Friends, Romans, and Countrypersons,

The saga isn't over yet, but the DSL line is finally up and running, at least. We don't have a router (it's arriving tomorrow, hopefully), so we can only have one computer on the internet at a time, for now. Nonetheless, this is most excellent.

We have finally gotten with this new-fangled 90's technology. :-)

For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about: DSL is a means of connecting to the internet via your existing phone line that lets you still use your phone line as a phone line. In other words, you can surf the web on your computer at the same time as you make a phone call or send a fax. I've heard some people say that cable modems are better at accomplishing this goal, but you have to have cable, and we don't happen to subscribe (nor are we likely to in the near future).

It requires lots of equipment and lots of time for the goobers at the phone company to all get together to make it happen. But, it's happened (for the most part), and now we're just waiting for the last of the equipment.

For those of you who *do* know what DSL is all about: sorry to bore you like that.

Anyway, I installed the DSL software onto an old machine that we use as our data server. It's a machine I haven't used in a long time, and it has a conventional monitor (I've grown accustomed to my PowerBook's flat screen) and is running an older OS, etc., etc. The fonts look different, and the color registration is different, as well.

So, I now see my site a little differently. Instead of a muted cream (creme?) colored background, this site now appears to have an icky yellow. Ewww. Perhaps I should put a sticker on the site that proclaims "Best viewed from a portable computer's flat screen". (My computers at my two most recent employers were also portables, so I haven't seen the site from a conventional monitor in a long time.)

Let's see. Other fun things about DSL: it's much faster than a modem connection. And yet, when I check my hotmail account, it still takes a minute or so for every page to load. LAME.

Much, much else to report... which, of course, is why I've been too busy to post lately. Don't you just love irony?

Truly, I'll post more soon.

--me