GOOGLE 101: Was There Life Before Search Engines?

   If there is anybody who is not sure about how to use a search engine, here is a quick course.

   We’ll use Google for our purposes because it is so popular that it became a verb for searching on the internet. So, instead of saying you are doing a search, you can just say,

   “I’ll Google that!”

   You should, of course, have a shortcut on your computer for www.google.com. You just click on that and there is a space for you to type the words relevant to what you are looking for.

   This week, we made a few telephone calls to find a canopy for our booth at the Angel of Joy Fall Festival. We came up dry for what we thought we wanted.

   So, I went to Google and put in the words:

   “Outdoor canopy, 12 x 12.”

   Eventually, I found that a better size to find would be 10 x 10. I found that in my town, they could be had at Academy, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and K-Mart. Then, I added the words, “under $50.”

   Hubby purchased exactly what we want yesterday at K-Mart for $39.95.

   Now, it does not always have to be something to buy!

   The other day at Joe’s Italian Restaurant, our server’s name was Lola. Keith mentioned to me about that being an old-fashioned name which led to the song, “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets”.

   I am a trivia nut, so I started to wonder where that song came from.

   “Damn Yankees – Gwen Verdon!”

   Hubby was a little skeptical, but of course, I came home to Google it. When you think you know the answer, you can just put it in and you will know if you are correct.

    Was there life before Google – well, yes! When I was a kid, there was a huge Set of Book of Knowledge on the living room shelves. Every time I would look up something, I would come across something else that was interesting. I always spent a long time finding my facts.

   One Friday night at Scrapbooking, a lady seemed surprised that I knew how to Google. (Perhaps she was teasing me?) Everyone should know how to find information quickly. Sometimes, I use it to find how long to cook something, or to refresh my memory about something in Toronto.

   By the way, when you are searching for something, you can just hit the ENTER button after inputting the words. If there are a huge amount of results, then refine your search a little more. Add a place or a date or a time period.

   In addition to Google, there is Yahoo, Ask.com, Dogpile,com, Alta Vista, and many others.

   Search engines have been around since the early 90s and that is exactly how I found widownet.org. I simply typed the word “widow”. Some of the results included information on spiders too but I knew I was looking for a Texas Hubby, so it was easy to see where to click!

   Sorry, I just thought everybody knew how to do this. It is a really useful skill! 

Be Prepared!

Well, the town is busy, some gas pumps are empty, and we’re a bit edgy. Even though people have been evacuated to our area, we ourselves must be prepared as Hurricane Gustav moves toward Texas. As noted yesterday, a big problem here is power outage, causing us to be pretty hot. Police had to be called to Wal-Mart in one town yesterday because chaos broke out at the bottled water display. Could that be why our supermarket has the water outside the front of the store? There must be some humor to this whole event!

One couple has gone up to Dallas to visit their son but I think they will likely be back by Monday. Another, whose home is in a mobile home park are on their way north to their daughter’s. So, they will be missing from church in the morning. Perhaps some out-of-towners will stop in to pray for themselves, their friends and what they left behind.

People from the Texas Gulf Coast are now headed here and the hotels and tourist homes are solidly booked. Some people will be here from Louisiana. So, it’s busy and a little rude out there.

We just came in from dinner at Catfish King and it seemed very loud there. On the loop, people were sort of rude and rushing. So, a good place to be is home.

We have everything we need and we will pray that as the branches fall during the high winds, that nothing falls on our house.

When people told me about gas stations running out of gas last night, I thought of Hubby and me on 9-11. Back then, I was not yet an American citizen and we were headed to Terre Haute, Indiana for Hubby’s college reunion. Hubby is that Engineer that my Daddy always said you needed for just about everything. (Daddy was right about that!)

As we were preparing to leave, we saw on TV what most people saw happening in New York City that day.

There was one specific thought that came to my mind and any of you from Toronto can relate to that thought.

When I was young, Dad always said if there was any threat, we would just get in the car and drive north.

Well, Daddy’s been gone 46 years and if we drive north from Texas, we’re still a long way from Canada’s northland.

So, what I went back for was my passport, because once you are in Indiana, well you could be headed north . . .

As we drove up the interstates, every time we would stop for gas, we would see signs that there was none or long lines of cars.

Long story short, we made it to Terre Haute and the reunion went on as usual.

When we arrived in Terre Haute (“High Land”), we went to the church Hubby attended when he was there and we prayed. And we read Psalm 91.

Although 9-11 is never forgotten, we made it through as did many others.

We will make it though this storm too – with good planning, a little luck and lots of praying.