Saturday, August 3, 2013

A free-floating kind of day

Diamond-studded lupine plants
Well, I thought I'd probably be skydiving today, with my friends all planning on being available this weekend. But it's going to happen tomorrow, if at all. We got some rain here in Bellingham yesterday, the first in a month, and now the skies are filled with low clouds, making it less than optimal for jumping. Tomorrow might be different. So I went on my usual Saturday morning walk with the Fairhaven walking group, and then headed to the Farmers' Market.
Lovely idea for walking around with a nutritious snack
I bought an heirloom tomato and one of these cones filled with blueberries. I managed to forgive myself for eating them without washing them first and will hope for the best. It was a real treat as I strolled around looking at the smiling faces. In the gym yesterday I heard people exclaiming about how nice it was to have some rain for a change. We're a different breed in the Pacific Northwest.
Crowded market
As you can see by the skies in Bellingham, it got pretty nice for awhile, but then the clouds moved back in. That's fine with me, since my sister raved about a series that I have been stuck watching, Orange Is the New Black. It's a hit series available only on Netflix, so I signed up for the streaming video option, after having given up on the DVD option a while back. There's a free month, so I can stop after I've finished the 13-episode series, but I can see why they offer it: it's not likely I will stop using this with so many totally cool shows and movies available for $8/mo.

I am halfway through, and I do have to fight with myself to get out of the chair and get moving rather than vegetate as I watch one episode after another. I'm enjoying it very much, but darn, I HATE to get sucked into yet another show I can't bear to miss. It's all Norma Jean's fault.

I was sending Norma Jean a message and got to wondering if Siri (the voice personal assistant on the iPhone) made it easy to use ellipses and quotes, and whether it could capitalize certain words. I found this page that made it all clear to me. The short answer is yes, it does all those things and more. While I was at it, I watched the video link that goes to the best funny responses from Siri and had quite a few laughs. When I think about how much the world has changed in the past few decades, I am so glad I've gotten to experience all this. Not to mention that I am writing this to the entire world (potentially) with Blogger. What a world!
:-)

27 comments:

  1. i have never tried voice commands on my smart phone. still typing it all in myself. :)

    good luck fly-falling tomorrow!

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  2. No Siri on my Samsung Galaxy S-II. It must be fun to get that kind of feedback on one's phone. Hope you get your wish and skydive tomorrow, DJan.

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  3. I love the blueberry cones. What a perfect treat to walk around with hole you shop the farmer's market!

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  4. Those do look like carat after carat of diamonds in the photo....
    Lovely, Jan.
    I don't use Siri like I could; my daughter uses her a lot. Very helpful, I'm sure. I just need to get with the program.
    Glad that the rain is pleasing to you. You do live in a lovely area of our country.
    Have a beautiful Sunday, Jan.
    Love,
    Jackie

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  5. Love the lupines and the markets. Fingers and toes crossed you get to float through the skies tomorrow.

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  6. I use Net Flix too. My favorite is the series House of Cards. It is addicting.
    Siri is great. Some of "her" answers are pretty funny when you ask personal questions.

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  7. I used siri shortly after I'd gotten my iphone, but she uses up so much power I turned her off unless i need the gps. The technology we have is astounding.

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  8. $8.00 for Netflix? I stopped our Netflix when I got mad at them, but now I'm rethinking this. You're saying they have a lot of shows worthy of watching? OK, I'll give it a shot once our life slows down a bit. Thank you for the heads up.

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  9. I got so caught up about Netflix that I forgot to mention that I LOVE blueberries too. I'd also have a hard time waiting to eat it until it was washed. Lupines always make me smile. Gorgeous photo!

