I only swear when necessary.

December 27, 2003 | 3 Comments

Well, good thing no one heard me cussing last night. Santa would have come back and took away my presents. Read on?

Good heavens. I?ve been updating and customizing this computer for 2 days now, and my head is about ready to split. I don?t ever want to reboot this machine again.

It all started because Agent J got a new computer for Christmas. Of course, it has Windows XP on it, like all the new models do.

He wanted to network his comp with mine so that we would both have cable access. Coolio, says I.

For some freakass reason, we couldn?t run the cable router through my computer because mine has Windows 98 SE on it. I spent an hour on the phone with a heavily-accented service technician from India figuring this out. Trying to get technical assistance and learn a foreign language at the same time is not my cup of tea. (Just thinking of that conversation causes my cerebral cortex to twitch.)

Anyway, the Solution to all of our problems: Upgrade my operating system to Windows XP, and the networking should go smoothly.

I schlep to the office supply store, buy a copy of XP and installed it last night. (I?ll spare you the gory details of shopping the day after Christmas in our town. The exclamation ?oye!? shall suffice.) And the installation? It took seven attempts and a handful of Tylenol before that was accomplished. Software conflicts, blah blah blah.

So today Agent completes the cable networking and gets both of our comps online. He is ecstatic; he?s never had his own computer at home before so he?s all giggly like a little schoolboy and having a blast. I, however, was stuck with a bunch of programs loaded on my machine that no longer worked because they are incompatible with XP. Arrrrgggh!

I?ve spent the majority of this evening going to various websites and downloading updates and new drivers then installing them. So far, most everything is working ok. The only thing that seems to be totally obsolete is my scanner. It won?t work with anything past Windows 98, so I?m going to have to get a new one.

Check that ? Agent J is going to have to get me a new one. Hehe. :)~

Many good things have come out of this experience, though. Now we both have a comp and he won?t be junking mine up with his engineering stuff; the XP operating system seems much more stable than the other one; and I learned just how proficient I?ve become with computers. Sure, I swear the whole time I?m working on them, but I actually amazed myself at times ? and J was looking at me like I was a friggen genius whenever I knew the solution to a problem.

That was nice. I rarely get the chance to feel more mechanically inclined than my hubby, Mr. Engineer.

That?s what?s been going on since my last post. I was fortunate enough to find some updated software online so I could download some Christmas pics from my digital camera tonight. Here are some new photos of the cattens. (Yes, part kitten, part cat. Catten.) They?re so cute!

Miss Maizey

Randle P. McMurphy

That’s all for now. And remember kids…

Posted by Christine | Filed Under Uncategorized

‘Twas the night before Christmas…

December 24, 2003 | 4 Comments

And here I am… Muttering Unconsciously once again. Hohoho.

Exchange:: gifts
Parental Advisory:: useless
Blowout:: party
Spider:: web
Happy:: New Year!
Intense:: saturation
Corrupt:: illegal
Got:: Pink?
Crude:: oil
Three:: wise men

What did you come up with? Hmmm?

So much excitement around here tonight as the kittens eagerly await the arrival of Sandy Claws. *wink*

Actually, it?s delightfully quiet and peaceful. The cats just went to bed and I took the opportunity to wrap their gifts. (Oh, hush. They are just little babies — they need to be spoiled with presents at Christmas. :)~ …)

Randy is getting a wool mouse ? so hopefully he will play with that and leave our wool socks and sweaters alone ? and Maizey is getting a fancy catnip mousie made out of a shiny, silky fabric. They are also getting a package of tiny, freeze-dried whole shrimp as a treat. Those should make their breath smell particularly lovely. Not.
I?m not sure what I?m getting from Agent J yet. All I know is that there is an intriguing assortment of gifts on our festive dining room table, just waiting to be ripped into in the morning!

Yes, I said our dining room table. No, it?s not a dysfunctional family tradition that we grew up with. Hee. We decided against a tree this year because we figured we?d spend more time sweeping up broken ornaments than enjoying it?s beauty. We?re hoping that next year we can put up a tree again. Maybe by then the cats won?t be climbing everything and racing around all the time like their butts are on fire.

(A personal note to our dear friend Betty who lives directly across the street from us: Your Christmas tree in the bay window looks GORGEOUS when it?s all lit up! Thank you for such a cheery sight. It?s almost like having one in our own living room. *HUG*)

So, it’s a pretty sweet Christmas Eve going on here. A little wine, some holiday music, and a bit of magical elfin fun. Even more fun in store for tomorrow I’m sure!

I hope Santa remembers you kindly, my friends, and that all of your Christmas dreams come true. Night-night.

Posted by Christine | Filed Under Uncategorized

Too !@#$% funny!

