iPAD Invasion

We are a little older than most people using the iPad but I gave Theresa one for her birthday. She was thrilled to get the gift but never seemed to take off in its usage. This piece of technical genius always interested me when I saw my grand children and friends using it for just about everything. It's a camera, email dispatcher and with the right apps, it can do just about everything.

After playing with the thing for ten days an offer came in from one of the grand children to help her out. Theresa accepted and yesterday they set the iPad up for real use. Theresa caught on fire and immediately bonded with her device. I stayed away from the session because I would have had too many questions and ruined the learning session.

It makes me very happy to see Theresa taking the plunge and becoming literate on another of our social media devices  It was not long ago when we really got into using our computer and it has changed the manner in which we do business. I can see this iPad doing the same thing for Theresa, especially when we travel and want a compact office on a 8" by 10" computer.

Love Letters

I am a collector and as such never throw out anything that I seem important. After several hours of cleaning up my files I came across this pack of letters from Theresa. All bundled up with a ribbon  to keep them separate from the routine mail. These letters were so personal and so important for our future life that I kept every one.

As I was cleaning up I stopped in mid stream and began to read these beautiful long letters from my loved one. We were thousand of kms from each other and letters were the main manner of communication. As I read these letters I realized again the tremendous feelings portrayed through words written by hand.

These letters are a great inspiration for me to realize the feelings expressed were the foundation of our future marriage. Theresa and I had a genuine understanding about love and marriage. We talked, fantasized and planned our future by committing our feelings towards verbal and the written word.Sometimes we projected our future with a five or ten year plan. We always plan and then make sure we reach our goal.

In our early love letters we spelled out what was important for us and we realized that we had the same goals. That made it easy for us to work our plan. Theresa's love letters were a revelation after more than ten years of marriage as they revealed the same objectives. for our future happiness.

Sometimes we forget the commitments we make when we marry and sometimes we just decide to forget about those ideas we had when we were madly in love. Theresa and I keep ourselves at the high alert by regularly going back to the beginning. Love letters are a wonderful way of keeping our commitments alive and after yesterday I have some bridge building to complete the promises we made when we wrote those wonderful and sweet love letters.

Love letters are the contract you make when you enter a love relation and because they are handwritten they are so ironclad. I love our contract and realize that this is the reality of a love relationship.

Keeping In Touch

While we are living here in Florida we miss the family. Years ago there was little ways in keeping in touch except through the telephone and it was very expensive. Today we have a telephone plan good for everywhere in North America at a small cost. There are no time limits and we use this service extensively.

The computer offers email and face book and our hand held phones are a virtual whole communication system. I like to use Skpe because of the visual factor and it is almost like being there. Facebook tells us what our extended family are up to and sometimes we get more information then we want.

Our daughter just returned home from China after two weeks and all during her stay over there, thousands of miles away she wrote a daily blog, emailed us and rewarded us with beautiful pictures documenting her travels.What a difference than when I was a young fellow when you wrote letters or sent a telegram. It is the information age and if you don't keep in touch with family and friends you are missing the boat.

Time To Talk

Theresa and I just returned from a three week quick trip to our home in Florida.We drove Theresa's little touring car.I thought it might be a tad small for such a long trip but the nearly 5000 kms went bye very well. In fact we made our fastest and cheapest trip of all time. The mountains of West Virginia were no challenge for this four cylinder car and on the open road it handled well at 120 kms.

On these long drives Theresa and I have many hours of uninterrupted time to converse. It is at these times we are able to make plans for the future, examine what we have done in the past and generally enjoy the time together. We both love nature and point out birds and animals that come into our view. This trip was no exception as we try to be the first to spot deer. In Ohio Theresa spotted two deer leaping through a corn field. The corn was very tall and the only time you saw the deer was at the top of their leap. It was a unique vision and so different from other sightings.

On the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania we saw a black cloud which turned out to be swallows, thousands of them going through their ritual flying dance. Some years ago we experienced a similar event but it was Monarch Butterflies. That flock was huge and appeared as a black cloud until we were right on top of it. It was an incredible sight. On this trip we were entertained by the changing colours of the leaves. Although beautiful they paled in comparison to the Canadian Maples.

