Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Lifelong Learning
Jim and I spend from 4 to 12 hours on the computer every day. What *are* we doing all that time? Sometimes I struggle to answer that question, so I paid attention one day, and now I have an answer. The bulk of our time - up to 50% - is spent learning. Another 30% is spent communicating; reading, writing and managing emails; reading and writing blogs. That leaves 20% devoted to productive work.
Jim is reading technical newsletters and other articles about networking, Wi-Fi, and all things hardware, software and operating systems.
I am watching Lynda.com video tutorials on website development, CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks - I love Lynda.com! I am reading newsletters and forums on Blogger, Picasa, and general computer issues.
And we both spend time on what we call 'playing', but I could just as easily call it 'learning by trial and error'.
I'm teaching a hands-on class here at Palm Creek starting next week. I'm calling it 'Computer Confidence Class: For Women Only.' 2 sessions/week for 3 weeks, maximum 6 students. I'm hoping to impart an expectation of lifelong learning. There's no such thing as 'learning how to use your computer.' There's just too much. The best you can hope for is to develop the confidence that you can figure things out - and to enjoy the process.
I've been learning, and teaching, computers for 24 years now and I'm learning more new things each day now than ever before. Not only is there an infinite amount to learn about using computers, but there's an infinite amount to learn by using a computer!
I've learned how to cook artichokes in the microwave by researching on the computer (I used to boil them till google showed me another way.) We had some corn on the cob to go with our chicken last night. Jim asked me, "how are you going to cook that?" I answered, "I'm going to google it." Betcha didn't know that google is a cooking method!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Water in Arizona!

Sunday, November 25, 2007
A French lesson
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Palm Creek Photo Albums




Thursday, November 22, 2007
Giving Thanks

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Geek Work


Saturday, November 17, 2007
Jane Seymour at Palm Creek
Friday, November 16, 2007
Changing of the Quilts

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Jim's Turn
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Catching up
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Birthday Dinner








Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Lunch in Key West, Dinner in Arizona, Pickleball anyone?
That's right ! After sending Jim off to work this morning ....
Here he is in his 'office' ... the Palm Creek computer room
I did a little computer work, and a little laundry, then I prepared to meet Lynne and John for lunch at the Hog's Breath Saloon in Key West Florida! You see, there's a geocache there, and it was my job to record their photos from the webcam to prove that they found the 'cache'.
After lunch it was back to work. Then, after dinner we played pickleball. That makes two nights in a row that we played after dinner. What a great time. They have bright lights you can turn on at the courts, but nobody else is there. We get to make fools of ourselves all alone! I took some pictures at the courts earlier in the day to show how busy it is getting ...
Much too intimidating! I just go to walk Odie in the dog run that's right next to the courts.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
My Newsletter
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Hike to the Lost Goldmine
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Practical Uses for Picasa Web Albums