techie win and loss

I had some technology wins and losses last weekend.

I checked out my first ebook from the library.  I added it to my cart, checked out, and like magic it was on my kindle. This opens a whole new world of possibilities.  I have the book for 2 weeks, so I need to finish it up this week - before it disappears off my kindle.

I dropped, and cracked, my phone.  Honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner than this.   Luckily, it still works and I'm going to get a replacement phone soon.  I was really hoping to get the same phone I had, but its not made and not available through the insurance.  I did think about buying through ebay but decided against it.  wish me luck on moving everything over to the new phone!

Birthdays, siblings and Olympics

We had a lot to celebrate this week.

On Wednesday we went to my in-laws to celebrate our niece and nephew’s birthdays.  Since their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart and our niece is too little to really understand what her birthday is (except an excuse for presents!)  it works really well to celebrate them together, so we’re taking advantage of that while we can.     We kept it small this year, just family, and had pizza, ice cream cake (so good!), and presents.   I love that our nephew felt he had to explain to us that the candles on the cake were a 7 for him and a 3 for his sister, not 73 in case we were confused.

Kevin picked out some binoculars for our nephew, and I had fun picking out clothes for our niece - a cute Tinkerbelle dress and a watermelon rainbow shirt.  She loved the clothes, whereas our nephew told us repeatedly to get him “anything but clothes”.   He liked the binoculars and we hope it’ll

I think he liked the binoculars, and we hope he’ll  be able to use them at Texans games, or camping, and probably for spying on people on in the neighborhood (sorry neighbors).    They are designed for kids – can withstand being dropped, sounds like the kind this clumsy girl needs!

On Thursday, I was able to visit with both siblings.  My brother & wife were in town from Austin for the day and had made plans to go to new Chinatown with my sister and her guy.  I was really happy to be able to join them.   We had Malaysian food (a first for me).    Sister’s boyfriend ordered some dishes for us to share family-style, and I had my favorites – a beef curry dish, and a beef noodle dish – but don’t know what they were called….after dinner we went for a shaved ice dessert.   Luckily we all split one, it is shaved ice, covered in cut-up fresh fruit of your choosing, then smothered in evaporated milk, and topped with a scoop of ice cream .  it is just as decadent (and cold) as it sounds, and the dish is huge…5 people all got their fill from that one dish.  Its not often we can all get together and we had a great time visiting.    Kevin wasn’t able to join us L, he’d had to spend most of the day on school stuff – he was getting things set up for the classes to take a test next week, including putting his tech skills to the test figuring out how to load everything needed for the online class. 

On Friday we watched the Olympics opening ceremonies.    I loved it!    Seeing the progression of England from pastoral times to the industrial revolution and then to the digital age.  I couldn’t get over HOW the transitions happened.  I also loved the cameos – Mr. Bean, hilarious! 

I think this is the first time I’ve watched the entire parade of nations, and am always astounded at how many countries I’m not familiar with.   I do love that they show where they are on a map on the tv screen.  I feel like I need to study a world map afterwards, and am amazed at how small some countries of the world are, one had less than 10,000 people!  (finding someone to date and marry must be tough, wouldn’t’ you be related to almost everyone?) We’ll be watching a lot of Olympic coverage over the next few weeks, and I love seeing the sights of London, this is one of the few Olympic cities (maybe the first?) I’ve actually been to..

After the busy week, it was nice to be at home yesterday, we were pretty busy taking care of things around the house but being home is a different busy then being out.  We got a lot done - yard work, cleaning the house and laundry, and even gave S a bath - so today we should be able to sit back and relax a little bit (and watch some Olympic coverage)

Austin

Its been a busy week over in the Tucker house....Kevin is loving teaching!    He'll give his first quiz tomorrow, I can write that since its not a pop quiz - he told them it was coming up.   I also seriously doubt any of his students would ever read this blog....

We took a quick trip to Austin with friends over the weekend and had a great time.  We listened to some good music on Sixth Street and visited with everyone.  With everyone's schedules, it was a once in a blue moon sort of trip to get 7 people, most of whom have kids, away for an adult fun weekend.  We will have to make an effort to make more trips with friends - plans are in the works for a 2013 trip with some of my very good friends from college!

The rest of the group stayed at a hotel, but Kevin and I stayed with my brother and his wife, a great chance to visit with them for a bit and see their cute kitties - one of them will give you a 'high five'!   We also saw Rocky bird, don't think he remembers us.


On Sunday, we had some great BBQ at Salt Lick.   Note to self - they are BYOB and cash only (good thing they have ATMs on site!)

Professor's first day

Kevin had a great first day of work!    It poured rain all day, unfortunately it flooded many homes and came close to the rain some areas had during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001.   Luckily he has a big truck so water was not an issue for him and he gets to park in a garage and the walkway is covered all the way to the building.   He didn't want to be soaked to teach the first class!    He actually had to check to make sure the campus wasn't closed before heading over.

