Viking Grand European Tour River Cruise - DAY 5 Miltenberg, Germany

Video:

Viking Grand European Tour River Cruise - DAY 4 Koblenz, Germany and Marksburg Castle

Video:

Viking Grand European Tour River Cruise - DAY 3 Cologne, Germany

Sion Brauhaus:


Cologne love lock bridge:


Video:

Viking Grand European Tour River Cruise - DAY 2 Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

Viking:

This morning we sail to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. Learn why the windmills were built and see how they work, and enter a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. Return on board for lunch and an enjoyable afternoon of Dutch diversions: sample handcrafted Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor, and take in a culturally enriching presentation on the Dutch Golden Age. We cruise through the night.

Included shore excursion:
KINDERDIJK WINDMILLS
DURATION: 2 HOURS

THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF WINDMILLS IN THE NETHERLANDS
See the picturesque Dutch countryside and the original technological marvels of historic Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will walk with your guide into the serene polder lands of South Holland. As you cross the dike to the windmills, you will notice that they in fact are at a lower elevation than your ship, as much of this part of The Netherlands is below sea level. Built in the mid-18th century, these 19 windmills, the largest concentration in The Netherlands, stand like sentinels on a hushed landscape. You will learn why they were built and see firsthand how they work, even stepping into a working windmill to observe its mechanics and living quarters. Families who live in these mills are required to keep them in working order. This excursion provides a revealing look at these marvelous buildings that helped shape the legendary Dutch landscape.

As we sailed into Kinderdijk, we caught a glimpse of our first windmill from our stateroom. Exciting.





Video:

Viking Grand European Tour River Cruise - DAY 1 Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam, The Netherlands



Viking:

Arrive in Amsterdam, then transfer to your ship.* After boarding, the afternoon is yours to relax or explore the city on your own. If your arrival schedule permits, you may wish to visit the Rijksmuseum, or the Van Gogh Museum next door.

* Ground transfers are included with Viking Air purchase.

Getting There
Although transfers are included, we missed the transfer agent. Possibly it was because we did not check our bags, although we did go to baggage claim. We then went to the meeting area at the front of the airport where other tour companies were, but no Viking representatives were there.

We ended up taking the train ourselves, from the airport to Central Station via train. Direct. It cost 11 Euros.

First, I tried to use the automated ticket machine, but it gave me an error. That's because I was trying to use a credit card from the US that does not support CHIP and PIN. It was a CHIP, but no PIN code that can be used on automated machines in Europe.

So I had to go to the ticket counter.

Me: Do you accept Apple Pay?

Her: You want to pay with Apples?

Me: Yes!

Her: We only accept European money here, we do not accept Apples!

I paid with a 20 Euro and we go our tickets, headed to the track, and shortly boarded our train to a non-stop trip to Central Station.

Our ship, Tir, was close by.

View this post on Instagram

Sunny in Amsterdam. Herengracht Centrum.

A post shared by Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) on May 2, 2019 at 7:55am PDT

Best Beer Bar in Amsterdam
Proeflokaal Arendsnest
Herengracht 90 (3,456.28 mi)
Amsterdam, Netherlands 1015 BS









#Amsterdam

Subscribing to a Podcast in the Stitcher Web App

My friend Andrea Syrtash has a new podcast, Pregnantish, and asked me to subscribe. One of the subscription options is Stitcher.

I've never subscribed to a show on Stitcher, so I had to figure it out. Rather than download the app, I decided to subscribe using the Stitcher Web App.

Here's how.

Click the "+" button on Stitcher.

EXTENDED EXPLANATION

1. Go to the show page for Pregnantish on Stitcher.

2. If you don't have a stitcher account, CLICK SIGN UP, otherwise CLICK SIGN IN and go to STEP 4.



3. Choose how to SIGN UP. I chose Facebook. CLICK SIGN IN WITH FACEBOOK.




4. Choose OPEN IN WEB APP.



5. CLICK the "+" button to SUBSCRIBE.



6. CHOOSE THE PLAYLIST, and CLICK SAVE.



That's it. You've subscriber to a podcast with the Stitcher Web App.

