TheBellSite

I just received the current East Asia Update. It looks like it has some coverage of the recent tragedy in China. Click the graphic below to be taken to the newsletter (on TheBellSite).

Sorry for the lull in new entries. Fran and I have been extra busy with end-of-the-BSF-year “stuff”. I’m completely finished now and Fran just has a couple of meetings and some admin things to wrap up before the Matthew study is completed.

I’ve finally gotten the WordPress blogging software updated to the latest release. It has some new features behind the scenes that will hopefully improve the performance as well as maintenance. I took the opportunity to also put a new “skin” on TheBellSite while I was at it. I was going for something that looked more summery. What do you think?

More to follow - soon, I hope.

I had just thought that it was because I was a country bumpkin moved to the BIG city. Since moving here years ago we’ve really been impressed with Taipei’s subway system.
What the linked article fails to mention, which just sweetens the deal, is the bus system that connects to the subway. All in all it is a model for moving lots of people in a clean, pleasant, efficient way. Read all about the system that Dallas, Houston, or any other big American city would do well to get started ASAP!

All Subways Should be Like Taipei’s Marvel of Mass Transit | Autopia from Wired.com

We all need to do that - don’t we?

Well, this is a link to a website that is pretty impressive. I won’t spoil it for you. Just click the link and go there.  It takes a while for it to get all loaded up; just be patient. You can play while you are waiting. Pay attention to what is happening

Get Out And Play

Let me know what you think.

  I don’t know about where you live but the price of gasoline in Taiwan has gotten out of hand!

I checked the price today - liters to gallons, then NT$ to US$ - and found that we are paying $3.75 per gallon of 92 octane gasoline. Compare that to the year I graduated high school . . . .

May 2, 1968 prices
Bread:      $0.22/loaf
Milk:      $1.21/gal
Eggs:      $1.12/doz
Car:      $2,450
Gas:      $0.34/gal    
House:      $26,600
Stamp:      $0.06/ea
Avg Income:      $9,670/yr
Min Wage:      $1.60/hr
DOW Avg:        944

Stop the presses - right after I hit the publish button I found a price chart for what other countries are paying for their go juice. Check out this chart that is 3 years old (go to the chart for a list of 37 countries)

I’ll stop whining now.

Click the image above to read the latest edition.

We’ve always thought is was a little strange that Taiwan did not have a real embassy. According to this hot off the press release from the AP, that may soon be changing - at least in appearances.

US may post Marines at office in Taiwan - New York Times