My Weekend At Home With A Snotty Hacker

/ Ally Bean

Last week Zen-Den got a cold.  This is unusual.

He was traveling for work and somewhere along the way, on a plane or at a hotel perhaps, he picked up a nasty head cold that over the weekend morphed into wheezing and chest congestion.

This condition, as you can imagine, lead to lots of nose blowing and loud coughing.  I dubbed him a snotty hacker, which I thought was clever.

He didn’t seem to appreciate my sly sense of humor, clearly showing you that he didn’t feel good.

Snotty hacker.  That’s funny.  Healthy people would laugh.

Whatever.

So this past weekend, when I wasn’t fetching hot tea or a blanket or a box of Kleenex, I goofed off in my own low-key, dear-lord-it’s-hot-and-humid-outside, kind of way.

The following are my three big takeaways from my time spent, more or less, alone.

#1

Screen Shot 2015-06-16 at 7.53.38 AMI finished watching Grace and Frankie which is a wonderful new, not violent or crude, TV show available on Netflix.

The show, which stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as two straight women whose husbands have left the women for each other, is smart + authentic + funny.

Just a little bittersweet.

And has the most amazing house porn, the sort of which that is usually reserved for movies.

Go watch it now.  I give it 5 stars.

#2

Screen Shot 2015-06-16 at 7.32.31 AMEver since I heard the whole “Call Me Caitlyn” thing, it has bugged me.  Not the idea that a human being has the right to do whatever he or she wants to do within and/or to his or her body.

No, that I get.

What has bothered me, I finally figured out, is that a woman born in 1949 would not be named Caitlyn, a name that showed up in the the 1970s.  She’d be called Linda, the 1st most popular girl name that year.  Or Mary, the 2nd most popular.

And if by chance her name was “Caitlyn” it wouldn’t be spelled all modern-like.  It would be spelled Kate Lynn.  Shortened for the 9th most popular girl name, Kathleen + basic middle name, Lynn.

Kathleen Lynn.  A perfectly acceptable 1940s name.

Right?

#3

Screen Shot 2015-06-16 at 7.49.45 AMI finished reading A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet: Southern Stories of Faith, Family, and Fifteen Pounds of Bacon by Sophie Hudson.

Sophie is a blogger who took her personal stories to the next level by writing this funny, charming memoir.  The book, published in 2013, has been on my list of books to read for years, so I’m not exactly talking about it on a timely basis.

No surprise there.  My reading is rarely current.

However, be that as it may, I thought that I’d tell you, my gentle readers, that if I could pick a family to join, I want to be part of Sophie’s family.  I know that I could fit right in immediately.

I like bacon.  And I adore kindness.

Both of which are in abundance in this delightful memoir.  Highly recommended.

24 thoughts on “My Weekend At Home With A Snotty Hacker”

  1. “Snotty hacker” reminds me of an arrogant young computer geek that gets into websites. Or an old guy with a cold, I guess. Whatever I was, I was a good one to be sure. Thanks for your care-giving. As for Caitlyn: 1) Ewww, 2) Ewww, and 3) I agree with the Comedy Central guys – the offense is forcing us to look at a 65-year old half-dressed person who isn’t attractive.

    Like

    • Zen-Den, you are on to something there with those Comedy Central guys. Why is she, who is old by the standards applied to women, on the front of a women’s magazine? There was no one else available? ‘Tis rubbish, all of it.

      Like

  2. OMG! That was my exact reaction when I heard she renamed herself Caitlyn. Seriously, what’s wrong with Joan or Peggy (or Linda or Mary or an old name that starts with a B like…ummm…Bertha)? Guess it’s not good on reality TV.

    Like

    • Kate, the name is wrong. Can you imagine what her tombstone is going to look like to future archeologists who find the name, which they know is from 1970, on top of a body that is clearly older? It’s not nice to confuse the future.

