'On Hold' for the Journey

This blog was active for exactly one year from September 1, 2003. You may venture to the categories and tags to search any of those 500+ entries.

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Blogging to Continue upon Return

At the moment, we're away on a two-month vacation in Sri Lanka and Singapore. We could, undoubtedly, find Internet access in major cities; however, we plan on spending lots of time travelling around the countryside, into the mountains, and at the seaside. Therefore, I will not even try to keep this area up-to-date while we're away. Due to my now-entrenched blogging habit, I will attempt something that I have never managed to do in the past; namely, keep a daily journal in a notebook!

I purchased an extra SmartMedia card for my digital camera too. So, when we return in November 2004, I will not only resume my regular blogging but will fill in the missing text and photos for these months.

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Special Notice: Most media files for the BlogPlayer, as well as access to many high-resolution photos of my eJournal and images, will not be available during this special closure. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

We're Off!

The taxi gets here at 9:45 am. The plane doesn't take off til 2:00 pm. See ya in November!

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The 1st Annual Readership Awards

This is not the time nor the place where readers nominate award-winning entries which have appeared here over the past year. Rather, it's a space where I congratulate my most loyal readers. Gosh, I wish there were cash prizes ...

Top awards go to:

Patty

Sujay

Ed

Shinji

Don (when at home)

Joel (for PocketPC AvantGo version).

Honourable mentions:

Sally

Bret

Tim.

Retracing Old Paths & Creating New Ones

I don't feel much like writing a big entry today. The bags have been packed for a while and we don't leave until tomorrow morning. So, I'll just add an old scanned photo. It's been thirteen years since my most recent visit to Sri Lanka and this photo is probably from a trip or two prior to that.


We recently got hold of a good road map of the island. During the upcoming two months, there will be enough time to do some major exploration. Hopefully, the peace will hold so that trips to the north and east are feasible. The country is a wee bit smaller than Ireland. There's a varied geography with the highest elevation at 8,290 ft. and, of course, tropical beaches at sea-level. If you're interested in learning more about the environment, just click for some data found at the Lonely Planet [EXPIRED LINK] World Guide.

my eJournal stats

It came as a bit of a surprise that Saturday is the day with the least visitors here. I guess, more people than I thought blog surf from work!

Listening Practice for November

Nowadays, it'd be pretty silly to use cassette tapes to record audio exercises for students. The Internet allows a single file to be played simulataneously from a variety of locations. I am thinking in terms of reading some web materials as listening practice. There's so much out there that's authentic and would be especially helpful for pre-technical, ESL learners. I think I will be able to easily post an online reading everyday with the help of www.blogger.com.

[This link has now expired.]

Click here -->

Gettin' All Charged Up

You know how new, computer printers seem like real bargains until you go to buy an ink cartridge? Then, you end up paying at least one third of the initial cost for that stinking, little reservoir of ink.

Years ago, I had heard that it would cost over 100K to buy a Toyota Corolla if one tried to purchase it piece by piece. It seems as if manufacturers really sock it to 'ya when buying parts.

Now, I've another example to add to this phenomena: Not wanting to be without a spare, camcorder battery when on vacation, I thought it'd be necessary to buy an extra one. It is lithium, but very small. You can see the actual size by comparing it to a quarter in my photo. The Sony NP-FP50 battery cost $89 before taxes!

The Day Away

Yesterday was a rainy day, not one with just showers, but an almost continuous pouring rain. I'm now officially from the 'left coast' as it seemed very normal and comforting.

The exhibition was interesting. Of course, when you've seen one ivory, early dynastic period, mid-1st Dynasty, reign of Den (ca. 2985 B.C.) plaque, then you've seen 'em all! Sorry, no photos were allowed inside the exhibit. Be sure to click the first and last link in this entry for two other photos though.

There was a geocache at the harbour so we took twenty minutes after eating sandwiches, and found it.

The transport was comfortable and easy. I would recommend Pacific Coach Lines if one is considering driving over to downtown Victoria from the Southern Mainland.

See You Soon, Mummy

We decided that we wanted to see the BC Royal Museum's Eternal Egypt Exhibit. It's only runs till the end of October, and today was a good option.

A trip to Victoria is always fun. Yet, in order to pay a visit to the provincial capital, one needs to first get over to the island. The most practical way is on a BC Ferry. We've always driven but the midweek, round-trip price for the truck and two people now adds up to $88.50.

We noticed that Pacific Coach Lines is running a special that includes a free ferry passage and reserved access to the Museum. We can get to their downtown Vancouver bus station by SkyTrain and they will later drop us off right in downtown Victoria. The cost is nearly the same but there's no need to worry about a line-up at the ferries, traffic, or parking.