Being alone for such a long time gives us the time to assess our relationship and the relationships of our family and friends. We are able to understand just how intertwined our lives have become. Although we do not always agree on solutions we do have the chance to put forth a point of view and time to discuss with the eventual consensus resolution. At times we actually write down lists of things we would like to do and when to do it. This trip we planned a possible adventure to the South West of the USA. We both have experience in that region but not together. Another adventure in our future is the British Columbia trip. We must make this a priority. We want to see the coast and Vancouver Island but also the interior.

These planning times are useful and we recognize that anticipation is half the journey. We value our alone time when we have time to talk and create plans for an exciting life.

Help From Afar

Having spent several hours trying to figure out a new setup on my computer I received help from afar to get me going. What may be simple to some computer literate hackers can be very difficult for folks like me. When I recently purchased a new computer the store people fired it up with all the bells and whistles. The only thing missing was that I was not involved and new programs were installed and new search engines integrated so I was left with a wide knowledge gap.

I did my best to try to figure out the changes and actually managed to get some positive results but with my blogging experience quickly becoming useless with the new stuff I had to appeal for help. My oldest daughter walked me through the new process and after some frustrating moments on both sides I was happy to walk away with a new point of view about technology.

I am determined to read the instructions on every piece of equipment from now on. I know it is a man thing about asking for help or directions when lost but with our need to meld into the technical era we old folks have to get with it. I see four and five year old children in Walmart playing with the latest models of telephones and computers and I wonder why we are so hesitant to join the world out there.

We are surrounded with children and grandchildren who would find it near impossible to exist for an hour without texting and they do it so with little regard for the people around them. It was this fact that I asked my youngest grandson to put away his Blackberry while playing pool. He did not mind but only had to be reminded of this habit. The reality of it that we almost have to have rules to make sure we can have a conversation without one or more of these devices ringing in our ears and interrupting the flow of the conversation.

I must say that over Xmas four of my grand children had a two hour debate among themselves and myself without one interruption. It was so good. Perhaps all will be well in the future....remember in the old days we were not permitted to talk when watching TV. WHY?  Because it interrupted the TV show.

Skype

Most people do not get excited with some of the modern technology but I for one am amazed at most if not all the new communication technology. As one who had limited experience with computers in the workplace other than as a retrieval service now feel lost if I don't use some form or another every day.

I was introduced to Skype when we bought a new computer and it came with a built in camera and other features that were new to me. With the help of my literate grand daughter we managed to set me up and I have been excited about it every day since. Through this media I have really connected with a long time friend from across Canada to the back woods of Cape Breton . My friend has Skype and now we are able to actually have conversations with a picture to match.

The extra connection makes our long range conversations come alive and more frequent. It is amazing to me that we have come this far so quickly and that older people like me have embraced the technology. Yes there are a few that say they will never use or need a computer but that is because they fear failure so run away. For the many who now use the latest devices it has enriched their lives and brings the whole world into focus. For the ones who have lost their mobility the Internet becomes their way of experiencing life vicariously.

The only problem with Skype is that you have to make sure you are properly dressed and for the ladies to make sure their lipstick is on straight. For all the people who made these magical miracles reality I salute you for making life just a whole lot better for all of us.

Frustration

I just returned home from JJGREGS store empty handed. Theresa and I decided to buy a new computer and went shopping. We were impressed with an all in one with a 22 inch screen and all the bells and whistle. Built in camera and many features we have not used before but wanted to try.

We had the technicians at the store complete all the installations and we just had to take it home and plug it in and enjoy. Well !!! We did all that and when we unpacked and plugged in we could not get hooked to the net. We did all the usual and finally phoned our Comcast people and after what seemed like a lifetime we hung up.

Not to be discouraged, we called the people who make the darn thing and after one hour and twenty minutes she suggested we phone the store. We did and after many attempts we decided to take it in next morning. As I left for the store at 10 am, I told Theresa I would get everything straightened out.

These people were nice and Nick the service man did his best. I finally had it and insisted on a new fresh computer. The manager agreed with reservations and I sat while they went through the whole start up thing again. The moment arrived and the teck guy with a smile on his face said that I could start it up.

His smile turned to a shocked look when the computer read, Internet will not open this page. It was 2 pm and I was fuming. Everyone knows that I have an abundance of patience but this moment was not one of them. They were going to make everything OK but not then. They needed it overnight when their chief tech would be there to correct the matter.

