Hang in there Janice! Make sure you unplug your computer before you put an axe through it! You’re finding some great clipart! We know you’re with us in spirit even if you can’t reply to us. I hope you have a great evening and can forget about computers for a while!

Take care,
Margie

Margie..

I want an autographed copy of your novel when it is released…

Well I had my tomato fix…just sliced tomatoes with a little salt.UMMMM… GOOD!!

I like JD’s pics too..they look like I feel sometimes…STRESSED!!!

Later Tater
Deb

Tomatoes…Yum!

Any fresh vegetables right now would be fine with me Deb! I’m going home in a couple of hours and have Potato salad and cut cucumbers for dinner. Strawberries for dessert but not strawberry cake. (oh well, we can’t have everything;-)

Janices clip art always is amusing! The axe in the computer just reminded me of the saying. If you’re stressed, pass it off to something else. I’ll bet the person that did that is a whole lot happier.

Hi Margie and Brad! Hope the summer heat isn’t getting to any of you! A bit humid here today but not as stiffling as it had been.

Hey Deb,

I’ll make sure you get the first copy of my novel! In the past I’ve written about trips that I’ve taken and I write nice long e-mails, but that’s about it.

All this talk of food is really making me hungry! If the drizzle stops I might fire up my grill and make myself some shish kabobs. I went shopping a couple days ago, so I do have mushrooms, zucchini, gourmet red potatoes, onions, and a pepper, so I have all the ingredients. Yummy! I can taste them now!

Later Tater to you too!
Margie

Hey Don,

It’s not as hot or humid here today so I can handle that. We got a little rain but it’s brightening up now. I hope you have a great evening.

Margie

Speaking of “Taters”.. I love tater salad too..I make the mustard style. What kind do you guys like?;)

And Margie those Kabobs sound good too.. I love veggies cooked or raw..yum

And Don you can top your strawberries with a little Cool Whip Lite and it is too die for.

This isn’t Hump day..it’s Hungry Day!!!

I take my potato salad mustard style but my mom used to make them mustard style with mashed potatoes and add radishes, green onions, and chopped pickles. Man is that good! Lucky we have her recipes!

We don’t have her recipe for the homemade clam chowder but have been experimenting. It’s one of those things that took some time but boy was it good! She never wrote the recipe down as she learned it from her Mom who learned it from her mom, etc.

Do your families a favor and definitly write those kind of things down. Once the cook is gone, its too late! Your kids and grandkids will thank you for that!

Don..

I don’t have any of my mom’s recipes written down..she just showed me how she did it and I have done the same with my daughter. But it would probably be a good idea to write them down. Most of them are just simple country recipes, and I have all of them memorized for years now.

Your mom’s recipe for potato salad sounds good..I use cooked potatoes, boiled eggs, chopped onion,light mayo and mustard..simple but tasty.

Have a great evening Don

Tater and Mater lover..Deb haha

Evening all…

This was a 2 shower day day…Shower before work…get all sticky and sweaty and so shower when ya get home…Gives you an idea of the dew pt….

Janice…good luck to your or your IT’s at work fixing the blog situation…whatta pain…

Pretty busy day at work and this was not flower sales….Veggie sales are definately the main draw now…We have quite a selection of stuff…will show you picks of the stand when it really is at heavy harvest….

Brad…HOWDY…Im Dawn…I see you mention Hawaii…Been there!!..Last Christmas infact… Loved it…

Mental illness….I have been closely associated with several people who struggle with it..One was a worker at the farm who was a paranoid schizophrenic….If he took his meds he was “ok”…w/o meds was a different matter and the paranoia was unnerving to listen too…People with other forms have also crossed my path in close association…Its a very difficult thing to deal with for all involved…

With that…Im putting my feet up and having a cherry coke….

All this talk of food has made me hungry but I am too tired to do anything about it…

Night all….

Oh yea….PS….iPhones….would love one too to stay connected to the blog and the internet…(newsjunkie that I am)…But the monthy fee??…A bit steep for this humble wench

So…I will just have to be accept the old-fashioned way of…being patient and waiting until I can get home!! ….

