Ah, Nature!

Yes, that was Forella stumbling into the house after an hour outside in the ever-warming sun hauling rocks and dragging cut cedar branches out of the forest. She also spotted some dead oaks that would make good firewood and dragged some of their better limbs to the side of the driveway. Why all the physical labor, you ask. Well, first, for excercise and that sometimes Fio likes to be alone in silence. Second, because Fio gets a lift from accomplishing something tangible. Third, because she is frustrated with all the ceremony that goes on with getting a new computer up and running. The latest glitch, aside from the missing key code, is that she can't print anything because the computer lacks the needed printer driver--whatever that means.

Reality Sets In

The euphoria of yesterday was somewhat tempered by the reality of the rest of the day.  when Fio tried to print out last year's blogs, the printer jammed.  After she spent a couple of hours jiggling it and pulling out scraps of paper with tweezers and a toothpick, Husband came home and figured out how to remove the faceplate and get the machine going again.  Meanwhile Fiorella had to pay bills, take care of a situation with her critique group, call the kids,  etcetera, and didn't get to those magic ten pages for WHERE THE HEART LEADS till evening.  But there's always tomorrow.

Stymied

Maybe it's because, with the reversion to "real time," the night is coming on much earlier, maybe it's because her new printer has developed a negative temperament, maybe it's because the house is a mess, the garage is a mess, the yard is a mess, and she is a mess.

Whatever, it is, Fiorella is in a deep blue funk.  

Printer Winner

It's an electronic miracle--and just what Fio has been calling for all this time!  The new printer, the one Husband bought for her when the old one turned terminally eccentric, is TOTALLY wireless and can be accessed from anywhere in the house!  No more cords trailing across the floor like Indiana Jones snakes!  No more tense moments, waiting to hear the rumble of the printer gearing up! No more unnerving stops and starts! No more nail-biting about the deadline Fio has hovering over her while waiting for Husband to come home to fix the dang thing!

Fio is ecstatic!

Dang Machines

When Fio's printer died, Husband found her a reconditioned one which is, at best, temperamental.  And now, her faithful Dell, whose hard drive Fio replaced a couple of months ago, is on its last legs--her "saves" don't always take, and the lid makes a sharp clacking sound each time Fiorella opens it up.

When WHAT THE HEART WANTS rakes in its millions, Fio's gonna get herself a Mac.

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.