Trip to Orat's home ; Getting into iMovie
(posted from home)
(this post covers 10 – 20 December, 2011)
-------------------------------
Tuesday, 20 December-
We're having some odd buzzing sounds on the phone line so I tried troubleshooting that and didn't make a lot of headway. The buzzing is intermittent and just when I think I'm making headway, it disappears. I'm 70 per cent sure the source is the phone company's problem but need to narrow that down before calling for service. I did open up all the connections and spray electrical contact spray and give them a quick brush but I think the problem is in the line coming into the house. We've had problems with it in the past.
Labashi went to her parent's apartment today to follow up on some medical issues and I caught up the blog. My experiment in using the iPad for the blog was for the most part a failure. I spent more time cleaning up the formatting because of copying it to Evernote and then copying that to email. I'd be better off to take my laptop than my iPad along on my Sunday ride-and-blog trips.
I also reviewed video clips from my little Sanyo camera today. I had taken the old Sanyo along as a backup and kept it handy while we drove. The Canon's HD footage far exceeds the quality of the Sanyo's 640x480 format but I did get a bit of you-are-there footage with the Sanyo.
That evening we finished the Wallander – Season One extras.
-------------------------------
Monday, 19 December -
Today we drove back to Mom and Dad's apartment in Mechanicsburg. I needed to look at Skype on Dad's PC and also go to the car dealer to see what it will take to replace a broken mirror on Mom's car. After I determined that Skype now seems stable and working fine (for no obvious reason), I drove Mom's car over to the dealer and got a quote to replace the mirror. I also took it to a local body shop for a quote. I think we'll delay getting that done until next month and get an inspection at the same time.
Labashi took Mom to the doctor's office today and didn't get back until late. Dad made supper and we then had a nice long chat before returning home.
We watched the third 'Wallander' episode and one of the DVD extras about Henning Mankel's Wallander novels. I really need to read some of his work. Movies are fine but the really interesting stuff is in the novels.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 18 December -
This morning I did my normal scan of the web while waiting for the day to warm up. We had a tiny bit of snow overnight and I wanted the roads to have a chance to warm before taking off on the motorcycle. I spent much of the time drooling over accessories for the Triumph Thruxton 900 I've been looking at both locally and at a dealer near Orat's home. I've not made up my mind to buy one but after seeing a nice bikini fairing for it and lots of performance gear, the temptation is growing. Now if I just had somewhere to keep it.
I took my regular Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks and took the iPad along to catch up the blog. I had installed Evernote on the laptop and iPad and thought that would do it, particularly after reading an article by a full-time blogger who uses Evernote for this purpose. But Evernote let me down. After typing only a few sentences it began slowing down. I could type three or four words before they'd appear. And then it got worse-- I'd type a few words and the letters in each word would repeat. I powered down the iPad and started over with Evernote but it soon did the same thing. I switched over to email and that worked fine... no delays at all. I'll just have to remember to send myself the mail rather than depend on Evernote's sync function to share the text between platforms.
Later in the day we drove over to see Mom and Dad at their apartment in Mechanicsburg. We called in a to-go order for ribs to Texas Roadhouse and picked them up on our drive to the apartment.
After supper I worked on Dad's PC which had developed an odd problem with Skype. It would start up but then fail with a message saying it couldn't run anymore and suggested I install the latest version as a fix. But it was already on the latest version.
I tried a few things and deleted some redundant security software but that didn't help-- at least not consistently. It would work sometimes but not others. I'm going to need to look at this some more.
That evening we watched four episodes of 'Corner Gas' – Season Four. They've lost the magic.
-----------------------------
Saturday, 17 December -
Labashi mailed out her yearly newsletter to friends and family today and I had to get out of the house. I rode the Concours to the East York Starbucks and found it so crowded I sat outside despite the 40-degree temperature and a bit of chilling wind. I didn't last long at that and then went up to Rocky Ridge Park for my 5-miler. I had the iPod along but found it dead. I had forgotten to charge it after using it a long time for 'This American Life' episodes we listened to on our drive to and from Orat's.
