I Must Be Too Old For This!

Okay, I got this fancy new digital camera... great! Now if I could just understand it.


Every time I turn it on, it wants me to set the year, date and time. I can't get past this screen to take photos. But... how do I set the year, date and time? There is no keyboard on it, so how do you enter the numbers?


I know, I know... it's probably explained somewhere in the pamphlet that came with it. But that's not as easy as it sounds. First I have to find the section that is written in English. Then I have to wade through all the more technical information that makes no sense to me, but would probably make sense to my ten-year old niece. It says to use the up, down and sideways arrows, but when I press them, no numbers appear on the screen. Come on! I grew up using a Kodak Brownie. I must be too old for digital!

p.s. The photo is not the actual camera I have... I took a generic image of a digital camera from Google. I believe the one in the photo is an even more complicated model on which you can change lenses. Mine is a somewhat glorified "point and shoot". I am definitely not ready for changing lenses!

My Splurge

I grew up in a newspaper reading family. In the midwestern city where I grew up, there were two daily newspapers. My parents subscribed to both of them. My father was strict about the newspaper. If we read it before he did, we had to put it back together just the way it was when it arrived. Now, I get grouchy with my husband because he doesn't understand that rule. After he reads the paper I have to go hunt for sections of it, as they tend to be scattered all around the house. It might be on the breakfast table, downstairs in his "man cave" or in the bathroom. Also, he leaves the sections turned inside out so I can't tell which section is which, or where the front page is. (Just one of those small things you never know about a person until you live with them.)

My husband, in turn, is bothered by my insistence on receiving the Sunday edition of The New York Times. He says it's too expensive to have it mailed here, but it's the one splurge I'm not willing to give up. I began reading it when we lived in Philadelphia. It was easy to find there. When we moved to Kentucky, though, it wasn't so easy to find. I can find it at Border's but that's not very close to us, and farther than I want to drive on Sunday morning. I found out we could have the Sunday edition mailed to us here in Kentucky. So, every Monday we receive the Sunday Times in the mail. It's fairly expensive, but worth every penny to me.

I read the Week in Review first. I especially like Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, and Tom Friedman. (When we lived in Chicago, I got the Tribune and enjoyed Mike Royko). Then, I take the rest of the week, reading one section at a time. I carry the magazine around with me all week, reading and working on the crossword puzzle. I enjoy the Book Review, the Travel section, the Arts and Entertainment section, and the Sunday Styles section. Our local paper has none of these things. My husband reads the Sports section, the Travel section, and the Book Review.

I can't imagine my life without The New York Times. There is so much information in there. So much more than on television. Television news is full of fluff and bluster. There are so many things I know from reading the Times that I would never otherwise know. These days, I understand that you can read it all online. But it's just not the same. There is something tangible about having the pages in your hand, and seeing the sections lying around just waiting to be read.

I'm Hot!

Susan was right in her comment on my last post... root canals are nothing to fear anymore. Mine was not bad at all. What was all the fuss about?

Well, on to other things. We are having hot, humid, tropical-like weather here. I love my battery-powered fans. I carry one around with me all over the house.

I saw on the news about the people working to clean up oil in the Gulf, and how hot and humid it is there. I feel terrible for them. The pictures from there are heartbreaking and maddening. I don't think that area will be the same for generations to come, if ever. The other day I saw an oversized SUV with a trailer attached. On the trailer were half a dozen ATVs or "mud-runners", or whatever they call them. There were two guys in the truck drinking beer and having a good old time, going somewhere to ride around for fun. It made me angry, to think of all the ways we can think of to use up fuel and damage the environment. I know it's fun, I know it's their right, I know they would tell me to mind my own business. But I can't help thinking that one day we will wake up and say "what were we thinking?"

I am not a religious person in the traditional sense, but I do think that we have some kind of obligation to take care of everything nature provides. I heard the other day that the U.S. comprises five percent of the world's population and uses 25 percent of oil energy in the world. I think we have been living in a way that is not sustainable, that we have been living in a kind of bubble, seeing the world as children, thinking it will always be this way. But there is politics, and there is money, and so few wise men (and women) in positions of power, who see this and are willing to change things. What do you think? Am I being an alarmist?

Terror!

I have to have a root canal this morning! Ack!

***Update:
Root canal was not bad at all. I took a Xanax before, took my neck pillow with me, and managed to relax. In fact, I almost fell asleep at one point! It really was painless. Whew!

Bill Geist: Animals Running for Mayor in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky

I posted this for Rachel, who asked about the mayor dog:

Boaters, Bikers and Beer On the Ohio River

When I went back and read this, it sounded like I was advertising this place. No, I don't do promotions. I just wanted to show some of the local color we have discovered since moving here. I miss the outdoor cafes in Philadelphia, and this is the closest thing I have found here. It's a whole different vibe from the big city.

It's summer in Northern Kentucky. On a weekend day, when the sun is shining, where do you find everyone who is anyone?


Why, the Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club, of course! The yacht club floats on the Ohio River. It's really a large pontoon with a roof.


Out back, there is a deck, floating on a separate pontoon. It sways and rocks as the boats pass by on the river.


It's not really a club, just a local gathering place. We go there for a burger and a beer (or a tall gin and tonic). If you take your boat around the bend and down river for a few miles, you will come to Rabbit Hash, the tiny hamlet on the river with a country store and a dog for its mayor.


It's a laid-back place with a varied crowd. Lots of bikers and boaters, and some local characters. Nothing fancy, no one showing off. There is live music at night, and I imagine lots of dancing. We have never stayed that late though.


One day I want to live near the beach. For now, I have the Ohio River!

Our Cat Family

Look at these kitties making themselves at home on our deck. They all came as part of the same litter, born under our next-door neighbor's deck last summer.


They have all been trapped, neutered, and released. They began life as feral cats, but they have become fairly tame, as we feed them twice a day, and they share our deck with us.


We trapped each one and took them to be spayed (they were all females). After their surgery we kept them in a crate to recuperate. It became apparent that all but one couldn't wait to be turned loose, to resume their outdoor life. One of them, however, was very friendly and enjoyed being petted. So we adopted that one and brought her in, to live with our three other indoor cats. We named her Munchkin because she was the smallest of the litter.


So now Munchkin lives with us in the house, and her sisters live outside on our deck and in our yard.


So, here is Munchkin on the inside, visiting with her sisters on the outside.