Isolation

I've officially been here for three weeks.
Last night the Dinosaur said I sounded like I finally realized how far away I am.
Yup- I'm feeling a little stir crazy.

I know it could be way worse.
If the dogs weren't here and Hubby was gone somewhere I could go days without talking out loud.

We've even had people over for dinner twice. Neighbors and then guys from Michigan down here for work at the GM plant.

I'm not miserable- although I looked it yesterday. Between the rain and cold I was so out of it. The dogs and I watched YouTube videos on tv for HOURs. LOL.

I spent 1 1/2 hours trying to get through to mi unemployment. They don't park you on hold- they hang up on you. Then whee you get in the cue it's at least 10 minutes of on hold before a person gets to you.

They love telling you that you can do everything online- which of course you can not. They also love to tell you that you only get so many weeks and yes the government took back that 10.9 percent so yes you did get less so stop calling about it.

I finally have car insurance on the new car so I feel better about driving it. I found it weird that they didn't demand I have insurance before I drove off the lot. They do in Michigan. Sure I had insurance on the one I turned in but that doesn't necessarily transfer over to the new car.

I have to go get a new drivers license - actually we both do or no insurance - such fun.
Which means I lose my enhanced license. Arg. Now I have to get a new passport. Just more fun for me. ;-)

Well. It's Noon and I really do need to get out of the house. So I'm off.
More later.

Dinosaur exercise

Just a quick iPhone update.
With all the walking and exercise I've been wanting to keep track or help me get motivated or whatever.
I started with the couch to 5k app and well it sucks because it assumes you honestly want to run.
Yeah that's not going to happen.

Then I noticed Chicken Paul doing stuff and it showing up on Facebook. He uses Runkeeper and I now have the free version for myself. Or $20 it will broadcast for the whole year and do some other analysis for you. I don't feel the need to share it all. Lol. I can post stuff afterward- but I think I have it so only I can see it.

That is something else I found with several games and such that want to post to Facebook. I just put the setting to me only when I set up the app and it doesn't spam my timeline or my friends.

Anyway - I like Runkeeper. It shows where I went- it's fun because the streets back here in the sub don't exist on the map yet. So it looks like I'm off roading it. It gives you the choice of activity- with biking and other stuff- not just run or walk. It tells your phone to play music.
I spent a hour or two making a walking playlist that's actually several hours long. It just picks up where I left off. So far so good on that front.

Plus it keeps track of how fast you go and personal bests of all kinds.
It works because of GPS. So it's not going to work in the caves- which is a bummer. And it doesn't work on a treadmill, but you can hand enter that stuff.

At the end of each activity it asks you to take a picture and write about it. I like that. Because I can distinguish between walking with or without dogs. You can also say how you felt. Which can help you remember how long it takes to hurt or whatever.
So yes. I give Runkeeper a definite thumbs up!!

Walking

Yup - just walking.
As of today I've averaged almost a mile + a day walking around my neighborhood.

Saturday I tried a 5K walk for the humane society of Bowling Green. Tom and Stephanie blew me out of the water. They paced close to 15 or 18 min a mile to my normal 25 or so. I was getting tired after the first mile. 5k = 3.? Miles.

I was walking with a nice lady and her greyhound. Wow. She talked my ear off. That was ok- I was getting tired and couldn't talk anyway. We cut the corner at the back end to catch up with Tom and Stephanie - and Tom starts dragging me and I couldn't talk and was breathing hard. He's like- come on. Ugh.
He and Stephanie could have run the whole thing.
Sadly that is one activity that I hated beyond anything else. I can not run. Between my weird knees and now the weight - running is not something I can do.

So I'll walk.

At home Taking the boys is getting a little annoying. They love going for a walk, but to them it means stopping to sniff everything in sight and then peeing 50 times.
Today they walked almost a 1/2 mile then I dropped them off and walked more than a mile without them.

I'm sure I'm going to get bored walking my neighborhood soon enough.
I found yesterday that there are some trails out behind Lost River Cave that people walk and jog. Some one posted a run with the camera strapped to the dogs back. It was cute.
That is also next to the dog park.

