Yesterday I plastered myself to the love seat in front of the TV, tuning into HGTV for background noise, parked my laptop on my lap, and over the course of the day tapped out 15 single spaced pages of the manuscript I've had brewing in my head for at least 8 month.
I've learned over the years to back up everything I write, lest something really bad happen. So as I wrote, I saved to a thumb drive, and when I was done for the day I grabbed it and headed back for the desktop computer so that I could save to that, too.
But I plugged it into the computer...and nothing. The desktop system didn't recognize it on any USB port, and the little green indicator light on the drive didn't come on.
After a few choice words, I went back to the laptop to save it to the hard drive there. But no...it no longer recognized it as a drive, either.
I didn't realize thumb drives (or flash drives it you will) could die. I figured with no moving parts that I know of, my data was safe.
But now I have the beginning of a book stuck on one, along with God knows what else. I've saved a lot to that drive...and it looks like it'll be stuck there forever. Dammit.
Sunday
Tuesday
26 January 2010
Dear Kathleen Anne Thompson,
Please stop giving people my email address as your own. While I applaud your purchase of a 2009 Honda, I really don't want to keep getting service reminders from your dealership. I especially did not appreciate that your car showed up under my Honda motorcycle account, and even though I removed it, I'm still getting those dealership emails.
It's nice that you're involved in Cub Scouts, but I don't wish to hear about that, either. And all your friends that have prayer circles? Goody for them, but I'll be honest with you. I'm not praying for them. Little Jimmie's ingrown toenail will have to be cured without my input. And every time you request a password be sent because you can't remember it? Well, be grateful I'm not a loser who wants to peek into your personal stuff. I've fired back emails to the forums/companies/whatever involved, but they don't seem to care.
Please...pay attention to what you're handing out as your email address. It's not kathompson @ gmail. com, no matter how badly you wish it to be.
Oh, and you have a confirmation on a dinner reservation tonight. It sounds like an expensive place, so you might wanna shave your legs today, because whoever's picking up the check might expect a little sumthin-sumthin afterward.
Please stop giving people my email address as your own. While I applaud your purchase of a 2009 Honda, I really don't want to keep getting service reminders from your dealership. I especially did not appreciate that your car showed up under my Honda motorcycle account, and even though I removed it, I'm still getting those dealership emails.
It's nice that you're involved in Cub Scouts, but I don't wish to hear about that, either. And all your friends that have prayer circles? Goody for them, but I'll be honest with you. I'm not praying for them. Little Jimmie's ingrown toenail will have to be cured without my input. And every time you request a password be sent because you can't remember it? Well, be grateful I'm not a loser who wants to peek into your personal stuff. I've fired back emails to the forums/companies/whatever involved, but they don't seem to care.
Please...pay attention to what you're handing out as your email address. It's not kathompson @ gmail. com, no matter how badly you wish it to be.
Oh, and you have a confirmation on a dinner reservation tonight. It sounds like an expensive place, so you might wanna shave your legs today, because whoever's picking up the check might expect a little sumthin-sumthin afterward.
Monday
25 January 2010
My five year long love/hate relationship with the Temper-Pedic® bed is over. While it was good for all the tender points FMS hath wrought upon my body, it was horrible for my back. You know all the commercials that point out how it conforms to your body to provide excellent support? What they don't say is "Oh yeah, you'll sink into this mattress like a stone, and you'll feel all comfy...until to try to roll over. The memory foam--surprise!--will remember your form and take a long-assed time to spring back, which means you'll just fall back into the hole and be stuck in the same freaking position all freaking night long, and a few months later that form will be permanent, and your ass will sink a little lower even, leaving your back in so much pain that even Vicodin won't touch it. But hey! It's frakkin' MEMORY FOAM! So it RULES!"
Yeah. That about covers it.
I think giving it five years was long enough. Last week the Spouse Thingy went out with me--in pouring, pounding rain, I might add, which might mean he kinda likes me a little bit--to go bed shopping. The first place we went is a decent enough place to buy a bed, and the old guy there is helpful enough, but the "best" bed on the floor was a brand I'd never heard of, and while it felt like a bed I would love for a long time, I wasn't quite ready to slip a ring on its box-springy-finger and commit.
