Life At A Snail's Pace

End Of The Year Donation

2011-12-29T04:38:00.001-08:00

I’m posting on all my blogs in the hopes that you will learn of this fantastic group who work to help people in arid regions of Africa to care for their environment and to feed themselves.

The Edenland Foundation: http://edengardens.org/
Founded by a fellow Ridgeback owner’s family from Sweden.

Hoping you’ll join me in donating to this great cause. You can send money via PayPals to:: loverescueoperation@gmail.com

Dukan Diet Tips

2011-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

As I promised my FaceBook buddies, here's a few tips that have helped me stay and not stray from my diet:

Pure Protein bars: From WalMart or Target or Vitamin Shoppe: My favorites are the Chewy Chocolate Chip and S'Mores bars. These are great to stuff in your purse just in case you are stuck away from home and are craving something chocolate like. One of these and a Coke Zero and I'm a happy camper.

Oh, Yeah! bars: From Vitamin Shoppe. I haven't seen them anywhere else, but this is Mobile and you might have them at one of your local stores. My favorites are the vanilla, peanut butter and mint wafer bars. I keep these in the frig because they tend to be a bit "melty"...and they are just plain yummy cold!

Truvia: From Walmart or most grocery stores. Unlike aspartame, this doesn't have a bitter after taste. I use in in my plain yogurt. You can use it in your coffee, tea or what ever beverage you like sweet.

Jerky. From any grocer. This is a great packaged item you can take along to work or in the car for a quick protein, low fat snack . One of my triggers to snack is reading, so I snack on jerky instead. Keeps my mouth occupied and out of mischief.

Calbee Snapea Crisps: I LOVE these things. I found them first at Walmart, haven't seen them since. I just bought them from Amazon and Vitacost and had them shipped to me. Great for the crunchy munchy cravings!

Sugar free chocolate syrup and sugar free strawberry syrup: From any grocer. I can drink skim milk if it's really cold, but a dollop of sugar free chocolate syrup makes it a bit special. I like the strawberry mixed with plain yogurt for an afternoon or late night snack. If it ever gets cold again, sugar free chocolate in hot milk for hot chocolate. Yum.

Oh Yeah! drinks: Jennifer likes these when she's in a hurry to get going in the mornings. I'm not such a fan, but you might be. I have tried the Oh Yeah! and Pure Protein drinks and prefer the Oh Yeah! drinks.

Caesar dressing: I've found that this won't mess up your diet to use on salads. They do have a good "mayonnaise" like recipe in the book, but I'm bad about forgetting to make it ahead of time. Along with mustard, it makes tasty "deviled eggs", too.

Fluids: Although the diet says water, coffee, tea, diet drinks, Crystal Lite, etc work well, too. Drink lots!

Olive Oil PAM spray: Even though I bought two new non-stick pans, I've found that spraying the Pam before making galettes to be helpful. Also, smaller galettes are easier to turn over than the bigger ones. You can store them in the frig and use them to wrap around cooked ham lunch meat... sort of like a burrito.. for a snack or lunch.

The No Brainer Diet

2011-06-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Beginning April 1...yes, April Fool's Day, I started the Dukan diet. I've tried just about every one there is....some worked well, but were too restrictive, some left me just plain hungry! The Dukan diet, so far, is a perfect match for me AND there is a two step program to help you lose the pounds and a two step program to help you retrain your body to keep it off. That's been a problem in the past, too. Lose the weight, gain it back PLUS 10 pounds! Not good.

To date, I've lost 25 pounds -Yea, me!

Basically, you eat all you want of lean protein and vegetables, low fat milk products like skim milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, eggs and oat bran. Not that oat bran cereal that you find in stores... real oat bran. Oddly, I couldn't find it here so I ordered it from Amazon. Now, it's expensive there! I did find it at VitaCost much cheaper.

Honestly, if you are hungry on this diet, it's your own fault. Of course, you will have cravings if you are a sugar and carb person, but it's a DIET for heavens sake.

To help me, 'cause I'm a chocoholic, I buy Pure Protein bars...my favorites are the Chewy Chocolate Chip and the S'mores from either Target or WalMart or Oh, Yeah! bars from the Vitamin Shoppe. I love the Vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate mint wafers. One of those and a diet Coke around 3 PM and you are quite satisfied.

I bought the book and read it first, then I got my "stuff" together and started. I recommend you do the same if you'd like to try it.

*** Update: As of today, 6/14/2011, no more blood pressure meds! Yea, me! Thank you, Dr Dukan!

Paintin' My Picture...

2010-09-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

This morning, I see the post on the RR Members about the updated schedule for the Specialty. It stated that "the judge" decided to have stud dog and brood bitch after BOB on Friday AND that I would take an hour lunch before the BOB finals.

For the record, I do not have the authority to set the schedule. That is what the SHOW COMMITTEE does, not the judge.

They did ask me what I though they should do about the overload on Thursday and I did SUGGEST moving the property classes after BOB. That's what we always did in the past. Apparently, they are worried people would leave.... er, so what?? Only the diehards and those shopping for bloodlines like to watch that anyway, so why do we care if the day trippers leave??

They want to keep the spectators and build the suspense, so the waiting to judge the finals of BOB was their idea. Okay.... but don't paint me as the dictator!

Emergency Shoe Shopping

2010-08-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

In Sept, I'm going to judge the conformation part of the RRCUS Nationals ( that's Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the US' annual specialty show for the uninitiated.)

Today, I found out the unofficial count was 490 entries! Holey crap! I'm gonna need some better shoes if I'm to stand on my feet for 8 hours a day.....'cause that's about how long it'll take me and 3 days worth at that!

I thought for sure that the entries wouldn't be so big since it was way out on the west coast and the economy being what it is. Guess I thought wrong!

Scratching My Head In Amazement

2010-05-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, all the judges got a letter from Ron Menaker saying AKC had rescinded it's original plan to "charge" us to judge. ( Must have been the collective cry of "Get a rope!". ) However, they still plan on "taxing" us somehow for the privilege of making money for AKC. Yeah, I know it's the strangest thing I've ever heard, too.

In part of the letter, he wrote this: (Quoted from the 5/18/10 letter from AKC's Chairman Ron Menaker )

"Now, it is time for judges to join the other constituencies of the AKC-clubs, breeders, exhibitors, and registered handlers to make a financial contribution to help maintain the quality of the sport we all love so much"

Huh??? What exactly does that mean??

