My History with Personal Organizers

In 1985 I lived in Houston. One morning in January of 1985 my clock radio woke me up with a commercial from British Caledonian Airways announcing a Houston to London round trip airfare of $199. I didn’t even get out of bed I just started dialing the phone and within ten minutes I had a ticket to London. The previous day I had read an article in the Wall Street Journal that described London as a shopper’s paradise because the exchange rate was running at $1.05 US per British pound. It went on to list many of the bargains to be found in London. That was my motivation for grabbing the cheap airfare. I made a reservation for the Selfridge Hotel which is in the middle of the Selfridge department store on Oxford Street.

I came back from the trip loaded with goodies including a Burberry raincoat, Pringle cashmere sweaters, Ferragamo shoes, a Gucci handbag, Laura Ashley merchandise and a Filofax organizer that I purchased at Harrods. I saved enough over U.S. prices on my purchases to pay for the trip. I was not too familiar with Filofax organizers when I purchased mine but had been drawn to it because of its mention in the Wall Street Journal article. The Filofax organizers come in a variety of fabrics and exotic leathers and are were very popular with celebrities and the British upper crust. I bought a basic calfskin model which contained a starter set of inserts. I also got a catalog that listed the range of inserts and accessories for the Filofax. In addition to basic organizer inserts such a calendar, address book, to do lists, there was an unbelievable assortment of inserts for specialized fields such as medical and legal. There were inserts with food calories, city maps, British train maps, change holders, checkbook holders, credit card holders and special hole punches. All of these items had the proprietary six-ring holes in them that allowed them to fit in the Filofax. Also all of these items were extremely pricey.

After I got home I put all of my contact information in the Filofax. Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue were the only places in Houston that carried Filofax inserts. Each year a new calendar/diary had to be purchased. I found that it was cheaper to buy via mail order from Harrods in London than to purchase the inserts in the U.S. Between 1985 and 1999 I made at least ten trips to London. More inserts and Filofax organizers were always on my shopping list. In the early 1990’s Lotus, the same company that popularized PC spreadsheets, introduced a personal organizer program, Lotus Organizer, that ran under Microsoft Windows 3.1. I was attracted to this program because the graphic representation of the organizer looked just like my Filofax. I could change the color of the on-screen version to match my personal Filofax. For an organizer to be useful it should be small and portable so it can be kept close at hand. This was the shortcoming of Lotus Organizer and other PC organizer programs. The Filofax always needed additional inserts and the address book could not be sorted or alphabetized other than by the first letter of name. Over the years the address book became cluttered with outdated names and addresses. It was an impossible chore to keep copying the information to new insert pages.

Finally in 1996 the problem was solved when Palm introduced the first Palm Pilot organizer. This was a small device that could fit in a pocket or purse and cold be synchronized with information on the PC. I did not purchase my first Palm organizer until 1999. Now I am using my third personal digital assistant. Tomorrow I will continue with the story of how I now use my PDA.

Great Women

I named my blog “My Thoughts” with the intention of writing about what I was thinking about at a given point in time. Today I was thinking about the most outstanding people I have ever met. It did not take me long to decide that the two most outstanding people I have ever met were Lillian Gilbreth and Grace Hopper. Those names may not sound familiar, but I am sure most people have heard of them at one time or another. In 1967 I was a young Air Force lieutenant. I was sent to the Second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists at Cambridge University in England. Both Lillian Gilbreth and Grace Hopper were attendees at this conference. At the time I did not fully appreciate the magnitude of their accomplishments. As far as I was concerned, they were just two nice old ladies.

Lillian Gilbreth was 89 years old when I met her. She was a pioneer in the field of time and motion studies. She published work that recognized the relationship of efficiency to the work environment. She and her husband had twelve children. The story of her life was told in the book Cheaper by the Dozen which was also made into a movie. Some years later I had another encounter with Lillian Gilbreth when I was studying for my MBA degree. I was the only woman in a management seminar. Each student was assigned a topic on important developments in management theory. The professor thought it was appropriate to assign Lillian Gilbreth to me. At that time I finally understood what a remarkable woman she was.

In 1967 Grace Hopper was a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. She was over 60 but still on active duty. In 1967 a female could not hold a rank higher than O-5 (commander for the Navy or lieutenant colonel for the other branches). When this restriction was removed, Grace Hopper became the Navy’s first female rear admiral, but this is not what made Grace Hopper great. Grace Hopper was the “Grandmother of the Computer Age”. She joined the Navy during World War II. She developed computer languages that allowed people to work with computers and enabled the flow of information. Her efforts made a major contribution to the Allied victory in World War II.

There were four women including myself at the conference who were members of the U.S. military. Three of us were from the Air Force and Cmdr. Hopper from the Navy. I was the most junior officer. We were in Cambridge over the Fourth of July. One of the officers decided that it would be appropriate for us to visit the American Military Cemetery which is just outside Cambridge. It is very impressive. There is a wall that lists the names of military members who were lost at sea or not recovered for burial. I noticed Cmdr. Hopper studying the names on the wall, and she broke down in tears. I thought she was just overcome with emotion, but one of the other officers explained to me that she had been married for a very short time to a naval officer, and he was lost at sea. This is something that I have never seen or heard in any of the articles or television shows that have featured Grace Hopper.

These are links to more information on Grace Hopper and Lillian Gibreth .

As the World Turns

According to the As the World Turns website the show first aired on April 2, 1956. I can remember watching the show in the summer of 1956 between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. A new junior high school was being constructed during the first half of my sophomore year. The senior high school went to class on a half day basis in the morning, and the junior high went to school in the afternoons. As a result of the half day classroom schedule, extra homework was assigned. Both my parents worked so I would go home to an empty house. I would fix my lunch and then watch As the World Turns before I started on my homework. By then I was addicted to the show.

