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

As I was driving home in the evening yesterday, I was struck by how two new high-rise apartment buildings are changing my neighbourhood's skyline. Within a single block two sites are under construction. The Point, a twenty storey residential tower with some ground-level commercial space is nearly ready for occupancy. Another huge project is directly behind the New Westminster Police Station (formerly the Federal Post Office) building. The rise of its multiple storeys has been very quick. These accompany many other new buildings presently under construction or in the planning stages. I enjoy seeing the continuing modification of the local environment. This summer we will have lived in this city for just eleven years but have seen vast change.

I can't help but contrast this with my quick drive through Sunapee, New Hampshire last month. Other than Mitch Latva's grand residence up on the hill in Georges Mills, not much looked different than thirty years ago.


Although 'The Point' in New Westminster is nearing completion,
a year and a half ago it was nothing but a very big hole in the ground.

Labels: New Hampshire, New Westminster, Sunapee

Earlier, I spent the afternoon at a special instructors' meeting. We set out to evaluate the materials we are using in our courses. The group started out being quite satisfied with the modules which were produced in-house. Strangely, by the end of the four-hours we'd reversed ourselves and promised to look at professionally-produced text books for something that might fit our program. Many times, I find the decisions made during meetings surprising.

That said, I must say it's comforting to have been working with some of the same people from a very long time. In fact, in September, I'll have been teaching at BCIT for ten years. That realization is a bit shocking! I once defined my life in two or three year segments.

Labels: BCIT

I have a free week between classes coming at the end of this month. So, we could have taken a vacation from the 24th to the 31st. Unfortunately, this fact sort of sneaked up on us. Jay didn't put in a vacation request and the schedules have been finalized for March.

So, I've already checked to see when the subsequent 5-week, intensive course will finish. It doesn't occur until the first week of May. Oh my, May! That surely seems like a long ways away. A mini-vacation of only a week cannot be too far or too expensive. Last year during the same week, we took a San Diego to Vancouver coastal cruise.



Maybe a week in Los Angeles would be interesting. We always enjoy exploring a new urban environment. Perhaps this type of city exploration matches many of our previous travel experiences. It's great flying into a city and using just transit to get around. After researching the metro and bus system, I bet we could do that. We can try to see if the city synonymous with freeways can be explored without a car.

Labels: Los Angeles, travel planning

This is just the picture of a tower for power lines. It is one place where electricity crosses the Fraser River near New Westminster's Queensborough Bridge. It might seem an odd thing to take a picture of.

I wish no-cost photography had been the norm when I was a kid. I experimented with black and white film developing as a hobby but every click of the shutter cost money. Compare that with today's essentially free digital photos and you'll see why one reason why most of my photos are only a few years old.

Nowadays, I really don't think one can take too many pictures. I'd like to be able to see images from nearly every point in my life. For example there are a million things from the early 1970's I wish I could view. Although I remember running around Nielsen's field taking photos of objects like apple trees, the only pictures I have from that era are family snaps. Seeing the people is interesting; however, I'd like to have a look at neary anything from that period of time.

What did the kitchen radio look like?

How many steps were there from the lawn down to the back driveway?

How tall was the willow tree when I was in fifth grade?

I have no photographs of these things, so I doubt I'll ever know the answers.

Labels: camera, New Westminster

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 3:16 PM

I don't really have anything to say today, but that's never stopped me before!

Writing a blog is weird as I'm driven to put something under each date. For three and a half years, I've continued to add something to these pages every day. Of course, sometimes there are many things I wish to share; at other times, there aren't.

If you search through archives here, you won't find:

political discussions

poetry entries

sexual exploits

current events

cat pictures

funny jokes

work complaints, or

links to other blogs.

Which sort of begs the question:

What in the hell have I been rambling on about for so long?

Why not type something in box below to see:

Labels: lists

I have a love/hate relationship with work. I don't mean with my present job; I am talking about the whole concept of employment.

Working because one is being paid for a useful or enjoyable experience is fine. Unfortunately, I see many struggling to get to work everyday merely as a means to survive. That's sad.

It's also sad to see an individual so wrapped up in his little working world that he defines himself by the job. Work should be an experience not one's main experience.

Work can be good if it give one perspectives beyond one's personal life. Being able to concentrate on a different set of circumstances is probably good for one's character and development.

Return here often for future glimpses of ... The World According to Dennis.

Labels: feelings

Tonight, I'm looking foward to seeing Oscars being handed out in high-definition. This year, we've not seen as many of the nominated films as in the recent past. I do find it interesting that a number of the films have already been released on DVD. Perhaps before the next Academy Awards, I expect the DVD version to be on sale when exiting the theatre.

On a related topic, I have one little thought. Damn the Blu-ray and HD DVD camps for not getting their act together and hammering out a universal format. Now the prices are going to be higher and the adoption to higher-density disks longer.

Labels: movies