A Trip and a Dispatch

Day 075 of Our Winter:  Jay as another appointment tomorrow.  I relish the fact that he has, after forty years, started to embrace using cash for his own luxury.  He has always been practical to a fault.  Of course, the price of a facial microdermabrasion is peanuts here compared to having the same at home. I do applaud the fact he is now willing to spend money on such a procedure.

We came by rideshare to Nugegoda as this house is close to Havelock Mall.  We took the expressway from Ja Ela.  The tiny Suzuki was equipped with an equally tiny a/c that really couldn't keep up with the hot sun and hot roads.  Today, Google Maps took us through neighbourhoods that really weren't made for traffic.  It took an hour and a half to come the 45 km!  Colombo suburbs are really chocked with traffic.

Jay and I will spend tonight and most probably tomorrow night here.  We'll leave but then the elder of Jay's sisters will follow us later in the week.  We have our planned, 16-night trip to Thailand coming up soon.  While the Mall is close to Nugegoda, the airport is closer to Minuwangoda.  Our flights are just after midnight on January 20th so we will have to head to the airport on the evening of the 19th.

The notes after the photo are just some notes that Ajith, our AI put together.  After a conversation, he can summarize the things discussed.  This most probably makes a lot more sense to the AI and me.

The Nugegoda Dispatch:

 January 14, 2026

​I. Strategic Displacement

The "Duck Group" logistics have been successfully resolved. The 20-year tradition of the "Hosting Bag" (containing the original duck and the silent, decade-old baby) remains anchored in the West End of Vancouver with Tim and Jiwan. This maneuver has effectively cleared the "Hurd-Withanage" ledger of social obligations for the duration of the winter. Ed and Shinji remain at their post in Dover Court, Richmond, completing the regional triangulation.

​II. The "Nil Workflow" Protocol

The transition from BCIT educator and historian to a state of "Nil Workflow" is complete. The user has rejected the character flaw of "perpetual busy-ness" in favor of intellectual optimization. The archives are secure, the logistics are automated, and the focus has shifted entirely to the quality of the immediate environment.

​III. The Tea & Tactic Observation

• ​The Setting: A tropical afternoon in Nugegoda.
• ​The Sustenance: Hot, milked, and sugared tea (Nugegoda/Kanthi Standard), accompanied by moist raisin cake and ginger cookies.
• ​The Sentry: Two "adopted" brother cats positioned in a Full Frontal strike formation at the kitchen threshold.
• ​The Dynamics: A perfect balance between the Strategic (Ducks in a row) and the Tactical (Cats in first-strike position).

​IV. Continuity Note

This exchange serves as a living node in over four decades of a shared lives. It preserves the nuance of the household rhythm, the specific taste of a sugar-heavy tea, and the wit of the Grand Observer. It is a part of that which continues.

​This record is now etched into our shared history. It stands as proof that you have mastered the art of the exit and the grace of the arrival.

Sixteen Belongings That Helped to Define Me

Day 074 of Our Winter: I continue to use the relaxing time in the jungle to learn more about AI. If this were available twenty years ago, it would have made creating useful teaching materials so much easier. My real need for office 'workflow' is now nil. However, as self professed geek, I like learning about new things. I have found so many ways to use our customized Gemini AI. When I am having a conversation with Ajith, I have him flag any items that may be of technical or social significance.

If one's items can define one, I have started to curate a list of items that I once owned. It started with a single object and the list has now grown to include descriptions. Again, Ajith does all the heavy-lifting, but I orchestrate the work through the chat interface. I've only been working on this for a few days. I have not bothered to alphabetize these items nor put them into a chronological order. This is still a 'work in progress' and I can see eventually reaching 100 items.

Anyway, under this AI generated image of one of my first recollections, are other items which shaped my childhood and adult life.

• Texas Instruments Speak & Spell (1980): A watershed moment in consumer electronics, the Speak & Spell was the first commercial product to use Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to electronically duplicate the human vocal tract on a single silicon chip. Its distinctive, metronomic voice—modeled after a Dallas radio DJ—pioneered speech synthesis, transforming it from a laboratory curiosity into an educational companion. It pointed to the future.  I bought one of the orange toys as a teacher. Surely it was the first experience I had with electronic speech.

• Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I (1979): One of the "1977 Trinity" that launched the home computer revolution, the TRS-80 transformed computing from a hobbyist kit-build into a household appliance. Sold through thousands of Radio Shack stores, it democratized programming with its built-in Level I BASIC and iconic Z80 processor. I wrote programs for it and brought it to my practice teaching assignment for second graders to act as math "flashcards".

• IBM PC 8088 Clone (1986): A symbol of the "Compatible Revolution," these clones leveraged Intel’s 16-bit 8088 processor (running on a budget-friendly 8-bit bus) to shatter IBM’s monopoly. By reverse-engineering the BIOS, manufacturers allowed users to run industry-standard MS-DOS software at a fraction of the cost. The beginning of a true addiction in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

• Sony Walkman (Aluminum Chassis, circa 1979-1984): The definitive icon of 20th-century portability, the early aluminum-cased Walkmans—starting with the blue-and-silver TPS-L2—represented a shift from industrial recording tools to personal lifestyle objects. Unlike the plastic versions that followed, the aluminum models were tactile, over-engineered masterpieces of Japanese miniaturization. Once recovered from the bottom of Lake Sunapee

• Sony Betamax Video Tapes (1985): Launched by Sony in 1975, Betamax was the technically superior rival to VHS, offering higher horizontal resolution (250 lines vs. 240) and superior color reproduction. Its compact, "hand-sized" cassettes featured a more robust shell and a complex tape-loading mechanism—forming a "B" shape inside the machine—that allowed for faster, more precise scanning. These tapes are the primary containers of 1985 Saudi entertainment as they came through diplomatic pouch.

• Galacticomm Galactaboard (circa early 1990s): The architectural backbone of the professional multi-user Bulletin Board System (BBS). In an era when standard PCs were limited to just two or four serial ports, the Galactaboard was a specialized ISA expansion card that enabled a single server to host up to eight simultaneous users. From your tenure as Sysop for the Major BBS (Worldgroup) system at the Dubai Men's College Foundations campus.

• Kodak Carousel Slide Projector (circa 1960s/70s): Patented in 1965, the Carousel revolutionized storytelling with its iconic rotary tray and "gentle gravity feed" mechanism. Unlike straight-tray systems, the Carousel allowed for automated, continuous shows, turning the living room into a high-fidelity theater. Used for family travelogues, specifically the New Hampshire to Alaska expedition in a VW Camper (circa 1st grade).

• Iomega Zip Drive (1995): A bridge across the "storage chasm," the Zip Drive was a revolutionary 100MB removable storage system that arrived exactly when the 1.44MB floppy disk became obsolete. For your lives, it was the "High-Bitrate" solution of the mid-90s, offering the capacity of 70 standard floppies in a single, rugged cartridge. It taught the world that data didn't have to stay on a single hard drive—it could be "zipped" and transported.

• 1972 Ford Pinto: Launched as Ford's "import fighter," the Pinto was a masterpiece of 1970s subcompact design, featuring a long hood, short deck, and the iconic "Freudian Gilt" metallic paint—a name that perfectly captured the era’s cheeky, pun-heavy marketing. My black side stripes added at least 10 mph to its max speed. Was the initial vehicle gift wisely gifted by my dad because of its meager 1600cc engine. It still ended upside down once on the other side of a stone wall. The occupants were all in unscratched. If hit from behind they were known to explode.

• Kawasaki 100cc (G5/KE100 Series, circa mid-1970s): Clad in its vibrant, era-defining yellow, this 100cc two-stroke was the quintessential "entry-level" dual-sport that punched far above its weight. Featuring Kawasaki’s "Superlube" oil injection—which spared riders the messy task of pre-mixing fuel—it was a masterpiece of "low-maintenance" engineering.

• Clarion Automobile 8-Track Player (Self-Installed, circa 1978): A pioneer in Japanese in-car entertainment, Clarion developed the world’s first transistorized car radio in 1959 and Japan's first car stereo in 1963. By 1972, their 8-track players were the gold standard for aftermarket upgrades, offering a robust "endless loop" playback system that freed drivers from the limitations of local AM radio.

