OK.....JUST A FEW LAST THOUGHTS ON LIVE WRITER & WINDOWS 7

HAD TAKEN SOME CANDID PHOTOS OF THIS (ASSUMED) FAMILY ON SATURDAY SO WILL INCLUDE THE OTHER PICS AS WELL BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS A NICE SETTING.  (Plus I slipped them a Bayfield Bunch card before departing:))       

It was a muggy overcast morning, but better than the oppressive heat & humidity of last week.  I noticed the sun was barely over the horizon this morning when I made my way to Goderich.  That tells me the days are getting shorter & my early morning travels will slowly become darker over the next couple weeks.

BIG LOAD OF STRAW BALES

Today's photos are a mish mosh of pics I took this past Saturday in & around St Marys.  Kelly & I used to drive school bus in St Marys so I stopped by the Murphy bus yard & took a couple pics.  Kelly drove one of the larger buses for a bit & when I came on board there they teamed us on a smaller mobility bus for challenged kids.  I drove the bus & Kelly was the aide.  We did that for a couple years along with some other jobs we had going on at the same time before moving to Bayfield on Halloween Night of 2002.

THE MURPHY SCHOOL BUS YARD IN ST MARYS, ONTARIO

 

ONE OF THOSE FIRST 5 CLOSE BUSES IN THE FOREGROUND MAY HAVE BEEN OUR OLD BUS BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE WE PARKED

I debated with myself whether to say any more about my thoughts on the new version of Live Writer.  I really don't need any more 'personal' attacks but, because I think highly of Live Writer I figured why not comment about a program I really like.  I've been using LW for over a year now & I liked it right from the start.  I can scoot around in it like a water spider on steroids.  It has been easy for me to understand & navigate around in.  It still is, & I thoroughly enjoy the program itself.  No complaints there at all.  Great well thought out piece of software, especially in the easily readable & navigable tools department.  But.........Microsoft released a new version of Live Writer a short while back.   I hear they have added some groovy new features but I haven't been able to get that far yet.  This is not a rant but I do have a few very simple questions that maybe the great powers at Microsoft could answer for me. 

MAYBE MICROSOFT COULD FOLLOW THE LEAD OF THIS AIRLINE COMPANY & MAKE THINGS EASILY READABLE FOR EVERYBODY

With great anticipation I downloaded the new LW a couple weeks ago but was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the new design layout!!   This is where my logical & always inquisitive mind kicked into gear. 

THIS (MALLARD?) DUCK WAS ENJOYING ITSELF AT THE BASE OF A SMALL WATERFALL

I need someone to explain to me why the designers at Microsoft saw fit to take a perfectly well laid out program & shrunk all the printing, icons & graphics that had been in the easily readable right hand column & crammed them into a narrow tool bar across the top of the program.  I'm not exaggerating here when I say that the uppermost left hand icons are all but invisible as they blend into the background.  The icons up there are about the size of wristwatch number.  And no, I am not blind as a bat!!  I would really like a reasonable, responsible & logical answer as to why the designers did this.  It's not like space is at a premium.  Not at all.  The original Live Writer took full advantage of the abundance of monitor space & had a nicely laid out program.  They made good use of the whole computer screen.  Then why did they shrink everything into a small area????  Is it the 'cool' thing to do nowadays??  I would hope the Microsoft folks would know better than to fall into that.  I sure hope Google doesn't follow suit & mess up their very user friendly Picasa program the same way!!

ST MARY'S 'SUNSET DINER'....I HAVE FATTENED MYSELF UP WELL HERE OVER THE YEARS WITH MANY B&E BREAKFASTS

So there it is.....I'm not ranting & I'm not condemning, I'm just asking a few basic simple questions in hope that someone out there can help me see the light here.  I  would appreciate some very logical answers for a change.  Until I am enlightened as to the error of my LW perceptions, I will stick to the original Live Writer format & be totally happy in doing so.  I will patiently wait for Microsoft's 'next' new LW version & hopefully by that time more common sense heads will have prevailed on their design team & they will come up with something genuinely user friendly again.  So, sock it to me Microsoft, show me what I don't understand & please turn on a light for me here.......please!!

