October 18, 2024
Word Quiz; Traveling; Montreal; Colemanite; Four-Wheeled Robots
Word Quiz
Find a noun with five letters, none of which are a, e, i, o, or u. Christians may have an advantage on this one. (Answer at the bottom of this letter.)
Notes on Traveling
My wife, Nadine, and I recently returned from a trip back East, first to Washington DC, and then onto Montreal Quebec. This is our longest trip for 2024, both in terms of distance and duration. Here's a few of my thoughts upon our return:
My mother, Dele Colla, died at the age of 88. She was last residing in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where she had lived for decades. Right up until her sudden death, she remained self-sufficient, living alone and driving everywhere. (Although, after a summer visit, a grandchild suggested that it might be time for us to take away her car keys). She travelled to California to visit us at least once every year.
Near the end, we would meet her at LAX, at the boarding gate. As she got off the plane she would declare “how difficult the trip was and she wasn't sure if she could do this anymore". I would try to humor her and tell her that she was doing great. I was really insensitive to how difficult traveling was for her in her last years. And it's hard to see one’s once vital parent’s youth and energy diminishing. Now, being the same age, I appreciate how hard it can be.
As I get older and older, my daily routines become more important. Taking each of my prescribed medications…each one at one of the prescribed four times each day. Knowing where all my “stuff” is: car keys, apartment keys, wallet, iPhone, sunglasses, Covid mask, medications, etc.
Traveling disrupts these routines; my stuff is somewhere in our children's guest bedroom, or the AirBnB one-bedroom apartment: but where? Did I remember to take those pills at the usual time? I have to share this bathroom room with another person?
And then there are all the added fees that appeared on our Air Canada ticket receipt. All together, they added approximately $100 per person to the cost of our airfare from Montreal to LAX. Here's the list:
Air traveler security charge – Canada
Goods and services tax – Canada
Quebec sales tax – Canada
Airport improvement fee – Canada
Transportation international/domestic tax – United States
Animal and plant health inspection service – United States
Immigration user fee – United States
Customs user fee – United States
Montreal
We were in Montreal for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, where Nadine’s son Adam is head rabbi at Shaare Zion Beth-El. On the first morning, we walked to the synagogue (about 3/4 of a mile). Due in part to the current conflicts in and around Israel, there was heightened security at the synagogue for the High Holiday services. Each person who was registered for the services was to wear a wristband indicating same. But Adam had forgotten to give us our wristbands. When we got to the entrance to the synagogue, there were two security guards facing us. Nadine said that we were aware that we were supposed to have our wristbands but hadn't gotten them yet. The guard hesitated, perhaps not quite sure what to do next.
Then Nadine said to him "I'm the rabbi's mother". That did it! The guard immediately motioned with his hand that we were to proceed into the building, and he didn't even ask to check the contents of the tote bags each of us were carrying.
We used Uber a lot in Montreal, and found it generally easy to use, convenient, and not very expensive. Took the bus once and found out that if you're over 65 in Montreal, the busses are free. We did not see any self-driving vehicles (Jaguars or others) in Montreal.
Montreal (vs LA): fewer tattoos; more smoking; ; no right-hand turns at a red light; more potholes; a lot less Spanish; and (of course) a lot more French.
At the airport, they will exchange your US currency for Canadian currency, one-for-one. But since the Canadian dollar is only worth about $0.75 American, that’s a rip off.
“Colemanite”
From our neighbor David: Who nu there was a mineral with my family name in it?
From Wikipedia: “Colemanite” is a mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite. It was first described in 1884 for an occurrence near Furnace Creek in Death Valley and was named after William Tell Coleman, owner of the mine "Harmony Borax Works" where it was first found.
And speaking of William Tell, here is one of my favorite pieces of band music:
William Tell Overture by the Spokane Falls Brass Band ( 2-1/2 minutes)
The Robots Are Coming
I am seeing more and more four-wheeled robots roaming through our neighborhood. One type are the little wagons that deliver takeout food orders to the customers. They have been around for at least a year, but are now proliferating. They have cute names, and (usually) seem tentative when crossing the street at intersections:
Another kind of four-wheel robots populating our ‘hood are Jaguars. My first father-in-law, Bob Collins, had a Jaguar XK150, circa 1958.
Now THERE was an automobile. These current Jaguar SUVs are poor descendants of Bob’s XK150.
They look rather awkwardly futuristic, with lots of technology mounted on the roof and the fenders, rotating rapidly. The service is provided by Waymo. Currently in Los Angeles they are allowed to operate in an area stretching from Santa Monica to downtown, an area which includes our neighborhood.
Here's two short video clips of Waymo Jags on 3rd Street: (Sorry, disregard the audio)
I decided to sign up for Waymo. Would it not be a kick to ride at least once in a driverless vehicle? (Nadine has no intention of joining me in such an adventure.). I loaded the Waymo app on my iPhone. I thought I'd get a ticket to ride, or at least a first time user discount. But no. This is what showed up next:
Who knew it was such an exclusive club?
Next I received an email with more details: “Hi future Waymo One rider…….Thanks for joining the Waymo One waitlist. We're excited to welcome more riders. When it’s your time to ride, we’ll reach out with instructions so you can start exploring your neighborhood in a completely new way. We can’t wait for you to experience Waymo One……… Heading to Metro San Francisco? Anyone in San Francisco can download the Waymo One app and ride today………...All the best, The Waymo Team”
When will it be my time to ride? Maybe we will have to make a trip to the Bay Area to have this exciting experience while we still have time. Be assured that when and if my time does come, you will hear about it in the future edition.
Word Quiz Answer
A noun with five letters, none of which are a, e, i, o, or u = “Myrrh”.
The root of myrrh is from an ancient Semitic language, Akkadian. Myrrh gets several mentions in the Jewish Bible. And the Gospel of Matthew speaks of wise men, who followed a star from the East to Bethlehem in search of a newborn king. There they found Mary and the baby Jesus and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.