the iMentor

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This weB-LOG is about the musing of a technical consultant. It is the iMentor's thoughts on technology and the human condition.

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Amtrak Vacation-part 3 of 5

June 23, 2026 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #908 June 27, 2026 Amtrak Vacation - part 3 of 5 Portland     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtAcWuu2jv0&list=RDZtAcWuu2jv0&start_radio=1 An Amtrak bedroom berth is a study in close tolerances. The door slides open, sink and cabinet on the left, tiny closet on the right, then one step into the room is a bench seat on the right, a shower-toilet room on the left, then one more step to the window with its fold-out table and chair. On the train to Portland, we played cards and Farkle, read books, ate breakfast and lunch, and had interesting conversations and a wonderful view in the observation...
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Amtrak Vacation-part 2 of 5

June 15, 2026 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #907 June 20, 2026 Amtrak Vacation - part 2 of 5 San Francisco     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-447NaiBJs&list=RDj-447NaiBJs&start_radio=1   Wake up call, get dressed, take coffee, and a short walk to the tour bus stop. A gregarious informative guide drives over the Golden Gate Bridge, through Sausalito, to Muir Woods. 1000-year-old sequoias endure my touch and craning neck with silent strength, as they always have. We shopped for souvenirs on the quaint and unaffordable downtown Sausalito main street while eating ice cream cones. The Golden Gate viewpoint obscured the bridge with heavy fog. We finished the tour at Pier 39, and...
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Amtrak Vacation-part 1 of 5

June 9, 2026 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #906 June 20, 2025 Amtrak Vacation - part 1 of 5 This is the first of five blog episodes recalling Ricki and Paula's Amtrak train vacation. Enjoy.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz97EUAinL0&list=RDKz97EUAinL0&start_radio=1 The Beginning Our dear friend and neighbor picked Paula and I up at our house.  The ride to Riverside train station was clogged with oblivious commuters, unbeknownst that we were on an escape.  Near the train station, we found a hole-in-the-wall deli where the three of us had lunch. The pastrami was outstanding. At Riverside train station, we waited for an ironic AMTRAK bus to take us to Fullerton train...
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Influencers

June 3, 2026 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #905 June 6, 2026 There was a time when truth moved through a few careful hands.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptX2ilHYpCk&list=RDptX2ilHYpCk&start_radio=1 Editors at The New York Times and voices like Walter Cronkite slowed, shaped, and released information with authority. Now truth moves differently. In the hands of internet influencers, what is accepted as truth travels faster, but also farther. More voices enter. More perspectives surface. Errors spread quickly, but so do corrections. Truth is no longer held—it is tested in public. Wikipedia is an example of at first distrusted content that, through crowd sourcing and editing, became reliable. Authority has shifted...
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Footsteps

May 31, 2026 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #904 May 30, 2026 Footsteps by Ricki T Thues     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOPSETBUgvQ&list=RDTOPSETBUgvQ&start_radio=1   The shadow hurried ahead of Reggie Stanson with the regularity of shadows. It swung behind him with the coming of each streetlamp. It peered into tonight's memories of smooth jazz and slow dancing, disturbing the singular privacy of a man in his 50s. Stanson's intellect shut the door on the prying of the strange phantoms. Shadows are harmless, even at 1 a.m. in Chicago's South Side. The ten blocks from the I.C. train station to the apartment were lonely, except for his shadow-companion. Stanson almost enjoyed...
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360 Sunset

May 16, 2026 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #903 May 23, 2026 When I was in high school, I loved visiting my friend’s parents’ house in Cowan Heights, the eastern foothills of the Orange County basin.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j99i6UqQLY&list=RD4j99i6UqQLY&start_radio=1 The sunsets fired up the western sky, blooming up from the ocean and sparking a green flash as the sun touched the water. Brilliant orange and red streaks brushed across the smog and clouds. And as the color faded to a glow, the lights of Orange County blinked on like a starscape across the basin below. There were visits to Cowan Heights, where I dreamed, "I'm going to live...
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