February 2023 was The Month From Hell!
First, there were the 2022 tax returns to deal with. Then Microsoft uploaded a new version of Edge which hijacked my whole computer. At the same time (though probably not related), YouTube made some drastic changes and I completely “lost” a new channel I had created for Juliana Harvard, Author. Oh, the channel is still there but I don’t have access to it anymore to make edits and new uploads.
At least, I finally got Suburban Married Lady, Book VII. Epilogue: The Wedding published. It was not without some hassles but I’m used to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing hassles. For some reason, it feels like Juliana Harvard doesn’t exist anymore. It’s like she just died when I lost access to her YouTube channel. Then iTunes changed my default (my ancient iPod that was plugged in to the hub) to the online iTunes store! I have no interest in that, so I just unplugged the iPod and took the icon out of my startup list.
Then Oakland and Alameda had some power outages, and it affected our section of the grid, as well. The power was only off for about an hour one Sunday morning; but when it came back on, there was no electricity on the north side of the house! We spent all the damn day on Monday, disconnecting and reconnecting cords and power strips, with a main heavy-duty extension cord plugged into one outlet on the south side of the house, just to get my laptop, monitor, speakers, hub, printer, desk lamp, room lamps, and coffee warmer operational. I just had to learn to live without my electric stapler (I got a cheap hand stapler from Amazon), my landline phone, and my shoulder heating pad. I plugged in my Kindle to the new charging table Linda bought for the living room. It has 2 electrical outlets and 2 USB ports, so anyone who visits (or who lives here) can charge a device.
Fortunately, we did not lose electricity on the south side of the house where the kitchen is, including refrigerator/freezer, stove, oven, microwave, and dishwasher. For Lent, I’m giving up having electricity on the north side of the house. Linda thinks we may need to replace the breaker box. It sounds expensive.
Emily seems to be aging more rapidly than we want. She has trouble standing and walking, especially after she’s been sleeping. She can’t eat crunchy foods and only likes soft treats. She doesn’t eat all (or any) of her regular food, even with treats crumbled over or into it. I’m facing my own mortality as I watch our precious senior Chihuahua (who is 15 now) decline.
Next, I got suspended from one of my groups because something I said was misunderstood. That was just like what happened a couple years ago in a “Lesbians Over 70” group that I was in and got banned from (that’s why I created “Mature Lesbians”). So I categorically removed myself from that group and all related groups. I “Unfriended” about 80 “Friends” that were even remotely associated with those groups (which means I no longer have 666 Friends & Acquaintances). I have “Unfollowed” a bunch more (did not keep count) of those who regularly post stuff that is offensive to me and causes me stress. I’m getting ready to do the same to anyone who posts TikTok videos. I don’t need that level of toxicity in my life.
Finally, Linda’s 6-year-old laptop bit the dust (video card issues), so we took the money we didn’t spend on a cross-country road trip and purchased a new laptop for her. It came with Windows 11 installed. Today (March 2) she is still trying to install and configure legacy software (Adobe). This makes me really nervous if something happens to my laptop and it would need to be replaced. I would lose my legacy Windows Movie Maker which no longer exists from Microsoft. (I’m actually using a standalone app from a third party who is just as obsessed (or maybe more so) with legacy Windows Movie Maker.) I still have more video podcasts from Arlene Taylor to create and upload to her YouTube channel and am just keeping my fingers crossed that I can still access it from the back end.
I’m obsessively focused on preparing and publishing Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics Recipe Book. The Facebook group is not being very cooperative about submitting Success Stories and diabetic-friendly recipes for the book. I am getting bolder about promoting low-carb eating and not promoting a high-carb low-fat whole-food dietary vegan lifestyle.
March 1 was David’s birthday. For some reason, that was very depressing for me. The man is 78 years old! He has not yet been to see his oncologist to confirm (hopefully) that his leukemia is still in remission.
I have high hopes that March will be better. Today started out well, when I got email notification that our federal tax return was approved and the refund was put directly into our checking account!
