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December 2008 S M T W T F S « Nov 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 -
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bleepin’ computers
So, my unofficial title at work is “The Tech Person”, which means that any time anyone has a computer question (i.e., “How do you save a file?” to “My residents downloaded p_orn, what do I do?”) needs to buy 10 computers for a computer lab, or needs to create a new “user-friendly” form, I’m called upon. Now, I’ve never taken a class in computers - although I was blessed with a father who was an early adopter of computers and knew/knows what he talks about - but probably 25% of my work day is spent working on someone else’s computers. And then there are days like this one …
Let’s see - last night the server went down and along with it went email, our website and VPN. On the way in this morning I heard from several coworkers that they didn’t have email and the phone systems were wacky. So, as soon as I got in, I went through the normal computer repairs. No, not kicking the server - although I thought about it - but the normal stuff - reboot the server, check the internet connection and then do it again. Nothing worked, so I called the guy we pay to do this stuff. he comes over, says it fixed and i head off to our all-staff meeting. At the meeting, another staff member has brought in her laptop, which has “too many pop-ups”. Yeah, we’re talking about the pop-ups that pop up one on top of each other - more than 100 in 3 minutes. In other words, she’s downloaded something she shouldn’t have and she now has a full-blown virus and malware (because of course, she never installed her antivirus software)
And then I return to the office 3 hrs. later to find that nope, we have email internally but none of our off-site staff has email. Great. Call Tech Guy and ask him to fix it. He says that he’ll call them and I ask if it’s possible at all that it could be the new server back-up system. No, he assures me, not at all. All of those problems we’re having are completely unrelated. Yeah, not so much - they’re completely related. The network card doesn’t like to reconnect to the internet after a reboot or, heck, whenever it feels like it. While I’m at a meeting, he asks me when I’ll be back so he can come by the office again. Fantastic! I get to wait to leave while he fixes the computer until I can go home. He finally tells me its fixed and leaves. And then on my way home, 3 people call to say “hey, I still don’t have email.”
Top all of this off with that freakin’ laptop. The owner calls me and asks me to make sure to back-up her files and her music, because for some reason, she doesn’t back her computer up like most people do. So, almost 6 hours later, I think I may have it almost fixed. almost, I’m running the last hijackthis! scan. But seriously, everyone out there - please, please, please do NOT download files at work that are suspicious that ask you to install something or in any other way ask you for information. Also, please, please, please use antivirus software. Because really I had other things I wanted to do tonight!
Can’t wait for tomorrow, I tell ya. Maybe then I’ll actually get to get some of my work done. maybe…
Paris Dreams
My parents and brother have been busy planning a vacation for the summer that we’re all invited to go on. Their plan is to go back to the place of my childhood - Seneca Lake. We spent every summer vacation at my grandparent’s cottage in Dresden, NY until I was 16 or 17. It’s a small town (around 300 residents) and my grandparents’ cottage was right on the lake. When I think of it, I have this clear vision of the Cottage from the road, with all of our cars (6 families’ worth) spilling out of the small driveway. I see the dock overlooking the lake. I see my grandmother with her cup of coffee on the sun porch, working on something - a cross stitch or maybe a quilt. I see the kids shucking corn - god, how I hated that job - and standing in line to get a Tobin’s “white hots” fresh from the grill.
We kids spent the days swimming, playing cribbage, exploring the “ghost house” (an abandoned cottage down the street), walking to the general store to buy candy, ice cream or pop, and reading - lots + lots of reading. All in all, a great place for a child during the summer.
As I got older, we went less and less. I went for a couple of weeks after I graduated from college with just my dad. And the last time I went was for my grandparents’ funerals.
But I digress… While I don’t want to go on vacation there for many reasons, all of this talk of vacation plus this site has me dreaming of France. Now that’s the vacation for me - exploring while having a place to call home - so you’re not totally living out of a suitcase.
When I first started dreaming, my niece was with me as I showed pictures to my mother. We explained that we were just pretending of going there - but wouldn’t it be fun? On the ride back to my house, she asked me if we could really go. I said maybe, but it would be expensive to fly there- even if she wanted to sit on my lap the whole time. We started talking about what we could do, what we could see, what it would be like. We talked about what I did when I visited Paris, many, many years ago. We were quiet for a while, each thinking about a vacation, I suppose. When suddenly, she asked me - very quietly -
“Laurel, do they speak English there?”
“Some, maybe, but not everyone.”
“How will I be able to talk to them, then?”
“You’ll be with me - I can speak passable French. We’ll be good. Plus, you know how to say hello, right?”
“yeah.” Pause. “I should learn more though. do they know frere jacques there?”
“I’m sure they do.”
“Oh, good. We can sing that together then.”
Yep, Freddy, we can sing that.
Here’s to Frere Jacques … and dreams of Paris.
clean slate
Happy New Year!
This is probably my favorite day of the year as far as days go and certainly my favorite part of the holiday season. I love the possibilities that come with a new year. I’m normally a fairly (very?) grounded person - one who looks at goals and sees the steps needed to get there. I tend not to set “resolutions” because, honestly, I’m lucky if they will last the week. But over the past few years, my January 1 ritual has been to spend some time just jotting down dreams - without thinking of boundaries, self-editing, or reality. I’ll revisit them later and pare the list down to what I think I may actually be able to accomplish, but today is just for dreams and brand-new beginnings.
And a brand new calendar! For the past few years I’ve been creating my own planner and calendar. For some reason I’ve been loving the color combo of red + gray and have been looking for opportunities to use it. Usually, I head to Office Depot and get it spiral bound, but this year, I wanted to do one that I could use at work. This one fits inside a CD case since my desk space at work is limited (by my other clutter.) I’ve had a couple of requests for it, so to celebrate the new year, here’s a link to the PDF version.
To download: click on the picture + the pdf will open in a new window.
To print: set your paper orientation to landscape + set page scaling to “print multiple pages” - 2 across will fit on a 8.5×11 piece of paper perfectly. Print, cut out the individual pages, slip into a CD case + viola, a brand new 2008 calendar! (Oh, here’s a tutorial on how to reassemble the CD case so you can use it as a stand …)
I hope you enjoy!
Other stuff:
In the spirit of new starts, I’ve spent the day going through my closet + pulling things out to donate/recycle/toss. Still have a fair amount to go through, but by golly, it’s getting there. I’ve unofficially dubbed this year as “the year of de-cluttering”. I’m sure my husband will be thrilled. (C - do you want some new-ish clothes?)
Of course, I’ve also dubbed it as the “year I finally learn how to sew”. I actually bought this book with a gift certificate I received for Christmas from my stepson + his fiancee. Love it! Lots of great projects that are really simple to do + that fit in perfectly with my design style. Plus, my niece (I ran into her with her dad at the store) picked out several projects that she would like me to do - as long as they are pink and purple. Tried for the green + gray combo, but she wasn’t having it. So pink and purple they will be - cause you need to be able to give away your learning projects!
And another pic to celebrate the new year…
(Really, it’s in the mail!)