. . . in California and my new computer could have been crushed. But not!
Sunday, January 29. This is John’s sister’s birthday. We didn’t get to talk to her till Monday morning. We spent Sunday recovering from yesterday’s activities after we posted the blog. We went for a dinner at the Swauk Teanaway Grange, about 35 minutes from our house. It was a scholarship dinner, and our friends were going to play the music, after dinner, at 7:00. The dinner was excellent: spaghetti, sauce, with meat and locally-made sausage, . . .
. . . French bread, and a very nice salad served at our table before the buffet style dinner. They served dessert cakes in a large muffin paper, with an awesome frosting complete with shaved almonds. I had spent time cleaning off my old digital camera, charging the battery, and was prepared to film our friend’s music program. They have never been filmed before. I got over an hour of them entertaining and they will be able to share with their grandchildren in Washington, DC, who have never seen them perform. The President of the Grange had her husband bring his tripod, so I didn’t have to hold the camera the entire time and that helped produce a more professional look.
Monday, Jan 30 It was sunny and 42 degrees. I found out I missed a CWU surplus sale (walk thru bidding) that included a Dell Laptop and a MacBook. Darn, just when I needed it. Now I will have to wait 3 weeks till the next sale, and by then, we will likely have found a replacement. A phone call to CWU earlier informed me that they did not have any laptops – so we have a combination of confusion and disappointment.
The folks at the computer shop on campus do not have any laptops to set me up with, but offered a regular tower-type one, but I think I will pass, and wait for John to investigate. He maintains a general interest in “what’s out there” but hasn’t looked at detailed specifications and costs recently. We were not in the market – until last week. I really like the convenience of a laptop, and I don’ t like sharing. [an attitude best not delved into – John says] — okay, Nancy here. John has been very willing to share the computer, it’s just that we both have a lot of time we spend on one, and having two allows us to work at the same time.
I need to get off here now and have him look up recommendations and reviews. He was going to wait a few months till the new OS Windows 8. . .
http://www.windows8news.com/2012/02/03/start-menu-orb-hidden-latest-windows-8-builds/
. . . comes out but my computer fix-it man told me that was not a good idea, because it was WEIRD and didn’t have a START icon, as XP and Windows 7 does. [JFH – says maybe these two should get one of these:] http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Abacus
I’m not into touch screens. Also, I did work on a Mac in the past (way past), and even taught GIS on it in the early 1990s, but even though I have had a MacBook since 2008, it was a dual system and I only used the Windows side because of the software I was using and teaching in my classes was only written in Windows not in anything understandable to a Mac.
I visited my neighbor with the fractured hip (in 5 places) and managed to get to and through exercise class myself. This afternoon I completed the last two chapters of the thesis I have been working on. Now I will sit and wait to have the whole thing with corrections to read through again in its entirety. Had a phone call from a former student who wants to be commissioned in the Army and be trained as a pilot in Flight School. He needed a letter of recommendation. I will be happy to write him a good one. He was calling me from Arizona. I didn’t recognize the number and didn’t hear the call arrive, so I redialed it and introduced myself and said I had a missed call from this number. He said it was him and he didn’t leave a message because it was so involved and he wanted to speak to me in person. I stayed up late working on the letter. He got his Geography degree as well as one in Aviation Management.
Tuesday, Jan 31 Only thing today is noon acupuncture. [JFH – says, see next link at the History – Antiquity heading. Need I mention the irony of this and Windows 8?]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture
[Nancy responding: I know that JFH is a disbeliever, but that’s okay. It is helping me and my insurance is covering it and an alternate week’s massage (which John can accept), and also, my acupturists do combine it with massage. In fact, 2 weeks ago, there were only 5 points inserted, and the majority of the hour was filled with massage, around my scar from the heart surgery, and my shoulder and neck whose nerves have been related.]
Before I left, I finished the letter of recommendation. Nice that I can electronically ship it to the Geography secretary, and she can print on CWU letterhead (that I no longer am allowed access to), sign my name and ship off. Turned out she could FAX this instead of postal mailing it. Acupuncture was interesting today. Surround the scar from my heart surgery [JFH —Yeah, I don’t know what that means either] {NBH: it means that points (needles) were put into the scar tissue on either side of the central cut scar}, deal with slight edema in my lower legs, work on balancing my left and right pulses, and check out gall bladder channel to neck pain. It seemed to help me. I’m definitely uncomfortable at the home computer where I don’t “fit” as well as with the laptop in my recliner, or in a bar stool at the counter between the den and the kitchen, where I spent most of my time before getting ill and requiring the recliner.