MIRROR IMAGE......OR 2 YELLOW TRUCKS COINCIDENTALLY PARKED BACK TO BACK?

And a quick word about Windows 7.  I don't doubt that this is also a fine program.  The techno heads have said it is & who am I to argue with that.  I don't have those kinds of smarts so I take their word for it & believe they are right.  I transitioned from Win 95 to Win 98 with little difficulty.  The jump from there to XP was relatively painless as well with each platform being better than the one before.  There was a common factor between those 3 platforms that made the transition easier because they all had relative similarities.  But, I was stymied right off the bat by Win 7 for the exact same reasons I was stymied by Live Writer.  It is the same company designing these two programs & I suspect maybe some of the same design team people.  Keeping with the 'cool' theme they reduced the size of the printing, icons, & graphics once again making it harder to read, navigate & understand.  No problem if your a Geeker but there are a lot of us folks out here who are not.  I am a very visual person & am more interested in the ease of navigation than I am in how many Gigglebytes, Terrabytes or Alligatorbytes a computer has.

KIND OF A PRIMPING & PREENING DAY

Eventually I will have to 'get on' with Win 7 & Live Writer & will probably reach a point some day where I will look back to this email & say, "hey, what was all the ruckus about."  That's why I wanted to write this now.....as a newer person looking at these programs with new eyes, thoughts & opinions.  Looking at things from a technically challenged seasoned Newbie standpoint sometimes has the advantage of seeing things from a perspective the techno heads have long ago overlooked, overrun & forgotten:))

WHO SAID PEOPLE CAN'T WALK ON WATER!!

I have a suggestion for you Microsoft.......hire me, & I'll come down there to la la land & offer my input, advice, & suggestions as to how you can design a user friendly interface....or happyface, or whatever kind of face it is you people seem to be having so much difficulty designing lately. Or, maybe I am totally barking up the wrong tree altogether here.  Maybe I should have taken the advice of the wise one's years ago & simplified my life with..... a Mac:))   D'ya think!!

GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

Leroy and L'Quiesha go to a revival and listen to the preacher. After awhile the preacher asks anyone with needs to be prayed over to come forward to the front at the altar. Leroy gets in line, and when it's his turn, the preacher asks: "Leroy, what do you want me to pray about for you." Leroy replies: "Preacher, I needs you to pray for my hearing." The preacher puts one finger in Leroy's ear, and he places the other hand on top of Leroy's head and prays and prays and prays, he prays a blue streak for Leroy. After a few minutes, the preacher removes his hands, stands back and asks, "Leroy, how is your hearing now?" Leroy says, "I don't know, Reverend, it ain't till next Wednesday!"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UN-AWAKENED"

It's not the concept of God I have a problem with.......it's his fan club!!

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

'SUNDAY'...A RAINY START WITH A SUNNY FINISH

ST MARYS (STONE TOWN) IS LOCATED ON THE BANKS OF THE THAMES RIVER

Had ourselves a dull rainy Sunday so figured it was a good time to have another go at the new Live Writer version.  Fortified myself with an extras strong cup of coffee, strapped on my recliner chair & hobbled into battle. 

                    

ST MARYS is known as the town built of limestone.  My photos show only a few buildings in the downtown area where I spent my time Saturday afternoon down & around the Thames river.  There are many other magnificent buildings which I didn't have time to photograph so if your in the area, take yourself over to the picturesque little town of St. Marys for sure.  You will likely see the tall stately church spires towering over the town before you get there.  ST. MARYS is located a short half hour drive northeast of London, Ontario.  If I get back that way I will concentrate my lens on the rest of the beautiful stone architecture for sure.  Might be a nice assignment when the Autumn leaves are in there colored majesty:))

                    

ARTHUR MEIGHEN was a native of St. Marys & Canada's 9th Prime Minister from 1920 to 1926.  He is buried in the local St. Mary's cemetery.

