So, I've been having a little trouble with my computer over the past couple of weeks. Usually powering down and starting up again would allow me to use the computer for about an hour before I was ready to quit or it happened again. (rebooting didn't work, because when it froze, it froze *everything* so the 3-finger salute was useless)

Wednesday night my luck ran out. the powering down and back up didn't work. It didn't recognize the C: drive.

Now, about a year or so back, I found I needed more memory, so I had added an 80gb hard drive. All of my documents and pictures were stored on the new drive, the old C: drive had all the programs. (Note to self: time to make sure a regular back-up schedule is put in place)

The other piece in this is the fact that BBB is a gamer. We have been talking for a couple of months about upgrading his computer and giving me the guts to his machine, since mine was basically original to what I had bought in 2001. I was still running Windows 98, and BBB had Windows 2000. I had recently done a game study for the Evil Empire and as a comp gift, I got a copy of WindowsXP Professional which had not been installed yet.

Wednesday night, my computer said, "quit stalling!" and promptly refused to work any more.

So, Thursday after work, BBB and I met Talinom at Fry's. After much searching, discussion and education (1) , I dropped $1,100 on new computer parts(2).

Whee

Friday after Talinom got home from work, he started gutting BBB's computer and placing parts in mine(3). By the end of the evening, I had a computer back up and running.

Saturday, Talinom worked all day(4) and by evening, BBB had a new computer. He's playing Guild Wars now and the graphics are teh awsome!

So that's just a piece of how *MY* week has been going.

^_^

(1) Talinom 'splained the difference between video cards to me. BBB had to step away because his brain was about to asplode.

(2) Thankyouverymuch, RW. As I said on the phone this morning, I know that this amount would have bought a whole new computer, but that would have been more of a basic one. It really was cheaper to upgrade the gaming computer, rather than to buy a new one.

(3) Yes, it would have been easier if I had just taken BBB's case and bought him a new one, but I didn't want a flashy one, so I made it much more complicated for Talinom.

(4) You sould see this geek at work. He is awesome. Thank you, thank you Talinom!

1. Legal First name? Shh! Don't tell anyone it's Karen

2. Were you named after anyone? Yeah, my sister's best friend at the time. She hasn't been friends with that person for a very long time, tho.
3. Do you wish on stars? Sure, why not?
4. When did you last cry? Sunday evening, watching Extreme Home Makeover. I'm a sucker for a sad story.
5. What is your favorite lunch meat? sliced turkey
6. What is your birth date? 23 May 1961
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Absolutely! Who wouldn't?
8. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Moi? Sarcasm?? I wouldn't do *that*! (see answer to no. 7)
9. What are your nicknames? Red is the most common, but I've been called all kinds of things.
10. Would you ever bungee jump? My brother-in-law said it best. "I'm not going to pay someone to make me piss my pants!"
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Depends on the type of shoe. Sometimes I wear them without the laces just to tweak people.
12. Do you think that you are strong? Yes. More than I should be, sometimes.
13. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Black Licorice, but I rarely get it because you can only find it in old fashioned mom-n-pop ice cream stores.
14. Shoe Size? 7 or 8, depending on the shoe
15. Red or pink? Green
16. Who do you miss most? My mother.
18. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Blue jeans and green and white Adidas.
19. What are you listening to right now? The Bob Rivers Show on KZOK
20. What did you eat for breakfast? Chocolate cake with butter cream frosting
21. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Burnt Sienna
22. What is the weather like right now? Cool and cloudy. Waiting for the next predicted storm to arrive.
23. Last person you talked to on the phone? BBB
24. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Their smile
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you? She's a woman after my own heart (since I took this from bethanie's JE)
26. Favorite Drink? Kaliber, the only na beer worth drinking. It's made by Guinness
27. Hair color? Red
28. Do you wear contacts? Gas-permeable hard
29. Favorite Food? steak
30. Last Movie You Watched? I don't watch many movies, but I did watch most of Ghost the other day.
31. Favorite Day of the Year? My birthday. I always wear my tiara.
32. Scary Movies Or Happy Endings? Happy endings, I'm an optomist at heart
33. Summer Or Winter? Winter
34. Hugs OR Kisses? Has to be hugs. Love that full body contact.
35. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Cheesecake with fresh fruit
36. Living Arrangements? Manufactured home in a trailer park (commonly called "trailer trash")
38. What's On Your Mouse Pad? The 3-eyed squeezy toy from Toy Story. You press the button and it says, "Greetings, Oh Enlightened One. Oooooohh"
39. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? Cops. We had a friend over to the house and it was on in the background.
40. Favorite smell? fall holiday baking.
41. Favorite junk food? Cheetos
42. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles
43. What's the farthest you've been from home? Which direction? I've been to Australia and New Zealand, and in the other direction, I've been to the Czech Republic and Poland.

