Since the main Christmas tree did not go up until the last minute, I sort of figured that husband would be okay leaving it up a bit later than usual. Usual being this past Monday (3rd Monday in January - no reason other than it is a holiday here in the U.S. - honoring Martin Luther King, Jr - a civil rights leader - and therefore sticks out in one’s mind as it being the time to start taking down the tree and the decorations. But on Monday afternoon before I had a chance to bring up the subject, he asked when the tree would be down - so he could take back the living room for his weaving. He needs the length of the room to warp (set up threads on) his loom for his next project. He said that he regretted having to take it down, and the rest of the decorations could/should stay up for a while yet. This also led him to consider maybe putting the tree in the dining room next year to avoid this - the only time our living room is used for anything other than his weaving these days is decorating for Christmas, opening our limited presents on Christmas morning, and taking down the decorations. I told him that it was scheduled to start coming down the same day he asked and it would.
So after dinner I went downstairs and brought up box #4 for the tree decorations - last up, first off as it gets the outermost decorations. I started taking down icicles, plain balls, gold paper figures, etc used to fill in open spaces after the nicer decorations go on the tree. He suddenly realized what I was going and came into the living room, looked, and then said “Maybe it all should stay up a little longer.” I stared at him - “Yeah, I know it was my idea.” He then started helping me take things off the tree - actually trees as I have to pack the studio tree ornaments away at the same time as they are packed together and shared ornaments. I did most of 2 boxes of ornaments (out of 4). Frustrating - I would rather not have started yet - and then he says I shouldn’t have!
I am on a comics discussion group. As of a week ago Monday (maybe earlier, that is when I go online to the group to read a week’s worth of posts) the site was not so much there - and I was not sure if it was a problem with the site or my computer. A check with another computer showed that it was not accesible from that computer either. I figured all would be well the next day - it was not. I went looking back in my emails as I had a couple of email conversations with the fellow whose site it is. I never kept a record of his email address, because it is on the site. I found that, yes, there was a problem and it was “now” expected to be back by Thursday (last Thursday now) after it had not been back by “Tuesday” (2 days before last Thursday). As of last night it is still not working right enough to use. Frustration - I enjoy the company of those on that group and we have great discussions beyond the comics we are talking about.
I am also on an embroidery discussion group. This group is in the middle of migrating to a new site and “wonderful”changes. The site started moving in December and due to everything that was going on, I did not have a chance to register with and start to use the new site. The old site is still open (until at least the end of January) and I was communicating a bit with the members through that site. But it was now January and I signed up with the new site. Not as bad to use as I feared. There was one problem - either very few people were posting or I was not able to see all of the posts. The page numbers were listed at the top of the page - but when I clicked on any page number, I was still on the same page. Very frustrating I was missing seeing photos of everyone’s work and hearing about their holidays. I posted about this and finally had an answer appear as the last one in the list and therefore on the page I came on the group on - there was a problem and there was a work around. So finally last night I was able to move around in this group and read the posts for half of December and all of January.
Last night I went to make a monthly backup of my main computer, while at the same time making a quarterly backup of my work laptop -onto 2 separate external hard drives. The one I have been using for quarterly backups did not work. It had electricity, but did not show up on the computer. I then tried plugging it into my desktop computer - did not work there either. Oh, well, I had thought about replacing it, just had not gotten around to it. The biggest problem I had was this computer is wonky. The oldest back up of this computer is on the drive which did not work - and it is a “clean” backup which I need if I have to start this computer over.
I did what I hate to so. I told husband about the drive not working. This resulted in at least an hour’s worth of his repeating all I did with his computer. We then took apart the case the drive was in and took the drive out of it. When I updated the hard drive on my main computer we had bought an external drive case for the old drive so I could still access it when I found missing things. We opened that case, took out the old drive, and put the backup drive with the problem in it - it worked. I copied the needed file off it to the monthly back up drive. (And husband thought it a waste when I decided to back up the computers to 2 drives instead of one.) We then reassembled my old hard drive into the case and put the backup drive into a small box to keep it safe. I now will get a new second backup drive. (See backing up drives is important!) Now the backups are set up when I am going to backup and I walk away and they just run on their own. Very frustrating and a waste of time.
I have to go to my client in Manhattan as I have to do her payroll taxes - and the date for filing the company’s copy of her W2 has been moved up to January 31 from February 28. Last year I mailed the forms to her for her to mail out and it did not get to her - but came back to me in the mail, despite being correctly addressed to her. So I really wanted to get to her early this month in case there were problems getting the forms to her to mail. Then I realized something - she will have taken at most one payroll check last year (the business is not doing well) and I can make do the paperwork in advance and bring it with me. So I pulled out my typewriter and started typing the forms. I had ordered the forms from IRS in December to make sure I had them - 2 different forms and a different cover form for each - 4 kinds of forms in all. I was fine until I did the second form - there were no cover forms! I went looking and counting - they had sent me 2 sets of the other cover form. So I had to go online and order more forms - and I hope they will be here early enough to fill in and mail to her for her to sign. I am going to her tomorrow - I hope. We have had another snow storm - very light, but I didn’t want to drive in the snow. It was last night to today. So tomorrow morning I will get up and call the client and hope she says I can come there tomorrow - if not I hope I can go there next week. Not only do I have to do her work - I get paid quarterly and we need the money to pay bills. So, between the weather and IRS not sending forms it has been frustrating.
Now, tonight I took the garbage from the kitchen out for pickup tomorrow morning. Husband was having a reaction of some sort from the dinner we had and I did not want to open the garbage pail when he was in the room. I took it out while he was upstairs. I did not tell him I was doing so - I have taken the garbage out for the 29 years we have lived in the house and I just about never tell him I am doing so - unless there is some unusual reason to do so. I put the garbage at the street and came back to our side porch and pushed the handle button to open the storm door - the button did not move. I tried again several times - and it is cold out (not as bad as has been this winter, but still around freezing) and it did not work. I thought about the front door - but I had only cleared snow from half of the steps and I was concerned it might be icy since it would have melted and might have refrozen - so I pulled out my cell phone and texted my husband. He got the message and for a minute thought I was just telling him something - then figured out that I was stuck outside the house and came and let me in - and also went back and sprayed the handle lock. Following this I was told that I should never go out of the house without telling him! This led to an extensive discussion with no resolution as to my competence to go out alone without telling him - again, frustration.
I have been good at keeping up with my housework,, but - uh oh - I just realized that I never put in laundry to wash - I will do so as soon I get this posted.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Frustration takes so much away from us (or at least from me). It takes concentration (why else would I forget the laundry) and time - I have had to keep going back and checking to see if the two group sites are working that I could have used on other matters. But we have to deal with it and move on.
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