P.I.C.N.I.C.

If you are a "techie" you'll understand that title. If you aren't, I'll explain in a minute. I am NOT a techie, although some think I may be; at least a little. When I was working I was considered the Technology person for our school. If there was a problem with teachers' computers, I was the go-to person. Unfortunately, that wasn't because I really knew what I was doing. As one person put it, 15 years ago, when our school was trying to decide who would be the designated Tech person, "Connie, it should be you! You know more about this stuff than anyone else, here!" To which I replied, "If I know more than anyone else, then we are in trouble!"

I learned a good bit while I was doing the job, but mostly I was the first level tech person who solved the simple problems. One thing I learned is that when you check the troubleshooting part of a manual for anything the first thing on the list is "Is the (fill in the blank) plugged in?" That question is there for a reason. It made people like me look smart. I plugged in the printer, and VOILA! it worked!!! Amazing.

Well, this week was a chance to harken back to those days. First, someone hacked my email. Hundreds of people on my contact list (yes, there are that many) received invitations to try Viagra or Cialis under the multitudes of misleading subject headings like "I Did It!", or "You'll Love This!". I changed my password, but alas, Hotmail decided to teach me a lesson while protecting their system. I was locked out of my account for a day while the whole thing was sorted out. So Techie thing #2 was to fix my account and get it back. Today I had to deal with Techie #3. My wireless printer went off line and none of the traditional fixes (meaning turning it off and then on again) worked.

The problem with all this is, as I stated at the beginning, I am NOT a techie!! Therefore I made a few missteps before I figured out what I should have done and ended up re-installing my wireless router, and then I had to reconnect my printer and two computers. 2 hours wasted.

There is a fun side to being a techie. Techie's have code words they use to describe problems to one another. My favorite is the "IDtenT" problem. It sounds very 'technical' but when a Tech Support Person tells another Tech Support Person, "the problem was an "IDtenT" it is not a compliment. I won't spell it out for you, but grab a pencil and write it out, supplementing the actual number for the word. It means you probably forgot to plug the printer in.

One guy who does phone support told me he uses the "Pin3ErrorCode" with people over the phone. One key tip to solve any problem is to 'check the connections'. This doesn't mean jiggle the cable. It means unplug it and plug it back in to make sure a lost connection has been re-united, so to speak. Most people would assure the phone tech they had checked the connections. This techie told his clients it 'sounds like a Pin3 error code' and had the client unplug a few cables and then reconnect them, frequently solving the problem.

So what does P.I.C.N.I.C mean? Code for "Problem in chair, NOT in computer". Another version of the IDtenT code. The problem is: user stupidity; not computer error. So back to my problems this week. As for the email Hacking: true. My password was too simple, and not changed frequently enough. Problem in chair.  Blocked out of my email????  Let's change that to "Problem in COMPUTER, NOT in Chair!" (even if maybe I originated the problem). And then the wireless router? Definitely, problem in chair. As I said, I was a Level 1 tech support person at my school. I only looked good because I had great 'behind-the-scenes-support'. Greg, I mean YOU! I had people I could call who would walk me through more complicated fixes. It's one of the things I miss most, now that I'm retired. So after fiddling around, make that fumbling around, I finally solved the problem and got my printer back on line

Being the Tech Support person is one of the things I don't miss, now that I am retired! But having those people I could call?? Oh yeah, I miss them ALOT!

Christmas Rush

"Christmas is just over a week away and it seems as though there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done." That statement applies to almost everyone at this time of year. I've noticed I don't have time to blog. It seems as if there are so many more pressing needs. I'll be walking the dog, or shopping in the mall and think of things I want to blog about, but when I get home I 'have to do ........ first'!

A few weeks ago my daughter texted me:  'my Christmas Cards are done, but I still feel like I'm behind'. 'Are you kidding?' I texted back. 'I don't even have my TREE up yet!!' Then I looked at the calendar. It was Dec. 1! Her card arrived in the mail the next day. It was the first one of the season. And that got me worrying a little bit. My cousin has always sent the first card, usually right after Thanksgiving, (for the last 40 years!). I hoped she was OK. I was glad to see her card arrive a week later.

Ok. So what's the rush? I am just as guilty. Until my cards were out and my tree was up, I felt as though the season was running away without me. I started thinking back to when I actually had a job and 2 kids at home that had to be chauffered here and there. My goal was to get the cards out and delivered by Dec. 24. If the tree was up 2 weeks before Christmas we were doing well. As a teacher, a scout leader, and a part of other groups, my focus was on getting packages mailed to relatives first, making Christmas gifts for scouts, buying gifts for other teachers,  and getting things done before school went on break. We usually went on break about 5 days before Christmas and that's when I started my family shopping!

Now I'm retired. My kids are raising their own families (and in some ways emulating the habits they saw in their mother). I don't usually have packages to mail any more and the kids are coming here. Ordering a Christmas card photo with a holiday message and printed signature has taken the writer's cramp out of all the cards with personal messages added on.The pace has slowed considerably. But not the sense of 'the rush'. December 1 and I already was wondering when it was going to get done. In the old days I never had time to worry about it. I just pushed through each day and tackled the next 'this has to be done tonight' project.

1 Week out: the lights are on the house, the tree is up, the cards are out, and most of the shopping is done. The house is decorated with all my favorite tsotchkes (is that how you spell it?)--Hey kids, that's a local word for KnickKnacks. I feel much more relaxed about the whole season now, but I've learned, until all the decorations are up and the boxes tucked back in the closet I will still feel the pressure, even if I still have 3 weeks to go.

I hope you and yours are all able to enjoy the holiday season whether it is rushed or relaxed. (And if you can be relaxed my guess is that you are one in a million!) Enjoy a cup of hot chocolate while you put up the tree and a glass of wine when it's done. Or Vice Versa! Or wine both times! Whatever makes your day a little lighter. Tis the season ... For a Reason.  So savor the moment. What's the rush? You still have a week to go!

Hey Mother Nature! Who's Fooling Who?

Long, long ago there was a popular commercial that ended with the words "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" The purpose of the commercial is irrelevant, but it came to mind yesterday. I was out working in the gardens, cleaning out the last of the leaf debris that had built up under the bushes. We've been here 5 years already, but this is the first fall we've had to rake. I told Larry last year we didn't need to plant anymore trees! Right now it seems just about right. In a few years the trees will be big enough to really add character to the yard. They will be beautiful in the spring, add shade in the summer and be gorgeous in the fall and then..... I'll be huffing and puffing, sweating and groaning, as I rake up the clutter and trying to capture it all in the leaf bins our recycling center has given us.

Oh well, that's projecting into the future. Back to yesterday. As I pulled back the matted piles of dead leaves in the garden I was surprised to see tips of green shoots poking through the soil. There were unmistakable signs of bulbs popping up! Even the chrysanthemums were sending out new shoots! What is this? It's December! What's up with my plants?

We had snow in October, but November was warmer than usual. It has actually been in the high 50's, lately. How optomistic of these plants to think that spring must be on the way!

I decided I want to be like my plants; ever optomistic that spring is right around the corner. The temperature will plummet to freezing tonight and will stay there for several days. It may rebound later and give me a taste of spring or I may be stuck with subzero temps. I know something my plants don't. It's ONLY December! The snows are coming. But when they do, I'm gonna look out from the comfort of my house and say....

Hey, Spring is just around the corner! The tulips told me so!