Carol's Adventures

2009-04-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a soujourn at French Lick Villas, http://frenchlickspringsvillas.com/. The Villas are pretty nice. We think it REALLY beats the hotel, because the hotel is so cramped. Here, we can cook our food, snack on our leftovers, go outside, and get out of each other's way. Plus our car is close. There is a playground in front and a woodsy path in back that gets us to the Casino. We have a small upstairs unit with a fireplace, two balconies, and a full jacuzzi beneath a sunny window. This evening I might pour a glass of wine and crawl into the jacuzzi with a book.

I'm trying out a new way to gamble: I sit down at a machine and I begin by betting all lines for just a penny apiece to see if the machine pays off. Then if it appears to be paying a little, I increase the per-line bet--and if it doesn't, I move on. However, it seems that these machines might be programmed to reduce the payout when the bets are larger. It's hard to tell, because I don't want to play that long when I'm losing large amounts with each spin! We didn't go into the casino today, though--we're just bein' lazy. Roger has done some recreational napping.

Today we drove to Patoka Lake because I wanted to see the lake and some cabins around it, and I had to check out these "floating cabins" that are advertised by the marina. They're little floating houses that are lined around piers up at the marina, and people who rent them park their boats right outside their front doors. I also went and picked up some wine, cheese and goodies at the winery. There's a new red wine called Foch (pronounced fosh--long o) that is really good. We drove by Big Splash Water Park and IT IS AWESOME! The waterslides look wicked and I'll bet they have a nice wave generator and a couple of good hot tubs. It's attached to a big hotel. See: http://www.bigsplashadventure.com/ .

I spent a week in Boston last month with Denise Brown, a friend and co-worker. I could say a lot about Photoshop World and how interesting digital media is becoming, but I won't do that here. We managed to get out and enjoy Boston, though! See the pictures at http://carolrhodes.org.

Oregon October 2008

2008-10-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Back from Oregon.

We endured a mechanical failure at the outset, causing us to get off the ground 6 hours late and miss all our connections. We wound up going Denver to LA and then getting off Frontier Airlines (leaving our luggage with Frontier), and taking Alaska Airlines to Portland. We finally got there in the middle of the night, 8 hours later than expected. Oh well, we now have $300 worth of Frontier travel vouchers.

You can get a nice view of all the pictures at: http://carolrhodes.smugmug.com/gallery/6362520_JkjDM

The photos speak for themselves, but what I didn't get to capture was our close-up view of salmon fighting their way up the salmon ladders at the Bonneville Dam, the great burger place with Huckleberry pie at Cascade Locks overlooking the Columbia River (although some of the pictures are taken looking out from the restaurant), and the gorgeous ride on highway 14 on the way to Mount St. Helens. The condo is excellent and the weather was sunny and cool. The ride back one week later was smooth.

We got home very late so this week has been very rough with Julia's tonsillectomy and two workshops.

2008-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Catching up...

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

See my Artspace at: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/carol-rhodes.html
and my pictures at http://carolrhodes.org/

I'll be adding more images in both places soon.
--Carol

Back from Paris

2008-07-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

Paris 2008

(Click the Eiffel Tower to see the album)

What a romp! Very exciting time in Paris. It went so fast, I am still working on finding out many of the things I saw. Here are pictures, I'll supply some stories as I get time.

First story: Versailles and the RER...

..Réseau Express Régional, IPA ("Regional Express Network"), which is a rapid transit system serving Paris and the outlying areas--

Roger Henry, Rita, Dave, and I decided to visit Versailles on the day after we moved out of the Marriot into 20 Rue Pierre Lescot. (Roger was staying in a hostel--and it turns out he spent two more weeks in hostels until he was allowed back into the States--but I digress-- that's another story.) Ergo, we set out in the morning to board the train for the 10-mile jaunt. First, we got to the ticket office at St. Michel and it was closed. There were instructions posted there in English to (at some point) wait at platform "A" between posts 1 and 6. But our main concern was that the ticket office was closed, so we didn't pay close enough attention. After a few minutes of confusion, when the window opened, we realized that the opening time was 10:30. So we purchased the tickets, and with some relief we boarded the train and enjoyed the accordion serenade. (See the pictures.)

