Connected

Hi All,
Monday 10:30a June 22,2009
Like that old cowboy song, Back in the Saddle Again- I now have Internet at home. Spent almost 2 hours talking to Alex and Christine last night on Skype. It was wonderful to see and talk to Alex as it's been since early March (before I left) since the last time I laid eyes on him. He will be home for almost a month before returning to Annapolis where he will be part of the Cadre instructing the new Plebes during Plebe Summer (a 7 week indoctrination period their first summer universally hated by all midshipman before classes begin)
As you all know I was involved in a fender bender after 23 hours of owning my new car. Well it finally went into the shop this morning and I'm "supposed" to have it back in 3 days. I am hopeful but also realistic - time and schedules are a foreign concept here. We shall see.

Good news - Hanie passed his drivers test today - Since he has an Indian passport, he cannot just convert his license like an American can. He had to take classes then today was his driving test. He calls me and tells me the driving test goes like this - A minivan with 2 evaluators - one beside you and one behind you (to watch your eyes to be sure your checking your mirrors) and 15 other people taking the driving test all jammed into the minivan - most of course, who as Hanie called them, "smelly"- Hanie is jammed in the corner and with no A/C working - Ahh the perfume of sweaty humans endures the process - The process is the first guy drives for a few miles, they stop the van and out goes the driver -to the side of the road - new driver takes his place and off they go. It's up to you to get back to the Drivers License office. I'm not sure if that's a reflection on if you passed the test or not - but some poor schmuck got dropped on the freeway - See Ya ! Hanie was fortunate?? to be the last driver in the van and was dropped near the Grand Mosque so he was able to hail a cab. - He made it back to the License branch and got his new license after about an hour's wait. What an ordeal .

The villa is shaping up nicely and with the addition of some poster art, the walls are not so bare. I did discover something new - did you know that not all DVD players can play all DVD's ?
I didn't - I have a "made for America" player and had bought some DVD's locally - well I get this message - "Cannot play DVD from this location Code" - WHAT ? I go to the manual and sure enough - I had "made for area 2 or 4" DVD's and a "made for area 1" player. So off I go and buy a cheapo DVD player for AREA 2 or 4 and all's good. - You learn something new every day.
I also broke down and bought some Bose speakers for the stereo. Still haven't hooked them up yet as I need to get the shelves up that will hold them and then hook up the DVD player(s)(does video goes to one device and audio to another ?) satellite, TV to the amplifier so all sound goes thru the Bose. I need a teenager to come show me how to hook these all up - I used to be a semi-technophobe - but that was when we still had LP's and reel-to-reel. Now I'm trying to figure out how to connect my iPod and Laptop to the amplifier to hear the tunes contained therein. Any techie out there want to come and help me figure this out? On top of all this I now have 5 count them 5 different remotes - Yes Guys I have 5 remotes - That's right - betcha you have "remote envy" ! I don't care who you are , that's funny on several levels HAHAHA
That's all for now
Love Scott