When in Our Twenties

Most everybody enjoys seeing old photographs from their past. I feel as if images may be more important to me than to others. I don't know of any people who have made taking an ordinary photograph a daily part of life. If it weren't for flickr, I probably wouldn't have been clicking at least once a day for the last 3.6 years.

Still, there are certain older photographs I've uploaded to flickr that are so familiar that I think of them as helping to define me. I couldn't believe that the following one has never shown up on my eJournal and images blog. The paper image is 23 years old having been taken in 1986. It was snapped during my very first trip to Sri Lanka. At the time both Jay and I were under contract at the Taif Army Ordinance Corp in Saudi Arabia. We were relaxing at the house in Minuwangoda wearing sarongs. There's no way I would be able to fit in that New Hampshire t-shirt were it still around today.

An Example of Why I'd Like Less of It

Governments simply don't have to be efficient.

I am in the middle of readying taxes on my computer. I thought that before I hit the button to submit the electronic return, I'd check to see if the Canada Revenue Agency had my correct bank account information. I'm due for a bit of my hard earned money back and I wanted to make use of direct deposit. This task involved logging onto www.cra.ga.ca/myaccount. Of course, I did not take the time to jot down my account information the last time. That was a whole year ago but I can hardly chalk this up to government inefficiency, can I? So, I had to re-create a government e-pass.

Reactivating involves entering a few short pages of data. I didn't take long. However Canada Revenue is set up to work with the separate, mega-interdepartmental e-pass information. The problem is every time I tried to use my new e-pass the site would either time out, or I'd be sent back to a re-logon page. Users need specific CRA authentication, even with a a valid e-pass. Unfortunately, the whole process seems about as clear and intuitive as mud.

If a private company were this inefficient it'd go out of business, but there's little chance of this happening with the federal government. There is simply no reason to be efficient when you're the only game in town.

More a Disagreement Than War

On my home PC, my browser of choice is Firefox. I was thinking about running Chrome on my netbook, but have defaulted to the release candidate of IE8 for XP. I don't bother playing with any of the alternatives. The browser will probably become the operating system in the next half dozen years. Yet, it's hard for me to get terribly excited about any of the offerings. There are some loyal users who can argue all day about which browser should be on one's PC but, to me, it seems as if most of the vendors are copying from each other at this point.

Actually, I find it a tad annoying when switching between versions. In Mozilla, I arranged home in a place that's totally different from IE. I know it's the underpinning of what's under the hood that is crucial. That said, to most end-users, knowing where to click is most important.

It Doesn't Necessarily Pour

It's common knowledge that it rains a lot here during the winter. Strangely, one might not think so, if one searched through my flickr pictures. I have over 5,300 online photos and clearly at least 2,000 must be of the local area. When I do a tag and text search on them, only 83 show up with the word, RAIN. That's something in the neighbourhood of 4%. Hum. I guess I am more likely to take photos when the sun is shining. Looks like that ain't gonna happen this week.


See a slideshow of my photos with rain as a tag or text.

Is This 'Cause It's Raining Now?

I have to admit it's wonderfully easy to waste time on the Internet. Thank God, it was invented after I finished being a student. Nowadays, the Net could be a terribly dangerous coping mechanism in college when one is stressed out because of assignments and projects.

Maybe it's just me. I cannot help but start thinking of retirement. I know I don't even hit 50 until midyear, but I've never considered work much more than means to an end. I take a lot of satisfaction from teaching but it's not the only thing which defines me. I've always been at odds with those who have the means to stop working and choose not to. Silly people, they are.

Like so many who grew up with winters, I oft dream of spending at least that half of the year in a place where coconut trees are native. Figuring out far-way real estate markets seems less daunting due to numerous websites. I just spent a good hour looking around. Click the next image.


I'd always thought a little bungalow in the jungle in Sri Lanka would be a nice option. There seems less of a market meltdown there but it still must be a buyers' market this year. Perhaps it might be a good time to consider an buying apartment which could be rented for five years or so. After that, we could live in it from November to April and spend the rest of the year in Vancouver. The major expense would be yearly RT tickets which, at the present time, cost around $1800 to $2000 apiece.

Giving to Caesar ... What is Caesar's.

The present group I'm teaching at BCIT are easy. By that I mean things go effortlessly in class as they understand not only the information but also the goals. I'm seldom tired at the end of a 4-hour class.

