Frustrations abound

You know how in those first few morning minutes between asleep and awake, you sometimes get a sense of what the day will be like? Some days you're feeling calm and serene, while other times you want to rip someone's face off before you feet his the floor.

Today is a rip-someone's-face-off day. Actually it's a rip-the-computer-out-of-the-socket and throw-it-out-the-window kind of day.

I've been having trouble sending e-mails with attachments, so I had to set up a gmail account for that. Beginning last night, I couldn't send any kind of e-mails at all. I'm trying to use the webmail account to reply to an e-mail – that usually works – and the half-drawn screen just sits there. And sits there. And sits there!

The e-mail I'm trying to reply to is a forwarded message I've received previously from a different caring, Republican friend. If you happen to be one of my Facebook friends, you've already read this rant: If you decide to forward something, please have the decency to check out its accuracy prior to sending it. Snopes.com is there for a reason.

The hell of it is, the person who forwarded the lie to me is a caring, Republican, Facebook friend. Grrr.

My e-mail troubles may be one of two (or more) things: The server is acting up (I have no control over that), or my e-mail application (I use Apple Mail) is corrupt and needs to be reinstalled. I've investigated that option and am not sure how I can reinstall without losing what I have. (The version I will be reinstalling is a step backward from the current update which now lives on my hard drive.)

I love technology, I do, I do, I do. But instead of spending my birthday gift certificate on a new fancy gadget, as my husband wanted me to, I bought books. Real books made out of paper and ink.

My other frustration is tiny in size but great in numbers. I have a fruitfly problem and it's driving me insane! Good thing I married a shrink, eh?

I've tried everything, but perhaps I'm just not patient enough. The internets suggest two solutions. One is to put a mixture of dish detergent and vinegar in a shallow bowl. The pesky little insects are supposed to dive in and drown. The other is to put a piece of a banana in a jar, securely cover the top with plastic wrap and poke a couple tiny holes in the top. The critters will crawl into the jar to eat the fruit, but will be unable to get out.

I have both methods set up now and I'm still swatting the stupid things.

While we're being frustrated, my lawnmower died its annual death a couple of days ago. (For the past three years I've had to replace a starter module. Planned obsolescence? They just don't make things like they used to, do they?) The local mower repair guy promised to pick it up and keep it for the winter, to replace the module and the brakes and the clutch and anything else it needs. Has he been by yet? Nope – the mower is sitting, covered by a blue tarp, right by the garage. I'd like it to be a little more protected from the elements. Actually I'd like it to be fixed.

And finally, since this is, after all, a weight loss-fitness-"diet" blog, I get on the scales every two or three days now, just to make sure that my healthful meals and daily walk are working. Yep, I'm staying within the same two-pound range I've been in since July.

I think I'll throw myself off a bridge. With the current state of frustration, though, I'd probably just break a leg.