Newbie help!

[falcon@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Eric Williams)]

Hello apple ][ diehards!

I am so glad to see this newsgroup.  I knew there was still large
support for the apple ][ world but I was very surprised by the number
of newsgroups and activity on the net.  This makes me excited.

I have just aquired an apple //c for free and would love to start 
using it.  The problem is I have never used an apple before!  
I taught myself BASIC  on a VIC 20!! when I was a kid and from 
that point on the rest of my experience has been on larger machines
like some IBM mainframes and numerous workstations. 
I would love to start learning the workings of the apple ][ and 
use it for some home use and mostly for networking from home.
Currently I am using a bulky VT100 terminal with a 2400 baud
modem in my house, and logging on to my schools workstations to
access the net.  

Anyway, my desire is to use the //c in place of the VT100 and 
also have the ability to transfer files to disk on the apple
and vice-versa.  I am also interested in some mild word processing
and home management stuff, but this is secondary.  So I guess what
I would like to know is who to contact to get up to speed on adding
devices to this machine so that I can start playing.  I live in
the city of San Francisco and don't have a car, so if anyone know
a dealer/guru that I might be able to contact in the city I would
appreciate the connection.  Or if anyone out there has some basic
tips I would gladly accept the advice.  I guess it might help if
I told you more specifics of what I have.  

Apple //c
128k internal memory
internal 5.25" drive
it has a 65C02 microprocessor (is this O.K.? Can I improve it?)
small (~10?) green monitor

??: Can I add an external hard drive?
    Can I add some sort of quality printer?
    Will my 2400 baud modem work with this?
    Where can I get VT100 emulation software for it?

I have read the FAQ, and am looking into some of the resources there.

Thanks very much to anyone that got through this post!  It is way
longer than I expected!

Hope to be joining all you apple ][ enthusiasts soon!

Eric Williams
williams@quark.sfsu.edu