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

There are two ways to be rich. One is to make more ... while the other to want less. I recently saw this on a poster, in Los Angeles, CA no less.


I feel as though I've always been cautious with cash. The only time in my life I ever borrowed money was to go to college and, fortunately, student loans have very reasonable interest rates. Of course, working abroad when right out of college did not force me to live a normal lifestyle. I mean I paid off those college loans quickly with cash from my work in Saudi Arabia. In addition, my current, eleven year old, pickup truck, although purchased new, was paid for with traveller's cheques. Even the apartment from which I'm typing this blog was 'cash on the barrel head'. I just shake my head in amazement at just how much most people have paid for the privilege of borrowing money! I don't need to make much considering how much I've saved.

Even with the small things, I tend to scrimp. This whole new global warming paranoia has at least shined a spotlight on society's excessive consumption. Let's face it most people buy way too much crap. It's nice that my choices can now be discussed as being green ones.

Today, though I went to buy new batteries for our cordless house phone. The price ranged from $16 to $21 for those wrapped, three-battery packs. Then I saw that the entire new Sanyo cordless telephone was just $19. So, of course, I'm throwing away the old but perfectly usable one. I remember doing the exact same thing about three years ago. Sometimes, it just ain't easy being green. Wait, didn't Kermit, the frog, already say that?

Labels: money, opinions, Saudi Arabia, technology, telephone

During last week in LA, we ended up at the Hollywood Walk of Fame many times as it was just two stops up on the Red Line.

It was rather interesting both day and night. Not only for the stars in the sidewalk but because of the people traversing them.

I don't know how the guy in the Darth Vader outfit was able to stand out in the heat of the day. The 'fat-period' Elvis stayed stubbornly close to the Chinese Theatre. Marilyn Monroe was perfect down to the birthmark. But I would've found it rather creepy actually chatting to any of them, much less pay them money to be in a photo. Perhaps, that's my loss.

I also struggled to find a star I wanted to stand near. It just seemed like it should be a star from old Hollywood. I walked right over many favourites without a single desire to pose near their stars. This star caught my attention though. All About Eve was probably the first film I watched with the sole intent of seeing Bette Davis. Now, that we are witness to international, super-CGI big budget eye candy like the present Superman III, I long for films which actually had memorable dialog. After all, being able to deliver the line, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night," has got to be reason enough to be given a sidewalk star.

Labels: Hollywood, Los Angeles, movies, stars

I like taking something ten years old and being able to modify it for use in this blog. In this case a photo from a trip to Victoria in the summer of 1997 has become an entry.

Labels: BC Ferries, British Columbia, Vancouver Island

The sun is shining robustly. (Is that a way it can shine?) I'm on a 15 minute break. I probably would've added an entry at home but I was still playing with Windows Vista on the home PC.

Sometime during last year, I upgraded to a 300 gigabyte drive with the intention of doing a fairly clean installation of Windows XP Pro. I thought if I kept things to a minimum, then my eventual upgrade to Vista would be more stable. By last night, that drive had been filled with bits and pieces of tattered software debris. Still, the upgrade installation of Vista Business proceeded well. It surely took a long time though.

The first few hours with the Aero interface wasn't a problem. In fact, the way the Windows glide around is slightly seductive. I'm sure it'll all seem 'old hat' by Friday.

My one major headache remains getting the Internet Server up and running. My old XP Pro had server extensions allowed and the new software has turned off W3SCV. Although the interface for daily computing functions seems streamlined and improved, managing deeper services is still tough. I've got too much going on on the work front at the moment, but I plan on getting re-acquainted with my living room PC on Friday, my free day.

Labels: software, Windows

I really enjoy the additional, new course I teach on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Rather than focusing on writing skills, it emphasises listening and speaking. We get to interact via computers a lot. The time just flies by during the activities. The students seem to have a variety of backgrounds which can always make things interesting too.

If there is a problem, it'd have to be the fact it doesn't get over till 9 pm. Teaching the number of hours isn't hard; it's just diffucult for me to wind down for bedtime. I kept teaching in the dreams of my shallow sleep for most of last night.

When did I lose my take-it-easy, easy-going attitude towards life?

Labels: BCIT, computer lab, students

Last week, I noticed Flickr had improved its slideshow component. The photos are now larger. While a photo is being shown, it's possible to click the center for additional information. These are positive improvements.

I thought I'd see if I could find a subject of which I might have multiple photos. If you click on the image above, you will load a set which currently holds 31 images. As I live in downtown New Westminster, the SkyTrain Bridge is a common visual element of my life. It is a transit-only span that crosses the Fraser River. It is next to the 70 year old Patullo bridge. These pictures were taken over a period of five years. Many were simply shot from my balcony.

Labels: balcony, Flickr, Fraser River, New Westminster, SkyTrain, transit

I'm sure there are lots of thoughts about mothers in the blogosphere today as it's Mothers' Day in the Americas. Don't I remember that the British celebrated this on another day? In Los Angeles, we saw Latinos selling lots of special baskets with stuffed animals and assorted items by the side of the streets. We felt that they must have been for Mothers' Day. Actually, after a little research, I found these countries celebrate on the second Sunday in May as well:

Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Bulgaria, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

We saw lots of local folks today shuffling around elderly ladies too. It's a nice day for reflection. In my own mind, as my mother passed away the year I finished college, my mother will forever remain young.

Labels: Mother