We're off for a 7:45 departure and will return, on our open tickets, in the evening. I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow.

Being Overseas Tourists

I was trying some pre-trip sightseeing tonight on the Internet. (Click the link at the end of this entry for a miniature slide show.) A week from right now, we'll be heading half way around the globe. The flights go like this: Vancouver --> Seoul --> Singapore --> Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Being Local Tourists

We ran around yesterday afternoon during the break in the weather to capture a little of the area on digital video tape as it will interest Jay's family in Sri Lanka. We went to the end of the SkyTrain line and then hopped on the SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. At first it feels embarrassing to take video of your own city until you realize that people will just assume you're a tourist.

There were four cruise ships in port. Three were docked at Canada Place and they were about to leave because most 7-day Alaskan cruises start on Sunday evenings. I'd forgotten just how enormous those babies are! Some carry over 2500 passengers plus crew. Yesterday, I took the GPS, so I can include several (WGS84 datum) waypoints:

Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver, BC

N49 18.577
W123 04.971

Canada Place, Vancouver, BC

N49 17.292
W123 06.814

Granville SkyTrain Entrance, the Hudson Bay Co., Vancouver, BC

N49 16.979
W123 07.036

Filling the Tub

H3 is getting a bit long in the tooth at over two years old.

He will be content to lead a quiet life during September and October. He has been the laziest hamster we've had, and will undoubtedly enjoy resting while we're away. He'll go in the bathtub with an enormous quantity of food, his wheel, and all this favourite items. Someone will be in periodically to water the plants and make sure H3 is not wanting for a thing.


The bathtub is about 20 times larger than his cage! Learn
more about H3 by searching this blog.

Being Prepared

You know how it's a good idea to keep an inventory of serial numbers for all the junk one accumulates? This list could be used if the items were ever lost or stolen. I have a spreadsheet of this data and every once in a blue moon, I update it.

This time, it dawned on me that I should be able to include a photo of each item too. It doesn't cost anything to take a digital photos; I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before. I ran around and snapped a low-res picture of each item on the list. Then, I created a single zip file which included the .xls file and all the photos. I was able to fit everything on a floppy disk. (Like, what else can do with one of those nowadays?) I can easily keep copies of these documents in multiple locations. Ouch, I'm getting sore from patting myself on the back so often!

If you'd like a picture of my alarm clock, just send an email.

Gmail Ads Get Mighty Personal

I've been using Gmail for three months now. It is only after this amount of time, with over 250 saved messages, that the usefulness of search becomes obvious. I have to constantly remind myself to keep everything as it will prove easy to locate an exact message when needed.

I enjoy the Gmail ads as they are often helpful and unobtrusive. They are usually right on target too. For example, in a return message to Bret I wrote the following:

"Did you use Windows Movie Maker to compress 'your dog going postal' for Internet email? I cannot remember if I had you download the encoder ... or Movie Maker. You will find the latter on your hard drive already. You can choose output and probably even burn to a CD after splicing 'em together."

The ads to the right were a pretty good match for our discussion. I'm often interested enough in the bots' suggestions to research the links provided. They're especially good at recommending commercial links but I've seen accurate, current-event links to newspapers. I've seen occasional 'public-service' type links as well.

Yesterday, however, I couldn't quite figure out why Gmail assumed I needed the specific links in this section. I had written to my boss about printing up a course outline in advance. Here's our exchange:

"I'm really impressed by your forward planning!! Do you need the outline signed before August 28? let me know so I can take it in - I'm not going to the campus regularly otherwise."

"No, no. Please don't go in. I would not be photocopying it until I get back. It's just things, such as signing this, are better done at leisure ... than waiting until the very last minute."

Oh, and just so you'll know, the email subject line read:

CRN 67046 Outline (2 months early)

What's the Number for Jenny Craig?

I got out old video tapes in order to convert them to digital format. Next month, I want to bring along video taken in Sri Lanka in 1991. Jay's family will enjoy seeing how we all used to look. It is rather interesting to see motion and sound personally captured years ago. I swear that first camcorder must've weighed in at about 8 lbs. And speaking of weight ...



In order to blog something from that era, I scanned this photo
to include. Yikes ... that shirt wouldn't make it half way around
me now! Perhaps I've been a bit in error in my aversion to all
things Aktins!

Seeing Red

Exciting vintages of Chateau de Hurd cannot be found on supermarket or liquor-store shelves.

It may have been nearly a year since I blogged about bottling wine, but this doesn't mean that the process has been, at all, suspended. In fact, just yesterday, I bottled a batch of Chianti. This was a bit unusual as I most always make a Barolo or Shiraz. What is it they say about variety being the spice of life?

