Advent sunrise

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Kathy

tree branches on colorful sunrise sky 

One of the benefits of living with a dog is that sometimes when you wouldn’t think of going out, they insist and you see beautiful skies.

pink clouds at sunrise

I am still living in a rented room. I’ve finished a pair of socks I started last winter, gray heather fine yarn on Size 0 needles.

Spent way too much time on Facebook today. It started with discovering that Bing Places that FB Pages use for maps were very inaccurate for Armstrong County. On the positive side, was able to connect with a friend in Milwaukee and chat with a couple high school classmates.

Posted in General, Knitting, Photos | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Starting to feel like autumn

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Kathy

The chili pepper in the planter has ripe fruit:

Ripe chili peppers on plant

This planter was started on the deck at the house. Although it doesn’t get a lot of direct light here apparently the indirect light by my front door is enough.

Front of motel with cars and trees

This morning and yesterday morning when I took Bode out around 6 am the pre-dawn sky was clear with a big full moon and a chill to the air.

I have been using a microwave for cooking for about 6 weeks now. First priority was cooking rice, then I moved on to corn bread.

“Mug Cake” Cornbread — wheatless

1 tablespoon butter
1 egg (large)
1/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground flax seed (optional)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt

Melt butter in a large mug (about 2 cup or 500 ml capacity) by microwaving for about 30 sec.

Cool the butter slightly, then beat in the egg then the buttermilk with a whisk or fork.

Beat in the dry ingredients (can mix them in a separate container first).

Microwave on full power for about 3 minutes.

Let cool a bit then turn out onto a plate and slice.

Tip: Microwave ovens vary in power, so you may need to adjust the cooking time. The one here is fairly powerful.

Posted in Cooking, Gardening, Photos | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Verizon Mobile Hot Spot firmware updates – PowerPC Mac incompatibility

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Kathy

It has been almost a month since I got the account with Verizon. After compatibility problems with their USB Wireless Modem, I settled on their Mobile Hot Spot (MiFi). Worked OK until this morning when I tried to connect to the internet when I got a message that a firmware update was needed. there was an “architecture not supported” error message for the firmware update application DUU_Verizon_MiFi4510L_FW2.16.07.app

ppc incompatible error message

I called Tech Support at about 8 am this morning to report the problem.

Last month I asked tech support to double check that my hardware, a Macintosh iBook G4 — with a PowerPC (rather than Intel) processor was supported. Turns out that the software they distribute to install the firmware update is not usable on a Macintosh with a PowerPC processor, just Intel processor Macs. And they don’t supply a version for PPC Macs. I suspect that pre-XP MS Windows users may be in the same boat.

Verizon tech support called back around 2 PM with a response.

The good news is that you can get your mobile hotspot firmware updated, you just need to use another computer to do it. I am thinking that the local Verizon store would be a good place to seek assistance with this. Stay tuned…

Posted in Rants, Technical | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Lots happening

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Kathy

I haven’t written for some time. Decided to give up the house after various problems — needed a lot less stress. It has been a rough year so far.

I rented a self-storage unit at the end of June and started to fill it while discarding things I no longer needed. I am currently renting a room with refrigerator and microwave in Shelocta PA. It is comfortable and restful after all the packing and no lease required. I can rotate stuff from the storage unit to avoid clutter.

So far the biggest issue has been internet access. I am writing this at Starbucks in Indiana PA. I can use the cell phone browser to check email and Facebook, but really need the lappie (G4 iBook) to do web sites.

I did finish a doily before I started to pack:

24 inch crocheted centerpiece doily

I took this picture with my cell phone camera, but it was too big to send. A couple days ago I got a USB micro-USB cable at KMart, so now able to access the videos, photos, and audio from the cell phone. I am getting to like it — in a small package you get the phone, calendar, alarms, rudimentary web browser and it keeps excellent time.

If you want to contact me, use my gmail address or call my cell phone.

Posted in General, Moving | Comments Off

RateTea.net comes through

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Kathy

Back in January 2008 I was frustrated in trying to get information, ended up writing a rant: multinational tea bags.

RateTea.net has come through. Today they had a link on their Facebook page entitled Nylon Tea Bags.

Posted in Cooking | Comments Off