This, that and the other thing-
This is the fourth or fifth iteration of this web
site over the years. It used to be a place I could put up
pictures for friends and family to enjoy and stay informed. The
picture display part of it has been pretty much outdated by so many
other options. I still occasionally put up a page with some event or travels. It also allows
me a place to post my music, files and other interests and projects not
seen through this web page.
We have MS Windows on a few computers around here, but we
use Linux more than Windows. Took awhile to fully commit to Linux
but once a certain comfort level was reached we haven't looked
back. (I say we as Zoe also runs Linux on her old laptop and her
netbook.)
For those not familiar with Linux (Android cell phones and tablets run on Linux) it is a free open-source operating
system that equals Windows in most ways and even exceeds it in
others. Almost all software programs (30,000+) are free for the
download. But, it is different and because of that many users
will not suffer the learning curve to get comfortable and enjoy
open-source software. Here's
a demo
that shows multiple desktops and effects. (Ubuntu
is the Linux distribution (version) used in the demo
and is what we mostly use here, but almost any Linux distro will
perform much the same.)
Our road trips have slowed as Zoe is working summers. Having a car necessitates income and working has become a priority for her. I'm sure we still have a few good road trips in our future, but they aren't regular summer events as they once were.
The summer of 2011 was down the Mississippi River via pontoon boat from
where the Wisconsin River enters into the Mississippi. The original hope was to make it to St. Louis
and then maybe up the Illinois River to Starved Rock (Utica, IL). I
had been wanting to spend some time on the Mississippi for awhile
now. The Mississippi River trip had been proceeded by canoeing from Wisconsin Rapids
down to the Mississippi River (200 miles) via the Wisconsin River back in the late
'80s. I finally borrowed the slides from my friend who was on the
trip with me and scanned them into the slide show below.
First try we had too much stuff in too little canoe. Things
smoothed out after that. Really brings back old memories, but
it's one of those things where you kind of had to be there.