Why is it always a mixed bag?

Henry had a pal from school over, and it went really, really well. The kid was fun to have around, and got us all out of the gloomy pissiness that seems to infect the family when we spend too much time together.

That was the bright spot. I was feeling good because I'd called a mom of a kid that I didn't know and no blood was spilled. Lucy cried so hard because she didn't have "anyone from outside this house" to play with, but she survived once we broke out the model magic clay.

Cary came home with a grin from ear to ear. He'd upgraded out TiVo without asking first. What he didn't know was that a) I'm still recovering from the TiVo impersonators and the techno-fear they instilled in me and b) my parents have this newer TiVo and it's a pain in the ass c) we will get fewer channels than we do now for the same $$. It's reasonable to suggest that he should have known all three facts. BUT, he was trying to do good. AND there is a chance it will all work out. I wash my hands of the entire process starting ... Now!

Time to concede

The TiVo impersonators finally got the best of us. Cary and I dismantled them last night and re-installed our old TiVo. Now once again we can have audio and video that are in sync! We can use the microwave without making the TV freeze!

It makes me feel a little queasy to think of the amount of time and energy that I devoted to trying to make these stupid things work. I just want to watch a little TV at night. I don't want to devote the better part of my day to trouble shooting only to have the system fail just when it is time for Project Runway.

Cary and I may be technologically landlocked, but at least we are happier.

It's already Sunday afternoon?!

I've slept the weekend away. I've had a terrible cold and have pretty much spent several hours each day completely knocked out. I hope this doesn't lead to insomnia tonight...

Our TiVo impersonators still don't work correctly, nor is the picture good enough for Cary to enjoy football. I don't even care any more, but I wish we had never bought them. TiVo made TV so much better and these things make it an infinite hassle where there is always a new problem to worry about.

I've got a couple new reviews up. I review The Donkeys' Living on the Other Side over at Venus and I review Lightbulbs by Fujiya & Miyagi at Donnybrook.

It was another long day

but hey, that's my bread and butter.

Have I mentioned the new computer? Yah. The computer itself is actually fine, but the ancillary TiVo impersonators and the router were giving me fits. I spent three hours on the phone with tech support today. Then a quick call to my knowledgeable brother-in-law solved everything. As of now we have a working system, but I'm not confident that it will still work tomorrow.

In more important news, I took Sufi in to have a tumor removed from her upper lip. She's at least 13, and with each passing year I worry more about her health. The surgery went really well, though the portion of her lip and cheek on the left side of her face is no more. Still as sweet as ever, she sat on my lap and purred all evening, even though she has shaved whiskers and an Elizabethan collar.

First world problem if ever there was one...

We got a new computer today. I have been working on setting it up since 3 pm, however, I still can't post from it or use it for e-mail until I decide to give up the ghost of migrating Firefox and Thunderbird from XP to Vista. I think I figured out what to do with my iPod. A pox on technology.

On the bright side, I stopped thinking about Sarah Palin for more than five minutes.

Henry's first day of school was free of nosebleeds, forgotten backpacks, and homework! Can't ask for more than that. I hope everyone else's kids fared as well.

When did I stop feeling like Lisa and start feeling more like Marge?

I've been trying to Simpsonize myself for weeks ever since I saw Takka Takka's results on Brooklyn Vegan. What a hassle. But after JSE's results I decided to give it another go.

What I really wanted to do was make this my picture for my blog since when I leave comments the old picture makes it appear as if I have no eyes or teeth. Kind of amusing, but kind of not. Do any tech savvy folks know how I could make this happen? Blogger refused to recognize the .jpg and so did my computer.

As an aside, while I was working on this, Lucy drew all over the back of Henry's neck with a green marker.

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Now playing: Peter Bjorn and John - Sitar Folks

I am back in off the ledge...

I just remembered that it doesn't have to be G-mail. And the good folks at Yahoo have come to my rescue. Now I just have to remember to check that account. That is what three days with very little food and no coffee will do to a person. Oh, and Henry stayed home from school today too, and then he turned out to be perfectly healthy.

F'ing blogger ... so much for improvements.

Well, I may be done blogging if I can't get my e-mail address off the stupid mast head. I can't sign up for Gmail account because I don't have txt messaging on my cell phone. I specifically signed up for no text messaging on my cell phone because I didn't want it and now it may ruin this for me. I am so upset. I am still sick. I am still eating crackers and drinking gatorade and now I have exposed my e-mail to the stupid blogging world. It is so stupid. I should have never converted. But it really is perfect. Really. I started a blog about what went wrong. I guess it is perfect that it should end with something going wrong inside the blog.