Mama Said There’d be Days Like This

This was going to be the end of my previous post but it started feeling like it should stand alone.  This is more of the light hearted fare I’d like to be offering so enjoy this one with a drop of sunshine… or something.

For now, I’ll leave you with just a touch of what my day was like.  Actually, it really started yesterday when I slept till 1:00 in the afternoon and then sat around in my recliner, holding Mischa (whether I liked it or not) and catching up on all my weekly TV programs in my DVR (this doesn’t count the 20+ hours of movies – mostly from the Logo network – that are in there) and feeling sorry for myself.  That is just a hint of what I’ll be talking about with the “decisive happiness” topic I mentioned in my previous post.  I was sitting in this very spot really feeling down and I suddenly became aware that I was sulking and that it was getting the best of me.  Ultimately, I decided to give in to it and allow it to take over for one day, “Today I’ll let it in.  Tomorrow, I get back to living” I told myself.

By the time I went to bed I had a bad head ache and I was feeling really run down.  It may just be a coincidence or it may have been part of what they are talking about on those damn Cymbalta commercials that I hate so much, but I went to bed at 11:00 feeling lethargic and head achy but not really tired.  I fell asleep within 15 minutes nonetheless, but didn’t wake up until nearly 7:00 this morning.  It wasn’t enough time for me to get ready and get to work by 8:00 and I ended up sacrificing some of my needs (not the first time since this new regime started) and wasn’t able to shave my head or face (it’s been at least 5 days – and I’m not happy).  I really wasn’t feeling up to going to work (definite case of the Mondays) and seriously thought about calling in sick to work, but I didn’t, because I felt like it would be irresponsible (and I’m trying to save up my time so that when I do finally quit this shitty job, I’ll get a nice fat check on the way out the door.)

My drive to the office was riddled with ass hole drivers, (cutting me off, turning out in front of me or just having the audacity to go the speed limit in front of me.)  When I finally got to work I had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for the elevator to arrive.  It was 8:30 before I got to my desk and my stupid manager wasn’t even there to know whether or not I got there on time.

I had already made up my mind that today was going to be a slacker day (so sue me) and I was going to do as little work as possible while I caught up on my 125+ blogs that were waiting in my reader.  Naturally, I settled in behind my desk, pressed the power button on my computer and waited for it to power up.  I saw the initial DOS looking screens where it talks about starting up in safe or normal mode and then disaster struck.  The Windows XP logo came up, only I could barely see it.  It actually looked more like a ghost image, burned into my monitor except my monitor is LCD and I knew it wasn’t burned in because that image has never been up long enough to get the chance.  The screen was frozen and all I could see was the very faint image of the XP logo.

So I waited…  But nothing happened.  I waited some more… But nothing happened.  I turned the monitor off and back on to make sure it wasn’t the monitor that was the problem, but nope, when the monitor came back on, the built in start-up graphics were crisp and clean and bright.  And then I was back to the pale, burnt in looking image of the XP logo.

I pressed and held the power button on the computer. The computer shut off and then restarted.  Once again, I saw the DOS screens and then the Windows XP screen came up even paler than before.

So I waited… But nothing happened.  I waited some more…  But nothing happened.  I went around to the back of the computer and double checked the cords between the computer and the monitor, all tightly connected.

Having exhausted all my options I sat down and called the help desk.  I put in the ticket and waited for 20 minutes for the technician to call me.  Finally, K and I went to get coffee (a big mistake on its own.  I got a really delicious White Chocolate Mocha.  Way too delicious, way too fattening and way too expensive to make a habit of) and when we returned nothing had changed with my computer.  I checked my voice mail and there was no call from IT.

Thirty minutes later, my phone rang and I knew the name on the display to be a local Desktop Support Specialist.  He said he was on his way up to get the computer and he’d have to take it back to his desk to run a diagnostic on it.  (By the way, I got this computer brand new 10 days ago.)  A few minutes later he was standing in my door way.  Knowing he’d have to take the CPU away, I grasped the plug to my mouse which is plugged into the front of my computer and I pulled it out of the USB port.  Not a split second after I pulled the plug from the unit, the screen brightened up and the computer finished booting.

I have no idea, and neither does the IT guy, why this happened.  But for an hour this morning I was sure I was going to be without a computer today and I had left my book at home.  It was bound to be a long day!  But lo and behold, my computer magically fixed itself and I was able to get to “work” reading my blogs and I was a happy camper…  Well, as happy as I could be, considering where I was!