Do I really need Social media?

 

Social media - who needs it?

 

Seriously. At first I loved the idea of instantly being in the groove with all my friends and family. I mean, who doesn’t love to be in the know by simply clicking your finger? Almost instantly, I discover which one of my friends got a new car. A new house. Scrolling on, I learn who may have lost their pet, a job, or even a loved one. And while some go out for pizza, others dine on steak or burgers on the grill. I receive at least a dozen requests asking that I send them on to ten beautiful ladies, myself included, to find out who has your heart.

 

Truth is, I’m learning that the more time I spend online, the less focused I am on real life going on around me. I’m becoming so accustomed to grabbing a few minutes to scroll the continuous stream on Facebook, compelled to catch up on all the latest news stories (true or not) that I have a much bigger issue- staying motivated to do anything else! I’ve seen heartbreaking videos of car crashes, police violence, even funny dancing dogs and classic cartoons. With just the click of my mouse, I gain a new friend or answer an instant message. After all, no one actually talks on the telephone anymore when it’s so easy to text.

 

My brain is buzzing. Why would I read a book, go for a walk, or fold the laundry when I can literally watch someone’s life unfold RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES?

And sadly, every few minutes I’m drawn back to the dark screen with a magnetic pull, checking for the latest update.

 

If I were to tally my time spent peeking into other people’s lives, it would be embarrassing. 

 

So, feeling the need for a change, I've decided to find a new outlet. Something to occupy my time (other than writing, of course)

What, you ask? It's watercolors! 

 I've always loved coloring pictures, and the crafty side of me is dying to dive in and discover if I'm any good with water coloring them too. 

I selected this easy beginner's book complete with paint and two brushes.  

I'm going to love this! 

 

 

 

Discovering new tricks

 

So, I happened across an author’s bio page recently, and I thought it was clever to have so much information in one place. I decided to give it a try, and this is what I’ve got so far. 

Teresa Blue

Teresa Blue grew up in a Southwest Michigan town so small it didn’t even have a stoplight. Sweltering summer evenings were spent on the front porch hoping to catch a breeze, and life seemed to crawl. She discovered books, and by the time she entered high school, had sailed the high seas with Captains and rode the English countryside with highwaymen, robbed stages— well, you get the idea. She fell head over heels in love reading romance. And for a while reading was enough, until the day it wasn't. For whatever reason, she picked up a pen and just wrote. And has been at it ever since. Happily married for forty years, the mother of three, she’s also a grandmother to five. Her favorite day of the week is Monday when the kids- and grandkids- all return home for a hot cooked meal. And for a few hours, the house is filled again with kids, cartoons, and chaos.

Weekends, I can usually be found searching through bins, shelves and baskets for that special something. A hopeless collector of odds and ends, trinkets and more. Tarnished silver or faded dishes from another’s life stir my imagination. Who were they? And how did they come to be separated from the treasure I found?

Discover just a fraction of my marvelous finds.

Visit me here:

http://tereasa-thingfinder.blogspot.com/

          

     Letters From Inside-     This one is for me. Because it all started with a simple evening drive and the squeal from your tires as you recklessly sped past. You nearly ran me off the road, and your blurry gaze left me wondering… If you were coming back.

Of course, as with any new trick, it’s not without frustration. Things move, pages multiply, and links won’t work. The soft yellow background doesn't show up. Still, it’s a cool concept. 

I’ll keep at it. 

Silence is Golden

 Shhhh, do you hear that? Silence. Even the birds aren't up yet.

I know I'm not the only one who gets up while it's still dark out to enjoy the first steaming cup of morning coffee. 

But it's been a while since I've outwitted this bunch. Seriously. It's not unheard of for my foot to hit the last step only to discover dear hubby already at the table waiting.... 

Today, that's just what I've done. : ) 

I don't want to waste a precious minute. I'm gonna get right to it. Dottie has found herself in the kitchen of an old farmhouse still equipped with a wood cookstove and tin percolator. No simple press of the button here; just a box of kindling and a stack of faded newspapers. She remembers her grandmother whipping up some of the most memorable breakfasts ever on a stove just like this one. 

