Where did she go?

There once was a lady who wrapped gifts like this. Where did she go?

Some big discussions in technology in educ@tion today. BY0T (Bring your 0wn technology). Symbols placed on purpose to thwart search engines. Do you have children/grandchildren in sch00l? Almost every child over the age of fourteen (perhaps younger) has a cellular phone. Most have a "smart" phone.

It is true that the sch00l network can block them from access, but most have G3/G4 for connecting. What do you do then? Most of us know that we do not need wireless to gain access to e-mail with our phones. How do tea@chers handle this in the cl@ssr00m? It is kind of a mixed bag right now. You have some who sit back and say "I don't worry about it. They signed an AUP (acceptable user p0licy)."  Does that really cover it, though? Others are fraught with worry. Some are creating an entirely new AUP just to cover the new technology.

Then there are devices such as my n00k. It is small enough (even with the case) to fit in my purse. Most of the schools are issuing netb00ks to $tudents to use. Much cheaper than iPads.

And why does my manager keep posting his "cel phone" number when he is out of the office? It is not a celluloid device. It is a cellular device! Cel is a short name for celluloid. Sigh. Oh, dear. I think I am getting cranky. Time to find my pillow.

Wait! I watched War Horse. Very good. My daughter watched it with me, she said the book went into much more detail and emotions that were not captured in the film.  Did you like the book/movie Black Beauty? The book War Horse is told from the point of view of the horse. (Not certain the entire book is, though). I liked the movie. I did not need tissues.

Just what am I supposed to say?

You know, after 16 years of working with schools I probably have said it all. I didn't say I've seen it all or heard it all. I pretty much have said it all.

Let's just get that out of the way. I hate to sweat.

Picture it. A little tiny, dinky town. The elementary is still functioning. Barely. To the west is an Amish county with little to no electricity in their schools. Not much Internet need there. To the North is the wide world of Ohio Industry. The schools are getting along pretty well there. To the South - elementary buildings are closing and the school district is combining into a campus environment. To the East - little city schools - still managing to barely hold their own.

This elementary will probably close next year or the next. No money is being shoveled into it. Their Internet connection is down. I am fighting with the telco. They say it is my equipment, I say it isn't. I swap out my equipment - twice. In that hot, dirty, dark, and tiny wiring closet that I am so used to seeing in every tiny, dinky elementary in rural Ohio.

Sigh. I am no longer 35 years old. I am 51. I am older. I am premenopausal. Is that a word? Hell if I know. Hell if I care. I am hot. I am grouchy. I am getting a headache.The sweat literally pours off my head and into my face. I have no idea where it comes from. It is like I conjure it up out of nowhere. Is it menopause? Ladies? My sisters tell me of night sweats but they don't have this soaking sweat that I seem to experience during the daytime. I do not have night sweats.

Then I look like pure S.H.I.T. My hair is plastered to my head. My face is soaked with moisture. My glasses are steamed up (I have only worn glasses all the time the past year; so I am not completely knowledgeable about how to maintain them while it is raining or while I am sweating profusely). My clothes are sticking to me.

Anyway. The tiny, dark closet is just off the teachers lounge. They come in for lunch. I get the usual. "Are you going to FIX us?"  "Are we still down?"  Here's a tip. If I am still there and you don't see me packing my equipment up - you are STILL down! That question irks me. 

Sorry. It has been SIXTEEN years of the same questions. The same circumstances. Me fighting the telco. For the record I have been wrong a few times. For the record - the telco has been wrong 90% of the time. I swap out my equipment. Twice. Still down.

The secretary comes back. "Are we going to be up today?"  Gee, let's see. Maybe. I am not sure if I have sweated (Yes, blogger I looked this word up in dictionary.com) enough in this dark, hot, dirty closet. I think I'll  keep you down a little bit longer because THAT'S HOW I AM! I AM A MEAN BITCH AND I  HATE ALL OF YOU! And I just love, love, love being in this dirty little closet with no air conditioning - no Internet connection - no cell phone service. It is like the sweat box in prison, I would imagine. Except I have to think and try to troubleshoot. I can't sleep or zone out. No, I have to work. Thank you, but please let me stay in here another hour!

But no........

I smile and tell her that I have done the best that I can do. I have swapped out my equipment twice, but that the equipment is pretty old. She asked me why their tiny little elementary were not getting the new equipment after I explained to her that all other districts were going to fiber. She said they were supposed to get broadband in the area. I smiled weakly at her. I asked her if this little town had cable television. She said "No." Sigh. I said "Then you probably won't have fiber any time soon."

I did say "Is there industry that supports education around here?" She said "Yes" and named a business. I said "Contact them and see if they will put fiber in for you." It was a cheap shot and I knew she would probably not call them, but at least I had a suggestion instead of shrugging my shoulders and saying "You are S.O.L."

