Modern Expiry

I'm going from aqueducts that last thousands of years to servers that only last three or four years.  Even only 20 yar ago if you bought a server it would still be going 20 yar later.  We installed a server made in 2009 upgraded it to SBS2011 and thought we have a good run for at least 10 years. Not so it seems. Our server is being rebooted every Sunday to get it through the week.  Also the pressure is on to move from owning your own machine to renting the services you need via the cloud. There are no more SBS servers for small business! If you want a server then join the big boys and get an entry level Foundation server for around 10 Grand.   The Computer Nerds (Am I one of those?) are pushing you onto Office365 so for the bells and whistles at $25 per head per month means we are up for $3000 per year which is more than the cost of our server five yar ago. We are going to take the first step and install a NAS device which means at least our data will not be in the cloud.

Stone Circles

I am always attracted by the really old stuff.  Above San Sebastian in the hills are a series of stone circles. These were placed by the megaliths who no one seems to remember around here. I have seen this sort of thing elsewhere and it seems to me that once a good idea gets out there then you can't stop it. These circles are like the town hall, good for meetings, Druid Knees up, beheadings etc.  I think it all started with a fire place. One day someone thought lets expand the ring of stones around this fire so we can actually stand inside. The rest is history. Stone circles spread all over Europe. 

Simon Says

You Tube really means you can have your own TV show.  But having the means and actually doing it is the difference. There is that in between category where you turn on your TV and hunt through the community type channels to find some amateur funnies.  Simon Taylor has found himself on the Bowen show.  I recall Mike Myers and his cohorts were doing pranks on TV chat shows before "The spy who shagged me" graced the screens. Same thing with Jim Carrey who was paid to pull faces on TV before he pulled them during films.  But its the films that delivered the pay day even though I don't particularly like those films. Maybe Simon Taylor will work better in his films when the time comes. Bowen lane runs through the centre of RMIT. I spent many a time in Bowen lane during the student days. Didn't think it would show up on TV.

Devil's Bridge

French driving in the summer in the south of France involves many cars. Add in varied toll gate adventures and you need to have your no phasement travel face in a calm place. Bumper to bumper is common even on freeways but it will pass. The choice of destinations is endless and varied. Today it was the Pont Diable mainly because we could cool off.  It doesn't matter how remote or hilly or dry, those ancient religious types will build a church anywhere in Europe. St Guilhem is one of them.
Seems St Guilhem was having trouble getting the bridge built because during the night the devil was knocking down all the work that had been done during the day. He went down to the bridge one night and confronted the devil. He said why don't you just help us make the strongest bridge ever. The devil said yes but wanted the soul of the first across the bridge when completed. St Guilhem agreed so the Devil got to build the best bridge but St Guilhem sent a dog across first. Try as he could the devil couldn't break his own bridge and ended up in the water.

Pont du Gard

1. I have seen a few impressive engineering feats in my day like The Burj Khalifa, the Sydney Harbour bridge etc but it is the old stuff like the Pont du Gard that makes you think how did they do it without a crane. They did have an assembly that lifted stuff so it was a crane of sorts.
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   no diving

   
   

Swiss Time is Running Out

Took the series of cable cars to the top of Mt Titlis. There is a lot of ice up there. -6 degrees when we were running around and the glacier ice is a blue colour. On the way down we got off at Trubsee and spent three hours waking down to Engelberg. The trails are well marked and the network is extensive.  Some luck is needed with the weather although we did venture out in overcast conditions for another three hour walk to Swandd and Bergli.

Desert Sand meets Disneyland

One thing about Dubai in summer is that the resorts aren't that crowded as long as its not the end of Ramadan. This means that the water parks are relatively queueless. Get there at 10:00 am just to be sure. The electronic wrist bands are getting better. Open and close, lockers, pay for lunch, gain access. Tip number, two stay at the water park's hotel. Unlimited access and through the resort doorway.