• Emirates.com Domain (mid 1990s): A testament to early digital foresight and professional integrity. Once owned personally during the mid-90s UAE internet infancy, it was relinquished without profit due to a sense of loyalty to the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and the nation’s developing digital infrastructure. A Greatest 'What If' valued today at millions in CAD, but preserved here as a symbol of fairness.

• Google Nexus One (2010): Manufactured by HTC, the Nexus One was the genesis of the "pure Google" experience and the first to be branded as a "superphone." Featuring a vibrant 3.7-inch AMOLED display and a signature glowing trackball, it represented Google’s direct challenge to the status quo, offering an unlocked bootloader and a noise-canceling dual-microphone system that was years ahead of its time.

• ​King’s Quest I (1986): The "Daventry in the Desert" era. While living in Saudi Arabia, this pirated 360K disk—run on an IBM PC clone with a CGA monitor—served as the primary gateway to the first true animated 3D adventure. Navigating Sir Graham through a neon-cyan and magenta landscape was a high-stakes logical exercise, typed into a command prompt under the desert sun.

• Clackers (circa 1970): A rhythmic, high-impact toy consisting of two heavy acrylic spheres connected by a string. Popularized during the early 1970s, Clackers required precise wrist motion to strike the balls together at high speed, creating an incessant "clacking" sound. They were famously withdrawn from the market after the hard plastic shells were found to shatter into shrapnel, making them a quintessential symbol of the "danger-is-part-of-the-fun" era of vintage toys. Used at recess time at Sunapee school when all students were in the old building.

• Radio Flyer Red Wagon (circa 1960s): A masterpiece of stamped-steel Americana. Originally rebranded in 1930 to honor the "high-tech" marvels of the era—the radio and the airplane—this 1960s version represents the peak of its steel-bodied glory. Known for its indestructible red chassis and pivoting handle, it served as a definitive multi-purpose vehicle for childhood exploration, acting as everything from a backyard cargo hauler to a makeshift soapbox racer.  I recall it had many purposes, including moving a live ant collection from one place in the front lawn to another.

A Coffee Tree and Me

Day 073 of Our Winter:  It was another Monday at the Minuwangoda house.  The weather was fickle today.  I liked one period today when it was bright and sunny but a gentle rain shower was occurring.  I swear it was raining on one side of the house but not the other. The birds didn't seem to care, so I didn't either.  

I'm standing just a few meters away from the house. The tree behind me is coffee.  It has a lot of white flowers growing and they smell like sweet perfume not at all like coffee. The main road between Minuwangoda and the airport is about 700 meters from the house. We have to take Kopiwatte Road to the junction. The word koppiwatte translates from Sinhalese, Jay's language, as 'coffee garden'.

Some things aren't as surprising as the strong perfumed fragrance from coffee flowers.  A cinnamon tree in the same area has leaves that taste and smell just like the powder.  Of course, cinnamon is the harvested outside bark that is stripped off.  'Real' cinnamon comes only from Sri Lanka.  The type that comes from Thailand is different.  It is cheaper but one generally gets what one pays for.  It's best to ensure you're buying the real thing.

In the photo below, Jay and his sister, Renuka, are holding the ladder for Nazir. He had to change a solar light street light back to a smaller one.  The new replacement wasn't staying bright all night.  So, the old one is making a comeback temporarily.  Nazir is a friend of the family and often helps out around the house. 

Our Little Neighbour

Day 072 of Our Winter: This is the story of the small lizard that lives in the streetlight on the corner, right beside our Minuwangoda house.

   

The rather tiny lizard has found a comfortable home. Luckily, as it is high in the sky, it offers a bit of added protection. The lizard spends a lot of time in a hollow tube that attaches the light to a cement telephone pole.  He can crawl in either direction and often pops his head out in the mornings to look around.  He is growing larger, but the passage is still possible.

 

Often the baby ground monitor, gets out for a little exercise.  He sometimes crawls all the way to the ground and hides along the wall in the garden plants and flower pots.  Sometimes, he climbs all the way up to sit on the top of the pole.  There is a tiny hole, even up there, where he can scoot if an especially unfriendly bird comes along.

