You Might Like to Know

DSCN0310 What a slacker I have been not putting up any new posts. To tell you the truth every time I have some pictures and a story it seems it it kayak or fishing related and I don’t want all the posts to be about kayaks and fishing, but there was this really cool thing that happened in Ft Morgan . . . OK I will save it for another time.

Last weekend we went up to Dallas on kind of a Christmas with the family weekend. Greg, our son-in-law was leaving for his offshore job on Monday and won’t be back till after Christmas so we did some fun thing all together including visiting Katie in Dallas. We went to a German market

2pharmaceuticals.com

, saw the Rockettes, did some shopping, met Katie’s new boyfriend – Sam and went to the Gaylord Texas Ice show.

If you are not familiar with the Gaylord hotels, they are like mini resorts. I went to my first one in Nashville. The one here in Texas is in Grapevine and has an ice show every year. They flying a bunch of ice sculptors from China where they have a really really big outdoor ice show and get them to put together a themed display of ice sculptures. This year’s theme was Madagascar Christmas (from the animated movie). I would have had some better pictures but my camera fogged up.

It was quite the production, there was a line, a movie, another line, giant arctic parkas a tent that was cooled colder than your freezer, a series of photo ops and LOTS of ice. The consensus was that it was better than we thought it would be. Add the walk around the elaborately decorated hotel atrium, toss in a couple of shops and it was a Christmasy fun time.

There is someting I haven’t been telling you

I just told you about my new camera which I got a few weeks ago. Hey, how interesting is it to write a post saying I got a new camera but I don’t know what it does or if it’s any good? Once I used it for a while I was able to add some value beyond the marketing blurb written by Nikon about the camera.

Well there is something else I have been testing. A new kayak. All my other kayaks were used when I got them. I think this is a good ideal for someone just starting out because they don’t know if they will really like it or not. With a used one you often get accessories you would otherwise have to buy separately like a paddle and seat. And it’s already scratched up so you won’t sweat the first oyster gouging.

My old war horse of a kayak the Malibu X-Factor has been in the shop twice being repaired (none of the damage my doing). As I was adding a high tech fish measuring device (a piece of tape with a ruler on it), I noticed another crack, and then another, and then another. They could be fixed and who knows how long I have been using it like that but it was time to move on.

I have attended almost every “demo day” that was offered by the kayak shops here in Houston for the last few years. Even though I had one, then two boats of my own, I kept track of what was new and what I liked. So, when I had to make a quick decision on which boat to get, I already knew what was on the top of my list. A 2013 Wilderness Systems Ride 135 . . . . in mango.

I ordered from my favorite kayak retailer – ACK, the Angler Addition and the rudder which comes with 2 built in rod holders, and extra movable rod holder up front and an anchor. However, they shipped me the regular addition which was just the boat plus the rudder. I called them up and they refunded the difference and shipping as a we’re sorry gesture. Now I have/get to outfit the boat exactly as I want it. I would have been happy with the stock angler rigging but I also knew I could improve upon it given the chance. Well

Kauf von Erythromycin

, I have that chance and have been struggling with all the possibilities.

BUT, the boat itself is fantastic. I love it. It paddles great, doesn’t feel tippy, has plenty of room and a comfortable seat. It also looks fabulous. The only down side seems to be that it’s HEAVY. It was also very cool having a kayak delivered by 18 wheeler.

Soon I will get up the nerve to make my final rod holder accessory decision and drill and cut into my new boat. See you on the water, I will be the one in the new Ride.

Cool new Camera

I got a fun new gadget. My lovely bride bought us a Nikon AW100 which is a small waterproof camera. Usually I am the one to purchase new electronic for the Christy family but this time Linda stepped up to the proverbial plate.

We spend a fair time around the water

Koupit Levitru v Praze

, boating, kayaking and hanging out on the beach. These are tough environments for electronics. We usually use our phone (thus the post about needing more rugged phones) or an old point and shoot camera.

Now we have a camera that can be dunked in the water (up to 30 feet), will weather the beach sand storms and survive being dropped. We have started taking it everywhere.

The thing that really sets this one apart from other rugged cameras is its GPS. Yup, GPS. It marks each picture with a location so you can see where the pic was taken on a map. Better than that, you can turn on “logging” which draws a line where you have been and show the pictures you have taken along the path. Very cool. You can even use Google Earth to see your path and pics.

I have used a similar feature on my phone and although it works, it isn’t as good and what the camera can do. So far, I give the AW100 two thumbs up as a great vacation camera and an excellent addition to our electronics arsenal. (we got the camo one because it was on sale)

Windows 8 Review

I went to a preview of Windows 8 at HP. There were a bunch of HP notebooks and all-in-one (touch) desktops running Microsoft’s latest operating system. There were Microsoft minions talking about the new OS and it’s features. I also attended a presentation given by one of MS senior technical trainers.

Here is the net-net;

Windows 8 is Microsoft’s version of Android/iOS sitting on top of Windows 7. The initial look and feel is just like you have on your Smartphone unless you drill down a bit and then it’s Windows 7. Windows 8 is made for touch devices. It will work best on a tablet or desktop touch PC, then touch notebook, then a phone and lastly on a regular desktop or notebook computer. It runs “apps” like Facebook or Angry Birds and it runs applications like Word and Excel. It has it’s own app store.