I'm not really losing any weight - but I feel a bit better. And I will admit I LOVE the weather here right now. Especially when I hear how crappy the weather is in Michigan. The hottest so far was 85 and coldest was 32 at night. Average is about 55 right now. Getting closer to 70's every day.
A couple people have warned me that it will get into the 80's soon and not come back down. Bummer.
At least the Heat/Air pump now works. I thought it seemed a bit weird the air wasn't really cold and the heat seemed weak. Well it Really was!!! The motor power switch was burnt out. So the big fan that actually does most of the work was not turning on.
I wonder how long it has been that way. I can't imagine this past winter being very comfortable that way. Brrrrr.
It makes me fear the electric bill. Because it was using the back up electric heaters to help keep the house warm. Ewww.
The ceiling fans made it almost livable without the air, but the house at 80+ everyday would have killed me. I can leave it around 78 in the summer. But that was with the basement to hide in. Not sure what I'll be able to take here.

Well I need to talk to Marvin and clean some. Tom said some guys are coming down from Michigan to the plant this week. So it looks like he wants to cook one night.
Place isn't that bad but I miss my cleaning fairy. :-).

Find 1/2 the garage.

Wow. That took a few hours.
I put together one shelving unit in two pieces. Tore up my right hand and then managed to get my car in the garage.

The big thing was taking most of my teacher papers and putting those and my books in plastic totes so the mice can't eat them. I hope to get the regular books into the house in the next month or so.
Don't want to stack them in the house - helps to get the shelves up and then put in the books.

The weather is a bit exciting today. It is storming big time in Detroit already. It's supposed to hit here later today. Probably after dark. Chicago had flooding and we probably will too.

And the guy came to mow the lawn. Yeah.
Few more people are trying to get theirs done before the storm.
Hmmm what's for dinner.
Later.

Terrible day......

This is mostly just as a memo for myself.

Once again on a Monday, I'm alone at home and a tragedy strikes in the U.S.

It feels a little surreal.  Our country is so very large, but in a matter of minutes you can get the entire country to stop and pay attention to what is happening in one place.

There was no facebook or twitter last time.  I really only knew it happened as it popped up on the side of the screen on facebook.  When NPR posts something, I certainly stop and go check it out.

I found some of the first pictures that came from people on Twitter.  There were a couple of pretty bad pictures, although I know I did not see anything near the horror the people on the ground there saw.

I have a friend that works in a streaming company, that passes on video from one place to another.
After I posted on facebook they contacted me to share the link to the live feed from Boston.  It turns out to be a lot of repeating video and just talking heads in the back ground, but I'm sure I've heard far more about this situation than the average person on the street.

It started at 2:50 edt today.  The interesting part is that it happened after the big races were already done.  The men's, the women's and the wheelchair elite races had already finished before this happened.
The largest group of people were starting to filter into the finish lines of the Marathon.  
A huge group of spectators had just sort of cleared the area before it happened; and it did not happen on the side with the grandstands.

President Obama spoke to the press around 5:10 pm Cdt.  The biggest problem is that they can not connect people to each other. All of their preparations to connect people to their friends was ruined, because the area you were supposed to meet your friends became the place no one could go to.
Then they shut down cell phone service, which now has made it impossible to meet up with your friends.
I feel for those families that are still looking for their runner this evening.

The game for tonight has been cancelled and the air space around the area has been cleared.

The live feed has been interesting.  They have managed to find plenty of people to talk to and they have cleared out a lot of places in that area.  Hotels are locked down or being cleared.

Once again, we will probably never know what really was the point.  No one has claimed responsibility.  I can only hope that the person who placed those bombs went up with one of them.

Settling In....

We have been in Kentucky for over a week now.

It feels really weird.  Most of the time we are busy trying to find things, or trying to put the house together.  I have almost all the clothes put away, I have 2 bags I've been avoiding.  I don't know why, I just don't feel like doing it.

I put the spare bedroom together some.  It needs a lot more work, but I rearranged some boxes and managed to squash some more things down.  The bed is made and ready for visitors, but not much room in the closet. Ah well, there are a couple drawers empty. :~)

The Living room seems to be the state of flux.  Tom keeps moving things around, he's not sure where he really wants stuff.  I think we are waiting at least a month to look for shelving.  We wandered around that first day looking mostly for a desk for me, but certainly for shelving too.  It seems that Ikea really does have the most options, I've seen other cool shelving, but never in a store - so where are they buying it???  

We have been discussing the master bathroom.  We have two shelves from Ikea we can put up in there.  My first thought was over the toilet  but the shelves are way longer than that space - so why cut them down, find something closer to the right size- I know Ikea has them.  Check my Pinterest to see what I'm talking about.  But those shelves may wind up on another wall.  We are thinking on the one between the tub and the shower.  Put one low enough to put things on for being in the tub and Another higher for decorative or storage.

