Today was a big day for me! I went back to work for 4 hours. Surprised my boss and everyone else by coming back early. I think they were glad to see me! lol I also did my own laundry. Now that doesn't sound like much, but when you think that I have to walk down 15 stairs to the basement AND walk back up too...well, it's a big deal! Also, my daughter came over and we had a little cookout and visited for a while. It was a really nice time.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
SCARY....
Addendum to earlier post (please read that one first...)
Just as an experiment, I went ahead and logged into a yahoo chat room or two. I was immediately accosted by instant messages ( a total of 20) from females wanting to show me their naked bodies on their webcams. I ran like a scared rabbit. Back to solitaire.....
Just as an experiment, I went ahead and logged into a yahoo chat room or two. I was immediately accosted by instant messages ( a total of 20) from females wanting to show me their naked bodies on their webcams. I ran like a scared rabbit. Back to solitaire.....
What happened to internet chatrooms?
I watched "You've Got Mail" the other night. I love that movie, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It always makes me a little nostalgic, though. It is based on the early days of chat, meeting people online, most of whom could spell the word "you" instead of just putting "u". (Obviously a pet peeve of mine..lol) But I will get to that in a moment...
When I began my journey on the internet, most people were in the same position I was. It was new, different. It was 1996 and I was looking for something to fill my lonely nights while my ex was ...well, filling HIS nights. Anyway, I found a chat room through one of the few internet providers in Indiana, and immediately was hooked. Everyone had "handles" instead of names, well, except me...I was Karen and that was that! But we became friends. We talked to each other, had "virtual parties", even met Mr or Ms Right several times. But the main thing was, there was conversation. Current events, sex, advice, and just plain "chillin" were going on in that chatroom 24/7...well, maybe not every night. Most of us were grownups with jobs and families, but we were friends. In fact, I met my best friend in that chatroom. We've been friends for 13 years, we work together, and I can't say that I have another friend in the world that I've been friends with for that long. The reason? We got to know each other by communicating. She met her husband in that chatroom. It was an awesome time. There were no pictures. Most of us didn't have a clue what we were doing. But the prospect (at least to me) of having friends all over the state was just an enormous boost to my morale. We even got together for meetings at a centrally located restaurant, and had parties at our houses. It was great!
Fast forward to 2008...would say 2009, but I haven't bothered this year...
If you want to find a chat room like the one I've described, you have to pay for the privilege of using it. Most of the time they are attached to some sort of matchmaking system, and I'll be quite honest with you....I'm not going to pay $200 a year to be rejected when I can be rejected for free! I've toyed with the idea of re-joining a site that used to be free, just to be able to chat like that again, but unfortunately my finances don't allow that right now.
So, if you don't pay for the privilege of being matched and then being able to actually talk to your matches, you are SOL. So, I have tried public chatrooms, such as Yahoo, and here is what you see when you get into one of those:
Karen: Hello Room!
mrbigdong: hey a/s/l (age, sex, location)
letsdoit: hi karen, wanna f***?
brandy: SEE MY DIRTY PICTURES AT www..... (whatever)
Then you will almost immediately get some kind of instant message asking the same questions and if you DO end up with someone actually wanting to talk, they can't speak in complete sentences, or they will talk to you for an hour and then want to get together to f***. It's really really sad. I even went into a game room once that had chatting, and was waiting for a partner to play Cribbage, someone joined the table and started in on all this stuff, and when I said I was there to play Cribbage, he left the conversation. I was amazed.
Anyway, I know things change, but when I watch that movie, I remember that feeling that somewhere out there, just a few clicks and words away is someone I might be able to connect with. Someone I can talk to and get to know without paying a fortune, without having to fight off the predators. Surely there is... As Meg Ryan says in the movie, just the possibility of being in love....
So, what was once a social network for me has again become a solitary way to pass the time. I long for those "olden days" but I know they are gone for good.
However, I might try again....I could use a good laugh.
