Another outing in the van - and teaching an in-person audience

We were booked to give an in-person presentation to the Sun City Center computer club Sun City Center computer club on Wednesday May 8. It's a 4 hour drive from home and we usually stay at the Elks lodge over there. But this time we decided to take 2 nights and stay at a nearby state park - Little Manatee River. Once again, we had to tear ourselves away from our homey comfort zone, but once we were on the road we felt that old familiar thrill of freedom!

We got to the campground about 6 and Jim got right to work setting up camp for dinner. What's for dinner? Well we didn't feel like doing any shopping so we brought whatever we could find in the freezer … lobster

Delicious and delightful. 

We were backed in to the site so there was no need to close curtains on the back window. So cool to be in bed and look up at the stars they the palm trees. 

Next morning got up early to take a walk before it got too hot. Too late. Summer has arrived. The coolness of the last few weeks is gone. We were so grateful for the electric hookup and the good air conditioner on the van. We just stayed in our respective offices (Jim in the front seat turned around, me in the back, on the bed. Both of us with our computers on lap desks. Comfortable, quiet, productive. I spent all day picking out just the right set of smartphone tips to present to the group that night-here's the slides I came up with slides I came up with …

We broke camp about 4:30 in time to drive in and meet our hosts for dinner. It's weird to drive away and leave an empty campsite. We leave a "This site is Occupied by Geeks on Tour" sign …

Good dinner and nice conversation

About 60 people attended and it appeared that everyone brought their phones. I picked tips that were easy for them to try right there. SO much fun. You could hear the gasps when they discovered something they had never seen before on their phones. As usual, I ran over time. About 15 minutes, but no one left! One of my tips was about making your phone into a hotspot. Then Jim opened the wifi settings on his computer to show 30 some odd networks in the room! I think they got it.

When we showed the magic eraser feature of google photos there was a unanimous WOW. 

It was so fun and I was so jazzed. Will I even be able to sleep tonight? Oh yeah. We drove back to the campsite and were so cozy. Next morning we got more work done. 

During the 4 hour drive home we listened to the book Path Between the Sea about the building of the Panama Canal. What a story! We're taking a cruise thru the Panama Canal in October.

Yes! People are still learning with us

Coming to this Roadtrek rally and having several people tell us things they learned was wonderful, so validating. We may have met them at some rally years ago but they keep watching us on YouTube now. 

Meg Adam's showed the photos she edited after learning from me. Notice the geeks on tour button on her ibadge.

And David Gottdiner told everyone the story about his bike ride where he did 8 miles on his bike on the legacy trail and missed the turn off for the park. 4 miles later he realized his mistake. He consulted Google maps for directions back to Oscar scherer campground and it showed him getting out on the highway. Then he remembered something he learned from Geeks on Tour and why he always takes a photo of his campsite! He opened that photo, swiped up to the map, and navigated straight back to his RV!

It worked! The things I tell people to do really work!

So, when he's curious about something else on his phone, guess where he goes for help?

And Jim, being the real geek makes sure that Dave has a microphone and amplifier even out here in the woods! Yes, Jim is the boy scout, always prepared.

What a nice few days we had. Ending with a bicycle ride on the Legacy Trail. Thank you Roadtrek group. We've signed up for the next gathering - September at Anastasia park in northern Florida.

Blessed be the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

Chris Guld
GeeksOnTour.com

Fighting inertia

Home for over a month and inertia starts to set in. We so enjoy our house in Fort Lauderdale. It's quiet. It's comfy. And all our toys are there. Jim has his office downstairs, I have mine upstairs and we always have things to do on our computers. Between zoom meetings, our website, and our YouTube channel we stay happily busy. When we want a break we either soak in the hot tub or go for a walk around our 1 mile circle. We've even been doing a little bit of gardening. In addition to some real plants, and some fake plants - we've discovered metallic artwork that looks great on the fence.

Our Backyard:

Our Backyard

We could settle in forever, but we get itchy feet. There's this special little camper van that calls to us, so we signed up to join our fellow Roadtrekers at Oscar Scherer state park. 

Then the time comes and we don't want to tear ourselves away. Why did we schedule this? We're so happy in our house, let's just stay here. No. We scheduled it and we're going. 

What do we need to pack. Not much because we leave the van full of all the basics. We have 2 coffee pots-one for the house and one for the RV. 2 sets of dishes, 2 sets of cookware etc. We still need to pack food and computer stuff. We will still be doing our weekly zoom meetings. 

We always stress out a bit for fear we've forgotten something. 

