Thursday, February 26, 2009

Getting Ready

We leave next week to hit the road for our summer 'Tour.' After being in one place for 5 months, there's a lot on our list to get done before we go. We took the motorhome to the shop last week to get front brakes worked on. Jim did a tuneup on the generator so it starts right up and hums along now. We got our new mail forwarding address set up with St. Brendan's Isle so we can just log on and view our scanned mail. And, most every night is booked with a last week dinner party!

One of the last things on our list was to wash and wax 'Oh Boy' - that's what we call our motorhome! Yesterday, Jim's son Devon and his friend Steven, came over to do just that. Now it's all shiny and we're ready! Thanks Devon!

We went to our last Toastmaster's meeting this morning and decided to take a picture in front of our shiny home with our go-to-meeting clothes that we won't be wearing for a while! And, our friend Jimmy Lyon from Long Beach Island is visiting for the week, so Jim just had to go out for a couple extra dives with him. He came home with an impressive lobster on the last dive! We're almost ready. Our first stop will be Peace River, then my Dad's in northern Florida, then the FMCA convetion in Perry, Georgia.

Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Leggo my Kindle!

For my birthday, last November, my father-in-law bought me a Kindle. In case you haven't heard of it, the Kindle is an electronic book-reader. I knew I wanted one as soon as they were announced. Then, after reading more about it on a fellow RVers blog, I had to have one! Thank you Pop Guld! I love my Kindle. I love to read, but I don't get to do anywhere near as much as I like. Books are heavy, so we don't carry many in the RV. The hardest part of selling our house and getting rid of all our possessions was the bookshelves full of books. I have to *really* want a book to buy it, or I have to luck into a good find at a park's lending/trading library. While driving home from my Father-in-Law's house with my new Kindle, I heard a review on NPR radio about a book by Maya Angelou, called 'Letter to my Daughter.' I've read Maya Angelou before and knew I would enjoy this book. I got out the Kindle, turned on it's wireless button, clicked the button for the 'Kindle Store' and searched for the book. Within a minute, the book was on my Kindle and my credit card had been charged $9.99. Like a kid with a new toy, I found a quiet corner and curled up with my Kindle. By the next day (it was a short book :-) I had finished reading that book, and was ready to download another one! Oh the Joy! For the last couple weeks, I've had to go to the dentist a lot. Believe it or not, I look forward to my appointments because I take my Kindle with me and get a lot of reading in while I'm waiting for Novocaine to take effect and all the other various wait times that happen at the dentist. The dentist got curious and asked about the Kindle and what I was reading. I told her that I was almost finished reading 'Water for Elephants' - a fascinating tale about working for the traveling circus during the Depression. She wrote down the name of that book, and shared with me the book she was currently reading - 'My Sister's Keeper.' While I was still in the dentist chair, I downloaded a free sample of 'My Sister's Keeper' to be sure I liked it before buying. I did, and the next Dentist appointment I was able to have a book discussion with my Dentist because I was already about a third of the way thru. There is one BIG problem with the Kindle that I need to tell you about. I can't read it until I pry it out of Jim's hands! As if he doesn't read enough articles on the Web, he subscribed to the Kindle version of Time magazine - $2/mo I think. Every week a new issue appears on the Kindle's table of contents and, I think, he is reading them from cover to cover. I knew it would be great to be able to download new books any time, I also expected the Kindle to be as portable as a paperback and to be easy to read because I could increase the size of the type. What I didn't expect was that the Kindle would be *more* portable than a book. I can read it with no hands! I like to read while I'm eating. With a paperback, that is very difficult. You need at least one hand for your food and one hand for your book, then you need both hands to turn the page. With the Kindle, you can set it down on the table and read it, maybe even prop it up at a perfect reading angle. When you need to turn the page, all you need is a thumb or even an elbow :-) to bump the 'Next Page' bar on the side. There are some downsides, pictures are poor. I downloaded one technical, computer-help book, and the diagrams and screenshots are worthless. It is also difficult to thumb thru and find that chapter you remember. You can easily bookmark important places, but, if you don't ... you're lost. I love it for reading novels, not so much for technical manuals. The new Kindle is supposed to have better graphics. I haven't seen one. Oh yeah ... the other drawback is the price - $350! As I said in the beginning of this post, Thank you Pop Guld! Ok, enough writing .. time to go read! If you're thinking about buying one for your very own, it would be great if you used this link - then we get a little commission too.
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Pretty Roses

Do I have a wonderful Valentine or what?! Roses really are beautiful. So I just had to take some photos and put them together with Picasa's collage feature. And, he went diving and got us lobster for dinner!
From Geeks on Tour February 2009
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

What a Wonderful World

We're back in Fort Lauderdale after a delightful weekend at Orlando Thousand Trails. We were quite happy with the turnout for our seminars with such little notice. Of course, there was no charge, so that's part of the reason! One thing I've enjoyed while being here this winter is going to a Sunday morning Buddhist meditation session with my Mom. When meditating you are asked to visualize that the outside world has disappeared. Your whole world is just ... you. No bosses, no customers, no mortgages or bills to pay. No stress. No worries. Just ... you. Breathe deep. Enjoy the freedom. It struck me as we were going thru this visualization this morning ... that's how I feel about RVing. When we're driving down the road in our self-contained cocoon-home, the outside world disappears. No stress. No worries. Just us and the rhythm of the road. aaaaahhhhhhh We will be back on the road soon. We were originally booked for the Country Coach Rally March 9, in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Unfortunately, that rally has been cancelled. We're leaving the first week of March and headed towards Perry, Georgia for the FMCA convention - March 16-19. We will be presenting 6 different seminars, PLUS our hands-on Computer Boot Camp. It's going to be a great week. One of my favorite songs, and such a sweet video.
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

Monday, February 09, 2009

Gorgeous Weather

You know why people talk about the weather all the time? Because it makes or breaks the day - especially when you live in an RV! We're in Orlando right now and we slept in 50 degree weather, now it's 73 - sunny and gorgeous! Mom and I took an early morning walk - and I remembered my camera finally! Yesterday Jim presented our High Speed Internet seminar ... we had about 25 folks. It went quite well. Today I get to do Picasa.
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Off to Orlando Thousand Trails

Oh Boy! The wheels are getting ready to roll. We're booked to do a couple of seminars at Thousand Trails, Orlando tomorrow and Monday. See our schedule for details. I know I haven't written much, but the only thing I have to say about this week is going to the dentist. Actually, that was very good though! At first they said I needed a root canal. When I went to the dentist - they changed their mind! yee ha! Later
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Superbowl Party at Paradise Island

We had planned on doing our movie nights here at Paradise Island RV while we were here this winter, but never seemed to get around to it, just too much set up work. But, as Bill (the park manager) and Jim discussed how best to watch the Superbowl, they hatched a plan. A custom-built frame with a big white screen ... a satellite television dish and receiver ... and our LCD projector. It took a bit of work, but it turned out great! And, what a perfect day/evening we had! The party started just after noon, with hot dogs, hamburgers, and beer. The weather even cooperated into the evening. About 70 degrees, maybe a little cooler - dry, and no wind. Just perfect.
Further your computer education **Subscribe to the Free Geeks on Tour Newsletter**