DEC 10, '09

Hello again-


Well, much to the glee of most of you, we did make it home to our beloved MountainBrook. The slight delay in my postings (two months) was due to several factors which I won’t go into here. However I will mention a few. Firstly, when I set up my computer at home, it managed to get some kind of a virus; It would hang up, switch off, etc. etc. etc.. I called a “computer expert” which was advertised in our local MBV news to try and resolve my problem. She came over bubbling with enthusiasm and praise of herself, ready to tackle any kind of problem my computer could throw at her. After half–an-hour of checking out the system she suggested I buy a new computer. No virus software, no analysis disks, only computer prattle, sympathy and “That will be $50 please”!

After I escorted her out the door I called my brother, who does know a thing or two about computers. He recommended some anti-virus, system cleaners, and other programs aimed at cleaning up my computer. I installed what I could and tried to repair the damages. I succeeded to some extent, but I just couldn’t restore it to its pervious pristine condition. Now it was a good computer, but an old computer, I had upgraded it over the past several years, but perhaps it was time to get a new one. I have hauled this thing, (desktop computer) back and forth from AZ to WA at least five times.

It was now time to get a new laptop.

So here I am, with a brand new Toshiba Satellite, Intel Core 2 Dup T6600, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 500 GB HDD computer. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system. Now while this has been my salvation, it has also been my demise. Not all of my previous software would work on the new W9ndows 7. I managed to get some of the software to work, others I had to replace, and others I just had to do without. One of the new software programs was a photo editor, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. They said it had a steep learning curve, but it was an excellent program. With me, the learning curve was “flat line”.

Now, after just a scant four weeks, I finally am able to put together a small collection of photos. Since I like to include a photo or two along with my travel blog, I am now ready to continue the exciting adventures of Gary, Sharon, The Pip and Jasper.