you know I have no patience for computer issues, right? so why WHY i ask, do they continue to taunt me? i want to push the button and everything just works. like the toaster. so yesterday's screen malfunction just was frosting me...the lights were on but no one was home. dare i whisper that i would rather have had Nothing Happen when i turned it on, as opposed to hearing the thing start up, but having a blank screen stare back at me. I did actually shout "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE" at one point, which is when husband came in and said he'd look at it. yes, it was early. my days start Early, so 9am for me is like noon. and 4 am is break time. and at 2am, I'm punching the timeclock "in." i did some excellent yoga breaths and hoped for hyperventilation while holding the misbehaving little laptop creature, yes - hoping that i would drop it oops and have to buy a new desktop/mondo screen/programs-i-actually-need-installed-GASP-Mac. yes i said Mac. because i am tired of all the spyware vs. virusware vs tupperware vs whateverware fighting for supremacy on my computer, resulting in a blank stare from the screen or pages that take a week to load. husband, who loves his shop vac a bit much, took the laptop creature out to the mancave, sucked about a chihuahua's worth of pet hair out of the various nooks & cranny's and voila! the screen blinkity blinked back at me as though waking from a hypnotic dream. much cheering and celebration throughout the village! I have a proposal for workshops due monday, as well as a grant request. these are not things that can be put off for another day. so i was happy to have computational access, but a teeny bit sad that it wouldn't be on a spanky new Mac. and i also signed up for Carbonite to back up my files, in the likely event of a water landing. speaking of which, today we are going to close the Lake for the winter...to say goodbye to her for the icy cold months. we've decided to bring our bikes and ride the shore for a bit. i love this lake so much, and feel truly blessed to have her so close by. you cannot see the other side, so we call her our ocean. I hope to have some pictures, but the camera creature has been in sympatico with the laptop. is this a sign from heaven that i should become Amish? oy who knows, but break time is over, so back to work. wishing you a day of gentle soul cleansing, and sweet whispery moments.