A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

Yesterday's flight and car rental was flawless. We decided to head up I17 towards the Grand Canyon. It got dark realitively early compared to what we're used to though. At around 9:00 we found the Heritage House Motel in Prescott, AZ. We're heading out leisurely towards Sedona and eventually Flagstaff. We'll decided what to do from there later today.

(Remember photos will eventually appear here)

Labels: Desert Southwest

It's official. We're heading south for the week.

Tune in later for updated posts and the addition of photographs.

Labels: Desert Southwest

Today was a transition. After eating breakfast I started correcting the final examinations which my students took yesterday. I finished up at around noon. I was then able to turn in the course marks, failure reports, and attendance online. How wonderful that is!

After that, I had the whole afternoon to start thinking about getting stuff into a bag. We're off tomorrow morning on the first part of our a short, week long journey to a little of the southwest desert. First, we put things into the truck and head for the closest border. Although we don't depart from the Bellingham airport until 3:00 in the afternoon, we want to go early. Crossing the border in this day and age can take up to an hour even during non-rush parts of the day. I am seriously considering picking up a new camcorder as the model I want is around $200 cheaper in the US. We also might be able to fill up on food at the Old Country Buffet so we won't be hungry when we land in Phoenix, Arizona at around 6:00 pm. The rental car should be waiting at the Mesa airport. We'll jump in it and head towards the Grand Canyon that evening. I don't know how far north we'll get before deciding to get a room. It doesn't really matter as we'll be on vacation. I am so looking forward to a one-week, road-trip. On the highway, it's very easy to play it by ear. ' Gotta burn up some gas while there's still some to consume.

Labels: Desert Southwest, flying, road trip, travel planning

You don't have to use Flickr, to have seen a few my 4,300 images found there. For example, if you're gay and read French, you can find nine of them in the current issue of PREF mag.



I wondered what that large-format magazine was. It was in the mail today but it had French postage. Then, I remembered the editors had emailed for permission to use some of the Flickr photos about Vancouver. Sure, why not? As well as pictures from the Vancouver Pride Parade, there were some from the area as well. I have to admit almost anything looks good on glossy paper in a magazine!

I gave permission in the past and have also had a few of my photos published in various issues of Travel Sri Lanka. They are always kind enough to send me a copy through the post. I don't care about cash; I make my money in other ways. I'm just appreciative seeing my images published anywhere.

Labels: Flickr, Vancouver

It's getting a little late and I've still not decided on the topic for today's entry. A million little ideas occur to me during the day, but when I sit to jot out one, I'm sometimes stumped.

I think I have to write a a little paragraph about how unfair clothing prices are. First, I'm often shocked to see how relatively cheap things made of cloth are. I guess we have to thank the labour force in far-away places such as in China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. I'm thinking of this as I just walked back across the street from the Army & Navy Department Store. I noticed that at $17.99, real Wrangler jeans, due to the sweat of Mexican garment workers, are as cheap as when I was a child.

Still, most prices seem so arbitrary. I know a lot of different factors must enter into the equation. For example, the tenders for specific contracts must have an enormous affect. Even the time of the year makes a difference as retailers don't want stock sitting around. Yet today I noticed that a spring jacket is selling for $11.90 but some thin shorts were going for $24.99. I can't help but contrast the amount of material in the $19.95 queen-sized bed comforters and the $19.95 non-brand name necktie.

Ah, it doesn't really matter does it? I just needed to pick up some bathing trucks to bring to Arizona for next week. I'm going to look so cool!

Labels: opinions

Come back to this entry on the 11th of the month. In just five short days, we should be looking into the abyss firsthand but hopefully not head first. If we see the webcam, we'll wave ...



Here's a tiny, saved example, in case you venture here when it's night.

Labels: Desert Southwest, travel planning, webcam

Thankfully, the automated system sent another notification. I had sort of assumed my credit card information was on file. Yet, I did have to log on to my website service provider and renew my yearly domain registration fee. For the first few years, I believe it was included with the hosting. Now, I pay the annual fee that comes to less than $1 per month including taxes. What a bargain, eh?

I would have to go do a check to find out when I first set up DennisSylvesterHurd.com. It has been a while, I know. In a way similar to an old movie star, if a domain simply exists for a long enough time, then it receives respect and traffic.

This is related to a topic I wanted to mention. The folks have added an important feature to the software at blogger.com. We can now write an entry and save it with a specific time for publication. The system automatically adds the entry to one's blog when that date and hour occur. This will be important during my vacation. I want to keep a little activity at the blog even if I'm saving my entries for later posting.

The search engines value change over quality when picking how often to return for updates. If the information at any website appears dormant, the little googlebots and their ilk, decide not to stop by nearly as often. That's something I simply cannot allow.

Labels: blogging, Google, Internet