Many of us are still exhibitors, breeders and hard-working club members. We did not spring into judgehood over night.

In order to judge we had to meet AKC criteria in exhibiting - had to finish so many champions. Had to have bred so many litters. Had to have been in clubs, had to have stewarded shows, etc, etc, etc. In other words, we have spent an ocean liner full of money and spent years studying, learning, doing just to meet their criteria to judge. (Just read on AKC site about the minimum it takes to qualify to apply to judge!)

.....and apparently, that's not enough. Now, we have to pay to support our years of acquired knowledge that we thought we were now able to give back to he dog fancy.

If that don't beat all!

Copper Rose Jewelry

2010-05-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Fellow Ridgebacker, Liz Druitt, has an Etsy store where you can view her fabulous line of jewelry. Check it out at Copper Rose Jewelry.

Liz really has a flair for words, as you'll see.... She should, she's written several books on roses.

Heartbroken

2010-05-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

I'm the victim of an extortionist.

I'm expected to pay a $100 yearly - more if I want to advance. Chump change, really, for what they are blackmailing others in my field, but quite a bit for someone on Social Security and who hardly rates a blip on their radar.

What is being held in ransom, you ask? My years of experience in dogs. All my time, money, travel and learning knowledge about Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Beagles, Dachshunds, Whippets and Afghans. Compared to others, I don't do many breeds, but I have 40 years experience in RRs. I have judged Ridgeback specialties around the world, I am judging my own club's national for the second time this year.

Who is doing this dastardly thing? The American Kennel Club. They are going to require judges ( all conformation judges) pay them $50 a year PLUS $10 per breed for every breed we have been approved to judge. You don't pay, you don't judge ever again - anywhere. We dump all your knowledge so it can never be used again.

They don't even bother to call this a renewal fee. If it's a matter of funding the printing of the judge's directory, we all could pay $30-40 and it would be more than covered. By all, I mean the obedience, rally, agility, tracking and field judges, too. Their names have to be printed, too.

Is it because provisionals have to have AKC reps monitor them? Okay, but those same reps are still going to be at a show doing general things for the clubs and exhibitors at a conformation show. Shouldn't that be "pro-rated"? Other AKC judges, whether agility, field, etc, have to have an AKC rep present for their provisionals, so why are only the conformation people singled out?

We all got an email spinning out how AKC's bottom line is dwindling - EVERYONE's bottom line is dwindling, especially mine! Hello, just how much money do these people up there need? Most of them make way more than I ever did when I worked for the state government. As to making money judging - AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I will have judged twice this year, one being my national that I only charge expenses. I judged zero times last year. It's just not feasible money-wise to keep paying and hoping some club might ask me to judge a couple times a year.

Here's a thought - AKC, if your bottom line is falling: CUT YOUR COSTS in house, DON'T CUT YOUR THROAT ! Because that is what you are doing! Judges who decide to pay up will have to pass on the costs to clubs. Clubs, barely making it as is, will have to pass it on to exhibitors, who will have to think long and hard about paying more in entry fees to go to shows where the same people will be judging.

I foresee fewer judges for clubs to choose from for their panels. Some judges, knowing this, will charge even more money because they can get away with it and still be hired. Clubs won't be able to pass that much along to the dwindling number of exhibitors and will eventually give up. The AKC cash cow that is conformation shows will die. Remember AKC gets a cut of each entry fee that is already tacked on to show fees?

Pay attention AKC: If you want to get, and keep, more people in the sport, you have to cultivate them, not alienate them.

Try something novel - like dropping point schedules drastically. This would boost small club's entries dramatically. More dogs, more money for you from entry fees. So what if if there are more dogs making up to be champions? What does that cost AKC? Print in a book that is already being printed? A bit of paper with a title mailed out to the owner??

It's a sad day for the world of AKC dog shows. Will AKC see the error of it's ways? I don't know.

On the bright side is the fact that there are UKC shows - conformation, obedience and agility. There are NADAC, USDAA and ASCA agility trials and ASFA lure coursing for people like me and others to go and enjoy doing fun stuff with our dogs.

...and that's just what I'm going to do!

Where Has All The Money Gone?

2010-04-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well, this month Uncle Sam got a big chunk because I took some money out of my IRA last year to survive on until Social Security kicked in Then I had to take out more to pay the IRS..... doesn't seem right, does it?

If that wasn't hurtful enough to the old pocketbook, here comes plumbing woes. Had to call a plumber for a leak in my utility room. I'm pretty sure I was overcharged, but what are you going to do?

After that, the pump decided to go bad, so I had to call the well folks. They have always done right by me, do a great job and charge fairly, so I'm not complaining about them.....( I recommend them all the time.)

Just wish it didn't all happen in the same month!

The River Ran Through Us

2010-01-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

Thought we were going to wash away last Wednesday. Although it never rained tremendously hard, it was a steady deluge. Even though Mobile is the wettest city in the US, it was a bit much, even for us.

The view out back toward my neighbor's yard... we are slighly down hill from her so the water flows freely this way.

Out the front... the ditch is over flowing...

The end of the road has become a lake - Lake Cul-de-Sac?

MEDIACOM - Again!

2009-12-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

So, now that I have figured out the settings to use with Thunderbird - not the ones provided by the "techs" at Mediacom - other mail servers are returning them! Here's a couple of the messages:

Recipient address rejected: Policy Rejection- API Policy Server- Your mail server has been blacklisted, please contact your ISP or API Digital 256-428-8701 (in reply to RCPT TO command)

host mx2.hotmail.com[65.54.188.72] said: 550 SC-001 Mail rejected by Windows Live Hotmail for policy reasons. Reasons for rejection may be related to content with spam-like characteristics or IP/domain reputation problems. If you are not an email/network admin please contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for help. Email/network admins, please visit http://postmaster.live.com for email delivery    information and support (in reply to MAIL FROM command)

Connection refused due to abuse.Please contact your E-mail provider. (in reply to RCPT TO command)

Yes, I called "tech support" - They are sorry, blah, blah, blah...nothing they can do, blah, blah, blah.

