Dawn Is Me

From the Pinch me … or Don’t column in the WorldWIT newsletter, Thinking Aloud … this was just too good not to share:

I had a gap in my employment record and the HR professional who was interviewing me for a new job asked about it. I replied that I had moved from another state to take care of my terminally ill mother and had left the work force entirely to be with her during her last few months. I told him that she was deceased and added that the estate was settled, the house was sold, and that I was eager to get back to my career. He looked me straight in the eye and asked, “How do we know that it will not happen again?”
Hmm….

I wonder if she managed to answer that question with a straight face? I’m reasonably certain I wouldn’t have been able to.

Today, I lost about six and a half hours out of my life.

I’d ask you if you’ve seen them, but I know better. They’re gone, lost forever.

They were eaten by an evil .htaccess file.

So, there I was, trying to install a nifty plugin into my business blog (you know, the one where, unlike my personal blogs, it really matters if it goes down) to let my visitors email individual posts to folks if they like. I’m following directions like the well-behaved amateur geekette that I am when — BLAM!

Not only do I get a 500 error when I try to update the .htaccess file, I get a similar error if I even try to access the main page of the blog.

After lots of putzing around, I finally managed to retrieve my blog by deleting the .htaccess file altogether. And that’s working nicely, as long as nobody tries to get into either the Monthly or the Category Archives.

At about that point, I realized that it was 5:45 p.m. and I had no idea what I was going to feed my family for dinner, and I was tired and in need of a stiff rum and OJ besides.

Anybody out there know how to get Word Press to regenerate an .htaccess file?

Did I say I wanted to learn PHP? Oy.

I’m in a kind of somber mood right now, for no reason that I can figure out. There have been some really good things happening to our family lately, and that Last Big Problem got resolved yesterday in a nick of time just before close of business for the year.

So, what’s my problem? Hell if I know.

So, 2005 is on its way out (yay!) and 2006 is on its way in (yay!). If 2004 was a year full of professional triumphs and personal challenges, 2005 was just the opposite: personal/parenting triumphs and professional suckiness.

We got David on medications that really seem to be helping. The difference has been amazing — he really seems to be part of the family now, and we are so very thankful. Of course, he doesn’t behave in any way that approximates “normal” but, all things considered, at least he’s here.

I embarrassed Gina to death when I mentioned this to her about an hour ago, but really, this has been 2005: The Year of The G. She spent a lot of the year going through the ringer, thanks to the antics of Psycho Boy, but she came through it all with flying colors and had a truly fabulous last couple of months here. Now, she’s collecting kudos and college recruitment spam, her friends’ parents wish their kids were like her, and she is a blessing to her parents. Everybody should house a teenager like this.

Kimmie has grown and matured so much this year that it’s amazing. It’s been a challenging year in the world of the K, largely because of people within the school administration who are … um … inflexible. But we’re very, very lucky that we have a really good counsellor for her (outstanding professional individual there) who is working with me and with the school to make sure she doesn’t go down the drain. I can’t imagine facing this kind of situation without support, and I feel for those parents who are forced to do just that.

And then there’s Ricky, who isn’t so little anymore. Early days yet for this man-child; as of right now, he’s relatively trouble-free (as trouble-free as any of them get) and we’ll hope he stays that way. He’s at the serious pain-in-the-keester stage but, all things considered, the prospects are good.

Gino is holding it together relatively well and, armed with his new rodent, seems to be coming back. He is taking better care of his health after that Thanksgiving Day scare and he is taking better care of his mental health, too, and without any nagging from me — something of a triumph all by itself. And there are some things afoot at his company that bid fair to make a major impact on his earning power in the not-too-distant future.

All this is good stuff to be taking into the new year.

Me? Well, I’m exhausted. Thinking back over the year (and stepping away from the superwoman complex that afflicts me), I give myself credit for not collapsing or having a nervous breakdown or anything like that. With any luck, I’ll be able to give myself a belated Christmas present of some well-earned rest soon …

Possibly, I’ll come back in here and post further later in the day when I’m likely to be more … um … cheerful. But if I don’t make it …

Happy New Year!