Day: March 5, 2026

Travels With Jane #2 – Paris

Our first non-business trip to Paris, made with a 3.2 MP Sony Cyber shot. The camera was obsolete but what I had. Days later, a skilled Paris pickpocket “liberated” it from my jacket, hung on a chair back while I went to the loo in a Bistro. Which post travel, triggered my justification to buy a replacement and the discovery that was the basis of my post-corporate photography career.

I owe him. Also proved the wisdom of daily downloads from camera to storage. He did get my Metro Sign photo. Bless his heart!

Tour Eiffel, Paris 2007

Only Yesterday

I think it was 1967. A Marine, the older brother of a classmate, was home on leave and visited the High School Art Class he’d attended and I was in. He was a gentle giant, one of those guys who nobody messed with. And we had a chance to talk and he told me about his experience in Vietnam . And he told me essentially, what Master Gunnery Sergeant Valdez, USMC Ret., says at the end of this article.

High School Class of 1968, I was certain to be drafted, so with college a pipe dream, I enlisted in the Navy. Served nine years and got a tech education that later provided well for my family. It never occurred to me that Submarines were hazardous – hot water and good chow. A Nuclear Reactor, and Polaris Missiles with Nuclear Warheads were “normal”. Semper Fi and Anchors Away.