Monthly Archives: November 2011
Recovery Update
I don’t want to get too excited.
But I heard from the man who is spending his days off to check out my computer (and he’s not charging me $500 like the Geek Squad!).
He’s 48 hours into scanning it.
He thinks everything can be saved.
But shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to jinx it.
I’m quietly doing a happy dance!
Trusting Tuesday
So I am a day behind for NaBloPoMo. My body is not adjusting well to the “fall ahead” time change. While everyone is happy about the extra hour of sleep, I woke at 5 AM on Sunday morning. Yes, 5 AM after getting in at 11 on Saturday night and not falling asleep until close to midnight.
On Monday, I checked the “Geek Squad” at Best Buy to research the cost of the possible hard disk recovery of my laptop. Can you say sticker shock? A basic recovery attempt begins around $250, mid-level recovery is around $500, and extensive recovery could run $1600+. I was ready to burst into tears. My laptop is less than three years old. I paid barely $500 for the laptop in the first place. I could not see paying someone $500 to recovery the handful of files I hope to recover. Did I back up my files? No, of course not. Lesson learned!
This is where I begin to gush about how much I love the Twitter community.
I happened to tweet that I had sticker shock at the Geek Squad’s recovery prices. In less than a few minutes, I get a reply directed to me from @enophiledude (Ted #1) recommending that @tedwardsdesign (Ted #2) take a look at it. Ted #2 tweets back at me to see what the problem is. A few tweets and direct messages (DMs) later, we make plans to meet. Shortly after making these plans, I get another reply from @pghjen volunteering her husband to take a look at it.
I won’t say that I wasn’t nervous handing over my dead laptop to a complete stranger. But I’ve met Ted #1 and he wouldn’t recommend someone he didn’t know or trust. So I handed off my baby to Ted #2 with a list of items I hope to recover. He has even volunteered to research prices for a new hard drive for me.
So dear Twitter, at first I did not understand you. Over the past year and a half, I have become to trust the people who reside behind their avators, whether I have met them in person or not. Thanks to the recommendation of someone, I am hopeful to recover some of files from my dead hard drive, without having to contact a loan shark or sell a kidney to do so. It’s a win-win-win situation. If I’m lucky, my files will be retrievable. Ted #1 will be thanked for the recommendation with beers from Bocktown. Ted #2 will be paid for his time and attempted retrieval, and he’s more than welcome to join Ted #1 and I for beverages.
Thank you Twitter!
Whew, I Needed That and WTF!
There’s nothing better than working yourself up to a good sweat and getting the heart pumping.
Shame on you! Get your mind out of the gutter!
I’m talking about shedding the work clothes, throwing on the sneakers, turning up the music, and heading out for a mind-clearing, heart-pumping walk around the neighborhood. I walked at least two miles but I didn’t catch how long it took me. It was a dark and crisp night; you could smell Fall in the air. Taking care of myself needs to be my priority again. My weight is out of control. My cruise is in four months. I have a goal.
In the WTF department, I got a call from the principal at Social Diva’s middle school. It seems that a teacher received a rather threatening reply from the Ex-Husband. He informed the teacher that she needs to “ask” rather than “tell” people what to do, and if he receives such an e-mail from her again, he is going to “hunt her down.” The teacher was concerned, the Principal was concerned, and the police were notified. Seriously? Who does such a thing? According to the Principal, he denied that he sent it, saying that his account had been hacked. I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the need to reply to her email after a few drinks. The Principal didn’t know our living situation (really?), but I reassured him that we have lived in separate households for the past ten years. Sadly, I could not provide any insight into why he would do such a thing. What does one do in this situation? I want to email the teacher, but I’m at a loss for words.
Today was certainly one of those days when I was happy to admit that I was no longer married.
Oh What a Feeling
The past 48 hours have been a blur!
Friday involved work, shuttling Social Diva to/from Teen Center, and racing across town to help set up for Christianpalooza.
Saturday was the craziest day! It started with #FreeAngie, moving her into her own apartment. She had at least eight people show up to help her early on a Saturday morning! The beauty of twitter!
Christianpalooza was the highlight of my weekend and the main topic in this post. I met a woman on Twitter who lost her 9 year old son to a brain tumor this past January. As a parent, I cannot imagine having to experience the pain and heartache of learning of your child’s diagnosis not to mention the pain and suffering of treatment. From what I have read, Christian was a great son and was loved by all who knew him.
