Another beautiful day to ride the Hudson River Valley
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Dragon Bridge in Nha Trang, Vietnam
Stitched
together some photos of the Dragon Bridge in Nha Trang, Vietnam to try and show the full length. It's a fanciful bridge. And for about ten minutes each night,
starting at 9pm, the dragon breathes fire! Really awesome to see.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Minot, North Dakota is remote...
...and compared to New York it's March is still January.
Went there on a road trip with a friend. He pours concrete and will probably be back during the summer and fall to do just that.
I do Information Technology management. I didn't find a job while there but did find some resources to follow up on.
A year round job there would need to be one that offers a lot of satisfaction and good benefits. Given what winters must be like I can't imagine moving there for money alone.
There's a boom going on because of the oil that's being extracted from the shale. And forecasts are it will continue to build for the next 5 years or more then maintain steady state for the next 10 to 30 years.
There's a lot of construction going on, hence the need for folks like my friend. As more infrastructure is in place there will be need of more folks with my skills I'm sure.
Anyway, to give you an idea of North Dakota in March and some of the building going on take a look at these pics!
Went there on a road trip with a friend. He pours concrete and will probably be back during the summer and fall to do just that.
I do Information Technology management. I didn't find a job while there but did find some resources to follow up on.
A year round job there would need to be one that offers a lot of satisfaction and good benefits. Given what winters must be like I can't imagine moving there for money alone.
There's a boom going on because of the oil that's being extracted from the shale. And forecasts are it will continue to build for the next 5 years or more then maintain steady state for the next 10 to 30 years.
There's a lot of construction going on, hence the need for folks like my friend. As more infrastructure is in place there will be need of more folks with my skills I'm sure.
Anyway, to give you an idea of North Dakota in March and some of the building going on take a look at these pics!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Product returns
Being a tech person and familiar with computers I like to offer solutions when I think I can.
Hương needed a new printer and also wanted her daughters' computer, in a different room, to be able to use the printer if possible. We went to a local store and looked over a number of printers. She settled on an HP M1132 printer, copier, scanner with my help.
The solution to printing from another room? A print server. We bought a D-Link DPR-1020 print server at the same time as the printer.
Vietnam amazes me with services available for little or no cost.
At no additional cost, purchase was about $250US, a technician delivered the printer and print server and set them up!
Unfortunately the print server didn't work reliably. Hương's laptop has Windows 7 and the daughters' computer Ubuntu Linux. According to D-Link's web site the print server works with both. A little digging on my part and I discovered the problem was the print server's compatibility with the printer. I found plenty of posts that it didn't work with the particular printer regardless of Windows or Ubuntu on the computer sending the print job.
The typical reaction I'd have would just be "return it." Not so fast. Seems in Vietnam merchants accepting product returns is not a common practice. So first Hương called to make sure we would be "allowed to return it." Her words, not mine. Once that hurdle was cleared we went back to the store with the product and the receipt. Then things got interesting.
First we went to the purchase desk where payment for a purchase is made. From there we were directed to the merchandise pickup desk where purchases are delivered to the buyer. They looked our paperwork over and directed us upstairs to the testing department. Testing looked the print server over and sent us back downstairs to the purchase desk. They filled something out and sent us over to merchandise pickup again. Merchandise pickup took the device back, gave us some more paperwork and sent us back to the purchase desk. They filled out some more paperwork, called someone, and we waited. The "called someone" came to us and we followed her to the 3rd floor and waited outside an office. After a while she came out of the office and gave us some paperwork. It included a new receipt without the print server on it. Now, at last, we went back downstairs to the purchase desk, gave them the paperwork and got the refund!
I told Hương that next time she's in the US we're going to buy something and return it just so she can see how easy the process is here.
Hương needed a new printer and also wanted her daughters' computer, in a different room, to be able to use the printer if possible. We went to a local store and looked over a number of printers. She settled on an HP M1132 printer, copier, scanner with my help.
The solution to printing from another room? A print server. We bought a D-Link DPR-1020 print server at the same time as the printer.
Vietnam amazes me with services available for little or no cost.
At no additional cost, purchase was about $250US, a technician delivered the printer and print server and set them up!
