Saturday, January 31, 2004
Magic Folder
Most of us have confidential data on our computers that we'd just as soon not share with others---either occasional "borrowers" of our computer, or perhaps those lurking within the range of wireless local networks. I've looked a long while for software that hides this data from others and which is easy to use and not quirky.
This one seems to fill the bill. It's shareware, easy to install, and probably will work well beyond the 30 days they tell you it will.... Anyway, it's a quick install, prompts you for a password, and to show it which folders you'd like to "hide." Once hidden, they are really hidden, and not open to view, file changes, erasure, or copying. To "un-hide" them means simply using a hot-key sequence, typing in your password, and there your folders are again!
What's better, they disappear every time you turn your computer off, so that they may not be seen again until you've specifically told your computer to 'un-hide" the protected folders. I feel a bit more secure knowing that my confidential data is hidden from casual view and from others who might peruse my computer. Recommended.
Most of us have confidential data on our computers that we'd just as soon not share with others---either occasional "borrowers" of our computer, or perhaps those lurking within the range of wireless local networks. I've looked a long while for software that hides this data from others and which is easy to use and not quirky.
This one seems to fill the bill. It's shareware, easy to install, and probably will work well beyond the 30 days they tell you it will.... Anyway, it's a quick install, prompts you for a password, and to show it which folders you'd like to "hide." Once hidden, they are really hidden, and not open to view, file changes, erasure, or copying. To "un-hide" them means simply using a hot-key sequence, typing in your password, and there your folders are again!
What's better, they disappear every time you turn your computer off, so that they may not be seen again until you've specifically told your computer to 'un-hide" the protected folders. I feel a bit more secure knowing that my confidential data is hidden from casual view and from others who might peruse my computer. Recommended.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Audacity
I came across a reference to a FREE audio editor. The author of the article cited this as an ideal program to convert LP's or tapes to CD's. Apparently your turntable/amplifier or a tape player is connected to the "line in" inputs provided by most sound cards. Using this program, you can import, adjust, edit, etc. the incoming sound-track and get it ready for burning a music CD.
Meanwhile, as shareware, for audio editing soundtracks for Powerpoint, movies, or slideshows... look to Goldwave.
This is an editor which I've used for several years and which does everything I ask it to, and in such a simple way that I've never needed a manual. Using it, I convert back and forth from MP3's and also cut and paste sound snippits for the exact length I want for various slide shows. Warmly recommended. This one is not free, however. After a certain length of free trial, you're asked to pay their royalty fee. It's very reasonable, and I paid it after the first day, so convinced was I that this was the sound editor I was going to use forever.
I came across a reference to a FREE audio editor. The author of the article cited this as an ideal program to convert LP's or tapes to CD's. Apparently your turntable/amplifier or a tape player is connected to the "line in" inputs provided by most sound cards. Using this program, you can import, adjust, edit, etc. the incoming sound-track and get it ready for burning a music CD.
Meanwhile, as shareware, for audio editing soundtracks for Powerpoint, movies, or slideshows... look to Goldwave.
This is an editor which I've used for several years and which does everything I ask it to, and in such a simple way that I've never needed a manual. Using it, I convert back and forth from MP3's and also cut and paste sound snippits for the exact length I want for various slide shows. Warmly recommended. This one is not free, however. After a certain length of free trial, you're asked to pay their royalty fee. It's very reasonable, and I paid it after the first day, so convinced was I that this was the sound editor I was going to use forever.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Simply the best way to manage your digital photo files....
THUMBSPLUS
Download it for a free trial, and if you're like most folks, you'll never go back.
THUMBSPLUS
Download it for a free trial, and if you're like most folks, you'll never go back.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Photography!
Need a little spiritual uplift? Go surf around "USE FILM's" website. A treasure trove of the most amazing photography you'll encounter in one place at one time.
Need a little spiritual uplift? Go surf around "USE FILM's" website. A treasure trove of the most amazing photography you'll encounter in one place at one time.
USB 2 and such.
USB 1 is great. You can plug things into your computer, and they actually work! Sometimes, especially with Windows XP, you don't even need to install any software drivers. It just works. Ahhh... But, if you do have to install those pesky drivers, it's only the first time (provided you always plug your device into the same USB port in future...) I started with one USB device, but rapidly expanded to 4 or 5. My computer in those days only had 2 USB ports: I had to add a "USB HUB" which plugs into one of those ports, but then opens into 4 more attachments. The better ones of these are "self powered" which means they have their own AC adaptor. I had a printer, scanner, voice recorder, wi-fi adaptor, and modem all up and running and they even co-existed without problems. Pretty smooth.
