It soaked in about half way through my second cup of coffee this morning that maybe I should take a closer look at the computer I'm using now. Lo and behold, it does have a Firewire port! I still need to track down an appropriate cable, probably just a matter of going to the Wal-Mart right past the end of our pasture, but except for that we should be in business. I'll still make sure I end up with a laptop with a Firewire port but at least I should be able to start uploading videos before I get the laptop up and running (I expect to have to order some RAM to be happy with Vista and it may take me a few minutes to figure out wireless networking).

Brad and Chad are in Vincennes doing some shopping for me, then they'll be here to get back to work on the trench for the freeze-proof hydrant. I probably won't do much more blogging till later today.

***

Some time to think, maybe? I need some and it looks like maybe the weather's going to give me some. Brad and Chad are both good workers and I know they need the money they earn working for me but I may have let trying to keep them busy affect my thinking more than it should have a time or two. I don't want to start making wasteful mistakes because of not taking time to think things through.

I think all the manual digging that needs done for the freeze-proof hydrant is done now. The guys stopped by Ace Hardware for nails and discovered we can rent a small backhoe, with an end loader scoop on the other end, for $140.00/day. There's over $140 worth of digging to be done, if I have them do it the hard way, just to get the pipe in the ground for the hydrant, not to mention spreading a load of gravel in the drive and some topsoil out in the barnlot. My plan at this point is to get some gravel and topsoil hauled in ASAP, then rent the backhoe for a day. They've assured me they can fix the drive, spread the topsoil, and dig the rest of the trench for the hydrant all in one day. Between hearing problems and lung problems I'm not good on the phone but I'll try to get my sister started on tracking down gravel and top soil first thing tomorrow.

I'm not sure if we had a new driver or just a sub but the UPS driver who should have delivered my camera this afternoon decided I'd moved and took the camera back to the terminal in Olney. We called the national number, someone from Olney called us back, and I should have it tomorrow.

FedEx's web site says my laptop left Champaign at 9:06 PM but I don't know where it was headed from there; I have a lot more experience with UPS than FedEx. I don't know whether to expect the laptop to get here tomorrow or not till Thursday.