OK, I get the Stupid Award today...

Last week the company that does our pest control called and asked if they could come today. I said, "Sure."

Yesterday James told me he had a two hour early release today. I thought, "No problem." I forgot the pest control people would be coming 1/2 hour after I was supposed to pick up James.

In an unusual move on my part, I left my cell phone off. Normally I have it on, but it wasn't charged and I didn't take the time to plug it into the car charger.

To top it all off, I nearly missed picking James up and when I went running out the door I didn't check to see if the front door was locked.

Well, the pest control person came to the door, found it unlocked, figured I had done so on purpose (some people who work outside the home do so) and came in and started to spray.

Then the alarm went off.

Because my phone was off, I couldn't be reached. The cops showed up to find the pest control person scared out of her wits in her truck. They got hold of Don who came to the house and cleared everything up. He is NOT happy with me.

So I am going to go sit in a corner for a while...

A bridge crossed...

Don and I just returned from delivering our oldest son, John, to college. He is attending Freed Hardeman University in Tennesee, a 15 hour drive from home.

I cried less than you might expect me to, but maybe it hasn't fully hit me yet.

Anyway, I'll post more later. I have a ton of email and other stuff to plow through first...

Arrgh, me hearties!

Ok, years ago, when Windows 3.1 was the standard (yeah, THAT long ago) I became enchanted with a game called Pirates! You might remember it - it took the history of pirates and wove a game that was enchanting, challenging, and just plain fun. I spent many hours on that game, until my operating system outgrew it.

Earlier this year I discovered that the game had been updated. I saw it several times in the store, but the $50 price tag helped me to resist the lure of the 7 seas.

Well, today I gave in. My fate was sealed when I found one copy of it in Electronics Boutique for $29.95. Yes, I bought it. And I just spent 4-5 hours pirating on the 7 seas and enjoying every minute of it.

It will take major doses of discipline to get any work done this week...

Wow

I am trying to figure out how to take this past week and boil it down to the couple of paragraphs I only have time to write before I go to bed.

I can't.

There is so much to tell. About the medical mission trip. About the people I met. The things I saw. I am still absorbing it all.

I'm back tired, a little bruised, bug-bitten, and very humbled.

We are so rich in this country. I met with people who don't have electricity where they live. Who don't have indoor plumbing. People who manage to make do without air conditioning, dishwashers, expresso, television, Internet access, and a number of other things we tend to take for granted here in the United States.

Yet these people are not unhappy people. The children are not bored. They smile and laugh. They were good to us who came to provide medical care and spiritual teaching.

Yes, we went to give. But we took back as much as we gave.

I was blessed by the opportunity to go there.

More later...

Off on a mission trip

I've been in a pre-trip crazed fog this week, as Don, the boys and I get ready to leave the country for a week on a medical mission trip to Guyana.

This is not a just going on vacation trip. We are bringing medical stuff (Don and other doctors will be seeing patients all next week) and other things, including stuff for us to pack for snacks. It's not like you can run to Walmart there if you forget something.

I am excited and nervous. It's a great opportunity to share the Gospel with others, and to provide help. But it's my first time doing something like this. I hope I serve God well down there and am the light He wants me to be.

I don't know if I will be able to update the blog from there - we are supposed to have Internet access, but who knows? If not you'll hear from me when I get back. :-)

List 5 reasons you are a geek (dork)

List 5 reasons you are a dork. And make them good reasons. Justify them. Explain them. Be loud and proud of how big a dork you are! Then pick the 5 biggest dorks you know and have them do the same.

Ok, Brenda challenged me on this, though I prefer the term, "Geekette."
Sooo...5 reasons...

1) I have built a computer from the case up.

2) I have Star Trek TNG, DS9, and VOY companions PLUS the Star Trek Encyclopedia which I use for references.

3) I have a stuffed Porthos in my office. (Porthos is the beagle in Star Trek: Enterprise)

4) My bookshelves have books from Star Trek, Forgotten Realms, and of course, The Lord of the Rings.

5) I have a Bible program on my PDA that I often use to follow the sermon.

Now...five fellow geeks (I assume they are people who might read this and have blogs...)

Nat, Dale, Evil Bill, Nelson, and even though he doesn't have a blog, Bryan, because he is truly a geek with a capital G.

He's now legal!

John passed his drivers' test without any trouble. I asked him where he wanted to go, and he said, "Dairy Queen." Worked for me, so we got celebratory Blizzards.

I was a lot calmer going home slurping my French Silk Pie Blizzard. Why hadn't I considered eating chocolate while he was driving sooner? ;-)

Pray for me!

John takes his driver's test tomorrow. I am almost certain he will pass it - he does well.

What I can't figure out is why, since he DOES do well, I am a wreck when he's behind the wheel! Is this just part of being a parent? Is it all the times I saw him handling a bumper car? Is it because his reflexes are superior to mine so he does things I can't?

Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out. :-)

Steaming mad...

I heard someone on Sean Hannity's radio show today call the United States a terrorist nation. This same woman said years ago that she hoped Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife fed him a lot of eggs and butter so he would get heart disease and die. She says she won't apologize for THAT statement, either.

I get mad when people talk about conservatives being hateful yet someone from the left says something like this and it's OK. When will they call their own into account for what they say?

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 3

It's alive...it's ALIVE!

With a cable provided by our preacher (who has asked I not bug him for 2 weeks in payment) I FINALLY have John's new computer up and running. Windows is installed, and all the drivers.

Right now it is taking up half my workbench in my office. John has taken that over so he can install stuff and try it out. We took the network cable that went to my bedroom and hooked him to the Internet with that.

It means I share my office with my 18 year old for the next month or so. I guess that's not so bad, given he goes away to college in August...

