I had two major writing horror moments over the last week. The first was when I realized that that a major plot issue in SCONED TO DEATH didn't work. After many moments of panic, the answer presented itself. Except it meant going back to the beginning to change things. Then I was caught between going back and fixing everything or continuing to go forward with writing the rest according to the changes and leaving changing everything up until now in the rewrite. I finally compromised and left bread crumbs with notes how to change things from the beginning to where I am.
The second horror moment happened when this black slithery bug fell off my computer desk onto my wireless keyboard. My computer desk probably qualities as an antique. I got it when I got my first computer in the 80s. It has two pieces. One piece has a spot for a screen when they were small and gray and sat on a computer that had a floppy disk drive and operated on DOS. A pull out shelf was for the keyboard. The second piece was for a printer. A dot matrix printer that had a continuous roll of paper came up through a a slot.
Now the screen takes up most of the main piece. The computer tower is over the slot where the paper used to go. The printer is in another room.
The black squiggly thing probably could have cared less about how old the surface is that it was on. It came out from underneath my mouse pad and dropped onto the keyboard and disappeared into the blackness.
I admit my reason for wanting to get the bug somewhere that I could see it was so I could squish it. I have kind of a rule. I leave bugs on the outside alone, but if they're inside, I want them gone. Though I do often rescue spiders and take them outside. It's all because of reading Charlotte's Web and a Zoology class I took in college that gave me a whole new respect for them.
But I wanted this bug gone. So I picked up the wireless keyboard and turned it over so the bug would fall on the lighter colored desk. It fell and then I couldn't find it. I pushed the shelf under the top part of the desk, forgetting that I had a coffee cup sitting on it. The cup fell and landed upside down.
By the time I had moved the cup and put down paper towels to blot up the coffee, the bug was long gone. It was then that I looked up at the screen. Instead of a page full of words I had just typed, there was just white screen. I went backwards and forwards in the document and there was still just white screen.
Had I just lost my whole manuscript?
I started to freak and then got myself to to stop for a moment. When I looked at the tool bar on the bottom of the page found that I had somehow added hundreds of blank pages to the document. I guess it was all that shaking of the keyboard. I made sure all the stuff I had written was still there. It took some doing, but I figured out how to get rid of all the blank pages.
The squiggly thing is still on the loose somewhere. It looks kind of like a black version of a silverfish and I just read they can live for eight years. So maybe we will meet again.
12 comments:
Good morning -- You have had quite a week -- funny to read about but probably very irritating while going on. Glad things are working out.
I agree with you about bugs -- they get squished if they are in the house. There are little lizards around here -- one got in the house and I didn't see it for weeks, then one day this sad-looking, dehydrated little creature crawled across the floor. There was no way it was going to live so I put it out of its misery.
I'm working on the solid granny square blanket -- had to start over with a different sized hook several times because it was rippling but it's working well now. I got some free yarn yesterday -- I'd ordered two 2-skein packs but when the yarn arrived, there was only one pack. I called and the customer service guy said it could be reordered or they could issue a refund. I said refund -- but their system wouldn't let him refund just half of the order so he refunded the whole thing. Free yarn!!
I have a few household chores to do, then lots of crocheting. Hope your writing is back on track and all the characters are doing what they are supposed to do!!
Enjoy your day.
Patty, we have had lizards get inside. I was able to catch one and take it outside.
Nice about the yarn. I have had very good experiences with Lion Brand customer service.
Happy crocheting!
OH MY!! I totally understand. I do not like bugs and I live in Florida. I have those electronic things that go into outlets that seems to help a lot. I really hate the lizards. They remind me of tiny dinosaurs. Ugh.
Glad you didn't lose anything important and the bug found its way outside. Happy weekend!
Yikes, Betty, what a difficult and scary week. Hope you find and dispose of that bug. I'm also of the opinion that bugs outside are fine, but I don't want any visiting inside!
I have always been traumatized by bugs. When I was about 3 my mother took an outfit out for me to wear, and a "Daddy Long Legs" spider daintily walked out of the pant leg. I have never been the same !! Our family camped in Yosemite every summer, and I slept in the car. The kids thought I was worried about bears, but the truth was, I was afraid of bugs. Childhood trauma lives on !
Besides bugs I don't like bees in the house. They scare me. Somehow a bee got into my apartment and hung out at the window. The window has a screen so I couldn't just open the window and let it fly away. Someone told me to kill it with Windex so that's what I did. Got rid of the bee and cleaned the window at the same time. I would have preferred taking the bee outside but I didn't know how to do that.
I can out-bug/spider story all of you!! My husband and I were moving from the country into town -- I was very carefully moving some decorative tin stars from the side of the house, watching for spiders. I never thought about yellowjackets -- a swarm of them was behind the star and I was bitten six times. OMG, that hurt!! I put an icepack on my hand and it helped a lot, but in the middle of the night I woke up with my hand and arm throbbing and my hand so swollen, the skin was cracking. Floyd rushed me to the emergency room and they gave me a shot that helped immediately. In Texas, and maybe other places, people hang a plastic ziplock bag full of water, and with some copper pennies in it, from the edge of the porch or patio -- seems to keep wasps away. The condo where I live now has a monthly bug-spraying -- rarely see a bug -- just the pesky little lizards. I don't want them in the house but I don't think they bite!!
Sally, the lizards do look prehistoric. But the palmetto bugs you have would creep me out.
Linda O. Johnston, the squiggly bug hasn't made another appearance. I did take a spider outside last night. It was in a bowl which made it easy to transport.
Linda Osborn, it's amazing how that spider trauma lasted. I was more worried about the sign on the restroom in Yosemite that warned of bears.
Miriam, I think there is no way to rescue a bee. When I was a kid out in the country I came across a bumble bee floating in a tub of water. I wanted to rescue it and picked it up in a metal spoon. It flew right up and stung me on the top of my head. I remember thinking that the bee didn't understand that I was trying to save it, but the sting still really hurt.
Patty, your yellow jacket story sounds painful and dangerous. Interesting about the bag of water with pennies. Maybe it give off a scent they don't like.
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