Wednesday, November 12, 2008

November, the month of change.

It's time for change and it's all around me. The presidential election was the finest example of a sophisticated democracy
and hope fills the air and airwaves as Obama's election is discussed endlessly. I keep wincing at the volatile stock market, the dismal decline of the newspaper industry, layoffs, corporate closings and pleas for the government to bail out the automakers.

It's all about the same thing, change, as in nothing will ever be quite the same again. It's now five weeks since my second knee replacement surgery and I could not be more satisfied with the progress and relative ease of the recovery. Visits to the physical therapist are over and progress from here on will be self-inflicted. Another change I'm ready to roll with.

Sisters, itself, is changing. For what passes as news here is the reconfiguration of an intersection in town and the opening of a new grocery store. The grand opening was today with a ribbon cutting, music and free French bread to customers. I stopped in to have a tour and overheard one man speaking to another, "I've seen more people I know in the last half hour than I've seen in the last month." You might think we're hard up for entertainment. Possibly true. There isn't any snow for skiing or other winter activities, cycling is essentially done and hiking, for those who can, is limited to the lower elevations.

The snowbirds are leaving in their fifth-wheels, motorhomes and trailers. The rest of us are figuring out what to do with the shortened days and longer nights. I took advantage today of semi-decent weather to get out of the house and explore. Twenty minutes east of town the desert sky brings a totally different perspective. On a warm and windy morning change is in the air.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Jay's website.

O.K. So what have I been up to since the last post? I've ventured into the rather mysterious world of website creation. Seeing an ad on some page somewhere for a DIY website application that didn't cost an arm and a leg ($30) I bit. In the process I learned about domain name registration, hosting, FTP uploads, some html, root folders, resizing QuickTime files and importing my PhotoShelter galleries. A couple of "help me!" calls to godaddy.com the site finally appeared. I know it's not the slickest, seamless and elegant site on the web, and there are some amazing sites. It's enough bang for the buck for now or until I acquire a ton more knowledge. Please have a look and thanks! jaymather.org