again

We are going camping again.

My goal is 7 trips a season and we are on target this year. We didn’t make our first trip until late June.

It is easy and fun to camp in wonderful weather. Almost anyone can do that. But this weekend is a bit cooler and I want to test our skills and equipment a bit more.

Miriam may ask me a hundred times what we are doing for the weekend or where we are going or such, but she is a very good camp partner. She never complains, but makes the best of everything. Of course I do everything in my power to keep her comfortable.

We will be driving the Dodge pickup and the teardrop trailer. It is a good combination. Our little car has been repaired, but at 18 years old, I think I won’t use it to pull a trailer again.

But I still want to pursue car camping, where everything fits into one small coupe and yet we are comfortable and well fed.

When asked why I like to camp, I am not always good at an answer. We live near such great inexpensive camping locations. It would be a shame to waste them. It is also a place for me to recharge my soul to stop and confront the basics of life, to spend quality time with my beloved.

When I was a very small child, we spent a summer, mom, dad and I, in a tent in the north Idaho woods. My mother was a great nature lover, and I guess my love of the outdoors was what she hoped for.

I like to think it is a weekend away from electronics, and it is true that I will leave my computers home, but I will take a few toys: my iPod, an ancient GPS and my cell phone. The phone won’t make calls, but it keeps time!

Take care of yourselves, everyone.

My garden hat and MacBook.

My original girl friend!

MacBook Pro

I used to give computers away.

When I upgraded my computer (a Mac notebook) I would recycle the old one to a grandson, who would modify and/or repair it and use it, sometimes for a long time.

But now in my retirement, the page has turned.

The grandsons are not yet ready to buy new and give grandpa the older one, but I have two daughters who are graphic designers, use Mac’s exclusively, usually large screen versions, and upgrade frequently.

So I “inherited” a decent MacBook Pro. Daughter 4 bought it new and used it for her main computer for some time, then she passed it on to her daughter Emily. In time Em got a newer one as daughter upgraded again.

The old one sat there until I started having problems with my MacBook, and a deal was made.

Both are about the same vintage, but the Pro is 15” compared to 13 for my white MacBook. That is not a huge difference, but it sure seems like it is huge. The Pro sold for more than twice as much as the MacBook and it is fairly easy to see why!

Nearly everything about it is a bit more refined. The operating systems are identical, but the Pro is designed for the professional user. I hardly fit in that category, but I can enjoy some of the benefits!

Last night I ordered a new battery for the Pro. A notebook computer without a battery is like a car without an engine. There will be modest upgrades, including a bigger hard drive. It is amazing that a 100 Gb drive 4 years ago was cutting edge and now it is quite primitive. At this moment anything with less than half a Terabyte is suspect.

With two “books” I can log onto the internet in one while making a repair on the other. There is a site that offers step by step (and I mean screw by screw) tutorials for even fairly complex repairs.

What will I do with the white MacBook. I am not sure. It might end up as a music server, replacing an old G4 desktop that takes up too much space, or it might end up on Ebay. Not sure yet.

But, thank you Lia and Emily for passing this work horse on. I’ll take good care of her.

that tree again

The question about the sound of a tree falling if no one is around to answer is an interesting one and a good dodge of realism, maybe.

I have a book titled: Notes to myself.

The title pretty well describes the book.

I have no real need to tell anyone anything more about my life or the life of my family members. Most of what is worth telling has been told, but there are things that battle in the back of my head for conscienceness.

Can I put those weird and flashing bits into words? Not always. Sometimes the overall feeling is one of unconsciousness and inability to put those ambiguous thoughts into words. It is not easy.

I make no promises to myself or to any one else.

We will see.

If a tree falls in the forest and no human is there to hear, did it make a noise as it fell?

Fair Day

Today is fair day.

It once was called the "State Fair" but Idaho is really three states bunched together, and while we live in the population center of the state, the North and the East with their "capital cities" of Spokane and Salt Lake City, were not amused, so the fair got bigger, but was called the Western Idaho Fair.

We haven't gone for a very long time, but last night I decided that we would go today.

The gates open at 10 and we will be there. I will carry a small back pack to put our outer shirts in as it gets hotter, but in the bottom of the pack is a lunch (all packed in a "5 cup" lidded storage container. There is also a couple of water bottles.

I promised we might buy a bagel or a pretzel, but nothing more. You know, budgets!

So we will go while it is cool (high of 97 today) and the crowds are few and benches are available for rest!