Alphasmart in the car

My friend Carl celebrated his 30th anniversary in ministry Sunday. Carl’s been at St. Luke’s Lutheran (ELCA) for about 15 years; he’s one of the most grounded and compassionate people I know. I met Carl, wife Triss, and daughter Holly when Carl answered the call for pastoring at Trinity Lutheran in Porterville, CA where I lived back in the 1980’s.

As Mary and I drove down to south Sacramento on Sunday we read aloud an excerpt of Lexi Revellian’s Trav Zander on the way. Trav Zander has one of the best opening lines I’ve read on YouWriteOn.com: “I wish to acquire a dragon.” Lexi admits that line wasn’t her first choice. Writers work alone, in a non-collaborative, non-committeefied way. Yet we get feedback and consider the worth of the advice. Alan (aka Plumboz) had recommended taking that line from further in the story and making it the starting point. I like it. Trav, the protagonist, is a doer of deeds and a seeker of fortune. He has a good heart, an honest streak, and no ability to price out jobs. Pretty much anything for a buck, an entrepreneur. Let’s face it, he’s a whore.

What do these two disparate themes (Carl’s fete and a YWO review) have in common? I drafted my review of Trav Zander on the way to Sacramento using the AlphaSmart. It’s an amazing little device. The LCD screen is plainly visible in bright sunlight; try using a laptop outdoors or in a car. And it doesn’t get hot even if it stays on for awhile. And it is lighter weight than a laptop. And it automatically saves everything I type. Shall I continue?

I like the longevity of the batteries. I’m already thinking of upgrading to an AlphaSmart 3000 or Neo. I looked at the AlphaSmart Dana which uses Palm OS 4.1 software but it has a rechargeable battery and it lasts ‘only’ 25. The Neo lasts 700 on three AA batteries. Neo only does the one thing—wordprocessing—but that’s 80% of what I’d use it for anyway.

After we attended Carl’s Lutheran service at St. Lukes’s, we had an outstanding lunch at BJ’s brewery in Elk Grove, and stopped by Carl’s house to say hello, then we hopped and stopped our way to the SF Bay Area to see Lee and show Mary’s Haluzak recumbent bike to a potential buyer. SOLD! We hope the new owner enjoys it even more than Mary did.

The visit with Lee was fun and included the bonus of meeting his new hamster.

And the reason for the upgrade from the AlphaSmart to a Neo or Dana? Only the one computer of the five that we own will accept the text that is written on the AlphaSmart 2000. It seems that the 2000 must be too old of technology for the newer PCs. Who knew?

Oh, the name of the antagonist in Trav Zander is also named Carl. I’m sure there’s no connection…

A Tale of Two Carls

My friend Carl celebrated his 30th anniversary in ministry Sunday. Carl’s been at St. Luke’s Lutheran (ELCA) for about 15 years; he’s one of the most grounded and compassionate people I know. I met Carl, wife Triss, and daughter Holly when Carl answered the call for pastoring at Trinity Lutheran in Porterville, CA where I lived back in the 1980’s.

As Mary and I drove down to south Sacramento on Sunday we read aloud an excerpt of Lexi Revellian’s Trav Zander on the way. Trav Zander has one of the best opening lines I’ve read on YouWriteOn.com: “I wish to acquire a dragon.” Lexi admits that line wasn’t her first choice. Writers work alone, in a non-collaborative, non-committeefied way. Yet we get feedback and consider the worth of the advice. Alan (aka Plumboz) had recommended taking that line from further in the story and making it the starting point. I like it. Trav, the protagonist, is a doer of deeds and a seeker of fortune. He has a good heart, an honest streak, and no ability to price out jobs. Pretty much anything for a buck, an entrepreneur. Let’s face it, he’s a whore.

What do these two disparate themes (Carl’s fete and a YWO review) have in common? I drafted my review of Trav Zander on the way to Sacramento using the AlphaSmart. It’s an amazing little device. The LCD screen is plainly visible in bright sunlight; try using a laptop outdoors or in a car. And it doesn’t get hot even if it stays on for awhile. And it is lighter weight than a laptop. And it automatically saves everything I type. Shall I continue?

I like the longevity of the batteries. I’m already thinking of upgrading to an AlphaSmart 3000 or Neo. I looked at the AlphaSmart Dana which uses Palm OS 4.1 software but it has a rechargeable battery and it lasts ‘only’ 25. The Neo lasts 700 on three AA batteries. Neo only does the one thing—wordprocessing—but that’s 80% of what I’d use it for anyway.

After we attended Carl’s Lutheran service at St. Lukes’s, we had an outstanding lunch at BJ’s brewery in Elk Grove, and stopped by Carl’s house to say hello, then we hopped and stopped our way to the SF Bay Area to see Lee and show Mary’s Haluzak recumbent bike to a potential buyer. SOLD! We hope the new owner enjoys it even more than Mary did.

The visit with Lee was fun and included the bonus of meeting his new hamster.

And the reason for the upgrade from the AlphaSmart to a Neo or Dana? Only the one computer of the five that we own will accept the text that is written on the AlphaSmart 2000. It seems that the 2000 must be too old of technology for the newer PCs. Who knew?

Oh, the name of the antagonist in Trav Zander is also named Carl. I’m sure there’s no connection…

AlphaSmartie Pants


I love gadgets. My latest bit of technology is a tad dated—a nifty AlphaSmart 2000. It weighs under three pounds, is pretty darn near indestructible, and goes 120-300 hours on three AA batteries.

I bought it used on eBay for around $40US.The power adapter is missing (I knew that when I bought it) but, like I said, it can go nearly forever on three (count ‘em 1, 2, 3) AA batteries.

