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

Don has the final say on this topic by adding:

"I might add that one of the reasons we drive such long distances so readily is also a result of our cheap gasoline. Here is a link to a website I found comparing gasoline prices in USA and the rest of the world.

World Gasoline Prices - 01/03

As usual, I don't think N. Americans, both Canadian and US varieties, appreciate how inexpensive things are for us and the standard of living we enjoy."

Labels: Don

How can a request for distance sometimes elicit a response measuring time?

Continuing on the topic of hitting the road, I notice a big difference in perception between the east and west sides of our continent. The whole US eastern seaboard, from Portland, ME to Atlanta, GA and right on down to Key West, is essentially a continuous super-sized set of suburbs. So, one never has far to go. On the other hand, in the west there can be miles and miles between settlements. These differences have made many people 'out west' (where the states are big) more tolerant of long-distance driving. Whereas, people 'back east' prefer to live within a dozen miles of their job, in the west, I know people who routinely commute a hundred kilometers (sixty or seventy miles) each day.


In this 2002 picture, in order for our visitor to see a high school alumnus,
we easily made a 'road trip' a few hundred miles south.

Labels: driving, Joel, places

Here's a picture taken last year from the Glacier Highway (37A) in BC.
We were on a road trip just for pleasure. This scene is around a 1500KM
(900 miles) north of New Westminster. The highway heads to the cities
of Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. The Alaskan panhandle juts down taking
more than one third of British Columbia's coastline.



Don, a regular reader and contributor, sent the following in response to Monday's entry:

"A travel gene is an interesting premise. I think it's more like we emanated from folks who started out travelling and we just grew up as a nation of travellers. It's sort of, "Well, we've come this far; what's a few hundred miles."

20 odd years ago, I stopped in Brighton, England to visit a couple I had known in Iran (I was on my way home from 'the Revolution', but they had fortuitously left 6 months earlier). I enquired about a couple who had been our friends and asked if they had seen them. They replied in astonishment, "Lord no. They live in Wales." That would have been a several hour trip (less than a day) on the train, so it was out of the question! Just this past summer I had a British colleague who was going to be in Eastbourne, further west on the south coast of England. I suggested that, if I got to Brighton, I might come and visit him. He replied, "But that would be at least 3 hours by train." As if that would be too long a trip.

I think the Continental Europeans are a little less intimidated by distance, but just yesterday I asked my Alsatian friends about driving from Strasbourg to Amsterdam. They both said, "I suppose you could do it, but it would take EIGHT hours." They have lived in Strasbourg for 20+ years and have never done it nor would consider doing it.

I think long distance driving is a North American and, in particular, a US thing. I don't know if Canadians do it. Think of all the 'Snow Birds' who drive south in the fall and back in the spring. And a lot of the long distance travellers, with or with gigantic Winnebagoes, are senior citizens, who in most any other country would not venture more than a few miles from home at that age.

In 1985, my 70-year-old mother and I, armed only with a AAA map, reservations at several Holiday Inns and tickets to the Grand Ole Oprey, started out from Bradford and ended up in Greenville, Mississippi a week later, spent a week there and then another week driving back to Bradford a different route.

We just look at driving distance in a different way partly because the US is so big and partly because we've always done it on relatively good roads and in fairly comfortable cars with lots of inexpensive road-side accommodation and cheap and convenient restaurants. And travelling long distance didn't require border crossings, a passport, changing money or hassles with a language. And very often, the places along the way or the destination was populated with old friends or extended family.

By the way, whatever happened to Howard Johnson's, the first franchised restaurant and motel chain which would have seemed to have been in perfect position to capitalize on today's travel oriented society. They've all but disappeared."

Labels: British Columbia, cars, Don

Today's class will be easy for me but stressful for the students as we're having the midterm exam. How quickly the 'intensive courses' progress! It seems like we just started and we're half way through COMM 0003.

I really like my current group. They are interested and interesting.

The COMM 0003 materials are very helpful for students who will later go on to study at BCIT whether they take medical technology, business or specific trades training. Who'd have thought that it would be so hard to write a technical description!

Describing a Flashlight

Labels: BCIT, technology

... said to say THANK YOU.

It's always nice to receive a response to an email comment.

I don't know why companies don't make it a priority. Sending a note back is much more effective on a personal level, then throwing money into advertising. It's so quick and simple to create at minimum a simple, automatic bounce that states, 'Thanks for your e-mail. We value our customers and always look forward to hearing from you so we can improve our service.' Hearing nothing is annoying.

The folks at Movie Central answered. Kudos to them!

---

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Hurd
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 9:34 PM
To: web moviecentral
Subject: Dolby 5.1


Just a note to say I'm pleased to see more movies in Dolby 5.1 and hope that the trend continues. It makes the viewing experience better and keeps me excited about my subscription to your service.

Additionally, the new web site revisions and new schedule are much better.

==Dennis


----- Response -----

Hi, thank you for your positive feedback - it's always nice to hear!

Thank you for being a Movie Central subscriber and visiting our website at www.moviecentral.ca

Best Regards
Movie Central

Labels: movies

Here's an example site that shows a topic mentioned on November 12th. Purcell's Drive began in September and still going on. Is 'hitting the road' a North American phenomena? I remember reading an interesting conjecture once. It suggested that as North America is composed of immigrant nations, the general population may have a 'travel gene'. After all, it continued, we're all the offspring of those who stumbled, wandered, or ran towards new lives in a new country. What do you think?

There's only one sofa bed in the apartment. It's first come; first serve for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver / Whistler. Send your reservations now as space is limited and it's never too early to start planning!

I sometimes sit on the balcony and watch the river go by. The Fraser is a working river so logs, crushed cars, and barges often pass. Yet, I ran for the camera the other day when I saw this. I guess it could be termed a houseboat.

Labels: balcony, camera, Fraser River