Ellipsis Word Of The Week... Forplaint

 

"Never tell your problems to anyone... 20% don't care

 and 80% are glad you have them."

~Lou Holtz

Forplaint is a rare and obsolete Middle English word

 meaning, "wearied with complaining."

Forplaint used in a sentence... 

Trump's constant complaining about everything from what he deems the fake news, to how unfair it is that the congress doesn't just hand him billions for his stupid ballroom, has left me more than a little forplaint.

HELP! There's A Humpback Whale In The Bay! And #11

 “FALLING IN LOVE WITH OCTOBER

Leaves descending to the ground,
Orange, magenta, green & brown
The cool crisp breezes in the air,
Autumn season must be here”
 

~ Charmaine J Forde 

 

I am torn. The leaves are turning and falling earlier than usual. It's barely October and autumn has exploded! The birds are coming in larger numbers every day. San Francisco, my dearest old friend, is calling to me, so is Monterey. I wanna take a bay cruise. I wanna see the Elk in Point Reyes Station. I wanna go to scary movies... 

 

HELP! I NEED MORE ENERGY!

 

 

Somedays Just Leaves

 

October's Party

"October gave a party

The Leaves by hundreds came

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet

And every thing was grand

Miss weather led the dancing

Professor Wind the band." 

 ~George Cooper

Just leaves today. More words tomorrow.

 

 

   

~Carly

Stockton, California 

October 19th 2020

Sleeping In Autumn

"I've dreamed a lot. I am tired now from dreaming but not tired of dreaming. No one tires of dreaming, because no dream is to forget, and forgetting does not weigh on us,
 it is a dreamless sleep throughout which we remain awake.
 In dreams I have achieved everything."

~J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord Of The Rings

I have been really tired today. My Fibromyalgia has been poking at me. It seems that since all the stress has died down, and I can relax a bit, my body is reacting in a way I simply didn't have time for over the summer. Oh don't get me wrong, my Fibro hurts when it hurts, but the last summer, while looking for a house, I couldn't take the time to sleep when I needed to, so I dulled the pain with extra pain killers... 2 different kinds... and pretended that I wasn't in pain at all. It's something that can be done on a limited basis, but I wouldn't recommend making a habit of it. Anyway, I am sitting at my desk, in so much pain every stroke of the keyboard makes me want to crawl into a blanket and lie still until my body stops piercing me with a 1,000 needles of pain. So, here are some of my favorite photos from the last couple weeks, hope you enjoy them.

Leaf Of The Day
October 28th 2015

                                                      

Mood: Tired

~Me :)

Is Age Really Just A Number?

"I'm not young enough to everything."

~Oscar Wilde

Is age really just a number? HELL yes, and I feel like I am 114! Maybe it's just all the stress and packing. The unknown future. Maybe I am just quickly becoming an old coot! I don't know, but I do know, as Mary Engelbreit said, "Time flies whether your having fun or not." But I also know that, "this too shall pass." funny thing about that phrase... some think King Solomon said it, but it's not so, in fact that phrase is not to be found in any translation of the Bible. Others believe it comes from an Old English poem, while still others think it comes from Persian Sufi poets. LOL. Hey, at least I am not old enough to confirm any of those theories! LOL!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The End Of The Week...

"I am so tired I can hardly type this worfs."

~Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival

Okay, I am just going to say it's been a busy week... A VERY BUSY WEEK!

Here is a brief recap of events...

Monday, was fairly uneventful, but we did have some prep to do in order to take Joey to Dr. Barrett's office on Tuesday for his neutering and other procedures.

 

Tuesday...
 
* I didn't sleep well the night before, so when I got up to take Joey to Dr. B's I felt more like a zombie, than a fully functioning human. We went out to breakfast after the appointment, of which I took maybe 2 bites. I was missing my boy too much to eat. We can home afterward, and turned on CNN to see the latest about the missing plane.
 

It was still missing. Still is as I type this.


After the report on the missing airplane, came the testimony before congress of Mary Barra the new CEO of General Motors. It was not pleasant to sit through, considering we still own a 2007 Saturn ION DEATHTRAP. The one good thing about watching her testimony, and learning new details we hadn't heard before, was the fact that Alan finally heard information he needed to conclude that holding onto the Saturn was no longer an option for us.

The decision was made. Time to visit some car dealerships in the area.

One problem... it was April Fool's Day... and it was a DARK AND STORMY DAY! LOL.


Who buys a car on April Fool's Day? Especially during a storm? But all was well. We learned about some cars we liked, and came home and did some emailing to some dealers, and then called it a day! We resolved to begin anew on Wednesday. No worries.

Wednesday...

We heard back from a Chevy dealership in the East Bay. They had the car we were interested in, at the price we needed it to be, so went and took a look at it. It was a perfect fit, and a few hours later we drove our new Chevy Spark off the lot! 

Her name is Blair.

