Organizing My Photos on Google Photos...

Trying to Organize My Photos

As I mentioned in a previous post here on my blog, I am trying to make a push to write posts on the remaining hikes I that I have YETto write about.

The whole process of organizing my photos into collections on Google Photos is A LOT like herding cats. I have 2,182 photos on my phone that I have taken myself. While I am sure that other people may have more photos on their phone, to me, it's A LOT.

Herding Cats (Source: https://www.taggg.com/blog/a-cat-herders-guide-to-booking-remote-meetings)

Fortunately, it's just a matter of creating a collection title and then assigning photos to that specific collection.

With so many photos to go through, a lot of scanning is involved. Yes, I am using the Month and Year slider on the right margin of Google Photos to easily scroll through all of my photos.

What surprised me was that I have large amounts of photos on my Google Photos page that are STILL waiting to be organized into collections. For example, I was recently surprised that I didn't have the photos that I took at this year's Polish Festival assigned to a collection. That was easily remedied.

As a result, I am going to have to improve my workflows IOT make it easier to write posts about hiking, for example.

Here are some ideas:

• Buy a new camera. This is a no-brainer, really. My LG Stylo 6 cell phone needs to be replaced. There are now numerous cracks on the viewing surface of my phone. The only thing that keeps the glass in place is the protective sticky plastic cover I put on it when I bought the phone. Since I started working at events at the Arizona Financial Theatre and at State Farm Stadium, my cell phone has been accidentally dropped numerous times. Additionally, the cell phone battery no longer holds a full charge like it used to. Plus, there is a time lag of several seconds when opening certain apps, such as the camera app. Most importantly, a couple of years ago, LG announced that they were no longer manufacturing consumer cell phones. It came as a great shock. It's only a matter of time before LG stops supporting the cell phones that are currently in use. I believe that LG will stop sending out software updates for their cell phones sometime in 2025.
• Create a new collection in Google Photos either before or shortly after going hiking. This one says it all. When organizing, it really helps to be pro-active.
• Upload photos that I have taken with my cell phone to Google Photos shortly after my hike. Preferably the same day as the hike. The sooner the better.
• Put new photos into assigned collection in Google Photos as soon as possible. Again, the sooner the better.
• Transfer photos from my phone to my portable hard drive for archiving. This will free up storage on my cell phone. Since the photos would be uploaded to Google Photos, the photos could be deleted. However, I do have hoarding tendencies, so I probably wouldn't do that.
• Create a new, empty post on my blog for my completed hike. Again, I will be trying to work ahead.
• Download anything else I would need for my new post, such as a map from the AllTrails website.
• Assign a date to work on the actual post. I am absolutely horrible at doing this. For whatever reason, I hate being constrained. Not too sure why, but that's how I am. That has to change.
• Come up with a plan or structure for the post. This can be difficult as I have to play around with all of the elements of a post to figure out what it is I want to do. Still, it helps to have a basic idea on how the finished post will look like and what areas I want to explore. It is really easy to go on a tangent when writing a blog post.
• Work on post until it is complete. That's self-explanatory. Once I have all of the cats herded together, I can usually churn out a blog post rather quickly.

Those are just some ideas that I have at the moment. I am sure that if I really thought about it, I could come up with others.

Anyway, I think that I have all of my hiking photos organized into collections in Google Photos.

It's time to start cranking out some blog posts.

It's also time to start hiking again. There is a lot to explore.

Lack of Activity on My Blog...

Explaining the Lack of Activity

There has been a significant lack of activity here on my blog.

As per usual, I have been really busy with all kinds of activity.

Here is a list of things that I have been working on:

• I have been working concerts at the Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix, AZ.
• I have been working at football games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.
• I have started riding my bike again.
• I have been focusing a lot of time and energy working on the Network Support and Security online class from Cisco Networking Academy.
• I have been working out at the gym quite a bit.
• I have been organizing my photos into collections over on Google Photos.
• I have been trying to come up with a list of blogging post ideas to write about.
• I even flirted with the idea of moving my blog here at Blogger on to another platform.

I even fell into the bottomless pit that is Twitter/X.

I spent a lot of energy on two very long posts. Moreover, I was underwhelmed by the reaction I got to those two posts. Disappointment aside, I am writing this blog for myself. If other people are interested, then that's great.