Speaking of Pinterest, I know most people think its silly, well that silliness has given Tom and I several ideas that we would have never thought of; including - how to clean a microfiber couch, how to keep your rugs from sliding around and how to clean your washing machine.  I still have to clean the dryer screen.  
It's also giving us some ideas for outside and storage options to make the house feel better and not so crazy.  We still have a ton of boxes in the garage, I have to go work on my teacher stuff again.  It's mostly in crates and that's not going to work when the mice decide paper is good enough to eat and nest in.  So, I'll need to transfer that stuff to the empty plastic totes from all the kitchen stuff.  The good news is most of the kitchen stuff is fitting just fine in the kitchen, we even noticed that we hadn't put anything in one under section and we really do have enough drawers. YES!

Other news:  I guess I'm on a fitness plan of sorts.
        My neighbor asked if I wanted to do a Fun 5K walk for the Humane society in Bowling Green.  Even if I hadn't been to the Humane society here and almost cried, I probably would have done the walk.  
  Tom and I went over there to get tags for the boys.  We want to take them to the Dog park and the signs there say they need tags to be in the park to show you got their shots.  The boys were thrilled - we finally took them to the park yesterday.  It is BIG, they do have the small and big dog sides and the big dog side is as big as both big dog sides in Michigan at the one on Pontiac Trail.  Right now there is no shade on the space that looks like they could put a shade up, hope they do soon.
    Anyway - the Humane society down here is REALLLLLLLLY busy. They have over 200 dogs on a regular basis and they shipped 105 or more the other day north to other rescues.  There seems to be big Pit bull fighting going on down here.  $5000 reward if you can get fighting or people involved busted.  They won't let a Pit bull out of the rescue without getting chipped, so they can prove who owns it.  They need to invest in a few GPS chips for the Pit bulls to catch these people.  

The fun walk is Saturday April 20, and I have been walking everyday.  I did over a mile yesterday and almost a mile today.  Trying not to over do it before the big day and then not be able to walk at all.  We've taken the dogs for a walk almost every day last week.
  I'm walking farther most days and not feeling quite as whipped yet.  I was terribly sore from weed whipping last weekend, but this moving stuff has been keeping me moving.  

And I'm sorry to tell you all, I LOVE THE Weather here right now.  It's been in the 60's or 70's almost every day since we got here.  We had one day of rain and a couple of chilly.  This is SUCH a big difference from Michigan already.  Spring has sprung here, sorry you are all still suffering.  Of course, I'll try not to be the big cry baby this summer when it's 90+ here and it's only about 80 there.  Ok, you probably have a ton more to do.  Later

Surprise New ........

This has been one of the most agonizing weeks I have had in a long time.

You'd think moving and the stress on the dogs and leaving my friends would top it off, but that is just the underlying back ground noise. I've embraced that change and am pretty good with it, I freaked out over that a few weeks ago.

After getting here and driving that whole way, Friday last week Tom and I drove all around town in my car looking for a desk and shelving units and all that other jazz we need for the house.  We had just finished and were heading home when a bunch of lights in the dashboard went off.  I didn't panic but my stomached dropped and the dread started creeping up on me.

Some of you may remember last fall when the car spent about 3 weeks at the dealership trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with it.  All the same lights were a part of this issue.  They drove my car for at least 500 + miles trying to figure it out and it just seemed crazy that with all the diagnostics they can do, the problem was stumping them.    They finally changed out a sensor and figured that was the deal.

I have tried to do right by this car, it is a diesel and the reason I got it was the 40+ one way drive to work each day. Well, I lost that job and still I tried not to just do little driving around town, because I knew the car needed trips on the freeway to make it happy.

Well, the car is out of warranty at this point.  Yes, I really did drive it that much in the year and 7 months that I have owned it.  We waited several days after Fridays light fantastic and took it to the dealership on Wednesday - yesterday.  We dropped it off and told them the sad story and went on our way to Costco for our first trip to the store in Nashville.

Of course the same type of problems came up in the car.  They decided to DRIVE it again to try and get the Particle Filter system to work out its issue.  Yup, put another 100+ miles on my car and it wasn't going to work. I knew that before they even called me about it.

After shopping Tom and I wandered back to the dealership.  We talked to a extended warranty person and of course I'm too far out to get it.  They then said talk to the sales manager- he asked what we thought we owed and it told us what she is worth.  I was kind of surprised, I know they lose a lot of worth when you drive them off the lot, but it wasn't all that horrible.

