Help Desk Fun

I'm coming down off a migraine. I'm feeling much better today, but rather than push it I'm taking most of the day off. I've been stressing myself too much, and the migraine is my body's way of forcing me to calm down. So in the interest of relaxing, I've been going through some of my old files and videos, some of which I decided to share with you guys to give you a laugh on this Monday morning.

Did I ever tell you that I used to work a help desk? And that most of my friends have, at one time or another, been tech support? Well, I did, and I remember some of the, um, "people" I had to deal with. I did hardware support rather than software, but that didn't stop me from having to deal with some interesting calls. I remember asking one sys admin what kind of cable she was having trouble with, thinking she'd know what I was asking: was it 10 base T, was it 100 base T, or was it coaxial (which should tell you how long ago I worked tech support).

Her answer: The white one.

So this one goes out to all my friends who have done tech support and wanted to eat their own headset:

 

And who can forget The Chronicles of George, havening a good time driving tech support insane?

I laughed so hard I started crying reading this, because I remember days where I too wanted to take a chainsaw to someone. Be warned: this is a total day-waster of a site. Second warning: any editor reading the Chronicles of George will walk away twitching.

C Is For Crazy

That's good enough for me!

I've lost my damn mind. I'm in the middle of remodeling two rooms in my house, and without thinking about it I scheduled the carpet guys to come and install carpet today in my family room. I was so excited I convinced my husband that, arthritis or no, I could paint the family room before the carpet guys came. It's not like I haven't painted a room in one day before, right?

Yes, you heard that right. ONE. DAY.

So out we trot for paint, and off I go to, well, paint. The kids "helped", and while my molding is looking a little worse for wear we did a pretty good job, I think. Of course, I'm hopped up on pain pills today, so what the hell do I know? It wasn't as if I went to get out of bed today to take R to the doctors and had to hand-crawl up the wall to stand upright.

Oh. Wait. I DID do that, didn't I?

I get home from taking R to school after his appointment, and the new carpet is in. It is a pretty amber color, edging towards the orange end of the spectrum rather than the yellow. It's warm and cozy and contrasts nicely with my aqua walls (think sand and sea in the Carribean). The only thing that looks ugly is the sofa I'm already planning on getting rid of, so it all works. Except me. So I tell the hubby "Let me build the TV stand!" Because I'm hyped up on pain pills and can't hear the many names my back is calling me, bitch being the mildest. So it's built, and my pain meds are wearing off, and I'm reminded of what my mother lovingly calls my "special kind of stupid".

But hey, my carpet looks nice! Wanna see?

Spend The Morning In My Brain

Did you ever wonder where an author gets her ideas from? I've been asked that before, and my standard response is, "From my brain."

(Well, think about it. Where do your ideas come from?)

But a writer's brain is wired really strangely. Take an Idea I batted to Dusty last night as we got ready for bed:

"What do you think of a character that's a Tabula Rasa?"

Since he's been with me for twenty years and is used to me going off on random tangents, he picked it up pretty quickly. He did, however, ask me how I got the idea.

You'd think after twenty years he'd know better.

"So. I was reading this story about a boy who can't speak because he's been so abused by his dad. While I was reading it I was also chatting with Bob (Robert C. Roman, writes some of the best steam-punk short stories I've ever read) and he told me about this superhero story he's got going where one of the characters gets super strong at certain times, but during those times she also becomes a six year old on a sugar rush. Have I mentioned she's a doctor? Then I remembered Bob has Latin for his tag line, and I remember thinking, who speaks Latin these days? So I went to his website to double-check, and sure enough it was still there. His graphic isn't done yet so his website is still under construction, and it's kind of a blank slate at the moment, all grays and blacks.

"Lightbulb. Someone who's been abused. Someone with unique powers. Someone who has no memory of who or what they're supposed to be. Latin. Tabula Rasa, the only bit of Latin I actually know. It means blank slate." I then attempted to bounce like a six year old on a sugar rush, which isn't nearly as cute on a woman with back issues.

One of the reasons I love Dusty is not only did he follow that rush of nonsense, but he had some really cool ideas to add to it. He'll probably give me some more ideas before I sit down and outline it. He'll help me define the powers of the character and, as my Power Police,will make sure I don't give him too much or too little. I even know which series the TR will go into, thanks to him.

Thank you, sweetheart.You're the only person I know of who isn't terrified of my brain (or Bob's, for that matter).

While The Raisin Sleeps...

I'm sure you've noticed the huge honking, computer-using raisin graphic up above. Well, it's there because NaNoWriMo started last week, and I've decided to participate. I'm working on Jeff and Fenris's story, Howl for Me, and enjoying the heck out of it... when I can write.

See, the first day of NaNoWriMo I started off fairly well. I got a good wordcount in, and things were rolling nicely. I had good starting points, the plot is outlined, and I know exactly where I'm going. But I started to feel sick by the end of the day, and before it was over I had a fever.

I can't tell if I'm one of the lucky ones or the unlucky ones. Usually, when I get a fever, it's enough to make me feel ookie but not enough to send me to the doc's. It also tends to last for a week or longer, so I feel ookie for a while. Dusty, when he gets sick, gets REALLY sick but only for a day or two.

He says I'm the lucky one. I'm still not sure, because thanks to my little "cold" I'm behind on my NaNo word count by 4k.

That's FOUR THOUSAND words. Two whole days of work (for me; I know people who do that in half an hour).

So this week and next will be scrambling to play catch-up... except R is home sick and M has a doctor's appointment this morning. Oh, and the boys' bathroom is about to be ripped out, and...

You're right. What the hell was I thinking?

Jeff and Fenris Sittin' In A Tree

You know how I always listen to music when I write? And that certain books have a certain set of songs? Eye of the Beholder, for instance, was written to Joe Satriani; The Wallflower had to have shiny happy music.

Jeff and Fenris have picked one. ONE.I know I'm ready to write for the day when this starts playing in my head. I went and bought the MP3 from Amazon because I didn't have it in my playlist and I couldn't get it out of my head.



I'd forgotten how much I loved this song.