Oh my good God. I am finally online. We ended up having to install AOL on my dad's laptop in order for us to get on, because the main computer is still...not running. Anyway, you'll understand all of this much more after reading the next posts [which, I'm sorry, are very long.] Have a nice day. I'll say "hi" to Casey for you all [hahahaha! maniacal laughter because I get to spend the day with the wonder that is Casey.]

This was written at 8:41 AM on Monday, August 27, 2001.
[ nevermind when it was posted, that’s just when I got a
chance to get on a computer.]

I am in technological hell. My computer won’t work and I don’t know why. My father doesn’t know why. And neither of us know how or what to do to fix it. I don’t even know if it is fixable. My solution [honestly] is to get a new f’ing computer. This present computer is notorious for breaking down at key moments in my technologically dependent life. The only thing that’s reliable about it, is that it is sure to break down at the very moment that it is to be printing out the essay that is worth 70% of my English grade or something of that ilk.

Saying this, I should’ve expected the current mutiny that is occurring. Last night, my dad [somehow and involving much use of obscenities] got the computer, in dos mode, mind you, to run ScanDisk. I went to sleep, hoping that I would wake up in the morning to a computer that, instead of beeping incessantly and whirring when I turned it on, would, in fact, smile at me and say “Katie, I’m sorry that I’m such a POS. I know that I have caused you much stress recently and I apologize. Here, push any key and I will perform any command you wish.” What did I wake up to instead? A note from my dad reading, “KT, [his way of spelling my name] I think the hard drive is fried – I will work on it tonight.” What the hell is that all about?
Please Lord, all I want to do is check my email, type out some simple assignments for yearbook, and post on Random-osity. I know my hopes may not be as important as say, the starving people in the Sudan, but PLEASE.
As of right now, I am here, at my house, with four children. Babysitting, once again. Not only are these my last days of summer but I am spending them watching kids that will only be satisfied if they are doing one or a combination of the following: (a) playing Nintendo64, (b) jumping on the trampoline, while body slamming each other, and (c) being obnoxiously loud. Now, let’s go through the options: (a) the boys arrive this morning with their N64 in tow, a stackload of games, and four controllers. They do not however, remember to bring the plug that goes into the wall outlet for power. So, that’s a no go. (b) it’s 8:30 in the morning. The trampoline is too wet with the morning dew to jump on right now. You even step on it and you’ll slide across to the other side because it’s so slippery. (c) Oh yes, that’s right. There’s nothing preventing this one.
So, imagine this: I’m in a house with four obnoxiously loud, yet somehow depressed children [I actually heard one of the boys say “Ahh man, do we have to go outside today?”] who have no choice but to be spending their last day of summer here, and are none too pleased. The only way to get out of that world, is to get onto the small, little world of the internet. Oh, but remember, your computer has gone kaput.
I’m typing this up on my dad’s laptop, because I have to do something. And to add insult to serious dilemma, I broke my nail this morning.
In this post, I had wanted to tell you about the few things I actually did this weekend [baseball game, 70th surprise birthday party for my great-uncle, and going to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.] But I guess you’ll just have to wait.
Tomorrow I’m going to Chuck-E-Cheese for my friend’s birthday [she’s turning 23.] All of my camp folks will be there [I’ll explain the distinguishing factors between friends and camp folks in a forthcoming post.] I’m pretty excited. I mean, not only has it been a while since I’ve seen any of the camp folks, but it’s also been quite a long time since I’ve been to Chuck-E-Cheese.
I’ll just drown my sorrows in endless games of air hockey and Skee-ball. And lots of pizza, there’s always pizza.