July 4th and the Cute Little Red Haired Girl
We'd done fireworks Saturday night, and I thought I had nothing to do and nowhere to be Tuesday. The weather was threatening, and that was excuse enough to not get out there and start anything I couldn't finish.
Then I got a text, from Katie.
Katie is a talented local musician and songwriter, and that's for starters.
She also works (or did) at the Christian school that I do computer work for. She teaches pre-school, music, and specializes with special needs children. She literally changed the lives of some friends who have an Autistic son. She broke down walls with the boy and got him to open up through music. She wrote a song about and performed it at a fundraiser concert for a local Autism support group.
She also teaches music in after school programs associated with a local dance school. The kid is 24.
She is a beacon of hope for what we typically think of her generation, the dreaded millennials.
Earlier this year I learned that Katie is leaving the community that loves her endlessly, and will be moving to Nashville, to take a shot a dream.
A buddy of mine said he was in Nashville, and the dishwasher next to him was a better guitar player than Hendrix.
But hey, kids and their dreams. I'm not so old that I can't remember how it felt. I hope I never get that old.
So back to the text.
Katie is frantically packing and preparing to move to Nashville Friday. Her car's in the shop because a local deer decided she shouldn't go. And now her laptop is acting stupid. Can I please help? (with profound apologies for bothering me on a holiday).
What am I supposed to say?
So we make plans, Mrs. T and I, to not spend the day relaxing, and to drive to our hometown (not far), visit the folks, and get Katie's laptop.
We had a nice lunch at Applebees, made our visits, and picked up the laptop, then headed home.
It was a simple fix. Overheating due to red hair and dust bunnies in the ventilation system of what's an inherently warm running model to begin with. So a little bit of cleanup and some tweaks and updates to get the most performance possible from the older and underpowered system, and it was ready for Nashville.
I took her laptop back to her this morning before I started my workday.
Had it closed up when I handed it to her.
She asked how much she owed me. I said, "Go and be you. They're gonna love you as much as we do"., and I gave her a hug and said goodbye. Told her if she needed anything to just call.
Oops.... I may have left something inside that closed lid.
