technology...hee hee...

so, i set up my new computer, and decided to use the norton anti-spam feature with my outlook express...THAT was a mistake....it has caused numerous issues with my outlook express...so, i disabled it and now outlook express is working fine...go me!!...

i got my pritner installed, and i've got everything set up...i'm using my old monitor (this comptuer didn't come with one) but that's fine anyways, because i love my 17 inch CRT monitor...

the only thing i'm not too crazy about is that the speakers that came with my old computer don't work when i plug them into the back of my new one where the speakers are supposed to go...

they do, however, work when i plug them into the headphone jack in front of the computer...

so i have sound...just not real loud sound (it is, after all, a headphone jack!) ...

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the new mouse is a scroll mouse, which i am absolutely thrilled about!...

also, this has office 2003, which means i've got word, excel, and powerpoint...

i don't know if it's got access, but i don't really see myself needing access in the immediate future...

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what i do see myself needing in the immediate future is a new mousepad (after ten years, they really should be replaced!..) ....

i also will need some printer paper...i've got about 12 sheets left or so...

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i really am enjoying my new comptuer...it's so quiet, you can hardly tell it's running...what a difference over my old one!...

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tonight i made supper for mom & i...it was one of those "i don't really know what i want" nights...so, i made some scrambled eggs with green pepper & onions mixed in...then we heated up some soft taco shells and put the egg stuff on that...added cheese, sour cream, and salsa and had egg burrito type things...it wasn't that bad, actually...

maybe not the healthiest meal, but we wanted something quick, easy, and different...

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not too much else is going on right now...

i'm a few journal entries behind for my addictions class, i suppose i should get those typed up and printed, but i just feel like there's really only so much one person can really write about...

i will admit, the story on NPR's "all things considered" the last week in october about the dog who liked to lick toads was rather amusing and did make for a fun, lighter-hearted entry...

maybe i'll watch 28 days and write about that...she did say we could use movies for journal entries....

*hmm* a movie does sound kind of fun...

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have a happy sunday, everyone!

-ramona anne

a new computer....

my current computer is about five years old...it's an hp pavillion 520w ... i love it...but, it's been acting up a bit lately...a little over a year ago, it's hard drive crashed -- totally -- and i lost like, pretty much everything....i had a 40 gig hard drive...

my uncle gave me a new hard drive which was an 18 gig...about half the size, but he just *gave* it to me and put it in for me and everything...and, it was free...so i really couldn't complain too much...

by the time i got windows XP put on there, it had 12 gigs free...a little over a year later, i'm down to about two gigs free, and it's starting to show signs of old age...

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so today i did something slightly crazy...i went to mexico and got a new computer...

not mexico the country...(that would be funny, though!) ... mexico, maine ... it was about 62 miles, so 124 miles round trip....

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i got an hp slimline s7410n .... it's got one gig of ram (quite a jump from 256!!) ... and a 250 gig hard drive...a dvd rw....and a multimedia center thingy...and uhm, a bunch of other stufff...

it's still in the box...i'll take it out tomorrow and play around with it, after i figure out waht i'll do with the stuff that's on my hard drive now...(i'm halfway through my semester here, i've got class stuff that i will need to transfer and things...of course, i do have a 512 MB jump drive...so if i could set my old system up in the bedroom upstairs, i could rather easily just move whole folders at a time, and save a lot of time and blank cd's!!...)

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so, that'll be an ongoing project, i know...

at least now iv'e got something to do this weekend... :-)

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after my mom & i got home we had supper and i went to visit a friend of mine and we caught up on things...we hadn't seen each other in a while, so it was very nice to visit with her...

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i guess there's not too much else going on...

i'm sure i'll have lots more to talk about soon enough, though!!...

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happy weekend to all,
-ramona anne

my nephew joshua...

this adorable little guy is joshua...not the one i babysit, but the one i'm realted to (well, kind of) ... my brother, joe, married joshua's grandmother, ruth...ruth had a daughter from her first marriage who was named amy...amy was 26 when she lost a battle to cancer...joe and ruth were awarded custody of joshua...so, he's my brotehrs step-grandson/son...which basically makes him my great nephew...in my family we don't really do "step" relatives...if anyone asks i'll just say "he's my nephew"...isn't he absolutely adorable?...i love his bright blue eyes....

i know a couple of weeks ago, i had said i'd try to get a picture of him here on my blog...so, here he is...

today i got some films developed and for a couple bucks extra i could get the pictures on cd...i decided it would be neat to get that done...the only complaint i have with that is that the pictures are upside down...that's easy enough to fix, though...microsoft paint isn't a bad photo rotating and re-sizing program...it's what i used to edit this photo...all i did was re-size and turn right-side-up...easy enough, right?... :-)

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today i babysat and ran some errands in the afternoon...there was about 1/2 an inch of wet sticky snow on the ground this morning when i got up...i was not happy....it's all melted now...and for that, i am glad!...however, i know it'll be here to stay soon enough...