Get a ITOUCH by Apple Wenchie, just find wifi spots and no costs for the most case. I seen a real live Iphone today, a person from the US had it. Rates in the USA is far cheaper than in Canada.

Hey Gang,

I wanted to write just to tell you how good my shish kabobs were! I made twice as much as I could eat so I could have some for leftovers tomorrow. I just heat them up in the microwave and they still have that nice grilled flavor. Plus, it makes for an easy meal. Yummy!

I hope everyone has a great evening.

Margie

Sorry to hear about the computer problems I can relate had to spend $$$ on myself to get a new tower when mine crapped out right before Christmas. Was concerned I wasnt going to get Mom’s gift but I did. Keep your chin up my dear. If I wasnt so fulll those Shis Ka Bobs sound mighty tasty

Janice, I can’t believe they don’t provide you with the latest hight tech upgraded equipment at work!
That’s not fair for the Weather Machine!!

I think you’re right Peter: if Dawn can catch a wi-fi spot at her farm, she should be able to surf all the news sites for free! But I think the cheap price of the new Iphone only works if you get the ATT contract which is not that cheap…

hmmm I’m still tempted

We should ask Mississippi Gwen since her daughter-in-law work for them!

Gwen, it’s funny you mentioned Bahrain! My parents lived there several years and I could have well been born in Manama! But my Mom eventually came back to France and then back again to Bahrain, where I was baptized at the only Catholic church there… by an Italian priest!

I don’t remember anything…unlike my brother, who enjoyed a great deal making friends with other kids from foreign expatriates: he would eat at 5 PM with the British kids, then at 6 PM again with the American kids, then the Bahraini would give him tons of cookies & sweets and by the time he came back home for dinner at 7PM, he was full and had NO appetite at all, which would drive my Mom crazy!
That’s when my Dad suggested to pin a note on his shirt “Please Don’t Feed Me”

My Dad took great films and pictures from there, but I know the island has changed a lot in the last four decades and became quite modern.
I’d love to go back some day.

And I’m sure Luis is going to send us beautiful & interesting pictures from the other nations of the Gulf.

Congrats Margie for your shish kababs!! I love those

Guillaume

Hey Janice-

Like what Margie mentioned, i also think its wise to unplug your computer as well. I know a lot of people tend to leave it on at all hours of the day, i guess so they dont have to go through the trouble of warm booting it whenever they need to use it. Plus it prevents your hard drive from overheating.

Hey Dawn-

How was your trip to Hawaii? I have visited there many times, did you manage to travel away from the tourist attractions and savor some of the local cultures and foods while you there?

That is awful, i feel kind of sorry for you. The best thing you can do for a person who is suffering from a mental illness is to be there for them always. I am sure they will be happy to know they have a friend like you they can depend on.

As i mentioned before, i dont think the iphone is worth the money. I would rather stay with those cordless phones.

I will post my Middle East photos as soon as I can

Watch over our Goddess while I am away

Hey Janice,

I hope you were able to forget your computer problems and have a good night’s sleep. I hope your day is filled with lots of sunshine and no stress! It’s a nice and sunny morning here in Cumberland and the high humidity is gone. It’s nice!

I just noticed something this morning when I looked at the Donna Summer t-shirt I bought at the concert. She’s going to be in your home town on the 13th. After a day off today, she’s got a busy three days in a row in New York, Massachusetts and Ontario. She must enjoy touring; otherwise she wouldn’t do it, but it must be tiring. Those artists that do world tours are ambitious. It’s hard enough touring the US, but to go all over the world must be a real adventure. Donna usually has some concerts in Europe so she might wind up over there at some point.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Margie

Brad…

Yes I was able to take in the flavor of the local cultures….When I went I stayed with a friend I went to high school with who has live there for 15 or so years….

