PHOTOSHOP course finished

Friday and Monday were intense days; noon to five o'clock in a computer lab with Photoshop instructor Paul Salazar. Was it worth it? You bet!

While I am somewhat proficient in Photoshop CS2, my skills are limited to a few techniques and I badly needed an update on how to use other tools and techniques. Wrote pages of notes, brought home 2 dvd's with further instruction and gained insights on my 'photographer woes,' that need not be. But more importantly while I knew about CS3 but had not updated, now I know there is CS4. Boy, am I behind or what?

And found some other 'awakening' ideas as well. For one OLLI* has been getting comments about their free coffee bar. Frankly the bar is a mess, brewing coffee is always over-heating and turning bitter, the mugs are rarely clean AND spills are a constant. But the spending some time in the LOD* center computer lab I found a Keruig Brewer and as assortment of 'pods,' just like the ones you find motels (or at least Marriott Courtyards). So I gave the following suggestions to OLLI this morning:

Other senior institutions have also faced the "coffee situation" and found there are other solutions. True the idea of 'free coffee' is not one of them, but there can be benefits. Read on...

OPTION 1: Last week I had a class at the Duke Computer Lab at Leadership & Organizational Development Cent at Duke University (L-O-D) 406 Oregon Street, Durham (across street from Duke Police station).

Each classroom had a carton of 4 available "PODS" (coffee, decaf, tea & cocoa), which students were free to select and take to the coffee room. The pod is inserted into a Keurig Brewer, dispensing about 10 oz. of hot liquid into a paper cup in very few seconds. The empty pod is automatically kicked into a recycle bin ready for collection. Neat, efficient, tasty and convenient all in one! The pods were 'free' to students if you do not count the $ course registration fee of $120 (?).

Investigate: KEURIG "coffeehouse taste by the cup" using the "K-cup" device. Brewers can be had with, or without plumbing and servicing is local.

See http://www.keurig.com/officecoffee/index.asp?mscsid=XV270QA0P2P68LML0MHW0A0QJHPQ3GUC Find a distributor and service source on their website. Depending on the cost of pod collections (see *about K-cups* on the website).


OPTION 2: The SEYMOUR Center in Chapel Hill has also solved the coffee problem. A Coffee Kiosk has been installed in the lobby (about 4 sq. ft. of space, about 50" high).

For a dollar ($1), a cup, your choice of coffees (and additives) can be brewed to perfection taking about 90 seconds per cup. No plumbing required and the supplier does all the service. Water is supplied from a 10 gallon jug (just like water coolers use), coffee pods are stored inside, all equipment is cleaned and updated as often as use demands. A REALLY convenient supply source.

SOURCE from Director Janice Tyler:

Graham Gell
Taste of Java
2964 Canter Dr.
Hillsborough, NC 27278

201-3438 Office
302-2165 Cell

My suggestion: get rid of the coffee brewers, get rid of the dirty cups, get rid of the Styrofoam and offer better coffee in the process. Not that I expect immediate results, the budget will have to be consulted but I feel that getting rid of that gross coffee bar would be a step in the right direction.

Enough of that, most of my morning was spent updating other people on DOQ issues and by the time I realized it was time to leave for the Tuesday Flexercise class, I had missed more than half. Bummer. Thursday will have to be a catch up class.

Off today to OLLI's Computer Lab (a different one), for a Photo Group session with Mike Bahnamen's demo on getting painter effects in photos. Hope soon to have time at home to actually do some of the photo skills seen recently.

And thinking about our travel in June, IF I was to make a gift for the ladies at the family reunion/birthday and for Ed's family WHAT would I make? I have some ideas but need time to search for fabrics, shop and make patterns.

For the next two weeks, I will go NOwhere. I promise. Well, almost no where.
Tonight BLT salad with avocado, and leftover Velvet Corn soup with crab (imitation).
bb

* Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University