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also, today i ran into mr. martin -- he was my jr. high science teacher and he had been there for a while when i was there...he said he's still teaching...the guy must be in his 60's i'd say...he does love teaching, though...

it was nice to see him...

not too much else going on...i'm tired, so i guess this will be a short entry...

i may post more photos tomorrow...

stay tuned!...

-ramona anne

my last week...

i've been really busy this last week, and haven't really had much time to blog...last week i spent a whole afternoon after work just shopping...and how much did i spend?...about $35 ... really... just because i shop doesn't mean i always buy...i made the usual run to wal-mart for some things...well, i only needed one thing...i came out with more than i'd gone in for originally, but they were things that i knew i'd eventually need...like loose bird seed for my hanging feeder and a cake feeder for my big cage feeder...and yesterday i noticed that my small suet cake feeder is finally getting some activity...so, i'll probably get a new suet cake soon, too...

(oh, yeah...yesterday when i went to check the feeders, when i got down by the apple tree, i saw my cardinal was back, only this time he was ground feeding...i'm so happy!!...)

i also got a Christmas cd by johnny cash, and some other little things...

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i've been busy of course with work and school, also...saturday i babysat all day and spent the night at the house of the lady i babysat for...sunday was church, of course, and then after church i came home and puttered mostly...it was a cold, windy, rainy/snowy, miserable day satuday and sunday both...monday i woke up to snow covering most of the yard...so, yeah, the weather's not been the best...

yesterday it was grey and gloomy and rainy, also, which was a big part of the reason i didn't get pictures of my birds at the feeder...

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today it's absolutely beautiful...calm, sunny, bright, and warm...incredible weather for the first of november in nothern new hampshire!...

monday was kind of nice, too, just cold and windy...sunny, though, which can help make the wind and cold easier to deal with...i went to class in conway and a friend of mine (who is an instructor at the school) had some clothes she was looking to get rid of...she had told me to make room in the van...i thought "how much can there be, really?..." five boxes, that's how much...oh, well....some of it i've already gone through and there are some really neat things in there...maybe that'll be something i can do today, since i've got the day off... :-)

also monday in my class i got my essay back on the book "wasted" ... another A minus....from a teacher who rarely gives A's...needless to say, i was rather pleased!...

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oh, and monday before i went down to class, i brought my resume and cover letter and transcripts in to the head start program...(they're looking for a classroom aide) ... and they interviewed me on the spot...i don't know if that's a good sign or not...but from what i understand there were not many people applying for that position anyways, so i guess i've got a good chance...

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oh!...last week my brother took in a monarch chrysalis that he'd found somewhere outside...after we had gotten some snow and really cold frezing type weather...i thought "that poor thing won't make it..." when he took it in...and then i thought "well...maybe it will, if it's in here...i can give it a chance..." ...

it hatched yesterday...a beautiful male!...but, the wings are a little wrinkled, so i'm slightly concerned about that...but since today's such a beautiful day, i wouldn't be entirely surprised to find he's flown off (becuase he can fly...just not as strong as others i've seen...) ...

that was a really cool thing for me....

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there's not too much else going on i guess...although i can't help but feel like i'm forgetting something...

oh, well, i'm sure i'll remember it later... :-)

have a great day, everyone!!

-ramona anne

northern cardinals

this afternoon after i returned from babysitting and running a few other errands in town, i came home and noticed a bit of activity at my bird feeders...i came in the house and got my binoculars, as well as my camera, just in case...

imagine my sheer delight when i saw a beaufitul male northern cardinal at my feeder!!...i could hardly believe it!...in living here for 27 years, i've never seen one in the trees around my property...i guess it pays to feed the birds!!...

the image i shared here is one i found online....eventually, i'd like to be able to share my own!... :-)

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also, here's a great link for some wonderful information and a few images and sound clips of cardinals (as well as pictures of a few look-alikes) ...

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/norcar/

i absolutely love cardinals...i've only ever seen two others in real life before, and that was on a field trip out in maine for my bird ecology class...

so, seeing this one today really made this grey, gloomy day seem absolutely wonderful....

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if anyone has any questions about cardinals or other birds, feel free to leave a comment...i'll try my best to answer them!!...

have a great day, everyone!!

-ramona anne