Unfortunately the print server didn't work reliably. Hương's laptop has Windows 7 and the daughters' computer Ubuntu Linux. According to D-Link's web site the print server works with both. A little digging on my part and I discovered the problem was the print server's compatibility with the printer. I found plenty of posts that it didn't work with the particular printer regardless of Windows or Ubuntu on the computer sending the print job.
The typical reaction I'd have would just be "return it." Not so fast. Seems in Vietnam merchants accepting product returns is not a common practice. So first Hương called to make sure we would be "allowed to return it." Her words, not mine. Once that hurdle was cleared we went back to the store with the product and the receipt. Then things got interesting.
First we went to the purchase desk where payment for a purchase is made. From there we were directed to the merchandise pickup desk where purchases are delivered to the buyer. They looked our paperwork over and directed us upstairs to the testing department. Testing looked the print server over and sent us back downstairs to the purchase desk. They filled something out and sent us over to merchandise pickup again. Merchandise pickup took the device back, gave us some more paperwork and sent us back to the purchase desk. They filled out some more paperwork, called someone, and we waited. The "called someone" came to us and we followed her to the 3rd floor and waited outside an office. After a while she came out of the office and gave us some paperwork. It included a new receipt without the print server on it. Now, at last, we went back downstairs to the purchase desk, gave them the paperwork and got the refund!
I told Hương that next time she's in the US we're going to buy something and return it just so she can see how easy the process is here.
Stuff I Ate In Vietnam
My first trip to Vietnam I was really intent on trying foods that are unique or uncommon compared to common fare here in the US. On my fifth trip I really didn't do gastronomic exploration. Even so I had some opportunities this time that I didn't plan for.
This particular lunch Hương and I were meeting a friend of hers for some chit chat and to talk about introducing her to a friend of mine.
As I often do I asked Hương to make the order for me. My Vietnamese is very limited and I only recognize some dishes at this point. She'll generally ask if I like this meat or that, what sort of noodles I want, etc. and then make the selection.
In this case she asked if I wanted to try pigeon and of course I said sure. This is a portion of what was delivered to the table.
It really is quite tasty meat. I was surprised at the breast. I like dark meat best and am always eating the legs and thighs of chicken instead of breast. The breast was the meatiest part of the pigeon and really quite dark. It reminded me in many ways of a good chicken thigh. Tender and savory and dark. Not at all dry.
The thighs and legs were good too. Being a pigeon though there really wasn't that much too them.
For good measure, and not to miss an opportunity eating unusual food, I ate the head too! How do you eat the head?! Just put it in your mouth and bite. It's like a soft little ball. The skull gives no resistance and doesn't break into sharp bits of bone like you might think. The brain is about the consistency of chicken breast but doesn't have the fibers. I didn't notice the eyes separately at all. I didn't eat the beak but did get the tongue.
Certainly the way this was prepared I'd eat it again, head included.
One other thing before I forget we also got a serving of pig uterus. Sorry I didn't get a picture. I think most of it was eaten before I knew what it was. Suffice to say it was tasty also and for sure I'd have more prepared the same way.
As I often do I asked Hương to make the order for me. My Vietnamese is very limited and I only recognize some dishes at this point. She'll generally ask if I like this meat or that, what sort of noodles I want, etc. and then make the selection.
In this case she asked if I wanted to try pigeon and of course I said sure. This is a portion of what was delivered to the table.
It really is quite tasty meat. I was surprised at the breast. I like dark meat best and am always eating the legs and thighs of chicken instead of breast. The breast was the meatiest part of the pigeon and really quite dark. It reminded me in many ways of a good chicken thigh. Tender and savory and dark. Not at all dry.
The thighs and legs were good too. Being a pigeon though there really wasn't that much too them.
For good measure, and not to miss an opportunity eating unusual food, I ate the head too! How do you eat the head?! Just put it in your mouth and bite. It's like a soft little ball. The skull gives no resistance and doesn't break into sharp bits of bone like you might think. The brain is about the consistency of chicken breast but doesn't have the fibers. I didn't notice the eyes separately at all. I didn't eat the beak but did get the tongue.
Certainly the way this was prepared I'd eat it again, head included.
One other thing before I forget we also got a serving of pig uterus. Sorry I didn't get a picture. I think most of it was eaten before I knew what it was. Suffice to say it was tasty also and for sure I'd have more prepared the same way.
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