This months News and Views (January 2001)
- Ringing in the New Year
Many thanks to Steve and Renee Peoples, who live directly across from us, for inviting us over to celebrate the arrival of 2001.
Steve and Renee threw a wonderful party. They had a wide variety of snacks, and good eats. As a home theater nut, I drooled at his TV. He's got a Sony HDTV ready set, and it's about 53" if I had to guess. Beautiful picture. We watched Pleasantville, on DVD, until it was time to ring in the new year.
- No more kids for me and Paula
You come to a point in your life where you say 3 is enough, and we've finally reached that point. Things might have been different if Paula had not had such difficult pregnancies.
Steve drew the short straw (Just kidding, I volunteered - surgery very minor), and had some outpatient surgery done so that there will be no more children. Of course, this is subject to verification, but the procedure's been done.
- Paula visits Atlanta, Fairhope and Birmingham
Paula got the urge to visit Alabama for a few weeks (Ended up being two days short of two weeks), and took off. On her way down, she stopped at Vicki's (In Atlanta), spent the night, and had a great time.
She then made her way to Fairhope, where she visited with her mom, Rammy, and some old high school friends (You know who you are). After a week or so of that, she headed north to Birmingham, spent a few days with her sisters, and then spent a few days with Tammy and Dan. She then came home, and recuperated from her trip for the next 3 days!
What did us boys do while she was away? Left just say that a LOT of Nintendo was played, and numerous high scores were established!
- NetMeeting and cable modems
A while back (About a year ago, I guess), I wrote that cable modems would become more common place, and that would change the internet experience in a positive way. Well, cable modems are becoming cheaper and cheaper, especially in Alabama.
Tammy and Dan recently took delivery of a new computer, complete with a web cam. Where they live, a cable modem is only about $10 a month more than a regular dial up internet service provider (ISP). So, they have a cable modem, a web cam, and NetMeeting. Cool, let's see how NetMeeting performs over cable modems!
Well, it's very, very good, especially when compared to dial up connections. We're able to hear things more clearly, we're able to see each other in a larger video window, the sound doesn't break up, and although it's not full motion vide, it's pretty darn close.
So, if you have cable, check with your local cable company, compare dial up ISP's with a cable modem ISP, and see what the cost is; if it's $10-$15 a month, jump ship, and go with the cable modem. This will free up your phone line, so while you're on the internet using your cable modem, you can talk on the phone.
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