Looks Like a Sad Weekend Ahead

Good morning on a cold day in Manhattan.  Winter has returned...but only for a day or two.  That's not why the tears this morning.  Actually, I am feeling sad because I may not be able to talk to any of you until Monday.  It seems my computer has picked up the Google virus.  I don't know how it happened because I pay for the top antivirus program from Norton, but somehow it got through, and as a result, I cannot open my blogs...and any search I type in goes into re-direct.  I am devastated.  That computer means the world to me.  You all know that I am a couch potato, pretty much a loner.  You all are my friends, and it is really going to hurt not to be able to talk to any of you over the weekend. It bugs the heck out of me that there is such evil out their...evil that gets kicks out of hurting innocent strangers.  Has anyone here been hit with this bug?  I've downloaded some info here at work about getting rid of it so hopefully we can take care of it without taking the computer to the 'doctor'.

That being said, I was riding to work this morning and two young girls got on the train. They couldn't even have been in high school...maybe 12...13 at the most...but they were both dressed in very tight clothing, grownup style boots with heels, and both had their hair done and make up...lipstick, eye makeup.  One still had braces on her teeth.  And it got to me.  Why be in such a hurry to grow up?  Don't they know that this time will never come again?    When I was that age, I was still playing with dolls and paper dolls. My money went on toys and gadgets to have fun with, not make up to make myself look like an adult.  I wonder, do their parents know?  Do they allow this?  Or, do these girls sneak and do this?  

 The fact is, with parents working long hours away from the home, many youngsters are leaving for school from an empty house after eating breakfast alone...and many pick up fast food or a frozen meal for supper. And, this loss of family life expands the power of the peer group.  Teens are getting sexually active earlier and experimenting with drugs and alcohol at very young ages.  I was a latchkey kid, too, but times were different.  Not only was I still a child at 12, but my parents kept track of what I wore and how I looked.  I remember one time...I guess I was 14....I had a pair of skin tight black pants.  I loved them and wore them as often as I could...but then, I got caught wearing them and was told in no uncertain terms to go change.  My dad, despite my tears and pleas, took the pants outdoors and proceeded to burn them.  


Well, my dear friends, in case you don't hear from me until Monday, I wish you all a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Luckily Yahoo still works, but you guys and gals are my friends...and believe me when I say this...even one weekend away will hurt.