Life can be a stressful place, full of very low lows that can make the world dark and oppressing. These are the moments where even the strong may break down multiple times in one day as the issues keep piling up, forcing the person to feel like the world has turned over and soon the fires of Hell will lick her ankles. With every hour last Wednesday, I felt my world trying to crumble beneath my feet, and could almost hear those pesky little demons laughing and chanting my name from the deepest darkest depths.
Now that I've been nice and dramatic, let me tell you my tale. It actually began Tuesday when for some reason, we had no internet connection in the house. No worry, thought I, I only have grad school to do and seeing as Tuesday is my only day off, I usually take care of the lectures and keep myself on track that day, but it's fine. I've needed a break in a long time, so I'll take the day off from life as a whole. My two jobs keep me busy enough without the help of grad school, and I found all I wanted was time to myself. Thus I spent the day watching crappy television while crocheting because it's a relaxing and useful skill of mine, especially as I make Christmas presents. Tuesday flew by and we soon acquired internet once more. I decided to wake up early on Wednesday and watch my videos, but first, I noticed Windows 7 wanted to update on my computer. Being a good little girl that I am, I allowed it to do this instead of waiting until it forced the update, perhaps at a time that did not really benefit me.
Soon, it was Wednesday, and as planned I work up early and pulled open my computer, Zachary. At first, all seemed well and I began to watch my videos. But alas! Something went wrong! A few minutes into my first lecture, Zachary started to slow down and then stopped responding. I tried clicking around a bit, but got nothing. Eventually, I turned it off and on again in frustration, hoping that would fix the problem-- it didn't. For a whole hour, I kept trying to get it to work. I tried running scans for viruses, but the machine would slow down too soon and abort the scan, so I couldn't even tell if it was a virus or not. Unfortunately, since it was Wednesday and not Tuesday, I had to get ready for work. Both jobs in fact, since I worked the other one that night.
In my frustration, I broke down for the first time before climbing into the shower, letting the hot water wash off my tears and get me ready for a hard day. I packed up Zachary and brought him to work, so that I could perhaps get him help between jobs. When I got to my first job, my boss let me continue to try to figure out Zachary. I called Dell and got as much help as I could since my warranty already expired. Then I tried a few tests and got nowhere. My computer seemed mostly fine, so what was wrong? I texted my computer-savvy boyfriend, but got no response.
I went home in defeat after my first job and tried to relax before the next one, since I still had no idea what to do. Computers and I usually get along because I know a little about them, but I knew I needed an expert. I went to my next job, hoping to use the computers there to at least do some homework and try to get back on track.
Alas! My problems were not over yet! There, I found two anxious messages in my inbox saying I forgot to take a quiz for a class. Once again, I broke down, feeling everything crash around me. I pulled myself together though, and emailed my professor. After a quick email chat back and forth, she let me take the quiz with a 15% reduction. I said fine and took it immediately. To be fair, this means I did not do exceeding well, but I finished and got it over with. I learned my lesson and have marked down the next quiz, hoping to regain some points by that score.
Finally, my boyfriend responded to my three texts I sent: one to tell him my computer was broken, one to ask if he could come visit me at work and fix it, and one to illustrate my frustration after I found out I hadn't taken the quiz. See, I'm not a crazy texter like other girls. I like giving people a chance to answer if I can. He told me to come over and immediately took Zachary from my hands. If not for him, I would not be writing this now.
Long story short, I got Zachary back and can work on him, even though he's not entirely fixed. I can at least stay on top of my classes and even wrote 6,000 words today of my novel. I'm still 4,000 (soon to be 5,667) words behind, but I'll figure it out and just write more words a day. My crisis has been averted and I live to see another day!
