I Know We Just Met, But....

I try really hard not to judge by first impression.  I'm not perfect, though.  As hard as a try, I often end up being judgmental in certain situations.  I am, like many things, a work in progress.  So, while I would like to say that upon first greeting, I liked 2014, which just started, I've got to say, its coming in like an a**sshole.
Last year was  pretty sucky for us.  My husband got his dream job, and because of a medical conditional that is part of his 20 years of service to our country, lost it.  He fought hard to get the condition fixed, a shoulder surgery.  In fact, he fought since before he retired.  A year after he retired, he was finally acknowledged by our esteemed government and the VA.  Finally, he could get fixed.  Then, we lost our insurance.  Again, our beloved government saw fit to play take back with the benefits he earned and was promised.  The government is playing bully and has decided to pick on Veterans, and we seriously felt it last year.  Sadly, (I swear I didn't mean for this to turn into a political rant) they aren't done yet, and have even decided to start to screw with the guys who are still in.
Anyway, The fantasticness of this past year didn't end with just being on the losing end of a Congressional Budget (Thanks, guys!  I'll see you at poll time!).  The Biggest One managed to break her wrist.  Not just break it, but blow it out to the point that the specialist was totally impressed.  Yeah. That's my girl.  Oh, and to make it better, she did it just walking in Chuck E Cheese.  Just walking.  She fell, and Boom!
My Husband did finally get his surgery.  While good, as he won't be in  pain anymore, it is costing us about a million half dollars.  Ok.  Not exactly, but let me assure you, our medical bills, between three kids, one of whom like to break bones, and a husband who is breaking after all of his years in the military, are making me sick.
So, needless to say, I am pretty thrilled to be done with this year, and have been seriously hoping to see bigger and better things in the new year.
However, 2014, thus far, in the very limited time we have had, hasn't been great.
The Littlest One has a massive cancer sore in her mouth.  It hurts.  A lot.  She cries.  A lot.  She can't eat and wants to be held.  Yes, I have meds for her, but getting her to let me do anything that she suspects is like medicine is akin to trying to throw a cat in the bath tub.  It hurts all of us and nothing ever really gets accomplished the way we want.  Yesterday, I managed to get some of the numbing medicine in her mouth, but I have no idea where it went or what part of her mouth it touched.  Then, she tried to throw up on me.  So, I gave up.  Regular kids acetaminophen is a two person job with her.  One person has to hold her upside down while the other administers.  Ok.  We don't exactly hold her upside down, but you do hold her in a horizontal position with her head slightly tilted down so that she HAS to swallow, unless you want pink slimy vomit on you.  Your choice, of course.
I don't actually have two people here who are qualified to do that, either.  My Husband's computer crashed.  Actually, the power port on his laptop came loose.  His laptop right now is imperative.  I neglected to backup a copy of something that I was working on for the school, and that I have to get to a printer asap.  So, he took the computer and ran to his family's house so that our BIL (and resident family computer guru) could fix it asap.  So, we didn't even get to spend New Year's Eve together.  He took Middie with him, who also got sick on the way.  Then, the computer didn't even get fixed because the port couldn't be soldered back in, it needs to be replaced.
Do you see the awesomeness going on here?
Seriously.  This all needs to go. Now.  I think I'm going to give all this another day, and just pretend this today is part of last year, too.  Hopefully things will begin to be a tiny bit better by then.  I know the old superstition about whom ever you are kissing at midnight is who you will be kissing all year.  I'm just hoping that doesn't also translate to having a super sucky time at midnight means a whole year of suck.  Been there.  Done that. And totally ready for less suck and more good stuff in the coming year.  No.  We are just going to say that 2013 was the a**hole year, and its going out painfully and slowly, like the true a**hole it was.  I refuse to let it take 2014 down with it.  No.  We are kicking that a**hole year to the curb and going to make 2014 better, one way or another.

Just Stirring the Chili!

