Thank You Doctor!

The good doctor was here at the house yesterday. He arrived about 4:00 p.m. and did not leave until after midnight. And while Colin is an outstanding MD who has a special way with children, that is not why he was here. For the price of one of Donna's wonderful brisket dinners, he was willing to apply his skills to attacking the various gremlins that have afflicted our computers recently. Like the good doctor that he is, he arrived with not one but two emergency kits. And he went to work.

As a result of Colin's visit we now have a true wireless network among our computers. . .and it is secured against outside intruders. Unwanted software is gone from the computers, Donna's Vista operating system is running a bit more smoothly, Microsoft XP's Service Pack 3 is now installed on my computers and I am a much less cantankerous curmudgeon than I was a day ago. The only remaining obvious glitch is that Microsoft Office Outlook still won't send and receive messages but I can simply stay with Outlook Express a bit longer.

There also is some back story that goes with our friendship with Colin. We met him in the latter 1980s when he was a classmate of my eldest son Bill at Occidental College. I can't remember what he did right after college but around 2000, he decided that he wanted to become a doctor and was accepted to medical school. If my memory is accurate, he received his MD from USC the same weekend that daughter Alicia received her B.A. from Occidental College. Prior to yesterday's visit, Colin's most recent act of friendship to The Ancient One's family was to accompany Alicia on her drive last week from L.A. to Wilmington, DE. (By the way, they were there by Friday, the moving van arrived Sunday, and Alicia is settling in.) Colin truly is both a true friend and a member of this family!

So, as I sit here writing this on a more perky, responsive computer, there is only one more thing to say. . .

THANK YOU DOCTOR!!!! Your assistance makes technology a bit more agreeable!