75 degrees this morning.
Starting a new “walking” route. I walk from 152nd Street to 164th Street, plus a little 1/8 mile squib at the end, so it should be roughly 2 1/4 miles, round trip. However, due to all of the twists and turns of the streets, I measured it this morning at approximately 3.68 miles! (I say roughly since my “fitbit” measured it at 3.44 miles and the iPod Nano 3.98 miles, a substantial difference for two items that are supposed to be electronically accurate, 1/2 mile is quite an error!I) Anyway, this morning I didn’t get lost (lost means I have to retrace my steps). It is a nice walk, it may get a little tiresome in the Winter, but it is summer now. The walk took approximately one hour, so that isn’t bad. Also, it means I will finish my audiobooks in half the time, since I used to walk about 1/2 hour (actually 32 minutes).
Tomorrow, I may actually lengthen the walk a little by walking from 152nd to 164th, and then around the neighborhood and see how long that is. I think it will be a little faster even if it is longer.
I am finally finding a use for all the keychain flashlights I have picked up over the years. I have used a flashlight while I walk ever since I was walking down a trail and saw a skunk walking towards me, only i didn’t realize it was a skunk until I saw the long white stripe down it’s back. I quickly turned and walked the other way! Ever since, I have a flashlight with me. I have a hard time finding a good flashlight for a walk, but have found the little keychain flashlights work well, and I found a bunch of them while moving. I figure I have enough to last for at least a year, depending on how good the batteries are. The batteries are amazingly good.
I also use a walking stick (for dogs, etc.) and it just makes me feel more secure. I’ve never had to use it, but then maybe the fact I carry it is the reason I’ve never had to use it!
I am still locating all of my bicycle accessories. Actually, I have located everything except my air compressor, so I should be able to get back to bicycle riding soon. I will need to trace out a good bicycle route. Unfortunately, there is not really any good bicycle facilities outside of the neighborhood, although the neighborhood will provide a good route. Unless I learn to ride on a narrow sidewalk, the streets are just too dangerous to ride.
One good news is I may be able to get back into swimming again. There is a community pool literally across the street, and there are several YMCA and other swimming opportunities within six miles (due to our location, there are several “population centers” available to us).
We had a good July 4th overall, although it logically included a lot of unpacking and organizing. There is a “big/bulky trash” day the first Monday of every month, so we are trying to get as much as possible to put out (such as boxes we can’t reuse etc.). We are making a priority of weeding and donating/giving/throwing out as much as possible. I look at each item and think “do I really want to move this again”. It helps a lot if you know someone is going to use the item, if it is still useful.
Went to a July 4 party last night. It was excellent. The food was too good, and I ate a lot more than I intended!
Of course all of this brings up the traditions of the past 8 to 12 years, which included a July 4 event with good friends. We missed that, it had become a part of the fabric of our life and it is difficult to not think about our friends from Lakeland and many of the traditions we came to expect to be a normal part of our life. We realize change is inevitable but it doesn’t mean we don’t regret the changes.
After talking with Apple Computer for over an hour Thursday night about connecting my old reliable laserjet printer to my Wi Fi, I gave up as noted it in this daily journal yesterday morning.
My cousin e-mailed and said “have you tried creating an access point with your old router”. I wasn’t really sure what an access point was, but I went to google and somehow set one up, so I now can print wirelessly again! Thanks to Ken, I owe him lunch (or probably dinner) at our family reunion! I told him what I had done, and he advised me I had, indeed, set up an access point! It basically means I have two wi fi accounts with one modem. Best of all, it means I can print! Of course, it also pointed out why we keep so much “stuff”. I had to get the router out of my “donation” box. (I do have a DSL modem/router if anyone needs one.)
Somehow, today seems like Sunday rather than Saturday. Another day of unpacking and organizing, perhaps with some visiting. The summer seems to be flying by, with July 4 being the midpoint of Summer. I hate to see the cold weather approaching, even though I know it is the natural order of things.
That’s it for now, Saturday, July 5, 2014.
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