^_^

I came to an interesting realization last night. I am very comfortable and happy with myself.

I am in my 16th year with the Boeing Employees Choir. This year is the first year that I have not gotten horrible shakes during my annual audition. I do not cringe and hide, hoping that the director will not notice me, so I can get out of singing in a quartet in front of the rest of the choir. I sing boldly and confidently, including wrong notes, even though I stand in the front row and the director and accompanist can clearly hear me.

Driving home from choir last night, BBB and I were discussing what had happened in practice. The director sent the men home early and the women stayed and worked on the quality of the sound that we produce. When my alto section was required to sing our part alone, I sang confidently, knowing that I produce the sound that the director is looking for.

I don't think that I have an outstanding voice. As a matter of fact, I hate listening to myself. I just know that I have the type of sound that the director is looking for. (a couple of years back, I tried my hardest to get out of the annual audition and the director told me that I didn't really *need* to do the audition, he just loved the opportunity to listen to me sing.)

So, what has changed to suddenly make me unafraid to sing out and with no fear of failing in the process?

I feel safe.

Part of it may be the fact that I *have* been in the choir so long, and the director likes my voice. Part of it may be the fact that I'm well past 40 and haven't had any major dire consequenses in any of the mistakes that I've made getting here. I can feel pretty safe that anything I try and fail at isn't going to be too big of a problem.

The main reason is the fact that I feel safe and secure with BBB, that I can be myself, whoever that may be. I can be playful, somber, happy, sad, angry . . . whatever suits me at that moment in time.

It is quite a nice feeling.

^_^

Ok, so I'm reading my friend's JEs, and switch back to my "messages" page and there are no messages there!

I flipped back and forth between different screens and no dice. Nothing comes up.

Fine. I'll do the stupid "log out, log back in" thing. Hrm, my main page says "21 New Messages". Click on the linky that they give and *Poof* NOTHING. No messages.

Now mind you, I have already looked at several JEs, and commented in one before this happened.

What gives?

^_^

This little story is from my best friend. I got this in an e-mail this morning, and I thought I'd share a laugh with y'all.

The Second Plague

That would be.....frogs.

So. I'm driving home late last night. It is pouring down buckets in Bonney Lake, and as I'm peering through the windshield at the really dark 2 lane country road that leads to my house, I'm thinking, "wow! It's raining soooooooooo hard, it must be hail mixed in with that -- look at some of those big drops BOUNCE!" And about a mile along, I'm thinking, "ok....that's really wierd, cause all that bouncing hail just isn't happening within the rhythym of the rain...." And about the time I turn into the road into my subdivision, I'm figuring out, "oh my God....that's not hail -- it's FROGS."

You see, my house is across the street from the Fennel Creek Greenbelt, and we have lots of frogs. (In fact, they are so loud in the summer, ya gotta close your windows to sleep since they love to sing loudly all night long.)

So, anyway, I back into the driveway (trying not to think about the fact that it's more slippery than usual because I've probably run over a bajillion cute little frogs on my way in) and I grab the umbrella and run around to get my breifcase out of the trunk -- and come to a screeching halt, because between me and the trunk of my car are dozens of frogs, covering the driveway and garage door. "Okaaaaaay.....I'll just be leaving the briefcase where it is, and not touching that garage door then...." So, I go onto the porch to get in the front door....and there are the REST of the dozens of frogs, covering the front porch step and door. "Good grief.....how do I get in without letting in the frogs?!? Cause I am NOT staying up half the night shoo'ing frogs out of my house!"

