Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Technology

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida (high 77, low 51)

When we were in the beginning stages of thinking about a fulltime Rv life, I remember being told about this new fangled gadget that hooked to your computer and gave you internet. An air card.  What?   How could that be?    It sounded amazing, I was intrigued, and went right out and got one!  How great it felt to be able to have internet wherever I went.

Of course things have changed and improved over the years.  We can now live in our Rv’s and have all the comforts we used to  have in our sticks and bricks homes.  Well, I don’t have a garbage disposal or dishwasher, but I’m sure they’re available.  I don’t miss either of them.

With the power of the internet, we connect with each other and are able to learn and share with each other.  How different would our Rv’ing  lives be without internet?

I remember sometime back in the early 1970’s, someone told me about a “word processor”.  Boy, that concept was hard to comprehend.  How could you process words without a typewriter?  

I love being connected to the world through my laptop and Smart phone. 

The GPS system was made for people like me who  are “directionally challenged.” 

We love our Directv and Tivo.  No commercials are watched in this house….well maybe during Super bowl!

What made got me thinking about technology is something I just tried that’s available from our bank.  It’s not exactly new, but it’s the first time I’ve used it.  USAA bank has offered this service for years, but I never tried it.  I thought you had to use a scanner.  

You can take a photo of a check you want to deposit, and send the image to your bank via your Smart phone!   It’s quite amazing.  I tried it today for the first time.

I simply had to open up my bank account app and log on. I then selected “deposits” and it guided me the rest of the way.  I had to take a picture of the front and back of the check, select which account I wanted it deposited to, and then key in the amount.   It never told me what to do with the checks afterwards though.  You can be sure I’ll hang on to them for a while!  Amazing!

So what kind of new technology do you think we’ll have in the next 5 years?  10 years?   I’m finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the latest technology.  I don’t seem to have the patience to learn something new like I used to.  Thanks to Rick for all of his tutorials and for keeping us informed of all the latest things.  For instance, did you know Outlook was back?  Rick did!  I”m sure Sherry will be glad to hear about that!

Speaking about technology.  Do  you remember me telling me about the gadgets we picked up at the Rv show?  The Grip stic?

They certainly aren’t high tech, but boy do I wish I had invented them!

Well, the longer we have them, the more we use them and I just wanted to share.   I’ve never seen them for sale anywhere other than the Rv show, but I imagine they’ll be on one of those “As seen on Tv” shows before too long.

They are GREAT for closing bags.  I think we got about 20 in the package we bought and they are currently all in use except for about 3 or 4 of them.

This is what they look like.

grip sticks

You fold the bag over and insert them into the fold.

IMG_8501

Once they’re sealed, they won’t come open.  You can easily seal the air out.

IMG_8498

This particular bag of blueberries has it’s own zip lock closing, but you know how those are.  They don’t stay closed and you have blueberries all over the freezer.  With the Grip Sticks, they cannot come undone until you slide it off.

We use them for chips, frozen goods, cheese, and just about everything else.

 

We still haven’t installed our Sewer Solution hose that we bought from the Rv show.  I’ll review it once we try it. 

17 comments:

  1. I got the DVD set of Miami Vice televison show for Christmas. It was so funny to see corded, dial telephones and desks in the police station with narry a computer on any of them. And that was just 1984. How far technology has come.

    My daughter bought an old fashioned rotary telephone as a working drcoration. My grandsons were scared of it because they thought the cord on it was a snake! :cO

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  2. Believe it or not, when I first started my teaching career I taught on manual typewriters. My first computer assignment was teaching on a main frame. It has been a great adventure to see how technology has changed.

    My last position was Technology Integrator for our school district. I had a distance-learning lab that seated 90. We made connections with Spain, Mexico, watched total knee surgeries, connected with Holocaust survivors, etc. It was magnificent!

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  3. Gotta love this new technology and more coming everyday!
    Sure makes life on the road pretty comfortable.

