Friday, January 12, 2007

Yes yess yesssssss

The long weekend is coming!

This has been one busy week, both in school and out.

There were too many trips to Lexington. We were out to help dad and went to BestBuy and got him a new laptop. He has finally killed his old one. Saturday, we went out and bought one for $1000. The salesman told us that it was going on sale the next day (shhhhhh don't tell his manager) for $850. He also told us that if we brought the receipt back within 14 days we would be refunded the difference. We took it to Dad and set it up for him, adjusted his preferences, downloaded the latest Java so he could play his games, set up his AOL (pretty good, an AOL'er at 76 yrs old,) and added his Quicken Quick Book®. We left him happy.

We were going to go out and karaoke, but Tammy wasn't feeling up to it. We decided that the stress lately has depleted her immune system and that is why she has stayed so sickly. Odd that she started getting sick right after Sierra and Jordan moved in temporarily. Love ya kids. Are you moving today?

Anyway, back to the laptop. I think it was Sunday, Dad called me and told me he couldn't get online anymore. It told him there was an error in the sign in. I tried to troubleshoot it over the phone, not wanting to do the 80 mile round trip to discover it was just a click. He figured it out. He uses dial-up. The computer was looking for DSL. Something he clicked. That saved a trip to Lexington.

Then, he calls on Tuesday. Nothing is working. Mom says he is computer illiterate. I think it is like most folks. They can operate well within the programs, but don't know a lot about programming language.

I am self taught. My first computer was in the early 80's. It was a Texas Instrument TI99-4A. The processor was a 3"x4"x3" box that plugged into the wall, with a keyboard cord slot and a coaxial that went to your TV (which operated as your monitor.) There were no floppy slots. There were no programs to buy. There was a book with Bill Cosby on the cover that explained computer language, so you could write your own programs. I wrote programs to play BlackJack and figured out how to do graphics. I also figured, since I was running it through my TV, that I could run it through my VCR and record it. It worked. I created graphics for several churches to use in the video ministries.

Tammy has a degree in Computer Science. She is a qualified Software writer.

We went to Dad's on Wednesday and reinstalled his operating system. We were meeting friends for dinner, so we left while itwass installing the applications. I told Dad we would be back to finish, and not to bother it. We had a good time at dinner, but as we were leaving, Dad calls and tells me he can't get online. Oh my, Dad, leave it alone. He has this patience issue, lol.

We stopped by friends house to see the new place (right around the corner from Dad) and then ran on over. It was the broadband issue again, as I hoped. He still needed the Java download, but that was for Tammy to do on Thursday, when she had to be in Lexington.

Some weeks, we manage to stay completely away from Lexington. Other weeks, it seems we can't stay out of it.

School has been OK. It hasn't been stressful. We have been busy with SkillsUSA planning a trip to the National Farm Machinery Show and Truck/Tractor Pull in Louisville. The bus is $750 and the tickets are $21. FUNDRAISING TIME!!

It never stops.

But, the three day weekend is coming !!

No comments: