Can I be a little proud of myself? Okay, I know this kind of thing is no big deal to most computer people, but I love it when I can do something right the first time.

Ever since getting the cable modem installed, I had a dream of getting a laptop, putting the cable on a wireless router and having the ability for both Jill and I to be on the Internet at the same time. It's like in those old BBS days when I really wanted a phone line to myself, rather than stringing the phone line all the way from the master bedroom (and tying up the phone for hours on end--and this was in the 1980s, when a cell phone in every hand were still four-color dreams of Dick Tracy). That second phone line was always considered an unnecessary expense and so friends and family were forced to live with a busy signal from the Engel-Cox household. (Hmm, maybe that's why we don't have that many friends....)

When we got cell phones here in D.C., things started changing. Jill could call home and actually reach me instead of getting that busy signal, and so could my boss (who actually paid for my phone and service for the first year). The home phone line stayed constantly connected to the Internet then, but friends and family could finally call us (and, hey, we did start having more friends, didn't we?).

But there were still times when I wanted to get on the computer--on the 'net--and Jill needed to use it (some silly notion of having to complete her schoolwork). And I'm sure the feeling was mutual. I'll admit it. I live in front of the computer. I hesitate to contemplate what would have become of me had the computer not been invented.

And, so, finally we join the wireless revolution. I think I slowly wore Jill's defenses on this idea down...that, and the prices for this technology kept dropping in inverse correlation with its increase in utility.

So, you're probably already been here, done that, what's next. But I'm giddy with the prospect of never having to wait to check my email. (Now, if I only had some friends that sent me some....)