Technical Difficulties

Don’t you just hate it when technology fails you? I admit it. I, who often advocate “back to nature” and “use a pen & paper”, was utterly bereft yesterday without my laptops.

Yeah, that was plural. Once again, I had not one, but two laptops going wonky on me this past week, hence the lack of posting. I also started my job this past week (yes, I am officially employed now), so I was coming home, too exhausted to do anything, and too burnt out on phones and computers to touch them for anything but play.

We’ll start at the beginning, shall we? A week ago Tuesday, we got home from helping and keeping company with my dad for my mom’s services. Finances, already strung tight, were wrapping around our necks like a boa constrictor going for the kill. I was depressed (and admittedly, relieved to some extent, but mostly depressed) over Mom’s passing. Every day, I would get up late, play on the laptop, take my walk, get a shower, then watch TV for most of the day. I was ignoring my business and wasting my time, and worrying myself over money.

I was also slightly depressed over making it to the phone interview with one job, only to be informed later that I had not passed the assessment test (I HATE those foolish, impersonal, “what if” crappy tests). I didn’t know if my son was going to be able to make his car payment, and it worried me that we didn’t even have enough to help him out if he needed it for just the next two months, until his military paycheck starts coming in. And while I am enjoying the scenery here, the fact is that Maryland is a killer for state taxes, so my husband’s paycheck has had a generous chunk removed by the hungry sharks of Maryland’s political ocean.

And so, typical me—worry, worry, worry. I decided to act upon this concern, though, and began looking for work. I applied to Random House and looked for work on various employment websites. I even looked on a Facebook page for local employment. I was already becoming frustrated, after sending out numerous resumes and filling out many job applications. Then, I got a call back from one of the resumes I had sent out, one in which I had forgotten to attach the resume in the initial email. I spoke with the woman and made an appointment to go in the following Monday to interview.

On Tuesday, I started. It’s not a great job, but I get okay pay and the hours are easy. I can only get up to thirty-five hours per week, though, thus limiting my income. However, the job is booking companies to attend events, and the owner, as a perk for me working there, allowed me to have a booth for my Avon for free.

All well and good. Until I tried, now that I was emboldened by a bit of success, to print up labels to place on my Avon brochures. That’s when the first laptop started giving me the blue screen of death and the other one became slower than cold molasses running uphill in the winter-time.

I spent all day yesterday watching television and trying to fix the laptops. As of today, hubby has taken over the big one, trying to get it sorted, and the little one decided to behave. However, neither one is talking to the printers yet, so I am still unable to print my labels (and I have far too many brochures to hand out to hand-write my information on them). Tomorrow, if they are not working yet, I will have to go to the library after work and print them there, or get hubby to print them at work. Oh, and I’ve got about six thousand words to go to complete Camp Nano. Wish me luck!