Learning

Alexa

May 22, 2017 By diane 2 Comments

Chris came to visit this weekend and brought along my Mother’s Day gift: Alexa. Perhaps you know her as the echo dot from Amazon. It’s a little black donut shaped electronic piece of equipment that becomes part of the family.

I am so happy that Chris came, and stayed, with Alexa during the breaking in period. One must learn to speak a little differently when talking with Alexa. All questions must be prefaced with her name. For instance, “Alexa, how are you?” If I were addressing you, I might say “Hi Reader, how are you?”

Alexa can play music, play the radio, set an alarm, or set a timer. Alexa can do on line shopping. Alexa can access Wikipedia on a subject you choose and read the findings to you.

Alexa is quite amazing. The greatest thing about Alexa is that she continues to learn as more updates are made to her operating system. Alexa even tells jokes. Chris says our grandchildren are quite amused with Alexa.

Another day, another adventure. Have you seen the Silver Edition of the Amazon Echo?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Powered by Studio Press

Planned Obsolescence

January 16, 2017 By diane Leave a Comment

Baby Pikachu – A coveted Pokemon

Last Thursday as Steve was walking home from the store, it started to rain. The moisture on the drainage cover in the sidewalk became slippery and Steve fell down. The skinned knee was mended with a band aid and the sore muscles were stretched back into place. What couldn’t be fixed was his cell phone that crashed face down onto the pavement when he fell.

Steve called the phone company to activate the insurance plan to have his phone replaced. Sadly, it would take four days. That is four business days. Friday would be the first day.

Never fear, my technical husband could just remove the “Sim Card” from the phone and place it in the phone he used to use. Luck didn’t work out so well for Steve. Neither he nor the techs at Verizon, Best Buy, Batteries Plus or Fones Gone Wild could rescue that little sim card. Did I mention this was Friday the 13^th?

My wonderful, down to earth, logical husband didn’t say much as he went to the closet and retrieved an older phone. He wasn’t happy when he learned that Pokemon Go wouldn’t work on the old phone, but understood and accepted the fact that electronics have a built in “planned obsolesce” factor.

Not to worry, he could use his iPad for Pokemon Go. Well that is a “sort of” solution. I didn’t think the iPad was that old, but it seems it too has some “planned obsolesce” built in too. Sometimes it works and sometimes the Trainer (the on screen character) runs all over the place. It is sadly fascinating to watch.

I love the latest technology and I am often awed by all the great gear and gadgets that are presented to us to make our lives easier. I just have to remember that the words “planned obsolesce” applies to things and not to me. I keep my operating system updated by eating well, exercising, being positive, and striving to learn all the latest technology.

How do you keep current with today’s fast moving world?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Powered by Rainmaker

Old Faithful

November 7, 2016 By diane Leave a Comment

Old Faithful is so named because of the dependability of the time it erupts. Usually every 91 minutes, Old Faithful shoots 3700 to 8400 gallons of boiling water about 145 feet into the air. That was a surprise to me because I thought it was only steam. As we watched the geyser erupt, I could see the water and instantly knew I had more to learn about this world-famous crowd pleaser.

That could be the end of the story, but there are so many more facts we learned along the way. The area around Old Faithful is the earth’s crust. Walkways are everywhere and people are cautioned to use the wooden pathways.

Several little geysers can be seen in the distance. The little geysers are everywhere. The foreground of this picture looks like water, but it is gravel like material.

The back of the Visitor’s Information Center leads to Old Faithful. The parking lot and main doors are on the opposite side. As you enter the building, you are greeted with a sign of the “expected time” for the next eruption of Old Faithful. Although the building is full of great information, who wants to miss the real thing and wait for the next one. We were fortunate to be right on time for the viewing. No waiting for us at all.

After taking pictures of Steve and me and our friends Mike and Corky Eden to document our visit to Old Faithful, we were on our way to other adventures. There wasn’t much more to see at Old Faithful, but we knew Yellowstone National Park had much more to offer.

