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SMIii
March
2004
Departures
11
WKWW!K'i
for
aiiiw
"wifi"
f
Liana
Ziemer
Free
porum
Staff
Writer
jWffj
,
VKt-lR
Udi&S-ivsSiM
,
At
one
time
my
dad
and
his
friend
built
us
a
back-yard
ice'
rink-where
I
laced
up
on
frosty
,
mornings,
land
watched
the
cold
"cloud
of
my
breath
escape
my
lungs.
I
would
look
over
my
gearra
brown,snowsuitra
wooden
Koho;
s,stick,fBauer
skates
and
sponge
Hockey-
puck,'
1
5was
ready
to
go.
My
dad
cut
rdown
a
hockey
stick
for
me;
the
blade
iwasjbigger
then
the
stick.
I-
didntt'
";
care;;I,!,was
GuyXafleur
inimy
three-
year-old,
mind.
My
dad
and
rhyfriends
wouldplay
for
what'
seemed
likejdays
-shouting
;"hef
shoots
he
scores"
-dad'
wquW;add'irTthe
commentary
-
"Colin
does:
a
spin-o-ramma...he
passes-
to
dad;1.back
to
Colin.
..he
shootshej
scores!"
We
would
lift
our
sticks!ln
thet
air
and
hug
like
we
had
just
scoreditbeJ
game-winning;'goalinthe
Stanley-cup
play-off.
Dad
would
then
pick
me
up
and
hold
me
up
hlghskaring
around
our
Ut-
tlf
nnmpm;irl
nnk-i
v.
-
-"
-.
It
is
'jhewurIreirmberthe-
most:
iBe1
scraping
of
the,
blades',
ori
the
ice,
thejshqutsthe'
glee,
of
the
moment,
!
the
laughten
arid:rri'om
caUingusiri'for
supperluhch
or,
hot-cocoa
AH
of
us'
'
would
have
a
big
smile
on
our.faces
and
storjs'ftin
ourVeyes
Iremembejf'when
1
jmpossibly
big
snow-flakes
would
come"
I
am
usually
pretty
tech-savvy,
but
when
my
husband
emailed
me
and
told
me
he
wanted
to
get
a
new
wifi,
I
began
to
panic.
Yes,
mistakenly
I
thought,he
was
looking
for
a
new
wifey.
A
short
explanation
and
a
little
;fS
research
showed
me
the
error
of
my
assumptions.
Sp,
-v
c
Recently,
Telus
ran
high
speed
internet
to
my
rural
neighbourhood
and
I
bought
a
new
computer
with
1.5
Gig
of
RAM.
My
son
laid
claim
to
my
cast-off
computer
and
neither
him,
nor
my
husband
with
his
laptop,
were
content
to
continue
'with
dial-up.
We
opted
foivwireless
fidelity
(wifi)
networking
to
eliminate
wires
running
everywhere,"
arid
the
need
for
the
computers
to
be
in
close
proximity
to
each
pther.-Now
my
son
can
have
his
computer
set
up
in
a
dark
corner
of
the
basement;'
getting
into
God
knows
what
kind
of
trouble.
My
husband
has
dis-coveredTthat
a
fully
charged
battery
will
provide
at
least
an
hour
of
online
te
bathroom1"
reading.
??iWifi;technology
is
taking
off,
and
many
hotels,
restaurants
and
coffee
M-ihops
offer
It
for
-their
patrons.
There
are
even
wifi
finder
devices
on
the
mar-Ki;
ket
that
flashlights
when
you
are
in
an
area
of
good
reception;
there
is
no
need
Iffitcveyen
haye,ypur
computer
booted
up
until
you
know
you
are
in
a
hot
spot.
llS'Aslfilwaln
t
bad
enough
when
we
all
became
conditioned
to
think
we
s;0
couldaj
liveWithout
a
cell
phone
in
our
pocket.
Now
we
will
have
to
start
packing
a
laptop
jn
bur
purse
so
we
are
available
immediately
for
that
emer-geiicyernail
that
is
sure
to
be
headed
our
way.
MSf-ajJMv
'vJ.tffe4oS.4xW
A.
sWhen
it
snowed
we
would
have
to"
-scrape
the
snow
off
of
our
tiny
rink,
and
.'.
when
the
neighbor
kids
would
come
over
the
loser
"of
the
game
would
have
to
shovel
the
snow,.
I
spent
many
mornings
!!4in-?bedwearing
my:
-Hockey
Night
in
,
Canada
JPJ.s
Imagining
in
my
mind
the
f.fun'Ifwould.liaveon
that
rink
and
the
J
indyes
Iwould
tryfthe
deeks
I
would
I'liriiplement,
the
passes
and
mo'st
of
all
the
i
goals;".
and
when
it
came
time
tor
me
to
play
organized
hockey
I
backed
away,
..:
My
skill
levels
were,
far,
superior
than
most
of
the
other
kids
my
age:
I
was-fasteiYvas
bigger,
and
I
was
stronger
then
most
ofjthe,
kids.
They
were
build-
r
jng
a
career
right
before
me
even
before
1
had
laced
.upV
skate.
I
felt
enormous
'f,
pressure
jo
ptay
.
.
.1
oacKeu
away,
i
wani-'
ed.5td,have!fun...I
didn't
wanted
to
be
J
oohed
arid
awed
over-:I
wanted
to
play
wth
Rbiy'andjCorey
again
in
our
back-
.
yaru,,ponu.
it
wanieu
ine
iun,
noi
me
rafcompetition
and
I
realized,
it
wasn't
the
"
'game!
loved,
it
was
the
time
I
spent
with
my
family.and
myfriends...
sometimes
I
-!
wonder
howt
far
I
could
have
gone.
In
,
one
pick-up
game,
I
was
skating
around:
alleged
junior'stars
and
it
made
me
feel
good
VJHcouId
skate;
I
could
score;
I
-:
could
pass,
and
I
did
it
for
fun.