After I got home today, I stopped by the mailbox on the way up to the tenth floor as usual. I noticed that the CIBC bank had sent the tax forms from my long-term GICs. The other envelope had my T-4 form from BCIT. So, I guess I'd call this tax season.

I don't mind doing my taxes. Well, if I stop to consider what a large percentage of my time is spent paying governments, I might be upset. The actual preparation, though, is not too bad. I've been doing my taxes using Intuit QuickTax for years. In fact I seem to stick with the standard version out of habit. We really don't have tough faxes. I'm sure I could almost do them with the online tax software that seems to be more and more prevalent nowadays. I do like how the CD-based version, sucks in the tax information from previous years. I'm not sure if saving a few minutes is worth the premium in price, but old habits die hard.

Actually, Intuit made it even easier to continue this year. Back in January, I got a software CD in the mail. In order to activate today, I simply went to their website and bought a key for the standard version. As soon as my credit card purchase was verified, the key was on my screen. I copied it and it installed and updated automatically.

Doing the taxes is easy; thinking about how much the federal and provincial take from me during the year is not.

Old Paper Became a PDF

The evolving set of documents entitled my eJournal and images change in focus from day to day. You might think that I'd look to a blank screen with trepidation seeing how I do this on a daily basis. In fact, generally, I'm quite happy I have a chance to share an idea, opinion, or personal experience. Just realizing my damned fortitude makes me proud. I have kept this up for five and a half years whilst most personal blogs have fallen by the wayside.

Keeping this going really has become part of a routine and it doesn't seem like a struggle at all. After all, you'll rarely find wordy tomes that have required much planning. I find I can always find something to post. For example, yesterday I added to facebook an old colleague from my days at Dubai Men's College of the Higher Colleges of Technology. Perhaps because of this, I was thinking of my five years of teaching in the United Arab Emirates. I am happy that I once had the idea of scanning documents. Once in electronic format, they can be easily stored and shared.

If you click the little image, you'll open a PDF image of a student publication I spearheaded for my Foundations program English students. I think they were put together in Microsoft Publisher format. I may have the current version of that program on the hard drive of this computer, but I have never even opened it. Paper seems less important nowadays. Before web pages, photocopying was necessary if one wanted to share words with others. We must have burned through a lot of paper on these projects. Click the image to open the seventh and final copy of the year issued on May 25, 1992.

Conflicts Have More than One View

The video doesn't look very good on a 42" LCD. When the alternative is not seeing it at all, it's surprising how tolerant one can be. I can visit Internet sites and stream video through my PS3. In this case, I'm talking about the ability to watch news clips from Sri Lanka. You may click the image below to view now.


There's very little in the way of adequate coverage of the island from beyond the island itself. The sounds bites on CBC or CNN are useless. There's just not a large enough audience to support pro-government satellite channels here. The news about what's happening is filtered through the media of the outside countries. There's pandering to the point of view of immigrants and relief / aid agencies for political reasons. That's one justification the Sri Lankan government uses to bar foreign reporters from the war zone.

I hear about thousands marching against the Sri Lankan government in Toronto or Washington, DC but miss the reported shootings of civilians by the LTTE. All the places where I hear the loud cries of protesters seem to be democratic. The force that they support is not. In none of these western countries where people take to the streets would an opposition group be allowed to build an army, navy, and air command right on state soil. That's been the case on the island for thirty years. I hope diplomatic sources delve deeper into conflicts than the views the pathetic media paints, but I fear they do not.

Dismissing Privacy Concerns

I just tapped out a private message to a reluctant Facebook friend. Needless to say, the person shall go nameless. We've recently sent a few messages back and forth. This person would prefer that method of communication over messages left on their wall. I have to respect anybody's request for privacy.

Yet, I have to believe the cult of privacy is a relatively modern concept which has already fallen out of favour due to the arrival of the Internet. Maybe it was mass culture and the rise of copyright that allowed a concept of privacy to develop at all. Certainly, for the majority of human existence, very little could have been kept from the prying eyes of the tribe, clan, or extended family.

I grew up in a traditional nuclear family but also in a small town. Some folks now worry about the ability of firms such as amazon.com to track customer preferences. I grew up, however, knowing that the shopkeeper at the village market knew my exact purchases. The old guy probably knew what half the town was having for dinner. I suppose, however, if people wanted something kept secret, they purchased out of town. No wonder condoms didn't sell well at the Community Store.

