Well...That Was A Bummer

These most likely look like random numbers to you. There are a select few that can understand what they mean. They would have to work for the same employer that I work for, and they would have to work on the same computer program that I work on.

Like I said, a select group.

I am a caseworker and have several hundred cases assigned to me. Yesterday, I was instructed to shift some of those cases to some of the co-workers on my team. They're new and it's time for them to take on more work, more responsibility. Of course, I'm a team-player and want to help them on their journey. I gladly begun transferring the cases.

I started transferring yesterday afternoon. It took several hours and I was only halfway through. Right now, we're upgrading from an old version of our program to a newer version. It's a complicated program taking several years to build. Because of that, there are some shortcuts built in that I know about, but many more I don't. I was getting tired of transferring cases the old-fashioned way. I thought I'd try and see if I could figure out one of those shortcuts.

Nope. 

I didn't figure out a shortcut. I actually transferred every case I had to a poor co-worker, and a newbie at that. I hurried and called the help desk to see if they could somehow fix my mistake. The guy just laughed. He apologized for laughing, but I knew how he felt. It was laugh-worthy.

It took several hours to fix the error. Thankfully, I was caught up and was able to get my regular workload done today even with the distraction. No...the old adage of "slow and steady wins the race" is a good one. Next time, I'll make better decisions. Live and learn.

Resurrecting The Beast...

It began when I saw a Black Friday deal for a keyboard protector. We ordered it. It arrived yesterday. The only problem was it protected not the new Macbook I bought a year ago, but the one I bought many years ago that I used so much the letters on some of the keys were beginning to deteriorate. 

Bummer.

These things happen. Good thing the keyboard cover was only a couple of bucks. But since I had the new keyboard cover, I wondered if I should drag the old computer out of storage and see if I could use it in some way. We've thought about cleaning it up and letting one of my kids use it, but we haven't done anything about it. I thought I'd try.

I probably should have kept it in storage.

I hooked up the charger and fired up the computer. I love that laptop--my first published stories were cranked out on that thing. I started my daily blog and wrote every day on it. It just got too slow. I put on the keyboard cover and started to clean it up.

The first thing it wanted me to do was upgrade. The first couple of things worked well. It was still slow, but I considered re-setting it to factory standards--whipping it clean. The next thing it asked me to do was upgrade to the latest operating system. That's when it didn't quite work. Now, each time I try it tells me it won't work. I suppose I could take it down to the Apple Store and have them clean it up. Maybe I will. And there's a possibility that I can figure out how to fix it, too. It'll take some time and time is short right now.

The new Macbook is working great. I guess a day will come when it no longer operates at peak performance. Will I stow this one away as well? Time will tell.

No Longer Just A Gym...

There are shows on TV, lots of them, actually, that showcase the splendor and pageantry that is a wedding. Some shows highlight the extreme lengths we go through to make that event one of the most memorable and special in our lives.

But, oh, at what a cost!

I ought to say at this point that I am cheap, very cheap, or using the more finessed word "frugal." It's probably because I've never really had a lot of disposable income in my life. And I'm okay with that. I know some people have more money and have worked very hard to give their children what they want. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It's just what some do.

Of course, there's a lot of cheap/frugal people out there. I believe many in the area where I live consider themselves the same. I've noticed this when it comes to weddings. 

I heard a news report this week that indicated Utah has the highest number per capita of church-goers in the nation, just above 50%, and if you've driven through the state, you'll notice in many areas there are churches everywhere! Almost all of them are the same denomination: LDS.

Like many religions, the churches are not only used on Sundays. Most LDS churches, at least in America, have kitchens, basketball gyms, as well as rooms for worship and instruction. It's also a wonderful place to hold a wedding reception. The gym and kitchen (and parking lot...) function well as a location for several hundred visitors to gather, congratulate the couples and their families, and even have a snack.

There is one HUGE advantage for a member of the congregation to have a wedding or wedding reception at a LDS church--it's free. My cheap side likes this. But there's another equally HUGE disadvantage of having a wedding or wedding reception in a LDS church.

It's in a gymnasium!

There are basketball standards at each end and three-point lines on the floor! I can overlook these things (cheap...), but I understand that others cannot. Tonight my wife, daughter and I attended a reception in a church gym, but when we walked in the space, we saw something different. The family hired a service that constructed an indoor tent of sorts with flowing white linens and lights that made you completely forget you were standing inside a church gym. Now, I know it probably wasn't cheap to decorate the space like that, but it made such a difference. It was so beautiful looking up, I didn't even notice the three-point lines on the floor.