Pros:

It’s new. MS is trying to move things forward They are adapting many of the features and functionality (touch!) of mobile devices to “mainstream” computing (i.e. desktops and notebooks)
Anyone who owned a Smartphone before they owned a notebook will pick it up right away
Everything that runs on Win 7 should run on Win 8 it just won’t have any “metro” features
Microsoft could eventually have a seamless user experience from phone to tablet to PC that could rival Apples

Cons:

It’s version 1 – that’s all I’m going to say about that
You really need a touch device to realize most of the benefit of switching to Win 8
The longer you have spent using Win 3.1/ME/XP/Vista/7 the harder the change will be
Your mom/dad/aunt/average VP won’t be able to close an application. I am not kidding, there are going to be jokes about this all over the internet. Some kid is going to visit his Uncle Willy and realize that every app that Willy has ever opened, is sitting in the background, still open on his PC. The little “X” on the top right of the window is gone. Willy will resort to turning his machine off to close his app.

So there are some cool features

Buy Cialis Without Prescription

, of course to take advantage of them the apps/applications have to be written specifically for Win 8 and there lies the keys to the kingdom. Content, content, content. If the apps are built they will come. If I had a TouchSmart in my kitchen I would want Windows 8 on it. I like Android for my tablets and phones but I would try/buy Win 8 if the value proposition was good. I don’t think I will be in a hurry to upgrade my desktop. Overall I think Win 8 will be a good thing but I think it will be like Win Vista which took a beating in public opinion but allowed MS to product Win 7 which I think is an excellent product.

More wedding pictures

By popular demand I have included links to more wedding pictures online.

Bridesmaid Luncheon

Rehersal Dinner

Wedding and Reception

Koupit Priligy

Talk about your major event

We had one. Our oldest daughter Sarah, got married. She married her college sweetheart, Greg. I am happy/relieved to say we are 100% in favor of the union. You would think most parents would have reservations of one kind or another about their future in-law or at the very least about the combination of their child with their chosen spouse. Not us.

The wedding was a party. There were 100+ friends and family in attendance. We had it at a bar downtown. It was a very cool place they had over 300 Tiffany lamps and old furniture, couches, tables and chairs. It was just the right size for the party. The food was from Los Cucos (our favorite Mexican restaurant), there was an open bar and a DJ. Most importantly, everyone had fun including the bride and groom which isn’t always the case at a wedding. Even people who thought having a wedding at a bar might be a little sketchy quickly changed their tune when things got underway. We had several people tell us it was the best wedding they have ever been to. Sarah and Greg did it all themselves and they did a great job. Linda of course helped but she was strictly following orders not giving them.

The happy couple will be honeymooning in the Florida Keys. It will be their first real vacation together.

Buy Viagra Without Prescription

, perfect spouse – check, fabulous wedding – check, dreamy honeymoon – check. What’s left? . . . . Building a life. They have a good start, best of luck.

special photo credit – Patty Duvall

Say Hello to my Little Friend

Here's the Chip Apple Is Using to Stop You from Buying Cheap Cables Guess what? Apple has launched a new version of it’s phone! Oh, you already knew that? Oh, you already have one? Well, then I guess you know it has a different connector a digital connector

Levitra Ohne Rezept Kaufen

, ooooohhh, aaaaaaaahhhh. Did you also know that the cables with that connector have a proprietary chip in them? Ahhh, I finally got one on you. That’s right, the days of picking up a cheap knockoff cable made in China are over. You will pay full Apple retail and like it. Please sir, may I have another?

The folks at Gizmodo ripped apart one of the precious cables and found a fairly sophisticated chip. Their speculation was that without it a similar cable would not power or charge the phone. So keep this in mind when you see that almost-Apple cable at the mall kiosk or on ebay. You can read the details at Gizmodo here.

Your thought your days of paying ridiculous amounts of money for cables were over when Monster Cable was exposed. Well, say hello to my little friend!

I Want My Waterproof Phone

People are rally attached to their phone. They want to have it everywhere. Some people are not capable of walking or driving without one. So why don’t we have more rugged phones??? Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that manufactures were slow to pick up on the obvious. Another good example is the digital camera. Just like cell phones, they went from expensive high tech, to mainstream to totally dominant at every level before manufactures figured out we might want to take them to the beach without being hermetically sealed in plastic. Guess what? People still want to take a picture at the beach/lake/river or somewhere where it might rain. And do you know what has been replacing those ubiquitous digital cameras? That’s right, smaller digital cameras embedded into phones. So now you want to take both your phone AND your camera to all these wet, dusty unpredictable places and our choices of hardware are pathetic. Why? Are phones harder to waterproof than cameras? The phone market is much larger than the camera market so demand is not the issue.

There are some options. There are several ruggedized phones from companies that you never heard of running operating systems that have been replaced 3 times over and they are not cheap. There is also a treatment called Liquipel where they teat your phone with a very thin layer of plastic to make it water resistant. It costs $60

Kup Priligy bez recepty w Warszawie

, you have to send them your phone and they tell you not to get it wet. I think Panasonic and Sony have announced or introduced water resistant phones but they don’t seem to be commonly available.

Would you consider buying a "tough" phone and swapping out your SIM card when going on an outing? Do you think some parents might want to give their 12 yr old something that could survive being dropped from the height of a 12 yr old or live through a fund raiser car wash? There is a statistic out there that says 1 in 5 people have dropped their phone into the toilet. I don’t see that number going down in the future. Apple what are you waiting for?

Kayak Train Spotting

Here is something you don’t see everyday. I was in one of the marshes around Galveston Bay with fishing pole in hand. As I round a small inlet, I see an American flag flapping in the breeze. Is it on someone’s boat? Is there some kind of structure out here? No, it’s stuck in the water. I have no idea why. I think to myself, I should take a picture, this is pretty cool (maybe that’s why it’s there). As I am reaching for my phone I notice a train heading my way crossing the marsh. I knew the tracks were there but it’s still pretty wild to see a train cursing between you in the marsh and the bay on the other side.