Good day early on, but downhill later. Went to The Common Ground with Susan and Barb and, naturally, had a great time. I'm not crazy about the restaurant: I had a mediocre salad--iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, canned olives, teeney-tiny rectangles of American cheese, and not much else, in a bottled dressing--but of course, the company was great. Susan and I reminisced about our bar-hopping days, in and after high school (Barb went in the convent in her sophomore year), and marveled at how we escaped with our lives, considering we regularly got in cars with thoroughly buzzed companions as drivers.
The downside happened about 5:30 when Pat reported that the T.V. had suddenly displayed a black screen with the message "Your Explorer is not authorized to...(do something)" and was otherwise dead. Trying to get in touch with Comcast is such an ordeal and so absolutely frustrating that I can't even describe my mounting sense of helpless fury. I finally gave up trying and turned to the computer. Entered a "chat room," which was just as irritating--had to first type in my name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a description of the problem. Got somebody to respond and "chatted"--rather, she chatted and I screamed in caps and exclamation points ("WHAT IN THE HELL DO WE PAY YOU PEOPLE $103 A MONTH FOR?!??") and so on.
The upshot was that my new pal, Anna from Comcast, "sent a signal" to the T.V. and it seemed to clear. Of course, I no sooner ended the "chat" than the picture started breaking up and I had to log on again, typing in anew all the info crap I had before.
The whole damn thing was finally resolved, but not before it took ten years off my life (damn! why did I bother losing all that weight?) and made us sit down for dinner a half hour late.
After eating, I cleaned up, set everything up for later popcorn and wine, and breakfast (yes, I always do), then relaxed and got ready for my shower. Noticed a funny piece of something on my upper arm, looked more closely, and--a tick!
You know, after dealing with Comcast, this was a mere nothing. I gave Pat tweezers and he pulled it off, I dropped it in the toilet (where the little nasty started swimming around), and took my shower. After, I talked to my outdoor medical advisor, Alison, who questioned me as to the size of the bug and configuration of the site, and told me what to look for in case of Lyme disease (ho-hum).
Aside from that, all quiet.