OK, more info ....

try to restart pcmcia since that seems to be what brought down the card , no dice - socket error

ps -ef finds a hanging pump - so I kill it

NOW I can restart pcmcia, iwconfig shows eth0, key is intact from wireless.config !! ping google, all is OK !

So what is causing pcmcia to bring down the card after it has sucessfully started ?

why is there a hanging pump - what is the relationship ?

no nuttin rite now