Restoring Factory Settings

My computer had gotten slower and slower, so I decided to erase everything, and start all over. I'd signed up for Dell "Your Tech Team" and decided to phone them before getting started. Once I was halfway through erasing everything, and realized they hadn't given me all the required start up disks. So, this time, I figured I'd make the phone call.

I spoke with a helpful technician, who told me rather than formatting everything, to try to Restore Factory Settings instead. I'd still have to back-up everything first.

After a couple of hours, we were up and running, and he gave me one more piece of advice. In about a week, I'd get about 30+ windows updates, and a few days after that, I'd get another batch of updates. The entire system would work much better if I wait until after these updates to start installing software and copying my files back. Talk about annoying!

I guess the idea is that the read head on the hard disk doesn't need to bounce around as much if we wait.

Also, be sure to create restore points!

One last tip, he told me. Restore to factory settings every six months!

Well, I'm doing what he says, and we'll see if the machine runs any faster.

June Payments - End of Month

Payments Waiting

AllMyMoneyForYou: 2 Requests Ahead of You, 30 days old

Deep-c-Links: 70 Request Ahead of You, 74 Days Old (Second Request Due to Exceeding Maximum Allowed Balance)
EmailsForAds - 60 Days Old, No Been Paid Page, Requested Again 6/24/10
E-Qoo2: 32 Request Ahead of You, 71 Days Old
LadyOfTheLinks: 5 Requests Ahead of You, 74 Days Old (Second Request Due to Exceeding Maximum Allowed)
OrangeBizs: 266 Requests Ahead of You, 18 Days Old
PolarBearClicks: 11 Requests Ahead of You, 37 Days Old
RoseBizs: 9 Requests Ahead of You, 110 Days Old, Been Paid Page Removed

Amazon Kindle Drops to $189

I purchased my first Kindle Wireless Reading Device
two years ago for about $360, and now it's close to half the original price. Also, it's a better unit now, since it has Global Reception. There are a lot of public domain books you can download at no additional cost. It has a rudimentary Basic Internet connection for when you're away from your computer. And it will store up to 1,500 books! In fact, I've downloaded thick computer manuals which are now too heavy for me to hold for long periods of time. But the Kindle Wireless Reading Device
is only 10.2 ounces! It's also just over a 1/3" thick. Enjoy a 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries. No annual contracts, no connection fees, no monthly fees and no searching for hot spots.

I've used the built in dictionary a lot! The six font sizes are wonderful, because when I'm tired, I simply move to a larger font size.

We've subscribed to the Wall Street Journal and Reader's Digest for a while now. It's wonderful to be able to read the newspaper without worrying about used newspapers stacking up.

Check it out yourself!





Be sure to check out the Kindle Best Sellers also note the free books at the right.

June Payments

Payments Waiting

AllMyMoneyForYou: 2 Requests Ahead of You, 26 days old

Deep-c-Links: 100 Request Ahead of You, 76 Days Old (Second Request Due to Exceeding Maximum Allowed Balance)
EmailsForAds - 56 Days Old, No Been Paid Page, Requested Again 6/24/10
E-Qoo2: 32 Request Ahead of You, 67 Days Old
FusionMails: Cashout Page Closed
LadyOfTheLinks: 5 Requests Ahead of You, 70 Days Old (Second Request Due to Exceeding Maximum Allowed)
OrangeBizs: 266 Requests Ahead of You, 14 Days Old
PolarBearClicks: 11 Requests Ahead of You, 33 Days Old
RoseBizs: 9 Requests Ahead of You, 106 Days Old

Keep Hydrated

During the hot summer months, it's important to stay hydrated. In fact, I learned first hand what happens with dehydrated, when I ended up in the hospital. These days, when I start to feel sluggish, I reach for a bottle of water. Keep in mind, if you notice you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated.

