Local Man Lights Wood Stove, Feet Remain Toasty

Waring, TX - At the very moment I write this, I am seated next to a crackling fire in my wood stove, my sock covered feet warmed on the bottom. A warm cup of coffee sits next to my chair and my belly is full from a wonderful meal of grilled chicken. I have just responded to my new friend "youareanidiot" who has surprisingly turned into an intellectual confidant of sorts. The kids are tucked in bed..oh wait I don't have any kids. Where was I? Oh, yes. And perhaps most importantly, I now have wireless internet.

Of course this is not what you are thinking. Things are never as they seem in Waring. Several weeks ago, I awoke to the sounds of banging and clanging across the street behind the home of my good friend M.E. Montgomery. I've mentioned him before here at the Whimsical World. He is a legend by any standard. If "odd" comes from left field, M.E. is in the parking lot prying window stickers off someone else's car. He is a very rare breed.

My curiousity drew me across the street where I found four grown men (who I'd never seen) wearing tool belts and holding all sorts of power tools. They pointed toward M.E. who was hunched over a laptop holding a screwdriver. Our conversation went something like this:

Winston: M.E. What in the world's going on over here?
M.E.: I'm starting a wireless internet company.
Winston: You mean you purchased a router and will pay for services from an internet provider?
M.E. : No, I'm starting a wireless internet company so I can have wireless internet.

Here' s how it works:

1.) M.E. purchased a bandwidth. I have no idea what that means or why its important but that's what he told me.

2.) A signal comes from Helotes, Texas. Apparently, that's where the internet starts.

3.) It shoots a signal to Seven Mile Mountain, not from Waring down the River Valley.

4.) The tower at Seven Mile Mountain in turn shoots a signal to M.E.'s house (the dilapidating train depot) to a crude tower he erected in his backyard several weeks ago (with the help of the strange men I'd never seen.)

5.) His crude tower translates that signal into a wireless signal which comes across the street into my house.

The beauty of this project right now is that it is still in the test phase therefore I am not having to pay for this service...yet. The better part, and surprising part, is that the signal is almost as fast as DSL if not faster. Its so fast the computer knows what I want to click on before I do.

So, I have relegated myself to a relaxing evening of sitting by the fire and surfing the world through a portal of wireless possibility while playing cyber ping pong with my good friend "youareanidiot." Here's to it all: the wine, the money, and the good times.

That's the story of my life...