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  4. I remember how fascinated I was with a fax machine! Now they're all but obsolete. I welcome any new technology in the upcoming years, whether I understand it or not :)
    BTW, you can buy gripstics on Amazon but only in the 3 pack :( They do look pretty nifty.

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  5. I've reached the point where I really have trouble keeping up with all the new technology. I've always been challenged in that area and it just gets worse. Thank goodness for Rick.

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  6. Thank goodness for Best Buy and the Geek Squad!

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  7. I have been using my iPHone for depositing for about six months. After I'm given the reference number I put a line clear across the front of the check, write the reference number on it and staple the check and the "stub" and file it away. Easy Peasy. :) Those plastic sticks you use for your storage bags look like something I'll have to keep my eyes open for...

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  8. was outlook ever gone?? duhhh I'm behind...I love the grip sticks I also bought them at the RV show...they are fantastic

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  9. I'm not sure full outlook was ever gone if you have the entire microsoft office suite. What I love is outlook express which came with windows XP and was replaced by Windows Live Mail which IMO isn't anywhere near as good. Looks like I got behind in Rick's technology posts while I was away for 2 weeks in the Everglades. I'll have to go back and catch up. :-)

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  10. The tech changes have sure made it easier. Talking to some folks that full times in the 80's. it really was a whole different experience than now.

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  11. Now if I could just get my mind wrapped around the whole "cloud" concept, and stop worrying about being hacked (it's happened twice in two years) I could really enjoy technology even more! They say computers are coming to your glasses and watches soon!

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  12. Great post, Karen. The changes in technology have been happening at break neck speed and I don't believe we've seen anything yet - we're still in 'Model T' territory.

    Now, if only someone could invent a black tank sensor that actually worked!!

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  13. Hi, Karen, just saw your comment on our blog and thought I would check out your blog. Good to be reading about someone in Florida. We spent our first two years fulltiming in FL for the winter. We have now been out west since last June and will probably head east again around the beginning of July. Being from the east coast we know how summers are so we don't want to get there too soon. We will be returning to FL next winter. We already have our Feb/Mar reservation set!

    It is much cooler than we thought it would be in AZ for the winter. But, since we love hiking, the weather really has been perfect. The mornings are way too cold most of the time.

    I am anxious to see what we think after returning to the east coast for a winter again. Will we miss the cooler, dryer air? Or be glad to feel the heat and humidity?

    We will return west in April through the summer.

    Oh, the joys of this life style...change your mind at the drop of a hat!

    Enough about us.

    It is technology that has made this life style so wonderful and comfortable. I can't imagine living in an RV before technology. No GPS could be dangerous.

    Love those clips. I'll have to keep a watch for them.

    Enjoy your heat!
    I'll be following along with you!

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  15. Never heard about taking a photo of a check for depositing it. This would be so handy if our credit union offered this option. My parents traveled in a motor home all around the country in the 70s and 80s with no technology. One thing that was better about this is the state parks were hardly ever full before Reserve America.

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  16. Noticed your comment about the Sewer Solution. We used ours for years until we had a cracked black tank that when pulled proved to be full of crap--literally. We were later told by the man who next cleaned our black tank 18 months later that the small opening of the Sewer Solution restricted the water flow. Envision a bathtub full of bubble bath; when you drain the tub the water drains out leaving a mat of bubbles behind on the surface. Your black tank drains similarly when using the Sewer Solution; the liquids drain out quickly leaving the black sludge behind. The black tanks are designed for the larger three (four?) inch hose; when you pull the drain handle it creates a bit of a suction which then draws the liquids out and the solids come out together with the liquids. Info only.

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  17. Here's what I think is coming next in terms of new technology: under-the-skin micro chips with all our bank accounts and credit cards to be able to pay anywhere and without the risk of identity theft. 3 dimensional computer touch screens, like in the movie Gamer. Full fledged remote control drone soldiers for war. Hmmm, that's all I can thik of right now..... thanks for the post!

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