But the world doesn't sit still, especially in computerdom. Digital cameras have such a heavy load of data to download that another sort of port had to be provided for them. The "Firewire" (IEEE-1394) port transfers data 10x faster than USB.
USB manufacturers, not to be outdone, developed their own standard, the "USB 2" which is about the same speed as firewire. Nowadays, better scanners, newer printers, and lots of those Flash Drivers utilize USB 2. As time passes, I believe that nearly all devices will use USB 2 instead of the older standard. (Some devices will downgrade themselves to talk to USB 1, but you wouldn't necessarily want this: e.g. scanners are slow enough as it is...)
So, how do we mere mortals get USB 2? Or firewire? Enter the computer manufacturer's who make an expansion board for the inside of your computer. This slips in easily and in a few short moments is working. It provides two external USB 2 ports, one external firewire port, and one each of the above "internally." These latter turn out to be important.
In most people's case, the back of the computer isn't "exactly" (not even remotely!) where you want these attachments to be. No, you'd like 'em right up front, easy to find, easy to reach. Again, the manufacturer's come to the rescue, making a so-called "front panel." In this case, this baby does more than simply connect those "internal" ports to the front panel where you can reach 'em. It provides a USB 2 card reader for every sort of memory (digital camera) card out there. Not for everybody, perhaps, but I'm one step closer to that digital camcorder.
USB 1 is great. You can plug things into your computer, and they actually work! Sometimes, especially with Windows XP, you don't even need to install any software drivers. It just works. Ahhh... But, if you do have to install those pesky drivers, it's only the first time (provided you always plug your device into the same USB port in future...) I started with one USB device, but rapidly expanded to 4 or 5. My computer in those days only had 2 USB ports: I had to add a "USB HUB" which plugs into one of those ports, but then opens into 4 more attachments. The better ones of these are "self powered" which means they have their own AC adaptor. I had a printer, scanner, voice recorder, wi-fi adaptor, and modem all up and running and they even co-existed without problems. Pretty smooth.
But the world doesn't sit still, especially in computerdom. Digital cameras have such a heavy load of data to download that another sort of port had to be provided for them. The "Firewire" (IEEE-1394) port transfers data 10x faster than USB.
USB manufacturers, not to be outdone, developed their own standard, the "USB 2" which is about the same speed as firewire. Nowadays, better scanners, newer printers, and lots of those Flash Drivers utilize USB 2. As time passes, I believe that nearly all devices will use USB 2 instead of the older standard. (Some devices will downgrade themselves to talk to USB 1, but you wouldn't necessarily want this: e.g. scanners are slow enough as it is...)
So, how do we mere mortals get USB 2? Or firewire? Enter the computer manufacturer's who make an expansion board for the inside of your computer. This slips in easily and in a few short moments is working. It provides two external USB 2 ports, one external firewire port, and one each of the above "internally." These latter turn out to be important.
In most people's case, the back of the computer isn't "exactly" (not even remotely!) where you want these attachments to be. No, you'd like 'em right up front, easy to find, easy to reach. Again, the manufacturer's come to the rescue, making a so-called "front panel." In this case, this baby does more than simply connect those "internal" ports to the front panel where you can reach 'em. It provides a USB 2 card reader for every sort of memory (digital camera) card out there. Not for everybody, perhaps, but I'm one step closer to that digital camcorder.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Shopping on the high side.
We took our aunt to her dialysis and got a stark reminder of "there but for the Grace of God go I," and just how things may end up. Not that it isn't a minor miracle in its own way. A rather smallish machine, a very efficient (if undoubtedly expensive) operation), plenty of amenities (if you HAVE to sit in one place) for 3 hours, and a pleasant staff.
But, it's Scottsdale, after all, and so in the three hours, we took off to one of their trendy shopping centers. That'll be two in Scottsdale we've visited, and both are built, strangely in this huge land, in a rather condensed, vertical, almost European fashion. Three levels, mounded parking garages (with hardly a spot to be had), dark pedestrian ways, and lots of little "courtyard-y" places.