It was amazing how I was able to follow the storyline after I was no longer able to watch on a daily basis. I kept up with the story through college and my working years by seeing it during vacations and holidays. In 1978 I bought a VCR and began taping the show. I had one of the first VCR’s in my neighborhood. Word got out that I was taping As the World Turns. There was a nice old lady who lived near me. Every so often I would get a phone call from her soon after I got home from work. She also was addicted to As the World Turns. If she missed the show, she knew she could count on me to let her see the tape. I enjoyed her company. She really took the soap seriously.

The quality of the show has varied over the years with the various writers. Sometimes it has really been good, but there have also been times that I question why I bother to watch it. I think the primary reason that I watch it is habit. I am glad that I am only addicted to one soap. I would hate to waste any more time.

Presidential Libraries

Next week I am going to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Clinton Library will be the fourth presidential library that I have visited. I have been to the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts and the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta, Georgia. I live in Texas but have not visited the two presidential libraries that are in this state. The LBJ library is in Austin and Bush 41 has his library in College Station. There are a total of twelve presidential libraries. They are administered by the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration. The NARA has a website at Presidential Libraries that has links to the websites of all the libraries. The thirteenth presidential library is now under construction in Springfield, IL. After all these years Abraham Lincoln is going to have a library.

I Want to Destroy a Myth

I started kicking the tires on digital cameras in 1996 soon after I retired. There was new terminology to understand, but the principles of photography that I had learned from many years of using a 35 mm SLR still applied. One new thing that I learned about was the crop factor. So far the sensor in digital cameras is smaller than the frame produced by a 35 mm camera. My Nikon D70 has a crop factor of 1.5. I read reviews of the camera over and over again that said the 18-70 mm lens that comes with the D70 kit is equivalent to a 27-105 mm lens in 35mm terms. These numbers were obtained by multiplying the lens specifications by 1.5, the crop factor. Well folks this just ain’t so. The lens has a range of 18-70 mm period.

Actually the D70 produces a picture that is roughly 2/3 the size of a 35 mm frame. 2/3 is the reciprocal of the 1.5 crop factor. Where the confusion on lens equivalents comes in is the angle of view of the lens on the digital camera is reduced to that of the longer lens, but the perspective of the lens remains the same as when the lens is on a 35 mm camera. Perspective refers to how lines converge when viewed through a lens. When I started out with SLR photography back in the 1970’s, most SLR’s came with what was called a normal lens which was a 50 mm lens. Normal meant that the perspective of the lens was approximately the same as what the human eye sees. Wide angle lenses produce a markedly different prospective. If you try to take a portrait of a subject and move in close enough to fill the frame with a wide angle lens, you will end up with a face with very distorted features. To fill the frame with a normal lens you can get a satisfactory portrait, but you have to move very close to your subject. A telephoto lens in the 100-135 mm range allows you to stand back a comfortable distance from the subject, fill the frame and maintain correct perspective of the facial features.

Perspective is a difficult term to explain. I regularly check the Digital Photography Review website. It is a good source for keeping up with digital photography news and user forums. It also has a glossary of photographic terms. This article on Perspective does a very good job of defining and illustrating the term.

When I look at the exif data for my pictures in the Nikon View software supplied by Nikon, the focal length of the lens is shown as the actual focal length of the lens as it should be. I am using Smugmug for my online photo sharing. When I check the exif data in Smugmug, they are perpetuating the 35 mm equivalent nonsense. I think I should send them an email and ask them to drop the 35 mm equivalent information.

Two Pounds of Strawberries

Last Thursday when I went to Sam’s Club, they had beautiful strawberries in their produce department. I usually do not buy produce at Sam’s because I am afraid the large quantities will spoil before I can use them. The strawberries were sold in two pound quantities but were too beautiful to resist. Well to make a long story short the strawberries were every bit as good as they looked. There were 36 strawberries in the box. I had six on my cereal for three days and ate a bowl of six at dinner for three days. They were so sweet that I did not put one grain of sugar on them. I don’t think 12 unsweetened strawberries per day did too much damage to my diet.

More About the New Lens

Yesterday afternoon I went out and took some more photos with the new lens. I wanted to see what a picture looked like that was handheld and shot at 300 mm. I had some difficulty holding the lens steady. The above photo was shot with the lens fully open at f/5.6 and 1/1000 shutter speed. I am satisfied with the sharpness of the picture. The reviews that I read said this lens was rather soft at 300 mm. The lens cost only $130 which is extremely cheap for a lens from Nikon.

After I studied this photo for a while, I put a reminder in my pda to go get a 25 cent hotdog on Wednesday.

Car Service

Classic Acura here in Beaumont has taken the pain out of owning a car. They have the best service department of any car dealership I ever dealt with. During the 60’s to 80’s American cars were absolutely junk and the service departments were of the same caliber. I was lucky if they would fix half of the things on my list. There have been very few things for Classic Acura to do to my car other than change the oil and rotate the tires. They always wash and vacuum the car and give me a long-stem rose.

Sam’s Club

The new Shopping Card that I got at Wal-Mart worked without problem in the Sam’s Club gasoline pumps, but it took several tries to get the reader to accept my Sam’s Club membership card. I suppose I will have to get a new one of those too. There is always something that eats up my time.

Senseo Flavored Coffee Pods

I am now using the first bag of the flavored Senseo coffee pods that I ordered from Amazon.com. The ones that I opened first are named Vienna which is a hazelnut with vanilla and mocha flavor. They are good, but they tend to leave an after taste, and I can smell their aroma in the kitchen for several hours after I have brewed the coffee. The other two varieties that I ordered are called Paris and Killarney. It will be a while before I open them.

