Well…

I got my laptop, after much bitching to HP, yesterday and I have to say, I have missed it. It’s nice to be able to multi-task again. Betsy wouldn’t allow that… she’d start out moving alright, then, get a few windows up or a webpage that had too many graphics and she would lock up like a scared virgin on her wedding night (Wow, that sounded so fucking country).

The story goes like this… I sent my laptop to the HP service center in Houston on June 11th. They got it on the 15th and entered a date for me to get it back of June 26th. A few calls to HP last week and I got the information that it would be a couple days later than that because they were waiting on a part (the USB was acting weird as well when I sent it in) that they didn’t have in stock. Two to three extra business days… I was okay with that. What I wasn’t okay with was when I got an automated message on my phone on the 26th telling me that the new estimated day of receipt of my system would be July 10th. Do I need to tell you that all hell broke loose then? I didn’t think so.

Both Madden Man and I placed numerous calls to the HP call center… okay, that’s not an accurate description. When you call HPs customer service line, you get reps all over the fucking world. I think between us, Madden Man and I got people in India, the Phillipines, the States and God knows where else. As a side note, here we are, the jobless rate (Madden Man is in that number still) is the highest it has been in 26 years and large fucking companies are outsourcing their jobs to other countries. Where is the right in that? But, I digress… anyway, we finally gave up calling the HP customer service number and I went searching on the internet for another number to call where I might get some help.

I found a website called the Consumerist and found a number for the case managers desk. Oh I was so ready to rip someone a new one if I got to speak with someone in the States. I called and spoke with a guy named Raj, yes he was in the country, and he helped me to get to the correct department. Here it was I thought I was going to have to go through an automated system to get to a human, but nope. I ended up speaking with a gentleman named Phillip in New York who was able to get my system fixed and shipped to me sooner than the 10th.

So, instead of waiting for the FedEx guy to come to me yesterday, I called and made arrangements to pick up my baby… It was lovely to see her again. Madden Man even bought me a new mouse to go along with her. Oh, as a side note, yes, they fixed the problem and the USB that they were waiting for parts on. In the future, I will not be sending my system back to HP if I don’t have to. Apparently the store where I bought it will honor the warranty for most repairs, so that will be the way I’ll go.

Now, what does that long ass story mean? Well, I have a ton of pictures that I will be watermarking later and posting, and maybe some more that I will take in the process. *grins*

In other news, my mother is officially retired. Yep, as of Tuesday at midnight, she is no longer in the computer systems of her former employer as an employee. She’s been having fun on her trip, but a couple days after she got to her sister’s house, she came down with a cold. *frowns* She’s been taking her meds and has been still trucking along. She’ll be home on Monday and I know I don’t have to tell you, my two loyal readers, how happy I am. I miss her so much. Seriously.

T.T. got home from camp on Sunday and I am/was happy about that as well. I missed the little bugger something awful while he was gone. He also came home with a slight cold (he did last year as well) and has been on his asthma treatments to try and get the cough under control. That wasn’t working so I ended up getting some cough syrup and that has been working fine. I have been watching him and damn, he has become such a little man. I am both proud and sad at that. I am proud because he is turning into a fine little man, but I am sad because he is moving farther and farther away from being the little baby he was.

Oh, speaking of T.T., that reminds me that I haven’t told you about his end of the school year ceremony. It was nice, except for the fact that his teacher forgot to bring his awards folder, so while all the other kids got their awards, he sat there, his smile fading with each one. Both he and I spoke with his teacher afterwards, yes, he waited until all was said and done to talk to her, I was damn proud. The woman was so embarrassed that she had forgotten his awards. T.T. and I popped over to his classroom the next morning and picked it up. It wasn’t the same as if he had gotten then during the ceremony, but we made a fuss over him still. We would have anyway, but that made it a little more special to us. I have a couple pictures to post from the ceremony later.

Wow, I think this catches me up on everything, though I can’t be sure about that. If not, well, I’ll be back later with pictures, pictures, pictures!

TTFN

It’s recently occurred to me that I have been a bad blogger. Truth be told, since my laptop is in Houston being serviced, I don’t really have much desire to do much on Betsy due to the fact that she is slow as all hell.

I do, however, have a few pictures that I want to share, but that’s going to have to wait until I get them resized and all that jazz, but I will get them posted… soon… I hope. *grins sheepishly*

TTFN

So, I haven’t been here much since I posted about my doctor’s appointment, but I do have things to tell you, my two loyal readers.

So, I was supposed to go see the oral surgeon yesterday, I say was because the appointment was like 45 minutes from here and sadly, there was a 30 car pile-up on the freeway I was going to have to take, not to mention, we have had some ungodly fog going on here for a few days. Needless to say, I turned around and came back into town and ran some errands. Problem with that was the next appointment the oral surgeon had was for July 6th, which wouldn’t have been a problem if my dental insurance didn’t get cut off on fucking July 1st.

What does this all mean? Well, I have an appointment scheduled for the 23rd with my doctor to have her do an authorization for me to have a biopsy done to see if the lesions in my mouth are cancerous. At least before, I had a chance of not having it done, but now, I have to. There’s no way around it.

