Under the Stars

Look folks, no wires! Ha ha!! Tonight Jeffrey and I sucessfully set up a wireless network. It was Jeffrey's birthday today, and I recently bought a laptop because I got a good deal on it through the employee purchase plan that my company has with Dell. Jeffrey's been wanting internet connectivity for the computer in his room, so I told him we'd get him a wireless card and router for his birthday. We went to Circuit City and I thought the boy was going to explode, he was so excited. We got the first two computers hooked up with no problem. His computer, however, was a challenge. After about an hour on the phone with tech support, we realized that the security settings that I used wouldn't work with the card we bought for him, so I reset them and voila! We were up and surfing the net. Luckily, the laptop was easier to reconfigure. The first thing we did on the laptop was to let Addison play a game on PBS kids. He likes the one with Sagwa, where you click on the fish in the pond. I decided that the next thing I would do would be to post to the blog. I thought since my very first post was about pooping, it would be most appropriate to do it in the bathroom. Relax, though, it's such a beautiful night that I changed my mind and I'm actually out on the deck with absolutely no wires and a "very good" internet signal. Amazing, isn't it?

I remember taking computer classes in Elementary school when you still programmed on punch cards on a computer the size of our living room. Now I have this tiny computer with no wires out on my deck in the middle of the night- and I can write this for people all over the country. I am sitting here with the cicadas and the stars and the faint white glow of the screen. Wow. It's amazing. How lucky am I? I wonder what Addison will have to work with when he is my age.

Tonight I just wanted to mention that I am thinking especially about Travis with his broken jaw, Nicole in Iraq, Heather going off to Germany, Sugar (the dog with neurological issues) and all of the family that is spread out all over the damned countryside and beyond. What an amazing and brief adventure life is. I hope this posting finds you all healthy and happy. Blessings,
Erika