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

Although dozens pictures were blogged during September and October of last year, they only scratched the surface of my collection. I had two memory cards for the camera and deliberately saved at a lower resolution so I returned with over 720 images.



You may view many others blogged in context if you return to any week
from those two months.

Page: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09.

Or, you can find the 55 large-format eJournal pictures quickly at Lankan ePictures.

Labels: camera, temple

The other day, I walked to the parking lot with a colleague. I found myself rushing to walk on her left so that I was on outside edge of the sidewalk. I caught myself doing this and wondered why.

Short Article: Edhat.com from Santa Barbara.

I seriously doubt those can be the reasons for my behavior; no one I knew travelled by horse and there weren't even sidewalks where I grew up!

Yet, it has dawned on me that we are full of unconsciously incorporated manners and habits. When I offer, "God bless you," after a sneeze, it's simply an automatic response. It must have been drilled into my head by my mother. I really can't recall her asking, "What do you say when someone sneezes?" Yet, assuredly the root of my present-day behavior must be somehow connected to intensive indoctrination.

All this is a little bit frightening, isn't it? The extent of the impact that parents have on a sibling's entire future is a little disturbing. I shouldn't be worried, I guess, as I'm quite pleased with how I turned out. I do have some serious concerns about a few acquaintences though ...

To: info@us.millwardbrown.com
CC: info@adstandards.com, ccbbb@canadiancouncilbbb.ca, consumer.information@ic.gc.ca
Date: Apr 6, 2005 6:54 PM
Subject: Telephone Research (Automated Dialing)

---

I am writing to comment on a marketing-research phone call received during dinner last night.

When I requested to be 'removed' from the listing, I was told that my number had been randomly generated by computer so there was no way to ensure that I would not be bothered again.

The following information was provided by the calling representative:

Company: Mullward Brown
Address: 21 Randolph Ave, 2nd Floor
Toronto, M6P 4G4
Supervisor: Noah Wagner
Phone: 1-800-627-9166

I'm asking is whether the information is correct. Does Mullard Brown use automated telephone calls to initiate marketing research? I feel that this is both annoyingly troublesome and morally wrong.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding your practices.

-- Dennis Hurd



The response was handled quickly and professionally this morning.

From: Rivera, Bob (MBNAP dcm)
To: Dennis Hurd
Date: Apr 7, 2005 9:48 AM
Subject: FW: Telephone Research (Automated Dialing Questions)

---

Mr. Dennis Hurd,

I'm writing to apologize for any inconvenience our call created. We
understand and respect your decision not to participate in our survey.

I would like to outline our calling process, which unfortunately our
Interviewer did not appropriately define. While we use an autodialer that
physically generates the call, our sample management program in coordination
with our Interviewers disposition the calls outcome (completed survey,
callback, refuse to participate, etc) and allows us to make any adjustments
to a particular telephone record.

I contacted the manager of the Randolph call center to insure your telephone
record is a "refuse to participate" disposition, which will move the record
to a "non call" queue and not allow that record to be called.

Although Millward Brown does not have an internal database for "do not call"
requests, we submit such requests to our sample suppliers who maintain "do
not call" databases. Rest assured we will submit your telephone number
604.524.6197 to our telephone sample providers to place you on their "do not
call" database.

Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience our call created.

Sincerely,

Bob Rivera
Director of Consumer Opinion
Millward Brown
630-955-8984

====================================================
This email is confidential and intended solely for the use of the
individual or organization to whom it is addressed. Any opinions or
advice presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Millward Brown Group of Companies. If you are
not the intended recipient of this email, you should not copy, modify,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received
this email in error please notify the sender and delete this email
from your system. Although this email has been checked for viruses
and other defects, no responsibility can be accepted for any loss or
damage arising from its receipt or use.
====================================================

Labels: complaints

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 9:50 AM 0 comments

Some people tuck them away as if embarrassed by their presence, but a PC belongs in the living room. That is where I can utilize the Internet`s 24-hour-a-day access to the world. I can painfully remember when I had questions, at a location where, or a time when, there`d be no way of investigating. It was not long ago but it sounds absolutely primitive!



This text was actually sitting on a high school web server in New York. As a student, I once memorized, The Cask of Amontillado. Isn`t it fairly easy to re-learn something you've once committed to memory? Perhaps I'll take an opportunity to save this short story as audio. I could use my best, announcer-type voice and post on my eJournal and images someday.

