Are you the Family IT Department, too?

If you are like me, you serve not only as a son, brother, and uncle to your family (or the female counterparts), but also as the family IT department. This quick post is about a recent breakthrough in department productivity: do it yourself.

My buddy Ben (same guy from the Iceland trip), also the family IT dept, turned me onto Log Me In. Its a free software that allows you to connect and control VPN style to any computer added to your account.

Log Me In- Saving time and family.

In 10 minutes, I had talked my Mom through the download and install process for Log Me In. Then in the next 10, she watched as I set up Skype and some firewall settings that had eluded us for well over an hour late last week.  I am going to repeat this process a few more times, then I will have the whole family wired to my single account.

Thank you Log Me In, for saving my cell phone bills, my time, and my entire family’s computer related sanity. Oh, and Ben, I owe you a beer.  Now I get to video conference with the family any time of the… wait a minute, Ben… maybe you owe me a beer…

Currently Reading… American Lightning

So I picked up this book at the Community Thrift Store in the Mission… I had eyed it on Amazon and was happy to pay $3.75 instead of the $24.95 cover price.

And one of the characters is a great, great, great uncle of mine!

I am only through the first section and definitely remember why I love the historical narrative genre: It’s a great combination of learning unique historical acts while creating a great storyline. And since the plot centers on available facts, it tends to jump around a lot, weaving story lines, times and places together quickly.

The first interesting thing about this copy… It’s signed!  There is a square sticker on the first page with the author’s signature and marked ‘Abilities United Authors’ Luncheon’ and then the title page is inscribed ‘For Rahh, with friendship, Howard’  Thrift store books are awesome… they have already lived a life and now this copy is off on a new trajectory (likely will mail it home for my Dad to read after I am done… why you ask?)

Even more intriguing though was that one of the main characters is a relative of mine, listed as the last character in a two page list including brief bios. Turns out one of the founding members of my family here in America is a prominent character in the book: E. W. Scripps (though I haven’t gotten far enough to see him in the story- I will update once finished).  There were three siblings that came to the U.S. from England to establish the Scripps name here… the sister, Ellen, in California, one brother in Cincinnatti, E. W.., and one brother in Detroit, James E.  My Dad and his lineage stem from the Detroit brother.

From the book: E. W. Scripps: Wealthy publisher and proponent of the view that the men killed “should be considered what they really were- soldiers enlisted under a capitalist employer.”

Sounds like a winner… Should finish this book up within the week and will post more.