Microsoft... AAARRRGGHHH!

I installed Windows 10 ... and was surprisingly pleased with the results.  I've been using it for a couple of months now (I forget when I actually did this... not long ago, though).  Christmas morning, I sit down at the computer, I was going to do some photo scanning.  But lo and behold, my START button on the keyboard, and clicking it with the mouse did nothing.  I can't access anything.  I played around, trying to get things to work, then tried to restart my computer.  Without the buttons working, it just isn't that easy!  

This morning, when I turned my computer on, now I have nothing in the taskbar, and options seem to be disappearing with each keystroke.  I click on Chrome to look up helps on the internet, and minimizing it makes it disappear into thin air.  Attempting to flip between Task Manager and Chrome is impossible, I'm having to write down instructions to make this "fixed" again.

Every website I check says "make a new user account".  Well... that may be a temporary fix, but what the hell????  I don't want to do that every other month!?!?!

Com'on Microsoft, get your stuff back together and fix our computers!

I'm on a desktop, I depend on my computer, it shouldn't be this difficult!

****Updated Note:   I signed out of my account, signed back in, then restarted the computer.  and Voila, stuff is back.  Magic??? HA!  Weirdness?  More likely!   *smdh*

I Want You

This was totally random.... What are the odds?



I was driving home from work scanning through channels, tuned in heard Savage Garden's "I want You".

Me being me, I had to look it up when I got home and found myself surprised that it was released in 1997 in America; somehow, I was thinking it was a late 80's song.  Savage Garden is an Australian pop group, and I always liked their hits.   Of course, "Truly, Madly, Deeply" was the hit I liked the BEST!

Anytime I need to see your face, 

I just close my eyes 

And I am taken to a place where 

your crystal mind and 

Magenta feelings take up shelter 

in the base of my spine 

Sweet like a chic-a-cherry cola 

Ooh, I want you 

I don't know if I need you 

But, ooh, I'd die to find out 

My younger self came over me as I cranked the volume and belted it out right along with the band!  

But what was totally random was getting in the car the next morning, and this same song was on the radio!  Now, it's nearly 20 years later, and this wasn't a huge hit for them;  in 1997 it was #22 on the Top 100 Hits list.  It's not often played on the local "oldies" stations, so how random was it that it played -- and I heard it -- twice in a row?   You can hear it here on Vevo. 

I like little random-ness things like this! 

Holiday Music in OITNB

Orange is the New Black holiday episode entitled "Can't Fix Crazy" is terrific.  I am addicted to this show and find it amazing that this diverse group of women with their own problems and plenty of drama can come together, set differences aside, and create a holiday program for the rest of the inmates at Litchfield Prison.

Among the many diverse characters, there is one woman named Norma who doesn't speak because of a crippling stuttering problem.  There is another woman called Crazy Eyes who was scheduled to sing at her high school graduation and froze up, unable to sing.  Her current fear is having the same thing happen during the Christmas Pageant, which of course, happens.  There is a small miracle of joy that happens when Norma closes her eyes and sings so beautifully the verse to "I Saw the Light"

Just like a blind man I wandered along

Worries and fears I claimed for my own

Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight

Praise the Lord I saw the light.

I saw the light I saw the light

No more darkness no more night

Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight

Praise the Lord I saw the light.

This scene is well touted on the 'net and is quite moving if you're a follower of mute Norma.  But in my opinion Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington, sings in trio with Cindy and Taystee, "Joy to the World".  When they get done with their performance and take their bows, Poussey bursts into a solo of "Amazing Grace".  To me, it is just beautiful.  I've seen it many, many times and it still brings tears to my eyes.  

This drama is one of the best I've seen in a long time.  There are diverse characters, there are opportunities to learn backgrounds on the women who are incarcerated, and with every episode I find a new reason to like or dislike the many characters.

What will season 4 hold???

I can't wait to find out!!

Little Girl Dreams

My daughter, about 10 yrs old,

trying on her grandmother's wedding dress

-- dreaming, I'm sure, of her own

wedding day in the future.















This must have been the same day

trying on her aunt's wedding dress

as well!



So surreal, seeing these photos

as her real wedding day approaches!

Neighborhood Decorations

My little corner of the world

has lots of decorations up

and they're so fun

to see

as Sadie and I

are on our daily walks!

Brain Fried

It's a typical Monday, and after a weekend of busy in the retail setting, my backlog this morning was immense.  My job is physically demanding, I consistently pickup, move, load, unload boxes that usually average 25 lbs, but some can weigh up to 75 lbs.  I'm no stranger to heavy lifting, and have a good strong scandinavian build for doing just that.   I average 12k steps a day at work when it's this busy.  My job depends on me remembering minute details about a wide variety of things, and how to handle each individual exception as they arise.  After doing this for several years, it comes as second nature almost.

