Technology

Last evening we watched a documentary on Silicon Valley and all the discoveries and innovations that have come out of there the last 60 years.  Amazing, and things that I remember.  In the summer of 1972, I was building circuits to control and experiment for one of the Physics professors.  It introduced me to transistors and resistors, and was the most basic computing with And and Nand gates.  I taped the copper plates and then dunked them in acid to remove the unwanted conducting material.

Our hotel is 300m from the airport -- thanks to the internet search I did to find something close.  We have an early flight to Stockholm tomorrow morning so that we can get our rental car and make it to the grandkids before bedtime which is about 18:00 (6 pm to those uninitiated to 24 hour time).  Again, an internet search.  I have all my paperwork printed out so that it is easy to present at the appropriate place .  I am not quite confident enough to do everything on my phone, yet.

I needed to find a grocery store once we landed in our room -- thanks Google and on the phone it led me there with instructions the whole way.  I paid with my Mastercard.

And so I am amazed by how far our technology has come.  But we have monumental problems facing us in terms of environmental damage.  I guess I believe, that the impossible dreams of today will find a solution, for the sake of my grandchildren.  Reuse, repurpose, recycle.

Trading winter scenarios

Yes it is January and that means winter, but winter can have different faces.

Consider the face of Hamilton/Toronto area on Monday.  It was -16, snowing steadily and a strong wind.  It made for a most unpleasant day.  The car had to be brushed off.  The crawl along the 407 and 401 to the airport took 2.5 hours.  Almost every flight on the departures board was delayed or cancelled.  The KLM flight at our gate just before us had been diverted to Ottawa and then couldn't get out so the poor people who were meant to leave at 6 pm were told at 9 that they had to make other arrangements.  We were 2 hours late getting into the plane and then another hour waiting to get de-iced, but we made it out.

Now consider winter here in Ponta Delgada.  I am sitting on our balcony overlooking the city and the harbour.  The ocean is calm and the sunrise has been lovely.  It is +16 and forecast to go to 17 during the day and only 15 tonight.  There is the sound of a workman sawing something occasionally, but other than that, a bit of a traffic hum and birds.

I am happy with my choice!