So, there I am, jumping around on the front porch doing the go-a-WAY-frog-dance, in the pouring rain, at 10:30 at night....hopping up and down and waiving my umbrella.... I'm just hoping none of the neighbors were looking out their windows ("what kind of wierd religious ritual is that woman doing?!?"). Finally, I'm having to resort to sort of flinging the frogs off the door and step with the tip of my umbrella (gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "frog-sticker") -- all the time trying not to hurt them -- and my mom comes to the hall window and is looking at me like what-the-hell-is-my-child-doing-NOW?! And I'm going, "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!! DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!! THERE'S FROGS!!! THERE'S FROGS!!!" And she's looking at me like I have sprouted 6 heads or something.....

Finally, I get them off the door and doorstep, and I'm yelling, "Open the door!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!" And I go leaping in, and close the door -- and then have to check my shoes, hair, pantlegs, the umbrella...to make sure I haven't brought any in with me as passengers. And we're looking out the window at the porch, and they are everywhere.....The guy across the street has his garage light on too, and they're everywhere on his garage door also.....

Ummmm......repent sinners? Please? Cause I am just not up to coping with lice and locusts, etc., etc.....

Hope your Friday is frog-free! :)

^_^

Last year, in September, I bought a copy of Norton AntiVirus 2004, capable of being installed on 2 pcs.

For the last 2 weeks, I have been getting pop ups on my computer saying "Your subscription to Norton AntiVirus software is about to expire. Do you want to renew now?"

Fuck You and the horse you rode in on! NO, I DON'T want to renew!

So, a week ago I decide that I'm tired of getting this information. Go online to the Norton website. Look for the FAQs.

Do they answer my question of whether I would have to buy 2 subscriptions for the 2 pcs that I got the software for last year, or could I get away with buying one for both. No answer is forthcoming, so I decide to call the support phone number and get some real answers.

I dials the number, and connect with someone with an accent. After much wrangling, the answer I receive is "you have to buy two subscriptions."

So, you're telling me that Norton no longer sells software for two or more pcs?

Fuckers. According to the prick that I talked to, Norton doesn't offer multi-pc software any more.

"Fine. Since you idiots can't supply me with the software that I require, I guess I'll have to go someplace else for my anti virus software."

Today, BBB decided to stop at Fry's while he was out running errands. He had seen that they had the book for Guild Wars on sale, and was hoping to find a copy. Since he was there, he decided that he would check to see what antivirus software was available.

Guess what? Norton *doesn't* sell software for 2 pcs. The sell it for 1, 3, 5 and 10 pcs.

Not only that, the software for 3 pcs is regularly $89.99, and Fry's has an instant rebate of $10.00. Cool, only $79.99.

But wait, there's more.

There is a mail in rebate for $50.00! Nice, that drops the price to $29.99. And if *that* wasn't enough, if you just *happened* to have bought a copy for LAST YEAR (like me), there's an additional $20.00 rebate.

My Norton AntiVirus 2005 software will cost me $9.99 in the end.

Take THAT, you fuckers! Not only did I NOT have to buy 2 subscriptions for my pcs, I have an EXTRA copy for my laptop!

BBB stood and listened while the sales rep at Fry's called Norton and asked the same question that I did. He was told that Norton didn't offer multi copies of the software any more.

BBB walked off laughing after the sales rep asked the dude what he was supposed to do with all the copies of the 3, 5 and 10 user copies that he had on the shelf.

Doncha just love stupid customer service reps? (sneaks off chuckling softly to self, preparing to install the new software)

^_^

The bunch of people that I hang out with (my "chosen" family) are artists in various forms. They also play or have played in the S.C.A.

The Matriarch of our household is the main merchant (and the only one with a business license) and we always have a booth at the Kent Canterbury Faire.

BBB and I, being part of the merchant household, do security for our booth, which includes camping for two nights in Earthworks Park in downtown Kent.