So, we went elsewhere and looked at a Sealy--which was decent enough--and then home to scope out the first bed online.
Surfing for reviews on the Chateau line of this company's beds didn't turn up much, but on the company itself...very mixed reviews. Too many people hated them, which seems normal with beds as they're either a love them or hate them kinda thing, but I got the impression trying to get help with warranty issues was a PITA.
If I'm going to commit to many years of my life with a mattress, and part of them bare assed nekkid, I want the assurance of a little support, you know?
Shut up. You get nekkid in bed once in a while, too. Sometimes you're not even alone. I hope.
So the next day we drove across town to scope out a friend-recommended bed brand; I didn't have high hopes for the place we were headed to first--any place with "discounters" in the name tends to make me think of cheap bug-infested crap--but the sales guy there took a lot of time with us and didn't try to steer us towards the pricey merchandise just because he could. He actually asked a ton of questions about sleeping issues, took note that I needed something firm for my back yet soft for all my tender points, and had us try out at least 6 different mattresses...and once I'd declared "I think this is the one" he had us go back and try them all again just to be sure.
You know, there are limits to how you can try out mattresses in public? Lesson learned.
The one I thought was the right one turned out to be the one recommended to me, but at least the guy gave us tons of options. Better yet, it was nearly a grand less than I'd seen online and he threw in the bed frame (not a cheap one either...though I know all the stores will throw it in "for free, because I'm the manager and I can do that") and delivery.
I was not at all sad to see the delivery guys haul away the Temper-Pedic...I'd had high hopes for that bed and it dashed them every night.
Four nights on the new bed...very nice. My back isn't miraculously cured, but it's also not screaming at me from the moment I wake up.
Better yet, the cats seem to approve.
And face it, without kitty approval, it means nothing; it would just be an expensive lump in the middle of the bedroom floor.
Yeah. That about covers it.
I think giving it five years was long enough. Last week the Spouse Thingy went out with me--in pouring, pounding rain, I might add, which might mean he kinda likes me a little bit--to go bed shopping. The first place we went is a decent enough place to buy a bed, and the old guy there is helpful enough, but the "best" bed on the floor was a brand I'd never heard of, and while it felt like a bed I would love for a long time, I wasn't quite ready to slip a ring on its box-springy-finger and commit.
So, we went elsewhere and looked at a Sealy--which was decent enough--and then home to scope out the first bed online.
Surfing for reviews on the Chateau line of this company's beds didn't turn up much, but on the company itself...very mixed reviews. Too many people hated them, which seems normal with beds as they're either a love them or hate them kinda thing, but I got the impression trying to get help with warranty issues was a PITA.
If I'm going to commit to many years of my life with a mattress, and part of them bare assed nekkid, I want the assurance of a little support, you know?
Shut up. You get nekkid in bed once in a while, too. Sometimes you're not even alone. I hope.
So the next day we drove across town to scope out a friend-recommended bed brand; I didn't have high hopes for the place we were headed to first--any place with "discounters" in the name tends to make me think of cheap bug-infested crap--but the sales guy there took a lot of time with us and didn't try to steer us towards the pricey merchandise just because he could. He actually asked a ton of questions about sleeping issues, took note that I needed something firm for my back yet soft for all my tender points, and had us try out at least 6 different mattresses...and once I'd declared "I think this is the one" he had us go back and try them all again just to be sure.
You know, there are limits to how you can try out mattresses in public? Lesson learned.
The one I thought was the right one turned out to be the one recommended to me, but at least the guy gave us tons of options. Better yet, it was nearly a grand less than I'd seen online and he threw in the bed frame (not a cheap one either...though I know all the stores will throw it in "for free, because I'm the manager and I can do that") and delivery.
I was not at all sad to see the delivery guys haul away the Temper-Pedic...I'd had high hopes for that bed and it dashed them every night.
Four nights on the new bed...very nice. My back isn't miraculously cured, but it's also not screaming at me from the moment I wake up.
Better yet, the cats seem to approve.
And face it, without kitty approval, it means nothing; it would just be an expensive lump in the middle of the bedroom floor.
