Where did the Winter Go?

This post was written by Colleen Easley on June 1, 2009

Can you believe it’s the 1st of June already?

My winter came and went pretty much as usual.  Went up to Alaska in March to volunteer for the Iditarod again.  I’ve been doing that since 1995.  We’ve been continuing with the Friday homeschool program for three of our grand children.  They have learned a lot and have produced a couple videos for YouTube about current events.  You can check them out at YouTube.com.  We’ve also taught the kids to swim pretty well on Friday nights at the YMCA pool.

This spring we took a couple fun road trips with the grand kids.  First we went on a loop from Olympia, WA south to Vancouver, WA and then west to the Oregon coast to fly kites and wade in the ocean surf.  We spent the second night at Astoria, OR and toured the Lewis and Clark exhibits at Fort Clatsop National Park.  Last weekend we took a loop north to Steven’s Pass, Hwy 2 and east over the Cascade Mountains to Leavenworth and then south to Yakima and over Highway 410, Chinook Pass to return to western Washington.  The weather was beautiful as was the scenery.  We fit in a couple short hikes and lots of swimming time in the outdoor pool at our Leavenworth Hotel.  Temperatures climbed to 92 degrees in eastern Washington.

This week I’m leaving for my 16th summer as a tour guide in Alaska.  I was packing up my stuff today and came across something one of my tour members had shared with me last year.  It defines success based on age.  Hope you’ll enjoy it!  It sure gave me a chuckle!

Success is. . .

At age 4 success is not peeing in your pants.

At age 12 success is having friends.

At age 16 success is having a driver’s license.

At age 25 success is having sex when married.

At age 35 success is having money.

At age 50 success is having money.

At age 60 success is having sex when married.

At age 70 success is having a driver’s license.

At age 75 success is having friends.

At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants.

And so it is that life goes full circle!

I doubt I’ll find time during the tour season in Alaska to write any blog posts, but if anything really exciting happens, I’ll do my best!

Here are some pictures of our two oldest grand children enjoying our last road trip over the mountains to Leavenworth.

Grandparents Can Help with Schooling

This post was written by Colleen Easley on February 3, 2009

Dale and I are grandparents to seven children.  Two of them live in Anchorage, Alaska and attend public schools.  The other five live near us in Tenino, WA and are home schooled by our daughter.  As you can imagine, schooling five kids is a tremendous challenge.  To remove some of the burden, we are now taking the three older kids on Fridays/Saturdays for schooling with the use of computers, swimming lessons, and some other special outings.  (They only have a very antiquated computer and dial-up Internet at home.)

For Christmas we bought them three Acer Apire One netbook computers to be used only for “school” at our house.  Someday they’ll be able to take them home, but for now they’re safer at our house.  Friday classes started the first week of January, 2009.  As I began to prepare for what to teach the kids when they arrived, I found an abundance of free on-line games and activities that teach basic learning and life skills.  Typing was going to be a big priority, and I knew they were weak in their math facts, so I started there.

For typing, our favorite has become Dance Mat Typing.  The game uses flash animation to take the kids through the basics of learning touch typing and they have fun while doing it.  It is geared for kids ages 7 - 11, but our 13 year old is enjoying it too.  There are lots of other free typing programs available on-line, but Dance Mat is a good place to start.  For basic typing skills without all the graphics, we also downloaded a free program for use off-line called Kid’s Typing Skills.

To strengthen their math skills I also found many free on-line games.  But the absolute best for learning the multiplication facts is a program I downloaded directly to the computers called TimezAttack from BigBrainz.com.   It came with many good reviews, so I took a chance on the free version. I still can’t believe that BigBrainz gives this basic program away for free.  It has all the teaching ability of the full paid version.  Children will learn the 2-times table through the 12-times table.  But with the free version the “cricket” character will be forever running around in the same dungeon.  I noticed my grand kids were starting to get a little less enthusiastic about playing it by the time they got to the 5-times level.  But they enjoyed it so much and were learning their tables so well that this week I upgraded to the full paid version to reward them for their progress.  The full version will give them more interesting and challenging “environments” to explore. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when all of a sudden they find their character in a different environment!

