Category: Things

The waiting is the hardest part.

Finally!

If you know me at all, you know that I take my time making up my mind about some things, but once I do, I’m committed (and very impatient).  Well, I’ve recently decided that I needed a new device.  Something that I can use for my personal computer things… internet browsing, apps, iTunes, photo editing, blogging, music editing, geneology research, data storage, etc.   So I embarked on a long period of researching my options – no impulse buying here.  So, I checked out the iPad.  Not really what I was looking for, it’s really more of a glorified client device that needs to sync to a PC (or now the iCloud).  I guess I need a traditional laptop kind of computer.   So I had to decide between PC and Mac.   I opted for Mac.  Mac Book Pro to be specific.   In researching it, and the OS underneath i was pleasantly surprised to learn about Mac OS X Lion and its features.

I decided on the 15″ Mac Book Pro.  But I wanted to add some custom features (8GB Mem, faster Hard Drive, anti-glare monitor, etc) that you cannot get by walking into the Apple Store.  Which meant that I had to order it online.

Soooo, i did.  And i’ve been (not) patiently waiting for it to be delivered for over a week.   The target delivery date was today.  The nice people at Apple sent me the tracking info so that I could watch the progress of my new toy make its way from China to my front door via FedEx.  That means with the click of a mouse I can go out to FedEx and see the status of my package delivery… which I’ve done about 10 times a day since last week!  The package was picked up by Fed Ex and then sat at the FedEx place in Shanghai for about 3 1/2 days… excruciating!… and then when it finally got to the continent, it sat in Anchorage for over a day.  Ugh!   Well, as of this morning it is in Austin, on a truck, out for delivery (YAY!).

You guys all drive careful out there, around those FedEx delivery trucks today, allright?!

More later.  (oh and here’s a youtube link to a song that comes to mind as I pen this post.)

My country for a decent vacuum!

Me likey.

We have three (3) upright vacuums from different decades in vacuum cleaner history.  They are old, in various states of disrepair.  Each has its issues… doesn’t suck (in this case, sucking is good), difficult to maneuver, weighs a ton, louder than a jet engine, etc, etc.  We’ve been schlepping these vacuums around since we combined our households. They have done their share of cleaning up remodel debris, sheet rock dust, etc, etc.  As of late we don’t even use them.  But we can’t seem to part with them.

So, we have resorted to alternative devices… the Roomba, which works pretty well, but I spend as much time watching it vacuum for me as I would have if I had done the vacuuming myself.  So much for being a time saver.  Lately we have resorted to using the shop vac in the house.  A bit of overkill, but at least it cleans.  And the hearing protectors we wear while using it make quite the fashion statement.

Today I decided it was time to get a new vacuum cleaner.  A good one that will work really well (hopefully) and last a long time.  So I logged on to Consumer Reports to do some research.  Turns out the highest overall rated one (which also has the best rating for noise) is a Kenmore canister vac.  Hmmm.  Sears? I  haven’t shopped at a Sears in a looooong time.  I don’t even like the idea of going into a Sears store.  But I was determined to buy that vacuum.

So…. I did.  And I even bought a bunch of other stuff I found there that I would usually go to a Bed Bath and Beyond for.  Note to self: Sears is alright!  I’ll probably be back again when I want other housewares stuff.

It only took me a few minutes to put the vacuum together.  I’ve used it now for about 30 minutes.  My first impression: I love it!  It is very quiet, can do wood floors w/o the beater bar, or carpets w/ the beater bar, lots of good attachments, even one designed to clean ceiling fan blades –  haven’t tried that one yet to see if i can do it from the floor, so we’ll see.

So, now I’m off to play domestic goddess for a bit this afternoon.  But, let me leave you with this…. a shopping cart with a cupholder… what will they think of next?

Jun 2, 2011

Feelin' a little girlie.

Today started out with a 7AM tooth drilling at the dentist that made my head hurt the rest of the day.

I decided to end it with a manicure at the salon.   I should do this more often.

Monte roasted up a delicious chicken for dinner.  Yum!!

The day definitely ended better than it started.

May 28, 2011

Found object.

I explored the cove this morning on the kayak.  I spotted this anchor wedged in the rocks.  The falling water level is exposing all sorts of hidden treasures.

It came out easily and joins our collection of about 5 found anchors.  It’s becoming a hobby 🙂

May 25, 2011

Crikey.

