Bowling update

Yes, we went bowling yesterday, but I’m somewhat reluctant to talk about it.  To say that we did bad would be an understatement.

Last night we bowled against Jeff and Adele (not their real names), less than average bowlers.  Beating them should have been a breeze, but it wasn’t. 

My first game was bad, my second was a better but with room for improvement.  In my third game I flirted with a 200 and during my fourth I crashed and burned.

How did Dieter do?  Well, let’s just say he didn’t even get off the ground.

I was rather surprised, because in the three previous weeks we did rather well.  In the first week we took the majority of the points; in the second week we got a beating, but managed to snag 2,5 points; in the third week the winnings were split between the two teams.

Last night we only managed to take 4 points.  Not a total loss, but considering who we played against, we should have taken everything.

Which makes me wonder ... is our bowling performance influenced by the opposition?  Do we bowl better when we are up against bowlers betters than us? 

Far more distressing though is the lack of fun we had last night.  There was no interaction, no talking and certainly no laughing.  Can that make a difference?

I’ve wondered about this before ... when did bowling stop being fun?  We had such good times in the past.  When we first started bowling, making a strike was such an achievement.  We would scream and shout and dance around like crazy.  When a spare was made, we would be amazed like ... did I just do that!

Now a strike nothing and we don’t even blink when a spare is made.  On the contrary, now we’re amazed when we don’t make a strike and blame our inability to anything and everything. 

The ball was too greasy – the ball was too dry.

The lanes were too greasy – the lanes were too dry.

The pins were stubborn.

The pins were too well balanced, they wobbled but they didn't fall.

The walk was wrong.

The hand position was wrong.

The delivery was wrong.

The speed was wrong.

Why can’t we just accept that we failed and walk away?

That’s the difference between social bowlers and league bowlers.  Social bowlers don’t care (much) and have a good time; league bowlers (especially those with a few years under their belt) expect too much of themselves. 

Instead of learning to get better, maybe we should learn to enjoy ourselves again.

Next week better?

Scam alert – the end

This will be the last update of the scam alert.  My two previous blog posts attracted the attention of some of the members of XXX network and a few of them gave me some feedback.  All of them stated that XXX network is not a scam but a legitimate business.

Helen (not her real name) turned out to be a very nice lady and gave me her view on the business.

First up though, let’s see what “Maria” had to say in reply to my “Scam alert – follow up” ...

I could give a crap about my spelling, at least my posts inspire, not bash people they have never met. I graduated this spring semester. I chose online marketing because I love it. Read the Four-Hour Work Week by Tim-Ferris and maybe you would understand the concept of being open minded towards these types of MLM networking situations. I was not trying to sell her anything in my latest response. I was trying to prove to her that I am a normal person just like everyone else. Who chose to do something different from the norm with her Marketing Degree, its not right to bash people about it on their blogs and use it word for word. It is not a scam. Say what you want about it, but it is only because you do not understand how it works. Obviously Connie has nothing better to do then act like a cowardly bitch behind a computer screen by forwarding me all of those over and over again.
Thank you.

Next up “Helen’s” response to me ...

Hello Conny, I recently returned from vacation which also included a 3 day event in San Diego with XXX Network. I had noticed your post on Google+ and again today with your follow up. Please know that XXX Network is in no way shape or form a scam. In fact, it is a real company with real people and success. It is unfortunate though, that "Maria" is sending out emails with verbiage that isn't what the Founders, leaders or most members would convey. XXX Network's unique concept allows you to promote your business, programs, products or services through a blog which you pay $25 per month to have. This includes your hosting fee, domain fee and customer service. From there, IF you want to promote affiliate products, XXX has outstanding, cutting edge marketing products. There is no 'level' that you have to buy and there is no requirement to buy anything. However, people are creating a secondary income, extra income and in some cases enough income where they have quit their JOB by promoting the EN affiliate products. My husband came with me to the event as he wanted to learn more about the Founders, the company and to meet members that make up this powerful network. He read what "Maria" sent to you and he shook his head and commented how that doesn't represent what truly XXX is about and how it is helping so many people. But of course, this isn't for anyone. There is a lot of hard work at the beginning to set up your business, create connections and build contacts. You have to have a business mindset with a consistent work ethic. I am sorry about your bad experience you had with "Maria" but I do hope you will get better information from those that have been with XXX for a longer time, like myself, and know how the system works. As you can see, I have built an online business for several years now. I have thousands within my community and I love to share information, tips and strategies to help other small business owners and online marketers. If you want more information, I would be happy to talk with you. Especially if I can show you how XXX really works so I can prove it is no way a scam. Thank you for your time and consideration. Helen.

