Getting Rid Of Old Technology

Today, I gave away a second phonograph player that I own.  I've owned two phonograph players for at least 15 years.  Neither of them are "DJ units", just standard home units manufactured in '87 and '91.  The one I gave away isn't as good as the other one, but I had bought it myself.  The better one, that I still use, was given to me.  But one day, maybe I would need the other unit....

10 Sep 2010 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink

This Day in Gary's History...

September 11, 2001 I was on a consulting assignment to help install and configure a web based software product at Caterpillar in Pontiac, Illinois. I arrived at the Bloomington, IL airport on the morning of September 10th, and was asked to visit the headquarters in East Peoria on September 11th. To save the customer money, another consultant agreed to lend me his pickup truck for the drive to East Peoria (on the other end of the state)....

11 Sep 2008 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Beijing : Attack and Murder at the Drum Tower

I feel that I should begin by expressing how safe I felt while I was in Beijing. I felt safer in every part of Beijing than I do in downtown Minneapolis. The news outlets don't really say that enough while sharing this bit of news. Actual physical attacks on foreigners are very unusual in Beijing. Like any large city, crimes of opportunity are common, but confrontational attacks against foreigners are incredibly rare....

9 Aug 2008 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Happy Independence Day

It is, of course, the Fourth day of July. After several years of tension, and many attempts by various colony-side groups to get the British parliament to listen to basic grievances, conflict arose. The Colonists and the British Army started shooting on 19 April 1775 at Lexington - just outside of Boston. On 11 June 1776, more than a year after the war had begun, the delegates to the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five, and they got started on the serious work of making a formal declaration of Independence....

4 Jul 2008 · 2 min · Gary Allen Vollink