We did do a few typical tourist attractions…(Pearl Harbor and the Arizona for example…Also took a helicopter ride over the island of Kauai)…But for the most part the things we did the average tourist wouldnt know about

SInce I was there over the Christmas holiday one cool thing we did on the Friday night before the holiday was take a Pearl Harbor tour of the Christmas lights that decorated the ships….Its something only the military families and locals knew about it….Gave me a change to see (although from a bit of a distance) The Arizona memorial lite up at night…what a moving experience…

AFA Janice’s computer situation….I have a friend who was an IT at Rice University and she knew someone who interned at Fox once….they were surprised at how old some of the equipment was including the computers…..That was a few years ago and I have seen some of the anchors who are on air have Mac’s now…so I think there have been some updating…Just dont know how much…

Peter and Guillaume…IS there way of checking or knowing if there is a hotspot for wi-fi at the farm?…(I realise that may be a naive question on my part)….Yes its not the initial expense of high gadget toy that makes me stop…its the monthy costs of service….Right now I do own a cell phone for emergency purpose and my monthy cost is $20…..Cant find that one anymore….but its very limited…free nights and weekends and 50 free minutes a month….

Brad…dealing with people who struggle with mental illness….You are right it is a challenge and can be down right painful…..It took some learning of new skills on the rest of us on how to do it without getting sucked into it….and a big part of that is understanding the need for healthy boundries…..

Many dont understand what that means but it helps save your sanity when the need arises….

But I have great compassion for people with mental illness….I understand its a brain disease and its not their fault…any more than my not being able to work is my fault….Its a medical condition just as real as mine is……and I know to expect then to act “normally” is not fair nor realistic anymore than expecting me to get up and walk is realistic or fair….

So I just care and love them…but keep the boundries clear and healthy….for everyone’s sake…

Everyone have a great day

(Margie…those shiskabos sound YUMMY….you have inspired me !! )

we will, Luis!

Hmmm $20 a month you can’t beat that Dawn! It’s a great deal
But for the wi-fi, I’m not sure if there is another way to check connection except, of course, than trying with your own laptop… I’ll ask.
Is your farm isolated? Often, in cities, you can catch other wifi from neighbors…but I’m not sure in Berlin…
But in the end, it is true Iphone is a gadget, not a necessity.

You know Margie, I forgot to mention the only album of Donna Summer I ever had was one she must have released in the early 80s and was entirely produced by Quincy Jones. I really loved it. There was one song especially written by Bruce Springsteen (Protection) and another one written by Vangelis (State of Independence) that she sung with a choir, that I really love. But my favorite song was a jazz standard, “Lush Life” and Donna’s version was really amazing.

Guillaume

Hey JD,

So you’re now experiencing the nightmare associated with Windows Vista. Our IT man told me yesterday, although I don’t completely understand it, but Microsoft has bought up the licensing on all new unsold computers on the market. He found this out when two of our older computers crashed this week.

Basically any new computer purchased will come with Windows Vista as the operating system, the purchaser has no choice to buy a computer with Windows XP. Although with the new purchase one may buy a $150 to $200 downgrade so that they may operate on an XP compatible Vista system.

That’s just wonderful in my book and typical too, Microsoft comes out with a new operating system that has been plagued with problems from the first day. Of course in typical corporate fashion the mindset is; “This is our decision and buy god we’re moving forward with it”. Never taking into consideration what it means.

Instead of taking Windows XP and expanding on it by making new and improved features Microsoft comes out with an entirely new system that is not compatible with the rest of the world. Since 2001 the entire world has built the computer system based on Windows XP, corporations have spend hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrading to XP and now Microsoft is dictating to the world that we must now spend hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade our computers to comply with their corporate decision.

Margie…do you know that when you create a document on Word 2007 the only people that will be able to read it will be people running Word 2007? You must find the button in one of the drop down menus that will allow older versions of Microsoft Word to read your Word 2007 document.

Windows Vista requires a tremendous amount of memory to operate on a PC and if a person has a PC purchased in 2005 Vista will take up so much space that the person will have to delete files to make space for Vista. Thus causing the individual to spend hundreds of dollars to become compatible with Microsoft’s corporate decision.

I would absolutely love to see 30 million people enter into a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for forcing a incompatible and troubled new operating software on the people. Who are they to decide that it is time that the entire world must upgrade to an entirely new computer operating system?

