Computer woes worsen before getting better

After the third trip to two computer "fix-it" places, I called Microsoft/contact us. The first girl was helpful and talked to me from Panama City, Panama. The second--she forwarded me--was a man "30-minutes-from-Buffalo" who gave me the number of the place that would absolutely solve any problem I had. BUT, he lied. First, I had to pass the robot answering machine, and when I couldn't say that I was both on my computer (I was) and had the activation wizard in front of me (I didn't),he said he couldn't help and hung up on ME! I called again and kept punching the "0" until I got a real person, but I couldn't understand anything she said except "Maam" which sounded like "Mahm." I finally had to hang up--about at the end of my rope (pun intended).
I ordered an Outlook Office 2010!!! It's installed, tho I had to uninstall my Office 07 and two other related programs, BECAUSE I ordered 64-bit and those had 32.
I haven't yet checked to see if I can work on my files. If I can't, I'll probably do something really drastic!!!!!!!
Meanwhile,some poems.

THREE CINQUAINS

The grave-
yard's being split
between Senate districts.
Living leaders fuss, but the dead
don't care.
~~~~

Yellow
taxis, four-lanes
deep as far as the eye
can see, block streets in Greece--drivers
on strike.
~~~~

The wind
blows fierce, hies all
my rugs away--those old
ones cov'ring inch-wide gaps in porch
concrete.
~~~~
TANKA

dead-animal smell
shriveled earthworm on the walk
and yellowed hosta
this 3-digit weather
requires watering--or death
~~~~

c July 2011 by lovepat press

Look for A Journey of Choice (by Pat Laster)
at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Computer woes - worse this time than before

After he saved all my information on a thumb drive, Mr. Tech wiped my computer clean.
I spent an hour this morning reading on in Roy Blount Jr.'s Alphabetter Juice while the recovery drive restored my stuff. Yet, I still can't access my up-link account or my document folder, and I only found this "favorite"--my blog-- by "googling" it on my browser. The list of "favorites" is gone. My myriad newspaper columns appear to be gone. Oh, I hope they are somewhere on that thumb drive.Guess I need to call Stephen who repaired the computer after Julian only thought it was repaired. It cost me nothing the second time but a Lexar thumb drive to back up all my files. Then Stephen wiped it clean--as clean as if it came from the factory, he said. (He was amazed that I had no back-up discs. Tsk, tsk.)

July 8.

treetops and roof vents
moving this summer morning
cool in the shadows
~~
cat joins me
on the picnic-table bench
his white paws so white
~~
July 11

Robin
in the freshly
filled birdbath on this mid-
summer, 3-digit temp, humid
evening.
~~
a slight July breeze
the gift Mandevilla
swivels slowly
~~
the AC broken
why do I swelter with two
fans in the attic?
~~

July 13

all of a sudden
a north wind furls the flag
cools my shoulders--
and just as quickly
is gone
~~
eighty-two degrees
at six o'clock a.m.
a dove calls
~~
July 14

earth-shaking thunder
preceding the needed rain
during this mid-summer day--
afterwards, a full rainbow
arcing the southern sky
~~
Morning's
temperature
dropped ten degrees since this
time yesterday when a t-storm
roared through.
~~
A cup
of fresh coffee--
half caff and half decaf--
with a packet of sweetener, tastes
sublime.

c July 18 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press
Look for my novel, A Journey of Choice, on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Still July; still hot in central Arkansas USA

"Former Hospital Employee"

Paying
his cable bill
with funds he netted when
pawning wedding rings from a dead
patient. [from the newspaper]
~~~~~

waking myself
and my bunkmate
by dream singing [actual]
~~~~

an east breeze
furling the flag
cooling the swing [actual]
~~~~

"In a Distant Galaxy" (a Sen-News pattern)

the flash: a black hole
sucking in a sun-sized star
that wandered too close [news]
~~~~
"Irony"
Christchurch,
in New Zealand,
scene of yet another
earthquake, trapping two folks inside
a church. [news]
~~~~

"Queen Calico"

'Lizabeth,
by grumbling deep
in her throat when hissing
didn't work, caused a Moor* to back
away. [actual]
* one of the 4 black feral cats who like our catfood
~~~~

early morning
a bird screeches
from downriver [actual:Cherokee Village AR]

c 2011 by Pat Laster, dba lovepat press
Visit my prose blog, Pitty Patter at blogspot.com

July--half the year gone already

Each year, JULY spawns many poems.
Here is a sampling.

2007:
a few clusters
of crepe myrtle above vines
left for privacy
~~~
chipmunk
drinking from the birdbath~
mid-July cool spell
~~~
small black butterfly
lighting on the purple bloom
of French mulberry
~~~
2009:
following the loud
'chit' of a bird, I tiptoe. . .
a brown thrasher eats
~~~
hearing planes
but not seeing them
through trees' canopy
~~~
2010:
fourth generation
of cats too wild to catch
cavort in my yard
~~~
early July
morning temp low enough
to sit outside
smell of a dead animal
spoils the ambiance
~~~
c 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press