Up and running

Yeah! My new computer arrived today, and, although I didn't get home until 10:00 tonight, it didn't take much to get set up and back online. The combination of a new computer and DSL is pretty amazing. I downloaded the Foxfire browser in just a few minutes. Now I'm getting used to the new keyboard layout, a touchpad, and an upgraded operating system.

The best part was that I didn't have to shop for the computer. I just contacted an acquaintance at D² Consulting, told him roughly what I wanted, made a couple choices from the options and recommendations he gave me, and it was done.

Zoning

One thing I miss about having ready Internet access is that it's a way to zone out, but in a helpful way, I hope.

I was wound up after a long day at church. Then, mid-afternoon, I went for a beautiful hike in Rubio Canyon. The weather has been spectacular these past days, and we had a view down the canyon, across Los Angeles, and out to the Pacific Ocean. Per the description I linked to, I believe we hiked to Moss Grotto/Ribbon Rock. There was a fair size waterfall over the rock. Definitely a place to go back to visit.

So, now I'm at Kinko's winding down after a stimulating day by catching up on websites I like to visit. But now that $8.20 has clicked over on my session, I'd better sign off for the evening.

Help is on the way

I ordered a laptop computer today and should have it by early next week. So, hopefully, I'll be back online at my leisure and when I wish rather than darting into Kinko's or public libraries and hoping for an available station. But these weeks have been an interesting realization of how much I depend on the Internet and e-mail.

Summer at Holden

The summer theme, Standing on Holy Ground, at Holden Village sounds great:

Taking off our shoes, pressing our feet against the soil and grass and stone of this beautiful planet, we will encounter again God’s call to live with care and responsibility on this holy ground. Care for creation has long been a strong emphasis at Holden, but this summer we will give this concern even more attention, so that it can increasingly become a strong emphasis in other places as well.

Dorothy Bass, editor of Practicing Our Faith, is the program director. Larry Rasmussen, who wrote Earth Community, Earth Ethics, will be speaking at the beginning of the summer.

Health news, etc.

First, an aside. I pulled up the WSJ to look up a column on health I read yesterday at work and read the first line of the top article: "A WINTER STORM BARRELED across the Midwest while the Northeast braced for more than a foot of snow." It's hazily sunny here in So Cal, probably in the low 70s. I sat on a boulder next to a rushing stream this morning with the sun warming my back while I read The Plot Against America for the knit one read too online book club.

To health. The USDA has published new dietary guidelines, including key recommendations and downloadable files of the entire report.

Ten minutes left on my hour of free library Internet access, which would cost me $12 at Kinko's at .20 per minute.

I just saw that Susie has started a cross stitch section of her website. Check it out!

Time's up.

Test template change

I changed the Knit One Read Two ring code in my template, but it doesn't appear to be "taking" on my front page. It's fine if you pull up an archive entry but not on the default front page....Maybe because I'm at Kinko's??

Winter in Pasadena

Today is another beautiful Pasadena winter day. The kind that reminds one of the reason Midwest industrialists built winter homes here a hundred years ago, like the Gamble family—clear, blue skies after all the rain; temperatures into the 70s; snow-covered mountains ringing the valleys; and the fragrance of eucalyptus trees bounding the empty field that someday will be a W*l-M*rt (although the eucalyptus trees probably hadn't been brought in to this area back then). The kind that, if not enjoyed with at least a short walk at lunch, would be a crime to miss by staying inside a building all day.