This also means that we get to dress up in "period" costumes during the days of the faire. BBB wears a kilt, and I don something that resembles some women's dress back a few centuries or so.

This year will be slightly different, as BBB and I will also most likely be sporting a new accessory. Namely, the ball pythons.

This is an invite for y'all slashdotters living in the Puget Sound area to come down to Kent to the faire. It's only $2 admission and you have the opportunity to see some fun entertainment: a live chess match, a demonstration where knights in full armor are beating up on each other, amongst other things. You also have the opportunity to buy some fun things including swords and knives.

If any of you do manage to make it to the faire, please look me up. Our selling pavillion is the obnoxious brightly striped one selling jewelry, pottery, blank books and a few other things thrown in there. Or if you see a large gray haired man in a kilt carrying a snake and a short redhaired woman, also with a snake wandering around, stop and say hello to a /. buddy.

^_^

Has Reality TV gone too far?

Does it look like they're grasping at straws?

^_^

This morning started with our male kitty, Toby, acting rather skittish around a specific corner of the living room. Now he does this every once in a while so it didn't really concern me.

As I am getting my lunch ready and gathering things for work, BBB makes the comment that Toby really *is* being wierd. He can't figure out why unless one of the snakes got out.

"Have you checked to see if they are still in their cages?"

Thinking, "yeah, right" I checked out Ssebrina's cage, and she was nestled snugly under her log, peering out at me.

I lifted the lid of the Slytherin's cage and found that it came up too easily. (Odd.) I picked up the box that he sleeps under and lo and behold, no snake. No, he's not hiding under his tree root.

Gone.

Shit! No wonder the boy cat is skittish. He either had a face to face meeting with Slytherin, or has been carefully monitoring the snake's movements.

Crap!

Well, we have a general idea of what area he is in. Toby is being skittish around one specific area of the house.

Tear apart the piles of boxes in the corner. No, he's not hiding under there. BBB turned over the chairs.

Nope. Not there either.

AAAAUUUUGGGHHH! My ride is here! I have to leave to go to work and we still have not found the snake. Crap. "Well, call me when you find him."

About halfway to our third carpooler's house I get a call on my cell phone. "I found him. He was hiding in my jewelry case." (BBB makes jewelery that he sells at renaissance fairs)

Whew! He's found.

Now, don't get the wrong idea. I was not scared that I had a snake running loose in the house. I was scared that my *pet* was missing.

BBB has placed four phone books (two on each end) on the top of Slytherin's cage. It is now time to get locks for the top.

What's your exciting story today?

^_^

Wow. I looked up today and realized that the year is already half over with. Where did it go?

So many things have been happening. Lemme 'splain. No, lemme sumup . . .

I am now the proud owner of a "short bus". BBB and I have been looking for a vehicle with a wheelchair lift so that we can do things with his quadriplegic brother outside of the nursing care facility where he is currently living.

What we ended up getting is a 1993 Ford "MetroTrans". This is a '93 Ford van, E-350 diesel engine and chassis, the lift is by Braun Corporation, and the body modification (the *bus* part) is "Classic" by MetroTrans. It is 10 feet 6 inches tall, and about 26 feet long. It's a rather large rig.

My problem is that the MetroTrans Corporation declared bankruptcy and then went out of business in 2000. We have been trying to find some sort of manual or wiring diagrams or *something* that gives information (specifications) about how the body of this thing was set up so that we can make repairs or modifications if necessary.

I am sending out a plea to the 'dotters that are in the Georgia area, specifically Atlanta, where MetroTrans was based. Are there any used bookstores or parts places that might by some slim chance have anything from MetroTrans? I have searched the internet for any information and have come up blank. The only thing that I have not done yet is to give this little search problem to Talinom. (if you want *anything* found on the internet, he is the master of the search) Please, please any help is appreciated.

We have a new snake. Her name is Ssebrina. She will eventually be a mate for Slytherin, but he is around 18 months old, and she is only 11 weeks old and a whole lot smaller than he is. We have to wait until they are approximately the same size to mate them. That will be about a year down the road. Oh boy! Baby snakes. (wait, wasn't there a Frank Zappa song by that name?)

