Computer Hell: I am in the middle of a computer nightmare with my laptop. It has a really, really bad virus. I have avast (fully up to date), windows firewall, as well as advanced windows care for malware - and still something got through, whether from the Internet or from a student assignment - I can't tell, could be either one. I spent all day yesterday on it and still can't fix it. I am at the point where I might have to reformat. I don't want to, and I will probably have to buy the recovery console CD (because naturally I can't find it)  but I don't have the time to continue with tweaks in the hope that one will work. Time to cut my losses. I can hardly think of anything else (except my final paragraph, that is).

Phone Hell: Landlines in Samsonville were down for 18 days from Irene, and finally got repaired last week. Then they went out again two days ago. So once again my parents had no phone. Tech support said it would be October 1 before they would be fixed! However "someone with juice" intervened and service was restored yesterday. Yay! In Castleton, I use Home Phone Connect - which is from the wireless division. (Actually I use it in Samsonville too, with a network extender.) Works like a charm. But, since I have DSL, I need a landline. So that telephone is exclusively a fax line. Turns out it has never worked - since it was installed in February. DSL works great, but no voice. Technician came out last week and is stumped. Why should I pay for the phone part when it doesn't work? So once the computer issues are solved, that is my next battle.

Alternative Transportation: Bob is traveling and this is a campus day, so that means I have to hitch a ride somehow. CDTA canceled bus service to Castleton about two years ago (except for a senior bus on Wednesdays - now I may be 50 but I have not yet received my AARP solicitation and besides...). So this means taxi to downtown and then bus to campus. This morning I feared I'd have to cancel class since I could not find a cab willing to make the trip to the hinterlands! I finally did - crisis averted. Then the bus ride up Washington Avenue was interesting. To say the least. I used to do some of my best writing on mass transit, and I remembered why.

Arachnophobia: All summer there has been a spider living between the bathroom window and the screen. I don't routinely kill stuff, so I have tolerated its presence and the web behind the glass. I remind myself that they are good bugs for pest control. A couple of weeks ago, when it was getting cold, I thought, that spider will soon freeze once the season changes, and I sadly remembered the story of Charlotte. Well, a couple of days ago, the spider somehow slipped between the window and the molding and relocated itself to the inside of the bathroom window. It hangs out on its web, not too far from the bathtub, towels, and toilet. I can't have a spider right there - somewhat because it is a strange thing to let go in the house but mostly because as a survivor of a Brown Recluse bite, it is hard for me to put the fear out of my mind. I know it is just a common spider, not a poisonous one, but it is quite large and very fast, and besides, I don't want the dogs or cat to get bitten. But, I can't help but think that it is smart, with a strong survival instinct, to slip inside before the frost comes. Bob told me he will squash it one day when I am not around. I know he will, and one part of me can't wait, but another hates to have that happen. I suppose he could catch and release it (he might if I asked him to do that instead) but then, it will just die outside in the cold anyway. Tonight in class we began the discussion of moral questions - and so this is my own personal moral dilemma.