It's with a proper sense of pride in personal accomplishment that I can now say, "Whew! I'm glad that's over."

Knowing how much I don't know about setting up a new computer for Mom made me cautious and tentative. I was careful to note what all the cables and wires were connected to before I disconnected them from the old machine. She had new speakers and a new keyboard. There was a new mouse, too, but she likes her old one.

The amazing part is how smoothly most of it went. As incompetent as I feel when I'm futzing around with these sorts of things, I always get a big charge out of something going right. There was no trouble with the old monitor, and I managed to get her printer working at last.

We gave her the printer nearly a year ago. We never could install it properly before, because her CD-ROM drive didn't work. That's one of the main reasons she wanted a new computer. She could print before, but not in color. We couldn't find the drivers on the Internet, and there was no manual because it was on the unreadable CD. Now she can print out colorful web pages to share with her non-connected friends, and if she needs help, she knows how to find it.

The only problem we had was logging onto the Internet. That's a big problem, since it's one of the reasons she has a computer in the first place. How can she read her son's web page if she can't connect? But even though we had her user name and password, plus a dial-up number, the ISP wasn't letting us in.

So we called Eric and asked what the deal was. Apparently we have to have the software in order for the ISP to allow us to connect. But we can't download the software unless we can connect. So I rushed home, copied the software onto a CD on my own computer, and rushed back and installed it on Mom's. Zas! All set up and good to go.

We had a little trouble logging off, too, but I think we might have solved it. Anyway, that's not such a big problem. It's easily solved by pushing the Off button.

Thanks again to Jeannie for helping us get this new computer for Mom. Actually, it's not really "new," but it's a definite and noticeable upgrade from what she had. Besides web surfing and email, she uses her computer to do word processing for her group, and I made sure she can continue doing that.

I think I've extended my own ability as far as it goes, though, so if any further tweaking is required, she's going to have to call on Eric's expertise. He's been an IT tech for a software company, so you're probably wondering what I was doing anywhere near Mom's computer. But we did it!