We have moved our departure date back from this Wednesday to this coming Saturday. We are kind of like the walking wounded here at the moment. Kelly with her bad cold & me with a painfully troublesome right leg that isn't easing up. Also, we don't want to take any of Kelly's cold germs with us when we go to visit Uncle Harry this week & we do not want Kelly's Mom catching anything when we get there either. Hopefully by the end of the week Kelly will be out of the woods & it really doesn't matter how my leg feels. I'll just throw it in the rig & bring it with me anyway.
OUR MORNING WALKS HAVE BEEN A BIT ON THE SOGGY SIDE THE PAST COUPLE MORNINGS
Kelly spent quite awhile on the phone this morning with companies like Verizon, Hughes Net, the 3G Store, & several other internet type carriers & equipment places. Our house in Congress is in a Verizon fringe zone & we have been going around in circles trying to come up with a best solution for internet when we get there. There is a Verizon signal but it was weak so we were thinking of alternatives. Verizon assured Kelly today, changes to the towers have been made & we will see a change in signal strength when we return to Congress. If need be, we will upgrade our older 3G Verizon Mifi to a new 4G Mifi. The more powerful 4G network will be in the Congress area very shortly, but in the meantime the newer 4G Mifi is still able to function with the older 3G system. We have our fingers crossed that this is all accurate information coming from Verizon. We're fine for TV with our Shaw satellite dish so the only problem left to solve is the very weak & poor cell phone coverage. And, it is the Canadian Bell Telephone plan cell phone connection Kelly needs because it is the Deer Park Lodge phone we carry. May have to push Deer Park a little harder for a necessary phone upgrade. The Samsung work phone Kelly now carries is about 5 years old. We think a new more powerful techno-age phone could very well solve the weak cell phone connection we have in Congress, Arizona.
KELLY WORKS THE PHONES THIS MORNING
Spent most of the day in my recliner in hopes of totally resting my right leg. I have obviously pulled, strained, or screwed something up in my hip & thigh area sometime in the last few weeks. Had been doing a lot of landscape gardening & was up & down off the ground quite a few times so obviously something has been irritatingly wrenched out of whack. Not impressed with this rotten aging process!!
TIS THE SEASON TO RAKE PINE NEEDLES
Mr. Ed from the FLIP FLOP RESORT INN cleared up the mystery of the cell phone in the Hosta leaves with a follow-up comment today. In it he said, “Look at the photo, the one on your blog site. From left to right 3/4 to right. Now top to bottom look down 1/4
In the opening of the leaves looks like chrome trim of an outline of a black phone laying sideways. Looks like 3 sides”.
![DSC_8967_thumb[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICGKWnLS91G-mcM18_U56XL3lGDgHJ3UMLHjGsKNFBBhgH5M7lYorEaG0eZ1Sa_whH07PWbh2Y2ZgsAkVHa-x1_0UUITX6HZvXKHQ6Ig2VSZPZ-lBdWFiosjzQVHqd2Ie-wPxNg/s1600-h/DSC_8967_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "DSC_8967_thumb[1]")
LEFT PHOTO WAS ON THE BLOG SITE & AREA OF CELL CONFUSION IS ENLARGED ON THE RIGHT
A FEW QUICK CLICKS OF THE MOUSE WITH PICASA’S ‘RETOUCH’ TOOL TOOK CARE OF THE REFLECTED FILL-IN CAMERA FLASH ON A STEM THAT LOOKED LIKE THE CHROME SIDE OF A CELL PHONE:))
Sometimes I hear the word ‘cheating’ when it comes to retouching a photo. There is definitely two schools of thought when it comes this subject & no broad sweep of a paint brush can fill in a general answer. Personally, I do not see it as cheating, but we are getting close to another age old question……what is art? If I wake up in the morning & my hair is a mess, is it cheating if I comb it before going out in public? A teen-ager puts a dab of Clearasil on a pimple to cover it up, is that cheating? When I did that in high school I didn’t think I was cheating anyone, I just didn’t want to look like a Doink. How about ladies putting on make-up in the morning before heading out….is that cheating? Not in my books it isn’t. If a photo contest specifies in it’s rules that photos must not be retouched, & a competitor does some retouching anyway, is that cheating? Darn right it is!! The rules specifically stated, no retouching. Had I been on the ball with that Hosta photo above, I would have removed that distracting ‘hot spot’ that Ed thought might have been a cell phone, therefore eliminating any confusion. Oh, & why was I in the doghouse on Sunday nights post? (photo) Good question Donna…………..I can’t remember. Well, that’s my excuse today & I’m sticking to it:))
THE MISTAKE I MADE IN THIS PHOTO WAS HAVING THE WRONG LENS HOOD ON WHILE USING A WIDE ANGLE LENS WHICH CAUSED THE DARKNESS IN THE CORNERS
Know that when you see those super great photos of perfection in magazines or in those many emails & Power Point presentations traveling around the internet, most of them only look like that because of the many great photo editing programs available to everyone today. And, you do not have to be a photographer to effectively learn & skilfully use any of these program. But, ya do gotta have a mess of good smarts to understand them there mind twistin Photoshop programs all right!! That’s why I don’t use them & stick with Picasa instead……………….10-4:))
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A 6-year-old and a 4-year-old are upstairs in their bedroom. "You know what?" says the 6-year-old. "I think it's about time we start cussing." The 4-year-old nods his head in approval. The 6-year-old continues. "When we go downstairs for breakfast I'm going to say hell and you say ass." "OK!" The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.