Game Of Thrones Xfinity Watchathon Watch Party at Hammond Castle

Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester was the PERFECT venue for this Game Of Thrones Xfinity Watchathon Watch Party. We'd never been there. This was the most amazing Comcast Xfinity event we have ever been to. The catering was first class. There could have been over 100 candles in the great room where we had dinner and watched the premier episode.

I’m reverse-cord-cutting, saving $20.94/month

I’m reverse-cord-cutting, saving $20.94/month.

XFINITY with NETFLIX included.



I just signed up for a new Xfinity plan where Netflix is included.

No more monthly payments to NETFLIX for their Standard plan with HD quality, saving $12.99/month.

REMOVE Cable card

Just removed the monthly fee of $7.95 for my Xfinity cable card that was supporting my Tivo.

I've switched over to Xfinity X1 as my DVR.

Goodbye TiVo. It was nice.

You don't need a cable card to watch your recorded programs.



One thing that kept me from getting rid of TiVo was the accumulation of unwatched shows I have on there. Good shows.

So after watching our last, TiVi recorded, must see episode of that lawyer show Carol likes, and confirming that a good amount of the other shows are available ON DEMAND at Xfinity, I canceled the cable card.

I removed the cable card to drop it off at an Xfinity store. The TiVo then said, "Hey. You removed my cable card! How are you going to watch TV?"

The TiVo then asked me how I wanted to proceed, so I selected to get my program information from the INTERNET, and my TV SOURCE would be from an OVER THE AIR ANTENNA.

The TiVo then scanned for available stations, and downloaded program information for those that it found.

NOTE: I don't have an antenna, and I'm not going to get one.

After TiVo did all this, I clicked over to my recorded programs and they were still there, and I have access to them.

So the answer to the question is: YOU DON'T NEED A CABLE CARD TO WATCH YOUR RECORDED PROGRAMS.

My 3 Words for 2019

Joining in with Chris Brogan and posting My 3 Words for 2019.



Chris explains on his blog post My 3 Words for 2019:

January 1, 2019 / CHRIS BROGAN

My 3 Words for 2019

Instead of a New Year’s resolution, I practice a ritual called “My 3 Words.” The idea is that you think up three words that will help guide your choices and actions over the coming year. This has become quite an event, with thousands and thousands of people working their way through the ritual and planning their year based on their own three words.

What is My 3 Words About?
The My Three Words idea is simple. Choose 3 words (not 1, not 4) that will help guide your choices and actions day to day. Think of them as lighthouses. “Should I say yes to this project?” “Well, does this align with my three words?”

How to Choose Three Words
I started this process back in 2006. Back then, my 3 words were “Ask. Do. Share.” I picked these very simple words and they served me very well. One of my best years ever. When I asked questions, I learned. When I took action based on what I learned from asking, I made more ground and took over more of the universe. When I shared what I learned with everyone, I made connections and some friends.

Choose any three words you feel will guide you forward. I can tell you a few things about this:

Don’t make it a phrase. “Publish the book” is a terrible choice. “The” is wasted.
Try to make the words actionable. “Expand” is better than “bigger.”
The more utilitarian the word can be, the better. These words have to be your compass.
Stick with the 3 words all year. Every time I’ve changed one a month or two later, the year mucks up. I can’t explain it. But I can report it.
Years where I’ve tried “fancy” words with layers of meaning, I lost the thread. Use plain words, maybe.
BUT the words don’t have to mean anything to anyone but you. Don’t worry about explaining them.

Continue reading Chris Brogan's My 3 Words for 2019

Here are My 3 Words for 2019:

This year it was easy to pick my first two words, and the third was going to be a pun, but the website I was going to base my pun on rebranded. So I've got two words that go together, and a third that continues on from 2018.

