Founded in 1985

The date of July 20th is special for Jay and me.  No, not just because of the first moon landing!  Although Jay and I met in April of 1985 in Saudi Arabia, we weren't official for two long decades. It took a while for the world to catch up.  We arranged for a tiny, private ceremony on July 20, 2005 with a Justice of the Peace.

We signed the paperwork at home in the province of BC in western Canada. By mere chance that was the exact date on which it became 'the law of the land' in every inch of this country.  The middle photo was taken that year, in 2005, with my first digital camera.  It was the Okanagan region of British Columbia. Twenty more years have now passed since our initial twenty. 

These three photos below represent a span of forty years. Twenty-nine of these have been in Canada. The final photo, representing the current year, was taken this spring in the country of Lesotho during part of a winter trip to South Africa. 

So, we still seem to get around even after four decades!   We will probably head to a festival in Surrey this afternoon.  Tomorrow, we are planning to begin a road trip to the Canadian Rockies for around a week.  So, I thought it'd be good to include these snapshots today.

 

1988: When One's Selfies Were Taken by Others

Today was grey and cold. It was quite unlike yesterday, but not all that unusual for a Victoria-Day Long Weekend in BC. 

We wanted to walk a little, so I thought of the idea of going to Metrotown Mall, about 10 kilometers from our place. I think it is the largest mall in British Columbia. First, we parked in the maze of lots under the mall. Our closest door brought us right next to the T&T Supermarket.  We generally visit the supermarket chain's branch close to us in Surrey.  However, today's has a much more authentic feeling as there is a very large Chinese and Asian community in that part of Burnaby. Although the products are the same, the aisles feel crowded with a much more Asian vibe. Jay was able to pick up some good quality pandan and curry leaves. We are now partial to goji berries with our evening snack of nuts and picked a large packet and a few other items. They also have a great takeaway food section and we got a container of Spicy Chicken with Chili.  I didn't take any photos today though. 

In the afternoon, I did hit one more pile of old snapshots. I swear I will keep at this chore until I have scanned and completely ripped up every paper photograph in the house!  Today, I tried to choose a small pile and found 1988. It was the year I was working in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. My teaching job was with cadets of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. I was a teacher there for exactly one year and after completing my contract, I moved to a different job in Bahrain. Today, I've picked four pictures from that time and place to include today.  Let's see, where's the calculator?  One-third of a century ago, in 1988, I turned twenty-nine years old.

 

Our 1980s Come to Life Again!

This picture was taken in the mid-1980s. We were driving around Taif, Saudi Arabia in an old car I owned. Jay invited two friends and we were near the escarpment, leading to the much flatter land of Saudi's western coast near Jeddah.

I have a lot of images on paper that cannot be searched or shared.  Therefore, I recently purchased a scanner made expressly for turning old photos into image files.

     

I took it from its box today and found some old test photos.  The last time Jay and I were in Sri Lanka in 2019/2020, Jay opened some albums still at the house in Minuwangoda.  The climate of a tropical island country is not kind to old photos.  The humidity ages the dyes and yellows the paper quickly.  

He removed a few dozen to bring home for scanning.  Most were taken in Saudi Arabia in the mid-1980s.  Jay was already working in Taif when I arrived at my teaching job for the Royal Saudi Army.  The rest is the story of our lives.

I scanned the photos we brought back to New Westminster. I also started an album called, Scanned Snapshots on Flickr and added them. Today was my test run only. My goal is to find the larger box containing all of our photographs, scan them all, and eventually get the results uploaded to Flickr. 

It will be some work but something I'll look forward to doing.  The process seems a bit like magic.

Paper Fades

Taken outside of Taif, Saudi Arabia soon after we met in the mid-80s.

I'm wondering if all this uncharted time during our self-isolation would be put to productive use. I could spend at least three days scanning some of the old photos we found in Jay's house in Sri Lanka. Photographic paper doesn't stand up too well in the heat and humidity of the tropics.

Just now, I randomly pulled this from a little pile of photos on the edge of this table. I placed it on the glass of my scanner and I created a file that now exists on Flickr. I like the idea of arresting this image's inevitable, continued decay by digitizing it.

Near and Far - Day 148

Winter is now officially over, at least for us.

This is my final entry with the winter 2014-15 tag. In fact, if all goes as planned, this blog message should automatically publish just as we are flying away from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Our watches will then go back two hours to Vancouver time for the summer. After five months here, that will be special.