I decided that if I couldn't buy anything anyway, I'd see how the top .1% lived. Into Neiman Marcus, where I found the perfect pair of Feragamo dress shoes for $1500. Into Baily, Banks and Biddle where a lovely Baum and Mercier wristwatch could adorn my wrist for $10,000. And then into a fairly amazing Bang and Olufson store where there latest conical modern-art inspired loudspeakers sell for a mere $17,000. For that money, you get 10,000 watts of amplified power built in! Press a button (no, it's proximity-sensing, so no "pressure" required!) and a tiny loudspeaker emerges from the base, analyzes the sound bouncing back from the listening room, adjusts itself accordingly, and (according to them) reproduces the entire audio spectrum perfectly, now adjusted to every nuance of your room. Did it sound good? Well, yes, but that hardly seemed the point of such egregious excess. Want to see 'em? Click Here
What I thought was a somewhat better idea (and wondered just why all the "rest" of us weren't doing this already!) was one of their CD players BeoSound 3200. It incorporated a 40G hard disk (a tiny one by today's standards). You plugged in a CD, punched the record button, and its digital sound tracks were transferred (along with up to 400 others) onto the hard drive. The CD's could be retired to some dark drawer someplace, and you could access any one of those tracks, in order, or randomized for countless hours of play. Now THAT sounds like a much better idea. And it's all linked to your computer, if you so wish, for a more graphic display of just what you have and how to play it.
The B&O salesman tells me that their crew travels to every part of the U.S. to install home theaters. (If you have to ask, you can't afford it; he only talked to me 'cause I told him I "wintered" in Scottsdale---well, near enough---and summered in New Hampshire. I'm sure he wasn't thinking "RV." I could see Sugar Plums dancing in his eyes...) They had a specially built "HD" plasma screen on the wall of their listening room. Fiber optic "stars" twinkled in the dark ceiling above, and the effect, I must admit, was pretty mesmerizing. I've often heard that "once you've seen HD TV you won't want to go back," and it's true.
All of it fades in comparison with the knowledge that I, too, may one day have to have dialysis... Any of us might, or worse. I guess I don't need an HD TV.
We took our aunt to her dialysis and got a stark reminder of "there but for the Grace of God go I," and just how things may end up. Not that it isn't a minor miracle in its own way. A rather smallish machine, a very efficient (if undoubtedly expensive) operation), plenty of amenities (if you HAVE to sit in one place) for 3 hours, and a pleasant staff.
But, it's Scottsdale, after all, and so in the three hours, we took off to one of their trendy shopping centers. That'll be two in Scottsdale we've visited, and both are built, strangely in this huge land, in a rather condensed, vertical, almost European fashion. Three levels, mounded parking garages (with hardly a spot to be had), dark pedestrian ways, and lots of little "courtyard-y" places.
I decided that if I couldn't buy anything anyway, I'd see how the top .1% lived. Into Neiman Marcus, where I found the perfect pair of Feragamo dress shoes for $1500. Into Baily, Banks and Biddle where a lovely Baum and Mercier wristwatch could adorn my wrist for $10,000. And then into a fairly amazing Bang and Olufson store where there latest conical modern-art inspired loudspeakers sell for a mere $17,000. For that money, you get 10,000 watts of amplified power built in! Press a button (no, it's proximity-sensing, so no "pressure" required!) and a tiny loudspeaker emerges from the base, analyzes the sound bouncing back from the listening room, adjusts itself accordingly, and (according to them) reproduces the entire audio spectrum perfectly, now adjusted to every nuance of your room. Did it sound good? Well, yes, but that hardly seemed the point of such egregious excess. Want to see 'em? Click Here
What I thought was a somewhat better idea (and wondered just why all the "rest" of us weren't doing this already!) was one of their CD players BeoSound 3200. It incorporated a 40G hard disk (a tiny one by today's standards). You plugged in a CD, punched the record button, and its digital sound tracks were transferred (along with up to 400 others) onto the hard drive. The CD's could be retired to some dark drawer someplace, and you could access any one of those tracks, in order, or randomized for countless hours of play. Now THAT sounds like a much better idea. And it's all linked to your computer, if you so wish, for a more graphic display of just what you have and how to play it.
The B&O salesman tells me that their crew travels to every part of the U.S. to install home theaters. (If you have to ask, you can't afford it; he only talked to me 'cause I told him I "wintered" in Scottsdale---well, near enough---and summered in New Hampshire. I'm sure he wasn't thinking "RV." I could see Sugar Plums dancing in his eyes...) They had a specially built "HD" plasma screen on the wall of their listening room. Fiber optic "stars" twinkled in the dark ceiling above, and the effect, I must admit, was pretty mesmerizing. I've often heard that "once you've seen HD TV you won't want to go back," and it's true.
