Thursday, February 25, 2010

Installing Love

INSTALLING LOVE Author Unknown

Tech Support: Yes, ... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize You’re Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

I think we all need to install love!

Jenni

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Gambling Anyone?

Yesterday I went to Mystic Lake Casino with my dad, sister and nurse to play the slots. I'm not much of a gambler; it was only my second time actually being on the floor with the machines. I used to go all the time as a kid with my grandparents just to eat and browse the shops. I didn't remember how many people smoked while they gambled. I guess it's stressful losing money or something like that. Well, it's not the best idea for me to be around all that smoke with my vent and all so we made our way back to the "non-smoking" section of the casino. When we got there, we realized that the "non-smoking" section and the "smoking" section were separated by a single aisle with machines on both sides. It wasn't exactly isolated; so much for that idea.

We ended up staying there anyways and played some different machines. I put a dollar in a couple of them, but didn't win anything. Then I found this one that I played the first time I went to the casino called Reel 'em in. I stuck $10 in that one and played till it was gone. I don't understand how people can sit there for hours just pushing a button. Especially if all you do is lose. The one thing that was funny to me was the fact that my nurse got to gamble with my money. Since I can't exactly push the button, she had to do it for me. I kept getting distracted because I wasn't actually focusing on betting.

When we were on our way out, I stopped at the poker machine and put my last $10 in. I wish I had been there the whole time because that section wasn't very smoky because it was really close to the hotel. Plus I kept winning which made it my favorite game. I quit playing when I was up to $15. That means I only lost seven dollars the whole day; not too bad. My dad and sister both left with less money as well. It was fun though, and great people watching.

Jenni

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I Need Some Ideas

I know I haven't posted as often as I usually do this month. I'm kind of in a mode where I can't think of anything to write about. I feel like I've shared a lot of stuff about my life, and I know people are reading my posts, but I need some fresh ideas of things to write about. I want to know what you want to know about me. It's one thing to just share what I'm doing and talk about school, but it's another to dig deeper and write about what I'm feeling and actual things that I'm going through as a quadriplegic. I want it to be even more personal about myself than I've already shared. So, if you have questions, ask away. You can either comment or e-mail me. Maybe your question will spark some ideas in me.

Jenni

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Taking Naps

I just woke up from a 45 minute afternoon nap. I usually take one every day, unless I'm too busy. Even then I end up sleeping on the bus/in the car on the way to or from wherever I'm going. I can fall asleep just about anywhere and anytime. Most likely you'll find me sleeping at home in the afternoon in front of my computer. The second my nurse puts my headset on and turns the computer on, I fall asleep. That's exactly what happened today. Then for the next hour or so after I wake up I'm really groggy and fade in and out of sleep.

I have to be careful when I fall asleep when I'm using the computer because sometimes I start doing something and then I fade off before I turn the microphone off. If I'm not talking, the microphone will sometimes pick up the sound of my breath and interpret it as the word "him". If I'm typing on Microsoft Word and I fall asleep, I'll wake up to the word "him" written like 25 times. Either that or I'll be on some website I didn't know existed. I guess it's kind of funny when I think about it.

I do like taking naps, but sometimes I feel like it just wastes so much time, especially if I have a lot of stuff to do. I wish I could sleep better at night, and not have to worry about catching up on sleep in the middle of the day.

Jenni

Happy Valentine's Day

-Painting done by Teo Alfonso

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Repaired

I had someone wrap a piece of electrical tape around some exposed wire on the cord to my microphone. It works! I'm hoping that it was just a one time glitch and that it doesn't happen again. I was so frustrated yesterday trying to get it to work. That's my main mode of communication, not to mention how I do my home work for class!

Last Friday I had Botox injections in my neck and shoulders. It'll take a few more days before I'll start feeling the full effect and for my muscles to loosen. On Sunday I went to church in the morning and then watched the Super Bowl. I wasn't really rooting for any team, but I was watching the commercials. I actually didn't think they were that funny this year compared to other years. Yesterday I went to my psychology of religion class. I'm really enjoying the discussions.

Jenni

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Out of Order

My nurse is typing this post for me. My microphone that I use to type with my speech recognition software is not working. If I am unable to fix it, I'll have to get a new one. In the meantime, I won't be able to do any posts independently.

Jenni

Thursday, February 4, 2010

An Inspirational Poem

Hold on Another Day

When darkness
like a heavy stone falls
and you're crushed by the weight of it all
Hold on another day
When your tears are streaming to the floor
and it seems your heart can't take any more
Hold on another day

When you think the whole world's against you
and your sweetest dreams
have all crumbled, too
Hold on another day
When your soul
is shattered to the core
and you don't know
what you're living for
Hold on another day

When false friends
prove themselves untrue
grinding your trust
like dust under their shoes
Hold on another day
When it's hard
to even breathe a breath
and you believe you would welcome death
Hold on another day

Hold on another day
Don't give up or give in
Hold on another day
start all over again
Sorrow comes to each and everyone
But tomorrow will bring a brand new sun
Hold on another day
Hold on another day
-Ben Laney

I don't know about you but this one made me tear up a bit. It hits very close to home. I guess it kind of sums it all up for me.

Jenni

Monday, February 1, 2010

Reading Books

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading The shack by William Paul Young. I thought it was a great book! It was very well written and executed. For my psychology of religion class, we have to read two books out of five that the teacher picks. I'm already more than halfway done with the first book. After reading each book, we have to post five questions in an online discussion board that we have.

Even though I love to read, it is difficult for me because someone has to be right next to me to turn pages. I'm hoping to get a page turner soon. The only thing with that is that I would have to have some sort of switch to operate it. I could hit the switch with my head; I don't think they make that page turners voice-activated. I looked into something like an e-book where I can download books on it. Then I have the problem of someone pushing the button to turn the page.

Jenni