Weary

Fiorella is finally pulling herself together. The let-down from leaving the fun and jollities in Ohio, the desperation of of almost losing a flight in the airport, the frustration of trying to learn the new cell phone, the exhaustion from everything--they had all worn Fio down. Then there was the sinking back into the patterns at home. After taking Husband to his doctor's appointment, then driving down Round Rock on a fool's errand, then getting caught in a long line-up from a wreck down the highway, then making H-E-B $100 richer, Fio came home and collapsed.

But Husband and Doggie are now upstairs asleep, Fiorella has sorted out the last of her travel detritus (even finding her charge cord and plug-in), and her to-do list is sitting beside her on the couch. Tomorrow is another day

Electronics Can Be Evil!

Fiorella is angry. Fiorella is mad
Because Isadora is acting bad
Or maybe it's not the computer at all
But Windows 10, it's natal install
Whatever the problem, it better go
Beacuse your Fio's about to BLOW!

ENOUGH, ALREADY!

IT'S LIKE FIORELLA IS BEING STYMIED AT EVERY TURN. She left her purse at home when she drove to Austin to have brunch with friend Evelyn and ended up having to to mooch off her. She spent an hour trying to get a pop-up off her computer screen and finally had to drive over to Click Computer Repair for Travis to push two buttons (that she swears she had already tried) to make everything right. And she's dealing with some banking problems with Chase, which owes her big time for the crap it's put her through. Also, her phone won't let her posting pics on FB. And she had a horrible time emailing a couple of chapters of Lolly's story to a friend. And, to top things off, Colbert is on vacation AGAIN!

Stressed Out

Well, folks, yesterday didn't turn out to be as glorious as Fio thought it would be.  She had to take her computer in--again--because the email was acting up--again--so she left it overnight this time, which meant she was adrift all day. Yes, your Fiorella is addicted to her laptop.  She couldn't work on her book, couldn't research the thousand and one random questions she comes up with each day, couldn't follow what was happening in the world, and couldn't communicate on email or Facebook.

So what she did do (because Fio is also addicted to activity) was drive over to Home Depot with a photocopy of one of the checks in re the scamming handyman that Amy Bullock had said she hadn't received and ask their people to send Amy an email copy of it.  This was the fourth "send" of the pc of the check, and Fio had sweated blood over getting it out of the bank.  Fio will admit it--she almost broke down and cried from total frustration.

Fio does not understand why Amy didn't receive the three previous "sends," but maybe whatever was wrong with the Nemesis's email may have caused it.  ("The Nemesis" is Sonia Dog's name for Fio's laptop.)  On the other hand, she said she received the first one, then "lost it."

Fio also went through the house and wrote down (on a paper tablet) the overheads that were out--fifteen in all, and noted down the three areas that need new drywall because of the mold, called the yardman and the neighbors to arrange a get-together on Monday for us all to talk about a property-line fence, put together some promotion ideas for Where The Heart Leads, made a start on her Christmas sonnet, paid bills, thought about Austin son's upcoming birthday, mentally reviewed the refinancing of the house--and wilted.

She tried to take it easy yesterday evening, then awoke in the early morning with a burning mouth and a rumbling tummy.  GERD.  Three hours later she'd pretty well cured it a powerful antacid pill and milk, but it still lingered.  Husband is going to pick up potato chips, vanilla ice cream, and bagels at the store for her.

Fio dragged you through her personal hell because (1) she is a modern Samuel Pepys, and (2) this morning she realized that what she eats plays only a minimal role in her affliction.  STRESS is the  key factor.  Fio is responsible for many, many things,  and having to operate without a computer was only the tipping point.

Venting

Scream, scream, scream,  crash, bang!  Fio is having another breakdown.  Anger and frustration is the name of the game.  The bank has her credit score wrong, and she wants to sell more books.  After stomping around for a while last night, she sat down and emailed Friend Claire for information about promotions, then emailed the bank about the incorrect credit score.  This morning she awoke with a promotion idea or two herself.

And, on the side, she's working on the house and writing the third book, the novella.

Pray for her.  She prays for you.

Communication Deprivation

It's official.  The land line is off till Thursday--THURSDAY WEEK--when the Verizon repairman appears.  Supposedly.  And it will be fixed.  Supposedly.

But Fio, you ask.  You and Husband surely have cellphones, don't you?  Well, yes, Fiorella answers.  But we live in a cellphone dead area and can only use our phones when we're leaning off the second floor balcony or are up at the mailbox beside the road.  Or, of course, when we are driving.

So--no incoming calls, no outgoing calls for a week and a half.

In a way, it's rather freeing.

Violence

Fiorella understands frustration.  She understands anger.  She understands speaking out--even yelling. But what she doesn't understand is deliberate destruction of property.  Or hurting people.

Riots are not for her.

Fixin' Things

Fiorella's new laptop had been sequestered in the repair shop for a week to get stripped of its troublesome fellow-travelers, and now that it was home again, it refused to connect with her wireless printer.  Also, it wouldn't allow Kindle to be added to its complement of options.  To top it off, Fiorella was stuck in her current work-in-progress.  Stuck and scared.  Was she, for the first time in her life, experiencing the dreaded Writer's Block?

She prayed and agonized and considered, then realized the reason she was stuck was two-fold: she was totally frustrated by her computer, and she'd written herself into a corner.  The next day, Husband figured out how to make the computer communicate with the printer, and a little back-tracking lit a fire under Fio's recumbent muse.

Kindle, though, will have to wait for another day.

Stressed, Depressed

Please give Fio a break today
She's stressed, depressed, and out of rhyme
She's running a race that can't be won
Too far to go, too little time

Break-down

Fiorella had a break-down yesterday.  She's usually a very busy person, with a to-do list a mile long, but yesterday that list ganged up on her. She couldn't edit the last three pages of the second chapter of Moira's story because the printer wouldn't work.  She couldn't find Nephew Barrett's new address to send him a BD present.  She couldn't find the two paperbacks she wanted to use as examples of POW writing in her romance writing class.  She suddenly realized she may have offended her sister-in-law. One of the little gold hoops she always wears in her ears turned up missing.   And, to top it off, when she tried to drive to Fed-Ex and the post office, her beloved baby car made such strange noises that she turned around before she reached the highway, came home, called Husband, and cried.  He told her to have Mazda pick up the car.

Strangely, just when Fio thought all was lost, she found Nephew's new address on an old email and spotted the two paperbacks on a bookshelf, tucked away under some papers.  Then, when he came home, Husband fixed the printer.  And early this morning, he spotted her missing earring on the floor in the hall. Fio will have to arrange for a rental car to keep her appointments in Austin today, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Neverending Contest

As of today, your Fio has published 1828 daily blogs since May, 2008.  Last year she downloaded 2008-2011 and put the -pages in loose-leaf notebooks by year, but now that she wants to download 2012, she can't remember the torturous process she figured out a year ago to do the deed.

And again, it's electronics--1, and Fiorella-0.