Responsibility

Sideling Hill on Interstate 68 in Maryland

... responsibility for the pain that accompanies poor choice is always our own.  (Casey and Vanceburg, The Promise Of A New Day, 18 November)

******

Last night I was channel surfing when I noticed they were showing Part One of a two-part program about Woody Allen on PBS.  One thing I liked about this program was that Woody Allen himself talked about many aspects of his life.  Often this type of program relies on what others remember, rather than interviews with the featured person.  They showed the program twice.  That allowed me to watch the  part of the program I'd missed before I found it.  They talked about many Woody Allen movies I haven't seen.  I was particularly interested in the black and white film, Manhattan.  I was also reminded how much I enjoyed his movie Bananas many years ago.

Skype seems to be broken.  It crashes when I attempt to view my own profile.  This is the second time there have been problems running the program on my laptop.  I'm getting frustrated.

Mr. Dickie

21 November 2011

Peak Experience

A peak experience is more of an indication of what can be than a stable state of being. (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 6 November) 18 November 2011

******

Yesterday morning, Cyndi and I attended the NARFE Health Benefit meeting at the Old Bowie City Hall.  We spent quite a bit of time talking to the GEHA representative.  We are both concerned about whether I need to make changes in the health coverage for Melva and myself.

After the meeting Cyndi dropped me off at the Senior Center where I attended the meeting of the computer club.  Member, Bob Davis, gave the talk on three interesting subjects: making your own two-sided, colored, business cards, wireless earphones for TV viewing, and 3-D television.  I thought he did a great job.

In the evening I used Skype to have a video chat with computer club member and Facebook buddy, Dan L.   Cyndi was on the other computer at the same time having a video chat with her friend in Germany. That was fun.

Mr. Dickie
18 November 2011

Skype

Saint Elizabeth Seton Chapel at Emmitsburg, MD

(Photo by Mr. Dickie, 7 November 2011)

Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.  (John Wesley, in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 680)

******

Yesterday, during a basement cleaning project Melva brought out three cardboard boxes that were stored under the stairs to the basement.  These were boxes I lost track of many months ago.  Near the top of one of them I found my copy of the 1870 census of Monroe County, Ohio.  I'd been looking for this book for so long I forgot when I noticed it was missing.  I wonder what other genealogy treasures I may find in those boxes.  Melva also found the box containing the ceramic pumpkin we never seem to display for Halloween.

What fun I had last night.  My very good friend from college days, Don Gardner, resolved a problem he was having with Skype and we were able to set up and enjoy a video talk between Missouri and Maryland.  This was my first call outside the local area.  It's a lot of fun.  I'm looking forward to making many other contacts in the future.  Cyndi has Skype working on the netbook too.  She already talked to her friend in Germany.

After downloading some photos from Panama I discovered quite by accident that there is a program that came with the Toshiba laptop that can be used to write music files in either the CDA or MP3 formats to disc.  I successfully tested the program by created two discs of Bill Evans piano music.  I played the MP3 disc in the player in Melva's Toyota.

Aren't we having fun?

Mr. Dickie

9 November 2011

Don't Borrow Trouble

When you borrow trouble you probably won't be asked to pay it back.  (Richard Henthorn after Casey and Vanceburg, The Promise Of A New Day, 5 November)  8 November 2011

******

Yesterday Melva and I went to Emmitsburg, MD to visit the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes.  It was a beautiful day.  The trees were still showing lots of color.  We stopped to shop at two roadside stands.  We ate lunch at the Cozy Inn buffet in Thurmont, MD.  Thurmont is near Camp David, MD where the President has a weekend retreat.

I think the problem I was having with Skype disappeared when I turned off the screen on the laptop and just used the larger monitor.  I added two more contacts.  Cyndi got Skype working with the netbook computer and talked with her friend in Germany.

