More Travels with a Ricochet Wireless Modem

Not quite three years after first going on-line with a Ricochet modem, I am still in love with the device. Now, however, it has proven itself a necessity as well as a convenience.

At the end of January, 1999, my father suffered a minor stroke, resulting in the loss of his ability to speak. Expressive Aphasia is the technical term, but it just means that he is unable to get the right words out. It's an extremely frustrating condition because he can understand others just fine, and can think clearly, but when he tries to form a response, it just won't come out.

In order to reduce his frustration and fear as much as possible, I wanted to spend all the time I could with him in the hospital as he underwent therapy to re-learn how to walk and talk.

Unfortunately, mortgages don't automatically disappear when other priorities come up, so I had to keep working as well. Have no fear, Ricochet is here! A quick call to customer support got me set up with TMA -- Telephone Modem Access.

With TMA, I can call any local or 800/888-number just as if I were using a traditional modem. While my dad recuperated and underwent physical, occupational, and speech therapy twice a day, in St. Mary's Acute Rehabilitation Center, I worked from the hospital, dialed into the Long's Drugs networked HP 3000's.

Without the Ricochet, I would not have been able to stay with my father as he recovered. (Of course, the incredible understanding and compassion of Long's Drugs is also significant!) At this point, I could not imagine being a caregiver (for parent or child) without my Ricochet modem.

So, if you require access to shared computer and you ever think you might need to be somewhere other than where you have traditional access to those computer resources, I strongly recommend looking into a Ricochet modem!


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