This page is dedicated to non-technical aspects of our lives as developers.

Look here in each issue for commentary and insight into the struggles and joys of balancing life and logic.

In a previous issue, we asked for your comments about interesting non-business travel you have taken. Read on to see where some of your peers have gone recently.

Last year, our family took two spectacular trips, both in the Pacific Northwest. The first, a seven-day Alaskan cruise in July, took us from Vancouver, BC on an adventure up the “Inside Passage.” This is some of the most gorgeous scenery you will ever see. We chose to do most of our own sightseeing and found good deals provided by local tour companies. We did, however, take the cruise excursions on the White Pass/Yukon train ride and the Alaskan Railroad from Seward to Anchorage once the cruise was over. If you ever get the chance to go on an Alaskan cruise, take it! You'll be glad you did.

Our trip to Sequim, Washington was actually the first trip to visit my parent's new house overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Victoria Island. They also have a spectacular view of the Olympic Mountains and “Hurricane Ridge.”

We took a long drive to the west side of the peninsula to see the Ho Rain Forest ? the only non-tropical rain forest in North America. We hiked several trails that took us through some of the most dense old-growth forest I have ever seen.

To the people who work or live near Redmond: If you have not been to see the Olympic Peninsula, do yourself a favor and go. It's definitely a great place to “get away from it all” and it's right in your backyard! (Can you sense the jealousy here?) We were finally able to see why my parents chose this area to spend their “Golden Years.”

Barbara Peisch sings on chorus tour

Randy JeanOrion Group Software Engineersrjean@ogse.com

As a member of the La Jolla (California) Symphony and Chorus, I participated in a tour last July of the Czech Republic and Poland. We arrived in Prague, and spent a day getting acclimated to the new time zone, then took a couple of buses down to Trebon, a very small town in Southern Bohemia, where we gave a concert in a Mausoleum.

Barbara Peisch, at the far right, sings with the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus in Warsaw, Poland.
Barbara Peisch, at the far right, sings with the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus in Warsaw, Poland.

On the ride back up to Prague, we went through one nasty storm, with hail and more lightning than I've ever seen at once. One of the buses started to hydroplane, but the driver managed to gain control before hitting anything. A couple of days later, we gave a concert in Prague, but the storm hit that evening, so almost no one came to the concert.

From Prague, we moved on to Wroclaw, Poland, where the lights went out right in the middle of our concert, due to overloaded electrical circuits! For the rest of the concert, someone held down the override button, so we could at least have a couple of lights!

When we arrived in Krakow, I was surprised by what a party town it is! Actually, it's a college town, so I guess that's not too surprising. Although it was summer break, there were lots of students around. During our tour of Wawel Castle, we heard that the storm that had been following us around had moved to Warsaw and caused serious flood damage. Warsaw was the next stop on our tour!

We reached Warsaw a few days later, but the only sign of the flood damage was some shrub branches strewn about in the park. We had receptions with the mayor and other government officials, and our last concert completely packed, with crews from all three local TV stations covering the event!

All in all, it was an exciting trip, and I have photos and music available on my web site at:

http://www.peisch.com/photos/europe.html

Barbara PeischPeisch Custom Software

NEXT ISSUE'S TOPIC:

What non-developer “careers” had you had?

Let's find out what you have done prior to becoming a software developer. Tell us briefly what other interesting jobs you have held. Send your comments by July 1, 2002, to:

david@code-magazine.com