Friday
22 January 2010
I'm not on Team CoCo.
I'm not on Team Leno.
I'm pretty firmly ensconced on Team WTF People It's Just Late Night TV And Doesn't Really Matter.
But I have paid attention to all the hoopla because 1) I don't have a life and 2) Who the hell can even get away from it? It's not even limited to tabloid TV; the entire NBC screw up is being dissected on the national news. People are talking about it on the radio, in newspapers, and blogs. I know way too much about it because we're being beat half to death with it.
People blame Leno; he's selfish and should have just walked away from NBC when his prime time show tanked.
People blame Conan; he couldn't pull the ratings he needed, so he should have just walked away.
People blame NBC affiliates for whining about their lost ratings and revenue that came with having Leno in the 10 p.m. prime time slot.
So let's blame Leno again.
How about we back track and lay the blame at the feet of the person actually responsible for the entire fiasco? All those people upset by Conan leaving and Leno taking back the tonight show, just go find NBC head honcho Jeff Zucker and pull his hair until he cries. Because in reality, it was his idea five years ago to take the late night ratings leader, give him an end date, and move Conan into the slot. It was his move to not let Leno out of his contract, dropping him into the 10 pm slot.
Don't blame Conan for wanting out after they wanted to push him back to 12:05; that wasn't the gig he signed on for. He was given The Tonight Show not Hey Let's Follow Jay. He wasn't given time to rebuild an audience, either.
Don't blame Leno for wanting to take the Tonight Show back; he didn't want to give it up in the first place and he was the ratings leader. If you were a workaholic and had his contract, you'd go back, too.
And if you were on Team CoCo and are super pissed, pull Zucker's hair a little harder, because in the end it was all about money; they got Conan out the door for $45 million; it would have taken $150 million to get Leno out.
When you're done pulling Zucker's hair, you might want to find out why the hell he's still in charge at NBC, because he's made some really stupid choices.
And then get the talking heads on TV to stop making such a big deal about it. Six months from now no one will give a damn. It's not news. It's not remotely news.
I'm not on Team Leno.
I'm pretty firmly ensconced on Team WTF People It's Just Late Night TV And Doesn't Really Matter.
But I have paid attention to all the hoopla because 1) I don't have a life and 2) Who the hell can even get away from it? It's not even limited to tabloid TV; the entire NBC screw up is being dissected on the national news. People are talking about it on the radio, in newspapers, and blogs. I know way too much about it because we're being beat half to death with it.
People blame Leno; he's selfish and should have just walked away from NBC when his prime time show tanked.
People blame Conan; he couldn't pull the ratings he needed, so he should have just walked away.
People blame NBC affiliates for whining about their lost ratings and revenue that came with having Leno in the 10 p.m. prime time slot.
So let's blame Leno again.
How about we back track and lay the blame at the feet of the person actually responsible for the entire fiasco? All those people upset by Conan leaving and Leno taking back the tonight show, just go find NBC head honcho Jeff Zucker and pull his hair until he cries. Because in reality, it was his idea five years ago to take the late night ratings leader, give him an end date, and move Conan into the slot. It was his move to not let Leno out of his contract, dropping him into the 10 pm slot.
Don't blame Conan for wanting out after they wanted to push him back to 12:05; that wasn't the gig he signed on for. He was given The Tonight Show not Hey Let's Follow Jay. He wasn't given time to rebuild an audience, either.
Don't blame Leno for wanting to take the Tonight Show back; he didn't want to give it up in the first place and he was the ratings leader. If you were a workaholic and had his contract, you'd go back, too.
And if you were on Team CoCo and are super pissed, pull Zucker's hair a little harder, because in the end it was all about money; they got Conan out the door for $45 million; it would have taken $150 million to get Leno out.
When you're done pulling Zucker's hair, you might want to find out why the hell he's still in charge at NBC, because he's made some really stupid choices.
And then get the talking heads on TV to stop making such a big deal about it. Six months from now no one will give a damn. It's not news. It's not remotely news.
Wednesday
Tuesday
19 January 2010
When the Boy told Max his plans, Max leaned back and said "Shut yo mouth! No way!"Ok, no. But he might have. You know, if he could speak.
