Getting back on track

I can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since I last posted a blog entry.  Life has been more hectic during this time than one would expect.  Things seemed to slow down a bit late last week, but then work kept me preoccupied virtually all weekend long.  I’m taking a quick break before I plunge back in to catch up on some more work.  Many things lately have been postponed, and unfortunately, blogging has to be one of them even though I enjoy it immensely. 
 
I will try to blog more frequently from here on out, but it may take me a few more days to get back up and running.  I have a lot to share on life in Paraguay.  Let’s hope it isn’t another two weeks before I write again.  In the meantime, let me share a fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal on spouses overseas who build home-based businesses.
 

Why didn’t I think of that?

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery.  When I was a youth, I wrote several stories about superhuman soldier ants who lived in a boy’s closet.  I called them "G.I. Ants."  Years later, DreamWorks produced the movied "Antz," and Pixar released "A Bug’s Life."  Both computer-generated animated features were commercially successful.  I still have a nagging feeling I should have published those stories (maybe someday I will).  Who knows what might have happened.
 
In January 2002, as I stood before the Citadel of Qaitbay in Alexandria, Egypt, trying to imagine what Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Worlds of the Ancient World, looked like when it stood on the same site until an earthquake destroyed it in 1323.  I suddenly thought of founding a travel agency that takes tours to ancient sites and uses technology to recreate what those sites would have looked like.  I envisioned using 3-D technology to recreate imagery of the ancient world.  Each tourist would wear a pair of goggles that would allow them to see images of ancient sites recreated for them.  The technology would marry cinematography with the real world, allowing travelers to view either the present-day site or a reconstructed image of what it would have looked like when it was new.  Today, I realize that my idea is one step closer to reality. 
 
Researchers at the University of Virginia and other institutions built a simulation of ancient Rome called Rome Reborn 1.0.  It is most amazing!  While the project began before my revelation in Egypt, I think I am still ahead of the team who built Rome Reborn by envisioning future applications and business opportunities for such a wonderous technology.  Imagine visiting the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt, viewing them as they looked four-thousand years ago.  While the technology is not yet ready to accommodate this vision, this project brings it one step closer to reality.  You read it here first.  While this is one dream I don’t plan to pursue to fruition, other ideas are struck in my mind, waiting to come to life.  I just need to unleash them before someone else does.

Hershey’s Chocolate World

During Memorial Day weekend we headed to Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit Hershey’s Chocolate World, one of several attractions on the site of Hershey’s large entertainment complex.  (For those who haven’t heard of Hershey’s, Hershey’s is one of the world’s largest candy companies.)  Although the large complex features multiple attractions, including Hersheypark, an amusement park, the Hershey Museum, Hershey Gardens, and ZooAmerica, among others, we only visited Hershey’s Chocolate World.  Hersheypark is celebrating its centenniel this year, so it was a momentous time for us to visit.  What we saw was plenty for one day.  We visited the animated moving exhibit that highlighted the chocolate-making process, and we spent some time mingling through the shopping area.  Our son became an honorary factory worker at the Kiss Works center and took home three boxes of Kisses.  Dad wondered humorously whether any child labor laws were sacrificed in the name of fun!
 
We also milled through the entrance to Hersheypark and the Hersehy Museum.  We spent just the right amount of time at Hersehy, because it started to rain immediately after we left town.  In fact, the drive home from southern Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. was hideous.  I’ve driven through heavy rain, and I’ve driven through lightning storms, but I’ve never driven through such a treacherous combination of both.  I almost stopped the car to wait out the storm, but we pressed on and passed the storm after about half an hour.  I’m glad we did, because it was a massive storm.  We could have been waiting a couple hours for it to let up. 
 
For the shutterbugs:  I posted some new photos for the shutterbugs of our visit a couple weeks ago.  They’re probably the best imagery of our trip there.