Random

• It's been six weeks since I switched to using one dollar coins -- almost exclusively. I've been buying the $25 rolls at the bank (although I had to scramble to find a bank which had any last Friday).

I like using them. They're convenient. I don't have to get my wallet out. And they bring a smile to almost every cash register jockey who gets one. Of course, if they're still so novel it means that there aren't too many people out there who have joined me in my quest to reintroduce James Monroe to the world. And no store has ever given me one in change.

• There is a bit of a tropical disturbance brewing between Chuuk and Guam. It has spin but not a strong center. In other words, we're probably in for more rain soon. But it won't be a tropical storm -- perhaps once it moves past Guam it will pick up steam and create problems.

• We're inching up toward European prices. Gas is now over $6 on the Marshall Islands.

Maybe we all need to go on a 50% gasoline usage strike for a week or two -- drop demand -- force down the prices. ~ Link

• "Lack Of Computer Access Puts Islanders at a Disadvantage" ~ Link

I hope that our PIBC students will eventually begin to understand why we're pushing so hard for good access at all our sites. They think that we're providing it so they can chat on MySpace -- a kind of college perk. And if they want to do MySpace -- that's fine -- actually it's good because it gives them experience on the computer. They're learning even though they don't know it.

But there is a little bit more to the Internet. So far I don't think that most of them are seeing the bigger picture -- although I've received a few grad-student-level term papers written in incredibly perfect English. So some of them have figured out how to use Google. I'm pretty confident that given time and experience they'll get a handle on it.