Sunday, October 22, 2006

Really squashed

There have been technical problems at the house of Meno. Yesterday the internet and the phone were both out. So this family of geeks took their laptops up to the little local mall, where there is free wireless, and then blogger was out. Plus, AIM didn't work up there either. A tragedy of the highest magnitude for those of us under 16.

After much sadness and real actual tears on the part of Em about the unfairness of it all, the discovery was made that someone (!) had unplugged a cable to try and connect it to her laptop, and had plugged that cable back into the phone jack instead of the internet jack, thus disabling both. Angry words were exchanged (Em and the Mister). Scowling participants retreated to their respective sides of the house to pout.

Yes, the fun never stops.

The squash tournament wasn't very fun. See! I was right! I should never try anything new. The first person i played was a humorless woman who told me that there should be no talking on the court. This is a D/beginning level group in an intra club event. Get a grip woman. Smiling should be okay, but no. She beat me 3-1. I could have beaten her if i hadn't been so distracted and annoyed. I played a 13 year old girl the next day. She was very good. She creamed me 3-0. Then i played my regular partner, Juli, and i beat her 3-2. We had fun. And Juli did me the favor of beating the humorless woman. Thank you Juli. For my last match i played an 8 year old. That was uncomfortable. Her dad kept pulling her off the court between games to coach her. That was creepy. She beat me 3-2. Everytime i would get ahead i would start to feel bad because she was a child. I am a sucker.

Every Sunday morning Em and i go and clean cat cages for a local non-kill cat shelter. We just got back from that. The cats are so cute and sad. It breaks my heart to see them in cages. So far we have managed not to bring any of them home to join our 3 cat house, but it has been a near thing.

Boring update, but there you have it. This morning i have HSD (heavy sighing disorder). I feel that weight that is depression sitting heavy on my heart. And there's just no reason for it. I need to get outside in what may be the last sunshine of the year (you never know in the Pacific Northwest).

21 comments:

Andrea Frazer said...

Good for you for volunteering at the shelter. I feel bad, because I used to volunteer at a dog adoption center, but since I had kids, the inclination (and time) has left me. Worse than not having time, though, is that I don't feel that bad about it anymore. I have become one of those people that don't care as much about animals now that I have kids, and I HATE that about myself. I swear, I love them, and don't want any to suffer or die for dumb reasons, I but I don't have this heart wrenching ache about it like I used to. Maybe when the kids get older I will have more room in my heart as they get more compassionate. And PS: your posts are never boring, so don't apologize. You never cease to make me laugh.

Marshamlow said...

I loved the squash story! We adopted a dog from a shelter and rescued a cat from the streets. They are VERY difficult pets. We used to volunteer at the shelter, Mandy and I, but I think the taking home bit supressed our empathy.

amusing said...

I dunno.

Having an eight year old whip your ass could be something to be depressed about...

Impressed that you tried something new. I need to try harder to find new things to do. Certainly there are the mundane accomplishments like grad school and all that has exposed me too (climbing on out roofs to take photos, climbing up on ladders to peek at an 18th century roofline hidden for decades by a kitchen addition, climbing up on a strange man's shoulders to poke at the bottom half of a weathervane to see if it would move) but the last big wahoo I remember is rock climbing 85 feet in the air. At the top, there was an owl guarding her nest.

Oh. Internet dating. GUess that counts as something new too. Gee, I guess I've been trying more new stuff than I realized. Going to parties alone. Wow. I'm damned impressive. High five me, dammit.

Anonymous said...

Ah, weekends. Either loathe them or love them, depends on the temperature. Inside. I feel your pain.

Sorry about the squash tourney. Or at least about your wet rag of a draw!

thailandchani said...

Good on you for trying something new. :) I'm not as good about that as I might be, preferring the easier world of thoughts and ideas. Sometimes getting off our behinds to do something we wouldn't do ordinarily is a good thing. And that's what counts.

It doesn't sound like you care about animals any less. Having kids would naturally take up a bunch of energy. Sometimes caring means leaving it to others who can do the work and have more energy. I'd love to bring home every cat and dog I see but it's not possible. We all do what we can. :)



Thailand Gal

~*~*~*

sari said...

At least now I know there's a name for it....HSD. I have that, too.

