2014 NaBloPoMo: Saturday Nov 1

[maybe_amanda101]

Oh my god, we're back again...(for the meta, natch)

It's November! And that means more frequent ramblings! YOU LUCKY PEOPLE!

Right. My computer broke. I mean, I turned it on and - nothing happened. And kept happening. No whirring, no purring, no demand for a password, nothing. So naturally, I unplugged it, plugged it back in again, fiddled with all the cables and wires, swore both colorfully and creatively, and then, when all else had failed, demanded my husband MAKE IT WORK RIGHT NOW! Said husband, while mostly awesome, was unable to comply, but very gallantly offered to drop it off at the local geekery on the way to work (in part, no doubt, to get away from the sweary demanding woman bashing aimlessly at her keyboard.)

One day, they said, maybe two. Three at the very most.

It took two weeks.

It was both upsetting and weirdly relaxing. But it came home last evening, started working the second I plugged it in, and the love affair was immediately rekindled.

We had 14 trick-or-treaters (did kids trick-or-treat during the Depression? If so, what did they get? Failed stock certificates? Apple cores? A rock? Two rocks? Embittered???? Must research this extensively when I have done absolutely everything else there is to do...) last night. This is, without exaggeration, more than we have had in the last 3 years combined.

It has been half-assedly snowing all day. No accumulation, but dammit! SNOW?!?!?! Now I am thinking about Christmas-y stuff. (Which is as depressing as fuck.)

I feel yucky. I think I've caught some bug. Yay! only not.

Comments

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

ahhaahaha My desktop hard drive failed, too! At about the same time! I know how you feel. Here's hoping this laptop survives until I can get the desktop HD replaced...

Maybe Depression-ere trick-or-treaters got homemade treats like slices of apples? Cornbread?

[maybe-amanda.livejournal.com]

Maybe Depression-ere trick-or-treaters got homemade treats like slices of apples? Cornbread?

Yeah, I don't know. Of all the things to think about...

[ropo.livejournal.com]

Did they say what was wrong with your computer? That's my worst nightmare. Well, one of them...

Yay that your NaBlo-ing!

[maybe-amanda.livejournal.com]

It was the power supply. But apparently I had some exotic sort that had to be grown in the fields of Borneo and hand-picked by unicorns. *** sigh ***

[ropo.livejournal.com]

Oh FFS. That sounds like the time I took my camera to be repaired and it took them TWO MONTHS because they had to wait for a part from Japan. I was like, did they make this part out of bamboo, and only start it when you asked for it?? It's a Nikon, not some crazycakes thing.

[wendelah1]

I'm glad you got your computer back. We have many computers in my house. Three working laptops and a desktop, too. If I'm working on something I always try to back it up but I've had very good luck with these machines so far. On the other hand, my husband's laptop went on the fritz last spring while still under warranty.

Fourteen trick-or-treaters is light. We had 70 and had prepared for twice that many. But he gave away most of the candy anyway because when it became clear that turnout was light he gave more pieces per kid.

[maybe-amanda.livejournal.com]

We live four houses from a grade school. The first year we lived here, I bought 400 pieces of candy. The weather was fine, and Halloween was on the weekend (IIRC), and we had five kids. I don't know what the deal is.

[wendelah1]

That's so strange. You keep a porch light on and don't have barking dogs? Have you ever spoken with your neighbors and asked them where they take their kids instead of your neighborhood?

When James was of the age to trick-or-treat, many parents believed that people poisoned candy and put razor blades in apples because there was a constant stream of sensationalist news programming telling them to anticipate the worst. People took their kids to indoor malls and went door to door at stores. If they were well-to-do, they held private parties. Of course, that was the era of the "echo boom" and we baby-boomers were the worst parents in human history.

We live on a street that's between two schools, a public elementary and a Catholic K-12 (plus a huge, well-attended church), in a very, very crowded neighborhood. We figured that the Catholic school having its yearly fiesta this weekend was keeping traffic lower than normal. Usually they hold it the third weekend in October so I don't know what the deal is.

[maybe-amanda.livejournal.com]

We have the porch light on, the front door open (the screen door closed, because, hello! It's cold!) a pumpkin on the steps. Other than a sign saying *candy distributed on an egalitarian basis here!!!* I am not sure how much more Halloween-y we could be. It may be that there are, perhaps, seven school-aged kids in my immediate area. Which doesn't explain how the grade school up the street (and the Catholic one three blocks that way ----> ) stay open. Buses, I guess.