>>Only 2-3 years? I tend to go about five, myself. If I recall correctly, by the end of this month, there should be another round of price cutting on CPUs. If you watch the Sunday newspaper circulars, you should be able to find something that both affordable and gives you the bang for the buck you're looking for.
>>
>Five would be great. It just seems that after 2-3 years it's just running out of gas. But OToH I haven't bought tip-top state-of-the-art machines either. They're like new cars, lose too much value as soon as you drive them off the lot. :-) So I usually get something a little less than SOTA but less expensive too.

If I were totally honest, I'd have to admit that the only thing on the old box that I found was too slow, it would be internet access. The UT, for example, is so painfully slow on that box that it's just about unusable. For me, the biggest PITA with a new machine is moving all the data from one to the other and setting up the new ISP. So I'm not using my new box for everything yet. I still got to yank the 13 gig HD out of the old, install it on the new, copy everything to the new drive, then put it back and clean it up. Then it goes to my oldest son.

>>We've stayed at a B&B and regular motels. This last time, we stayed at the Fairfield Inn on River St. Balcony overlooking the river. Mickey really liked it.
>>
>Us too. Stayed in the Inn at Cal. Gar. Really enjoyed it and very convenient.

The part of our trip my wife enjoyed most was shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Sevierville. They have just about every store you could think of. The only one I went looking for stuff in was the Black & Decker Outlet.

Misc. Stuff - Pigeon Forge looks like a local U.S. Flag factory exploded. Don't get me wrong. I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but there are limits. Literally, about every 20 feet there's a flag. I've never seen so much red, white and blue anywhere else except a political convention.

Funniest Moment - Driving in to Gatlinburg saw a sign: "Memories Wedding Chapel". Beneath it, "Walk-Ins Welcome". Nothing like planning, eh?:-)

>>>Oh-oh, he's gonna get some higher level book-larnin' huh? Just general for now or does he know what he wants to do?
>>
>>Doesn't have a clue as what he wants to do. All he knows is that he wants to be rich. He'll do OK.
>
>Oh well. He'll figure it out after a while. At least he's normal ( i.e. wants to be rich ). :-)

One of the things he's got going for is that one of his high school friends is his roommate. Next door, another friend from HS. Floor below, another one. I call them the "4 Horsemen".< vbg >