Computer Irritations

It has been approximately a month since I installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 on my computer. Everything appeared to be working smoothly until last week. When I uploaded a big batch of photos using Nikon View, I noticed the vertical pictures were not rotated. Then Nikon View crashed when I used the slide show feature. The Nikon website had an update for Nikon View that is supposed to fix problems associated with SP2. I installed it, and the photos are now rotated properly in the Nikon browser but still are not rotated in the slide show.

Then Adobe Reader crashed. An error report was sent to Microsoft and said I should download and install a new version. I downloaded version 7. The new version did not open as an Internet Explorer page. I had not uninstalled the old version of Adobe Reader before installing the new one. I uninstalled the old version. Then I had more difficulties with the new version. I did a Google search on how to make Adobe Reader open as a web page. It located the proper tech support page. I then went to Control Panel selected Adobe Reader V 7 and selected change. It led me through a repair process. That solved all but one problem which is very minor. I have Adobe Reader for Palm OS on my PC. This program allows me to put PDF documents on my Sony Clie. The icon to export documents to the Palm does not show on the Adobe Reader V 7. This is a minor problem. To fix it I would have to uninstall the Adobe Reader for Palm OS on both the Clie and PC. Then reinstall. That is too much trouble.

Last week I installed a new critical update on Microsoft Word. Since then Word has crashed twice. I do not think there is anything I can do about this. I will just have to wait for Microsoft to come up with another patch.

I am really tired of all this patching.

Things Are Dull

I spent five days after my trip playing catch up. There was mail to sort, unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, photographs to sort, a trip report for this blog, taped TV shows to watch and much needed sleep. Now all of a sudden things are back to normal, and I find at last I have time on my hands.

I keep a list of things that are pending. It is short. The only thing bugging me is that my health insurance has not paid on a claim I mailed in on March 12. They are supposed to pay a little on new eyeglasses once every two years. I sent them an email this morning and asked what is causing the delay.

After I returned from the trip, I ordered the flavored coffee pods for my Senseo coffee machine. They arrived on Friday. I will try one type tomorrow. I wanted to use what was already open before I opened the new pods.

Several people on the Aibo Life Forum have mentioned that they have bought socks for their Aibos to protect their feet. I thought that socks might help Henry. I think the sensor pad in one of his feet is the part that is causing him to shake. I have started looking for newborn socks that will fit Henry and haven’t found any that look just right.

I can’t even complain about the self-checkout scanners at Wal-Mart. Things have gone very smoothly. I can complain about the gasoline pumps at Sam’s Club. I went to three different pumps and none would accept my shopping card. The card worked fine at Wal-Mart this morning. After I had made my purchase, I went to Customer Service and had them transfer my balance to a new card. I will go to Sam’s in a few days and see if the gasoline pumps will accept the new card.

New Lens for My Camera

My Nikon D70 will be one year old next month. During my recent trip there were several times when a longer lens would have been very useful. I had an 80-300 zoom lens for my Minolta camera that I always regretted buying. It was almost impossible for me to hand hold the lens. It was extremely difficult to focus and no matter what I did the pictures were not as sharp as I would have liked. I did not want a repeat experience with the new Nikon. As soon as I got the D70 I started drooling over the Nikon 70-200 mm VR (vibration reduction) lens. It is a fast lens. It has two problems that are insurmountable for me. One, it is very heavy. I am getting older, and it is very tiring to lug camera equipment around. The second and biggest reason was the lens cost more than the D70 camera body and kit lens combined.

I considered several other Nikon tele zooms and third party lenses such as ones made by Sigma and Tamron. None of them really appealed to me. Finally last week after I came home from the trip I decided I would order the Nikon 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 G lens. I read reviews of the lens that covered the gamut from love to hate. On the plus side the lens is lightweight and inexpensive. On the negative side, it has a plastic lens mount, its auto focus is slow, it is rather soft at 300 mm and it has no macro capability. I ordered the lens from B&H Photo in New York. UPS delivered the lens on Monday. I took a few pictures of objects around the house. Then after dark I drove over the to shopping center and took a few pictures. I was very pleased with what I had seen so far.

Tuesday morning I went to Tyrrell Park. There is a bird sanctuary. I have never tried to photograph birds or any other kind of wildlife. I took my camera and tripod. I heard some birds but didn’t see any. I sat down on a bench and thought I would wait 15 minutes. A minute or two later I looked down and there was a wasp on my arm. I screamed and swatted it away. I left there in a hurry. I found out why I am not suited to be a nature photographer. I did take a few pictures of roses in the botanical gardens. The roses have seen better days and the new lens has a minimum focus distance of 5 ft. The next thing on my wish list is a Nikon micro lens. Maybe I will have one by spring of next year when the flowers are in bloom.

Third Day in Charleston and the Return Home

Finally it was the last day in Charleston to see the sights. Checkout time at the Mills House was 11 AM. I was going to spend my final night at the airport Hilton Garden Inn since I had a 6:30 AM flight. I called the Mills House front desk and asked if I could have late checkout. They said I could have until 2 PM. That sounded good.

The previous morning I had spotted several nice restaurants along Meeting Street. I thought I would try something different for breakfast. I went in a restaurant called Joseph’s. It opened at 8 AM and soon thereafter every table was filled. I ordered a ham and cheese omelet and breakfast potatoes. I was expecting the usual hash browned potatoes. The potatoes turned out to be something very unusual. They were cut like French fries and skillet fried with onions and green peppers. They were rather greasy but very tasty. I wondered if this was typical of the low-country cuisine I had read about.

