Just one of those little computer curses...

Manic Monday ~ CURSE

After checking out the myriad of negative definitions of the word CURSE, I feel like I’m going through not-quite-the-six degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon to get from the word curse and all its negative meanings to the curser which I spell cursor which brings me to the computer. Whewww….

Actually, there is a very simple connection between curse and computer. If it’s not running well, I curse. If it’s not giving me the information I want, I curse. Plain and simple, if the dang thing doesn’t do or say what I WANT it to do or say the result is a plethora of profanity.

So Saturday morning I am sitting at the old keyboard just minding my own business when…. the phone rings, beeps, buzzes… whatever it does these days. It was pretty early cuz the boys were still sleeping -- or trying to sleep.

NOW... I need to back peddle just a bit before I continue on my phone journey. When we got back from our mini get away, this email was waiting in my inbox.

"Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:31:40 AM

Subject: Re: * IMPORTANT * Ensure The Safety For Your Online Banking Account… not a joke!

Today, I received a very legitimate looking e mail from Bank of America saying that some unusual activity had occurred on our accounts and I should contact them using the site spot they provided because our accounts were being frozen.

This looked very real, but I had heard about this sort of thing, so I called the Bank of America premier banking number we have for service and the woman told me that is was not real and to report it to the abuse email. I did that, and this is the answer I received. I did not provide any info or even click on the link they had so we will not have a problem.

I just want to warn you that if you receive a similar notice from Bank of America, immediately forward it to abuse@bankofamerica.com ..."

I cannot find anything about it on SNOPES (Urban Legends), so I will assume it to be true.

So... this scam issue is kind of sitting towards the front of my brain… and the phone rings. It’s before 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Damn… where’s the tragedy? No one calls us before noon.

AH HA… caller ID says it’s Bank of America calling. “Hello?” It’s a recorded message saying that there have been some questionable charges on my credit card. You know the routine… press 1 if you made the charges; press 2 if you didn’t; press 3 if you need time to figure out if you made these charges or press 4 if you want the message repeated. My inner voice is SCREAMING: REMEMBER THE EMAIL !!! [note: what I didn’t remember was that the email I received said I would get an email with a web site reference]

Luckily I am sitting at my computer. I press 2 and log into my bank account while waiting for a Bank of America representative to help me. And… voila!! Two charges made that morning… one at true.com (an on-line dating site) and another at Horseshoe Bar U (or something like that… I have NO idea what that is). As for the on-line dating site, the ‘CURSE’ of the computer led me to my current marital situation. Enough said! I did not make either charge.
Of course all this turns out to be legitimate, but I’m still thinking a scam artist is trying to steal my credit card number – not that someone has ALREADY STOLEN it. The B of A rep is so nice and trying to get information from me and I am NOT giving it up. “Will you please verify your email address for me?” “Nope, I get all my statements on line. Bank of America already has it.” I was so NOT going to give out any info. Damn that email… that cursed email!!

The stolen credit card has been destroyed and a new one with a new number will be issued. I am very grateful for the diligence that Bank of America has shown me. And I thank Roxanne (the rep) for putting up with my paranoia.

The ‘CURSE’ of our high-tech world presents all of us with such infinite choices that we forget the communications of 10, 15, 20 or more years ago. It has made life easier and more difficult at the same time. It can give us hours of enjoyment, provide infinite knowledge and keep us in touch with long-lost or distant friends and relatives. It can also steal your money, your identity, your life. My small incident on Saturday was scary enough for me. I’m not untouchable in this byte-size world. Sometimes I really miss a less technical world… and sometimes, I don’t.

Thanks for stopping by... y'all have a great week...

Visit more Manic Monday stories here. Thanks Mo!

Manic Monday ~ MEMORIAL

“If you can read this, thank a teacher.

If you can read it in English, thank a soldier.”


My father wasn’t in the military service – neither was my mother. Somewhere there is probably an uncle who fought during WWII or Korea. I admit that I am not all that informed on the military history of my family.