This week is special for other reasons as well. I first arrived at work in Taif, Saudi Arabia during April of 1985. This means, I first met Jay exactly 30 years ago this week. We've been on a most interesting journey ever since. I want to express my appreciation for the amazing ride.


We have obviously changed very little in three decades.

"Pretty Soon It'll Be 1987"

This letter was initially saved on an IBM-compatible 360K floppy disc. Yes, K; not GB or TB. Over the years, I have been pretty good at backing up data. In fact, I found this file in archives on a Microsoft OneDrive today. That seems like full circle as it is now sitting in the cloud at some data centre in God-knows-where.

I physically pressed keys in Taif, Saudi Arabia to create these words. That occurred 27 and a half years ago! The tiny little file was called, DAD06.WS indicating to me that it was written using WordStar. I was a bit surprised Microsoft Word 2013 had no trouble opening it. Now I know that I can go back though all the letters I wrote during that nearly pre-historic era! MS Word, of course, allowed me to save in the common Adobe format. So, if you click the image below, a PDF of the original will open.

Never the TWAIN Shall Meet

For three days I've been commenting on the replacement laptop computer and generally extolling the virtues of Win 8.1. Today though, on a fluke, we decided to see if we could find the old box of photographs. This meant I got out the old Canoscan 4200F to try and digitize several. Oops, although the operating system recognized the device, the driver didn't seem to be recognized in my picture editing software. A trip to the site hasn't really helped as I don't think Canon ever got around to updating drivers on this old device for the newest version of Windows.

Of course, I can make anything happen on a PC. So, this photo I snapped in Saudi Arabia in about 1986, has come into a digital existence. The camels are probably long gone but the guy is still around!

The Third Time's the Charm

The photograph in today's blog entry has been used in my eJournal and images before. In fact, it has appeared twice in this space. The first time I included it was on November 1, 2005 when I first uploaded it to Flickr. I was lamenting the fact that although I was taking a lot of pictures in the digital age, I might benefit from moving away from landscapes and include more ordinary people. The second time it popped up in an entry was on April 6, 2008. Remarkably in that posting, I included a message received as an email. That entry explained that twenty three years after the photo was taken, out of the blue, their cousin wrote to say he'd seen the picture online. I thought that merited a mention. Most recently, I got this reference to the image last night:

I am in the education field and have to do an autobiography of cultural experiences growing up. Back in the late 70's I was an elementary school student in Taif. I wanted to share the experience of climbing on the wall and watching boys play soccer. As I searched for a picture that would illustrate this, I found your picture from Taif '85 and am asking permission to use it only in my school powerpoint. It is a wonderful picture that brings back pleasant childhood memories.

Eva

The boys were photographed when I was working for the Taif Army Ordnance Corps Center & School from 1985 to 1987. I so wish I had had a good camera during the early years of my career. I missed capturing so many unique situations and so much fascinating history. Sigh.

For a Quarter of a Century

I hadn't intended to include this picture here today. I was looking through my Flickr-picture viewing stats for the month of March. What people view is always a bit surprising to me. People may arrive from the Flickr site itself, or though a Google, or increasingly Bing, image search. A little while ago I included a picture of a preforming elephant at the Colombo zoo which receives a half dozen or dozen daily views. I find the idea of letting my images roam the planet appealing. Sometimes I want to go to the closet, pull out several more piles of old photos, and plug in my scanner. Alas, pure laziness continually prevents that!

When viewing my popular Flickr images, I noted this oldie had been viewed many more times than I would have guessed. I should have really saved this for inclusion on April 18th. I found that this date, in 1985, was when I arrived for work in Saudi Arabia. So during that week I settled into the Taif Ordanance Corp Center & School's residential compound. That's quite a while ago! This month, then, marks the 25th anniversary of me meeting Jay. I'd venture to say we have hardly changed a bit!

My Apologies to the Techno-Peasants Out There

I don't think I trust people who cannot get along with computers. I mean, I find it incredible that some people have such a chore figuring out a website, even if complicated. Some people just head to their computer with a horribly bad attitude. They psych themselves up for war. If a person cannot figure out how to accomplish a new task on a computer without getting overwhelmed, how in the hell are they going to confront other experiences in life?

Software is the epitome of logic. Some of it certainly succeeds better than others, but still it is all laid out there ... bare. Play. Just approach things with the mindset of a young child and explore. Exploring the rather twisted security settings of Facebook, is not wrought with the responsiblies of navigating a full Boeing 787. If one sets something wrong, nobody is going to die. Anything changed can be changed back. These folks should just think about what has to be done and then find the way to do it. People are the masters; the computers are dumb, fast tools.

