Columnist: C.A. Rodenberger

I don’t know which is worse, a virus on my computer or a virus in my chest. I have been fighting both all week. I thought I had the computer virus licked, but I am having computer problems that I can’t explain, so I have to blame them on something other than my stupidity.

I do have some more good news on satellite Internet connections. Jim Nicholson, in the middle of a pasture near Fredricksburg, reports that he gets very high speed service from his Starband satellite. He uses it for his trading website and can instantaneously trade equities, futures, options, live cattle and feeder cattle. He did have some startup problems, but that was because he was the first kid on the block to buy one. They came out in May and he installed his in June. He reports that they are improving their software continually to make it more user friendly, which makes me believe it was kinda hard to use at first. It is not yet XP compatible, which means I would have problems with it, because I still cannot get AOL to work.

My virus sick brain is having problems understanding how I got AOL to work fine on XP, but after cleaning the virus off the computer, it quit working. I reinstalled XP, reinstalled AOL and now I can’t get the modem to dial. What is really weird is that there is no service from MicroSoft. Their customer support option is to go on line to a friend and ask them how to solve your problem. They even have a way to let the friend control your computer from their screen. Now that is real service. AOL at least has someone to talk to. Can’t solve the problem, but you feel better by talking. Now, if I can get my coughing to get better, I will get my taxes done. You can E-mail me at crodenberg@aol.com.