The person to whom I was closest who did serve his country was my ex-husband – the father of my three sons. He served as a Marine during the Viet Nam conflict. He spent from January 1969 until December 1969 as a foot soldier in that country. At the time, I did not realize how that war would affect my life. In short, he would divorce me (irreconcilable difference caused in part by delayed stress syndrome from his war experiences).

In turn, this really made me stand on my own 2 feet. I was pressed into becoming a more responsible mom for 3 growing boys. OK… this was a start into becoming the responsible adult that I should have been all along (notice, I say START). Looking back, I sure wasn’t the easiest person with whom to live. I was a spoiled, inconsiderate brat at times. I just could never get the hang of looking at life’s bigger picture. To be honest, my life was too focused on ME. Funny how that quickly changed (and still does with age). As with all stories, there is a lot more to this one. And, I am still (always) working on the responsible adult thing.

However, it is Memorial Day and I will make this short.

This year, instead of saying a prayer to thank Don for (a) putting up with me for all those years and (b) for divorcing me, I will post this thank you to him. Hoping that his spirit can rest in peace knowing that no matter what happened between us, I am a better person for it.

Thank you, Don.

Manic Monday ~ WEAR

Another challenging adventure for me

from Marvelous Mo over at Manic Monday.

Check out the fun stuff here.

There is a program on TLC (The Learning Channel) called What Not To WEAR. It is a reality show with what they say is a simple premise. (If you have seen the show, it is usually anything BUT simple.) Friends and family members nominate a candidate whom they consider poorly dressed and ask the show to make over the "fashion victim." Fashion Police Stacy London and her partner, Clinton Kelly, ambush the candidate and make her/him an offer -- they are given a $5,000 budget for a new wardrobe, which they must purchase in New York City boutiques over the course of two days, but only on the condition that they allow Stacy & Clinton to critique and, in most cases throw out, their existing wardrobe.

So here are my 3 candidates for the category of What Not To WEAR…

I'm sure most men love it,

some women will wish to look like that,

but all in all very tacky.

NO... NO... NO... NO, NO and NO

Fun but... Need I say more?

Once again, thanks for stopping by...

Manic Monday ~ On a Bus to St. Cloud

Manic Monday is brought to you by

Marvelous MO

for more information visit here

OH, how I searched for an inspiration for this Manic Monday!! I was not about to do any scientific explanation about those fluffy white puffs that float in the sky. I even found some Native American Lore about clouds. I looked for poetry – I even tried to write a poem. Nothing felt right until I found this. It is an obscure song that Trisha Yearwood put on one of her albums back in 1995.

On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer.
And once on a street in New York City
With the jazz and the sin in the air
And once on a cold L.A. freeway
Going nowhere.

And it's strange, but it's true
I was sure it was you
Just a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud

In a church in downtown New Orleans
I got down on my knees and prayed
And I wept in the arms of Jesus
For the choice you made.
We were just gettin' to the good part
Just gettin' past the mystery
Oh, and it's just like you, it's just like you
To disagree.

And it's strange but it's true
You just slipped out of view
Like a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud

And you chase me like a shadow
And you haunt me like a ghost
And I hate you some, and I love you some
But I miss you most...

On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer.

The song was written by Gretchen Peters. The melody is quite haunting. After choosing this song, I continued to search the web to see if I could find out what Gretchen Peters had in her brain when she wrote it. I was very surprised to find what she had intended in her lyrics.

• Maps are great for evoking images for a songwriter like Gretchen Peters, who wrote this song… "I can just get lost in a map, very easily," says Peters. "It's like a fresh new well, looking at a map." This song came about from a road trip she was planning out West or to the upper Midwest towards the West. "I was thinking about going up that way, and I saw the name St. Cloud, and I just thought, what an evocative name…” Peters envisioned the song as being about a person talking about someone who committed suicide, but in order to allow the listener more freedom for interpretation, she was deliberately vague with the lyrics. She says, "In order to get to the emotional space that you need to be, I don't think that necessarily means that you have to be explicit, or put every detail in. In fact, I think songs are better when they are a little bit more murky, or fuzzy around the edges. Let the listener participate, too, in other words. Let them put their story in.”

