Ah, Technology!
I am no where near as tired as I was at the end of the day yesterday.
Why?
Because there were huge glitches in the computers and they kept freezing!
They gave us break after break, while the technicians tried to get the system running correctly.
It eventually got a bit boring, as parts of the system would come up and some people would be able to correct and essay, so we really couldn’t have any conversations. It was only fair that the people who had something to do be given the chance to concentrate.
Fortunatley I had Harry Potter in the car, so I would read during my down time. I had a tough time putting it down when something actually showed up on the computer! The wait time between documents was about ten minutes – although I did have one forty minute wait!
Apparently the problem was with the network. There are a bunch of people in San Antonio who are also correcting, and the server couldn’t handle the volume or the rapid entry of scores and comments. So it would slow down or freeze in self-defense.
It didn’t matter to me what it was doing. I was getting paid the same amount for correcting or for not correcting.
My eyes didn’t feel like rocks at the end of the day.
I was late getting to bed last night as I babysat for Keith and Matilda so their parents could go on a boat to view the Tall Ships that are in Boston Harbor. The kids were fine. Matilda was in her usual chatty form.
She was particularly wound up about eating dinner. It was the simple standby of boiled hot dogs, and you would have thought she hadn’t eaten in a week. I put them on to boil and went to sit while they cooked. She kept peering in the pot, letting me know her assessment of the cooking progress.
Matida: "Are they ready when there are bubbles?"
Me: "No it will take a bit longer than that."
Matilda: "Well, there are a lot of bubbles now and the water is moving."
Me: "That’s good, but they were frozen solid when I put them in the water, so it will take a few minutes for them to heat all the way through. They’ll be done when the hot dogs are dancing."
Matilda: (still peering in the pot) "Well, it looks like they’re doing the cha-cha to me!"
What a kid!
My brother and sister in law got in just after eleven, and she was in a mood because she hadn’t had a good time. Give me a break! So she has to be a b**** to me because she didn’t enjoy herself?
Ah yes, the world revolves around her!
After the kids went to bed I was surfing on the computer and found this site. I thought it had some interesting stuff to say.
When I got home the travel agent had called and left messages twice, because there was some problem with my charge card. She sounded annoyed that I was ignoring her messages. I guess it doesn’t dawn on her that perhaps I’m really NOT home when the machine picks up!
Obviously I couldn’t get her at eleven at night so I decided that the only thing I could do was call the bank to see if I could track down the problem there.
It took a half hour, but as it turns out there was never any charge put through on my account, so it wasn’t declined. The best guess of the bank person was that whoever was trying to enter the account number was punching a wrong key and the card was not going through.
I tried to get the travel agent’s voice mail, and left a message on the agency’s machine. I’ll have to try to find time to get her tomorrow during a break or lunch.
This is not the week to run into glitches in my personal life!
Listening to:Whistle Down the Wind
Reading:Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Weather:74, sunny
Trivia: Who wrote the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance?
The current, official version of the Pledge of Allegiance, recited daily by schoolchildren across the nation, has developed from the original pledge first published in the Sept. 8, 1862 issue of Youth's Companion, a weekly magazine published in Boston. However, who actually wrote the Pledge has been under dispute for a number of years. The Youth's Companion stated in 1917 that the original draft was written by James B. Upham, an executive of the magazine who died in 1910. However, Francis Bellamy, a former member of the magazine's editorial staff, publicly claimed authorship of the pledge in 1923. In 1939, the United States Flag Association, acting on the advice of a committee named to study the controversy, upheld the claim of Bellamy. It was a posthumous assignation - Bellamy had died eight years earlier. In 1957 the Library of Congress further cemented Bellamy's claim of authorship, issuing a report confirming it. Interestingly, the original Pledge contained the phrase "my flag" which was changed more than 30 years later to "flag of the United States of America." A 1954 act of Congress added the words "under God." The latter is probably not a decision you'd see being made today!
Cool word: simulacrum \sim-yu-'lah-krehm\ (noun) - an image or representation of something; a superficial likeness or imitation
From Middle English, from Latin simulare - similar. Date: 15th century. In the original sense of the word, a simulacrum is simply a representation of something, such as an oil painting, a marble statue, a wax figure, or a plastic figurine. Because a simulacrum,
no matter how skillfully done, is not the real thing, the usual sense of the word today emphasizes the notion of superficiality or insubstantiality. A simulacrum is usually a pale or even very inadequate imitation of the original. A faded, once-grand hotel may be a pitiful simulacrum of its former self. A gossipy biography will often turn out to present an unconvincing simulacrum of a complex person's life.
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Horoscope
ARIES
Impediment to progress will be overcome. As result, you will be more popular and considered more human. Exude confidence, personal magnetism. You have sex appeal. Ignore a 'good' deal that comes your way about today as it is not good and not for you. This is a good day to keep your head down and not take any chances with your finances. Try wearing some clear blues or greens to keep down your hot temper today. Eager as you are to make some real improvements that affect your home and security, you could be far too optimistic about deals you are making, agreements you are signing and need to re-read the small print in any contracts especially where your home is involved. Being ready to take on people about your rights requires a realistic assessment of your chances, not blind trusting to luck.