We're posting this from our new mac. Not worried at all about it. And, we can't wait to buy another and leave the world of Windows behind us!
The Worm
Not much time to post tonight. We're busy scanning two computers to make sure we're not infected with the Conflicker worm. We've kept both up-to-date, but we must confess that our virus software expired a couple of months ago. So, the scanning continues.
King vs. Queen
One of the things we wondered about when we bought our moose was how sleeping in a short queen-size bed would compare to the spacious king-size bed we have at home. With an average height between us of about 5'11", we remedied the "shortage" with the addition of a custom-made bolster to make up the difference. (That nifty solution is working out great!) What we couldn't change, however, was the width of our mobile sleeping surface. The two of us and our furry bed mates would have to learn to sleep with 960 fewer square inches!
After spending 50 nights on the road over the last 9 months, we now have some conclusive data. So, we wonder no more. And, since the topic came up in conversation with some of our Winnie buddies this weekend, we have some valuable comparative data, too.
Our conclusion: In the queen, we tend to sleep better. (That may have something to do with the fact that most of the time when we're sleeping in the king, we have to go to work the next day.) We also sleep "more together", as one Winnie groupie described it. It's nice! In our king, the four of us tend to claim our real estate and settle in for the night. With the queen, we figure out a cozy combination that works for all of us. And, we know exactly where everybody is. We can reach out and touch 'em! The queen leaves us lots of floor space and plenty of room to move around in our rolling bedroom. Plus, now that Natasha has decided to make a quilt for our Bullwinkle bed, it'll save hours of sewing time.
So, the verdict is in. The queen rules!
Great Weekend
It's the last morning of a three-day outing with our Winnebago group. We've been having too much fun to post!
We've been hanging out at the Coyote Valley Resort in Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose. It's a new park with all the amenities in a beautiful location that's just of Highway 101. If you're passing through the Bay Area and want to spend some time exploring, we highly recommend making this your home base. San Jose is about 10 minutes away. And, from there you can take a train to San Francisco. Not a bad way to go, if you ask us.
It's time to head off to breakfast. Then, we'll be packing up and heading out. There's this place we have to go to tomorrow. But, we don't want to think about that just now.
More later on Bullwinkle's Travels.
The Quilt
My biggest to-do before we hit the road is to finish a quilt top I've been working on for almost five years. (Five years!) Back then, when I had a lot more time on my hands, I willingly volunteered to make one as a gift for my favorite sister-in-law. It's a queen-size "Double Wedding Ring", which if you know quilting you have rightfully declared me insane. And, if you're not a quilter, just know that it is one really complicated (and obviously time-consuming) project. I mean, yes, we have to figure out how we're going to rid ourselves of most of our possessions. But, I'm telling you, this quilt is a bigger deal.
Last weekend was a significant one in the birthing process of this quilt. Within 24 hours, I hit a significant setback and achieved a major milestone.
The setback: This quilt consists of 9 rows of 9 blocks. When you do the math you come with a total of 81 blocks, right? When assembling the last of the 9 rows, I came up one block short. I can't tell you how many times I've counted these wonky little blocks and come up with 81. But my many miscounts came up with the same disappointing result. So, I started at the beginning and constructed the last block. It was as if I had been playing a five-year game of Monopoly and had to go back to "Start". After assembling 31 pieces of fabric into the final block (See, I am insane!) I was back in the game.
The milestone: The rows are done! Again, if you're not a quilter this means nothing. But, if you are, I can hear your virtual cheers. (Thank you!) This queen-size quilt is now in 9 easy pieces. All I have to do now is sew those 9 into one and I am done. I'll keep you posted.
Now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on my biggest pre-fulltiming to-do, I feel like we really are getting there.
Now all we need to do is figure out what to do with all of this other stuff!
A Place for the Interim
When we put the house on the market in six weeks or so, our plan is to vacate the place and live in Bullwinkle. With two cats and a couple of people involved in the whole process, it just seems easier this way.
We've been scouting for a place to park the moose, the cats and ourselves for awhile that isn't too far away from work. We've read about fulltimers who have found a great campground just a few miles from their office, but for us that is definitely not the case. Living in a very urban area, where real estate is precious and expensive, we have to go many miles before we find a suitable spot to live in our RV.
Yesterday, we ventured to the suburbs and checked out the RV Park at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It's an hour away from work by train, but it'll definitely work. Very friendly folks, plenty of room and great surroundings. We're ready to call it our home away from home while the stick house is on the market.