We got our guinea pig from the animal shelter. I feel bad because now she is so fat she looks like a huge water balloon. Even her lips are fat. But she is full of love, anyway.

meno said...

mamap, thanks :)

marsha, i am sorry they are difficult. That is always a worry when getting any pet. But thanks for doing it.

amusing, well, it's not my fault because she's been playing squash at least twice as long as i have. That's my story and i'm sticking to it! And high five to you from me. Internet dating is WAY scarier than squash.

jennifer, Depends on the internal temperature indeed.

thailand gal, Yeah, i'm glad i did it, despite the ignominious defeat at the hands of a mere child, well, two mere children. I think the rest of your comment is for mamap.

sari, HSD is a common disorder. :) Sounds like your guinea pig gets lots of food and people love.

Anonymous said...

D'oh. I'm late.

Double D'oh. I just figured out what squash is. I was picturing you playing lacrosse. Now, that was something.

Lucia said...

So I'm not bored. I'm getting a good chuckle out of the squash tournament update. Tee hee!

Girlplustwo said...

am not at all bored, except with that grumpy squash player woman. you, on the other hand, radiate and amuse. i can only imagine the internet trauma at your house...door slamming and all.

and to the last bit - am sending kindnesses your way already.

meno said...

hi de, not so late. And not lacrosse. Squash is indoors in a tiny room with balls bouncing all around. What a funny name for a game.

lucia, it was pretty funny!

jen, glad you are not bored. And thank you. I appreciate the good thoughts more than you know.

Dick said...

Good for you for trying the tournament. I'll bet the next one will go better for you.

I can identify with amusing on the internet dating as I am trying that, too. It is a different world!

Bobealia... said...

I don't think they should have children against adults. That is like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

You should go for a hike. It helped me this weekend. Blow some air through your brain (or something like that). Get rid of the cobwebs, my mom would say.

karmic said...

Getting out might make you feel better.
I can imagine how you feel about the internet being down for a bit.
Ours was going down intermittently (bad filter on the cable) for 10 mins at a time and it got me upset. lol am so spoilt.

Lynnea said...

1) No-Talking-On-Court woman has probably never made a saleslady gasp about her bras. But what the hell fun is that?

2) Boredom is nowhere related to your blog. I know. I looked it up on Wikipedia and you're not mentioned there anywhere.

3) Teenagers and AIM, the utter tragedy of non-connectedness.

4) HSD. I get this. I usually cook when this happens. Or play really loud music.

Bob said...

I am the KING of HSD! others look upon me and give obeisance in all of my HSD glory. join the club. (I usually look for some light-hearted book to read and a few hours later I usually feel better. Terry Pratchett works wonders for me.)

I hope that the squash tourney was more good for you than bad, all experience is good in some way.

and it appears that teenage angst is alive and well in your demesne, I think we may have outgrown it in mine.

Princess in Galoshes said...

Oooh, me too, I'm on the HSD bandwagon, too! Maybe we should start a group? Right here at your lovely, never-boring blog??

Also: my cat managed to *&#$ my internet connection this weekend. So I feel your pain. (As did he, when he got booted from the office in a most undignified way.)

Anonymous said...

You're a gifted storyteller, meno. If I lived near you, I'd schedule a squash game just so I could read and laugh, afterwards, about our misadventure.

You put the whee in malarkey!

Imez said...

The whole family went to the mall just to use the internet?

You folks shoulda played cards and had cookies and joined hands for family heart-share time!!!

Okay, I know. Still, it'd be nice if we could, wouldn't it?

meno said...

dick, as you know, trying new things is essential. Grow or die, and we're not ready to die yet.

bo, i agree. It was weird. I hadn't thought of the lawsuit aspect. Yikes. I did get out yesterday and took a long walk in the autumn sunshine. And as always, it did help.

sanjay, we are spoiled aren't we? We want what we want RIGHT NOW!

maggie, 1.)her humorectomy was a COMPLETE success! 2.) Hmm, i guess wikipedia hasn't updated for a while. :) 3.) It feels sad to me, but it's just another technology i guess. 4.) It seems that lots of folks have HSD.

bob, the KING! I bow before you. I look forward to the out-growing of the utter despair over small events.

Hi princess, i think you are right, a bi-monthly meeting of the HSD group. We can lobby congress and the AMA to get it classified as a disability. Stupid cats.

holly, sincerely, thank you. Wait 'til i tell my mother that i am gifted.

esereth, it sounds bad, but two of us have recently gotten laptops, so it was fun to go and try the free wireless. We do have regularly scheduled family nights that can include fiercely contested games of boggle or scrabble.

Teri M. said...

What is wrong with people? I should probably stop asking this question.
Funny, just a nano-second before I read the HSD part I sighed in a most deep and disorderly manner. It's an epidemic.