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

In New Hampshire, one could get a driver's license at the age of 16. Of course, I did, even though that meant petitioning our school district to let us take Driver's Education as a summer course in the neighbouring town of Newport.

We lived about three miles away from the town of Sunapee and so a 100cc Kawasaki motorcycle replaced a 10-speed bike during my first year on the road. That seemed much better than pedalling even if it meant suiting up in snowmobile attire on cold November mornings. This worked out okay until, at least, the snow actually started flying.

Eventually, my father gave me a junk car. Now, I'm sort of proud to claim that I once drove an early-70's Ford Pinto. It was rather smart of him to give me an underpowered crap car. I see teenaged drivers wrap their pricey, new rice rockets around trees nowadays killing them and their friends. My Pinto had a replacement 1600cc engine we installed during high school shop class. It couldn't make it up the tiniest of hills in fourth gear; consequently, I quickly learned now handle a manual transmission. At 40 a car is dangerous but a little less lethal than one travelling at 80 mph. In retrospect, however, Pintos did become rather infamous for blowing up in rear-end collisions.

I don't think of have a single picture of my first car. I guess I didn't take photos in those days. These two pictures were copied from the Internet. The Net is useful for more than distribution of porn, isn't it?



The colour of these two different cars even matched my Pinto's. That obviously was a popular 1970's tint. It does, in a way, go right along with kitchen decor from That 70's Show, or perhaps they had avacado. I believe this particular Ford hue was called Freudian Gilt as Good Clean Fawn was a little grayer. Oh yeah, I also painted black racing stripes that curled up behind the rear windows. That must've given me at least a 2 mph boost!

As silly teenagers, a group of us still managed to flip it over a stone wall and have it land on it on its roof in the woods. I swear, I wasn't driving but did help to throw all the unopened beer cans from its little trunk far out into the bushes before the police showed up. No one was hurt. Unfortunately, the accident left me without a car during most of my freshman year in college.

Labels: cars, New Hampshire, Sunapee

For a living I teach practical English. All courses taught in my department are grounded in functionality. Each class activity is designed to enhance English skills for use in the fields of business and technology. Nary a figurative nor rhetorical device shall be seen. I guess I do define myself by this role.

Please don't lump me into the same category as others called teachers of English. I feel no absolutely no affinity with those who must impart the intricacies of English as literature as part of their teaching duties. How utterly impractical for all but a precious few!

There are, however, literary parts of me. There are, of course, past parts which help to define me. My knowledge of Robert Frost is due to growing up as a New Englander. My background is a major component as to why I understand the following poem. I'd be hard pressed to find an old stone wall running through a forest around these parts. Yet when I close my eyes, I assuredly picture any back road as a corridor between rocks placed carefully into position decades ago.

Labels: literature, New Hampshire

Of course I ran into the theories of Benjamin Whorf because of my background in linguistics. Although first trained in chemical engineering, in this mid thirties, Whorf went to Yale to study linguistics. During that decade, Benjamin Whorf continued at Yale but as an Anthropology lecturer and never really worked in the field of linguistics. He and fellow academic, Edward Sapir, did have an important contribution in their theory of the Principle of Linguistic Relativity though.

Basically, this idea stems from Whorf's study of the Hopi language and the realization that one's reality is affected by the language one uses. The idea extends to the notion that an individual's thoughts are shaped by the specifics of their language. In the 1940's, Whorf referred to Eskimo languages having seven distinct words for snow.

That statement has erroneously become part of an urban legend. Some accounts now hold the total count in the hundreds. Moreover, there's not a single Eskimo-Aleut language. Lastly, as as my ESL students will attest, there are a number of ways to reference snow in the English language. What actually is the different between sleet and hail?

SNOW

By clicking the big word above, you'll go to my 67 Flickr images which currently have that tag.

Labels: New Hampshire, weather

I was uptown this morning as I had an appointment at the dentists' office. As long as I was already up near 6th and 6th, I walked from the mall to the city library. The collection of DVDs is growing but the discs seldom seem to sit on the shelf for very long. It seems as if hundreds are checked out and returned daily. I picked up Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005).

DVD covers are fairly tricky. They never mention the date on the front cover. I've also noticed the old B&W classics always sport colourful images on the front. This is a tad deceptive, if you ask me. That said, a black and white flick can appear sinfully seductive if care is taken in the restoration and transfer processes. One nearly needs a magnifying glass to see the aspect ratio and sound mixing on most DVD cases.

As long as I was heading to the check out, I also grabbed Lassie -Come Home- (1943) from the shelf too. I popped it in the DVD player upon arriving home. I like something on while I sit at the computer.


I'm with Sandy in Wendell, New Hampshire in the mid-1960's

It seems as if I picked the movie that started all the Lassie-mania It was in colour. This was the version with Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor as mere kids. I found myself truly watching the television much more than my monitor. It started off a little hokey, but had its moments. I don't want to offer a spoiler but, guess what, the dog makes it back to Yorkshire! I'm sure I got emotional only because I probably remember the US television series as a youngster, or it may have been because my childhood dog was a collie. I'd challenge the butchest of you to make it through to the end credits without a least rubbing your eyes a little.

