I set about opening one of the boxes containing a portable camcorder and decided to try it out as soon as I could locate the tape cassettes for it and...a tripod. It took another hour to find all the necessary items to make it work but soon I was ready to try it out. The camera was both battery and AC powered, which made it handy to use. I took a few minutes of tape around the waterfall and fishpond and the studio and plugged the camera into the television and played the tape back. The video. Alec felt better about not having to miss the entire semester.During the week Dave had a high-speed internet setup installed at Alec's house, so Alec could hook into WIN and get his notes electronically. Patsy again tried to protest but Dave quickly designated it as his Christmas gift to her and Alec; that made it acceptable to Patsy. Alec's father showed up for a brief visit but left after only an hour. Alec was upset but had pretty well accepted that his father obviously had more important. Upon crossing the threshold into The Room its heart rate climbed and it experienced the feeling of dread that it always did when things were about to change for the worse. Rare as that was. It peed the floor and wasn't told to lick it up. Its owners seemed to understand that this sort of thing was inevitable. The hiss of gas escaping its highly pressurized state was heard as it was instructed to hold the mask over its face and breathe deeply. Which it did, with the brief reward of sleep. . There were the exaggerated glances at the mirrors, blind spots, and to the rear when backing up that were necessary to convince the tester that he was actually looking where he was supposed to look.“That gives us two months to work on it. We can probably rebuild the engine and replace the brakes in that time.”“I guess we should ask my Dad to take us to the dealer where we spotted the van for sale.”“How about we swing by the dealership and check it out before getting your Dad involved? It could.