How Tough is Your Laptop?

Can it survive being run over by a VW? Mine can, and did. Here's the story. Mom and I were on our annual fall shopping trip, this time retuning to the VT Hand Crafters Assoc. show in Burlington. I usually bring the compy for referencing things and Googling locations, especially since most hotels have free wifi now.

Sunday morning, we had checked out of the Super 8 in S. Burlington, headed over to the Marriot/UVM Conference Center for the Craft Show, and I was packing the car. I got distracted by a conversation with some fellow Massachusetts tourists in the parking lot, and apparently let the laptop fall off the rear seat and onto the blacktop (or I never picked it up off the ground, where I had deposited my luggage while unlocking Mom's car - I don't honestly remember). I didn't realize this until Mom exclaimed, sounding awfully distraught, "Your computer!" after backing out of the parking space.

There was my laptop case, lying alongside the parking space, out of which we'd recently backed.

Oh, lord.

I retrieved the laptop case, and opened it up with some trepidation. The damage, whatever it was, was done, and the fault was squarely mine. I felt pretty sick about it, to tell the truth, but what was feeling bad going to do, right? To my surprise, it was whole. Whole, and it powered up! In the end, the screen was shot, and the cd-rom drive was crushed, but every scrap of information was safe, and the computer was otherwise fully functional. I used it for a week, carefully backed up to my external drive, hooked up to our flatscreen tv, but this proved to be a huge hassle, so I ended up biting the bullet and buying a new one.

I figured I stick with Mac, though, since they seem to make a pretty tough machine.

The Wagon Came 'Round Again, So I'm Climbing Back On

Do you ever have the feeling there's a zamp in the lamp? No wait... That was Felix's naptime story... (Yay Dr. Seuss!) I've been in a decline since the whole job thing exploded on me, and it's physical, too. I've put on more weight, I'm more out of shape... I'm too broke to join a gym or go back to WW meetings, so I've let it slide. Bad idea, right?

Well, I found a free site for food journaling (something, which I know doesn't work for everyone, but it very much works for me), and registered myself. I've spent a lot of my free time today getting it set up, and documenting my meals and activity. I even hauled myself out and spent an hour and a half raking the lawn (more tomorrow! love those leaves!), which was nice, because Felix and I, and the dogs, could be outside, and I was still getting a workout.

I'm going to try it for a week, and reevaluate its usefulness. I'll report in on that here, in the name of full(ish) disclosure. Wish me luck.

Also, I might have some more interviews... fingers crossed.

Pooh's Thotful Spot

Winnie-the-Pooh really knew how to go about things. When he needed to think, he went to his Thotful Spot. Being a bear of Very Little Brain, thinking came hard to him (his intuition and general character made up for his intellectual shortcomings, real or imaginary), and I suppose having a spot made it easier to focus.

I think I need such a spot right now.

Still no job, but there's an interview coming up. I'm not especially optimistic, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to peddle my wares, as it were. I'm just not that enthusiastic about going back to nannying, but I feel very hemmed in my circumstances. I've been writing some, and I like doing it, but I'm going to need a jolt of mojo or something if I'm going to be able to take myself seriously. Also, I need to bring in some money while I'm writing and peddling that, if that's the direction I'm going in, but what to do, if not what I've proven I'm good at? Ugh! It seems I'm between a toddler and a unemployed place.

It's hard to stay focused as the time without a job to go to stretches out further. I want to find that spark of give-em-hell I had when I was young and stupid. I seem to have misplaced it along the way.

Although secretly, ok, maybe not so secretly, I just want to curl up here in our cozy house and have another pot of hunny.

If anyone has inspirations for a thotful spot, please let me know... I'll be playing Poohsticks and posting resumes.

My Friends Tigger & Pooh, the Super Sleuth Cake

Yesterday we celebrated Felix's birthday, and as he is an afficionado of the Playhouse Disney animated series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh (warning, if you love AA Milne and Ernest Shepard, do NOT click on the link), I did his cake based on the colors and "Super Sleuth" logo favored by the show. Add some birthday candles and a set of figurines I picked up on sale at the Disney Store, and we have a cake with toppers you can keep and play with!

The recipes are all from The Whimsical Bakehouse, by Kaye and Liv Hansen, one of my favorite books on cakes. I did 10" tilted "mini" birthday cake, with chocolate butter cake, cookies and cream filling and vanilla Italian buttercream. Yum!

Looks like a success to me!