Testing 1 2 3

Hopefully the photo shows up, and these words are in Texican English.














Good, the system works.
Never blogged from the kitchen before.
It's kinda cool.

Why blog from the kitchen?
Because that means I can also blog from just about anywhere.
Like for example...a snow-covered mountain on the California/Nevada border with a well-know lake below.


Just bought a pretty nice Dell laptop in a used computer shop. A good deal was made.
Been a lot of fun loading programs, changing settings, and just getting used to the foreign form factor.
Never really liked notebooks, but figured I really need one if I'm going to stay connected (and sane) on our upcoming vacation. Movies on the plane and elsewhere, editing/storing/posting photos, blogging, surfing, FB and forums, listening to new Televators mixes--I always missed my PC on past vacations, and while Sylvia's Samsung tablet is awesome for entertainment and internettage, for my photography I need more horsepower and connection options.

Just discovered that my "new" machine's card reader is a little wonky--the Memory Stick wouldn't stay inserted but holding it in place worked fine.
I was going to have to bring a card reader anyway for Compact Flash--what's one more?

And I also learned a few minutes ago that I need to install Photoshop because IrfanView isn't going to cut it, especially with the way laptop monitors are so sensitive to viewing angle. Need to stay with what I know, so I can trust in the numbers to get predictable results.

Of course this is just a small part of our VacaPrep.
Borrowing snowpants and coats, ordering long underwears and boots online, choosing the perfect hats, I'm worn out from so much shopping.
We found my boots at Academy.com for $10 w/free shipping (!!!) and my hat is worthy of a blog post all it's own--a major score.

Still need to assemble a good toolkit, because I'm going to be sharing a house with 4 loud drunk clumsy girls. Need to keep them out of trouble and repair as much damage as possible. Wish me luck. (Oh yeah--need to buy new earplugs).



Besides a weekend on the Guadalupe last March, this is my first serious vacation in many years and I haven't flown anywhere since 2004. As the departure gets closer (and more "real") I'm starting to get excited.
The main thing for me will be the photo-ops, and if nothing major goes wrong I'll be sharing some of the results on a daily basis right here on Views of Texas.