Next month the Boy is going to engage in what is fondly known as The Polar Plunge. He's going to jump into some extremely cold water for the sole purpose of helping to raise money for the Special Olympics.
Fine, there might be a
Because I would really like to see him freeze his nads off, I'm trolling for sponsors. A buck here, a buck there, it all adds up. And if you can't sponsor, it would be awesome if you could spread the word for him.
Curt Thompson's Donor Page
If he can raise $10,000, he'll get to repeat the plunge in some nice snow-runoff water in March. And that would totally be worth it...
Sunday
17 January 2010
Bullets 'cause I'm boring
- Y'all know that church sign picture was likely created with a generator, right? It's not like the First Baptist Church of Haiti actually put that up...
- Over the holidays I didn't obsess about my weight and figured a couple of pounds wouldn't kill me. It did not, but I am just now down to my pre-Christmas weight and annoyed that it took this long.
- Memory foam does not return as well as the commercials suggest and indents too easily; I have a love/hate relationship with the TempurPedic bed, and lately there's not a lot of love there.
- That did not come out the way I intended...
- I watched 8 episodes of Heroes over 2 days this weekend, and it actually felt like I had accomplished something.
- Clearly, I need a life.
- I've had fun teasing Murf about his graying hair, but after today I obviously need to stop, as evidenced by how much gray was on the floor when I got my hair cut today.
- Now I'm all itchy because of the tiny pieces of hair that wound up down my shirt.
- I need to stop watching HGTV before it compels me to rip my kitchen apart and cause thousands of dollars in damage.
- I'll give $2.50 if someone will come fix lunch for me and then clean my kitchen.
- No? You people are cheap...
Thursday
Monday
11 January 2010
OK, deep down I'm 12. Or maybe 8. And because of that, I've been reluctant to swallow the horse-pill sized supplements my endocrinologist requested I suck down on a daily basis.
But then I discovered these.
Gummis for grownups. All the Calcium and Vitamin D an adult needs in two not too little chews.
Behold...I was willing to take my supplements. Because what could be better than medicinal gummis?
But then...then...A friend told me that the Viactiv chocolate chews I used to hate now taste a whole lot better, and I might find them more palatable.
Damn. She was right.
Another source of Calcium and Vitamin D. A chocolate source.
And THEN... I found some Caltrate chewable tablets
Gummis for grownups. All the Calcium and Vitamin D an adult needs in two not too little chews.
Behold...I was willing to take my supplements. Because what could be better than medicinal gummis?
But then...then...A friend told me that the Viactiv chocolate chews I used to hate now taste a whole lot better, and I might find them more palatable. Damn. She was right.
Another source of Calcium and Vitamin D. A chocolate source.
These taste like SweetTarts.
I am totally set to meet my RDA of Calcium and Vitamin D...and then some.
Can we say "hypercalcemia?" I knew we could.
This isn't a give the blogger a freebie review...it's not a paid review. I bought 'em all and tried 'em all, and lemme tell you, if you don't take Calcium and Vitamin D (both of which I am low on, but have had more than one doc tell me most people should be taking) because those damned pills are so freaking big, these are a really good alternative.
But while you're indulging your inner 8 year old, keep them out of reach of the real rugrats, because they're that good. Let's not OD the spawn...
11 January 2010
Quote of the Day:
Unfortunately, I was trying to swallow some diet Cherry Dr. Pepper as I was reading that, laughed, it went up into my sinuses, and I'm in some real pain right now... So thank you, Loralee...
I want to marry Air Supply and have little cheesy music babies with them.
Unfortunately, I was trying to swallow some diet Cherry Dr. Pepper as I was reading that, laughed, it went up into my sinuses, and I'm in some real pain right now... So thank you, Loralee...
Thursday
7 January 2010
Proof you can get anything at Walmart:
Sorry about the picture quality...I was laughing and kinda shook my iPhone while I took the picture.
Guys...don't strain anything on your mad dash to get to Wall World...
Sorry about the picture quality...I was laughing and kinda shook my iPhone while I took the picture.
Guys...don't strain anything on your mad dash to get to Wall World...
Tuesday
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