Suddenly, the train stopped and the lights went off. We uncertainly crept off and peered around. Of course, the Parisians quickly vanished, leaving a few ragged bands of perplexed English speakers. One rumor had it that the train was broken and would need to be hauled away. No one seemed to know what to do. Then in a short while the lights went on in the train and it raced off in the opposite direction.

The fugitive:

Soon, another train came through and stopped. Roger, who could speak a little French, stepped in to inquire what to do. A girl of about 20 followed him in, evidently thinking it was the correct train. The person within waved Roger out of the train just in time for the doors to slam shut, leaving the girl inside and her friend hammering on the doors trying to undo the error. The people inside motioned to the agitated girl clinging to the outside to "get away." The friend on the platform jumped away, stunned, as the train jerked into motion and sped away. It turns out that she and her friend--both from Michigan--had just landed from their transcontinental all-night flight and were traveling by RER to visit a friend who was staying near the Eiffel. The fugitive friend's cell phone was known to be dead as she hurtled off in an unknown direction. (Her battery had died on the way.) We never knew what finally came of them.

... and to Versailles

Because Roger could speak a bit of French, he finally found out that we were supposed to follow those original directions to Platform "A" that we had forgotten. And so we abandoned the girl at the platform to go with the rest of the English speakers aboard the final train to Versailles.

Versailles was the unofficial capital city of the kingdom of France from 1682 to 1789. Its palace is the seat of such astonishing riches that It gave me ostentation fatigue within the first 15 minutes. Toward the end of the tour (which covered only a small fraction of the palace but took about 2 hours) I found myself surmising that had I been around back then, I would have been among those beheading Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Roger, a composer who has taught French history, was enchanted. His enthusiasm helped to temper my response. I must admit, I appreciated the classical music in the lavish (and unbelievably huge) gardens.

...and home to 20 Rue Pierre Lescot...

Versailles is so big. There are thousands there at a time, and some of us move at a more leisurely pace than others. Unfortunately, our group did not agree on a meeting time or place. When I finished up, I waited for the others at the gate to the premises, while Rita, Dave, and Roger (who did find each other for a while) waited at the palace gate. Then, Roger, in search of me, got separated from the others as well. Finally, after waiting 90 minutes, I decided to make my own way home. Back at the Versailles train station I found a commotion and blocked ticket machines. Eventually making my way to the front of the agitated throng, I managed to ask how I could get back to the St. Michel station. I was told in broken English that the train was broken and I'd have to go to the other railroad station. I was to go down the street and turn right at the corner.

Taking a deep breath, I ventured out and noted a few people rounding an upcoming corner so I followed, hoping to be doing the right thing. The walk turned out to be about a mile. At some point, I heard English nearby and leaned back to ask if we were headed to the railroad station. The answer was, "We hope so!"

Alas, when I arrived, I found no St. Michel listed as destinations on the schedule. I only saw one Paris destination. After pulling out all my maps and my French phrasebook, I determined that there was one long train and one short train to Montparnasse in Paris, where I could get on the Metro.

I was the first one back to the apartment. I heard that Roger had gotten separated as well. The last I saw him was at Versailles. See his blog, http://enderspeaks.blogspot.com/, and find out why he got stuck in Paris for two weeks longer than planned, and what he did while he awaited his paperwork. Anyway, that night, we went to---

Chez Omar:
Several guidebooks recommend a little restaurant called Chez Omar, so a small band of us tried it out. It's everything you would expect in a Parisian restaurant, with excellent food and wine -- all for about $20-- served with couscous and ratatouille by a conscientious and friendly waiter probably named Pierre . The waiter asked us where we were from in the States. I had learned that to say "Indiana" is useless, so I told him--as I had learned to say to all inquiring Frenchmen-- that we are near Chicago. (This IS relatively true if you don't know much about the continent.) The waiter's eyes lit up, and he spouted, "Obama!!!" Then he did a little Obama jig while singing "Obama, Obama." Given the spirited response, we did a high five all around. (See the pictures.) During our stay, he wasn't the only one who mentioned Obama when we said we were Americans. French people love him.

