I'm running behind...can we please move Xmas to January?
The computer situation is moving forward. I'm not sure it's improving by great leaps or bounds, but I am making progress. (Knock on wood.)Got iTunes downloaded again. Getting my songs transferred back was a whole different story. Honestly, I don't understand why computers have to be so darn complicated. If I take files from a particular location on the hard drive, you'd think I could simply return them to that same spot later. Right? Ha! If only. Ran into this problem with both my internet & e-mail programs, & iTunes. But I finally did manage to squeeze the files in somewhere & get them to work. I'm not even sure exactly where or how I did it. I do know I couldn't manage it again on a dare. Let's just call it a Christmas miracle & leave it at that. :-P
Then today, I signed up with a new Internet Service Provider. Like I didn't have enough problems, I have to go & get a whole new e-mail address! LOL But it was time. The service at my old ISP wasn't great...I ran into a lot of problems logging on & staying online, & getting someone on the phone to help me out wasn't always easy. But the final nail in the coffin was Friday when I called to get help setting up my e-mail account & access after the hard drive reinstall. Turns out ownership of my old ISP was partly sold to a new party; it was twice as hard to get in touch with a human being as it used to be, & then the tech guy who tried to talk me thru the set-up didn't know what he was doing. (I discovered this only after the woman I like--& who really does know her stuff--called me back later that same day & talked me thru the set-up again. As she was giving me instructions, I could see how the other guy had gone wrong.) Anyway, when the guy couldn't help me, he ended up telling me that if I wanted to get online before "next week," I'd have to call another internet provider. So you know what? I did. :-)
Once the girl called me back & got me online again, I was no longer in a hurry for internet access, but I still liked the idea of switching. And between the time the guy told me to go elsewhere & she called, I had actually dug out the phone book, flipped to the Yellow Pages, & called another internet company. The people at the new place were super-nice & could not have been more helpful. Plus, they have customer service people there 365 days/year...gotta love that.
So now, in addition to getting all my other programs up & running again, I also have to get everything switched over to a new e-mail address. Fun, fun. But the good news is that I'll have the two ISPs overlapping until the end of December. Rather than cancel my old account immediately, I'm going to let my subscription run out. That way, no matter which ISP receives messages on my behalf, I'll be able to access them.
But the worst worst thing is that I still haven't gotten Christmas & Hanukkah gifts wrapped & mailed to my editor & agent. Aaack! Oh, my gosh, I am so late. I'm never very good at getting these things done on time, anyway, but with the postal slow down at this time of year, I really should have done a better job of planning ahead. So today is going to be my big day for getting that done... even if it kills me.
I know exactly what I'm sending them, it's just a matter of wrapping & packaging & getting to the post office. Okay, there's a little more involved, but I can't say what or it might ruin the surprise. I mean, I don't think they read my blog, but I don't know for sure, so I can't take any chances. I just have to hope that being close to New York will be a benefit...that the postal service has a light delivery load the day my packages show up...& that neither of them take off for the holidays a few days early.
I think I'm going to need another Christmas miracle. :-p
