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

It continues. Last Monday was a holiday, but I worked Tuesday through Friday. I spent the entire day today with another group of students and will do the same tomorrow. Then, it'll be back to the afternoon group on Monday through Thursday and so much correcting! Phew! Thirty contact hours per week is nearly a double load. It's okay, as most all the work wraps up during the first week of December. At that glorious point, I'll be off for more than a month.



I always have my camera with me and I have taken pictures of my current students for use our on courses' web pages. I do remember quite often posting photos of various students I've taught here in the blog. Through the magic of tags though, I realized I never included any of the guys from Dubai Men's College on these pages. These were some students in the Higher Colleges of Technology more than a dozen years ago.

Labels: Dubai, students

I used to roll my eyes when consumer packaging advertises that a product is "new and improved". Tide laundry detergent was first distributed across the US in 1949. So, I find it incredulous the formula could possibly be made more desirable. Yet, every so often the box makes such a claim.

Now, I can sort of relate because of the blog. Although I write daily, quite frequently, I modify the format too. Each time I do so, I'm sure it is an improvement. I always seem to think the changes make it better.

Last week, I changed the background color again. Unfortunately, I'm already getting sick of the dark green color. In addition, today, I changed some of the links that appear under my face in the right-hand column. Each and every change can't possible be making things better or after four years it'd be pretty-near, damned perfection by now. At least, all the silly text remains unaffected by my tinkering.

Labels: blogging

CHANGE IS GOOD
Every so often, it's good to change the way one works. This is especially true with computers although a switch often feels painful at first. I think it's natural to feel resistance in having to relearn skills. After the initial disorientation, however, one probably barrels though tasks more efficiently. Internet Explorer 7 is a case in point. I've been running it for years now, beginning back when it was just a beta on XP. Now, when I leave the confines of Vista for my work PC, I find it a chore to work with the previous version. All my increased productivity in the new version doesn't help me cope in dealing with the old code.

OUT WITH THE OLD
I've really grown to love the simplicity of the Microsoft's image editing products. The interface seems to match so well to the things I want to do. In fact, it's so easy to touch up digital photos, that almost none touch my Flickr account unedited. I like to think I can take anything out of the camera and make it better. Due to this fact, I felt anger when I first discovered that Microsoft has dropped its Digital Image products.

IN WITH THE NEW
I decided that I had to move on although my old copy of Digital Image Pro works fine on this new computer. As it would no longer be upgraded, I wanted to migrate to a more popular package. Yesterday, I picked up Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 at the BCIT Bookstore. It must be more popular as it can be used as a verb nowadays. As I begin using the product, I'll let you know how much pain is needed for the switch.

Labels: opinions, software

I started daily blogging here in September of 2003. I was keenly interested in seeing what other folks were blogging about. During the very first week, I linked to Ass Be Gone as an example of what things could be done with this media. At that time, there were smartly written entries by two sisters who were having a sibling weight-loss competition. I don't know what the outcome eventually was as it appears as if the site was restarted and then abandoned again.

I've been quietly and unobtrusively adding snippets about my work-in-progress transformation. My very first complaint about my weight occurred in a September 2006 entry which I called, Back to the Future. During vacation the small Sri Lankan bus seats forced me to think seriously about doing something about my expanded girth. In April of this year, I mentioned Having Far to Go, and in June, I suggested that Sometimes Less is Better.



Suddenly, it's the middle of November and I've not said much of late. Therefore, it's a perfect time to brag about buying new Wranglers today. It's not about the 'brand-name-dropping' as I only paid $15 for 'em. I'd like to make public that I bought them with a size-36 waist! Okay, they're a tiny bit tight, but they'll give me a real, continued incentive to lose one kilogram (2.2 lbs) a month right through 2008. I stand to reach my ultimate goal of 80 kilos sometime near next Christmas!

Labels: blogging, weight loss

Some things take a while and getting around to send off a letter of complaint to Eurolines was one such example.  We finally dashed one yesterday to the Brussels headquarters of the company.

You may expect to see lots of quick and easy blog postings during the next ten days.  I will be working without a day off until the 23rd.  This means you may see more cutting and pasting on my eJournal and images for a while.

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Euroline Services
Customer Complaints
Dobbelenberg, Metrologielaan 6
1130, Brussels, BELGUIM

Dear sir/madam:

We travelled on a Euroline 15-day pass in September and October of this year. Please find the enclosed copies.

We’re writing to complain about several situations during our journeys. The information should probably be made known to potential customers.

1) In Bratislava, it was completely impossible to make a reservation on Saturday, September 22^nd at around 10:00 in the morning. Two counter ladies did not speak any English and got angry and rude. We needed to return to the station on another day and fortunately found one person who helped us. There was a charge of 150 SK each for making the reservation.

2) When leaving Bratislava we also were charge 30 SK each to handle the baggage.

3) Upon arriving at the Vienna office we wanted to make reservations for the ongoing trip. We were each changed 4 Euros, although we easily pointed out that the ticket stated there would be no charges for such a service. She said she had no option and suggested we write to you for a rebate.

4) When leaving from Vienna, the Polish bus driver also wanted 5 Euros for very small bags.

Of course we were under the impression that your valid passes were all we needed to travel on your network. Please rebate the extra expenses we were forced to make. We will be posting this on travel web sites and, therefore expect quick resolution.

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Labels: complaints, Eurotrip 2007, transit

What a blustery day! I'm happy there's no class today due to it being a 3-day weekend for many businesses in Canada. The rain and wind started in the middle of the night. The noise woke me up. Even our gas fireplace blows out from the force and angle of the wind. Although it's mid-morning it hasn't let up. So, it is a suitable day just to hang around and watch DVD's, review email, and blog.

Last week, when I discussed games, I talked about old-school arcade machines. I even located an Internet photo of Xenon, the pinball machine for that entry. And wouldn't you know that Bret was able to scrounge up an actual photo from Sunapee, NH! Here's a scanned image from the Harbor Gameroom circa 1980.

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

If you're Canadian chances are you've been on it before. In fact I'd venture that the majority of rural Canadians live within an hour of it. We've pretty much done the whole thing.


This is the Port Mann Bridge as Highway 1 crosses the
Fraser River less than a half dozen kilometers from downtown
New Westminster. Click it to load a live webcam shot.

In actuality, through most of the country, the Trans-Canada comprises several routes. Out west there's Highway 16, or the Yellowhead Highway which runs the Queen Charlottes in British Columbia through Edmonton, Alberta to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Closer to home is Route 1 with Mile 0 in Victoria. It runs though Calgary, Alberta to meet up with the more northerly route in Winnipeg.

There's an entrance to Highway One a few kilometers from here, so I tend to think of that naming designation for the TCH. When we drove to Newfoundland one summer, we were a bit surprised by how different the highway can be. It's pretty much left up to the provinces to build and maintain their portions. So although many sections are like freeways, there are parts where it is similar to a secondary-type road. Also, east of Winnipeg the numbering system goes out the window. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have no Route 1.

Labels: Canada, Fraser River, road trip