With glaring eyes I decided to go home and wait for the call. My words betrayed my real inner thoughts as I thanked the tech man for his help and looked forward to his call not later than 10 am. I left and drove home under control but barely. Three days to get a expensive computer to work... maybe I should take out my pencils and sharpener and do my writing. Am I frustrated? Yes but tomorrow when I get my new toy I will be happy.

Old Friend-Computer Friend

Theresa and I have friends who keep in touch via the computer network. There was one who never took the plunge to get involved and she missed out. Her hubby John was playing with the electronic magic of the computer for years but never engaged his wife. After some motivating from Theresa she dove into the fray and purchased a computer.

We always say that the computer opens up windows to the world. Life is so much better because of the freedom we get from the knowledge contained on the net. This friend will have an opportunity to enjoy what so many of we computer people have been enjoying for years. So welcome Doreen and have fun, don't get frustrated with the mechanics and explore, explore and explore again.

I am sure your hubby will help you get started but after that fly on your own and discover the JOY of surfing. WELCOME.

Computers Are For Everyone

Theresa and I are fortunate to have family members who are very good with computers. We use our computers for nearly everything from banking, email, face book and blogging. The only problem is that we cannot fix the glitches when they occur. A good example of that is a problem we I had in my picture file. I was having difficulty retrieving and posting pictures on my blog. Our grand daughter who lives down the road came to our place on Saturday and in an hour gave us a lesson on how to perform functions on our computer.

While she was here she helped on many counts and wrote out instructions for us and posted them on favourites. Without this help we would be in a mess on many occasions. When we are in Florida the help is as close as our phone or email. People who are reluctant to use the computer are missing out on the best piece of communications hardware. Older people are using this vehicle more and more and their lives are enriched daily.

With Google the capabilities are without limits for instant information. One of my older friends (aged 88) took up using the computer for medical information. Since then he has opened up a whole other world and although he is confined to his home, he roams the world and has brought back excitement to himself and his wife. He bought a printer and now has started to print pictures and and copy documents. His life has been changed and for the better.

While waiting in the doctor's office the other day a man sat by me and pulled out this portable notebook. With the finger doing the walking. I was amazed at the functions. As I looked interested he was happy to show me some of the things it could do. It made me feel I was in the dark ages in as far as computers were concerned. I must get one of them.

Life is better when you are able to mesh the old with the new. Computers are life savers for us and really are for everyone.

Away From Family and Friends.

Years ago when I left home to move to Temiskaming to be principal of a school and play hockey I felt very much alone. I lived in the White Oaks Inn which was a staff house for employees of the International Pulp and Paper Co. I was 19 and felt that I could take on the world but something was missing. Family. The only communication that I had with my family was through letters and the occasional telephone call.




To say the least I was lonely at times. Today Theresa and I choose to live in Florida for half the year. We miss the almost daily contact with family and friends we have when living in Ontario. We do have some good friends here and socialize with nice people but this never takes the place of your own family.




Today we have great telephone plans so we are able to talk for hours. We have face book and see and read of activities almost as they are happening. Visits from the family and friends help to keep us in the loop but it is not the same. The great benefit derived from living here in Paradise is the weather and the downside is the reduced interaction with those who mean the most to you.




Flying home at Xmas is our next big trip and already we are thinking about it. There is a sadness to life for people who have no family or real friends. We are double blessed because we have both, a loving family and great friends.

Time and Space

There was a time when I dreaded leaving home and going south for the winter. Today I prepare to leave without that feeling of being isolated from my family and friends. The communications among our family are such that with a touch of the finger you are able to talk to your loved ones and for a long time if you wish. Telephone companies have plans that enable people to talk anytime as long as you wish for a small cost. Gone are the days when a long distant call would cost a fortune for just a few minutes. I called from Amsterdam one time and talked to my family for a short time and it was $55.

Facebook, blogs and email make the effort of keeping in touch as easy as sitting and keying in a message. My grand children have cameras on their computers and can talk like you are in the same room. All this being said it does not replace that hug or kiss when greeting your family.In our clan we see each other quite often except for some who live a distance away.

We encourage our family to visit us in the sunny south but that is not always possible. Over the years we have had the privilege of having them come for a visit and it really makes our stay so much better.