Lil Help, Please?

Oh, Internet people, how I hope you will come through for me. It seems as though I have angered the Technology Gods mightily. I don't know what I did. Perhaps I forgot our anniversary or didn't notice someone's new haircut. Whatever it was, it's past the point of being funny -- we are firmly in Tragic Territory -- and now I am in need of your assistance.

But first, some highlights, for your bribery amusement:

I switched cell phone providers for my work phone. After a year of having to leave my desk, position myself next to the window (or all the way outside), stand very still when I stumble upon a signal, pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time, and still only hearing about 48% of what the person on the other end of the line said, I decided it was time to switch. Something about significantly increased productivity and no longer feeling like a dork every time I answer this phone. So now I have a new phone that I have no idea how to use. (Apparently I hang up on people when attempting to increase the earpiece volume. Not such a good habit.) And, naturally, the new phone has no one's phone number(s) in it. Soooo convenient.

That same week, while I was in DC, my (work) laptop decided to succumb to a localized power outage in the building. I called IT Support and left for a meeting. I came back to my office to discover that they managed to make things WORSE. (Hello, blue screen of death! So nice to see you!) Two days sans laptop (no, don't worry, I didn't want to get any work done this week) and a complete re-imaging of the hard drive later, we were back in business. Sort of. Except for that part about how they changed my password and didn't tell me the new one. And then the IT guy swore he could fix it by resetting my network password. (Hint: WRONG. I'm not on the network.) And then he swore he could fix it if I would just turn off the computer and turn it back on. (Hint: WRONG. AGAIN. The computer still wants a password and my old one still doesn't work and, no, you can't see my computer on the network because I'm not on the network.)

Anyway, once the password problem was resolved, I discovered the various other glitches with the re-imaged computer. For starters, I nearly had a meltdown when I saw that iTunes wasn't loaded. Ummmm, that's really not going to work for me. But that problem was easily resolved. Not so easily resolved? Some damn Adobe Acrobat update this thing keeps looking for. On the network. The network TO WHICH I AM NOT CONNECTED. EVER. Also, printing. Three days I spent trying to connect to the printers in my office in California, with more than a few calls to the IT Support Center.

My personal favorite moment? When the IT guy suggested I borrow an IT laptop for a few days until they fix mine. Hmmmm, interesting idea. Especially considering that the IT laptops are in DC and I'M IN CALIFORNIA.

(Can I just tell you how scary it is when I know more than the IT Support people? I know they're nice people, and I'm developing quite a telephone relationship with one of them, but REALLY. I should not be the one who figures out how to properly configure my printers. That's what I call YOU for.)

On the bright side, an e-mail from one IT guy to another described one of my programs as "FUBAR." And in my professional opinion, I have to say, YES. Now, please fix it.

At any rate, all of this pain was just background for you. Here's the real issue. Upon re-imaging of my computer, all the stuff on display is a different size. Like, the resolution of my screen is different and while I can change the resolution settings, none of the options match my old resolution. Annoying, but not as annoying as this:



This is what my site currently looks like in Internet Explorer. It did not used to look like this on my computer, at my previous resolution. Makes me wonder what things look like on your end.

(Sidenote: Ok, yes, in an attempt to be, in all ways possible, snobby, I switched to Firefox for my browser and there are not words to describe how much I ♥ Firefox right now, for the sole reason that my blog does not look like crap in it. The computer re-imaging has done nothing to alter the display of my blog. Also, that explains why it took several days for me to discover the ugliness in Internet Explorer. And, if it doesn't look ugly to you, I am not going to waste my time trying to prettify it. Bill Gates and his crappy browser can suck it.)

So here's where you come in:

• What browser do you view this site in?
  
• Does it look like crap?
  
• No seriously, does it resemble the picture above, or does the title bar look normal? There should be only one tile of red tulips, not one-and-a-third, and the quote should be two lines, plus Mr. Wilde's name.
  
• Is there any other blog-related feedback you would like to share? Length or frequency of posts? Content? Site design?

Please keep in mind that I am very good at taking criticism and often respond by telling people that they can suck it. But, you know, I'd love to hear from you.