I also remember the early days of BBSing and the Internet. Lots of people wanted to keep all their information offline although I could never quite understand why. Perhaps people didn't know how difficult it was to actually get a visitor to a specific page or website. Of course, the aversion to online information has changed for most people. They accept they'll have some facts about themselves online just as they expect to be seen by others when walking down a city sidewalk.

Moreover, younger people who've grown up with this media realize the stuff that's out there mustn't be an albatross. Many in this generation know that records of teen indiscretions can never be reined in. Therefore, they've already adapted to the new reality. Being drunk in a photo during one's freshman year in college shouldn't really have a negative affect four years later when hunting for a job. Kids know that already and thankfully they are starting to muscle into positions in Human Resource Departments as we speak ...

Not an Accident of Birth

If you are much acquainted with my net activities, you may already know about My Daily Picture Parade. Back on the first day of July in 2005, I started snapping and uploading a photograph to Flickr every day. I guess I like creating habits for I've not been negligent at this task. Yesterday happened to include photo number 1329. That's not a very special sounding number so I'm not blogging about this today for an auspicious reason. Rather, I simply wanted to show off a bit. I wanted to add yesterday's picture.

People can say lovely things about the locations in which they live, but those of us who have been out in the world and picked our own spot have bigger bragging rights. From the start, I have loved the Vancouver area and I cannot think of a place I'm better suited for. I take pride in the international feel of Metro-Vancouver with immigrants from all over the world. In addition, I find the geography very awe-inspiring nestled as it is near the coastal mountains and the Strait of Georgia. I also take comfort in the vast unspoilt regions so close to our urban center. Lastly, I cannot help but feel happy when sitting near beautiful green grass yet seeing snow-covered mountains on a warm February day.


A bench on the Burnaby campus of BCIT in Feburary 2009.

When Cheaper is Easier

There's a neat little airline which flies out of our closest border city in the US. Allegiant Airlines uses a small airport in Bellingham, Washington. Depending on the time required to get through the border, driving there can take less than forty-five minutes. The airport is only serviced by a few airlines and thus, there's never much of a delay going through security. Parking is moderately priced and right in front of the terminal building.

Although Allegiant seems to be involved in a multitude of markets, they have been flying direct to just seven cities from here. It's been a perfect way to save money for US west-coast or southwest destinations. We've recently flown to Las Vegas and Phoenix on them. If one books well enough ahead, it's possible to pick up some fantastic fares though their website.

Allegiant has recently had a promotion and has added an additional destination. Now, there's now an eighth city accessible from Bellingham. How nice to see an expansion in this economic climate! I guess we probably won't be flying Alaska Air very often now. I sort of gave up my fervor for the planes painted with the Eskimos when they stopped giving out free beers. Nowadays on a plane, we hardly expect to receive a cup of water.

Now the W's are Assumed

When I first made my way onto the Internet, I learned about things like Gopher. It seems funny to think about days when the WWW was just getting going. I sound like an old man but I'm only talking about the early 1990's. I've got neckties, and probably underwear, considerably older than that.

Internet browsers were quite the newfangled invention. Imagine, the ability to add a variety of text and even pictures! Some of the very first sites published with the w-prefix were tourist departments and bureaus. I started playing with HTML at the time. There's hardly a thing in the world uglier than a an obsolescent, fifteen year old website.

Little did I know that someday, I'd be doing more than cruising travel brochure-ish web pages. Now, I book most travel online. I just was re-introduced to hotwire.com. I think I signed up when it started but it wasn't possible to have a Canadian address. Now, it seems bigger and better. What a cool concept! In order to get a good rate, the name of the hotel is kept secret until after the customer has booked. This way, chains don't have to be seen ruthlessly underselling their own rates. I've been playing around with the site to see how it works. We're going to Washington DC during the third week of next month. I have to see if waiting till the very last minute pays off, or which time-frame offers the best bargains.

Walking the Mile

Occasionally, I'm smacked in the face with the harsh realization that other people can be so very different. I mean in an oft-stated, warm and fuzzy way, we know that diversity is the spice of life. Gag me, please. No matter how much we say appreciate unusual hobbies or token cultural uniqueness, I believe we all basically think that everybody sees the world in the same way. Okay, there's politics where I'm right and everybody else is wrong, but other than that ... Believe it or not, I'm going to take this fine thread of a topic and turn to discussing computers again.

I had a couple of new acquaintances add me on Facebook last night. One wrote a message that contains this quote: "... I have no idea what I'm doing, this is the first time I've been on facebook since it was set up for me. The computer and I don't usually get along, and god my typing skills suck!" Oh, Kerri thanks for giving me fodder for today's entry.