Notice the difference in style?  This is not some young snooty girl, this is a mature woman and it shows.

I replied to Helen that I am currently not in a financial position to join such a network.  I also admitted that I don’t have many friends.  My friends are mainly on Facebook and the majority are writers who count the pennies.

Helen replied ...

I agree with you Conny .... network marketing programs of any kind are not for those in a financial bind where they really do have to make an immediate living or a pay check.  I always say.... get your 'cash machine' going first, then look into opportunities that may create a secondary income.

Fortunately my 'cash machine' is my husband!  And while I had a high paying job a couple years ago, the real estate market that I was in took a serious dive causing me to go from six figures to zero.  Thankfully, XXX is proving to be an avenue for helping to increase our retirement savings.  

Thank you so much for getting back to me and letting me know a little about you and your following.  Should you decide to look into XXX Network or have questions on social media marketing or blogging strategies, I would be happy to help in any way that I can.  

Have a wonderful day Conny.

After yet another reply from me, Helen concluded with ...

Yes I agree Conny!  When "Maria" revealed her age, I cringed.  Because I do know how I was overly energetic at that age and didn't take the proper time to learn before spouting off things that wouldn't benefit anyone.

>>> I would be more than happy to share some blogging strategies with you.  While my days are busy I always have time to help others when it comes to social media or blogging.  

Might I suggest that we get onto Skype? You do not need a webcam :)   It is a Free call and I can 'share my screen' with you to give you some really great examples for blogging.

Let me know.... and thank you for your kind, positive compliment.

Helen

If only all people were like Helen ... honest and well mannered.

This concludes the  scam(?) alert update.

Should anyone be interested in the name of the network, which I marked with XXX, I will be more than happy to supply or to put you in touch with "Helen".

Follow up on scam alert

Yesterday I posted a suspected scam alert posted via Craigslist.  I shared my blog post with Maria (the poster of the ad on Craigslist) and she replied to me by email.

Its unfortunate that you feel that way, as I just see myself as your everyday Marketing Graduate. I'm not some "spammer" there is no need to bash me or what I do, if you simply do not understand the network. I am twenty two years old. I am an open minded individual with a four year Marketing Degree.

A marketing degree and she’s wasting her time on a scam. 

A plan of the "new rich" is to be open minded. I am sorry that you are so close minded as to write a blog bashing the existence of the XXX Network which is Millions of people all doing the same thing.

Millions of people?

^ Most XXX network affiliates end up quitting their full-time jobs b/c simply making  money is this easy so why would WE bother with a full time job???

Why is anyone still going to work? 

I am also a female who blogs everyday herself. Not about business but simply my life, my beautiful friends, my interests fashion. Etc. This isn't a website for fools, its a website a network for people are are not wussys. Are motto is "no wussies allowed" my team travels to costa rica, california, around the globe with their incomes. I wouldn't get any money from you after you initial start up fee, you would keep 100% of what you made after that. You already ruined that chance though, by bashing the entire system. 

Oh dear, I’ve ruined my chance.  Can someone please give me a hanky.   Oh well, I’ve ruined other chances, the $250 million that a business man in Kenya was going to send me, the $248 million that a Saudi prince wanted to give away, and the $43 million from some unfortunate soul in Nairobi.  

With this chance ruined, how will I go on living …

When the going gets tough, the crooks get creative

The unemployed are easy targets for crooks.  Now that promised millions from Middle Eastern business men and princes no longer have the desired effect, scammers have to come up with other ways to ensnare well-meaning people into their web.

If the unemployed happen to be a writers (and let’s face it, with millions of blogs out there, who isn’t a writer these days?) the scams become much more easy to execute.  Just play on someone’s writing abilities and you scam is sure to get attention.  It got mine.

The scam in question is a call for bloggers on Craigslist. 

Serious inquiries only. This is for people who are looking to put in the hard work daily to create limitless opportunistic for themselves through blogging. I need ten new bloggers respond to this post and the details will follow. Make anywhere between 25-1000 dollars your first day.

Sounds intriguing, right?  I thought so too.  So I clicked the provided link and made some enquiries.