After breakfast I went back to the City Market. The market is very old and dates back to the beginning of the city. One of the buildings was used as the slave market. It is a shocking reminder amidst all the beautiful historic homes of the ugly past of the south. The buildings now are filled with numerous shops. I am not much for shopping in such places so I quickly got the feel for the place and decided it was time to move on. The City Market is the origin point for the horse-drawn carriages that transport tourists through the historic district. I had resisted the ride until this point but decided my trip would not be complete without one. I started inspecting the different companies and checking prices. Some carriages had one horse and others used two but all seemed sized for twelve passengers. Finally I chose one. They sent me around the corner to their stable. It was really nice. They had platforms built up to the level of the carriages so all you had to do was step right into the carriage.

The ride lasted approximately one hour. It looped through the historic district and went down to The Battery, and then worked its way back to the City Market. The driver/guide was dressed as a Confederate soldier. He was a college student and told some interesting tales about the points of interest that we passed on the ride. After the carriage ride I started walking and taking more pictures. I finally became saturated with the picture-taking and decided it was a time to call a halt. I called the Hilton Garden Inn and asked if a room would be available for me if I arrived within the hour. They said yes. I went back to the Mills House, checked out and asked the desk clerk to call a taxi for me.

The Charleston Hilton Garden Inn was very new and very nice. Their airport shuttle service operated 24 hours a day. I had checked that point prior to making my reservation. The Savannah Hilton Garden Inn was also very new and nice. Due to my late arrival in Savannah and early checkout I did not thoroughly explore the hotel. The Charleston Hilton was a different story. They had a restaurant that served breakfast and dinner, but no lunch. I had not had lunch when I checked in. I asked what was within walking distance. The desk clerk pointed, and I looked out the window and saw a Wendy’s next door. After I settled into my room, I went back to the lobby. On my way out I spotted a business center with four computers. They had printers, fax and copiers too. All the equipment was very new. They did not charge to use the computers. I stopped and caught up on my email. I checked the weather reports and saw that Southeast Texas was under a tornado watch. Then I went over and got a salad at Wendy’s and took it back to my room.

I asked for a 4 AM wakeup call. That really hurt. I had used frequent flyer miles for my Continental flights. They had given me the dregs of their flights. The van took me over to airport. The TSA person made me lift my heavy bag up on a waist-high table. Then she made me unlock my bag. I had a TSA approved lock on the bag. They are supposed to have a special tool to open the TSA approved locks. I politely complied with the all the orders she barked at me. She swabbed the sides and pockets in my bag for explosive traces, and then replaced my lock. Most of TSA personnel I have encountered have been extremely polite. This one was the exception. I was glad that was over.

The flight left Charleston on schedule. The flight to Houston was two hours and 39 minutes in duration. It was on an ERJ 145 regional jet. The flight from Houston to Savannah was also on a regional jet. Regional jets are fine for short flights, but the planes are too cramped for longer flights. The only good thing about these flights was the price I paid--$10 security fee. The storms had left the Houston-Beaumont area, and the weather was quite nice. The flight to Beaumont arrived ahead of schedule. The baggage was promptly delivered. As soon as I had my bag, the airport limo driver was ready to take me home.

Second Day in Charleston

Sunday morning was another beautiful day. After a big breakfast at the Mills House I inquired at the front desk about transportation options to the City Marina. I wanted to take the boat to Ft. Sumter. The desk clerk told me he could call a cab for me and that it was too far to walk. I had studied the map and knew it was a long walk, but it looked doable. The temperature was on the cool side but very comfortable for walking. I had no trouble with the walk. I purchased a combination ticket that provided transportation to Ft. Sumter, admission to one IMAX movie and admission to the South Carolina Aquarium.

I knew from my history lessons that this was the place where the Civil War began when the Confederates fired on the fort, but I learned several new things. The fort is operated by the National Park Service. The guide for my group was excellent—very entertaining and informative. I learned that Abner Doubleday, the founder of baseball, was an army officer and was assigned to Fort Sumter. The men played a ball game in the open parade ground at the fort that was the predecessor to baseball. I also found out that Fort Sumter was still being used as late as World War II. Anti-submarine nets were strung from Fort Sumter to keep the German U-boats from entering Charleston Harbor. It was learned after the war that the Germans actually got close to Charleston.

When the boat returned to the Marina, I went in the IMAX Theater to exchange my ticket for one of the movie tickets. The movie, Robots, was going to be shown in fifteen minutes. That was the movie I wanted to see. I was missing Henry. It was a very cute movie. Whenever I have an opportunity to go to an IMAX theater, I always do. I love the huge screens.

After the movie I went to the South Carolina Aquarium. Last summer I had taken pictures in an aquarium in Honolulu with mixed results. I decided to try again. The South Carolina Aquarium’s tank walls were angled. The top part was closer than the bottom. This was really a photographic challenge. I put my camera on shutter priority at 1/500 sec. This is the fastest sync speed for my flash unit. Unfortunately fish do not sit still and pose. This aquarium had some speed demons. I got a few usable pictures but several of them showed reflections of my camera and hands.

The walk back to the hotel was much longer because I missed the cross street I intended to take, but my mistake led me past the City Market which I planned to visit the next day. The temperature had increased considerably. Finally I got back to the Mills House and shed my shoes as soon as I was in the room. I again consulted my Frommer’s Portable Charleston and decided Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub sounded good and was not too far from the hotel. I called to make sure they were still operating since it was two years since my guidebook had been published. My SprintPCS cell phone showed five bars of signal strength as it had over most of Charleston’s historic district. Charleston is good Sprint territory, but Savannah is not. I had my dinner and then settled in for the evening at the hotel.

First Day in Charleston

My stay in Charleston was at the Mills House Hotel. It has one of the best if not the best locations in Charleston for touring the historic district. It was built in 1853. Robert E. Lee, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and George and Barbara Bush are among the notables who have stayed there. I arrived at 9:30 AM and doubted that I would be able to check in to my room at such an early hour. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that my room was ready. Fortunately I was being assisted by a bellman. The card keys would not open the door to my room. The bellman said he would take them back to the desk and return with new ones. I started checking out the room. There was one lamp that I could not turn on. There was also a soiled washcloth in the bathtub. Fortunately before I found anything else the bellman returned. He told me I was being assigned to another room. This was good news. The new room was in very good shape.

