Category: Things

It’s come to this.

I wonder how Captain Kirk dealt with software updates on the Starship Enterprise. We experienced our first automatic “over-the-air” software update in the Subaru last week. It was not something we could opt out of. It was going to auto install if we deferred it more than twice. So it did. It said it completed successfully.

Oh yay, new firmware! (Not)

HOWEVER, after a couple days, the computer touch screen went into an endless reboot cycle every time we drove the car. And that’s a tad disconcerting in this day of smart cars.

So we took it into the dealer who said we didn’t have the most current level of software. So, they installed it.

Maybe THIS is the right level? (Pardon our dust)

I guess we’ll see if this one will work. New 1st World problems…

Cosmic reminder.

A month ago, the Universe reached out to remind me that “things are just things.” I was rear-ended in our brand new Subaru Outback (sniffle). The other guy was very remorseful; and uninsured.

Anywho… repairs are now complete, and the Subie is fixed and back home.

Our Subaru “badge of ownership” also arrived. I’m ready to enjoy many miles and roadtrips.

Old dogs learning new tricks.

Monte and I both hang on to the cars we buy a long, looong time – one is 26 years old, the new one is 13 years old. It’s time for some new blood in the garage.

We’ve been thinking about getting an electric vehicle, as much of our driving trips are less than 70-miles roundtrip (to the lake and back) and much shorter errand-trips around town. We have been shopping for a month or two. Last week we found one we were looking for in San Antonio. So on a wild hair, we hopped into the fossil-fuel vehicle (ironic, right?) and drove 75 miles to see it, sit in it, test drive it. We liked it, so we brought it home!

We picked a Chevy Bolt EV. Pretty roomy. It’ll hold our boat loads to and from the marina (ice chest and our bags) and lots of room for groceries and other things.

Nice!

Se me transporta atrás…

It takes me back…

Monte and I have been enjoying a show on PBS called La Otra Mirada. We have started watching the second season. It is set in a girls’ school in Sevilla, Spain in the 1920s. It’s a drama, I suppose, with humor and lots of pro-girl inspiration and empowerment messages mixed in. The actors speak in Spanish, but English subtitles are available.

I have enjoyed the story that unfolds in the show, but I have also been very much enjoying listening to the dialogue in Spanish. Even though Sevilla is in Andalusia, most of the actors speak with the Castillian accent which is what I was most exposed to. It really takes me back to my time living in Madrid.

In a number of scenes members of the local police make appearances, the Guardia Civíl – with rifles, funky black hats, and all. That reminded me of something that I wanted to show Monte. So, during one commercial break, I ran into my office and unearthed a set of Spanish mud people that I have been dragging around for over 40 years.

They are adorable.

My mud people: a tuna, a spanish couple, toreador & bull, guardia civíl, Sancho Panza & Don Quijote

In it to win it.

My fantasy football league just finished its fifth year. Laura won it this year. For the second time! Arnie said we should have a trophy… et VOILA!

A thing from long ago.

Julie has moved back to Austin!  She drove, pulling a trailer full of her things behind her.  When she arrived, she told me that she brought my mom’s sewing machine with her.  It is one of the things that Noreen has been storing for me since mom died.   I was very excited to unpack it.  This is the sewing machine that I learned to sew on.  It is a Montgomery Ward Expert BT long shuttle sewing machine, complete with the original manual, attachments, and storage cabinet.  I have vivid memories of sewing on this machine with my mom when I was a little girl.

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I believe my mom bought this machine before she married my dad.  That would make it at least 65 years old, but may be even older.  I cleaned it, oiled it, threaded it, and took it for a spin.  It works great!  What a solid piece of machinery.

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Many, many thanks to Noreen, Julie, and David for getting this machine to me.

Early 4th.

Monte and I spent a couple nights at anchor on the lake this week. We chose to avoid the wake-heavy holiday weekend. It was hazy, I guess from the Saharan dust remnants in the air. But it was lovely. Keeto enjoyed it, too. We’ve launched the kayak for the summer, so I have resumed my treasure-hunt-paddling around the coves. I was rewarded yesterday with this long lost 11 lb. Lewmar claw anchor and stainless steel tackle that someone had to cut loose at some point months ago when the lake was much higher.

And we were rewarded again with this treasure at sunset last night.

I hope you enjoy a fun and safe 4th of July!

Wow.

Ok, now I have seen everything. YETI-brand 5-gallon buckets. $40 a piece! 😮 If you want a lid, that’s $20 more dollars. Wow.

After the sales clerk told me how much they were, he smiled and added, “Yeah, I know, you may as well just get one at Home Depot.”

A big-girl camera!

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Monte has nurtured my love of photography over the years; starting with the gift of my first 35mm film SLR camera – a Nikon FM10.   On it, I learned the basics:  how to manually adjust aperture, shutter speed, film speed, focus, depth of field, flash… everything.  It was the only camera we brought on our honeymoon, to capture all those once-in-a-lifetime moments – a bit risky since we wouldn’t be able to see how they turned out until we got home.   I was thrilled to see that they all turned out to be beautifully captured images after getting the film developed.

Then he got me my first digital camera – a Nikon Coolpix 7600 point and shoot.  It was his first experience w/ digital photography as well.

Once we started making regular sailing trips in the Caribbean, I bought a Canon PowerShot D10 for underwater photography.  It turned out to be such a great camera that it has been my main, go-to camera on land or sea, and it sparked my desire to start this photoblog almost 6 years ago.