Maria (not her real name) sent me the following explanation:

Hey Conny! If your already wayyyy into the freelance writing and blogging than you could very easily transform your current work into this blog! This would be great for you! I think its great for anyone really! It's the best move I 've made for myself since working wayy too many jobs to try and get by! I would like to work one on one with you so that you understand the process. I will send over the video that explains how everything works, but I must say some people are overwhelmed by it. There are four steps to our program. I myself, only did the first two steps which are basic and inner circle training. What scares people off initially is the fact that you have to pay a monthly fee to be a part of the XXX network. Don't be frightened by that. I didn't start off with much money myself and together the first two steps cost me about a hundred and twenty five dollars. (I was in between jobs when I invested trust me it is soooo worth a hundred dollars.) However, I made it all back the second day with two hundred dollars into my account! 

The video will explain everything but I like to break it down for people so that they can understand it better. You blog daily, get attention to your blog simply by posting everyday and making new connections. They join your team and you get straight money to the bank! Its really quite simple. You learn new tricks and tools for small businesses and tips to live like the new rich. If you would like to talk to me more about the process after you watch the video you can call me personally at XXX XXX XXXX between the hours of 9 am- 1 pm tomorrow-Friday. I know I asked my sponsor about 100 questions my first day! If you are interested in lifestyle design and you want to take the leap I suggest you do! You can work when you want and where you want and make an endless amount of money! It sounds crazy but my sponsor Christopher is pulling in around 1500 dollars in just a few hours of work. Same for the rest of our team. Our specific team is very friendly and I'm sure you would get along with us great we even have our own facebook group called "The XXX." The last team trip was to Costa Rica! It was only my first week on the job so I unfortunately did not make that team meeting :p. Anyways thats lots of exciting things going on! I hope we can add you to the team and get you pointed off in the right direction! 

Here is the video:  They make you enter your email first but then the video appears :) Please contact me if you have questions after the video !!! I repeat please contact me if you are confused on to how this actually works. I would hate for you to get confused or think this is more complicated than it really is. Its probably the most simple, full-filling lifestyle one could have! I know the video is a little long but its worth watching! 

-Maria

As soon as I read that I had to pay to join, I smelled a rat.  I may not be a decedent from Einstein, but I wasn’t exactly hatched under a chicken either.  I also noticed several spelling mistakes, which didn't instill confidence.  So I asked Maria how much had to be paid.  She replied …

There are now five steps to the XXX Program. I started off with the first two because I really did not have any money to spare. I had no job but I knew something had to be done and that my four year business degree was worth more than babysitting and waiting tables until I figured my life out. The first step which is the basic membership is twenty five dollars. The second is 100. Third step is 500. Fourth is 1000, the newly added step costs 3500 dollars. (Which sounds insane but for our upper members like my sponsor, he makes that 3500 dollar commission off of adding new people to his team daily, that its absolutely ridiculous.) Did you watch the video yet?  What my sponsor recommended me to do was to invest in the first two because that was all I could afford until I could move up. That week I realized how easy it really was. While I had two members join my team the second day. I made two hundred dollars. They bought the 500 dollar step. Therefore I lost a thousand dollars worth of commissions off having new members join my team because well simply I did not have a choice! I was still sort of broke then! I hope that kind of puts a bit of a picture on what happens here in the XXX network. In the meantime I was blogging, getting traffic to my site was really quite easy because the XXX network does most of the work for you! You can sit at home blog about whatever you want, people like personality if they like what you write about they will be attracted to your blog! Which your probably already really good at by now! 

She made money with baby sitting ... just exactly how old is this girl?  A program that works for you while you sit back and do nothing ... I smelled another rat.  A pack of rats actually.  If it was this easy to make money, would anyone bother with a full-time job?

Do these people think we’re crazy!  Who’s going to spend that kind of money?

It might be good for the starter or the program though.  With every new fool who joins, he gets a fee.  Then it’s up to you to rope in your friends (to make a little money) or to advertise on Craigslist or Facebook to find other fools.

Fortunately, I am not a fool and those I know aren’t either.

Weekly bowling update - by an inch or a mile, winning is winning

I’m a little late with my weekly bowling blog update, aren’t I.  To tell you the truth, I would just as soon forget the whole thing, but I’ve promised an update every week, so here it is.

