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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Back to work and computer woes

I’ve spent a good share of this week going through orientation and training sessions for my stint here at Imperial NWR.  Not too exciting going through all the policies and such, but it’s necessary. 

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Then this morning, we had our first batch of school children visiting the refuge.  My work schedule is Sunday through Tuesday, but we all pitch in to give these kids a memorable experience whether or not it’s a scheduled work day.

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My assignment was to man the overlook, and talk about beavers and coyotes.  We have both species on the refuge.  I had pelts and skulls, and decided to make it a lesson on omnivores and herbivores.  Apparently there’s no set curriculum, so we just play it by ear.  I’ve heard that Arizona ranks very low in education, and it’s my opinion that if they don’t have any set learning standards then it’s no surprise they’re not doing well.

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Their first stop was to take the Painted Desert Trail, and then come to the visitors center.  If you look closely you can see all the solar panels on the roof of the VC, and the roof of the picnic area in front of it.  Behind the flag you can also get a glimpse of a trailer in the volunteer village.  We don’t have far to walk each day to get to the VC, but quite a few of us use our bikes to get to work.  I took this pic from the overlook towards the VC across the wash.

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This is the view from the overlook towards the Chocolate Mountains.  There are two scopes here to look for things, but I have to say that there’s not much to see.  Sad smile  It’s a great spot for me though, as there’s a bit of a breeze and shade.  One of the teachers told me that these kids mostly come from low income families, and seldom get a chance to go anywhere.

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Here they come up the walk!  The student body was just about all Hispanic, and all the kids were bilingual.  So were the teachers.  I was jealous of that fact.  I wish I knew more Spanish.

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Their excitement with being on the refuge was contagious, and they politely waited in line for their turn at the scope.  For a bunch of fifth graders, their behavior was pretty exemplary.  I’ll be working with more kids from this school for the next three or four Fridays, and I’m really looking forward to it.

As far as the computer woes goes, I’m really just having problems with Google and Blogger.  Everything has been working fine until this morning.  It’s been touch and go to get to my email.  Mostly I get a message that the computer is “establishing secure connection”, whatever that means, and then it tells me Gmail is not available at this time.  If I go to my Blogger Dashboard, I get the list of all the blogs I follow, but can only read the first paragraph of each post.  If I click on a blog, it just says loading, and nothing happens.  I’m hoping it will all resolve itself by tomorrow.  Anyone else having this problem?  I don’t even know if I’ll be able to publish this post.  I’ll just have to see what happens.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

P.S.  It’s now Saturday night and I’m going to try to post again.  Still have trouble…  Sad smile

21 comments:

  1. How good to hear good things about young students. It says a lot about the job the teachers are doing also. Glad it was a good experience for you both.

    I hope Rick can help you with your computer issue.

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  2. I hope your computer gets over it's hiccup. I love computers but they can be a pain in the behind if they are not working well. Glad you are liking what you are doing. The kids will be better of for it. They will remember that nice lady at the Imperial NWR

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  3. You got this one posted but I see your first comment was a spammer I have had twice, including today. Google is enough to drive anyone nuts.

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  4. The issue with Judy's computer wasn't related directly to Google or Blogger. I believe the main issues have been resolved now.

    Great talking to you again this evening Judy.

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  5. Glad you got the computer problem solved! You will probably pick up a few Spanish words with those kids around! What a great experience for them:)

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  6. Once again Rick (The IT Knight in Shining Mega Bytes) has come to your rescue. What a great guy!

    Nice that you enjoyed the kids, you certainly enriched their lives with your love of nature. And to think you wasted all that talent teaching math... :cP

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  7. I got hit again by that spammer. What a jerk! What American woman would have him.

    The school kids are lucky to have volunteers such as yourself to introduce them to the natural world. Good going!

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  8. It is a good place to practice your Spanish. Glad the kids were enthusiastic about the visit.

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  9. This looks like its going to be a good fit for you...
    Can't wait to hear about more of your adventures here
    I also got that spam... and I very seldom get spam
    big jerk

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  10. Well, I was going to say glad to know I wasn't the only one having problems with Google and Blogger yesterday ... I was blaming my woes on Verizon. I guess I'd better drop a note to Rick and see what words of tech wisdom he can share with me.

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  11. I'm glad the kids enjoyed their visit and were so well behaved. I'm sure they learned a lot from you.


    I have been having problems with my Gmail. All my emails go directly to my trash folder. When I read blogs, the sidebars jump around and drive me crazy. I'm learning to live with it. :) Haven't figured out the cure for either, but looks like you're doing okay now.

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    1. If your incoming messages are automatically placed in Trash, the cause is a misconfigured filter, or a setting on your Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Check to see if you have filters and, if so, you may just want to delete them.

      As for the sidebars that's a reszing issue on your display. Just hold down the 'CTRL' key and hit + or - until the jumping around stops.

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  12. What a bother the computer can be!
    So refreshing to hear of well-behaved children, but the exciting part is their enthusiasm...don't see a lot of that these days from youngsters!

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  13. Computers, aren't they fun?

    We've joined groups of school children on tours and I've been amazed at how respectful and good they are. Those same kids can be brats, when they are with their parents. It just means there are a lot more good teachers, than some parents.

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  14. Good post Judy--I hope you continue to enjoy your time down in Arizona! Rick is the best when it comes to fixing computer issues!!

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  15. I just knew Rick would come to your rescue :) I wonder if he knows how to block that American women boycotter dude :) He's getting on my nerves :)

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  16. Sounds like an awarding job for now. I have always loved the energy of that age kids when I'd go on school trips with my two kids back when.
    Love the chocolate mountains!

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  17. Blogger and gmail on desktop issues for us too, think it was a Google problem.

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  18. Yup, same here on "establishing a secure connection" (hogwash) and "loading." Dunno whatz up with that, but it's aggravating. I guess I need to check Rick's blog to see what he's got to say about all of this.

    I'm with you on wishing I was bilingual.

    Hey, guess where we ate dinner tonite? The Original Oyster House on the Causeway (but we had fried shrimp today). I know you remember that place! :- )

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  19. I am encouraging our grandchildren to get as much Spanish language as possible this day in age...sad but true..

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