Vacation & Other Thoughts

I am in the middle of a few days vacation. I had forgotten how nice it could be to take time off for something other than my bird related hobby functions. I've caught up with some movies I wanted to watch. And I have been able to do some reading without having to watch the clock. I think that today I'm going to start on the Harry Potter series, and read those books one more time. My wife sometimes wonders about my sanity, but I have always felt that if a book is really a good read the first time, it only gets better when you read it again. Some of my books I have probably read as many as 9 or 10 times. As an example, I have read all my Heinlein books at least a half dozen times each, some even more. I have always loved reading, and hope to keep it up right until the end (grin). When I was a kid, I was one of the best customers our small library in LaConner had. I must have read a majority of the books they had in the library. Of course, it wasn't a big library so that probably doesn't say much.

One more week and then back to the grind. By then I should be refreshed and ready to go. I haven't done anything exciting yet, but I may try to go visit my uncles next week up in Skagit County. Haven't been up there for several months even though it is only about a 45-minute drive.

We've now been on Verizon FIOS for two weeks. I cannot believe how convenient it is to have a Digital Video Recorder, like the Verizon Multi-Room DVR. Before the switch, we had a VCR for every TV. There were times that we would have as many as three of our VCRs set for shows to make sure we got all the shows we wanted to watch taped. With the DVR, all I have to do is set it up once and the shows are recorded; in my case, every time the show is not a repeat. Just this one factor has made the switch worthwhile. It is kind of interesting to see just how many channels are available through the system. Of course, 90% are channels that we may never watch. But, hey, they are there just in case.

The only concern I have had so far is with our local NBC affiliate, KING-5, in Seattle. There seems to be a problem in the system with the volume for that channel and that channel only. If I have the volume adjusted for KING-5 and then switch to another channel, I have to immediately lower the volume because all the other channels are louder than 5. I originally thought that was related to one of the set top boxes, but it doesn't appear to be that way. One of these days I'll get around to checking with Verizon and see what they think. But for right now I'm having way too much fun exploring all the things that FIOS TV brings to the plate.

The snow is gone, the rains have mostly stopped; the area is finally getting some normal Winter weather. We have been getting a lot of fog, but they weathermen claim that should be gone by later this weekend.

The New Year has started, and we are about to inaugurate our new President next Tuesday. I am excited about the change coming to our country. I wish all the best to everyone for the New Year.