Wii Fit - July 19, 2008

My son & my daughter both have the Wii. I had never played on it, but I watched the kids play a few times, and it looks very cool. I never could get used to the regular game controllers or a joystick, so I don't know about the Wii controller. My daugher got the Wii Fit, and I tried it today. It was fun.

Higher Education - July 15, 2008

I've decided to go back to college and complete my degree. I got an Associate degree in Psychology in 1980, which qualified me for my career in Addictions counseling, but there have been times when I missed out on advancement because I lacked the higher initials. I've thought about it often, but there was always too much going on in my life, and the more time passed, the harder it seemed to get back to education - though I have racked up over 400 CEU hours in Addiction studies. I was busy with family, children's activities, career, 2nd job - and I kept putting it on the back burner, thinking I'd go back when my kids were grown. Well, my baby is 24 and I'm no longer working a 2nd job. This time, I actually contacted 5 colleges. I had a real problem with choosing a major - not knowing whether I wanted a general psychology major or not, and looking at other options like criminal justice & health care administration. I wanted something that would take my transfer credits, and with the possibility of credit for work experience and those CEUs. I'm looking primarily at the colleges in the University of Maryland system, and one has an almost perfect match. Coppin State University is a small inner city campus about 3 miles from my office that offers a Bachelor's degree in Applied Psychology: Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counseling. I called today, and found out that once I'm enrolled, I could work with an adviser and the Department head to make a portfolio based on the CEU classes for college credits. In looking over the degree requirements vs my transfer credits, I found that I am missing some 1st & 2nd year core requirements that I can take at the Community College for transfer. I applied today, and will start in the fall - one course at a time.

Steamed Crabs - July 13, 2008

I must be the only person born in Baltimore that doesn't like steamed crabs. I like steamed shrimp, stuffed shrimp, breaded shrimp, crab cakes, and crab imperial. But steamed crabs are much more trouble than they're worth. Someone else can pick them, and make me a crab cake.

Family Reunion - July 10, 2008

Another family reunion in WV has come & gone. Even with the high gas prices, several made the trip, even from as far as FL except for 2 of my sisters who couldn't make it. We did not make reservations at the Philippi Lodge early enough and they were booked. There is another small motel in Belington, but I don't know if they have internet. My dad has satellite broadband - no DSL or cable available. I stayed at my brother's trailer with no internet, so I was deprived. Mom & I went to Buckhannon on Thursday to visit Aunt Chub & Bill, and I went to Curves. I made a fruit salad and a veggie tray - just bought everything there at the local grocery. There was lots of food. I really liked Deanna's cornbread casserole - will have to e-mail her for the recipe. I get very anxious about picnic food that is left out too long, like potato salad & macaroni salad. I had food poisoning once - no fun. It rained all day on the 4th, but cleared up enough for the pubic fireworks display. I cut Wendy's hair, Aidan's hair & Joyce's hair. This was Aidan's first haircut - no more long blond curls. He was really good, though - didn't cry. Joyce brought her dog Chipper so that Wilma could find him a home. He is a gorgeous dog - an American Eskimo Spitz, and I know she was very sad to have to give him up. On Sunday, we went to church at St. Brendan's in Elkins, then went to the Sunday Brunch at Graceland Inn on the campus of Davis & Elkins College. I wrote a review on Yahoo Local. Then Sunday night I drove into Clarksburg for a meeting. My Google directions were wrong - I wanted Rt, 19S, and Google sent me to 19th St - so I asked someone for directions and found the right church. All in all, I had a good time, except for not having internet, the rain, and tried to stay out of the gossip. I enjoyed the food, seeing family that I don't get to see often, and pleasant travel.

Cat Food & the Animal ER - July 08, 2008

The last time I took Snowy to the vet, they told me he was too fat - he weighed 17 lbs. Problem is that Brandy is skinny, nibbles only a little at a time, and he ate whatever she left behind. I tried to feed him less, pick up the bowls, but that didn't work well. He had gained another pound, so I switched his cat food to a Healthy Weight formula, and eliminated the canned food. Last Sunday, we had to take him to the animal ER. Steve noticed that he wasn't acting like himself and that he seemed to be in pain. I was going to wait until Monday and take him to our regular vet, but something told me not to wait. He had a urinary blockage and had to have a catheter, and spend the night. I'm glad we didn't wait, because it is a life-threatening condition. Now he is on a special diet, which he doesn't seem to like much. I have to feed them separately because Brandy is still eating the Healthy Weight formula. She will eat the special food, though, and the vet said it wouldn't hurt her, but it is expensive. Snowy has to go back for a check up in 1 month. Hopefully, there will be a less expensive urinary health formula cat food available commercially that the vet can recommend.

Programs Without Spell Check

I am very frustrated with programs that lack any kind of spell check feature. Not that I'm a bad speller, but I am a bad typist. In particular, a program that I have to use to do assessments at work, has no spell check, and has very small fonts that can't be enlarged.. This is professional writing, and type-o's seem to be a hot button with my supervisor. All was well when I was allowed to use abbreviations, but around the same time this software was foisted upon us, we were asked not to use abbreviations. The word that's tripping me up is CLIENT. I have routinely spelled it cleint or clinet - and with the small font, I often miss it with a visual proofread. In my efforts to correct this repeated mistake, I have banned the word from my comments - replaced with "subject" or "offender", though I really do prefer "client". The old software didn't have spell check either, but it was much friendlier. This is an awful program, and the developers need slapped. Moving from page to page is excrutiating, though it supposedly works well for communication between agencies and permissions - but that's not the function I use.

iGoogle - July 01, 2008

I'm playing around with iGoogle and it seem to be what the "new Yahoo" is modeled after. There are many, many "gadgets" to add to your pages - a lot to play with