When I get up, I am just stirring the chili. This by no means indicates that I am done on the computer or that I won't be getting directly back on. This does not mean that you should run from the living room, jump into the big comfy seat where I left it, and slid/roll it over to the computer in some sort of maneuver that for whatever reason makes me think of Tom Cruise in Risky Business. It may just be because you are in your underwear. I'm not sure.

None the less, please don't do this repeatedly. I am trying to multitask. No. M-U-L-T-I-T-A-S-K. I know this is a foreign concept for many out there. It means that i am doing more than one thing at a time. Currently, I am trying to make your dinner and work from our only home computer at the same time.

As an aside, this is my second computer post in 2 days. There seems to be a reoccurring problem here that needs to be addressed. Hmmm.....

Anyway, I will give you time to play on the computer. I know you tell me that your aren't playing, but honestly, checking Slickdeals really isn't honest work. Not for you anyway. If Slickdeals sold military issue helicopter parts, that might be a different story.

So, please, I don't want to nag and ask repeatedly if I can get back to my work. I will tell you when it is time to eat, and I am going to take a break for a while so that you can see if your 1,000 piece Sears Tool kit, or whatever it may be that you are looking for, is on sale at the moment. I promise. Until then, please note that I am just stirring the chili. That siring will will be done before you finish your some what cute slide move and get in position leaning back in the chair.

Computers are meant to torment me.

I moderate a message board. It is a job. An unpaid job. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I loathe it. The election has made me often have feelings of the later.

Well, the election is over, but still the discussions go on.

We have an Election thread going on. I have stepped in twice to remind our members that the debate is not to get personal, yada yada.

Well, low and behold, someone posted that post. You know. The one that had me looking at my screen yelling "No. No. No!! Do you all hate me? Do you want to give me a heart attack at a tender young age?"

Okay. Maybe the tender young age part was a bit of an over or under statement, but non the less, I have to wonder why people post these things, and if they never consider what the moderators must go through by ways of gnashing teeth and blood pressure issues when they do so.

Well, I knew I had to jump into action immediately. I went to delete the post, and in another window, email the poster about why I had to remove it. As I clicked delete, my computer froze momentarily. I panicked. It took about 20 seconds, and the computer came back. Twenty seconds is more than enough to cause a riot, and i know that. I hit delete. It deleted.

So, I replied to the thread, in order to let everyone know that we will no longer be discussing this particular issue. The computer froze. My panic doubled. It took another 20 seconds to get the computer back.

I started my email to the member who had posted the item meant to cause me harm. The computer decided at that time that each key stroke would take a few second to appear. Each time I hit enter to move to another line, it was another 20 seconds.

I couldn't even check the board to see if the rioting had begun. It would have caused the computer to checkout completely. I had to be nice to it. I had to beg and plead with it. The computer knew it had me over a barrel.

It took nearly 9 minutes to get the entire thing sorted out, and have everyone involved in the process email, explained to, and all the other loose ends, hopefully tied up. Those nine minutes probably took 5 years off my life. Of course, had it gone to 10 minutes, I would have would up in a full panic attack on my way to the E.R. with not only 5 years of my life but a bill for at least $1,000 for the less than 2 mile ride to the hospital.

I think computers are smarter than we give them credit for. Some artificial intelligence is certainly to be found with in mine. How else could it have know to have problems at just the moment I was the most vulnerable?

So, I could certainly forgo all computers, and move back to the much safer pen and paper age. I could also go shopping for a new family computer and hope for one that hasn't developed such an intelligence yet.

However, I think I will try to work my way into a new laptop for myself as a Christmas gift this year, give my husband and kids the current possessed computer, and form a new, loving relationship with the new computer. I will promise to dust it often, and never eat or drink while I am using it, if only it will promise never to fail me at such a scary time again. Ok. I will also promise to give it anything it wants, because I'm sure that it, too, will soon realize that it really has me over a barrel, and can do anything it wants. The computer will just be waiting for the moment that someone else posts something that is bound to cause some sort of all out online war, and the moment it does, even my new love will freeze on me, as a reminder that it always has the power, and it would like a little appreciation for all of its work, and maybe some new memory while I am at it.