Me and my PC

I was in a chat room the other night when a window came up telling me that an error occured, almost immediately I lost the chat room, lost Yahoo and my email was in a mess. The next morning I finally got it all straighted out and it started me thinking of when I first got the computer and internet. This was only a little over a year ago. Friends and family had been pushing me for sometime to get on the internet. My answer was always, "No way, I want nothing to do with it." So, last June I went to the city to visit my daughter and while watching her on her computer I expressed an interest in it. She was quick to say that she knew of a second hand computer shop where I could get myself one really cheap. Well, I mulled it over in my head for a time and finally said, "Ok, lets go." Well, as I knew absolutely nothing about these things, she picked one out for me and I did get it all quite cheap. Excitement was setting in, wow, I had a computer. We went back to my daughters house and she phoned the company who services my area, talked to them about what I needed and they said they would have a guy out to hook me up in three weeks. So, I bring my new purchase back home with me and wait patiently for the cable guy. The day finally arrives when he is suppose to come. Ah ha, here he is. Oh, I'm so excited. So, he's here working away and I say "I guess you know all about computers." thinking I might get a tip or two. "Nah," he says, "Don't have one, don't want one." "Oh!" says I. He finishes and proceeds to tell me that I have to phone head office, get ahold of a technician, who will help me set up an account. Ok, this shouldn't be too hard and I had learned how to turn the computer on. Here I am sitting in front of the machine, with the telephone to one ear and trying to follow this guys instructions. He finally got so fed up he told me I had better get someone who knew how to use a mouse. I nearly wept. I had to call a friend to come over then call the technician back and my friend went through the process for me. All I can say is that it's a good thing I have a cheap long distance rate as I was calling my daughter everyday for more instructions on how to do things. And bless her, she was so patient. There were times when I'd get so frustrated I was almost vomiting......yes, vomiting. Now, I'm a person who learns quickly, but not knowing anything about the computer world I found it difficult to understand the language. Well, fall arrived and I had joined a wildlife forum and was invited to join a chat room by one of the members. I was thrilled. All I had to do was download Yahoo. Another phone call to daughter. She walked me through it, no problem. The first time I went in chat they were flying through cyber-space, going from one room to another. I was nearly out of my mind trying to keep up. I had so many windows up I hardly knew where I was, but I managed. The next day, my partner, who only knows how to get to a couple of news sites was at the computer and yelled out, "There's something here from someone named Boo." I nearly broke his leg shoving him off the chair to get my first Yahoo message. Yep, it was funny. Another time in chat they were saying they could see this one and that one, then someone said they could see me. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I thought somehow or other they could really see me and I was frantically trying to fix my hair. Then, of course I realized what they meant. Well, time has gone by and I am now quite relaxed with it all. I've learned a lot of things over this past year, more than I ever thought I would. Mind you, I still have a lot to learn. I've gotten well past the point where I would tearfully say that I didn't want it anymore and figured I'd get rid of the whole set-up. Now you would have to bang me over the head to get it out of my hands, lol.

Yesterday a rain storm

Yesterday we got the tail end of a hurricane that came up the east coast of the U.S. Lots of wind, the trees were dancing. As there are many aspens around the house, some more than fifty feet tall, it was a bit of a worry that one might fall over and come through the roof. Of course this didn't happen and I really didn't think it would as the trees around here are well use to high winds. However a couple of the smaller trees broke off. Poured rain all day but that never stopped ten Blue Jays sticking around, cleaning out the feeders. What a bedraggled lot they looked. This past weeks the birds are emptying the feeders faster than I can fill them. Maybe they are aware of something I'm not, like maybe winter is close at hand. Ah well! Today is a beautiful sunny day, the ground is very wet but as its suppose to be sunny for the next week, hopefully it will dry up fast. The stream is rushing and it sounds wonderful, birds all around, sun shinning, what else could anyone want. Some pictures of the stream and a couple of small trees that broke off:

Our hearts are broken.