Lack of interest in my blog isn't going to deter me. It just means that my blog has yet to find an audience. That will come as I write more posts.

Falling Behind on My Blog...

Lack of Updates

In case you weren't aware, I have fallen behind on posting updates to my blog for the past couple of weeks.

Yes, it is true.

As per usual, I have been REALLY busy doing all kinds of stuff.

Last week, I made completing the Final Exam for the Network Addressing and Basic Troublshooting online course from Cisco Networking Academy a top priority.

In addition, I somehow found myself getting involved with working at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ during public events. Not too sure how that happened, but there it is. As a result, I have been busy completing the online courses for serving alcohol and preparing and serving food.

In the meantime, I have started a new online course with Cisco Networking Academy. I will probably make that into its own blog post.

Plus, I need to keep working on the complex blog posts that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks here on Blogger. Those three posts NEED TO BE completed ASAP.

As per usual, there never is enough hours in the day.

More to follow.

Attending the Electrify Expo, Part 2...

Second Half of the Electrify Expo

This is my second post about attending the Electrify Expo at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ on Sunday, May 5th.

If you want to read my first post about the Electrify Expo, then click on this link. I also posted quite a few photographs that I took of the event.

This post will focus on what I saw after I left the main exhibition area.

Celsius Energy Drink

After looking around the exhibition booth for Nikola Motor, I picked up a complimentary can of Celsius Energy Drink. The can was ice-cold. The temperature was above 90 degrees, so it hit the spot. I don't remember what flavor I drank.

Modifications and Customizations

The next exhibits of the Electrify Expo consisted of vendors that would customize or modify your EV, such as new tires, custom paint jobs, custom parts, and various other methods to modify your EV. For me, the exhibits became interesting when I came across a vendor that were selling customizable camping tents that mounted on the back of a Rivian pick-up truck. That was interesting to see. I knew that Rivian on their website also offers a camping tent that you can attach to your pick-up truck. Not too sure if they were the same product, however. There was even tubing that you could run from the air conditioner to the camping tent for heating or cooling. There was a vendor that was selling an all-electric camping trailer. Another vendor was even selling an entire field kitchen that could be powered by your EV.

Here are some photos that I took.

E-Bikes and E-Scooters

The next section of the Electrify Expo consisted of all of the electric bike (E-bike) and electric scooter (E-scooter) vendors. From what I saw, the price range for an E-bike ran from as low as $2,000 to as high as $9,000. I have to admit that I am not too interested in E-bikes, yet I can see where having one could be useful, such as riding up a steep hill.

E-Bikes by Soul

The Heritage at Sportsman's Park

All of this walking around made me really hungry, so I was happy when I came across The Heritage at Sportsman's Park. I had never heard of The Heritage at Sportsman's Park before. It was really nice. The Heritage at Sportsman's Park is a three-story structure. The ground floor has a kitchen where you can order food and drinks. The second and third floors have several large flat-screen TVs and tables and chairs. I think the third floor has a bar. Basically, The Heritage at Sportsman's Park is a restaurant, a sports bar, and a nightclub in a relatively small three-story building. Apparently, you can even rent out the place for weddings or corporate parties. It's nice. I ordered a Sonoran hot dog with an iced tea. It was pretty good, but pricey at $18.

Sonoran Hot Dog at The Heritage at Sportsman's Park

Outdoor dining at The Heritage at Sportsman's Park

Testing Out EVs

After eating my Sonoran hot dog, I followed the crowd to the next section of the Electrify Expo. In the third section of the Electrify Expo, the organizers set up a couple of racing tracks for trying out EVs. On one track, you could check out an E-bike or an E-scooter and ride for a couple of laps. On a second track, Ford Motors set up a small test track where people could ride as passengers as a professional test driver drove a Ford Mustang EV. BMW and Kia had a similar set-up for their EVs. I think that Tesla was letting spectators ride as passengers as professional test drivers drove on the streets around State Farm Stadium. I didn't try riding an E-bike or ride shotgun on an EV. Again, these companies wanted your personal information for marketing purposes. The companies were also trying to screen for potential buyers. I was content with watching other people. The problems with the racing track area were that shade was in short supply and there wasn't anything available to drink.

