Grand Theft Auto: Not as Fun as the Videogame

[HiddenMica]

The Us and Australia are about the same size across. Our center just has a bit more people than the center of Australia so we don't have quite a turn left on Wednesday type thing. There are stretches of road that go 3200miles or so though. US route 20 (what we took to get most of the way to Yellowstone) is little over 3300miles long which is about 5400km. It's only east to west, from Boston MA on one side to Newport OR on the other.

[Seshat]

Imagine that everything west of the Appalachians (sp?) was Arizona/Nevada like desert, until you get to the area around Seattle. (Seattle, in this case, stands for Perth.)

That's what Australia's like.

Florida would be Far North Queensland, your east coast east of the Appalachians would be our east coast, east of the Great Dividing Range. Brisbane would be roughly where DC is, Sydney and Melbourne would be .. well, pick any two cities north of DC. Adelaide would be .. oh, Chicago-ish.
(Adelaide is on the mouth of the Murray/Darling river system, which is fed by the waters that flow onto the west side of the Great Dividing Range.)


Only because we don't have your breadbasket, we can only afford to feed the population of NY (city, not state), across the entire nation.

[HiddenMica]

I know we are lucky in that!

It's just odd that things are so different. Your center is like our south west, it's smaller than yours but that area can get pretty hairy around death valley and most of Arizona and Nevada. Then you have not too far away in the scope of things the bayous and swamps of Louisiana and Florida. Just a tad north the great plains and OMG mountains with OMG trees... Then the light and relaxed forests of the north east... It's just... Name it we have it. Australia is a tad more uniform. You guys have much better reefs though.

[Sapphire Silk]

Dangerous and pointless. It's a big, beautiful country with lots to see. Why speed through it and miss most of it?

Exactly.

When I moved from Delaware to North Dakota, I made the trip in 2 1/2 days. I rushed through it, and missed a lot of opportunities to really see some parts of the country I've never seen before.

Fast forward 2 years. When I moved from North Dakota to California, I took four days, and made side trips to interesting places like the headwaters of the Missouri River, and an opal mine, just to check out how cool our country really is.

[Chromatix]

Over here, it would also be pointless to attempt the equivalent - not so much because of the scenery, but because trains go so much faster than you can reasonably drive (even with your hair on fire!), and you get to appreciate the scenery more if you don't have to stare at the road instead.

[KatherineB]

Not to mention that if you're in the train you won't run the risk of being so hypnotised by the road that you kill yourself by running into the only tree for miles around. (A tragically common occurrence.)

[Barracuda]

Yeeeah, it would take a loon to try and drive across the entire Outback, considering it makes the American Southwest look like a picnic (with maybe the exception of Death Valley,) and that's the closest thing we have to lose ourselves in the desert in. Not smart.

[SailorMan]

In a direct line, Perth is closer to the capital cities of Sri Lanka and India than to Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney. Adelaide is the closest major Australian city to Perth.[/I]

In the mid 90s, I had to fly from Oakland to Fremantle, in order to join a ship there. After a very long flight across the Pacific, we landed in Sydney. I was so relieved! "At last," I thought, "my trip is almost over!" By the time I finally landed in Fremantle, I had a true appreciation of Australia's size.

[eltf177]

Yeeeah, it would take a loon to try and drive across the entire Outback, considering it makes the American Southwest look like a picnic (with maybe the exception of Death Valley,) and that's the closest thing we have to lose ourselves in the desert in. Not smart.

Agreed, as the Outback is Death Valley x 1000 or so. Doing Death Valley unprepared is bad enough, but try the Outback unprepared and your affairs had better be in order...

[Latekin]

Quick update: We found the vehicle, with plates attached.

The vehicle was not burned out, but it was 20minutes North of our store location, which, in itself is odd, since last we knew of Tim he was two hours South of us. We still have no idea where Tim's hiding out, but if that's his idea of hiding stolen property, I give it a couple of months before the coppers catch up again.

[Tama]

Maybe he thinks he's okay now

[Latekin]

Yeah, I'm just waiting for him to get arrested and try using the "but I gave it baaaack!" or "but I haven't had it for months!" excuse.

I hear those two totally negate theft charges.

[mhkohne]

Quick update: We found the vehicle, with plates attached.

The vehicle was not burned out, but it was 20minutes North of our store location, which, in itself is odd, since last we knew of Tim he was two hours South of us. We still have no idea where Tim's hiding out, but if that's his idea of hiding stolen property, I give it a couple of months before the coppers catch up again.

It'll be less 'catch up' and more 'Tim forgot he was wanted and wandered into the police station to try to steal a pen'.

[eltf177]

Several questions:

1) Is the vehicle damaged?
2) He put your plates back on it?
3) Is he still being charged for it seeing he never turned it back in?

[Latekin]

Vehicle is surprisingly undamaged. A few minor scratches, but meh, we'll take cosmetic issues over major engine/bodywork issues.

The plates are indeed back on the vehicle.

He's still gonna be charged. He stole it, ditching it later doesn't do anything to negate the fact he committed a crime in the first place.

Tiny Update: He'd apparently been renting the house it was found outside of. Since he's two months late on the rent, it's safe to say he's probably not living there anymore.