Is your cell phone an occasional convenience or a constant necessary business tool?
Do you like to be constantly available to all and sundry who might decide to call you or do you like being having time free from interruptions?
How essential have they become to everyone from kids to grannies?
Everyone has their own answers and reasons why they want or don't want such a convenience.
I like having one, although I can go days without sending or receiving a call or text. Sometimes I even forget to turn it on. It'd be different if I depended on it for business, but it's just for my convenience when I'm out that I have it. I've had several different models and now have a Samsung Galaxy S, which is more computer than phone I'm thinking. Someday I'll learn to use more of the functions and download more 'apps'. In the meantime, I'm thankful for a son-in-law who is a computer guy and comes over to solve my problems.
My husband, on the other hand, lives and dies by his Blackberry. This past weekend was a real challenge for him. His phone 'white screened' on Friday. He couldn't even turn it off without taking the battery out. There was no place open all weekend where he could get it fixed. One outlet told him that when the phone white screens it has to be totally reset...meaning that he'd lose all his data. He went into withdrawal...depression...frustration...you name it. Easily 80% of his business is conducted via Blackberry. The chiefs call and text him at any time of the day or night. All his contacts (and he has hundreds), all his appointments, travel claim information, etc. are in his Blackberry - with no backup or easy paper source. He was lost. On the upside, he had a peaceful weekend without the nuisance of phone calls and text messages. Finally on Monday he was able to take his phone back to where he bought it only to be told that the software had crashed, as we had already been told. They fixed it - loaded new software - and gave it back to him, completely empty of all his important information. He'll be spending hours inputting his contact list, contacting his assistant for his appointment schedule (he has missed several appointments already) and recreating his business life.
I think we have become too dependent on these little tyrants. When they rebel and trash our vital information, we're lost.
I'm going to use my phone for fun and convenience. I still have an old-fashioned paper address book, and write appointments on an old fashioned wall calendar. While I love and appreciate all this new technology, I'm going to remember to keep paper backups of important stuff. No paperless world for me!
And Lloyd's happy now and looking forward to retirement when he can use his cell phone for enjoyment rather than as a business tool.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Poor Kenzie
Our 7-year old granddaughter, Kenzie, had been suffering with a tooth ache for almost a month. Her dentist said that her upper 6-year molars were rotting from the inside. Poor Kenzie was so upset thinking that she had done something wrong or wasn't brushing properly but the dentist assured her that it wasn't her fault. She had hypoplasia enamel, probably due to a high fever when those particular teeth were forming. Their decay was inevitable.
Today she had oral surgery to remove both of them - general anesthesia so she was asleep for the whole process. Mickey and I were there for moral support and to help Amy bring Kenzie home while she was still weak and groggy. The Dentist showed us the extracted teeth which were strangely huge with vaguely deformed long roots...no wonder they were hurting her.
Ready to go home, with gauze in her mouth
Today she had oral surgery to remove both of them - general anesthesia so she was asleep for the whole process. Mickey and I were there for moral support and to help Amy bring Kenzie home while she was still weak and groggy. The Dentist showed us the extracted teeth which were strangely huge with vaguely deformed long roots...no wonder they were hurting her.
Straight from recovery, all Kenzie needed was her Mom to hold her and tell her everything is going to be all right. Our Amy is a very loving and caring Mom.
Ready to go home, with gauze in her mouthThe good news is that her 12-year molars (when they come in) will most likely drift in to fill the gaps thus allowing room for the wisdom teeth to come in without problem when she's older.
Always looking for the silver lining...
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Playing Catch Up
We've been so busy since getting home on Sunday that I haven't had a chance until now to post an entry. This is a catch up one, in point form.
1. We arrived home from AZ around after midnight Sunday night. I didn't miss my connecting flight but had to spend three hours in the Minneapolis Airport waiting for it...it's a beautiful airport, but I was too tired to explore it much. Lloyd and I arrived in Edmonton within minutes of one another and met up in the customs and immigration area. Never travelling separately again...too worrisome.