Lest you think I have a special brewing area set up in this small apartment, I should mention that we have business establishments in British Columbia that take care of all the fuss and muss. The U-Brew companies let customers start off a batch and then return when the liquid is ready to be poured into bottles. In the interim, they do all the work.

My typical batches are about thirty bottles. I might add that the bottles are continuously recycled so my habit is fairly kind to the environment. In addition, I know the quality and content of the ingredients which is something one cannot say about most store-bought products.

My doctor suggested I drink a glass of red wine every day, and I'm hardly one to argue with professional advice. Salute!

Fog You Can Bank On

In many places the weather is the same for miles around; however, around Vancouver a few kilometers can make a lot of difference. It sometimes rains on one side of a hill whereas it's as dry as a bone on the other. There are effects from the mountains and the sea. Most importantly, in this part of downtown New Westminster, we're affected by the Fraser River. We can be completely socked in with fog, while uptown basks in sunshine.


A harbinger of autumn: This photo shows the first fog I've noticed
for a long time. I snapped it from the balcony just seconds ago.

format a: /s

When Service Pack 2 for XP did not automatically show up on my computer yesterday, I could wait no longer and took the process into my own hands. The 272 megabyte file took about twenty minutes to download. Then, it took more than forty-five minutes to install and longer if you count the disk defrag with which I finished up the installation. All went smoothly and I watched as thousands of system files were replaced.

I couldn't help but think back to my first IBM compatible purchased in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia about 19 years ago! It sported 640K of RAM, two 360K floppy disks (rather than a hard disk), and the 8088 cooked along at 4.77 MHz. The real point for today's entry though is that it ran good old MS-DOS 2.1. In those days, only command.com (17,792 bytes) plus two hidden files were required in order to boot up. My goodness, Bill, we've come a long ways.

Teachers Talking Shop

A new blogging friend said,

" ... my last teaching session, my kids made a CD using PowerPoint. It showcased their accomplishments for the whole year. They even learned about copywrited music and wrote to the author for permission. It wasn't an easy task but it was fun. I got chewed out for attempting it. These kids were basically written off because they were special ed. I hate when people put people in a box. But I did enjoy rubbing administration nose in dirt ;-) sort-a-speak when I presented each one with a copy. They didn't give me time of day but you could see it their faces. I was so proud of my kids, when I get down I pull up the files and play them. I had a rough year there and didn't return. I was told I care too much. Hmmmm, what's this world coming to?"

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I responded,

"Very few people in administration understand how computers in education SHOULD work. It's all delegated to the 'official computer' instructor rather than just being a part of the general curriculum. Some great classroom teachers are allergic to them and I cannot see why. It seems just as natural as life to use computer labs for any subject and implement tasks exploiting a computer's strengths. Lab empahsis should switch from drill and instruction to using the devices as a creative and research tool. I should think this would be especially obvious to English instructors, but alas, by what I've witnessed ...

I've no 'documented training' in computers but seem much more proficient in making use of them in a learning environment then some of those who boast an extensive list of qualifications ....

... oh Lordie, aren't I just the cat's meow, or what?"

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This morning, the fan is running and the blinds are slightly closed due to the excessively-bright sun. Dee Daniels is robustly singing, That's Life. I'm correcting final exams so that I can get the marks in promptly.

Dressing for the Weather

One benefit of this blog is that a search for materials sometimes prompts me to find old photos to scan. If there was no need to fill an entry, they'd surely sit forever in my photo suitcase in the closet.

Right now, I'm not wearing a shirt because it's so hot. This year, Vancouver has had a very warm summer with lots of sunshine. Furthermore, in a couple of weeks, we're off to Sri Lanka and Singapore for several months. The temperatures in countries near the equator don't vary greatly. In Colombo, it seems to be exactly 32C (89F) every day!

Because this photo is such a contrast to the discussion of heat, I've included it. Here is Jay the first winter after arriving in Canada. We went down to the Lynne and Joel's house at the Pass for Christmas. There was a major blizzard, the Interstate highway was closed for three days, and we were stranded. However, we had fun zooming around on snowmobiles. Jay had seen and walked in snow when we once travelled to Turkey from the Middle East, but he'd never seen this much!

An Update Update

No, I am not repeating myself.

There's a brand-new implementation of the Windows Update site. (Click the screenshot to check it out now.) It's in place in preparation for Monday's general, online release of the Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Microsoft maintains that it's all about improved security. A simple patch this is certainly not; for, there are enough changes to qualify this release as a version upgrade. Depending on your configuration, it might be anywhere between 70 and 230 megabytes.

