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Showing posts from April 10, 2011

Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

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I get a kick out of hearing the term "Deep South" in 2026. It is a crazy incredibly outdated label. I think maybe I should start saying the "Deep Northeast". I am a Yankee. My family came over on the Mayflower and moved to Upstate NY via Connecticut. Terms used in the revolutionary and Civil war days are generally inappropriate. My family is all but totally out of NY State now. I find the term "deep south" to be of the same thinking that the movie "Heidi" is what contemporary Europe is like. Watching the fireworks in Rochester, NY from the back yard of a house in the city made it look like a real war zone. It is a long drive between Berkshire, NY and Duluth, GA. Most of the 35K miles on the truck were spent in between. I drove the truck about 3k miles in 2-1/2 weeks. It was great to spend time on the farm. It was good to make some progress on needed repairs and improvements. I also felt good about making some new friends up there. I will be...
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I am in Sevenum, Netherlands at the moment. I landed this morning at 7:00 AM local (Dusseldorf) and put in a full day. I only feel a little tired. I must be getting the hang of this. One of the tricks is to stay up after your first day is over. You have to move towards the new time zone. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/383125/facebook_biggest_bank_by_2015/?fp=2&fpid=1 I think the above article (and pasted as a image below) is important and a potenteous, and a bit scary. Especially, since it was written by the the founder of what facebook has become.
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I like this piece of music. It ties US immigrants together; New Orleans (African and French), western Appalachia (Irish), and the Midwest (German and Scandinavians). You can almost see tributaries of the Mississippi river. How shallow it is to think that we don't each come from a particular heritage. Pride (deferred or demonstrated), genetics and familiar water holes is what makes us real.
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I just received a Medal from the US Government for Service in Antarctica. Certainly, it isn't every day I get a medal. It is one of the few medals that the federal government gives out to civilians. I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can find an old Webelos uniform to wear it with (not that I could possibly fit into it). I would like to get back to Antarctica again someday. Early next month I am giving a presentation called "Aviation in Antarctica" to the Atlanta chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Tuesday I am headed to Dusseldorf Germany, The Netherlands, and Denmark. I will be spending next weekend in Copenhagen. I hope to rent a bicycle.