Photography Retrospective

The above link refers to the top 100 photography blogs, as per Sarah Scraffod. Its an interesting ...and useful... mix.

It served as a reminder to me that my images are getting backlogged. There's still 1000+ images to review & import from Tanzania last month. Plus there's tons of old stuff that should probably be revisited and either scanned or rescanned, such as this 1994 image from Yellowstone Canyon:


Approx 10 year old flatbed scan of 120 film (Mamiya 645)

I don't even know if 'sharpen' filters existed back when this one was done. By today's standards, its resolution is downright fuzzy.


-hh

Making a left turn in Albuqurque

It seems that the end-of-year travel isn't quite over yet. A short notice meeting, but it did the afford the opportunity to catch up with a familymember.

With a few hours on Sunday to see the region, we travelled on the Sandia Peak tram ("World's Longest passenger aerial tramway") to the top of Sandia Peak. At an elevation of 10,378 feet, this sea level flatlander was sucking wind. At least I remembered from Cuzco, Peru to go slow and not over-exert.

After attending business, the return home wasn't quite smooth, due to delays caused by heavy rain in the NYC metro area, but it could have been a lot worse than an extra ~2 hours.

And my thoughts were "At least I've now flown on American Airlines in 2008 so as to keep that Frequent Flier account still technically active", but FFM accounts vary in their rules and AAdvantage has expired another 34,625 miles on me this year.

And in this age of computers, my most recent flights on AA from two days ago still haven't posted their mileage credits.

...and the airlines wonder why I have clear preferences as to where I take my business when I have a reasonable choice in the matter.

-hh

A busy fall...

The last few months have been quite busy, with a bit of globe-hopping. Within the past three months, I think there were 3 weeks in Europe, 2 weeks in the Caribbean, 2 weeks in Africa and a quick trip from the East to the West Coast to present a paper and vamoose back home.

Thus, there's the latest batch of travel photographs organized and sorted while getting ready for winter to hit us locally. In taking a break from that project (1000 down, 2000 to go), the subject of travel while exploring found an interesting website utility, namely the ability to make up personal "Been There" travel maps from Phillips 66.

Domestically:



Internationally:



If you're looking for changes since 2007, well, there's just Denmark.
In the meantime, there's still plenty of things on the "1000 Places before you Die" list that remain to be worked on.

And since it is that time of year for one's annual holiday contribution to Capitalism, it is quite obviously way behind schedule as a result of not really being at home for half of the time over the past few months. Plus there's more important things. Just last night, we spent a solid hour on an expensive long distance phone call to a friend who survived having half of their house fall on top of them from a Category 4 Hurricane a few weeks ago. The gift wasn't really our offers to send Care packages, but simply the opportunity for a listening ear for them to be able to give that big emotional 'dump'. Nevertheless, we'll be putting together a package for them over the next week or so with some surprises, since they have months of clean-up and recovery to do.


-hh

It done burned down

(backdated)

Dateline: Tanzania

Some of our time this month was spent on Safari in southern & western Tanzania.

While at Ruaha National Park, we spent some time chatting with the camp manager, who had previously been working at Mikumi.

We found that a controlled fire ... done poorly ... last season had burned out of control and up over the hilltop where a camp that we had previously stayed at, destroying all of the facilities.

Thus, this Banda - it done burned down:


Great views, great memories ...

Fortunately, word is that the Foxes do intend to rebuild the camp; it will just take some time.


-hh

Customer Service in the Internet Age

The above links to an MSNBC article of the title:
"Complaining Couple Banned from Cruise Line".


Briefly, the article discusses how a cruise line (Royal Caribbean) chose to permanently decline the business from a particular customer (that sounds nicer than "ban"). Apparently, they had found reason to complain ... and apparently ask for meaningful financial compensation ... over 80% of the time (5 out of 6 cruises).


There's a few interesting points in this topic.

First, there are most definitely consumers (such as the Morans) who will frequently exploit any excuse to forcibly leverage a cost concession. In this regards, Royal Caribbean is better off without them and does have the right to decline their business.

However, there is the issue with 'freedom of opinion' on discussion groups. It is safe to say that literally no discussion group has been free of pressure from special interests to delete or amend existing comments, which frequently leads to censorship issues.

There is an old saying that the Internet interprets censorship as network damage and routes around it

In general, this potential problem rapidly becomes a slippery slope when the Message Board is being hosted by the company...a case of where Marketing trumps ethics and fear of "Brand Damage" is more important than hearing real consumer feedback (in order to improve the Brand): it is a manifestation where the corporation reveals a lack of confidence in the strength of their Brand.

