ADDRESS BOOK

I mentioned that I had a work around for the address book in Thunderbird that would make it like the one from Microsoft in Outlook Express. In the Microsoft version, you can make a small address book, like a list of names you use often. You can create names of say the people who reside in Dreamview. I have over 160 email addresses in my main address book, and sorting through all that to send something out to 10 or so people is a real pain, considering they may be all my regular email users.

So here is the deal on making a new address book. Start in Thunderbird, and click Address book. Create a "New List". Give it a name eg Dreamview. Drag all the Dreamview people into the new list. You will notice that your new list Dreamview shows up in the original Personal Address Book. At this point you cannot open it to send just to some of the Dreamview people. Clicking that name will send it to everybody! Not necessarily what you want to do.

Now comes the work around, Look on the menu bar and click "Tools", click "Export". Navigate to Documents, and give your file a name, Dreamview, Save as Type below the file name. Comma Separated or CSV. Click "Save". Now you have saved the List you created as a separate file.

Now go back to your original Personal Address book. Click Tools again and this time select "Import". When this window opens, select only the Address Books, click Next, Click "Text File", and Next. Type in the name of the file you just saved. Click Comma Separated and in this window click OK. You have now imported a new Address Book for Dreamview and it is no longer just a list.

Now finish up by deleting the old Dreamview List, leaving just the Dreamview Address Book. Check in your new book and you will see that only the people from the list you just created are all in there. You can add names to this list as many as you need as required. You can also deleted names from the list, as needed.

You can make as many of these books as you need. I have a total of 6 separate books, and it works just fine.

It sounds difficult, but it is not much different than any other cut and paste operation you would do on a routine level.

WINDOWS 7

If you are a computer user, welcome to the new way I will be handling the old "Computer Corner" that I put in the Scuttlebutt every month. Since it is only computer users who are interested, I have chosen to no longer put the information in the 'Butt. This way it will only reach those interested and those with computers. I expect to have a new item each week so it will have more information more often, I will leave a link to the blog in the paper however. I hope you like the new format, and if you have any suggestions, or questions, please let me know.

Did you recently get a new computer with the new Windows 7? If you did you will have noticed there is no longer an Outlook Express available. Windows offers up their Windows Live Mail, or Hotmail. Or you can use the ISP (Shaw or Telus) web mail. There are a couple of other alternatives for your email. One is Gmail from Google. And another is Thunderbird from Mozilla. Google the name to find it. Thunderbird seem to work OK, I have used it for a while now and I kind of like it. It is a free email program, and only takes a bit of time to get used to it.

There is a bit of a problem using the Address Book in Thunderbird, but I have discovered a work around and I will discuss it in a future Blog.

Ross

New Year's 2011

It seems appropriate at this time of year to reflect on what the old year did to us and our friends. I'm sure you will have things you love to recall and other things that are more like a bad dream.

It is time to put all the good stuff on your mental "tape" for recall, and to erase all those things that you cannot do anything about. After all we do have a brand new year to look forward to. Regardless of our age, we still have a lot of living to do, and we can decide to either enjoy our tomorrows or not. I choose to enjoy my days, activities and friends!

I read the other day that we should never worry about tomorrow, since first of all it may never come, nor will it necessarily materialize as we sometime fear. Worry will only take away the enjoyment of today as well as tomorrow! There is nothing you can do today to make tomorrow better! Also do not reflect on all the less happy things that happened in the past. It is a waste of time, there is nothing you can do to put the egg back in the shell. Look back to be sure to enjoy the memories of good times with friends and family. Forget the times that were not so good. Stay happy, smile and enjoy the moment. It will never come back. Put these good times away for later memories! Look to make today the best you can make it, enjoy it for what it is.

So as we say good bye to a year with it's ups and down, we do have a lot to be thankful for, and nothing is more important than our health. Relish it as we move forward into 2011, and resolve to enjoy every day in the New Year. It is the best resolution you can make.

My wish for all of you who read this is that you enjoy good health throughout the year. I also wish that you will be a happy person, and that you store away all those good memories. May you also have peace with your own particular place in the universe, and lastly I hope you will find the year prosperous enough that you will not have financial worries.

Happy New Year. Have a great 2011!
Ross

CHRISTMAS PAST!

I don't know about you, but this may have been one of the best Christmas Celebrations ever, at least for me.

For one thing, Joan dodged a bullet and has seemingly survived her breast cancer. One can never be certain, but all indications are excellent. God has answered our prayers, and we have a different outlook on life than we had previously. We are happy with that.

