Thursday Thirteen - 110 - 13 Things I'll Enjoy Now That I've Got My Computer Back

I'm sitting at my desk in my living room, basking in happiness in front of my newly-restored computer. Sigh. It's been a lo-o-o-ong week-and-a-half while it was in the shop. And there's so many things I can do now!


1 - The first sign of trouble came when the latest Flash Player upgrade came up. I couldn't install the new version, no matter what. I suspected that a run-in with a virus a few months previously had corrupted some of my hard drive. And that is precisely what did happen.

My best friend's husband has rescued my computer and my sanity. He's got Flash Player installed and now I can watch video on the computer again.













2 - Before we handed our tower over to Mark, the little blue bar showing available memory on the C drive was the complete opposite of this new one. We had no memory to speak of. Yay! Thanks Mark!

3 - I can get back to my Robbie story. Haven't been working on that since the computer went into the shop. Instead, I've been concentrating on my Scorpius story, collecting pictures for a collage I'll be making on Saturday at the all-day writing workshop.


4 - And while I'm working on my Robbie story, I can listen to my YouTube playlists. Oh, how I've missed those!




5 - At last, at last, at last I can watch the third season of BBC's Robin Hood!! I've been watching bits and pieces at work while I kill time waiting for the bus at the end of the day. But now my husband and I can settle in and watch the whole thing!! Here's a preview.



6 - We can watch DVDs on our computer media player. Our regular DVD player bit the dust a while ago, so we watch movies on the computer. The computer is across from the couch so it's comfy, and we get a really good picture on the computer.

7 - I can visit racier blogs and sites at home than I obviously can at work. Yay, me! A writer needs a little inspiration...

8 - I didn't bother saving the image files I'd made up of my fictional characters. I figured they could all use a bit of housecleaning, so now I'll be on the hunt for new ones. I find it very relaxing to gather pictures.

9 - I can visit all of my favorite blogs again! My blog-hopping was down to nearly zero, as I attempted to continue posting from work during my breaks and lunch. That was only marginally successful, because it's been very, very hectic at work. I couldn't push my break times too hard - sometimes I needed a rest from it all.

10 - Considering that I went to film school, you would think I would have posted some video on my blog by now. Well, that lack of memory was definitely a deterrent to that idea. But we've got lots of new memory. Now, to figure out the whole uploading thing.

11 - The endless research - do you know how many times I thought 'Oh, I'll go look that up on the computer' and then realized I didn't have access to the internet? For curious need-to-know people like me, it's such a relief to be able to google again.

12 - I'll be able to Twitter again - not too much of that this past week-and-a-half, since I don't have a cell phone or a blackberry.


13 - And I can update my Facebook, too. That's been pretty haphazard lately. A break and a lunch goes by awfully quick if you're trying to blog, Twitter and Facebook. Ah, the luxury of not having to check the clock, check the clock...

Alice Audrey says I have a sudden urge to back up my files.

Carleen says I can't imagine life without a computer anymore.

Chris says I recently experienced a week without my computer and it was hard!

Thursday Thirteen - 109 - 13 Things I've Been Doing While My Computer's in The Shop

My computer has needed an overhaul for quite some time. So I had to surrender it into the care of my best friend's husband, who is an IT guy. He already performed heroics on a previous computer when my current WIP was trapped on the hard drive of a tower whose battery went dead.

So what have I been doing in the meantime?

1 - Well, I did try to stay on schedule with my book review for Stella MacLean's Baby in Her Arms. However, that will have to be pushed back to next week. My day job work schedule has been very grinding of late. Over the years, I've gradually learned to put balls down when my juggling act gets too ridiculous. That has been a lifetime lesson, I assure you.

2 - After work, once I've finished my daily visit with my mom upstairs, I generally head downstairs and hop onto the computer. But every evening this week I've headed into the garden instead. Sigh. That's been nice.

3 - I've had way more Pack Time on the couch. Because we are two humans and a dog, we are a Pack. Pack Time is my favorite time of day. We all pile onto the couch, where my dog and I fall asleep curled up together and my husband watches TV. Bliss.

4 - I've headed over for Pack Time much earlier than I do when I'm writing. So I've gotten way more sleep. This morning I woke up at 4:00 because my body is used to waking up with only 5 hours of sleep. But I realized I could go back for two more hours. Mmm.













5 - I watched the hockey game. Stanley Cup play-offs on Tuesday night, game 3. Lots of woo-hooing in our Cole Harbour house for Sidney Crosby!

Normally I would be at the computer with the game on TV to my left, which I would glance at in between writing. What luxury to simply sit down and watch the whole thing.

Photo by Peter Diana

6 - Listening to a whole bunch of CDs that we haven't heard in awhile. We usually use the CD player in the computer to listen to music. With that gone, my husband pulled out the big ghetto blaster and stacks of CDs that have been collecting dust and we've been enjoying some favorites. Like this one:



7 - As often happens, when I'm in the middle of one WIP, I start getting ideas and scenes for another WIP. So instead of thinking about my early Victorian gardener, Robbie (who resembles Ewan McGregor,) I've been doing some heavy-duty thinking about my dark fantasy and the Chamberlain of the Keep, Scorpius (a dead-ringer for Richard Armitage.)

8 - Doing some pre-planning for the mega collage event at my writers' group Book in a Day all-day workshop on June 13th.

9 - Tending to my husband's erupting cyst on his neck. Good times. Three bandage changes a day. Yay.

10 - Mowing my enormous lawn. I actually find it relaxing, in a sweaty sort of way.

11 - Visiting over at my best friend's house when we dropped the computer tower off. Such luxury!

12 - Doing overtime at work to try to get caught up on a huge backlog of scanning. This actually makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere instead of digging a hole in mud, just to watch it immediately fill in again. Added bonus - no one to interrupt.

13 - Taking a tiny chip off the clutter mountain that is our apartment. Yay me!

Janet says You've sure got a lot going on!

Alice Audrey says Even if I'm supposed to be working on one WIP, another keeps cropping up.

Anthony North says I always keep a cheap back-up, so this doesn't happen to me.