December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas !

December 25, 2009 ; Yuma, Arizona

Well, today is a beautiful, sunny, warm day, a typical Yuma Christmas. I am typing this part of today’s journal entry first thing Christmas morning.

Yesterday my computer returned from being repaired at Hewlett Packard. I am very dissatisfied ! I sent the computer in with two items requiring repair, and only one was repaired. How sloppy and careless can the repair geeks be ? ! ? The unrepaired item is too insignificant to justify sending the computer back again. Sixteen days without my computer is tough to bear ! AND … < sputter > … my computer came back with the hard drive completely obliterated ! All my files and data were gone. All my software was gone ! Even the software that was loaded prior to purchase was gone. There was nothing on the computer when it returned except Windows ! And even then … the version of Windows loaded by HP’s repair facility was a version of Windows designed for HP’s Compaq Presario division. My HP Mini computer now “thinks” it’s a Compaq Presario ! I spent most of yesterday downloading software from the Internet. This park’s Wi-Fi signal is pretty slow ! I will continue to work today on reloading software … and seemingly endless Windows updates !

We have just finished unwrapping Christmas gifts. HA HA HA … Bo certainly brings enthusiasm to the gift unwrapping process. After unwrapping his own gifts, he helped us unwrap ours. Sully was a little less enthusiastic, although he did enjoy a few minutes of playing with his new cat toy.

After a brunch of pancakes and freshly made fruit salad we drove to Yuma Airport to phone our families. The Wi-Fi signal in our RV park does not have enough bandwidth to support VOIP but there is a free public access Wi-Fi signal at the airport with enough bandwidth to allow use of our Wi-Fi phone and Skype on the computer. We phoned my sister Sharon and wished Merry Christmas to her and her family. We Skype video called Joanne’s sister and family. What a great way to exchange Christmas greetings. All of the Carlson’s received snowshoes as Christmas gifts. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ( THUD ). Sorry … I fell on the floor laughing as I typed that. Snowshoes ! ! ! ( snicker )

We returned to Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park and prepared for the afternoon communal Christmas dinner. Well, Joanne prepared for Christmas dinner. I struggled trying to receive and send e-mail using a Wi-Fi signal that just wouldn’t work ! We had a lovely Christmas dinner with about 150 other people, eight to a table. The RV park supplied turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy. Everything else was “potluck”. And there was a lot !

After dinner and socializing, we returned to the trailer, changed into swim suits, and spent some Christmas Day quality time in the swimming pool and hot tub, a new family Christmas tradition we started a few years ago. As the sun set we returned to the trailer again, dressed, and took Bo for a long walk around the perimeter of the seven acre dog park. I spent the evening working on the computer. I discovered that the Wi-Fi signal works a lot better in the clubhouse than it does at our trailer. I guess our site is a bit too far from the antenna / router.

DSK