But how much harder is it to explain every detail as you're doing it?

Imagine your own job.  A problem comes up and you know what to do.  Now imagine explaining every step, and stating the reason for that step ... over and over again for 6 long hours?

Yes, that was my day.  I am training an employee at another store to do the job that I do.  However, the biggest difference is that I'm very .... um, anal, shall we say ... about making sure that the entire scope of what needs to be done gets done every single day.  I don't leave a pile of something to deal with until tomorrow, because tomorrow's work load might be twice as heavy as the current day.  That just doesn't work with what I do.

In training at the other BigBox store, they are days and weeks behind in the processing of vendor claims.  When a customer returns an item, the claims dept has 48 hours to completely process the item into its proper box with a vendor claim attached.  Today when we were working, we found items dated from 11/19/15 !    It causes a lot of angst in my perfectionist world having something sitting around for that long!!!

Still, I did what I could, tried my hardest to help them get caught up with things ...  but it can be a backwards slide if it's not getting done in a timely manner every single day.  I came home exhausted, shredded up some pork, added a dollop of ketchup and bbq sauce and ate that on a bun.  I'm just too tired to have to think about any more details today.

Urban Dictionary says this:  Brain Fried:   When your brain feels so overloaded with work/stress/homework that you can't think straight and temporarily don't feel like doing anything that takes too much thinking.

Yep, that's me.
Brain Fried.
Happy Monday.

Traditions

Today is a better busy day.  For me it was a "traditions" day.    Cranberry Splash in my glass;  Christmas Vacation on the TV, and wrapping presents.   Most of mine get sent out of town, so they have to be ready and wrapped early on.  After 15 Holiday Seasons as a retail worker, I've come to understand that's just how it is.  I've spent 2 of the last 15 holidays with my family.  Ten years ago I flew home to see my parents because my Dad had been ill.  And last year when my Dad died.  That's not many holidays with family, but that means I've had to create my own traditions.

Because retail stores are closed Christmas Day, (at least they are for now) it's usually the day I spend on me.  In years past when I had a perm, that was the day I gave myself a perm, loaded up DVD after DVD and just chilled out.  Many times alone, because my kids would spend the holiday with their own dad.  Acceptance comes when you have no choice in the matter.  And in the long run, it's all ok.

When my kids were little, they would usually return for New Years.   New Years Eve was usually crammed full of traditions.  We would have an early afternoon supper, then open Christmas gifts.  That night it would be rounds of Bingo (with prizes, of course!) and "make your own sundaes" with every known topping (and boy could the kids make messy sundaes!)  And then it would be midnight, a brand new year, and the holiday season behind us.

When you're not a traditional family, you find ways to make things work.  You create traditions that can be carried out on any day, not only on the exact holiday.  It's my biggest hope that my kids remember these traditions fondly.  I know I sure do!

Weird Days

I don't know if you do this or not, but I'm the type who likes to have a plan for the day.  It may not always be specific, and is ALWAYS subject to change, but a plan to start the day helps.


Yesterday was our "one trip shopping" discount at my BigBox store:  25% off one entire purchase, and this year I went all out:  a new TV and entertainment center for the living room!  It's way past time for the 12 year old TV to take a hike. haha  After pulling two shopping carts through the store in order to get all the stuff I wanted - and needed - I had the task of loading it all into my car.  The hardest piece was the entertainment center.   Being too big for the back seat, it had to go in the trunk, with the lid tied down.  I tacked on this little Santa Hat as my "red flag" to other drivers. hehehehe


After getting it all in the house and unloaded, I moved furniture, emptied out the old entertainment center and figured that Saturday morning would be a perfect time to start Assembling.  But once the pieces were all laid out, I found out that I was short 8 compression dowels.   Ugh.  I called the company (as the instructions read to do) and found the company isn't open on weekends.  After pondering for all of 10 seconds, I hopped in the car and headed to Home Depot.  They had dowels, the right diameter, but an inch too short.  I headed for Lowes, right length, but too fat.  Looks like I will have all these parts scattered all over until I can get more dowels shipped to me.   Which means I didn't take out and inspect my new TV and give that a whirl either!

So much for Saturday's Plan A.   Turns out that my Plan B was to clean the garage out a bit.  My son hasn't been home in over 5 days, and frankly, all the "stuff" he has in there is slowly encroaching on what little space I use in the garage:  the washer and dryer!  I didn't move TOO many things (after all, if I move things, as a man, he will never find them again! hahahah), and I got the floor swept and the corners vacuumed out.  At least I was productive in that area!

After all that, I decided that Sadie needed another walk, and I wasn't in the mood to walk the streets, so we headed to the local riparian preserve and circled around some of our favorite areas.  Lots of people out enjoying this beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun - and many of them dressed up for holiday photo shoots!   Always fun :)