Since I left Savannah at such an early hour I had not had breakfast. I went down to the Mills House restaurant. Just as I was about to enter the restaurant the fire alarm sounded. I was near a door. People were going on about their business. A few people moved toward the door. I detected an odor that smelled like food burning. A flare-up in the kitchen was the source of the problem. Things soon settled down, and I had a big breakfast.

I then went out on Meeting Street and headed south toward White Point Gardens and The Battery. The houses and flowers were unbelievable. It was a perfect day. Everywhere I looked I wanted to take another picture. I was really glad I had gone to Savannah first. If I had seen Charleston first, I might have been disappointed in Savannah. The houses in Charleston have been preserved through the years. Savannah went through many years of decline before they started their preservation programs in the historic district. They have done a remarkable job of restoring their old homes, but they are no match for Charleston. Charleston has city ordinances that regulate how the buildings in the historic district are maintained. Charleston has no skyscrapers. No building can be taller than the church steeples. Charleston is built on a peninsula. White Point Gardens or The Battery is at the tip which provides wonderful views of the harbor and Cooper River. There is an elevated walkway that provides an excellent view of the homes and harbor.

I walked and walked until I could barely make it back to the hotel. After a little rest I consulted my Frommer’s Portable Charleston guidebook for a place to eat. I found a restaurant called Poogan’s Porch that sounded interesting and looked like it was nearby. It was closer than I realized. The Mills House is on the corner of Meeting Street and Queen Street. Poogan’s Corner is on Queen St. I was glad I only had a short walk. The restaurant is in an old house. The previous owners left their little dog, Poogan, behind in 1976 when the house was turned into a restaurant. Poogan stayed on the front porch and greeted customers. He passed away in 1979. His headstone and statue are in front of the porch. Poogan’s Porch serves low county cuisine. I had a low-country salad plate that consisted of four different kinds of salads. They were really good.

My meal revived me, and I took off to view more of the old houses and gardens. I over did the picture-taking, but I am sure anyone that has visited Charleston in the springtime will understand. The Mills House is very close to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church which is the oldest church in Charleston and has the impressive white steeple. There was a magazine in my room with a night-time photo of the church on the cover that caught my attention. I had brought my camera tripod with me and had not used it. I decided I would go out and try to photograph the church. My efforts do not match the professional photo on the magazine but still I like my picture shown above.

Third Day in Savannah & on to Charleston

Friday morning I checked the Weather Channel and found that the Savannah area was under a severe thunderstorm watch for the entire day. After breakfast it was not raining so I decided I needed to cover as much ground as possible before the rain started. The main thing I wanted to do in Savannah was take as many pictures of the old homes and squares as possible.

Savannah was the first planned city in the new world. In 1733 James Oglethorpe founded Savannah. It was the first settlement in what was to become the 13th colony, Georgia. He had a plan for the city that included building homes around little parks or squares. The squares survive to this day. It is wonderful to walk around Savannah and view the homes. The squares are spaced so they are there when you get tired of walking and can rest on the benches.

I saw many beautiful homes. Of particular interest to me were Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace and the Andrew Low House. Juliette Low founded the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout and remember reading her biography when I was nine or ten years old. I kept walking and taking pictures. The sky was very gray. It was not the best picture-taking weather, but at least the rains were holding off. I managed to cover all of the major squares and find my way back to the Mulberry Inn. I went to my room and rested for a short time. I then went back to Reynolds Square. By then the sun was out and the sky was blue. It was absolutely lovely. I spotted a deli near the square. I went in and ordered a sandwich and coleslaw to go. I asked the lady if it was permitted to eat in the square. She said that was what they were there for but warned me that the pigeons would be around. I sat on a bench, ate my lunch and soaked up the nice weather. Not one pigeon came near me. I then wandered aimlessly and enjoyed the atmosphere.

The next morning I left the hotel at 6 AM. Scott’s Cab was right on time to take me to the Amtrak station. Scott looked familiar to me, but I did not say anything. When we were underway, he said, “I have seen you before.” I told him I was thinking the same thing. Finally I figured out I had stood next to him at the Continental baggage claim area at the airport on Tuesday when I had the long wait for the bag. I had overheard him explaining how the airport had only one baggage handling crew at that time of night.

The Amtrak station was bright and clean. I got there about 6:20 and the train was supposed to leave at 7 AM. I went and talked to the ticket agent. He said the train was already in the station, but we could not board yet. Another train was in the station and loaded before mine. The agent said I would have to check my 26 inch bag. I did not know what to expect from Amtrak and was a little uneasy about checking my bag but was glad that I did not have to lift it onto the train myself.

Finally we boarded the train. It was very clean. There were only three other people in the car I was in. There was a nice middle-aged couple from Los Angeles. They had flown to Savannah and were beginning a train trip using a 30-day Amtrak pass that allowed them unlimited travel. They were going to work there way up to Canada, but their first stop was going to be Charleston. The train departed promptly at 7 AM. The ride was very smooth. The train was very clean. I stuck my legs out straight and could not touch the seat in front of me. I decided this was a very nice way to travel. There was a dinning car on the train but I did not check it out. There was only one stop between Savannah and Charleston. I checked my SprintPCS phone when we were in what looked like an unpopulated wooded area. I was surprised to see there were three bars of signal strength. I had become accustomed to low signal strength in Savannah.