 

Canada's 15th Prime Minister,  Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was Prime Minister of Canada from 20 April 1968 to 4 June 1979, and again from 3 March 1980 to 30 June 1984.  There is a popular photo of him jumping off a diving board years ago & that photo was taken at the quarry in St. Marys.  Haven't been able to locate the photo but found another one from the same place obviously taken on the same day.

MARGIE had an excellent post a couple days ago on how she feels about the RV Lifestyle in general.  A good read for all RV'ers & anyone contemplating, 'thinking outside the box:))'

Had a couple of emails from a solo RV'er who spent part of his younger years in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Arizona.   He's familiar with the McNeal, Douglas & Bisbee areas & that was of interest to me because the ranch we go to is near McNeal.  He has bicycled across America & traveled to foreign lands.  You can find Ed at THE PEREGRINATING GRAYBEARD

                 

Charley over at THE ROLLING CONDO   just got himself a new Dodge dually & would you believe they don't come with printed owner's manuals anymore.  After spending thousands of dollars for a new truck, Chrysler wants him to pay an additional $50 for a printed owners manual.  What is that all about!!!!!!!!

FISHING THE THAMES IN DOWNTOWN ST MARYS

Don't know what the big feud was all about between our desktop computer & the Picasa  Photo program last night but they have somehow made up & are once again working perfectly well again today.  Pals:))

As our weather pattern slowly begins it's early annual transition from summer to fall I can feel my thought patterns transitioning right along with it.  As the night time air cools, the dew becomes heavier on the grass in the mornings.  The crickets take on a different sound & the summer birds are not as vocal as they begin their early preparation stage for fall migrations.  The air is becoming quieter.  It is time for some of us Snow Birds to begin our early planning stages as well.  I like the tinge of apprehensive excitement in the air as thoughts begin to turn away from the boredom of summer to the planning & traveling stages of Autumn.  Although still early, I love that sense of planning.  Time to have a look at some maps & Atlas's.  MapQuest for some possible new routes.  Check the Mountain Directory.  Just sitting down with all our Southwest atlas's is excitement in itself.  The interest & enthusiasm returns as I begin lining up some projects for the rig.  Bins to be cleaned re-organized.  An external speaker project, some redecorating, a few small things to be straightened up & fixed.  New tire prices to be checked, non-working hydraulic jack problem to be looked at, broken window blind to be replaced, kitchen electrical plug not working, Awwww yes, Autumn is finally in the air alright:))

And how did I make out with Win 7 & the new version of Live Writer today??  DON'T ASK!!!!

THIS OLD QUARRY IS A POPULAR FISHING, SWIMMING, & SCUBA DIVING SPOT

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The Teacher & her Class: 

TEACHER:       Maria, go to the map and find North America . 
MARIA:             Here it is. 
TEACHER:      Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? 
CLASS:           Maria.
______________________________ ______

TEACHER:   John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN:         You told me to do it without using tables.
______________________________ ____________
TEACHER:        Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN:            K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER:        No, that's wrong
GLENN:            Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.
______________________________ ______________
TEACHER:       Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD:        H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER:       What are you talking about?
DONALD:         Yesterday you said it's H to O.
______________________________
TEACHER:       Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE:        Me!
________________ ______________ ____________

TEACHER:      Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
Glen:       Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
______________________________ _________
TEACHER:       Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'
MILLIE:          I is...
TEACHER:       No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE:          All right...  'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
_______________________________
TEACHER:       George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry   tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS:      Because George still had the ax in his hand.
______________________________ ________
TEACHER:       Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON:   No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
______________________________
TEACHER:       Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.   Did you copy his?
CLYDE :       No, teacher, it's the same dog.
______________________________ _____

TEACHER:     Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD:       A teacher

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UN-AWAKENED"

It's not the concept of God I have a problem with.......it's his fan club!!

