SHUTTING THE DOOR ON 2004, Part 3
SHUTTING THE DOOR ON 2004, Part 3
With
any luck, this will be the final installment in the catgegory of
looking back at the past year. Predictions for the rest of this
year and beyond, however, will continue until this blog ceases to exist.
<hr>
I should have known better.
No,
not Beatles lyrics. Anger at myself. Here's the
scoop: 99% of the time these blog entries are composed using word
processing or text editing software, then transferred over to the blogging agent.
I use a WYSIWYG setting, which has lately been causing me some
grief. This is mostly due to my insistence on staying with FireFox, and only FireFox, for all browsing and browser-based activity.
Given that the Manila team --or the newbies Discussion Group, of which I've been a member for something like 6 years now, ever a newbie!-- over at Userland
tends to come up with answers to all queries (or at least that's been
my experience), I trust they will help me solve these recent
concerns.
Seems that Manila and FireFox have some interoperability
glitches. So the posts don't necessarily look as I intend them
to, or the graphics are not aligned or spaced as I might prefer.
Again, given the people and the problem, there is no doubt a solution
will present itself in short order.
So, anyway, as I was saying. I should have known better.
Rather than compose the entry in a word processor or text editor,
I composed a very long,entry, full well meant to be the final post on
the topic, under that headline and short paragraph you see above the
line. But no, in the interests of time, urgency, a desire to move
on, and to clear my handwritten notes on the entry off my crowded
desk (a real wooden desk, the kind with pictures of my loved
ones, bills to be
paid, cat hair, odds and ends and paperclips, post-its, a thing of
dental floss ---- not the virtual desks and desktops housed
inside these computers that surround me) what did I do? I took
the short cut, and composed it right in the Manila compose window.
Shame on me.
My main PC has been acting a little funny. Needs more memory, it
seems, given the workload I pile on the poor thing. My friend
BobThe Computer Guy tells me I overwork and tax these machines to the
max. He expressed sympathy for the computers. And since
Firefox offers tabbed bowsing, I always seem to have three or
four (or more!) FireFox windows open, with numerous open tabs in each
event.
So there I am, about 75 or 80% completed with the entry. The machine seemed to be slowing down a bit. Ok, I thought, no problem. Let me save this to the server, then complete what's left of the post. While
I was uploading that entry in the Manila composer window, my machine
got a little testy. Then the server that hosts the blog got even
testier. Uh oh, danger Will Bloggenson.
The server timed out. My computer froze. Like choreograpy, these
two dreaded events occured simultaneously. Try as I did, even
afer the computer unfroze to some degree, there was no way to save or
copy or get into the composition box. An anoyng Javascript
window, telling me there was a problem reaching the server, blocked
eintry into the composer window -- and froze that Java window smack dab
in the middle of the blog upload window. Grrrrrrrrr.
So the entire post -- unsaved, not-yet-backed-up, only existing in the
composer window, blocked by Java, was lost. And, of course, I had been all sorts of
proud and pleased with my writing. So much for pride or
joy. And no desktop search, or scanning of temp files could
find any remaining vestige of all that composition,
inserting of links and graphics, nothing.
I should have known better.
Shame on me. Surely I am not the only blogger out there who encounters such tsurris. As the famous Chinese restaurateur was known to say: Wo is me.
The 2004 recap/2005 look ahead is officially suspended.
OTHER IMPORTANT TOP OF MIND SUBJECT MATTER
There are other topics, observations, ideas and discussion more worthy
of entry as we forge our way forward into the year. Time to
return to the present. At some point, expect maybe a second stab
at that lost entry. And, of course, prognostictions and bold
predictions.
Such as this: the Yankees will return to the
World Series this year. Baltimore will be the surprise competitor
in the division, with a strong long and short relief squad perplexing
hitters. Boston will suffer from internal combustion, and endure
long losing streaks. Manny Ramirez, after being a pretty
well-behaved team player for a full year, will return to his nutty
ways, especially with Pedro out of the clubhouse, out of the
spotlight. Schilling and
Manny will have a dust-up or two in the clubhouse, and ethnic lines
will be drawn . . .if not by the players, certainly by the Boston
Press, which will need something to whine about. Just like the
fans, who will need to adjust from being gloating winners to struggling
defenders of the crown -----as they get reaccustomed to seeing
the Yanks regain their
rightful position of dominance in the AL East and the post
season----- the Boston Press will need to find back page tabloid
headlines to assuage their grief as the one year of glory seems to fade
away.
The Mets will find that starting pitching that gives longer than
100-pitch outings is what wins games and leads the division.
And that they do not have this in their starting five. Well,
maybe in Zambrano, if he and his arm don't find themselves back on the
Disabled List. Powerful bats are one thing, but good pitching
always beats good
hitting. Pedro will burn out early. Glavine will
become an afterthought, a mere glimmer of what he used to be. And
the Mets have less than no bullpen, which will be the bane of new
Manager Willie Randloph's existence.
Atlanta will dominate the NL East. Philly will give the Braves a
run for the money, but Atlanta will prevail. Florida looks a
little iffy at this moment, but deals not yet made could put them right
up there with the Phillies, battling Atlanta for the top spot.
Arizona will look no better, despite having tried to shore up the team
with some major signings and sending The Big Unit to the Yanks.
Ahh, baseball discussion. Gee, I feel better already. Maybe it wasn't such a tragedy, even though I should have known better, to have lost that well-intended entry.
Life goes on. Even this year goes on, nascent new arrival that it
is. Next thing you know, the cornoation, oops, inauguration will
be over and done with, Valentine's Day will be upon us, and there might
even be that lovely, seductive, alluring and satisfying scent of Spring
in the air, before it seems one has even blinked an eye.
