Eastern Utah
EMAIL ME AT: mgypsy97 at aol dot com

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Along the American River

I did some walking along the American River Parkway yesterday, with Jeannie, Ara, and the two little girls. We don't get very far, very fast with two little girls, but it's fun being with them. The American River comes down from the Sierra Nevada and usually flows fast and cold for most of the summer, depending on the amount of snow in the mountains during the winter.



The pictures were taken with my cell phone, which doesn't result in the greatest quality.

I made a quick trip to Costco this morning and impulsively bought a digital voice recorder. What I've always wanted was a voice activated recorder, non-digital from back in the days before everything became digital. I haven't opened up the package yet because I'm trying to figure out if I should return it, as it is way more than what I wanted. The package says "Record class lectures, then download them to your PC." I doubt that any recording I make will be downloaded to my PC - what I want is something to record notes when I'm driving.

Sometimes I want to keep track of what I see along the way, especially on a cross country trip. Usually I grope for a pen and notebook or something to write on, and try to scribble something while keeping my eyes on the road. This unit has REC, STOP and PLAY buttons, which leads me to think maybe it isn't voice activated at all, in which case I should return it and shop for what I want somewhere else. Is analog still available?


I did some tidying up of the wires from the desktop, but the laptop wires are what I usually trip on, especially the mouse. I am forever catching my foot in it when I stand up. I'll get around to fixing them when I get a decent table or desk, and I'm not sure when that will be. I've lived here for 3 months without one and have survived it fairly well. I really miss my 3rd bedroom devoted to office and computer back in North Carolina. With beautiful matching wooden desk, hutch, 2 file cabinets, bookshelf, and table, plus really comfortable adjustable office chairs, I had a place for everything. Also, I could turn my head and look out the window at the mountains, which provided inspiration. But times change and gypsies move on, and I guess I wouldn't want it any other way.

6 comments:

  1. We spent $30 & got a wireless mouse about 4 months ago & it works like a charm. No more mouse tails to trip over!! A little USB thingy fits into the bottom of the mouse which turns it off & saves batts. When you want to use mouse just take USB device out of mouse & stick it in a USB port. Ya, ya, I know.....you don't like USB stuff but sometimes we just gotta bite the bullet & make that leap from the stone age to the jet age. Even me!!

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  3. I clip my laptop's mouse's tail to something with a clothes pin to keep it out of my way.
    Be careful, Gypsy, don't fall over yours.
    Deleted other post due to a mis- spell!
    Happy Trails, Penny, TX

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  4. I'm with Al, a remote optical mouse is the way to go. That voice recorder sounds like a neat little gizmo. I'll have to have a look in Costco next time I'm there!

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  5. I agree with Al - wireless mouse is the way to go. I got mine for less than $20 - it has one of those USB dongles about 2" long and all of the new ones use the little button dongle all of about 3/8" long, not including the USB plug that fits into the computer. Works a charm.

    On another note, stop by RadioShack at a strip mall near you. They should have one each of a cassette tape and micro-cassette tape pocket recorders which are voice activated. I have used them for years in investigative work. The voice-activated feature allows the recorder to be "armed" and concealed in a pocket. Not broadcast quality, but who needs that for reminders to oneself. They'll each set you back a half a C-note.

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  6. You may not be able to use the voice activated feature while driving, because of the background noise. Maybe it will work if you have it in the dictation mode and hold it close to your mouth. The voice activation on a digital is so superior to the cassette version. There is a buffer that is constantly monitoring the sounds. When a sound is loud enough to activate (which is adjustable) it will save, starting with what is in the buffer and caused it to activate. You can drop a penny on a table, and catch it from before it hits the table. What brand and model did you get? Let me know if you need help with it. I have experience with Sony and Olympus.

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