Everything was good! Yay! All except for the the scrape on the I found on the dashboard, that I hadn't seen before driving it off the lot!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Why can't stuff go smooth?

Thursday...

I took a photo of the scrape, called the salesman who sold me the car, and he asked me to bring it into the dealership for it to be looked at. 

Sigh.

I was NOT super happy with the fact that they tried everything the could to come to some sort of compromise, rather than just making it right. A compromise offer here... a compromise offer there. Some of which were downright insulting. NOT FUN! Finally they I told them, that while I appreciated their "offers" I wanted the dashboard fixed... PERIOD!

So, in about ten days, after the part comes in, they will make it right. We will see how it goes.

That brings us to today, Friday. I am exhausted from missing Joey. GM's willful misconduct that could have gotten my husband killed! Having to deal with the new car situation. My Fibromyalgia is cutting me no breaks. It's cold. And I am kinda in a bad mood from all the emotion, but I am sure after a good night's sleep, I will be back to my old self. I just need to sleep.

A good night's sleep. 

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)
PS No. I did not purchase a lemon yellow car. I will show her off in a few days. She's kinda cute. I love her!

My Journey With Windows 8 Revisited

"Man is a slow, sloppy, and brilliant thinker; computers are fast, accurate, and stupid."

~John Pfeiffer

Lock Screen
 

It's been a two months to the day that I gave my first review of the new Windows 8 operating system. To say that Windows 8 and I got off to a rough start would be an understatement. But now, like I said, it's been a couple months and I have had a chance to work through learning the new program and there are some conclusions I have come to. For one thing, it's never a bad thing to learn something new... even if it challenges you in ways you couldn't imagine. Alan bought me the new Toshiba laptop to make my life a little easier, but from the outset I wondered if maybe I should have gone a different way entirely. After not giving up... and working through the rough patches... and doing a little troubleshooting online... I am glad I stuck with it. Am I a big fan of Windows 8 now? Um... no. But I don't absolutely hate it either.

It's complicated.

Here is the thing. Once I learned how to maneuver through the new Start Screen and folders formats I am cool with the rest of the program... well for the most part. It took me the better part of a couple weeks of trial and error, plus hunting around because of how bad those two parts of Windows 8 that confused me. I HATE the fact that there is no longer a simple Start button, which made life, and Windows much easier to use, and the for the LOVE OF GOD what were they thinking with that silly, area on the right that takes you to that stupid ghostly "WhatchaWannaDo" sidebar that appears with only the slightest of brushing against the right side pane of the display screen? Microsoft... just put the Start button back and banish the idiotic ghostly sidebar menu! Just let users boot straight to the desktop!

Ghostly Sidebar...


Start Screen


Desktop
 

Log Out Screen (Original)
 

Visually speaking, it's a gorgeous program. As a photographer, I enjoy being able to customize my screens to suit me. What I don't appreciate is the fact that when you first start working with Windows 8 you are beat over the head to use a Microsoft account. Take it from me... it's not necessary. My Toshiba laptop came loaded with a lot of apps that I simply didn't need. After I took the time to remove the apps, most of which you had to pay to operate, I customized my Start Screen with the programs and apps I actually use. That rubbed me the wrong way from the start, but in fact computers tend to come full of useless crap, so that's really not a new thing. It's up to each individual to figure out.

I have read there is a possibility that there will be a Windows 8.1 coming in the future, possibly later this summer, that addresses some of the issues I have bitched... ummm... complained about in this post and my previous review. You read about it here. Whether or not there will be a charge for the update is any one's guess. Hopefully Microsoft will realize their folly and be decent about the situation and just fix the stupidity. Either way, I have learned my way through the darkness that is Windows 8 and I am satisfied for the moment. I have learned about sites where you can download a program that puts a Windows Start button into the program for you, but it's just not the same. A nice try though. Somehow it would always bother me that it wasn't a real Start button. LOL. Yes, I obsess over stupid stuff like that.

Ugggg! And Mumpfh!

Simply said... Microsoft Windows 8 isn't as bad as all that once you get used to it, but it does take a little feeling around in the dark though. Of course there are books you can by through Amazon.com to help you figure it out, but personally, they aren't for me. I prefer to figure it out for myself, and once learned, never forgotten. But that's just me. Hey if nothing else, at least it's not Vista. Right?

As for my new Toshiba Laptop C855D-S5106... I couldn't be happier with it! As laptops go it's pretty darn nifty. It's fast. Quiet. Has a great display. It's perfect for all the basics. Browsing. Photo Editing. It has a decent sound quality and the battery life is great! It's lightweight and easy to carry.  The DVD drive seems a bit flimsy, so I am extra careful with it, but that's the only negative that I have come across. I paid $279.00 on sale at Best Buy. For the price I am impressed! It's perfect for someone who needs a computer on the go, or to simply play a movie on (with headphones) when the neighbor's damn dog won't stop barking! LOL. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Mood: Tired

~Me :)