On Wednesday night we noticed Ben had a rash all over his body. Karen took him in to the doctor on Thursday morning and the prognosis was strep. Interestingly, he had no other symptoms……his throat was not sore, he had no stomach ache and he was not running a fever. As a result, he got a two-day vacation from school while he started his antibiotics. I think he had a great time given that he had no symptoms (aside from the itchy rash) and had two days at home to play on his new computer. Ben’s computer had failed a week or so ago (suspected motherboard death), so last week I bought a new Compaq Presario SR1830NX to replace the deceased PC. It has an Athlon 64 (V) 3500 2.2GHz processor, 1GB DDR RAM, 200GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD, DVD/RW Light Scribe Drive, 9-in-1 Memory Card Reader, built-in ethernet connection, and WIndows XP Media Center Edition. Despite being introduced in Feb 06, it was on clearance at Office Depot for $450, less $50 mail-in rebate. It amazes me how much PC you can get relatively cheaply. I used to build my own PCs, but with software, I can’t build them any cheaper than I can buy them nowadays!Â
Delaney continues to do well at school. She has made several friends and loves her teacher. When she is not at school, she likes using the video recorder to make movies. She continues to be very conscious about her diet choices. She has absolutely the right attitude about it, replacing high calorie junk food with fruits and veggies. I should take a lesson from her! Yesterday, I finally upgraded Delaney’s HP computer with parts I harvested from another old PC I have. I upgraded her RAM from 128MB to 1GB. I also got and installed an nVidia e-GeForce Video Card to upgrade her from the installed on-board graphics card (which is too basic to support some of her applications).Â
I also replaced the Tripp-Lite Battery Backup with a CyberPower system and relocated my cable modem, wireless router, and network storage device to a new, less obtrusive location within the office. I now have my PC and the modem/router on battery backup to prevent them from getting all screwed up every time we get a temporary power loss here….which seems to be at least once per week.Â
Karen has applied for a couple jobs at the local schools…..she hasn’t heard back yet, but she is ready to get back to work. Working at the schools is a great fit because it allows her to be on the same schedule as the kids are. Also, because of the cost of living in the area, they pay very well (compared to Antioch Elementary in Crestview). I am not sure if she will apply for substitute teaching positions. I think she is a bit apprehensive about the class size here (Ben’s class has about 27 kids).Â
Well, we need to go enjoy this beautiful day…it is gorgeous outside!Â