July 4, 2008

Child support hearing items to complete by Monday 7/7/08

* Finish answering the interrogatory questions.
* Sort paypal payments by employer, copy/paste to text file.
* Email the above documents and 2007 1099 forms, to be printed.
* Scan Sebastian's settlement trust papers, and email the jpegs to the Maine DA by 9am Monday, 7/7/08.

June 19, 2008

The one time she should have asked me for help.

My neighbor called me this afternoon, she needed my help installing a new memory card in her desktop computer.
No problem I said! I've done this a lot, be right there.
I get in there and took one look at what she bought, and it was obvious it wasn't the right kind.
She bought laptop memory cards.
Laptop cards are fatter than desktop cards.

Anyway, she has a Dell desktop, and she at least knew her computer was a Dell when she went to the store.
But I'd like to know what kind of yahoo salesman didn't ask her if she has a desktop or laptop.
Or maybe she just picked one out on her own, looked for the little signs that say compatible with Dell, Acer, Gateway, Sony, etc etc.
So I had the oh so pleasant job of telling her she got the wrong kind, and she was pissed off, said she thought she was doing so good that for once she didn't need my help, started to get really upset and almost started crying.
I told her to put it back in the package and take it back, and hopefully the store will let her exchange it out for the correct kind which I wrote down for her.
I wrote down her Dell model name and number, and the size memory card she wanted, and her oldest son who is visiting is going to try taking it back.
He's the one who drove her out to get it, and tried to help her install it.
He's 19 and obviously knows as much about computers as she does.
Not much.
I told her when he gets back if they let him exchange it for the right one, that if her son couldn't install it to call me.

There are certain things I don't mind helping her with, like her computer stuff.
She's an older woman, and this is the first time she's ever had a computer, and she didn't even know how to get on the internet when she first got the computer.
She thought all you had to do was set up and plug everything in, and open IE up, and it would just go to the internet.
When it didn't just go and I had to explain that she needed an ISP, she had no idea what that was.
When I explained it to her, she was like, "Well how do I get one of those? Do I have to have a special kind of plug, and where does it plug into? There are no ISP plugs on my walls?"
I couldn't help but laugh, that was kinda cute, something an older person with no computer knowledge at all would ask.
So then I had to explain to her that she needed to call Verizon or Comcast, and tell them she needs internet service, DSL if she went with Verizon, or Comcast if she went with cable.
She had Comcast cable for her tvs already, so I told her to just call them and they would come out and hook it up.

She's getting better at it all the time, she finally learned how to print things after only showing her about a dozen times.
Then when she got a little cheapo digital camera, I taught her how to upload them to her computer, and then taught her how to attach them to emails.
She takes tons of pictures now and sends them to everyone, she loves it.
But of course being so new to the internet, she is caught up in the annoying forwards and chain emails.
She sends me dozens of them every single week.
At first I tried to tell her that all those forwards and chain emails are junk, crappy stuff that people send and expect to get back after we've sent it on to all our friends, but the majority of people on the net hate them with a passion.
She apologized, but she keeps doing it.
I just delete them now and when she asks if I read that cute email with the little bunny and the angel, I just say yes, it was so adorable and funny.

I don't even want to tell you how long it took me to help her when she bought a camera phone.

June 13, 2008

Digital Photo keychain contest!

There's a contest going on over at Today's Gizmos.com, for a very cool gadget!
She is giving away 3 digital photo keychains to 3 lucky winners.
You can read the rules and how to enter, in this post at Today's Gizmos.com.

I really like this silver one, it has 4.8MB of internal memory, so it can hold up to 72 pictures.
That's very cool.
No more wallets stuffed full of pictures to show people the kids and other stuff, you can just slide through your pictures much like using the pictures folder on your computer.
Wholesale Keychain has tons of cool keychains, digital and car specific to choose from.

I hope I am 1 of the lucky 3 winners, I would love to have a cool digital photo keychain!

June 11, 2008

SEO Optimization and blogs.

It seems like everybody on line knows at least a little about SEO, and those that don't, know they want to because they want to make money.
I'm making some changes to this blog over the next few days and weeks ahead, so I've been doing a little reading on this subject tonight in between doing other things I have to do.
I promise, when I get ready to do these changes, I will let you all know.
I'm not shutting down or going on an extended hiatus, but I'm making some big changes that I think have been needed for awhile.

There are a lot of companies out there I've come across that promise you SEO results, and I know some people who paid a few different companies to increase their SEO, and promised to help drive traffic and sales to their websites, only to be ripped off.
They never saw an increase in traffic, so obviously what was promised didn't work out, and they lost thousands of dollars.
Not even making back what they paid for the service, and feeling very let down.