      Also, Bertha would be a great name for her. Everything considered.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Poor Zen Den. Sure hope he’s doing better after your awesome care taking!
    I have so many books to read, but find it remarkable that I still buy books when we are out and about. Aren’t Southern books the best? Especially for me since living in the South for many years now.
    I agree about the Caitlyn name. I also find it amazing that he waited this long to make the change.

    Like

    • Beth, I like the Southern genre, for sure. In some ways my childhood was more southern than midwest, so reading about the South is easy, pleasant.

      I don’t like that name for a woman born in 1949. It’s out of sync with reality, a topic you’d think that Caitlyn would know inside and out!

      Like

  4. I give a pass to your husband. Summer colds are the worst, by far, and one’s Sense Of Humour is among the first things to go when stricken.

    I guess I also give a pass when it comes to choosing Caitlyn as a name. If you are having a rebirth, you can choose your name yourself and pick whatever you want. Why limit yourself?

    I’m glad to get a review of the Netflix series with Fonda and Tomlin. It looked intriguing, but I wasn’t sure about it. Maybe now I’ll give it a go.

    Like

    • nance, yes I agree. Summer colds are dreadful… for all involved.

      You are quite right about it being permissible to choose whatever name you want when rebirthing. But I don’t like it as it is. Spell it Kate Lynn and I’m on board with it. Not to mention, aren’t all those Kardashian people all about the “K”? Why not go with what got you where you are?

      I bet that you’ll enjoy Grace and Frankie. It’s one of the few TV shows that I’ve wanted to sit through it all RIGHT NOW. Some of the lines will make your day. And the sets… oh my.

      Like

  6. Grace and Frankie is on my summer watching list. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I’m glad to hear it’s so good. I look forward to it.

    Hopefully you won’t get that cold. Summer colds are miserable.

    Like

  7. I had not heard of Grace and Frankie, but it sounds like some great summer TV!

    Also, I have so many books to read and am so far behind. I think I need to become independently wealthy just to get through all of them!

    Like

    • Sarah, that’s exactly what it is: Summer TV. Grace and Frankie [plus their adult children] are a hoot, based on truth, but is a show that does not take itself too seriously.

      I’ve got books all over the place that I intend on reading. It’s just pitiful. But I can only do so much so I read ’em when I can get to ’em.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. No one does colds well, but the men I’ve been around have REALLY not handled them well. 😉 I didn’t realize that Lily Tomlin was still alive. I agree with you about Jenner’s name. It should be Margaret, right? Or is that for the over 80 set?

    Like

    • Margaret, Lily Tomlin with Jane Fonda make for a funny combo. Their chemistry is good together. Jenner’s name seems out of context to me and I think that’s why it bugs me. I like Margaret but then I have an old-fashioned name, too. So why wouldn’t I?

      Like

  9. I hope your snotty hacker is better now – and you did not get the bug. You did not quarantine him? Banish him to the garage? I hate colds in general and right now I seem to catch them just by reading about them.

    Interesting take on the name thing. My problem is that it all feels like a publicity thing – though this would be a damn long way to go for publicity.

    Thanks for the book recommendation. I’m always looking for something new and interesting.

    Like

    • Zazzy, so far I’m cold-free. 🙂

      I agree that it does seem like it’s all for the publicity. Some people’s egos require constant attention.

      The book is sweet. I liked her story and her way of looking at life. An easy read for a lazy [healthy for me] weekend.

      Like

    • la p, I understand changing your name, but the spelling seems wrong to me. Especially when the same sounding name can be spelled in a way that makes chronological sense. Go figure, huh?

      Like

  11. I’m researching names from the 1800s for my next book so that Caitlyn thing really struck me as funny. It’s incredibly historically inaccurate. My only thought would be she is being born right now so she can have a current name?

    Like

    • Kourtney, I think that you nailed the reason why she chose it. I get that she can do whatever the heck she wants, but that spelling still bugs me. As if my opinion of her choice means anything at all to Caitlyn.

      Like

Comments are closed.