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

There are certain days when nothing inspires me. On these occasions I have to search around for something to blog about. After all, the promise to enter something each and every day must be fulfilled! This means, however, that I have to occasionally scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel.



Oh, that is NOT a comment on this photo. In a subdirectory somewhere on my 'D:' drive, I found Don. I worked in the island country of Bahrain from January 1989 to July 1991. Don Richardson joined the staff when I was there. He's still there and one of the very select few; he is an ex-colleague with whom I still keep in touch! Thank goodness for MS Messenger and my contact name of DennisSylvesterHurd@hotmail.com.

He recently bought this Audi. Has it been a year, already? It surely looks like a fun ride. I wouldn't mind trying it out by racing up the Coquihalla Highway. I guess that's a silly wish considering the car's on the opposite side of the earth.

Labels: Bahrain, Don

Today is Friday so it's the end of the first week with my new students. I meet with them on Monday and Wednesday mornings too.

For the present term, I'm working in BCIT International. My students have a demanding weekly schedule which includes different Business and Accounting courses. I look forward to going to the Burnaby campus to teach because these students seem very keen to improve their English language skills.

Labels: BCIT

A week ago, Rob invited people for dinner at his Vancouver apartment. This digital impression is an attempt at capturing life from the 20th floor.

Last Saturday's blog entry kept taunting me. The purpose of it was to point out the negative aspects of McDonald's new, Toasted Deli Sandwiches. All the nutrition information's right on their web site although few probably bother to look. Now that I should be watching my salt intake, I was especially horrified by the fact one sandwich could contain 85% of the recommended daily allowance of sodium.

I must admit it didn't seem to matter. The simple idea of a New York-style Reuben was too inviting to ignore. I don't think I'd had a Reuben since I lived in New England. The last straw occurred --- damn 'em --- when they sneaked a whole book of $2-off coupons into my mailbox.

I am so astoundingly weak . . . and now very full of Reuben.

Bleach and container sell for 89 cents
but getting just the plastic gallon jug would
cost at least $3.89. That's weird.

A blank 4.7 GB DVD costs 50 cents but
a blank, white label for one ends up costing
25 cents. That's criminal.

Labels: money

I don't know why this winter in BC's Lower Mainland is so different. Some of the snow that fell on January 6th is still on the ground and the temperature's been hovering around the freezing mark for DAYS!

Yesterday, the sky was blue and the sun was reflecting on the white stuff. I neglected to bring my camera to class and missed some great potential photos on the way home. Therefore, for this entry, I thought it was time to raid my picture suitcase for something to scan. Staying on topic, I found this snap taken at Goreme National Park in Turkey.

We went to Turkey on three separate vacations as it was a quick trip from the Middle East and cheap too. I believe this picture was taken during travels in January 1995.

Labels: camera, Turkey, world

It's not as profound as suddenly grasping the concept of the circle of life, but I do enjoy when isolated occurrences seem to merge.

What we've got here is a classic, 50's sci-fi thriller called, It Came from Outer Space. I have to admit a weakness for these adventures and blogged about When Worlds Collide just about a year ago. This genre of film served as an inspiration for many future educators and scientists, I would presume. In one blog entry, I even tried to relate some societal implications of science fiction on film.

Today, I want to relate how two separate streams from my strange taste in movies seemed to coalesce due to one actress: Barbara Rush. She won the 1954 Golden Globe for the MOST PROMISING NEW COMER (FEMALE). Yet, I'd come to know her in my oft-cited, favorite early-80's exploitation flick, Summer Lovers. In that great period-piece, she portrayed the mother of the character played by Daryl Hannah.

I found this connection interesting.

Labels: movies, sci-fi, stars

This is a fourteen storey condo building and the other tower has a dozen floors. That's a lot of apartments, quite a few people, and a huge source of junk. For the first time, the council sponsored a get-rid-of-junk day. Generally, it's against the rules to dispose of furniture, appliances, or large items in the garbage room. Yet, today the condo arranged for a special place to bring those type of items. It was a great time to get rid of an old wicker bookshelf and a coat rack.

While in the cleaning mood, we went further. Over the years, we'd always returned from vacations with maps and brochures which we didn't part with. That meant there was a 1993 tourist calendar from Indonesia. We had Thai What's On magazines from the 1980's. There were maps from India, Turkey, Kenya and other places we'd travelled. We decided that old in-flight magazines aren't really crucial to keep. All in all, we threw away about twenty-eight pounds of unnecessary paper in bags and boxes.

During the second trip down the stairs, we discovered that somebody had already carted off the bookshelf. I guess the designated area ended up being more of a swap meet than disposal area. Aren't people funny?

Labels: errands