Acing Medical Tests

When I saw my nurse practitioner for a prescription refill last week, she recommended that I have blood drawn for a routine check of glucose, cholesterol, and platelets as well as liver, kidney, and thyroid function.  I had these tests run several years ago in Wisconsin, but now that I'm in my early thirties I thought it would be good to check things out again. I now have statistical proof that I'm perfect! When I had the blood drawn, I was a little worried about my cholesterol. My last meal before fasting was a cheese enchilada, a hard shell taco, refried beans, and tons of salsa and tortilla chips. But even Tuesday night at Fiesta could not raise my cholesterol. "Hurray!" I write as I munch another piece of Italian cheese bread.

Speaking of health, I've been using a site called Health Month to help me form better habits. I set up three rules to follow for August. First, I'm trying to drink 35 cups of water a week (5 a day). I'm also making a small effort at exercise, walking at least two miles a week (10 laps around a gym on work days). And I'm aiming to get in bed by 11 p.m. at least four nights a week. None of my rules are particularly difficult, but developing consistency is what is important at this point. I check in with the site every day, and it tracks my progress. There's also a place to journal about my day and to record my weight. So far I'm really liking it. I'm playing again next month. Playing three rules is free; more than three costs $5. I've got a free game next month, so for next month I've added rules about eating veggies and lifting weights to the rules I'm already playing. August has been successful, so I expect good things in September.

Technically, I Have a Cell Phone

Actually, I have two. I needed mobile communication for an outdoor wedding by the lake that I coordinated in June, so I got an LG 420g TracFone at Dollar General for $10. It was on sale and I had a coupon. I bought that model because you can read texts on the external screen without opening the phone and, more importantly, without being charged for incoming texts. It come with double minutes for life, so if I pay for 60 minutes, I get 120.  It's a flip phone, which keeps my pocket or purse from calling people without my knowledge, and it has a camera for picture messages and (slow) web access. It's a nice phone, but I don't use it often. I forget I have it and only remember to charge it every couple weeks. And I keep it set on vibrate so that it doesn't go off at inappropriate times. I haven't really given anyone my number, but I've set up my Google number (which most family members have) to forward message to my cell phone(s). I've also set up Facebook to forward direct messages as texts to my phone. So I can be reached a little more readily than I used to be as long I'm near my phone and it's charged.

So the first cheap phone was supposed to let me know if I want to be a regular cell phone user, which I obviously am not. So why did I get a second cell phone? Because it has a full qwerty keyboard and can install some apps. I got it as a toy. I worked about 100 hours this summer on an extra project and got a big check (to get new tires for our car). I figured I deserved a little something just for me (not tires), so I spent $20 on an LG 500g at Dollar General. I like it, especially the keyboard. It makes texting, web searching, and note taking so much easier. The LG 500g also has a built in MP3 player. I need to get a data cord to be able to use the MP3 player. I haven't bought extra minutes for it yet, so I'm mostly using it to take notes. I've got a grocery list saved on there. I've got a Research list and an Ideas list. I can also make voice recordings if I'm really brainstorming. I'm full of ideas sometimes. It can also do tasks and calendar, but I haven't played with those yet. That little cell phone could save all sorts of space in my purse and keep life organized. HA! :) Like the other phone, this phone is attached to my Google number. And like the other phone, I've got it set to vibrate and forget to charge it.

So technically I have cell phones, but actually I'm not much easier to get ahold of than I was before I had cell phones. So good luck, people! Call my Google number and maybe you'll reach me at home or on a cell phone. If I don't answer, leave a message, and it will be forwarded to my email, which I check at least once a day. Or send me a message on Facebook, which I check all the time and which will be forwarded to my cell phones.

An apology to those who are mostly interested in my garden. It's been so hot that I've been gardening at or after dusk, which is not a good time to take pictures. I will post a garden update soon.

I have a website!

There's nothing on my website yet, but I have one: http://www.natalieroliver.com.  I got a domain name and a web host and am now a website owner!  I'm pretty excited.  A year ago, I never would have guessed that I'd have my own site.  When there's something interesting to see on the site, I'll post about it here on my blog.

It's an investment ($35 for one year) towards my career as a website designer.  I've worked on two websites, but I don't have anything reliable to show people who want to see samples of my work.  The synod got a new website, so none of my work is on their site.  I designed the Luther Memorial site, but someone else is now maintaining it, and the changes that have been made don't reflect my design aesthetic.  So I got my own site so that I can display my own designs without fear that it will be altered by someone else.

I also want to learn PHP, a programming language that makes websites interactive, and access to a server is necessary.  Now that I have my own website, I have access to a server and can work on learning more to make even better websites.  Also having my own site will give me a chance to learn more about the behind-the-scenes part of websites so that I will be able to help organizations that don't have a site at all to get things set up.

