Five AM as I start this message. I experienced a restless night with very little sleep. This is my journal and “I’ve gotta be honest.”  I’m scared about my “Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow.” (Yes, I reversed the words in the title. I ended yesterday’s blog message with “tomorrow.” Tomorrow is today.)

Partly a praise report: I’m grateful a neighbor noticed the battery cable stretched out in my carport and he took the time and energy to get my KIA started. He drove my car like a maniac; I was terrified we would have an accident. I’ve owned the KIA for fifteen years and it has NEVER been driven so fast!!

I have a terrible headache. “Is something wrong with my head?”  I’m all alone; what if I have a health problem? The Coronavirus pandemic came upon us before I got established here in Waco, Texas. I don’t have a doctor. Under “normal” circumstances, I would have seen an optometrist and gotten new glasses. (I accidentally sat on my glasses a year ago….) Under “normal” circumstances I wouldn’t be a “scaredy-cat.” I would have driven to a beauty salon and gotten a haircut. This long, stringy hair is driving me crazy! (My dear friend, Deb, sent “barber sheers” but I’m afraid to cut my own hair.) ~~ All my adult life, I have been a strong, self-sufficient person. I hate the person I’ve become!! This is my journal and “I’ve gotta be honest.”

Happy Birthday Waco — One-hundred-seventy-two-years.

Happy Birthday Larry: My brother is three years and four days younger. He would be eighty-three; he has been deceased for many years.

“Cognitively impaired”  is a term frequently used to describe President Joe Biden. “Cognitively impaired” is a term your blogger is forced to label herself. This is so frightening!! For many years, my prayer has been “Father, please, please allow me the benefit of a ‘sharp mind.'”  I don’t think my Father God has ignored my prayer; I believe the year of Coronavirus isolation took a toll. Yes, the Coronavirus is experiencing a one-year anniversary.

My use of the computer started “in the dark ages” of personal computers. Every few years, I “traded up” to the newest system. Truth be told: “Traded up” until Windows-10. I was–and am–very happy with Windows-7. This past year, it has been a struggle to navigate Windows-10 on the new desktop computer. (The past couple of months, it has been a struggle to navigate a Smartphone.) ~~ A picture of me with my “luggable computer” in 1989.

Texas has “opened up” and things are geared to “go back to normal.” I’m still a “scaredy-cat“  and reluctant to leave home.

For many years, I earned a paycheck as a “proofreader.” I instantly saw the error in the Maxine cartoon. Do you see it?  It’s encouraging (to me) to see that the proofreading skill hasn’t left me. I saw the Maxine cartoon while looking for the clipart addressing “Old age is not for wimps.”

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Just discovered: The car battery is dead. A year of neglect!!  Over the months, I have regularly started the KIA and let it run for twenty minutes or half-an-hour. It started for me after the miserable Texas storm and the hard freeze (less than three weeks ago). This afternoon, no response! Truthfully, I was ready to follow the instructions of a dear friend (Deb) and drive East on the open highway. “Too little, too late.”

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Your blogger friend was NOT “cognitively impaired”  when she let the KIA registration lapse. The Texas driver’s license has expired, too, but I have an appointment in late-April (their date, I had no choice). Remember, I’m a scaredy-cat so I would have been breaking the law “driving East on the open highway.”

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A neighbor spent an hour (or more) working on my car. After it was jump-started, he/we drove many miles on back roads. Back home, turned off—and it wouldn’t start!! Assessment: “The battery is dead!”  Tomorrow, tomorrow… (Can you hear “Annie” singing the song? “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You’re only a day away.”)

I’m so delighted so many of my pictures, and clipart, can be found on this desktop computer. “Organization” is needed but with a little time spent searching, I’m able to find images. I’m getting closer to the time I can put the old laptop computer on the shelf with a “rest in peace” sign–or “Well done good and faithful servant.”

…and I’m praying an RV site becomes available.

Will you join with me, in prayer (or “good thoughts”), that a nice couple is able to move here. Usually, a two-year waiting list but MIRACLES  HAPPEN. Remember, I was blessed with the opportunity to move here?! “Wife” is a “go-getter” (like I used to be), and she is a gardener (like I used to be). They visited this RV Park this morning–and Mr. Red (owner-manager) always likes for residents to “meet and greet.” I’m being selfish; I want a lady-friend to share with.

Pat on the back? This is the third day I have not been on Ancestry.com. It is imperative that I get some other things done!! True story: I don’t want to do the “other things”; I want to “climb family trees.” I believe there are twenty obituaries that need to be documented in my tree. Yes, “my extended family.” I haven’t an ounce of energy; it is so comfortable to sit at the computer and let “my fingers do the walking….”  (Do you remember the old TV commercial about “Let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages”  of the telephone directory?) Oh, the “good old days” when life was simple (and computers were easier to navigate). Telephones were simple, too, in my humble opinion. I’m struggling to navigate a “smartphone.”

