There is an exact moment when I feel my vacation has begun. It's not as we're packing (by we, I mean my wife), as we're sitting at the gate waiting to board the plane, or even when we touch down in Orlando. For me, it's as we drive up to our hotel and see the tastefully done, but obvious facsimile of the Italian bay village of Portofino. For the last few years this has been our destination of choice. It's the type of trip where we are already familiar with getting around, the restaurants, and the attractions. It's relaxing in the sense that we don't need to spend a lot of time figuring out what we would like to do or how to make it happen.

This year we hit a minor snag when we ended up in a different type of room. This room was in a less convenient location and the size and organization were less user-friendly. We asked to move and though they couldn't accommodate us immediately, we were told we could move the next day. The front desk told us to leave all our luggage in the center of the room and call them before we left for the parks. They would move everything to our new room and contact us when it was ready. The ideal situation would be for our new room to be ready before we returned from an action-packed day at the parks. I wasn't sure this would happen because we like to come back midday instead of staying out all day.

This year the Loews Portofino Hotel started doing something new where you can communicate with the hotel via text message. Since we were in a magical sort of mood during our first day in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I figured maybe a shameless attempt at magical references would speed things up. To my pleasant surprise, it worked!

Thank you Loews Portofino Hotel for your well-trained staff, beautifully maintained grounds, and a magical stay! See you next time.

Next post next Saturday, 6:30 a.m.

Our family loves all things Harry Potter. Several years ago we visited Universal in Orlando for my wife's birthday. If you are a fan of the books or movies and get the chance to go, I highly recommend it. The first time you step into Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, it feels as if you have apparated into that world.

There is also something magical about the Kindle. Being able to store hundreds of books in a slim, lightweight package, never losing your place again, and bringing your local bookstore or library to you. So wonderful - until it stops working. Enter technical troubleshooting hell.

This happened to me the other day to me as I attempted to download a copy of J.K. Rowling's the Cursed Child onto the Kindle. For some reason, it wouldn't download and just displayed a "Pending" message. I tried the usual, obvious fixes:

• Turn WiFi off and on - check

• Turn the Kindle off and on - check

• Redeliver from the Amazon store - check

For all my efforts, all I received was the same "Pending" message.

Luckily, there is an EZPZ fix for a stuck Kindle:

Step 1: Hold the power button for about 20 seconds (even when the screen goes black, make sure you keep holding down the button)
Step 2: Release the power button. The screen should flicker. Next you’ll see the Kindle start-up screen and a fill-up bar.
Step 3: Go back to the book that was stuck and if it has not downloaded already, try again and it should work this time.

Thanks to Scott Allen at ScottAllen.com for originally sharing this information. You are a champion!

Try these EZPZ steps first before becoming this guy.

P.S.

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I've created a FREE guide to turning on your ability to click with anyone, anytime, anywhere. With one simple switch, you will dramatically change the way you experience the world. Get it HERE.

Next post Saturday, 6:30 a.m.

Have you ever been excited by a new piece of tech until your realized now you have another remote control to deal with? Do you feel like you need a Ph.D. to figure out how to switch from your cable, to your gaming console and back again? Ever see a house guests eyes glaze over as you try to explain to them the finger smashing gymnastics required to control the volume in your living room setup?

Several years ago I started using a universal remote (the Logitech Harmony 200) to simplify matters. It can control your TV, a cable box and a DVD player. Most importantly, it has a button to allow you to easily switch between one or the other. It worked flawlessly for several years when just the other day, it stopped working. At first, I thought it was dead batteries, but after putting in new ones, no joy. Then, I noticed the strangest thing. The TV, Cable, and DVD button along the top row were blinking green every few seconds. 

As it turned out, the problem was easily remedied. Somehow, the remote had unintentionally been put into "Safe mode." All I needed to do was reset it using the following EZPZ instructions.

1. Remove one battery

2. Hold onto the "2" button while putting back in the battery.

3. Test

I found the answer here on the Logitech community feed. Thank you kind sir!

Now what episode was I on?

Next post Saturday, 6:30 a.m.