Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Miracles, the B-side...


This is a follow up to a few things. The photo is of the same fountain as the last Miracles post, but it was taken this morning, with the b-side. Get it?

Here we go:

Miracle 1: I love lynda.com. They picked up on the problem I had with Adobe and made an offer I couldn't refuse. I'll be happily watching training tutorials on a VAST number of subjects. If you thought Lynda.com was just for Adobe products, think again. Amorphium Pro?? Never heard of it myself, but I can learn all about if I wanted to! I think I'll be spending my time with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. Gotta hone those skills, baby! While I'm at it, hey Lynda, how about 'mashup for morons'?? :-)

My thanks and gratitude to Steve at lynda.com. There are still some good people in this world.

Miracle 2: Right after I emailed with Steve this morning, I got an automated reminder from Adobe.com...

Dear Dianne,
We want to remind you that you have not yet selected your complimentary registration benefit. Please take this opportunity to select now...

...so I did. Another month with lynda.com! Amorphium, here I come! Mind you, my Adobe support ticket is still "Open - pending Adobe response". At this point a response would be a courtesy. May I point out that this was an automated reminder?

Miracle 3: Do you remember the blind man who makes his daily treks around the block? My neighbor invited me over for an impromptu happy hour yesterday. I asked her about him (she KNOWS everybody/everything!). Turns out he's the organist at the local church! Well, smite me down! She said he's very good, has been playing there for years and that I should go give him a listen. I think I will. The hardest part of living in France is integrating into society. I've lived in this apartment since 1999. I know 2 of my neighbors on a less formal basis. One is British and the other is Moroccan. Go figure.

Miracle 4: Duly inspired by a friend in the UK and my blind man (I will learn his name!), who both make AND take the time for a daily run/walk, I walked to the sport store yesterday and bought some comfy sneakers. Mind you, I have huge feet and it's just my luck to live in a country where women's sizes in normal shoe stores only go to a 40. I'm a 42. Tant pis. I stock up on regular shoes when I am in the US, but, for sneakers, I go directly to the men's department at GoSport. (Why waste time having the assistant running back and forth saying, "Je suis désolé madame, nous n'avons pas ce modèle dans votre taille." It ain't easy.) Anyway, I found a pair and tried them on. It was like Heaven on my soles. I said, I'll take them.... and off we went to the cash register. Cha-ching. Little did I know I bought a pair of Nike Zoom Vomero 3's... but I am one happy camper with those babies on my feet!

Miracle 5: With those new babies on my feet and camera in hand, this morning I did the tour around the lake. Might as well combine work with pleasure! What I wanted to do was take photos to map my position on Google Earth. I'm learning a lot! One day I'll post a link so you can see what it all does. The walk felt good and I am now more motivated to carry on with it.

Miracle 6: Well, maybe not a miracle, but a follow-up nonetheless. Remember Hobbes, recently risen from the dead?? Well, dem bones ain't gonna rise again... I had news from UB that Hobbes is really up in kitty heaven. He was 19 and truly made the most of his nine lives. RIP, Hobbes.

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
~Buddhist saying

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