Writes for Kicks

I have been a frequent visitor to the Wisconsin Humane Society website lately.  Like really frequent.  I am on that site at least a couple of times a week.

This morning there were about eight or 10 adorable puppies, Dalmatian mixes and Shepard mixes, that were all adopted by the end of the day.

I have been fighting the urge to get a puppy for awhile now.  Mostly because as cute as they are, I know how much work they are.

My ex-husband and I had a Springer/Chesapeake mix.  He was the greatest dog.  He was also about 90 pounds at his heaviest, and a little difficult to take care of, on my own, after I got divorced.  He went back and forth with the kids, before he was put to sleep a couple of years ago, for a variety of medical reasons:  he had bad hip displasia and Cushings disease and was in a lot of pain in the end.

The thing is, I really miss walking a dog.  It still feels strange to me, all these years later, to go on a walk without a dog.  Of course I also miss how they clean your kitchen floors of all the crumbs and scraps of food that the kids manage to leave lying around.

So, in an attempt to get off the fence, one way or another, I am watching a friend's dog over Easter break.  Since I believe I am the only person I know not going somewhere warm (my kids are going to Florida with their dad), I will either enjoy having a little companion around and all that unconditional love. Or, I will be totally annoyed when this little teddy bear dog wakes me up too early, has muddy paws that need to be washed or has an accident on my carpet.

Feel free to send us a postcard!  I'll let you know how it goes.

I've had blog posts forming in my head for weeks.  Unfortunately they haven't made it out of my head, until now.  And as I write this, I have no idea how this blog is going to take shape.

Maybe it's the weather: cold, warm, cold, warm.  Maybe it's my computer: works, crashes, works, crashes, works, crashes.  (Yes, you read that correctly.  Three times, count 'em, three times, my computer has crashed on me in the last two weeks!)  Maybe it's the doctor appointments for my broken wrist. (And for those of you who wondered how my wrist was broken by a soccer ball, I had my vitamin D levels checked and they are normal.  Thanks for your concern.) But lately my thoughts are a little scattered.  I can't form a blog post, in my head, to save my life.  So, I'm just going to wing it. 

I've had Dell out here two times in the last two weeks and they will be coming again, this week, to fix my computer. Thank heavens for the extended service warranty.  (I've been using my old computer--the kids' computer--talk about slow!)

First, Dell replaced the video card and my computer worked like new again--for four days-- then it crashed. Next they replaced the video card and the mother board and my computer worked like new again.  Then, two days later, it crashed.  Now they are going to come out and replace everything in the hard drive.

In the end, it will have taken five hours worth of phone calls to India. The independent consultant Dell has in my area will have made three service calls (at least I hope it's only three).  They've shipped parts three times and then the computer consultant ships back the old parts.  Seems to me that would all add up to a brand new hard drive, by this point.

By contrast, here is how a visit to the Apple store went Sunday.  I walked in for a noon appointment at the Genius Bar.  I was kept waiting for about 15 minutes, then I explained that the charger for Miranda's Ipod Shuffle was not working and that it had not been working since November.  I also showed the paperwork that Apple had replaced her Shuffle in October, because it hadn't synced properly.  Shortly after that, the charger had gone; but I was just getting around to taking care of it now.

The very helpful genius tested it; sure enough it was not working.  He got me a new one, made sure it synced up with iTunes o.k.  He said, "Miranda will be back in business."  Then he handed me the $29.99 charger for free and I was on my way, within 10 minutes, tops.

Wow!  Now I realize that an Ipod Shuffle is not a computer.  But still.  The customer service was outstanding.  I never even had a receipt for her Shuffle in the first place, because I won it as a raffle prize.

For all you Apple cult members--you know who you are!  I may have been a little brainwashed my last two visits.  My next computer will be a laptop.  So the question is, Dell or Apple?