Way Back in Fall 2004, Kit and I went to London for a meeting, and she said she wanted to go to Jersey afterward for a quick vacation to celebrate her birthday. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands off the coast of France, a self-governing nation that’s a (British) Crown Dependency, yet not part of the United Kingdom. It’s what the U.S. state of New Jersey is named for.
Travel
031: Boosting Creativity the Easy Way
In This Episode: There’s a proven way to boost your creativity, open-mindedness, thoughtfulness, and more. The best part: it’s also fun, interesting, and can even be done while working, or on vacation.
Kit on the Camino
I’ve mentioned here and there that my wife, Kit, is walking the Camino de Santiago — the “French Way,” starting in Saint Jean De Pied De Port, France, over the French Pyrenees to Pamplona, Spain, and then west to Santiago. The trek is about 800km, or around 500 miles. Plus any walking around to get dinner or … Continue Reading
Someone Has to Live Here
Last week my wife and I went driving to see the fall colors. I thought you’d like to see what the trees look like in the Colorado mountains at about the time the first snow dusts the top of the San Juan mountains.
Dinner with Neil Armstrong
My wife and I had the opportunity to “have dinner with” the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong. It happened to be almost exactly* 43 years after that spectacular event. Like many kids who grew up in the 60s and watched that history being made, Armstrong was a hero to me, so when I got the opportunity to do this, I of course leapt at it.
Working In An Unusual Environment
This is being written in an unusual location. Not my office, not home, not even sitting in the passenger seat while Kit drives. Someone else is driving on our trip to Reno for the Mensa “Annual Gathering” (read: national convention), where Kit and I are speaking. We’re on the California Zephyr — a train (yeah, in the United States!)
On Stage with Penn & Teller
This is the sordid tale of my having been exposed to Teller’s bodily fluids.
Taking a Day Off
I live in one of the most beautiful parts of one of the most beautiful states in the union. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I work a lot, and know I stare out at the mountains from my office window — I have a great view.
Visiting the White House
I mentioned in my post last week that being in Washington D.C. was “more surreal than usual” because it was election time. Well, imagine being inside the White House just two days before the election! Because indeed, that’s where I was.
Library of Congress
I had a pretty full weekend — I’m writing this while sitting in the airport, waiting for my plane to get me the rest of the way home. I had a very interesting trip to Washington D.C.; election time makes the town even more surreal than usual. My report next week will get into that a little bit more.
Moonlite Bunny Ranch
Last week I spoke at yet another Mensa “gathering” (convention), this one a regional affair hosted by the Northern Nevada chapter. I happen to know several Mensans in Nevada: some are readers, several are relatives of good friends here in Colorado. They really begged and pleaded for me to come and talk at the first Regional Gathering they were doing, and I finally relented.
Hawaii Manta Dive
Last week, I promised to tell you a bit more about my trip to Hawaii, and one of the adventures I went on.
Fornigate, Lindbergh and Hawaii
Ten years ago this week I wrote two full columns: the regular one, and one on the breaking scandal with President Bill “I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman” Clinton. I (and many others) dubbed it Fornigate, and it led to his impeachment.
China: My Conclusion
There is only one more thing I want to cover about the trip before I wrap up this section of my blog and move on to regular business. That is, the part that made this such a memorable trip, otherwise known as the answer to the question all my friends have been asking me since we got back: “What’s the most outstanding memory, or biggest highlight, from the trip?”
The Three Gorges Dam
When discussing the Three Gorges Dam project, the Chinese guides loved to spout numbers. (27.15 million cubic meters of cement. 281,000 tons of metal structures plus 354,000 tons of reinforcing bars. 365 townships in Sichuan and Hubei provinces have been or will be inundated — a total of 632 sq. km. Etc.) What I found more interesting was the human factor.
Cruising the Yangtze
After rushing around Hong Kong, Tibet, and Chengdu, it was time for a little rest. With a four-day cruise down the Yangtze River, we won’t have to pack and unpack, or catch planes, for awhile.
Pandas in Chengdu
One of the (many!) highlights of our trip was a visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (it probably sounds better in Chinese). Chengdu, our first stop after Tibet, is the capital of the Sichuan province.
Health in China: Another Angle
I’m back after being offline for several days while cruising down the Yangtze on a riverboat (more on that in a few days). Meanwhile, a few observations on some things the Chinese are really doing right, healthcare-wise.
Politics and Tibet
We have now left Lhasa, Tibet, and we discovered that this was quite an interesting time to be here, politically speaking.
Health Care, Chinese Style
A previous post mentioned Hong Kong’s terrible smog (a word the Chinese don’t seem to know, but they understand “air pollution.” Another reader says there’s another term for it that’s spreading like the smog: the “Asian Brown Cloud“).