In Conclusion

I had a good time at the Electrify Expo. It was DEFINITELY worth the $20 I paid for a ticket. If you are curious about electric vehicles, then I RECOMMEND that you visit the Electrify Expo. Just as a disclaimer, I do own stock in Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, Nio, and Xpeng. Do I own an electric vehicle? No, I do not. I am still driving my 2010 Nissan Maxima that I bought with money I earned from working in Afghanistan. However, my car is rapidly approaching the 100,000 mile mark.

Attending the Electrify Expo...

Attending the Electrify Expo

This past Sunday, May 5th, I attended the Electrify Expo held near the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.

Location of Electrify Expo

 I saw an advertisement on TV (or was it the internet?) for the event and became curious. The price of admission was only $20. I was curious to find out more about electric vehicles (EVs), so I bought a ticket. After a short drive south on the 101 freeway from Bell Avenue in Peoria, I was at the parking lot for the Electrify Expo at State Farm Stadium.

Here are some photos from outside the Electrify Expo.

The Tent for the KIA Exhibition Booth

The Tent for the Tesla Exhibition Booth

Electrify Expo Wristband

Electrify Expo Logo

Electrify Expo QR Code

When I lived in Reston, VA, I once attended the D.C. Auto Show at the Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C. several years ago. It turned out that attending the D.C. Auto Show was actually a fun way to spend a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C. It was fun checking out the latest and greatest models from the auto manufacturers. Since I was unemployed, I couldn't even consider buying a new car or truck. Still, I managed to pick up quite A LOT of swag at the D.C. Auto Show.

I was expecting more of the same at the Electrify Expo.

Inside the Electrify Expo

The Electrify Expo was all about EVs.

The first exhibition booth I visited was for Ford Motors. Ford had brought along the F-150 Lightning and an EV version of the Mustang.

The Ford Motors Exhibition Booth 

F-150 Lightning EV

F-150 Lightning EV

F-150 Lightning EV

Ford Mustang EV

Ford Mustang EV

I also visited the exhibition booth for Volvo. You could watch a movie about the history of Volvo and the EVs they manufacture, but you had to sign up. The movie was shown inside a Volvo bus. I didn't get any Volvo swag, but the EVs were nice to look at.

Volvo EV

Volvo EV

Volvo EV

After visiting the Volvo exhibition booth, I then visited the Toyota exhibition booth. Surprisingly, the Toyota exhibition booth was small given Toyota's status as the world's largest automobile manufacturer. Toyota had the full EV version of the Prius on display. However, the hybrid Toyota Crown caught my attention. I didn't get any Toyota swag.

Toyota Exhibition Booth

Toyota Prius EV

Toyota Crown Hybrid

More Toyota EVs

After visiting the Toyota exhibition booth, I then visited the Kia Motors exhibition booth next door. Interestingly, the only piece of swag I got at the Electrify Expo was from the Kia Motors exhibition booth. It was just as I suspected. In return for providing my marketing information, I received a Kia Motors duffle bag.

On the way to the Kia exhibition booth.

Kia EV9 

Kia EV9

Kia EV6

Kia K4

After collecting my Kia duffle bag, I then went over to the Tesla exhibition booth. The Tesla exhibition booth was probably the most crowded exhibition booth that I visited. Tesla brought along the Model 3 and another sedan (the Model S?) that had the butterfly doors similar to a Delorean. However, everyone wanted to see the Cybertruck. It had a long line. I'm not too sure if Tesla offered any swag. I didn't see any. However, people didn't seem to mind.

Tesla Model 3

Tesla Model 3 Interior

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S

Tesla Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck

After hanging around the Tesla exhibition booth, I visited the BMW Motors exhibition booth. The BMW SUV EV is really nice for a list price of $185,000. BMW had some great swag. Once again, BMW wanted your information for marketing.

BMW iX All Electric SUV

BMW iX All Electric SUV
 Interior

BMW i7 Sedan

I then moved on to the Lexus exhibition booth before walking over to the Nikola Motor exhibition boot to check out the TRE BEV semi-truck EV.

Lexus RZ All Electric Sedan

Nikola TRE BEV Semi-truck EV

That's a brief summary of the main exhibition area of the Electrify Expo.

However, there were some notable omissions from the main exhibition area. Notable omissions included Rivian, Lucid Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda, and GMC among others.

I will cover the second half of the Electrify Expo in a subsequent post.