Somethings burning

Dust is rising, and the smell of burning brush is blowing in with the
heavy winds here in spokane. It's warm and dry, and we've started
having light fires on the highway in tacoma. I'm surprised it isn't
worse in the east. Maybe there's enough water in the columbia to keep
the risk low in most areas.

The smell makes me nostalgic for california. I remember a few fires
there. Last month I saw a fire off i-90 near the dells (just outside
the kalahari). I didn't call it in. Should I be so ashamed?

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Mead

Yes, there is more than just a salvage yard. I worked at a brand new
middle school, and went to lunch at a diner off hwy 2. We'll see how
the food is. The best part of spokane is the continued existence of
blue collar diners outside the truck stop environment. My last long
trip to spokane had a nice dining experience. What is it about coffee
cups with brown paint that feels so welcoming. Sterile white porcelain
feels like a hotel catering service to me, while the simple brown
diner mug says free refills like no other.

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Travel

There was a very young girl next to me on my flight to edmonton
tonight. Since most canadians I meet on the plane are coming from
mexico, she seemed a bit odd. No sunburn, no holiday clothes, and
travelling alone. I asked her if she was almost home, she said after
her parents picked her up it would be an hours drive, and added that
she had been travelling almost 2 and an half days. I asked if she was
coming from india. She corrected me, she had just spent a month in
wujin, china. What a trip! I spied her declarations card, 1987. How
old have I become that she seemed a mere girl? Maybe she was just
short. Reminds me a bit of island warrior Michelle.

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Review from Netflix

A travesty. If you love Shakespeare, you'll hate this. If you love musicals of the 1930s, you'll hate this.

Guess I won't get too excited to see Love's Labours Lost.

Warm Sunshine

What I will miss the most about the west is the perfectly calm, warm sunshine of the summer evenings. Even on hot days, as the sun declines, and the dried grass bathes everything in a beautiful golden glow, I feel the most satisfied sensation that all is right with the world.

In Minnesota, the same time was a summer morning, as the sun rose over the cool earth, and the last of the morning doves cooed their sad sound. Watching the stars finally fade behind a brightening sky nearly brought me to tears.

Midday has never been pleasant for me. The heat and sweat on my forehead, dripping salt into my eyes, and nearly singeing my hair is a trial to be born, but not a pleasure to be sought out.

They say Akhnaten built a temple with no roof, and held court in the brilliant Egyptian sun. It was his pleasure, but I'm sure the ministers were relieved to watch the evening approach, and the desert's winds calm and cool. Even now, the only way many can bear to sun themselves is at a beach, where the wind of the ocean cools the air with moisture.

Supernatural British Columbia

I should be tired after a day like this, but central vancouver is too
much fun to let it waste.

I started off early, leaving at 530am for port angeles to catch the
coho ferry to downtown victoria. Anyone starting from Tacoma or west
should definitely give this a try. All the other ferries take you to
Sydney, 20 miles north of downtown. The coho puts you across the
street from the legislature and 2 blocks from the Empress.

The sun was low, and the air clear as I drove through the kitsap
penninsula, but as soon as I crossed the hood canal I was fogged in.
Its another 45 miles from the bridge to the ferry, and much of it is
single lane. The ferry line wasn't long, and there was room for my
car, and time for a run to the doughnut shop. The sailing was smooth,
as we neared vancouver island, the sun came out, but otherwise it was
foggy thoughout the strait.

Victoria is a charming town to explore by foot, bur finding parking
downtown is a game I'm no good at. I arrived at the pub about 11am,
and was on my way to another ferry by noon. I booked a place on the
one o'clock BC ferry to Tsawassen, and was at the holiday inn downtown
by 330.

Dinner at marias taverna in the west end, sitting at a sidewalk table,
no pigeons. Going to the park after.

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iWork

I recently purchased a family license for iWork because Beth's laptop was flaky, and I thought old reliable Appleworks might be linked. I've played around a little, and comparing it to Office comes next, naturally.

Numbers: I think the multiple tables per page is cool. I think that what it does automatically is great. I like the use of labels in place of cell column letters.
I wish it would work better with database or flat file sources. I wish there were better ways to import data into Pages. I really like Numbers. I wish Apples manuals were a little meatier.

Pages: Great product, but why isn't there a template for Avery label sheets? This should be rather easy. Again, how do I fill a table in Pages from information in Numbers.

Since I never use presentation software, I will leave any comaparison of Keynote and PowerPoint to someone who cares.

I think I've pretty much abandoned hope for software priced above $1 and less than $100. The comparative advantage over OpenSource projects is too low to support the price. Have you looked at a software aisle lately? There is nothing good in a box. I was happy to pay the price for iLife, since they super-optimised iPhoto. I'm also a little disappointed with the preference for .Mac integration over easily supported web export options (iWeb, iPhoto, I'm talking about you). These are just clumsy from iLife. And, since I bought a mac back when .Mac was still free, I'm just a little jaded about the price for a subscription. Lastly, since my camcorder fritzed out, there's little need for iMovie (to me, at least). It was a cheap product when I used it, and I preferred final cut express (discounted at $99 when I bought it).