I really hate bad news

I guess I am not the only one that doesn't like bad news. Anyhow, last week while we were walking back from the waterfalls in Mindo I slipped and fell backwards. Right onto my camera case. I didn't think I had fallen so hard so I never bothered to check my camera. However, it did suffer and I cracked the LED display. So, why stress over that. It still takes photos and the worst of it is that I can't see the battery level. I think I can work around everything else.

Almost a week has gone by and now suddenly I can't upload photos to my iPad which is what I travel with. I don't know if this is at all related and I have not given up yet, but until we get back to the boat, I won't know if the problem is with my iPad or with the connection with my camera. Which means, no picture until I get that sorted out.

We just arrived to Otavalo and will spend the day hiking a volcano. Next blog will give a few more details about our last few days adventures and with some luck, a few photos. Fingers crossed.

My Favourite Apps for iPad

Ever since my Mac conked out on me, I have been totally devoted to my iPad. I have the original version and it is now 2 1/2 years old. This little guy has traveled with me all over the world, sits by my bed at night, goes on road trips and accompanies me in the kitchen.

I have always loved my iPad, but now that I have had the luxury of time to explore it's functionality and the apps, I am even more enamored with it. Apps are amazing things and there are some really good ones out there.

Travel Apps:

• Maps: One of my all time favorites is the Map app that comes with the iPad. Who needs a GPS anymore? It takes me where I need to go in any city in the world. I can get a walking route and a driving driving route between two places and it will tell me how long it will take to get there. I've checked out Routebuddy Atlas, which is cool, but I still prefer Maps. When we're sailing I like to use my GPS Data App which give me our GPS location, current speed, average speed and altitude (which I always hope will be zero!!!). I downloaded this one to give me the accurate GPS location for registering my pictures in iPhoto
• Conversions: I always use iCurrencyPad for foreign exchange, Calculator+ to help me add 2+2 when my brain just won't function, and Converter to convert feet to meters, etc. which comes in real handy as it also converts obscure things such as nautical miles to kilometers (which, by the way one nautical mile is 1.852 km or for my American friends 1.15078 miles...hah did you know that???).
• I have downloaded the Trip Advisor App from Expedia which is quite useful to help find nearby restaurants and hotels. Not a huge fan, but it has come in handy. We use Expedia a lot to book flights and hotels.

Cooking:

• My favorite cooking App is Epicurious. This had been a favorite website for recipes for me long before they came out with an App. Now I have the App and my favorite recipes are at a finger's touch. Surprisingly, there are still relatively few recipe books for eReaders

Entertainment Apps:

• My all time favorite besides Angry Birds, is TuneIn Radio. It is just so heartwarming for me to be able to listen to my favorite radio stations from back home. Hearing the weather reports and listening to the news and just hearing that wonderful Canadian accent makes me happy. Ah, home again.
• Yes, I love Angry Birds. There is something strangely satisfying about killing pigs with birds. I don't know why and please don't ask me to discuss with a phsychiatrist. Just accept that we all are a little weird sometimes. Gravity is also fun and of course I have the standard games - mahjong, sudoku, crossword and solitaire.

Social stuff:

• Of course I use Facebook, don't we all these days. The App for iPad is great. Easy to use and lets me upload photos from my iPad. Although I have recently downloaded the iLoader App to help me with that.
• Skype helps us with calling home. It is a very inexpensive solution for calls, but is not always so reliable unless the Internet connection is really, really good.
• Messages: I like this one a lot. I can text people like you would on your cell phone. Cool! Considering I don't have a cell phone anymore :(.

An example of a photo I took after using the MySketch App

Creativity:

• Ok, I am not the most creative person around, but I do like to pretend once in a while. For my photos I use PS Express to crop and do some simple stuff. It's an easy to use App and you don't need to be a professional to use this one. For those in the business this is a dumbed down version of Adobe Photoshop.
• Other Apps that I like to play with are My Sketch, Paper and SketchBook Pro. I used SketchBook Pro to create our journey map. You can draw over photos, which is kind of cool, and do other creative stuff.
• And for a little browsing, virtual shopping and reinvention, decorating and home projects, I like Houzz. It is like reading every interior design magazine available but without the boring articles. Check it out.

Ah, yes...the world of Apps. Always new ones coming in, better than ever. It's like a candy store without calories.

My name is Evelyn Rasmussen, and I'm an Internet junkie

Ok. I can't hide it any longer. Jens is on to me. Living together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is impossible to keep secrets and even more impossible to hide our bad habits and vices.
I didn't realize it before, because having a full time job meant that you were always on the internet, available by cell phone and just generally 'plugged in'. Since we started cruising, we had to give up our beloved cell phones because what we would have spent on roaming costs would have been enough money to buy a small country! We could have had wifi via satellite service on the boat, but that too was beyond our budget.
During the past five months we have had intermittent wifi and OMG sometimes even NO WIFI!!! Jens laughs when the first thing I do when we are getting ready to find a place to anchor is to pull out my iPad and check for internet connections. I have actually suggested anchoring spots based on the signal strength of free wifi. No wifi, let's keep going!
There is nothing more frustrating than a weak signal. In Curaçao, we had wifi from the boat but it was such a weak signal, you had to hold the iPad up and in a certain direction to get anything. So, we made several trips in Squirt to the Fisherman's wharf where the signal strength was good.
On arrival to Aruba, of course one of the first things I did was check for wifi. Lucky for me, there was a strong signal and for a reasonable weekly fee, I have access to all the Internet browsing I can use. Jens is now complaining that I am spending too much time with my iPad. :(
Yes, I love the Internet. I love being able to look things up, plan trips, book tickets, talk to family and friends whenever I want to, and sometimes just browse. I admit, I am an Internet junkie!
So, what are Jens' bad habits and secret vices. Well, you'll have to stay tuned to hear about those. For now, I have to get back to Facebook, Skype, Hotmail, Gmail, and my new discovery, Messenger for iPad.