Tommy was a homeless cat when we took him into our hearts about twelve years ago. If a cat can be called a gentleman, that's what he was. Everyone loved him. He spent many hours in sunny weather stretched out on the rail of the deck with one arm hanging over each side appearing to be meditating. To get me up in the morning he would lay across my shoulder and pull on my hand to tell me "Come on now, I want my breakfast" and of course I always responded. In the winter he would walk up through the woods with my partner, playing hide and seek along the way. So many things can be said about Tommy. So many stories. Well, we noticed that he had lost a little weight but he seemed fine otherwise. Then last Saturday I noticed his weight had dropped quite a bit and he was looking sick and just not his normal self. As the Vet wouldn't be open until Monday I had to wait until then to make an appointment. Between Saturday and Monday he wasn't eating and I would find him lying in one of the flower beds staring into space. I would bring him in but he would want to go outside again. So, Monday arrived and I got an appointment for the next day, yesterday. He was looking pretty bad by now. We arrived at the vets and my partner said he just couldn't go in. He told me to take food and water with us because he might be hungry after the vets visit. I knew Tommy wouldn't be coming back alive but never the less I took the food and water. Looking at him at first the Vet said he had something quite serious. She examined him, saw his mouth was full of cysts (not the right word, can't think of it now), and as he had been drinking an awful lot of water and other signs, said he had liver disease. She said it was not curable but he could be put on drugs to extend his life for a few months. I broke down, went to peices. I said I didn't want him suffering anymore and to put him down. How terribly, terribly awful. She said she would leave me with him for a few minutes so I told him how much I loved him and loved him and kissed him with tears running down my face. Then she came to get him and I went out in the waiting room and lost it again. I had brought with me a cloth I had bought while in India to wrap him in and had given that to the vet. After a few minutes he was brought out to me and I took him in my arms and his little body was still warm and I completely went to peices. Wailing is the only word to describe it. I walked out to the car with him and my partner lost it. It was awful. We both sat there crying. Finally drove home and immediately burried him next to Ivy and Fred. My partner and I were holding each other in tears. It was as if we had burried our heart. What a brave little soul he was, and we always felt, an old soul. So, today I have to make a marker and go on from there. We will never forget our darling Thomas.

Thomas

I just sat down to write a different blog this morning but can't seem to get my head around it. I have a heavy heart today. We are taking our oldest cat Thomas to the vet this afternoon. This past week he has lost a lot of weight, has stopped eating and is very weak. I'm afraid of what the end result of the vet visit is going to be. Sorry, I just can't go on writing about this.

I love books. I love reading. Two of the living room walls are nothing but book shelves holding close to three thousand books, all doubled up with one row in front of the other. I keep putting off the job of sorting through them all and getting rid of at least a thousand. Books also piled up on the bedroom floor and other places. As we don't have access to a book store or library, this time of year I go to yard sales to see if I can build up a stash for reading over the winter. Most of the reading material at these sales are romance novels which I really have no time for but this morning I went to a yard sale and lo and behold the woman had a pile of them on a table and her taste was like mine. I came away with a large bag of books, mostly British mysteries, my favorite. I was over the moon to say the least and only 25 cents for each hard cover. I felt like I had just found the pot of gold. Well, my partners friend is leaving today. They both weighed themselves yesterday and my partner had gained five pounds and his friend had gained four pounds since Wednesday. A bit of depression set in to say the least but once we get back to normal he will lose it again. Must have been all my great cooking, did them in, lol. Bloody cold here this morning, had to put the fire in again. Ah well, it's suppose to warm up a bit this coming week. There is no question that fall is here though. There is a man up the road who gets a lot of hens in the spring so he can make some money selling eggs all summer primarily to the tourists. As we were going by last week I saw him standing outside by his fence and thought I'd stop to ask him if he was getting rid of any of the chickens. He said yes after the 15th of September I could come by and he would give me half a dozen as he wouldn't be selling many eggs after that. I was well pleased as the two I have are getting quite old and if something happens to one of them the other one would be quite lonely by itself. I will probably be going to the nearest large town this week. About an hours drive from me. Will have to stock up on food for the birds, they are cleaning out the feeders so fast these days. I imagine it's because the nights are so cold now.