Road Trip Day 1

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Thanksgiving Day, 2011 4:15pm:  We are finally on the road to Disney World.  My new pre-trip planning now includes “add at least an additional 2 hours for loading and last minute checking everything off your list”.  It is now 4:25 pm and we just pulled into a rest stop to do a light check on the vehicles and for hubby to do a walk around the RV.  At 4:40pm we are back on the road.  I’m beginning to think this may be a very long trip don’t you?  I’m hoping to make it at least into Tennessee before stopping for the night.

We extended our stay 2 extra days so we will have a full two weeks there.  If possible I would like to stay longer but a) you can’t make a reservation longer than 14 days at a time and b) the closer to Christmas it gets the higher the rate goes.  With 3 days of traveling to get there and then about 5 days on the way home to travel up the coast we will be gone about a month.  It will be a pretty good first trip to see how long we can survive in this small living space with each other and 2 dogs.

I have a new Toshiba laptop, WiFi device, an iPhone, Kindle, 2 cameras, one camcorder and a small Polaroid picture printer.  Our newest travel companion, and probably the most important, is the Rand-McNally GPS for RV’s. When you enter the dimensions of your RV it re-routes you away from any area that could be hazardous such as a road that is too narrow for the width of your RV or a bridge that is too low for you to pass under.

We are arriving a day early in order to be at the Osborne Festival of Lights at Hollywood Studios on Saturday night.  Our youngest granddaughter who is 3 years old will be flipping the switch to turn all the lights on that night.  If you haven’t been to Disney World during Christmas Holidays I highly recommend it.  The only way I can describe it is “jaw-dropping”.  You are in awe & wonder as an adult but also excitingly looking in every direction until you feeling your head spinning and feeling like a child again.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to snap a few pictures to include with my update.

Traveling on,  Scarlett.

Upgrading: New Tech Toys for Extended Travel

The Tech in me is bubbling to the surface as we plan our trip to Disney World later this month.  We will be gone 3 to 4 weeks which will be a good test of what it will be like to live in an RV as your only residence.

Of course staying at Disney World won’t really be the norm since you can’t live in a fantasy world.  We will make a straight drive down but want to travel back up the coast on the way home.  We did that years ago and I remember a lighthouse that I’m itching to capture some shots of.  One at sunset would be perfect.

So, what I’ve done thus far is to leave BlackBerry world for the new iPhone.  I’ve found it to have an excellent camera and so many more apps that I find relevant for me than I found for the BlackBerry.

I bought a new laptop, my first Toshiba.  It was $850 and by the time I got coupon codes and the on-sale price I got it for less than $550.  Will write more details in a separate blog.

Today I ordered the new Rand TripMaker GPS 7.  Camping World has it on sale for $360 which was the best price I found anywhere. Plus if you go thru Ebates.Com you get an additional amount via rebate from Ebates.   This GPS while good for everyone is specifically geared toward RV travelers.  It has a ton of features including an option to input your specific vehicle which will direct you away from routes that would not be accessible due to height, weight or width restrictions.  I will be doing a review of it as well.

Last but not least, Dish Network has a free upgrade offer for their new 922 Receiver.  This allows you to watch anything you can watch at home on your laptop or smartphone.  Additionally you can download recorded shows to a USB hard drive.  The installation is tomorrow so my impression of it will probably be my next post.

Roadtrip is only about three weeks away so I hope to start churning out posts on a more regular basis.  Thanks for going along on the ride with me.

Until we meet again,

Today Was Like an iPhone Christmas Morning

I hate to admit it but I was one of those children who always hunted for their Christmas presents as soon as I knew my Mother had been shopping.  One Christmas I asked for a watch and looked in all the usual hiding places until l found it.  I was very good at taking a knife and cutting the tape to where you never knew the package was opened.

Christmas morning we opened all our gifts but none contained my watch.  Since this was my most anticipated gift I was somewhat down about not getting it.  I knew it had been purchased so I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t under the tree.  My Mother urged us to open up our stocking to see what was in them, as if we didn’t know it was the same as every year, fruit and candy.  Finally I sat down and dumped everything out.  Down in the toe of the stocking was my watch.

I feel today was much like that for many people who had great expectations for the new iPhone.  To be honest there were so many rumors of what was coming it was impossible that they were all true.  Unfortunately, those very rumors are what set us up for major disappointments.  Having found the watch but not  find it Christmas morning taught me a lesson.  You can be the cause of your greatest disappointments.  Is it Apple’s fault that there were so many stories of what the next iPhone would look, feel and contain?  Did they “leak” the details?

Companies and their timelines cannot be driven by our expectations.  If you want a good quality device then give them the time to develop one.  I think “once burned twice as careful” as their experience with the antenna taught them.  It is - what it is and you have two choices, either get one or wait until the next device is ready.

Let’s not act like spoiled kids on Christmas morning.  BTW my mother-in-law numbered our presents and would not tell us what number we were until Christmas morning and my husband doesn’t even bring my presents to the house until it’s time for us to open them.

I’m getting my iPhone, what about you?