The whole of Wednesday I was in good spirits.  Everything is better and brighter when bowling is on the agenda that same day.  I felt so optimistic that I made the Facebook entry “I ho, I ho, it’s off to bowls we go.  Strike or spare, we don’t care, I ho, I ho, I ho, I ho.”

You should have seen me 30 minutes later.  At first I wasn’t worried when meeting the competition.  I recognized Maria and Louis from previous encounters and from tournaments.  We played them before and we had beaten them before.

My confidence evaporated when I saw the score sheet listing the players and I noticed Maria and Louis’ average and handicap.  Holy cow ... their worst player was better than our team’s best player.  We were in trouble, serious trouble.

Without confidence, a game is as good as lost.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, bowling games are won and lost in a bowler’s mind.  If he doesn’t think he has a chance, he won’t stand a chance. 

As it turned out, we really didn’t stand a chance.  Maria blasted off with a 200+ game and I couldn’t do anything right.  My ball went to the left, my ball went to the right, he went everywhere except where he was supposed to go ... in the pocket of the pin deck.

The second game was worse.  Maria made 11 strikes and ended up with a score of 289.  I won’t even tell you my score, it’s too embarrassing.

After a smoke break between the second and third game I came back and prepared for another round of punishment.  My game improved though and ... hello, I was catching up with Maria.  She made a strike, I made a strike, she picked up a spare, I picked up a spare.  We were like two bulls locking horns. 

When the score was tallied up with handicap I held my breath.  We had both bowled our hearts out.  Would I have enough for a win?  As it turned out, we drew with an equal score.  On the one hand this was kind of depressing, all that work for ½ a point, but on the other hand ... hello, if I could equal her, I could beat her.

Which is exactly what I did in the fourth and final game.  Admittedly, I only won by 3 pins, but as Vin Diesel said in The Fast and the Furious ... “Whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.”

I really must practise positive thinking more often. 

Charity vs. people

Anyone see this article in the Huffington Post? 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/warren-buffett-giving-pledge-new-members_n_1896882.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

While these businessmen probably have the right idea, it’s not a good idea.  For one, it’s a non-binding agreement, so who is to say that they actually give half of their wealth away?

Wouldn’t it be far better to encourage businessmen to expand their businesses and as such create jobs for those who need them?  That would give people money, not charities.

I don’t like charities.  Never have.  What do they do with the money they receive?  Do they put it to good use, or does it stick to a number of people’s fingers?

And why is some of the text written in pink?  Does that mean that part of that money will go to the Breast Cancer Society?  Gosh I hope not.  Just exactly how much money has been donated to the Breast Cancer Society?  Millions and millions, and women are still dying every day.  I say STOP DONATING, and a cure will be revealed.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who thinks this way.  I’ve spoken to a number of people who wholeheartedly agree with me.  There is a cure, but it’s more profitable for the Cancer Society to keep people in the dark.  When a cure is revealed, donations will dry up.  Can’t let that happen.

As one person said … “Years of research and millions of dollars and they can’t even come up with a drug that doesn’t cause hair to fall out.”

And why always the Breast Cancer Society?  Why about other types of cancers?  Not good enough for publicity?

This charity giving should stop.  Why not give the money to ordinary people who need it?  People who, for one reason or another, don’t qualify for welfare and work “day and night” for pittance to support themselves.  They exist, I assure you, I know quite a few of them personally. 

Give money to those in need of medical help, but who have to do without because they don’t have benefits. 

When you start looking, you’ll see 101 opportunities that are all better than these damn charities.  I worked for both the Cancer Society and a Help the Children of Africa foundation and I know first-hand of mismanagement of funds. 

Let me put it this way, I wouldn’t give one penny to charity.  I am willing to give to an individual, but an organization … NEVER!

The royal family and … me

The royal family has taken some heat lately.  First Harry gets photographed naked, next Kate is caught topless by paparazzi.  People have something to say about both incidents and opinions fly left, right and center.  Others write about it, putting in their two cents.

Take this blog entry for instance that I received this morning.  I realize that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but this time the writer got it so wrong, on so many levels, that I had to respond.

She calls her blog entry “The ten common sense, simple rules of life”.  Sounds interesting, right?  Right, except that the writer is hopelessly misinformed or a little naive.  Let’s look at them one by one …

1.If you don't want to be photographed topless or naked while outside, or in your hotel room, keep your clothes on.  She obviously refers to Kate.  In my opinion Kate had every right to take her top off to get a tan.  She wasn’t in public, she was on holiday in a secluded hotel garden.  The photo was taken with a very strong lens, clearly her privacy.  I have a friend who regularly suns herself topless, to avoid ugly tan lines and nobody seems to care.  Of course, my friend isn’t royalty but both women have something in common … it’s their right to do as they please on private property.