We are looking for acreage to move the manufactured home onto. The real estate market is really strong here, and usually by the time something comes on the market, there are offers the next day. I don't want to move too far out in the boonies. With all the wetlands issues and all the other guidelines and regulations that go along with acreage make this is quite a challenge.

The other problem is that the bank says make an offer "contingent on financing" and the real estate agent is telling me to get a pre-approval for financing.

Does anyone out there have $50k - $75k that they are willing to make a short term loan on?

Trust me, once we get the thing moved and permanently attached to the land, financing will be easy to get. The difficult part is finding someone to finance the land, the costs to move and set up the home, payoff my existing loan and then roll the whole thing into a permanent loan once the home is all set and done.

--Summary--

All of this is intermixed with the usual social activities that come with the summertime, (not to mention Talinom's birthday on Sunday) along with vacations and fishing trips.

*Whew* Makes me tired just listing everything off!

Hope everything is going well for y'all, where ever you may be.

^_^

I've been thinking a lot lately about the changes that we go through in life. There are some distinct stages, and for some of us, stages that are skipped.

Several things have gotten me thinking about this. My birthday on May 23, on June 5 I had been divorced for 11 years and today, June 7 would have been my 25th wedding anniversary.

If things had not gone sour, my plan was that by this age I would have a 10 yo, and an 8 yo. I had just decided that I was no longer so selfish, and was willing to give up my time and energy to raise children when he said "buh-bye".

I knew that it was possible for me to have children, husband or no, but I wanted a nuclear family to raise my children in. However, I wasn't willing to marry the first bloke that came along just so that I could have children.

This makes me wonder whether or not my decision to try and start a family played into his decision to end the relationship.

Here I am, childless, and sometimes sad about it. There he is, childless, and most likely happy to be that way. He had a difficult time taking responsibility for anything, and the huge responsibility of raising children is daunting indeed.

The hardest thing about the divorce was the shattering of my dream of a marriage like the one my parents had. They were married just short of 52 years when my Dad died, and raised 4 relatively responsible children. It was not always "happy", but they were happy with their lives in general. That was the kind of "happily ever after" that I wanted for myself. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

You see, I have this horrible tendancy to pick men that are relatively easy to dominate, and then I'm not really happy. It is only by a quirk of fate that I am with a man that I am not able to dominate and I am the most content that I have been in *years*. Funny how I didn't end up picking him myself, (thank you, Talinom) and he's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

[side note] This refers back to btlzu2's JE, where the smartest thing I have ever done was not to fight Talinom "giving me away", but that's a whole different story. [/side note]

A part of me is sad because I never got the opportunity to have children, because I would have been a wonderful mother. Now I am content to be a great aunt (as well as a Great Aunt for you capitalists) The other part of me, the one that I live with 99% of the time, is relatively happy with the way things turned out. BBB and I can have all the sex we want without the scheduling difficulties that having children around can create.

Ok, enough with the reflections. Time to start looking forward again and not behind.

^_^

Yesterday was my birthday.

For the past 12 or 13 years, I have made a big deal about my own birthday by wearing a tiara. It was a cheezy silver sequin job up until a couple of years ago when BBB replaced it with a very nice crystal one.

Last year my birthday was on a weekend, so I don't remember very much about what happened. I know I wore it and went out shopping for a bit, but mostly stayed in.

This year, of course, my birthday was on Monday. I wore it to work. My cow-erkers are used to this by now, so no-one looked at me twice. However, my desk is by the window so people that walked by would glance in, see me and smile. (my desk was also decorated)

After work, BBB and I had to run a couple of errands, visit his brother and then go to the Mariners store and buy tickets, then on to *birthday dinner*. This is where the curious observation comes in.

No-one said anything to me about my wearing the tiara. I got several sideways looks, but not one single person opened their mouths and said anything.

We were wanting to go to one restaurant for dinner, but the parking lot was packed and people were parking in a neighboring lot and walking over. I was not in the mood to fight with crowds, so I suggested that we go over to Red Robin instead.