A few years ago, I was a reader of just such a group that was hosted to benefit Divi Resorts (a Timeshare company) and there rapidly became a zero tolerance ... enforced through censorship ... for any and all possible criticism from their customers. As such, the group was a sham: nothing more than a marketing mouthpiece, not a source of honest, balanced information, or for frank consumer/supplier dialog... something that would be more expected when one has spent $10K+ for a timeshare. And what was the fate of property that Divi had rejected years worth of customer 'feedback' about? Its death spiral continued until it was shut down in 2006. Glad I'm not a big investor in Divi Resorts, as any company who clearly chooses to ignore repeated warnings about their product's shortcomings is not going to be particularly successful in the long run.

Thus, the general conclusion that I have come to is that the only discussion groups that can be functionally trusted are those upon which censorship is impossible, which is USENET, or a Message Board whose official published policy is that all discord will be discussed fully in the open for the public to witness firsthand (good luck finding one of these).

But there is good news for this for consumers in that the Internet - - despite its shortcomings - - has been a resource that has restored some power back to the consumer, for previously isolated individuals can now communicate, and it is common to compare the company's response. It used to be that a company could merely tell 50 customers, "Gosh, you're the first one that this has ever happened to!" to try to smooth things over and to minimize financial recompense, but today, that claim is far more likely to get caught and thus revealed as a lie.

Since its only a fairly small percentages of consumer who have caught on to this information sharing, and that information is still dispersed across the 'Net, a businesses' tactics to use 20th Century spin-doctoring will still work 80% of the time. However, the downside risk is that when it doesn't fly, that business gets hit hard because their claims get destroyed by these collaborative power of 21st Century communications, and then they get nailed a second time ...even harder... for having flat-out lied to multiple customers.

This is not the case here with Royal Caribbean, but the amazing part is that a surprising number of companies still "Don't Get It". Here, RC was in a pattern of responding to individual complaints - - they didn't see the pattern until it was pointed out to them by other consumers.

And for the Morans? The Internet revealed their pattern of behavior, which in this case is now helping a business to avoid future complaints from them. Yes, its a two-way street: they made their bed, so now they have to lie in it.


-hh

Fresh Rock

Got a few photos from the Goddess Pele, during a chopper flight that was fortunate enough to coincide with the "Thanksgiving Eve" breakout (2007).

Here's the US Geological Survey's map of the new terrain, as well as one of their professional photos, taken ridiculously close.

For mere tourists, this is about the best we can do:

There's no scale to provide perspective, but as per the USGS's website, the perch channel pond in the top corner (dark) has a 6m ledge (20ft) and is around 50m wide (165ft), so the lively red one that's in the center of this image is probably well over 100 feet wide, and probably closer to 125ft.

Another view, of the lava's leading edge, can be found here.


We later did some hiking in Volcanos National Park over old (safer) lava beds and while geological aspects of it were interesting, even though "desolation" was expected, our normal expectations are nevertheless that if Mother Nature did it and we made it into a National Park, it should probably be pretty too. Sorry, but I do have to admit that the footing was a lot like walking over an old broken up macadam parking lot in an old US city, like Philadelphia or Newark. A few hours of walking with lousy footing over ridges and piles of black rocks, only to see...more black rocks! ... isn't a particularly appealing hike.


-hh

Hilton Waikoloa Village - Hawaii

Been away; spent some time of last month exploring Hawaii...

The low spot was the Thanksgiving Buffet at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Food wasn't anything superior to a normal steam tray buffet, but what was most disconcerting was that the Service was ... non-existent! Yes, beyond Poor Service. The Dining Staff never followed-up to see if we wanted to buy additional cocktails, let alone even refill our water glasses, remove empty plates, etc. Considering that they didn't have to serve because it was buffet makes these shortcomings even more unacceptable.

Finally, after watching literally 20 minutes pass on my stopwatch for anyone to arrive, someone finally realized that two people with empty glasses, a half dozen empty dishes, napkins on the table top, etc, was a hint. We could finally ask for our check, and they got a mild earful about the utter lack of service. What was a further disappointment was the staff's failure to recover from this 'Customer Service' feedback, where they were literally hopeless to suggest anything to compensate, other than 'Coffee?'

(no thank you - its also too late for that, because I finished my dessert ten minutes ago. Just the check please).

Based on my positive business travels using the Hilton Family products, I would have expected that they would have Compensated us at least our drinks. Nope. Nothing.


So from two weeks of vacation in Hawaii, we can firmly say that in meals ranging from simple hot dog stands and shrimp trucks all the way up to the Hilton Waikoloa Village, the absolute worst service we received anywhere was at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Its prompting me to rethink what hotel chain I'm using for my ~10 weeks of business trips per year.


-hh

Cayman Condo Development to Destroy a Coral Reef?

Its always hard to balance development versus the environment. However, some cases are more clearcut than others.