2.If you want a job, then go get one.  This is where I took the blog post personal.  Is this really how the employed and the housewives see the situation?  “If you want a job, then go get one”!  I would like to point out that I have been trying to get a job for months.  I visit several job sites per day; I’ve sent resumes by the dozen, have registered with numerous employment agencies and have gone on several interviews.  Despite my best efforts, I’m as jobless today as I was months ago.  And of course, I’m not alone.  Countless others find themselves in exactly the same position.  Let me assure you blog writer, finding a job is a job and your statement is like spitting in the face of the unemployed.

3. If you don't want to be known as a Ho, then don't act like one.  And just exactly how does “a ho” act?  Does showing cleavage, wearing a short skirt and 3 inch heels make one a ho?  What do you suggest, that women dress like the Amish, with a skirt down to their ankles and a blouse buttoned up to the neck?  Or shall they wear a burka and cover up their entire female form. 

4. If you want to be your own boss, then start your own business.  Me and countless others would like nothing better than starting our own business.  Not only would I be my own boss, I would have a job.  There’s a snag though, I don’t have the financial resources to start my own business.  My guess is that lots of others share that notion.

5.Facebook is a colossal waste of time.  That’s a matter of opinion.  If you don’t like Facebook, don’t sign in.

6. Keep your shirt on.  The ladies who are fond of the male form will disagree with that one.

7. Never eat Italian food at a family restaurant.  I’m going to let this one slide.

8. Don't play golf when it is lightning outside.  I’ll let that one slide too.

9. Don't spit into the wind.  I would say “Don’t spit” period.  It’s one of the most disgusting and unhygienic practices ever.

10. Always cross with traffic.  I have no idea what this means.

While it’s fine to have an opinion, and to blog about it, it’s always a good idea to be sure you don’t have the cat by the tail.

Bowling night update

It’s Thursday morning, which means last night we went bowling and now it’s time for an update.  First off, we picked a name for our team … The Expendables.

I was looking forward to our weekly night of light bowling, until we got to the bowling alley and I saw who our opponents were … Dave and Ryan.  Both have a handicap of 5 points, which means their average is 215.  That’s enough to make anyone want to turn on their heels and make a speedy exit.

How were we going to beat them?  With hopes and dreams?  To make matters worse, their third partner had a handicap of 102!  How were we to deal with that?  Forget hopes and dreams, this was a nightmare!

Still, when I joined this league, I knew I was going to face stiff competition, so I put my shoes and wrist guard on, polished my ball, and prepared for a night of defeat.

I didn’t have to wait long.  Dave and Ryan soared to a 200+ games respectively, while I tagged along with a 139 and a 134.  

I knew what the problem was, I felt overwhelmed playing with Dave and Ryan, and threatened by their third partner (can’t remember her name).  And as every bowler knows … games are not won and lost on the lane, they are won and lost in the bowler’s mind.  If he doesn’t think he has a chance, he won’t stand a chance.

After a smoke break between the second and third game I came back down and took the lane with a ‘kiss my butt attitude’.  If I was going to lose, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.  So the claws came out.

Splits and misses turned to strikes and spares.  I don’t know who was more surprised, our opponents or me but I shot a 205 followed by a 185.  The result … we won the last two games. 

All in all we took 8,5 point our of 16.  So there!

In summary:

Dieter:     212 – 167 – 179 – 247

Me:          139 – 134 – 202 – 185

Unemployment

I received a CNN message recently stating:

Economists say at least 150,000 jobs must be created each month simply to keep pace with the growing population.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1% from 8.3%.

Even though this is American news, I think Canada feels much the same.  They talk about job creation and a decrease in unemployment.

Let’s tackle one issues at a time.

Just because the unemployment rate fell from 8.3% to 8.1% doesn’t mean that a number of unemployed people got jobs.  It means that a number of the unemployed lost their benefits. 

I don’t know how it is in the States, but here in Canada when an employee gets laid off, he or she is allocated a certain amount of weeks of unemployment benefits depending on the time he or she worked.  Obviously, the longer a person worked, the more weeks of unemployment he receives.  From what I hear, 42 weeks is the maximum.

