I'm Hoping to Be Back Soon...

My photo-mojo is preparing for a comeback --- I hope. Winter without snow hasn't inspired me, and spring without new leaves on the trees is a bummer! But all that is about to change and I plan to get out on some photo trips soon.

Stay tuned! Thanks!

Back Online After Hard-drive Crash

Not even 15 years ago "hard drive" was an apt description of a road trip in a blizzard. The word "crash" didn't come into play, fortunately. Of course now the term "hard drive" means something entirely different, but "crash" will bring gut-wrenching pain as much as a road trip in a blizzard stopped cold by an avalanche (sorry, no pun intended).

Last Friday the hard drive in my desk top crashed. We rushed it to the nearest Best Buy Geek Squad (35 miles away) and left it there for diagnosis and repair. Geek Daniel had to make the sad call that the hard drive was gone, kaput. Great. (not exactly the word I actually used.) My computer is my livelihood and contained 60G of documents, mostly photographs. [Gasp! Holding breath!] Yes, I did have a back-up on external hard drive of all my photos and documents!

But I lost my applications, email history, wireless network, and 5 days of productivity. Not to mention the time it will take to rebuild. Well, sometimes a rebuild means renewal. I can get quite a lot cleaned out. Ok, so a lot is already cleaned out. All those emails reminding me about new ebills, the junk mail, the AARP reminders that I am old enough (barely) to even get AARP emails --- all gone! But to my friends who sent me really cool stuff, please resend!

Let me leave you with just this thought for the day:

Be kind to your 4-footed friends, and always, always back up your files -- often!

How To Tell Time

Today we started Daylight Saving Time ---yes, Saving, not Savings. That is just one thing I learned about DST today. Also, Benjamin Franklin did not invent it, or even suggest it, as many believe. In 1907 William Willett came up with the idea. Franklin merely suggested that residents of Paris, which he frequently visited, could save on candles by getting up earlier and enjoy the morning sun, and go to bed when it was dark. He is the one who lived by the tenet "early to bed, early to rise ...." yada, yada.

As for the reason for DST, all I could find in my research today was that extending the amount of daylight would reduce the amount of electricity to light the lights. Uh, ok. First of all, the amount of daylight isn't really extended, just moved. But the biggest boon was to the retailers who now had shoppers later in the day. Ask the farmers how their animals like the change. Well, obviously, the animals don't read clocks; they get up with the sun and go to the barn at dusk. It's the farmer who has to adjust.

Living in Arizona I didn't have to worry about changing the clocks, just understanding how far apart the other time zones were from us. This is important in a call center servicing the entire country. So, why doesn't Arizona participate in this ritual of manipulating time? In 30 years I never got a sensible answer. The reason I heard the most was that the heat would last too long into the day. Uh, whether it is 110 degrees at 4:00 or 5:00, it is going to be HOT ! And where else will you find a summertime low of 90 or more?

Now being an active participant in this spring and fall ritual, I used a simple rule for knowing which way to turn the clocks. Now, how did it go? Fall forward, spring up? No. Fall over, spring to attention? Nope. I got it. Spring forward, fall back. So at 2:00 this morning an hour disappeared and it suddenly became 3:00. I did not literally wait until 2:00 to change the clocks. That would just be silly. But I just happen to be awake at the magic hour. No bells or whistles went off. I didn't feel unusual. In fact I have zoned out for hours at a time which served the same purpose as moving the clock ahead -- time gone. The only difference is that this hour will come back in November. The hours I've zoned out won't. There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Well, I think it is time to go to bed. I can't really tell because it seemed like the sun just set. Oh, what do I care, anyway. I'm usually up until the wee hours of the morning anyway.

Night, night!

Good Luck, Jason

Sadly, Jason Yeager was eliminated from American Idol tonight. But that is only one show. Jason has great talent and is already recognized for his musical talent and artistry in Branson theaters and in Texas. He will do well and his dream of a singing career will come to fruition.

Good luck, Jason! We'll see you back home in Branson. I have a feeling that Branson will be just a short stop for you. Others were watching Idol and will support your aspirations!

Idol and Apprentice

Trace Adkins survived another week of Celebrity Apprentice

and Jason Yeager made it through the first viewer vote on American Idol 7.

All is right with the world!

American Idol Convert - At Least For Now

Before I get to the topic of this post, for those who are curious about the "Guess What This Is" in Tuesday's post the answer is at the end of this story.

Now, on to American Idol. I have not been a big fan of the show, especially the first few weeks of showing the auditions. Those can be torture! But this year Jerry and I faithfully watched most of the gruelling moments looking for a very talented young man we met here in Branson. Of course in this area of theaters there are plenty of terrific entertainers, some very famous and some not --- yet!

A restaurant that we like to frequent is called "Mel's Hard Luck Diner". All of the servers and the cooks are singers. They take turns walking around the diner singing and entertaining the customers. These folks are good! We've gone back to the diner several times for the entertainment and fun; the food is really good, too!

During the holidays we went in on a very quiet night. Only about 4 tables were full. (Ususally there is a line out the door to get in!) A young singer named Jason Yeager was our server, as he had been on previous occasions. We had a chance to talk with him since he wasn't very busy. That's when he told us that he was going to Hollywood for the semi-finals of American Idol 7. We promised to watch and wished him the best of luck.

