Sonny.
“Hiking?” said Kevin Moe. Kevin liked the outdoors.
“Skating?” asked Tracy.
Mrs. Peters shook her head and smiled. “Something more exciting than all of those,” she said. “Something brand new that we have never done. We are going to learn to use computers!”
CHAPTER
2
Meeting Mr. Machine
T he Pee Wees couldn’t believe their ears! Could their leader have read their minds? Was Minnesota as up-to-date as New York and California? Would the Pee Wees be able to compete with Ashley and Courtney on the information superhighway?
“We were just talking about computers!” Kevin told Mrs. Peters. “We must have ESP!”
What in the world does
ESP
stand for?thought Molly.
Enemy Spy Police? Enter Secret Pal? Every Sad Petunia?
“My uncle has ESP,” said Mary Beth. “When he plays cards, he always wins. He can’t help it. He just knows what cards other people are holding in their hands. It’s like he can see right through the cards. My dad says it’s ESP. My mom says he cheats.”
Many of the Pee Wees looked puzzled.
“
ESP
stands for
extrasensory perception
,” said Mrs. Peters. “Mind reading. Nobody knows for sure if it’s real. Sometimes it seems as if someone knows what you’re thinking. But it may be just a coincidence.”
Molly remembered a time last week when she had been thinking about her aunt. While she was thinking of her, there was a knock on the door. When Molly answered the door, there was her aunt!Could that have been ESP? Could Molly herself have it? She would have to pay attention and see.
Meanwhile, the Pee Wees were excited about the computer badge.
“What do we have to do to get the badge?” asked Roger. Roger didn’t like to work very hard for his badges.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” said their leader. “Just as soon as you take your jackets off and settle down.”
“We don’t have a computer, Mrs. Peters,” said Tim, hanging his jacket on the back of his chair. “My mom said we can’t afford one. I won’t be able to get my badge if we need a computer.” Tim looked as if he might cry, Molly thought.
Mrs. Peters held up her hand, a signal for quiet. “None of you need to worry about having a computer of your own. We have a computer here that we’ll use.” Shepointed to a machine in the middle of the big desk. “And some of you have more than one computer at home that you can share with the rest of the group. If your family computer is busy, or if you don’t have one, we have permission to use a computer in the high-school computer lab,” she said. “The principal has set up one with our own address for electronic mail, [email protected].
PWS
is short for
Pee Wee Scouts
. So feel free to use that computer. No one needs to buy a computer, or worry about owning one. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded.
“Mrs. Peters, we have two computers,” said Kevin. “I’m sure my dad would let someone use one of them.”
“So do we,” said Jody. “I’ll share mine and help someone learn the software programs.”
“Why is it soft?” asked Sonny. “Is it made of foam rubber, like pillows?”
The other Pee Wees looked at one another and chuckled. “Dummy,” said Roger. “Software is discos you load on your computer so you can do stuff, like play games and listen to music.”
“Disks,” said Mrs. Peters. “But we’ll go into all of that later. Right now I just want to tell you what we are going to do in the next weeks to get our new badge.”
The Pee Wees sat up straight to listen. They loved new badges. And they wanted to know what they had to do to get this one. Molly didn’t care how hard she had to work. It was worth it. She loved collecting bright, colorful badges. And for every badge she earned, she had learned something new.
“First of all,” said Mrs. Peters, “we’ll talk about some of the things that computerscan do to help you. I’ll also show you some basic steps so you can use computers
“Hiking?” said Kevin Moe. Kevin liked the outdoors.
“Skating?” asked Tracy.
Mrs. Peters shook her head and smiled. “Something more exciting than all of those,” she said. “Something brand new that we have never done. We are going to learn to use computers!”
CHAPTER
2
Meeting Mr. Machine
T he Pee Wees couldn’t believe their ears! Could their leader have read their minds? Was Minnesota as up-to-date as New York and California? Would the Pee Wees be able to compete with Ashley and Courtney on the information superhighway?
“We were just talking about computers!” Kevin told Mrs. Peters. “We must have ESP!”
What in the world does
ESP
stand for?thought Molly.
Enemy Spy Police? Enter Secret Pal? Every Sad Petunia?
“My uncle has ESP,” said Mary Beth. “When he plays cards, he always wins. He can’t help it. He just knows what cards other people are holding in their hands. It’s like he can see right through the cards. My dad says it’s ESP. My mom says he cheats.”
Many of the Pee Wees looked puzzled.
“
ESP
stands for
extrasensory perception
,” said Mrs. Peters. “Mind reading. Nobody knows for sure if it’s real. Sometimes it seems as if someone knows what you’re thinking. But it may be just a coincidence.”
Molly remembered a time last week when she had been thinking about her aunt. While she was thinking of her, there was a knock on the door. When Molly answered the door, there was her aunt!Could that have been ESP? Could Molly herself have it? She would have to pay attention and see.
Meanwhile, the Pee Wees were excited about the computer badge.
“What do we have to do to get the badge?” asked Roger. Roger didn’t like to work very hard for his badges.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” said their leader. “Just as soon as you take your jackets off and settle down.”
“We don’t have a computer, Mrs. Peters,” said Tim, hanging his jacket on the back of his chair. “My mom said we can’t afford one. I won’t be able to get my badge if we need a computer.” Tim looked as if he might cry, Molly thought.
Mrs. Peters held up her hand, a signal for quiet. “None of you need to worry about having a computer of your own. We have a computer here that we’ll use.” Shepointed to a machine in the middle of the big desk. “And some of you have more than one computer at home that you can share with the rest of the group. If your family computer is busy, or if you don’t have one, we have permission to use a computer in the high-school computer lab,” she said. “The principal has set up one with our own address for electronic mail, [email protected].
PWS
is short for
Pee Wee Scouts
. So feel free to use that computer. No one needs to buy a computer, or worry about owning one. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded.
“Mrs. Peters, we have two computers,” said Kevin. “I’m sure my dad would let someone use one of them.”
“So do we,” said Jody. “I’ll share mine and help someone learn the software programs.”
“Why is it soft?” asked Sonny. “Is it made of foam rubber, like pillows?”
The other Pee Wees looked at one another and chuckled. “Dummy,” said Roger. “Software is discos you load on your computer so you can do stuff, like play games and listen to music.”
“Disks,” said Mrs. Peters. “But we’ll go into all of that later. Right now I just want to tell you what we are going to do in the next weeks to get our new badge.”
The Pee Wees sat up straight to listen. They loved new badges. And they wanted to know what they had to do to get this one. Molly didn’t care how hard she had to work. It was worth it. She loved collecting bright, colorful badges. And for every badge she earned, she had learned something new.
“First of all,” said Mrs. Peters, “we’ll talk about some of the things that computerscan do to help you. I’ll also show you some basic steps so you can use computers
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