To give back for all Make A Wish had done for her family, M and her close friends organized this fundraiser with all proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation in Christian’s honor. I offered to help in any way that I could, and I am so glad I did.
The fundraiser looked to be a success. Many of M’s twitter friend’s showed up, as well as family, friends, and the community. There was a DJ, face painting, and tattoos for the kids. There was food and donated baskets for a raffle. (I won two, apparently!) People were still showing up when I had to leave to head to my next event (a show by Blackberry Smoke).
If you wish to contribute, donations are still being accepted in Christian’s honor. You can make a donation HERE.
It’s been a fun and exhausting weekend. How was your weekend?
Lost: My Sanity
Four years ago, due to a move I did not ask for, I had to surrender my two labs to the Humane Society since I could not find a home (temporary or permanent) for them. I sobbed the entire ride home after having to leave them. I eventually acclimated to living without the strings of having a pet and thought I enjoyed life as it is.
Until today.
I got an email from my dog-loving co-worker. She ended up cornering a small dog that she has seen running around for a few weeks since she returned from her vacation. He has both a collar and flea collar but no tags. She took him to her vet to see if he was microchipped (he’s not). He looks to be healthy but he’s severely malnourished.
I immediately shot off her email and pictures to my landlord to see if he would reverse his standing of no-pets. If I don’t hear from him by tomorrow afternoon, I will call him.
I called my co-worker to call dibs. Her neighbors got to her first, but I’m next in line if they don’t take him.
See what made me reconsider? (But don’t tell my kids yet)
Adorable
Braces Removal Day, Endless Driving, and Computer Disappointment
Day 3 of NaBloPoMo. I have no real topic to focus on.
Today, Vampire Boy had his bottom braces removed. My first born has morphed from the darling baby he was into a charming young man. Coming from a person who told her mother that her grandchildren would be four-legged fur faces, that says a lot. Vampire Boy wasn’t that impressed about having the braces removed as he needs to wear a lower retainer 24/7 for a year, followed by nighttime wear for the second year. He now has a more beautiful smile and is truly growing into a handsome young adult.
I feel like I spent most of my afternoon/evening in my car. I left work early to pick him up a theater practice (he’s on stage crew and they’re practicing for next week’s performance). After dropping him at the orthodontist’s office, I headed over to the Middle School to pick up Social Diva from Homework Club. Since I was early, I returned my (severely) past-due library books (got the fines reduced to $10 each). After running Social Diva over to her dad’s, I head back to the orthodontist’s office to pick up Vampire Boy and review the instructions with the orthodontist. It’s back in the car to take VB back to the school to finish out the rehearsal. I’m half-way home and I get a text “please come back, we’re done.” [Sigh] I head back over to pick him up and transport him to dad’s.
I was anxious to get home because my Vista CD finally arrived. For those who don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter, my computer died on Sunday. After spending days researching how to recover my files, I was anxious to sit down and try recovery again. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about recovery to use the CDs without completely wiping out my system. I’m back to Square One. I don’t mind doing a factory reset, but I am anxious about recovering the documents, files, and photos from my machine. They look like they’re still there. The challenge is going to be getting them transferred out.
The next two days are going to be crazy ones. I hope I can write something worth keeping your attention!
Always a day late
I remember seeing on twitter last year a bunch of talk about NaNoWriMo and I remember being curious about it. So I went to my friend “Google” and did some research. Write a novel in 30 days? No, thanks, I’ll have to pass on that. Being a divorced mom who works and shuttles kids between school, activities and friends, all while trying to have a social life of my own (AND keep up on my twitter feed), I don’t have to time to commit to something like that, nor do I have a story in my head. But yesterday, I saw some tweets about NaBloPoMo and I thought “Hey, I can do that!” Especially given how new my blog is and the fact that I haven’t really shared the fact that I even have one. (Shhhh, let’s keep that our secret!)
So WELCOME! I realize it is Day 2 of NaBloPoMo. Please forgive me as I am shocked that November 1st was yesterday. Poof, Halloween is gone in the snap of your fingers and flip of the calendar page. This time of year seems to fly so quickly. We’ve finally acclimated into our back to school routine with “discussions” about after school activities and homework completion. Halloween decorations are being put away and the retail beings are gearing up for the holiday shopping season. I used to enjoy the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but these days, it seems like a chore (and that’s another blog post).
If you’re writing for NaBloPoMo, please leave a comment with a link (if I don’t already follow you).
Stay tuned for more …
The Bitch Desk 