Any new laptop you buy will be able to connect to the Internet if you already have an Internet service at your house. If you want to switch from BellSouth to AOL or to any other provider of Internet services, it doesn't matter: the laptop will still be able to connect to the Internet through whatever provider you choose. Most providers do not need to have any special software installed; you just need to have a browser installed, like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc., and all of these are free. At least one (probably Internet Explorer) will already be installed on your laptop when you buy it. If your MIL does not have Internet service, you generally can't connect when you are at her house. Think of Internet service like regular, wired phone service. If you are at someone's house and they don't have a phone line, you can't make a phone call. Now I am going to tell yo something a little more complicated. When you have Internet service at your house, the company will typically provide you with a little electronic box called a router. This device hooks up to a cable in the wall that carries the signal the company provides, and then a wire goes from that little box to your computer. You can get access to the Internet from the wire that comes from that router, or you can connect without the wire because the laptop has a card in it that can receive the Internet signal wirelessly (sort of like a cell phone) from the router. That way, you can move around the house easily with the laptop, or maybe even sit outside with it. The disadvantage of a wireless connection is that it has limited range. The computer may not be able to receive a signal in some parts of your house. On the other hand, if the signal was strong, you might even be able to get it wirelessly and connect to the Internet at your MIL's, even though she doesn't have her own service. Given that you know little about computers, probably any laptop will be just fine for you. You should choose one primarily on the basis of the screen size and how much you want to pay. Don't get talked into spending a lot because all the features and speed you need will be present in even the lowest cost computers. If you go shopping and are confused, ask more questions here before buying. Lastly, there are many good books out there that will explain what you need to know in very simple language. Get yourself a book like Computers for Dummies or something similar like the one below. (In trying to answer your questions, I have assumed that whatever Internet service you have that it is not the old-fashioned, painfully slow dial-up that uses a modem. If you do use dial-up to get Internet service, then there is other stuff to tell you. Here is a link that might be useful: Absolute Beginner's Guide

Thanks for the suggestions........seems like he (they, him and wife) have narrowed it down to probably a virus. They thought they had the right anti virus program but figured it had expired and they didn't know it. Guess it was one of those 90 day trial offers. Anyway, thanks for the fix.........

Hi! I just wanted to let everyone know how our floors turned out . . . The owner of the flooring company finally came out to look at the floors and pronounced them unacceptable. He proposed sanding back down to the bare wood and starting over - which is what we'd hoped he would suggest. The plan was to sand the floors at an angle and then follow with a multi-head machine in order to remove the chatter marks. They also wanted to water-pop the floors prior to staining in order to achieve a richer, deeper color and then re-apply 3 coats of satin Bona Woodline poly. And the results were . . . GREAT! The chatter marks are still slightly noticeable (at least to us) but are not objectionable. The stain color is beautiful - we used 2 parts Dark Walnut to 1 part Red Oak - since the previous mix of 50-50 Provincial/Dark Walnut had produced a pale, cool color on our white oak. It's a much warmer, richer color now and we love it! For the poly application, we used our programmable thermostat to do the following: Warm the house to 74 degrees 1 hour prior to application Turn the air OFF as application began Turn the air back on at 68 degrees 4 hours after application They also took the poly home with them at night and took it inside to keep it warm. I have no idea which, if any, of these modifications worked to resolve the problem but we ended up with a streak-free floor and we're happy! We did have one problem though, that I want to mention as a warning . . . Around 1:30am after the 1st day of sanding, we received a call from our next door neighbor saying that a large black bag in front of our house was on fire. The bag (containing sawdust) was sitting at the base of our front steps (and in front of her car) and apparently had started to burn spontaneously. She was about to call 911 because her house was full of smoke but her son (whom she'd also called) arrived just in time to keep her from doing so. It took us about an hour outside in freezing temperatures and snow to get a hose hooked up, break open the bag, spread out the sawdust and wet it down until it stopped burning/smoking. Both homes and everyone's clothes smelled strongly of smoke and everyone had to shower before going back to bed. The next day (also in the snow), it took another hour or so to shovel up all the debris from the night before and bag it up so it could be thrown away. Not fun! Apparently, because the poly on the floors had been recently applied, it reacted with the sawdust and spontaneously combusted. We'd heard of this happening with stain-soaked rags but were unaware that it could happen in this manner. Very thankful the bag wasn't left in our house or garage! Anyway, there's a happy ending to our story and we're so very glad we decided to allow them the extra time to make the floors right!

Now I remember your kitchen! :) Glad you got that oven out of the corner. As I recall the new layout is excellent. One other question. I'm not sure because I'm not an architect but is there a way to lower the roof pitch a bit. It feels like the house is too much hat and not enough house. It seems to me if there's nothing except the one room over the garage, it could be lowered a bit? I removed the shutters. I think if you beef up the moldings so they're thicker all around, you won't need the shutter and it will create some interest for the house. I'll find you some examples. I moved that double column so it now looks like you have both holding up the house. In the laundry room, I made the window a double window and the same size as in bedroom 2. If you're concerned about people looking in, put a nice shade on the window or frosted glass. I didn't like the two windows separated and felt it had no relationship to the other windows in the house on the garage. I instead made it a triple. I also do not like when second story windows are as long as first story windows. I shortened the window length over the garage and made it a double so it matched the length of the window in the gable over the front door I feel that overall, with the changes your eye is not jumping around as much and the door and the gable over the door is the focus.