Damnit, All!

I don't think of myself as a creature of habit because, in fact, I'm a very flexible person who, if anything, tends to be more erratic than not... I can't even think of one consistent "habit" that I keep with any diligence whatsoever... OK: two, three... four tops.  I sleep regularly, bathe daily and eat rather habitually... and, oh yeah, I write. But no one can set a clock by me, let me assure you.

My plants thrive on benign neglect, the cats have learned how to feed themselves and the dog (yes, they can open cabinets, pour out of heavy plastic containers and even use the can opener; I swear it's true), the dog knows how to let himself out and close the house up at night (he can even close windows if he thinks it's gonna' rain), and my long-suffering husband serves as his own wife... and my wife too... as needed. (Should I have used semi-colons instead of commas in that last sentence? Screw it: who cares.)  Anyway, The Man keeps the fires stoked in winter and the barbecue grill grillin' in summer and somehow we all survive the vagaries of my inconsistent behavior, tendency to fall off the grid and write for days, and general laid back attitude about everything but big black hairy spiders... (I don't like them).

Generally speaking I take most things in stride, don't get worked up about too much (well, besides spiders, I have the red ass for fascists but I write about that at a different blog), and like to remain flexible in thought and style. I have perfected the art of being Cool & Laid-Back. Now, how this translates in real life is this: I tell Him Who Is The Spouse that if he wants to get another dog, build a rocket in the garage or go fishing for a week -- "hey, knock your sox off, honey."

I consider this enough to make me a damn good wife and helluva' sportin' gal.

Hell, I'm practically June Cleever, know what I mean? 

But I become a Royal Bitch when someone messes with a computer program that did not need any messin' to begin with... and right now I am really furious with Google's Eblogger -- the platform in which this Windy City Author blog exists. The cats, the dog, and The Man have all just disappeared... Momma is hot and taking no hostages and shrewd sentient beings know when it's best to get the hell out of the way.

So, yes: I'm a creature of habit with things like computer programs. Why? Because I'm the Village Idiot when it comes to operating them and/or working within them... it is not easy for me to learn how to operate some damn whatchamacallit. It took me a long time to create this blog and set it up the way I wanted it to look and it took me awhile to become comfortable with working in it behind the scenes.  Therefore, I do not want it to change!

Change the Computer Program = Damnit, Now I'm Really Screwed. 

What you folks actually see on this blog may not have changed at all but yesterday morning, to my horror, I found that Google, for whatever reason (and I don't care what it was), decided to give me a new & "improved" blogger experience and so suddenly I was faced with a foreign looking administrative page, no instructions, and no widgets or other thingies that made any damn sense.

After some effort that I had no time or inclination to expend I was finally able to post a sample from my book, January Moon, into this blog so that it would be available for Sample Sunday on Twitter -- but I could not, for the life of me, get the blog to maintain my book's formatting. I also could not (and still cannot) find where I put in tags for SEO and "whatever." (See, I told you I'm not good at this stuff.)

Google: you have not made my life easier and that is the first rule of customer service. You have not enhanced my blog; you have not provided any real improvements.

Are you just using stimulus money to generate more geek work? Couldn't you have done something for world hunger instead?

When it comes to computers I am clearly a creature of habit; once I've learned something I do NOT (as in NOT) want to be forced to change any of my old habits and learn any new ways.

I am so pissed off about this that I'm not even interested in taking the 20 minutes it might take to master the new format (I would rather write about it and rant here for 30 minutes instead).

So, I'm not posting anything to this blog today.... (yeah, well, this is a post... but it's not... it's really a protest and yes there is a difference... well, somehow anyway).

OK, that said, I'm outta' here. I'm going to let this go awhile, cool off and try to change my attitude -- and this means I've decided to spend the rest of the day hanging with the cats. 

They promised to show me how they made dessert last night.  

Enjoy your day!