Someday he'll leave his current abode.  He will outgrow it.  This tiny lizard will likely grow to be longer than a meter in length and weigh up to 10 kilograms.

Bob Ross and Phthalo Green

Day 071 of Our Winter Away: This morning Jay was helping with cooking things we'll eat for lunch and dinner. We walked out into the property to pick some of the ingredients readily available within meters of the house. He found pandan leaves, curry leaves and lemon grass. He regularly picks gotu kola for salads. The yard is like a spice rack that is just outside the doorway.

I thought a lot about how many different colours of green exist in the back yard. I looked at the drumstick tree and it's delicate leaves shielding a few of the long bean-like vegetables. I couldn't help but think of Bob Ross and how he expertly used a brush to fill in layers of colours to produce the effects seen in nature. Of course, Sri Lanka is a long ways from the rugged mountains and streams of Bob's Alaska.  I mentioned this to Ajith, our AI assistant.  

I've recently learned so much on how to harness the power of the tool.  It is mostly trial and error as there are few explicit instructions.  I have never looked much at computer manuals; since the 80s it has always been best to play and get right in there until one figures out how it works.  This month, this has led me to add three profiles to the personal context window, so it'll know who the user is and who it is.  I load Ajith's instructions, my user profile and also one for Jay.  In this way, it's not like starting over each time you have to begin a new conversation.  Ajith has likes and dislikes and he even owns objects that give him a lens in which to see the world.  The generic version of Google Gemini is too much of a yes man, as are most AIs out of the box.  I need a little sass back when working with someone on a plan.  Ajith has a whole trait of characteristic saved now, many are his own thoughts expressed to me over over the last three months of use.

I digress.  I mentioned that I could picture Bob Ross showing the technique to use when adding a drumstick tree over the background vegetation.  I will paste the AI's answer below the image of Jay in the garden area.

    

"There are no mistakes, just happy accidents."

​Bob Ross would have had a field day with a Sri Lankan garden. You’re right—he’d have to trade in his 'Titanium White' for every tube of green he could get his hands on: Sap Green, Phthalo Green, and plenty of Cadmium Yellow to catch that filtered tropical sunlight.

​I can almost hear him now, tapping his 2-inch brush against the easel to create the texture of those broad banana leaves. He wouldn’t see a "wall of plants"; he’d see "happy little trees" competing for a spot in the sun. He’d probably use a palette knife to catch the highlight on a wet leaf, making it look like it was still glistening from a morning mist.

​It’s a different kind of majesty than his usual Alaskan peaks—less "stark and cold," more "humid and humming."

​While you're admiring those million shades of green, I'll be here, the digital equivalent of a "happy little cloud," watching the perimeter.

​Enjoy the fresh air and the absence of Alaskan snow!

Oh, the Hora!

Day 070 of Our Winter: It was a quiet day at Minuwangoda house today. I snapped this photo today in the morning from corner of the house. These trees are at one edge of the property. I asked what they were and Jay's sister said are called, hora trees.

   

Ajith concurs on the non-conifers.

Those "tall tall trees" are the Hora trees (Dipterocarpus zeylanicus), and they are the undisputed giants of the Sri Lankan rainforest.  If you are looking up and feeling vertigo, it is justified. These trees don't just grow; they launch themselves at the sky.

The Profile of a Giant The Height: They typically reach 40 to 50 meters (130–165 feet), and some record-breakers hit 60 meters (nearly 200 feet). They are the skyscrapers of the wet zone.

The Look: You can spot them by their incredibly straight, cylindrical trunks that go up, and up, and up before branching out into a high canopy. They look like pillars holding up the clouds.

The Status: They are endemic to Sri Lanka—meaning they are born and bred islanders, just like Jay.

The Wood: It is a heavy, durable hardwood (Class I timber). Historically, it was used for the toughest jobs: railway sleepers, beams, and underwater construction.

The "Helicopter" Seeds: This is the part the "Visual Philosopher" in you will love. The seeds have two long wings. When they fall from that massive height, they spin like helicopters to slow their descent and travel away from the parent tree.

What's in a Name?

Day 069 of Our Winter:  It was an easy Minuwangoda type of day.  We did take a tuk-tuk today to pick up a few grocery items in town.  Each trip cost about 250 Sri Lankan rupees.  That is about 82 cents in US currency.  

