Feltham Rambles

Jesus and Satan have a discussion as to who is the better programmer. This goes on for a few hours until they come to an agreement to hold a contest, with God as the judge.

They sit themselves at their computers and begin. They type furiously, lines of code streaming up the screen, for several hours straight. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning strikes, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power is restored, and God announces that the contest is over.

He asks Satan to show what he has come up with. Satan is visibly upset, and cries, “I have nothing. I lost it all when the power went out.”

“Very well, then,” says God, “let us see if Jesus fared any better.”

Jesus enters a command, and the screen comes to life in vivid display, the voices of an angelic choir pour forth from the speakers. Satan is astonished.

He stutters, “B-b-but how? I lost everything, yet Jesus’ program is intact. How did he do it?”
God smiled all-knowingly, “Jesus saves.”

As a response to Europe’s “Seven Wonders of the World” list, which didn’t include any Russian sights, Russia organized a national contest to select the seven most beautiful destinations the country has to offer. Almost 26 million people went online and voted for their favourites since the contest started in autumn 2007.

The travel and tourism industry is a great source of inspiration when it comes to web design. The main goal of any site in this industry is to entice visitors to travel. Imagery plays a huge part in this because any potential customer wants to see exactly where they are travelling to. Here are a few great examples of inspirational travel and tourism websites.

http://inspectelement.com/articles/showcase-of-some-of-the-most-inspiring-travel-and-tourism-websites/

If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon. ~ George Aiken

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long took him to catch them. "Not very long," answered the Mexican. "But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American. The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat." And after that?" asked the Mexican. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican. "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American. "And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village at the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

"Imagine that," said the Mexican, smiling.

Moral: Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.

Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content. ~ Louis L'Amour

December 9th, 2008

Even now, after I’ve more or less forced myself to write something, I’ve been sitting here staring at this blank document for a good 30 minutes. Why is it so difficult to put my thoughts together these days? I started this blog years ago with the intention of keeping track of the madness that is my life; however, somewhere along the way, I’ve lost the passion, or perhaps discipline, to keep things updated on a regular basis. And, the more I think of it, I guess the same can be said for most other things in my life as of late.

It’s hard to believe that its’ been over a year since I packed my life up and moved back to Newfoundland. I remember leaving this place over seven years ago, sitting on the deck of the ferry as we crossed the gulf, and watching the rocky landscape fade away, thinking to myself that I would never return. Famous last words… as the years passed, I became increasingly more connected with my homeland and with each visit back to this unique land I found it harder to return to the dreaded mainland.

Add another three weeks…

Here I am again, wow… I managed to scribble down two weak paragraphs and disappeared again for the better part of a month. Well, I’m back, so let’s try it again…

It’s been a trying year, in a lot of ways, since returning back to Newfoundland. I can’t even begin to outline the drama and uncertainty involved in our departure from Windsor to here, but, alas, life tends to work itself out if stay positive (somewhat) and give it enough time. My life was a whirlwind before coming here last summer, and the extended vacation was supposed to be breather, but, with the job offer and decision to move back, well… the waves continued to crash into the inner most part of my rocky soul. In a lot of ways, things couldn’t be better but it took time to adjust. And, now that today marks the first real snowfall of the year, my mind has been wandering back to the depths of last winter’s deep and dark depression.

Hindsight is a motherfucker. The cyclical patterns are so easy to piece together now that I’ve long since removed myself from the glum of last year’s never ending winter season. And, I’ve told myself that there is no way I will return there… No way. But can you blame me? I went from having an indispensable income, and traveling on almost a monthly basis, to being stuck in the center of one of the worst winters in recent history. Add the fact that my car was in disrepair for the worst portion of the winter. So, I was on foot (in what felt like the high arctic), with the minimal of a friend network coupled with a mounting debt - a stranger in a strange land. Which was extremely hard to grasp, given the fact that I grew up here, but, everyone I knew, or cared for, had also packed in and moved away long ago. It’s not to say that we didn’t make friends fairly quickly, but, it felt as though not matter how much we did (or what we did) there was a looming emptiness. This in turn created a sequence of self indulgence, regret and further indulgence to rid one’s self of that remorse - each time digging a larger hole. And, the trouble with finding yourself deeper in a hole is that sooner or later it becomes harder to see the light (especially when there literally is no light from the sun to see). With that said, after a series of unfortunate events (which in turn opened our eyes in a lot of ways), Dani and I having been guiding each other not to fall into that hole again. Keep active, stay healthy, and live in the moment!

What else?

For the most part, summer was a blur. We had so many visitors come and go, mixed numerous with trips of our own, that it seemed like the season just came and went overnight. I purchased a new boat…

Oh look another month has passed..

It’s 2009! Where do I start.. Hmm..

And.. Here I am again! It’s April 16th and I found this pathetic file while trying to remove a nasty virus from my computer. The short synopsis is that I am getting married in almost three weeks and Dani is 18 weeks pregnant.. I guess I will post this, and tell myself that I have to start writing something here on a regular basis. It’s not that I have not been writing, just nothing blog worthy, or un-personal enough to post here for the unknown to read. But, that is going to end today.. or tomorrow.. I’ll get to it.. I promise?

It is only the great men who are truly obscene. If they had not dared to be obscene, they could never have dared to be great. ~ Havelock Ellis

Home Prices Still Increasing in Province
February 20, 2009

The proof is in the figures, and those figures are house prices. The numbers here are still on the positive side, and that is not the case in parts of Canada really feeling the impact of the recession. The average residential price last month was up over 20 percent from January of 2008. This marks the 11th consecutive month of double digit year over year average price increases. The national average price declined 11.3 percent over the same time frame. There was also a 5 percent increase in new residential listings so far this year over last. The president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Realtors, Edwina Baldwin, says these statistics show how different our market is from the rest of Canada, and that the strength of our local economy continues to fuel the local housing market.