Thursday, September 17, 2009

WELL HERE I GO TRYING LIVE WRITER

 IMG_0677SOME WINDMILLS FOR MIKE:))

I think this is our 17th consecutive day of beautiful warm sunny weather but I am looking forward to some predicted rainy days at the beginning of next week.  I like the change in pace plus I need some serious time to get things caught up here in computerland.  It's hard for me to sit inside on nice sunny days because the guilt just drives me bonkers.  Always feel I should be outside doing something constructive.

DSC_0004  HAULED THESE BIG CEDARS HOME TO-DAY

Knee is still acting up but things outside don't get done by themselves so I hooked up the utility trailer & hauled some branches & stuff down to our waste recycle area here in the park.  Many times in the past I have ended up hauling more stuff home than what I took there & to-day was no exception.  Spotted about a dozen 15' cedar trees that had been pulled out of the ground & discarded.  The trees were still fresh & had fairly good root systems on them so them so no way I could just leave the trees there to die.  Ron, our Park's number 1 employee came by in his little 'Skid-steer' machine & between the two of us we got all the big trees loaded onto my trailer. 

DSC_0005WE HAVE A SANDY LOAM SOIL HERE SO I USE LOTS OF PEAT MOSS FOR PLANTING

I knew my neighbor Richard would like some of these cedars so when I got home I had Richard come over & we took 4 of the trees to his place.  I then started digging big holes out front here at home & spent the next hour or so planting 5 big cedars.  They may or may not live but at least now they are back in the ground with plenty of water & peat moss & have a fighting chance.  Four years ago another neighbor pulled out 32 cedar trees & I was able to salvage 25 of them which are still growing to-day.

DSC_0009

I read another one of RICK'S informative blogs this morning about the Windows Live Writer.  I remember giving that a try 3 or 4 months ago one time but got so bogged down in Windows downloads that I'm not even sure if I ever made it to the Live Writer part.  Must have been a low patience day for me because I dumped the whole thing after about 20 minutes of blundering around in a Windows pea souper of a fog.  I have a short attention span & if I can't make headway with something in a short period of time I turf it & head off in another direction.  I almost did that again to-day when once again I went Windows hunting for....... 'Live Writer.'

Waded through the usual morass of Microsoft Windows downloads, add ons, plug ins, plug outs, free this & that, toolbars, crowbars, chocolate bars.   I somehow ended up with another hotmail account along the way called Live ID or something.  By the time I found Live Writer I had already misplaced & lost it.  I think it must have been sandwiched between Windows live Bloogerbulst  & Microsoft's myopic Umplestencer!! Just could not get a concept in my head of what or where this Live Writer thing was supposed to be.  The ticking clock was counting down on my patience meter & I had to make a decision.  Turf the whole Microsoft Windows Bloogerstencer idea or call for back-up!!  I called for back-up.  

DSC_0006LOTS OF WATER & PEAT MOSS GO INTO THE HOLE FIRST

Within minutes, or was it seconds,  Kelly took over the computer's flight controls & had Live Writer up & on the screen as if there was nothing to it.  And for her, there wasn't anything to it but I'm another story.  She always finds stuff I can't, see's things I don't, & has the uncanny ability to have lost forever items appear magically out of nowhere.  Whether it be a computer program, a shirt, pair of gloves, a coffee cup or a lost hammer.  Makes no difference, she always finds stuff.  I bet she could find Amelia Earhart too!!

Haven't decided yet if I'm going to try Live Writer or not to-night.  Had a quick look at it earlier & saw some things I liked.  I should probably play around with it first before trying a blog but like everything else I get I'm always too impatient to learn how to use it first.  Just jump into the pilot's seat, crank up the engines to full  throttle & head off screaming down the runway.  

