I bought a NetGear wireless router which is supposed to let me tap into the boys’ ClearWire signal. Supposed to. The installation disk thinks it is working, XP thinks it is working, but neither MSIE nor Mozilla agree. A puzzlement.

It would be especially welcome if it worked this week because Jayvee has Thursday off from school, one of those parent-teacher days, and both of the lads have Friday off. The first of the “furlough” days which is supposed to save the state money. Supposed to.

Even if it does, it’s shameful for the leaders of this state to dump their budgetary problems on the backs of the children.

Many thanks to Blaine for his recent comment. It was reassuring to know that my detailed examinations twelve years ago weren’t totally dull reading.

Meanwhile, back at the house in the valley …

Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite …

Oh but they do. That childhood rhyme has never been relevant in my life until now. But somehow those horrid little bugs have entered my life. They have a known technique of biting three times in a row, known as the breakfast-lunch-dinner attack. Nasty critters. Actually that would be rather amusing, if it weren’t my body serving as their fastfood restaurant.

It was tempting not to even mention it to Landlady, but I was concerned they might also be in the Old Lady’s bed. I bought some noxious Black Flag spray and doused the bed, drenched myself in insect repellent. Didn’t work.

Of course I immediately went to Google. Isn’t that what anyone does these days when experiencing a crisis? Seems these are very difficult creatures to get rid of and one often seen solution is to buy a mattress cover and seal them in until they starve to death. This takes six-to-eight weeks (!).

Can’t say I’m overjoyed with the thought of sleeping on top of dying bugs, but it beats being feasted upon.

I was astounded by the news that Obama has become a Nobel Laureate. Although I don’t share some of the extremely negative reactions seen on the net and heard on the television, I do think it is somewhat bizarre for a man who is commanding the two most brutal wars on the planet to be given a “Peace” prize.

Especially amusing was someone who responded via Twitter to a local news program asking how he could have been awarded the Peace Prize after bombing the Moon. Ha!

Meanwhile, in my own bailwick …

October 6th was a milestone in this project. The TWELFTH anniversary of beginning the Tales. To mark the event, I began reading them right from the start.

I think self-examination is a useful exercise but I did go rather overboard in those early weeks of homelessness. If I get bored reading it, I have to wonder why I ever attracted any readers at all, am amazed that some still read them after all this time. I so often do very little to encourage them.

“I think the Abstracts are among the best work you’ve ever done. Inventive, witty and elegant. Thanks for letting us know about the site.”

A comment on Edward Meneeley’s Facebook post yesterday. Both the Abstracts and the Homage series are splendid work.

Fall Break. No school for the next ten days. I’ll have to get out of bed early to get any online time.

I appealed to Kert to get his wireless network up again. MySpace lets you know when someone has read a mail, and he read it. Now to see if he listened.

I’m spending most of my online time playing Evony. KM played it for awhile but it’s too slow for him and I can understand why. Building and upgrading buildings takes a very long time. But at least for now it’s my favorite.