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 2

We got the power working!
(Note to those who might ever get it in their heads to build a computer: they include those golden posts for a REASON! Use them!)

So John and I merrily start installing things now that we know we haven't broken anything. Then we find out the ribbon that attaches drives to the motherboard will plug into the hard drive, or the CD/DVD drive - but not both.

Ok, realize I live in a rural town in Central Florida, which has NO decent computer stores, especially no decent computer stores open on Saturday night. So John and I go to a Radio Shack, get a ribbon there, and think our problem is solved.

John says he can handle it. He plugs the middle plug in the ribbon into the hard drive. Nope, still not long enough. He tried to pull it out. It won't budge. He pulls harder. The plug breaks, part of it still firmly inserted into the back of the hard drive.

This is NOT good.

With pliers, a screwdriver, and a lot of kindness from God, we got the broken plug off the back of the hard drive without turning the hard drive into an expensive paperweight. But we are still without a ribbon. Oh, Bryan...

Building a Computer From the Ground Up 1

Oookay.

Well, we got the case open, the CPU and the memory on the motherboard, and the motherboard in the case.

We hooked up all the power supply things we could figure out.

I installed the hard drive and hooked up a monitor and keyboard.

I hit the power switch.

Nothing.

I unplugged and replugged things in, checked the instructions, thought about calling it names, switched power cords...nothing.

It won't turn on. I have no idea why.

I now have a headache and explained to Don that asking me to cook dinner tonight was dangerous.

I'll tackle it again tomorrow.

Quick look at Herbie and Bewitched

I saw "Herbie: Fully Loaded" and "Bewitched" this week. Both are movies that I think appeal to those of my generation at least in concept: both are a part of our past.

Neither film is Oscar material, but worth a matinee if you want a couple of hours to sit back and enjoy yourself. Don't go if you're looking for something deep and meaningful - go for a few laughs and some reminiscing.

A Bittersweet Moment

Yesterday I got "The International Book of Days," a book I ordered. As I held it in my hands and leafed through it a bit, I experienced both joy and sorrow.

Joy, because I played a part in causing this book to happen. My name is on the title page, as a contributor. My name is mentioned in the preface. As a writer, it is a thrill to see my name in a book, to know my work is being read.

Sorrow, because the editor of the book, a good friend, Steve Christianson, passed away in January. I am sad because I had expected to share this joy with him, and to have the opportunity to thank him again for the giving me the chance to work with him on the book. He was willing to take a chance on a writer whose only credentials he had seen to that point was some posts on the Internet. That writer is grateful.

I hope he knew that.

In general...

• Took time off yesterday with James and took him to see Batman Begins. He enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching him watch it.
• James went through our old Nintendo 64 games, a few old DVD's, and one or two other games and managed to garner about $32 in store credit at Electronics Boutique. So a game he wanted cost only $18. Not bad.
• Found that the box that held John's new monitor also had some components in it. Waiting for John to get back from camp before we put it all together.
• I am bound and determined to finish this one story and get it in the mail. It's a good story, and I want to finish it, but this is one of those times where writing is more work than fun.
• Speaking of the story, it looks like it will be longer than I expected, which means it might not go to the market I had in mind for it. Oh well...

"Blob" days

My friend Tina and I have talked about "blob" days recently...days where you don't feel like doing much of anything but sitting around and vegetating.

I had a day kind of like that today. I woke up - late - with a headache, not a good way to start out the day. Plus I tried to play Superwoman and tough it out without meds. This made me cranky.

I just could not get to work on my story today. I mean I have a lot of it plotted out, except for the end. But I simply could not get any words on the laptop today.

Well, maybe tomorrow I'll have more energy...

Adventures in computer building

In a moment of insanity, John and I decided to build the computer he will take to college. Getting advice from our preacher, who is also has a ton of computer knowledge, directed me to a website for parts.
If you are familiar with computer building, you know you have to buy EVERYTHING - drives, video/sound cards, motherboard, and a case to put it all in. We also ordered a monitor and fed it all into the website.
I quickly got email confirmation that two packages were being sent to the house. So, OK. A few days later, I get email confirmation that ANOTHER package is on its way. Huh? What's in the third package.
Thrusday I got 2 packages. One has the monitor. One has the (empty) case.
So I have a computer without a brain. :-)
At least I know what's in the third package.

Heinlein's Rules for Writers

1) You must write
2) You must finish what you write
3) You must not rewrite
4) You must mail what you write to a market
5) You must keep what you write in the mail until it sells.

Bad habits

Sometimes bad habits make a return visit. I admit to falling back into the old habit of staying up VERY late. Past three nights I've been up way past my "bedtime," at least twice way past midnight. Now I'm tired and yesterday I was extremely cranky. It also messes with my work ethic. I haven't finished my short story for the week yet, and if I don't get it done and out by the end of the week I'm going to be VERY disappointed in myself.

Time to fire up the cappucino machine...

Some random thoughts...

1) Do NOT read Stephen King's book, "Roadwork" (written under his penname, Richard Bachman) if you have anything to do. That particular one sucked me in and I HAD to finish it. Not even a horror story in the sense that anything supernatural happened. Just a book about a man's long, slow fall into insanity. King makes it work. It's very scary. And very compelling.

2) Ever feel like you're talking and no one is listening? That happens to me sometimes. I think it's a part of me that's self-centered because of course you want to think people are paying attention to you all the time when in reality they aren't. Doesn't mean you aren't valued, loved, etc. etc., but maybe they have things more important than you on their minds.
Come to think of it, who really DOES want people to pay attention to them all the time? Sometimes you want to be left alone! :-)

3) This weekend I actually unburied part of my office! It looks good, and coupled with a MASSIVE cleanout of my inbox it appears much more organized and ready for work. Now if I could get my brain jumpstarted...

Just some things to think about before bedtime...