Automatic updates are on and I've got lots of bandwidth to spare ... so let'r rip, boys!

Final-ly

This morning my class took the final examination.

After the test, which lasted for a maximum of three hours, we walked out to the courtyard by SE41. The picnic table provided a great place for a class picture. It was a sunny day. What you can't tell by looking at the photo is that it was nearly 30C (85F) degrees.

Digital Housekeeping

I didn't know it'd take much time to get my web materials ready. Being away from a computer for several months will make the upcoming trip more of a vacation. However in preparation, I've had to make notices and change file locations. (Darn, as my home PC will be turned off for the first time ever, I cannot leave web materials running from here!)

As an example, I needed to write a notice at the Virtual Sunapee Reunion, a site which I've been running for more years than I care to count!

<--- Click Here

Stanley Park

For those of you who've not been to Vancouver, I've got to provide a link to Stanley Park so you can get a better idea of what it is. We have so much to thank for Victorian-era public planning that set aside this land. How wonderful to have such a huge refuge in the middle of the city!


Yesterday the gang met for a picnic dinner, marched around some trails, and eventually returned by the seawall. We didn't make it back to the Point in time for the sounding of the 9 o'clock cannon. The Lions Gate Bridge provides a backdrop in this photo.

Three More Photos from Yesterday:


Okay. I'll smile, but I'd rather eat!


The seawall from a higher vantage point


Finding one of two hidden geocaches

Seek and Ye Shall Find (Perhaps)

I have two types of blog visitors. First, there are friends and relatives who stop by because I encourage, cajole, or pester them. On the other hand, a larger number of visitors come in through seach engines. Actually, I should say though Google as it's the source of about 98% of the guests who land here via keywords.

Blog pages tend to have a variety of material posted on a single page. Therefore, the results can be somewhat misleading. For example, I may have written about my friend once being a Peace Corp volunteer on Monday, then on Friday I may say that I went to Seattle for a meeting. If a web searcher types "Peace Corp Volunteers from Seattle" they may hit that page; however, they will probably not find the results they were looking for.

Here's a list of 20 searches from the past few days:

Google: "sorry to make this request so late

Google: paddlewheeler new westminster pictures

Google: norman gray hct

Google: zip.ca ottawa

Google: olympic peninsula in-line skating

Google: blog sunapee

Google: picture of the law courts building in Vancouver

Google: 25th high school reunion

Google: aerosmith sunapee house pictures where is it

Google: canadian litre vs u.s. gallon

Google: Zip.ca phone number

Google: badger garburators

Google: aerosmith photos may 20, 2004

Google: fintas apartment images

Google: Webshots toilet

Google: pictures taken with DCR-HC40

Google: sri lanka Dj's

Google: McDonald's We do it all jingle

Yahoo: swiffer commericals

Google: "Hurricane Freda" + "Vancouver"

Google: Skytrain pda

Smile! You're on the Internet

A student assignment which will reside on the Internet is worthy of extra attention. At least that is the idea which I tried to stress. You are invited to see the results of my theory by clicking on the copy of the screenshot to the right. The instructions are also provided below to give you a better idea of the required work.

BACKGROUND

The Internet and the World Wide Web offer the opportunity to publish information for a global audience. Whatever text is on your final word processing file will be directly entered on the site. I will not fix any errors, so be sure that the writing is fit for the world to see!

ASSIGNMENT

We will take individual student photos. You are to write personal text to accompany the photographs. It must be written in a style which demonstrates appropriate skills taught during COMM 004 and should be representative of best quality work for each student. This term you must include a graphic which is appropriate and informational. This assignment is due on Monday, August 9, 2004.

1) You may write your rough draft on regular paper or print it and bring it in to be checked during our class breaks in prior weeks.

2) This final copy of this assignment is to be handed in on a removable, computer diskette. If you need to borrow a spare diskette, then please contact me in advance.

MARKING FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT

Is approximately 250 to 400 words

Includes linking words, and ‘fluent’ sentence constructions.

Contains clear introductory sentences and paragraph structures.

Has easy-to-see, overall organization

Presents personal views and interesting ideas.

Includes a type of graphic learned in COMM 004.

More HBO on DVD ASAP

We followed the first year of HBO's Six Feet Under on a Canadian satellite channel. Recently, we noticed that the second year was released on DVD. (The show's in its fourth season now.) You can say what you will about 'classic TV' but some of the programming being created today is truely impressive.

Planning a Day Off

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Hey guys,

Sure, we should plan an escape for tomorrow. Do we want to stay close or go far? Close might simply include going to Burnaby. First, we could do Burnaby Mountain Park, then bring a picnic to eat at Barnet Marine Park. There's swimming there if the weather is nice but it's saltwater!