I used to hate purchasing bottled water at the supermarket, due to the cost and environmental concerns. A few years back, I purchased a half-dozen stainless steel water bottles. We no longer have to worry about running out of bottled water, since we keep our fridge stocked. The 12 ounce bottles fit well on the shelf of our fridge. Also, it's wonderful to reuse them, it's simple to wash in our dishwasher.



If you're doing exercise outside in the heat, be sure drink a lot before, during and after your activity. Also, it's a good idea to add some Gatorade or other sports drink to keep your electrolyte count up.

Fantasy Artist Frank Frazetta Dead at 82

I had purchased three of the books by Frank Frazetta during my college years. He illustrated many of the Robert E. Howard covers as well as the Edgar Rice Burroughs covers. It's strange, because the first two books cost me $7.95, but when they raised the price for book #3 to $9.95, that was the last book I bought, because the price was too high. Now, trade paperback books are $9.95!

Wow! A Duct Taped Car!

Had to take a picture of this, or no one would believe me!   Even the door handles were covered with Duct Tape!

Summer's Here

Wow! 109° yesterday! They had predicted 111, so it wasn't as hot as predicted. It beat the 104° high set in 1948. We're so glad that the big move for my mother-in-law was the week before the heat wave struck.

I took advantage of our solar cooker the last two days. Ours is a great unit! We purchased it right after Y2K, but have found it less likely to heat the house up during the summer. I've baked cookies, cakes, casseroles, and a lot more over the years.

May Payments

Payments in May














Payments Waiting

7 Days AllMyMoneyForYou
51 Days Deep-C-Links
47 Days E-Qoo2
51 Days LadyOfTheLinks
14 Days PolarBearClicks
87 Days RoseBizs

Lost Camera Found - Aruba to Florida Keys

Here's an interesting story about a camera that was lost in Aruba, and drifted for six months till it was found in Florida!    And the most amazing part was returning it to the owner!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3906

Cruising

My husband and I discovered cruising on our tenth anniversary, and found we liked it.   While we still do land trips, we prefer cruising.   With land based trips, we must make our reservations for each motel, then plan our route.   We are also deciding whether to buy some groceries so we can eat on the cheap, or which restaurant to eat at.   On our last few trips, we've brought long an immersion hot water heater to bring water to a boil as well as some instant coffee.   We also pack heater meals.   These are shelf stable meals with their own heating packs, so we get hot meals without the need of a microwave.   Now when we're traveling over land, we must pack and unpack each night, as well as hunt up some food.  

With cruising, once you get to the ship, you have your vehicle to drive you to your points of interest.   You also have your restaurants, as well as you lodging all within easy access.   In addition to this, you can book your land tour reservations via the cruise company.   Most cruise companies require full payment a couple/three months in advance of sailing.   So, once you get onboard, most items are paid for.   You still have to pay separately for your bar bill, excursions (some cruise companies allow prepaying those), specialty restaurants, spa treatments, specialty coffee and souvenirs.     At the end of the cruise, they suggest you tip your cabin steward, waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter.   Some cruise companies have an auto tipping system, that adds the tips to your bills, while other cruise companies give you a form to fill out to add the tips to your bill.   The food is delicious, and it seems that there is food being served some place.   The cabin stewards clean your cabin twice a day, and also fold your towels into cute towel animals.   In addition to this, there are live shows nightly, as well as movies in the theater.   On our last cruise, we were 36 hours late out of dock, due to fog, but it didn't bother us.   For us, the ship was our destination!

McDonald's Observatory

We visited McDonald Observatory over the weekend, and got to see a live image of the sun.   Of course, we can get eye damage if we look directly at the sun, but they used a close up image and projected it onto the screen.   Actually, it looked more like a big white golf ball.   However, we were able to see some sun flares!   In addition to this, we learned that we are coming out of a rather long Sunspot Minimum.   Our tour also included visiting the 107-inch telescope.   They have Star Parties three times a week, and these are open to the general public. We visited one of the Star Parties several years ago, and got to look through some telescopes!