Labels: library, literature

In the old days, it was easy to write a note or message on the back of a photograph. I'm sure the only time I ever bothered was when I sent ones to my grandmother. Still, that possibility has been squashed as my pictures don't often leave their digital format nowadays. I selected the following image directly from a computer folder. Although I could include no note on its virtual back, I am fairly positive this picture of Jay was taken in Port Alice on northern Vancouver Island.



I looked up things we've done during April in previous years. Jay and I took a ferry/road trip in April 2003. This picture was taken during the long, BC journey and about five months before I started blogging. However, if you'd like to see several more pictures including Hyder Alaska, you may view this re-constructed email message.

Labels: BC Ferries, British Columbia, places

Our DVD rental company seems like a perfect fit. VHQ Online is a Canadian company headquartered in Alberta. Yet the discs are mailed to us from Coquitlam, BC, so the turn-around time is very quick. We've tried other services as well; however, this company fulfills our needs at the present time. Choosing a movie can be accomplished from the lists or though a search. Then, the site offers several suggestions that might match our interests in much the same way that amazon.com works.

Another interesting aspect of the site is the ability for customers to add a rating to movies that've been viewed. Our scores are combined with additional members' to arrive at overall ratings. Since the end of December, we've watched around seventy DVD's from the company and I've managed to rate exactly 55 on the following scale:

1 = I didn't like it
2 = Forgettable
3 = I liked it
4 = Excellent
5 = I loved it.

As they weren't all completed in one sitting, I feel that there's probably a lot of variation in the following rankings. I cannot guarantee that I still feel the same about any of them today.

No. -Title -Rating (5 max.)

01. After the Deluge - Rating: 2
02. Around the World in 80 Days - Rating: 2
03. Asylum Of The Damned - Rating: 1
04. Augustus - Rating: 3
05. Bourne Supremacy, The - Rating: 4
06. Chronicles of Riddick, The - Rating: 3
07. Clearing, The - Rating: 3
08. Collateral - Rating: 4
09. De-Lovely - Rating: 5
10. Delicate Art of Parking, The - Rating: 2
11. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - Rating: 3
12. Everyday People - Rating: 3
13. Exorcist: The Beginning - Rating: 3
14. Forbidden Planet - Rating: 3
15. Futurama: Volume 1, Disc 1 - Rating: 4
16. Girl Next Door, The - Rating: 2
17. Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle - Rating: 4
18. Heartlands - Rating: 3
19. I, Robot - Rating: 4
20. Incredibles, The - Rating: 3
21. Intermission - Rating: 2
22. Jesus Christ Superstar - Rating: 4
23. King Solomon's Mines - Rating: 2
24. Maria Full Of Grace - Rating: 3
25. Midsummer Night's Rave, A - Rating: 2
26. Motorcycle Diaries, The - Rating: 4
27. Napoleon Dynamite - Rating: 2
28. Nothing - Rating: 3
29. Punisher, The - Rating: 3
30. Saw - Rating: 3
31. Selena - Rating: 3
32. Shall We Dance? - Rating: 4
33. Shark Tale - Rating: 3
34. Shaun Of The Dead - Rating: 3
35. Shrek 2 - Rating: 4
36. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - Rating: 4
37. Something's Gotta Give - Rating: 2
38. Sordid Lives - Rating: 2
39. South Pacific - Rating: 2
40. Spider-Man 2 - Rating: 4
41. Stepford Wives, The - Rating: 2
42. Super Size Me - Rating: 4
43. Suspicion - Rating: 4
44. Tae Guk Gi - Rating: 4
45. Terminal, The - Rating: 4
46. To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar - Rating: 3
47. Two Brothers - Rating: 3
48. United States Of Leland, The - Rating: 2
49. Vanity Fair - Rating: 4
50. Village, The - Rating: 3
51. Walkabout - Rating: 4
52. Weeping Camel - Rating: 5
53. Wizard Of Oz, The - Rating: 4
54. Zelary - Rating: 3
55. Zhou Yu's Train - Rating: 3

Labels: lists, movies

It started the summer after high school graduation. The Soo-Nipi Shoppe at Sunapee Harbor, NH was created for tourists. We provided space in, what is again called, The Anchorage. To fill a small room, we collected handicrafts from locals and sold on a commission basis. During that first year, we oversaw a few pinball machines and a jukebox in an adjoining room. In subsequent years, the whole business morphed into The Harbor Gameroom.

Labels: Bret, Joel, New Hampshire, Sunapee, The Harbor Gameroom