Etiquette: Escalators

Frustrated with my morning escalator commute, I began to write a little post....then discovered this guy did a better job then I would have: http://www.bigwhiteguy.com/dishes/escalator.php.

More etiquette tips to come.

What's in a name?

First = Created in the 17th century by the playwright Colley Cibber, who based it on Latin amanda meaning "lovable, worthy of love, she who must be loved".  Sanskrit: Active; bright.

Middle = From a Hebrew name which was derived from the Hebrew word רְעוּת (re'ut) meaning "friend".

Last = German: occupational name for someone who made shovels or used one in his work, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schufel ‘shovel’.

At a coffee shop in Paris, the barista couldn't understand "Amanda" and the drink ended up being made for Amieta (pronounciation: aw-me EH-tah).  My English name is Amanda, my French is Amieta.  Silly :)

Enough said.

"I place economy among the first and important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labors and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy."

~Thomas Jefferson

Europe 2008: Christmas Market in Nurenberg, Germany

Question.

"What the Shelfari are you reading?"

Thanks Lee ;)

Happy 98th!

Today is the 98th birthday of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.  A few favorite quotes:

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.  It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have."

"Coercion, after all, merely captures man.  Freedom captivates him."

"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets."

"Government exists to protect us from each other.  Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest progression.  I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

Flickr & I

When it comes to backing up my digital photography, I'm a bit neurotic and paranoid.  Storing images on my PC and external hard drive isn't nearly enough to help me sleep well at night.  While searching for a solution, I vaguely remembered the Flickr account I set up ages ago.  I had a free account that allowed me to upload 500MB per month, for free.  At 500MB a month, I'd be uploading images till my 65th birthday (assuming I don't take another from now till then).  

For $25 you can get an account with unlimited uploading and perks like being able to download your images online in the original format.  Overall, I really enjoy Flickr.  My biggest complaint is the semi-operational "Flickr Uploadr".  About 25% of the time, it boots me out of the system while I'm trying to upload images.  When I open it up again, I have to (manually) remove images so they aren't duplicated or start from scratch.  Yeah, annoying!  Hopefully, they'll keep improving the bulk uploading tools to make the process more user friendly.  So far, I'd give Flickr 7.5 out of 10.  

Visit me on Flickr.