Knowing that he had auditioned in Dallas we especially watched that show, but didn't see his audition. There was just a quick glimpse of him in the recap at the end of the show. Then came the Hollywood semi-finals. Again they didn't show his audition, but we knew he had made it into the top 50. Tuesday night Randy, Paula and Simon narrowed the field from 50 to 24. Finally we saw some candid shots of Jason, but again not his audition. It's a good thing that I already know he is a very talented singer, because again he was given no air time. What the....? As the terrifying trio called each of the 50 hopefuls in to learn their fate we saw many of the artists who had been showcased over the past few weeks. Some went on, some went home. Again, no sign of Jason. They were choosing 12 guys and 12 girls, but I had lost count toward the end of the show. Finally, for the guys, finalists #9, 10 and 11 were flashed across the screen very quickly. Jason was one of them!! We let out loud "woooo hoooos" and will be following American Idol 7, cheering him on every week.

Now, some sites I've looked at today snickered that those who didn't get much air time must be just mediocre at best. What naysayers! That's a bit premature, I think! How can one judge someone they haven't even seen yet?! I believe that Jason has a very good chance of going to the top. Just watch and see!

Good luck Jason!

Answer to "Guess What This Is":

Thank you to "Anonymous" for guessing ice on the windshield of a car. That was close. The first two pictures are of ice on the side of my black Chevy Avalanche. The third is ice on the tonneau cover over the truck's bed. The picture of the truck is for reference and from a previous ice storm that wasn't as severe.

Tuesday Tribute #3

To Customer Service Professionals

The likelihood of the subject of this week's tribute ever reading this is extremely remote. That's not important, rather the reason for the tribute is worth some time in cyberspace.

While shopping last Saturday at the New Balance store in Branson Landing we met Montana Canterbury, the floor manager. Montana is a young man from Colorado going to school at College of the Ozarks. He is not majoring in "feet" at school, but takes his job so seriously that we both walked out in new shoes, and for very good reasons.

I can hear my friends saying now "Girl, you don't need a reason to buy a new pair of shoes, good or otherwise!" That is somewhat, if not entirely, true. My shoe rack looks like the stockrooms of Penneys and Bass combined. I have boots and booties, slides and slip-ons, mules and pumps, sandals and sneakers. The question is, can I walk in them all day without pain? Nope, but I just attributed that to bad feet, injuries, and (ahem) vanity.

So back to Montana, from Colorado, going to school in Missouri, working at New Balance. A friendly young man, I found him and Jerry engaged in lively banter after I made a side trip to Lane Bryant next door. Jerry already had on a snappy new pair of sneakers and was telling Montana that he would take them and to put the old ones in the box. Ok, good. Jerry's hoofers are very hard to fit so when he can get a good pair of shoes it is time for celebration. From out of no where I hear my own voice: "Honey, do you mind if I take a glance at the women's walking shoes? Do you remember which ones I was looking at before we left Phoenix?" Uh-oh! Here comes the rationale: "All my sneakers are flat soled, only good for walking on pavement and shopping malls. We've had a lot of rain lately, not to mention the ice they expect this weekend. I think I would be so much safer walking up and down our hills in more of a hiking sneaker." Never mind that I have hiking boots, but save those for muddy paths --- which I have diligently done, saved them.

Here comes Montana to save the day. "Let me measure your foot, Ma'am."

"Oh, that's ok, I know my size."

He smiles, "Let's take a look."

Thoughts go racing through my mind: "Did I wear thick socks? God, I hope there's no holes in the toes. When did I last cut my toenails?" I never realized that a foot ruler could become so scary. Well, the length was still OK.

"Ma'am," he smiles up at me. "It looks like you have been wearing shoes that are too narrow for your toes."

OMG! He's talking about --- gulp! --- WIDE! AARGH! "Really?" I reply in shock. "I have a storehouse at home that would beg, I'm telling you BEG, to differ."

There's that smile again. "Do you get pains here?" as he presses between the piggy that went to market and the piggy that stayed home. "What about here in the ball of your foot?"

"Well, yes, but I broke that toe once and I was told I have a bone spur there."

"What about soreness or cramping in your feet when you go to bed after a day of walking?"

Now he hit a real nerve! "Let me tell you......"

So, we decide on one pair of the two I picked out. "I'll bring out a few in combinations of length and widths and see if we can get just the right fit."

"Jerry," I lean over to my husband. "I'm going to be wearing gunboats on my feet!"

"Honey, he knows his stuff. Look what he was able to find for me!" I gaze at is 12 1/2 EEEE aircraft carriers. Ugh.

"Here we go." Montana carefully and completely unlaces the new shoes and opens them wide enough to drive in a pontoon boat. Then neatly and snugly ties them back up.

"Oooo! I love the feel of new shoes!" I croon. They really did feel better than anything I'd worn. I walked around, we chatted about the upcoming NFL games, politics. "Yes, these will definitely work."

"Well, for comparison, let's try these that are a little bit shorter --- more the width you said you wear." He smiles again.

Uh? What size did I just have on? Ok, through the process again. Yew, these just don't feel the same. "Ok, one more pair," he says, "to validate the length." Huh?

Pair #3, nope, too short. "Well, I guess the first pair was actually the best. I'll take them and leave them on while we shop." We continue talking some more about current events. Montana then proceeds to tell us about the New Balance guarantees, etc.

We had no doubt about the quality of the products and now, thanks to a very knowledgeable service professional, knew more about the organization and had very comfortable shoes. He provided friendly customer service, took plenty of time with us, was congenial and appeared to have very good working knowledge of his customer base -- so to speak.

As he was putting the shoe boxes into the bags, he looked at me and said "Don't be too alarmed when you see the size on the end of the box." Oh, yeah, what size are these? "I put you in a 8D for these shoes." WHAT?! My 7 1/2 Mediums fainted! "But, Ma'am, we have found that New Balance sizes run a bit small." Smile.

Moral of this story: with age comes the desire for comfort over the number on the shoe box. But if they ever start putting the size directly on the outside of the shoe ---- I'm moving to the beach and going barefoot!