Labels: movies, New Hampshire, Sunapee

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

Earlier this morning, I was looking at the my eJournal and images page which showcases my games label.

I guess I'm now old enough to be a little nostalgic.

I hear about game titles like BioShock in popular media but I've never been much of a first-person shooter. Although it must be said that I had a 22 rifle as a teenager. I even became quite good at skeet shooting with a 12-gauge. These were real life situations with family though. I just cannot seem to get too excited about buying into any of the modern gaming consoles. In fact, my old, original XBOX actually sits in a box.

I was a happy, however, to re-visit an old link I had entered in September 2003. It pointed to www.flippers.com. It seems to be a local Vancouver company and although the guy's no stunning web designer, it's the content that I found so very appealing.

As mentioned here previously, two high-school friends and I had an arcade in our little hometown of Sunapee, NH decades ago. It was the industry's turning point from mechanical to electronic. Pacman, Space Invaders, and Galaxian were fun to play but there was nothing better than the selinoid-thumping, electro-mechanical sounds of a real pinball machine.

I'd own a vintage example today were it not for a 725 sq ft apartment and the $2000 to $3000 price tag for an average setup. I bet it'd be much more for a mint conditon Bally Xenon. After all, that suductive female voice coaxing a player to "try a tube shot" could catipult just about anyone back into one's adolescence. And how much is that worth?

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

I was working on cleaning up my email this morning. You know how things can collect if one neglects staying on top of them. Even though Google Mail gives copious storage, I'm not one to archive just anything. The fact I seldom save messages with large attachments is probably due to the fact it was not common in the old days. I could now go into great detail why it's best to keep email data on the Internet rather than on one's hard disk, but I'll take on that topic in a future entry.

Consequently, because of my aversion to attachments, I had marked one email for clean up but hadn't gotten to it. It arrived from my second cousin who I've not seen since childhood. Marti is a bit of a family archivist and was named after my mother. She scanned several pages of photos and attached them to a message sent to me. That was a long time ago, probably at the beginning of the year. Finally, today I copied off the photos and deleted the message. Those scanned images included the one here.

It is my mother as a young girl. I was trying to figure out where it was taken. I think it may have been on Upper Main Street in Sunapee, NH. That building looks like what was called the Community Store when I was in high school. I believe it has all been torn down. If that was indeed the location, I hope mom had good braking ability on skates. Upper Main Street is very steep. The street runs up to Sunapee Harbor. Most people don't think of having to travel up to a lake, so that bit of geography often confuses visitors and summer tourists.

Labels: Google, Mother, New Hampshire, Sunapee

I'd forgotten about being able to directly add blogger entries by email. Here's a note sent off to Academic and Career Advising at Keene State College, in New Hampshire.

Labels: New Hampshire

And I always have.


Today is nice but I probably won't sit in a water-filled,
rubber boat as I once did.

Labels: New Hampshire

In 1979, I was a sophomore in college. Although only a few hundred miles from Manhattan, little Keene New Hampshire was a world or two away. I didn't see the movie then but The Warriors is now a guilty pleasure.

The film has such a ... well ... indie feel. It also is so analog. I'm coining that term here to mean, 'non-networked'. I mean there were no cell phones for God's sake. If you introduce Verison thirty years hence, the whole premise of the movie falls apart. It really was a simpler time. And the NY subway was rough, scary, and had graffiti. It kinda makes one nostalgic for the good old days!

Labels: analog, movies, New Hampshire, technology

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

This week's page contains a number of photos from the previous week's trip to New Hampshire. I thought I'd round out Saturday with another. Here's a recap of a road trip on February 12th.

We travelled to Concord and then up I-89 to the New London exit. Next, we drove through George's Mills and into Sunapee. The town was cold as a strong wind was blowing. Soon, we followed Rt. 11 and then went on Rt. 103 past the house of my youth to the Mt. Sunapee ski area.

After, we drove through Newport and down Route 10 to the city of Keene. We took a scenic bypass visiting Stoddard NH, a town where my grandmother had a summer cottage. When we eventually walked around Keene State, it was still very cold and windy. (A big big dump of snow occurred on the following day.) I thought it was interesting to see how much my old college campus had changed. I got a BS in Education at KSC. Of course it have changed a lot as I first lived there in the fall of 1977. In the past thirty years, the state has obviously put a lot of money into the college system. Certainly no money has been sent by this alumni though!



After walking around the campus for a half hour, we left and ate a a Friendly's Restaurant. It was then a quick trip back Route 202/101. We didn't stop to see what was going on at the office of The Old Farmers' Almamac in Dublin.

Labels: grandmothers, New Hampshire, Sunapee

This picture was taken last week in Concord NH. I had to go online to look up the name of this building. Last week, we drove to the capital just to see its golden dome. I couldn't find anything under the New Hampshire Legislature, and the NH Capital Building offered no results. Somewhere online tonight, I discovered it is called the New Hampshire House of Representatives or simply the State House.