We looked around and we even looked at other wagons, and thought about just wandering around to see what they had.  Tom pointed to the Golf and said, what about that.  It looks open in the back.  We wondered outside in the 80 degree heat (didn't feel that bad - lol) and looked at the car.

It is shaped just like the wagon, has the same front end and almost all the same stuff in the passenger compartment, just not as long and a regular gas engine.

We test drove it and well, its now sitting in the driveway.

I felt sick leaving my beautiful white VW Jetta wagon TDI behind.  I still feel sick.  I waited a whole year for that car.  I tried really had to pay off the Civic so I could get a new car, and I even made a little money selling the Civic.   And here I am dumping my first amazing new car.

We could not see paying for a gazillion repairs on a car that obviously has some kind of problem that they were calling Germany to try and figure out.  The guy from repair came to find us as we were debating getting the new car, and he said the magic words - we'll have to hang on to the car and we're not sure how long we'll have it.

Tom starts work on Monday, I'd be without a car and without a loaner. (or have to get a rental) - Sure it's not a big deal right this moment, but what happens when I need to go to a job interview.  We only know our one neighbor here in KY and I don't do well without a car anyway.  And we would have to start paying for the repairs on that car. I did not want to even start contemplating it.

So, out front I have a 2012 Black Golf w/  2.5 liter engine.  It has the newer radio, with Iphone hook up and  a sunroof.  The back opens like the wagon and has fold down seats and all that jazz for the dogs.
I should be thrilled- I have a Brand New Car, but it's not the car I wanted to start with.  It doesn't even get the gas millage I wanted, but - I won't be driving 40+ miles one way for work.  I hope to be driving like 5 miles one way for work.

It's depressing and amazing all in one fell swoop.  Well, I have a ton of work to do on the house.  Here's a couple pictures and we'll see how much I like the new car.  Thanks

Blue tooth, iPhone 5 & directions

I learned something new on this trip.
First- my Garman has been acting weird, just when you get close to where you are going and really need turn by turn it would crap out.
So I did not even try hard to find the Garman. I knew I could use my phone for the worst bits.
I've tried doing the new Siri assisted directions before. It did Not work well in my car - I have Bluetooth into the stereo for phone calls and even music. But her intermittent talking for the directions would get scrambled because of the Bluetooth.
This time I did not stop Pandora from playing when I needed some direction around Indianapolis. Guess what- Siri started talking right over top Pandora. The Bluetooth connection was already open - so Siri did not have any trouble speaking to me.

That is my newest lesson from my phone.

Kentucky!!!!!

I can hardly believe it has happened.

I'm sitting in our new house relaxing in Bowling Green, KY.
The last few months went by in a blur of packing, running with friends and trying to see as many people as possible.
Tom was beginning to wonder If he would ever see me again; for most of February I was off running with Deedra and who ever else appeared. I'd come home for a few days, pack more stuff and run right back out the door.
The last few weeks were spent agonizing over the amount of stuff we needed to get rid of and what I really needed to keep.
Thanks to everyone who took tables, chairs, desks, dishes, bookcases and misc everything else. We still brought too much. We have a couple pieces of furniture that really do not match anything else and should probably be rehomed.
I really have to thank Minion for the hours and hours of help getting the house ready to go. Without her help, I think I would have sat in the corner and cried. Her being a neutral party in the packing process helped me be able to get rid of things much easier.

I'm still marveling at the new house. It's weird having the kitchen and the TV in the same space, I'll have to get used to that. Our bedroom is way bigger than the one In Wixom - I have a chair and a bookshelf in there now and it looks like my computer is going in there as well.

Moving was a bit exciting. I can not believe how happy I am that I did not have to schlep those boxes on and off a truck. The truck driver was amazing. He'd been on the road 6 weeks and was heading home after my load. His packing ability was amazing. I should have taken pictures. Boxes right up to the ceiling of the truck. Then the plastic bin pile in front of that and the Tetris / Jenga master ability with the furniture. I thought I was pretty good at packing. Not compared to him.
I may have learned something A & T, so I hope I can come help you.

The funny thing is - the house in Wixom has never looked better. Carpets are clean, most of the walls are painted. The kitchen looks like we made an effort to update some. The storage space in that house is Crazy!!!! No really- I had soooo many spaces to go through looking through all my junk from 12 years in one place. Plus many things from 2 previous moves where we threw stuff in boxes to move across town. I'm sorry - finding a cell phone from the early 90's was the kicker. I figured I'd find 4-H stuff, but that cell phone. Toooo funny.