Once the allocated weeks are up, the person loses his benefits, in many cases without warning.  Which is why it makes me bloody mad when the government issues proud statements that the unemployment has gone down, it hasn’t, some people are just cut off and left without income.

As for creating jobs ... I can’t quite picture how that works.  Are these jobs created out of thin air?  How does one exactly create a job?  And not just one job mind you, but 150,000 jobs a month.  Please, who do they think they’re fooling?

If an office can run its day to day business with 100 people, they’re not going to employ 110 people.  If a construction site can build a building with 30 people, they’re not going to hire an extra 5.  What are those extra hands going to do?  If extra help is needed, fine, extra people are hired, but businesses are not expanding at such a rate that 150,000 jobs a month can be created.

If anything, lay offs have increased and more and more people are looking for work.  As a temp, I’m feeling the pinch more than ever.

Companies used to call on temps to stand in for absent workers.  That service has decreased.  These days, when an employee is absent, sick or on vacation, his or her duties are divided among other employees.  They are cross trained and over for each other.  Bringing in temps is in many companies a thing of the past. 

It’s all good and well for a politician to stand on a podium and promise to create jobs, but I wonder how that actually works in reality.  Businesses probably think “We don’t need extra help”, while the unemployed shrug their shoulders, roll their eyes and think “Yeah, right”.

Conversations I have with my computer

Do you talk to your computer?  Don’t be too quick to roll your eyes and so “No”.  I did the same thing.  Someone asked me the other day if I ever talk to my computer and I laughed and said “Of course not”. 

I admit, I talk to my cats and on one or two occasions I’ve talked to plants, but talking to my computer … I haven’t completely lost my marbles.  But then I started paying attention and to my horror I discovered that I do talk to my computer – quite a lot at that.

It starts in the morning.  I press the “on” button on the driver and the monitor and drum my fingers on the desk waiting for the machine to be ready for action.  If it takes too long I say “Jeez, but you’re slow today”.  When the opening scene of Windows pops up I greet it with a “Finally”.

The first thing I do is open my gmail account.  “53 messages!  You’ve got to be kidding me!”  Most of them are spam and they swiftly get deleted.

Next I open Facebook and have a look who did what.  Got to stay up to date, right?

And then I open MS-Word and prepare for a day of writing.  

Most of the time Word cooperates, but every now and then things go wrong and that’s when the conversations start.

When I try to open a file and the computer tells me “File cannot be found” I reply with “What’d you mean file cannot be found?  I worked on it yesterday.  Oh don’t tell me you lost it!”  After a few more futile attempts I let the computer have it ... “You stupid machine.  You know this never happened when I worked with a typewriter.  Whatever I wrote was there.  He never lost a file.”

Sometimes when I want to open a particular document I get the message “File cannot be opened”, to which my reaction is ... “And why not?”  Sooner or later I find out the reason and then crawl into my shell with a ... “Oh”.

Moving on to another file and let’s say I want to find a particular word.  I click the “Find” button and type in what word I’m looking for.  Before long I get the message “Word not found”.  I fly off the handle again ... “Word not found ... Word not found!  I know I put it in there.  How can you not find it?  Oh wait a minute, maybe it was another file.”

Where it comes to saving files I recently got into trouble.  I clicked “Save as” and accidentally saved over a file I didn’t want to save over.  Of course, the computer got it.  “You stupid machine!  I didn’t want to save over that file.  Why didn’t you give me a warning?  Why didn’t you ask Are you sure?  Oh, now I have to start all over again.”

After I’ve done some work, I return to my gmail account to reply to messages.  While typing it has happened that I accidentally hit the wrong key and the message gets send.  Oh oh, now the computer is really in trouble.  “What did you do that for?  That message wasn’t ready to be send.  Oh what have you done!”

Then worst of all ... power outage.  One moment I’m happily typing away, the next that horrible moment when the screen goes black and the only sound from the machine is a sickening .... phewwwww.  You should hear me then.  “What happened?  What did you do?  Oh nooooooooo!”

It’s a good thing a computer can’t talk back, because after all the abuse my computer takes, I think I would get an earful along with “Language Conny, language!”

On days like that, I miss my typewriter.  It might have been slower, but it was so much safer.  Much as I love my computer (yes I do) I still think he deserves his name ... F.R.E.D.  (Fucking Rotten Electronic Device).

As Raymond says ... “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”