Touristy Kona

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Kona Hawaii

Royal Kona from the ocean

Royal Kona from the ocean

Kona Hawaii is often referred to as the dry side of the Big Island. Then you hear that the tourists like it because it’s sunny. What I noticed first was that there are resorts, shops and restaurants everywhere along Alii Dr. Parking, if present at all, is at a premium.  Walking or taking a trolley is the preferred method of getting around here. (With my bad back the walking was a problem) It reminded me of South Beach. Florida. If you recall I didn’t care much for South Beach and I was feeling the same way about Kona. My first day in Kona and I was already missing Sea Mountain. The loyal locals told me it was School Break which was why there were so many kids, families and young adults. I hadn’t even noticed that!

The Royal Kona Resort

When I booked this trip I was told I would be in a hotel room, not a condo. I agreed. I was also told that there were two restaurants. They made it sound like I wouldn’t miss a kitchen at all. Maybe if my name were Trump or Rockefeller. I wasn’t about to spend $22.00 for a breakfast buffet. It wasn’t even that special, just the usual eggs, meat (bacon & sausage,) maybe pancakes or waffles depending on the day. I had spotted a MacDonald’s on my drive in from the airport. Their breakfast was just fine with me and a lot less expensive. On the map above my room  was overlooking the Lagoon Terrace.

Lagoon Terrace

 

The Smoky Aroma of the Imu

As I headed out to retrieve my car I recognized the unmistakable smell of a charcoal fire. The Imu for the luau is right near my room. The staff gets the fire stoked up bright and early so the fire can burn down to coals and the Imu pig be readied for roasting for the luau that night. Good thing I like the smell of charcoal!

Firing up the Imu

 

Back to the Big Island

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The Big Island of Hawaii

After 11 years I’m returning to the Big Island of Hawaii. In many ways the Big Island is Hawaii to me. It’s more rural and it has active volcanoes. It was the first Island of the chain that I ever visited. It was time to see what had changed. And if I tell the truth I wanted to see the lava from Kilauea pouring into the sea. When we made the visit 11 years ago we stayed at Sea Mountain Resort on the wet side of the Island. This time I was staying at the Royal Kona resort in Kona, the dry side of the Island. We had a beautiful condo with a lanai at Sea Mountain. At the Royal Kona Resort I was in a standard hotel room. It had a big bed and the slider to the lanai were covered with sliding wooden panels rather than tacky drapes. 

 

my basic hotel room

Basic Hotel Room

View from the Lanai

I didn’t get to see the view the first night since it was pretty dark by the time I located the resort. They also didn’t quite meet Diamond Resorts standards for service either. But after some pushing and prodding I managed to get a bell hop to assist with my bags. Parking was tough. Although they had a huge lot it was all up hill. The best I could do was to park on the grass next to the tennis courts. I had plenty of company parking there. My room was an ocean view  on the second floor. I could hear the waves crashing on the shore. First thing the next morning I threw open the sliders to the lanai to a gorgeous water view. This was one room that was truly an ocean view.  It was going to be hard to leave the deck to go exploring!

Lagoon surf

Getting Photoshop Back

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Photoshop LogoWhere’s Photoshop

One of the apps that Geek Squad couldn’t help with was Photoshop. The trick with Photoshop is getting the application on a new computer without being charged for the app again. Rather than downloading the app and then fighting with billing for a refund I logged on and went to customer service.

Photoshop Customer Service

The phones are closed on the weekend but they had a “chat option”. I took that. Thus began a very frustrating 1.5 hours. Part of it was my fault. I used a different email address when I originally set up my account than I was telling them. I kept giving the poor rep the wrong information and he/she kept telling me I didn’t have an account. We tried many, many different ways to find it. The credit card was destroyed (It was hacked) I couldn’t remember when the last payment was made and so on. I was more hindrance that help.  Finally I searched my credit card site and Voila! There was the charge. I shared that and they found  my account. Of course they had to give me a gentle slap on the hand for not knowing what email address I used.

Time to be transferred to a new department

The new representative sent me the link to added both Photoshop and Lightroom . He/she assured me that I was not going to be charged. I downloaded the file from the link and got a large zip file. I tried to open it but still couldn’t find the apps. Now I work with zip files all the time at work. I’m not totally computer illiterate but I was stumped. Back to the chat. 