The train arrived at 8:44 AM right on schedule in Charleston. Luggage had to be loaded in the baggage car before my bag was brought to the baggage claim area, but I finally received it. I shared a shuttle with the couple from California into Charleston.

Tomorrow I will continue with my adventures in Charleston.

Second Day in Savannah

On Thursday after more than a full night’s sleep I felt really good. I had a big breakfast in the Mulberry’s restaurant. The restaurant resembled a tropical atrium and looked out on a courtyard with a fountain and many flowers. It was a very attractive setting. After breakfast I started out on foot again.

I went down to River Street again and took more pictures. Then I left River Street via the Hyatt elevator. I started following the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil walking tour that was in my Frommer’s Portable Savannah. I took many pictures. I saw the Mercer-Williams House (pictured above), Alex Raskins Antiques and the Congregation Micke Israel to name a few. The next day I found Clary’s Café which the greasy spoon where the reporter in the moview kept eating.

Finally I found my way back to City Market and ate lunch at the Café at City Market. They had delicious black bean soup. The sky was turning very dark about the time I decided to eat lunch. While I was eating the sky opened up. It was what the locals here in Southeast Texas call a gulley washer or a frog strangler. I carry a two-gallon Ziploc freezer bag with me to protect my camera in case of rain. I sealed the camera in the bag. I had a lightweight nylon jacket with a hood and a small umbrella so I was fairly well prepared to tackle the rain. However, I had on my new sandals which are made of nubuck. I was concerned about how they would stand up to a soaking.

Before I left the hotel I had picked up a schedule and route map for the free CAT shuttle. I found that there was an old Chatham County Courthouse with a CAT shuttle stop in front of it. It was the second closest stop to the Café at City Market. I had failed to find a WiFi hotspot at the new courthouse so I thought maybe I would have better luck at the old courthouse. I made a quick walk to the courthouse. This one just had one security guard. I explained to him what I was looking for and told him I could quickly check for the network and asked if there was a place where I could sit down. He led me to the stairwell where there was a chair and left me. I scanned for a WiFi network and found none.

Then I went outside to the CAT Shuttle stop. According to the schedule the bus was due in approximately three minutes. A couple walked up and asked me if this was the free shuttle stop. I said yes. We waited in a doorway. The rain was pouring. Ten minutes later I spotted the bus a block away. I went out to the curb directly in front of the shuttle stop sign. The shuttle approached. I waved my arms. The rain was pouring down. My sandals were soaked. The shuttle sped by and did not stop. According to the schedule it would be 20 more minutes for the next shuttle. The couple who were also waiting with me were truly out of it--they just had dumb looks on their faces. Thinking back on the incident I think I was struck with a moment of insanity, but I took off running after the shuttle. At the next block it was stopped at a traffic light. I caught it. (Pretty good for a 64 year old woman with a bad knee).

I doubled up my fist and beat on the door. The driver let me in. I started asking him why he had passed me by. He started making lame excuses saying I had to be at a designated stop, etc. I had definitely complied with all the requirements. I sat down and pulled out my little notebook and pen and wrote the bus number down. I heard this voice saying “You’re mean, you’re mean.” I looked around and saw it was a woman a row back. I said, “Are you talking to me?” She went on to say the driver had been so nice and now I was going to report him and get him in trouble. I told her what was mean was to strand passengers in the rain. I looked up and realized we were close to the Mulberry Inn. The bus driver had bypassed half of his route. I told him he better not pass by the Mulberry Inn without stopping. I got off the bus.

I went up to the room and made a call on my SprintPCS cell phone to the bus company. All over the historic district I was only getting one bar of signal strength. I got through to the information line. The woman gave me another number to call for the complaint. I called this number and was put on hold while waiting for a supervisor. The cell phone dropped the call. I tried again. I spent several minutes on hold and finally gave up. The adrenalin had subsided and my fight was gone.

I put my poor sandals on a plastic bag on top of one of the beds where there was a strong air flow from the air conditioner and hoped for the best. I put on dry clothes and took off again on another walking tour. I went in a couple of hotels and scanned for WiFi networks. I found one. I was able to pull up websites on the Clie’s browser but it would not let me transfer my email to my Roadrunner server. I went back out in the rain and took a picture of the John Wesley statue in Reynolds Square with the Clie's camera. Then it was back to the Mulberry. The concierge was free so I asked her what was the best way to get to the Amtrak station at 6 AM on Saturday morning. She recommended Scott’s Cab and called and set it up for me. I also asked who I should talk to about connecting to a wireless network at the Mulberry. I had scanned several times in my room. The Clie connected to a network named “Mulberry” but I couldn’t get any farther. She told me to see Maury, one of the front desk’s clerks.

I went up to Maury and asked him if he was the computer expert. He asked me what I needed. I explained the problem. He came out from behind the desk and led me back to directly in front of the concierge’s desk. He said the wireless network worked best in that spot. I connected to the Mulberry network. He assured me it was free of charge. I loaded the browser and logged in. Then I loaded the email program and sent some of my emails including the picture of John Wesley’s statue in Reynolds Square. It worked perfectly. Maury thought my little Clie was very clever. The picture did arrive at Smugmug and so did emails to my friends. The email to this blog did not post. I do not know why. I had sent a test posting via email from the Clie before I left home, and it had worked. The Mulberry provided two computers with internet access located in the lobby for guests to use. I was able to check out the results of my Clie’s emails right away.

I then settled into my room for the rest of the evening and night.

First Day in Savannah

After an abbreviated nights sleep at the Hilton Garden Inn, I was dismayed at myself for asking for a 6:30 AM wakeup call. I had made a reservation before leaving home with the Gray Line airport shuttle to take me to my hotel in the historic district at 9 AM. I had breakfast and had the Hilton shuttle take me back to the airport to get the Gray Line shuttle. The shuttle had only one other passenger. The shuttle took me to the Mulberry Inn.