Back to say, yesterday my labor unwittingly changed things on the desktop computer and now I’m trying to regain access to programs (including Ancestry).

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The problem continues!!

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I was so-o-o-o stressed, I was crying with frustration!! I was invited to share lunch with the owner-manager (in our clubhouse) and that led to a conversation with (separately) three residents in the RV Park. Now I’m feeling “almost human.” (Question: How human is an old lady with long stringy hair, and ignorance regarding all things Smartphone, and Windows-10?)

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I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I’m hoping, and praying, I stumbled on a method of transferring my pictures, and clipart, from the old laptop computer. I’ve read many instructions, several times each, and followed them exactly—to no avail. I give God, My Heavenly Father, the credit because this revelation was surely “Divine inspiration.” More about that later.

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As the clock is ticking away, the Mylio program, on the desktop computer, is importing “clip art” and (don’t faint) there are 4,768 images. The program was instructed to skip duplicates but I see duplicates. That’s OK because I can delete… and rejoice with me that the clipart has been preserved. Yesterday, I was using LapLink in an effort to transfer–and it didn’t work!! Today I took an “external drive” with a “mirror image” of files on the old laptop and plugged it into the desktop computer. On the desktop computer, in Mylio, I told it to import the clipart. **It did!!**

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Mylio tells me it has 29,083 images. I anticipate more pictures when I access “the cloud.”

If it looks like “Greek” to you, that’s two of us. For several hours, yesterday, I was working toward export of more pictures from the old computer to the new computer. Finally I contacted LapLink technical support.  A helpful person… but the suggestions didn’t resolve the problems. I was advised to download AnyDesk but it (like LapLink) left me shaking my head. ~~~~ Perhaps I’ll have a “Divine Revelation” (in a day or two) and accomplish the desired transfer.

Insomnia is the subject of a blog message by a dear friend. “Insomnia” is something this old lady struggles with. Last night–for example–I got less than four hours of sleep. OMG, I’m dragging this morning!! There are so many projects I want to accomplish and I’m too lethargic. ~~ “Old age” is a bummer!! Failing eyesight, hard-of-hearing, lack of sleep…

Read the blog message by my friend. (She mentions me.)

Oh yes, “computer problems,” too!! There was a time when I could navigate the hardware and software problems. Now, computers are more complicated and it feels like I am wading through just-delivered wet cement.

When the owner-manager called to check on me, I lamented that my three-wheeler used to “fly” but now my legs can hardly peddle. He suggested the tires may need air.  He—and his helpers—worked on the bike and  now I am “soaring.” Guess the problem: The brakes were locked!! True story: No wonder it was so difficult to peddle. (Question: Did the brakes “freeze up” due to the freezing weather?)

One major concern: Getting pictures from March 2013 to March 2021 off of the very old laptop computer to the desktop computer–and later to a separate extension hard-drive. I recently subscribed to Mylio and began the transfer. I received error messages and the old laptop came to a screeching halt. Because the old laptop is faltering functioning, I’ve returned to the challenge and have my fingers crossed that all will happen without more problems. Then the additional challenge of retrieving pictures–from earlier years—from “the cloud.”

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I found this among my pictures.

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It’s a miracle!?! ~~ I feel an urgency to watch the second download of pictures (because the desktop computer goes to sleep if no typing or wiggling the mouse). Now I’m seeing pictures from earlier years—prior to the purchase of the Canon camera in 2013. I’ll never know for certain but I suspect Mylio is so smart it has “miraculously” gone to “the cloud” and is importing those pictures. Eventually (hopefully) a smooth transition of the pictures to an external drive exclusively for my pictures. I’m able to update this blog message on the old laptop while “keeping an eye” on the screen for the desktop computer. So amusing to see those early pictures. ~~~~ Same monotonous subject matter, year after year (indoor-outdoor thermometer 4 Mar 2015 & 4 Mar 2021). ~~~~ I’m enjoying a “trip down Memory Lane.”

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I can’t stop smiling!! I can’t remember the last time I wore a bra. I rarely leave home; I spend days in my pajamas!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Postscript at 10:55 AM: I gave myself the gift of a shower, put on a bra, and a pretty dress!! The furnace was turned on to warm my trailer home and the hot-water tank was drained during the luxurious experience. Correction: Washing my long, ugly hair takes most of the pleasure out of a shower!!

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In the light of past experiences, “keep my mouth shut”  and “keep my chin up.”

Lorraine in 2013.