How had I forgotten all those NH history lessons from grade school? I don't think I'd ever really committed many facts about it to memory. For example, the Legislature moved into the building in 1819 which makes it the oldest one still in use in the US. I don't think anybody ever told me it cost $82,000 to build.

Yet, I did recall one fun fact. The building is witness to the third largest legislature in the English-speaking world. Only the US Congress and the British Parliament have more members.

Labels: New Hampshire

If you do make the trip you might realize how much you've changed though. In fact, I thought I should jot out two important realizations that I learned about us from our recent trip to New Hampshire.

First, we're most suited to urban settings.

I don't know how this happened to a kid from Sunapee. Even when staying down in Manchester NH, with its mall, I kept noticing how rural things were. Cars are an absolute necessity in order to survive. Even in the big city, the bus system doesn't run on Sundays.

In addition, I don't like cold weather anymore.

The locals were saying it had been quite warm through the end of January. The temperature during our week there averaged about negative 15C. About 10 inches of snow fell in southern NH. I like access to occasional winter, but have definitely been spoiled by the years away from New England. I'd hate to live where the winters are real.

I grew up in Sunapee, NH but winter there wouldn't seem
to suit me now.

Labels: New Hampshire

Ah ... there's no bed like home's.

Flying back was nothing out of the ordinary. United managed to screw up bags in Chicago by changing gates at the last minute, and we spent an extra hour in the plane as a result of it. That meant we got into Vancouver after public transit had ended. We took an airport taxi to New Westminster to the tune of $40. We didn't get to the apartment until 1:15 am.

The weather at 10C seems warm. (Indeed it is 20C warmer than we experienced for a week.) Fish and hamster are fine. I had checked the fish regularly from here while in New Hampshire.

Lots of catch up on with the computer, food, housecleaning, and getting ready for a brand-new batch of students tomorrow.


The rental car we turned in at the aiport didn't look quite
as good as when we rented it due to running on New Hampshire
roads in the winter.

Labels: flying, New Hampshire

We're up. We'll be visiting my dad, eating a big lunch, and getting on a United plane to Chicago at about 5:00. We should be back at YVR at about 11:00 tonight. I will add more information here on Sunday.

Labels: New Hampshire

Maybe it's living out west where distances are far, or maybe it's just growing up, but everything in New England seems so close. Distances that I once thought were vast now don't seem so.

After breakfast this morning, we went one exit up 293 to I-93 south. We were in the center of Boston in 45 minutes. We exited right into the financial district. Parking underground Post Office Square was easy and allowed us to go up and walk around for a half hour. I don't think I've been as cold many times in my life. I guess it's because I didn't have a toque or gloves on. The wind was blowing off the harbor and down into the small streets. The sun was warming but generally the buildings hid it.



We were back a little after noon and stopped by a Subway restaurant.

We went up to the hospital later in the afternoon. Actually, we arrived as they were preparing meals. Dad talked a lot today but I'm not sure if he really understands the seriousness of his illness. He prides himself on his independence and it's going to be tough for him to fathom he's lost a lot of it.

Labels: New Hampshire

I have a story from this morning that will probably move from being annoying to funny with the passing of enough time. We got going fairly quickly this morning. The sky was clear blue and the newly fallen snow was still pristine. Upon actually getting out of the hotel's front door we felt the nip. The wind was blowing at about 20 miles and hour with the temperature around 15F. It sure looked lovely though.

The snow on the car had to be scraped off. I opened the door and started the engine knowing that it'd be a while before things warmed up inside. We popped open the trunk to put a few things inside then slammed it shut. The snow and ice brushed off the car pretty quickly. Then, I tried to open the door and it had locked. This car automatically locks all the doors after a few minutes on the road. The car was running so it assumed we were on our way somewhere. We had only one key. It and the key chain were inside the running car. The heater was on full. The car was sealed shut.

I called the airport rental company as the airport is only a mile or so away. My car had Massachusetts tags and they had no other keys for it in Manchester. They suggested I call a tow truck company that opens locks. The tab would be my problem. I asked the front desk and got a phone number. I called and was told someone would be able swing by. During my second call, twenty minutes later, I was told it might take up to another hour. They were really busy digging and pulling cars out of ditches.

I went back out to the car. I happened to check how tightly closed the driver's side window was. I could push it down a half inch. So, I went to ask for a coat hanger and bend and turned. It was fairly easy to pull up the door locks in a few minutes. Why had we sat nearly an hour in the lobby? Surely, this whole incident will seem more humourous after a while.

For a few hours we drove around to see New England winter scenes. We ate at a buffet in Concord. In the afternoon, I dropped Jay off at the YMCA. He was able to use the facilities because of his Vancouver employee card. I visited with my dad in the afternoon. I was surprised to find him taking a nap when I arrived.

Labels: New Hampshire

I think rugged New Hampshirites have become a bunch of wimps over the years I've been away. Today, there is a little storm brewing. It started snowing lightly around midnight this morning. Schools were called off. Many people didn't go to work today. The local TV channel is providing coverage on special edition programs. There's barely six inches on the ground! Maybe it's because they haven't seen a good nor'easter in a long while.