We spent a good part of Christmas Day at our daughters and her family at there home just a few blocks from Dreamview. Garrett, our grandson is developing into quite the little man, and we noted a lot of changes in just a few short months. Not only has he grown taller, he is considerably more mature.

His Mom and Dad have done well this year. We enjoyed a great turkey dinner prepared in part by Brenda who did the turkey, her mother in law who prepared a couple of great pies, apple and pumpkin. Joan did the potatoes and vegetables. I provided the wine, homemade of course. A great meal to be sure.

Pat's brother Barry was also there, and we were heartened to hear that he has pretty well recovered from his knee injury caused when he fell down some stairs on his job. The fall he took after that where he broke his wrist is coming along nicely and he expects to return to work early in the new year. Another thing he is determined to do is quit smoking! We wish him well with this.

Al and Kathy were there as well for dinner, and certainly seemed to enjoy it judging by the way they tucked in!

Presents were abundant for everyone and I was most tickled with one from our kids. It was a photo album of our grandson Garrett. Not just any ordinary album however. This one is produced on very good paper, bound with a hard cover. It is done up by an online company you may find interesting and useful. The company is http://www.mypublisher.com/products/certificates/create?gclid=CKjK3vvsiqYCFRQ8gwodogrieA
The pictures you want are uploaded and they do all the work and ship the finished product back. Excellent quality, including the colouring of the photos. I think it is so cool.

Yes it was a great Christmas for all of us, and I know we all enjoyed the day and all it means.
Happy New Year!

More on Christmas

A CHRISTMAS POEM

We have a list of folks we know;

All written in a book

And every year at Christmas time,

We go and take a look.

And that is when we realize

That these names are parts

Not of the book they're written in,

But of our very hearts.

For each name stands for someone

Whose path touched ours, and then,

Left such a print of friendship

That we want to touch again.

And while it sounds fantastic

For us to make this claim,

We really feel we are composed

Of each remembered name.

So never think our Christmas cards

Are just a mere routine

Of names upon a Christmas list,

Forgotten in between.

For when we send a Christmas card

That is addressed to you

It's because you're on that list of folks

We are indebted to!

And every year when Christmas comes

We realize anew,

The biggest gift life can give

Is meeting folks like you!

And may the Spirit of Christmas

That forever and ever endures

Leave its richest blessings

In the hearts of you and yours!

"Anonymous"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!



January  2010 in Oahu Hawaii!



It's finally here! The weather has been giving us the big snow "hint" for days now. Snow has also fallen for a lot of days in the past few weeks.The party season has also hit with a ton of affairs that we have thoroughly enjoyed with friends and acquaintances.



The homes in our condo are looking very festive helping to clear up the dreary look of all that dirty snow we have around. At least at night it looks very pretty. Our residents have outdone themselves this year.

We are having our dinner on Christmas with our daughter, Joan is doing some of the vegetables, and we will be taking h wine, Brenda will be doing he turkey. Al and Kathy will be joining us, at the feast so we can expect a good old family Christmas dinner.

I hope you enjoy your Christmas festivities in good health. Don't forget to put out the cookies and milk for Santa!

Merry Christmas to all!

KITCHEN RENOVATION

Well, the kitchen is finally finished and we just love it. There were a few items that took a while to get corrected, but none of these projects just simply glide through. Ours was no exception, but I have to say it was well worth the bit of aggravation. We changed the counter top going with a laminate again as we couldn't see spending a lot more for something that looks a lot like granite and will likely last as long as we do!
We also updated and installed a Blanco granite sink that Joan thinks is the best part of the redo! It is "anthracite" which is another name for charcoal colour. It has yet to show any marks at all of any kind! Super! As part of the sink counter top replacement we changed up the back splash and installed a new tap and garburetor.
To get this done by looking for a contractor for each job, is a tiring proposition, so we hired a guy who had all the contacts and contractors who are good. Then when something went wrong we needed to contact just one person, and he got it all done properly. We hired Dave Cramer of Euro Windows since he also does renovations. His counter top people were terrific, as was his tile guy. Meticulous to say the least.
So if you are thinking of doing any renovation work in your place and would like to see the kind of work they do,give us a call and we would be happy to show you. Or you could go to Dave's web site http://www.eurowindows.ca/. and see what he has to offer. I don't think it cost any more to get Dave involved since we didn't have to do all the homework it takes to find a good sub-contractor.