The walk today seemed colder than today's 40 degree temperature but that was because of a persistent wind. I've walked that loop enough to realize I'd be cold on the first part because of walking into the wind but after ten minutes or so I'd turn downwind and it would be much more comfortable--- and that indeed was the case--- at least until I turned back into the wind for the last 20 minutes of the loop.
------------------------------
Friday, 16 December -
Today Labashi and I spent the entire day editing a video of my grand-niece's winter concert performance. The end product was only two minutes long but we had a lot of learning to do in using iMovie, particularly when we started working with sound. I had a pan of the crowd near the end of the concert and Labashi came up with the idea of putting that first as an establishing shot. But the accompanying sound was wrong for that. Labashi found crowd sounds in the iMovie effects library and did a great job of editing that to fit the visuals.
We also played quite a bit with titles, backgrounds, and transitions.
Late that afternoon I posted the video to Youtube and sent the link to my niece's email. Within minutes she put it up on her Facebook page and sent us a heartfelt thank-you ---- a very satisfying end to the day. That evening we did our usual thing on the web and then watched our weekly fix of 'Gold Rush' and 'Flying Wild Alaska'.
-----------------------------
Thursday, 15 December -
Today we had another leisurely breakfast with Orat and then took off for home. The GPS plotted out a new route down the east side of Canandaigua Lake and when I realized it took us past the local Starbucks, I said 'why not?'.
Today was a rainy day off and on so the trip home wasn't quite as pleasant as the trip up a few days ago but I loved seeing the unfamiliar countryside.
At Mansfield we tried a new restaurant (Lamb's Creek Grill) and found it a good alternative to our normal stop at Wendy's and had a long lunch. I then dropped in at the nearby gun shop I always visit on our way through here for a look at the used guns. There wasn't anything I couldn't live without but I did find an H&K .380 that looked interesting.
We didn't get home until 1600 or so and by the time we 'arrived' (emptied out the van), it was dark.
------------------------------
Wednesday, 14 December -
This morning we sat around the table with Orat having a leisurely breakfast--- nice! Labashi then drove over to JustJeff's house to help Giddyup settle in to the new house while Orat and I ran some errands. Orat and JustJeff are rebuilding an older pickup and we needed to pick up parts. That turned out to be easier said than done. The parts house (AutoZone) had to send us to another location for some of the parts and once we arrived there we were directed to yet another location.
After rounding up the parts we had lunch at a nearby Five Guys and then went shooting at the Rochester Rifle Club. Orat is a member there and this was my first visit. It's a nice little out-of-the-way low-key clubhouse but has a nice shooting lane setup, proper ventilation without the common problem of too much air movement at the shooting station, decent lighting, and good lead-elimination hand-cleaning soaps for afterwards.
I started out with a Glock .40 and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. We had small target sheets but this was ridiculous. In the meantime I watched Orat punch holes in an amazingly-small pattern near the center of his target. Obviously I was using the wrong gun. Oddly, when I tried the H&K 9mm Orat had been using, I was only hitting the paper half the time. Another trade-out for another 9mm didn't fix things but upon trading back to the H&K I at least put 13 of 15 on the paper and had a center-high cluster going. That's good, though. I've not been shooting lately and this is just what I need to get me back out there.
That evening we all went to a winter concert for my third-grade grand-niece. I had the little Canon point-and-shoot along and shot videos of her very animated performance. What a gas! Later we returned to my niece's home and viewed the raw footage from the concert and that turned out to be a big hit.
-------------------------------
Tuesday, 13 December -
Today Labashi and I loaded up the van and headed for Orat's home (in the Rochester area). We left at 0830 and made it to our destination around 1400. We spent the rest of the afternoon helping the movers and then had a hearty spaghetti supper with family.
Afterwards I plugged the iPad into the family big-screen TV and went through the stills from our Botswana trip. It was quite the circus. The little kids both loved the pictures but also had the attention span of, well, little kids!
------------------------------
Monday, 12 December -
Today I helped Labashi replace a ceiling tile in the guest room. This tile had been damaged by a small water leak and Labashi had spent a good bit of time and energy trying to cover it up with paint. She had taken a similar tile in to Lowe's and had it color-matched but the resulting color wasn't even close.
The problem here was the tile is part of the CeilingMax suspend-ceiling system and takes a bit of finessing to remove and replace. The tile came out easily but getting the new one in place proved a challenge. We still like the CeilingMax system more than a traditional dropped ceiling because it provides more clearance in the room and doesn't have such an industrial look.