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

A NICE FEW HOURS IN ST. MARYS, ONTARIO

DOWNTOWN ST. MARYS HAS ALWAYS REMINDED ME OF OLD ENGLAND

I have run into a huge problem tonight with the desktop computer & Picasa.  Tonight's blog is coming to you from our older laptop so may look a little different than usual.  Am only putting in two photo because I have all 3 computer's scattered about here in various states of frustration.  Will work on this problem in the morning................:(((((((

It was a working Saturday with my travels taking me on a 120 mile round trip through the small towns of Wingham, Belgrave, Blyth, Walton, Dublin, Fullarton & St. Marys Ontario.  You can see the international flavor of the area in the names of the towns where settlers, coming to this area from Europe a couple hundred years ago, built their towns.

A perfect weather day with no humidity, big white fluffy clouds in a clear blue sky.  I saw Puppy dogs, Rhinosaucerusus, big goofy faces, Dinosaurs, Castles, Elephants & just about every other shape & form a free imagination can find in those kinds of clouds.

I was driving the companies white mini-van today because the elderly fellow I picked up did not require a wheelchair.  We had a great drive through towering fields of waving corn stretching as far as the eye could see.  Smaller fields of golden wheat bordered by endless fields of soy beans.  Seems to be a lot of potatoes planted this year as well.  This is a big agriculture area with scenery second to none.  We don't have the mountains & canyons of the southwest but we have acres & acres of green, green , green.  At no place can a person stand in one spot & look around without seeing forests of green trees somewhere.  I think we sometimes take our beautiful trees for granted.  If it wasn't for the miserable summer humidity we would have one of the nicest areas of anywhere right here in rural southwestern Ontario.

I dropped the gentleman off at an address in St. Marys where he was met by a Niece & family members.  It was noon & I wasn't due to pick him up again until 3 P.M.  That gave me 3 hours in one of the prettiest towns in this entire area.  St. Mary's is an old stomping ground for Kelly & I.  We lived in an old farm house just a few miles north of St. Marys for about 7 years prior to moving to Bayfield so we spent a fair bit of time in & and around the town.  It was in these first early farm house years that we became seriously interested in RVing & bought our first rig.  A 17' 1979 Class C Dodge Centurion.

My 3 hours were spent visiting old familiar spots & reliving many great memories.  Took a lot of photos which I will spread out over the next several blogs.  Canada's Baseball Hall of Fame is here.  One of Canada's Prime Minister's is buried here & another colorful Prime Minister had one of his famous photos taken here.  And, I took pictures today regarding all that.  The old stone architecture in St. Marys sure reminds me of many old English movies I have seen.  Have always said that if I had to live in a small town in that area then St. Mary's would be my first choice.

Picked up my passenger at 3 & we were off back out into the countryside on our scenic journey north to Wingham, Ontario.  Just one of those great days.  It was nice to be a part of this elderly fellows day as he thoroughly enjoyed his outing in the countryside & I was able to get him laughing many times with my 'Cursmudgeony' sense of humor.  I like when that happens...........reminds me of my old zany self:))

FAMILY FISHING DAY (more pics of this family later once I get the problems sorted out)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2.. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your small car? Think before you continue reading.
This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once
actually used as part of a job application.
You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first.  Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life and
this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.  However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble
coming up with his answer. He simply answered, "I would give the car keys
to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and
wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."  Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to "Think Outside the Box."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UN-AWAKENED"

It's not the concept of God I have a problem with.......it's his fan club!!

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

BRINGING HOME A BARBERSHOP!!

