Dearest readers, I depart in a few hours for Africa and points beyond on one of the longest possibble commercial flights in the world (22 hours from California to South Africa). I doubt I shall have reliable access to the internet in rural Africa (call me crazy). So, again, I do hope you will indulge … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Southern Exposure – Part 2
Venturing forth again (Part 1 can be found here), it didn’t take us long to regain our proper frames of mind for the day after passing signs like this: Or more signs for places like Catch A Trout Road or Tater Ridge Road or Roy Cagle Road or Boggs Road. Or businesses such as Uncle … Continue reading
Visiting The Site Of The JFK Assassination
As part of my Southern Exposure tour, I wanted to visit as many friends and family as feasible. My brother-in-law is an engineer and was hired on by a semiconductor company to work in Dallas. As Dallas is along the way back to California, I decided that visiting the Quade family – consisting of my … Continue reading
Southern Exposure – Part 1
Aside from the simple pleasures of traveling and visiting old friends, I was keen on visiting some of the more extreme “Deliverance type” areas in America’s redneck South. Mr. Downing had tried to prepare me for the type of environment we were headed into, but words simply cannot prepare one for the experience. One of … Continue reading
The Biggest Losers
Largest recorded losses due to activities of a “rogue” trader ranked in order of loss size: 1. Jerome Kerviel Size of Loss: $7.1 billion Employer: Societe Generale Source of Loss: European index futures Year: 2008 2. Brian Hunter Size of Loss: $6.5 billion Employer: Amaranth Advisors Source of Loss: Gas futures Year: 2006 3. John … Continue reading
Humbug Trail
Finding myself in the unusual circumstance of having an idle day, I decided to take a trek down the only trail in Malakoff Diggins State Park that I had not yet completed – Humbug Trail. Humbug Trail follows Humbug Creek for 2.5 miles down to the South Yuba River and the South Yuba Trail. Site … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 