Hey Gang,

Since there has been a lot of discussion about mental illness, I thought I’d share a great resource in case you want to learn more. The National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus database has links to all kinds of information on all kinds of mental illness. If you want to learn more, visit:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html

They have a lot of easy to read resources available that are very informative.

Margie

Guillaume,
I have that Donna Summer album that you mentioned. I like a number of the songs on it, including those you mentioned. I have to confess–although I love Donna’s dance tunes, I love her ballads even more. She has such a beautiful voice and her ballads show that off. She released a Christmas CD back in 1994 (I think) that I really love. She’s recorded a number of Christian songs that are my real favorites. You should pick up a copy of her new CD. It has some great dance tunes on it. My favorite is the appropriately titled “The Queen is Back”. She opened her concert with that song. There are a couple ballads on the CD, so I’m happy!

Bill,
I agree with what you said about Microsoft. My laptop has Vista on it and since I only use it for PowerPoint presentations, I don’t use it enough to have everything figured out. Vista is completely different and Office 2007 is completely different and the combination of the two of them drives me crazy! When I do my Presentations I do them on my PC and then transfer them to the laptop. I have Office 2003 on my PC so when I transfer things I always have to change something around, mostly the fonts, because the two versions have different things. Since I just do pictures, that isn’t bad but I have to make sure I have the nice fancy text that I want. I am proud of myself for something I figured out. The other evening I helped a couple friends in my church with a PowerPoint presentation. We went through pictures that a number of people took on a mission trip. Some of the pictures were on a laptop that had Vista on it. The laptop belonged to a young woman who is visiting from Mexico so everything was in Spanish. Talk about fun! One of my friends speaks Spanish but I wanted to see how much I could figure out on my own. My friend was not only impressed with my technical savvy, but also my technical savvy in Spanish! What made it harder is her desktop was set up differently than mine so I had to hunt for things. Hunting in English is bad enough, but the Spanish made it even more of a challenge! I figured almost everything out on my own, so I was happy. I know just enough Spanish that I could do it. With using my different computers, a big challenge is if I do something at home and need it for work. We only have Office 2000 at work so the files I do on my home computer aren’t always compatible at work. I don’t have trouble with Word, but Publisher won’t allow me to open up the newer files in the older version. When I did my newsletter with the interview with Janice I had so save it in Publisher 2000 so I could use it for work.

In a perfect world, every computer and software program would communicate nicely with each other and they’d all get along. I guess that’s too much to hope for!

Have a great day everyone.

Margie

Brad and Wenchie.

I used to go to Hawaii every year for my reserve duty. As a matter of fact, when you leave the Arizona Memorial and pull out onto the street, the buildings across the street is where I would go work.

Hawaii was always fun and I saw a lot but my favorite time there was:

Dec 7th, 1991. 50th anniversary of Pearl harbor Attack. Getting to meet and greet those guys was an honor. I saw 4 guys wearing Congressional Medals of Honor. Author James Mitchner (Hawaii) was autographing his book he wrote for the US Postal Service for their stamps commemorating 1941. I met the Japanese pilot who led the attack. I also had a rare treat: I was able to be on the Arizona Memorial by myself. Thet were photographing re-enlistments and I was taking the pictures. The first group was done but there were 2 more boats of folks who wanted to reenlist on the memorial still to be done. The Boatswain asked if I wanted to ride back and forth and I told him that I’d wait on the memorial. Being on that big piece of history alone was definitely a memory. Very humbling and awe inspiring. I also photographed the funeral of one of the Arizona survivors who passed away while out in Hawaii. The ceremony ended on the Memorial with the priest handing the ashes to a diver who took them down and put them in to rest along with “his shipmates”. Not a dry eye around when that was being done.

Hey Guys! I have a doctors appt I will be back later.

Firefox is fab! I love it, no more IE crashing! I only wish Netflix would let me watch movies on it.

A couple of years ago, I paid a web hosting company, Site Ground, about $75 per to host a full-featured WordPress blog for me and another $35 to set up a full-featured WordPress blog for me. Moreover, each time WordPress issued a new version, which was two or three times a year, I had to pay SiteGround another $35 to upgrade.