You do have to realize that it's 12:30 pm and we're just sitting in the hotel room though. We ventured out earlier and found the roads a little slick. In fact, I couldn't make it up the hill to the hospital where my dad is. We came back. Although the major arteries are kept clear, there's no place to go. Even driving around wouldn't be too much fun as the visability is so low. It looks like this is going to be a pretty boring afternoon.

Labels: New Hampshire

It was bitterly cold out today. Well, 14 degrees Fahrenheit sure seems cold to me now, especially when the winds blow across my face or fingers.

Today, we didn't do much other than visit with my dad. Luckily, I happened there on the day when there was a patient meeting. In the board room, there were representatives from physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing. The case worker, and a clergy member were also present. Diane, arrived down for the meeting and dad himself attended.

It was good to be involved in the briefing.

Everyone was quite happy with his progress. Most stroke victims improvement comes within the first three months. After this initial period the progress may continue but at a slower and less noticeable rate. I was happy to hear that he really is quite mobile compared to when he arrived at the program here. We initially met him at the end of his occupational therapy where he was doing 'find the hidden word' puzzles. I don't think he ever really like that kind of thing when he was well. He's at a point where he forgets some recent things but older memories have returned and remain well intact.

His major concern is that he is not getting enough therapy as he wants to get well quickly and get out of there. Socializing with strangers doesn't strike him as a useful way to spend time. He'd rather be outdoors doing something.

Most reassuring was the fact they tentatively set another one of these sessions after three months. This means it'll be at least May before any sort of discharge or move is considered. Everyone seems extremely nice and very accommodating. The people present at the hospital seem to totally enjoy my dad's weird sense of humour.



(I'm keeping the posts stamped in Vancouver time, so you have to add an additional three hours to calculate when I was at the keyboard in New Hampshire.)

Labels: New Hampshire

We're back at the hotel for a little rest. Last night we returned to the hospital and found my dad playing bingo. We chatted for a while then came back to the hotel with a little booty from a supermarket. After eating, we slept for about ten hours.

This morning, it was nice to shower and stumble down for a SuperStart PLUS breakfast. Then hearing that it was going to be mostly sunny, decided to drive around NH. There seems to be a big storm brewing that might dump quite a bit of snow on Wednesday. Therefore, it made sense to go today. I wanted Jay to see where I grew up. So we headed to Concord and walked around the State Legislature. Then we took I-89 to the exit for Sunapee. It didn't take much time to drive around the harbor, Lower Main Street, and out to Wendell. Well, the area used to be called Wendell back when there was a post office there. It's about 3 miles from town. Some things have changed but not a great deal. As Mt. Sunapee glistened so brightly we took a trip there and watched all the skiers sliding down the mountain, many of them on their butts.



After, we went to Newport but decided not to eat at Village Pizza although it was in the same place it was in the 1970's. The town's department store apparently couldn't complete with Claremont though as it was empty.

Then I thought rather than retracing any steps we'd go down Route 10 to Keene, NH. For another trip down memory lane, we went via Stoddard, NH. My grandmother had a summer cottage and as kids we used to spend time there during summers. After finally getting into Keene, we stopped and walked around my old campus at Keene State College. It must be twice the size it was when I attended. Yet, come to think of it, I did start there 30 years ago this upcoming September! We ate a very late lunch at a Friendly's Family Restaurant.

We came back via 202 and 101 to Manchester and were here before 5:00 pm.

We'll spend this evening in my dad. He seems to be in very good condition. There's no indication that his right side had been weak. He is pretty good at remembering things. I had no idea he knew how old I was even before any stroke. He told me I was 47. I suppose it's possible he did a little 'homework' before my arrival!

Labels: New Hampshire, road trip, Sunapee

The airport itself is really big nowadays. I recall having to pull off my own luggage and lug it into the terminal in the 1980's. Now the airport is enormous!

I'm typing this from the hotel in Manchester. Because we arrived here before 10:30 am, we couldn't check in directly. We drove around a bit. We discovered the location of the hospital and popped in already to see my dad.

We also drove around a little. We'd not eatten since Seattle unless you count the United pretzels. So, we found a Chinese buffet with lots of seafood. Upon returning back, we checked in and slept for almost three hours.

That's why it's 5:44 local time. We'll probably stop back to see my dad later this evening.

Labels: New Hampshire

The end of a course is always hectic. This one is ever more so, as we'll be heading off on Saturday.

Today, my class will finish up their oral presentations. I have mentioned these many times in this blog. It is nice to sit and watch each student closely for ten minutes. This is something that rarely happens during normal classes.

Tomorrow, the three-hour final exam finishes at 5:00 pm. I will need to correct them and post final grades by Saturday at noon. We need to go to YVR in the afternoon in order to catch a 3-stop journey to New Hampshire.


In my mind, I still picture my dad as in this 20-year old photo. It
was taken when he came along on a cross-country car trip to Seattle WA
when I was attending grad school there. I am sure that seeing him in
the rehab hospital after last month's stroke, is going to be a bit shocking.

