In the News

According to Clemson, SC, police, a man was hit by an SUV while playing a real life version of “Frogger” and required hospitalization.

Before he was hit, he and his friends had been discussing the game. Suddenly, the man yelled “Go!” and attempted to dart across four lanes of traffic.

The police made it clear the young man is not a Clemson University student. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

Oh, What a Night. . .

Late December back in ‘63 (thanks Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) was the last time Upstate South Carolina had a Christmas snow. That is, until yesterday. It began late in the afternoon and light flurries continue this morning. We had several inches on the ground last night, but the temps are a bit above freezing so it’s clearing now.

Sisters. . . or Not

Bella, our 8 year old granddaughter, is spending the day with us today. We were in the car talking about Christmas which turned into a discussion about brothers and sisters. She said that if her mommy had another baby she hopes it will be a girl because she doesn’t have a sister.

I said, “You know that are advantages and disadvantages to having sisters. One not so good thing would be that if you had a sister then you wouldn’t be the only girl in the family any longer, and people wouldn’t spoil you so much.”

She asked, “What’s the good part of having a sister?”

I replied, “When you have a sister you will always have a friend.”

She said, “I think that I would rather have a another brother.”

Update

As I was publishing the previous post, the phone rang. It was 10:33 am. Yep, it was the same number as before. I simply picked up the receiver and replaced it quickly. I know that ensures that she will call again, but I hope she was only half as annoyed as I was when she called the first time. I can be such a snot sometimes.

I Really Needed This Early in the Morning

This morning at 8:07 am Mr. Fixit was taking his morning walk, and I was sitting in bed with the laptop catching up on the news, crosswords, etc. We had been up for over an hour. The phone rang; it scared me a little because Mr. Fixit was out walking. I checked the caller ID. It was an 800 number—a telemarketer at 8:00 am?

Me: Hello

Caller: May I speak to Mr. Fixit?

(I could tell by the background noise it was, indeed, a telemarketer.)

Me (being contrary): I’m sorry Mr. Fixit is still in sleeping. This is Mrs. Fixit. Can I help you?

Caller: This is Sears calling in regard to Mr. Fixit’s air compressor. His warranty is about to expire and we wanted to offer him blah, blah, blah.

Me: You do know it’s 8:07 in the morning, don’t you?

Caller: Yes ma’am. I know the time. When may I call Mr. Fixit again?

Me: I don’t think he will want to extend his warranty, but why don’t you call again about 10:30 am. That will give him time to get up, shower, and have breakfast.

Caller: I’ll call back then. I’m sorry I woke you.

I understand that she is doing her job, but I thought telemarketers are allowed to call only between the hours of 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. Does she realize that she has the same chance as a snowball  in hell to sell us an extended warranty? Will she have the nerve to call again at 10:30 am?

NOTE TO SEARS: Do not annoy your faithful customers by allowing your telemarketers to call before 9:00 am or your faithful customers (who have spent mucho dollares in your tool department) will purchase their tools elsewhere.

It’s now 10:32 am, and the phone is blessedly silent. Stay tuned.

Easier Blogging

Even though I have convinced Mr. Fixit that “I am the Wizard” of computing, I know my limitations. I can send and receive e-mail most of the time; I am able to surf the net without too many problems; I mastered (sort of) publishing blog posts. (Okay, I still have major problems posting pictures with captions in their preferred locations.)

Note: At this moment the Wizard is having trouble keeping the cursor where she wants it on this laptop. She hasn’t mastered working without a mouse. Did I mention that she’s had this laptop for a year? And a later post is planned for the daylong problem trying to install new virus protection yesterday.

When I compose a blog post, I start on the Windows word processor. I use the generic one. I don’t have “Office” with the good word processor. I then edit, copy, and paste to Blogger.

Posting pictures on Blogger is a source of great aggravation for me—it takes too darned long, and, as I said, I hate trying to “edit html” to move the pictures around.

When I updated Windows Live Mail not long ago, I found this add-on program called “Windows Live Writer.” It’s for writing blogs, and I like it very much. Pictures load very quickly and I am able to put them exactly where I want them (I had only a little problem). The best part is that the post with the pictures loads to Blogger very fast—no more waiting for five minutes per picture to load.

 Windows Live Mail: Until we bought this computer and the new big one, I had always used Outlook for email. I didn’t like this Windows Mail at all. It did its job, but I didn’t like it. When I updated, that all changed. I love it now. I wouldn’t go back to Outlook if I could.

Brown + Cheez Whiz = Philistine (Me)

After installing the free version of Kindle, I chose Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility to try it. I had seen the end of the movie just a day or so before and thought it would be a nice read. I finally finished it last night.

I wonder what the readers of the era thought of her work. Was she considered a talented writer producing great literature as she seems to be perceived now? Or was she seen as a romance writer like contemporary authors Sandra Brown, LaVryle Spencer, or Dorothy Garlock? They may not be producing great literature, but they write entertaining stories for those of us to appreciate the genre.

I find that I must be a complete philistine because I thought S & S boring and wordy even taking into the consideration that writing styles have evolved since the early 1800’s. Many people say that Ms. Austen is their favorite author. That must mean that I have absolutely no taste or discernment. If I’m going to read romance novels, give me Brown, Spencer, or Garlock. I also enjoy Cheez Whiz and Ritz crackers.