Red Robin makes a *wonderful* mushroom burger, and I wanted one, but they sing a stupid birthday song that makes me grind my teeth. I wasn't sure about eating there, but thought if we asked *nicely* they wouldn't do the singing thing.

Guess what?

Nobody opened their mouths and asked why I was wearing the tiara. I didn't offer the fact that it was my birthday, and they didn't ask. (apparently they have lots of women coming in there wearing tiaras, so it was no big deal) We had a nice, relatively quiet dinner. (they sang to 3 other people nearby)

It totally blew me away that not one person asked me about the tiara. Did it look that natural for me to be wearing it? Were they so scared by BBB that they didn't open their mouths? (he was a rather imposing figure dressed all in black)

In years past I would get some short quip by people asking about whether I was a princess for a day, or sometimes queen for a day. I would grin and reply that I was either the birthday princess or birthday queen. This year all I got was sideways looks, where people seemed to be wondering what was going on and whether I should be committed.

Ah well, another birthday gone, another question gone unanswered.

^_^

Wah-hoo! It's *MY* day today!

^_^

So, we are on the way into work this morning, and I look over at a car we are passing. The driver is leaning way over toward the passenger seat. He's not looking for something on the floor, he's just driving down the road like that.

Now, I've seen this phenomenon before, but usually the driver is alone or has a girl in the passenger seat. This morning it was a *dude*!

I can't imagine that it would be comfortable to sit in bucket seats and lean way over to center your face in the middle of the windshield. What reason is there to drive like that?

Do any of you 'dotters drive like that? Do you know anyone who does? Any suggestions on why?

In other news, I'm flying to Phoenix today for a baby shower. (Happy Friday the 13th) My nephew's wife is preggers and we are gathering to celebrate another new life into the family. (she's due the first part of Sept, and I can't imagine being pregnant in Phoenix over the summer!)

Enjoy your weekend all!

^_^

After spending the weekend at BBB's place, we (BBB, the snake and I) were on the way back to my place and we stopped to buy dinner for the snake. We were carrying Slytherin in a bucket that had a bath towel in it, but no lid. When we went into the pet store to pick up a mouse we carried him in with us. I didn't want the possibility of him crawling out while we were in the store and most pet stores allow you to bring your pet inside.

We knew he was hungry, because he has a way of rubbing his jowls against BBB's hand when he wants food. We thought it would be nice to let him know that food was on the way, so we put him up to the glass where he could smell the mice.

I flagged down a clerk and we let her know that we wanted a mouse for his dinner. She was very sweet and complied, oohing and aaahing over Slytherin.

After she had snagged a mouse by the tail and dropped it in the small cardboard box, she thought she'd be funny and show the mouse to him, and asked him, "is this one ok?"

Before she could get the full sentence out, Slytherin struck, grabbing the mouse in his mouth and spinning, pinning the body of the mouse to squeeze the life out of him.

BBB had a good hold on him, so there was no issue of him leaping out of his hands, but that means that when Slytherin pulled back holding the mouse, the mouse let loose of his bladder and peed on Slytherin and BBB.

While Slytherin had hold of the mouse we asked the clerk if it was possible to have the use of a box or tank, where we could let him finish his meal in peace. She led us into the back room where she put together a box and set it on the floor.

BBB gently laid the snake down into the box and we chit chatted with the clerks. They were exclaiming about how fast it happened and the fact that ball pythons are usually shy when they eat and they generally won't eat when they have an audience. I'm sure that they will have a great story to tell for the next while.

BBB noticed that he was having a bit of trouble swallowing the mouse, so he rotated him a bit and the snake started having a much easier time getting it down. While he was finishing swallowing it, I had BBB go out to the car and get the carrier so that we could put him back in it and give him a chance to digest the mouse in private.

Once the mouse had moved down past Slytherin's main organs, BBB picked him up and put him in the bucket and we went up to the counter to pay for the mouse. The clerk that offered the mouse to Slytherin was manning the cash register and she said that they had never had that happen before. We laughed about it while I paid for the mouse.

This brings a whole new meaning to "dining out"

^_^