    Breakfast began with building a fire in the kitchen stove which looked like it had once belonged to Caroline when she lived on the Prairie. A huge black iron stove was centered along the back wall. It contained several round lids of different sizes she knew were the burners. A basket of kindling was kept underneath a table nearby. Certain she could handle making coffee, Dot removed the largest steel burner plate using a lid lifter already in place. Next, she crumpled a few newspapers, stuffed them into the stove, and placed some of the kindling from the basket. It required several matches until she had a rosy fire.

    She sat down to wait, her gaze going to the glass. 

The thick sheen covering the window wasn't dust but soot. 

Instead of offering a fresh start to a new day it 

resembled a sad leftover from days before, the sunlight struggling to 

break through. Footsteps from the stairway alerted her that she 

wasn't the only one up.

    "Why are you using that old thing?"  

Nothing much is happening yet. I'd better get back to it before my house starts to wake up. 

Here's to a lovely day! 

 

 

3/4 finished - been sitting on this fence long enough

Hello!

I'm just heading out the door to my little she-shed. Since my hubby's retirement, I've been at a loss about where to write. I'm not one to pack up and leave home to do something so personal (to me, anyway) as dive into another person's drama. 

But I've missed making any progress, and I'm so ready to get back to my manuscript. I adore the characters- Earl and Dorothy, aka- Dot, because as Earl put it, she was the end of his search. They're celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. Toss in the fact Earl's fully retired now- write what you know.

I've got a feeling stuff's about to get real. 

Fingers crossed it'll be entertaining.  

Hubby and I are getting the garden ready for planting. Looking forward to tasty tomatoes!

Here's to a beautiful Spring! Enjoy! 

Oh, the woos of pc trouble

Technology- don't ya just love it?

So, I spent the better part of November trying to recover from an update that didn't go right. Seems like with everything else forced on us, unsuccessful downloads are just one more. Of course, I did my best to fix the problem myself, but first, you have to know what that might be.

The keyboard on my new laptop wasn't working. I could login, and select a search engine because I have touchscreen. But from there I was unable to actually type anything. No matter what I did.

The trouble started when the new updates were rolled out, it stands to reason that my problems started there. 

Since my repair guys went strictly to commercial, they pointed me in the direction of another repair shop they felt confident could handle any pc troubles. Needless to say, I don't share the feeling. I took my laptop to the new shop, which, mind you, is 30 miles away from me. He said to bring it up, and he would do a fresh install. That meant I lose all my current content (unless its backed up in the cloud) and would need refreshing.  After several days, I get the call, it's ready to be picked up. I paid a hefty fee and left thinking all is good, the laptop works now - they brought it up and I was able to type, so I'm ready to go. 

No such thing. It was hit and miss; working when it wanted. 

Not one to give up easily, I called a few tecs and got one who actually seemed to know a thing or two about computers. He suggested I press and hold the power button, then restart pc. Once I did that the problem appeared to be fixed. The tec said that indicated to him the problem was a driver problem and not a hardware issue. However, when I shut down the laptop and came back to it the next day it would require the same trick, press and hold, reboot and type. Not the way I wanted to use this laptop, especially after saving my money for a year to purchase this top of the line computer. 

Lucky for me, I have other ways of googling besides my laptop, using my iPad. With a few short searches, I came across a helpful article on what to do if your keyboard doesn't respond. This is the scary part...it tells me to uninstall the keyboard. (Gulp) 

Yep, I'm supposed to hit that uninstall button and remove the keyboard. Then reinstall after a complete shutdown. Well, I read several claims that this really is the proper way to fix this problem. Seems once a keyboard is uninstalled, next time it's brought up, the pc will search for and install the required keyboard, complete with proper driver updates. 

I debated for about a day or two and realized, since I absolutely couldn't use my laptop in its current condition, what did I have to lose? Giving the family strict instructions I am not to be disturbed, I set about the task. And wouldn't you know it? Wha-la! Perfect O! Works every time! 

I'm so happy and wish I had done this sooner. Like, I'm still in need of a good pc repairman, but at least I know where I am not going.