Back On-Line

My PC is back up!  I went to Century Link yesterday, carrying my dead modem in my hand.  I laid it on the desk, and told the representative, "It's dead. I need a new one."  The rep blinked a couple of times and said, "We stopped using that type of modem 3 years ago - how long have you had it?"  When I told him almost 6 years, he was astounded.  He said they normally only work for 2 to 3 years...  So I got a new modem and I hooked it up to the PC this morning.  Hooray!  I can read all my usual newspapers from across the nation, check on the news in The Blood Horse, and blog again.
   I probably won't blog until tomorrow afternoon, giving my picks for the Kentucky Oaks (being run Friday) and the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.  I need to study pedigrees and past performances before I say, or write, who I'll root for...
   It's been crazy busy, as usual - Kathy has had a doctor's appointment every afternoon, and I have my usual business to take care of, plus walking Boo, and caring for Kathy.  Sarah and Mike had told Jim and Kathy that they'd spend a lot of their time at home, since Jim's in Bhutan, but that hasn't happened.  Kathy snapped my head off today because I brought her an interesting book to look at, which she had asked about.  She informed me that she didn't have time for such foolishness - she had a lot to do and she had just realized (17 days after the broken bone) that she wasn't going to be able to get it all done.  Well, heck....  I could've told her that.  We went grocery shopping together the other day.  She had a specific list.  She spent more than 45 minutes dithering over whether or not she should buy 5 items that she wanted to have on hand, but "didn't need."  She says she needs to decide to do this or that, then sits down and talks about something else for 60 minutes....  and then she can't figure out where the time has gone....   Aiieeee!!!!
     Thank goodness I'm home with my kits!

Short Blog

Yesterday afternoon was a disaster - Banichi ate something that caused him to vomit, salivate excessively and hyperventilate for 90 minutes. I wiped away the drool and checked his lips, mouth, tongue and throat with a pen light, but could not find any damage... while checking on his breathing, my PC crashed (completely) with a Trojan Horse and a Mal virus (actually 9 of them, altogether)... so I'm having to "recover" all my programming from the beginning. And I did have my Virus protector, shield, and firewall ON.... don't know what happened. Three nice things happened in the late afternoon, evening, though: Banichi seemingly recovered; the Cheyenne episode had Sugarfoot and Bronco Lane in it; and I got to let off steam and worry by calling my friend Kathryn and telling her all about how pitiful I felt.

Brother-in-law Jim Snow ran in the Boston Marathon yesterday; his bib number was 21234, and he finished the race in 4 hours, 34 minutes and 18 seconds. He finished 141st in his division (non-pro, aged 65 - 69), and 20,112th over all. Jim had been working so hard to get to and stay at a 4 hour and 15 minute finish time... between the bot flies in his calf muscle and the swelling of his right arm and hand (cause still unknown), he's been a little slower than he'd like. But, considering that he started running at age 60 and will celebrate his 66th birthday in September, I think he's done a terrific job!!

Hopefully, I'll be able to restore my PC to its' former self and will be able to post photos and blog more later... Gotta run! (Blogging from Kathy and Jim's this a.m.) Take care and watch out for nasty bugs!!!