Yesterday Ruth and I celebrated one of the keystone events of this century. You see, yesterday was my lovely brides birthday! The photo to the left shows one of the items that Ruth received to help celebrate this day.... 18 yellow roses.  Why 18 you may ask? That is one rose for each birthday she has celebrated since we have been married and 1 to grow on!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Hardy in his new summer wear. This little dog has very thick fur and during the winter time likes to spend as much time outside as he can. The double thick coat he sports during that time of year keeps him warm in almost any weather. The trouble is that when the temperatures start to get into the 80s, he gets miserable. So out of compassion at the end of every spring we get him shaved down. So while it may look like two different animals, let me assure you that it is the same lovable mutt we have come to know!

In a previous blog post titled "Mike and Ruth's excellent adventure", I mentioned the Agra Craft Mall where a number of local crafts were on display and for sale. During our time wandering this mall, we made a couple of small purchases that we then asked to be shipped back to us in the states. We were told by the craftsmen that the turn-around time would be a couple of weeks and we went away happy.

Shortly after my return from India in early February one of the items we had purchased arrived. A lovely hand woven rug that is a mixture of silk and wool. This rug lies in the entry way of our home and provides a warm reminder of my time in India every time I enter or leave the house.

The other item we purchased had to be made for us. As you may recall from an earlier blog post the Pietra Dura is hand made and it takes two artisans weeks to accomplish one piece. As the mall did not have the exact piece we were looking for, Ruth contracted out the table top she wanted. We were told that it might take as long as 8 weeks to finish before it could be shipped to us. Having done this on other international trips it did not really concern us. We expected it to arrive in late February and were surprised when March came and it was not here. Patience, we reminded each other. This is a hand crafted piece after all. As the weeks continued to pass, we started to get more anxious. Last week we discussed my making a phone call to see what the status was. Of course this got lost in the shuffle of day to day life and I never got around to it.

Well, yesterday our patience paid off and the piece pictured arrived at our door step. All I can say is WOW!  It might of taken 4 months to receive after placing the order, but it was worth the wait.  Now all Ruth has to do is find a place for it.

(p.s.  for those who can't judge the size from the photo.... The piece measure 16 inches across.)

Life is the same, regardless of age

Over the weekend I spent a fair amount of time cataloging old photographs from the various trips Ruth and I have taken. Doing this brought back many memories both sweet and sad. The many faces in these photographs of people that I will likely never see again and the shared experiences we had together just brought a smile to my face. Looking at the photographs also reminded me of the many cities I have been to and how each of them have their own personality. And that, regardless of the culture or age, that some things just do not change. An example of this can be found at Prague Castle in the Czech republic. There is a wrought-iron fence around the cathedral inside the castle that shows vignettes from village life in the area and it dates back to the mid 1700's. The photo is from one of the scenes and you can just imagine the woman given her husband a hard time for something he has just said or done. I have seen that same look from my wife on numerous occasions. It just shows you that we are all the same, regardless of the country we are living in or the time we are in. As Ruth and I continue our world travels, I continue to believe that the most important reason to travel to a place is not to see the sights, but to get to know the people and their culture. I am very much looking forward to the new places that we will travel and the people we will meet in the upcoming years.

What a title and I am likely to get into trouble with my lovely bride for it! You see, for as long as I can remember, I have been a computer geek. As much as I have tried over the years and no matter how many 12 step programs I go through, I will always be a computer geek. Now what happens when a guy like this marries a woman who loves playing with the audio/visual equipment that inhabits so many house holds?  You get what we did over the last few days....

It all started on a rainy day last week as I was cleaning up some old boxes that were removed from my office. I came across an old laptop that had been stuffed away and forgotten. As I was looking at it, I really did not want to retire it. So in my addled brain I started to dream of things to do with it. I thought, hmmm, convert it from windows to Linux and make it a web server. However, I had done that before and while it is fun for a short time it takes a bit of work. So the laptop was taken to my office and cleaned up (old programs removed and the like) and left to sit on the shelf.

Now enter the A/V geek part of the equation. In our stack of equipment to drive the television is a DVR receiver that is tied into our satellite system. This box is supposed to be able to link into your home network and display the photos, music and video that most of us have on our machines in this new digital age. This is a new feature that is being introduced to this particular box and my wife has been helping beta test it. Unfortunately, the programmers have had some challenges getting this to work.

