My daughter has picked up several bad habits from exposure to the elementary education systems in Casey and Russell County Schools. It bothered me when my child (who spoke perfect, grammatically correct English in the pre-K years) returned from first grade using the same incorrect language I’d heard fall from her teacher’s lips. It made me a little nuts, but I corrected at home and kept moving ahead. “We was” and “They is” demonstrated the worst of it and was corrected in fairly short order. (more…)

I spoke with a peer this morning. She knows I don’t watch TV, so she told me about the latest American Idol show… which donated money to needy causes. Alongside the starving children in Africa and disease causes, she said that there were also funds being funneled to Kentucky education. (more…)

The latest issue of Wired Magazine (my favorite subscription) featured a new take on small spaces with high-tech features and micro-design. It was too cool not to share with those of you who love a good tiny house as much as I do.

The online version offers a slide show (not offered in my printed version) that brings the tiny space to life. My son is salivating for this little boxy creation to put on the farm, overlooking the “big creek” as his own little bachelor pad. (more…)

Education in Kentucky gets me “all riled up.” My daughter got her report card on Tuesday. That’s the 24th of April, it was printed out on the 23rd (Monday). And the report date was 3/17/07 – 5/24/07.

She did well… only one B (in Language Arts, which kinda chaps my butt on general principal because I’m her Mom and that’s my “thing”) and the rest are A or A+.

So what’s my gripe? My gripe is that the term, the YEAR, doesn’t end for another month, but she’s already got her final grades. I’ve said for ages that the kids do NOTHING to learn anything after CATS testing, but how much more physical proof do I need than this? (more…)

I recently purchased a cool new addition to the iPod accessory collection for our household. I had a slew of Best Buy reward points that were about to expire, so I went shopping. For the first time in ages, there was nothing on my “wish list” for Best Buy.

Can you believe it? I couldn’t.

I actually had to poke around to find something that looked good. Just not much in the shopping mood lately, I guess. Not even for gadgets. *Feeling own forehead for fever*

But I thought I might find a cool new case for my 5G iPod, so I cruised over to the iPod mecca and browsed. That’s when I saw it… (more…)

Trinity, my little sugar glider girl has had a new litter (two to be exact) and they crawled out of pouch on the 20th. The little guys… err… Girls in this case, are incredibly cute. Even with their lack of fur (they barely have fuzz), their sealed eyes (which opened a couple days ago) and what the kids call “little licorice tails” they are adorable in that homely, only-a-mother-could-love-it sort of way.

(The shot was just too cute not to share. The baby is wrapped around Alex’s 9-year-old thumb.)

If you have a problem with a particular product or gadget and you can’t find the information you need on the manufacturer’s site, you now have a resource to help you troubleshoot.

www.FixYa.com is an Israeli website and how-to community with the desire to be the world’s largest support community and online knowledgebase. FixYa hopes to bridge the gap between an increasing lack in manufacturer support and customer demand for technical assistance.

Personally, I’ve already bookmarked this resource and may even hop over there later and write a few “how-to” articles to help support the community myself! In the meantime, check it out for your own techie/geek quandaries.

The challenges of the last couple weeks seem to be settling down now. There are still numerous details to juggle and I’m still overwhelmed — but I’m much more upbeat now than I was a few short days ago (a few hours of sleep does wonders!)

Wayne is feeling much better and was released from the hospital on Sunday. He will be able to return to work next week. I’m relieved and (as a result) was finally able to take that nap I so desperately needed.

Today, Wayne and I went to court with my youngest son and completed the adoption process that has been in process for so many months. Byron is now officially a Parker! Both father and son are thrilled, as am I. Last week, we had been worried that the date would have to be pushed out, but it all worked out perfectly.

Wayne called his parents this afternoon to tell them they were the proud grandparents of his brand new 150-pound bouncing baby boy and I tease Wayne that he now has “an heir about him.” All told, we had a wonderful, albeit exhausting, day. (more…)

This week has tested my resolve and altered my future. This week I had the opportunity to review what really matters in my life in a very real way. This week, the plans to travel next year were dashed. This week, the plans to move back to the farm were postponed indefinitely. This week, I made plans to move to the city — a place I hope I won’t despise. (more…)

MyTreo.Net recently covered the plans to release a Linux model of the Treo. An interesting read. That might be enough to make me look at the Treo again — if I’m not already in love with the iPhone by then.