I also purchased an AlphaSmart “USB to ADB cable” (CBL-UT20) to transfer stuff I’d typed from the 2000 to my Powerbook G4. When I plugged one to the other, my Apple G4 recognized an external keyboard had been connected but that’s as far as it went. I can’t get it to connect fully.

Our friend Alethea also bought an Alphasmart 2000 for her trip to Chile. She bought a totally different cable. Ancient. The fine folks who support the Dana and Neo (formerly called the 2000 the later the 3000) had never heard of the cable she had. But, wonder of wonders, it connects to a PC laptop. So I typed this note on the 2000, transferred it to the HP laptop, put the document on a flash drive memory stick, and moved that to my Powerbook G4 to upload to this here blog.

It may have been faster to simply type directly into the blog, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.

Coffee, East of Java, Part Deux

Well, we have another contestant in the java look-alike contest. Teeccino Caffeine-Free Herbal Coffee (I know how oxymoronic “herbal coffee” sounds) seems to taste okay. I say ‘seems to’ because I bought the Vanilla Nut Herbal Coffee, which claims to have “… Teeccino’s dark, robust body…accented with golden roasted almonds and tropical nuts including coconut” and creamy “organic Mexican vanilla highlights.” Now, it does taste like vanilla flavored coffee with a pleasant hint of coconut. I simply prefer my coffee with nothing but coffee taste and creamy half & half.

Mary and I head for the metropolis of Santa Rosa mañana. I’m on a quest for the perfect coffee substitute.

I haven’t found anything to replace India Pale Ale yet.

Don’t plan to try.

Bragging About My Kid's Blogging

My kids are talented writers.

Jeff’s Continuous Wave: The West? is one of the funniest riffs on landmarks that I’ve read.

Lee’s 2006 Movie Roundup is pretty hilarious.

PS, These off-the-wall videos are all produced by The Last Transformers team (of which Lee is a part) in Cinemasports’ competitions lasting ten hours with three ingredients:

  • The Executive ( The Executive travels the space time continuum to take on Ninjataur in a battle).

  • The Whiffler (A professional whiffle ball player must make a comeback to save her father’s restaurant.)

Bragging About My Kid’s Blogging

My kids are talented writers.

Jeff’s Continuous Wave: The West? is one of the funniest riffs on landmarks that I’ve read.

Lee’s 2006 Movie Roundup is pretty hilarious.

PS, These off-the-wall videos are all produced by The Last Transformers team (of which Lee is a part) in Cinemasports’ competitions lasting ten hours with three ingredients:

  • The Executive ( The Executive travels the space time continuum to take on Ninjataur in a battle).

  • The Whiffler (A professional whiffle ball player must make a comeback to save her father’s restaurant.)

Can You Hear Me Now?

I read Alan Hutcheson’s online journal (please, do not call it a blog) today and he comments on a certain American Express commercial. He says that besides the humor ablating away with numerous viewings, that he doesn’t know any of the other celebs in the spot other than Scorcese and Ellen DeGeneres. I have zero idea as to who these people are. I’m a boomer. I don’t think it’s aimed at moi. I don’t read People, US, or watch Entertainment Tonight.

But, I love technology. I have a DVD-R machine that records my shows to a spiffy and shiny disk. The shows I copy to disk are The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, CBS News’ Sunday Morning, and assorted talks on C-SPAN 2’s BookTV. I read that about 80% of people who watch programs that they’ve recorded watch the commercials. Me? I pass through commercials like congress through money.

There is one ad for a cell phone that I noticed as the commercials did the 100 yard dash. The Jitterbug ads, now, there’s something aimed at me: a guy who needs glasses and a magnifying glass to read the text of a cell phone. They have large buttons and a display that can be seen from outer space.

Coffee East of Java


As I sit at my kitchen table with my steaming cup of substitute, let me say that I have had only one cup of coffee in fourteen days. No caffeine in thirteen of fourteen days. I miss it. I love coffee (not enough to marry it, mind you, our relationship knew no bounds). I had a map in my head of where every Starbucks was between Sacramento and Portland.

Pero, Roma, Rooibos, Postum (screw you Mr. Coffee Nerves), none of them are substitutes for coffee: Joe, Java, Arabica, French Roasted nirvana. I’m jonesing for Coffee; you know what I’m saying?

Also on the dietary no-no list are fatty foods like potato chips and French fries. In fact, to know what I can and can’t have, make a list of all the foods you love—chocolate, coffee, rich desserts—and cross all of them off your list.

Oh, and one more, to make matters even more dismal, I’m not allowed beer (no alcohol) either.

I hope my stomach appreciates the sacrifice that I’m making for it.

Skål.

Slang This

Last month, Mary and I were in Tucson, Arizona for her nephew’s PhD ceremony in Physics. I believe his dissertation is in String Theory that I think may be about orchestras or how to make Cat’s Cradles, one or the other. You might try looking up String Theory in Wikipedia: the online font of knowledge.

The day we arrived in Tucson, I had arranged with Stefanie Levine, producer of A Way With Words (not ‘Away With Words’), to talk with Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett for AWWW’s Slang This segment. How it works: Grant has three slang terms. For each one he gives the phrase and three possible meanings for the word.

They would call the motel, route it to the room, and I’d be there. What could go wrong? It did route to the room, as planned, only I hadn’t activated the phone so I got nothing.

Stefanie went to Plan B (this is radio after all and not brain surgery) and I talked to Martha and Grant on my cell phone while sitting on stairs in the shade of a palm tree. The terms were Hockey Hair, Half-Shaved, and Woodsheddin.’ Due to time constraints, they cut ‘half-shaved.’ I didn’t guess the correct answer but I remember the correct answer had to do with drinking.

For ‘hockey-hair’ and ‘woodsheddin’ you’re going to have to find out by listening. I appear about 35 minutes into the June 9, 2007 broadcast titled Blog This!