News and Views

From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

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Entries from March 2014

Thank you so much!

March 31st, 2014 · 5 Comments

I was watching American Idol a few weeks ago, and I suddenly noticed that almost all the contestants said “Thank you so much” when the judges complimented them. “Thank you so much”, “Thank you so much”… And I began to hear it everywhere; on TV, on the radio, in restaurants and stores. I started wondering […]

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Tags: Opinion

SSD

March 23rd, 2014 · 20 Comments

I was working at Intel back in the early 80s when Intel invented the flash drive (back then it was an EEPROM; almost the same). Of course then it was small capacity, slow and expensive, but the potential seemed huge. I remember remarking to a fellow engineer that we should shortly be able to replace […]

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Tags: Computers, Tech & Science

Pebble Watch

March 15th, 2014 · 14 Comments

When I worked in the real world I wore a wrist watch all the time. But since retiring, and especially since getting a smart phone, I have found it more bothersome than helpful. If I want to know the time there are usually clocks around, and if not I can pull my phone out of […]

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Tags: Computers, Tech & Science

Back home for real

March 14th, 2014 · 4 Comments

We got home from Asia about 7:00 pm last night. Our clocks are still turned around and I can barely stay awake this afternoon, but I had no trouble getting up for basketball at 5:00 this morning. In fact I wouldn’t have had trouble getting up at 3:00 since I was awake anyway. I realized […]

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Tags: Family Updates

Coming home with a sick ear

March 12th, 2014 · 5 Comments

Gisele, not me. She has a middle ear infection, that was pretty painful when we landed in Taiwan a few days ago. She went to see a local ENT specialist on Monday and got some medicine. Today she went back and had her eardrum lanced. It was less painful than she was afraid it would […]

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Tags: Family Updates

Back home… in Taiwan

March 9th, 2014 · 5 Comments

Well, compared to Vietnam it seems like home to me. I speak the language, and am familiar with the customs. We arrived last evening around 5 and had dinner with Devon and Xiang Xiang (Elena). Western food! Barbecued chicken cutlet, salad, soup, macaroni side. I love Chinese and Vietnamese food, but after two weeks my […]

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Tags: Family Updates

Cambodia

March 6th, 2014 · 9 Comments

We explored some more ruins today that were very nice, but having seen Angkor Wat they were anticlimactic. I thought instead of discussing the ruins I would show a little about life in “modern” Cambodia. The only form of transportation we have used in the country are tuktuks. Tuktuk is a somewhat generic word for […]

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Tags: Family Updates

Angkor Wat

March 5th, 2014 · 3 Comments

I left my keyboard in Vietnam along with most of our luggage, so this will be short. We visited the ancient temple of Angkor Wat today, and I was more impressed than I expected to be. It is a huge temple complex covering many acres. Visitors are allowed to wander around with few restrictions, able […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Hanoi Post 2

March 3rd, 2014 · 4 Comments

I’m back in Saigon as I write this, getting ready to catch a plane to Siem Reap, the city near Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We went on a boat ride in Ha Long Bay near Hanoi last week. The scenery is spectacular with sheer cliffs rising out of the water in hundreds of islands. Unfortunately […]

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Tags: Family Updates