Cool Your Jets

Talking to the laptop. The dust inside is choking the poor beast. The aging circuits are frying as we type (as you read, sort of). The fans blow, but the heat continues to rise as there is no air-conditioning in this space. Yes, living in Florida without air conditioning. Almost as fun as living in the car through a Buffalo winter. That's Buffalo, NY, not some reference to an ancient native people's saying. Please don't die (he begs the laptop). Me too.

It's (the laptop) been shutting down suddenly over the past few days. At first I thought it was a battery issue because the battery will not longer take a full charge and the power management system seems wonky, but now I am guessing it is the power supply itself that is overheating and shutting down. Or something like that. So far, after cooling, it starts up again... ever so slowly. It is an ancient machine by industry standards. I bought it when Windows Vista was just being improved to it's second service pack. It was a multimedia cutting edge system in it's day, but the Harmon Kardon speakers are dried out and rotted and recently the sound card seemed to burn out so there is no sound. That makes being an active part of the online community challenging, even more, it makes being an active part of a community coming together challenging because I can't hear the news or other videos people are making. No TV means I am as out of touch with the world as it can get short of shutting the doors and never going out. I almost wish I could do that. But they want me to be a leader.

So I lead. I tell a group of 5,000 (and growing) people where I will be and some come out with positive signs and rainbow flags and so much love, it's beautiful. The crowd was smaller again today as the online undermining going on in the bigger group continues and there is no way to get them the message that the Admin is a traitor to the community who took up the cause for the hate group. There is a major funeral downtown Sunday and that group is being told to stay away even though the Westboro Church hate group has a permit to protest the funeral. We are hoping at least a few hundred of our people come out and are not scared away by the other groups mixed-messages.

I am not going to empower that cruel man by giving him any credibility or linkage. All I can do is offer comfort to the confused and hurting people who do come out and ask them to join the new group and spread the word that the plan to come out to all the funerals to support the families continues. I really have no explanation for that guy's actions. I just know if it is support and healing and positive energy they want, they will find it in our group and out in the community at the funerals and memorials.

Some people suck. The rest of us can still support each other.