She left. What happened to the lottery money that education was supposed to get? I found out by reading the following URL's:

http://www.wlwt.com/money/27667257/detail.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/17/cbsnews_investigates/main3269456.shtml

Thank-you lying politicians. Thank-you Mr. Greed.

I painfully do what I am supposed to do and instead of making a beeline for my car and A/C I stop in at the office to sign out properly. I am handed a mercy ticket. The secretary has stepped away from her desk. I quickly sign out and slip out the front door to the sanctuary of my car.

And the wikipedia article on state lottery had one mention of education - it was in their slogan. No mention of school funding. Surprised? Yeah, me too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Lottery

And you know what? While I am totally disgusted, let me mention a movie. "Brooklyn's Finest."  If there is anything I hate more than sweating, it is watching R Gere in a sex scene. For the love of God man - give it up! Stop it!

God, Cindy -four years? Really?!

Welcome to 50!

Another from the museum

Okay. I've been 50 for nearly six months, now. The other morning as I checked my e-mail messages (I have no less than 4 e-mail accounts - don't ask), I saw that my electric bill was very close to 4  times higher than normal. WTF?! My "normal" electric bill is $70 a month. 

I was concerned to say the least. The only thing I could think of that changed in the last month was that my daughter, her boyfriend and his cousin set up the downstairs basement into a gaming room. Complete with 3 X-boxes, 3 TVs, electric guitars, etc.. Sometimes they play into the wee hours of the night and all the lights are on for hours at a time.

Still. That seemed a bit excessive to me. My niece lived with me for over 3 years (using the basement as her bedroom area) and my electric bill was not affected. She didn't leave lights on, but was known to leave curling irons on etc...

I've had a couple of nephews stay with me for a few months at a time - still no great increase in electric. I have a gas furnace and a gas water heater.

One time my dryer ran all night (timer broke) and that barely caused a blip on my electric bill. So, what was causing this excessive amount?

I sent my daughter a text message.  I made sure to tell her that I was not mad, just concerned and we would have to figure out what was making the bill so high.

Of course she became defensive at first - blamed the heater in the downstairs bathroom. I told her that we ran the heater every winter and it has never been an issue before. I told her that perhaps my refrigerator was dying. This was all in text format.

I looked at the bill online again to see what the exact date range was. That's when I saw it. Last months' bill. At first I thought that I paid it late and it was not registering on the bill. Nope. I had not paid it AT ALL! WTF!? This is the first time I have ever done this! 

Oh, my. Now, I have to tell my daughter. But first I had to figure out why I didn't pay it. I had switched all utilities to on-line payments two months ago. I guess it just didn't register or I didn't get one in an e-mail from that utility. Nope. Just checked. I got a notice alright. I just moved it to the utilities folder and promptly forgot about it. I guess.

You would think that somebody who works with and on computers every day would be a bit more aware of on-line banking and bill paying. Not so! I do SO much on-line it figures that some things go by the wayside.

I actually was probably one of the last members of the family to begin on-line payments.  What is up with that? Well, I'll tell you. Since I work with computers and am very generous by nature, I left my wireless router wide open for anybody to use. Almost everyone who visits me has an iPhone or iPad that needs a connection to the Internet. I didn't lock it down with security. Bah, I said. Back then the router was in the basement and the signal died as soon as one walked out my door. Eventually I moved the router upstairs and while enrolling my daughter into college, I thought "It's time to lock it down."  And, I did.

Over the past two years, I have been allowing myself to relax and do a bit more on-line than I used to. It is because I know and read about all the horror stories of stolen identities etc... and I know HOW they happen and it has just taken me a while to trust this stuff.

And between you and me - I actually LIKE the process of writing checks and paying the bills. I KNOW, right?! Who in the world LIKES to pay bills?!  Sigh. I'll rephrase that. If I have the money in the bank, I LIKE the PROCESS of writing checks. I just do. Maybe I should have gone into accounting.

Back to the electric bill. As I looked over the past 12 months, I realize that "normal" has crept up to over $100 a month - to $170 a month. Huh. This past month was actually ONLY $80. It has not been that low since the spring. Stupid A/C and hot flashes!

I decided this warranted an actual phone call instead of a text. I called. My daughter answered. I started with "Now, don't be mad! I'm only  human!"  I was laughing the entire time.  And, I told her what I had done. She yelled "MOM! I've been going nuts running around unplugging everything!" Whoops.

Ah, well. At least I know she will work with me if we ever DO have a problem with utilities. When I related the story to an older and dear friend she quipped "Oh, yeah. You're fifty alright!"  And I always thought the electric company had to worry about the 20-year-old age group not paying their bills.

Dragging my feet

This display kind of creeps me out. It is from the Fireman's Pub where I met some family for dinner on Saturday.