I think I know why some people like Mac products and it ain't 'cause they're cool. Some people simply don't really like to muck about in order to get stuff to work. On a Windows machine one can spend just as much time doing maintenance as actual work. It took me the whole weekend to really get my new netbook configured. I loved that time. I so enjoy the detective work and fiddling until everything is how I want it. I guess this goes to show how different folks can be about the most basic bits of life.

Now what is that saying about moccasins?

Niche Blogging

The day is bright and sunny and I look forward to getting out into it. On this day, I'll simply embed a photo slide show of my images on Flickr. We're starting the preliminary plans for a month or so back in Sri Lanka this fall. In recent years, Jay and I have regularly gone back on autumn visits. The last time was in 2006. We also went in 2004 for a few months. Our first time visiting there together was in the mid-1980's.

The island is amazing in its varied geography and there are many specular vistas. Yet, today I am just including pictures with the tag of Minuwangoda. That is a small city where Jay's house is. It's very close to the International airport and not far from the capital of Colombo. Although I most associate time there in the jungle-type area around the house, many of the pictures are of the town's Sunday Market. Vendors come, set up temporarily, and sell fruit, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. There are not many other photographs of Minuwangoda on the Internet, so I'm filling a niche.

Getting Back on the Horse

I'm now typing inside Windows Live Writer rather than typing into the online box of blogger.com. Today, I am setting up my Acer to act as my computer whenever I’m not sitting in my living room. I have come to think of what happens in that chair as my authentic Internet experience. Of course, I use my work station computer at BCIT but have always considered both my laptop and extraneous computers as merely temporary diversions. Now, I am totally changing my schema and I am setting up my notebook to actually be my computer wherever I happen to be.

Although wireless is common, I was accustomed to often carrying around my laptop but being stuck without access. Last fall's trip to Europe was a prime example. This seemed so common that I began to totally doubt whether the concept of a futuristic computing cloud could really work. That term denotes the possibility of having most data sitting out on the Internet rather than on a local hard disk. I’ve been tilting that way for many years. Windows Live Mail and Google Mail are two good examples. I can hardly remember the time when email messages were downloaded and lived locally on a hard disk. With the application and data online, I am confident that as long as I'm at an Internet location, then I will have access to my messages.

One conundrum is that I sometimes plan to be without Net access on my netbook. Today, I witnessed how we'll deal with this stop-gap measure. I can see how we’ll manage until there is a WiFi or 3G connection at every location on the surface of the earth. For you see, I just set up Gmail for offline use on this little computer. It syncs up a local database to the data on Gmail’s server. So, when I’m out and not connected to the Internet, I will still have access to my contacts as well as a few months of messages. When I get back in range, any messages and changes will be re-synced.

Just being able to blog and communicate by email means that this Acer Aspire One will be useful at all times. Even if later in the year, I'm deep in the jungle in Sri Lanka for days at a time, I can complete daily entries and messages. When I get to a wireless access point, they will be freed from the confines of this little device.

Taking a Little Extra Time

I usually rush to campus and then back. Although it is not the prettiest campus environment around, there is a pleasant enough atmosphere at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. When I was a student in the 70's and 80's, I always lived on campus. Sometimes I still associate my time at school with stress.

After all these decades, I have started to enjoy just hanging around campus. The students at BCIT sometimes seem so young. I think it's healthy to interact with kids. Perhaps, it can even keep one feeling young, especially on a fine February day. I completed some photocopying for next week's classes this morning. Then, I strolled around a bit. I went into the library and read my BCIT email on my new netbook. It felt nice.

On My Network It's Named, "Mini-Me"

I had been mulling over the purchase of a netbook for quite some time. I would have made my old Gateway 14.1" laptop last until the release of Windows 7, but it died. I like having a something with me in the classroom when I teach. Wireless access at BCIT is universally available nowadays. Furthermore, I feel lost when on any sort of break without my own means to grab a little Net access.


So, the little, new Acer Aspire One will do the trick. I was able to pick it up when visiting friends in the US. This means I got hold of the straight English keyboard rather the silly bilingual edition which are the only type available in Canada.

I spent a great part of the day with it, and I can read text on a 8.9" screen. I can type on the keyboard that's not standard size. I certainly will be able to carry it around as it weighs less than one kilogram.