READ
I do a lot of reading online, and I read the print newspaper every day, but it's been hard for me to make a dent in my library of 'books to be read.' I've been reading the Steve Jobs biography for a while. That's a big book.

So to jumpstart my reading of more books, I'm giving myself permission to read the first chapter of lots of books. I should be able to read one chapter a day, which would means looking into 365 books this year. I'm not going to promise that, but will make an effort to read a chapter a day.

WRITE
I do lots of writing online, whether it be finding interesting news stories and sharing with my own summary, or posting technical how-to's about things that I learn. One project I'm working on is an auto-biography. It started when I began putting together lessons learned for a short 10 minute presentation, but it was difficult to narrow it down to 10 minutes of content, so I decided to write down everything, which has now grown into 19,710 words.

This year's goal is to review and edit what I have, and add in things that need to be included, ending up with a manuscript.

IMPEACH
Last year I did six words.

My first three words for 2018 were Engage, Share, Hold

Make 2018 the year you engage, share facts, and hold elected officials accountable for their statements, decisions and actions.

My second three words were: IMPEACHMENT, CONVICTION and REMOVAL.

This year I'm keeping it simple, IMPEACH.

#My3Words

Create and Order a 2019 Calendar in Apple Photos App with the Mimeo Photos Project Extension

Now that Apple has removed the ability to create and print calendars from it's Photos App, you can now Create and Order a 2019 Calendar in Apple Photos App with the Mimeo Photos Project Extension.

Mimeo was the company that Apple used to print calendars within the Photos App, so not much has changed.

INSTALL
Install the extension to the Photos app via the link above, then use it to create a new calendar.

DRAG
You have to have your photos on the Photos app, then drag them in to your Calendar project.



OPEN AND CREATE
Open the new calendar project and create your calendar months with one or more photos per month. If your photo gets a red exclamation point, that's the app telling your that the photo doesn't have a high enough resolution to print. In that case, you can choose another photo, or reduce it's size on the page, or choose more than one photo on the page, thereby reducing it's size.



ADD EVENTS
In this step, you need to add events like birthdays and anniversaries by hand, one at a time. IN the old app, it imported your events from your Apple Calendar. Not anymore. It would be nice if you could easily add them all in the events sidebar, but you are required to open each month, double click on the day, then add your even in a pop up box. This needs to be streamlined.

ORDER
Click the button to order a calendar for $19.99. Once in the order entry screen you add shipping details and then you can increase your quantity if you want.

I'm excited to continue to have this calendar creation feature available from Apple. Last year I tried a few other options the the size was too small, and the paper quality wasn't as good. One thing to note, I received immediate answers to my questions via messaging with Mimeo Photos product support.

HAPPY 2019!

TACONIC, A Kimpton Hotel, Manchester, Vermont

We loved staying at the TACONIC hotel in Manchester, Vermont. We were lucky to get the last room at a walk-in rate during Fall foliage season.

The hotel is a little over two years old, and is a big difference between the many historic B&B's in the area. If you are looking for first class accommodations and service, the Kimpton Taconic Hotel is for you.



They have an afternoon beer and wine social hour from 5 - 6 pm. We took our drinks outside and sat by the fire pit. It was a lovely evening.

The Copper Grouse tavern is located inside the hotel. Make sure you make a reservation in the busy season. We didn't, so we drove down the street to Season's restaurant and had a nice meal at the bar.

Located nearby is the Orvis Flagship Store.



A popular place for breakfast nearby is Up For Breakfast. Plan on a wait.


Across the street is cute shopping at Spring & Harbor.



Manchester has been known as a destination for outlet shopping, but that's changing, and you can find more locally owned stores around.

