Allison’s Blog

Maureen is in Delaware, Justin is in NY, Anna is in Kansas… and Kara and I are actually in the office (she nearly escaped the Florida hurricane!).  This is my final week as a true Connecticut resident…I’ll be in Vancouver on Monday afternoon meeting up with Tom and my stuff.  Looking around the office–which is generally not aesthetically pleasing–there is something nice that we have done.  No, it is not piling EVERYTHING in Justin’s office (though that is good too)…Whenever we travel, we send postcards back to the office and have built quite a collage.  Kara eventually wants it to cover an entire wall…she is on a mission.

a super star!

As you all know, both he and I are relocating to Washington state.  My biggest concern has been putting him on a plane…as checked pug luggage.  My friend, Molly, brought over the pet carrier last night and after some cookies and prodding (and taking off the top), he decided he would have a look.  Once I added his blanket and toy, he decided to snooze in it (over his big old bed which is ONLY second to the couch which he just saw the movers take away…).  I think he is ready to go.

Allison

Nope, not talking about Michael Phelps.  I’m talking about Michelle Reeves from the Reeves Foundation in Eagar, AZ.  She holds the record for fastest time from DEMO to PSP to entering individuals and staff logins to building her ISP Template Library.

Sunday: DEMO Account

Tuesday: PSP (only because Heidi wasn’t around on Monday!)

Wednesday: Everything else!

Total elapsed time: 72 hours

Cheers!

Allison

PS: Michele B./Sue HM, another reason for a trip to AZ!!

Tom, my new Mayflower BFF, was very punctual this morning, arriving at 9am on the dot.  He and his son, Silas, loaded my piles of boxes and odds and ends (including Archie’s couch!!…I told Archie to close his eyes for that part) in no time…They are almost done as I write this.  Tom will be driving all my things to Vancouver, WA, and it looks like we will cross paths on August 25th–the moving gods are with me.

Here we go!…Therap West is almost open for business.

Allison

So, we’re working furiously on all sorts of things for 8.0 and beyond.  GER things, TMS things (for all those CDS folks), scanning documents and storing them, and…(drum roll)…what I’m playing with now (jealous?)…one of the HUGEST REQUESTS…pictures are worth a 1,000 words.

I’ve written a lot about geeky things: Blackberry stuff, Ubuntu, and free software.  The biggest question of late is whether or not Therap works with PDAs and Smartphones.  The quick answer is: kinda.  The trouble is that Therap needs a full browser to expand its wings and embrace all that Java scripting and all the other dimensions in a Mozilla Firefox or an Internet Explorer.  HOWEVER, I started playing with Opera Mini (I have not played with Opera Mobile yet) and it does more than I’ve ever seen so far using my Blackberry. Odd considering that Opera has given Therap trouble running on a regular PC…but, as we all know, both life and the internet are strange and unpredictable.

I can write Tlogs and GERs, activate users, and all sorts of things using Mini.  The true level of functionality would need further testing but it appears that I can do the basics rather painlessly.  The display is clear (only occasionally whacked out, for example, when choosing a client to write a GER about) whether you choose a full page or a mobile view and the text entry is pretty easy. So, for all you mobile Therap nerds out there, give it a try and let me know what you find.

Allison

I am a big fan of National Public Radio (NPR) as I often hear things that you don’t get with commercial news vendors (although I’m partial to CNN as well).  The difference with NPR is that they will cover a story like this which is very relevant to all of us who have worked with individuals with disabilities including autism especially in the face of the ongoing crisis with healthcare and insurance costs. Have a look (or listen) as this is an interesting consideration of healthcare models for folks with disabilities.

If you want to look for a local radio station in your area that carries NPR news and such, click here.  You can also have a listen over the net by clicking here.

Let me know what you think.

Allison

I have been playing with plug-ins made specifically for Blackberries and found the following to be way cool. They all work rather well as they have been designed to work with and on Blackberries to interface with the given website or service…

Google…of course. Has an “Mobile Updater” download that allows you to create a shortcut to Gmail, Google maps and such. Way cool.

Flickr…I can now take a picture on my phone and directly post it to Flickr in an instant. It is very, very groovy.

CNN…I admit to being a news junkie and CNN has a shortcut that you can use to hook right up to them without using your browser and having to type anything in…

New York Yankees (or any other baseball team if there is one…)…via mlb.com does the same as CNN and gives you the latest schedule, stats, scores and will update every fifteen seconds during a live game and let you know what’s going on. I suppose that the Mets have this too…it probably just works wrong.

Yahoo! Go…A lot like Google Updater but may work even a little better (I cannot believe that I just said that…) as it allows you to access all kinds of Yahoo stuff without additional downloads.

Therap Lite…not yet.

Allison

Wow!  Yesterday, my fleet of moving fairies (C & M) and I got nearly 2/3 of my house packed.  As much of a pain as it is, it is rather nice to get organized and pitch everything that you don’t want…My new motto, “If I don’t love it, it ain’t going.”

Archie is a great help…as a supervisor from the couch.  He is inspecting yesterday’s work this morning.

Yes, Arizona is included as part of the Wild, Wild West…silly me.

Allison

Well, I have just had enough of this place!!  So I am out of here!  It’s been a pleasure working with you but it’s just time to go…

To Washington!

Therap has a new wild, wild west division: me.

I will be moving to Vancouver, WA, in the next few weeks to better support the west coast folks who are using Therap.  This means the following:

1. The need for less air conditioning.

2. More Starbucks coffee.

3. I’ll have to eat more apples.

4. Portland, Salem, and Seattle are all right nearby

5. California is awfully close too…may have to take a trip down there REALLY SOON…More details on the way.

6. Archie will make new friends and have new mail to read.

7. I will have to fly to Maine to go see Laurie (Crane-Turton), Laurie (Cyr), or Laurie (Phillips)…and everyone else.

8.  Kara and Maureen will be on their own at “The Table.”

Gotta go pack.  See you soon!

Allison