Other highlights to come: The conference; losing the group at the Eiffel tower; museum delights; the 500-year-old church in our front yard; hopeless Euro appliance bamboozlement; and more.

A good website of other things I saw (or didn't) in Paris:
http://www.atkielski.com/

Ozarks

2008-05-06T13:45:00.001-07:00

This week, we're in Lake of the Ozarks. The drive Sunday took us about 6 1/2 hours, which is pretty good. Our condo is enormous, and posh. It has a big Jacuzzi that I enjoyed this morning with some fragrant shower gel as I finished reading my book. On the down side, we don't have any access to the lake and we must drive to see things. This made Roger quite grumpy for a while, because his back was sore from the drive. Where there aren't homes and resorts, it's VERY commercial, so I had to look around a bit to find things to do. Even though the area is beautifully hilly and woodsy, right around the lake there are lots of bumper cars, marinas, and fudge stands. On top of that it was raining Tuesday afternoon and all day yesterday, so yesterday we (a-hem) endured a bout of sulking and threatening to go home. But it all turned out OK. There is an outlet mall nearby! (Smile.) We braved the downpour, and Roger made himself comfortable in a bookstore while I hit the jackpot at Koret, Liz Claiborn, and Van Heusen. There is also a Coldwater Creek and a Crocs outlet that we must visit before we leave (wink).

Unfortunately, it's too early in the season for boat cruises. (At this time of year I am told they do weekends only.) On Monday we visited the Bagnell Dam museum, which was very interesting and scenic, and we found a panoramic overlook. Today, we walked around Ha Ha Tonka, an unbelievably gorgeous state park that has castle ruins, bluffs, wildflowers, frog choruses, warblers, and (finally!) quiet access to the lake. There are lots of caves in the area, and tomorrow we'll visit Ozark Caverns in Lake of the Ozarks State Park.

Of course on Tuesday we watched the election returns, all the way to the final results at 1 am, just prior to which CNN spent SO much time chewing out the mayors in Lake county and talking about Indiana. They were actually pretty well informed. Roger and I were chuckling about the little county (Union) that showed no count at all, even after we went to bed. We figured that after the polls closed, the volunteer ladies there yawned, stretched, wiped out their Crock Pots, and went home to bed--figuring that waiting until morning was no big deal. Anyway, what a time. I think we really did count this year. Tuesday's results have certainly changed the landscape altogether.

Anyhow, as I have been unwinding into the quiet space, change of scenery, and sometimes boredom, I'm finding it therapeutic. My past two weeks had been crazy and anxious, like keystone cops but not at all funny. (Deadlines, conferences, medical procedures, bad home repairmen, food poisoning, Julia's car outage plus illness and job woes, kitty illnesses, on and on.) After being away from it all I feel better now.

Welcome Spring!

2008-03-14T12:54:00.001-07:00

Ahh, spring!

The presidential race is fascinating. I can't get enough.

The bluebirds are looking at potential homes, the spring peepers are calling, nights are longer, daffodils are peeking out, and the sun feels warm now. Not a bit too soon! What a raunchy, wet winter.

I see that I never gave a "shower stall report" from last October. Well, that was a home repair nightmare, and the very same thing still plagues me. It seems whenever people call for me, Roger is always telling them I'm in the shower--and, unfortunately, it's true. I have a special relationship with my orange caulking gun. I've become an old hand at smoothing out silicone. I've become a wretched grout nazi. Another repair person is coming next week to render an opinion. (Addendum 4/12: he will re-do parts of both tile jobs. Maybe this one will free me!)

