We're back! And so is the computer

• After two weeks of, well, sketchy weather and a strange (for us) house, we're back home. It was a good vacation. I read six books, made applesauce, practiced a foreign language, didn't sleep too well, and enjoyed the sound of wasps in a wall full of something like Virginia creeper, as well as a lot of sparrows, a couple of bats, about a hundred cows, and a weasel. Proof of the last two (see if you can find the weasel!):

• The wireless modem verdict: not much of one, since I didn't try out my own sim card and unlocked modem, probably partially because I was afraid of the roaming charges. In any case I didn't trust my language skills enough to buy one where we were. The one we rented worked fine. The only problem was that we were in a valley out in the country where there weren't many GSM cell sites. We checked our text messages and mail by putting our cell phones and the modem on the fence twice a day. Worked fine, though the connection was still slow. :-) We drove out of the valley to a more populated place to use Skype to call my Mom. Here's our Communications Center:

• Once back home, I read Bruce Feiler's article "Our Plugged-In Summer" on nytimes.com. As always, vacation makes me think about my "digitality" and what's good/what's not so good about it. I agree with the basic idea of his use of the Internet on vacation: checking out useful information on attraction, looking things up with the kids, etc. We did something similar, although probably less often than Feiler and his family did. And yet...I find it hard to describe, but when the Internet is an option, as useful as it is, it means a small part of our attention is not where we are. We're partly "out there" and not "here". My experience is that this detracts from a vacation (and from "regular life," if we're not careful), even though I am a huge fan of getting information when I need it. There are lots of pros and cons to this question, so let me know what you think!
• The big computer is back after being repaired for the "flashing folder of death" problem. Apple replaced the hard disk, and to my delight they were able to copy the data onto it, so I didn't even have to use the Time Capsule. Fantabulous.

Iconic and a kind of software review

• So here I am, sipping a latte and typing on my laptop. I've always thought this was an iconic picture of...what? Modernity? Coolness? Someone who's got her priorities wrong? Today it's just functional, because (a) I just woke up from a much-needed nap and now need coffee, and (b) I screwed up the "big" computer yesterday. I decided it was time to install Undercover, the computer tracking software made by Orbicule, on the big computer and on the laptop. No problem. It's easy to install and you can even test it. (The reports you get of the current location of the computer are amazing and cool, but caused Man to exclaim, "I'm not touching that thing ever again!" :-)) Anyway, that was all fun and games.
  The Undercover people do suggest you set a firmware password, so thieves can't wipe your hard drive/start up the computer using another hard drive, and they give you clear instructions how to do it. OK, so I did it. Also no problem. But something happened with the reboot of the big computer and I got the flashing folder of death (I hope none of you has ever seen the flashing folder of death).
  Apple Care was helpful, at least after somewhat chidingly saying, "Oh dear, firmware passwords are rather advanced for the average user..." (grrr), but unfortunately the flashing folder of death remained. So the big computer is being sent to the top nerds* even as we speak. At least it won't be stolen from my house, haha. 
• Let me stress that the laptop is completely fine, so it's not Undercover's fault. This isn't much of a review in that I can't tell you how great the software is for recovering your stolen computer (you can find enough of those stories if you Google a bit), but I can say that it was very easy to download and install, that the informative site and the site you use to report your computer missing are just about perfect, and that the Orbicule people were very sympathetic and helpful when I reported the boot problem (just in case they had any ideas) and they want me to let them know how things turn out.
• As a side note, I also got the Kensington MicroSaver DS keyed lock for the laptop. I'd read reviews saying that certain locks don't work in the MacBook (I have a regular unibody MacBook.) This fits fine. 
• And in other news: I sat outside today, looked at clouds, and played with my dog. Much needed recreation, especially after about six straight days of rain, during which my outdoors time was purely functional. 

* Disclaimer: I use this term in the most positive way possible. My way of life depends partially on the help of nerds on various subjects. I love my nerds.

A feel-good photo

• One of the loveliest photos I've seen of the whole Wills/Kate trip. Love that little girl's expression!

So let's just let the veins rest for now. Wifi/mifi experience!

• Everything's fine with the veins, so we'll just move on for now until someone has a question. :-)
• I'm just getting into mobile internet and researching the various possibilities. I'm not the type of person to have my laptop (no smartphone yet!) open all the time, or even with me, so the thing for me is affordable internet access for occasional use.
  I got an unlocked wireless modem (Huawei E585, as small as a cell phone!) and a prepaid laptop internet sim card from T-mobile, a provider I had no experience with yet. (It was the cheapest option.) Oops. The sim card did not work. The laptop and the wireless modem could see each other and wave, but internet was not happening. Didn't even get to the point of the software download/installation they said would happen. Still corresponding with the T-Mobile on that one; I want my money back. So far they are refusing and are basically washing their hands of the whole thing. Recommendation? Don't go for T-Mobile.
  Decided to go ahead and get a small mobile internet plan (not a prepay) from my 'own' provider, since people who already had an account with them could get it for half price. Stuck the thing in the modem en bam, internet. (Obviously the modem is not the problem; hear that, T-Mobile?) Well, not bam; it's not as fast as I'd like, but it should be fine for my purposes. A friend's sim card (from yet another provider) worked as well. (Getting it yet, T-Mobile?) What I'm hoping is to get a local prepay sim when I travel to other countries; that's why I got the unlocked modem.
  We've rented a thing for an upcoming trip over the border, just in case I don't get the sim thang going right. It's a pretty good deal: mifi to be used in the country of choice, for a reasonable price. I'm looking forward to comparing it with my own setup.

