Posts tagged Travel
Norton Island Writers Workshop: Stephen King’s house and island arrival
Jul 2nd
It turned out that several workshop attendees were arriving to Bangor International Airport at around the same time, so once everyone had collected the baggage, we all jumped into Rob’s van (the island caretaker, who came to pick us up) to head to Jonesport to then take the boat to the island.
Of course, since we were in Bangor, we had to drive by Stephen King’s house.
You can’t really see them in the picture, but all along the top of the wrought iron fence Stephen has all sort of iron dragons and monsters sitting in sinister locations.
Then, on the way to Jonesport we took a short cut through miles and miles of blueberry fields–blueberries grow very well in Maine!
Once we got to Jonesport, which is a small town primarily focused on fishing, we hopped on the boat and headed to Norton Island.
Norton Island is about a mile offshore from Jonesport. Here’s a pic of Norton Island’s East Camp as we pulled in on the boat. In the picture, you can see some writing workshop folks (who arrived before we did) standing down on the dock and some folks standing at the top of the stairs leading up from the dock. Beside these people at the top you can see the golf cart and Mule people use to drive around with, and then in the background you can see the East Camp lodge itself.
Here’s a pic of just inside the East Camp lodge, in the dining room. Everyone attending the workshop has by now arrived, and we are all seated around the table (a few folks are off camera). Tom (standing) is giving us an intro to the workshop, how the cabins work, how the meals work, etc. You can see the front door that leads out onto a big porch. Behind the counter in the lower left corner is the kitchen, and behind Tom are two doors leading to the rest of the main level (a den area + two bedrooms, a hall with 2 bunk beds, a washroom, and two bathrooms). Behind Tom there is also a set of stairs that leads to an upstairs bedroom.
And here’s an example of the trail we use to get to and from the East or West Camp lodge buildings and our cabins.
You take the trail (flashlights are, indeed, your best companion here) to get to your cabin. Here’s the outside of my cabin.
And here’s the inside.
***
Norton Island Writers Workshop post series:
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Trip to Daniel Island, South Carolina
Jan 10th
Over New Years, we had the opportunity to visit friends on Daniel Island, South Carolina. The island itself, winner of lots of livability awards, is great—water views, temperate climate, palm trees, and close proximity to Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston itself has won best-places-to-live, world’s smartest cities, Top 10 Worldwide Cities to Visit in 2010, Best Cities in the U.S. and Canada, Best Cities for Technology Jobs, and lots of other livability, friendliness, shopping, and travel destination accolades.
After this visit, I can see why.
The city has a small town feel—folks are friendly and the prices right—yet there are enough residents to attract significant shops and businesses.
The views are excellent, and it is easy to hop from island to island to mainland, as whim may call.
All in all, it was a very fun trip, and a place I am looking forward to visiting again.
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At the End of the 00s, A Personal Lookback
Dec 31st
Traditionally, the end of the year is a time for reflection about what you’ve accomplished during the past year and a chance to set goals for the coming year. I don’t often post end-of-year reviews, but since today, December 31, 2009, marks the end of not only the year 2009, but also the end of the first 10 years of the 2000s — the end of the 00s — I wanted to at least say something.
On a larger scale, the last 10 years essentially started with the tragedy of 9/11 and ended with a recession. That’s a little depressing, but the positive side is that the next decade can’t help but be better. I hope.
So on a personal level, here are a few highlights from the past 10 years:
Old Friends New Friends
The “coming of age” of social media brought many opportunities for folks to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. I have really enjoyed getting in touch with people via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to name a few. I’ve even met people via my website, which is a really neat experience. I believe that the internet and network technologies allow people to become closer to each other, to share common interests, and to learn new perspectives and ideas. There are still some kinks left to work out, such as issues of copyright law with new digital products, or the lack of broadband penetration in the US, but in this past decade we really saw people coming around to appreciating the internet and using it to enrich their lives. Certainly I’ve enjoyed the ride so far.
Travel
I love to travel (but not to go through airports), and over the last 10 years I went to some neat places, including Milan, several towns and villages in southern England, Toronto, Iceland, and Amsterdam. I also got to take my first cruise, to the Caribbean. Within the states, notable visits include Los Angeles, New York, and Hawaii. In hindsight I guess that’s not a lot of travel if you spread it out over 10 years, but it was a lot of fun.
Going for the Brass Ring
After about 10 years of engineering work in industry, I decided to go back to school to complete a PhD. Of course, as many pointed out at the time, this was a rather foolish and difficult undertaking, for many reasons. Faculty jobs are very hard to get, especially if you only want a job in a specific geographic region. In fact, according to a recent Wall Street journal article, in 1960 about 75% of college instructors were full-time tenured or tenure-track professors, but today only about 27% are. Colleges and universities are opting to hire gaggles of adjunct professors rather than one or two tenured faculty members.
“When a tenure-track position is empty,” says Gwendolyn Bradley, director of communications at the American Association of University Professors, “institutions are choosing to hire three part-timers to save money.”
Another issue is that the pay in academia is way below industry pay scales, even for tenure-track positions. And given the faculty job requirements of teaching, service, and research, the $/hour tradeoff is even worse.