Labels: New Hampshire

I now have a Yahoo identification for Flickr. I use Hotmail to sign onto Expedia. Additionally, I log on to quite a few services with a Google account.

In fact, I cannot imagine why a single computer with Internet access wouldn't have Google Earth loaded. Now at version 4, it seems to be getting better and better. You can easily fly around the entire world for free!



Next weekend, we're going by real airplane to Manchester, New Hampshire. My dad seems to be doing fairly well in a rehab hospital there. On the phone, he sounds as though he's made a great deal of progress in the last month. Although still occasionally confused, he is looking forward to seeing me. I'm very glad I waited to fly out. I believe it's good that he's been able to count down the days to my visit. In the image above, I found the location of the Super 8 near the airport where we'll stay. If we travelled more upscale, we wouldn't be able to travel around so far and so often.

I haven't been in Manchester since I was a kid. It's about 50 miles from my hometown of Sunapee and about halfway to Boston, Massachusetts. My family used to frequently drive to Manchester to go shopping. Those were in the days before much in the way of shopping was available in Claremont or West Lebanon, NH.

Labels: Google, New Hampshire

EFFICIENT USE OF TIME
It seems as if I just got stated with my present students. This Thursday, however, we will have the midterm exam. Then, on February 9th, we'll complete the final. I've said it before, I'm sure, but I'm very impressed with the students in our program. They can make a vast improvement in their writing skills in a mere 84 hours. Maybe all this progress shouldn't be so hard to believe. After all, I am their teacher!

SAME FLIGHTS, DIFFERENT WEBSITE
The free week which follows means Jay and I will have just enough time to scoot to New Hampshire. My father's stroke was three weeks ago and I am anxious to see how he's doing in person. Today, he is being moved to Manchester into a rehabilitation program. I've already bought air tickets on www.expedia.com. Interestingly, the prices, after taking the exchange rates into consideration, were about CA $90 more on the Canadian site for the same flights. I'd never run into this before, but I was able to quickly complete my transaction on the U.S. site.

The only online picture I have of Manchester NH, is an old, self-developed B&W image that accompanied a college report on New England textile mills in the 1880's. It shows company row housing.

AIRPORT ALPHABET SOUP
In order to give me time to correct the final exams and turn in the official marks, we will leave Vancouver (YVR) in the evening on Saturday, February 10th. The cheapest flights mean we get to see the airports in Seattle (SEA) and Washington, DC (IAD) before touching down at the regional airport in Manchester (MHT). A mere six nights later, we'll be heading back here but with just one stopover in Chicago (ORD).

Labels: flying, New Hampshire, travel planning

It's been a bit tough deciding whether to fly back to New Hampshire to visit my father right now. He is still in Dartmouth Hospital after his recent stroke. At least, after some initial trouble, my sister got out there. She is able to stay with him during hospital hours and we frequently talk. I'm also getting better at text messaging! She is wonderfully motherly when the need arises.

I figure that my father's recovery is going to be very long and probably not very complete. They haven't moved him to a rehab facility as it's proving a bit tough getting his blood pressure under control. Yet, rather than running there right now, I assume it would be better if I go in about a month. That will give him something to which to look forward. The way I presently contract my teaching duties means that I will have off the week from February 10 to 17. I hope that timing works out to be perfect.

Labels: New Hampshire, travel planning

My sister lives in Iowa. We've spent more time on the phone over the last 48 hours than in the previous four years. Our father's stroke came as a surprise as I suppose they always do. His wife has been good in letting me know what is happening. I called the hospital in New Hampshire yesterday and spoke with him. His speech and right side have been affected. He's doing better though and will most probably be moved from the hospital at Dartmouth to a rehab hospital in Concord today.

Both my sister and I feel a bit out of the loop and she really wanted to see about things. She's presently a student nurse and much more capable than I in figuring out the medical implications. She got one week of leave this morning. We were on the phone and simultaneously on the Net at 6:30 this morning. We made arrangements for the plane tickets, car rental, and Western Union cash. She's leaving this afternoon. I trust that she'll be able to sort through things. She'll let me know if she thinks I should go out there immediately, or if I should wait to spend a vacation week I have coming in the middle of February.

One has so many emotions during a period such as this. I seem keenly aware of this perhaps because I generally have zero stress in my daily life.

Labels: New Hampshire

One cannot help but take stock of things on the last day of December. We know that this calendar switch it is just an accounting procedure due to timekeeping. One cannot, however, help but do a bit of reflection before the advent of a new year. I've contemplated just what sort of things should go into a publicly-available blog. I have decided that I can sometimes write entries just for myself. Today's is one such time.

I am being even more reflective right now, as I received news yesterday that my father has had a stroke. Before making any decision about what steps I might take, I'm waiting to hear from his wife in New Hampshire as she will call with an update later today. This has, of course, reminded me that he has now lived for 25 years after my mother's death.

These are the type of things which we can witness everyday and know they are inevitable. We know they will eventually happen to us. Rather than making me sad though; this is making me feel quite indebted and thankful about my situation and opportunity to experience life. Our time here is precious. I'll think of that when putting up a new calendar.

