Week 8: catching up

Well, I know I missed catch up week and I am still getting acquainted with FaceBook and MySpace. I haven't opened accounts in either because I am still roaming around the sites. Also, with this blog and a Flickr account, don't I have enough presence on the 'net? I belong to several quilting discussion groups via Yahoo, too. Those groups give me good advice, inspiration, and motivation to finish projects.

One of my biggest frustrations in this technological age is the number of user names and passwords one can accumulate. At first I used the same one all the time. But some companies or organizations want longer or "safer" passwords than others. Now I have resorted to creating a Word file of them all, which defeats the whole idea of "passwords" and makes them accessible only from my home computer. An online password management program would be a great boon to me - does one exist?

Meanwhile, I have read a bunch of mysteries, worked on several quilting projects, traveled to West Virginia to conduct a multi-day planning workshop, recommitted myself to a diet/exercise regime, and took care of quite a few B&B guests in the last few weeks. Life is pretty good!

Week 4: RSS

I have been subscribing to various blogs via Bloglines for several months and find it a very handy way to keep track of developments in the library and readers' advisory world now that I am retired and not entirely in the loop. Someone mentioned an article in Library Journal recently, and I realized how much I miss reading book reviews. I'm going to add a few more book review blogs to my list of subscriptions. If you have a favorite blog, please let me know.

I also subscribe to several quilt-related blogs since I am always looking for new ideas. One quilter even has a separate blog for sharing recipes. One of my favorite blogs is http://www.sewmamasew.com/blog2. This month there is a "quilt of the day" feature which has been lots of fun.

Week 3: Flickr and its mashups

I have a bunch of photos of quilts I've made posted for some time, but I only made one "public." If you want to look at it, its URL is http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799607@N03/2202574254/ It took me several years to make the 93 blocks for this quilt, which I put together during the first two weeks of my retirement. Each block is 4.5" so many of the blocks are quite detailed. I don't know if I will make more of my quilts public, as I am a little uncomfortable having them "out there." It's like a virtual quilt show! I did explore making a calendar, photo album, or other gifts using them but the holidays came and went before I could make up my mind. I am really not a great digital photographer yet.


Still, I enjoyed playing Flickr Sudoku, even though I found the photos a little hard to see. The other mashups were interesting to fool around with, too.

Life in the slow lane

Everyone asks how I am liking retirement. Simply put, it is an incredible amount of fun! This morning I watched a steady stream of cars crawl by my house and down the hill to work. I didn't turn on WCAX to see if schools were cancelled or state offices had a delayed opening. I just went back to sewing, thankful that I didn't have to navigate the traffic, worry about the front walk at MRL, or clean off my car in a hurry. I can take my time doing just about anything. I can even read in the middle of the day! I have not worn a watch since January 1.

Week 2: creating a blog

This was easy enough to do but I had trouble signing into Blogger once I left it. Google noted that I needed to make sure I could accept cookies. When I checked my settings, I found cookies enabled but then learned that I had to delete the many cookies I have accepted lately. Guess I will need to go to the gym more often!