But we did it, we're on the road, and we feel invigorated. It's so important to fight inertia. If you let inertia win, you don't have new experiences. 

Inertia is a powerful force! It's so easy to get stuck in a routine and lose your momentum. That's why stepping out of your comfort zone can be such a valuable experience - it can help break through that inertia and open up new possibilities. It's not always easy, but I think it's worth it. What's one thing you'd like to try, but haven't yet because it's outside your comfort zone?

Look at this beautiful spot

And see all these interesting people we get to spend some time with. 

OR

We could be sitting at our computers at home doing the same thing we did last week!

Good Show - Personal Best, Episode 273

There's nothing like a deadline to get things done! That's what our live YouTube show is for me. We've been doing it for so many years now that I have muscle memory for what it takes to put a show together. 

First, the topic

I need to come up with a topic by Friday morning and hopefully have a sketch of the outline. It's good if I can have the review questions written before I go to bed Friday night - start with the end in mind. If I know what I want people to know at the end, it's easier to put the lesson plan together. 

Then the materials and the learning

Saturday is a work day - find if I have  any existing videos that teach what I want. If not, then I need to record at least one. I really like the combination of live presentation with recorded segments. Then Sunday is putting finishing touches on the slide show and practicing the timing. 

This week I came up with the topic early Monday, perhaps too early because that allowed time for doubts to arise before Friday. The topic was google slides. Not a normal topic for us because our audience doesn't normally make presentations. But I just discovered some new AI features that I thought would e cool to show, and google slides is a good way to use photos in a slideshow with features that google photos doesn't have. 

While thinking about it Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday - I realized how much I didn't know about google slides, so I started learning. Hold on! I seem to be in process of building a class that could go for several hours here! No. Should I change topics? No. My point is that google slides is for other things, not just presentations. Let's stick to that. But I have to show a little of the basics. Ok, my outline is

Google slides basics

Use an extension for google photos slide show

Using new AI for creating a picture

Now it's Saturday, pressure is mounting. I need to make at least one video. I spend hours and I don't like the result 🙁 

I didn't have anything done on time, but it still came off perfectly

Sunday morning I got nothing! But the show must go on. I focus on my end result and crank out 2 new videos

I write the review questions. I come up with an idea for Jim to show how to collaborate with google slides. 

It's 2pm and we go live. 

It was great! It's almost like we know what we're doing after 273 times!! This was one of our very best. I ended up being very happy with my content, and Jim's production skills have gotten top-notch. No glitches. Great sound. We have fun and I think the people watching us do too.

Here is the link to watch the show: https://youtu.be/j4NN3KLkNGI Or you can always just go to YouTube.com/@geeksontour, open the Playlist for "What Does This Button Do?" and find Episode 274

I felt the same way after this show. I always review how it went and think of some things I could do better but I couldn't thnk of anything! The audience asked some really good questions too. It was a good topic! I might even say we've reached our peak. It reminds me of the FMCA rally at the Ohio university where all of our seminars were perfect. 

Local Diving - and Lobster

 Our dive club - UnderSea Adventurers, USA Dive Club for short, plans local dives usually twice each month. We took advantage this week and joined 6 other club members to go out on a dive to the Abby 2 reef, and one other whose name I don't remember.

I belong to the 80-80 club of scuba diving. This means I only like to dive when both the air temperature and the water is 80 degrees or more. This is still winter - March - so the water was 75 degrees. hmmm. But, it looked like a beautiful day - 84 degrees air temperature - and Jim wanted to go diving while it's still lobster season - August 6 - March 31. 

On the "Parrot Island" dive boat - going out the Hillsboro Inlet at Lighthouse Point

It was chilly, but it was a nice dive. Jim got one lobster on each of the 2 dives. He hoped for more, but that's still worthwhile. 

I posted the above photo on facebook with the words - Goin' Divin' with my favorite dive buddy. Who am I kidding? He's not my favorite dive buddy - he's my only dive buddy! Who else would 

• make sure I had air tanks that were full, 
• gather all my gear together and put it in the car. 
• Get the gear from the car to the boat
• Assemble my gear
• Watch out for me underwater
• Gather all the gear after the dive and get it back in the car
• Wash it all when we get home
• Put it away?

Who? Nobody, nohow - he's the best!

Oh yea - and catch some lobster for dinner!

Actually, this is a photo from another time. We rarely eat lobster the same day he catches them. We're pretty wiped out from the dive, and he's found that they come free from the shell much better after being frozen. We love having a freezer full of lobster!