John thinks a pricey, thin, and light Toshiba laptop is in my future. It is . . .
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=2000023745
Scroll to see the basics. If you are a visual type, click on the little grey rectangle for “Images”, and then click on Available Accessories and then look at the second carrying case under Value Bundles. The computer photos show a black case but the “specs” claim a Blue Metallic case. There are no Customer Reviews for this model because it has just been added – mainly the new Intel i5-2450M processor. Reviews of previous models on non-company sites are very positive (mostly).
Wednesday, Feb 1 Food bank day for music and lunch, went by to see my hospitalized neighbor, and to SAIL class, but not much else. The computer is on its way via UPS.
Thursday, Feb 2 Announcement came today that our computer package was delayed because a train derailed. Either that, or it was in a truck that was delayed while they got a crane in to lift the train cars back up on the tracks (Bakersfield, CA).
Then went to play music at the place where my neighbor is now housed to get physical therapy to get back on her fractured hip. I drove home and picked up John and we went back to town for a opening ceremony of a CWU – Smithsonian Traveling Collection, and entertainment by the Mariachi band (from Wenatchee) while we ate Latin American food. I will let John tell you about a photograph in the collection that relates back to his mother’s family in PA. John remembers hearing that it was his grandfather but the historical context suggests it was the prior generation – thus, perhaps, a great-grandfather.
The image is shown here:
http://www.atchisonhistory.org/JourneyStories/Captions.html
The #2 image is the one we got on a postcard at the CWU function. On this link it is indicated to be a “tif” file (Tagged Image File Format; also tiff) and ought to be a simple thing, but when we click on it at this site it wants to open and run a QuickTime movie. That produces a blank white screen. Go figure! So to solve that problem we put it here for you to see the image.
http://www.elixant.com/~nancyh/EmigrantsOnOhioRiver.html
The drawing shows about a dozen folks, 2 horses, and a cow on a flat bottomed boat. The image is in the Kentucky Historical Society and the claim is that it is of emigrants traveling down the Ohio River.
My mother’s family lived in a rural area of western Pennsylvania near a small town called Scotch Hill (named after James J., not the whisky) surrounded by forests. Men would cut trees and drag the logs to dams they had made on the local creek. When spring melt and run-off was peaking they would let-loose the logs and float them into the Clarion River, thence (riding the logs) into the Allegheny River just north of Parker. At Pittsburgh (where the Ohio River is formed by the Allegheny and the Monongahela River {the Mon}) the Scotch Hill men would sell the logs and walk home, about 70 miles. The logs were cut into rough lumber at Pittsburgh, flat-bottomed boats were built, and the long float-trip down the Ohio could begin. A little history here and note the dates:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Brownsville,_Pennsylvania
Friday, Feb 3 This morning I was in downtown Ellensburg for the Board of Trustees meeting to watch (and film) my colleague Morris get an Emeritus Prof. award. Then back home to take it off my camera and run the CD by his doctor’s office where he was going to be at noon. Morris’ family is from the area and 5 generations have graduated from CWU and he spoke briefly about that. Then on I went to a noon luncheon with the Women’s Auxiliary of the Grange we just joined. The meal was gratis of the Swauk Teanaway Grange thanking us for all our contributions. (I have been providing music (with our group) and going to events long before John and I joined this year).
Saturday, Feb 4 Our computer made it to Portland, OR Thursday night, but didn’t make it to Ellensburg until yesterday and apparently not in time to be delivered. They don’t operate on Saturday. Well, dang. I just checked the UPS tracking and found this message: Scheduled For Early Delivery On: Monday, 02/06/2012, By End of Day. Not bad really, as it started in California south of L.A 1/31/12 Monday this week. Nothing on tap today except household chores and receipt filing. John will work on posting this blog. He went over early to feed our neighbor’s horses. He (not the horse) ended up in Harborview Medical Center in Seattle . . .
http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Patient-Care/Locations/HMC/Campus/Documents/HMC_Map.pdf
. . . for 2 operations on his foot to clean out an infection. It’s no fun to get old. Thank God our health is all right. I still have a little pain from my tooth work, but John says that’s to remind me to brush. This month or early next, I have to arrange to see my Cardiologist. It’s almost 6 months from my last good appointment.
Hope your week was happily eventful.
Nancy & John
on the Naneum Fan