That evening I called Orat and learned JustJeff had settled on his new house today and would be moving in tomorrow. I quickly made arrangements to travel up there. We had been planning a trip up there before Christmas and this would make a lot of sense-- help with the move, see the new house, visit with family, etc, etc. Perfect!
-------------------------------
Sunday, 11 December -
This morning I researched and then downloaded 'Evernote' on the iPad and my laptop. This app gives me a way to take notes and have them automatically synced between platforms.
I then rode the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for my regular Sunday ride. I took along the iPad and keyboard and caught up on a few blog entries.
I then rode over to Rocky Ridge Park and walked my five-miler in 1:50.
That evening we watched more 'Modern Family' episodes.
-------------------------------
Saturday, 10 December -
This morning I needed a motorcycle ride so headed into town, initially planning to go to Starbucks. Along the way I remembered I still need to submit a warranty claim for the F50GS's right saddle bag. It's called a 'Vario' and expands and contracts using a lever inside the bag. But mine will no longer contract-- it's stuck in the expanded position.
I rode over to Trans Am Cycles in Lititz (where I bought the bike and bags) and dropped off the bag for the service guy to handle the warranty claim. Today was only a 40-degree day so I wondered how my electrically-heated clothing would do. As I crossed the Susquehanna River bridge I realized my hands were getting cold even though the temperature controller for the gloves was turned all the way up. I turned on the GS's heated handgrips and that took care of it. It seems odd to heat the outside of the heavy gloves but the internal heat was being overwhelmed by the cold air flowing past the gloves. The additional heat from the grips balanced that out.
At the shop I spoke briefly with Dan, the sales guy, and Charlie, the service guy. Both are quite friendly and know their products.
After the shop visit I stopped at the nearby Starbucks for a warm-me-up before the long trip home and spent an hour or so catching up on the news via the iPad. I love the convenience of taking the little iPad along and having access to the web.
That evening we watched several episodes of 'Modern Family', season one.
*********** END OF POST *********
(posted from home)
(this post covers 10 – 20 December, 2011)
-------------------------------
Tuesday, 20 December-
We're having some odd buzzing sounds on the phone line so I tried troubleshooting that and didn't make a lot of headway. The buzzing is intermittent and just when I think I'm making headway, it disappears. I'm 70 per cent sure the source is the phone company's problem but need to narrow that down before calling for service. I did open up all the connections and spray electrical contact spray and give them a quick brush but I think the problem is in the line coming into the house. We've had problems with it in the past.
Labashi went to her parent's apartment today to follow up on some medical issues and I caught up the blog. My experiment in using the iPad for the blog was for the most part a failure. I spent more time cleaning up the formatting because of copying it to Evernote and then copying that to email. I'd be better off to take my laptop than my iPad along on my Sunday ride-and-blog trips.
I also reviewed video clips from my little Sanyo camera today. I had taken the old Sanyo along as a backup and kept it handy while we drove. The Canon's HD footage far exceeds the quality of the Sanyo's 640x480 format but I did get a bit of you-are-there footage with the Sanyo.
That evening we finished the Wallander – Season One extras.
-------------------------------
Monday, 19 December -
Today we drove back to Mom and Dad's apartment in Mechanicsburg. I needed to look at Skype on Dad's PC and also go to the car dealer to see what it will take to replace a broken mirror on Mom's car. After I determined that Skype now seems stable and working fine (for no obvious reason), I drove Mom's car over to the dealer and got a quote to replace the mirror. I also took it to a local body shop for a quote. I think we'll delay getting that done until next month and get an inspection at the same time.
Labashi took Mom to the doctor's office today and didn't get back until late. Dad made supper and we then had a nice long chat before returning home.
We watched the third 'Wallander' episode and one of the DVD extras about Henning Mankel's Wallander novels. I really need to read some of his work. Movies are fine but the really interesting stuff is in the novels.