How soon can we move in?
We've been scouting for a place to park the moose, the cats and ourselves for awhile that isn't too far away from work. We've read about fulltimers who have found a great campground just a few miles from their office, but for us that is definitely not the case. Living in a very urban area, where real estate is precious and expensive, we have to go many miles before we find a suitable spot to live in our RV.
Yesterday, we ventured to the suburbs and checked out the RV Park at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It's an hour away from work by train, but it'll definitely work. Very friendly folks, plenty of room and great surroundings. We're ready to call it our home away from home while the stick house is on the market.
How soon can we move in?
Back to Mac
As we prepare for life on the road, we've been thinking a lot about what technology to take along. One thing has been clear, we need two laptops. One of us (who shall remain nameless) tends to hog the one laptop we have. And, as we've previously reported, our current laptop seems to be on its last leg. We'll retire our desktop computer before we hit the road. So, a couple of laptops have been on our shopping list for some time.
This opportunity to start fresh, as far as computers go, got us thinking. Long, long ago we were the first kids on our block to get a Mac. And, we loved it. After a year or two, we bought a bigger, better one. We loved it more. Years later, we had a falling out. We were both using PCs at work, and our Mac seemed more and more foreign. So, we went to the dark side and bought a PC (the very laptop Boris tore apart yesterday). Since then, we've bought a PC desktop or two and the laptop that's now on its last leg. In recent years, Apple has crept back into our lives. We both have ipods that we use every day. And, those nifty Mac TV commercials have captured our attention. Now that we're in the process of simplifying our lives, it seemed like the perfect time to go back to Mac.
And, that's what we did. Yesterday afternoon, we headed off to our local Apple store. (Judging by the massive crowd we saw there our economy is doing just fine, thanks!) A very helpful Genius showed us around and introduced us to the new version of our old friend Mac. We took a cute little Macbook home, which Boris has commandeered. (That's what I get for hogging the dying laptop!)
No worries! We'll get another one...soon. And, maybe we'll need a couple of those cute little i-phones, too.
It's so good to be back.
This opportunity to start fresh, as far as computers go, got us thinking. Long, long ago we were the first kids on our block to get a Mac. And, we loved it. After a year or two, we bought a bigger, better one. We loved it more. Years later, we had a falling out. We were both using PCs at work, and our Mac seemed more and more foreign. So, we went to the dark side and bought a PC (the very laptop Boris tore apart yesterday). Since then, we've bought a PC desktop or two and the laptop that's now on its last leg. In recent years, Apple has crept back into our lives. We both have ipods that we use every day. And, those nifty Mac TV commercials have captured our attention. Now that we're in the process of simplifying our lives, it seemed like the perfect time to go back to Mac.
And, that's what we did. Yesterday afternoon, we headed off to our local Apple store. (Judging by the massive crowd we saw there our economy is doing just fine, thanks!) A very helpful Genius showed us around and introduced us to the new version of our old friend Mac. We took a cute little Macbook home, which Boris has commandeered. (That's what I get for hogging the dying laptop!)
No worries! We'll get another one...soon. And, maybe we'll need a couple of those cute little i-phones, too.
It's so good to be back.
Creative Destruction
We're getting down to the business of getting out of here. With a multitude of to-dos, we each have made some good progress today.
Boris pulled a 15 year-old laptop out of the depths of a closet. While it's been years since we've touched the thing, it does have data on it that we wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands. He tried to boot the old boat anchor up and was unsuccessful. So, he opted to take it apart.
After a half hour or so of tinkering, there were ancient computer pieces all over our breakfast counter. He delighted in the pleasure of taking something apart that he wouldn't have to worry about putting back together! After soaking the hard drive in salt water, he gave it a few bashes with a hammer.
With that creative destruction complete, that old PC can now be disposed of properly.
Boris pulled a 15 year-old laptop out of the depths of a closet. While it's been years since we've touched the thing, it does have data on it that we wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands. He tried to boot the old boat anchor up and was unsuccessful. So, he opted to take it apart.
After a half hour or so of tinkering, there were ancient computer pieces all over our breakfast counter. He delighted in the pleasure of taking something apart that he wouldn't have to worry about putting back together! After soaking the hard drive in salt water, he gave it a few bashes with a hammer.
With that creative destruction complete, that old PC can now be disposed of properly.
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