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  10. OK DJan, I gave up cable n Satellite services over 2 years ago, however, I did sign up for Netflix. I have never had a problem with Netflix. Now and then there is glitch because afterall, we are dealing with machines and technology. I do not miss TV - I have more time to run and play, n read , listen to music and CONVERSE. I can watch news on Internet or anything else for that matter but lets get back to Netflix. It does have some really great series and I have just finished "Orange is the New Black" - luved it - there are many series and movies etc etc etc one can watch. Just remember to explore the genres and also sub-genres - explore the movies available from other countries. Remember it is a low price to watch as much as you want, when you want and if you do not enjoy it after a while, just leave. In this new technological world we live in, we have all kinds of options - sometimes we just have to give them a try and hugs to Norma Jean for getting you onboard. I also read one of comments that Rae said she found House of Cards real good. I hoped she watched both the American and English versions. I also watched the total series of "Lost" and many others. Enjoy and drop me a note to let me know how you are enjoying it. PS - I love blueberries :)

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  11. we def live in a different age..one of connection and opportunity...i am glad you have the best of both worlds though and still get to eat blue berry cones at the market...ate a mess of blueberries yesterday that a friend brought...mmm....

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  12. I'm not much of a "shopper." But there is something about farmers markets I really like....:)

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  13. I would have assumed the blueberries were all ready washed and were pure. What a neat idea.
    I wish we had a good farmer's market here.

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  14. Free floating was the perfect title. I know that people love movies and TV shows. I can't sit that long and this drives me crazy so I can't enjoy the show. So I don't watch any TV. However, great movies are well worth it.

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  15. No I'm not going to look for that link! ha ha. I really don't need another series to get hooked on either. Over here I've been watching The White Queen, all about Edward Iv's wife, Elizabeth Woodville. It's based on Phillipa Gregory's excellent historical novel.
    I must say the title 'Orange is the new black' sounds intriguing, but no thank you - not just now. I need to get outside and do some gardening...

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  16. We eat a lot of unwashed blueberries around here. When I do, it's because I think that if they were really contaminated I'd have to scrub them. And I don't know why, but I have yet to use Siri. Some day I'm sure I will, and then wonder how I got along without "her."

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  17. Thumbs up for blueberries. Thumbs down for rainy weather. Thumbs sideways for Netflix. (They don't have a lot of the movies we want to watch; we haven't tried Orange Is the New Black).

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  18. Like the idea of munching those blueberries. I never wash fruit before I eat it but now you've got me thinking.

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  19. Look at that bucket of sunflowers! Perhaps they washed the berries first before they made the cones..I would have:)

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  20. I tried the new dictation commands for Siri. I have used Siri for notes before, but I know there is so much more to learn. "She" drives me crazy sometimes though. Especially, when she says, "Sally, I don't understand what you mean." LOL I get so frustrated with her and she is not even a person.

    I went to the farmer's market yesterday and thought of you. I love this time of year.

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  21. Yes, y'all must be a crazy bunch to be wanting rain! ;-)

    We just got NetFlix ourselves - although I haven't bothered to even look at it yet Hubby is fascinated. One of these days I'll have to sit down and see what there is to see.

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  22. I would like to think that blueberries in cones would be as clean as ice cream to begin with. I had chocolate mini doughnuts over the weekend. And they were so good I didn't even feel guilty.

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  23. Siri and I just don't get along. She is not my friend but rather a snobby voice that comes out every so often from my phone. She seems to disapprove of almost all that I say.

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  24. I'm about halfway through Orange Is The New Black. You'll have to peek at House of Cards if you enjoy Kevin Spacey...and you can blame it on me. ;)

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  25. What a world indeed!!! Sometimes the internet is a hindrance because of all the vegetative life styles, yet a joy to get to know so many people and cultures from around the world 'first hand' by blogging.

    A video marathon...nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, you just need to sit and relax and enjoy.

    That blueberry cone would be ideal 'bout now.

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  26. If I ever get the chance, because I'm not doing something else, I need to get to a farmer's market. I've only been to one small one so far this summer!
    I'm afraid I have not kept up with the latest technology. We don't have smart phones, but Tom does have a touch Samsung tablet, which I find hard to use.
    I do love my windows desk top and lap top computers. I was able to download photos every night on my lap top while traveling, edit them, and post them on my blog.
    Net Flix does sound like a good deal. Most movies on comcast On demand cost 4.95 now, and I pay for amazon Prime yearly and still have to pay for most movies. I do have a smart TV, so I could stream them on my 55 inch, which is what I do with amazon. Hmmm. It has been good not being hooked into watching TV series shows during the summer though, since we do that fall, winter, spring.

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