Labels: New Hampshire

This old Kodak instant picture was very scratched. My mother's handwriting indicated it was the Christmas of 1978. I honestly doubt that the knit hat returned to college with me.

Labels: Christmas, New Hampshire

The e-doors are closing on a bit of history.



My decision to stop working on the high school email directory was a bit slow in coming. Sometimes we, as people, continue things merely because we are used to doing them. My volunteer work on the Virtual Sunapee Reunion website lasted over eight years. That is quite a chunk of time. The site was started the year the Monica Lewinsky scandal hit the newspapers. A current senior at the SMHS was in fourth grade. More frighteningly, should I live to be 80 years old, these eight years will represent 10% of my life.

I appreciate all those who've participated over the years. I'm most pleased with those of you who used to update regularly. Lastly, a special word of thanks must go to the free hosting offered by the folks at www.nhvt.net.

---

I'd also like to take a moment to add the members who were current as of the final day of operation. They are:

2000-2006 Julie Bradford, Sasha Chait, Ashley T Esclavon, Dan Gonyea, Julie Heath, Kat Hudkins, Jolene Menard, Katrina Taylor

1990-1999 Joseph Abraham, Michael Abraham, Mindy Atwood, Christopher Barrett, Christine Frederick, Jaime W Godin, Matthew Hanson, Craig Heino, Lisa Kelley, Dustin Laro, Michael Murgatroy, Carrie Joaquin-Ocampo, Jennifer Oles, Steven Oles, Jennifer W Peck, Diana Perry, Matthew Simmons, Dan Smith, Pete Stevenson, Kate Sullivan, Megan J Williams

1985-1989 Beth Alstrom, Matt Andrus, Catherine I Ayer, Michele Couitt, Heidi C Currier, Kristi Curtis, Karen C Gates, Rebecca M Goetz, Wendy Lippincott, Dean Miller, Wendy S Sommers, Brette Twardosky, Sandy S Warren, Shelley P Wells

1982-1984 Lynda Lee D Addonizio, Maureen M Brandon, Theresa C Brush, Brenda E Cabral, Kim Cousens, Donnie Duling, Gary Gagnon, Angel G McAllister, Billie L Medoff, Carrie "Bali" Smith, Ellen K Wirta, Michele N Wood

1980- 1981 Michael Ansart, Jim Britton, Wendy Britton, Scott Dickinson, Liz I Hoar, Joseph Internicola, Lee Ann B Maroni, Dale Morrow, Annie C Potash, Kathy B Ross, Andrew Trombley, Mark Wirta

1978-1979 Randy Buswell, Janet G Butler,Cindy M Chaves, Kent Dickinson, Tim Fortier, Carl Gissler, Renee G Lecaroz, Aaron Simpson, Lynne B Thomas, Allison D Touchette, Daniel Trombley, Bob Wagner

1977 Paul Appleby, Marla Binzel, Christopher Ellis, Candy W Fuller, Dennis Hurd, Richard Kelly, Mitch Latva, Joanne N Menard, Marion C Quintas, Sherry Simms, Susan N Stocklan, Joel Thomas, Donna A Timme, Bret Wirta, Cindy B Yeager

1970-1976 William Boyce, Steven Butler, Charlotte S Clay, Robert C Ferguson, April W Freeman, David Fuller, Will Odell, Leslie Powers, Gail H Raymond, Susan Sargent,
Joanne A Stevens,

1940-1969 Bob Buswell, Chester Cheney, Charlie Colcord, Jim Cooke, Jerry Hackett, Patricia P Kosowicz, Linda C Nutting, Arthur Partridge, David Rich, Ellsworth Ruggles, David Tompkins

FACULTY Laura Davis, Anna Duke, Bill Gauthier, Karen Gosselin, Ken Greenbaum, Frank Hammond, Daniel Hudkins, Richard C Leone, Wendy Nolin, Alan Peterson, Patricia Rude.

Thank you all!

Labels: Bret, Joel, New Hampshire, Sunapee

The Internet has everything, or so I thought. I'd never before been able to come up with a topic on which I couldn't find copious amounts of information.

I was recently admiring satellite views of the world through Google Earth. Back when personal computers were new and I worked overseas, I used to collect pirated software. In the Gulf, in the eighties, there were no avenues to purchase authentic copies. I was reminded of a very early program I once used. A company called BlueSky Software once created IBM-compatible software called PC Globe.

I came up nearly empty on the Internet. I only discovered a bit about the company and the titles they produced but very little about when the specific piece of software in question was released. What I really want to see is a view of the, then state-of-the-art, CGA graphics that it boasted. Suddenly I remembered, I could double check on PC Globe by looking at my Software Games from 1989 pdf. Unfortunately, the 5 1/4 inch bendable floppy disc I was thinking about is not listed there at all.

It's a bit sad to think that something created within the last twenty years can vanish so completely. This is especially poignant as computers are what the Internet is all about. I've been unsuccessful in my search. Please drop me a line if you know anything about BlueSky's PC Globe. I volunteer to be a resource and will even write up an entry for Wikipedia!



