Still here!

I have not fallen off the planet! I have not been arrested and put in jail! I have not broken both of my arms! We still have electricity at our house and the computer DOES still function!

It has simply been busy enough the past two weeks that the only times I can find to get on the computer long enough to do much of anything tend to be late at night. And then, my sporadic computer time splits between loading and reading any new e-mail messages (sometimes upwards of 20 messages), reading any new postings from my blog lists, such as Barb'sbabblings (mom), Janet's Garden Spot (Janet, obviously), Andrew and Kathy, and others. I sometimes have things to print for church, and I try to keep track of my travel group.

All of this takes way more time than I would like, because we still have slow dial up. I know, I know! The first thought each of you just had is some variation of "WHY?" "Why don't you get cable? Satellite? etc.? Feasability and function, that's why! Our location would make running cable a several hundred dollar job, if not thousands, since we are about 20 miles from the closest cable source that we know of. Satellite is simply too expensive to set up, and the monthly fee just to have the connection is not within our budget, to say nothing of the subscriber rates for this area. And, no, it is not worth it to have satellite TV in my opinion. we have enough issues with channel surfing as it is!

Some friends from church, who live in a similar situation over by Floral (15-20 miles away) have looked into satellite, and the best service is the equivalent of cell phone service that swings between 2 and 3 bars, with frequent drops. (this according to the tech from the satellite company in question!)

This requires significant time AND patience for any internet activity beyond a few e-mails. And when your average day starts at 5 am, sitting at the computer at 11 pm is not the best choice. And here the last few weeks, 11 pm has been about the only time I have been able to come near the computer. Which means I don't spend much home time on the computer.

I know if I ran down each individual day, I could find plenty of minutes that I could spend here, but when those times fall in between job, church, family and farm responsibilities, and I know that I would rather spend those "down" times with my wife and kids (when they're not running every which way but loose), then the desire to come fight the slowness just doesn't materialize.

At some point, hopefully in the not too distant future, I think I might just run through what for me is a fairly typical day. I may be the only one that finds it interesting when I do, but then again..... it is MY blog, isn't it? :)