Let’s see if I can get through an entire post without actually mentioning the Ph word. Because my head feels like a balloon filled with Ph. The Ph word doesn’t really rhyme with anything workable either. Stem. Gem. REM. Ahem. I can’t make an entry out of that.
I went home at 2 p.m. yesterday to try and nap a bit before fetching the kids, and had my mobile and my home phone by my bedside JUST IN CASE. The phone rang twice during the hour and a half I tried valiantly to rest my sore noggin, and I bolted upward and cleared my throat both times thinking, Maybe THIS is it…but no. More drama. Although, now, the drama seems to have come to a standstill, if not a dead-end. And the instigator of the drama hasn’t made another move, so maybe she’ll just go away and we can get back to our regularly scheduled non-dramatic lives.
The other night during the midst of the drama, when I returned from the meeting and needed to do the final updates on my computer so that our webwoman could upload the AWC site live, my monitor kept flicking off. I was on the phone, first with Anders, and then with the drama, and I distractedly pushed the monitor power button a couple of times. It would flash back on and then a few seconds later the screen would go black with a *blip.* I started to freak out a little, because I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY COMPUTER, as you well know. Plus, I had STUFF TO DO. Important stuff. I rebooted the machine, but the monitor stayed determinedly blank. And black. The black screen of death. Black like a hole of madness into which all matter slides. Okay, maybe not that black, but still.
So, I thought, well, I give up. It’s 11 p.m. and I have a cold and I’m tired and I’ll just call my webwoman, who also happens to be one of my best friends, and tell her to go ahead and upload the site without my final changes, and as a bonus I’ll get to chat for a few minutes. So, I called Kathey, in Sydney, Australia, and her husband Russell answered the phone.
“Hi! I said, completely wired (from Tylenol and drama). “Are you up? I hope it’s morning there because my monitor won’t come on and I can’t see my little world clock and how are you?”
“Fine,” says Russell, “What’s up?”
“Well, I can’t get my monitor to come on, I think it’s dying, so I thought I’d just call Kathey and tell her to go ahead and go live with the site, and I’ll make the changes at work tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her…wait, did you say your monitor is dying?”
“Yes, it keeps going black and now it won’t come on at all. Maybe a bulb is out or something, I have no idea.”
“Did you check the plug on the back of it?”
*silence*
“No. But…um, hang on.” *fumbling sounds*
*blip!*
*wild maniac laughter*
“Okay, Russell, I SWEAR I did NOT call you in AUSTRALIA to be my Tech Support and find out that my stupid monitor was unplugged. (all this during loud laughter from the phone). I’ll be unplugging my computer now and packing it back in the original box and taking it back to the store because OBVIOUSLY I AM TOO DUMB TO HAVE A COMPUTER.”
“Wanna talk to Kathey now?” (he is still snorting with laughter)
sigh
Really Great Writing Out There Right Now: How to Have a William Carlos Williams Moment
More Really Great Writing Out There Right Now: Margins