I called the blog “The Palomar.” I wanted it to be a member-driven, interactive big band broadcast blog.

Previously, I had used both Movable Type and Blogger for my blogs. Movable Type charges between $75 and $100 to set up your blog with your preferred web-hosting company. I found Movable Type’s online instructions to be the most arcane and poorly written I had ever seen, so I ended up paying them.

I liked WordPress much better. I became used to adding plugins. WordPress was so much easier to use than Movable Type.

After a year of paying Site Ground, I decided I didn’t want to do so for a second year. I only had four or five members, and they didn’t post very much. So on July 1, 2007, I launched a new Palomar blog using Blogger. And, Blogger hosts it — for free!

There are now more than 135 posts on The Palomar, about half by other members and the rest by me. We have published posts on a variety of big band topics. I have about 15 members. The only requirement, loosely enforced, is that each member must publish one post per month.

It has worked beautifully! See for yourself:

http://thepalomar.blogspot.com/

You can learn more about Blogger at:

https://www.blogger.com/start

For my purposes, and for my blog members, Blogger is much easier to use than either WordPress or Movable Type. In fact, I launched my first blog using Blogger in 2002. It’s been fun seeing Blogger — and blogging — come so far.

You can see another of my current Blogger blogs on this page:

http://georgespink.blogspot.com/

It is called “George’s Blog.” I use it to write about anything I wish.

On the Fourth of July, I visited MyFoxLA’s web site. I discovered that MyFoxLA allows visitors to publish blogs right on their web site. I guess other Fox stations around the country do the same thing. So I launched my own blog on MyFoxLA!

http://community.myfoxla.com/blogs/Klooka

After posting a few entries over the long weekend, on Tuesday I decided to add my short story, “The Fog Also Lifts.” It took me a couple of days to post all of the chapters. I finished yesterday.

To read all of the chapters, use the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of any post. Select “July 2008″ instead of “Archived Posts.” You’ll then be able to scroll down to Ch. 1 - The Nighthawks.”

Like millions of others, I find blogging to be lots of fun. It’s a great way for people to communicate with one another.

Too bad Fox News doesn’t offer a blogging capability right on its own web site. Fox stations across the country have been doing so for a couple of years.

Keep on bloggin’, Janice!

Hmmm! That would be a good song title. I can just see Janice dancing to the tune of “Keep on Truckin!”

George Spink
Los Angeles

Bill S………..Although I agree with your statements regarding Microsoft’s seemingly uncaring attittude towards its customer base, remember that you/we technically do not “own” the operating systems they produce. Although we “purchased” them (either with our computers or off the shelf) we are only leasing Windows or Vista systems from Microsoft. M.S retains full ownership of it’s systems. This means that M.S can make any changes, or any additions/deletions, to their systems as they please………without our consent.
I’m not 100% sure, but I do believe this is true of all operating systems out there……….the company that made them, always owns them and the rights to them.

Don….your memory brought tears to my eyes

Thank you for sharing such a special and sacred moment…

Hello to all!

Sorry I’m so hit and miss on blogging lately, but my company has graciously given me more work with no more pay. Isn’t that the way it always goes. The accounting person with a sister company (we’re electrical contractors; they’re mechanical contractors) quit back in May. I am “temporarily” doing an extra payroll each week for this other company. However, they’re not looking too hard for a replacement. Go figure!

Guillaume: I’ll have to ask Melanie (daughter-in-law) about the particulars on the Iphone. I know they are gearing up for a big day tomorrow (Iphone launch). I’m sure the lower price is with an AT&T contract. (They are in the business to make a profit.) I’ll see what I can find out, even though I’m perfectly happy with my old Sliver. I just use it for phone calls. Loved the connection regarding Bahrain! One of my husband’s favorite stories was about one of the locals there who worked on their base. He had two wives: the older one did cooking and cleaning and the younger one who didn’t have to do any cooking or cleaning. The older wife prepared a lizard dish which is a local delicacy for our guys. My crazy husband ate some of it! I set him straight about the 2 wives thing, though. I’ve put up with him for 33 years now, so I won’t relinquish my position to a younger wife. Ha!

