Past Articles

Triumphs of the technical nature are rare for me. Here’s another fumbling admission that I’m not as clever as some young men. I tried to replace my truck’s radio, and was sent the wrong wiring harness. I like being able to talk about wiring harnesses even though I couldn’t figure […]

Two copies of Wired magazine arrived in my post office box on the same day. The March and the April issues, as usual, did not disappoint, but why they both came at once is a mystery. Inside the March issue was a colorful three-page spread about the ten years between […]

It’s a chilly morning, and today I am meeting another prospective intern who wants to come work with us. Graduating from college, I guess in today’s economy it makes sense to get an unpaid internship instead of a regular job. With or without the UMass credits, I think spending time […]

Afghanistan is a tough place. Try using your cellphone after 5 pm. A story in today’s WSJ described the stranglehold that the former rulers of the country, the Taliban, have on the public’s cellphones. They’ve issued edicts to all of the cellphone companies in parts of the country to turn […]

Here are some great places I visited last year. Nelson New Zealand: Arts town with nice layout, right next to Abel Tasman wilderness some of the nicest hiking and beautiful scenery anywhere. The seaside city of Granville, in Normandy, offers a truly French beach experience, with tides that stretch out […]

Last night I did something I haven’t done in a while. I stole away to Amherst for dinner and a movie by myself.  I strolled down the streets of this town, where in the 1990s I sold newspaper advertising, and saw all of the new businesses who have taken up […]

Jamie Oliver clearly has good intentions. The celebrity chef visited Huntington West Virginia, a city that has been ranked at the very bottom of the scale in healthy eating across the US. He makes a bunch of mistakes, calling every woman ‘hon’ and pissing off a local radio station DJ […]

Everywhere in Furnas are bubbling, superheated hot springs that both entertain and provide relaxation for locals. People come from around the world to see them and there’s a big hotel in the center of the town where guests go to swim in orange colored, iron-laced waters. The waters of the […]

Our established and popular four-year-old cafe is for sale! The demands of our travel website has made operating our cafe difficult, but we’ve built a loyal clientele and believe the business is sound. We are looking for a person who can continue our success in the prosperous village of South […]

However exciting travel may be, there is nothing better than that first night back when you sleep in a very familiar bed and wake up to the sounds and smells you’re used to living with every day. No hotel room can be as good as one’s own bed! A few […]

After a week of endless varieties of fish and beef, we need some serious veggies. A local told us about the only vegetarian restaurant in all nine islands, it is called Rotas. We looked it up, booked a cab, and were soon enjoying some of the finest stuffed mushrooms we […]

Like many chefs, Joao Rieff got his start in a kitchen as a dishwasher.  After earning a degree in economics in Lisbon, he followed the trail through many mainland kitchens and worked for a time in the Hotel Meridien in Paris. Through all of the years of cooking in New […]

I sometimes actually say prayers when I’m taking off in a plane. The other night we took off in a 67-seat ATC turboprop plane for a short flight from Santa Maria to Sao Miguel. It was that old story ‘rain slicked runway’ and I kept imagining the headline about how […]

We asked many people we met  about the health insurance system here in the Azores. This topic has come up more than a few times, as the locals here quizzed us about what is going on the US with health insurance.  “Is it true that people are allowed to die […]

Rows of tea at the Gorreana Tea company. We learned about how tea is made and that in a climate like the Azores, a lot of rain is great for growing the leaves of Orange Pekoe, Pekoe and green teas. Some of the British tea manufacturers who were doing business […]

A Cozido, boiled dinner, about to be unearthed in Furnas, Azores. Just like in New England, they have the same saying here in the Azores…”if you don’t like the weather wait a half hour, it will be different.”  We joined three strapping young guides today and got a chance to […]