All of it fades in comparison with the knowledge that I, too, may one day have to have dialysis... Any of us might, or worse. I guess I don't need an HD TV.
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Flash Drives
Floppy drives are a thing of the past, whether 'tis good or not. They simply don't hold enough. And you can't burn a CD every time you want to transfer a file between computers. The answer is one of those new-age "memory stick" devices. It looks like 2" of a fountain pen, and inserts into the USB port of a computer. Most newer computers have a USB port right in front. All XP based computers "know" immediately all about such devices, and do not require any software installation whatsoever. All it takes is to insert the pen-like device, and you're ready to copy files to or from. Of course, it can be re-written an almost infinite number of times. And did I say that it was fast?
Really, one of those things that you wonder how you ever lived without, if you ever have need of carrying or transferring files. If you've converted to a digital camera, this is a great way to carry favorite images around. With "Irfanview" on the memory stick, you can show anybody with a computer your favorite pictures, and carry this neat little device in your pocket or on your keyring.
And by the way, that site, to which the above link leads is "newegg" which is the newest light on the block as far as very good prices on hardware and software. It also garners praise from its buyers. Check it out!
Floppy drives are a thing of the past, whether 'tis good or not. They simply don't hold enough. And you can't burn a CD every time you want to transfer a file between computers. The answer is one of those new-age "memory stick" devices. It looks like 2" of a fountain pen, and inserts into the USB port of a computer. Most newer computers have a USB port right in front. All XP based computers "know" immediately all about such devices, and do not require any software installation whatsoever. All it takes is to insert the pen-like device, and you're ready to copy files to or from. Of course, it can be re-written an almost infinite number of times. And did I say that it was fast?
Really, one of those things that you wonder how you ever lived without, if you ever have need of carrying or transferring files. If you've converted to a digital camera, this is a great way to carry favorite images around. With "Irfanview" on the memory stick, you can show anybody with a computer your favorite pictures, and carry this neat little device in your pocket or on your keyring.
And by the way, that site, to which the above link leads is "newegg" which is the newest light on the block as far as very good prices on hardware and software. It also garners praise from its buyers. Check it out!
IRFANVIEW
The world's greatest free file viewer. It's small, simple, and it works like a charm. In addition to being one of the quickest ways to view any graphics file, it also allows you to resize images, and make many basic changes, including hue, contrast, and more. If you allow it to associate with your common graphics file types (e.g. ".jpg" files), you can simply double click on any file of that sort and see it almost immediately: no waiting for clumsy Window's file viewers (which aren't nearly as nice) to come up! Recommended warmly.
The world's greatest free file viewer. It's small, simple, and it works like a charm. In addition to being one of the quickest ways to view any graphics file, it also allows you to resize images, and make many basic changes, including hue, contrast, and more. If you allow it to associate with your common graphics file types (e.g. ".jpg" files), you can simply double click on any file of that sort and see it almost immediately: no waiting for clumsy Window's file viewers (which aren't nearly as nice) to come up! Recommended warmly.
CLIPMATE
Did you ever want to cut and paste repeatedly? Cut more than one piece of an article before going over to do the paste jobs? Paste graphics or pieces of graphics onto word-processors? Keep your "clips" in a file for later use? Save these clips wherever you want? Encrypt them? Copy pictures from a graphics program into your word-processor?
You can copy a text file, run a spell check on it (provided!) and paste it back in, say, an e-mail, or you can tell it to strip out all of those repetitive "<<" marks that clutter up forwardings. Now what other program provides all of that?
Clipmate is the little program you've been wanting. It sits in memory, uses Window's own clipboard and if you want, works just like the old clipboard. But if you "cut" more than one piece, or a graphic, you can go back and find it and paste it wherever. Recommended. Not quite free, but inexpensive... Read about it.
Did you ever want to cut and paste repeatedly? Cut more than one piece of an article before going over to do the paste jobs? Paste graphics or pieces of graphics onto word-processors? Keep your "clips" in a file for later use? Save these clips wherever you want? Encrypt them? Copy pictures from a graphics program into your word-processor?
You can copy a text file, run a spell check on it (provided!) and paste it back in, say, an e-mail, or you can tell it to strip out all of those repetitive "<<" marks that clutter up forwardings. Now what other program provides all of that?
Clipmate is the little program you've been wanting. It sits in memory, uses Window's own clipboard and if you want, works just like the old clipboard. But if you "cut" more than one piece, or a graphic, you can go back and find it and paste it wherever. Recommended. Not quite free, but inexpensive... Read about it.