Today, it's possible to even zoom in on the very neighbourhood where I grew up. I'm 5,000 kilometers from that location and maybe that adds to the romanticism of being able to look where my feet trod over 45 years ago.

Labels: computers, games, Google, Internet, New Hampshire, software

As I kid I lived in New Hampshire where colour erupted on most trees at this time of year. Some years were, of course, better than others. Generally though, the autumn foliage season was an event enough to have became a part of my experience. I can almost smell the earthy odor as one kicked up newly-fallen, wet leaves after school.

Then, I moved to the deserts of the Persian Gulf. I lost the seasonal markers and the memory of the splashes of red, yellow, and orange. I no longer saw trees getting ready for a frozen winter. In addition, I forgot the association between falling leaves and an academic year.

Ten years ago, we arrived in Canada. I was a bit disappointed by our first British Columbian fall. The landscape is awe-inspiring, don't get me wrong. It's just that I had expected more in the way of a flashy, end-of-summer show. Many of the natural trees are conifers. Maples, due to their national status, are planted along urban pathways but we just don't have the weather to kick start them into brilliance.



Now however, I perceive enough of a change to satisfy my needs for youthful recollection.

Labels: New Hampshire

I have about ten great ideas each day for new blog entries. Then, when push comes to shove, or, more accurately, fingers to keyboard, I can't remember any of 'em. So, in order to cope, I run to find something to scan.

Here's a wrinkled bit of long ago from a newspaper clipping. The Argus Champion was the weekly paper of the next-door town. Sunapee, New Hampshire had no local newspaper while Newport, NH did. This picture was taken in Newport anyway as that's where my family used to go to church.

The photo's caption reads: OLD_FASHIONED PAINTING BEE on Aug. 18 drew more than 20 persons to the First Baptist Church parsonage. Shown scraping and painting on porch roof, left to right, are Susan Spear, Larry Ellis and Dennis Hurd. The Rev. Richard A. Wallace, pastor, announced another painting bee for tonight.

This clipping, like most from my grandmother Osgood had no date. I am, therefore, simply estimating this to be August of 1968. It's not a very clear, but; hey, it's about 38 years old which is a lot for newsprint. Click the clipping to see the full-sized pdf.

Labels: grandmothers, New Hampshire, scanned

On Monday, I included a Google Earth screen capture of Jay's house in Sri Lanka. If plans go well we should be there in about a month. We've yet to purchase air tickets yet though.

Today, I thought I might include the center of what I shall always consider my home town. Although there's no satellite image from thirty years ago, apparently not much changes in Sunapee, New Hampshire.



I chose this image from an altitude in which you could see Lower and Upper Main Street. A bit of Sunapee Harbor is to the right. (The actual lake is about nine miles long and is surrounded by several other towns.) Both schools are visible. The smaller white roof near the town's name is the elementary school and the larger white image to the left of the image is Sunapee's Jr./Sr. High School. The major roads include Route 11 running off to the left and 103B which heads south in the center of the image.

Labels: Google, New Hampshire, Sunapee

Here's a screenshot of The Virtual Sunapee Reunion.



For many years, I've been keeping track of alumni from my former high school. The VSR site itself has a blog that helps to track changes. Each person can add text and photos to a customized page. Keeping things running also involves sending out monthly newsletters. I do this so that I can determine those participants who abandon an email address without informing me.

I'm surprised by how few people create web-based materials. Most of the world are just consumers I guess. Every once in a while I'm reminded that my combination of skills are, indeed, rare.

It is a bit odd, I manage this site even though Sunapee, New Hampshire is more than 5,000 kilometers from here. It all boils down to the fact we all use the same Internet!

Labels: Internet, New Hampshire, Sunapee

Labels: Christmas, New Hampshire

One grandfather died when my mom was a girl. My father's father passed away when I was three or four years old. Yet, I did grow up knowing both grandmothers.

My maternal grandmother, whom we called Nana, worked as a telephone operator for years. She was affected by the technological development of Ma Bell. First, she worked locally. Then, she had to travel to the next town for work. Finally, over her time with the one-time monopoly, she ended up commuting quite a distance from Sunapee, New Hampshire. These changes occurred because of the development and regional addition of call-switching equipment.

This photo and small article were part of an in-house publication at a time close to her retirement. She was working in Claremont, New Hampshire in 1969. As well as Nana and a very scary Santa, I am in the photo with my sister, a cousin, and a neighbour girl. You may click the image to load a very hefty PDF copy of it.

Labels: grandmothers, New Hampshire, Sunapee

One third of a century ago, I couldn't have known I'd someday be able to digitize the slide-film image I was taking. I don't think the possibility that everyone would have a small, computer appliance had crossed my mind. The fact, this very image can be viewed the world over because of a digital information network, may now seem unremarkable. Yet, this would've been a stretch of most everyone's imagination in 1972.



Captain Kirk, although in charge of an immense and powerful ship, couldn't have done this sort of thing. Still, our cell phones do now look a lot like his communicator.

