Getting Back To Posting

Hello World, Today's post has nothing to do with my travels. It does however have to do with future travel. With the processing power for computers starting to grow exponentially we see things like this self driven car showing up in areas of the country where they are needed. Read more about this at http://futurepredictions.com/

The first fully licensed self-driven car – a modified Toyota Prius – won a special permit on Tuesday, the first of three applied for by Google, which allows it to be used on the state’s roads, including the famous Las Vegas strip.
Autonomous vehicles are the “car of the future,” said Bruce Breslow, the director of Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in a statement. The state also has plans to eventually license autonomous vehicles owned by members of the public, the DMV said.

What Happened Along The Way

As you can see its been a long time since I posted.  Much has happened.  I plan to post entries about each part in the future.  Stay tuned:

1. 2008 - after selling my businesses - I took a long trip to Asia (Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal with a 8 day stop over in Hawaii).  Much to tell and share about this tour. One post below shows pictures from my southern India tour.

2. 2009 - My year of training for long distance running.  A few trips along the way for scuba diving but the highlight was training and running in the Chicago Marathon.  See blog link to our training site on the right.

3. Late 2009 - Bought a building to incubate a new startup company that focus's on business services and equipment.  Offering sales and service on most all business printers like HP, Lexmark and Kyocera as well as telephone equipment and Voice over IP services.  Most all back office solutions are offered.  Officially started up sales and service March of 2010.  Here's a link to our web site: http://www.agtbizsolutions.com

Stay tuned...
-Bill

The Last King of Kerala

Today I was granted an audience with the last King of Kerala, Sree Padmanabha Dasa (his title), H.H. Marthanda Varma (his name). Pattom Palace, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (where he lives). When democracy came to India it left his family without any governmental power much like Queen Elizabeth of England. In his case he is the last of his blood line so when he dies the Monarchy will end. He's 86 years old, a Rotarian and full of life. He shared many stories which I hope to write about on my return. Two women who visited him at the palace over the years of which he spoke, Eleanor Roosevelt and Agatha Christie (the author). The people in the group photo are from left to right: Matt Kumar (my contact in Kerala, the King, me, a famous local musician (his name is unknown to me presently), the friend of Matt's family who set up the meeting with the King (name unknown at the present).

Southern India Nov 29th and 30th

Still in southern India.. 800 miles from Mumbai where the terrorist attacked.

I was just today in the southern most point of India at a temple built in memorial to Swami Vivekandanda (1863-1902). Its on a rock off shore.
Also at this southern most point of India the Sun sets and rises in plain view from this place. I was there for both events this weekend.

Here are a few teenagers visiting the temple who were anxious to get photographed with a westerner from the U.S.

The day before on the trip down to the Temple we stopped at a famous waterfall where locals come for purification and as you can see from the pictures a little "fun". The watefall was a little turbulent due to the rains over he previous days but it didn't stop these teenagers from enjoying the moment.

The first week of November 2007 I took a 5 day tour with 15 people from Springfield, IL of the famous wineries in the Dry Creek and Russian River Valley of Sonoma County California. We visited 40 wineries in 5 days. It was a great time and I recommend you do the Sonoma County tours over the Napa County tours. They are less crowded and the wines fantastic!

New Orleans JazzFest 2007



New Orleans Jazz Fest on April 29th, 2007. I'm standing here with my friends from the conference I attended prior to the Jazz Fest. Blair and Courtney, Jay, Leo, Walt and me. Although New Orleans is still recovering from Katrina, the Jazz Fest was packed with music lovers from around the U.S.


Rod Stewart performed many of his most memorable songs. His fans were dancing all throughout the grounds.

Walking along Newport Beach, California. I caught surfers enjoying the waves.

This is Day 10 of my tour. I arranged a private tour from Ho Chi Minh City to one of the rivers in the Mekong Delta. This area is called Vin Long and is the place where farmers from the region come down the river to sell their crops in the open "floating" marketplace. These pictures start out with me standing on top of a pineapple boat. They carved up one of their pineapples for me to eat as a snack. The picture of the young boy and father are two of the family members on this boat. The mother of the boy and the father's brother were also there.

Day 7 through Day 10 I was in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly called Saigon). I visited many sites and in the late afternoon and evening spent time with my friend, Ed Henry and his wife Trang. Ed has been living in Vietnam and the region for 15 years. He provides consulting services for American companies wanting to do business in Vietnam.
These pictures were taken on the day I rented a motorcycle and drove around Saigon like I lived there. As you can see from one of the pictures that the small motocycles are the primary mode of transportation throughout Vietnam and expecially in Saigon. As the country becomes more affluent I'm sure they will "upgrade" to a car just as the rest of the world has. I found the motorcycles a fun and practical way to get around and it was faster than driving a car around town. The Catheral of Notre Dame with the statue of the Virgin Mary is quite impressive. At the time of the US invasion of Iraq the statue "weeped" constantly for a week. No one has been able to figure out what caused it to do that.

Day 5 and 6 Hoi An, Vietnam (south of Danang where the U.S. once had an airbase in Vietnam near the DMZ) This was the only resort I visited. It was on a small island bordered by a river on the west and the ocean on the east. A very relaxing two days. To make the time interesting I took a cooking class! We took a boat to the market and bought all the ingredients for the recipes then came back to the hotel to prepare the meal. It was a fantastic experience. My favorite recipe: Banana Flower Salad with Shrimp and Pork. If you'd like the recipe just let me know. They gave me a copy of it after the class.

These pictures were taken on the boat ride to the market where I shopped for the ingredients for the recipes.

You'll see the way the people who live off the river (by fishing) work and live and a few pictures I took as we approached the marketplace and while in the market. The last two pictures below were taken along the road on the way back to the resort.

Day 4

Hanoi, the capitol of Vietnam, is as busy as it was crowded. Thousands of motorcycles compete for access on the roads and are the primary mode of transportation for nearly all Hanoi residents (as well as in other cities and villages of Vietnam). The constant honking of horns starts early and continues throughout the day. Although I found it annoying none of the residents seemed to mine. I visited local sites in old town since I only had one day in Hanoi. Here are a few pictures of the shrine for Confucious and his venerated scholars:

The entrance (above) to the restored school and memorial of Confucius.

Confucius on the left and on the right another high scholar in the line of teachers following Confucius.

Ho Chi Minh Memorial below.
Ho Chi Minh Memorial is a large and opposing structure that faces out over a large plaza. It is a gathering place for tour groups and locals alike.

The Presidential Place (below) is where President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush join Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet and Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Chi in the Great Hall of the palace last Nov. He was here for the 2006 APEC Summit. (read about this here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/asia/2006/)

Also on the same grounds is the house that Ho Chi Minh lived in while President of Vietnam. Its a small elevated home on small pond and garden. It is very peaceful and charming along the walk around the pond.

After visiting the Ho Chi Minh's home I walked around the old town market:







This is another temple situated on a small island in the center of a lake that centers in the old market area. It venerates a former prince of the region.