time.

The Royal Exceed is a Long Wheel base, so that means it has extra storage in the back (almost 2 feet). The drawback to this is that the back end sticks out further, and the wheels are further apart. This means that it drives a bit more like a bus – and is a bit harder to use offroad due to the distance between the wheels. It is still a great 4X4, but I will have to take into consideration that for the extra comfort and storage I am getting I am losing out on the more hardcore off road features. The van will still do quite well offroad however. Probably better than my 4Runner with the sagging rear leaf springs at any rate. Also, since I no longer do crazy offroad driving, a vehicle that is “good enough” to go offroad very well, should be good enough for my purposes. I like the idea of being able to carry my kayaks in the back without and problem, and the seats convert into a bed with ease, or, move out of the way for additional storage. It really is like a 4X4 Westfalia with a much stronger engine.

Some of the modifications I will have to make to it are:

- Install a stronger “bash plate” to protect the oil filter which is at risk on the Delica when going off road.
- Install a Bypass-Oil Filter to help keep soot out of the oil from the Diesel engine, and prolong the engine life. (I will probably use a Frantz Oil Filter)
- Install a Pyrometer/Boost/Temp Gauge to keep an eye on the turbo temps and boost pressure. I will also probably install an oil pressure gauge and WVO temp sensor as well.
- Additional Fuel tanks and WVO conversion – to allow the Delica to run on Waste Veggie Oil.
- Toyota Tacoma Aluminum Rims (modified) to enable 31″ tires to be placed on the van for better off road clearance on logging roads.
- An engine snorkel in the (unlikely) event of deep-water crossings, and extending the breathing tubes for the differentials higher up inside the body.
- A roof “basket” to carry extra gear or sea kayaks.
- A rear ladder to load gear on the roof (this may not be possible due to my rear light bar).
- Install a rear tow bar.
- Install a left looking camera and 7″ dual DIN stereo to be able to see better for passing.
- Install a rear camera for ease of reversing and parking due to the long length of the Delica.

The L400 Royal Exceed I am getting should have all of the following features:

- It is a right hand drive with an automatic transmission. (I prefer manual, but in this model of Delica the automatic is more suited to highway speeds, and the Royal Exceed is only available in an Automatic).
- It has ECS suspension, the suspension can automatically adjust to road conditions (but I will not be using the ECS shocks due to the prohibitive cost, instead I will just have beefier shocks installed).
- 2.8 Litre intercooled Turbo Diesel – capable of running on dual fuel Diesel/Waste Veggie oil with some modification.
- Full 2WD/AWD/4WD/4WDlo. Shift on the fly from 2WD/AWD at highway speeds. (Up to 100 km/h)
- A Crystalite roof with retractable sunshades. You can see the 4 individual moon roofs in the previous post’s pictures. The Crystal Lite roof gives 4 independently operated sun shades (or a master control for all by the driver) plus overhead climate controls for the passengers. This means that the passenger behind the driver has a separate set of controls to maintain the rear cabin temperature.
- Retracting sun roof above the driver. (This sunroof opens fully and partially unlike the passenger sunroofs).
- Full digital climate control. (Just set the temperature you wish to have in the cabin, and the system maintains that).
- A/C
- Heated front windshield to defrost the resting point for the windshield wipers
- Power door locks
- Central door locks
- Limited slip differential (9.5″) on the rear axle. Not as good as a locking rear diff, but still nothing to scoff at.
- Cloth trim and very good speakers, 10 speakers in all. (I will be adding my amp and sub woofer from my 4Runner).
- Thick shag carpeting floor
- Arms rests on all seats – plush fabric (No 1995 series has leather seats). Even the front driver and passenger seats have arm rests in the center, but not on the sides with the doors of course.
- Karaoke machine w/ satellite speakers (Yes, really, it has a Karaoke machine!)
- Heated front cloth seats (Hi/Lo heat on the front seats – great if you have to leave the heater off while the veggie oil tank warms up).
- Steering wheel air bag
- Mechanical mirror adjust – and automatic folding mirrors for better side clearance.
- Chrome bull bar/side steps
- Dual PIAA fog lights
- Sliding power curtains (The curtains in the back are entirely power operated by the driver, plus there are curtains to separate the driver cab from the rear cabin.).
- Gold tinted rear and side windows
- ABS Anti-locking brake system and disc brakes on all 4 wheels

My Royal Exceed is getting ready for export to Canada. I finally got some photographs of the Delica.

Here is a shot of the front of the Van:

The left side (this is actually the passengers side):

The rear:

The right side – the drivers side!:

A shot of the rear inside with the Crystal Lite roof open:

Here is a photo of the underside, showing the condition of the diff and frame:

Here is a picture of the drivers console. Yes, it is a right hand drive:

Here is a look at the gauges, the mileage is high for a Japanese import, but it is a Diesel:

Here is a close look at the mag wheels. 4 Wheel Disc brakes on this vehicle:

I have decided to name my Delica Starbug. Starbug should be in my possession in mid April.

Well, it was time to upgrade. My 1989 Toyota 4Runner with 350,000 KM on it is finally starting to die.

I ordered a 1995 Delica Royal Exceed from Amazing Auto Imports. I should get it in roughly a month. I will be posting pictures on here soon.

Been ages since I last posted, but on Friday, January 15 2009 I passed my Vmware VCP version 4 exam. This means I am a certified VCP on versions 3 and 4. I am also considering getting my Sun Solaris 10 System Administrators certification as I have been working with various flavours of Unix for so long I might as well put that one under my belt.

THIS from the globe and mail is unacceptable. I had issues with his nomination to the post given his employment history, but the fact that he won’t come clear on his position on evolution, when that is the central tenant of biology says enough.

Gary Goodyear must step down. He is not competent to fill the role of science minister and must be removed immediately.

I shall be writing a dead-tree letter to Parliament as soon as I find the appropriate people to write to (aside from my MP).

When I was in grade 8 biology we were shown the scientific method. It really fascinated me. I thought about it constantly after learning it. In fact, it took me a full week to really understand it. Once I did, I felt a little stupid. After all, it is such a simple idea. There are a few basic rules, and you can expand these rules into critical thinking which is basically the same process.

This stuck with me, and always seemed to me to be obvious.

Now, that I am older and I use critical thinking all the time I am still shocked at how many people around are incapable of this basic skill. In fact, I only know a few people who I would consider to be extremely skilled at using critical thinking.

This does not mean that my critical thinking skills are always correct. You can get things wrong of course. Still, that goes right back to the scientific method again. If you get something wrong, that is good! And people don’t understand that. It is as if they are afraid to fail. Yet, the entire scientific method is bolstered by failure. Each failure is recorded and remembered. The things that work are the things that don’t fail. These are the things that remain, and science advances.

I published this back in 2006, and I knew at the time it was total BS. How did I know? Critical thinking and a basic understanding of thermodynamics. Could I have been wrong? Sure, but I would put the odds of thermodynamics being wrong being much greater than winning 10 different lotteries at once. And now, 2 years on? It turns out that I was right. It was a hoax.

Still, it is not the only one. There are so many others around, and people just don’t see them. I think it is because they don’t want to. They are afraid of being wrong, afraid of feeling stupid. 24 years ago I felt stupid in biology class because it took me a week to learn the scientific method. Others in the class had memorized that material in minutes. Yet, now I feel like I was one of the few who still remembers how it works after the test was over. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, or feel stupid because you don’t understand something, it will work in the long run.