Thursday, March 26, 2009

Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 2002

OK people. On to some happier news. EXCITING news! Well, exciting for me, anyway. I can't claim it will be in any way noteworthy to you. Remember that aging desktop of mine? The one that gets upset with me and demands a rest if I dare to do two things at once (even though the second thing is often something no more complicated than turning on my printer)? That desktop is no longer my only means of accessing the Internet in my home! No, I also now have a new-to-me used laptop which, with the help of a very nice young woman in India, is now connected to my very own brand new wireless network. Yippee!

I was trying to decide from which room in my home I should celebrate by typing my very first wireless post when it occurred to me: I am wireless! I can type a little bit in EVERY room! I am coming to you right now from the comfy purple couch in my living room, but wait! ... Now I am in my KITCHEN!! Whee! Hold on, folks. Gimme a second here... Now I am in my bedroom! Whoo hoo! Oh, the freedom. I can even take you into the... Nope. I'll stop right there. I do have some boundaries, some lines I won't cross. Blogging in the bathroom seems a good one to keep solidly on the other side of that line. I DO look forward to blogging in my backyard come this spring and summer, though. Finally, my desire to be outside and my desire to waste time on the Internet do not have to feud with each other incompatibly! It really is a brave new world; is it not?

I do realize, of course, that this magical new life I'm living is one the rest of you took for granted five years ago already, but I am a minimalistic, baby steps kind of girl. I still have a paper checkbook register, remember? Still tape shows on a VCR. I didn't ditch the rabbit ears and pony up for cable until 2006, and my move from dial-up to high-speed came AFTER that. Maybe by the end of the next decade I will finally trade my land line and prepaid cell phone for a mobile phone with Internet access. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, though. This Pioneer Days life I'm living, I like to think it has its own quaint charms.

I should note that the laptop came thanks to my pal Steve, who... oh my word; for crap's sake, was he really not in my sidebar all this time? Sorry, Steve. Totally an oversight, I'm sure, which I shall blame on the fact that I routinely forget I even have a sidebar (cases in point: I finished "Persuasion" nearly a week ago, and the same not-so-recent search activity has probably been in that box almost since Christmas) and on the fact that you, Steve, do not update very frequently, and I suspect that every time I thought to add you, I probably assumed, "Huh. Maybe he's quit blogging now."

ANYWAY... Steve! Steve is even more proof that the Internet really is an amazing, amazing place full of all manner of fantastic and helpful folks, because he read about my computer woes and subsequently secured me a used laptop from his office and shipped it off to me. Seriously. I have a new (to me) laptop all because some nice guy out in California found my silly blog and forged a friendship based on words on screen, photos on Flickr, and random nonsense on Facebook. What was that I was saying about a crazy brave new world? It doesn't apply just to wireless connections, obviously. Anyway, thank you, Steve. Thank you for protecting my sanity by assuaging my techno-rage, for keeping me from taking my old desktop and playing out a scene not unlike the fax machine assault segment in Office Space. Ah. Deep breaths. It'll all be OK.

Of course, with the Internet at my easy access anywhere and any time, I may never actually read another book ever again. Jane Austen, I hope you're comfy over in that sidebar spot there. You might be sitting there a while.

11 comments:

steve said...

Aww shucks... 'twas nothin'. :)

I haven't quit blogging! I just haven't had a whole lot to say lately. I need to get on that.

3carnations said...

Yay you! And yay Steve! What a nice thing for him to do!

Anonymous said...

What a nice guy Steve is!! And just when you needed a little pick-me-up because the last post you wrote pissed me off for you and even though you know you are better off, it still sucks. And a new laptop and wireless internet, AND being able to type from where ever you want is AWESOME compared to that ahole. I'm just saying....

Sarah B. said...

Does anyone remember the cheesy camp song-

We love you Steve, oh yes we do!
We love you Steve, and we'll be true. When you're not with us, we're blue. Oh Steve, we love you!

Anonymous said...

Steve! What a guy! You have brought Stefanie so much joy!

I've actually reverted in home technology. I used to have wireless Internet (ahem, stolen from my neighbors' unsecured signal) but when they wised up and secured it, I had to fend for myself. So now I plug my computer into ye olde cable for my Internet enjoyment. It's cheaper. I wonder if the cable will reach outside so I can enjoy the weather and the Internet too ... hmmmm.

Anonymous said...

That was crazy nice of Steve!

I think I tried using the laptop on the back deck once, but it was too hard to read in the sunlight. Hopefully you will have better luck!

shelleycoughlin said...

Wow, that's super awesome! I love that you finally have wireless, but please tell me you were kidding about having a pre-paid cell phone?

lizgwiz said...

Congrats!

I may be ahead of you in the online bill-paying area, but rest assured that I am with or behind you in all the other areas of my life. (I still have a VCR, too, is what sayin'. Hee.)

Jess said...

Purple couch?! I want. No, I NEED.

Stefanie said...

Sarah--I DO remember that song. I'm trying very hard not to sing it along with you in my head, though, lest it get lodged in there for the rest of the day! :-)

R--I think I have more trees in my 'hood than you do. Hopefully the glare won't be a problem? Nah, you are probably right. Hadn't thought of that. Bummer.

NPW--Not kidding. Sorry. Can we still be friends?

Jess--I actually thought of you when I typed that line. I mean, I sit on my couch all the time and don't generally think of you while doing so, but last night I did. Must be because I was blogging from my couch instead of just sitting there. :-)

Alice said...

hooray for steve! good lands, woman, i can't believe you weren't wireless yet! and... a VCR? REALLY?? i'm speechless :-)