From their website:

A new jewel among Manchester VT hotels
Welcome to Kimpton Taconic Hotel, a Kimpton boutique hotel that brings to mind grand leisure inns of days past, while artfully bringing to life all your modern hospitality whims. Surrounded by mountains in this picturesque village, Kimpton Taconic offers couples, families and wedding parties a free-spirited take on a New England escape that’s both classic and highly curated to your preferences. Call it quintessential Vermont with a fresh twist.


"Best Of Vermont 2018"
- Yankee Magazine

"Best Hotels in Vermont, 2018"
- US News & World Report

Amenities + Services
- Morning coffee and organic tea service in the Living Room
- Nightly manager-hosted evening social hour from 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- On-site boutique featuring seasonal, handcrafted collections.
- Seasonal heated pool perfect for adults and children
- A yoga mat in every guest room and yoga mat roll-out service available upon request
- In-Room spa services for private, full-service day spa services
- 24-hour state-of-the-art fitness center
- “Forgot It? We Got It!” for forgotten essential travel items, available upon request
- IHG® Rewards Club members get complimentary high-speed WiFi throughout the hotel during every stay

- IHG® Rewards Club members receive a $30 spa credit at participating hotels

- The IHG® Rewards Club Elite welcome amenity is a $10 bar credit
- Pet-friendly accommodations free of weight and size restrictions and no additional fees

Nearby is the Weston Playhouse. We saw a great play, Two Trains Running, with NYC actors, including my friend Guiesseppe Jones.

How To Restore iPhone iOS deleted App ICONS from your iPhone

The most recent iPhone iOS update deleted Instagram, Messenger, and Twitter ICONS from my iPhone.

The Apps are still there. No icons.



You USED to be able to go into Mac OS iTunes to rearrange your iPhone icons, but Apple removed that feature.

ONE FIX
Now you have to use an App called Apple Configurator 2, but that requires the most recent Mac OS, which isn’t compatible with my 2011 MacBook Air.

Apple broke this.

They need to fix it.

SECOND FIX
One way around this is to delete apps from your iPhone, power off, then power on the iPhone.



It took me three tries, but after I deleted enough apps, the missing icons came back.

Then I moved them back to my first page.

How To: Printing My Mom's Blog as a Book Using Blog2Print and Amazon Createspace

My mom, Millie Garfield is one of the internet's oldest bloggers. Her blog is My Mom's Blog.

She's been blogging since 2003. I printed an earlier collection of her blog posts from Oct 2003 to June 2008 using Blurb.


My Mom's Blog on blurb.
Size Small Square, 7×7 in, 18×18 cm
404 Pages
Publish Date Jul 10, 2008

This time I used blog2print to print the rest of her posts from July 2008 to Sept 2017.

It was was easy enough to get started by choosing the blogging platform, and entering in the URL of her blog.



Next you choose the range of blog posts you want to include in the book, and choose your formatting.



Then all you do to create the book is click on the button, CREATE MY BOOK.

Once the book is generated you can choose to purchase a printed version, or a PDF. In this case, I went with PDF because I wanted to submit my book to Amazon Createspace, where I can sell it online.

Here is the pricing:



Here’s the basic pricing structure:

A soft cover book with full color pages is $19.95 for 20 pages (additional pages are $0.32 each)
A standard laminate hard cover book with full color pages is $34.95 for 20 pages (additional pages are $0.32 each)
A deluxe hard cover book including dust jacket with full color pages is $37.95 for 20 pages (additional pages are $0.32 each)
A digital PDF download is $8.95

Here's a snapshot of a page as printed to PDF by blog2print.



This is really great. Perfect for printing. Except for the fact that, in this case, my mom's book was going to be 466 pages, and at that size, the page numbers were going to be cut off by the binding. After submitting this PDF to Amazon createspace I got an error notifying me of this.



So at this point I had to call in my book publishing friend, J. Bruce Jones, Bruce the Book Guy, who's business it is to help people self-publish.

He suggested that I reduce the size of my book from 8 1/2 X 11 to 8 X 10, thereby cutting off the footing where the offending page numbers existed. That worked.

