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

Jay and my car near Taif, Saudi Arabia at the time of this letter.

I'm in one of those moods. Rather than actually think today, I'll use this space to paste in some old textual documentation from the past. This was the copy of a letter sent to my dad. Unfortunately I don't write much to my father nowadays. I do, however, have plenty of former correspondence. I put a whole mess of old data on a double-layer DVD for safe keeping.

This seems an appropriate time to include the following letter. It was written 22 years ago on my first DOS computer. At this time, I had switched from WordStar to the amazing floppy disc version of WordPerfect V4. I was most probably still writing on a monochrome monitor or perhaps I had upgraded to CGA. The IBM compatible PC was purchased in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but I was writing from my TOCC&S BOQ room in Taif. I cannot quite remember anything about the topic here. I don't have any idea of what I was planning in a half year's time. Maybe I should have kept a journal too!

---

Siyanco SOCP 06
Box R - 168
APO, New York 09017

Dear Dad,

I just got your letter of January 18th where you mentioned about a Dodge truck for sale. Well, I had never really considered one of those. (The only thing that I could relate to was the old rust bucket of a 3/4 ton that you owned for a while.) Actually, a half ton wouldn't be too bad. I do have faith in slant sixes. My wagon had near a grand on it, and it was still purring at 35K. (And the plugs are so easy to change!) Vehicles don't seem to rust out in Seattle, which is rather strange because it is a l w a y s raining! No, salt on the roads, I guess. So if the body is good, why not?

$2,200 sounds like a pretty good deal for it's age. If you had $2000 in cash, do you think he'd accept it? Oh, one question: Is it a stepside or fleetside? I don't even know if I've ever seen a stepside Dodge truck, but I don't like them. I definitely would want the extra room that the regular style body would hold. I'd be planning to put on a cap then sleep and camp in the back sometimes.

If you think it'd be a safe vehicle to roam out to the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest in, then I think it sounds like the right buy for me. I don't know how long it might stay in Avery's lot, but if you could take a "snapshot" picture of it, then I could see it too. (Is it under 5 feet of snow?)

Remember, there's no real rush, as I won't be needing a truck for nearly half a year. But if you think the forementioned one will suit my needs, then I can send you a check immediately. Do you expect that any better deals could come along?

Anyway, everything here is O.K. Work, sleep, and eat, you know how it is. Take care, and I'll be waiting to hear from you.

---

Labels: file archives, Saudi Arabia

I guess this blog is doing what it's supposed to do.

First, it allows me to publish at least one of the fleeting thoughts that race though my brain every day. An entry might contain a comment about an event of the day, or it may hold my perceptions of some past event. I think the cultivation of a daily habit can be, in itself, a worthy goal.

More importantly, my blog allows me to keep my name 'out there' on the Internet. Making changes keeps those search engines coming back to snoop around. I like the idea of being able to find personally-sanctioned information about someone. During this week alone, I've been contacted twice unexpectedly. First, I had a message from a person who once worked overseas with former colleague. The individual searched for the name Don Richardson and wound up being directed to this blog. Our e-mail give and take was interesting as there were a number of ex-colleagues whom we had in common. In addition, just today I received a message from a cousin. That may not sound very special; however, we've not heard from each other for at least 30 years.

Labels: blogging

It was just a picture taken without much planning over twenty-five years ago. I didn't know the guy in the photo nor was the location anyplace special. I recall thinking it was interesting and once enlarged it to an 8" x 10" wall photo after I left Kuwait. Then, I didn't see it for a few decades. At the end of October 2005, I scanned this particular copy from a piece of aging 3.5" x 5" photo paper.

Interestingly, today it is my third most-viewed Flickr image. So much life has gone on since I pressed that shutter. I seldom think about the two years I taught in Kuwait at this point in my life. Yet, the popularity of this photo prompted me to say a few words about it in my eJournal and images.

Labels: Flickr, Kuwait

It's a really good thing that one grows older just one day at a time. It'd be quite a shock if one were to have a mirror which showed our image ten or twenty years down the road. The fact those wrinkles develop so slowly is a real blessing. There's nothing better than meeting the future in tiny increments. As common wisdom maintains, growing older is enormously better than the alternative.

I never took a supplements until a few years ago. Who'd have thought that at this stage in my life, my breakfast would start by swallowing the following:

Coated Aspirin: 325 mg

Fenofibrate: 200 mg

Fish Oil: 1000 mg

Folic Acid: 2 mg

Hydrochlorothiazide: 25 mg

Multivitamin: 1 tablet

Niacin: 2500 mg

Vitamin D3: 1000 IU

Zinc: 25 mg

It's little wonder I do not eat a big breakfast anymore!

Labels: food

On a clear day in the winter when the mountains are boldy watching over Vancouverites, I like being on the road. Of course when heading to work at 12:15 pm, there are few vehicles competing for space on Canada Way.

Everybody feels they're a better driver than others on the road. While others think so, I really am. With over 70,000 miles on the truck, I still have original brakes. With a stick shift it's easy to drive economically. We should introduce the concept of green driving. It'd include simple things like avoiding jack-rabbit starts. For God's sake if people would look beyond their own front bumper, it'd be easy to drive in a safer, more eco-friendly manner. There's really no need to speed toward a traffic light which has just turned red.

Most of the people I share the road with are idiots.

Labels: opinions, Ranger

Last May, we went to Los Angeles for the first time. It was interesting and I'm glad we went, Yet if given the choice between spending a week in NYC or LA, I'd say we would opt for the former. Still, there are nice advantages to having the huge western neighbour just down the coast.



Rather than the glitz of Hollywood, we're using Long Beach as our jump-on point for next month's Mexican cruise. Contrary to popular wisdom, it is possible to get around the LA area on transit. In fact, as we're flying down plenty early, we plan on getting from LAX to the Long Beach Carnival terminal by transit. I am so thankful for Google Earth so we can nearly try it out in advance ... virtually.

Labels: Google, Los Angeles, travel planning, YouTube

I'm not going to set any speed records today. Yet, there's something cool about not touching the keyboard. Windows Vista has speech recognition built right inside. I purchased cheap headphones at Staples yesterday. I went there in order to buy a some DVD labels. I'm not quite sure why paper labels cost nearly as much as the discs themselves. Anyway, wearing this headset and microphone is giving me the chance to try something new.

I will probably not rely on dictation as a normal means of blog entry. I type about 50 words per minute so my fingers are faster than my mouth. (There are, however, many people who may believe my mouth would always come out the winner.) The entire process of trying to verbalize an idea in order to make it hit the screen, seems quite odd. I'm sure that vastly different parts of my brain are at work.

The software seems quite adept at being able to navigate the Windows environment. How cool it is to simply say, "Internet Explorer" and "gmail" and have the request appear on the screen automatically. It's a little magical but, in the long run, it's probably not very practical.

Labels: blogging, computers, Windows