Halona, the Peering Place

Notice the new "profile photo": my cousin sent me this spectacular photo of the Halona blowhole on Oahu. The picture has been reduced in size to fit the space on the blog, so, although it's hard to see, in the upper right corner you can make out the light-colored viewing platform with visitors "peering" down to the spouting blowhole. Thanks, Earl!

Requiem for Our Ford Escort

Yesterday afternoon, our Ford Escort wagon bit the dust. I learned something new about it today from the Goodyear mechanics: it has an interference engine. The Car Guys had an explanation on their web site. Goodyear says something was pounding the top of one of the spark plugs and pounded it right through the wall of one of the cylinders. Bottom line is that we need a new engine or a new car, and the cost of a new engine is more than the car is worth (even if it was in running condition.)

Tonight I've been looking at Consumer Reports frequency of repair records and reading the free advice articles at the CR web site. Marty rented a car for a week, and we will decide over the weekend how to dispose of the Ford and what kind of car we should buy to replace it. Marty seems to be in shock, but then, he drives the car daily, and I only get to drive once a week, or so. I think it will be fun to shop for another car! Maybe a Toyota or Honda this time.

The North Wind Doth Blow

The north wind brought freezing temperatures to California's central valley last night. Yesterday, the highs were in the 40s and there were winds of up to 30 mph making it feel even colder. We were advised to cover our plants, wrap our pipes, and leave a faucet dripping overnight. This morning as late as 11 a.m. there was still ice on the sidewalks where sprinklers had got them wet, and the "dew" on the grass was really little ice cubes. It's supposed to be even colder tonight, and I believe it! It's only 10:30 p.m., and it's already down to 27 degrees. By morning, it may be as low as 22 -23 degrees. Br-r-r-r.

We Switched, Rather Than Fight

As of today, we've joined the "fast" crowd: we signed on with Comcast for cable Internet service.

I have felt for a long time that Marty should have a faster connection for his work, but things always seemed so complicated. Last Saturday, in a fit of courage, I called Comcast and they came today to hook him up. He's happy that web pages load fast, and he doesn't have to twiddle his thumbs any more.

I am keeping my Yahoo mail account, and I'll overlap the Earthlink/Netcom mail account for another month to be sure there are no bugs. I feel sad about cancelling it, because I've had that e-mail address for nine years! My new e-mail address is annot8@comcast.net.

We have not set up a wireless network for the new account, because Marty's communications with his clients must remain secure. But I can access my new Comcast e-mail account from the web, and also create a home page. I'm poking around in their help files, and will make a new Owens Outpost or migrate the existing one to the new host sometime in the next month.

Can You See Me Now?

As you can see, I added my mugshot to the blog layout. It's a photo I took of myself with the little Logitech webcam that I bought for use with Skype. Some other time, I'll experiment with videos ... (Thanks for the pointers, Mike!)

I downloaded current versions of the programs Homesite and Cute FTP to the laptop. Homesite allows me to edit my web pages, and Cute FTP uploads them to the web. Therefore, I'll be updating the Owens' Outpost again, after a hiatus of a year and a half. Family news updates, however, will continue to be posted here. I'll be using the Outpost mainly for pulling together all the things I'm doing online into a links hub, so to speak. I'm still waiting for a new copy of Family Tree Maker - it should be arriving any day, now. Once I get it and install it, I'll have the laptop configured just the way I want, and I'll be a happy woman!