To a Grinding Halt

Well, first day back and already it's gone to hell.

I don't get computers at all. How is it that my machine can see the outside world fine but can't see the internal servers at all? And how does it not have enough memory to print? (Possibly because it's not connected to the server somehow?) And how is it that I got a dozen pieces of spam that didn't even get filtered out? I hate this place. Now I have to find ways to look busy when I can't access a) the place on the server where scanned documents go (so I can't send decision letters), b) the place on the server where they insisted I move copies of the papers we receive (so I can't send out new papers to referees) and c) the place on the server where Ham-Fisted Editor saves his version of his "To-Do" sheets (so I can't check to make sure I haven't got a screwed up version printed out. Again). Yippee.

Bonus, though: we finally have a reasonable decision on that paper that Ham-Fisted Editor wrote the outdated decision letter on. Not surprisingly, said letter actually came from Lady Competence. At least there are things to do on that end - asking for final versions. Asking for final versions is easy enough and I can sit around half-glancing at handwriting like I can't quite make out the word while I'm actually faffing and doing something else.

( Like, for example, Changeling write-up. )

In other news, my head still hurts and I don't want to be here, but I need to be around to take the call from TechMan, our single outsourced tech support agent who I got on voicemail after rebooting this fucking eMac for the eighth time. Bah.

This update was brought to you by...

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

leopard_lady gave me H, so here goes.

Horror: Ah, my favourite genre for movies, books and video games. Stephen King is my personal hero, and anyone who's been in any of my games knows how much I like using horror in games. It's always been my theory that, back in the days when we all lived in caves and relied on hunting to eat and big furry things were trying to eat us, we felt that adrenaline surge that a good horror flick gives me. A lot of people -- the people that like horror -- probably feel about the same thing. And even the people who don't like horror probably feel it too, and that's why they don't like it.

Herbalism: Don't get me wrong; modern medicine is a good thing. No one should rely solely on herbal medicine unless they're dealing with a qualified professional or have at least spoken to a doctor, particularly for the serious stuff. But look at it this way; dodgyhoodoo has gone to the doctor about this irritable bowel stuff and they prescribed him stuff that doesn't really work all that well. However, I seem to have nipped a fair bit of the rampaging gut horror in the bud with a tea that I'm still tweaking but at least we have a fallback and an adjunct to his meds. So herbalism: all to the good, say I.

Hoodoo: I still have a bit of a thing about that. I don't do rituals qua rituals, but I guess I consider myself a kitchen-witch. So hobtop hoodoo. There ya go.

Habs: Short form for the Montreal Canadiens, my hockey team. See 'Hockey', below. I have serious civic pride, particularly in terms of my sports loyalty.

Hockey: My favourite sport. It has speed, tactics, and men slamming each other into walls. What more could you want?

Holborn: Where I work. Well, basically.

Hope: One of the greatest virtues, and the hardest to keep at the moment, with the world going to hell in a handbasket.

Hospitals: I have worked in many, many hospitals. Mostly it has not been a great experience.

Headaches: I am migraine-prone. It is a bitch.

Handbag: I have been carrying the same handbag for six years. I love my handbag because it's big enough to carry everything I need to carry around and the only handbag I see around anywhere that has a strap long enough to wear crossways.

So that's that. Any takers?