Crank on

Edited to add: …

This is important, un-cranked stuff!  If it’s still June 4th and you’re reading this, click over and get a special daily deal for Nook or Kindle on a great book.  I haven’t read it, but I follow the author on Facebook, and if you like dogs or know someone with two legs or four paws who has battled cancer, it’s a must-read.   Today only, you can get it for Nook or Kindle for $1.99.  And if you don’t have either, you can read Kindle books on a computer, and both vendors have apps for everthing that uses apps.

Now, if you’re curious about the original post tied to the title, read on.  Otherwise, feel free to stop right here and ignore my hypoglycemic, technology fit.

A not cranky (not at work) photo… and I happen to be wearing the same cardi today

Argh!!  My relic of a desktop at work isn’t playing well with the new Flickr platform, nor is the Flickr app uploading photos properly this morning.  That makes blogging difficult.

What I can tell you is that I’m using Bloglovin’ these days to read blogs, not because I love it more than Feedly, but because it works on this old, outdated computer, and Feedly does not. 

Ironically, it’s a beautiful spring day with lower temperatures and low humidity.  You’d think I’d be a in wonderful mood, but battling technology drains me.

Have you found a Reader alternative?  Heck, the mere fact that I had to makes me cranky…

Is anything making you cranky today?

No Vera Update

Vera's glimpse at the new colors

For the first time in … years?  I learned of the new Vera colors when the catalog came in the mail.  Really, Vera?  Honestly, I’d rather NOT be on mailing lists… I don’t need the clutter and would rather save the trees, the USPS, etc.

Anyhoo, I’m so underwhelmed that they’re not getting a review here.  I love coral and turquoise and had high hopes, but I guess I’ll wait and see if summer has a better offering.  Maybe it’s a sign of my contentment with my green bag?

Maybe it’s (yet again) a parting of the ways.  Vera and I were fast friends for a few years in the ’90s, then went our separate ways for well over a decade.  We’ll see…

Speaking of reducing paper stuffs…  I’m also underwhelmed by Nook’s magazine offerings, and by knitting magazines in all electronic formats.  Even the ones that are availabie in one e-format or another seem to penalize their e-subscribers either through not allowing printing, not offering special inserts, etc.  What’s up with that?  I’m hardly the greenest girl in the world, but hello?!  Shouldn’t they be encouraging e-subscriptions and rewarding those who are working towards saving the planet?

Along those lines, while I’m all reconnected with my newsprint Nook of a prior generation – evidently, B&N realized that asking me and the other millions of people with an account if we need to change our password on our B&N account and then requiring us to stand on our heads and stack bbs in our watch-pockets to allow our Nook to change its password too was ridiculous – I’m realizing that I want an e-reader that can do magazines, pdf files (specifically, knitting patterns) and more.

Yes, yes, plain Nook can do that, but not well.  I’m in no rush to upgrade, because… well, you WERE reading along, right?  The magazines I want aren’t available in a truly useful e-format!  Anyway, there’s also the whole B&N might sell Nook mess, my fascination with Kindle Fire just because of the name (I used to be a firefighter, am married to a fire chief… in case you’re new here), and last but definitely not least, my love of things i-smart.  iCloud is my new BFF…

But nothing can trump my celebration of our one-eyed girl.  Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the removal of her left eye.  I might do a special post tomorrow…  I might not.  It’s been a journey, and yes, our lives revolve  around that dog and her eye drop schedule, but it’s truly our pleasure to tend to her, and to Lady Gretchen Greer.  Their blog has a link to a fabulous, feel-good story about a totally blind dog named Golly. 

What are you celebrating today?

One down…

Well!  Let’s hear it for Nessy.  One book down, and another has been downloaded already.

Dead Men Don’t Crochet, one and done.  Downloaded it onto the Nook at work yesterday morning, and thanks to a meeting that wasn’t as quick as the Knight thought it would be, I finished it up at the firehouse last night.  Then, since the firehouse blocks virtually all wireless signals and we weren’t there long enough for me to find IT Dude and get him to set Nessy up on the network, I went home and downloaded the next book in the series.  I’m a few pages in…

Anyway, another cute book.  This one had a bit of history on Irish lace crochet (I think I’m missing a few words there), so there was a smattering of education in there.  I’m going to be sad when I finish the series.

Gratuitous cute doggies photo

Oh – and so far, each new book adds a new doggy to the series too.  They’re hardly main characters, but they’re cute and it makes me like the characters even more!

Internet might be restored tonight, if the shipping fates allow.  Seems the modem was shipped “signature required” but the Knight didn’t know that, so we’ll have to figure out how to get one of us and the box in the same place at the same time…

That leaves 1,498 books I can download before I need to expand my storage on Nessy…

Un-plugging Along

Still unplugged, if you can count life with a Blackberry as unplugged.   No end in sight, and more storms later this week.  Hrmph.

borrowed from Wikipedia

I did whip out a granny square cloth from the pattern in the back of Hooked on Murder (link to previous post).  I got sunburned on Saturday morning, but otherwise had a lovely time at the farmers market.  Then, we went to the fair Saturday evening for the Knight’s much-needed funnel cake fix.   (His looked a lot like that, with cinnamon sprinkled on top of all that powdered sugar.)

Yesterday was another busy day.  Ironically, during this unplugged at home phase, I added Barnes & Noble’s Nook to my stable.  I’d really thought I wanted a Kindle, but the Knight kinda’ pressured me to buy the e-reader NOW, rather than the arm load of books I had to survive the rest of the siege   until internet is restored at home.

I think I’d like Kindle’s little keypad better than Nook’s touchpad, but for now, Nook and I are getting to know each other.  That’s my only obvious concern 12+ hours into the purchase, so it’s hardly buyer’s remorse.   There’s something to be said for being able to buy it NOW, and while Amazon and Target have partnered on the Kindle, my local Target was sold out last week, and Amazon is now saying the next generation of Kindle is sold out and won’t be available until early September.

Anyway, stay tuned for more about Nessy.  Yeah, like everything, my Nook got a name.  This one wasn’t even me being quirky…  When I was setting up my profile, “they” wanted to know what to call my Nook.  (Don’t ask.  It was late, and I was sitting in the car at the scene of an alarm activation, because that’s the kind of date night fun we have in podunk.  So, Nessy it is.)

I know a handful of you have Kindles.  Anyone else have the Nook?

Oh – and how was your weekend?