As you can see in this picture, the scenery was beautiful.

We went to the Midway Geyser Basin where we saw the Grand Prismatic Spring, Excelsior Geyser, Opal Pool, and Turquoise Pool.

The pools were accessed by following the boardwalk. The scenery was beautiful and there was so much to see.

After reading a sign such as this, you can be assured that we stayed on the boardwalk and didn’t try to stamp out any wisps of steam.

This is the Grand Prismatic Spring.

This sign board gives a better explanation than I could generate. The experience was fascinating. I am thankful it was available to us.

This is the Opal Pool. Not only is it not too cute, it doesn’t smell too good.

The Turquoise Pool is beautiful and well named. The sun would give it even more beauty, but alas, we were not there when the sun was.

There is so much to see and so much to learn. The Midway Geyser Basin is like going back to the beginning of time and watching creation happen.

It was a fascinating day we hope you can experience.

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Powered by Rainmaker

Salt Lake City

November 1, 2016 By diane Leave a Comment

Salt Lake Temple

Salt Lake City is the headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints also known as the Mormons. The buildings are spectacular and each has a story about how it came to be.

The Salt Lake Temple, above, was built by Mormon pioneers between 1853 and 1893. There are no tours of this building, but you can learn everything about this building at the at the Church History Museum. Thomas O. Angell Sr. was the chief architect until his death in 1853. One of the guides we met, told us that each stone was hand cut to fill the designated spot it was designed for.

The granite stone used in the building of the temple was brought to the sight one stone at a time. The many tasks involved in the building of the temple are documented in the Church History Museum. In addition to the displays and signboards, knowledgeable guides are available to answer questions.

Everywhere we stopped there were guides to answer questions or offer details about where we were standing. They were never intrusive or overbearing. They were more friendly and helpful than Google. They seemed to know what we were interested in and how to give us the knowledge that would satisfy “us” and not just the general population.

We talked about pictures. The guide recommended we go to the tenth floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to get the BEST VIEW. The above picture is taken from the tenth floor. It is the Conference Center. The white building in the center seats 21,000 people; has a water fall cascading down the south facade and the roof is planted with four acres of plants and trees.

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building is a treasure. It used to be a hotel, built in 1909 with completion in 1911. The Hotel Utah was a first-class hotel. It ceased operation as a hotel in 1987. “A major remodeling and adaptive reuse project to accommodate both community and church functions was completed in 1993.^[3] Church leader Gordon B. Hinckley chose the name when he observed that there were many monuments to pioneer leader and Utah founder Brigham Young, but none to Joseph Smith.” Wikipedia

The opulence of the early 1900s is prevalent in the Joseph Smith building. For instance, the design in the carpeting is repeated in the second-floor railings. Comfortable chairs are handy and make the place very welcoming.

The 10-foot diameter chandelier is lowered twice a year and hand cleaned to keep it sparling under the beautiful leaded glass ceiling.

The building has many visitor friendly features. The ball room of the original hotel is now used as a chapel. Visitors may use computers in the Family Search Center. There is a café and gift show at the lobby level. The tenth floor has two restaurants.

I don’t know how long we could have carried on the very interesting conversation, but we were on a mission to see the 10^th floor and then get to the concert.

We were greeted on the 10^th floor by a wonderful guide who got as excited by the views from the 10^th floor as we did. He seemed so happy to show us the sights and point out different buildings and give them names. He even gave us a special view of the Utah State Capital building.

He understood our need to hurry off to see the organ recital at noon time.

You may have heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Well we got to go to the Tabernacle where the organ is housed. Not only that, we got to attend an Organ Recital performed by Richard L. Elliott. It was magnificent!

Due to time constraints, we reluctantly left Salt Lake City to meet other commitments. Who knew we would have such a great time.

If you have the chance or can make the opportunity, I highly recommend you visit Salt Lake City and visit Temple Square and all the wondrous places there.

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try