They might try sending us all an email apologizing for the entire system change they apparently didn't thoroughly think out beforehand. Seems like this was an ill planned event from the get go. >:-/

MEDIACOM!!!!!

2009-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, I received an email from Mediacom saying they were "updating" their email system. I would not have to do a thing. Seems that's true...except it should have said "YOU will not BE ABLE to do a thing".

For two days now, I cannot get or send email from my email program - Mozilla Thunderbird. It also seems that Mediacom ONLY trains it's techs on Outlook Express... something they do not mention in their ads - it's just an ugly little secret that non-Outlook Express users find out - too late.

The "tech" I spoke to gave me a new account server setting name. It doesn't work. However, I also use Mailwasher - a program that will go to the server and get my emails, so I can screen them, delete if necessary, then I download the safe ones to my computer. My question is -Why can MailWasher use the OLD server settings that Mediacom techs now say DOESN'T EXIST, get my emails and Thunderbird can't??

It's a mystery to me and a mystery to Mediacom. I doubt they'll be able to figure it out, so I'm waiting for some genius to figure it out and post it on the internet where I can Google it and find out how to fix it myself.

UPdate: A nice fellow named Eric left this comment:

Hello, My name is Eric and I work for Mediacom.
I apologize for the inconvenience. You can change your settings to resolve this issue:
Incoming Mail Server: mail.mediacombb.net
Enable SSL
Port can remain unchanged
Outgoing Mail Server:
mail.mediacombb.net
Enable SSL
Port can remain unchanged

While it was nice of you to post, Eric, I got and tried those settings two, now three days ago, hence my frustration... and they still do not work as of today - 12/12/09. However, I have fiddled with the account settings, Mailwasher continues to get my emails from the non-existing server, so now, I , too, can download my current emails from the non-existing mail.mchsi.com, but not with the settings provided by Mediacom. :-(

I still haven't figured out the combination to fix the outgoing mail, but I'm working on it. :-) *** UPDATE: I have now figured out how to send mail!

As to viewing mail on line.... I'm well aware of that...I have other online emails that I prefer. As a rule, I do not like them as I cannot view attachments without waiting for some program to open and show them - I prefer using Mozilla Thunderbird to read and view my emails and I just want to get back to that as soon as possible. That should not be too much to ask.

....and Mediacom should train it's people in the various email programs out there and NOT just Outlook Express. (Yes, the tech supervisor told me they ONLY know Outlook Express - unbelievable in this day and time.)

UPDATE: I can now get and received email.....Sadly, not with Mediacom's directions, but if it works, it works!

Blogger Boggle!

2009-11-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

This morning I began my mornings internet check by going to my blog - My Camera's Eye. There I have listed my favorite blogs to visit and that's where I "depart" to read their daily listings.

Imagine my surprise to get a message saying the blog didn't exist! Seems the Blogger link spam robot has flagged it as an offender. "Link spammer"...I don't even know what that means.

So I go to the dashboard and request that it be unlocked. I get an auto reply saying they will look at the blog and let me know the results. That's good, BUT, HOLD ON! They are going to send the results to an email address that I NO LONGER HAVE! Great, just great.

I check my account and that old address is NOT LISTED as my contact email address. Why did the auto reply list that?? Now what?

So, since a simple answer or a direct link to a Google person is nowhere to be found, I had to resort to posting a question on their "help" forum....and oxymoron, if there ever was one! Do I really expect the Help forum to help - honestly, NO. It's never helped me before..... I must be an eternal optimist to keep trying.

UPDATE; November 23. Still blocked, but I found this message at the dashboard:

**Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on November 19, 2009. On behalf of the robots, we apologize for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam.**

Moving at a Snail's Pace seems to be Blogger's speed too.... unless there are a lot more blogs out there they've screwed up and are having to fix them all.

Enough To Drive You To Drinkin'

2009-09-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

I had the brilliant idea to move my JustRidgebacks site over to Google sites this morning so I could save on the cost of keeping it at Tripod. On and off I moved page after page to the newly created site. After all, I have a couple of Google sites and I LOVE Blogger. What could be simpler?

After getting the pages over, I noticed the PayPal's codes weren't there, so I just signed into the site and using the HTML view, I put one in. Odd. The regular little button wasn't there. Instead there was some squarish looking thing labeled : Google Gadget whatchamacallit. I looked again at the HTML I put in - gobbledygook was there instead!!

I decided to risk looking through Google's "help" feature. This should more accurately be called "shortcut to cussin' and fussin" and should come with a warning label that it could easily drive you to drinking. It's that bad. Even if you find a question someone has posted that sounds like yours, sure enough, some geek has posted a short post saying "Just put in a Friggamagig and it will work." Of course, if we knew what a frigggamagig was, we wouldn't have to be asking about the frigging thing!

After the post, Google has a link that says "Was this helpful - yes or no". I do get some enjoyment of clicking NO. I just wish I could add comments, but knowing the state of my mind when I get to that point - it's best there not be comments.

To make a long, hair-pulling, wall-smashing story short, the upshot is that Google sites doesn't "support" PayPals form codes. For a company that wants to rule the internet, this is mind boggling. How the freaking hell did this happen? Blogger supports PayPal codes, why wouldn't Sites?

After all that work, I had to delete the whole shebang...all because I couldn't put the PayPal form code in so people could purchase the items.

I cognitated on this awhile and came up with a plausible conclusion.

Blogger - EASY, newbie friendly.
Sites - royally screwed up.

The only logical conclusion is that Google has geniuses and folks they should fire-but won't - working for them. The genius levels created Blogger. The dunces created Sites.

In Search of.......

2009-08-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I think that I shall never see
the haircut and style,
I want for me.

I desperately needed a trim, so off I went to the local cut and curl shop at a nearby shopping center. My aim was to get a trim, then run to the pet store and get some special food for my old dog..... all this before it started the afternoon monsoons.

I NEVER get the haircut I imagine. I am the eternal optimist when it comes to getting my hair done. After all, when I say "Just a trim", it seems the "stylist" could easily see that I like my hair a bit longer on top and down to the side, then shorter in back and over the ears. Nope. Apparently, you would have to be someone who notices the obvious...a logical person perhaps...and that kind of person does not do hair at the places I can afford. If I could cut my hair myself, I would. (I do for several weeks until the back becomes unmanageable.)

