The Computer Ate My Blogpost!

No. I didn’t forget to blog last Thursday. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t oversleep. I didn’t blank on something to blog. (Trust me. I’m rarely at a loss for words.) But I am frequently a victim of Murphy’s Law. In fact, I often think it should be renamed to Bacus’ Law because generally if something can go wrong, it will. And at the worst possible time. Such was the case last Thursday.

I was up early as usual. I’ve been getting up at before five for so long it’s hard for me to sleep beyond that hour. Now that I have a 45 minute commute to work and the weather is hardly driver-friendly, I tend to get up even earlier. So, last Thursday I awoke, did my Nordic Track workout, showered, and since I had a three-hour on-line final scheduled for one of my three college courses to complete, and being the dedicated student I am (hehe) I decided to get that lovely little exam out of the way first. So I made a pot of coffee and closeted myself in my office, logged onto my online course, and began the exam.

I need to explain a bit about the exam process. A student is permitted one attempt only to complete the exam and is also allowed only a certain amount of time in which to finish the test. No pressure, right? Anyhow, this particular exam consisted of multiple choice questions followed by essay questions. I answer the multiple guess—I mean choice—questions and roll right into the essay questions. Some people hate essay questions. I like ‘em. I’m a writer. I’m more comfortable writing long essay answers than I am trying to figure out where the instructor is trying to trick me in multiple choice questions: in the question itself or in one of the multiple choice selections. But back to the test. I’m halfway through the exam and I click on save to save my last answer and instead of my answer being saved, I get a notice that the connection was interrupted. Okay. No sweat. This sometimes happens when you have a particularly long essay question to draft before you save so I click on ‘refresh’. Same response. Now I’m getting a bit nervous. I try again. My pulse rate starts to increase. And I may have muttered a naughty word.

I check the connection. No apparent problem there. I boot up my laptop—all the time knowing my test-taking time is ticking off--and find I can’t connect to the internet. Ditto for the kids’ computer. And the clock is ticking…

By this time, my Little Mary Sunshine demeanor of that morning has devolved into something more clearly associated with The Exorcist.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

I call my Internet Service Provider to report the problem.

Not the smartest thing to do when one is already, uh, on the edge.

The ‘tech’ had me unplugging this, by-passing that. I was a sight to behold, crouched on my haunches, attempting to figure out which cord the technical support person was talking about. After half an hour of ‘Wireless Networking for Dumb Blondes’ I was ready to hang myself with the Ethernet cord.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

I finally hung the phone up, called my computer guru, and he talked me through the process, only to ultimately discover the problem was not on my end, but with the service provider.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Time’s up.

By late afternoon, my internet was still down, my exam time had elapsed, and Bullet Hole had missed her first blog post ever.

Over all, it was one bummer of a Thursday.

On a brighter note, I emailed my professor the remainder of my exam answers once my internet was back up and he was very understanding.

And today? Today is a mixed bag.

All three final exams are behind me and I’m officially finished with all my courses this term so I’m celebrating this achievement.

Tonight I have a book signing party that I’m looking forward to. (Pictures next week!)

I survived the worst commute to work I’ve ever experienced Tuesday morning when the roads were one hundred percent ice-covered, a thirty mile per hour wind howled, and travel was not recommended.

Oh. And both my washer and dryer pooped out this week.

I know the feeling.

And again today I'm having difficulties getting my post to publish...

Okay, folks. I’ve grumbled about computer and major appliance unreliability and the weather. Now it’s your turn to vent here at Bullet Hole’s ‘Bitch’ Session. Do you have Murphy's Law moments you want to get off your chest? Anything lousy happen to you this past week? Any pet peeves that irritate more of late? Feel free to purge. Remember, you’re among friends.

We’ll provide tons of tea and sympathy--and we won’t tell a soul…

;)

~Bullet Hole~