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00:48 - 08.06.07
Repairs
First up this morning was an email from a facebook account. One of my sons' friends responding to some queries I had about his current work. One of the young men who had worked for me the past couple of elections had tried, without success, to gain the same position about a year ago. He arrived back from an alternate overseas assignment about two months ago and was applying for that elusive postion again. It took time to negotiate a response but it came today;fully fleshed out with details about how to proceed and an invitation to the young male asking to contact him directly. During the time I was very involved in volunteering, I would find more seasoned players in the field I was working - professionals by designation or effective politicians - who would take me under their wings and mentor me. I was very grateful for their kindness and was always amazed at the high quality of the people who would offer such support without being asked or recompensed in any way. I promised myself that when I had any such opportunity I would mentor as well. Truthfully it just feels good to give someone else a hand up.

After I finished connecting those two young men to each other I savoured some of the other benefits of the site. For one thing, I've noticed a number of the international companies I worked for in my downtown assignments have encouraged their employees to sign up in their own company network. It makes sense, doesn't it? When I was on some of those assignments I would spend a lot of time communicating with peers and co-workers in the company, located in just about every part of the world. One of the things that really bothered me was that I never had the pleasure of meeting them in person. As I've noted before, I really like face time with a colleague because there is an entirely different dimension to the relationship when you look someone directly in the eye. I used to visualize their faces when I was talking with them over the phone, but had no way to verify my guesses. In some way the profiles take on the same purpose as having a "getting to know you" coffee with someone. Most of the accounts include photos of their owners too. I have to admit I have surfed some of the company networks just to see if my guesses about co-workers' faces were correct. Mmmmmhmmmm.

My youngest had the day off and dedicated some of it to helping fix what's been broken around here. He researched the computer crashes on the web and found a lot of commentary about "static build up at the USB port" creating a lot of the conditions that I was experiencing. The solution was really simple too. Most of the other posters on the bulletin boards simply recommended unplugging the USB for a while then repowering it later. I wondered if a degausser would have the same effect, but simplest choice is usually the best choice for non-technical types - right? It did make things run a bit better, but there were still some hiccoughs. I recalled that I had partially set up a backup to CD of some of my more sensitive files a while back then gotten busy and not copied all of them over. Finished off doing that and the second part of the obstruction was no longer an issue. Knock on wood, but there have been no problems since.

Next up we went grocery shopping. My youngest likes to come along so he can see what's available for his lunches. While we were there we also picked up what appeared to be the correct tape to fix that hose in the clothes washer so that he could try fixing that as well. When the boys were small there were periods of time when the washer would crash and I would have to find ways to clean the boys' clothes and bedding by hand. There was no laundromat nearby at that time. Taking a roomful of little boys and bags full of dirty clothes on a long bus trip just so that they could sit and wait for a few hours while I ran their clothes through the wash and dry cycle at a commercial operation just wasn't all that practical. For one thing I was usually in one stage or another of pregnancy to nursing - back when nursing in public was considered next to lap-dancing in terms of personal demeanor. Laundromats are also not homework friendly. I found it much easier to just fill the bathtub with water and laundry soap, throw in the dirty linens and then pretend I was stomping grapes in some mystical ceremony in the Mediterranean. Got the clothes clean anyway. That's what I have been doing this past week, but I have a really nasty skin rash on my feet now. Don't know what the manufacturers are putting in that laundry soap now, but I bet it could eat paint off the walls. Anyway my youngest spent about an hour this evening pulling the old beast apart and trying to tape up the hose. The trial run was a let-down as the hose started leaking again - through wads of tape this time. However, the hose is now in a position where I can reach and see it. I'll just troll the stores tomorrow until I can find tubing or tape or both that will work. Simple is best - right?

Time for exercises now though dear diary. I have managed to keep that up - at least the stair climbing part. An hour of both aerobic and cardio pulmonary stimulation, but also I've been using the stairs as a barre to do leg and hip stretches. The length of four stairs puts my horizontal leg at a 45 degree angle to the leg I am balanced on. Great for working out the knots in the lower back, don't you know, as well as strengthening the hip flexors. My youngest commented today, while walking to the grocery store, about how much better and faster my gait had become. Just simple walking up and down those stairs day after day after day, singing along with Mr Pavarotti. Besides the cats love classical music. Lately I've been watching White Christmas afterward just as a cool down exercise - pun intended. Those male felines stretch out on their bellies on the floor watching intently while I work on sudoku puzzles as I watch. Works for us. After that DVDs of the Lone Gunman series or "What the Bleep do We Know" tend to find their way in or a Disney movie is used to finish the day on a positive or thoughtful note. "Just Hum a Merry Tune" - Whistle While You Work from Snow White. And then off we go to do our share of housework. That works too. Simple, but effective.

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