I knew I was in trouble when my usual lady wasn't there.... but, hey, hair is like grass - it grows...so how bad could it be??

A brand- spanking new person, that's who I got. A victim of the economy & hurricane Katrina, who use to be a shrimper, now he's a hairdresser. Now, there was a red flag if there ever was one.

"Well", I thought, "good for him. He's trying". Famous last words......

Bless his heart, he wanted to get the cut JUST RIGHT.....every hair perfectly blended in with every other hair on my head. He cut and he cut and he cut and he cut. I was getting really worried. My hair was getting shorter and shorter... but I didn't want to yell out "That's enough!!" because his new boss was at the chair to my right. SHE did 3 people in the time he took to do mine.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack of thunder, we all looked out the window and it was pouring buckets! I used this opportunity to say " Oh, no! I've got to get home quick!" ...in the hopes he'd stop cutting. At least, he put down the scissors - and then picked up the clippers! Gee, I thought we was going to shave my entire neck down to my shoulders...and I don't have much body hair period, much less on my neck!

Finally, I started taking off the wrap and saying I've got to go, what do I owe you??

My cousin gave me the name of her hairdresser..... next time, I'm going to give her a call..... couldn't be worst, could it?

An "Eye" Full

2009-08-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I saw this pretty blue dragon fly land near me while out for a walk. I snapped it's photo. When I looked at it the first time in Photo Shop, I laughed - look at that face! Big brown double eyes, a "black button" nose and it appears to be smiling with white lips - I love it!

Later, I wandered out front to water the plants and saw this Buckeye butterfly... check out all those "eyes".

Then I saw this beauty.... I think it's the female version of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I couldn't get a photo with it's wings open, but the side view is just as spectacular.

I followed it over to the zinnas and witnessed "the battle of the butterflies"! Another female showed up and wouldn't let the first one settle for very long on any of the flowers...

Unlike the first one, the second kept her wings open.... perhaps to seem bigger??

The second one finally crowds the first off the plant and followed it up over the house. I don't know if it was a battle for territory or what... I had no idea that butterflies even had territories.

Ya learn something new every day.....

Blood Ties

2009-07-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today, my cousin, Martha, and I got up early and tooled off up the road towards the family stompin' grounds - otherwise known as "up the country". That area is composed of Clarke and Marengo county where our ancestors have lived since the 1800s.

We have one aunt by marriage who is in an assisted living unit in a small town and that's where we met up with her daughter (another cousin) - Margaret, and her husband. After visiting with the aunt for awhile, we loaded up and went in search of food.At the restaurant, Margaret's sister, Nadine and her husband also caught up with us.

It was an enjoyable afternoon.... so good to see everyone! Lots of exclamations about how much you look like your mother..... you resemble the Ernest side of the family, etc, etc..... I did notice that they'd look at me and just smile.... Hmmm, I could just heard the thoughts about... where did you come from??? I don't mind, I know that I resemble my father's side of the family.... always did. :-)

We decided to do this again in about 2 months and see if we couldn't scare up a few more cousins to join us. (Did I forget to mention we are all first cousins? I think we once counted 19 first cousins in the family, although 2 died as children and one of the older cousins died last year - very unexpectedly. )

Most of us live in Alabama. One lives in Texas, two in NC and one in GA... The rest in the southern part of the state. We hope to catch up with them and get them to plan on coming.

All in all, it was fun... just the right amount of visiting time and everyone got home before dark.

Conversation Skills Are Dead

2009-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

After getting off the phone earlier today, it dawned on me that the art of conversation is dead, dead, dead. Conversation should be a give and take. I ask about you, yadda, yadda, yadda, then you ask about me, yadda, yadda, yadda. Give and take - makes both of us feel good about ourselves that someone would take the time to ask about what makes us tick.

When I call someone, I'm calling to find out how they are, what they've been doing, planning on doing as a way to let them know I'm interested in their lives.

Apparently, NO ONE is interested in mine! At least today. Not once did the person stop talking about them, their current interests, etc and say "... but what about YOU? How are YOU doing, what have YOU been doing." No, it's just blah, blah, blah, me,me,me. mine, mine,mine. Bor-RING!

I've got news for you - You just aren't THAT interesting! People who constantly talk about themselves and theirs are tacky, selfish and insulting to the other person.

I discovered long ago that if you want people to think YOU are interesting, ASK them questions about THEMSELVES - LISTEN to what they are saying and inquire further about it. They'll feel positively important and will love to be around you because of the way YOU make THEM feel. You don't really have to be interested in what they are doing, just engaged in what your friend is saying because it makes them FEEL good.

Such a little thing, really. with a BIG return - Why can't people see that?

Something Unexpected

2009-07-07T04:45:00.000-07:00

I live in suburbia, so on my way to WalMart the other day, a big coyote crossing the road was unexpected to the nth degree. At first, I thought it was just a largish, yellowish dog, but it turned toward me at the edge of the brush and, by God, it was a coyote. No mistaking that head. Cool! I love that there are still wild things around.

You can get your Daily Coyote right here.

The Long, Hot, Sizzling Summer Is Here

2009-06-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's just too darned hot to work up the energy to do stuff around here.

It's been so hot and dry that I've put off mowing the grass - for one, it's barely growing in the heat and dryness and two, it's a dust bowl when you do get out there and stir it up. My allergies don't like competing with all that dust up my nose.

Fortunately - or unfortunately - we did get a nice shower here on Friday and a teeny tiny one yesterday. Even the grass over the septic tank will start to green back up now. Guess I have no excuse for not getting out there.

Since I haven't been able to get out much, naturally, I've developed some new "addictions" on the computer to keep me busy. I'll share'em with you:

Sudoko Sunrise:Don't let the number scare you. It's not about math at all, just placement of characters in a logical puzzle.

Drench: Hint: It always starts in the upper left corner.

Scopa: This is a game in a Nancy Drew video game. Just click Play The Game, once you watch the movie trailer to learn how to play, you can skip it for later games. Scopa is a card game played in Italy.

I Might Be A Curmudgeon

2009-05-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning, I'm chilling out, checking my email, thinking about getting in the shower, etc, when there's a knock at the door. Who would be so RUDE as to knock on my door at this hour and on Saturday morning??