A very nice and free font manager: for those who want to "see" what fonts they have and use them more freely. X-fonter
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Those of you who would like to see this region in all seasons are invited to follow along the link below.
Superstition Mnt Gallery
Superstition Mnt Gallery
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Blog
a.k.a. blogger -or- blogrolling -or- weblog -or- Web log -or- blogosphere
A Web site (or section of a Web site) where users can post a chronological, up-to-date e-journal entry of their thoughts. Each post usually contains a Web link. Basically, it is an open forum communication tool that, depending on the Web site, is either very individualistic or performs a crucial function for a company
a.k.a. blogger -or- blogrolling -or- weblog -or- Web log -or- blogosphere
A Web site (or section of a Web site) where users can post a chronological, up-to-date e-journal entry of their thoughts. Each post usually contains a Web link. Basically, it is an open forum communication tool that, depending on the Web site, is either very individualistic or performs a crucial function for a company
I can't believe it!
Some families have the uncommon good fortune to transmit their various gifts/blessings from parent to child. The Barleen family has been running the Arizona Opry for the last 17 years, right here in lowly Apache Junction. The old man, now the head cook in their dining room, had at least 4 children---one set of gorgeous girl twins, two sons. The girls sing, play keyboards and strings (fiddle, guitar, you name it); the boys sing, help the kitchen, or put on comedy. All of 'em seem distinctively talented. And all, apparently, are happy and willing to carry on the family business, which is putting on a great show.
I'm not much into Country Western Music, so filter my words with knowing that it has to be pretty good to stir me much.
Our campground organized a trip to the establishment, a simple rectangular building with a stage built into the longer side. On it are a huge assortment of instruments. Most of them electonicized versions of keyboards, guitars, and things C&W. But also are a whole menagerie of odd and odder woodwinds and brass music makers. (Some of these I've never seen before---like a trombone in all appearances except it has no slide, and functions with 3-button valves much like a coronet).
One of those lovely twins married a rarified man who can---and does---play all 17 of them, in quick succesion, and all well. As a lowly saxophonist for all of my early years, I appreciate the difficulty of picking up a cold oboe and making it create beautiful music, or putting enough air into a bass saxophone (they ARE rare---none of been built since the 1930's and they weigh more than 90 pounds!) to create those distinctive bone-rattling bass tones.
You set down to a good roast beef dinner, and after a bit, the show begins. It's a lot of glitter and a lot of showmanship. They don't just do C&W, but also western classics (I didn't fully appreciate how different they were), rock and roll, theme songs from tv programs of the 1950's. I didn't realize what powerful waves of nostalgia waft over you when some of those nearly-forgotten tunes rifle the air. Things like the theme from Rawhide. Remember that one? Somehow the themes "seemed better in those days." (Could that be right?)
The guitarist is a gifted artist, whose flashy finger work is only complemented by the hilarious Elvis impression he created. If any person could move himself, from waist down, better than he, I can't imagine. As the announcer said, "this is one of those people who wear their clothes out---from the inside out." Believable.
I kept thinking the percussionist had the somewhat sad look of Abraham Lincoln. But he spiced up considerably when he 'let 'er wail' during his drum solo.
One of those sons came out and did a very reasonable facsimile of Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "16 Tons and whatta you get." And the comic cleaning lady, did her own version of the same---a take off on women's lib with a few morsels of truth in it---but more laughs.
Despite my cynical entrance, I found my feet tapping, my hands twitching until they forced me to let them clap, and when it was all done, I'd pledged to myself that I'd return to see their "even" show. (We saw the "odd" one, but they say the "even" one is even odder... Well, actually, there are two shows, and they alternate between even and odd dates.)
Some families have the uncommon good fortune to transmit their various gifts/blessings from parent to child. The Barleen family has been running the Arizona Opry for the last 17 years, right here in lowly Apache Junction. The old man, now the head cook in their dining room, had at least 4 children---one set of gorgeous girl twins, two sons. The girls sing, play keyboards and strings (fiddle, guitar, you name it); the boys sing, help the kitchen, or put on comedy. All of 'em seem distinctively talented. And all, apparently, are happy and willing to carry on the family business, which is putting on a great show.
I'm not much into Country Western Music, so filter my words with knowing that it has to be pretty good to stir me much.
