I happily pay the $99...

I happily pay the $99...  Because it works, and it's usable! But I also use a lot of free open source software, too. There isn't a single piece of software left on my computers made by Microsoft, though...

Heating up in Hong Kong...

Heating up in Hong Kong...  Pro-capitalist protesters are edging into open confrontation and closer to violent confrontation against mainland Chinese manipulation of the political process.  This is a real challenge for the Chinese government – they're walking a tightrope here.  On the one hand, they've got the goose that lays the golden eggs (almost literally!) in Hong Kong, but on the other hand, the democratic and pro-business government is a direct threat (by example) to their top-down, socialist-leaning thugocracy on the mainland. 

Will the mainland government cave, and allow Hong Kong to keep its free elections?  Will they come down hard against a drift toward democracy, like they did at Tienanmen Square?  Or will they find some middle road?  I haven't a clue...

Twenty years ago today ...

Twenty years ago today ... the RORO (roll on, roll off) ferry MS Estonia sank in the Baltic sea, claiming 852 lives.  Most of the victims were Estonian or Scandinavian, many were children.  This occurred as I was just starting to get to know the country of Estonia, its people, and its culture.  I visited the country just a couple of weeks after the sinking, and the shock and grief were evident everywhere I went.  Estonia is a very small country, and it seemed like everyone knew someone who had been on that ferry...

This morning I ran across a transcript of the inter-ship communications starting with the first report of trouble on the MS Estonia and continuing through the rescue efforts.  Reading it (there's an English translation) brought lots of memories flooding back...

The closest piece of Estonian land to the site of the sinking is the northernmost point of land on Hiiumaa (an island off Estonia's west coast), a little spit called Tahkuna (see map at left).  Just northwest of the lighthouse there (the Tahkuna Tuletorn), the grieving Estonians built a simple, but hauntingly beautiful monument to the children who died.  It's a bell in a simple tower, and the bell is adorned with the faces of children (my photo of it at upper right).

I first visited the monument entirely by accident, while exploring the beautiful island of Hiiumaa.  I first visited the lighthouse – a popular tourist attraction – and then wandered toward the beach where I spotted the monument.  Until that moment, I had no idea that I was on the piece of Estonia closest to the site of the sinking.

I've visited that monument five times over the years, most recently in 2003.  Even though it is in quite a remote place, fairly difficult to reach, there are usually people there.  On my second visit, an older couple in traditional Estonian knit sweaters sat on a log, looking to the northwest, (toward where the ferry sank), weeping.  Later they rang the bell on the monument and left.  The memory of that couple still affects me deeply, many years later.  Other pieces of art have been installed there in more recent years, and there's a traditional Estonian maze there now, too (rocks arranged on sand).

I'd like to return to that place some day, and show it to Debbie...

The bottle of wine...

The bottle of wine...  My CCPOAAGGM (card-carrying, pissed-off, angry-American great-grandmother) mom sends me things.  In an email this morning, she said “For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married, or wish you weren't married, this is something to smile about the next time you see a bottle of wine”

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.

As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride.

With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.

Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.

'What in bag?' asked the old woman.

Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband.'

The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said: 'Good trade...'

Speaking as a husband who might be traded for, doesn't a single bottle of wine seem a little cheap?  Surely it should have been at least a six pack!