[I wrote this a little after midnight, then spaced out and didn't publish it. Guess maybe I really am tired.]

I've got to reach some reasonable compromise between the fact I have gazillion things I'm anxious to get done and the fact that if I don't start getting more down time -- not necessarily sleep, but time to sit and think -- I'm going to start making stupid mistakes. I went to CompUSA's web site a little bit ago with the intention of familiarizing myself with the current market in laptops and narrowing my choices down to just a few to study closer later. I got as far as finding out the biggest screen I can get on an XP laptop is 15.4", then my mind turned to jelly. I'm just not up to deciding what I want tonight.

Tech bleg: Is Vista really as bad as I've heard? Does my theory that the horror stories are coming from people trying to run it in too little memory have any merit? (Heather, does Ryan know anything about Vista?)

It did finally soak in a few minutes ago that when "my" tower becomes "the family computer" my big external hard drive needs to move to the other end of the house with it. Otherwise any time my laptop's in Texas, or just the new dining room or the back yard, that drive won't be accessible.

Chad's been trying to tell me I should plan on renting a Ditch Witch to dig the trench for the water line to that freeze-proof hydrant. It finally soaked in this afternoon that the way to look at that trench is as a 6" x 100' post hole. I think we need to start with a normal post hole the right depth, then expand it sideways with a post hole digger and a spade till it reaches from under the hall bath to out by the barnlot. If Brad and Chad don't want to put the effort in to do it that way I'm pretty sure I can get Taylor to, and probably another one or two of Scotty's friends. I'll go for using a rented BobCat to fix the lane but I don't like the idea of digging with power equipment and maybe screwing up a drain line or something. If doing it the hard way costs me money, which I'm not at all certain it will, so be it.

***

I might should've waited till I wasn't so tired but I ordered one of these this afternoon. In the very unlikely event that I decide I shouldn't have I can take it to the local store and get my money back. Once I'm sure it's communicating with my wireless router properly the machine I'm using now will become "the family PC" and the laptop will become my primary machine.

The kids need to head south early enough tomorrow that we had to give up on an open fire weenie roast and settle for charcoal grilling; the garden's too muddy for doing anything out there tonight. Maybe another time. Two of the boys are staying at Danny's sister's tonight; Daniel, Madysson and Noah are staying here.