All the dogs ran to the door, I peeped out the window - Bible Thumpers! HOW RUDE!

I thought briefly of flinging open the door and let the tide of dogs flying out the door sweep them away. I amused myself awhile on that thought, then remembered that I'd have to go outside and round them up as they made the round of the yard checking rabbit smells and that I would have to tackle Diva and drag her out of the brush pile in the ditch.

Nope, I just went back to what I was doing and left those ding dongs cooling their heels at the door. The dogs then decided to add their opinion with loud barking and, like a miracle, the thumpers jumped in their car, whizzed out of my driveway only to cruise across the street to harass my neighbor and all his company. I hope he cussed them out in German.

I know I'm not the only person who gets aggravated by these holier than thous who show up uninvited and think they are going to come in your house and you be happy to see them. Is there a sign on my door that says "Lonely old bat desires any kind of company" ? NOT!

Maybe this is some new "suffering for Christ" idea?? They show up, get cussed out, doors slammed in their faces, dogs sicced on them and that's their suffering. Hey, bring back self flagellation! I don't care if YOU suffer, don't make me suffer, too!

The Domino Effect

2009-05-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

It all started the morning I went off to my agility practice with Guy. I'd stayed about an hour and a half and came home to find the terrible two - Prize and Magic - had demolished the cushion to my leather chair. Unrepairable damage!

Yes, my furniture is becoming rather ratty, but it's so comfy!!!

Since I'd planned on getting rid of the love seat, I was resigned to a new chair, too. Meanwhile, I just put one of the love seat cushions in the chair. It doesn't fit that well, but it'll do until I get a new chair. (The love seat, sans cushions, is fitted with dog pads so the old guy can get up on it.)

The next morning, I was back in the computer room trying to finish up moving my dog club's website from Geocities-Yahoo over to Google's new free sites. (Did ya hear that Yahoo/Geocities is booting all it's free website folks? Of course, you can upgrade - that means PAY them. Our little club doesn't get enough traffic to warrant a paying site, so we have to move.)

Anyway, I hear a ripping noise coming from the great room. I jumped up and flew in there in time to catch the devils in the act of tearing up yet another cushion! I put their hinnys in the kennel and they stayed there most of the day. I was so mad!

Fast forward a week and I decide to go look at chairs. While I'm down that way, I decide to go to LensCrafters to see if they'll put my new sunglasses prescription in my regular glasses. These glasses have been the sorriest glasses I've ever had. I thought they were supposed to be scratch resistant - they weren't. No one told me at the time I bought them....from LensCrafters!

Of course, LensCrafters won't upgrade the glasses without an eye exam. I don't have that much time, so I leave and start visiting furniture stores. Finally, after sitting in about 50 different chairs, I decide that what I really want is a Lazy Boy chair, so off I go to their store - and they are having a sale! Goody!

I go in the store, decide to change off my sunglasses and discover to my horror that my glasses case is missing. Danged, danged, danged!

I find a chair I like, put it on layaway and go home to check on the pups in the kennel. I call all the stores I went to in the hopes of finding my glasses case. No luck. Now, I HAVE to buy new glasses. I am NOT going all the way back to LensCrafters.

I decide to go to WalMart. I have to have an eye exam - $60. I find some nice frames - $38. I pick the better frames ( I notices ALL WalMart frames are scratch resistant!) and each are $75. A whole lot cheaper than LensCrafters.... of course, I have to wait a week on them, but that's okay.

Later that night the phone rings......Its the guy from Ashley Furniture and they found my glasses case! Wouldn't ya know it??? I keep telling myself that I needed new glassses anyway.....

Drama of the Dremel

2009-05-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

I use a Dremel to grind the dog's nails. I'm lucky if I get two years outta one before it croaks - Ridgeback nails are like steel and there's just only so much that the motor on one can take.

Last month, my hand held Dremel bit the dust, so off to Lowe's I went to get another one. I did one round of dog nails and my foot calluses with it. (Works good for that, BTW) Yesterday, I got it out to do the pup's nails. It roared to life, then died when I touched the grinder to the nail. I cut it off, tried again, and again, and again.... You get the picture.... Going nowhere fast.

I decided the battery was low, so I charged it over night and tried again this morning. Nope, it did the same thing. I called the customer service number and I could either send it for repair OR try taking it back to the store. Since I'd only had it less than a month, I decided to try the store.

Of course, I couldn't find the receipt, but I remembered using my newly found Lowe's card which had been lurking for God-knows-how-long in my jewelry box. Thank goodness for that card! I had used it! I got the Dremel returned and bought a new one, came home, charged it up and it's working fine - so far.

Backyard Drama

2009-04-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, I was out for my walk around the backyard with the dogs - sans camera - when I spied a pileated woodpecker fly off from the dead topped tree. Drat!

I decided to go get the camera and park myself so I could see both the top snag and the feeder. It's amazing the stuff that's flying around my house....

Nope, I didn't see the big woodpecker again, but I did see a Hairy Woodpecker, 2 crows being harassed by a lone mockingbird, lots of martins, plenty of cardinals,

doves, blue jays, a redheaded woodpecker, the Coast Guard helicopter.....

...a lone seagull...laughing gull, I think...

The jays, mockingbirds and woodpeckers like to sit in the snag.. good views, I'd guess.

The feeder was busy with cardinals, both male and female...doves, and some small sparrow like birds. I was hoping for an Indigo Bunting, but no luck.

Oh, and two high flying jets leaving a vapor trail.....

Wish I Could Vote!

2009-04-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was sent this video by Filiberto in Puerto Rico this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Watch it, you'll love it!

Here's more of Susan from a 1999 charity CD via the Scottish Daily Record

(Hopefully the embedding will hold!)

Creepy Things

2009-04-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

I nearly walked into this long, extra large spider web this morning.... I thought that was creepy enough, but I was WRONG!

I went out to get the mail, was going to go in the side door when THIS thing caught my eye!

Big, gigantic snake.... well, okay, BIG by my standards... shimmying up the fence and slithering on to the brick of the house. Looking for a place to get in my attic, I'll bet!

I poked it with a stick, thinking it might decide to get down and go away, but it went on up and coiled around the conduit pipe at the eave.

I locked all the dog doors and hoped it would go away. I'm going to go get moth balls and put them out.