There were some bumps in getting going - the door was locked and he had to track down where to get his key, then he couldn't get his computer log-in to work.  He knew what the problem was since he worked in IT so long, he just had to get one question answered (which domain to use).  The IT department will either love him or hate him since he's worked in IT,  love him because he can help himself in many ways, hate him for the same reason.   Those bumps got him a little flustered, but he calmed down as he started lecturing and really enjoyed it!    He has about 25 students in the in-person class and 35 in his online class.   He's so glad to have the first day out of the way and ready to start up again next week.

I spent the better part of the day in the Amarillo airport due to rain delays in Houston, but was very fortunate to get put on a flight that same day to get home (many ahead of me were being told they could fly tomorrow).   My flight was cancelled but they put me on a flight that was an earlier flight that hadn't arrived yet -- the plane was stuck in Houston.   My original flight was scheduled for 1:20, the one they put me on was scheduled for 10:47 am and we finally left Amarillo about 3:30 pm.  The Amarillo airport was comfortable if you have to be stuck somewhere - they even have a long tabletop with chairs and plugs everywhere, perfect for laptop work!  The food selections were VERY limited (it has one eatery for the SEVEN gates)...

I made it home in time to have dinner with Professor Tucker and hear all about his first day.   He told me that he can't believe he gets paid to do this!!!  I'm so proud of him!   I know he had moments in school when he worried he made a mistake, its hard to do a career change and being on one income for 2 years has been tough.   I know he made the right decision, and his new career will make him happy which is what I want for him and better for both of us.  

I also am so amazed he can get up and lecture and enjoy it!  The thought of getting up and lecturing to people every day makes me feel ill, I don't think I could do it...I do presentations for work sometimes, and am very glad each time they're over.


Unrelated - happy 3rd birthday to our beautiful niece!!!

Amarillo

Hello from Amarillo!   I had a heck of a time getting here on Monday.   The sky opened up and poured down rain and so I could tell my flight wouldn’t be on time.   A woman I was supposed to travel with let me know from Waco that all flights in Houston were grounded before they told us anything IN Houston.   

We waited and waited, while the waiting area got more and more crowded – since no one was ever leaving and more and more people were arriving for their flights.  I lost my seat when I got up once to use the restroom and eventually sat on the floor to make use of the only unused plug I could find.  I had to keep my phone charged to keep in touch with the woman in Waco – we’re sharing a rental car here – and keep K updated, as well as to make some phone calls to make sure my rental car would still be there for me, and to use the time to go ahead and confirm appointments for later in the week (in Amarillo).

I did finally get on my way about 3 hours later, I was pretty fortunate that it wasn’t cancelled and I still got in at a decent hour.   I grabbed a yogurt to eat in the airport, it was the best thing I could find some the only eatery near me was primarily a bar.

I had debated whether or not to bring my book because it is so thick (Game of Thrones book #4 over 500 pages).  I’m glad I did since I had lots of time to read in the airport and I cannot read fast enough what is happening to everyone.

Its been a busy couple of days.  We’ve toured a couple of hotels to find a place that we can hold our conference in 2015 (seems so far away).  We’ve also had time to see some of the other attractions to help with planning for other events during the conference – we visited Palo Duro Canyon today, gorgeous and surprising sight in the middle of the plains.      

We found a winner of a hotel today!  It has everything we need and is taking good care of us here too.  I could get used to being wined and dined!

 
I am glad I'll head home tomorrow so I can ask K how his FIRST DAY OF WORK WENT!   so excited for him starting his new career, and he's already getting questions from students :)

adventures in power washing

We power washed the patio today (thanks Dad for letting us borrow your powerwasher!)  I didn't realize how dirty the concrete was until we started making clean and could compare. We got rid of a lot of dirty, some spots from the smoker, and some mildew.   I did remember to take one photo.   We can tell a difference as we look at it but i don't think a casual observer would notice the difference.

I thought of  the title for this post while I watched a commercial for the movie "The Sitter", does anyone else think its just an updated version of "Adventures in Babysitting"?   We'll probably watch it, I just wonder why it seems like there aren't new ideas for movies.

Tomorrow I'm headed off to Amarillo for some TAIR work, let me know if there are any places I need to see while I'm there!

Back to School

Today we did a different kind of back to school shopping for K.   Most "back to school" shopping is for the students, but we went for him as the professor!

He needed some new clothes before he starts the new job on Thursday (we're both so excited for him to start).  He can't go into the classroom to teach wearing shorts and t-shirts and that seems to be what most of his wardrobe has become since he's been a full-time student the last two years.  He did dress up a bit for his TA class in the fall, but even those clothes were getting ragged.  He only shops when its necessary and hadn't been in quite a while.

We got a good haul of shirts in many different colors -- I even put them in the closet like a rainbow (left brain fun!   He loves the golf shirts since they are cool and 'wick' away sweat, some even have SPF protection, not really necessary in a classroom, but could come in handy if he wears them out and about.    He also got some new pants, undershirts, a belt, socks and even underwear!  About the only thing he didn't need was shoes.  He should be set for awhile.   I think this is the first time I'd seen him actually use the dressing room - good thing to since with all the different cuts and feels of fabrics he needed to use it.  Most of the time he'll just grab something in his size and go -- me, I always have to try it on...and I think he may be a convert!