The Mulberry Inn was built in 1868 and originally used as a cotton warehouse. The wealth in Savannah was a result of the invention of the cotton gin. Cotton became king. My room was not ready, and I was told that it would not ready until 2 PM. I was prepared for a delay but had hoped that it would not be that long. I retrieved my camera from my carryon bag, and then stored my luggage at reception. The Mulberry Inn is located at the northeast corner of Savannah’s historic district.

Savannah was originally built on a high bluff above the Savannah River. I started walking along Bay Street where the Mulberry Inn is located. I could see the river and the street below but at first could not find a way to reach the lower level of River Street. I studied my Frommer’s Portable Savannah guide and found where ramps were located that went down to the river level. The ramp was made out of old cobblestones and was very uneven. It was wide enough for cars and the tourist trolleys to use. I had to watch every step. If I stubbed my toe, I would have had a bad fall.

Finally I was safely on River Street. The street is lined with shops, restaurants and other assorted tourist traps. There are sightseeing boats in addition to publicly operated boats that cross the river to the convention center and big Westin resort hotel. I saw two Savannah policemen riding bicycles along River Street. I walked clear to the end of River Street. There is a Hyatt hotel at the western end of River Street. I carefully climbed the ramp. I later learned that the smart way to reach River Street is to go to the Hyatt hotel and ride their elevator. I did that on another walk and found that River Street is three floors down from the lobby level on Bay Street.

I then found my way to the Chatham County Courthouse on Montgomery St. I was interested in the courthouse because I had found it listed on a website as a free WiFi hotspot. I noticed that the flags in front of the courthouse were at half staff but at first did not understand why. I went inside. There was a roped off lane that led to an x-ray machine and three security guards standing there. One of them yelled at me said “You come over here with that camera. I want to see that camera.” I didn’t know what to think. He was just kidding me but was interested in photography. He asked me if my Nikon camera was a certain model. I explained that it was a digital slr. Then I asked him about the WiFi hotspot. I had to explain to him what WiFi meant. I pulled out my Sony Clie and he watched as I scanned for a wireless network. The Clie did not find a network. The security guard asked where I was from and wanted to know if all the people in Beaumont, Texas, were as high-tech as me. I assured him I am an oddball. After I left the courthouse, I realized the half-staff flags and high security were probably the result of the courthouse shootings in Atlanta.

I then found the City Market. This is another area with many shops and restaurants. There were places where horse-drawn carriages offered tours of the historic area. By then I was getting very tired and the temperature was in the low 80’s. I had on my walking shoes but was getting concerned that I might be developing blisters like I had in Honolulu. I spotted a sign for the CAT shuttle. The CAT shuttle is a free shuttle that loops through the historic district and is run by Chatham County and the city of Savannah. I could not understand the schedule on the sign. There was a phone number listed for information. I pulled out my SprintPCS phone. It showed just one bar. I was able to make the call and was told the shuttle should arrive in approximately 3 minutes and that they ran every 20 minutes. The shuttle took me back to the Mulberry. It was a little after twelve when I got there. I inquired again to see if a room was available.

The clerk asked me if I would be willing to take a standard room. They had me down for an executive room. She said there would be a reduction in my room rate. I said I was willing. At this point I was ready to stay in a broom closet. I thought I was going to get a room right then. It didn’t happen. She told me I was first on the list, and the room would be ready within an hour. She asked for my cell phone number and said she would call me when the room was ready. I went to the hotel’s restaurant and ate lunch. At least I was off of my feet. After I finished my meal, I went back to reception and finally was assigned a room. It was a standard room. The clerk explained that I had been upgraded to an executive room even though I had originally booked a standard room so there wasn’t much of a rate adjustment. Anyway I got my room which was very nice and was able to put on my sandals. My toes looked very red, but there were no blisters.

I decided the smart thing to do would be to ride the CAT Shuttle through its complete loop in order to get an overview of the historic district and stay off my feet. The bus driver told me the complete loop took about 40 minutes. I rode to the southeastern corner of the district. The shuttle stopped at the Savannah Visitors Center. My Frommer’s guidebook said that everyone should see the movie on Savannah’s history to get oriented at the start of their visit. I got off the shuttle. The Savannah Visitors Center is located in the old Savannah train station. There are restaurants and a Savannah Museum. I bought a ticket, saw the movie and toured the museum. I waited more than 40 minutes for a CAT shuttle. When I got back to my room, I was so tired I could hardly move. I feel asleep around eight o’clock and slept through the night.

I will continue with the trip report tomorrow. I finished uploading my pictures to Smugmug last night.

Home

Home again! It was a wonderful trip to Savannah and Charleston. My plans to update this blog while traveling did not work out. Over the next several days I will publish a trip report.

The weather was as near perfect as could be hoped for. Thursday afternoon there was heavy rain. Thunderstorms were predicted for Friday but did not materialize. Three of the four flights were on time. The flight from Houston to Savannah was held on the runway for almost an hour because of storms to the north and west of Houston were causing the west bound planes to have larger than normal spacing between planes. The east bound planes were mixed in with the west bound planes. As a result, my east bound to Savannah plane sat there. The plane was scheduled to arrive at 10:47 PM. I was staying at a Hilton Garden Inn and knew their shuttle service stopped at midnight. I had one checked bag to retrieve. The pilot said he would be able to recover most of the lost time because of strong tail winds. He was right. The plane landed ten minutes late. I was relieved and thought I would be able to get the Hilton Garden Inn shuttle service.