When I began my journey on the internet, most people were in the same position I was. It was new, different. It was 1996 and I was looking for something to fill my lonely nights while my ex was ...well, filling HIS nights. Anyway, I found a chat room through one of the few internet providers in Indiana, and immediately was hooked. Everyone had "handles" instead of names, well, except me...I was Karen and that was that! But we became friends. We talked to each other, had "virtual parties", even met Mr or Ms Right several times. But the main thing was, there was conversation. Current events, sex, advice, and just plain "chillin" were going on in that chatroom 24/7...well, maybe not every night. Most of us were grownups with jobs and families, but we were friends. In fact, I met my best friend in that chatroom. We've been friends for 13 years, we work together, and I can't say that I have another friend in the world that I've been friends with for that long. The reason? We got to know each other by communicating. She met her husband in that chatroom. It was an awesome time. There were no pictures. Most of us didn't have a clue what we were doing. But the prospect (at least to me) of having friends all over the state was just an enormous boost to my morale. We even got together for meetings at a centrally located restaurant, and had parties at our houses. It was great!
Fast forward to 2008...would say 2009, but I haven't bothered this year...
If you want to find a chat room like the one I've described, you have to pay for the privilege of using it. Most of the time they are attached to some sort of matchmaking system, and I'll be quite honest with you....I'm not going to pay $200 a year to be rejected when I can be rejected for free! I've toyed with the idea of re-joining a site that used to be free, just to be able to chat like that again, but unfortunately my finances don't allow that right now.
So, if you don't pay for the privilege of being matched and then being able to actually talk to your matches, you are SOL. So, I have tried public chatrooms, such as Yahoo, and here is what you see when you get into one of those:
Karen: Hello Room!
mrbigdong: hey a/s/l (age, sex, location)
letsdoit: hi karen, wanna f***?
brandy: SEE MY DIRTY PICTURES AT www..... (whatever)
Then you will almost immediately get some kind of instant message asking the same questions and if you DO end up with someone actually wanting to talk, they can't speak in complete sentences, or they will talk to you for an hour and then want to get together to f***. It's really really sad. I even went into a game room once that had chatting, and was waiting for a partner to play Cribbage, someone joined the table and started in on all this stuff, and when I said I was there to play Cribbage, he left the conversation. I was amazed.
Anyway, I know things change, but when I watch that movie, I remember that feeling that somewhere out there, just a few clicks and words away is someone I might be able to connect with. Someone I can talk to and get to know without paying a fortune, without having to fight off the predators. Surely there is... As Meg Ryan says in the movie, just the possibility of being in love....
So, what was once a social network for me has again become a solitary way to pass the time. I long for those "olden days" but I know they are gone for good.
However, I might try again....I could use a good laugh.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Vacation's almost over...*sigh*
What a shame to have to have surgery to have a vacation. But it's been a good time for me. I have killed two birds with one stone! I have,of course, this brand new knee and a new lease on life with that.But I also have had the opportunity to get used to being by myself. My daughter has been going through some things of her own, not to mention she works all the time, so she hasn't been as "available" as she wanted to. Of course, she was here the first week, but after that, I pretty much had to be on my own. I'll admit, I nearly went crazy a couple of times, just because I was bored silly. I called her one day and had her come by on her way home from work to just give me a hug! lol. She was happy to oblige.
Mostly, though, I've been here by myself. It has given me the chance to look at my life and the direction I want it to go. I don't know that I'll ever be much of a social butterfly, but at least when I'm here by myself (after I heal up a little more), I'll be able to do some projects that I've put off for so long.
Making a quilt for my bed
Making bunny rabbits to sell (cloth ones, not furry ones!)
Painting, drawing, generally letting the artistic side of me flooooooow...
There will be no reason to be bored. And if I get the chance to get out sometimes, well that's a bonus! I don't think I'll be looking for a man any time soon. I need to get to know myself a little better. My ex-husband's mother got remarried at the tender age of 65, so there is time....barring the proverbial bus accident, of course.
So now I am thinking of going back to work. Starting to get my clothes together so they can be washed and ready. I drove yesterday and it went great, so that's not going to be a problem. My doctor's appointment is Monday and he will give me the go-ahead to go to my sit-down job, I'm sure. I'm off the pain meds, finished with physical therapy...time to rejoin the human race. I know my boss will be thrilled since she has had to do my job for the past 5 weeks on top of her own. Besides, they miss me..lol
Life should be different now. Not clouded by pain, not everything I do or want to do weighed against how much it will hurt. No excuses. Wow...send me back! lol Look out world! Here I come!
Mostly, though, I've been here by myself. It has given me the chance to look at my life and the direction I want it to go. I don't know that I'll ever be much of a social butterfly, but at least when I'm here by myself (after I heal up a little more), I'll be able to do some projects that I've put off for so long.
