In laptop heaven

Can you guess what I’m typing this post on? You got it – my new (to me) laptop!!! I traveled to the district facility yesterday for work and boy did I ever – you can only imagine the leftover craziness after a long weekend. But it was sure nice to finish up my day by picking up the Toshiba laptop. The tech had wiped it clean, burned a backup copy of the operating system and they even threw in a mouse and a nice laptop bag. Talk about having connections, I felt so special. I couldn’t wait to get home and play with my new toy.

But first there was supper to make (for four) as the prodigal son had returned and he and the girlfriend had crashed on the couch as he’d been baiting trawl all night to catch up. Then a dog walk, the return of daughter #3 from taking residents to the Exhibition parade and then off again to retrieve the boyfriend – grand central station. Not at all what I imagine (all that I can do at this point) empty nest syndrome to be.

In the midst of all these distractions, I managed to install my copy of Microsoft Office – how else am I to do my awesome PowerPoint presentations for the cruise speaking? Then I got connected online and got the digital camera program operational. All of this meant excavating the CDs, passwords etc. But I hit the wall when it came to tweaking the virus checker. After churning for three hours to download an update from the painfully slow dialup and then being told it was an hour more to complete (at midnight) I gave up, packed the computer away and took it to work today begging the tech to assist. It was simply a matter of high-speed access and it was ticking away within 5 minutes.

That was one of the more positive aspects of work today; in fact it may have been the only one. Today was NOT a good day. In part because I was covering for everyone else in my team within the district but also because there were lots of rotten things going on. Exhausting is the description that comes to mind.

One of the more exciting announcements today though was of the four LPN positions in the Emergency Department. I was most pleased (and not in the least surprised) that a loyal blog reader was one of the successful candidates. This will be a good move (a change as good as a rest and all that) and the view will be better from down there – not as chronic a patient population as the nursing unit. I was thrilled to find a bouquet of carnations on the door when we came home from work. I had convinced daughter # 3 that her boyfriend had left flowers for her – who else but a teenager I thought – but it was from the successful candidate – for me! All this for just writing an honest reference.

My excitement at finding the carnations was dimmed by the realization that my fur daughter had slipped her clip and was off her run. So a yard search, then calling in the rain and phoning the neighbours in case she showed up. About an hour later one of my summer neighbours let me know she’d headed over there to visit her canine friend Beazley. I headed over with the leash, no, not in the car I had an idea of what a mess she was in and I was right. She’d obviously been for a swim in the harbour before she headed out socializing and was now dripping in the rain. So we stood out of the monsoons in the barn and got caught up on the news before heading home.

So another evening of playing with the technology and avoiding housework – how decadent. I told the techs they were responsible for my bad habits. I am visualizing retirement as an extension of my decadence.