Fast Food Blogging

I signed up for Twitter some time ago but really have not used it. I notice that more and more of my online buddies are signing up also. I have wondered what Twitter is useful for but I think it is like fast food blogging. One liners which really don't warrant a full blog post are okay on Twitter. That is if anyone is interested in the minutiae of my day.

I did not know this, did you?

I found this bit of information at Frostfirebuzz.com. I had no idea that Canada was supplying that much oil.

On the Google seesaw

Google has downgraded me again, so I am Page Rank 2 now, so there goes the opportunity to make a few bucks. I think I will forget it, it makes the whole blogging thing a pain.

True, I have not been blogging so much lately but there are more things to do in life than blog don't you think.

I'm back

Image via Wikipedia

After all the anxiety of taking the trip down to the Lower Mainland I actually enjoyed the drive. It is such a long way that I had been a bit nervous about it. We live about 177 miles or 285 km east of the Alaska Panhandle, and to drive to Vancouver was quite an undertaking for me.

I left here Sunday at 5:15 am and drove to Cache Creek arriving at 2:30 pm. I hadn't stopped except to get gas so I pulled over to get a coffee and decide whether to continue on through the Fraser Canyon to Hope as it was still early. There had been quite a bit of traffic from Williams Lake on and some of the drivers were very aggressive, I guess all trying to get back to Vancouver for that evening. I had developed a bit of a headache and was a little tired and although my goal had been Hope in the first day I though better of it as the trip through the Canyon is very twisting and there are several tunnels and it is no place to be when fatigued. So I found a motel for the night and took myself out for a Greek dinner. Roast Lamb and Greek Salad. Very nice, and took a walk afterwards. It was still very hot, must have been in the 90's.

Next morning I left Cache Creek about 6 am and arrived at my hotel in Coquitlam at 11 am and my room was ready so that was great timing. I had the Fraser Canyon all to myself and it was a lovely run. Later I found out there had been a bad accident in the canyon the evening before and all the traffic had had to be re-routed back to Cache Creek and then over to Merrit in order to get to Vancouver. I was grateful for that headache, it had caused me to stop overnight, and because of it I avoided that accident and the re-routing which would have been a real nuisance.

My son picked me up from the hotel and we collected Daniel, the almost 5 year old, from daycare and went home to meet the new baby, Aiden. I spent the day with them and all next day, and after breakfast on Wednesday I left the lower Mainland at 10 am and headed back up the canyon on the way home.

I had planned to meet with a blogging friend on the way back but I had got my dates wrong and we missed each other. I drove on and over nighted in Quesnel and the next day made it home around 4 pm after stopping in Burns Lake for some groceries.

My little car behaved beautifully and now I have done the first long trip by myself I have overcome that particular fear and I can plan more trips. My next one will be to Calgary in two or three weeks, to see my other two sons. It is about the same distance but going east through the Rockies.

Vain and impatient womanhood

I cleaned out the car today, sorted out the clothes I am taking, got my snacks planned and did most of the things ready for my big trip on Sunday. I have put numbers in my new mobile phone but I can't use it here as we don't have access but when I get on to the highway it will be fine and that is what I bought it for. There are a few places on the trip that it will not work but on most of the highway one can use a phone, not that I have any intention of driving and using it, it is really only if I get into car problems.

Now I am waiting to go. I hate that don't you, sitting around waiting because it is not yet time to go. I plan to leave about 5:30am Sunday leaving hubby snoring in bed. I won't wake him, just slip out.

I finished my library book but don't want to start the next one until I get to the first night's stop as it will be a long evening alone in the hotel. I colored my hair as can't let the grand kids see an old hag so I will be a slightly younger one instead. Tried out some new makeup I bought. Wanted a new look. How can I still be so vain at 61, I thought by the time I got to this age I wouldn't care, but I think I still fuss just as much as when I was 21.

Dropped over to return a crock pot to a friend in the village and had a cup of tea and chat. She said she had been wanting to talk to me all day as she had something on her mind and was so busy baking for a bake sale that she couldn't take time to come up. So it was good that I called her about dropping off her pot. I don't generally visit people.

She wanted me to pray with her because she is having to go for scans for possible cancerous lumps in her neck. I felt terrible, she thinks I am this really spiritual person and I know I am not. I felt I might let her down until I reminded myself and her that it was not about me but all about Him. I anointed her with oil and prayed and the scan will tell the story. She will know in a few weeks.