Onto something not quite as scary for me… I had to send my new laptop to HP to be serviced. I installed a bootleg copy of the Sims 3 just to try it out and for some reason or another, it overheated my system causing it to shut down. I uninstalled the program completely, but the overheating problem stayed around, so when I called HP, they couldn’t figure out what the problem was, so they sent me an empty box to ship my laptop to them to be serviced. I had to delete the smut I had on that fucker. I would hate to have them see that and think that that is how I spend my days, reading and writing the stuff… even if it is true. *blushes*

So, I have gone back to my old laptop whom I have affectionately named, Betsy. She is slow as fuck, but she gets the job done for what I need it for. I moved all the files I need and saved a bunch of others to discs, so I should be good when I get my laptop back. I know they are going to fucking reformat that bitch. Not a problem, but I hate reinstalling a bunch of shite that I need. :/ I had to do that to Betsy. I hadn’t used this thing since February, so I had a shiteload of updates to contend with before I could do anything and even then, as I said before, she is fucking slow.

As of today, my mother had four days left of work. Yes, people, she is that close to retiring. There was a big luncheon yesterday for all the people that work under the umbrella of the county and my mum said that combined, all the folks retiring had put in like the equivilant of 1000 years of service.

Anyway, they had a smaller lunch for her this afternoon at her office. She is the only one in her office retiring, so she was pretty much treated like the queen for a day. I have to tell you, my two loyal readers, my mother, while nervous as fuck, didn’t let it show. She was chatting up folks and seemed to be having a good time. I don’t think I need to tell you all again how proud I am of her that she decided to take this step and retire.

So, next week is going to be a full one… between getting T.T. ready for camp and my mum ready for her trip, we are going to be fucking busy, so don’t worry if I don’t come back until the following week. *winks*

TTFN

So, I went to the doctor today and I got news that I kinda didn’t want to hear. Upon looking at the inside of my mouth, she thinks I have Leukoplakia. For more information, go here. Whether I have it done by my oral surgeon or my doctor, I have to have a biopsy done. There is a small chance that it is cancerous, but the chances are minuscule due to the fact that I don’t smoke nor do I chew tobacco, but there is still a chance. :/

TTFN

1. What was the last movie you saw on a date? Hmmm, well, Madden Man, T.T. and I went to see, um, Monsters vs. Aliens. Does that count as a date since I went with both of the men in my life?

2. What was the last meal you had on a date? Can’t remember honestly.

3. When was the last time you made out in the car on a date? More? Not gonna answer that.

4. Using a dating websites do you think you are more likely to find a “hook up” or a relationship? I think a hook-up. For some reason, I think sites like e-harmony has a success rate, but maybe not one as high as they would like the public at large to believe.

5. Do you have any special “first” date rituals? Flowers, certain restaurant, etc. Nope.

BONUS QUESTION: Do you believe in sex on the first date? Can a relationship bloom if you have sex on the first date? I can’t say. I think if one is going to have sex on a first date, that is their choice, not mine and who the hell am I to try and determine if they will have a meaningful relationship in the end?

TTFN

I’ve come to a realization about myself as of late… I have a low tolerance for bullshit. Seriously.

Far too many times have I been told something was one way or would be done a certain way and it was, on both accounts. Sad really that I have become so damned jaded about what some people say these days. Time was I could generally take what someone said at face value, but not anymore. Nope… I fall into the whole pictures or it didn’t happen group these days.

How did I get this way? I’d tell you, but it’s a long story and dammit, I am fucking tired.

TTFN

So, I wanted to wait to put up an entry when I actually had a few things to say instead of like one thing here, one thing there, so here it is.

My mum’s retiring, though you, my two loyal readers, already know that. I went with her when she signed the paperwork on the 11th. The official start date of her retirement is June 30th, but she’s decided to use a bunch of her vacation time, so her actual last day of work is June 18th. She’s leaving the day after for Mississippi to visit with her sister and to attend the family reunion that will be held in Virginia. Funnily enough, T.T.’s last official day of school is June 19th, but his last day will be the 18th as well. He is going with me to take my mother to the airport the following day.

I’m not really sure what to make of my mother retiring. On one hand, I knew it was coming and it is time, but on the other, the woman has been working since she was 16 and now at 62, she is going to have nothing but time on her hands. She’s both scared and excited, as she should be, about the life she is about to embark on and I have to be honest and say that I am a little scared for her as well. She is thinking that once she gets things situated and knows exactly how much money she is going to have monthly, she might go back to school. I think it’ll be good for her. So many times in the 80s she tried to go back to school, but with my father being an alcoholic and an asshole when he drank, she never could finish a class she was taking. So, here’s to hoping she does now. *smiles*

I have also developed some kind of nastiness in my mouth. At first I thought it was thrush, so I called my doctor and they prescribed some liquid antibiotics… they aren’t working. I had a dentist appointment this morning and my dentist said that while it doesn’t look pre-cancerous, he wants me to see an oral surgeon to have a biopsy done. I’m not too worried as I don’t smoke nor do I chew tobacco, but it’s still a little scary to hear that word, biopsy. I’ll keep you, my two loyal readers, up to date on this.

Alright, so I don’t bog down my front page here, the rest of this entry will be behind a cut… Pictures included… go ahead and click, ya know you want to see the pictures I have and read the biting commentary that goes with them. Click it… Click it… you know you want to…

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