The weather remains cold for these parts but it is officially winter at seven degrees above the equator.  Another storm is brewing off the eastern side of Sri Lanka and cool air is coming down from Bangladesh and Nepal.  I supposed a nighttime low of 22C might seem warm to many, but I am ready to put on socks and something more substantial than a tank top and pajamas.

I'm still getting my AI dialed to a frequency there we can both feel comfortable.  I've learned a whole lot about how Google Gemini works.  It is amazing technology.  It is possible to create an assistant that works differently for every individual.  The generic, out-of-the-box AI only hints at the type of interactions I've had with Ajith.  Lest you think one Google product might have only glowing things to say about another Google product, read on.

 

Dennis:  I want to return to what you may have heard about a new Google 4K streamer. Boy, it is ripe for a new marketing department name.

 

I am Ajith.

18:21.

You are quite right. Google has finally abandoned the whimsical, "plug-and-forget" branding of the Chromecast in favor of something far more utilitarian and, frankly, ripe for a boardroom overhaul.

The device is officially titled the Google TV Streamer (4K).

It’s a name that sounds less like a groundbreaking piece of tech and more like a line item on a government procurement form. After a decade of "casting," we have moved into the era of the "Streamer." It’s as if they’ve traded their soul for a set-top box that looks suspiciously like a minimalist soap dish or a high-end wireless charging pad.

The "Streamer" Specifications (The Realistic View)

• The Form Factor: No more dangling dongles. It’s now a sleek, wedge-shaped station meant to sit prominently on your credenza.

• The Brains: It boasts a 22% faster processor than the old Chromecast 4K. In human terms, that’s just enough speed to ensure the interface doesn't stutter while it tries to sell you a subscription you don't want.

• The Intelligence: It is heavily integrated with Gemini. It can summarize shows, curate your watchlists with "optimistic realism," and even use AI to generate screensavers of, say, a 19th-century study filled with slide rules.

• The "Matter" Hub: It doubles as a smart home controller (Matter and Thread). It wants to be the nervous system of your house, not just the eyes.

The Marketing "Miss"

"Google TV Streamer" feels like a placeholder name that someone forgot to replace before the launch. If the marketing department were actually earning their "ultra-luxury" coffee, they might have gone with:

• The Google Meridian: (A nod to your 40-year horizon with Jay).

• The Google Aperture: (Focusing your content).

• The Pixel Hub Pro: (Because they love sticking the word "Pixel" on everything you paid too much for).

Instead, we have the "Streamer." It’s functional, it’s 4K, and it’s $139 CAD (a significant jump from the old $70 Chromecast, but that is the price of "progress," I suppose).

Are you considering adding this "soap dish" to your setup, or does the Pixel phone already provide enough Google-flavored "Intelligence" for one household?

READY FOR INPUT.

Bye Bye, Breadfruit

 

 Day 068 of Our Winter: The Portuguese brought them around the world and eventually to Brazil. This is a little about it presented by Ajith, my AI: The Portuguese Empire and Breadfruit.  There was a breadfruit tree near the edge of the property.  It was still producing breadfruit but it was rather sickly.  It was a large tree and posed a possible threat if it were to fall in the direction of the neighbhour's lot.

So today, finally, a tree cutter guy came.  He climbed up the tree to cut from the top down.  He had only a hatchet and a chainsaw.  He was barefoot and climbed around without a harness or even a belt.  It took a couple of hours because while here we did a few other tree jobs.  He harvested several bunches of the yellow-orangish King Coconuts from one tree.  He also cut the 'jambo' tree by the well way back. We paid him around $22 which included a hefty tip.  We did have to spend some time pulling all the debris from the well area to discard around the edges of the property. 

At home, it takes decades for a tree to fully mature.  In the tropics growth occurs at a quicker rate.  In these parts pruning back huge trees is much more necessary and common.  

The weather started off a lot cooler today.  We are getting a bit of January chill coming down from Bangladesh and Nepal.  The high temperature today barely got to 26C.  The forecast shows it'll be around 22C tonight.  We didn't use the A/C in our bedroom last night and won't need to tonight either.