So now my days will be filled with gardening and my evenings with website design.

Neil Wants You to Get a Google Account

Google Accounts are free and give you access to a lot of online tools.  I got a Google account while working at Luther Memorial and eventually got the whole staff as well as the church website using them.  I love Google applications that much.  So here's why you should have a free Google account, too.  The top reasons are Neil-related; the others are my recommmendations.

To Video Chat with Neil: Google Talk
Most of my readers live at least five hours from me and probably will not get to see Neil as often as they would like.  You can get your Neil fix by video chatting with him/us online using Google's free voice and video chatting.  Voice chat is like making a phone call from one computer to another; video chat adds live video to a voice chat. 

Voice/video chatting is free, but you will need a webcam or at least a microphone to participate.  If you have a newer computer, you may have a built-in webcam and microphone. Otherwise, you'll need to buy a little equipment.  It doesn't have to be expensive.  Voice chat requires a headset or microphone and speakers/headphones.  If you don't have a webcam, you can still participate in video chats.  You will be able to see Neil via our webcam, but we won't be able to see you.  As long as you have a microphone, we'll still be able to hear and respond to you.  All computers have jacks for headphones and microphones.  You can buy headsets that use these jacks for about $20 at Walmart.  Some headsets use a USB port instead.  Full headsets that use USB ports tend to be a little more expensive, but they're very easy to use.  I found a compromise and bought a Gigaware USB microphone that has a jack to plug in your own headphones for $10 at Radio Shack.  Webcams are also available from Walmart for less than $25.

Chatting ability is built into several Google applications--GMail and iGoogle--and is also available as a stand-alone installation for your desktop called Google Talk.  Google Talk works a lot like Skype, which is also free, but I find Google to be more reliable than Skype.  And a Google account has many more uses, a real multi-tasker.  The set-up is pretty easy, and Google provides good instructions for everything you need to get going.


To See Private Pictures of Neil: Picasa
By "private" I do not mean pictures of Neil's "boy parts."  Private pictures are those restricted to certain viewers.  Right now most of my online photos are public because a Google account is necessary to share the photos and the people who want to see them don't have Google accounts.  Photos of children online is a security issue, and though I'm not overly concerned about Neil being kidnapped because his photo is online, I'd prefer to make most of my photos of Neil private.  I will post a few photos on Facebook and on my blog, but most will be in my Picasa account.  If you have a Google account, I can invite you to view the private collections of pictures.  Picasa accounts also let you upload and organize your own photos for others to view. It makes sharing pictures and making slideshows easy and has cool features like face recognition.

Share Calendars

Google Calendar allows you to create and share multiple calendars.  I have one for family birthdays and anniversaries.  It has dates for me and Matt as well as our parents, siblings, in-laws, and niece and nephews as well as a few grandparents and Aunt Sandra. I'd like to make it more complete, so if you want to share birth dates and anniversaries, I'll add them to the calendar.  I can then share the calendar with family members so that they all have the information, too.  It's sortable by family (Oliver, Tanner, Sorbo, etc.) so that you can see the ones that matter most to you.

So I Have Someone to Wave With
Google Wave is one of the latest applications, and I haven't gotten to try it out because most people I know don't have Google accounts.  I think Wave is really cool, but I can't say for sure because I haven't gotten to try it out enough.  Help me out and Wave with me.


Customizable Google Maps
Matt and I used this for our trip to Louisville.  When you search for locations, you can save the locations to a map.  We made a map of bookstores, ethnic restaurants, used children's stores, and movie theaters that we were interested in.  I was able to research restaurants that had good ratings and reasonable prices and add just the locations that were yummy, interesting and affordable.  The map is still saved and can be used again for our next trip.


Best Email Ever: GMail
GMail's initial claim to fame when it started 5 years ago was its outrageous 1GB storage.  Today I have 7 GB of storage.  I love it for it's many features, and Google is always adding new features to try out.  You can have GMail collect mail from other e-mail accounts you own, and it will let you send mail from GMail that looks like it comes from your other email address.  This is really helpful if you're making a transition from one email account to GMail.  Filters will put labels on messages as soon as they come in.  You can video chat from GMail and send text messages to people's cell phones, which I do since I don't own a cell phone myself.  I love my GMail and think everyone should use it.

If you sign up for a GMail address, you get a Google account with your new GMail address as your log-in.  If you don't want a GMail address, you can use your current email address to sign up for a Google account at https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount.  If you have any questions about these applications or run into problems signing up for a Google account, feel free to contact me.  I'm not an expert or a Google employee, but I'm reasonably experienced and very enthusiastic.