Home again, after traveling back and forth to Mom's during her recovery from a car accident. She should be good to go now. I can get back to life, work, and home maintainance.

Winter and holidays

2007-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas for the Rhodes family was nice and quiet, not a bustling affair as it often is. I have simplified it all this year, with a tabletop tree and fewer lights. Still nice, though. We spent family Christmas in Muncie again this year. Warm and merry.

Alas, my four weeks of vacation is coming to an end. Most of it was spent becoming all too familiar with our home, in my quest to inspect, repair, and organize things. Without going into gruesome detail about expensive and time-consuming contractor mistakes and disagreements, I have learned some important lessons. When we’re working all the time, the house suffers. That said, my long-term plan is to search for a nice condo in a wooded area and move there. Doing so will provide me with freedom from worry about the roof, the chimney, the windows, the plumbing, the foundation, the gutters, the landscaping, the septic system, and so on. It's hard, because there are certain things I love about it:Roger and I spent Thanksgiving week in Tennessee. The mountains were ablaze in spectacular fall colors. Our week was relaxing and enjoyable.

This past year has been a trial in many ways. I have been very busy with my work, my computer conference, and involvement in the spay/neuter clinic. In 2008, I certainly have to do more streamlining of my life.

Some other highlights:

In June, we lost our Kitty Wampus to a mysterious illness. However, we gained our Smudge kitty in July. Here's the handsome guy, just one more time:
In November, the Honda wagon that Abby drove was stolen and vandalized. After it was recovered 10 days later, we decided to cut our losses and forego repairs, so now Abby is car-less.
In December Julia graduated from IU—much cause for celebration!
In December, someone got my debit card number (not the card) and duplicated it. After testing it in Topeka Kansas, they sold a number of copies at JFK Airport in New York. Thanks to the vigilance of a fraud alert service and also to the good luck of being home that day, the thieves were halted--after spending about $300 from my account within an hour or so. During that one afternoon, they hit the account seven times at $100 each, before all of them realized it was blocked and quit trying. That was a spooky experience.
I exhibited two paintings this past fall, one at Waldron and another at Tutto Bene. I am now working on a new painting that is moving along very slowly, since it is a complete brainchild, with only my own studies to work from.

Back home again

2007-10-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

The SIGUCCS conference was a success. Because I was a conference coordinator, I was accorded VIP status at the Hilton where we stayed, so my accommodations were extremely sumptuous and spacious--almost embarrassingly so. However, I rose to the occasion!

No pictures this time. I had no desire to do Disney things. I now realize that when I visit places I need a sense of geographic location. Not possible in Disney World where all things are fabricated and no one really lives there.

Roger and I have purchased a week of a 2-apartment timeshare in Vegas (to which we can allocate separate weeks) plus 4 bonus weeks of resort vacations per year. In order to make it worth the investment, I am assuming the official role of Rhodes Vacation Manager. The big problem with so much vacation time (i.e., vacating) is we have so many pets to care for. Hence, during my time at home between Vegas and Orlando I hand-addressed and mailed postcards to every home in this neighborhood. (Researching THAT was a chore!) As a result, I spent the weekend before I left for the conference interviewing teenagers for the "job." It was really quite enjoyable.

I'm glad to be home for a while and done with the conference. I feel that I am now freer to manage some neglected house projects and pursue some hobbies (what?). Roger and I had intended to replace a shower door this weekend. I knew we had problems there but once I ventured into the project with crowbar in hand, I realized it was worse than expected. We now need a tilesetter and drywaller. (I also have enjoyed the the long-standing role of Coordinator of Home Repair and Renovation Projects here.) So anyway I am hoping to find someone next week who can do it, because we have family members coming to visit us next weekend. This afternoon I emailed a home-operated business in our neighborhood called Hoosier House Help that serves as a point-of-contact for contractors. She responded immediately, saying she will see what she can do. I'll report on progress as it happens.