DSC_0014OK, JUST ONE MORE TREE TO PLANT

In MIKE & PAT'S TRAVELS a couple days ago Mike was talking about his childhood & his fondness for windmills.  That reminded me of a windmill photo I had take this past March on our way home from Arizona.  I think it was somewhere around Bowie Texas that I spotted a bunch of windmills huddled to-gether in a field.  By the time I got my camera swung around we were almost past them but I did get one shot out the motorhome's window & that's the photo that heads this blog.   Ride on over to MIKE'S blogger site & see how he spent a big part of his younger days on his horse Angel, riding the range checking windmills for maintenance repairs & water.  As a boy his horse Patches took him to school & back & sometimes in some mighty deep snow.   A true cowboy this fellow.  A lifestyle I only dreamed about as a kid.

Kelly tells me this afternoon that we may have to extend our departure date to October 24th instead of the 17th because of her Deerpark Lodge job.  Al is not a happy camper!!!!

OK, I have just put this altogether using Windows Live Writer.  Tried out some picture frames too.  I think I’m maybe going to like this…….we’ll see:))  If I go to publish this thing now & it all goes glooberfooster I’m a gonna be really ticked off & may run away to a foreign country & bury my head in the sand!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Remember to smile.......it gives your face something to do!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

8 comments:

  1. I know the feeling Al, I have had Live Writer around for a year and still can't get the photo part to work. Oct 24th sounds like heaven to me, I think this working thing is addictive and I may not get away this winter, but I will at least be able to enjoy the SW through your eyes. Keep 'em open and on the road my friend.

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  2. Al, when clicking on the pictures in this blog, they don't come up nice and big like they used to. I think that is too bad because there are not enough details. I hope you'll change that again because I really like your pictures, you do an excellent job.

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  3. Loved the WINDMILLS,,,neat!!
    Thanks you very much for the nice comments and mentioning my Blog. If I could do HALF as good as you do I'd be happy...

    Don't work to hard!!

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  4. Al, your blog looks terrific - congrats! I really like the 'reflection' border you used for the windmill pic at the top - very nice. If you hadn't said so, I never would have guessed this is your first post using Live Writer. Can't wait to see what you can do with the pics you take on your upcoming trip.

    A one week delay in your takeoff time? Just add a week to the end! Small stuff - right?

    Just one more quick note to hopefully save you some time(and Kelly too - lol), and maybe a bit of frustration, you can control the size of the 'enlarged' pic to display when it is clicked on in your posted blog.

    When you insert the pic in your blog, just click on it, then click on "options" in the 'task pane' and when the pop-up window shows, just pick a size from the drop-down box, or enter a custom size in width and height(make sure lock ration box is checked).

    Great start!!!

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  5. Holy large photos batman! Are you trying to kill my bandwidth? Luckily right now I'm on CG wifi.

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  6. Slow down, Al! You're getting way ahead of me - first your blog is wider than mine, now you're using Live Writer (and very well, I can assure you!). I'll never catch up!

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  7. Hi, Al. I use Windows LiveWriter all the time now. A tip on the photos (which I learned when my readers complained about my photos begin cut off the page): don't size them any larger (using the options on the right when you highlight the photo in your blog) than 600 pixels wide. If you are using a "table" to put photos side by side, the total width should be under 600 pixels (2 photos side by side, each photo 300 pixels each).

    Livewriter gives you LOTS of wonderful photo options, including writing little captions that show up when a reader hovers their cursor over the photo... but for me, the two best things about Live Writer:

    Copies of your blogs are saved on YOUR computer where you can back them up (remember to do so!), a huge bonus.

    and

    You can create your blog posts OFFLINE - you don't have to be connected to the i-net to blog. We use an aircard, and sometimes we don't have service (rarely). I can create one, two, or more blog entries offline, ready to post when we have i-net again. Totally cool!

    Email me privately with questions; I love LiveWriter and am glad to help (email address is on my profile page, or Facebook).

    Safe travels!

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  8. I tried Live Writer and it worked, but I never found the need for it. I sometimes compose offline in Word and then cut and paste to the blog when I'm online. Works for me, and I think my patience meter might be slightly lower than yours! I don't do many photos, mainly because I just take pictures for my enjoyment but am not very good at it (If I still had 40 year old eyes I would be much better!).

    Your blog is great no matter how you do it.

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