Add to this that a number of new services are appearing on the Internet today that allow streaming of old TV programs (hulu and fancast) and you now have a need to add a computer to your A/V rack. Well, as it turns out, I have an old laptop I am looking to do something with. So how does one hook a laptop up to your audio receiver and drive video from it? Enter monoprice.com. There is is a cable (pictured) that converts the headphone jack and the S-Video output jack into normal RCA connections that the receiver can understand.  Whew, that part was easy.

Now for the hard part. Who wants a laptop hanging around where everyone can see it. And how do I control the darn thing if I hide it in my rack somewhere?  I suppose I could add a blue tooth receiver and then use a wireless keyboard and mouse.... but then, where do you store them when your not using them?  Hmmm, another job for computer geek man!  After searching the net for remote control software I came across Anyplace. The reason I chose this particular piece of software is that it has the security features I was looking for to prevent hacking into my system (I am a geek after all!)

My lovely bride took over at this point and hooked the entire mess into the A/V rack and then programmed our remote control (you read that right, we have a remote that can be programmed) to drive the new system. The nice thing is that we can now access any of our digital media from our computer network and run it through the A/V deck. So all of those MP3's that I have running around, all of the photos I have taken over the years and the few videos that I have created can now all be shared on our TV. 

It is so much fun when Ruth and I get to work on a project that brings both of our hobbies together... I wonder what is next?

 First the bad

This chart is from the Atlanta Allergy and Pollen Clinic and shows the current pollen counts for the area for the month of April.  Along with all of the color of spring comes these unreal pollen counts as all of the plants spring out at once. The reason for the huge drop in the count on the 15th was the massive rain storm that came in during the evening of the 14th and washed much of the pollen away.  I really expect in the next couple of days it will be over 2,000 again.  So if you hear those of us from the south wheezing, sneezing and carrying on, this is why!

Now for the good!

After one of my SPA treatments for me left shoulder (otherwise knows as suffering, pain and agony or physical therapy) I stopped by one of the local botanical gardens to take a walk and work out the kinks on the shoulder. Of course I had the camera with me and here are some additional photos of spring time in Snellville Georgia!

When I was in India my loving bride decided it was time to remodel my office at home. This entailed pulling out the old carpet and replacing it with a heated hardwood floor. New paint on the walls and brand new furniture to work at. (I am one lucky guy!)  The other thing that she decided was to have the room reflect both of our passions for travel. So in the room is several things reminding me to keep a world-wide view in my daily dealings while at work. In this blog is just a few of the things that she has used to accomplish this...

Each of the items that she has decorated the room with has a special meaning to me. From the wall clock and it's 9 time zones (reminding me to think about the local time of a person I am talking to) to the currency (people place different values on things around the world) to the bagpipers (reminding me that entertainment is not universal). If I can keep this in mind as I do my day to day job, I (and those around me) will be able to do a better better job relating to those around us.

Lastly is the map of the world. This is the biggest thing to keep in mind. The world keeps getting smaller and smaller. If we remember two major things in dealing with other cultures, we will all be better off. First is "Be Flexible". This does not mean give up all that you hold dear and truthful, just that if you are able to flex with any situation you are more likely to be able to influence the outcome. Secondly is "it is not wrong, just different". To me this means that there are more than one way to do something and just because it is not the way I would of chosen does not automatically make it wrong.

(For those who are interested, the red dots on this map are places that Ruth and I have been since we have been married. Looking at this has us planning future trips to see more of the world!)

Adobe has launched a new web site for the public to play around with. It is called Photoshop Express and it allows users to upload their photos and then use some simple editing tools on them. From what I have tried so far, for basic photo editing it is going to be a big hit.  For the time being, they are also allowing 2gb of photos to be stored online that can then be shared with family and friends in a slide show. I have, of course, uploaded a few images and played around. If your interested in the gallery that I have placed there go to http://mckennon.photoshop.com.

 Just because I can, here is another photo taken this morning of the April Snow that we get in Georgia.  I just love this time of year!

One of the things I like about the middle of spring in Georgia is when the Bradford pears and the Cherry trees start to drop their blooms. If there is any wind at all, the entire area is covered with the white and pink blossoms floating through the air. With the warm temperatures and the cool breezes, walking through this wonderland is a sensory overload.  The smells of spring abound and the sights of the falling petals and the sounds of the birds in the trees, certainly makes this a wonderland.  It is too bad that it only lasts a day or so and if it is raining (as it is today), it is very difficult to get out and enjoy it. Also, as the petals fall, the wind blows them into little drifts anywhere that the breeze is interrupted (see left) leaving piles of color throughout the landscape.  Ah, spring, it is my favorite time of year!