I admit that I got really overwhelmed that last week and then Mother Nature decided to kick me in the teeth 4 days before the move. I was not very welcoming of any mishaps those last few days. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, it was great to see you even if it was only a hour or so.

I could go on and on.

The dogs you ask? They are better now. They were rather upset that last week. I must have yelled at Cody one too many times because one night he insisted on sleeping next to my side of the bed. The dogs DO NOT sleep in our room- a nod to my allergies- and their snoring- he said nope I'm sleeping right here and would not go. I felt bad and went to find him a bed. Such a softy.

It was just me and them on the drive down and they were really good. I knew Cody would be good, but I wasn't sure Brando could do a whole day in the car- with only enough room to lay in his bed. Well- I think the tight space helped. Especially when I moved his bed out of the sun- oops. I stopped 5 or 6 times and took them out to stretch their legs a bit. Offered them water and they drank. Cookies on one stop and food on another. They really were troopers.

The only time they got upset was when I got upset at the house. I found it really dirty- and just about boiled over. I had to get back in the car and get some cleaning supplies. They knew I was NOT happy. Once I got somewhere clean enough to crash- it was ok.
We've taken them for walks in the morning and its like Disney land every day with all the new smells and scenery. I think they are adjusting pretty well. They were very happy when Tom showed up and all their furniture magically appeared
The empty house was weird for me and them.

Monday the Internet is installed and I can't wait. Only having my phone for access is getting a little tough to do.
I have more dinosaur stuff. Learned a cool trick on the drive down. Stayed tuned tomorrow. :-)

Dinosaur training. Rocu

Not sure where to start.
It's been busy.
Between getting the dinosaur an IPhone and Internet at home to this weekend getting a TV and Rocu box - wow. And packing to move.

The good news is everything seems to be working well.
I on the other hand dropped my phone on the clean commode and had to replace it. That became an ordeal in itself.
I was able to do the upgrade to a 5 w/out paying the $600 price. Then Radio shack had it on sale. But of course - Apple decided to do an over haul on the phone and so began my torture.
First they changed the pins on the bottom. No longer the 30 pin slot that they had for at least 9 years. Had to change it to make you replace all the Ihome stuff we' ve collected over the years. (Bought an adapter- there went the savings)
Second they've upgraded the brains enough that my laptop was running the equivalent of win 98 or 2000. The phone refused to talk to the computer.
After hours of google and Apple help searches I broke down and called Apple. ( I had just bought the new phone- I had 90 days banked to use with help )
We determined that yes my computer was probably to old for Mountain Lion the current Apple OS. But- there was a strong possibility that the newest ITunes and IPhone 5 would talk to Snow Leopard and my computer could handle that .
Thank goodness it was only $20- thank you Apple. Took a couple days to get here then 8 hours of downloads and updates later it all worked. Whew.

More later.

In Kentucky

      The day has started in Kentucky.  Nope, we haven't moved yet, but we are trying to get a house this weekend.

We have two Rental properties to look at today, and hopefully we can pick one and get all this over with.  I seriously HATE having finding a place to live hanging over my head.  It just is nerve wracking enough that I had a tight chest earlier this week.
     I think that was more of that fact that YES really I am moving and there seems to be no turning back at this point.  After 12 years in one house, I can see why people hate moving.


Dinosaur stuff:
    Well, I am learning more by helping the Dinosaur than I found out myself in the last 4 years of having an Iphone. But, of course I didn't have many of the toys that are in the newer Iphones now, soooo - I guess it isn't a surprise I did not run into it before.


New stuff -  What did we learn this week?  OH Yeah,

1.   Phone Zoo will suck up hours of your time.  If you go looking for ring tones make sure you have more than an hour of time to sit and listen to the millions of things you can find.  Only sad part, you can only search by the title of something, not who sung the song, unless some nice person added that to the title. www.phonezoo.com
2. You can ad a floating home button on the screen.  I decided that sucks.  It gets in the way when I try to read a book using the Nook Ap.  So, something learned and forgotten in a hot minute.
3. The Iphone 4S and 5 have the wonderful text to talk feature.  It works ok and I would guess it gets better the more you use it to actually write your texts.  Dinosaur's Mom and I had a great deal of fun with that.
4. Siri is not all bad.  I know, I think I bad mouth her because I don't have her.  She is useful when you don't want to go looking for something.  Just have to phrase things in the simplest terms, so she doesn't ask you 5 questions to do one thing.   Say something like - Call Dinosaur's Iphone - especially if you have more than one number in the contact list.
5. I hate the new passwords that companies are forcing you to make.  It sucks, and are way too hard to remember.  Oh yeah, we have been trying to find a good Password storage thing on our phones. I have two that I haven't even tried.  I know, not so helpful if you don't use it.