Mr. Dickie

8 November 2011

Charlie Byrd

Today maintain an attitude of thanksgiving.  Be thankful for all events in your life: sorrows and joys, failures and successes, the valleys and the mountains.  (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 29 October)

******

I was trying to make Skype work with Facebook.  That didn't go well.  I have no idea what happened.  Now I can't get Skype to pop out of the tool tray.  I thought it was going to be easy to install and use Skype.  It's beginning to look like I got ahead of myself.  There's always something.

I'm listening to some Charlie Byrd music from his album - Brazilian Byrd this morning.  Yesterday I copied some music from my Oasis device to the Toshiba laptop.

Mr. Dickie

7 November 2011

Today Is

Yesterday is a canceled check.

Tomorrow is a promissory note.

Today is the only cash you have, so invest it wisely.

(Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 678)

******

When I ripped some music from CDs I saved them in the WMA format.  Later I learned that it would have been better to have them in MP3 format.  This format seems to work well with Google Music, Spotify and other things I like to do.  I downloaded and installed a program called: Switch Sound File Converter from NCH Software.  I used this program to convert the files from WMA to MP3.

I also downloaded and installed a file manager program called Double Commander which displays two file lists at the same time.  This is very handy if you want to quickly selected and drag and drop files to copy from one folder to another.  I made good use of this program during the music file conversions.  One feature that was particularly useful was the ability to search for files with a particular file extension.  For example: when I thought I was nearing the end of the file conversion project I checked to see if there were files with the extension "*.WMA" that I'd missed.

During the last week I installed the Skype program on the laptop.  I added computer club member, Dan L., as my first contact.  I received my first call this evening when Dan noticed that I had Skype running and called.  It took a minute to get my bearings and turn off some music I had playing on the computer.  We conducted a nice video call of more than thirty minutes. At the end we hung up and I practiced calling Dan back to make sure I could initiate a call from my end.  I think we are ready to encourage some relatives in Panama to get Skype working.

Mr. Dickie

5 November 2011

Skype

Today eliminate procrastination. Complete the task before you.  (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 17 October)

******

Late yesterday afternoon Cyndi and I went to Lake Artemesia for a one-lap walk.  It took just over thirty minutes.  There were so many water fowl on the lake we couldn't count all of them.

I starting working on the project to install and learn how to use Skype.  The new laptop has a built in webcam and mic.  I'm hopeful we will be able to find someone in Panama who is interested in using this communication tool.

Here's a new amateur video I like:  The Look of Love

Mr. Dickie
2 November 2011

Old Tapes

In the recesses of our minds, each of us has old tapes stored away which tend to be played over and over again. These tapes may have been recorded so long ago that they have little if anything to do with our present situation.

The tapes which are recordings of positive thoughts and experiences can be helpful when replayed. Unfortunately, we each possess many tapes which are negative and self-destructive. They include resentments, fears, and hates. When one of these negative tapes begins to play, we may find ourselves ... [engaging in some self-destructive compulsive behavior].
(Food For Thought, 5 March)

• Yesterday afternoon I attended a very good meeting of the Computer Club at the Bowie Senior Center. There was a large crowd. Two of the members gave a demonstration of the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) using the SKYPE program. Program chairman, Dan Lee, has been using the SKYPE program to talk with and see his relatives in China. Eric gave members a preview of the replacement website for the club. Norman talked about some of the freeware programs that have many of the same capabilities as the commercial programs.
• Before I left for the meeting I discovered that the Pittsburg State University (my alma mater in Kansas) has a presence on Facebook. I clicked the button to become "a fan" whatever that means. I also discovered several other pages with the school logo. I didn't have time to look at those.
• I noticed that a couple of people found my genealogy "news" blog and enrolled as "followers." I'm not certain yet what this means. I do appreciate their interest.
• Melva moved to her sister's house to spend the night yesterday. The first few days of her visit are going to be very busy. She needs to spend time with her ill sister, take care of some personal business, and do a test to confirm that she can use the ATMs. Going on vacation for an extended period in another country isn't all "vacation."

Mr. Dickie