Author Archives: Mama Cormier

Held Hostage by the Cloud

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….all my gadgets stopped working 2 weeks ago

I’m not much for electronics but I do love my iPhone and I use the camera all the time. For my birthday this year my children bought me the Jawbone Up which tracks my steps and sleep patterns and I’ve become addicted to it. Everything was working well until two weekends ago when we went to the AGO with friends to see the Alex Colville show. As you know I take a lot of photos and I was devastated when the camera on my iPhone wouldn’t work. The message that came through said that I didn’t have enough storage.

I tried to delete some photos but it didn’t seem to help. Now almost all of the photos on my phone have been backed up to my computer on IPhoto so I decided to delete them all from the camera. Success. Well for a few minutes and then all of a sudden all the photos reappeared on the phone. I did manage to take a few photos at the gallery but I knew that this problem would reappear.

Later that day I discovered that my Up bracelet wasn’t working as well. It is also hooked up to my iPhone. Again the message was that I didn’t have enough storage.

On Monday, the following day, I made a trip to my local Apple store but they were so busy that I couldn’t get an appointment for at least 5 days. I pleaded with one of the staff to give me some clues as to what I could do. She suggested that I back up my photos onto iTunes.

The next day I took my computer to school and my friend L and I played around with the settings on iTunes. It took a while but we finally figured out that the storage problem was on the iCloud. I had two options. One was to buy more storage and the second was to back up all my photos onto iTunes, even though all my photos were already on iPhoto.

Later that night I clicked the button that said back up to the computer and the ICloud option shut down. I’m not sure that I want anything on iCloud for now but maybe down the road I’ll pay the extra money. I guess the one advantage is that I can access my photos from anywhere if they’re stored in the cloud.

The bottom line is that I can use my camera again and my Up is working the way it should.

Kindergarten Art – A Joy to Teach

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….so far the biggest surprise at school has been how much I enjoy teaching the little ones art

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about teaching art to Kindergarten children but it has been very rewarding and so far it’s gone pretty smoothly. It really helps having the ECE teacher with me. There are 29 JK and SK students in that class and without her help I think it would be next to impossible to run the class without chaos.

Our first class involved making ‘dots’ or circles for International Dot Day and we learned a little bit about Wassily Kandinsky and how to use watercolours and oil pastels. In our second class we discussed the different types of lines that artists can use and I introduced Primary Colours. On a large piece of paper the children drew 4 or 5 different lines with black pastels and then using only primary colours painted in the spaces created by the lines.

Their teachers and I think they did a fantastic job. I’m also grateful that the two kindergarten teachers have hung the work for all to enjoy.

 

Ready, Set, Done – Off To the Vets We Go

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…..today’s Daily Prompt

Today, write about anything — but you must write for exactly ten minutes, no more, no less.

Three weeks ago we took our dog, Frances to the vet to have a couple of teeth removed. Two hours later and a bill for almost $800.00 we were informed that the x-ray showed a root floating around in her gums that our vet couldn’t remove so we were advised to see a vet that specialized in dental procedures.

The appointment was made, time off from work arranged and we drove to the hospital this morning. When we got there, in plenty of time for our appointment, we waited for almost an hour and a half before the vet could see us. She looked at the x-rays done by our vet and was a little concerned about the bone structure on the one side of Frances’ jaw but she couldn’t really tell what the problem was and could only make some educated guesses at this point.

When discussing our options, she said that if it were her dog she would probably wait and see and maybe start a course of antibiotics. She left us for a few minutes to write up the estimate if we chose to go the surgery route. When she returned she presented us with the estimate that ranged from $2000. to $2900. The option of going the medication route didn’t come up again.

We asked if we could have a few minutes to go over the numbers before making our decision. The dog wasn’t in any pain, there were no visible signs of stress or inflammation and she seemed content. What to do? $400. for meds or a possible $3000. for surgery?

The 10 minute buzzer just went off. I guess you’ll never know what we decided.

For more Daily Prompts check out Ready, Set, Done.

 

Share Your World 2014 – Week 37

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…..with Chris’ help Cee  has come up with four new questions

List three pet peeves.

I really can’t abide rude people, people who can’t be bothered to vote and people who litter.

What makes you unique?

I’m not sure that I’m all that unique. I love to try new things, create art, walk, read and I’m reluctant to retire. I can’t help but think that there’s another career waiting for me when I retire from this one.

Would be your ideal birthday present, and why?

My ideal birthday present would be a 3 day get-a-way with my husband. It should be somewhere cozy, with some spa facilities and great food. There should also be some kind of activity that we both can participate in, such as a cooking class or art class. Time spent with my husband is very important to me and a present that we can enjoy together is more important than ‘more stuff’.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?

I would just like to see the toilet paper on the roll. I’ve never been too fussy whether it go over or under but I have noticed that some brands literally ‘run away’ from you when it is hung under so I guess I’d have to say over.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful that my daughter and her husband had a wonderful holiday on the east coast and that we were able to make it possible by looking after their dog.

I’m looking forward to going back to one dog. Enough said.

For more Share Your World check out Cee’s blog.