Las Vegas 2007

2007-09-04T10:19:00.001-07:00

In Vegas to attend Photoshop World again. This time, I brought Roger and some extra time. This blog entry actually covers 7 days, although it is dated September 4.

Vegas 07

(Click the picture to see the whole album)

We arrived Saturday night September 1 (our 28th anniversary), about 9:30 pm. It was about 105 degrees at the time we landed. We checked in and then trekked around the still-energetic, sweltering city.

On Sunday we bought a timeshare condo I, and then went to Stratosphere and then to Fremont Street to see the light show. (To see light show pictures and more, click the picture thumbnail, above.) We stopped to eat dinner in the Fremont Casino, and then stuck a couple of bills into a slot machine and promptly won $580! Money in hand, we tramped on to Bellagio to see the art and chocolate--then grew weary of the Labor Day crowds and headed home via strip bus.

On Monday late in the day, we went to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. There were thunderstorms in the area, so the sunset over the mountains was magnificent. Tuesday, we took a drive to Red Rock Canyon. I had no idea this desert, with towering mountains and delicate flora, could be so enchanting.

We attended two shows, David Copperfield and Jay Leno. Copperfield was entertaining; Jay Leno was especially good. Myconference began Wednesday (along with my per diem reimbursement!), so I was pretty busy from Wednesday 'til Friday evening. I learned quite a bit!

Oh-- and here's our Smudgie as of a couple of weeks ago:

Meet Smudge

2007-07-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Smudge07-07

Kitten kitten everywhere
Kitten chewing on my hair
Kitten climbing up my jeans
Kitten hanging from the screens

There's a kitten on my shoulder
Will he do this when he's older?
Kitten fighting on the chairs
Kitten tumbling down the stairs

There's a kitten on my head
There's a kitten in the bread!
There's a kitten on the run
Do we really have just one?!

June 2007

2007-06-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Too busy living life to document it!

An update, from most recent to early spring:

Julia and I attended Jon and Katie's wedding in Chicago June 9. Fantastic fun and dazzling fireworks. See http://www.katieandjon.com/.

Roger and I have enjoyed a couple of trips to the French Lick Resort and Casino, see www.frenchlick.com. As our neighbor Mary Lane says, "Ya win some and ya lose some." Oh, well. Roger is practicing up on his Black Jack with me.

As usual, we have too many cats and dogs.

Alas, no recent pictures. (See the first sentence of this post.) By the way, for those of you who are unaccustomed to these spaces, most of the pictures here are clickable, and will take you to an album of more exciting images.

More later--

New Year's Eve

2007-01-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve with the Heupels

See the New Year's Eve Pictures:

New Years Eve 06-07

Holiday Greetings

2006-12-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to all!

I have no pictures of all of us in the same place, but here is one I assembled. Note--look more closely--in this picture are four of the five girls in the family.

Roger is very elusive when it comes to camera lenses. His absence here makes me realize that NO one has a decent picture of him. I’ll make it my project to get a good one just so we can have one for the archive. Anyway, if you go online to the Great Shopping Spree pictures (noted below), you can see him as he looked last summer.

OK, now I’ll itemize the year’s news.

Roger:
With Jim Craig’s retirement next year, Roger also has the option of retiring. He is reviewing the alternatives: whether to seek work in another research lab, or retire and do consulting on the side. We’ll keep everyone posted.

Daughters:
Julia is working full time as a Blockbuster movie store manager. She has six more credit hours to earn in order to get her baccalaureate in film studies at IU. She shares her apartment near campus with her black kitty. This past fall Abby started attending Ivy Tech community college, working on courses that will transfer directly to IU. She likes it so far. She also has an apartment by herself, with her funny yellow cat.