Moreover, folks warned me about the “half-life” of knowledge, especially regarding mathematics, that I would encounter since I had been out of school for so many years. Indeed, most grad students I ended up going to school with had no gap between their undergraduate and graduate courses — they only had to look at their last semester’s notes on “p-values” and “eigen-decomposition” in order to solve the homework problems, whereas I had to try to remember things from 10-years prior and that I had never had a reason to use during my industry work. The reality of “use it or lose it” made re-learning things everyone else took for granted a little challenging and a necessity for me.
The why-am-I-doing-this difficulties were compounded because I was, in part, funding my grad school effort by keeping my industry job — i.e., working and going to school at the same time — while also dealing with a 300-mile (yes, you read that right) commute. The grad students I was in class with, for the most part, did not also have a family, did not also have an industry job, and just had to commute from an apartment or dorm across campus. Needless to say, this made me question my decision to go back to school every single day it took me to complete my degree. I will note, however, that finally getting that PhD was one of the most satisfying goals I’ve ever achieved.
Health and Fitness
Note that the above ordeal left me quite depleted, stressed, and unhealthy. Add this to the fact that this past decade saw me leave my bullet-proof years in terms of health and fitness. Rather, I seem to have moved into the “ouch, oh, I guess things can break” phase of my life. Thus, I realized that I needed to take a more agressive approach to my health and fitness levels. After a lot of research, I’ve found the best way to stay in shape is through the vigorous application of kettlebells. I supplement my kettlebell usage with the TRX, running, and body-weight exercises, but really, you don’t need anything more than a cannonball with a handle.
On to the Next Decade
What will the next decade bring? I’ve got some ideas for what I want to do, and they center on the maxims of 1.) never stop challenging yourself, 2.) always value family and friends, and 3.) be productive.
So, stay tuned…
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Review: Timbuk2 Commute Messenger Bag
Jul 7th
It’s tough being a bag in Los Angeles. Or at least my backpack thinks so.
Every day that I have been in Los Angeles so far I have been out walking or riding my bike. Usually I have my backpack with me, to hold my laptop, some books, and other items. My backpack is one of those padded computer backpacks—in specific, the Dell C8882 Inspiron 17″ Laptop Backpack
For a while the backpack worked well, as it had lots of padding, held the laptop plus lots of books, had numerous pockets to hold odds and ends, and was comfortable to wear. But under extended use, especially since I have been out in Los Angeles, the backpack has not aged well. In specific, the padding in the shoulder straps has started to slide around, all the seams started looking fuzzy, like the material was wearing out, and a seam on one of the straps actually split open. So rather than be caught off-guard by a total backpack malfunction one day, far from home, I decided to look for a replacement.
My criteria: I wanted a bag that could hold my laptop, several books, and a few extra odds and ends; was waterproof (the backpack was not); and that would be comfortable and secure while walking or riding a bike. More subjective criteria included having a smaller form factor than the backpack and being more stylish. When loaded, the Dell backpack could easily knock someone over standing next to me if I turned around suddenly, and it also had a major Forrest Gump vibe going—something that doesn’t compute in style-sensitive L.A.
And my wife imposed the criteria that the bag had to be less than $100.
So I headed to a large mall on Santa Monica and stopped into the Tumi store. Their T-Tech Pulse
Eldridge Computer Messenger Bag seemed really nice, except that it was not waterproof (the sales lady said it is not waterproof, but that it resists water). As nice as the bag seemed, I couldn’t see spending $195 for a bag that could not keep my computer dry. Plus, it was about twice my budget.
The sales lady suggested I check out the Louis Vuitton store. They had Very Nice Things, but their $1,300 messenger bags would not fit my laptop. I am also not convinced that their bags would feel comfortable or be appropriate when riding a bike. As for being waterproof, I never got around to asking that question about these bags. I mean, I guess what I am trying to say is that someone in the market for a Louis Vuitton messenger bag would have a different set of criteria than the ones I listed above.
So, just about to give up on my quest, I happened to stop into my local bike shop and they had exactly what I was looking for.
The bag that fit all my requirements turned out to be the Timbuk2 Commute Messenger Bag
For many years Timbuk2 has made quality messenger bags, and the Commute was designed for the professional who wants something different than the traditional boxy briefcase, and who needs a rugged and travel-friendly bag that can hold a laptop.
This bag has a ballistic nylon exterior and a molded padded back panel (shown above). The bottom is double-padded and has an extra rubberized bottom layer (not shown).
The inside has a padded compartment for the laptop (the X-Large Commute bag fits the 17″ Apple Powerbook) and the bag itself is waterproof. It has a handle for convenient hand-carry and comes with a second strap to secure around the waist for when riding a bike (or running to catch a taxi).
And, though the bag retails for $120, you can likely find it for less (I did, and it met my authorized budget).
All in all, the Timbuk2 Commute is a quality bag that seems to be very durable, to be useful and stylish, and to have enough features to make the price seem more than reasonable.
Technorati Tags: academia, bike, book, review, travel
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Traveling with the Folding Bike – It Works!
Jun 24th
Well, at least using my experience with one trip, it works.
In my previous post, “In theory: how to survive when on travel without a car – the folding bike”, I discussed this idea for staying in a city without a car. I showed a picture of the bike and a picture of the bike folded in a suitcase.
Here is a photo of the bike, unpacked from the suitcase, after a trip of 2,329 miles via airplane:
Technorati Tags: culture, living, travel