My personal interpretation is a bit less morose. Like Peters said in her interview, her lyrics give the listener flexibility to incorporate his/her own story into the lyrics. The picture story that ran through my imagination was that of someone running away from a failed relationship.

I suppose it all depends on how deeply you read into the lyrics. It’s that way with anything in life. What you get out of it, depends on how much effort you put into it.

Amen… and thanks for stopping by.

Manic Monday ~ OFFICE

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go to Mo's Manic page

Thank you Mo.

Today is Richard’s (R’s) birthday. He is 61 years old.

On May 8th, he will celebrate another birthday also. It will be his first birthday after receiving his stem cell/bone marrow transplant.

To say the least, we have seen enough doctors’ OFFICES to last more than a life-time.

In July 2007, R was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. This is a cancer of the blood plasma that eats away the bone marrow and bones (from the inside). From August 2007 through January 2008, he was the patient of a doctor (let’s call him Dr X) who had the bedside manner of a clod. Dr X was ALWAYS late for the appointment; he could never remember who R was; he spent the first 15 minutes of the appointment reading R’s chart; and he treated me like a non-person. I asked to-the-point and somewhat intelligent questions, I thought. During these six months, R and I spent 2 days a week (3 to 5 hours each time) at this doctor’s OFFICE. That year, all 6 grandchildren got knit or crochet sweaters and/or hats, mittens and scarves for Christmas. R would get IV drugs to combat these little cancer cells. Dr X insisted it was NOT ‘chemo’. I guess he should know best. And, even though, R didn’t lose his hair from these meds, I say that any medicine given by IV to combat cancer IS ‘chemo’.

Because of all the meds he was receiving he was not allowed to work. For R, this was as difficult as having the disease. He was a mechanic then a truck driver for a produce company in Sacramento for close to 25 years. He was on the go from 2 a.m. (when his alarm went off) until he got home – usually about 4 p.m. His route was in the Lake Tahoe area, so many times during the winter, he got snowed in up there. Anyway, as much as I dislike the personality of this doctor, he provided good enough pre-transplant treatment for R so that he was fully ready to go onto the next step in the treatment of his cancer treatment. For that I say, “Thank you.”

When R’s blood work showed enough improvement, he was referred to Dr Carroll. I call it providence that this doctor’s last name and my first name are basically the same. Our visits to Dr C’s OFFICE began when we returned from our cruise to the Southern Caribbean in February 2008. The very first visit was an hour long… with Dr C explaining everything that we would be going through. And although we didn’t understand very much of it during that first visit, we became very familiar with the procedure. R was one of the first patients to go through the transplant process at Sutter General Hospital. They (Sutter) had brought (or bought) Dr C from his practice in Arizona. Anyway… now R was on the fast track to the bone marrow transplant which used his own stem cells. He had a catheter with 3 ports surgically placed in his right collarbone area. Every day we went to the infusion center (another medical OFFICE) for blood work, shots and IV’s. Finally the day comes when they tell us that they can harvest his stem cells. R is hooked up to a machine that reminds me of a dialysis machine. His blood is pumped through it for hours removing the stem cells to be used for the transplant. We are also told that he may have to go through it again the next day. Thankfully, that did not have to happen. The next day, R was given a hair losing dose of chemo and told the he will be admitted to the hospital on May 5th. The BMTU (Bone Marrow Transplant Unit) is an extremely sterile environment. It was R’s home for 20 days. He was admitted with a full head of hair and a full beard and moustache and came home hairless. In August he was declared to be in remission. Now he visits Dr C’s OFFICE every 3 months to see the doctor and every month he visits the Infusion Center to get an IV of ‘stuff’ to strengthen his bones.

I will just lightly mention that now we have been seeing the inside of an orthopedic surgeon’s OFFICE. I have to laugh… On Tuesday, Jan 13th, R had some arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He is doing well – only using 1 crutch today. Thank goodness #1 son is still here.

Whew… I need a vacation – ALONE!!