Perhaps this is how I learn and think. It must be. I've been saying the same things over and over for the last 25 years when it comes to computers.


My first IBM Compatible PC in Taif Saudi Arabia, 1986

Decades Later ...

The little picture links to my blog entry of January 20, 2008. Click it. There you will see a slightly larger copy of the image and an explanation of it.

The original image was taken on film somewhere between Jeddah and Taif, Saudi Arabia in 1986.

I received an email message today from a reader who had seen the entry. He shared some information about the very same highway in Saudi Arabia. Clearly, this is one of the reasons I blog about my history; it's nice to get updates. Here's what Yousif had to say:

Hello Mr. Dennis,

I just came across your picture *From Snapshot to Monitor* on eJournals. You were sitting in the middle of a highway. I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, last year I was driving on that same Highway, and it looked pretty much the same...

A couple months ago I drove through the same Highway, and it was surrounded by grass. What once was a desert, became covered with grass.

Sincerely,
Yousuf

Variety Prevents Boredom

Today my weekend begins early. The sun is bright and the flowers and leaves are struggling to make their appearances. The tropics may be a great place to be sheltered from bad weather, but there's nothing like a nice spring day away from the equator. It takes poor weather in order to fully appreciate the good. It's a perfect day to relax. It's a great time to think. It's also proven to be a nice day for a few midday beers although I often go for months without such a luxury.


Some people are mean when they drink. I'm just appreciative. I look at all I have and all I can do and I'm thankful. I see the unfortunate lives of so many others and wonder why life has been so good to me. I approach the age of fifty happy with how things continue to turn out.

I was looking at my Flickr pictures and decided to add this old scan today. I met Jay in Saudi Arabia 24 years ago this month. This picture is from that era. Perhaps this was a trip to Jeddah.

A Batch from the Year 1988

Earlier this morning, I had to provide some information on my previous teaching experience. Our program is instituting a ranking of instructors in order to provide for equitable course loading.

Of course, this chore forced me to face up to the fact I've been teaching ESL for years. Let me be even more accurate here: I've been doing this for decades! I have spent so many hours in front of classrooms with so many different people. It's all a little scary when I stop to ponder the numbers.


Today's entry includes the photo above just to highlight the point. These were students of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in Dammam. I taught a year at the Technical Institute of Naval Studies there. It was a very interesting time as the students came from all parts of the Kingdom. Their officers kept them tired most of the time so I am not sure how effective the English language training was. This picture is over twenty years old. Now, these young guys will have become old men. I am not sure how I've been able to remain exactly the same.

A New Life for Old Photos

Like so many things in life, I hardly ever think about my scanner except for when I need it. I've often waxed philosophical about the ability to turn aging paper into permanent, computer files. It still seems rather magic as once it's liberated from the single four by six sheet, it can roam around freely on the Internet, showing up on monitors all over.
That's exactly why this photo is here. Jay asked me to scan some old photos, so he could work on building some albums at his facebook account. I happily obliged. I don't scan often, but I feel a sense of accomplishment taking a tattered old image and making it better. Pictures that have been sitting shuffled together for years get both dirty and faded. When removed and handled, they get scratched. Most of our photos, from going on twenty-five years back, were taken with cheap little cameras. So, when I'm able to get something that approaches passable color off a yellowing, nearly-monochrome scrap of paper, it makes me happy.
Above, Jay has a backdrop of real camels, not the ordinary zoo type. These beasts were the real deal roaming around the desert near Taif, Saudi Arabia back in 1986. Having an visual cue, as a reminder to a far away place of long ago, is nice. I love my scanner.

One Man's Treasure

I'd never wish the stress of a calamity on others. Still, a house fire or flood must be a sure way of getting rid of junk collected over the years. As a case in point, I finally got around to throwing away these old things that were hanging on the wall in the bedroom. Had it not been for painting the walls, they very well could've been hanging around, literally, for years more.

Here's the story on the front frame. In 1988, I worked for a year for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Instructors were given dorm-style rooms right on the military compound. The rooms were provided with basic furniture. Whenever an employee left, their old room was always left unlocked. During one such time, I found this RSNF-inventoried picture. It was calming to see the river scene while actually sitting on the edge of the desert. Additionally, it may have reminded me New Hampshire, I guess. I appropriated it.