Don: My favorite thing about Hawaii was going to Pearl Harbor, too. I got to go to Hawaii in 2000, and Pearl Harbor was definitely the highlight. You’ve can’t help but feel a reverence for the place and an appreciation for those who have given their lives that our country can remain free.

Gotta go! Work calls. Hope y’all have a great day!

Don,

Ditto to what Dawn said. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but if I ever make it out there I’ll be sure to see the Arizona Memorial. My dad and uncle were in the military during WWII. My uncle was on the ship that rescued George H.W. Bush when his plane went down in the Pacific. My dad learned to drive in the Marines. It’s hard enough learning to drive but imagine your commanding officer telling you to drive a truck loaded with ordnance! Obviously, since he’s still around, he survived his ordeal. (Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here writing this!) Thanks for sharing your story.

Margie

Speaking of iPhones–I may be wrong, but I seem to remember hearing a news story that although the initial price is lower, they were adding extra fees. I may be wrong about that since my brain hasn’t been working too well this week, but I seem to recall something like that. They wouldn’t lower the price out of the goodness of their hearts! I don’t use a cell phone too often so I don’t need anything fancy. I love gadgets, but I don’t feel like paying a lot of money. Call me cheap!

Margie

Hey Don-

I heard the Arizona Memorial is recently going through some repairs, and certain parts are being rebuilt, simply because its sinking below.

I guess you had a memorable experience attending the anniversary of that tragic event in our nations history. I heard they recently had the 65th anniversary. I wonder if many of those survivors are still around? I hope thir valiant efforts will never be in vain and forgotten.

Margie-

That is yet another reason and incentive to visit the Hawaii(its called the gathering place, according to what i read). Maybe you will be so mesmerized by the natural beauty, you wont want to leave.

Take Care.

Hey Dawn-

So i guess you got an birds eye view of how the Island is really like? I am sure your friend has having a good time being a resident of the 50th state.

I havent ever been down there for long periods of times, i wonder how many people stand the heat and humidity?

Margie-

I should have guessed you are a talented writer. You always find the time to write a whole paragraph of comments, and always have some great idea or word of wisdom to share about.

I bet if there were to be a Hawaii 5-0 remake, the Hollywood executives would ask you to write a pilot episode

I hope i will be able to read your novel when it comes out, maybe it will be sold at Borders or some retail bookstore.

Take Care.

Hey Brad,

I’ll make sure you get an autographed copy of my novel! I could sell it through Amazon or some other place on the web. I don’t know how I’d do writing a novel. My best writing is about spiritual things but since this blog isn’t the place for that, I try not to sound preachy when I write. I’ll have to see if I can come up with a good name for a novel! I’ll keep you posted!

Margie

Hey Margie!

My best and my deepest thanks to your Dad and Uncle! They set a standard that we who have served tried to live up to! Maybe I can tell one of our Marine jokes as I’m sure he has plenty about us “swabbies” or “squids”. They are always told in good nature as we have always had a friendly rivalry.

Q) What is long and hard on a Marine?

A) Second Grade!

Just be sure not to eat those tomatoes that were apparently affected by that bacteria scare. It seems like you hear a whole lot of cases involving food and vegetables in recent months.

Hey Margie-

If you ever need any suggestions and ideas on how to write your novel, or maybe thinking of the title, i am sure me or someone here can be of assistance to you!

What is great about windows xp is whenever you shut down your computer, they automatically install important updates, and you dont even have to take the trouble of reading those confusing manuals.

I hope everyone here has ad aware installed in their computer also. Its great to run after a computer session, because it rids your hard drive of harmful adware and spyware programs that can be potentially harmful.

If anyone needs some info on the iphone. check out this link:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0596513747/104-7315273-7325522?SubscriptionId=0N1YGFKC9QHMHQ9

Margie-

I am getting hungry reading your posts. You should send me and the folks here who post at the blog some of your world famous shish kabobs

Hey Don-

I am sure you were great serviceman and served our country well. You are a Great American. God Bless to you.

Margie-

My deepest sympathies to your dad and uncle! They are true American War Heroes, and deserve to receive a medal of honor.