Note: I contacted blog2print to see if they could regenerate my book without the footer nad page numbers, but they told me that it was hard coded and that there was no way to do it.

After submitting this revised PDF to Amazon createspace, along with a cover that I designed using their cover creator, I had my book approved for printing a proof.

You can get a virtual proof before ordering a hard copy.

Here's what the virtual proof looks like.



It all worked out with no footer. I also got an image that some of my images were not 300 dpi, but they are good enough at their resolution. In my last book I worried about createspace flagging image resolution, but learned to ignore those warnings. If after getting the printed proof, some images didn't look right, at that point I could swap them out.

I ordered a hard copy proof, and here's how it came out.

Cover:



Inside:

Ring Video Doorbell Pro Installation

I replaced our original Ring Video Doorbell with the newer model, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. I upgraded because the Ring Video Doorbell Pro gives you the ability to custom design the motion zones. We are on a street that gets a lot of trucks driving by, and they kept setting off the motion detector. It was so annoying, the we just shut off motion detection all together.

REQUIREMENTS: POWER and STRONG WiFi
I also had some electrical upgrades done to the house, and the power to my doorbell was disconnected when our old intercom system was removed. At least I think that was the cause. I noticed it when the original Ring Video Doorbell started running on battery power. This was ok for a while, until the battery started only lasting one week, and then it was a pain to remove it from the wall and charge it each week.

POWER
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro doesn't have a battery, so I had Kuhlman Electrical Services run a new doorbell wire from my breaker box to the front door, install a more powerful transformer (Requires a 16-24 VAC transformer), and put the doorbell on it's own breaker where it should be.

WiFi
I also have an Orbi wireless system, providing a strong enough WiFi signal to my front door. Requires a minimum upload speed of 1Mbps, but 2Mbps is recommended for optimal performance.

INSTALLATION

Connecting the ring doorbell


Testing the power.

INSTALLED


The newer version is slimmer. Some specs:

1080p HD Video With Two-Way Talk with noise cancellation
Custom Motion Zones
Infrared Night Vision
Video on Demand With Live View
Compatible With iOS, Android, Mac and Windows 10 Devices
Includes 4 Interchangeable Faceplates
Dimensions: 4.50 in. x 1.85 in. x .80 in.
Field of View: 160 Degrees

SETTING UP A MOTION ZONE


To set up a motion zone you adjust the polygon to cover the area you want the ring doorbell to sense motion. This is working great for us. No more false alerts.

You can also adjust motion sensitivity and set up a schedule.



WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RING™ VIDEO DOORBELL DETECTS MOTION?

Ring Video Doorbell can detect motion up to 30 feet away from the device. When motion is detected, you will instantly receive a push notification on your smartphone, tablet and PC, letting you know that there’s activity on your property. If you answer the alert, the Ring app will open, and you can access live footage of the activity. If you have an optional Ring Video Recording Plan, all motion-triggered events and Doorbell presses are automatically recorded and saved to your Ring account for up to 60 days. This footage can then be viewed instantly at any time on the Ring app or by logging into your account at Ring.com.

Note: There's also a buffer that records just before the motion is detected, and that gets saved to your recording.


Click this link to see an example recording.

10 MINUTES
After installation I noticed that motion events would be recorded for 10 minutes. I had this clarified by support. They said:

Every time you answer an event, the app takes you to Live View mode, and every Live View session would last for exactly 10 minutes.

But if you don't answer an event and ignore pop-ups, the length of such recording will be 60 seconds by default.

For example, if you answer a motion event, you might have missed seeing the activity, and there is no way to scrub back on the live video. So you have to wait until the event stops recording, 10 Minutes, to see what triggered it, buy watching the recorded video.

If you hear a motion event, and do not answer it, you can then play it back after 60 seconds, or less, to see what triggered the event.