Smile again: the scoop on varicose vein stripping (3)

• I love all the traffic on the varicose vein posts here and here. Any other operations you'd like to see featured? :-) But seriously, I'd love to hear your comments. Was the information useful? Anything missing? Let me know!
• I realized that some of you might want to know why I chose the stripping method, which a lot of sites call "old-fashioned" (or words to that effect). I had the choice of getting the veins stripped or getting them lasered. At first I thought the laser treatment would be better, less invasive etc. But two things made me decide to get them stripped.

The area around the veins would have to be numbed before the laser treatment. That involves putting a thing all the way through the veins and inching it back, injecting anesthetic fluid every so often. According to the surgeon that would be about 10-15 injections. Per leg. This did not sound attractive to me at all. I've had anesthetic injections before and they aren't fun.

Since the veins have to collapse and heal, I would have had to wear compression stockings for six weeks. This wasn't necessary with the stripping method. Apparently there are studies suggesting that six weeks after stripping, there's not any (or much) difference between patients who wore compression stockings and patients who didn't.

The scoop on varicose vein stripping (2)

• So I got a whole lotta traffic on the varicose vein post. Made me smile. I'm also one of those people that searches the whole web for pictures and descriptions of any procedure I may undergo, any product I'm thinking of buying, so I get it. I'll bet y'all are begging for more.
  Here's a pic of my right leg, four weeks and a few days after the stripping.

• Please don't think my leg is actually this exact shape. :-) It wasn't easy to get the leg in the right position and take a picture with my other hand, while not being able to see the little camera screen. Also, I have very pale skin. I just do. So any marks look more intense in the photo than they do in real life.
  Anyhoo. As you can see there are several little scars in various stages of healing. A couple of them are already healed; I remember I had nine little incisions and two of them don't even show on the pic. So these little scars are gradually fading and I don't think there will really be anything to see after a while.
  You can also see a few spider veins I can have treated at some point. Too bad I didn't think to take a "before" pic so you could see the difference. There was a big vein lump right around those spider veins, for example, and a couple big ones halfway down my calf. All gone now!
  In the first post about the operation I mentioned having a reaction to the dissolvable stitches, but that turned out to be just some fluid that collected there; apparently that's normal. (And it's gone now.)
  
• I don't think about the operation during a typical day, because I'm not reminded of it anymore. I don't feel bruising or tightness, and I can do everything I'd normally do. Isn't that great?
• Information about how I made the decision to have the stripping here.

Ahhh. What a relief!

• I ended a relationship today. (Not the one I wrote about in my previous post.) This wasn't a virulent relationship like the one with my family member, but it had been eating at me for some time. There were no fights during the almost three years we knew each other, and a lot of good things. I learned important things from this person and for those things I will always be grateful.
  But at some point in the last year or so the relationship ran out of steam. It happens. That doesn't necessarily mean anyone's at fault; sometimes you've just said everything you can say to each other. Our mistake was not recognizing that. There were hints both ways, but neither of us took the initiative of saying it was time to move on. The result was a really draggy year in which we didn't look forward to seeing each other, but hoped that we would enjoy it sometime again.
  That didn't happen. We saw each other for the last time several weeks ago, we agreed that that would be the last time, and that seemed to be fine. But today some unspoken feelings reared their heads, and the relationship saw its only above-board confrontation. I said what was on my mind; the other person did the same. It wasn't fun, but it needed to happen. 
• In retrospect we both could have avoided the final confrontation by speaking out earlier in the relationship. We had understandable reasons for not doing so, but it meant that we spent a year ignoring the elephant in the room. Everyone's done that. It's perfectly human and we'll all do it again sometime. The problem is, it costs a lot of energy, energy we can use positively. That in itself is a reason to speak up.
  The other reason is perhaps more subtle. It's actually a social lie to keep a relationship going that's not benefiting the people in it. Again, that's something we all do sometimes. And sometimes it's useful in other ways, for example, if you desperately need a job at the moment and you consciously decide to "deal with it" in order to keep the job. But there's something poisoning about it, especially in a personal relationship. Being honest with one's self and with another person is an expression of a "lovingkindness" we need to cultivate.
• That being said, the final confrontation between me and the other person was actually a relief. It was crystal clear that we disagreed on some key points and would not agree on them again. That's the "closure" we all keep hearing about, and I've got to say, it feels great. Light. With freed-up energy. I'm happy. It's a good feeling.