Tonight we went for a walk with our neighbors and the Austin Parks & Recreation Department through the city park adjoining our neighborhood.  The City wants to turn it into an off-leash dog park.  So we’re all getting ready to take a position on whether we want that in our backyards or not.

Afterwards we went out for dinner.  This is a shot of a custom wood wall covering that looked very cool, right above our table… taken with my not-high-tech cell phone.

Enjoy!

May 21, 2011

Totem.

This is the Ha Tu Ba Di memorial totem pole,  carved by Makah Nation artist Frank Smith.  It honors a man who worked to conserve tribal artifacts.

It’s located on the waterfront in Port Orchard.  In the background is south end of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Apr 23, 2011

On the fence.

The other day I got out my SLR camera.  A nice Nikon FM10 that Monte gave me a number of years ago.  Everything on it is manual, and it’s a great camera for people to learn about the mechanics of taking photos.   It was the only camera that we brought with us on our honeymoon and we got fantastic photos.

I took it in to get developed today.  Here’s one pic from the roll.

Mar 8, 2011

Happy 1st blogoversary!

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my starting this blog.   To mark the occasion, I made a collage using all 365 of the moments that I’ve posted here.

I can recall taking each one.   🙂

I started this in early March last year, in time to capture the signs of Spring, and into the Summer as things began to warm up and as we spend so much time on the lake… then through the changes in Fall and Winter when we spend more of our time on projects and playing with friends on land.  I’ve come full circle, and am looking forward all the moments from the coming year.

Happy Mardi Gras!   and  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Lori and to Mary!

Mar 7, 2011

Day #365!!!

Today’s post makes the 365th moment that I have shared with you.  This is a shot of one of the geraniums I planted yesterday that I took today during a break between conference calls.

I’m very pleased that I have stuck with this post-a-photo-per-day-for-a-year project.  There were some days that I found it difficult to see something worth sharing.   But I have to say that most days I looked forward to toting my camera around with me, and was usually pleased to find a moment that was either a photo that I liked or at least made for a nice story to share.

Wow, a year.   365 moments.   It goes by fast.

I look forward to keeping my blog going.  I don’t know that I will be posting something every day, but I am definitely looking forward to posting more moments worth sharing.

A colleague of mine passed away over the weekend after a fight with cancer.  He was only 51.

I can only hope that you all have many more years left on this earth to share with your friends and family.   But since we never know when our time will be up, we have to take the time to enjoy and be thankful for each and every day that we get to spend with them.   I have done that for a year.   And I hope to from here on out…

Mar 3, 2011

Troglodyte tech.

Monte and I gravitate towards the dull edge of the technology adoption curve.  We have had the same, old school cell phones for about 8 years now.   They both looked identical and served us well.   Last week AT&T sent a letter to the remaining cavemen that were on the old plans with old phones to tell us that we had to get new phones and a new plan or our old ones would stop working in about a month.

So we have been grudgingly forced up to the next level of bare bones basic phone.  Nope, no data plans or internet access — still just a phone.   Here’s a shot of the new device.   It only took me a few minutes to figure out how to make a phone call 🙂

I did take the opportunity this time to get us each different colored phones.   So we got that going for us…

Jan 24, 2011

Yikes.

These are the flights on one of monte’s sets of darts.  A little creepy, aren’t they?

Jan 7, 2011

Lines.

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been feeling creatively challenged.   A fellow blogger recently made me aware of a site she sometimes turns to for ideas of subjects to photograph — it’s called The Daily Shoot.  I turned to it this morning and the assignment was to find strong converging lines in a photograph.

So, I took a number of shots and picked one I liked.  Technically, I don’t think this one qualifies as containing converging lines, but it does contain strong lines, so I’m going with it.  Here ’tis.

p.s.

TGIF!

Oct 30, 2010

 

Breezy

 

There was a little bit of breeze all afternoon tinkling the wind chimes out back, probably made for a nice sail.

We spent this Saturday at the homestead.

Oct 17, 2010

Angels among us

I’ve ended up with quite a few of these Willow Tree angels – many were gifts from friends and family.   These are the angels of:   hope, the heart, warmth and love (left to right).

Even if you don’t believe that there are angels among us, these little figurines are reminders in a crazy world of the goodness that surrounds us.