Joliet, via the Rock Island District.

Feels like it's been a while.

I spent a couple hours tonight trying to figure out what was going on with our internet, and it turns out that the modem decided to reset itself and change the WEP password without telling our computers. Or so says Jessica from Comcast. Neat.

Anyway, my computer is apparently still unhappy with the whole setup, so I've gone back to my Mac for the time being. It's nice, I guess. Like trying on an old baseball mitt you haven't used for a while. Different and new, yet comfortable and familiar.

Anyway.

I was planning on going home tonight or tomorrow. Turns out my great uncle died last night and his funeral is tomorrow. Unfortunately, there's no way for me to get there before the service starts, so I'm going to miss it.

Ray was an intersesting guy. He was probably around 5 foot 9 or so, but one of his legs was quite a bit shorter than the other. So his stance switched between around 4 foot 6 and 5 foot nine. He was always a really nice guy, and as long as I knew him, he made old fashioned wooden toys in his garage workshop. My brother and I would go over to his house, visit with my Aunt Kitty, and Uncle Ray, and hang out at their house while the family caught up. He would usually have something new or different crafted, whether it was a train, car, caterpillar, or some other handheld toy designed for little kids. They were crafted well beyond anything I've seen since, and I knew he always had a good time making them.

I always feel bad about knowing my grandparents less than I would have liked to. They lived through times that I'll never experience, and faced hardships that I can only imagine. It's too bad that it works out that way sometimes. Maybe it's because of the dispersal of the extended family, or the stronger push for a more successful and wealthy youth. Maybe it's just because our generation feels the need to get as far away from our parents as possible. Weird.

I remember a quote somewhere that went something like this, "At 18, I couldn't believe how stupid my parents were, and at 22, I couldn't believe how much they learned in 4 years,"

Anyway, I suppose this is one of those introspective, what does it all mean/what's important kind of posts.

Regardless, I've been feeling much better about things lately. Spring is here, and summer is not far behind. Smile.