Their mother walks into the kitchen and asks the 6-year-old what he wants for breakfast. "Aw hell, Mom, I guess I'll have some Cheerios."
WHACK! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up, and runs upstairs crying his eyes out, with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear every step. The mom locks him in his room and shouts "You can just stay there till I let you out!"
She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4-year-old, and asks with a stern voice, "And what do YOU want for breakfast young man?
"I don't know," he blubbers, "But you can bet your ass it won't be Cheerios!"
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are better off than a lot of humans."
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I hope Kelly feels better soon and your leg improves.
ReplyDeleteIn 2012 I don't feel there's anything "wrong" with making a "good" photo "better." The modeling industry would be down the drain if there were no photo editing.
In my way of thinking, setting up the shot and taking the photo is only half of the "creative" process. By the way, there is another "free" program that I sometimes use called "Photo Scape." Just my two cents worth...
I loved the groaner tonight and cut and pasted to send it to my daughter-in-law in NY, mother of 6 & 4 yr old boys.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I liked the 3G better than the new 4G. I don't notice a difference in service, but the 4G has a lot of icons and annoying messages. I don't want messages on my MiFi and haven't yet figured out how to retrieve them, nor do I care. I think they are all from Verizon.
I don't see photo processing cheating unless you break specific rules in a contest. DSLR isn't as good as our eyes. Or at least as my eyes used to be. Dam that time and gravity stuff.
ReplyDeleteBetter not to travel while sick. Hope you both feel better soon. Or Pheebs will have to drive.
Glad you are out of the doghouse regardless of why you were in there!! Hope the leg feels better before you have to use it to push on the gas and brake for that long trip. I agree that retouching should only be considered cheating if a contest specifically states no retouching. Otherwise, it is part of the creative process. Like I always say about wearing make-up...if the barn needs painting...
ReplyDeleteAdjusting the camera isn't cheating but adjusting the image is.... What's the difference?
ReplyDeleteAnd you are absolutely right not to pass that cold on to anyone that is more senior in years... Better to pass on the visit, or like you decided just change the target dates... Arizona isn't going anywhere...
"3G" "4G". It's all a foreign language to me. At the moment anyway.
ReplyDeleteAll I suspect is, I'd take anything that a phone carrier has to say about "up and coming improvements" with a huge lump of salt. Not just a grain.
There was something I saw yesterday that comes to mind. A room full of boisterously laughing office type workers (obviously a call-in centre) and one of them is saying, "And then I said, "your call is important to us"," and that's why they were laughing.
A good summation I'd say.
We are going to hook up to the telephone companies high speed data line when we get to Congress... We have it here in Florida at our Friend JRoger and susans place...It is sweet,,,has spoiled us! So nice to play a video and have it play straight through....Check it out,,,,,,all you need is a phone line,,,you can put it on vacation when you leave. We will still keep our Verizion cell phones....Hope you both get to feelin better!!
ReplyDeleteGet well soon then y'all can hit the road, don't wanna take the germs across the border. Hope the hip and leg gets better soon, mine acts up all the time, pinched nerve.
ReplyDeleteFor me a quick chiropractic adjustment fixes it up.
Hope the hip gets better, Kelly's cold improves and you get the phone situation solved. I've (Janna) been having the same thing--hip and posterior thigh pain--think it is sciatica--a doctor once told me--don't sit, especially slouched in a chair or recliner--lay down or stand. I sit on a heating pad and alternate with ice--it helps. And didn't you just have a birthday a few days back??
ReplyDeleteAl,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was camphosting last summer in the mountains of Central Oregon, I had no cell phone service inside my rig. I had to go up high on a hill to make a call.
I then purchased a Sleek Model 285225 from the 3G Store. I also have a Millenicom Hotspot probably similar to your MIFI. I could slide the Hotspot into the Sleek unit and it greatly improved my Internet connection.
I could also slide my phone into the Sleek and it would improve my phone from no bars to two bars, enabling me to make calls from my rig.
The Sleek works great! You may have to upgrade Kelly's phone to a slimmer model that you could use with the Sleek.
I still use my Sleek even camping here in Fernley, Nevada.
Jim
There's the beauty in "no reservations"...You can adjust your lift off time according to your own needs...Hope you both feel better and Saturday is the day...I'm getting anxious!!
ReplyDeleteOk I'm takeing my whipping like a big boy
ReplyDeletePlease let me say I'm sorry
Sorry
Some times the minds eye see things that are not there as i posted to you in this case
as you undoubtedly know some view photo thought there minds eye
no two see the same thing as one
I wished you had left the untouch photo as is
Your photos are Yours in your minds eye as you see them, that your kind enough to share Thank you
Mister Ed
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It still looked like a phone BUT only to Me