Bald Eagles

2009-04-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

I use to think the only place to see bald eagles would be in some remote wilderness area - like Alaska. Then the wild life folks released some in the northern part of the state at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. Since then,several eagles have been release and are thriving in the Mobile River Delta, many acres which are in the Forever Wild program. There was also supposed to be a pair in the Dog River area.So that opened up the possibility that people like me MIGHT see a eagle in those areas.

I'm happy to report that I have seen a bald eagle FOUR times in Mobile county! I saw one fishing in the lake in front of Lee Roy Hill's estate in Grand Bay - twice...nearly ran off the road too... it was quite exciting. Now, my forth sighting was out on the causeway at the Meaher State Park and, lucky me, I got a photo.

Yeah, it was way up there, circling around and I really didn't know what kind of bird it was until I zoomed in with the lens and - HELLO! EAGLE!

Oddly enough, my third sighting was right at one of the busiest intersections in Mobile - University and Cottage Hill. Yes, you don't have to tramp out into the wilderness, you just have to be observant. I was looking out the window and happened to look up and noticed a large bird gliding northward and thought "No, that couldn't be an eagle, could it??? Dare I hope to see a bald eagle here?" Yes! ....and then the light changed and the cars swept me away....

Wasted Week

2009-04-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ah, what a week.

Last Saturday, we had a terrible storm. Sometime between 2:30 and 3 AM, there was a hail storm...the dogs all jumped up and stared at the window. It was freaky looking outside...bright, but like a florescent light trying to go bad. I finally got up about 4:30 AM, started the coffee and checked to radar on the internet.

The dogs and I had just settled in the living room with the TV on when lightning hit somewhere close....I assumed it was one of my two tall trees in back. No matter where it was, it knocked out the phone and internet cable. Just great!

It would be Tuesday before the cable guy could come out. Good thing I was going over to Blakely Park in Baldwin county on Monday....going stir crazy without email and the internet.

Tuesday rolls around, the cable guy comes, claims my wall phone is part of the problem, puts in a new modem and leaves.He tells me I need an ethernet network card for my main computer. I hook up the laptop to get my email. By Tuesday afternoon, I have no phone and no internet - AGAIN. Call Mediacom AGAIN and schedule another cable guy for Wednesday morning. Then I go to Office Max and get a network card... I'm going to be ready.

Cable guy comes, brings yet another modem....this is my ELEVENTH modem since Jan.Also claims my main computer problem is the ethernet network card. Open up the computer....hmmm, doesn't look like what I have. Call the computer guy. He says to go get a USB ethernet adapter and just plug it in to one of the USB ports.

I take back the network card, get a USB ethernet adapter made by Linksys. Go home, try to install it, wind up having to call the tech support....which is obviously NOT in the US. I cannot understand the woman, she cannot understand my southern accent. We go round and round for about 2 hours and finally her best answer is for me to get on the internet, go to their website and download the driver for the installation.

Hello! We wouldn't be having this conversation if I could get on the internet!

Back to Office Max, because I did spring for the extra $5 that would let me replace the adapter for up to a year.... Get another one, go home and guess what? That installation CD is also faulty. Hey, now I have internet, so I'll just use the laptop to download the driver.

Can't find the downloads on the freaking site. Call tech support, get to the downloads, tell the woman there is no clickable download. She is getting snarky and tells me my phone is too loud in her ear. I tell her it's the only phone I have so work with it. We try this, we try that... finally, either she cuts me off or I accidently cut us off. Call again, get some guy.

Now we are back at the downloads... still nothing to download. He checks. Oh, he's found the problem - No one has uploaded the driver so it can be downloaded!!!!

Okay, that's it! I gather up the parts, go to Radio Shack, buy their version, go to Office Max, tell them I want my money back.

Go home, install the USB ethernet adapter from Radio Shack... still no connection. Call the computer guy.... he'll try and come on Friday.

It's Saturday and the computer guy makes a special trip over. He tries the USB adapter. No go. He fits the computer with a new device, resets the modem and I'M BACK IN BUSINESS! Hal-le-lu-jah!

Things That Go Bump In The Night

2009-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 nights, I been awakened by a strange noise. I didn't know where it was coming from either..... could have been in the house, or outside on the porch???

It sounded something like an electric knife or toothbrush.

I had a brief vision of someone standing in my kitchen welding my electric knife.... limited, of course, to movement as far as the cord would reach. Not exactly a chain saw murder scenario, plus there's the actual fact that I would have a hard time finding all the parts to the danged thing myself. Nope, that wasn't a possibility.

Someone coming down the hall brushing their teeth with an electric toothbrush???? I don't have an electric toothbrush.

The biggest clue was that all the dogs snoring away on the bed weren't a bit bothered by the sound, so it must be something they've heard before.

So, last night, just before I dismissed it as some strange snoring noise a sleeping dog made, I heard it again. This time, I knew it was coming from the bathroom. I knew immediately what it was - the new Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Sprayer!

Just one thing..... it isn't supposed to be having little spritzing parties on it's own. Just my luck, I get a shower sprayer with a mind of it's own! I finally had to take the batteries out of it to get it to stop.

I called the consumer hotline number for Johnson products, told the nice lady about my sprayer's bizarre behavior and she agreed THAT wasn't supposed to happen. I really like it though, so she's sending me a coupon to get a free one. Hopefully, this one won't go bonkers on me.

Spring has Sprung

2009-03-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Ah, springtime in Mobile..... the azaleas are beginning to bloom, the trees are leafing out, the pollen is flying, the allergy doctors are raking in big bucks.

Now that the weather is warmer, the weeds are growing and that means it's time to get the tractor mower in shape. Naturally, mine has two flat tires - one on the back, the other on the front.

Sunday, I get out the car jack and I finally manage to get the back tire off and into the van for a trip to the tire store on Monday. I'll have to get the back fixed, then put the jack in front and take that tire off.

Since I'll be out and about, I might as well get my van's back blinker fixed, too. Monday rolls around, I take the tractor tire and drop it off, then go to the Chevy place to get the blinker bulb put in. Nowadays nothing is easy on cars to fix..... I think the engineers plan it that way so you'll be forced to use a garage to do what use to be a simple task. Gone are the days when you only had to unscrew the light cover and insert the new bulb. Now, it's a major operation requiring the entire light section AND the section above it to come completely off in order to change one tiny bulb.

