A New Location

I have a clunky desktop computer running XP in the family room.  I was only able to access the internet by dial up - until I slipped on my running shoes and jumped aboard high speed internet.  Still I was limited to the desktop in the one location. Younger Daughter in Alabama purchased a router with antenna and pretty much set up a home network for me which did little good as I didn't yet have a fast connection.  We learned it was impossible to complete the setup without getting off dial up.  The ethernet plug had no place to go. 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Wildblue set us up with a dish in the yard and a modem on the desk.  Now we were talking!  Once again my hopes rose for that router that was sitting on the floor in a  box. Maybe this time - maybe this time we could break free from the confines of the chair at the desktop and boot up the little red ACER and actually move about the house in complete computing abandon!

Elder daughter's husband came over one evening and handily  hooked the wires and plugs and antenna in their proper order and I turned on the ACER.  It could see the router.  It seemed blind to the internet connection. 

Tonight, Elder Daughter was at the desktop working on Facebook.  Her husband came in and wondered if I had ever been able to connect to the Internet on the Netbook?  I said no, that I had unplugged the router in frustration.  He set things back in place and asked me to try it again.  So,I did.   I turned on the lil' red ACER and waited for the icons to load.  What's that?  A tiny symbol of a computer with signal bars.

SIGNAL bars, I tell you! 

Google popped up for my home page!  McAfee advised that the site was safe and we zoomed off on the information highway.  My first stop  was  my weblog.  This entire  post has been done on the cute lil' red ACER!  For the first time - and probably not the last, I have been sitting at the dining table while  online.

What a heady feeling this is. Hoo-yah!

We had a great visit.....

We live about an hour and a half away from Brother and his family but hardly ever see them, except for weddings.  We will go to one of his children's weddings at the drop of a hat.  Or a wedding veil.  We try to celebrate the milestones like birthdays and anniversaries with a card or a call or a belated wish.  Most often, mine fall into the latter category. 

Ron has been saying that he wanted to try and meet us for lunch one of these days and on the 18th of the month, we all made it to Cracker Barrel.  Well, all but Tom.  I got out of work to see Ron and Alicia for lunch and a stroll around the gift shop. 

Afterwards, I thought to myself - why not all go to the house and visit with T.  All it took was a phone call to my boss to ask if I could take the rest of the day off and to my amusement, the Lieutenant didn't say to go ahead and take the time.  He asked me WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MRS. VINING!  Then, he said yes, of course - take the rest of the day.  See ya tomorrow. 

We had a nice long visit and I thoroughly enjoyed being with Ron and Alicia.  Rain clouds gathered and Ron said they had to get home to allow their dog out into the yard.  She was in the house and I guess older kidneys can't take the strain as well as a younger pup's can.  Isn't that true of us all?  As we gathered on the porch for group shots of the family (Rich, Nathan, Matthew, Tommy, Ron, Alicia and me - available on Alicia's Facebook page in the Lake City visit album) I snapped off a shot of Brother.  You will notice the eyes are shut and a slight grin lights the lips.  Other than that little flaw, it's a good picture for an image taken with a cell phone.  There is a fix, though.  Take a brown marker and make two dots on the eyelids and imagine how nice a picture this could have been, save for the one slight glitch.  Why does he DO that!

'Cause he can.

Alicia was a much easier subject as she stood in the yard checking her camera images - I sort of snuck around behind Ron and Rich and took a quick picture.  And she didn't close her eyes.  Perhaps that's the way to take Ron's photograph next time.  Sneak it in!

The Girl Who Kicked.....

I finished the Stieg Larrson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest a couple of days ago.  I have been digesting the story ever since and have decided that it was as well written as the first two and a fitting ending to the trilogy.  It has to be because - unless Larrson's girlfriend has some trick up her sleeve to overcome the family threats of lawsuits, there will probably not be a fourth in the saga. 