Coming North

This was a fast trip, wasn't it? We packed up in the morning and got a fairly good start as we'd gone to bed fairly early. The house is approaching the automation of There Will Come Soft Rains. Sensors keep track of many things. Camera record the events which happen at the property. The house got ready for our departure. We did an errand or two in Ellensburg before heading back up to the Pass. I had lunch and did two swaths with huge articulated rig with a monster snow blower. The cabin up there has a long driveway but only two inches of snow had fallen.

I didn't motor out onto I-90 until after 3:00 and so it was about 7:00 when I pulled into New Westminster. There was an accident at the Marysville exit on I-5 and rush hours. It meant creeping along the highway from the bottom of the hill in Tacoma. I had already run into the hordes leaving work in Edmonds and Bothell. So, all in all, the 4 hour trip wasn't awfully bad at all.

A Netbook and a Movie

After a good sleep in a very comfortable bed we awoke to a cool and cloudy day. Shopping would prove a major part of it. I had mentioned I wanted to replace my recently inoperative laptop with a new Acer Aspire One netbook. I would have bought one in Canada except for the fact they only ship with bilingual keyboards here. The tiny form factor uses a smaller than average keyboard as it is; I surely didn't need one with extra keys.

In order to get to this home we had driven 20 miles on mostly paved roads from Ellensburg. For shopping, Yakima is 30 miles the other direction. This meant we weren't exactly in the middle of nowhere.

After visiting a number of box-box retailers, we went to the biggest. It was COSTCO which had boxes and boxes of my little netbooks for $299 each. I was pleased. As the day was young, we went to the movie theatre. We saw Slumdog Millionaire (2008) at the 3:30 pm matinee. Of course, it was dark after. On the drive back, it was snowing a little too. Later in the evening, dinner was great!

4 Hours Plus 1.5 More

I ventured out at about 9:15 and stopped first on I-90 at North Bend. Got a Whopper, bottle of wine, and gas. I made pretty good time as I was on the other side of the pass not much after 1:00. It was nice to see Lynne and Joel. We leisurely talked and eventually headed further west doing some errands, and then to a vacation home in Wenas, Washington. Although frozen now, it's easy to see how the swimming pool in the seeming desert must be a blast in the summer.

A Moment Frozen in Time

Thankfully, a blog doesn't have to be created in chronological order. Mine really doesn't have much of a sequence at all. Tricks, such as tags, can add order after the fact. I took this photo of a student in Kuwait in 1982. I needn't go into great detail as I've discussed my initial teaching job and working in that country previously in my eJournal and images - Kuwait.

The reason for the addition of today's image, is connected to yesterday's topic. I have been trying to find materials to verify my previous employment. It's no easy task finding documents which are over twenty-five years old. Just being highly mobile for so many years means it'll be wonderful luck if I'm be able to put my hands on a lot of it. There are things however, such as the picture of a student goofing around at recess that makes this image from old paper seem timeless.

When Documents Weren't on Screens

Today, I had some fun digging through an old box of paperwork. For work, I am trying to come up with some documents which show my employment history prior to my eleven and a half years of teaching at BCIT.


Old documents really take one back to the days when both truth and proof were substantiated on mere paper. When I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1981, my college had a 'placement file' service. As a bonus for graduates, they'd keep letters of recommendation, documents, and employment papers on file. Upon written request, they'd mail off officially stamped paperwork directly to an intended recipient. The entire department ceased operating a half dozen years later.

Compared to today's email and electronic documentation, it all seemed so quaint. I knew I would someday get to a point where I'd look back on things from my early career and take joy in fondly remember them. I am just a bit surprised that day has seemed to arrive so quickly! In bits and pieces over the last decade, I've put a small amount of information online. For example, prior to widespread use of Adobe Acrobat I once saved previous letters of recommendation in standard image format. Then later, I thought it'd be fun to scan some yellowing paper-based memories into standard PDF format. Doing this wasn't nearly as fun as I thought, and my collection is somewhat incomplete.

Just a few minutes ago though, I was able to find a box which has some of the originals. Luckily they didn't need to survive trial by flood or fire. As it is, they have weathered great distances and substantial time. Perhaps it's good that all things haven't ended up as computer files for there's nothing like the pungent smell of old paper.

Some Forty Years Ago

Considering the size of earth, the largeness of earth's moon is probably somewhat unique. As well, the moon seems special to me. It's something common to everyone. It'd probably be fair to assume that it is one aspect of life that crosses all boundaries and borders. I used to gaze at it when I first worked overseas. No matter how far from home, the moon was something that connected me directly to the past. I knew that people would be able to see the exact same view that evening.