I am dragging my feet this morning. I am going to work today. While walking the dogs I felt some twinging in the shoulders and neck area. I drove last night. Most everything I do uses that right rhomboid muscle. Holding the leash for the dogs, scooping kitty litter, driving, dressing, picking this up, picking that up, loading and unloading the dish washer. It is endless.

So, that is why I am going to work. To get away from work. A lot of you will relate to that remark.

I am also reluctant to return to work because my daughter has a friend staying for a couple of weeks and we have just been goofing off the past two days having "girl fun". It's been great. But all good things must come to an end.

I am also wondering if my painful situation soured my view of Avatar. For those of you who really love it you may (or may not) like this. New release of Avatar coming this summer. My nephew told me this after I talked with him about the movie. He loved the movie. Of course he is one of those that went at midnight when it first came out and saw it in 3-D or something like that.

I will say this much. I loved the blues of the movie and the glowing, beautiful plants. I wish I had seen that on the big screen.

I am not making much progress on my book reading. Darn it all! I have barely cracked "The Blind Side". I moved an extra computer back into my bedroom and am using that for myself. My daughter and her friend have taken up residence at my other computer desk area. Two laptops and my mammoth PC sit there. They are all wireless so the dogs cannot chew the cat5 cable that my other computers need to connect to the router. This one does, but I have the cable strung up so that they cannot reach it.

Oh, another reason for my strained muscle. My purse. Yep, it's too heavy. It hangs on my left shoulder causing significant strain on the right side. What to do, what to do. I am the type of person who carries a saddle bag. I need to have everything in my purse.

Sigh. Enough stalling. It is time to get ready and roll.

Little furry heads

Somebody got me a computer game for Christmas. I am addicted. Yep. Like I needed another addiction. To get points you make at least 3 fuzzy heads of the same color in a row. I would drag the lime green one down to match 3 green ones in a row. The entire row moves. There is more to it, after you play for a while. You get locked (where the row won't move) you get big fuzzy balls that move two rows at once and a lot more. So, I've been doing that on the computer instead of other stuff. Heh.

I did get two of the main goals done over the holiday week-end. I did not go anywhere on New Years eve or day. I ventured out on Saturday with my daughter to pick up her big Christmas gift. Our wireless provider would not let us upgrade her phone until January 2nd, so she had to wait a week. She wanted the Droid. It is a lot of phone, I want to tell you. She had one of the Blackberry flavors, prior. In March I may move to a smart phone.

One goal was to clean up the basement clutter - done. The other was to get my non-working dryer out of the laundry room and into the empty side of the basement, then to get my spare dryer out of my garage, down the sidewalk, up onto the back porch, inside the back door, down the basement steps and into the laundry room and hooked up. Done. Did it. All by myself.

I am a wee bit sore, but not much. I did break off one of the legs, but I used shims to level the dryer off. The hardest part was getting the unit into the back door. I had to leave my house from the front door and push it in from outside. In single digit weather! The funny part was walking the dryer down my sidewalk (it really sounded to me like a science fiction monster walking around) at 10:00 a.m. on New Years' day hoping beyond hope that none of my neighbors had a raging hangover and I was waking them up. LOL!

I also play the time game. That is where I start the dryer walking down the sidewalk and get it into the house before any "good Samaritan" neighbor sees me and comes over to help me. Now, most folks wouldn't have to worry a lick about this issue, but I have great neighbors. I was fortunate that on one side are two elderly widowed ladies and I don't think the guy on the other side was home this week-end. Whew. Made it into the house without incident.

Okay. The truth is I have a very difficult time asking for or accepting help. There. I said it. I am going to be 50 this year. I ain't changing now. Well, maybe a little.

Then there is sister 1944. She yells at me. Well, if you can YELL in e-mail. She, her husband and our oldest brother are retired. She keeps telling me to let them know what I want done and they will come down and do it. Big breath. Okay, if I am going to change, I will ask them to rip up my carpet and put a floating floor in my living room come this spring. Right? Just bite the bullet and ask for help. Maybe get a couple of other family members involved and supply food and beverage for all. The hounds will have to be boarded for that week-end, that is for certain. Get them out of the way. Well, it is a plan.

In the mean time, I am getting caught up on my clothes washing and will probably go back to playing my furry head game during this cold snap here in Ohio. Happy New Year y'uns guys. Some co-workers and I debated what "y'uns" meant back in the 80's when I moved to Virginia. Of course they say "y'all" there. As in "you all". We in the eastern part of Ohio always said "y'uns", as observed by my Virginian co-workers who were teasing me one day and I said "Y'uns guys!" Well, that started it. As close as we could come was "you ones". Huh? Maybe. It helped having a Pittsburgh native in the work group. Well, we didn't have the Internet back then, but there is a lot about that phrase out there on the info highway nowadays. Looks to be a Pennsylvanian dialect.

