Open the Vents

Today is a vent day and I think I shall.

Although most things have been going well over the past few days, there is one thing which has not: my computer. That has been slower than ever.

I had the trouble with the virus thing last weekend and early in the week. I think it's taken care of, but the computer speed didn't come back. Maybe it's my computer. Maybe it's the internet connection. Maybe it's something else. I don't know. There was a time I earned my living writing software, but hardware connections, firewalls, internet programming, and system stuff never interested me, so I never knew much about it. I probably know more about the inner workings of my car than the computer. The result? I'm at the mercy of those who know more.

For me, I want the computer to be like my car, or television, or telephone, or any other device I own. I want it to work when I call upon it. That used to be true of the computer and it used to be true of the television. Now the computer takes it's jolly good time to do anything. I click on a link to YouTube and I may wait two or three minutes before I hear any music. I try to switch to a new site and it can take up to five minutes before I get there. Drives me nuts. I'm just not that patient with inanimate objects.

The television really p*sses me off!

Some genius somewhere decided that the old analog signal wasn't good enough. Now we have this new HD piece of sh*t. Whoever invented this should be sat down in a chair every day so people can walk by and slap them in the face. Multiple times.

With the old analog signal, if you weren't getting good reception you might get a fuzzy picture. Annoying, but at least you could watch your program. Now, with the better HD method, if you don't get the good signal you get a picture made up of nearly random squares - with no sound. Or, you get the blue screen of death telling you that you have no signal. The one station here keeps showing an antennae to use in order to get good reception. Guess what? That's the antennae we have.

Most people probably don't care because they either subscribe to cable or dish or satallite or whatever. We don't have that kind of money. We get the handful of local stations and that's it. Well we used to get those stations. Now we get four - if we're lucky. And guess what? Only two are stations we would be inclined to watch.

It's probably some sort of frickin' scam to force people into purchasing some service. Why is it when we improve things we only make them worse? Then we refuse to admit what we did was complete horse-hocky and so refuse to return to a method that actually worked?

The driver's seat on my car just broke. The poor thing. Lucky it isn't alive or it'd be in terrible pain. Front bumper had to be sawed off. Rear hatch can't stay open without a prop. Seat cloth is wearing out and metal is beginning to poke through. Pizza stains all over passenger seat (from when I delivered pizza for my money). Driver seat broken and now rocking like a 1960s go-go dancer. Windows broken so that if you roll them down you must stop the car and get out to put them back up again. Dents and scratches. Poor car.

And it isn't just technology.

The roof our our house leaks in at least three places. Can't afford to fix it. The carpeting looks like we keep cattle . (It's original.) Note for the future: If we ever get another house, or are able to keep this one after all, NEVER put in beige carpeting through major walkways. The siding on the garage was blown off and now we have a wonderful royal blue tarp covering the wall. Very decorative. We can't fix the siding either. When this thing goes up for sheriff's auction next week (or is it the week after) whoever buys it is going to have to spend a good amount of money putting it back in order. It isn't that we trashed the place. We just can't fix anything anymore.

My legs hurt all the time, and I mean 24-7. I can barely feel my feet. My stomach doesn't close properly, which means even with the medicine I take I spend more than a fair amount of time in the bathroom. I have no endurance. Just standing in a store for more than five or ten minutes puts me into a clammy sweat. Forget walking any distance. I'm up to sixteen minutes on the treadmill (although I haven't actually walked in several days), but once I passed twelve minutes I find I am completely spent when I finish.

I so relate to Ron Weasley's comment: Why does everything I own have to be rubbish?

You know what's funny though? Despite all of this I'm in a good mood. Well, mostly. I'm not crabby anyway. And I don't feel like crying. Why? Because I know there are more people than I can count who would love to trade places with me.

I have Spouse and Son. We're still a family. My Mother is recovering nicely from her cancer surgery. My friend has her medicine. My niece has taken my sister on an ocean cruise - just because she loves her mother. My brother will be arriving in town this evening to visit Mother. And I won the game we played this morning! Well, the first time. Son won the rematch.

Life could be so much more miserable than it is. So I'm happy that is isn't. I like to crab and complain, but most of the time that's because it's funny. (Not to you, but to me.) I've an odd sense of humor. Laughing at my misery seems to make it less offensive somehow. It helps me live with reality. And today's reality is:

My Computer is Frickin' Slow!

D*MN!