My Kindle FINALLY has success!

Are you familiar with the Kindle? It is an electronic reading device developed by Amazon. I thought it would be such a cool, convenient item to own; so approximately a month ago I decided to splurge and buy one. I had all kinds of rationale. first, it would get rid of all the books on my night table; second the books would cost less than the average book I buy now. The books cost $9.99 or less. The other benefit is you can put approx 20 books at a time on the device. It all sounded so very practical to me. The day arrived and waiting at my door was My Kindle. So, I charged it and got ready to go shopping; one problem, I couldn't get an Internet connection. Well I tried for several days...no luck. Before I could call the Kindle help line they were on the phone with me. We tried all kinds of experiments, no luck...could not connect. Somehow or other the book that I ordered for the device did arrive on Kin during the night. I was able to read the book but not make contact with the site here at home although the customer service dept could not understand why there was a problem. The staff was so very lovely but the connection could not be made.

Several days later a new Kindle arrived at m door. I quick opened the box charged Kin and tried again; nothing! With the old Kindle I could sign on away from home; this new one would not even let me do that. Well, several days later the CS people contacted me again;still not idea why I couldn't log on. The thought, maybe I needed a new device. We talked about it and decided that was not going to solve the problem; I would just have to be patient again!

Well, here we are another 3 or 4 days later and what is waiting at my front door? You're right, another Kindle. At this point I have very little if any hope of it working. However, I do hook it up and would you believe, it worked! I was able to download a new book and reload a previously purchased book to this device! I can't believe it! Let's see how it work tomorrow!

On a loosing streak for Mah Jongg

Well, if you're looking to make some easy money at Mah Jongg, I suggest you invite me over. Today I lost a total of $12! That's a lot of money! Next time I'll see if they take credit cards! Not sure why my stars are not aligned but will have to work on some new strategies.

On another topic, David and I have been working on putting together a butterfly garden. I have a book that tells what flowers each butterfly is attracted to by region. We'll see how it goes. They are such lovely insects I would be so happy if they adopted our yard as one of their summer homes! Will keep you posted on how that's going.

Where does the time go???

Tonight we went out to the movies with friends and saw "When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Father?" We all thought it was a fantastic movie. I spent a lot of time thinking about the name of the movie...when was the last time I saw MY father as I knew him? On that same theme, I was looking through some old pictures this afternoon. There was one with a picture of my dad cutting his birthday cake for his 85th. Now, looking at that picture, even then, he was not my father! One of the things that really brought this home to me today was that Uncle Paul (Dad's youngest brother) was visiting this week. I have always felt the two of them look so much alike. So, how far back do I have to look to see when I last saw my father. One of the women tonight commented that out of the 8 of us I was the only one that still had her father. Do I really have him or just physically someone that looks like him?

Been Goofing Off!

Hi all,

Can't believe how long its been; time to get bac to blogging!

This past weekend was a fun one here in Stamford. United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien decided to try something new in the fund raising arena. We sponsored a 60 mile bike ride for Israel's 60th anniversary. The event was a total success! There were 49 riders who were totally challenged by the event! What a wonderful way to build Community; in the Campaign arena; over $55,000 was raised! There were fabulous prizes for the event with first prize being a $3,000 bike by The Cycle Center here in Stamford, Camel's by Lapine Associates, and some other bike stuff (that I don't totally understand) by the Insurance Exchange! Talk about generosity! What a great event! So, next year 61 for 61????

Here are some photos!

Pictures from our trip

Picture on the left is the center of Obidos; the flowers were plentiful! Picture on the right has some on the flowers from the outdoor market at Caldas da Rainha.





















Above left, the castle in Obidos now is a pension; right is David braving the wind as we venture down to the water near our hotel. Big wind buy no rain at this point. We are looking at the Atlantic!

Quiet day in Portugal

I decided to spend the day close to the resort today. The wind and rain are unbelievable! As you know we're sitting on the Atlantic Ocean; with the wind today you could easily see how ships could capsize! The waves are humongous! Tomorrow we will rent a car and go north. Hopefully it will be a good sized car so it will stay on the road. Another option will be to put a sail on top and save on gas! We'll see how it goes. Just finished my second book of the trip; first was "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon; second was "The Kitchen Boy" by Robert Alexander. They are both wonderful reads, I strongly recommend both of them.

Caldas da Rainha

This is an interesting city north of where we are staying. The R in the last part of the name is interesting; it is pronounced like a ch in Hebrew. It is amazing the many influences on the Porteges language CdR was a draw for me because they are the only city in the area that has an outdoor market. The day started off in a panic since I had a cab picking me up at 9:30 and I overslept until 9:50; not a fun way to start the day. I dressed and ran down to the entrance of the hotel, ate something in the car and started my adventure. The day started off pleasant enough, no rain! I strolled through the market where there were all root vegetables and fruits of the region; there were strawberries the size of small golf balls and the most Delicious color red! There were stalls with olives and cheeses; again wish I could bottle the aromas! Then I started to wander around to find some pottery stores. I knew I was pushing my luck because within minutes the rains started and this time it was like a small monsoon! I found a pottery store but they wouldn't take a credit card so had to find an ATM. Went back in the teeming rain (should I say swam back???). the woman was so happy to see me, I may have been the sale of the week. She wrapped up my purchases, went into the back and gave me an umbrella; then walked me to the door and opened the umbrella for me. Oh yes, she also wrapped my camera in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet! Amazing, just like home...NOT!!! I stopped for lunch before meeting my cab. Things here are so very expensive because of the weakness of the dollar. Lunch, on the other hand, I thought was a good buy. They served me a large bowl of a fish stew (that salted cod but it was not salty)that had potatoes, tomatoes and spices in it. Delicious! I asked for some vegetables; they served me a large head of broccoli that was prepared perfectly; bright green and still a little crunchy! I also ordered a bottle of water; the bill was a grand total of 7.50 euros; I thought a pretty good deal!

In the afternoon the TNS group went on an organized tour of Obidos with booklets that had questions are the area. At dinner there was a game with groups to see who had the most correct answers. We also went on a tour and tasting at a winery. From what I hear the wine was very good.

We'll see what tomorrow's adventures turn out to be!