Irish Visitors

Today we had the pleasure of meeting Steve & Hazel and their family who have come over for several months of touring the US. We met them at the RV rental place and had them follow us back to The Great Outdoors. Fortunately we were able to find them a spot right across the street.

Steve did very well driving on what they call the "wrong side of the road". ;D It was all major highway back to TGO so he has had a trial by fire and passed. We hope they enjoy their stay here and will be able to meet some of the rest of the forum framily.

Glad you got hooked up o.k. You guys and gals should be down here for Mardi Gras. I understand there's quite a large Irish presence in and around the New Orleans area. Anyway, I hope they have a great time here.

Glad you got together.  Hope you all have fun.

Karl,

Thanks again for the call. Unfortunately it started to rain as they were loading the coach but not really bad. After we had a late lunch the sun came out and it got warm. Seems like there are plenty of us from Irish decent all around this country. ;D

Ron,

If all goes well this week they will experience a shuttle launch. I'm sure that's something they won't forget for a long time!

Welcome to the USA Steve & Hazel.

Glad to hear they made it safely and are in good hands Jim. Be sure to tell them they need to log in and tell us about the rental experience and they also need to keep us posted about their trip (with photos).

They should have a good time here since you are right there to start them off.  Gosh programming a shuttle launch and all just for them. ;D ;D ;D

Tom said:

Welcome to the USA Steve & Hazel.

Glad to hear they made it safely and are in good hands Jim. Be sure to tell them they need to log in and tell us about the rental experience and they also need to keep us posted about their trip (with photos).

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Hazel has access to my wireless DSL but she has been having problems logging on. Once they get back from their excursion with our golf cart I'll try to correct the situation. They wanted to chill out today and we had a group motorcycle ride so it worked out well.

Not sure about the "good hands" but we did get them over here safely. ;D ;D

Ron said:

They should have a good time here since you are right there to start them off.  Gosh programming a shuttle launch and all just for them. ;D ;D ;D

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Ron,

You just have to know someone!! ;D ;D ;D Actually we are working the shuttle launch with the Navy League so they will be on their own for the launch but I know just where to send them so they can relax and watch in relative comfort. The good part is we get free tickets to the space center for working, as well as the Navy League council getting paid, so they might be able to tour the center for free. Just hope we get the tickets in time.

Hope they don't find another problem to cause a further delay in the launch.  Apparently the kinked coolant tube isn't a nogo item.

Ned said:

Hope they don't find another problem to cause a further delay in the launch.  Apparently the kinked coolant tube isn't a nogo item.

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I hope so as well! They are notorious for postponing for problems but that's better than sending one up and having another catastrophe. Still think about the one we saw together early in the morning. Those were quite some photos you got.

That was someone else, we've never seen a launch from closer than Ft. Lauderdale   Did you get the guests online yet?

Ned said:

That was someone else, we've never seen a launch from closer than Ft. Lauderdale   Did you get the guests online yet?

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Sorry, Ned. Thought it was you. I just asked the boss and she said she thinks it was Bernie.

No, I was not able to get Hazel on line yet. The system connects but does not obtain the IP address. I thought about what you said on limited addresses but she had the same problem at the hotel in Orlando. I may take the Hawking over and give it a try.

Jim Dick said:

Sorry, Ned. Thought it was you. I just asked the boss and she said she thinks it was Bernie.

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Jim

Pat wins the prize, it was Marlene and me with you guys watching that phenomenal lift off in the pre-dawn.

If it didn't connect at the hotel, then it's either the adapter or the client manager that's causing the problem.  Did you try the direct cable?  The Hawking should also work.  Turn off the built in adapter so there's no chance of it interfering.

BernieD said:

Jim

Pat wins the prize, it was Marlene and me with you guys watching that phenomenal lift off in the pre-dawn.

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Bernie,

After she mentioned it I was pretty sure she was correct. Still have those great photos of the launch somewhere on the external hard drive. Aaah, there they are! Here are three photos taken by you. One is the shuttle headed towards space. Another is the contrail with the rocket booster falling back to earth. The last one is the contrail backlit by the rising sun.

Ned said:

If it didn't connect at the hotel, then it's either the adapter or the client manager that's causing the problem.  Did you try the direct cable?  The Hawking should also work.  Turn off the built in adapter so there's no chance of it interfering.

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Too late to try the cable. Will try the Hawking in the morning. I will turn off the built in adapter. Have to do that with mine. Hope that resolves the problem. Then we'll know where to look for a final resolution as they will need access for several months.

Appreciate your help!

Jim

Thanks for reminding me about those pictures. I have them somewhere on my desktop hard drive, but only have the laptop available now.

Yesterday we were able to get Steve & Hazel to stay around for a while. They've been traveling around the area and spending time at the beach. I loaned them my Street Pilot and they liked it so much they now have a Garmin to help with their travels.

On Friday when they arrived it was Steve's birthday. Since we couldn't have a party that day we arranged to have some forum members stop by yesterday around noon. Those attending were Gary & Nancy Brinck, Bill & Marlys Johnson, and Dick & Yvonne Bell. It was a nice gathering and we had a good time.

Gary tried very hard to get their computer to talk to the Internet but was unsuccessful. Bill then mentioned a guy who lives in the park that used to run a computer business. He also tried everything he could and finally decided it was a hardware problem. Steve thought he might try to find an inexpensive computer so they would have communications with their family and friends.

Today we are headed to Kennedy Space Center where we will be working the food service for the launch with our Navy League Council. It should be interesting and tiring. I just hope it goes off as there is rain predicted. Bill gave Steve & Hazel tickets to the Space Center so they will be able to get the grand tour tomorrow.

Thanks for the report and photos Steve. Looks like Steve, Hazel and the children were given a very warm welcome.