One thing I really like about TimezAttack is that it will continue to drill on the facts that the child is weak in and he/she won’t pass a level until it’s certain they know all the facts for that level.  But unlike boring flash cards, they have to fight off an ugly ogre, robot or dragon by typing the answers to his math questions in order to advance through the environment.  This adds excitement and challenges the kids in ways that rote memorization from flash cards just can’t do.

If you have grade school age children or grandchildren, I highly recommend you give the free version a try.  But if you’re like me, you’ll want to upgrade to the full version so your kids can experience the full graphic effects of the different environments.  (I recommend you upgrade before they get to level 4 as that’s when the new environments start to appear.)  This game’s graphics are a work of art in themselves, but it’s the teaching strategies that it employs that makes it work.

What’s the Take Away?

Kids in school are learning computer skills at a faster pace than we older folks could ever have imagined.  But some children may be left behind if they are home schooled in a home without an adequate computer system and Internet connection.  Even though my husband and I are past working in the competitive job market, we recognize the importance of getting our grand kids up to speed on computers.  In addition to typing and math, we’ve expanded out to include spelling, current events, science, music, and physical education - all using the free resources we’ve been able to find on the Internet.  We hope our experiences will help others to explore the free resources available on-line.

Give a Meaningful Gift this Christmas

This post was written by Colleen Easley on December 10, 2008

Each year Dale and I contribute 5% of the gross earnings that we receive from our home business - EasyCall Communications - to Mercy Corps.  For 29 years, Mercy Corps has been working in countries where communities are recovering from disaster, conflict or economic collapse.  Their mission statement: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.

Last year we started a new tradition in our family by directing our donation to the purchase of various Mercy Kits in the names of our 7 grandchildren.  Each child was invited to review the types of “kits” available and make their own choice.  Several choose “goat kits” because they raise goats themselves.  Our grandson who loves bugs, chose the “beehive kit.”  Depending on the cost of a kit, some were able to purchase several kits.

As we contemplate the economy this year, we realize that there is very little we all really need, yet there is so much need in other parts of the world.  We are thankful to be in the position of being able to again purchase Mercy Kits to help others around the world.

Last weekend we were taking two of our grandchildren on an outing.  On the way the kids told us about their mom giving $2 to a “houseless” man with a sign that was standing on a street corner. It apparently made a very big impression on them and was likely the first time they realized there actually were homeless people right here among us.

Our trip was going to include a ride on the Santa Train in Tacoma. Our grandchildren have never believed in Santa Claus, but they still find him amusing, so I asked them both what they would ask Santa for.  The 4 year old girl asked for a pony - of course!  But the 9 year old surprised me in that he had no ideas.  He said he thought he had everything he needed.  He ended up telling Santa that he wanted for all the poor people to have enough food.  Wow - what a heart of gold at such a young age!  Santa said he wanted to keep him!

You just can’t have Christmas with children without having some gifts to open, but like last year, we will be channeling our resources towards Mercy Kits in the kids’ names.  Each child will receive a gift card that tells them a little bit about the kit that was purchased in their names.

The Mercy Kit project not only helps those in developing counties, but it is also an excellent tool for getting children involved and educating them to the needs of others.  The economy may be bad this year, but I believe it has opened people’s hearts beyond measure to help those who are not so fortunate.  I think it’s because we can more easily see just how “wealthy” we are when we have the basic necessities of life when others are struggling just to feed and cloth their families.

Mercy Corps is not the only organization to make an impact, but it an organization I know I can trust to manage our donations responsibly.  Other options would include World Vision and Heifer International. Other related sites I’ve found recently are In Lieu of a Gift which allows you to send party invitations with a request for a donation to the charity of your choice in lieu of a gift, and Gaiam fair trade shopping options that allow you to purchase artisanal crafts as gifts or for yourself while empowering craftspeople to preserve their rich cultural traditions and create better lives for their families and communities.

What’s the take away?

Holiday shopping does not have to be extravagent and stressful.  By giving a charitable gift in someone’s name, you can spread holiday cheer beyond our borders and gain a sense of well being unatainable in material gifts.

The Option Quicksilver USB Modem Review

This post was written by Colleen Easley on November 29, 2008

Mobile Internet Just got Easier

Dale and I operate an Internet based business (EasyCall Communications), but we also like to travel.  The dilemma has always been how to get on-line to get email, update web pages or look up rates for customers who call while we’re away from our home office.  WiFi enabled laptops was a solution when we could get to a hot-spot, but the likelihood of a customer calling while we were near a hot-spot was slim.