On the otherhand, an 1.5 hour drive might be to Mt. Baker.

Of course there's always Stanley Park for a picnic! What are your ideas?

== Dennis

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GCJQVV Tannery Park Geocache

Now, my geocache hidden across the river has been discovered twenty-seven times. Actually, my friend Joel found it a few weeks back with my help and GPS, but he is not yet a member on the www.geocaching.com website.) By scrolling down the linked page, you can read the most recent of the 26 comments found there.


Click here ---> GCJQVV Tannery Park

"The Tunnel"LIGHT

Did you notice in the title that there's LIGHT at the end of the tunnel?

Oral presentations are over. Eleven of twelve writing assignments have been passed in. Thirteen weeks of class are behind us. The week that's coming will be the final one for our COMM 0004 class at BCIT. I think everybody involved will be happy after the final examination is written on Friday, August 13th.

On a Retro Roll

If you're mature enough to remember the type of sneakers I discussed yesterday, then you should have no problem identifying this television theme. Press play to hear a one-minute Windows Media audio file.



Really stumped? Write me a message and I'll spill the beans.

Attempting to Sneak Around

I went to find old-fashioned, low, canvas sneakers. You know the type of summer shoes that predate Nike and Addidas. Surprisingly, I couldn't find any at Wal-mart. I was a bit worried that perhaps nobody was making 'em anymore ...

As a kid, I fondly recall getting a new pair at the beginning of each summer. They were comfortable, light, and because of little grommeted holes, cool in warm weather. For these reasons, I reckon they'll be ideal when doing lots of walking in Sri Lanka over the next several months.

I did spot some on the Internet and they come in a multitude of fashionable colours but they're being touted as 'old-school' shoes. My birthday was last month and I consider myself young. Yet, it has now dawned on me, that I'm having trouble finding my choice, retro footwear!

Click here ---> Chuck Taylor All Star Low Tops [Abaondoned Link]

Greeting a Glacier

Yesterday's entry caused me to consider some of our especially interesting vacations. Additionally, I was in email contact with a friend whom I worked with in the Gulf. He is taking some time off and asked for suggestions about travelling in India. That was surely an interesting summer but a full decade ago! My last statement in the response to Daragh stated, "If you do manage to go to India, you will return as a different person."

Jay and I took very different type of vacation in May 2001. We really enjoyed a Princess cruise to Alaska. Going up the BC coast and into Alaskan waters is breathtakingly beautiful. The cruise was great. The ships are so much more than simply floating hotel rooms; they're a complete experience! There's wonderful dining, onboard entertainment, lots of activities, and of course, fun day-trips ashore.

On the Road Again ...

At the moment, I'm a month shy of a year of blogging now.

It seems rather fitting that the blog will hit the year mark just as we head off to Sri Lanka on a two-month vacation. Have we been rather homebound during the last eleven months? Compared to previous years, I thought that we'd not done very much time away from this apartment. Then, I realized it'd be easy to count up the nights spent at friends' or in hotels by looking back at these blog entries. Documenting life has its advantages. Here's a rundown:

[OLDER SEARCH FACILITY ABANDONED.]

September 2003 - Road Trip to Sicamous, BC - 2 nights

October 2003 - Flew to San Francisco, CA - 4 nights

December 2003 - Bus Trip to Calgary, AB - 4 nights

February 2004 - Road / Ferry Trip to Victoria, BC - 3 nights

April 2004 - Road Trips to Port Angeles / Grand Coulee Dam, WA - 3 nights

May 2004 - Drive to Stay w/ Friends in Seattle, WA - 1 night

I guess I was fooled by the close proximity of all of these times away. Seventeen nights is not much by our usual standards, but it is more than the benchmark by which many unfortunate, workaholic folks choose to live.

Celebrate

It's the first Monday in August, so today is a civic holiday in most of Canada. If you're in British Columbia, then ...

Happy BC Day!

Busy Summer

Many call this the 'wet coast' as well as the 'west coast'. Our winters are dreary and gray. (Yet, there's seldom snow on the ground, so I'd rather have drizzle than have to shovel!)

This also means that when summer arrives, we try to crush a whole year of events into a dozen short weeks. There always seems to be something on.

Last weekend Vancouver hosted the Molson Indy.

Then, over 300 thousand people went to downtown Vancouver last night to catch the second entry in the fireworks competition called the Celebration of Light. We didn't.

However, we headed downtown this morning for today's colourful sights and sounds.

This year's Pride event was larger than ever. Luckily, the day provided perfect weather for the occasion.