-----------------------------
Sunday, 18 December -
This morning I did my normal scan of the web while waiting for the day to warm up. We had a tiny bit of snow overnight and I wanted the roads to have a chance to warm before taking off on the motorcycle. I spent much of the time drooling over accessories for the Triumph Thruxton 900 I've been looking at both locally and at a dealer near Orat's home. I've not made up my mind to buy one but after seeing a nice bikini fairing for it and lots of performance gear, the temptation is growing. Now if I just had somewhere to keep it.
I took my regular Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks and took the iPad along to catch up the blog. I had installed Evernote on the laptop and iPad and thought that would do it, particularly after reading an article by a full-time blogger who uses Evernote for this purpose. But Evernote let me down. After typing only a few sentences it began slowing down. I could type three or four words before they'd appear. And then it got worse-- I'd type a few words and the letters in each word would repeat. I powered down the iPad and started over with Evernote but it soon did the same thing. I switched over to email and that worked fine... no delays at all. I'll just have to remember to send myself the mail rather than depend on Evernote's sync function to share the text between platforms.
Later in the day we drove over to see Mom and Dad at their apartment in Mechanicsburg. We called in a to-go order for ribs to Texas Roadhouse and picked them up on our drive to the apartment.
After supper I worked on Dad's PC which had developed an odd problem with Skype. It would start up but then fail with a message saying it couldn't run anymore and suggested I install the latest version as a fix. But it was already on the latest version.
I tried a few things and deleted some redundant security software but that didn't help-- at least not consistently. It would work sometimes but not others. I'm going to need to look at this some more.
That evening we watched four episodes of 'Corner Gas' – Season Four. They've lost the magic.
-----------------------------
Saturday, 17 December -
Labashi mailed out her yearly newsletter to friends and family today and I had to get out of the house. I rode the Concours to the East York Starbucks and found it so crowded I sat outside despite the 40-degree temperature and a bit of chilling wind. I didn't last long at that and then went up to Rocky Ridge Park for my 5-miler. I had the iPod along but found it dead. I had forgotten to charge it after using it a long time for 'This American Life' episodes we listened to on our drive to and from Orat's.
The walk today seemed colder than today's 40 degree temperature but that was because of a persistent wind. I've walked that loop enough to realize I'd be cold on the first part because of walking into the wind but after ten minutes or so I'd turn downwind and it would be much more comfortable--- and that indeed was the case--- at least until I turned back into the wind for the last 20 minutes of the loop.
------------------------------
Friday, 16 December -
Today Labashi and I spent the entire day editing a video of my grand-niece's winter concert performance. The end product was only two minutes long but we had a lot of learning to do in using iMovie, particularly when we started working with sound. I had a pan of the crowd near the end of the concert and Labashi came up with the idea of putting that first as an establishing shot. But the accompanying sound was wrong for that. Labashi found crowd sounds in the iMovie effects library and did a great job of editing that to fit the visuals.
We also played quite a bit with titles, backgrounds, and transitions.
Late that afternoon I posted the video to Youtube and sent the link to my niece's email. Within minutes she put it up on her Facebook page and sent us a heartfelt thank-you ---- a very satisfying end to the day. That evening we did our usual thing on the web and then watched our weekly fix of 'Gold Rush' and 'Flying Wild Alaska'.
-----------------------------
Thursday, 15 December -
Today we had another leisurely breakfast with Orat and then took off for home. The GPS plotted out a new route down the east side of Canandaigua Lake and when I realized it took us past the local Starbucks, I said 'why not?'.
Today was a rainy day off and on so the trip home wasn't quite as pleasant as the trip up a few days ago but I loved seeing the unfamiliar countryside.
At Mansfield we tried a new restaurant (Lamb's Creek Grill) and found it a good alternative to our normal stop at Wendy's and had a long lunch. I then dropped in at the nearby gun shop I always visit on our way through here for a look at the used guns. There wasn't anything I couldn't live without but I did find an H&K .380 that looked interesting.
We didn't get home until 1600 or so and by the time we 'arrived' (emptied out the van), it was dark.
------------------------------
Wednesday, 14 December -
This morning we sat around the table with Orat having a leisurely breakfast--- nice! Labashi then drove over to JustJeff's house to help Giddyup settle in to the new house while Orat and I ran some errands. Orat and JustJeff are rebuilding an older pickup and we needed to pick up parts. That turned out to be easier said than done. The parts house (AutoZone) had to send us to another location for some of the parts and once we arrived there we were directed to yet another location.
