I. Hate. Mercury Retrograde!!!!

So I had my new computer for 23 days when it decided to just die on me, losing about 2,000 pictures in the process.  Mercury retrograde had just started the day before, but things were going wonky for at least a week beforehand.  My phone kept turning off again.  Misunderstandings with people.  And I was seeing it all over my Facebook newsfeed about people's phones and computers acting up.  My friend Moriah's phone card somehow got wiped clean and she lost over 1,000 pictures too.  Another friend was trying to fly to California and the flights got all messed up resulting in a 24 hour delay. And yet I kept putting off getting my recent pics on the external hard drive and didn't it just bite me right in the ass.

I've never been one to believe in astrology.  I find it fascinating but I don't really think there's anything to it. Except for Mercury Retrograde.  For about 3 weeks, 3 times per year, the planet Mercury goes retrograde, which means that it looks like it's going backwards in the heavens.  It takes 21 or 22 days for it to go direct. Mercury is the messenger, and therefore rules communication of all kinds.

I first heard about it back in the 90s.  It always seemed like whenever my bosses had a major deadline, the computers and/or printers would just quit working, jam, refuse to reboot, etc.  My friend Sean, who was our receptionist, would point out that Mercury was retrograde again.  I started to track this phenomenon over the years and I firmly believe there is something to it.  Some retrogrades are worse than others.  This one that lasts from 1/21 to 2/11 has been a doozy so far, even in the days leading up to it.

My buddy Glenn at High Performance PCs of Cape Cod had me bring the new computer over so he could try to get it up and running but it was a goner.  But he went above and beyond the call of duty by ordering a replacement by overnight shipping, setting it all up for me and I picked it up just 3 days after my other new one died.  I am hoping that this one will last longer than 23 days.  It still has some of the same quirks as the other machine, like the sticky touchpad that drives me absolutely crazy.  I know you aren't really supposed to purchase technology during MR, but I was backed into a corner so I did.

As a side note, as I am writing this on Sunday the 25th, a major blizzard is going to wallop the east coast starting Monday night and lasting through Tuesday and into early Wednesday.  To say that I am stressed out would be an understatement.  The generator battery is dead but can be jumped....Russell showed me how before he left.  Please keep him, and all the truckers out there, in your thoughts (and if you are religious, your prayers), because I need my husband to be safe and he will be traveling north as the storm hits.  If you don't hear from me or see further postings for a few days, it means my power and cable are out.  I'm as ready as I can be under the circumstances, but I sure wish he was home.  Hopefully NStar will be prepared and out working.

Winter Can Go Away Now.

Mercury Retrograde started up the beginning of February but it was already starting to build a few days before.  That's always fun.  Not.  

I am so goddamn sick and tired of snow and cold.  I am NOT adjusting well at all to these winters.  My electric bill is so expensive that I'm going to have just let the house get cold during the week and keep the heat way low.  Tired of this neverending winter.  Everyone's like, 'This is Massachusetts/New England, this is winter.'  Well I guess I got spoiled by mild winters on the left coast.  February in California is when all the trees start to bloom.  Washington is just rain with sunbreaks and 40-55.

Saw some disappointing news on my FB newsfeed the other day.  The Widgetbox application is closing at the end of March.  I have four of them here on my blog - the Penguins, Moon Phases, Clock and my hamster Buddy.  I am so bummed out.  Not only will they not be supporting the app, they are shutting them all down, so essentially they are killing my virtual pets.  Do any of you use widgets?

I was out walking Sagan out in the front yard so he could potty one day when I saw a grey streak charge at us.  Sagan got in front of me and the dog fight was on.  I was yelling and trying to get the dog to leave.  I somehow managed to get us both away from the dog and back in the house.  Russell had the TV on and didn't hear a thing.  He told me to call animal control and he'd try and find the owner.

It's a little smaller than Sagan and I could only assume it's some kind of pit bull mix.  And for the record, I am not anti-pitbull either.  The officer told me they had a complaint about that dog a few days before.  The owner did come over and apologized profusely and said she'd take care of it if Sagan was injured, which fortunately he wasn't.  We were both shaken up for awhile though....poor Sagan was whining and I had a wicked asthma attack.  Needless to say he got a special peanut butter cheese biscuit treat.

Got some more goodies!!!  Michelle sent me the pretty key chain on the right, and the soaps and beads are from my college pals Josh & Tracy!  

And I got this Valentines ATC from Angie!  She does beautiful collage and altered art work and I was so honoured to be among the recipients!!

In other news, keeping with the whole Mercury Retrograde thing, my computer decided it wasn't gonna boot up one night.  I was bereft.  Fortunately we have a friend, Glenn, who fixes computers for a living.  His company is High Performance PCs of Cape Cod.  I brought it over with the recovery discs and hovered like a nervous parent as Glenn got it up and running.  He asked me how much room was left on my hard drive, which isn't much.  He asked to see my photo files and he was horrified....HOR. I. FIED.  He said if my computer has been running slow (which it has), it's because there are way, way too many pictures on it. Even though I take a lot off onto flash drives, it's not enough.  He got me an external hard drive and I put all my pics on it.  I'm surprised that I still don't have much room on my hard drive despite dumping almost everything I had saved.  

Also, because I draft my blogs in advance, I am actually writing this on February 15.  We are about to get hit with another blizzard; it's already snowing heavily at 3:00 PM.  Yes we have a generator, but if my computer runs out of juice and needs to be restarted, and doesn't boot up again, I will be screwed.  Can't afford to replace it at this time.  I am hoping that it doesn't crap out on me, but if it does, that is why I haven't visited any blogs or been on Facebook.

With that, I leave you with a moon shot.