Law of the Result

Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Conversely, when you expect a new machine to work perfectly right out of the box, it won’t. 

I spent over two hours with my new BFF in India, Srinath, a 24 year-old who is in the department that only works on my particular type of laptop, the XPS series.  The laptop works fine, that’s not the problem…but Microsoft Outlook would not open.  I paid for the full version so that I could specifically get Outlook. 

My new best friend got permission from me to take over my computer through an internet connection.  It was funny watching the screen do all its antics without me being at the controls!  He uninstalled MS Office, cleaned up the computer, then reinstalled MS Office, but that dang program still wouldn’t cooperate.  It finally worked, but we couldn’t get it to register properly.

By that time, it was the end of his shift, and it was bedtime for me anyway, so we both quit.  He promises to call me this afternoon when he gets to work…and promises we will get everything to work correctly.  I am not adding any more programs to the system until it does.

So today I am back on the old laptop…and life goes on.  Today is another day.  The end.

Law of Mechanical Repair

This little number arrived late Saturday while I was off scrapping at Haley’s House:

That would be the same Saturday of the progressive dinner and the bazillion things that were going on.  I didn’t get to even open up the box till after church yesterday…ta dah:

So of course after getting it turned on and initialized, I discovered that it requires DVDs or an 8 gig flash drive in order to first back up the operating system.  DO THAT FIRST.  No, I can’t put the info onto my external hard drive.  I tried that route.  It is either the flash drive (I have one but don’t want to use it for that) or DVDs (they will store easier and not get lost).  Since I don’t have enough of those, this means a trip to “the Walmart” this morning before I can (should) proceed.  Bugger.

Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch, and you'll have to pee.

Or you’ll have to go to town for another part.

Happy Monday, y’all!

Oliver’s Law of Public Speaking

Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.

A very cranky old woman was arrested for shoplifting at a grocery store.  She gave everyone a hard time, from the store manager to the security guard to the arresting officer who took her away, complaining and criticizing throughout the process.

When she appeared before the judge, the judge asked what she had stolen from the store.  The lady defiantly replied, "Just a stupid can of peaches."

The judge then asked why she had done it.  She replied, "I was hungry and forgot to bring any cash to the store."

The judge asked how many peaches were in the can.  She replied, "Nine, but what do you care about that?"

The judge patiently said, "Well, ma'am, because I'm going to give you nine days in jail -- one day for each peach."  As the judge was about to drop his gavel, the lady's long suffering husband raised his hand and asked if he might speak.

The judge said, "Yes, what do you have to add?"

The husband said, "Your Honor, she also stole a can of peas."

Share a smile with someone today.  I just did.

Peachy day in Paradise

Busy day ahead here in the TB household.  Haley is doing a fabulous workshop at her house at 1p, so I’ll be there to scrap and play, along with several scrappin’  friends.

I’ll have to hurry home to pick up Dick so that we can go to the first house of a BSP progressive dinner.  The first house location is in town, and there, we will be served appetizers.  The main course will be served here (north of town), so I’ve got to get Dick to help me set up an extra table or two this morning, and get him to blow leaves off the deck.  We may actually need our outdoor heater tonight.  We’ll see.  It’s there if we need it.

And then the fun really begins.  At the next house, not too far from us, we will enjoy dessert and coffee while participating in our annual ‘vacation’ auction.  No, we don’t auction off a trip.  What we auction off are gifts that we purchase when we travel (it can be some exotic location, like Podunk, for instance).  We bring them wrapped, so that no one knows what is inside or who brought it, just the origin of the purchase.  The guys go nutz bidding against each other, all in good fun, since the money goes into our treasury…and then it gets given away to the local community.  Fun and worthwhile.  And always good food!

Happy, happy birthday to BFF Joan!  We’ll miss you and Dan tonight.

Whatever you do, enjoy your Saturday, y’all.  Life is good!

Law of Close Encounters

Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Well, I met lots of 'kin' down in SW Georgia at my aunt's funeral.  They all cleaned up pretty good, and I don't think anyone was embarrassed to be seen with each other:)  Aunt Nene led quite the adventurous life and had written down lots of stuff for the preacher to pick and choose from to speak about her at her service.  Well, it was all so interesting that the preacher read the whole dang thing!  Pat promises to get me a copy of it, because I learned that my own father almost died as a baby, and I never knew that.  Nor lots of other stuff.

And now there are only a few around of that generation who can supply any history.  I asked Aunt Rebecca the middle name of my paternal grandfather, and she knew!  No one else did, and I could never find it confirmed anywhere, so I will take this as gospel.  And...this is major...I got to see the graves of my grandparents and great grandparents!  Of course I took photos, and of every headstone that I thought might be a relative, so I have a bit of work cut out to get all this info checked and double checked.

I think it is important that we not lose our links with our past.  And it is helpful also to have FULL names.  That middle initial on my grandfather's grave did not help much, other than to confirm that he did indeed have a middle name.

What are you doing to preserve your family history?

Thank you, Veterans!

A huge THANK YOU to all our men and women who have served in our Armed Forces to defend our red, white and blue...as well as THANKS to those who are currently making sacrifices and serving now.

Freedom is never free.  God bless the USA!

A sweet goodbye

 

My 99 year old aunt died Monday.  She was a remarkable woman, who  enjoyed life to the fullest.  She was my father’s sister, and now there is only one sibling out of the ten left. 

Today, I am heading to South Georgia, where I will go visit  Aunt Eloise in a nursing home.  She won’t know me any more, but that is OK.  I sure know and love her. 

And then tonight there will be a visitation for this special lady, shown above at her 99th birthday party this past July, with the Celebration of Life being conducted tomorrow.

It will be a happy/sad occasion when we see long-time friends and family, reminisce about the past, and promise not to wait so long to see each other again.  Then life gets in the way, and everyone gets too busy, until the next time one of our members is lost to us.  And then we gather again.

Thanks for all the ‘apple salads’ you made this young gal when we came visiting.  You always made me feel special and loved. 

Rest in peace, Aunt Nene.  I love you, and miss you already.