Lobster for Dinner

It was a perfect day on Thursday and then just slightly less so today. We went diving both days. Jim convinced me to go again today because I probably won’t go again for the rest of the winter. The water is 73 degrees right now – that’s a bit chilly for me. I like it at 80 or more!

Surprisingly, I didn’t get very cold. I just love this diving so much!

Bill, the manager of the park here, has been bitten by the kayak diving bug too! It’s fun to introduce someone new to our favorite pasttime.

Here we are getting the boats ready.

Here’s Bill and Ray getting ready;

And, here’s dinner!

Three divers … aren’t they cute with their silly hats?

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Buy your Cellular Data Card or Router Today!

Internet access on the road is getting better and better. Wi-Fi, Satellite, and especially cellular have improved immensely. We use all three at different times and places. Cellular seems to be taking over. People *love* their data cards. We don’t have one – we use our cell phone tethered – so we don’t know enough about them. When someone wants to know details, we send them to EVDOInfo.com for information and we often hear back that they purchased product from the sister site, 3GStore.com. We’ve talked to so many happy customers of 3GStore, that we signed up as an affiliate.

3GStore is having a sale right now for ‘Black Friday.’ If you’re in the market for any cellular data cards, booster antennas, or routers, check out their special prices in this online sale this weekend. And, if you buy after using the link below – Geeks on Tour will receive a small commission.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Life is SO good! Paradise Island, the park we’re at right now, is almost living up to it’s ‘RV Resort’ title today. Check out the ice cream social at the pool:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

The little girl is Marie, the manager’s daughter, and she is just a doll. They charged $1 for each bowl of ice cream, and Marie is going to donate the profits to a charity which feeds the hungry. She’s an inspiration.

And here’s the view around the pool.

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

A great quote came to my inbox from Heartmath.com this morning:

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy”

In agreement with that quote … We’re going Kayak Diving today! I might even turn off the computer for the rest of the day! See my post today at RV.net’s blog for more.

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More Website Tools

I’m always researching and reading about new ways of doing things on the web. Lord knows there’s enough of them, I like to keep up with at least a few! Today, while trying to give someone an intelligent response about why Blogger always imports photos to the top of your post, I ran across this blog post by someone else about the same problem. They recommended using Windows Live Writer. hmmm … what’s that? I figured I should go check it out, so I’m writing this post using Windows Live Writer.

I downloaded it for free from Microsoft. Now I could be writing this blog post while disconnected from the Internet.

I use the ‘Insert Picture’ command, and the picture appears right where my cursor is instead of the top of the post! Nice. It shows the size as 640X427 … this looks smaller.

So, now I’ll click the ‘Publish’ button and see what happens.

Wow! That was pretty slick. And the photo gets uploaded to blogger’s servers. The size when you click on it is 640X427. The image in the blog itself is smaller … I’ll have to see if I can figure that one out. Windows Live Writer also lets me insert a link that automatically opens in a new window. That’s a nice feature that has been on my wish list for blogger. Oh dear … another new tool. And, of course, if this is good – I should probably look into the rest of the Windows Live tools.

More Website Tools

I’m always researching and reading about new ways of doing things on the web. Lord knows there’s enough of them, I like to keep up with at least a few! Today, while trying to give someone an intelligent response about why Blogger always imports photos to the top of your post, I ran across this blog post by someone else about the same problem. They recommended using Windows Live Writer. hmmm … what’s that? I figured I should go check it out, so I’m writing this post using Windows Live Writer.

I downloaded it for free from Microsoft. Now I could be writing this blog post while disconnected from the Internet.

I use the ‘Insert Picture’ command, and the picture appears right where my cursor is instead of the top of the post! Nice. It shows the size as 640X427 … this looks smaller.

So, now I’ll click the ‘Publish’ button and see what happens.

Wow! That was pretty slick. And the photo gets uploaded to blogger’s servers. The size when you click on it is 640X427. The image in the blog itself is smaller … I’ll have to see if I can figure that one out. Windows Live Writer also lets me insert a link that automatically opens in a new window. That’s a nice feature that has been on my wish list for blogger. Oh dear … another new tool. And, of course, if this is good – I should probably look into the rest of the Windows Live tools.

Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi

Every time we visit Fort Lauderdale we say, “we gotta take a water taxi ride!” It’s one of our favorite things to do but we never seem to get around to it. Well, having visitors is a great excuse. I love showing people Fort Lauderdale the way it should be seen … from the water. So, I was so glad that Don & Joy, Michael & Georgia made the time to go for a ride with us. Mom came too.

It was beautiful afternoon!

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Datastorm rally south

We have visitors here at Paradise Island in Fort Lauderdale. Member #1, and member #16 of the DatastormUsers group.

Here is the map that the DatastormUsers group is so famous for. Who is member #1? That’s Don Bradner, the creator of the DatastormUsers.com website.

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

This map is the greatest thing. Every time we move (or any Datastorm User) we enter our position on the map. Then, the website automatically sends an email to whoever we specify with a link to the map. This way, our friends and family are automatically alerted to our whereabouts whenever we move. The map includes a link to our website so, if they want to read further and see pictures, it’s easy to do so.

You can also see the map in google earth:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

Thanks Don for creating such a cool tool!

Number 16 on the map is Michael and Georgia Day. Michael is the one who organized most of the last rally. We’re thrilled that they’re both spending some time seeing Florida, and now, visiting us here in Fort Lauderdale.

Here’s Georgia and their 44 ft Newell!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

And, here’s #1 – with the BIG dish!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

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Refrigerator Fire

If you get a notice from Dometic that your refrigerator is subject to their recall … take it seriously … here is what can happen if you don’t:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

This happened here last week while we were gone. Actually, I hear that this refrigerator was a Norcold (ouch! that’s what we have) that was having some kind of problem. But the recall on the Dometic is specifically for a fire hazard issue.

The good news is that their insurance (Progressive) is treating them right. They acknowledge the fire as a total loss of the motorhome. Insurance is currently paying to put the owners up in a motel.

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RVing in Asia!

On our way back to Fort Lauderdale from Tampa we decided to make a stop at Sun ‘n Shade in Punta Gorda. Sun ‘n Shade is owned by the same company that owns Paradise Island, where we stay in Fort Lauderdale. Jim is often telling people about it when he works in the office, and it seemed like a good idea for us to see it.

Ahhhh … the west side of Florida is so calm and laid back compared to the east. So much space, and peace and quiet! Here’s our site:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

And some very friendly local residents!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

As we pulled in to our site, we noticed this 5th wheel and they seemed to be fidding with their Datastorm satellite dish. Sure enough, they saw our sign and came to greet us asking if Jim could help get their dish to connect to the satellite.

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

While Jim worked with their computer and dish, I chatted with Helga and learned that they are from Germany. They’ve spent several winters here in Sun ‘n Shade. But what was really fascinating was that they took a 6 month RV trip a few years ago with a tour group from Germany called Perestroika Tours. They started in Austria with 10 RVs in their caravan. They drove through Greece, over to Turkey, then thru Iran and Kazakhstan. She said Kazakhstan was gorgeous! From there they continued east into China, up into Mongolia – she also loved Mongolia – and then Russia. And back – 26,000 miles I think she said.

She remembers spending 4 days in Moscow. Can you imagine!? Boy, did this get my adventure juices flowing! I didn’t even know there were roads thru the places they went. Let alone that it would be possible to drive your RV. She does remember one of the mountain passes being pretty scary. And the roads were horrible. I believe it was all rental RVs from the tour company. They didn’t take their 5th wheel – it was a 24 foot class C. There weren’t any RV parks … they parked in fields and parking lots. They even took their dog with them! The dog was a problem at the China border crossing, but after much perserverence, a little cash, waiting till the guards changed, and even hiding the dog at one point – they kept going.

Here’s Helga and her dog, Sockie:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

I sure wish they had a Blog! If we were staying by them for any length of time, you can bet they would

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