After waiting about 45 minutes, I pay up and I'm off to the bank and Wally World (aka: WalMart) for groceries, then back home to unload, eat lunch, regroup and go back and get the tractor tire. Some little voice in my brain said "Check the blinker lights in the back". Interesting - there are NO LIGHTS AT ALL back there! I have driven up and down Schillinger Road and Airport - busiest streets in Mobile - without any back lights after visiting the Chevy place!!!!

I drive back up to the service department and a man hurries out to help. I ask him to got to the back of the van and check my lights - no backup light, no blinker, no nothing on the left side.

"We can fix that", he says.

"Well, good", I smile and say, "because before I came in here THIS MORNING, it was only the left blinker not working". That took the starch out of his sails....

They came right out and took it away. Turns out the mechanic that "fixed" it, managed to ground a wire - which blew out a fuse - and nearly cut another in half - hence no lights at all. They fixed the fuse, wrapped the wire - free, of course - and I was off and going again.

You'd think someone would have thought to check their handiwork before letting a customer drive off - Wouldn't you??

So, now I've gotten the back tire back on, gotten the front tire off and now I'm off to get it fixed, get an new carter pin and take the pups for their rabies shots. I'm hoping for an uneventful day....

We'll see.......

Learning New Tricks

2009-02-14T13:23:00.001-08:00

I've seen pictures converted to black and white and then a part recolorized - I wanted to know how to do it, too! The only problem was they used Adobe Photoshop and I have Adobe Photo Elements and the directions didn't cross over from one to the other. Bummer!

As you can see - I finally got it figured out and I'm gonna share it with all you Photo Elements folks!

Basically, you take your original photo and create a layer on top of it. The top layer is the one you are changing to Black and White. Then it's just a matter of using the Eraser tool to erase the B&W layer, revealing the original color photo underneath. Simple, really!

First, select your photo.... in the Editor bar, select LAYERS. In Layers, select DUPLICATE LAYER and just let it name it the default...the name doesn't matter. You now have two layers...one on top of the other.

From the Editor bar, select ENHANCE, select ADJUST COLOR, then REMOVE COLOR. ( You have now taken the color out of the second layer, which is laying on top of your original.)

From the TOOL bar, select your background eraser first... take out the first bit with it and then you can use the regular eraser after that. I find the regular eraser gives me more control.

That's it! Other than being tedious to work the small areas, there's nothing to it. Save your photo as a jpg or you'll need to "flatten the layer" and you are ready to publish.

Have fun!

No Good Idea Goes Unpunished

2009-02-02T06:34:00.001-08:00

One day I was watching TV when an ad came on showing an older woman water skiing. The ad said "Drink V-8 and maybe you can be doing this at 80!".

Wow - Eighty! I don't get enough veggies as it is, so I went right out to the store and bought myself some low sodium V-8 juice. At only 70 calories, too....it will be a good substitute snack.

I'm still battling a bit of a back pain issue, but now when I sit for awhile, it's very painful to get up! Cripes! I'm getting worse instead of better! I've never had this before.I try more turmeric to reduce inflammation, I get out and try and walk more, but the joint between my body and my legs are still screaming at me when I get up.

Let me think about this..... it's not bad when I get up, but it gets worse some time during the day. Maybe it's something I'm eating?? I decide to keep a food diary during the day and keep up with what I eat and how I feel.

Since I have a problem with wheat that I know about, I'll cut back on wheat products since that causes arthritis like symptoms in my joints.....that just HAS to be it - too much bread!

Well, after studying my "eating" notes, guess what? It's the V-8 juice! I know that I also have arthritis like symptoms with members of the nightshade family - potatoes, eggplant and TOMATOS. V-8's main ingredient? Tomato.

Today, no V-8 and I'm starting to feel more like my old self. Hooray!

Want to read more about the link between plants of the nightshade family and arthritis? Click here for the Arthrities Nightshade Research Foundation.

Mighty Fine Wine

2009-01-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

I just came back from my neighbor's house. The husband was cleaning out the laundry room and found some homemade wine left over from our joint wine making days back in the 80s. He decided to drain off the wine from the sediment at the bottom and rebottle it so we could have a wine tasting at the next Mahakiri monthly ceremony.

He was filtering some scuppernong 1997 when I came in so I gave it a taste. Not bad, bit of an after taste, but not bad and beautiful color. Then he started some blackberry 1986. Talk about smoooooooth! Aging had certain brought out the best in it. We decided it should be "platinum" labeled and TOP shelf! Chateau Twelve Oaks 1986.

I don't have any old bottles left. My last one decided to explode in the closet so out everything went. What a mess. I did filter some strawberry brandy that I made and canned the berries for ice cream topping.....mighty potent stuff! Sadly, that's all gone now. Bummer.

New Favorite Program

2009-01-29T05:09:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that I love gadgets? It takes me a while to go through Lowes or Home Depot, even WalMart sometime, because I love to look at all the gadgets - tools, machines, flashlights, all kinds of things.

So, now that I have cable, I have fell in love with a show called "How Things Are Made" on the Discovery channel. Last night they had machines creating chains. I found it fascinating how someone created the mechanics of those machines creating the links on those chains! The metal wraps around, two "arms" bend it into place, another one removes it and changes its position so another piece then goes through it and the arms bend it, changes its position, and on and on...meanwhile the resulting chains drops down behind the machine. What kind of a mind can figure out the logic of how that is accomplished - Wow, I'm awed by that!

Up In The Sky

2009-01-18T05:52:00.001-08:00

I live by the airport and see all kinds of planes - commercial, private, Coast Guard trainers and regular planes. Yesterday, while out walking, I hear some really LOUD planes coming. Not knowing exactly what I was going to see, I went out into the middle of the yard to try and get a photo.

Three bi-planes - How about that? They seem to fly so slow.

I wish they were more overhead - I would have gotten better photos, plus it was late afternoon and I was photographing towards the sun. Still, it was a pretty cool sight.

Now On To Social Security

2009-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

I signed up for Social Security back in September on line. A nice lady called me the next day and told me I did not have to come down to the office and bring them my birth certificate, that I was already in the system - Cool!

She explained that you don't get a check until one month after your birthday and that my check would arrive in my bank on the second week of the month - Cool!