We also bought a laptop for him so he can do all of his work for his classes.  He won't have an office, so having a computer he can take with him to class and bring with him if he goes anywhere will be key.   I'd never seen a laptop with the number pad before, but they have them now - key for when he has to enter grades!    He spent part of this evening getting it all set up and is ready to go!

Tahoe recap

Hope everyone is having a great Independence Day!  We're enjoying a day at home, and I was able to write up our trip and load the pictures...enjoy!

Our trip to South Lake Tahoe was exactly what we wanted.  We’d decided we wanted something more on the relaxing end of the spectrum.    When we go to a new city we want to explore and see and do everything but for this trip we wanted to go somewhere we wouldn’t feel like we had to see and do a lot so we could take time out to relax, read and just enjoy some quality time together.

We did just that – we explored the town when we felt like it, and also spent a lot of time just reading books, sitting out on the patio enjoying the weather, played the new board game K had bought, and even went to see a movie!

The weather was better than we could’ve asked for – sunny and cool.  So cool, that we actually had to grab jackets for some of our outings.

We did a little bit of sightseeing.   We had many good views of the lake, it is beautiful and so clear!   I couldn’t take my eyes off it.    One day we drove out to the Tallac Historic site to see several houses that had been built as summer houses.   One was very rustic, the other – the Pope Estate- was very formal and beautiful.   We took the guided tour (the only way you can go inside it), and were impressed with it.   The house would be wonderful now – K was in love with the den, and even saw that he has some of the same books they had on display (books from the time period, but not necessarily the exact books they had).   It must’ve been quite a spectacle back in the 1920s.  Our tour guide was in a 1920s costume and talked to us as if we were guests of the house, which was a fun way to view it.   The owners of the house were out, so we were able to see their living quarters (we couldn’t if they were there).   From the start it had running water and electricity and the house had separate guest houses and even a small schoolroom on the site.      I cannot even imagine traveling back then to get their – it would have taken 2 trains and a boat to get there from San Francisco.

The rest of our time we spent in the city and made some trips back and forth across the border to Stateline, NV.  It is odd to be somewhere that you can so often travel across the border- NV-CA-NV-CA, I kept forgetting which state we were in!    I also found it so funny how the casinos go right up to the state line (also a street intersection).  

Kevin’s birthday was during our trip and we spent part of his birthday afternoon at the casino.    He will usually just watch me play, but I finally got him to play after I quickly lost most of what we started with ($40).    He really enjoyed playing craps – after a while we finally understand it - and had a run of beginners and birthday luck!    He was up most of the time and having fun.  We ended up about even and what we did spend ($7) made for a very cheap afternoon of entertainment, and we had a bunch of free drinks while we played!

From our hotel, we were able to walk to some restaurants and also ventured off in the car to some others.  My favorite restaurant of the entire trip was Scusa Italian Ristorante.   The food was delicious – the bread they bring out is focaccia and the dipping sauce included balsamic vinegar, very different and delicious.   We each had a pasta dish and it was very fresh.   K even enjoyed the sun-dried tomatoes in his dish!  Other standout restaurants – Swiss Chalet (a first for us to have Swiss food) and Kalani’s – Pacific Rim inspired food.  We went during happy hour to take advantage of that menu, it was still kind of pricey.    They also had sushi.  I could not get over how many sushi restaurants there were in town!  Pizza I understand – it’s a ski city in the winter and pizza is warm and filling and makes the kids happy, but sushi?   Not sure how so many different places can make it…

We hardly ever go to the movies at home,  mostly wait until Netflix has it, so we treated ourselves to a movie on the trip.   We went to see “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”, a very different movie.  We both enjoyed it, though a movie about the end of the world is sort of a bummer.   I did enjoy seeing Steve Carrell in such a different role, and we spotted people we recognized from other NBC shows!

We also took over the table in our room (we were lucky enough to have a kitchenette in the room) with K’s new board game, Twilight Struggle.   He’d wanted to find a game designed to be a two-player game, and he found a doozy!    It is about the Cold War (right up his alley).    We are still learning how to play, the rule book is big and tough to read.   We played one whole game there in several different sittings and are playing again now that we’re home.  Its complicated and we’re each still learning the strategy.   I think we’ll enjoy it for quite a while, and I am learning more about the Cold war since most of the cards are referring to actual historic events.

In case you are interested, here is where we stayed and I’d recommend it.   It’s a mix of rentals and owned units.  They had lots of amenities, including movies for rent and we got them to bring us a wine opener so we could have some wine in our room one night (we saved some money by getting some breakfast and dessert stuff at a Safeway about 2 blocks away – we walked to it!)     Only annoyance, the walls must be thin or the neighbors we had are just annoying, we got a NOISE complaint for watching a movie at 9 at night, we had to turn the volume up to bear the dialogue, but it was not loud enough to keep anyone up and who goes to bed at 9 anyway?   Even the officer who came to tell us seemed confused….

All photos here.

Wordless Wednesday

Lake Tahoe