Real Time View

Sometimes, timing is everything. At other times, you just cannot rule out luck. Over the past couple of weeks Margo and I have really run up the miles. We drove from the Florida panhandle back to Colorado and then on to Monterey. After which, we drove the reverse route. All up, I seem to recall, we did more than five thousand miles over the course of four weeks or thereabouts. Regular readers will understand that this isn’t a one-time road trip, as we normally drive to wherever conferences and events might be held. One regular trip we have done many times has been the Colorado to Mississauga, Ontario, loop just so we can spend a day with the Canadian Tandem User Group. For many, sitting in a car for this amount of time is inconceivable and yet, for Margo and me it’s the time when we get to talk about what we can expect to hear at a conference followed by a further discussion on what we did hear. This time, however, external events played a larger-than-life part – it was the height

A post late last year following NonStop TBC 2023:   “Wherever travel takes Margo and me, I often take photos at that location. A reminder of where we have been and  a way to start conversations with family and friends.”   With the upcoming NonStop Technical Boot Camp 2024 (NonStopTBC24) being a matter of only a few days away, travel continues to dominate the conversations at home. This year, we drove our SUV from Florida to Colorado where we prepped for the conference completing, as was needed to do, the presentation I will be giving on Tuesday, 9/24/2024, at 1:30PM. Will I see you there? Sure hope so – it will be new and will tackle a couple of interesting developments within the NonStop community. Ingenuity? It is certainly taking center stage as the modernization of NonStop continues. Colorado, however, was just a midpoint in our trip to Monterey, California. Preparation completed to drive to Monterey; it was a case of loading our sports car for the trip to the west coast. It’s t

  Nothing too surprising running across this sign other than thinking more about where it was placed. A pleasant enough location you would think but hiding a secret albeit wrapped in a little humor. Situated close to the Intracoastal Waterway along the Florida panhandle, it fronts a small dock in a marshy estuary tidal known to be frequented by Alligators. Having already overheard locals advising holiday makers not to enter this part of the waterway to paddleboard, clearly strapped into a kayak makes a whole lot more sense. Like going in for kabobs made up of cubes of meat pierced by a stick came to mind. As an Australian who has spent time in Queensland’s far north, we know all too well the unpredictive nature of the local giant salt-water crocodiles, I have a healthy respect for these reptiles, be that alligators or crocodiles and there is nothing indecisive about me thinking about mucking about with boats this close to where sightings have occurred. With Hurricane Debby having misse

The photo may not be as clear as we both hoped. However, it’s still quite readable and serves a purpose. Snapped on the drive between Cedar City and St George in Utah as we continued on our drive down to Las Vegas for HPE Discover, 2024. Where the posted speed limit is 80 mph and where at that speed it is still hard to keep up with the trucks even as they travel just a little above the posted speed limit, it is a sign we have passed many times without paying it too much attention. Perhaps it can be a case of being unperturbed by distractions while driving at speed but this time, knowing the sign was there, we waited and prepared for the shot even as we did come off the gas to ensure we weren’t stuck behind the tanker. Heading for HPE Discover 2024, we were equally as patient as we were looking for signs. The NonStop platform looks to be preparing for a major overhaul this coming fall and our anxiousness was a case of anticipation. What comes next for NonStop? This isn’t the only si

Yes, it’s spring time and even the big cats crave shade! However you want to classify it, there is no escaping the arrival of springtime along the front ranges of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. The transition from deep winter to the delights of spring may happened over the course off just a few short weeks but no matter, the trees alongside our condo are putting on quite a show. They are also providing much-needed relief from the fierce afternoon sunshine as already temperatures have climbed into the mid-90s, F (32+ C). Can’t complain though as neither Margo nor me are winter bunnies preferring instead the warmer temperate climate of the near-tropics. Whatever you might think of Colorado and the mountain retreats should you be only passing through on your way to canyons and reservoirs in nearby states, as the state motto says, it’s always a case of Colorful Colorado. The runoff from the snow-laden mountains is already underway; giving us quite a show with every stream and river borde

Contemplating a move to the other side of the country as we look to living by the coast, has given us an opportunity to catch up with what is happening across the home building landscape. In so doing, it’s so easy to gravitate to what’s trending and to ignore the practicality side of things. There is always the question too as to whether this or that trend has legs sufficient enough to overcome future reactions about how dated such a trend has become. Touring the many model homes that builders provide is always an exercise in maximizing temptations. This home can be built at this price point but if you would like it to look more like the model, then the upgrades will run you 20 to 25 percent more than the described base price. Models have their purpose but then again, they tend to not only tempt potential buyers but oftentimes overachieve. Do we really need floor to ceiling sheets of marble as wall coverings? What about that massive chandelier above the entrance? The references to

It was inevitable as it was obvious. An evening walk with my grandfather. He had spent the past fifty years working with technologies and, given as it was 2074, the technology changes he had witnessed could only be described as dramatic. Walking from his office I caught a glimpse of framed emails he had kept as artifacts from his earliest days in IT; a rare sighting by any measure. As a new hire fresh from college, he had joined HPE, as it was called in those years. Following a series of mergers followed by a number of spin-offs, it was hard for me to visualize what it must have been like back then. “What you think of today as technology didn’t exist back then but circumstances changed and ambitions exploded,” he said. “I recall clearly when individuals wrestled total control of tech away from state-supported institutions as the idea governments could foster any level of cooperation needed to break through barriers.” Quickly revisiting the past and stories that I’ve heard before,