A Stocking Stuffer

Got my first Christmas stocking stuffer early. Surprise!

I now have a subscription to the Yakima-Herald Republic. Wow, now I will be able to tell what is going on in the area. Not that I always have time to read it, but that's another issue. We have been without a subscription since returning from France a few years ago...

Time to get with it.

This is what I learned today:

the Seahawks are playing today
a local church collected over 60 bears for the fire department
retailers are working hard to gain our money
acts of kindness are occurring throughout the nation
people still believe in Santa
our service men and women are still recovering from the war
there is only 1 day until Christmas
it will be 22 tonight
congress passes a payroll tax cut
a nativity picture is behind a local pastor, but Santa is all over the place
yarn bombing is a big hit
the presidential race wars are on
people die, babies are born
shoppers are out of control over some items
there are many, many things for sale

The list goes on. Kind of hard to find good news! There is much to be read in a newspaper. Take it all with a few grains of salt.

"A Daily Part of Your Life."
(sub-heading for the Yakima-Herald Republic)

I Broke It

Used my new kindle off and on almost all day yesterday. It's not even a month old yet. Just finishing up my second book and playing some dictionary/crossword game (it was free from Amazon).

My kindle is so convenient, especially as we drove for about 12 hours yesterday. I finished one book just as we made it home. Quickly, while my man unloaded our package, I ordered the next book in the Inheritance series (one more review read to go, then on to the finale). Turned off the kindle as he got back in the van and headed home. Put my kindle away until later. That was it.

Fast forward to bedtime. Grabbed the kindle to start the new book. Crash. Nothing happened. Flashy green light and then nothing. Tried again. Same thing. Dread filled my head. I did not buy the PROTECT YOUR KINDLE extra warranty stuff.

First try. I went ahead and charged my kindle again. At last reading, I had over 3/4 of battery power left. But maybe something weird happened. It was still charging when I went to bed. In the middle of the night, the light was totally off, so I unplugged it until morning.

Immediately checked my kindle when I woke up. Pushed the on button. Nothing. Same flashy light and off. Dread, dread, DREAD! Did not want to think about returning and the run around sure to follow when dealing with an electronic item.

Booted up the computer and thought I would try first off with the web site. As I checked my account, I was slightly frightened by how much tracking of my personal stuff is allowed...shudder.

Finally found the trouble shooting spot for kindles. First choice - frozen kindle. That sounded like it could be it.

"Hold on button for 20 seconds and then the system will reboot."

I did it. Held the button down, even timed it. Let go and watched my kindle reboot and come back to me! Yay!

It might be a silly thing to pray for, but I was praying that my kindle would get back to working order without shipping, long phone calls, long wait times, and possible charges for repair.

What a thank you, Jesus!

Now you know. Hold the start button for 20 seconds. Let go and WAIT. Don't touch anything else. It works.

I Did It!

I have a Kindle.

I never thought I would go that route, but boy am I enjoying the light weight carry-around as I read through the Christopher Paolini Inheritance books to catch up (remind myself of the plot line, characters, problems, etc.) before I read the newest release of the ending of the series. I love BIG books, but holding on to them...well, it can be challenging.

Not so with my Kindle. I have the touch screen, which is very difficult to work when I am falling asleep and trying to turn the page the old fashioned way, but usually I don't have any problems. Once I memorized which way to touch or swipe my fingers to go where I wanted -forward, backward, last chapter, next chapter, menu - it's quite simple. And so light weight.

The font is adjustable, the choices are unlimited for now, as far as books, the simplicity of ordering and downloading is amazing. I think it would be a good fit for people who need larger print, like my mother-in-law. I have even discovered a very fun word game that was free from Amazon. Not that I want to become hooked on games on my Kindle. No time for that...well, maybe just 5 minutes...

My favorite feature may be the light weight, compact size, especially for travel.

Now. If only I had a trip planned.