The Peaceful Gnome

Someone (Hi Mom!) wanted to know where I've been because I have not posted since the 22nd of July. How did that happen? No excuses actually, just a bit of sloth late last week, then the normal "I'm working and don't have the energy or time to post" syndrome. Then the last three days I've been camping at Del Valle with Serenity. SO, update, last week we went to Arden Wood Historical Farm where we learned, in spite of it being "Learn Nothing Day" on Friday the 24th when we went, about wool from sheep to sweater. Also watched the blacksmith making a gate arch and Serenity talked Grandpa into buying a lucky horseshoe with her name stamped into it. Then it was work work work, three days in a row. :-) Then this week we went to Del Valle and camped with Serenity, me, Cindy & Mike, Noah, Aldo, Rena, Isabel, Apollo, Meg and a couple of other folk whose names escape me right now. We hung out at the campground, went to the lake a couple of times a...

Twitter , yeah, whatever. There are many levels of communication available to us via the internet, emails, the web and it's various interactive sites like blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook . I have my own blog and I read a bunch of blogs on Google Reader , I send emails, I have a Facebook account , though it makes no real sense to me. I refuse to even consider becoming a Twitter twit. Not too long ago I heard this on a podcast: Blog: what I’ve been thinking of this week. Facebook: what I’m thinking about today. Twitter: I just made a poopy Sounds about right :-)

Well, Serenity, Lora and me only made the very last night of the SFBUN annual campout at Caswell State Park , we had a blast for that day and night though! As usual Serenity was the last to bed and the last out of bed in the morning ;-) Temperatures have been over 100 for the last four days, that can stop any time now. Actually it's supposed to cool down to the mid 90's tomorrow. That would be nice. Here are some photos from that day at Caswell... the talent show was very cool!

It's almost... There is even an "official" text book for the day: My kind of holiday :-)

Mike and I have upgraded to the Blackberry Storm for our phones. This is a Very cool device! I can read all of my email, except stuff with really huge attachments like videos, which I still have to see on my computer but would rather link to rather than download the whole thing anyway. I can browse the web, to a certain extent, read my blog feeds with ease and all of the stuff, pretty much, that I did on the computer. As a result we no longer need, and have gotten rid of, the PC Card wireless we used to use for our computers and have gone to Comcast internet at considerable savings. But best of all it is perfect for reading e-books ! Ever since my old Palm Pilot crapped out a couple of years ago I've been missing e-books, the tablet computer was simply not suitable for sitting on the can, in the elevator or in the car. But using MobiPocket , I can read books anywhere, instantly. So much for the Kindle that I was on the verge of buying, but passed on because it was very p...

Anyone who reads my blog knows I love being outside, hiking camping swimming or whatever. Yesterday Lora, Serenity and me took off with the SFBUNies to the Antioch Water Park . We had a good time spending the hot afternoon playing in the water and hanging out in the shade . This morning in the Pleasanton Weekly I read "Three of the East Bay Regional Park District's campgrounds were named the best in the nation for park amenities, outdoor scenery and educational facilities. They include the campground at Lake Del Valle, Sunol Regional Wilderness and Anthony Chabot Regional Park. The honor was bestowed by ReserveAmerica's Camping Club, a community of active family campers, which honored a total of 100 family campgrounds." Of those, if you've been paying attention, you will recognize we have camped two of the top campgrounds in America so far this year, both without using more than a gallon of gas :-) Once again the Bay Area proves you don't need to go a...

I used to think I could ride a bike, but I just pedal, this guy really rides! Oh man, I am so jealous.