There is probably a far more important reason for being a lunatic. People not my age, probably cannot imagine the excitement of the initial lunar landing. Men walked on the moon just three days shy of tenth birthday. Later in school, NASA with moon rocks in tow, visited our school's gymnasium. Science was something to be proud of; not something to be feared. I shall never be convinced that putting men in space was a waste of resources.

Here's a recent podcast I heard on the way to work the other day.


LINK EXPIRED
The Moon
Feb 04 2009
from Discovery
This week ‘Discovery’ investigates mysterious patches of light or colour sometimes seen on the moon’s surface. They have been called transient lunar phenomena. Some scientists wonder whether they’re evidence that something volcanic stirs beneath the Moon’s dead face. To many others, they are just tricks of the light. Andrew Luck-Baker visits a new robotic telescope on the roof of a New York university designed to establish the truth about these alleged lunar gas eruptions.

I'm a Creature of Habit

I had all sorts of good intentions when buying the Logitech webcam for my home computer. I thought it'd integrate so well with Facebook that I'd be constantly making clips. This has not been the case and it goes to show how hard it is to actually change one's routine. For example, I definitely should have sent a birthday message to my sister back on Monday. I could easily say my responses on other peoples' Facebook walls. Be it resolved that I shall try a little harder from now on.

Boasting About Blue

We are in the middle of one of those type of days so cherished on Canada's west coast. It's blue, sunny, and warm. Of course the unusual snowfalls of earlier in the winter are, for the most part, gone. People from here and many other places know that our winters are primarily rainy.

So, when the lovely blue sky shows itself, we all go into near convulsions of giddy happiness. It's days like these when we brag to the rest of cold, snowy Canada. We say things such as "this is the best place on earth" in which to live. The odd thing is that we mean it too.

It's not terribly uncommon to have nice February days. I looked back on Flickr and found evidence taken in 2002 with my first digital camera. Seven years ago to this very day, it was also pleasant and blue in Sapperton Park in New Westminster.

One Step Above Barter

Last Friday, when we were paying for lunch in Bellingham, Washington, I was reminded how frequently folks use cash down there. I think I've had the same $20 note in my wallet for months.

I put almost every single transaction through my MasterCard. I owe nothing on the card, in fact, I pay a bit ahead at the beginning of each month just to ensure I never have to make an interest payment. I'm fairly sure I'm the type of customer that credit card companies don't really like. I do this not simply for ease but the bonus points I rack-up. We get hundreds of dollars cash back on grocery items every year as my card is issued through President's Choice Financial. As well, if there's money owed that doesn't go through plastic, then it is directly withdrawn through our online banking accounts. I can count on one hand the number of times I enter a bank in a year.

For these reasons, I am always amazed by how people in the States often whip out a roll of bills when making daily purchases. It just seems so quaint.

All Indications Suggest ...

Hamster #6 cast only a shadow from a compact florescent bulb this morning. Does that mean there'll be six more weeks of winter? The world is full of silly little traditions, is it not? Happy Groundhog Day!

DC: Before Our Time

Last Wednesday, I mentioned the possibility of heading to Washington, DC for a week-long break at the end of March. Since then, I've booked our tickets on Expedia.ca. Flying out of Seattle and paying for parking is a bit of a hassle, but I couldn't pass up round-trip fares for less than $220. It'd cost three times more to fly out of YVR (Vancouver).

The last time I was in DC was in 1985. I was on my initial way to work in Taif, Saudi Arabia which was where Jay and I would meet. I had been at the University of Washington for graduate work. I was on my way from Seattle on a stopover. My dad and sister drove down from New Hampshire to see me off. So, it's surely time to again explore the famous Washington sites.

This time, seeing how we'll be staying for an entire week, we can select exactly what we'd like to see. Doing the necessary homework before a trip is rewarding. I like looking up things and making plans for a trip. The Internet is invaluable. In addition, I check out guide books at the library.

Another silly habit I have is to watch a classic movie which takes place in the destination. They are of little assistance. For example, watching An American in Paris (1951) was of little use when going to France. Similarly, West Side Story (1961) really didn't help much preparing for Manhattan. So, of course today's viewing of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), won't be very helpful although we did get a view or two of the National Mall as it appeared nearing on sixty years ago.