Personal Notes


… but I’ve been hacked. My laptop, my primary tool in the trade, is over at Best Buy even as I speak, in the capable hands of a trusted member of The Geek Squad. I hope. Won’t get it back till Monday. I hope.

I’m typing this on an old standby, a laptop that’s not only old, but slow, and worse, all the letters are worn off the keys. Touch typing is a skill I lost right after high school.

I’m going to take the weekend off. I’ll tell you more when I can.

   I tested positive yesterday again for the Covid virus. I had this sh*t once before, and I thought it was one and done. Not so. So far it’s been only little worse than a bad head cold, and they’re treating me with ordinary OTC medications: ibuprofen, Flonase and some honey-based throat remedy I don’t know how to spell.

   I thought (since I don’t have much else I can do) I’d keep the blog going, but while thinking about what I could be doing, and actually doing it is another. So I’ve decided that the best thing to do is wait it out and start again fresh when it’s run its course.

   And start a New Year all over again! As to what’s happened so far this year, I’d just as soon forget it.

   Have a wonderful day everyone!

   I’ve lost a lot of time and energy to a stubborn UTI since Thursday, but after being on meds since Friday, I think my wheels are finally back on track. Back in action soon!

(*) If you don’t know what a UTI is, incurred by me following a semi-annual bladder checkup the week before, you can Google it. But even if you do know, what I know is that you don’t want to have one…

   I did a requested Windows 11 update on my new laptop last night, and I thought all went well until I tried to use the keyboard and … nothing. Dead as a dinosaur. The laptop is new, but the wireless keyboard is well, ancient.

   Spent most of the morning talking to some friendly fellows at Geek Squad but after more than an hour later, they gave up too. They said it was a hardware problem. Make an appointment and bring it in, they said.

   I decided to say goodbye to it instead. The new laptop I have is tiny, and the keys are even smaller, and it’s been a long day. Off to Best Buy tomorrow to get a new keyboard, one large enough for me to be able to use. I’ve started this post three times already. I keep hitting keys I don’t mean to and which do all sorts of strange things I didn’t know computers ought to be able to do, including making everything I’ve written so far get wadded up and vanishing on me.

   I’ll be back as soon as I can, but with some doctor’s appointments coming up, it may be a few days. Stay well, stay safe everyone!

My daughter and her husband are visiting me from Illinois this weekend, starting tomorrow and leaving Tuesday. I will probably not have as much time for posting as I usually do, so if this blog goes blank for a while, all is well. Will be back soon!

   
                           HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

   
                           BEST WISHES TO ALL!!

   Some of you may have noticed that my son Jonathan hasn’t been writing movie reviews for the blog the way he used to. Unfortunately, for the past six months, he’s been battling some severe physical health problems. After a visit to the ER in July, he has been suffering from numerous health issues and tentatively diagnosed with at least one immune dysfunction problem. It’s been a battle for both of us, but it’s been made especially worse because he was looking forward to a “return to normal” after the pandemic lockdown.

   Luckily he’s living in the Los Angeles area, where there are doctors who know about such disorders and who are experts in both diagnosing and treating them. This does take up time for both him and me, though, and the appropriate treatments may prove to be expensive. Sadly he can’t work right now, so I’m trying to sell off a good portion of my book collection to help out.

   For now I’m planning on keeping the blog going, but only at the current reduced rate of a post a day. The days of two or even three posts a day are long over!

I’m leaving within the hour for a long holiday weekend in Michigan, where my sister lives. Joining us will be my brother, plus husbands wives children and various grandchildren (only one, not mine). It will be a full house! Back in this chair on Tuesday.

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