I proceeded to baggage claim. I turned on my SprintPCS cell phone and there were no bars. I could not call the Hilton Garden Inn. I saw one of the hotel display boards near the baggage claim area. I was able to call the hotel, and they said they would send the van right over. I told them I had not yet claimed my bag and to wait 15 minutes before coming to the airport. I then went back to the conveyer belt. There were many people from my flight. We waited and waited some more. Luggage came in for another other flight on an adjacent conveyer belt. This plane landed after mine. I overheard an airport employee saying there was only one baggage handler crew, and they had three planes to unload. I went and called the Hilton again and told them of the delay. They said the shuttle had already left, and the driver would wait for me. Finally I got my bag and found the shuttle. It was 11:35 PM when I checked in to the hotel.

Tomorrow I will continue with my trip report. Today I will work on my pictures and try to upload some to Smugmug. I took 510 pictures. I uploaded them to my PC yesterday and have looked at them once. It will take some time to get them organized.

Packed

The ordeal is over. My suitcase is packed. Hopefully I have kept it under the fifty pound limit. The bag weighs nineteen pounds empty so that does not leave much room for error. I used to travel frequently and had no problem locating what I needed to take and putting it in the bag. I am out of practice and packing the bag was much more of a chore. I keep packing lists from past trips on my pc. Before I start packing I go through my old lists to find one that matches the climate and trip length of my current trip. I then edit it and print it out. As I pack each item, I check it off on my list. I can see as I get older my lists are going to be more and more valuable. I have another list for chores such as going to the bank, having the mail held, adjusting the thermostat, etc. When I check off the last item, I begin to relax. Then the stress returns as I wait for the airport limo and wonder what indignities TSA and the airline have waiting for me. I shall wear loafers that I can slip out of easily and put back on without falling and breaking my hip.

Michael Crichton

Last night I finished reading Michael Crichton’s The Terminal Man. This was his third book written in 1972. It concerns a man with a damaged brain. Surgeons implant electrodes and a small computer into him in an attempt to control his rage. Things go wrong. It is amazing how accurate the predictions for the future of computers that Crichton made in the book have proved to be.

Some lists of Crichton’s books show The Terminal Man as his second book. I am counting A Case of Need as his first book. He wrote it under the pen name of Jeffery Hudson. I have purchased all of Crichton’s books and will start reading The Great Train Robbery next.

This is a list of his works of fiction:

A CASE OF NEED, 1969
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Knopf, 1969
THE TERMINAL MAN, Knopf, 1972
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, Knopf, 1975
EATERS OF THE DEAD, Knopf, 1976
CONGO, Knopf, 1980
SPHERE, Knopf, 1987
JURASSIC PARK, Knopf, 1990
RISING SUN, Knopf, 1992
DISCLOSURE, Knopf, 1994
THE LOST WORLD, Knopf, 1995
AIRFRAME, Knopf, 1996
TIMELINE, Knopf, 1999
PREY, Harper Collins, 2002
STATE OF FEAR, Harper Collins, 2004

His website is at this link: The Official Site of Michael Crichton.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

My guidebook on Savannah has a walking tour that stops at many of the places mentioned in the “The Book.” Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is just known as “The Book” in Savannah. The guidebook says you should at least read the book or see the movie before visiting Savannah. I saw the movie when it was first released back in 1997 but never read the book. My memory of the movie was rather vague. I did a search on my favorite TV listing website, Zap2it – TV Listings and found that the movie was to be shown at 5 AM Saturday morning on TNT. I taped the movie and watched it later in the morning. It was a very opportune time to view it again. It refreshed my memory; and when I see the real thing, it will have more meaning for me.

Update

Wal-Mart’s self checkout worked flawlessly yesterday. I don’t know if they are fine tuning the system or if I am getting better at using it. Another thought occurred to me. The last three times I have used the same self-checkout scanner. Maybe there are good and bad scanners. I usually know which checkers are friendly and handle my groceries carefully. I get so I look for my favorite checkers. It seems that I am developing an affinity for one scanner.

The good experience made up for the frustration I suffered at the bank. I must remember never to go to the bank when the first of the month falls on a Friday. I had to wait in a long line. All I wanted to do was get some one’s and five’s in exchange for a couple of twenties. When I got home, I went to the online banking website. A page came up that said the website was running slower than normal, and I might encounter other difficulties. It appears that the first of the month being on a Friday hit the virtual bank, too.

Hi-Tech Travel Plans

I will not take my pc with me while I am traveling so I have been exploring alternative methods of posting a few photos on the internet. I will take my Sony Clie with me. I have just learned how to send photos from my Sony Clie (Palm-based personal digital assistant) to Smugmug. My Clie is WiFi enabled. That means if I can find a wireless network I can send email while I am traveling from the Clie. Smugmug is the photo-sharing service where I post my photos on the internet. They have a feature for camera-equipped cell phones to send photos via email. I read the instructions and decided that it should work just as well for my Clie. I composed an email with the Clie’s email program, attached a photo of Henry that I had taken with the Clie’s camera and emailed it to Smugmug. Smugmug automatically created a gallery for my emailed pictures. I created a link in the sidebar to the right in this blog for the pictures that I will email while I am traveling.

I have already learned how to create posts for this blog and send them via email. I have been searching for the locations of free WiFi hotspots in Savannah and Charleston. All of my hotels offer WiFi internet service but I do not know how much they charge. Also some WiFi providers use special software that requires a pc and will not work with a pda. T-Mobile hotspots that are available in most Starbucks and Kinko’s work with my Clie but T-Mobile charges $9.95 for a 24 hour periods. I hope it will be possible to find places to send my email without too much frustration.

When I return from Savannah and Charleston, I will upload pictures that I have taken with my Nikon D70. I have not found a way to upload pictures from the D70 while I am traveling if I do not have access to a personal computer. Things have really changed. Just a few years ago all I had to concern myself with was having postage stamps and finding mailboxes for my postcards when I traveled. Then I would get my film processed and printed when I returned home.