It has been cold enough today for me to put the propane on and we are sitting here with sweaters on too. This has been a cold summer and it won't be long before the snow falls again around mid September. My flower boxes are way behind where they were last year. I don't think I am going to get much of a show of flowers at all. There again we are unlikely to have any forest fires.

Two more sleeps till I go!

7 Google Docs Templates Which You’d Love

Isn't this neat I sent this post from Google Reader by email. I have never done that before. Another little computing trick.

Sent to you by Vic via Google Reader:

7 Google Docs Templates Which You'd Love

via Google Tutor by Abhijeet Mukherjee on 7/17/08

Google Docs has announced the inclusion of various pre-designed templates for spreadsheets, documents and presentations. It's certainly a great addition and Google Docs has now become more useful than ever.

Now when you want to create a resume, monthly budget planner or a photo album in Google Docs, you don't need to sit and start from scratch. You can just choose from the 300+ templates available and create the document right away. While I was browsing through the templates store, I found some really nice and useful templates, which I'm sure you'll find useful too.

1. Personal Monthly Budget

Personal Monthly Budget is a template which helps you monitor your monthly budget. It has various fields where you can enter your expenses and compare them with your income and hence plan your expenditure accordingly.

2. Video Christmas Card

Video Christmas Card is a cool christmas card template which has a place to put a nice video. You can choose any video and place it directly in the template.

3. Home Expense Calculator

Home Expense Calculator lets you easily calculate and check your home expenses.

4. Event/Wedding Guest List

Event/Wedding Guest List is one of the hottest templates right now. Although it's a simple one which lets you make a list of your guests in a wedding or an event, it's being used by many Google docs users everyday.

5. Birthday Reminder Page

Birthday Reminder Page is another extremely useful template which can be printed out and pasted somewhere on a wall, to keep track of birthdays of your family and friends.

6. Comprehensive Travel Itinerary

Comprehensive Travel Itinerary lets you keep a record of your travel requirements and hence makes sure you don't forget things before going on a trip.

7. Scrapbook Album

And the last in my list but least by no means, Scrapbook Album is a cool template which lets you create a a scrapbook which includes your favorite photos.

If you are a Google Docs user I'm sure you'll like these templates and they'll make you more productive while working on different documents.

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Anxiety is a crippling problem

My husband is older than I and I often worry if I will be able to make it on my own, especially living here in the middle of nowhere. With about a quarter acre of land to look after, snow to remove and things that go wrong in a home when you can't get people to come out to fix them. He is so competent that I just depend on him to do all these things. Although turned 70 he is very fit and strong and could well outlive me. I also am constantly going over our finances in my head even though we are not in anyway going without and thinking about if my pension will be enough etc. if I am on my own.

Lately I have been anxious about a long trip I will be taking by myself this Sunday and returning Wednesday, about 1,600 miles round trip. It seems I have lost my sense of adventure, I did lots of things when I was younger but now I am over 60 I seem dominated to some extent by fear. I don't know if this is age related or the fact that having got married to my dear competent and protective husband ten years ago I have learned to lean on him too much. Something I would advise women, who generally outlive their husbands to avoid doing. It is quite crippling to be come dependent.

The other thing that is a problem right now is my blood pressure, it keeps dropping too low and I feel faint. The doctor is aware of it. Right now I feel a bit peculiar and yesterday it was 85/53 but later went up to its normal 118/65 so I think I will go and put my feet up for a bit.

I thought I needed it inspite of what he thinks, so there!

I felt I needed a mobile phone to go on these trips to the Lower Mainland and Calgary, so I picked up one today. I have never used one before. It was quite inexpensive only $69.99 with $50 prepaid card.

Hubby can't understand why I feel I need one but I think it is a long way to go by myself and if anything should happen to the car I can call for assistance. He feels that since it is a new car I won't have problems, and probably I won't, but I will feel better knowing I can lock the doors and call for help. When we bought the car we purchased road side assistance too. I insisted, but he pointed out that we probably will not use it because it was only good for three years and a new car should not break down in the first three years. It is the major difference between us, in that he feels he can handle any situation himself, which he probably can, he is a big strong man and can fix almost anything. Whereas I am the complete opposite and would be clueless if I had a flat tire or something and would be a bit leery of accepting help, especially on Highway 16 there have been so many women gone missing on this road.

