Our RV Adventures

We’ve reached the point where you can find the answer to just about any question, as long as someone, somewhere, knows it.

For example, when Jan and I got our pills refilled recently, we each had one prescription that was filled with a different looking pill than our previous refills. So, wanting to be sure that we got the correct prescriptions, my first thought was to make a trip back to Sam’s Club. My second thought to go to Google and type in “How to ID pills”

Turns out, there’s a App for that, or at least a website right here – Pill Identifier.

You just type in the 2 characters on one side and the 3 characters on the other like “IG 248”, and you have your answer, along with the manufacturer and any warnings.

And as it turns out, both of our prescriptions were correct.

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I left the rig about 1pm for an afternoon of client stuff. My first stop was Fry’s Electronics to look for the new computer and LCD monitor we talked about yesterday. They had a nice deal on a Dell that looks pretty good, so my next stop was to my clients to get the OK, and also do some set up work.

Since one of the computers I’ll be replacing runs the UPS shipping software, I’ll have to double check what it will take to move the database over to the new computer.

I also started downloading the 425 MB file for the 2012 version of the UPS software which took about 30 minutes. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll upgrade the old computer to the 2012 version before moving the database to the new computer. I’ll call UPS Tech Support tomorrow and see what they suggest.

As I was finishing up, my client decide he wanted another monitor for one of the new computers I installed last week, so that makes two I’ll need.

Finally leaving the office, I stopped back by Fry’s to pick up about $1100 of computer and monitors before heading back toward the rig.

On my way I checked the Gas Buddy app on my Droid to find the cheapest nearby gas. Found  a place right down the road for $3.15 which was a pretty good price. Then leaving the gas station I called ahead to Monterey’s Little Mexico for a pickup order of Tortilla Soup, Queso, and Chips to take home for supper. Sure does seem like we eat here a lot, doesn’t it.

On another note, while I was walking thru Fry’s I noticed a toy called “Geneactor”, some sort of action figure. That kind of rang a bell, but I just couldn’t place it. But on the way home, it hit me.

It reminded me of my very first computer, the Geniac. A little Googling and I found this. (Did I mention I love the Internet?)

It was a mechanical analog computer that I got for Christmas 1958 when I was 10 years old. It was made of a Masonite board and 6 Masonite wheels, along with a lot of wires, switches, and lights. I spent hours building and programming it, even writing my own programs, which on the Geniac, meant moving wires around.

But it started me on my career path. A year later  I had my ham radio license, and six years after that I was programming on a building-sized IBM 360 at Vanderbilt University using Fortran II and punch cards. I’m not sure that punch cards were all that big a step up from moving wires around, but the 360 certainly looked a lot cooler anyway.

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Thought for the Day:

“I can fix it. But if I can’t fix it, I can fix it so nobody can fix it.”

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Today was pretty straight forward, with not a lot really happening.

After doing some stuff around the rig, I headed out about 1pm up toward Clear Lake. My first stop was Fry’s Electronics where I was looking for some check printing software.

My client’s website takes checks online and uses the software to print out a check using the customer-supplied routing and account numbers. My client then deposits the check in his bank just like a regular check.

But since we upgraded his main machine to Win 7, the old DOS-based check printing program will no longer run, so I’m looking for a new program for him.

After finding something I hope will work, I drove over to my client’s for the afternoon.

But, by the time the afternoon was over, we had decided to replace the ornery computer with a new Win 7 model, thus taking care of all of our networking problems.

Works for me.

I headed home about 4:30, and then turned around and Jan and I headed up the road to La Brisa for a great dinner. Jan had the Chicken-Stuffed Avocado with Chicken Fajitas and a couple of Shrimp Brochettes, while I had a Trio Combo, with Beef Fajitas, Chicken Fajitas, and Ribs. As delicious as usual.

Since nothing much really happened today, I reposted some of our time in St. Augustine, FL in 2009.

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Tour Trains & Komodo Dragons…

Originally posted on June 8, 2009

Today Jan and I did ‘touristy’ stuff

We started off at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. This is probably the nicest small zoo we’ve been to. And believe me, we’ve been to a bunch of them.

They had some very unique displays including komodo dragons, the bird rookery, and the albino alligators.

Founded in 1893, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm is one of Florida’s oldest zoological attractions. In the early 1880s, two men began collecting alligators they found on Anastasia Island. These individuals, George Reddington and Felix Fire, were the founders of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm at South Beach.

In 1937, Reddington and Fire sold it to a pair of young business men in the community: W.I. Drysdale and F. Charles Usina. And the Drysdale family still owns the park today.

In 1989, The American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums extended accreditation to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, thereby elevating the institution to a select list of facilities throughout the nation recognized for the quality of their collections and the care afforded them.

The Alligator Farm is the only zoo to have all 23 species of the worlds’ crocodilians exhibited in individual habitats.

Here are some pics:

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These alligators are true albinos with pink eyes. They have no skin pigment.

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There are other white alligators, called leuistic alligators. Unlike albinos, leuistic alligators have pigment. It’s just a white pigment.

And they don’t have pink eyes. They have bright blues eyes. There are only about 12 known in the world, and they are all males.

Leuistic White Alligator

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We really enjoyed seeing the Komodo Dragon again. The last time we saw them was at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. in 1971.

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Reticulated Python

Northern Cassowary

This is ‘Gomek’. He was a 17 foot, 2000 pound Saltwater Crocodile who lived at the Alligator Farm. When he died, they had him stuffed and put back on display. He just doesn’t move around as much anymore.

Gomek – Tha Saltwater Crocodile

We really enjoyed The Rookery. This is a walk-thru area with nesting birds in some cases, just inches from the walkway.

Nesting Egrets

The Rookery

Wood Stork

Nesting Roseate Spoonbills

Stork Chicks

Nesting Tri-Colored Heron

Snowy Egret and Hungry Chicks

This is a fake dead zebra. It is used for the realistic feeding of the vultures and storks who regularly feed on carcasses.

"Dead" Zebra

Hooded Vultures

West African Crowned Crane

Black Swan

Blue and Gold Macaw

Indian Gharial Crocodile

The hand belongs to Christie. She goes into the pen to feed the alligators. And yes, that is a rat, a dead rat. Apparently, dead rats are alligator treats. The zoo buys them already dead. She said the rats are cheaper than chicken and the gators like them better.

Alligator Feeding Time

Feeding Skipper

He knows it’s here somewhere

Gulp!

All Gone!

Taste like Chicken!

Golden Lion Tamarin

After we left the Alligator Farm, we headed over to take the Old Town Trolley Tour. This is same tour company that we took in Key West. They also have tours in Savannah, Washington, D.C., Boston, and San Diego. We plan on taking this tour in all these cities as we visit them.

One of the places we passed thru on the tour was Magnolia Ave. Strangely enough, there are no magnolia trees on Magnolia Ave. Just some beautiful oaks trees in a canopy over the street.

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After our Trolley Tour, we drove down the road a ways to eat lunch again at the Oasis Restaurant. We ate here a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it. And it was close by.

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After lunch, we headed over to Walmart to pick up our prescriptions, and then it was on to Camping World to get some more parts for my new toad tail light setup.

After that, we stopped off for coffee before heading back to the coach.

All in all, an enjoyable day.

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Thought for the Day:

Whether you can hear it or not, The universe is laughing behind your back.

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