At Last!!!

After almost two weeks of computer problems we finally have things straightened out. Techie son suggested we simply buy a monitor, as the original MacBook Pro works fine, except the screen is black. We had had a 17" Dell monitor that sat unused for three years, until this past June when we gave it to DD#2 and her husband, thinking we had no use for it. Jim suggested we ask for it back. So I called DD#2 and she said they hadn't even unpacked the monitor and we could gladly have it back. Then the problem was, how do we get it from Grande Prairie to our home near Calgary? The solution was serendipitous: she just happened to be scheduled to work in Calgary last week. First time that has happened in her job. So last Monday after I posted I went off to Calgary, had a lovely visit with her, and came home with the Dell monitor.

That was not the total solution yet, as the laptop was in Red Deer, but S. and her hubby happened to go there on Friday and picked up the laptop for us. Thanks!!!

Now we have a much better

set up than before.

We set up an extra three leaves in the old dining room table that is our work station. Jim has his new laptop on one end of the enlarged table, the printer is in the middle, and our MacBook Pro with the Dell monitor, propped on top of a "See Through Drawer" is the other end. Lots of room for each of us, and we can even work at the same time now, whereas before we had to share one laptop.

I had some trouble getting the monitor to show what should be on my laptop screen, but today techie son solved that for me. We're all set to go!

So back to the crosscountry trip: It is now Wednesday and we are in Bismarck, North Dakota, where the capitol building is radically different from what we've been seeing. Again, there was an original capitol building that needed to be replaced, and was destroyed by fire (of undetermined origin). Being practical people, the North Dakotans asked for a practical building, and they got it: an art deco skyscraper, 19 stories high. What you see in the picture is the skyscraper part. Behind the trees you can just see on the left the lovely first floors which extend to the left and house the two chambers of government. The low structure on the right is a later addition providing more space for the state government offices.

The building is a total success: elegant and simple, using lots and lots of marble. I believe the guide said the exterior is limestone, but the interior is many lovely types of wood and many varieties of marble. It was built between 1932 and 1934.

Here's a view of the lobby, serene, crisp and elegant. The front doors to the right are not used now, one of the many changes that 9/11 wrought. The entrance to the building is down one level, under the expansive "porch" outside the original front doors. To the left of the lobby there is an austere black marble wall with the state seal positioned in the middle.

The black marble acts almost like a mirror.

Following our tour we had some lunch in the cafeteria, and then left to drive on to Glendive, Montana. It was a very hot day, and we were thankful to have airconditioning in the car. Checked into a motel and had supper at the Country Cafe next door--real down home type of restaurant, populated with real down home people, serving real down home food. Went for a walk, and then watched a Town Hall meeting about Health Care Reform on t.v. Such impatient, rude people!!! What is wrong with us today? Don't we know that we need to solve these problems by working together?