In the last year or two, pure laziness has led me to use my iPhone camera for many of the shots I post here, though I still drag the Canon along everywhere I go.

But my wish all along has been to get a “real” and quality digital camera – a big-girl camera – one that might allow me to take my photography to the next level.

Last week, since I had a whole week off of work, Monte took me camera shopping.  He helped me pick out The One – an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II.   Along with two lenses, this is the latest (and best!) gift of photography equipment from him to indulge my hobby; for which I cannot thank him enough.

All of a sudden I feel like a real photographer!

The camera is amazing.   I am taking the time to study the 170 page manual to learn about each of its features in the range of all-automatic to all-manual operational modes.   I’m only taking practice shots for now, but with the rain and lack of sunny days lately, I haven’t yet taken it for a real spin outside.

I can’t wait to see what develops.  🙂

 

 

Little buddy.

Last year I went on a girls’ trip to Washington, D.C. and we walked EVERYWHERE!   One of my friends had a fitbit One (electronic fitness / health tracking gadget) which intrigued me, and I ordered one for myself before I even got back home.  I’ve been using it for almost a year now and I love it.

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As you can see, it is small, it clips onto your clothes (bra, waistband, etc) and Along with its dashboard tracks calories expended, distance walked, vertical steps climbed, sleep pattern, food (calories in), weight gain/loss.  I found it to be a good tool to incent, remind, and update me on where I am versus where I want to be.   It doesn’t work magic – when I don’t expend more calories than I take in, I gain weight.   But my experience has been that if i use it that way I’m supposed to (i.e., keep the food tracker updated and actively try to achieve my daily targets, every day) I am a better fit-izen  🙂

My 2 cents on why I love my fitbit:

  • Usability:  It is easy to wear and forget about.  I clip it onto my bra (sports or frilly) and it usually is undetectable.  It is very easy to keep continually on my person 🙂  I’ve even forgotten about it and worn it through a TSA checkpoint at the airport several times – without getting stopped.  I tried using the little wristband it comes with to wear the fitbit at night but gave up and now just clip it to what I’m wearing to bed.  I don’t even know it’s there.
  • Durability:  It’s water-resistant.  It’s definitely not bothered by lots of sweat.  It is not advertised as being water proof.   BUT it did go through the washing machine once and still works.  My washer is a High-Efficiency one wrt how much water it uses – maybe that’s why my fitbit thankfully didn’t drown.  But, you should have seen the number of steps I logged during the spin cycle overnight!
  • Battery life:  I have found that the battery lasts two weeks or more for me on a given charge.  It warns you when it is low.  And to charge it just requires using the short cord in the picture above – USB on one end, and attaching to the end of the fit bit with the adapter on the other end.
  • Ease and flexibility of uploading data from the device:   You can choose to sync the bits of data from the fitbit device to the dashboard for viewing by either (or both) of two methods.  The fitbit One can talk to/sync with the fitbit Connect application (that runs on your laptop) via the smaller USB wireless sync dongle thingie in the picture above.    And/or it can talk to/sync with the fitbit mobile app (that runs on your phone) via a bluetooth-enabled interface with your phone.  I use both.  I like that if i go on a trip where I don’t want to lug my laptop, I can still sync with my phone for the time I am gone and view the dashboard from there.   Syncing is where things might get a little less intuitive, but there are lots of FAQs to explain the ins and outs of syncing.
  • User interface:  The web dashboard can be accessed via either a web browser on a laptop, or through their mobile app.  Both are easy to use, customize, and display lots of info to glean. 
  • Customer service:  I have found most of my questions are easily answered by info found in fitbit’s online help, or the fitbit community forums.   I did have a problem recently where my wireless syncing dongle simply stopped working.  I quickly found the phone number online – it’s posted on their twitter feed:  (877) 623-4997.  (I’m old fashioned – there are online methods to get support here).  After less than 10 minutes on the phone with the support person I had an email in my inbox documenting that a replacement fitbit wireless sync dongle was on its way to me – free of charge.  I was back in business a few days later.
  • Value:  for me, it’s worth it.  I’ve worn it pretty much every day for almost a year.   I’ve actively used it the way I should for probably 75% of that time.  I fall off the wagon from time to time.   I think I paid a little under $100 dollars for my fitbit One.  But I struggle with my weight, and any tool that helps me stay on the path to fitness is worth it.  And that’s what my fitbit One helps me do.

Oh, one more thing….I did misplace my fitbit once.  I knew it couldn’t have gone far, though.   I googled online for an app that communicates with bluetooth devices nearby… and it was able to pick up the signal from my fitbit One and eventually zero in on its location under the couch about 10 feet away.  The free iphone app I used was called Bluetooth Smart Scanner, but there are others out there that should work as well.

Kudos to The North Face.

I recently posted about Kohler being a great company to work with because of their customer service. Today, I’m posting a shout out for The North Face…. Several years ago I bought rain jackets for both monte and myself.  But recently my jacket’s waterproof lining began tearing at the neck, rendering it no longer waterproof.

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I remembered that The North Face has a lifetime warranty for their togs, so about 6 weeks ago I followed their instructions and sent my ruined jacket to their warranty department requesting a replacement.  Well, today with no other communication or notice, I received a brand new jacket from TNF. Its a slightly different color, but still the great North Face product.
THANK YOU North Face for standing behind your warranty. I’ll be back.

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And….again!

Oh so pretty. I didn’t have a window seat today. It’s just as well, though, because I would have been hogging/blocking the view the whole time. 🙂
So I asked my seat-neighbor to snap one for me, instead.

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