Dear Folks, Note: this is another of my long-winded late night ramblings. A couple of weeks ago I realized that I RARELY used my "old" Dell desktop computer any more and that virtually all of my computing has been done on my much newer Toshiba laptop for well over a year. Therefore, I bit the bullet, stripped all of my personal data from the hard drive and gave the computer to my grandniece Amanda and her husband Jeff. They were thrilled inasmuch as they didn't have a computer. In addition it impressed them that it has over 1 gigabyte of storage. After I got used to the thrill of the extra desktop space that I had after it was gone, I was a happy camper until my laptop acted up so badly that I had to use my Recovery Disk to get it running properly again. That meant that I had to reinstall all of my favorite programs back into it. But what I hadn't realized is that I had never originally installed my digital camera into my laptop because the camera worked perfectly well with the desk top. And that's when I was brought up short. Not only couldn't I install the camera into my newer version of Windows XP, even if I could, the camera's cable connection to the computer needed a serial port and my laptop has only USB ports. I was "devastated." That cheap Polaroid digital camera ($138.00 on sale at Wal-Mart in late 1999) was the perfect camera for me. Just enough bells and whistles but no more than I really could or wanted to use. Sadly, I knew that I couldn't use it any more and so I asked my niece Deb if she wanted it or could use it. Boy, COULD she? She was thrilled to death. As a result about a week later Deb stopped over to my house with a "present" for me. While she and her husband Jack were on a long distance truck run Deb window-shopped through a truck stop's store. That's when she spied a teeny tiny digital camera for less than $40.00!! Because she was so thrilled with the one I had given her she wanted me to at least have another one. I had told her previously that I had thought long and hard about spending the money to buy another digital camera but decided I really have very little use for one anymore. Let's face it, I can't take pictures of tombstones in cemeteries any longer because I'd have to stoop down to take them. Now, I have no trouble stooping down, but it's the trying to get back up on my feet again that causes a serious problem! :-) The teeny tiny camera she bought me is a SiPix Style Cam Blink II that has "streaming snapshot" and I have an idea I can do something along the lines of videos and other fancy stuff that I don't have a clue what they're even talking about. The size of the camera is about 2" square by 1/4 inch thick and it comes with a neck strap to hang it from. It occurred to me that I could play "I Spy" with it and keep it tucked into my cleavage for just the right critical picture-taking moment! The bottom line is that I was able to install the program into my laptop, I was able to get the camera to work, I was able to take a few obscure pictures around the house this evening but they're not the best quality. Nonetheless, the lighting wasn't the best either. So I guess it's a keeper. BTW, it's power operated off a simple AAA alkaline battery and it has enough memory to store 300 pictures at low resolution! So overall, I'm certain that on occasion I'll find good uses for it. If nothing else, I might get into the spy business and add a bit of spice into my life. Let's face it, I REALLY need to get out of the house more often! :-) vee