Well, off and running.....

Learning something new.....

 I freely admit I did not figure out any of this stuff on my own.......
I got help from friends, Google and from whoever posted it somewhere else.
I just want to put some stuff in one place.   And it helps the Dinosaur, which is the best part...

Screen Shots

1. I just learned how to take a screen shot on my Iphone.  You would think I knew how to do that and I have been wondering for a long time how everyone shares those wonderful terrible Autocorrect freak outs online.  - Now I know and I'll tell you.....
2. First just get what you want to show up in the middle of the screen.
3. Then Hit the Home button (the circle) and the On /Off button at the same time.  Not for real long, but if you hit them together the screen should flash and TA DA- a picture of the screen will show up in your Camera Roll.
4. I will now use this special technology to show you how to Get the Emoticon keyboards.

That Crazy Emoticon Keyboard for all your Smiley Face needs.

1. Hit the home button on your phone.  Find the Settings Icon.
2. Hit the Settings Icon and scroll down till you see - Keyboard.

 3. Once you tap Keyboard, it will come up with more 
      icons, with on and off buttons.  
4. Scroll down to find Keyboards - it should just show 1. 
    Once we are done, it will show 2 like seen to the left
     there.
5. Tap the keyboard icon.

6. This screen comes up and you just click the Add new Keyboard.

7.  A whole giant list of keyboards of other languages will come up.

      Look for Emoji - Tada-  You will have a ton of Emoticons on

        your keyboard.

I just realized, you have to see how to use it. LOL

OK, next picture please....

Ok, look at the new picture.

Down in the Left Corner there is a little world icon.
That is your access to the Emoticon Keyboard, or any other keyboard you add to help your typing.  There are 5 different groups of icons down there.  As you see its currently on the smiley tab.
The Tab with the clock on it is a list of all the emoticons that you have recently used.
To get out of this keyboard, just click on the World Icon and it will take you back to the regular keyboard.

I hope this helps someone.
Have a good night....

A new Year and New Titles

It seems that many things are changing in my world.

First, we are moving and I'm in the middle of chaos trying to organize what it going, and what is getting tossed, given away or sold.  The sold part isn't working very well.  I have a Large Dinning room table that I'd like to sell, but no takers. It is nice, just needs some love and well, somewhere bigger to put it.

Second, I'm still looking for a job.  Yeah, that's a toughy. But what else can I do, unemployment runs out and well, the government has some fun rules.  They don't seem to apply to everyone, but they certainly apply to me.

Third, I have taken my tech-y status to a new level.    As a part of that, people are calling on me a lot more to help with a lot of the little trouble shooting stuff on their computers, phones and tablets.  I am seriously helping a few people get into the 21st century before I leave town.  That is the funny thing, people that were willing to wait or hang on are like - oh no, you'll be gone, then where will I go for tech support.

Which brings me back to why in the world am I blogging again.

The Dinosaur (my friend) and I have decided to blog a bit about our experiences - me from the side of a teacher and her from the side of a learner.  Or as we decided earlier today - the Dinosaur (Brontosaurus like) who is enjoying hanging out just chewing the grass and letting things pass by, to me the Dinosaur Trainer.
Said Dinosaur has decided that becoming extinct in this world doesn't sound like as much fun as it could be.  We have already decided that the Mayan Apocalypse was said Dinosaur joining Facebook.  It fit. LOL

I've noticed that some days I am much better than others helping people with their technology. I've decided that I should reflect on this process and make sure that I'm not pushing people too fast, or forgetting a step in my explanations.

So, between our two blogs, it might be an interesting read.  Who knows, it may be nothing, but if I get more specific in my explanations and learn to go slow enough, I may be able to use that later.

(I just realized there is going to be a really big post here..... too many things in my head today.)

OK, so to go with the theme of ,"What am I teaching other people?", here are the items we have been working with this past year.

