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Picture description: Michele and I attended a 4th of July celebration (yeh, they do things early here) and at first it seem awfully corny, but I was reminded how blessed I am to live in America. But the most remarkable moment was this Marine who joined the singers as he came out during the salute to our soldiers. He came out a fluid, discipline march and every movement was controlled and intentional.
If you have time - thank a soldier you see.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Is it always humid? - Ray D
The answer is no. The weather here is bizarre and maddening. Why? One moment it will rain, the next hour it won't and the cycles repeats. The weather keeps you on your toes. You might exit your house with shorts only to find yourself in a rainstorm an hour later.
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For DAVE M:
My review of the Garmin i30 ( pic is with Japanese language option on)
When you unwrap the Garmin i30 from the package you cannot help but think it's a toy. It's about the size of a baseball, and it only have three buttons, and one of the buttons is a scroll wheel. The remarkable fact that this thing has all the street maps of the USA loaded into memory is a remarkable feat in itself (9 gigs worth), but to add a GPS system on top is just ridiculous.
My recommendation: get it. This is the easiest-to-use GPS device I've seen. The scroll wheel makes finding street names and points of interests easy as pie. Think 'iPOD' scroll wheel speed on a GPS system. Only a monkey could get lost with this GPS device.
Key points:
1) Ease of use. When you don't have to read a manual, enough said. You don't have to be a techno geek to know either. Great for moms and anyone who doesn't like technology.
2) Speed. The GPS recalibration and sensitivity is first rate.
3) Features. You can go with several languages on the voice instructions. I prefer a British accent, but the coolest feature? The very fact you can get real time GPS positions, time of arrival to any point of interest where you are currently at. Example, you're in the middle of Broadway, and you want to find a Chinese restaurant. The i30 will give you all the Chinese restaraunts within 15 miles, and tells you how far each one is. When you select one, not only will it tell you how to get there, but tell you how long it takes. Don't worry about missing your turn, the i30 will automatically recalculate the shortest route to get you there.