I’ve been looking for some way to replace OneNote. It’s not that I mind paying for the software — even to Microsoft. After all, I can graciously admit this is one program that they do EXTREMELY well. And, nothing else I’ve seen in the opensource world even comes close. I have reviewed a couple other paid TabletPC-centric notes programs (like Evernote). I didn’t like them as much. And, OneNote 2007 is far superior to the 2003 version of the same program. (more…)

Ok, as if it’s not cool enough to have found the Open Clip Art Library, I’ve found a search tool for it that’s not only useful, it’s actually FUN!

Check out this “sketch it and we will match it” search tool for the open source image library. Just pick the color you are seeking and draw a really quick sketch on the black box (this is easier if you have a Tablet PC) and watch it do an auto-magic search. Even if you are a lousy artist like me, you get cool results.

Take it for a spin, and then tip-toe over to the open source font library — if you have enough space left on your hard drive to become a collector. I’m feeling a new external hard drive purchase coming on!

Recently, I announced that I’m going to Linux. And I bellyache about Vista to my family. What happens? My father goes to Linux on one of his machines… then converts three more. (He likes his computers.) Now, my 17-year old has taken an old box I pulled from the discard pile at a client site and has reworked it with a Linux operating system.

They are telling me that Linux has gotten alot easier. They tell me there is very little required to get the OS working other than “dropping in” Ubuntu.

Now, suddenly, my son and father have both joined forces and started giving me crap (in stereo) for not having switched over already.

I’m running a business. I can’t just up and switch without a bit of research, some product testing and getting all my systems and software in place and under my belt…FIRST. I can’t just “go Linux” tomorrow and decide not to worry about all the functionality I need that won’t immediately work.

Why? I’m glad you asked… (more…)

We are off to spend the day with Wayne’s family for Easter. I’m leaving the computer behind (*gasp*) and will be enjoying a day that I hope will be (mostly) computer-free.

The children are on Spring Break this next week, so my productivity will dip a bit. But, who knows, maybe I’ll take a day off to goof around with them…it could happen!

In the meantime, I’m off to prepare for our travel to be with the extended family.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Miguel Berger, broker/owner of TechValley Homes Real Estate in Albany, New York was just awarded Realtor® of the Year by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors (GCAR).

GCAR is a trade association resulting from the merger of two individual associations: The Albany County and the Rensselaer County Boards of Realtors. The merger occurred in 1992, but the two associations themselves dated back to the 1920s. This association of 3200 members gives annual awards including community service, unique transaction, and committee recognition awards. The two primary awards are the Realtor of the Year and the Ralph P. Dupont Award for community service.

I caught up with Miguel this week and asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions on his award, the real estate market in New York and across the nation and his own business. He agreed to the interview.

(more…)

For those who haven’t been on the website in the last few hours, go and visit the site. You will see that the company address is now on the contact page, and that you may now remove your credit card number from the system without difficulty or error messages.

I got an email from a reader (thanks, John!) letting me know that he was able to remove his credit card this morning and thanking me for my “detective work.” I, too, was finally able to remove my credit card number.

The president of Chatterbug has been quickly responsive — once I could actually find his number and call him. He has stayed in touch with me by both phone and email as he’s orchestrated most of the changes to the system I recommended.

What still hasn’t happened (that I find bothersome) is that: (more…)

Following my recent detective work, and the ability to find Mr. Ryan’s cell phone number, I did get a response — via email — asking for my direct phone number that Mr. Ryan said had been jumbled in the voice mail I left. (more…)

I’ve been looking for contact information on this slippery company and have found the following: (more…)

I recently received the following email from Lisa Mahoney, a real estate agent in Uxbridge, MA working with RE/MAX American Dream, and am reprinting (and answering) it here with her permission:

Hi there, I am just starting out and have paired up w/ a “team.” No one else uses any real mobile technology (except cell phones). I would like to suggest a few ways to move towards being more efficient and mobile.I spend hours sometimes at an open house, where I could be working etc. So I am wondering what should a good agent have??So far I have a wireless Laptop (not sure if it would work w/ on the road) and a blackberry. Of course a printer/fax but those are not portable. Also what kind of software would I need to have to be able to fax through email online and connect to the internet? How does it all work together?

Sorry for all the questions……this is all so new to me but I LOVE YOUR IDEAS!!!

Thank You,

Lisa Mahoney
RE/MAX American Dream
508-802-3436
www.NewEnglandAmericanDream.com

(more…)

Ok, Thunderbird is up and running. As I go through and trick it out to make it nicer and add all the little personalized extras, I thought I’d keep a running list here and share it with my blog readers. I hope it will help anyone else who is attempting to do the Microsoft to opensource journey. (more…)