Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Well not quite, but I must admit a new innovation in our library system has made me quite a bit happier. The library system has brought in Library 2 Go which allows you to sign out ebooks from the library to your 'Supported Ebook Device'. This can be to a computer or to a mobile device such as iPad, Libre, Nook, Kobo, Sony or to many smartphones such as Android, BlackBerry, iPhone or a windows phone 7.

I use a BlackBerry Torch which is a touch screen but I have also set it up onto a BlackBerry Pearl Flip. The beauty of this is that you can download an ebook from the library onto your smartphone and read it whenever you want. Even if you are in an area where there is no mobile coverage you can still access your ebook as it is stored on your phone.

When you download the ebook you have it stored on your device for 14 days. At the end of 14 days the ebook is automatically returned to the library system. Of course if you finish the ebook prior to the 14 days you can 'delete and return the book' earlier. If you have not finished the book prior to your 14 days, then you may be out of luck, however, I have had success in returning the ebook and then resigning it out right away for another 14 days. This works as long as no one has put a 'hold' on the book you are viewing as you need to have the book available for downloading again.

Prior to downloading an ebook you do need a few things. One is you need Adobe Digital Edition Account. It is a free and only takes a minute or so to set up your account. You need the account to authorize your ebooks to be downloaded to your device. If you are using a smartphone like BlackBerry then you need to download a free app called 'OverDrive Media Console'. Once you have the OverDrive Console you open it up on your smartphone and then 'Add in a Library'. Of course you will need an actual library card number to access your individual library. You can search through and find your local library and then be able to search through the system once you have signed in with your access.

I find it is a bit easier to search for new books by using a computer as the screen is a little easier to use as it is larger than the smartphones and it is easier to use a full keyboard. Once I find a ebook I want to download, I then open up OverDrive on my smartphone and do a search through the smartphone and continue on downloading it that way. The downloads are fast as it normally only takes less than a minute using the 3G network. Using 1X is a little slower but not by much.

Once the ebook is downloaded you can start reading. Individual smartphones utilize different methods of changing pages. On my Torch I can just use my finger to touch the screen and go forward or backwards. On the Pearl Flip you can use the 'space' key to go forward or the 'p' key to go backwards. You can also use the trackball for this. Either way is fairly convenient.

In my younger days I always used to carry around a pocket novel in my back pocket so when I had a few minutes to spare I could haul out the book and read a bit. Now a days pocket books have gotten so large they just don't fit in a pocket any longer. I normally have my cell phone with me at all times I'm away from home so it is very convenient say when in a doctor's office waiting room to pull out the cell and in seconds be reading my ebook.

I've found the font on the smartphone are quite readable as well and you can actually increase the size of the font to your liking. Even reading in the dark is no problem as the smartphone has a backlight to highlight the screen. The text is only black and white, but it is sufficient and quite easy to read.

As stated, almost 'Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' but not quite . . .

Nostalgic Trip Along Hwy 16

On Saturday we had the chore of driving along Hwy 16 to North Battleford for a funeral of a very good friend of ours. The day was very nice with a bit of rain in the forecast, however, we did not run into any at all during the drive.

As we crossed over the Borden Bridge different feelings came back to me. As the bridge was the boundary for our Telecomn area for the first 21 years of my career, I had handled numerous calls for service along the highway. As each road sign came into view I remembered calls from the location. From accidents to erratic drivers to cattle on the highway to break and enters and on and on.

It was a sad drive for us in that we were attending the memorial service for such a good friend of ours. Just thinking of the person who we were going to honour made me sad but also made me smile with thoughts of good times we had had throughout the years of knowing each other. The same with travelling the highway. I had sad thoughts about towns that no longer are even there to the horrible traffic conditions that we travelled on back in 1975 to get to our home. It was definitely not a nice drive in those days. The traffic was so thick with the highway leading into Alberta in one direction and the north of Saskatchewan in another. To say the traffic was a mess would be an understatement.

While thinking of that a fellow traveller passed me as if we were standing still. I smiled as thinking back long ago that they would have likely passed on the right hand side at the same speed. The traffic was normally so heavy it was hard for those speeding types to pass as they should so they passed on the shoulders. Even saying that, it was nothing at times to have someone passing you on the shoulder as someone was passing you on your left. The local Detachment at Radisson was one of the busiest spots in those days. That got me to remembering the members that I had known who worked out of the Detachment throughout the years. The chases that ensued, the calls they had to attend and just the nature of our work in those days. This was of course prior to the advent of cell phones, so all the phoning was done by our centre for the members in the field.

In thinking back now it is likely this working with the members to assist them in their day to day work is what gave us the bond that we had. Now with every member having their own cell and doing all their own 'extra' work, I do think that the bonds have slipped a bit between the OCC member and the member in the field. It also doesn't help with the extra workload that the OCC members have had to shoulder with the extra calls due to every citizen having a cell phone and wanting to call in everything they see. All those calls need to be answered by someone which makes less and less time that the operator can be on the radio helping out the member in the field.

And that brings a sadness to my thoughts. It is progress as all things are new and better, but something has been lost that will likely never return . . .

It Is True

A lot of friends and neighbours have been telling me that we should head to the lake more often. So after work on Saturday, we did exactly that. Weather was perfect with no rain in the forecast what so ever.

I did have one small chore to do while at the lake and that was to replace the main door. Surprising enough myself and my bro-in-law got it changed with no major hiccups.

Other than that, just lots of sitting by the fire swapping tales and just enjoying the scenery...