1.  Mostly Apple products.  Yup - I will admit that I am a fan of Steve Jobs (RIP) and well, his stuff speaks to me.  The funny thing is- people are buying Apply products BECAUSE a bunch of their friends also have them.  (I'll get into some reasons later.)
2.  Phones and Tablets - Phones are now computers, not phones and Tablets have huge capabilities, just have to dig it up.  Not easy really, too many hidden things and sadly they DO NOT set you up well at the store, OK - I'll admit that we don't go to the APPLE store to buy stuff anyway.  (That's another story)
3. Computers - I do really have something to say here. Go OPEN source or go home. Yup ok, that's it. If you want to get a desktop and don't want an Apple, then get something open source.  What does that mean?   Well, I prefer PowerSpec by Microcenter.  It's a computer store (with tons of stuff) that originates in MI and OH, I think.  I can pull parts and swap stuff, very important when you don't want to spend 5 days looking for drivers from your NOT friendly neighborhood big PC companies.
4.  Scanners - this originates with me and the stupid software that comes with them.  UGH, that sucked and I'm not even going to go there today.
5. Google Documents or now called DRIVE.  Best thing ever designed (OK, I'm exaggerating) but best use of CLOUD stuff out there.  Saves my bacon, and really helps students keep there stuff together.  I mean, I have cool papers and like 9 chapters of a Memoir LOST to the voids, because I did not have this option.  How many times do you change computers now, how many times does a hard drive fail and you didn't back things up.  AHHHH, I might have all that stuff on a cd somewhere, but still have to go looking.
6. The Cloud - great idea, still not working right.  I can tell you that much.  At least in regards to phone OS change up grades in Apple.  I hope its working better in other stuff, but we had a big glitch last fall.

Alright, on to other things.  Remind me later I have lots to write about those 6 topics, I'm sure we will come up with more.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi or anything not very realistic in BOOKs and my African American Students.

I have been tormented for 7 years now with the lack on interest or even willingness of my AA students to even try to read Fantasy stories. I keep finding them only reading simple realistic books with too much sex usually and then written at a 5th grade level in Ebonics.  

As an English teacher this makes me crazy.  How am I to teach them the proper way to spell and use grammar if they are continually reading books that refuse to use proper grammar???  They want to say that it is separate from what we do in school, and that is complete crap.  I grew up reading, and I know most of them would say, "At least I am reading" and sure you could go with that.  But, when you look at terrible spelling or complete lack of grammar for that long, you are going to emulate that.  

I know that to be true.  I count myself as a perfect example.  I pick up accents.  I don't know why, some people can't understand even the smallest change in accent - where as I just pick it up and go with it.  I might not know all the slang words, but I do get a lilt or drawl or just start using "You all" pretty quick.

I can only guess it's from my Grandmother having a Southern Accent when I was young. or I just like the sounds.  Anyway- I had a small break through this morning, because of my friend.

I had a conversation with the Dinosaur this morning and we hashed out a couple things.

1. I have to approach the subject differently with the students.   She had the great idea that I should coach the idea in the way of Martin Luther King.   How was he to imagine or become aware of what things really could be if he did not let himself see BEYOND what was happening in front of him.   How could he find that dream of people working together and living together if he hadn't imagined it.
2. Which comes to the idea of explaining Fantasy as as story of people, and it doesn't matter what they look like. (They had real trouble dealing with Trolls and Vampires and stuff living in the same place- which really was the point of the book - I digress.) The story revolves around that person trying to figure out how something works, do they need to change, does the situation need to change, or is there really a bad guy.
3. Also, we talked about starting with shorter works - less characters to remember - and then find AA authors.  Octavia Butler is the only one either of us knew off the top or our heads.  I'd like to find more and read their work.  Good place for me to start.
4. So, The ACT MME crap wants them to focus on realistic reading (which they don't like either) that includes facts and maybe even charts to figure things out.  I agree they need to know how to do that.  But I feel, if they can't imagine anything in their heads in the first place, if you try to make them SEE how the graph helped explain the why or what of something - it won't work there either.

In the spirit of this - with Martin Luther King's Birthday celebration and Barack Obama's 2nd term Inauguration this weekend.  It's time for me to find some AA authors in Sci-fi or Fantasy.

Changing title soon

Well, all, it has been forever.
Most of us have moved on to Facebook to keep up with what people are doing.
I thought it was time to post something on here as in 2013, we will be moving.

So, I will be changing the name of the blog, as it has been 4 summers with Cody.
Speaking of whom is still alive and pretty well for a Boxer over the age of 10.
(At least we think he is older than that.)

Brando has gotten crankier in his old age.  He's 6 now we believe and does not like trucks going down the road and sometimes thinks that he should kill who ever comes to the door. Good for getting rid of sales people or Fundies wanting to talk.  I just let him bark and they kind of get nervous and realize that the sign on the door is not a joke.
It says, "Protected by Bulldog."
Brando makes sure you notice him.  :~)

There has been a flurry of activity around here lately that they are finally getting used to.
Cleaning, throwing stuff away, and some painting too.  It looks pretty good.  I seem to be getting a little more exercise this way.


