Note: We were able to raise the money for our computers so disregard teh below notice...thanks to all who
helped us meet our goals. - h
Well, it was done on a whim really...
Remember when you were a
kid? Did you ever spy just the perfect throwing rock on the ground? Do
you remember picking it up and feeling the heft of it in your
fingertips? Remember how you tossed it up a couple inches a few times
to appreciate the absolute perfection of the projectile? You looked
around you, trying to spy a fitting target. All around you were
neighbor's houses, maybe a lake you were walking by...possibly you were
trudging down the railroad tracks with your friends.
Then you
saw it. Old Man Boreland's house. And yeah, it was a LONG ways away.
You could never make that kind of distance...maybe...
You
mentally calculated the arc of the throw. Even if you could get the
distance, you could never hit that kitchen window...never in a million
years. Your friends started taunting you...alternately telling you to
do it and telling you to give them the rock if you wern't gonna do it.
You took a step away from them and turned toward the house. You jiggled
your throwing arm a few times and your grip tightened on the rock. With
more strength than skill you began that jerking, hopping approach to
the throw, then with all your might and will, you let fly that perfect
projectile.
And you watched...and your friends watched. No one breathed for minutes it seemed.
The
Rock flew to it's highest ark. You and your friends marveled at the
distance and accuracy of the throw. You watched it as it seemed to gain
acceleration on its own.
And then you realized.
You hoped and prayed in two seperate directions
at one time.
Please God, Don't Let It Hit.
Oh Lord, Yes, Let it hit, let it hit...
And
it did.
With
the magnificence of a perfectly formed rock, perfectly thrown, with 4
perfectly credible witnesses, that stone crashed through the window and
you could see the curtains jolt as the rocket passed through into
places unseen. You looked at each other in awe and then as if mentally
spoken by all at once, you obeyed the silent command.
RUN!
Remember that? Were you part of that
group? Did you make that throw? No...? Really?
Then never mind.
I guess you just had to be
there.
I
made a throw like that last Monday. I got wind of a sealed bid auction
at a cartage company and on the list was 7 Dell computers "with mixed
peripherals". "Boxed and ready to ship", read the manifest. I checked
our account, silently calculated the bills to be paid with just a bit
of cushion and I let fly with the remaining amount.
I'll be
damned if we didn't get the bid. I was notified today. So here we have
7 Dell Optiplex GX 260's with 512 meg of ram, 2.4 ghz chips and single
40gig hd's. In the deal we got the keyboards and mice with them, 4 1
gig cruser thumb drives and two 17 inch dell flat panel monitors.
Our bid?
$244.71
Unfortunately,
we've had some expenses come up and we had to spend most of our account
cushion. I never for one moment dreamed the rock would actually hit the
friggin' window. There is money coming in from contract work later next
week but we have until noon Sunday to pick them up. We would be more
than appreciative for some help in getting these computers. I mean, if
we don't, they're not gonna line us up and poke our eyes out, but I
would hate to pass up 7 ready-to-rock computers. That means I don't
have to build any computers for the next seven kids that come up on our
roster.
That in itself is a good thing. My carpal tunnel is on the verge of rejoicing.
Should
you folks be in the position to give us a hand, I would sure appreciate
it. I will be glad to post the bill of lading once purchased so those
donating can see their gift went where it said it was going.
If you can,
you
can lend us a hand here.And if I say so myself.
That was a hell of a throw.
All-righty then
It took me a while to decide to do this, and maybe I
should have long ago...it just didn't seem to be that big of a deal, at least to me. Only a small number of people
have read my unpublished work and they've conspired together in talking me into publishing these blogs in
"book" form. I personally wouldn't refer to this as a book...I didn't sit down and write these entries for
that purpose but if it helps us build our kids the computers they need, then yeah, I'll call it a book...I'll call it a
pink pig penguin if that's what it takes.