I saw a review on Sunday in which the writer didn't like the third book.  She must not recall how book two ended with Lisbeth lying wounded and Blomkvist tending to her injuries while calling for help to come.  This book picked up more or less in the same spot.  Or very near.  You need to bring the other two novels to mind while reading this one but things are explained and flow along quite nicely.  Salander is as sullenly resourceful as ever.  I found myself cheering for her in one scene that was set in an abandoned property, towards the end of the book.  I was sorry to see it end - and if there ever is another book in the offing, you can see which direction it might take from the ending of the Hornet's Nest. 

I recommend this book!  It was worth the wait for publication.

-- Ol-Doc-dot-Blogspot, special to the Blogosphere.

And another review.....

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" is a rewarding entertainment, and a satisfying solution to the mysteries that surround Lisbeth Salander. But the enchantment of the Millennium Trilogy is not what Salander suffers, but how she triumphs.


-- Katherine Dunn, special to The Oregonian

I like to take polls. Honest!

I found the below poll online and decided to take it.  I also inadvertantly signed up for a news website but that's okay.  There's an opt-out if I get tired of the inbox filling up each day.  I won't tell you which one, but there was only one question that my answer differed from the majority.  The poll results had graphics in the form of a chart but it didn't copy well so I set italics to indicate the majority response.  If you really like the presidential handling of the oil spill in the Gulf, don't read down any further.  If you kind of believe that Chicago Politics are at play in the handling of the spill and treatment of BP Oil Company - you may be interested to see how many others in this poll agree with you. 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Poll starts below _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Thank you for taking the poll: BP Spill - Obama's Katrina?. The poll results are listed below.

Special note: The poll results may include data for questions that were not included on the poll that you took.

BP Spill - Obama's Katrina? (156,186 Respondents)

What is your opinion of President Obama?

Favorable
46,554 (29.81%)

Unfavorable
109,633 (70.19%)


Do you believe President Obama was right in letting BP manage the oil spill disaster?

Right
72,241 (46.79%)

Not right
82,137 (53.21%)


How would you rate President Obama's handling of the disaster?

Excellent
18,926 (12.15%)

Good
21,128 (13.56%)

Fair
12,793 (8.21%)

Poor
102,924 (66.07%)


Do you believe BP's political donations to the Obama campaign have been a factor in how the President handled the matter?

Yes, it played a role.
98,340 (64.04%)

No, it didn't play a role.
55,232 (35.96%)

Have the media been much more lenient on President Obama than on President Bush with the Katrina disaster?

Yes, more lenient on Obama.
111,421 (71.87%)

No, it's been about the same.
43,609 (28.13%)

In the 2008 election between McCain-Palin and Obama-Biden, whom did you vote for?

McCain-Palin
85,293 (55.80%)

Obama-Biden
44,522 (29.13%)

Other
23,039 (15.07%)

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Video link from BP

I know some folks who live on the Alabama Gulf Coast or within driving distance of the beaches there.  They (and we) are following the gushing well on the bottom of the gulf with heartsick hope that the well will be capped before more damage is done to the environment - sea life, bird life, people in the area who make their living from the waters.  Some of us are so angry at BP that we're not using the gas stations - although I reminded a family member tonight that the people who hold the local franchises are not to blame for the disaster in the Gulf and to boycott their businesses only hurts the local economy and not the parent company.  Still, it's hard to support the huge conglomerate that took shortcuts in safety and basically caused a rig to go down with loss of life and a disaster the likes of which none of us has seen before.  Tonight, the company is trying another method of capping the well... called a Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP), it is supposed to replace the riser pipe on the bottom of the gulf with a top portion of a Blow Out Prevention (BOP) package that will allow the oil to be pumped to the surface and loaded into tankers.  It's not a cap but a way to divert the oil to the surface and recover it.  The two Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV's) are operating to perform the procedure.  They are also sending video feeds to the surface.  I found this one and there are other sources out there.  The Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska is a minor ripple in the environment, compared to what's going on right now.  Pray for the well to be under some control and that before a hurricane sends the pollution ashore Kevin Costner can bring his brother's invention to the Gulf and help alleviate the situation.  Otherwise, we are all in a world of hurt!