Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Wireless

My mom flies in next Monday afternoon from LA, and after we pick her up at the airport we're heading to their wonderful lake house for five or six days. The Film Geek is staying home since his summer classes start next week, but the kids and I are really looking forward to it. This vacation house is so calming to adults that they should bottle it, but for kids it's a little more problematic. You see, this charming cabin, this idyllic little waterfront paradise, this retreat from the world at large is not wired. There are two TV's, but...No Cable. No Internet. No Cell Phone Reception. All the things that make it so appealing to adults in fact, but confuse the kids. I did my huge spiel on how it is possible to live without electronics and how society has been doing it for eons with no ill effect. Still, each one of the three has taken me aside individually to casually inquire as to the status of the cable. So yesterday, cell phone in hand, I put the question to my mother.



The answer - no cable. Maybe for the longer trip she and my step-father are planning in July, but not at this stage in the game. And before we go any further, let me offer a disclaimer. I know my mother reads this daily (since her initial call yesterday was to check on my headache) and I want to go on record here that I'm not lobbying for some last minute cable intervention at the lake. This is not a passive aggressive move to have the cable guy on a ladder by tomorrow. I'm just thinking out loud here. Okay, mom? And Stu? This is not a personal plea. Honest. This is just what happens when you have a kid who opens her mouth and emits stream of consciousness babble.



But I am a planner by nature, often to my detriment, so I am considering my options. I've already planted the idea in Sasquatch's brain that this would be a great time to start our Harry Potter marathon. And I've already said that they can bring gaming systems with them to play on the televisions, although three kids and two TV's is it's own issue. To be totally honest Surfer Dude and Gumby spend a lot of time outside, so this shouldn't be a deal breaker. I myself intend to spend as much time as possible catching up with my mom on the deck, with the lake filling in the majority of the view. I'll have a big glass of cold wine in my hand, and my brain will be rolling over all the wonderful things I can blog about.



On the internet. Uh oh. Um, mom?




4 comments:

M@ said...

Of course, the obvious solution is to allow one (or more) of the little darlings to take another tv with them. Heck, have them take a DVD player as well.

Happy in the Abyss said...

WOW...so no California trip? DAMN!

Susan said...

Make it a challenge for them. See what they can find to do in the great outdoors, or just all by themselves. Payment for not using anything wired, other than a radio and TV w/o cable, and not complaining about it. Take a video camera so they can make moveies. Puzzles? Legos? Is there a canoe? Tents? Camping anyone? Reading sounds great!! Of course, we'll all miss the blog, but if you keep a hand written journal you can tell us all about it when you return.

Have fun!

Altaglow said...

The cable guy has been booked for installation. I'm sorry to say that unless he has a cancellation he won't be there until toward the end of our stay this time. But, hopefully, this will take care of future withdrawal flare-ups including (heh, heh) that sweaty feeling I get when I miss Keith Olbermann.
Unfortunately since simple dial-up internet access costs twice as much there as our home DSL hook-up does, we won't be getting that now. I imagine we'll find some other way for you to blog. I'll bring my laptop and extra Marguerita fixin's to ease the way.