Memorial Day weekend has become the one time of the year where it can said that the whole nation is united in the gratitude that’s shown to those that have fallen and those who still bear the pain of wars that are being fought now and in the past.
The toll that’s taken of the soldier can be overwhelming and the loss of a comrade only further shows the alarming severity of the task they must endure.
All the emotion shown during this time gives evidence to the pain suffered by veterans & family members alike.
I know I’ve talked about the difference between Veteran’s Day & Memorial Day, but I’d like to take the time to remind everyone that the men and women of our armed services deserve our gratitude and a great deal more. The depth of that gratitude though celebrated once a year can be repaid in so many different & simple ways year round. From a random act of kindness to just saying “thank you for your service” to a soldier or veteran. The appreciation that it brings is immeasurable for the person concerned.
If nothing else, it shows the respect and esteem we have for these fine individuals who gave so much and those we remember this weekend that gave allto ensure we have the freedoms this great land offers us.
There are only two words to describe this day -- THANK YOU!
So today we wrapped up loading my Dell Mini (Vostro a90). It’s a fully functioning MAC OS X (10.5.7) with Office 2008 & iPhoto.
Just under 10MB for everything!
It’s been upgraded to two megabytes of RAM so it’s pretty speedy. Bluetooth, wireless, Ethernet, 3 USB ports, SD card slot, & a video port.
The only thing it continued to lack was the ability to use my ACS EVDO modem.
The Franklin EVDO (CDU-680) is compatible with PC, Macintosh, & Linux according to the ACS website. In following the instructions it loaded the software but would not run/recognize the modem.
On the PC, it loads fine. Steve, my hardware guy, even tried to load it on his Macbook Pro to see if it was something wrong with the Mini. Again, no joy.
After several unsuccessful attempts, I asked Steve to call ACS tech support.
“You don’t need software on a Macintosh. You plug it in and it works!”
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
More failed attempts….we’re told to we need to take it in and get a replacement modem.
While I’m at ACS Steve notices that there is a Macbook Pro with an internet key with and an open browser.
Since we’re waiting we (as good techs do), we decide to test their modem on the demo box on our laptops & their modem on ours.
NO ONE stops us as we are literally swapping these internet key in and out of our respective laptops.
As we’re testing modems we find that the demo works with both modems and neither work on my Mini or his Pro.
I notice that the icon for the demo is different than the loader we have on our systems.
In checking out the packages, we notice that even though the versions are the same…the size are different and our package is a day older than the one on the demo Macbook Pro.
Again, NO ONE stops us as we are literally swapping thumb drives & internet modems in and out of our respective laptops.
Lo and behold…with the newer package, everything works!
That’s when the customer service rep calls my name.
It was so much fun to explain that in the time it took for him to get to us we had copied over the necessary files from their demo and solved the problem ourselves.
22 minutes from the time we go to ACS on Communications Blvd to resolution. Total time from call to us resolving it ourselves? 1 hour & 43 minutes.
If only it was available on the ACS website.
<sigh>
So now I have internet access for my Mini from anywhere.
———————–
If you’re using an ACS internet key and have OS X 10.5.5 or better and can’t get your key to load, just stop by ACS go to the demo Macinosh Pro and copy the ‘mac’ folder to your mac.
…because I’m no more proud of him than I am already.
I am terribly proud of both my children’s accomplishments. Considering the family life they had (dad being away because of the military and the downfall and eventual divorce of their parents), they have both grown up to be contributing members of society.
They have charted their lives well, even with the ups and downs associated with it and come out on top.
A lot of this I have to give credit to them. I’d like to take more credit, but I can’t as I’ve never felt that I was doing the best possible job as their father.
Now many of you will say “Karl…no parent is perfect” and that’s true.
However, at the end of the day I can assess my part and in their outcome as adults, as well as my influence which was not as much as it should have been. Maybe, in some way that made them better people…I honestly do not know. What I do know is that there were opportunities to be a better dad and I chose not to take them.
I’m not apologizing or making excuses here…just stating the facts. LATER: OK in rereading that line it does sound apologetic <shrug>.
The good thing is that I do have a good relationship with my kids. Could it be better? Maybe.
I will say that watching them mature into adulthood has made me very proud. The choices they’ve made to date have been good ones for both of them and the path laid out before themselves is pretty rock solid…all things considered.
I know that my son’s decision to join the Navy was a good one. He didn’t join for the money. He didn’t join because he didn’t have a career path. In his own words “I want to give something back to America other than Fuckin’ taxes. I love this country!” He did ask for my counsel and in the end he made a great choice in moving forward in his life.
And who knows? Maybe he’ll meet his wife the way his dad did…during advanced school after basic training.
It worked for me and, in the end, while the marriage did not pan out I got two blessings that I can’t begin to describe how happy I feel for recieving them.
You a good man Paul LeRay and a Lena, you’re a fine young lady.
Come out & see the planes fly tomorrow at Arctic Thunder. Do this in honor of the lost crew. We will be honoring them...you should too. http://twitter.com/hogbiker18 mins ago
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