After I left Dammam, it came with me and was placed on walls in Bahrain, the UAE, and both apartments in New Westminster. During one move, the glass broke. In the intervening years, the colours faded. So, after twenty years, I realize it's time to say goodbye to it. One of the other little pictures was salvaged from a dumpster when a hotel in Dubai was updating rooms. The third was a framed beach towel from long ago.

I don't mind parting with them; it's just I had to document their existence here first.

Can You Dig It?

I have always been rather interested in maps and globes. Therefore, I simply love the computerized equivalent called Google Earth. What an amazing resource! I know, I've blogged about it in the past. Yet, the interface continues to improve and the addition of layers and 3-dimensional buildings and objects makes the experience better and better.

I don't know why I don't run into more people who are as enthusiastic as I am. I can check real places around the globe I've been. For example, after mentioning Yemen in an entry here the other day, I wondered about a military camp where I once worked. Jay and I met after I arrived at the Taif Army Ordinance Corp and School in Taif, Saudi Arabia. I located the area: 21 19' 08" N 40 26' 07" E. Obviously a lot of things will have changed since 1985/87!

I am probably more likely to use Google Earth when researching upcoming vacations. Being able to zoom right in on a specific address can be useful when checking for hotels or attractions. It seems great to see areas before visiting them. It's no longer necessary to physically be at a place in person to get the lay of the land. Which road shall we take to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon next month? I'm checking right now in another window, in fact.

Not on This Week's Top Ten List

It was less than a week ago, when one entry here hinted how I considered the lack of uniformity in media as a potential detriment. I reckoned that too much variety has the unintended consequence of providing fewer shared cultural references.

From the photo above, you can see that when we pop a DVD in the player, we are often far from ordinary. The major advantage of using a video-by-mail service is not that it's cheaper. The number of titles available at zip.ca is enormous. I could never expect my local Blockbuster to carry the number of unique titles we usually watch.

A New Day in Old Sana'a arrived today. It was a winner of the Cairo International Film Festival in 2005. It is supposedly the very first full-length feature film from the country of Yemen. When we worked in Taif, Saudi Arabia the capital, of then North Yemen, was not far away. Although we never actually travelled there, we have sufficient references to make the movie a must see.

Now with Kids of Their Own

Today's picture is not new to the blog. In fact it was first published on November 1, 2005.

At the time, I mentioned that I had earnestly started to scan some old photographs for Flickr. The picture to the right was taken during my time in Taif, Saudi Arabia. On an outing one weekend, which occur on Thursday and Friday there, we used to venture around the mountain city. These boys were playing in a rural neighbourhood. In the very conservative parts of the Kingdom, taking photographs of people was frowned upon. Still, these kids were very happy to be the center of attention. This picture was mostly likely taken in 1985, so 23 years later I never again expected to hear about them.

I'm only including a re-posting of the photo because of this very interesting email that I received yesterday:

I was searching for Taif City on the Internet, accidentally arrived to your web site and luckily and I saw the photo of the two kids from Taif, there are my cousins, the kid on the right side of the photo is now a high school teacher and the other on the left of the photo, now he is Saudi Airlines Employee and the area where you have took the photo it is my home point in Taif. I have sent the photo to the two guys, they remember it and they were so happy. The two guys are married and both have kids.

Best Regards,
Abdullatif Al-Fageeh

'Sunken' Ship of the Desert

There are a large number of Chinese students in my class so they often end up falling back into their own language during break time. I was correcting some worksheets today. Mahmoud is a student in my class. I was chatting with him in English during the class break today too. I learned he was born in Saudi Arabia. There are no other Arabic speakers in my present group.

This prompted me to consider my time in the Middle East. I am in this picture taken in Saudi. Out in the desert, we ran across this camel which had obviously seen better days. It was dried and baked to a crisp so I have no idea how long the carcass had been there. This picture was taken well before Mahmoud was born!

From Snapshot to Monitor

On a Sunday while lunch is simmering on the stove, there's sufficient time to put a photo or two on the glass of the scanner. I have to admit the only reason it even crossed my mind today was due to the inclusion of the photo in yesterday's entry. I firmly believe pictures cannot live up to their potential if kept in a big box in the closet. Even the most poor-quality picture can be re-born into a more robust digital existence.



I'm sitting in the middle of the road in Saudi Arabia in 1986. We used to frequently slide down over the escarpment, around Mecca, and to the port of Jeddah. It was always fun to get away from Taif on the weekend to enjoy shopping in the big city. Twenty-two years ago it was possible to sit in the middle of the highway due to the lack of traffic. This is probably not possible today.