Category: San Luis Obispo

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More Skyping….

Testing out SKYPING
Testing out SKYPING

Laura and I have skyped with out daughter Karen while she was in Amsterdam and at her home in Tennessee, but we really wanted to test our systems together before Laura met Kristin and Karen in Greece… and hopefully, find time to call ol Dad once in a while. I like to get calls that don’t involve trying to solve long distance issues… but it’s good to get any call sometimes.

So, what was or final ‘acid test’ you might ask? Laura is in Los Angeles International Airport ready to board a plane for Greece and Skyped me! Well, we learned fairly quickly what a big drain on the battery the video was and decided that Laura would have to run it while plugged in over in Greece. Fortunately, she has the plug converters needed for virtually any country… something we also anticipated on a trip years ago to Australia.

Anyway, it doesn’t quite make up for being here and they being THERE… but it’s fun  — in a way — to share the experience in their faces.

Have fun, ladies!

Roger


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Skype me baby, part deux

Here's looking at you kid!
Here's looking at you kid!

Here I am in our little computer room designed as though it is a fast food operation… which means, if you are not bumping into the other person cheek to cheek, well… you have too much room. Let’s just say it is cozy.

With my family often off in far flung places it’s nice to have a way to see and communicate with them. I do remember the old days of video communications that would update a ‘picture’ of the person you were speaking to every 15 seconds… this is far more fun. I still wish that it would show multiple videos than just the one-on-one that is currently available.

I updated to something that has a nice resolution. Isn’t technology fun?

Roger

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it’s fiber muffin time!

the Best whole wheat muffins!
the Best whole wheat muffins!

Okay, I am not big on many high fiber foods. It reminds me too much of chewing on a cereal box! Also, as a child, it also reminds me of those really old people ( over 30) who talked about their operations and how great an effect they had that morning from eating some Brillo pad tasting thing the night before.

Well, good things for you don’t have to taste bad.

I am not going to give a sales pitch on high fiber, just to say that it is helpful to folks who have diabetes, want to lose weight and help remove the various and sundry toxins from their bodies. Let’s just say, it is a good thing. However, if it is such a good thing, why is it that so many high fiber products taste so bad? Well, the reason is rather simple: instead of just adding high fiber ingredients to various recipes, “they” try to make it a ‘health food’… and we know how that tastes! yuck

So, I dabbled with my own muffin. Start off with a basic recipe and begin to tweak it a bit. Add Bulghur Wheat to whole wheat flour ( provides a nice crunch), apple and blueberries and a nice collection of spices. The right spices make all the difference. Remember, it does take a few eggs to make a quality muffin…  but be careful with using nuts as they are a bit caloric and make the muffin a little brittle. These little muffins are just over 100 calories a piece… but you’d never know by tasting them!

So my little muffin makers, bake some up today!

Roger Freberg


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almost apple time in san luis obispo

"let the apple wars begin!"
"let the apple wars begin!"

California has 3 growing seasons for much of what we do and we are entering our second apple producing season here in San Luis Obispo, California and I expect a bumper crop! Now, I have only one producing tree, but it has been shaped to be a mega producer and very unlike the row after row of readily harvested apple trees. In fact, it’s beautiful!

I half expected to find Laura out putting ribbons on the branches she selected as her own… she loves apple sauce and likes to think of the apples as her own … but I suspect that I will be able to make a few pies as well… so it’s going to work out fine this year.

Here’s our apple pie and apple sauce recipes!

Roger Freberg


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How to build a good reputation with social media

Karen giving a Social Media Lecture at Cal Poly
Karen giving a Social Media Lecture at Cal Poly

Our daughter   Karen has always enjoyed the internet beginning with her first ‘Val Kilmer’ fan site  in the 7th grade.  Soon,  her site evolved to a discussion platform for her track and field friends along with publishing a popular web based newsletter. During this time, she encountered many of the troubling issues that face athletes, celebrities and almost everyone who frequents the internet. The same questions came up over and over: how do I make a good reputation?  How do I prevent a bad one from developing?  And How do I get old stuff  ‘off’ that continues to cause problems .

Today, Karen gave a lecture on the impact of social media on reputation management to a Psychology class at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and hoped to answer some of these questions for students. By ‘iclicker’ , she discovered that virtually all of the students were on social media! Consequently, many students find themselves haunted by embarrassing pictures of themselves on the internet and some deeds … well, that they wished others didn’t know about. By example, Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps learned this the hard way.  I am told, Karen offered helpful advice.

It was something to think about…

Roger Freberg

(too bad Cal Poly administrators weren’t around to listen)