Making a quilt for my bed
Making bunny rabbits to sell (cloth ones, not furry ones!)
Painting, drawing, generally letting the artistic side of me flooooooow...
There will be no reason to be bored. And if I get the chance to get out sometimes, well that's a bonus! I don't think I'll be looking for a man any time soon. I need to get to know myself a little better. My ex-husband's mother got remarried at the tender age of 65, so there is time....barring the proverbial bus accident, of course.
So now I am thinking of going back to work. Starting to get my clothes together so they can be washed and ready. I drove yesterday and it went great, so that's not going to be a problem. My doctor's appointment is Monday and he will give me the go-ahead to go to my sit-down job, I'm sure. I'm off the pain meds, finished with physical therapy...time to rejoin the human race. I know my boss will be thrilled since she has had to do my job for the past 5 weeks on top of her own. Besides, they miss me..lol
Life should be different now. Not clouded by pain, not everything I do or want to do weighed against how much it will hurt. No excuses. Wow...send me back! lol Look out world! Here I come!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Should've seen it coming...
I KNEW IT!!! I should've seen this coming a mile away, but denial isn't just a river in Egypt, baby! I knew I needed a nap. Have had a nap every day for one blissful hour for the past 3 weeks. But not today. Today my nap was wonderfully interrupted by my daughter the cook. She came armed with chicken and ribs and steak and all kinds of other delicious food. So I helped her, of course. I chopped onions, peppers, husked corn, and basically acted like a normal human being. Pretty soon the house (and the whole street, from what I was told) was filled with the aroma of shish kebobs and corn and just general YUM! We started at 2:00, and around 6 hours later we finally ate. Why did we wait so long? Well, there were friends involved. My daughter's friends who were here and then left and then came back. We waited on them, cause we are nice folks, right? yes we are. Finally had to eat something, and oh my goodness it was deeeeeelishus!
Now the problem, after the food we all sat around and talked till my daughter left at 11:30. By then I was exhausted, my knee hurt, my back hurt, and I realized that I hadn't had a piece of ice on my leg for probably 12 hours. So now it's 3AM and I can't sleep. Aching and stressing because I'm aching....I hate being up at night with pain. Where's the morphine pump when ya need it huh?
So I'm miserable physically, but my heart is light because my daughter was here with her friends, and we shared a wonderful time together to celebrate Easter one day late.
My PT guy would be not so happy with me, and yes, I should've seen it coming a mile away. But it was worth every minute and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
Now the problem, after the food we all sat around and talked till my daughter left at 11:30. By then I was exhausted, my knee hurt, my back hurt, and I realized that I hadn't had a piece of ice on my leg for probably 12 hours. So now it's 3AM and I can't sleep. Aching and stressing because I'm aching....I hate being up at night with pain. Where's the morphine pump when ya need it huh?
So I'm miserable physically, but my heart is light because my daughter was here with her friends, and we shared a wonderful time together to celebrate Easter one day late.
My PT guy would be not so happy with me, and yes, I should've seen it coming a mile away. But it was worth every minute and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Better every day
Oh boy am I hurting! lol However, it is a really good hurting, if you know what I mean. Yesterday my daughter took me to Walmart. She helped me down the couple of steps at the house, brought me out a little riding cart when we got there, and for over an hour (and $119.00) I tore up the aisles at Wally world! Oh what a wonderful time! The walls had begun to close in on me, and I swear, I can't believe how much I pay for the joke of Cable TV! But I got some easy to fix food, and some fruit and stuff and now I feel able to face the next couple of weeks stuck in the house. Monday is the exception, I get to go out and see the doctor and get these damnable staples out of my leg! I'm beginning to feel like a zipper. It will be great to get them out.
Of course, last night, I couldn't sleep, I was in a great deal of pain and almost regretting going out at all. But the good totally outweighs the bad. Makes me think of how much freedom I will have once this knee heals. I won't hurt anymore...at least not like I have. What a thought!
I can't wait to dance the Electric Slide again.
There is actually sunshine in Indiana today. I might make it out to the porch this afternoon and enjoy a little of the fresh air. Some of the trees are blooming already and spring is definitely on its way. My heart is filled with hope for the future, despite the downturn in the economy and other things happening that are beyond my control. I'm determined to keep a good thought and believe that all will come out right in the end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)