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Ahhh... It sure feels good to again have a stable connection to the internet. Armed with my new white cane and renewed sense of confidence, even navigating the mall to Radio Shack to get the wire felt good.

If you're a regular reader of this column, you may recall a story documenting the history of my computer's telephone line. Just before I left for Eau Claire, last week, I started to get a lot of line noise and my connectivity has been sporadic all week. That last patch-job didn't hold up very long at all -- but that was precisely the inducement I needed to goad me into fixing it once and for all. It took several attempts just to upload last week's column and I didn't even try to reply to my email this week.

One of the things I've been working on these last few weeks at school, is Orientation and Mobility (O&M). Simply put, it is a course wherein one is taught the techniques for effective cane travel -- getting safely from point A to point B. I have been fortunate in that I've had the opportunity to observe many excellent cane travelers while I still had enough vision to see how they handled different situations. Most of the concepts I already knew and although I did learn some specific techniques, like how to handle escalators and revolving doors, I also learned to trust my other senses more.

Little by little I quit going places alone. If I went to the mall, I went with Julie -- or just sent her to get what I wanted. The only thing she couldn't get for me, though, was a haircut. For that she had to take me with her. For the past couple of years I walked to and from work, and little else. As my eyesight diminished, I became more and more dependent on Julie, although my work schedule and the large amount of overtime I was putting in also played a role.

Walking around town blindfolded was more of a confidence builder than a learning experience. I found that when I'm not distracted by the fuzzy images that I can still see, I make better use of my other senses and actually did better blindfolded in many situations. Now, even without the blindfold, I'm more aware of my other senses and even more importantly, I trust them. I had a couple of O&M lessons at the mall and learned how to navigate it using the cane, sound and smell to find certain stores.

I've had the same cane for about four years and it's pretty beat-up, so I took advantage of the free cane program at the Wisconsin Council of the Blind. They supply free white canes (one per year) to blind Wisconsin residents. With increased confidence comes increased speed, and walking faster means that it takes a little more time to stop, so I got one a couple inches longer than my old one. Next year, I think I'll add another couple of inches.

I'm finished with O&M training now. If I encounter any problems or want to work on any situations where I am unsure of myself, I can still schedule more sessions but I think that all I need to do now is work on improving my sensory awareness. I'm devoting the remaining four weeks of school to mastering braille and learning to use Windows 95 with voice output. More on this in a future column.

So, getting back to my mangled phone line, it had to be replaced but first I had to buy some new wire. After school on Tuesday, I took the bus downtown to the mall on a quest for telephone cable. Listening for the sound of stereos, I had absolutely no trouble finding Radio Shack. I think it took longer to explain to the salesperson just what I meant by "telephone wire" than it did to get in and out of the mall. Luckily, it said "telephone wire" on the spool or he may never have found it.

Julie had to help me connect the new wires since I can't tell what color they are but there are electronic devices that will detect color, and when my need for such a gadget outweighs the cost, I will buy one. The line is fixed now and protected from weed whackers, so with any luck, this is the last you will hear of it.

And now that I have a connection that I can trust, I've got email to answer . . . but maybe I'll take a walk, first.