Legendary Richard

 How we used to give my father, the legendary Luddite, such a hard time about his computer woes. He swore every time, "Hal" was purposely vexing him. 

I bought my first new computer in God knows how many years: 12, 16? My most recent one was Legendary Richard's old laptop. I struggled with its slowness and finding my files in the cloud, until it finally refused to do simple things like check boxes. Do you know how many boxes you have to check or fill out on a daily basis? Deleting an email, filling out a registration form, ordering from Amazon- all require box checking. And did you know a computer eventually won't do this anymore? Neither did I.

Before that, I used Adam's gaming computer from 2016 to 2021. I had it repaired a couple of times, and the last time it died I just gave up. I decided rather impulsively yesterday was the day I had to have a new desktop. Yes, I like, no make that love, a full size screen and keyboard. People who use their phones for everything, I just don't understand. 

Back to Richard. I feel you, Dad. I can't access my paid Microsoft office suite, I hate Edge, all this verification crap Google and everyone else puts you through is for the birds. Setting up a new computer is supposed to be easy. Eventually I will get it together. I'm trying to have patience and not complain out loud. 

And why do they put the USB ports on the back of the computer? Maybe no one uses these anymore. Me and Richard, we have issues. Where are those floppy discs? What does it matter? We are lucky my mom has given up trying to learn anything new. She just asks us if she needs something computer related. But dad never gave up trying to use his computer. It was his connection to the outside world, as his body and his world shrank ever smaller. 

Sundays

 Isn't early morning time just the best? My pounding head gets me out of bed pretty often. 

We had an amazing trip after all. Perfect 80 degree days. Only one skanky motel, and it made for a good story. Cal was a wonderful host and gave us all the attention we needed. Our main hotel was nice; heated pool which made for a lot of relaxation. Two days at the beach. Mild sunburns only. 

May I just brag on Eli a minute? He was obsessed with Harry Potter as a kid, started reading the books in 2nd grade and eagerly awaited the release of each  one. He was obsessed with the movies, and I'm sure as he grew up, the music, too. What a thrill to fast forward 20 years later and he is professionally playing parts of the John Williams score from the HP movies. The conductor had edited movie clips to play on a large screen above the orchestra that matched the pieces. It was so cool. They sounded so great. I was telling everyone around me my son was in the symphony, and so was Pat. I felt the only thing missing was having Adam there, too. But then I decided he was. The five of us in this grand concert hall listening to our brother/son play his heart out. Funny, the three of us were seated separately, having gotten our first "comp" tickets in a sold out hall. So it gave me more time to reflect and soak up the moment. 

After the concert, we went to dinner and the four of us chattered and interrupted one another, but I don't think anyone minded. There was so much to talk about. Then Eli was off to Tallahassee and we drove back to St. Pete. The two hours flew by as we had meaningful conversation with Cal. The day could not have been any better.