Adventuring made easy

You don't even have to leave home.
All you have to do is spill a glass of water onto your laptop.
ADVENTURE!!!!
If you are lucky, you have another computer nearby so you can google "What do I do when I spill water on my laptop?"
Step three is wait 24-48 hours for it to dry out before turning it back on. Are you kidding? This is the digital age. There is no waiting. Isn't there a shortcut? (If you want to know the other steps so you can be proactive, google it yourself.)
Well, sort of. If you have a son in the business you can ask him. He will say "It was time to get a new one, anyway." Actually, he had several good suggestions, which still lead to "You will have to get a new one."
But, while you explore all the good suggestions, the 24-48 hours pass...... and you weren't waiting!
Boy, isn't the digital age GREAT!?
A piece of advice: Back up everything somewhere else. I hear there is a cloud, but I don't know where it is. You can look it up.
Second piece of advice: Spill water anywhere else, but not on your computer. Or on your sleeping spouse. If you spill water on your sleeping spouse, there is no back up, and you will be on a cloud with wings and a halo.

Next-to-the-last minute

We are leaving in three weeks.
So there is a lot to do.
Peggie still has the show to hang downtown. And she is submitting work to two other exhibits that will take place while we are gone.
We are trying out a new landscaper to maintain our yard while we are gone. We are having the bedroom floor and stairs redone. Laminate in the bedroom and carpet on the stairs. The new bed we bought in Connecticut is great. Now we need to get rid of the old bed. We need to replace the tires on the trailer. The truck has to go in for service, plus we are finally getting running boards so getting in and out will be easier.
It is springtime in Tucson, so of course the drip irrigation system is acting up and needs attention. Every time I cross off something on the to-do list, I add two more things.
Also, it is March Madness time, and we are hoping the Wildcats will play a few more games before somebody beats them. Or not. Championship?
Ariana is on spring break, so we are skyping more just to hang out together. (I purposely did not capitalize skyping 'cause in my mind it is as generic as aspirin or kleenix.)
There is a lot of sorting to do. Last time we took the trailer to Skagway, we took way too much stuff. Proof came when we discovered we had sprung the axles. Now we know we can get along with what fits in a Jeep. If the Jeep is overloaded. But we know what clothes to take, what food to take, what tools. Well, tools are silly. Don won't be there with all the right ones and the know-how to use them, so the most important tools will be a phone and the AAA number.

Back from NY

We spent the last two weeks with GajT. Ariana got bunk beds so we shared her room with her. Julian is soooo cute. By the time we left he was smiling more. He is good all the time except for Papa's bedtime, which he thinks is his crying time. Taking Ariana to her school and other activities is fun. She recognizes the routes and lets you know if you make a wrong turn. She is an avid game player, and enjoys creating "shows." When she wears her robe, she makes a "show" of tying the bow in front. She taught herself by watching Papa tie it. The family went to a circus recently so each show begins with "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, are you ready for...."
One of our pleasures was minding the kids (we like that plural form) while Tomoko gave piano lessons upstairs. She also teaches Ariana on a voluntary basis. That is, Ariana goes to the piano and starts to practice, and Tomoko provides feedback and direction.
Greg and Tomoko are house shopping so it was fun to ride along and see some of the homes for sale in the area. It is a real decision between open rural properties and convenient, but crowded, urban sites.
We did get a day alone in the city. We took the train from Tarrytown, then rode subways between city locations. The Brooklyn Museum of Art had a show by El Anatsui (you can look him up) that was amazing.
The City Quilter, a shop midtown, has added a gallery next door whose current show was quite good.
Then we went looking for a place to eat. We found an Indian restaurant kind of out of the way. It was so good we were recommending it to Greg and discovered they have eaten there before. There are thousands of restaurants in NYC, what are the odds?
Our flights both ways went through Atlanta. Crowded, but nothing terrible. Some delays, but not outrageous.
One thing we did that we did not expect. We bought a bed. Peggie needed to get a good pillow. She wanted one anyway for the trailer. We found a Relax the Back store in Greenwich, CT. that carried the right kind. While lying on one of their TemperaPedic mattresses to try it out, we mentioned that we also were in the market for one of those. The salesmen pointed out that he could sell us one, have it delivered in Tucson (they are nationwide) and we would save the sales tax. No delivery fee. And he would throw in the pillow for free. Eventhough it wasn't a throw pillow. Haha. So we bought it. Again, we were going to get one anyway, for the trailer, and we saved significant money. Now we are waiting for it to be delivered (maybe today) so we can try it out before we head to Alaska.