This was forwarded to me on Twitter a few days before Christmas:

And in those days Caesar Augustus decreed that all must return to the town of their birth, that they might sort out their parents’ computers.

It made me laugh. And then I got to my mother’s house, where in the course of about two days, I:

• Switched them from 800 Kbps DSL to 20Mbps cable, and saved them $8 a month in the process;
• Checked their AT&T and Comcast bills to ensure they’re on the right plans;
• Configured my mother’s new MacBook Air, and migrated all her old apps and data to it;
• Upgraded pretty much every app after migration, since the old Mac was 5+ years old;
• Upgraded her phone to the newest rev of iOS, so she can sync properly with the new Mac;
• Set her up with a free Dropbox, to ease her management of iPhone pix;
• Updated and reconfigured CrashPlan on both her new Air and my stepfather’s iMac;
• Sorted out a Mailman “explosion” that filled my stepdad’s inbox (I’d love to know whose idea it was to sign every doctor in Mississippi up to a licensing listserve, but my guess is that they’re getting what-for already).

It’s a new holiday tradition!

Seriously, though, it’s good to be sure they’re properly configured, on good hardware, using good services, and that it’s all ship-shape.