On The Road: Burt Lancaster in “The Kentuckian”

On our most recent RV road trip we discovered a little piece of history in Kentucky.  Part of the Movie “The Kentuckian.” a story of the frontier staring Burt Lancaster, was filmed in Kentucky in 1954.  I was 2 years old when this movie was filmed and to be honest I don’t remember ever watching it but plan to do so now that I know a little of the history of the filming. After all Burt Lancaster was actually running in this stream.

As a side note the mill still works and you can buy corn meal made in the little mill house called McHargue’s Mill.  You can find this piece of history at the Levi Jackson State Park in Southeastern Kentucky.

Techno Granny to the Rescue!

I think it’s pretty funny that both my daughters, who are in their mid to late 30′s, have to  call me when they have computer issues.  But I so have my evil moments, like when the hard drive crashed on the laptop I had given to one daughter a few years earlier.  She wanted to know if it could be fixed and I told her the only option was to put in a new hard drive.  She and her husband decided to not put money into it so I spent $60 and bought a hard drive, put it in, ran recovery disks and gave it to my hubby.

Could I guarantee that a new hard drive would fix it?  I never make guarantees when working on a computer.  I felt fairly comfortable that was the issue because it worked fine and the only error was “no operating system found” and it would not let me install an operating system even with all my “hard drive fixing software”.

In a few years computers will have changed so much that I won’t be able to keep up with the technology.  So who is going to fix my computers?  I sure hope one of my grandkids will fall in love with technology like I did.  I hope all of them learn some technology because by the time they are adults just about everything will be computerized.

I believe in the not too distant future you won’t be able to get a job if you don’t know how to use computers.  The more we use computers the more they will be used.  If you are struggling with what to be when you grow up, take come computer classes to see if that might be your future.  It sure surprised me that I changed careers in my 40′s to take computers apart and put them back together.  Then in my 50′s I started doing application security.

Don’t be afraid to try something new and never say never.

A+ to Robert Scoble on G+

Earlier today I posted a comment to a post by Mr. Scoble relating to how he could be helpful to G+ users.  My comment was not directed toward him but toward those who are on the now infamous “suggested list”.  It is my understanding that he requested to have his name removed from the list and I commend him for taking a public stand by doing so.

My comment was as follows:

“ What I would be interested to know would be the percent of those who do not have name recognition are included in a circle of anyone who has name recognition.  In other words, if everyone such as yourself only has others in their circles they at least know by name, how are you expanding other than reading comments to your own post? To teach you must know those you are teaching”

Mr. Scoble was kind enough to respond to my comment:

“I’m following 5,000 here. Most of whom are not names that anyone would recognize. Also, each of those people can share posts from who they are following, which greatly increases my reach. Every day I see dozens of new names on my screen that I don’t recognize.”

My comment was to voice my opinion as to the negative effects of the list.  It is a little like “slam books” from back in my school days.  A notebook would be filled with one classmate name on each page and then it would be passed around (in secret) to everyone in class to make a comment about each person on their page.  The only thing worse than reading negative comments about yourself was not having any comments or not even having your name in the notebook.

My concern was by using a list many will fill it with names they recognize rather than those who may not be known by name but have much to contribute. To all those I might have offended with my comment I do apologize and hope we can soon move away from the list.  It has gotten far more attention than the 15 minutes of fame it should have received.

Women of GPlus

I found it very interesting that someone actually noted there were considerably less women on G+ than there were men.   Even more surprising was it being publicly posted on G+.  Something like this would not have surprised me when I first entered the job market but that was 30 years ago.  Are women no more respected and recognized for their accomplishments today than then?

Of course G+ was by invite only and it’s possible the “good ole boy” system was hard at work as it continues to be here in the backwoods of Kentucky.  (Just kidding, we actually had a Woman Governor here once.)  But seriously, what are we not doing/are doing that is keeping our involvement statisticly more inline with that of the men?  More importantly, how can we change that?

In 1970 when I graduated from high school my only ambition was to get married (which I did two weeks after graduation) and have a baby (which I did two years later).  However, that was what I chose to do, it was not my only option.  In my 30′s I decided to attend college because that was what I chose to do at that time in my life.  After getting my Associates Degree I went to work in the 3rd largest law firm in Kentucky.  Our current Governor was a partner in that law firm.  After a year as a legal secretary I became a paralegal.  Five years later I left to work at the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office in Special Prosecutions.  Following several advancements, I went into the Information Technology field where I could combine my legal experience with technology.

At the time of my retirement in 2010 I was the only Enterprise Security Consultant for the State, until one other was added, when I made my retirement announcement.  I was responsible for the security of all electronic Personnel records for over 35,000 State Employees.

Note that I used the words “I CHOSE” several times.  As women we have the priviledge to choose the path(s) we take and that includes participating in G+.  When we fail to participate, we fail to make a difference in those organizations.  Without particpation we have no voice, without a voice we fail to ensure opportunities such as this continues for women in the future.  Be sure to go to WomenofGPlus for more information on how you can become more involved in G+ and make a difference for future generations of women.