Remote Access Saves The Dayphotoshop twirl

Completely frustrated I gave the chat associate remote access to my computer. I watched as the curser traveled around my desk top. Once the file was opened the download began again. It got hung up at about the halfway point. It was being blocked by my security settings. That issue resolved we began downloading the individual apps. It took a long time but finally I was back in business. All in all between the 2 chat rooms it took 3 hours to get the Photoshop and Lightroom transferred.

I did lose about 5 older files in the process but hopefully they are on a disc someplace in my archives. My fault, not Photoshop’s.

 

Looks Like I’m back in Business

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I’m Back

I’m back online and ready to start sharing stories again. What an adventure this was. I’m still playing the password game. I also found out what happened to my old computer. It wasn’t a virus. It was Windows 10. Somehow the upgrade that I kept refusing managed to slip past me. Once it hit my old computer it was the begining of the end. I watched my old faithful electronic friend die a slow death. I lost files and apps and eventually the on/off functionality.  It was a frustrating and “painful” process.

My New Computer

I settled on a Dell computer this time. It has the same memory as my old one. I purchased it at Best Buy in Mansfield but they only had the floor model in stock. They found another one in stock for me at a Best Buy store in North Attleboro. I went to North Attleboro on that Saturday to pick it up but found out that I had to take it across the store to the Geek Squad section. It hadn’t been set up yet. I haven’t set up a new computer in years and when I did the new one at work last month I had the IT guy right there to handle all the data transfer. My work computer came from our home office with all of the apps installed. I am so spoiled. Anyway I figured I’d have Geek Squad do the same thing for me.

Geek Squad

Years ago I used Geek Squad to set up my computer. I had them come to my home and hook it up too. I hated the job they did and stayed away from them after that but I really didn’t want to deal with the set up this time. I’d set it up at home but with my sick computer holding photos and data I really didn’t want to mess with it. I left my new computer with a copy of a quicken application and the security software and headed home. It took 2 days  and I got a call the computer was ready. Now I disconnected the old one and headed back. If I’d understood the process I’d have given them the old computer the first time but I was still using it (or trying). In another 2 days the data transfer was done from my old computer.

Its finally home

When I finally picked up the new computer I made an appointment so there  was no waiting. The Geek Squad associate set up my computer right there in the store and showed me what was done. We went through all the data transfer so I could confirm it was correct and all there. In all my dealings with them they were professional and respectful. It was an amazingly good experience. Well done Geek Squad! Now I just have to finish downloading the remaining applications and I’ll be back in business.

Thank you!

Thanks to all my followers for hanging in there with me. We’re getting close to having some new and ( I think)  interesting posts…like an erupting volcano! Now if I can just remember all my passwords!

Lava Lake Glow

 

Technical Difficulties

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Technical  Computer issues delay posts

I’m having some pretty serious technical problems. My computer is slowly giving up the ghost. I’ve known I had a sick desktop for quite awhile. I’ve been limping along using my ancient lap top but that’s also failed. So I’m stealing a minute in my company computer to bring you this update.

My Plan of Action

It looks like the first chance I’ll have to go computer shopping is Saturday. If I can find something in stock that I like I might be able to start posting as soon as Sunday. I’ll have to try to transfer my apps to the new computer. I’m not sure how long that will take to how many have been corrupted. I don’t want to share any viruses that might have found a home in my  old computer. My company also offers discounts on Dell computers but I think that I have to wait for it to ship if I go that route. I’ll look into it tomorrow.

What have we missed?

This was probably a blessing in disguise as I was starting to struggle to come up with topics. The weather has been horrible so I haven’t felt like going out on the weekends.  I did get a short break (1 week) where I took off to the Big Island of Hawaii. Of course I have lots of stories, tips and comments about this adventure but I can’t upload the photos at the moment.

I did see Kilauea

Kilauea was putting on quite a show when I was there. This is the glow from the lava lake. The lava is probably 60-80 feet below the rim. It was “fountaining” between 60 to 120 ft so we’d see glimpses of the tops of the fountains on the big ones. This is one of the pictures I took but it’s small because the computer can’t handle the full size file.

Hopefully I’ll get this all resolved and be back in business next week. Thanks for your patience.