I also wanted to write in the hours before the Hurricane Sandy strikes the East coast of the U.S.
This storm is soooo big it covers almost 8 states and we can feel the wind all the way out here in Michigan.  The wind might be bad enough that trees will come down and power could go out.  I don't really see it getting that bad here, but I found the predictions a little nerve racking.
People have been asked to leave the East coast from Virginia north to Maine almost.  New Yorkers don't want to go and many are not moving.  I would hope most on the lower floors will get out. You can sort of argue against no power, but fighting storm surge is a whole other level of weird.

So, in this time before the eye hits land fall, I hope people really have prepared as much as you could for this situation.  I hope the Zoo's have done what they could to prepare for the water and the weather.  Ugh, the thoughts of all those animals.

Sad, Sad News

It still brings a tear to my eye.

I am so very sad to say that we let Winslow cross the Rainbow bridge on Wednesday, June 2nd.

He was just too far gone this time.

For the last 4 1/2 years we have done so much to keep him healthy, and it finally got to him.

I knew this time would come eventually and I think I'm still in denial mode.

The girls seem to be ok, but I figure they may start really looking when I clean the cage tomorrow.

Thanks for all your excitement over the years to my pictures, stories and videos of him.

I'm just thankful he had a good life.

Its 2010

I can hardly believe that it is 2010.

At First the year doesn't seem like that big of deal, then everyone starts posting that they turned 40.

Then all of a sudden the year seems very important.

I remember in High School when 2010 seemed like SOOO far away.

One of the kids said - "So do you plan on retiring by 2020?"

I can't even think of that. I wish I could retire then. When you look at the new Social Security stuff, I can't retire until I am 68. That will be like 2038. Oh now that looks scary written down.

Plus I won't have enough years in as a teacher come 2020.

Ah well, life continues- on we go...

Pictures, ok, just pictures

Some summer pictures. Brando, Cody, My new outfit and hat. Then the group of us who went to the Ren fest in Battle creek called Silver leaf.

THE FENCE

Finally, we did it.

After a year of talking about it, we put a fence up for the dogs.

Now, we only had Brando last year, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He did very well on the cable run out for part of the yard, but that does not work with two dogs.

Especially since Cody does not do well with a collar on. He scratches and scratches until he gets his neck all infected.

The good news is that it didn't cost as much as we feared. Although we had to get a building permit from the city, then we had to get dog licenses for the county. BTW - Oakland county people have to license their dogs. I don't remember us having to do that in Monroe?? Anyone else???

So, we have a big gate on the side by the garage and a little gate on the other side, just to get the lawn mower between the house, the old fence and the tree.

Yeah, the blue spruce out back is soooo big that you cant get around it anymore. I don't know if we should trim the branches on the side by the fence. I never tried trimming anything that big.

Anyway, the dogs are pretty happy, we now leave the door to the neighbors open. Maggie comes flying over here and Cody goes flying over there. More room to run and chase things.

Just want to get a big twisty or fake lock thing to put on the big fence. Don't want any of the neighborhood kids to just walk through the yard any more. I feel bad, between us and Risners we have throughly blocked the fast pass from one side of the sub to the school.

Off to cut the grass.

Start your summer off right.

What better way to start your summer off than to go camping and bring home a new dog?

The camp ground and the rescue center share space.  The dogs kept the woodland friends you would rather not meet off the property.  No skunks in our world.

Cody is a Fawn Boxer who I think is too thin.  He ran with at least 50 loose dogs and had to probably fight for his food.  I should fatten him up in a couple weeks. 

We are off to the vet today to make sure we got all the bugs out of his ears.  I have a feeling we didn't.

I know, I have to take pictures with Brando.  Yes, they get along very well.  Cody is soooo very laid back that Brando really can't find anything to complain about, except for Cody sitting on me.

It took us two days to get home from Missouri, in the middle of no where.  He seems comfortable here and happy.  He has not met the pigs yet.  I already know he chases squirrels.

Come meet him soon.  He may be going to work with me this week.  I need to check for permission first.  I have some editing to do at school.

Have a great day,  my first real day of vacation at home begins today...

End of the school year

As you would guess I have a gazillion things to do in the next week & a 1/2.

Graduation, and a Musical  plus giving finals - editing programs and making copies for parents.

I have become the stopping ground for a large group of students.

My hour off is not even for me anymore.

oh well,