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.

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My Newsletter

I was really late getting my newsletter out this time. I tell subscribers they will get a newsletter every 10 days to 2 weeks. My last one was October 12, and I just got this one sent last night, November 5. :-( I subscribe to a couple of newsletters that arrive in my inbox every Saturday morning, just like clockwork! I am just not a clockwork kinda gal! I may beat up on myself for being late, but I doubt that any subscribers notice or care. In fact, the only unsubcribes I have received are from those who thought I sent too many emails. I wish they had hung in there a while longer, because what they were reacting to was the first two weeks. In the beginning, I have several 'get acquainted' emails that I send out in order to ... well ... get acquainted! I usually write 3 short articles about computer topics of interest to RVers. Usually, I'm responding to questions that people are asking us. For this issue I recorded a video tutorial to go along with each article. Please take a look, watch these videos and let me know what you think. Using Windows XP Backup to Backup all your data to an External Hard Drive Using Picasa with Photos you Receive via Email For Satellite Internet Users: Understanding your Bandwidth Limitations If you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter, you can use the link below.

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Hike to the Lost Goldmine

We went with the Palm Creek hiking club to the Superstition mountains and hiked 5-6 miles on the Lost Goldmine trail. It was wonderful to go with a group because we carpooled and made arrangements for half of the cars to be at one trailhead, and the other half to be at another. So, we didn't have to walk in and out ... we just kept going. Jim says he found the mine ... but he's not telling where! (see .kmz file) Arizona back country scenery is so unique and beautiful. The Saguaro cactus are like giant friendly sentinels waving as we go by, and the mountains are huge, rugged rocks, towering over it all. Then there are the little landmines called Cholla. Sometimes called 'Teddy Bear' Cholla because they look soft and furry, they are actually deadly little spears that must be avoided at all cost. It felt so good to do some hiking, reminding me of my backpacking days - long gone. The wilderness is beautiful, but we also had a very harsh reminder of the dangers. One of the hikers had an incident with dizzines and heat exhaustion. It hit him just about halfway on the trail. When it became obvious he would not be able to walk out, 911 was called - the Search and Rescue and Paramedics came out, eventually using a helicopter to take him to the hospital. We hear he is OK now. The wilderness, even on a day hike, is not to be taken lightly!

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Practical Uses for Picasa Web Albums

One of the things I really like to do is private computer lessons. When someone wants to do something on their computer, but they don't know how, they can make an appointment with me. I sit beside them and guide them thru the process. It's great for them because they get to reach their goals with a minimum of time and frustration. It's great for me because I get to see more practical uses for the computer applications I teach.

 

Yesterday I had an appointment to visit Marty at his motorhome here in the park. He told me he had some property in Texas he wanted to sell and he wanted to set up a website for it. After talking it over, I decided he didn't really need a website - he just needed a place to showcase all the photos of the property. Then, he could advertise the property in any number of websites meant for that purpose and, in the advertisement, he could link to the photo album.

 

How to make the photo album on the web? Picasa of course! He already had Picasa on his computer, so I showed him how easy it is to select the photos and click the web album button to upload them to the Web. Now, not only does he have his 'website' for promoting the property, but he has an easy way to add more photos, add captions to the photos that are there, and let people view the location on a map, or even on Google Earth. He is in control. Check out his photo album.

 

He told me he had heard that Yahoo Real Estate was a good listing service, so we created an account and entered all the data. Then, for "Additional Property Detail" we linked to his Picasa Web Album. If you're interested in property on the Texas Gulf coast, here's the listing!

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Palm Creek Sunset

By the end of this season, you're probably going to be sick of seeing photos of sunsets on this blog. Brilliant sunsets are the norm out here in the desert, and they are just such irresistable photo subjects. So ... here's your first one! Back at Palm Creek, with their signature *tall* palms wrapped in lights. Both Jim and I are pretty busy here. We gave our Picasa seminar on Monday, and Tuesday I got back to work on some website projects and he had service calls helping people in the park with connecting to the Internet. He also had a service call outside the park. One of our Datastorm installation customers. You would think it would be impossible to offer personal follow up service when he installed this satellite dish in Florida last January, and here we are in Arizona. But, since our customer travels too ... it's just as likely that they're nearby! After spending the past week at the Datastorm rally and watching the top company technicians struggle over difficult satellite issues, Jim was apprehensive when he left for this call. But he was smiling when he came back! Nothing makes him happier than fixing someone's computer/Internet problem. Later in the afternoon, our good friends Diane and Andy pulled into Casa Grande. Oh Boy! We would love for them to stay here, parked next door, but they had a coupon for a free stay at the 'Western Horizons' park about five miles away. That price is hard to beat, especially compared to $42/night here! So, we went and visited them. I'd say we spent time catching up with their travels .. but we didn't need to because Diane keeps a great blog! We already knew where they've been and what they've been doing, so we got to talk more in depth. You know ... talk about those *feelings* that don't belong on a public blog. Like Diane and I talked about how we feel about being on the road and trying to make a living. And Jim and Andy talked about how they *feel* about 'winter' vs. 'summer' beers! :-) They did come visit us the next night and get a tour of Palm Creek. Here are their smiling faces.

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