It's the second week. I checked with the bank and the lady told me that the checks usually are posted at midnight on Wednesday. - Cool!

It's Thursday, I check the bank account - no SS money. I call SS. The woman on the phone tells me I won't get a check until February. I tell her I signed up in September and the lady said I would get a check in January. Sorry, she can't help me, call the local office and get an appointment.

I should have known that it was TOO easy! Gotta go call the local SS office.

UPDATE: Wouldn't you know it - today the local office put a new phone system on line. The result was that I finally clicked through all the new gobbledy gook - Try our online site at SocialSecurity.gov, etc. (Geez, I would but the cable internet is down!) Finally get to the waiting for an agent and listening to the elevator music....do that for about 20 minutes and then it sounds like someone is picking up BUT, oh, no! They cut me off!

Dial again, go through all that again, get to the elevator music and wait 34 minutes until I finally get someone. That someone explains that I won't get this months check until next month. So, when it comes time for you to start drawing SS, remember this: It'll be two months AFTER your birthday month before you see anything.

I've Met Larry the Cable Guy

2009-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

No, not the Larry from comedy central - the REAL Larry - or should I say the LARRYS. Yes, I'm afraid the world is full of Larrys.

Here's how it all started:

ATT took over Bellsouth, hence, they took over me. It was okay until last weekend when they decided to let Yahoo run their server email site. That's when the trouble began. On Sat, I went to sign in to ATT, instead of my email, I got directed to Yahoo where I had to sign in. Then off to a Yahoo news page.Huh? Where's my email?

Had to search around that page to find the itsy, bitsy "mail" link and click it. It took me to yet another Yahoo sign in where I had to put in my password -again. Finally, it took me back to where I started - where I had to sign in, once again, to ATT's email site.

Gone was the easy old Bellsouth format, now I was forced to see more danged Yahoo news. (What morons thought that this would be "new and improved" and appreciated by their users???) Later, I discovered that using one of my other email names would let me use the site just like in the good old days. Whoopee.

On Monday, the Yahoo wizards took all my contact addresses away - I don't know where that went, but it didn't matter, because now I was getting none of the emails sent to me. I know this because I have a couple of Google groups and could see the emails from there. That was the last straw.

So, on Monday, I signed up for Mediacom cable. I was so happy! I was going to rid my life of the ATT/Yahoo rigamarole, get faster downloads and get back to enjoying life.

On Monday afternoon, Gabrielle, from Mediacom, called to set me up a time to get all hooked up. I told her I never had cable and that my house would have to be wired and the wire run through the attic. She assured me that all was well and set up my cable guys for Thursday.

On Thursday, the mattress/futon people (Who were supposed to come on Tuesday, but didn't because the arms to the futon didn't come in and they had to go all the way to Baton Rouge to get it ) finally came, as well as the Home Of Grace guy to pick up the old sleeper sofa AND the cable guys - naturally, they all came at the same time.

The two Larrys from Mediacom looked at my TV hookup and the computer hookup and said "You aren't wired for cable". DUH! Yes, I said, I told the woman on the phone I never had cable and would need to be wired. According to their worksheet, my house was wired and all they had to do was hook it up.

"You have to hire a contractor", they said.

"Where do I get this contractor?". They gave me a number. They left. I called. A fella named Jason said he'd come on Friday. He did.

Other than being afraid he was going to have a heart attack in my attic for all the huffing and puffing he was doing, he has been the only one, so far, that has done his job. Good for you, Jason!

[Oh, by the way, did I tell you I also have crappy HD reception on the TV which was another reason for getting cable? With my antenna, I got all the local stations - 5,10 and 15 - and a station over in Florida. With the converter box hooked up to the antenna, I got the Florida station, a station in Mississippi, but only got local stations 5 (CBS) and 10 (FOX) - no 15 (NBC).

I bought a HD antenna. Now I got Fl, MS and local stations 5 and 15 - no 10.

After Jason got through crashing about in the attic, I now get FL, MS and local stations 10 and 15 - no 5. ]

Jason finishes his job and tells me to call Mediacom and tell them the house is wired, but they will need to run the line from the pole to my house. I call and tell them exactly that. They will come on Monday. Yea!

On Monday, two Larrys show up and look at the wiring and say "You don't have a "thing-a-ma-gig" connection and there is no line from the pole". DUH!

I say "That's what you are suppose to be doing". Oh, they don't have that kind of connection on their truck, so they'll have to come back tomorrow.

I go inside and call Mediacom customer service. I tell Brandy that I don't even have cable yet and I already have a complaint. Brandy tells me she'll take $20 off my bill.

Well, it's tomorrow and I've seen neither hide nor hair of the Larrys. I'm gonna go call again.

Wed, Jan 14th Update: I called and got Linda on Tuesday. She said there was a note about sending a bucket truck, but no date nor time listed. She would find out and call me.

It's Wed and I haven't heard from Linda. I call Linda and she tells me they are scheduled to come today between 1 and 5 PM. I tell her that's interesting since no one bothered to call and tell me AND since I was supposed to go after noon and pick up some things down in Theodore.What if I hadn't called and had left??

Now, I have to call the Theodore lady and rescheduled her for tomorrow morning and I wait not-so-patiently for the Mediacom folks to see what's going to happen now.

Stay tuned.....

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Hooray! The guy came to run the line to the house. He did not arrive in a bucket truck, he came in a van with a ladder and a pole. He finally got it all connected, came inside and connected the TV , gave me the remote - no written directions (You've got to know that those of us of a certain age NEED written directions!). Yes, I managed to get it frozen on one station, had to call a friend who has Mediacom and find out what I did - accidentally punched the video button and should have had it on cable.

He gave me the new modem, I hooked it up according to his directions, but I had to run off to my dog agility class and left the signing up for this morning.

It's morning (Jan 15) and I happily anticipated my super high speed connection so I could zip around the internet. No sign up stuff came up, in fact, all I got was an error message that said it couldn't find my opening page. Hmmm, Checked the computer and saw that I did have a connection. Thought I'd better call Mediacom. Guess what? They are sorry, but there is an internet outage in my area. UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!

Update: Jan 16. There was no outage, only me! Today another tech came and after trying EIGHT different modems, he finally got me connected to the internet. Wahoo!