Alternatively, when you get a motion alert, you can watch using Live Mode, and see if you can catch what's happening. Then you can quit live mode, and go watch the short video that was recorded when triggered by the motion alert, to see what triggered the event.

OUT OF SYNC
The syncing of video and audio isn't quite perfect. I am told that they are working on improving this. We are not shooting for an Emmy award here, so it's not that big of a deal.

Protected by ring

Image: ring sticker on front door

BUY ON AMAZON (affiliate link, click through to see current price)

Fort Hill Brewery, Easthampton, MA

Fort Hill Brewery

Address:

30 Fort Hill Rd (81.14 mi)
Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027

Crafting quality lagers and ales with a focus on traditional German brewing techniques in Easthampton, MA since 2014.
In 2010, after attending the Siebel Institute for brewing, Eric began looking for a location for his new brewery. He visited over 60 different sites, but all were tainted by levels of contamination. Refusing to put the quality of his future brews in jeopardy, he looked west, considering locations in Southampton, Three Rivers, Palmer, and Easthampton. He ultimately settled on a former hay field in Easthampton at the base of Mount Tom, located on Fort Hill Road.

Why Easthampton? The water.

Per the German purity law, water is one of only four main ingredients that go into our beer. We strive to use the highest quality ingredients in our beer, and the water was no exception. Easthampton’s water comes from the Barnes Aquifer system, a complex of several productive aquifers extending about twelve miles underground. In 2015, Easthampton won the gold medal for best tasting water in the 16th annual Great American Water Taste Test. We like to think better water means better beer, and we think you’ll agree.

Finding the right location was just the beginning. In November 2012, Fort Hill Brewery rose under the watchful eye of Mount Tom. Construction went on for two years before the first beer, an Oktoberfest, was released in 2014. The same month, Fort Hill Brewery opened its doors to the public, offering tastings, tours, and growlers, as we continue to do a year later today.

Abandoned Building Brewery, Easthampton, MA.

Abandoned Building Brewery, Easthampton, MA.

http://abandonedbuildingbrewery.com/

Address:
142 Pleasant Street, Easthampton, MA 01027

Lots of IPAs here!

New City Brewery, Easthampton, MA

New City Brewery

Address:
180 Pleasant St, Easthampton, MA 01027

We’re a small brewery dedicated to making hand-crafted alcoholic ginger beer. Our brewery is housed in a late 1800’s mill building set in historic Easthampton, MA. We strive to make great beer that speaks to the excellence of character of the region we represent. Proudly located in the rolling hills of Western Massachusetts, we consider ourselves revivalists, returning pre-prohibition style ginger beer to the people one bottle at a time.

Mill 180 Park

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Address:
125 W Bay Rd, Amherst, MA 01002

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is a museum devoted to the art of the picture book and especially the children's book. It is a member of Museums10 and is adjacent to the campus of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, Massachusetts

Yiddish Book Center
1021 West St
Amherst, Massachusetts

The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture.
Since our founding in 1980, we’ve rescued more than a million Yiddish books. But that was just the beginning: our priority now is to advance knowledge of the content and literary and cultural progeny of the books we’ve saved. We do that in many ways:
Our educational programs include graduate fellowships and courses for high school students, college students, teachers, and adult learners.
Our translation initiative includes a fellowship to train new Yiddish-to-English translators and publishing projects that bring this great literature to new audiences.
Our Wexler Oral History Project is a growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories offer a rich, complex chronicle of Jewish identity.
The world's first Yiddish museum, we're home to permanent and visiting exhibits.
We offer a full calendar of public programs, such as films, talks, family events, and concerts, including the annual Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music.
We publish an English-language magazine, Pakn Treger, with news from the Center and features on Yiddish and Jewish literature and culture. You can also follow the latest news at Heft (Notebook) and on Facebook, Twitter (@YiddishBookCtr), and Instagram (yiddish_book_center).

The Center is open Sunday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Public tours are offered Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.