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

It's a bit early to worry about seasonal gifts. Actually, neither of us purchase presents for Christmas. I don't know how buying consumer products has ended up being connected with that day anyway. Yet, there is a way that you can pay for something that will benefit others.

I'm writing about this very early. I hope the many ideas presented, when you click the ducks, will give you some useful options for meeting this year's gift-giving needs. A card is sent that explains the donation. You can forward this to a recipient with Christmas greetings and everybody ends up a winner!

Labels: Christmas

I had heard all the hype. Yet somehow, I had not downloaded a copy of Google Earth.

With a high-speed connection it took only a few minutes to download. Oh my! These are the things that make computers fun: these wow moments. Over the last twenty years of computing there have been quite a few. (This image is the dwelling of some friends who read this blog. Can they identify their building in my miniaturized screenshot?)

I'm beginning to understand the former failed mantra of how the computer is the network. We're finally arriving at such a time. Go ahead and serve my apps over broadband as it appears to be dependable enough nowadays. There's nothing sexy about an operating system. Oh, and remind me to memo Bill Gates on modifying the business model of his company ... quickly.

Labels: Google

There's something very satisfying about including photos here that were taken before I started blogging. The first real blog entry took place on September 1, 2003. This picture was taken in April of the year before. Somehow putting this here seems to extend my eJournal and images further into the past. This is a story of life but it's not chronological.



This particular photo reminds me that I'm living here because I love it here. I honestly didn't realize I missed this type of environment when I worked a dozen years in the Middle East. It's funny what we learn to live with. Perhaps, it's funny what we can learn to put up with.

Labels: Flickr, flora and fauna

My title shows the influence of being in Canada for a long time. Government departments often tuck the noun form after a noun. For example, we all file tax returns to Revenue Canada in the spring. And by the way, we generally fork over quite a lot of money. Or perhaps it was beer names that influenced the title!

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. I am free again today. In fact, I have asked to pick up an intensive class at BCIT from the end of the month. So, now I am still in leisure mode after last month's Eurotrip.

The weather doesn't promise to be too great today. I do have stale bread ends set aside to feed to the ducks at Tipperary Park. Oh, and in the afternoon, I have a batch of wine to bottle down at the wine store. I can add to the 750+ photos at Flickr as well. That's all the pressing business there is.

Labels: Flickr, flora and fauna, government, New Westminster

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving Day, so I was thinking about the difficulty of serving food to a large group of people.

It's hard to make sure everything is completed at the same time. It's hard to remember to have all necessary ingredients on hand. It's sometimes hard to even find the room to cook for a large number of family and friends.

I realized I would have to include this photo taken a year ago in Sri Lanka. This is considered the location where Buddhism was first introduced to Sri Lanka around 200 BC. If you are interested in learning more about this place there's a good article here.

You many also want to go to entries from this blog which were written at that time.

These kids are standing in a rice boat in Mihintale. It was filled to serve bowls of rice to monks. See how much it might hold! There were known to be up to 2,000 monks at Mihintale at once. Can you imagine putting on a meal for that many people!

Now doesn't that put harried preparation for a holiday meal into perspective?

Labels: food

Canadians celebrate the same occasion during October rather than a month before Christmas as the American neighbours do. This bird was cooked up by friends the first year I had a digital camera. Even though it was three years ago, I can still taste it. Yum.

Labels: camera

There are now 135 pictures from our Eurotrip on Flickr. I chose the photos in the set in order to help me remember the three-week trip. We were in Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Paris, and London. Not all are outstanding photographs. Many are simply Jay or me in front of famous landmarks. That is what vacation photos are all about, right? If you have the time, I'd love to have you take a look at them. You can choose the following ways to explore them:

Start at the first picture. - Use the small thumbnail to the right of the photo to advance through all 135 photos.

Load the Eurotrip page. - Select any of the 135 thumbnails to view the enlarged photo with information. Use the small thumbnails to advance or go back through the set.

View the Eurotrip slideshow. - This will automatically show all 135 photos in the correct order. You will not be able to view the title and other information about each picture.

Locate the text search box. - You may pick from the cloud or search for specific topics. Type in individual tags to show photos that match. Examples: Belgium or Eiffel Tower.

Labels: Flickr