PROTECTING THE GODERICH HARBOR

The thermometer in the Jeep told me it was 58F at 6:15 this morning as I headed into work.  The cool air just felt sooooo great for a change & added an extra few units of 'ooomph' to my recently charged overnight batteries.  The whole eastern horizon was aglow in a deep orange as the sun lumbered it's way up to the tree line.  I noticed old Sol & I had something in common this morning.  I too was aglow.....in my orange clam digger pants:))

NOT EVERYBODY GETS TO WEAR ORANGE PANTS TO WORK:))

In last night's blog I had a sepia tone picture of a log cabin on the grounds of the Goderich Museum.  Children can be seen sitting on some logs eating their lunch.  This is not an old photo.  I took the colored photo just after a couple of other photos showing a project the kids had just finished.  JERRY in Benson inquired about the photo & the sepia (old time look) effect.  Again, with just the click of a tool button in Picasa I was able to turn the color photo into an instant old time looking photo.  Total time it took me to do that was about 1 second.  Years ago I would spend endlessly long hours in my darkroom sepia toning prints by hand with trays of absolutely obnoxious & foul smelling chemicals.  (I remembered Jerry's question but have a nagging feeling I have forgotten some others)

Also in last night's Groaner's Corner I put in that piece about a man & his dog.  I should have put 'author unknown' at the end of that.  I did not write it:((

ANCHORED ON THE MAITLAND RIVER IN GODERICH, ONTARIO

Kelly & I slipped down to Mitchell this afternoon to visit with Uncle Harry for a couple hours.  Took him down a table for beside his chair.  He's doing well & loves his piped in TV music channels.

KELLY HELPING HARRY UNDERSTAND THE TV REMOTE

Slipped into Wal-Mart early this morning to buy myself a simple little electric hair trimmer for doing my beard.  Saw some on the shelf in my price range so grabbed one & away I went.  I don't spend any more time in retail stores than I have to.  When I got home & opened up the package I realized I had not only bought a hair trimmer.......but it looked like I had brought the whole darn Barbershop home!!

LOOKS LIKE I BROUGHT THE WHOLE DARN BARBERSHOP HOME!!

I knew our desktop computer was getting low on memory again despite adding more Ram last summer.  Was surprised to see we had only 2.26 GB's left.  Have used 78.2.  Not being too technically minded I would suspect we are in a 'critical' situation here with our desktop so I began moving photo files to our external hard drive & was able to recover about 18 GB's of memory.  Hopefully that will keep our aging desktop afloat for awhile longer.  Most of our computer space is taken up with photo files.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

THE ROOM WAS FULL OF PREGNANT WOMEN WITH THEIR PARTNERS. THE CLASS WAS IN FULL SWING.

THE INSTRUCTOR WAS TEACHING THE WOMEN HOW TO BREATHE PROPERLY AND WAS TELLING THE MEN HOW TO GIVE THE NECESSARY ASSURANCE TO THEIR PARTNERS AT THIS STAGE OF THE PREGNANCY. SHE SAID "LADIES, REMEMBER THAT EXERCISE IS GOOD FOR YOU. WALKING IS ESPECIALLY BENEFICIAL. IT STRENGTHENS THE PELVIC MUSCLES AND WILL MAKE DELIVERY THAT MUCH EASIER!" JUST TAKE SEVERAL STOPS AND STAY ON A SOFT SURFACE LIKE GRASS OR A PATH.

SHE LOOKED AT THE MEN IN THE ROOM, "AND GENTLEMEN, REMEMBER -- YOU'RE IN THIS TOGETHER --- IT WOULDN'T HURT YOU TO GO WALKING WITH HER."

THE ROOM SUDDENLY GOT VERY QUIET AS THE MEN ABSORBED THIS INFORMATION. THEN A MAN AT THE BACK OF THE ROOM SLOWLY RAISED HIS HAND.

"YES?" ANSWERED THE TEACHER.

"I WAS JUST WONDERING. IS IT ALL RIGHT IF SHE CARRIES A GOLF BAG WHILE WE WALK?"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UN-AWAKENED"

It's not the concept of God I have a problem with.......it's his fan club!!

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.