2. On our last night in AZ we went to our friend Les' hallowe'en display, which he and his buddy call the "Haunt" for a trial run. It was quite impressive. One of us screamed like a sissy at one point of the tour! My pictures didn't turn out very well because of the dark and my lack of knowledge of tricky photography.
3. The AZ pool heater was repaired on Monday, after we got home, so now we need to go back just for a swim :) We really missed using it during the week we were there. It was a minor problem that was fixed with the flick of a switch!!! If only we had known!
4. We missed hallowe'en with the kids. On Monday night Amy dressed her 3 oldest kids up in their costumes and came down to show us how they looked. She forgot to take pictures of them when they went out 'truck or treating' so I took some for her on Monday.
5. Was good to get back to my 'job' looking after Sara's 4. It's nice to miss and be missed by the grandkids.
6. Lloyd and I babysat for Rob and Cindy last night while they went to the Oilers game. Too bad our team lost, but we enjoyed the two grandkids for the evening.
7. We're going to the hospital tonight to visit an old roommate of mine who is there with hallucinations brought on by Parkinson's. It's sad to see old friends actually getting old.
8. Tomorrow our #7 baby Emily and her husband Allan are coming over for dinner and fun.
9. Friday is my fun day with Mickey, which I'll have to cut short to help Amy with transport 7-year old Kenzie home from her dental surgery.
10. And on the weekend, we'll relax, I hope.
1. We arrived home from AZ around after midnight Sunday night. I didn't miss my connecting flight but had to spend three hours in the Minneapolis Airport waiting for it...it's a beautiful airport, but I was too tired to explore it much. Lloyd and I arrived in Edmonton within minutes of one another and met up in the customs and immigration area. Never travelling separately again...too worrisome.
2. On our last night in AZ we went to our friend Les' hallowe'en display, which he and his buddy call the "Haunt" for a trial run. It was quite impressive. One of us screamed like a sissy at one point of the tour! My pictures didn't turn out very well because of the dark and my lack of knowledge of tricky photography.
This guy was about 15 feet high.
3. The AZ pool heater was repaired on Monday, after we got home, so now we need to go back just for a swim :) We really missed using it during the week we were there. It was a minor problem that was fixed with the flick of a switch!!! If only we had known!
4. We missed hallowe'en with the kids. On Monday night Amy dressed her 3 oldest kids up in their costumes and came down to show us how they looked. She forgot to take pictures of them when they went out 'truck or treating' so I took some for her on Monday.
5. Was good to get back to my 'job' looking after Sara's 4. It's nice to miss and be missed by the grandkids.
6. Lloyd and I babysat for Rob and Cindy last night while they went to the Oilers game. Too bad our team lost, but we enjoyed the two grandkids for the evening.
7. We're going to the hospital tonight to visit an old roommate of mine who is there with hallucinations brought on by Parkinson's. It's sad to see old friends actually getting old.
8. Tomorrow our #7 baby Emily and her husband Allan are coming over for dinner and fun.
9. Friday is my fun day with Mickey, which I'll have to cut short to help Amy with transport 7-year old Kenzie home from her dental surgery.
10. And on the weekend, we'll relax, I hope.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Heard Museum, Phoenix
Following the advice of a couple of blogger friends (Lucy and Brenda) who live in the Phoenix area, Lloyd and I did a field trip to the world famous Heard Museum in Phoenix this afternoon.
It's a beautiful museum, established by the Heards in the 1920's and is devoted to the history and artifacts of the native peoples of the Southwest. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can read about the founders, Maie and Dwight Heard.
The exhibits and displays were beautiful. We took a guided tour of it and then wandered through the individual special exhibits ourselves. Here is some of what we saw.
This display was of interest to to Lloyd because it mentions the Dine (Navajo) people of Arizona, who are related to the Dene people of Northern Alberta, who Lloyd has been working with for the past 17 years.
