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Day 14: Mon Aug 4, 1997

After we got up I checked email. The computer connection at the motel was still miserable, it was the motel's problem because it was ok elsewhere. Then we took a swim in the pool. Nobody else was in. The water was very warm, Sharleen doesn't like it that warm, but I do. We didn't stay in too long. Then we went off to check out a few stores. We looked in Macguckins (sp) Hardware, a very interesting place. We got a couple collapsible walking staffs (actually for fishermen). We checked around a couple other places, then for lunch we met our friend Judi, who lives in the area.

After lunch we went to Research Systems Inc. (RSI), to pick up a copy of the IDL language for my laptop. When we first walked in they handed me a box at the front desk, I thought that might be the end of the visit but they said Matthew Powell was to be our contact. He came out and got me set up in the conference room, and after a few tries we got a connection over the phone lines. I showed him some of the items on the web that I made using the IDL language and he was quite interested. We then walked around and visited some people. Dave Uhlir, product manager, was one. I described some features I'd like in the language and he took notes. We went to visit David Stern, inventor of IDL, and founder of the company. I had known him before, and Sharleen had met him. I asked if he remembered Sharleen and he did. She had some old IDL/IMSL sunglasses with her and David said they were a collector's item. I discussed my friend George from Michigan and how when I had won a copy of IDL I had it transferred to him. George took off with the language and did a lot of really neat things with it. David Stern and Dave Uhlir both were interested and I strongly suggested they connect with him, that we would all benefit. We spent about 3 hours at RSI and got the royal treatment. It was worth the trip out of our way, and since we didn't have any really definite plans except Whitney it wasn't really out of the way.

Matthew Powell on the left and David Uhlir on the right viewing some of my web pages on the laptop (thanks for the Christmas card David).

Matthew Powell viewing one of my 3-D maps. The maps are anaglyphs and are Viewed through red and blue glasses. Here is the anaglyph Matthew is viewing. Here is another wider view of the same area. I added a gold star to this image for all the help Matthew gave me during and after our visit.

David Stern, inventor of the IDL computer language. Check the company web pages for more information on the language.

After RSI we went to Pearl Street to find a place to eat. Boulder is a good place for vegetarians, lots of places to eat. We ended up in a Nepali restaurant, the people there were very polite and the food was quite similar to Indian, maybe a bit milder. Judi had invited us to stay at her place that night so we could visit. We headed off to find her. She said it took her about 15-17 minutes from work, so when we passed her office we started timing the trip. The road led east from Boulder, became winding, and finally dirt. Her hand-drawn map was slightly ambiguous but a big help anyway. We drove through slightly hilly grazing land, pretty empty. Then we got to a development, hers. We drove through it in the evening twilight and noticed it appeared deserted. There were all these nice neat houses but absolutely nobody visible and almost no cars visible. It reminded me of something out of a movie where they built an entire town to test in an atomic bomb explosion. There were some lights on inside but no activity of any kind visible outside or anywhere. The development was surrounded by wilderness, it was very interesting. I did finally see somebody through a window. We got to Judi's and visited with her and her husband Wes till fairly late.

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