VPN access and Christian Grey wants to spank me on Messenger

I am in a bit of a geeky girl mood these days.

For a while, I have been researching Virtual Private Networks (VPN). I have a few reasons why I need to be connected to a VPN:

• I need to protect sensitive information while I am online
• My Skype account got hacked a few months ago
• I am travelling to a country in a few months that bans a number of Google and social media sites
• I watch NHL GameCentre Live, a service that often looks at your IP address to determine whether you can watch specific games, depending on where you reside

I finally took the plunge and bought a lifetime membership to a VPN service. MacTrast offers a number of deals on VPNs. I did some research, asked questions, and bought my service yesterday.

The VPN works well on my Google Pixel phone and my Mac products. In fact, I am using it as I type on my Mac mini.

The catch is to figure out how to get it to work while I am using my Playstation 3 to watch NHL games. I figure that I probably need to configure my router settings. So, that will be my next exciting step.

The more enjoyable, geeky tidbit of information that I have is that you can chat with Christian Grey on Facebook Messenger. Well, you're really chatting with a Christian Grey bot, but it's pretty fun if you are a fan. 

He wants to spank me. I don't mind it one bit.

Tuesday dinner date -- thank goodness for his GPS!

Typically, when my guy and I are both in the office, we have more time to have lunch or hang out after work. This past week was completely hectic for both of us.

My guy was delivering a course, but had a fellow trainer who would be delivering this advanced course down the road. As my guy put it, he had to "babysit" the new trainer.

As for me, I had to get a new writer settled in. I also had to host and partake in a writing workshop with two visiting writers from Sweden.

My guy thought that we could meet after work on Monday. I couldn't, for I was accompanying another writer and our guests to the Leafs game downtown. Instead, we decided to have a date night on Tuesday evening.

Towards the end of the workday, my guy pinged me and said that he had some manuals for me. I asked that he come up to one of the meeting hubs that we have. I was alone at the time until my boss decided to work with me on an e-mail project that we are both working on.

My guy dropped off eight guides and separated them as my boss worked next to me. Finally, he saw my guy and talked briefly.

I asked my guy to help me bring the manuals over to my desk. I had way too much crap with me to do it all by myself. He was more than happy to carry the manuals, as if we were in high school and he was carrying my books.

My guy and I talked about where we would have dinner. We both agreed that the closest Chinese restaurant would be good.

So, I left work before he did. My guy was too busy yakking up a storm with other developers. I headed off to the restaurant and waited in my car.

My guy texted me and asked where I was. I told him that I was at the restaurant. He asked me for the address. I had to giggle, because he is directionally challenged and is dependent on his GPS to get around. I gave him the address and included the country, to tease him.

He finally arrived and we sat down. It was a nice dinner date. We talked, laughed, and ate delicious food.

We held hands at the end of our meal. We hugged quite a bit before we headed out separate ways.

I asked my guy if he wanted to join my writing guests and me at the outlet mall tomorrow evening. What all four of us have in common is that we all like to shop and get great deals. Of course, my guy, Cheap Bastard, was completely up to the challenge.

Although we were rather busy last week, it was nice that we both made the time to see each other.

My guy misses me - scheduled date night on Sunday

My guy had thought that he would be dropping by the office last week, but that visit didn't transpire. So, he spent the entire week working from home.

Work continues to be crazy. I get along well with my team, which is a plus. However, there are challenges with two of the three writers that I work with.

The scary thing is that the next senior technical writer isn't exactly a trained writer. She is technical, which makes understanding how our software works easier. However, her first language isn't English, so I end up teaching her technical writing 101.

I like teach folks how to write better. The downside is that it puts a damper on actually producing quality work when you have a writer who you have spent a ton of time working on writing mechanics and they don't fully sink into her head.

I also have to have a side discussion with her about business writing. I don't think that saying you folks twice in the same sentence to an audience of software developers and project managers to be professional. Sure, you want them to respond to your e-mail, but it should not be that informal in tone.

The other new writer is not assertive. It's who she is. Writers tend to be shy and quiet by default. I am half of that, so I am a bit of an exception. I am quiet when I work and I am okay with that. However, I am far more social than these two writers combined.

Anyway, I just went off on a tangent that I wasn't expecting...

Oh, yes. I can tell when my guy truly misses me. He sends me more e-mails and tries to contact me more than he typically does.

On Friday, he had forwarded his travel itinerary. It had a notice about getting an e-visa as a visitor to Turkey. He will travel there next weekend. I will follow suit a week after that. I had meant to write back to him, thanking him for sending it to me. Things got busy at work that I forgot.

Later in the day, my guy sent me another e-mail, asking how my week was so far. He was chattier than usual, telling me about how his week was boring, but productive. He also wished me a good weekend and reminded me to set my clock back an hour for Daylight Saving Time.

I didn't respond to either e-mail. I had to head home and prepare to shell out goodies to Halloween visitors. It was a lot of fun, despite the evening being rainy and cooler than it should be in late October.

I logged on to my computer after midnight. I went to shower. I came back maybe twenty minutes later and my guy was on Skype, wondering whether I would be awake.

As most of you know, I tend to write blog posts after midnight. I am a strange creature. I am a night owl who has no trouble getting up early in the morning. Don't ask. That answer will take another blog post to sort out.

We chatted and caught up. I told him about getting my new passport in the mail the other week. We talked about the e-visa application (it takes five minutes to complete and cost $60.70 USD, which is frankly a ripoff, but must be done).

He also told me that he would be in Toronto on Sunday. He teaches a course on the side.

"I'm downtown," he told me.
"Wow, that's different," I replied.
"Noon till 6 pm."
"That's a long time," I said.
"Yes," he responded. "I miss you."

It is significant that he said that he missed me. Most of the time, I am the first one to mention that. I told him that he was sweet and that I missed him, too.

I had suggested that we could do dinner after he was done with his course, if he was game. He was.

I asked where he would be downtown. He had an idea of the address, but he didn't know if the street ended with East or West.

"I have to go back to the e-mail," he told me.
"Oh, no. That could be an issue for directionally challenged guy," I replied.
"But, no problem for cute Asian girl," he teased back.
"You're so sweet. What's wrong with you?!"
"I guess I just miss you."
"It's nice to hear that I'm missed. You haven't said that for a while."
"When I'm in a good mood, I always miss you."
"Well, I hope that your mood continues to be good."
"Me, too."
"It'll good to see you downtown."
"It's good to see you anywhere," he said sweetly.

He was definitely in a good mood. It's nice to have a date night, especially on a Sunday, when you typically dread the fact that your weekend is nearly over. Spending it with someone special makes going back to the work following day far more bearable.