This statue is at the entrance to the museum. It represents the native people on the southwest.
Baby carriers from hundreds of years ago.
This is a portion of a long piece of wall depicting a desert fence. These were originally made from the spines of old saguaro cacti. The modern ones shown here are made of clay, sticks and blown glass. Very beautiful when you see the entire wall.
An attempt at capturing the beauty of the entire wall.
These next two pictures were taken in a special exhibit of blown and sand etched glass created by an amazing native American artist. After I took these two pictures, the security guard came and very nicely told me that we were not supposed to take any pictures in the glass exhibit...so I stopped taking any more. Pity - the exhibit was the most beautiful I've seen.
These two masks were in a dark area, on a black wall. Each mask was backlit with what looked like flames behind the glass. Only by looking very carefully could you make out the shape and features of the faces. Very impressive glass blowing.
This is a little boy's outfit - several hundred years old. A lot of fancy beadwork for a child's outfit that he would probably outgrow within a year.
Another special exhibit there was the Andy Warhol one, with his famous Campbell soup can redone with a southwest indian twist.
I loved the colors in this one - it's actually a replica of the Indian head nickle if you look closely.
We saw so much more there that I didn't try to photograph. It's well worth the trip to go see the museum next time any of you are near Phoenix. We also drove around the neighbourhood around the museum. It's historical houses from the 1920s and 1930s. Very beautiful. Every two years they are open for tours. The next tour is on mine and Lloyd's 40th wedding anniversary - March 27, 2011. Maybe we'll be able to go.
It's a beautiful museum, established by the Heards in the 1920's and is devoted to the history and artifacts of the native peoples of the Southwest. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can read about the founders, Maie and Dwight Heard.
The exhibits and displays were beautiful. We took a guided tour of it and then wandered through the individual special exhibits ourselves. Here is some of what we saw.
This display was of interest to to Lloyd because it mentions the Dine (Navajo) people of Arizona, who are related to the Dene people of Northern Alberta, who Lloyd has been working with for the past 17 years.
This statue is at the entrance to the museum. It represents the native people on the southwest.
Baby carriers from hundreds of years ago.
This is a portion of a long piece of wall depicting a desert fence. These were originally made from the spines of old saguaro cacti. The modern ones shown here are made of clay, sticks and blown glass. Very beautiful when you see the entire wall.
An attempt at capturing the beauty of the entire wall.These next two pictures were taken in a special exhibit of blown and sand etched glass created by an amazing native American artist. After I took these two pictures, the security guard came and very nicely told me that we were not supposed to take any pictures in the glass exhibit...so I stopped taking any more. Pity - the exhibit was the most beautiful I've seen.
These two masks were in a dark area, on a black wall. Each mask was backlit with what looked like flames behind the glass. Only by looking very carefully could you make out the shape and features of the faces. Very impressive glass blowing.
This is a little boy's outfit - several hundred years old. A lot of fancy beadwork for a child's outfit that he would probably outgrow within a year.
Another special exhibit there was the Andy Warhol one, with his famous Campbell soup can redone with a southwest indian twist.
I loved the colors in this one - it's actually a replica of the Indian head nickle if you look closely.
We saw so much more there that I didn't try to photograph. It's well worth the trip to go see the museum next time any of you are near Phoenix. We also drove around the neighbourhood around the museum. It's historical houses from the 1920s and 1930s. Very beautiful. Every two years they are open for tours. The next tour is on mine and Lloyd's 40th wedding anniversary - March 27, 2011. Maybe we'll be able to go.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A Day With Daniel
The reason (excuse?) we're down here in Arizona this week is so that Lloyd, as CEO of NPTC, and his nephew Mark (IT Guy for NPTC)
can meet with Les (Remote Computer Consultant)
to work on reconfiguring the Tribal Council's technology needs. Mark brought his 14-year old son Daniel, who has Downs, with him. So while the guys were working in our dining room, Dan and I hung out in the back yard.