Wow, it's November

Some property for sale near my house

Wow. November already. I voted on Tuesday for what my vote was worth. I lost most of what I voted for. Ah, well. I don't like gambling. I don't care if I ever go into a casino, but a lot of family likes it. I voted no mostly so they won't lose their shirts.

My sister (in prison) is in limbo. Waiting for the VA to decide if they are going to pay for any rehabilitation for her or not. The problem is she lost all her college class time she was taking in the reformatory. I don't think she will be able to continue that if the VA sends her to Chillicothe. Whatever. One of her "boyfriends" started this, he will have to finish it.

The pups are chewing up everything. Cha - Ching! Even medication. Fortunately, no bad results. They are starting to get into things they have never touched before. We have to really start to think before we leave the house. I am going to go through tomorrow and do some puppy-proofing.

I worked on a friend's Internet connection today. She wanted to install my ceiling fan for me. She got far enough to take the light down and had to stop. She needed to ask somebody for some advice. Sigh. I told her this was not as easy as 1-2-3 like hers was. But, she insisted that she could do it easily. Okay.

I am meeting sisters tonight for dinner. I hope I have enough stuff up and out of the way so the pups won't get into things. They are getting under and around things and dragging cords out. Two fans bit the dust. My nephew is re-cording one fan and my friend (ceiling fan) took the other and said she can fix that one with electrical tape. Well, I just hate to tell them it will only be a matter of time before the pups chew through any new or fixed cord they put on the fans.

I watched an older movie. "Midnight Run" with R DeNiro and C Grodin. It was a bit boring at times but I watched it all the way through. I really enjoy D Farina and J Ashton. I also like to look back and see if this movie was made before or after a popular one that I saw them in.

A bitten dorsal fin

This is another shot from my nephew's collection. I am not posting my own because I am on a new computer. Well, new to the household. I am setting up a spare PC to use in case mine fails. It was purchased in 2003 and Dell will not issue a warranty for it anymore. Yes, I purchase the extended warranty on my computers. Yes, I work on computers. I know what can happen and I know that I don't want that much down time when the hardware fails.

So, on this new computer I have Internet access, but no personal pictures. But, check out the dorsal fins on that shark. I asked my nephew about it and he said he hadn't noticed. Since he posted 92 photos from Sea World, he was probably just clicking and uploading. He said he would look at the photo and get back to me.

At the reunion motel we will have plenty of devices with Internet access. Most of the younger crew's cell phones are equipped with all the bells and whistles. Service may be tricky in the hills, though. My daughter is taking her new laptop. She gets bored easily at these gatherings. Still, it is great because I am the type of person who has to know "right now!" and she looks stuff up for me in a flash.

When somebody is talking about a movie and they say "Who was that guy who played so-and-so?" I run and look it up. The other day my sister sent me an e-mail asking me "What was the name of that movie where the skinny girl dies in the end?" What?! I laughed and replied exactly that: "What?!" I mean, can she give me a little more information? I guess we were talking about a certain movie one day, but I'll be darned if I can think of what she means. This morning I woke up and thought "Passengers" with Jane Hathaway. Maybe that is the one she is thinking of. If you have not seen it yet, I don't want to spoil it - but she does NOT die at the "end" of the movie.

I'll be seeing her today and riding in the car with her to WV so I can find out if that is the one she is thinking of. Speaking of movies, I watched "The Life of David Gale" from my Netflix choices. Not my favorite movie, but it was a mystery.

I have to go and roll my cheese balls into the chopped walnuts, now. About everything else is done and ready to roll. Ah, I need to put my name on my lawn chairs. We were laughing because we told folks not to put just "insert our last name here" on their stuff because ALL of us just about have the same last name! LOL!

Update on the pooches: they are growing like a weed. Their legs are double the length as when we first brought them home. No more pot bellies, especially Chong. He is getting lean and lank. I have to remember to take my camera outside to take a small video of him running. Cheech still does the little hop and run (he is a bit bow legged) but Chong runs full tilt. His ears are flat back against his head and he is off and running like a rocket. We are pretty sure they are rat terriers, now. Check out the picture at this site of the 5-week old pup. Ours look(ed) exactly like that shortly after we obtained them. Adorable.

Tech Support

I called my cable high speed Internet tech support again today. We seem to have the "turbo" figured out. The download speed is fantastic. I am not sure I am going to keep it after 30 days, though.

Anyway, the guy couldn't help me with ftp. He didn't know what ftp was. Certainly he was playing dumb. How can somebody assist me with my high speed Internet and use the terms turbo, Ethernet, wireless, tracert (short for trace route) and ping without knowing what the hell FTP is?

I told him "Never mind. I'll research the problem on the Internet and then call tech support back if I can't get it to work." He said "Thank-you" in a relieved sort of way and hung up. Now, I have waiting in my inbox a survey to fill out. Oh joy.

Is this what I get for calling technical support on the week end?