December 22, 2003 | 1 Comment

This about says it all…

I hope that got your Monday off to a good start.

Posted by Christine | Filed Under Uncategorized

Lazy, lazy, lazy…

December 21, 2003 | 4 Comments

Yes, I am. And I have no shame about it either. :)~

It used to take me weeks to calm down enough to enjoy winter break, and by that time it was almost over and I had to try and rally myself again. Apparently, those days are long gone.

I?m sleeping like a bear, schlepping around in my jammies half the day, reading anything but textbooks, and my kitchen duty has slipped to the fend-for-yourself-I?m-on-vacation level. Tsk, tsk. If my overachieving ancestors could see me now they?d be appalled.

Eh, fuck ?em. Hee.

I still have some gift wrapping to do. I bought Agent J a bunch of shirts and some dress trousers for work, but I haven?t gotten around to them yet. Oh, but the tools I got for him are wrapped! I have to do those as soon as they enter the house or Mr. Snoopy will accidentally stumble across them as he is searching in the back of the closets for some obscure item he needs. I?m not kidding you, J knows the moment a new power or hand tool enters the house. It?s like the air molecules change or something and he can?t breathe right until he uncovers their hiding place. He?s like a Black and Decker bloodhound.

I also have to try and disguise the shape and size of the wrapped tools so he can?t guess what they are if he finds them. I?ve taken to putting everything possible into sweater boxes to make them look as boring as possible.

But me, I never snoop for my gifts. All I know is that he must hide them in his workshop, because I never see them before Christmas morning. Either that, or in the utility closet with the cleaning supplies ? the one place I?d never even *think* to look while on vacation — lazy ass that I am.

I talked to my parents a couple of days ago, and made plans to visit them the first weekend in January. And here is some scary news: I?ll be hauling my old computer there so my folks will finally be online. It will catapult them into the modern age.

That will be either the smartest or stupidest thing I?ll ever do in my life. Hah!

I really look forward to being able to email them and send pictures; I know they are excited about doing that, too. But I am a bit nervous about them discovering my little journal here, you know? I suppose I shouldn?t be ? I?ve never said anything on this site that I wouldn?t tell them in person. I guess I fear it might be too big of a dose of reality for them to swallow and they might take things the wrong way.

We?ll see.

Thinking so much has exhausted me. I think it?s time for my afternoon hibernation session.

Thanks for coming by for a visit, friends. More again soon. ~ ~ ~

Posted by Christine | Filed Under Uncategorized

The Crazy Bullshit Headlines

December 18, 2003 | 2 Comments

Michael Jackson joins Louis Farrakhan?s ?Nation of Islam?!

Yes, let?s play the race card everyone! According to Michael Jackson?s own lyrics, ?it don?t matter if you?re black or white? ? until you are brought up on molestations charges, that is. Then race is everything.

Note to Farrakhan and all other black militants: Your newest member, Jacko X, is NOT black. He stopped being black decades ago and purposely reconstructed his facial features to distance himself as far as possible from his own people. Nobody knows what the fuck he is anymore.

Jackson joining the Nation of Islam actually makes all parties involved look like even bigger lunatics than ever before. Now all we need is Johnny Cochran to take over the case to complete the Absurdist Case of The Century.

Maybe OJ Simpson can come and sit in the defendant?s cheering section. Bro supporting bro, you know.

Gawd damn.

John Hinckley will be allowed to leave the mental hospital for unsupervised visits with his geriatric parents!

What the hell!? Apparently an assassination attempt on a US President, critically wounding several others, acting like a nutball the majority of one?s life, and being declared officially insane by a court of law, doesn?t mean you need to be locked away for-fucking-EVER!?

This is a recipe for disaster. And what a total slap in the face to the people who were harmed by this sociopath.

Double gawd damn.

And finally,

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in ?The Simple Life??

I have one word: Arrrrrrrghhhh!!

Now, this last bit may not seem so harmful or strange at first glance. In a way, it?s somewhat amusing to see these two infinitely clueless morons bounce around in ridiculous, ass-flashing outfits and trying to survive in the real world among honest, hard-working people.

On the other hand, what does it say about us as a society when we hold up a vapid, hedonistic, adulteress (Miss Hilton) and a spoiled rotten, idiotic, heroin addict (Miss Richie) as celebrities? What is the fascination here? I mean, even Paris’s little chihuahua, Tinkerbell, is smarter and more sophisticated than the two of these bimbos combined.

They lie, steal, and cheat. They scheme and avoid responsibility like it?s the plague. They have no concern that their actions have consequences that affect the lives of others. And most of us smile and excuse them as they giggle and screw around, because they know not what they do.

Triple gawd damn.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be spending the day trying to figure out how the world slipped off it’s intelligence axis.

Posted by Christine | Filed Under Uncategorized