Category Archives: Travel

March 18, 2026 · 23:03

Three Rest Stops Between SoCal & Arizona

So many miles, so many rest stops.

Outside of the San Gabriel Valley but before Palm Springs on Interstate 10, I found that the winter rains have been a source of massive greenery on the hills.

Out in the Mojave Desert, the mountains are sharp, barren, and raw. You might as well be on Mars! Except, of course, for the air and tumbleweeds and 100°+ temperatures…

Once we got into Arizona there was a huge change. California’s rest stops suck. Old, beat up, filthy, or simply closed. Arizona’s are much better, both in design and in maintenance standards.

Sunset finally caught us about 90 minutes out of Phoenix.

You hit a certain age and you need to automatically add 30% to the Google Maps travel time since if you’re smart you’ll NEVER pass a rest stop. I’m there!

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February 11, 2026 · 22:53

Random Old Photos – February 11th

Nana’s garden in Vermont, June 2004. We would have been back there for my 30th high school reunion and visiting her up in Barre at the time.

So much color!

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Filed under Flowers, Photography, Travel

January 17, 2026 · 22:21

Random Old Photos – January 17th

It was 42 years ago last night that the Northridge earthquake woke us up in the middle of the night. We were only about five miles from the epicenter, but we escaped with minimal damage (two of the cinder block walls separating our back yard from the neighbors’ back yards went down and had to be demolished and replaced) and a lot of books and dishes and games and clothes to pick up and put back on shelves.

I thought that I might find some pictures from then, but I didn’t have a digital camera then and I’ve only digitized a small handful of my film archives. One of those projects for “someday,” i.e., when I retire and have the time, i.e., six months after I’m dead.

So from 32 years ago, not 42, here are a couple of Vermont summer pictures. I’ve got lots of them in that class, with high school reunions every five years and family who lived there for decades.

The Connecticut River valley from a rest stop near the top of Mount Ascutney, New Hampshire on the other side, stretching off to the east.

An extremely bright roadside flower (coen flower, maybe?) from the rest stop.

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January 8, 2026 · 23:29

Stained Glass – January 8th

Because who couldn’t use a tiny little reminder that beauty still exists in the world, especially in light of the horrors going on all around us?

All images from Brussels Cathedral.

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December 19, 2025 · 22:18

National Basilica – Brussels

My brain was empty, awaiting imprinting or guidance. I ran across a social media thread full of stained glass…

I had stumbled into the National Basilica in Brussels by accident.

Since our hotel was near the city center, my strategy was to get on the subway and go out a dozen stops or so and then make my way back, stopping to see churches, parks, sculpture gardens, architecturally interesting buildings, etm.

This was near the station where I got off the subway and came up, and it was open. At least, no one yelled at me for wandering around like The Ugly American and taking pictures. (I was actually very polite and well behaved.)

The stained glass offerings were pretty straightforward, nothing too abstract or spectacular. But all very bright and lovely.

I found the sunbeams coming in through the dome windows, piercing down into the darkness below.

I’m glad that I stopped!

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June 23, 2025 · 23:49

Proof Of Life – June 23rd

A statue in front of City Hall in a small city in the Czech Republic, Pardubice. 2016 I was there with my Pepperdine EMBA class, to visit the Foxconn computer factory there.

Kings, Cardinals, Bishops, cherubs, who knows what else. An article I found on the top twelve things to see in Pardubice includes City Hall, the bright white building in the background, but doesn’t mention anything about the statue in front. The “new” City Hall building dates to the 1890’s so one could assume that the statue is of a similar age.

As much as I would truly love to get back to Prague (and also see Paris, Rome, Vienna, Athens, Barcelona, and a couple dozen other European cities), I’m not sure that a repeat trip to Pardubice is high on the priority list.

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June 18, 2025 · 23:50

Proof Of Life – June 18th

Tomorrow’s a day off, a holiday?

Yeah. Right. And I’ve got this bridge to sell you.

Maybe I’ll at least sleep in late. Dreaming about being here, if I’m lucky, and not having semi-conscious stress dreams about Excel files and reports that don’t balance.

Sleep well, y’all!

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June 17, 2025 · 23:55

Proof Of Life – June 17th

Brussels, Cathedral of St Michael

I always will remember how the final, desperate, last chance, for all the marbles weapon that the humans put together against the aliens in “Footfall” was named Michael after the avenging archangel.

Never an avenging archangel of death around when you really need one.

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June 2, 2025 · 23:28

A Calm Pool

Some days you have certain priorities and the world has others.

I remain a clam pool amid the chaos, despite the fact that my to-do list didn’t shrink nearly as much as I had hoped for today.

Is there a nice old picture I can share, just as a break from the doom scrolling and endless stream of numbers?

Something I saw online said something like “Take two Bufferin capsules with a cup of Sanka and a glass of Tang and you’ll wake up in 1974 in the back seat of a Buick LeSabre.” I would take that deal, I would love to be back in 1974 and at Center Pond (shown) for a day or two with some dear friends who are no longer with us.

Instead, there’s a yet longer to-do list waiting for tomorrow.

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May 29, 2025 · 23:33

Proof Of Life – May 29th

SOOOOO angry tonight. Or frustrated. Or both.

Our payroll is due tonight and I just found out that they’ve COMPLETELY redesigned their data entry interface with zero warning, and it SUCKS!!! I always thought that the early implementations of QuickBooks Online was the worst program I’ve ever seen or used – this is giving it a run for its money.

The data entry that usually takes 30-45 minutes has already taken over an hour and I’m only a third of the way through it – at this pace it will be 1:30 or 2:00 AM or later before I’m done. And that assumes that there aren’t any more surprises or re-designs or other complications later, like when I want to get a report to verify that I’ve entered all of the data correctly.

WTF were they thinking??!!

Meanwhile, for reasons that make no sense at all to me, I got to thinking about how I don’t know how to stand for pictures without looking incredibly awkward. For example:

This has always been a favorite in this category. Prague, 2006. Calling Dork Central! What exactly am I doing with my arms, and why does it look like they’re both broken?

This is a little better. At least I found something to do with my hands. And these days I’m about 50 pounds lighter, so that helps…

Back to battle with the “new & improved” payroll software or I’ll NEVER get to bed tonight!

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Filed under Freakin' Idiots!, Paul, Photography, Travel