Labels: New Hampshire, scanned

At around the time I was a teenager in New Hampshire, many towns were celebrating their bicentennials. It has dawned on me that I grew up surrounded by 200 years of history. That ain't much by world standards. Much of the planet's population lives in places that have seen many hundreds or even thousands of years of history. I've written about this here before.

Still, towns back East are still much older than where I'm living now. When I first came west, I think I was aware of the fact that not much was old. I mean nobody lives in houses that date from the early 1800's as they might well do back near my childhood home. This photograph was taken at the bicentennial celebrations of Stoddard, NH in 1974.


My mother, Nana, Aunt Betty, and cousin Janet.

Labels: grandmothers, Mother, New Hampshire

Blog entries don't really have to follow a topic to completion. Sometimes, I use them as a means to work on documenting life. So, here's a bit of history. The inclusion today stems from two factors: I've been talking about last month's European trip for days and days; furthermore, I have a whole suitcase of photos and memorabilia to eventually chronicle.

Here's an article I sent to the Argus-Champion. It was a little, weekly newspaper published in the neighbhouring town of my youth in New Hampshire. The good thing about this small town newspaper was they were always looking for filler. Here's a PDF copy of my filler that recounts a previous trip to Europe. It was my first time in Italy in 1987. (Click the screenshot to load a new browser window for the PDF file.)

Labels: New Hampshire

If you've ever followed this blog before, you know that it does not contain news. I don't comment on news either. I think people who have nothing better than rehash current events, should get out of the house and do something.

This might lead you to believe that the blog is simply a diary of day's events. Well, that wouldn't be quite right either.

The entries in my eJournal and images contain my ideas and very often my past. It's nice to have experience enough to share. Honestly, some personal blogs run towards the 'what I had for dinner and what I think of my boss' variety. Good for them! We all must learn to accept what we see in the mirror. Their lives aren't boring to them, I'm sure.

For me, this space is definitely vanity press. After all, I have lots of things to recount. In keeping with that thought, I had a few extra minutes yesterday. I'm not working again until the mid-fall courses start up at the end of October.

As I've been rattling on about images all week, now's not the time to change. I was searching the photo suitcase for something to scan and feed to flickr. It may someday contain a complete database of my personal images. It's really an intriguing concept. Some year I will command, "Network, find me an image of us in front of Buckingham Palace during the September we travelled to London." Will it be able to locate a photograoh from 2005?

I came across a black and white photo in very poor condition. It had no dates but the words: George, Dennis, and Bill were written along the front, lower edge. I suddenly remembered about FRESH AIR KIDS. I was, of course, only about four years old in the photo, and didn't know much about the program except for George. Thankfully, in this day and age, a Net search can provide a background to most topics. I located information on The Fresh Air Fund. I wonder where George is now.

Labels: Flickr, New Hampshire, scanned, Sunapee

Mr. Ken Greenbaum, went to Sunapee, NH with a freshly minted teaching degree. At a mere 22 years old, he ended up teaching 5th grade. I was a student in his 5th grade class in 1969/70. Now the 11 years between our ages are't nearly as much . . . at least as a percentage. (If that's not mathematically correct, then blame him for my weak skills.)



I met Ken and his wife in Vancouver yesterday. They had come to town a few nights early. At 5:00 pm they departed on a Princess cruise ship bound for Alaska. Although they had seen much of the city because of a whirlwind tour on Sunday, we walked to Gastown. I'd like to thank the Greenbaums for picking up the cheque for lunch at 'The Spaghetti Factory'. The next time they're in town, it'll be my treat.

Labels: Alaska, New Hampshire, Sunapee

Although I spent the first 22 years of my life in New Hamsphire, I had to look on the Internet to find when the fall foliage seasons are.

• weather.com - Northeast US Normal Fall Peaks

Labels: New Hampshire, weather

It's nice to have summer visiting us. I love a day without clouds.

Now, the only problem is that I will be teaching today. I've seldom taught on July 23rd. I can be sure of this fact as it's my birthday today. I don't ever remember having taught on my birthday before. This is how I used to spend the summers!

I will keep adding a few shots like this every week until I make a noticeable dent in the photo box that dad sent. Maybe I should find something where I'm wearing a shirt, at least! After all, my eJournal and images is public.

Labels: New Hampshire, weather

After a hard day teaching, preparing for Sunday's entry generally means dipping into a box of pictures that dad was kind enough to send parcel post.

Here's a precious one, well before my sister came along. Considering the clothes, we were probably at a holiday dinner at my Great Aunt's house in Methuen, Massachusetts. Olive was my grandmother's sister and she married George Krikorian. They moved to Florida when they were still quite young and spent years working and throughout their retirement there. I believe I recall hearing stories that they met in a TB sanitarium. What was that all about? Olive and George both passed on during the decade of the 1990's.



From the photo, just my dad and I are still alive and kicking. Here, my grandmother was to the left and appears quite young. Look at the hairdo and frames my mother was wearing; this was obviously the 1960's! My dad looked a bit bored but somebody must've told me I was quite the handsome and photogenic young