Our campground organized a trip to the establishment, a simple rectangular building with a stage built into the longer side. On it are a huge assortment of instruments. Most of them electonicized versions of keyboards, guitars, and things C&W. But also are a whole menagerie of odd and odder woodwinds and brass music makers. (Some of these I've never seen before---like a trombone in all appearances except it has no slide, and functions with 3-button valves much like a coronet).
One of those lovely twins married a rarified man who can---and does---play all 17 of them, in quick succesion, and all well. As a lowly saxophonist for all of my early years, I appreciate the difficulty of picking up a cold oboe and making it create beautiful music, or putting enough air into a bass saxophone (they ARE rare---none of been built since the 1930's and they weigh more than 90 pounds!) to create those distinctive bone-rattling bass tones.
You set down to a good roast beef dinner, and after a bit, the show begins. It's a lot of glitter and a lot of showmanship. They don't just do C&W, but also western classics (I didn't fully appreciate how different they were), rock and roll, theme songs from tv programs of the 1950's. I didn't realize what powerful waves of nostalgia waft over you when some of those nearly-forgotten tunes rifle the air. Things like the theme from Rawhide. Remember that one? Somehow the themes "seemed better in those days." (Could that be right?)
The guitarist is a gifted artist, whose flashy finger work is only complemented by the hilarious Elvis impression he created. If any person could move himself, from waist down, better than he, I can't imagine. As the announcer said, "this is one of those people who wear their clothes out---from the inside out." Believable.
I kept thinking the percussionist had the somewhat sad look of Abraham Lincoln. But he spiced up considerably when he 'let 'er wail' during his drum solo.
One of those sons came out and did a very reasonable facsimile of Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "16 Tons and whatta you get." And the comic cleaning lady, did her own version of the same---a take off on women's lib with a few morsels of truth in it---but more laughs.
Despite my cynical entrance, I found my feet tapping, my hands twitching until they forced me to let them clap, and when it was all done, I'd pledged to myself that I'd return to see their "even" show. (We saw the "odd" one, but they say the "even" one is even odder... Well, actually, there are two shows, and they alternate between even and odd dates.)
Oh, here's the site if you wish to set up your own.... http://new.blogger.com/
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Blogging is a new thing for me. We're full-time RV'ers, "settled down" for the season at Gold Canyon RV resort in the small unincorporated town by the same name. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, it's really just east of Apache Junction, the easternmost suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. AS such, it is on the edge of the developed "valley" and abuts desert on 3 sides, yet easily connects with the larger urban pleasures of the greater Phoenix area.
Phoenix itself gets a lot of bad press. For our money, we've found it to be easy to navigate for the most part. Where we are at least (and probably for only a few more years), the air is clear, the traffic noise fairly minimal. There are all sorts of great restaurants, cultural events, and shopping (including the all-important computer stores...)
We've been 'working for our stay' here. Of the last three work-camper experiences, this is by far the best: the resort is 5-star and quite luxurious by most standards. We're very close to the Superstition Mountains and their visage dominates every glance. Every morning when I get up and look at those rosy-pink craigs, I'm thankful to be in a lovely spot. I work in the office, Pat works in the Post-Office (campground). 4 days' work combined---not bad for a lot of extra time to do the other things we're interested in doing.
And when I hear from folks back home where it's below zero, I give thanks a second time, that we can enjoy brilliant sunlight, 70-degree "perfect" days, albeit somewhat "cool" evenings (almost down to freezing one day).
Two links give you an opportunity to email me/we and visit my Jokers and Pegs website.
Phoenix itself gets a lot of bad press. For our money, we've found it to be easy to navigate for the most part. Where we are at least (and probably for only a few more years), the air is clear, the traffic noise fairly minimal. There are all sorts of great restaurants, cultural events, and shopping (including the all-important computer stores...)
We've been 'working for our stay' here. Of the last three work-camper experiences, this is by far the best: the resort is 5-star and quite luxurious by most standards. We're very close to the Superstition Mountains and their visage dominates every glance. Every morning when I get up and look at those rosy-pink craigs, I'm thankful to be in a lovely spot. I work in the office, Pat works in the Post-Office (campground). 4 days' work combined---not bad for a lot of extra time to do the other things we're interested in doing.
And when I hear from folks back home where it's below zero, I give thanks a second time, that we can enjoy brilliant sunlight, 70-degree "perfect" days, albeit somewhat "cool" evenings (almost down to freezing one day).
Two links give you an opportunity to email me/we and visit my Jokers and Pegs website.