For a couple years we’ve been considering a laptop card that would give us Internet where ever we had cellular coverage, but it was a bit of a daunting task to decide which device would serve us best.  We are currently AT&T cellphone customers, so we opted for AT&T as our network, and after much study and review, we finally decided on the Option Quicksilver USB Modem.

The Quicksilver supports high-speed data connectivity anywhere within the AT&T coverage area.  It is compatible with both AT&T 3G high speed broadband connect and nationwide EDGE data networks.  We are Mac users, so it was important that any card we chose be Mac compatible.  The Quicksilver works with Windows 2000 Pro, Personal and XP Home/Pro, Vista, and Mac OS.

The Quicksilver is one of the smallest HSPA-capable devises available.  It weighs only 1.2 ounces, and uses the new Icera Livanto chipset, which handles GSM/GPRS/EDGE/3G data.  Speeds will vary depending on networks.  It gives 70 to 135 kpbs downloads on an EDGE network and 700 kpbs to 1.7 Mbps downloads on HSPA.

Besides being small and lightweight, another feature we like is that it has a four position click mechanism for its swiveling cap design - there is no protective cap to lose.  It is plug and play with the automatic installation of the AT&T Communication Manager software.  Currently the Quicksilver ships with only the Windows software, so Mac users will need to download the software from the AT&T website.  One problem you might encounter if you’re a Mac user like us, is that the instructions say to leave the “APN” field blank on the Mac software.  Doing that you’ll be unable to connect.  You should put - isp.cingular - as the APN with no user-name or password and that will solve the issue.

Perhaps the best part about getting the Quicksilver is that you can get it for FREE with a two year data contract from AT&T.  The data plan will cost you $60 per month, but the freedom to be productive while away from your office is priceless.

We’re just not the stay at home kind of people.  We’re semi-retired and as such, we want the freedom to travel, go camping, and spend time with our family.  But running an Internet based business often complicates our plans.  If you’re finding yourself in a similar position, consider getting a wireless laptop card for your your computer and gain the freedom to log-on anywhere you have cellular service.  To review all available laptop wireless modems, visit EasyCall Cellular and choose ‘Air Card’ from the ‘Phone Type’ menu on the right.

Scale Back on Business Travel with AccuConference

This post was written by Colleen Easley on May 21, 2008

The number of corporations scaling back air travel spending this year continues to grow. The investment firm, USB conducts a twice-annual survey that looks at corporate air travel spending. Results this month show that of 80 companies surveyed, 42% said their companies are reducing air expenses this year compared to last. That figure is up 26% from the October 2007 results.

The high cost of fuel has forced the airlines to take drastic actions to reduce costs. Just today American Airlines announced that it plans to reduce overall capacity and add a new fee for coach customers to check their first piece of luggage. Many airlines are already charging a fee for a second piece of luggage.

Higher ticket prices coupled with additional fees are pushing airline travel out of the reach of many small businesses. Yet these companies still have the need to communicate with clients and colleagues in different parts of the world.

The time to learn about Teleconferencing is NOW!

Today there is technology available to replace almost every aspect of the face-to-face meeting. It has been estimated that by utilizing a teleconference instead of taking a two day business trip and travel six hundred miles you will save two thousand dollars or more in total travel costs.

AccuConference technology coupled with the Internet or just your phone connection enables you to:

• Eliminate travel time and expenses
• Improve productivity
• Collaborate on business proposals in real time
• Easily and instantly exchange information with your associates around the world

With the AccuConference International Outdial feature, participants from around the world can be brought into your conferences at very reasonable rates. Add a PowerPoint presentation via the web or full face-to-face video conferencing and it’s almost like being in the same room with your associates at only a fraction of the cost of an actual meeting.

If you’re new to the idea of conferencing, but know it’s time to make it part of your business communication, AccuConference is ready to help. Our user friendly interface coupled with stellar customer service will get you on the right track for enhancing your communication without breaking your budget. Our system is reservationless, so when you want to start a conference call you just pick up the phone and dial. No extra equipment is required.

Learn more about AccuConference at http://www.aBetterConferenceCall.com or call 800.730.0626 for more information. Download the Whitepaper – Do’s and Don’ts for Participants at Your Next Conference Call