Category: Life

And no word from my Brother today.  YaHoo!!!  We spent the morning getting ready for tomorrow’s brunch.  Among other stuff I’ve already forgotten; there’s mango glazed ham with sweet potatos, fruit salad, egg bake, chocolate chip banana bread, pickled eggs, dyed eggs and tons of chocolate.  The Adirondack chairs are out!  Too bad it’s too cold to sit in them.

Cold.  Windy.  Avery and I went to a greenhouse where we spent some time pretending it’s spring.  We are hopeful it will come eventually and brought home a few plants. * Not one word from my office today.  That’s a really good thing!

Shipping is shipping.  That means my Vantage v8.03.305E installation is complete.  There’s still more than a little bit of tweaking to do.  But, we’re operational.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. * You have no idea how disappointed I am to be wearing socks today.  But!  If that’s my biggest disappointment today I will be grateful.  I’m waiting on word that my database conversion is done, on media and ready to pick up.  I won’t wait here at home much longer.  At 7:00 I’ll take my knitting and wait in the Software Vendor’s lobby. * I left my knitting in the car and paced the floor instead.  I was more noticeable that way.  Database and other stuff on media in hand and out their door by 8:30.  Now if only I could do something about Rent-A-Geek’s “I can’t do this” attitude.  I really want to snap; “fine, don’t.  Leave.  I’ll do it myself”. * We’re up and running!  There are issues.  Like, no one can print, or even print preview, anything.  The Pissy People hate it already, the Positive Thinkers love it.  No surprise there.  We’ve seen the last of Rent-A-Geek for a week or so.  Tomorrow I’m on my own.  No biggie, I can handle it.  I hope.  I couldn’t have done it without those cherry and dark chocolate M&Ms.  And the fact that I didn’t eat them all speaks to how well it went, actually. 

The three deer in my front garden this morning have me rethinking the height of my new garden fence. * R.I.P. Epicor’s Vantage v5.10.133.  You’ve served me well!  I can only hope “new and improved” is really improved.  New being a given, right? * 10:37 am:  Well.  This sucks.  We’ve spent days get as ready as we can and it seems Rent-A-Geek forgot to schedule time with the DataBase conversion folks.  Not good, really not good. * For the first time, Rent-A-Geek let me down.  BIG time.  No progress was made on the upgrade today.  None.  Zip.  Nadda.  I’m going with my theory that to yell, scream and holler would not get the job done any faster and would in fact hinder progress.  I met with several members of the Software Vendor’s Technical Support staff late this afternoon.  They are cooperative.  Did what they could while I waited and one is working into the evening from home.  When I stop by there tomorrow I will be passing out thank you notes attached to Godiva chocolate and Wells Fargo gift cards.  My theory is those will go farther than any nastiness I could muster.  Not that I have it in me to muster much.  Wish me well.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to need it.

I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. * I just got an email from Rent-A-Geek asking me what the plan is for tomorrow.  That is not a good sign. 

Yes, Mom; I went to church. * I marched Mr.B to town, he didn’t know why.  I did let him stop at Caribou enroute, mostly ‘cause I had to pee.  He never once complained.  And, really, how could he?  I never complained when we walked to town for Cigars.  Destination:  Gear West.  Where we picked up the Trek T2000 tandem bike I ordered many weeks ago.  I’ve always wanted to ride one of those!  It’s a lot different than I expected.  For one thing; I can’t coast if he’s peddling.  Who knew?  The rain wasn’t in my plan for this endeavor.  I was soaked to the skin when we got home.  I wasn’t cold though as Mr.B makes a great wind block! * I lost a game of Scrabble. 

Rain.  All day.  Made it easier to spend the day working on office and house work.  A good thing as there was much of both.

Avery was really tired today.  That with the rain made it a good day to stay home.  We did manage two walks around the yard and neighborhood.  A good nap.  Two if you count the time we spent laying on the porch couch reading, resting and watching for geese.  After taking Avery home, Mr.B and I saw Blue Man Group at the Excel Energy center.  A great show!

Happiness tip from this morning’s “Be Happy Dammit” newsletter and Notsalmon.com :  They say money can’t buy happiness.  They is right—but only half right.  You can maybe snag some happiness if you buy “experiences” rather than things.  It’s like this…German scholar Stefan Klein—author of “The Science of Happiness”—says his research shows…“Things per se cannot bring you happiness at all. It is only the ‘experience’ of possessing something which can trigger the emotion of happiness.” Meaning?  When a new possession does trigger happiness, it is actually only triggering the “new experience” of having a new thing, like a new, bigger car, for example. It’s the experiencing of the newness of the car you’re feeling—not the object itself. Once the new car is NOT new to you anymore, the experience of owning this object fades, and so too will your happiness. The solution?  Invest more of your moola and time in experiences like vacations—dinners with loved ones—films – museum visits—strolls along the beach—sport activities—any/all events and happenings which will bring you long term happy memories!  Harvard University social psychologist Daniel Gilbert –NYTimes best selling author of “Stumbling on Happiness”—agrees. Gilbert pithily explains the happiness perks of happy experiences like this… “Goods tarnish over time. Experiences, on the other hand, can get better as you remember them—especially if you’re one of the many people who tend to embellish when remembering your past—which many people are!” * Saturday’s little surprise has been postponed until Sunday.  I must work Saturday.  I hope it rains. * The ice is out of my bay!  The Dock People just called to confirm details of my new configuration.