Gizmos

Much as I like progress, new things, easier things, I'm not so comfortable when I have to take my CPU in to get it fixed. Yesterday, we trekked into Knoxville to have a new modem up in. The old one got fried when we had some power surges and the polarity of the phone line got switched. It was all right for the phones but not for the modem.

Now I'm saddled with not only slow connection speeds but a modem that doesn't make a lot of noise when it dials. I have to listen hard for it. No more the loud noise that tells me it's working -- it could be heard all over the house, making it impossible for someone to know that I was going on line during "Dead Hour" -- the time we set aside for people to actually reach us on the phone.

We got a new surge protector, too, but it's just a glorified "pig tail" and some of the old cords won't fit in it without blocking outlets and inlets...I love progress!