Daniel tells stories. He kept me entertained for a couple of hours with reports of the movies he's watched, stories about his imaginary girlfriend Britany, and jokes. Although I had to strain at times to understand all he was saying, he was great company and we spent a fun afternoon together.
Although it was almost 80F outside, our pool heater is broken so the water was too cold for wimps like us to go swimming. The temptation was too much for Dan though and after awhile he whipped his shirt off, followed by his shoes and socks, and rolled up his jeans and sat dangling his feet in the cold water. Of course, I followed his example (except for the shirt-taking-off part) and we sat and kicked water at each other.
When the guys were finished their meeting, they came out and joined us for awhile, and Lloyd got the camera and took the pictures posted here.
Today Daniel is excited to be going golfing with his dad and Uncle Lloyd while I'm staying at the house waiting for someone to come and fix the pool heater and service the AC...and I'm scrapbooking while I'm waiting, so I'm a happy camper.
It feels good to be here.
can meet with Les (Remote Computer Consultant)
to work on reconfiguring the Tribal Council's technology needs. Mark brought his 14-year old son Daniel, who has Downs, with him. So while the guys were working in our dining room, Dan and I hung out in the back yard.Daniel tells stories. He kept me entertained for a couple of hours with reports of the movies he's watched, stories about his imaginary girlfriend Britany, and jokes. Although I had to strain at times to understand all he was saying, he was great company and we spent a fun afternoon together.
Although it was almost 80F outside, our pool heater is broken so the water was too cold for wimps like us to go swimming. The temptation was too much for Dan though and after awhile he whipped his shirt off, followed by his shoes and socks, and rolled up his jeans and sat dangling his feet in the cold water. Of course, I followed his example (except for the shirt-taking-off part) and we sat and kicked water at each other.
When the guys were finished their meeting, they came out and joined us for awhile, and Lloyd got the camera and took the pictures posted here.
Today Daniel is excited to be going golfing with his dad and Uncle Lloyd while I'm staying at the house waiting for someone to come and fix the pool heater and service the AC...and I'm scrapbooking while I'm waiting, so I'm a happy camper.
It feels good to be here.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Reflections
"Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Sitting by the pool last night, with the backlights on,
I was able to capture in the still water of the pool, the reflections of the palms.
I was able to capture in the still water of the pool, the reflections of the palms.
And again early this morning, the reflections were again easily captured.
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves,
and not to twist them to fit our own image.
Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
and not to twist them to fit our own image.
Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Perils of Flying Separately
The following was written while I sat in the San Francisco airport yesterday. Although I was hooked to the WiFi, I was unable to get it posted. So I'll post it today so you can sympathize with me.
-------------
Oct. 24, 2010 (Lloyd's birthday)
Usually I enjoy flying. Just 3 hours gets me out of the frozen north that is Edmonton in winter and into the balmy heat of Arizona.
Not so much today. For one thing, I'm alone. Lloyd's assistant booked his flight and I booked mine using Air Miles. I managed to sync my flights so that we left and arrived within half an hour of each other so we could travel to and from the airport together.
We didn't take the weather and connector flights into consideration though. Lloyd was an hour late arriving in Phoenix because of a delay in Calgary, but that was all right because I got stuck in foggy, rainy San Francisco.
San Francisco Airport - Oct. 24, 2010
We were held up sitting on the tarmac in Edmonton for an hour because of the foggy and congested conditions in San Francisco, then had to circle the SF airport for awhile before we could land, and by then my connector flight had left without me and a bunch of other people.
At the time of this writing, I'm on standby on a flight that leaves 7 hours from now. If I can't get on that one, I'm confirmed on one that leaves at 10:30 tomorrow morning!! Sleeping in an airport will be a new and exciting (?) experience for this 62-year old grandmother! We'll hope I get on standby. Hundreds of people are frantically trying to find their way out of SF - all planes arriving and departing are late because of the dense fog and rain.
I thought I'd make the best of a bad situation and walk around the terminal taking pictures of interesting sights, but after two pictures, my camera's battery died and my arthritic knees were yelling at me to sit down already.
Meantime, in Phoenix, Lloyd has decided to hang out at the airport until he hears whether or not I get on standby tonight. Our van is parked at the Phoenix airport but the keys to it are in my purse here with me! If I can't get out of SF until tomorrow, he'll take a cab home to Surprise and come back for me tomorrow after picking up our spare van keys there. We are not happy campers! Thank goodness we have cell phones and have been able to keep in touch via texting through all of this.
We have vowed NEVER to travel separately on vacations ever again...and we'll use direct flights!!
--------------------
October 25.
All is well in Camelot! After a very stressful and extremely exhausting day I was incredibly relieved to hear my name called for standby - I even had a great aisle seat, just as I had originally booked. Finally at 10:30 last night we got to our Surprise home, after being in airports and planes since 5:30 that morning.
I was very impressed with the United Air customer service people. They were inundated all day with upset passengers but were very courteous and friendly with me and did their best to see that I got where I was going.
I hope travelling home on Hallowe'en is easier. At least I don't have to worry about being fogged in in San Francisco. What can go wrong with a Minneapolis layover??? We'll think positive and say "Absolutely nothing".
-------------
Oct. 24, 2010 (Lloyd's birthday)
Usually I enjoy flying. Just 3 hours gets me out of the frozen north that is Edmonton in winter and into the balmy heat of Arizona.
Not so much today. For one thing, I'm alone. Lloyd's assistant booked his flight and I booked mine using Air Miles. I managed to sync my flights so that we left and arrived within half an hour of each other so we could travel to and from the airport together.
We didn't take the weather and connector flights into consideration though. Lloyd was an hour late arriving in Phoenix because of a delay in Calgary, but that was all right because I got stuck in foggy, rainy San Francisco.
San Francisco Airport - Oct. 24, 2010We were held up sitting on the tarmac in Edmonton for an hour because of the foggy and congested conditions in San Francisco, then had to circle the SF airport for awhile before we could land, and by then my connector flight had left without me and a bunch of other people.
At the time of this writing, I'm on standby on a flight that leaves 7 hours from now. If I can't get on that one, I'm confirmed on one that leaves at 10:30 tomorrow morning!! Sleeping in an airport will be a new and exciting (?) experience for this 62-year old grandmother! We'll hope I get on standby. Hundreds of people are frantically trying to find their way out of SF - all planes arriving and departing are late because of the dense fog and rain.
I thought I'd make the best of a bad situation and walk around the terminal taking pictures of interesting sights, but after two pictures, my camera's battery died and my arthritic knees were yelling at me to sit down already.
Meantime, in Phoenix, Lloyd has decided to hang out at the airport until he hears whether or not I get on standby tonight. Our van is parked at the Phoenix airport but the keys to it are in my purse here with me! If I can't get out of SF until tomorrow, he'll take a cab home to Surprise and come back for me tomorrow after picking up our spare van keys there. We are not happy campers! Thank goodness we have cell phones and have been able to keep in touch via texting through all of this.
We have vowed NEVER to travel separately on vacations ever again...and we'll use direct flights!!
--------------------
October 25.
All is well in Camelot! After a very stressful and extremely exhausting day I was incredibly relieved to hear my name called for standby - I even had a great aisle seat, just as I had originally booked. Finally at 10:30 last night we got to our Surprise home, after being in airports and planes since 5:30 that morning.
I was very impressed with the United Air customer service people. They were inundated all day with upset passengers but were very courteous and friendly with me and did their best to see that I got where I was going.
I hope travelling home on Hallowe'en is easier. At least I don't have to worry about being fogged in in San Francisco. What can go wrong with a Minneapolis layover??? We'll think positive and say "Absolutely nothing".
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