After rounding up the parts we had lunch at a nearby Five Guys and then went shooting at the Rochester Rifle Club. Orat is a member there and this was my first visit. It's a nice little out-of-the-way low-key clubhouse but has a nice shooting lane setup, proper ventilation without the common problem of too much air movement at the shooting station, decent lighting, and good lead-elimination hand-cleaning soaps for afterwards.
I started out with a Glock .40 and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. We had small target sheets but this was ridiculous. In the meantime I watched Orat punch holes in an amazingly-small pattern near the center of his target. Obviously I was using the wrong gun. Oddly, when I tried the H&K 9mm Orat had been using, I was only hitting the paper half the time. Another trade-out for another 9mm didn't fix things but upon trading back to the H&K I at least put 13 of 15 on the paper and had a center-high cluster going. That's good, though. I've not been shooting lately and this is just what I need to get me back out there.
That evening we all went to a winter concert for my third-grade grand-niece. I had the little Canon point-and-shoot along and shot videos of her very animated performance. What a gas! Later we returned to my niece's home and viewed the raw footage from the concert and that turned out to be a big hit.
-------------------------------
Tuesday, 13 December -
Today Labashi and I loaded up the van and headed for Orat's home (in the Rochester area). We left at 0830 and made it to our destination around 1400. We spent the rest of the afternoon helping the movers and then had a hearty spaghetti supper with family.
Afterwards I plugged the iPad into the family big-screen TV and went through the stills from our Botswana trip. It was quite the circus. The little kids both loved the pictures but also had the attention span of, well, little kids!
------------------------------
Monday, 12 December -
Today I helped Labashi replace a ceiling tile in the guest room. This tile had been damaged by a small water leak and Labashi had spent a good bit of time and energy trying to cover it up with paint. She had taken a similar tile in to Lowe's and had it color-matched but the resulting color wasn't even close.
The problem here was the tile is part of the CeilingMax suspend-ceiling system and takes a bit of finessing to remove and replace. The tile came out easily but getting the new one in place proved a challenge. We still like the CeilingMax system more than a traditional dropped ceiling because it provides more clearance in the room and doesn't have such an industrial look.
That evening I called Orat and learned JustJeff had settled on his new house today and would be moving in tomorrow. I quickly made arrangements to travel up there. We had been planning a trip up there before Christmas and this would make a lot of sense-- help with the move, see the new house, visit with family, etc, etc. Perfect!
-------------------------------
Sunday, 11 December -
This morning I researched and then downloaded 'Evernote' on the iPad and my laptop. This app gives me a way to take notes and have them automatically synced between platforms.
I then rode the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for my regular Sunday ride. I took along the iPad and keyboard and caught up on a few blog entries.
I then rode over to Rocky Ridge Park and walked my five-miler in 1:50.
That evening we watched more 'Modern Family' episodes.
-------------------------------
Saturday, 10 December -
This morning I needed a motorcycle ride so headed into town, initially planning to go to Starbucks. Along the way I remembered I still need to submit a warranty claim for the F50GS's right saddle bag. It's called a 'Vario' and expands and contracts using a lever inside the bag. But mine will no longer contract-- it's stuck in the expanded position.
I rode over to Trans Am Cycles in Lititz (where I bought the bike and bags) and dropped off the bag for the service guy to handle the warranty claim. Today was only a 40-degree day so I wondered how my electrically-heated clothing would do. As I crossed the Susquehanna River bridge I realized my hands were getting cold even though the temperature controller for the gloves was turned all the way up. I turned on the GS's heated handgrips and that took care of it. It seems odd to heat the outside of the heavy gloves but the internal heat was being overwhelmed by the cold air flowing past the gloves. The additional heat from the grips balanced that out.
At the shop I spoke briefly with Dan, the sales guy, and Charlie, the service guy. Both are quite friendly and know their products.
After the shop visit I stopped at the nearby Starbucks for a warm-me-up before the long trip home and spent an hour or so catching up on the news via the iPad. I love the convenience of taking the little iPad along and having access to the web.
That evening we watched several episodes of 'Modern Family', season one.
*********** END OF POST *********
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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