Anyway I bought one, now I have a problem we don't have any service from the village so I have to find somewhere where I can activate it. I will have to drive back to town tomorrow, there is a greasy spoon place on the highway that has phone service maybe I can activate it from there otherwise I am not sure where I can do it. Maybe I will have to drive all the way to Vancouver and activate it at my son's place, sort of defeats the purpose though.

Getting fed up with myself

I have not wanted to blog lately I don't know if the enthusiasm is wearing off or not and the paying opportunities seem to have dwindled a bit. It seems a shame to be inside at the computer when it is nice out, not that I go out in the yard but I do hop in the car and drive to the closest town, and to heck with the gas cost. The nearest town or maybe it is still a village it is not that big is about 45 minutes away on summer roads. There is not much there but there is a thrift store, grocery and a book store and a clothing store, so I linger there a while and they have a nice walk along the river bank which I am comfortable with as there are no bears and the flies are minimal. It is a long way to go to get out but I would go crazy otherwise.

I have found myself getting a bit resentful of my husband being gone so much, which is unfair, he is working so we can go on holiday and when he is not working he goes fishing which is why we came up here but I think I have been getting a bit fed up with my own company although I am fine when I find something to do. One can only clean house so much don't you know? I am still trying to think of a hobby but I can't seem to come up with anything that appeals. I really should try and come up with something to pass the winter other than working at the computer all the time. I am told I have to move around more as it burns off the sugar in my body so I have been good so far and avoided sitting at the computer for hours something that I used to do before.

Snopes warn of new virus

Just checked with Snopes and there is another postcard virus making the rounds and it is not a hoax. So don't whatever you do open an email claiming to be a postcard from a family member or any other type of greeting card. Delete it even if it is your birthday it is not worth the risk.

Better GReader

If you are using Firefox you can try out this extension Better GReader 0.3. It has one capability that I have been waiting for. You can preview the actual blog and post your comments right from the Reader. It is a prettier Google Reader and more useful too. I think this will be a time saver.

The author is Gina Tripani of Lifehacker who also created Better GMail which I like also.

All pooped out

We went for firewood today. We were looking for standing dead wood and went quite a ways into the bush for it. Hubby felled three trees. We hooked each one up with a winch and hubby guided them out while I drove the truck to haul them out of the bush.Then he cut them up and I carted the smaller pieces to the truck and he carried the heavy ones until it was fully loaded.

I am pooped. In fact both of us were. We came home and collapsed and each had a long nap. On the upside it is free heat and we get our exercise. We figure we need seven cords of wood a winter and we got about 3/4 of a cord today. Fortunately we have some left over from last winter but it means more trips before the snow falls.

Annie the dog got filthy, she was mud colored on the her legs and had found something pink to roll in so she had strawberry fur on top, fortunately it did not smell bad. We found a large puddle and she had a bath before we would let her inside the truck.

We were fortunate because we did not have any rain but when we got back to the village we found out they had had a terrific rain storm here. Our forests have had quite a bit of rain this summer, that is why we are having an excess of flies and mosquitoes but at least we haven't had any forest fire threats. I guess you can't have it all ways.

Take a minute to help the Breast Cancer site

I was sent this email today so thought it would be more effective if I blogged it.

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is
having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to
meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an
underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their
site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors /advertisers
use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram's in exchange for
advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Google unveils a Lively virtual world

 Google unveils a Lively virtual world | Technology | Los Angeles Times 

This looks interesting I think I will go check it out. It is like Second Life which I wanted to try but could not with satellite hook up. Not sure if I can with this but will soon find out. Maybe will see some of you at Google Lively.  You can create your own virtual space and chat and interact with your friends in rooms you design. Customize your avatar and stream personal photos and video but that is as much as I know right now.

Been busy doing nothing much

I know I haven't blogged much lately but I felt I needed to do some research on Diabetes 2 and learn how to adjust some of the ways I do things. So that has taken quite a bit of time and effort. On the whole I am doing well and my doctor's are very pleased with me.

