Trowbridge Falls, Ontario, by Margaret Ullrich, part 13, Transplanting

It was not a good idea to have nachos last night.

The nachos were good.

Our sleep was not.

That wouldn't have happened forty years ago.

Then we had cast iron stomachs.

Today was 'catch up with the twenty-first century' day.

A few months ago our bank sent a notice:

Go online or pay a fee for receiving a monthly paper statement.

I liked getting a regular statement.

But not enough to pay a fee.

The teller had given me a code so I could start electronic banking.

I thanked her.

Then I went home and forgot all about it.

Yesterday, after I paid my bill - in person - I explained that I wasn't on-line.

I asked her to explain how to do banking on line.

She did and gave me a new code.

She also got very serious and said I had to register within twenty-four hours.

The code would be useless after that.

Well, I tried.

I picked answers to five tough security questions.

But then there was a notice about 'cookies'.

My computer didn't have 'cookies'.

Their help link said We have optimized our service to work with browsers that the majority of our customers use.

Among their majority's browsers was the Safari 5.

I have a Safari 4.1.3.

Bummer.

Paul's computer is newer so I was able to start electronic banking on his computer this morning, a couple of hours before the code died.

How could a seven-year-old computer be too old?

I have shoes that are older than that.

Speaking of computers...

If you missed this on the news: there was an Estonian malware.

No, I'm not being funny.

NASA and the FBI did something to help.

But their help will stop on July 9 at 12:01 a.m.

Check your computer at dns-ok.ca now.

I don't understand what I just said either.

Just do it before Monday.

Back to 1972, when life was simpler....

We stayed for a day at Trowbridge Falls Campground in Thunder Bay.

Paul went sailing and I had the afternoon to putter in the trailer.

We both needed a bit of alone time.

While I watched a Tyrone Power movie and some soap operas, I managed to find some items Paul had repacked after we'd been blown off the road the first day.

I also threw out some junk which I should've dumped in New York.

After Paul got back we went to the store for another steak to barbecue.

And a pizza to munch on while the steak cooked.

I was getting tired of having to get groceries so often.

I really appreciated what a wonderful invention the refrigerator was.

We started remembering advertising scams and toys from when we were kids.

P. F. Flyers were runners (called sneakers in the U.S.) which were supposed to turn a kid into an Olympic athlete.

They didn't.

There was also a toy submarine which kids found in boxes of cereal.

Just insert some baking soda in the submarine.

Place the loaded submarine in a basin of water.

The submarine was supposed to sail as if on maneuvers.

It didn't.

Last week at Riding Mountain we saw those submarines being sold as toys.

Good luck with that.

No, we didn't recognize the Sleeping Giant on our drive back to camp.

Maybe all the greenery hid the giant.

Maybe he moved in his sleep.

The barbecue went well.

We were getting used to being in mosquito country.

This time we remembered to phone home at 9:00 p.m.

Ma had received my letter.

I don't know which is more disappointing:

Baking soda submarines or having Safari 4.1.3 when I needed Safari 5.

This is progress?