Pets:
As always, we continue to harbor too many cats. The number is four now. We gained one and lost one this past year. Kitty Wampus showed up in the woods behind us in May; shortly thereafter, I decided to neuter him and then find him a home. (The former happened, the latter didn’t.) Nala died of a mysterious tumor in September. Our others are: Nacho with the Permanent BB Shot in his side, Spooky the Feral, and Pennywise the Terrible Tortie. We also have Madchen the Corgi. This picture shows Spooky and Madchen. It is also a composite.

Happenings:
Last August, Roger won a $500, five-minute Shopping Spree at Marsh grocery store. See the pictures at https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/csrhodes/5MinuteShoppingSpree/index.html. In the allotted five minutes, we managed to pick up about $700 worth of stuff. We bought the merchandise that ran over $500, minus the $100 or so that we put back. We’re still using the goods.

I have become a traveling fiend. A year ago, I had taken a trip to Monterey, California for a conference:

Monterey 2005

In February 2006 I made a site visit to Orlando to do advance planning for an October 2007 conference (more later). In September, I went to Las Vegas for Photoshop world. (See the Web Album below--what a GAS!) In November, I spent more than a week in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada serving as program chair for a conference. Then, in early December, I went to Atlanta to present at another conference.

Atlanta 06

Now, faced with a 1-day trip back to Orlando in January, I am working to convince my colleagues that it would be more sensible to teleconference me from there.

Roger and I didn’t vacate during our vacation this past summer; we caught up on household construction and maintenance things instead. I hope to entice Roger to Las Vegas this spring; I had so much fun while I was there, I want to share it.

Me:
I am thriving, and rising to the challenges of the electronic age. My most recent career charge is to head up a digital training curriculum. My team is working on putting up some podcasts, creating live electronic demos, and digital tutorials. I have a Blog (this is it) a Wiki, a Web Album, and Web Calendar. My cell phone does everything—takes pictures that can be instantly emailed, printed, and saved to disk. It plays music, emails, surfs the web and gives me directions to coffee shops in strange towns. Of course, I don’t need a photo lab anymore because I can print photos directly from my digital camera to my little battery-operated photo printer. I feel empowered (smile). The downside is that I seem never to be off the clock, defensively emailing to avoid an avalanche. Since people in my work group don’t all take simultaneous vacations, I am continuously inundated with niggling “just one more” issues tossed my way.

I continue to volunteer my time with several organizations. I am a board member with Pets ALIVE, a regional spay/neuter alliance that is servicing the whole state (www.petsalivespayneuter.org). In less than 2 years since opening, the clinic has performed 16,000 low-cost pet surgeries. We have received numerous nationwide awards and recognitions, and are opening a training facility for groups who want to start a similar effort in their locations. I am also treasurer of the Bloomington Watercolor Society (www.bloomingtonwatercolor.org). Unfortunately, I have only completed three paintings this year, because of all my work with SIGUCCS (which is a worldwide organization of college computing support professionals (www.siguccs.org). In 2006, I served as program chair. My job was to put the program together, including call for abstracts, acceptance, review, and publication of papers, plus oversight of presenters, rooms, invitations, publications, and attendees. (This was all after-hour volunteer work, and there were two of us sharing the load.) Glad it's done! Now I start all over, doing the same thing for the Orlando conference in October. Anyway, I think I'll take a break after 2007 to work on global warming.

Other things:
Mom is better, and staying active. She is going to come to visit here December 28, at which time we will go shopping for nice clothes that fit and she will enjoy the Bloomington offspring. Then, we’ll go to Muncie for my family’s Christmas celebration on January 31.

That's all for now--

Las Vegas travelogue

2006-09-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

See my WebAlbum tour of Las Vegas!

Las Vegas

2006-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here I am at Hoover Dam, enjoying Arizona time.

Welcome

2006-09-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

My first entry

I have very little time to reflect on my life - though I have lots of good times - but I'm starting this because I am using Picasa and I want start a blog. You will see no pictures until one becomes acceptable to me.