I have been trying, in vain, to move from 150 to 149 lbs but it just won't shift but I went shopping the other day and there was a sale on some expensive jeans. A price I would never pay, but they were marked down by 40% so I went in to try some and easily slipped into a 12 so I suppose I have lost a few inches around the waist despite the scales. I have two doctors, one says I should be 145 lbs which is only 5lbs away and the other said 127 lbs which is what I was when I came to Canada 40 years ago when I was 21. I think he is not being realistic plus I read that it is better to have a little extra weight as you age rather than being too skinny. How can two doctors have such different ideas? I don't see myself as 127lbs ever again, but maybe I could try to meet it half way and go for 136 but I have to get over 150lb hump.

One goal that I have obtained is that I have got below the danger waistline of 35 inches, but it is hard work watching everything that goes in the mouth, especially as I am at home a lot of the time with the food just feet away telling me that just a bite won't make much difference. Also I have stepped up my exercise quite a bit so I am away from the computer a lot more and I have been going out of town at least twice a week to get out of the village, which cuts into computer time. Hubby and friend are off all day working and when they are not working they are fishing so it makes for a lot of down time for me so I get out of here.

The bugs are so bad right now that to go out I have a net hat on, plus my pants tucked into socks inside long boots and a T-shirt tucked in my pants with long sleeved shirt over that tucked into garden gloves. In spite of all that l got a bite on my stomach, it must have crawled up inside my T-shirt somehow, probably a horse fly as it took a sizable chunk, also black flies took two large chunks out of my neck, even though I had the net hat on they found a way. My husband has been using OFF but he says even though he is putting it on 3 times a day, when once is usually enough for eight hours, he is getting plagued with them. I was talking to a tree planter yesterday and she said she has never seen them so bad. They don't hurt when they bite, so they must have very sharp teeth it is not till you see the blood running that you realize it and the itch is unbelievable and lasts for days.

There still are some dangerous bears around. My husband and his friend are working at a local resort and they have had a bear pulling over the big metal garbage containers, the sort that are behind food stores, very heavy, the manager has to clear it up all the time and he was telling my husband that he had tried herding a bear away from the property when it stood up and started growling at him in attack mode. Can't blame the bear as he sees it as a source of food even though the village has stepped up garbage collection to the resort, it continues to be a problem.

That is the saga of my life at the moment. Nothing exciting. I am getting ready for the big driving trip to visit my son in Vancouver. I will only be there two nights before I return. I will be going by myself which I am a little worried about as I usually let hubby do all the major driving. The traffic is a bit scary as one gets into Vancouver when all I see here is maybe one or two cars every 10 minutes or so, but it will be good for me to overcome this little fear. It has only grown since we have been married, I used to drive everywhere but in the last ten years I haven't.(10 years tomorrow actually) When I come back from Vancouver I will take a couple of weeks and then do the trip to Calgary which is about the same distance but I will stay a lot longer there. So that is my summer planned.

Anonymous poster

I am getting a stupid anonymous poster leaving long abusive remarks on my blog. So as fast as I find them I will delete them. Please don't judge the blog by these sort of people. If I have to I will start moderating comments but would prefer not to although when I go away for a few days I will have to I think rather than leave them on there.

Happy 4th July

Unfortunately I missed sending good wishes to fellow Canucks for July 1st., Canada Day, so taking a moment to send good wishes to my friends down South. Happy 4th of July folks

Taking a break

Been taking a blogging break over the long weekend, Canada Day. Life is slowly getting back to normal. I have been baking a low carb cake. It is is made with almond flour rather than regular flour. It is very rich we will try a little bit for dessert this evening. Since it is so rich a little bit will satisfy.

It has been quite hot here but inside has been okay as I batten down the hatches before the sun gets up. We went down and sat by the big lake and let Annie the dog have a nice long swim. Last evening though we had a major thunder and lightening storm. Poor Annie hates those so she hid inside my car until it was all over. I had to coax her out around 10pm as I did not want her in there all night. It is lovely again today but more storms threatened.

We had the usual influx of tourists into the village for the long weekend which meant another slaughter on our road. Someone hit a moose head on. They had a broken light but the moose was dead in the ditch when I drove by, I hope it did not suffer long. I have never seen such bad drivers as I have up here. They speed, overtake on solid yellow lines and in spite of having miles of open road feel it necessary to tail gate.