On Cayman Brac (in the Cayman Islands, BWI), there's a construction project that's been proposed to build a condo development on a relatively narrow piece of land that's on the windward side of the island and which lacks any protective fringing reef.

Its called the Crystal Azure Beach Resort.

Earlier this summer, when Hurricane Dean passed 100 miles (!) offshore, this side of the island was (as is usual for all hurricanes) pounded with ~20ft seas. Coral and rock rubble was thrown all the way out to the southside road. Hurricane Ivan (2004) also missed the Brac by 100 miles, so its damage was more similar to Dean. The rubble that currently fills the specific property in question was mostly deposited there by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988; you should be able to still look for Gilbert's rubble off the shoulder on the far side (bluffside) of the road.

Here's a house on a lot around a mile to the east of the Crystal Azure property. The shore topography here is IMO actually better than CA's, as there's a slight fringing reef out front and it is on higher elevation:


(Photo is Copyright © 2004 H. Huntzinger)

This photo was taken shortly after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 - - a storm that passed roughly 90 miles offshore of Cayman Brac. See all of that rubble around the foundation that's up to within ~9 inches of the building's windowsills?

I've seen a photograph of this same house after it survived Gilbert's near-direct hit. Its interior was FILLED UP to the windowsills with rubble. Yup, 2-3 feet worth of rock, inside.

Needless to say, building on the Brac's southside when there's no protective fringing reef is an exercise in repairing and rebuilding after every major storm ... and don't believe the claims that they only get hit a few times per century: the above damage was from the second of three Named Hurricanes that passed ~100 miles offshore just in this decade so far (the other was CAT-I Hurricane Lily in 2002).

I really hope that the potential buyers of this resort have done their homework before deciding if to invest or not.

In any event, the original 'Artist's Renderings' of the property included a boat dock. Yes, a boat dock on a windward shore where there this no protected anchorage of any form. Courtesy of the Wayback Machine, we can see it in this photo, on the righthand side. And if you compare it to the photo on the CaymanNetNews article (link above), see that the image has since been cropped.

So its probably not a great building site, but what's the deal about destroying a coral reef?

The CaymanNetNews article states:

"James Fox, Director of Strategy and Operations for Cayman Brac’s Crystal Azure Beach Resort said that the company’s engineer has been seeking approval to go ahead with the manmade swimming cove for quite sometime now. It is expected that the application and supporting environmental impact study will be reviewed and approved by this week....The manmade cove is designed to transform 100 feet of beachfront into the best beach experience on the island,” he said."


So a 100ft manmade groin will somehow create a beach that's better than the existing sandy beach that exists elsewhere on the same island that's behind a ~1 mile long natural fringing reef?


Plus, the problem is that this isn't dropping a rock onto a nice sandy bottom: this region is hardpan with small coral heads near shore, progressively passing through hard/soft coral further out and then classical spur and groove coral formations further offshore. As such, to build will require some degree of coral reef habitat destruction no matter what.

As such, the question is: are the Caymanians willing to destroy coral reef habitat in the name of development? And how much coral reef habitat destruction do they consider acceptable?

Well, the answer to that is that it depends.

First factor to consider: over on the north side, there's a commercial pier thats used to load crushed rock fill into barges that gets shipped over to Grand Cayman, and it there have been "industrial accidents" which have dumped stone on coral reefs that are within the boundaries of official Marine Park, resulting in their death.

Question is: has this business been fined? Ordered to clean it up? Well....a better question to ask is "who owns that company?" IMO, if it was foreign owned instead of by a local influential Caymanian family...nod, nod, wink, wink.


Second factor to consider: the Divi Tiara Beach Hotel, owned by Divi Resorts, shut down in 2006 and is up for sale. The property is deeper (water to road) and not only does it have a protective fringing reef offshore, it has a protected anchorage between the reef and shore. This area is known on the maps as Dick Sessenger's Bay, and is well known as the absolute best anchorage (and some argue as best beach) on the entire island. As such, a far better development site ... and one that doesn't require any environmental assessment because it is both pre-existing and natural ... already exists.

Other factors to consider: exist too. For example, what will really happen to the Caribbean real estate market when Cuba finally opens up and doubles the availability of waterfront acreage?

And maybe, the area offshore is somehow utterly denuded of life, unlike the areas that are all around it. Afterall, being that it is to windward, its not a particularly easy location to go in for a casual inspection by snorkel.


So the question remains: will the Cayman authorities approve dumping rock onto an area with coral habitat?

We will continue to watch and see what happens.




