In the Dark

I’ve been without Internet service since Sunday and I’m beginning to feel the strain. I wrote about being a slave to technology over at Working Stiffs Wednesday after posting it from Panera Bread. That’s where I’m posting this from, too. Maybe they’re meddling with my wireless signal at home just to get me to come in and order something while I use their free Wi-Fi. If so, it’s working.

Once my ISP gets the problem fixed (AGAIN…it WAS fixed once, briefly), I will have several hundred e-mails to sift through. I fear many will fall victim to my delete button just out of necessity.

In the meantime, life does go on. I had Mom in to see Dr. Ray who is pleased with her progress, but doesn’t feel she’s ready to give up the walker just yet. No sense rushing things when we’ve come so far. Besides, she’s pretty well mastered the contraption.

I also took BooBoo kitty to the vet. The poor old guy is down to little more than six pounds, but his bloodwork isn’t all that bad. So we keep on keeping on where he’s concerned.

And I picked up a new toy the other night. I have no excuse to get lost anymore now that I have a Garmin. That’s a GPS to anyone who hasn’t been watching television commercials over the last couple of months. It connects quite nicely to the outside world, even if my computer doesn’t.

But that still leaves me with lots of time on my hands since I can’t check e-mail and read blogs and other such distractions at the moment. What have I been doing with all that spare time???

I’ve finished the first and second drafts of the short story I plan to submit to Thoroughbred Times for their short fiction contest. I still have to trim a few hundred words to make the maximum word count. That’s the “fun” of writing short fiction. Creating all those stunning descriptive phrases and then cutting them to the bone. I can’t do it on the computer. I need to print it out and start slashing with the red pen. Editing takes whole different mindset than creating.

I’ve also tidied up my office. I can see the surface of both desks now. The piles of clutter have been sorted and filed. I even de-cluttered my computers. Both of them. I uninstalled a bunch of games I’ve never played from my laptop as well as a few newer programs that were making it sluggish. This morning, I copied most of my photos from my monster computer onto a flashdrive and deleted them from the hard drive, freeing up some space. Next up: de-fragging.

And finally, I’m re-reading Carolyn Wheat’s How to Write Killer Fiction. In anticipation of starting a new novel after the first of the year, I’m taking some time to study my craft a bit. Plus, I’m going back to the “master” himself and am reading some of Poe’s stuff.

So, in the cyberworld, I’m still in the dark. But I’m using my time to the best advantage I can.

See you when I’m back online…