-hh

Downtime

Each one of us has our own ways in which we take a respite from our daily routine, such as surfing the web as a distraction. Hopefully, we also have more concrete places to escape to when its time for a proper Holiday. We've been enjoying such a respite, and have had the good fortune to catch up with old friends and recent ones from various parts of the States while enjoying some time in the quiet seclusion of Cayman Brac. Most visitors here don't know that the small "Bay" ... if one can really call a body of water that's less than 100m wide a Bay, but here they do, for it is a rare protected anchorage ... actually has a name. It is Dick Sessenger Bay and what was memorialized in the book "The Firm" is a long ways from reality. I couldn't imagine twenty boats in here, let alone a hundred.




However, enjoyment of such respites always assumes, of course, that afterwards, we can return home safely and find all at our home still in order. After downloading today's new digital photos and picking a few to talk about, I'm thinking of K & P from San Diego, who were watching the news on Monday and making phone calls home to find if they're part of the quarter million households whose homes are being endangered by out of control wildfires. They started their journey home on Tuesday; hope that they find that they have a home to return to, safe and undamaged, as well as their family members too.


-hh

Venus at Dawn

It is shortly before dawn on Cayman Brac. The breeze last night was a wind, and it blew all night, out of the Southeast. Yet half the clouds are high, and the horizon to the east is clear, which is making for a nice pallet of colors for sunrise. High above in the quickly changing black-to-blue is Venus, as a bright morning star. Below at my feet, a hermit crab in an inch long shell marches across the dock's boardwark, then changes his mind and marches back under the bench at my feet.

Ten minutes ago, the Cayman Airways 737 landed, breaking the island's sounds of bird calls, counterpointed by the rumbling of waves breaking over the windward reef that's 75 yards from shore. Twenty minutes from now, the week's visitors will all be onboard and jet will again make its noise to leave, flying to Grand Cayman and taking its passengers one step closer to their homes.

Last night, I finished "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm. A book with the reminder that our time on Earth can end suddenly and at any time, over what could be a normal activity. This past week, the ambulance has come down to the dock for treating scuba divers twice for suspected DCS, plus Pam had a reverse block that resulted in an end to her diving this week while it heals.

Appreciate every day and every sight.


-hh

Of Grand Schemes

Bibliophile sailors will recognize the name of Donald Crowhurst.

A few tourists to the island of Cayman Brac may come across the remains of his trimaran, the "Teignmouth Electron" and wonder what it was, and what its history was. Fewer still will realize that this boat (despite the sad shape that it is now in) actually was part of a scandal, from the first solo, nonstop, round-the-world sailboat race back in 1969.

In a way, it represents the dreams of one man. In another way (and with a bit more information on his life at the time), it might recognize a 'Grand Scheme' of sorts - - to recapture one's self worth or self-esteem. Can't really say how unrealistic this was (or wasn't), as one must cope with midlife (and any accompanying "midlife crisis") on our own, and on our own terms.

Perhaps its because its finally autumn in New Jersey that one's thoughts turn to things like these. Too many things still left to be done, and a dawning realization that there's never going to be enough time.


-hh

Brac soon

Our usual trip down to Cayman Brac for some time in the sun is a bit later this year.

Its often a hassle to get all of the work wrapped up, plus stuff around the house in order, to head out the door to another place for awhile. And in our case, it certainly doesn't help that Divi Resorts has done a poor job in running the Club Tiara timeshares.



But there are some things that make the hassles all worthwhile. Taking a nice "dip in the pool" for example.

Since the Caymans are known for their Wall Dives, this is the shallow end :-)



Looking forward to seeing old friends this trip.


-hh

How's your sense of humor?

Earlier this month, I happened to be in Brussels.

On the famous Grand Place, one of the 'brasseries' (think pub, cafe, bar, etc) is the 1697 Guild House "Roi d'Espagne" (King of Spain), which is located the northern corner of Grand Place.

For reference, their website is:
http://www.roydespagne.be/

In any event, their men's room is up on the 1st Floor (ie, one level up), which had the following interesting decor:

This angle reveals that the "wallpaper" consists of full-size black & white (mostly) photos behind a sheet of glass. However, this angle gives an interestingly diffrent interpretation:

Travel notes

Having just returned from another trip, I find that there's been a few businesses that I keep on recommending because we've had good success with them.


For cruising (particularly Alaska), the premier small (under 300ft) ship line is Crusie West. Their website is http://www.cruisewest.com


For travels to Europe - the "Back Door" guide is Rick Steves. Rick has a TV show on Public Television, a radio & newspaper column, and a website, http://www.ricksteves.com


And while Rick is mostly just encouraging you to buy his travel guidebooks - - you can find them online at Amazon, Borders, Barns&Noble and probably elsewhere (try your local public library too) - - overall, I find him enjoyable and humorous and most importantly, his books are quite worthwhile. Since Rick updates the books annually, we've bought multiple copies of some of the ones where we've travelled back to.




-hh