A way to know if the company you're going to use knows their stuff, is if they offer you a free SEO report, have plenty of information available for free for you too read, and they just have a ton of resources and links on their site for you to check out before you invest.
There's a San Diego SEO Company by the name of Best Rank, that has all of that for potential clients to check out.
Heck, they even have a blog just like most of us have, where they talk about what they do, what they are working on, and even some of the issues they have had while working for a client.
They are honest, which I find refreshing in this industry.
You really should check out their blog and read the June 9th entry.
They had some serious issues with a client's site, and had to really dig deep to find out what the problem was.
Not only was it cool to see how they were honest about the issue, but also how they resolved it.
I learned a lot from just that one entry.

June 11, 2008

Ergo what?

When I got my first little baby computer, an Emachine, back when I first moved here in 1997, I had it set up much like I do now, except that every time I was on my computer, my right shoulder and arm would hurt after about an hour of using it.
It made me not want to be on it at all, and I loved being on it just as much as i still love it today. *hugs the tower lovingly named Ace*

I complained to my sister about it, and she said it was because of the mouse I was using.
It was a standard 2 button mouse and a mouse pad.
When you have one of those, you are moving your arm and hand all over the place to click around on the screens, and the way I was sitting combined with the way I was moving my arm, was causing me pain.

So she explained to me what computer ergonomics was, and took me to a store to get a mouse I wouldn't have to do that much moving with.
She bought me an ergonomic trackball mouse that day, and I've never looked back.
It instantly felt better, my shoulder and arm never hurt again.
In the last 11 years, I've now been through 2 of those trackball mice, and when this one dies, I'll just get another one just like it.
You should totally try an ergonomic mouse if you are having pain in your wrists, shoulder, or arm after being on the computer.
Trust me, it will make you feel tons better!

June 11, 2008

I finally got them to take the money!

I was finally able to get Verizon to take my money!
I had to call their executive customer service department, and I got that number from Lisa of Wild Rose rpgraphics, so thank you sooo much Lisa!

Today is the 11th, I basically had until tomorrow to get them to take the money, and they still hadn't, so I called the number Lisa gave me and explained it all, years and years worth of frustration of just trying to pay my bill every month.
I had given them checking account numbers, savings accounts, credit cards, debit cards, I was literally begging them to take my money every month so I could have internet service, and for some reason, it was just never going through.
Sometimes if I called, the payment would go through right away.
Other times, it would only charge me $1, but most of the time, it just wasn't billing me at all, and so every month for the last 2 years, I've had to call and beg them to take my money.

So I spoke to an executive customer service rep, explained it all, and I said to her, "You have absolutely no idea how frustrating it is to have to call Verizon every month and beg them to take my money. How many customers actually beg you to take their money? But that's what I've been doing, begging, and I shouldn't have to beg you to take the money."

She laughed and said, "No, usually people call and beg for more time to pay their bill, you're the only person I know of who calls and begs us to take their money."
And not only did she take my money, she gave me a direct number to call every month if this happens again, and they have the authorization to charge the card right then and there.
Now why, in all the years that I've been calling and begging, did none of those other reps, give me this direct number?
I don't understand, they knew I wasn't able to pay my bill by the automated biller, so why didn't they just give me that number?
Anyway, I'm glad it's paid and now I have a number I can just call once, no more 3-4 times a month having to call and beg to pay my bill.

June 11, 2008

Still no idea what it is.

I just got back from my pain doc appointment a little bit ago.
The pain doc is till not sure what it is, and is very glad I'm seeing my surgeon on Friday.
He said no matter what it turns out to be, call his office, and tell one of his nurses when I get home from that appointment.
I'm still banned from doing any ellipticals workouts until we know what it is, but amazingly, even without working out, I've lost some weight.
I told him it's not that amazing, I've been sick the last few days.
When you're vomiting and the smell of food makes your stomach turn so much you can't eat, it's pretty damn easy to lose weight.

But I am doing better today.
I've been taking it so easy the last few days and having the teens put staphaseptic on the red spot, so I was able to eat last night and today.
Mindy drove me again, and we took her daughter Katie, and Sebastian.
When we got done at the docs, I had promised Katie that if she was good and patient while waiting for me, that I would treat her to McDonald's for lunch.
But when we got out, it was still too early for lunch, so we went to Best Buy and bought Sebastian the graphics card he needed for his computer.
He had most of the money in a gift card he got for his birthday from his Aunt Heather, and I paid the balance.
Then we got to McD's, and ate, then came home.

I installed his graphics card, and then he installed the rest of his Sims games, and now he's a happy camper.
I'm way tired, and need to rest for a little bit, and then I have a lot of catching up to do.
Later days.

May 27, 2008

So much to do, no energy to do it all.

I have so many things that I need to do, I've gotten way behind on a lot of things.
I forgot to pay my medicare supplement part D bill, so I need to do that.
I have about 30 some odd emails to reply to.
I have 2 sink-fulls of dishes to do, and I need to finish installing a few things on the boys computer.

But I gotta tell ya, it is so much better with the xbox in their room now.
I have actually been able to watch the news every day and all my "gay and boring" tv shows.
The boys said they are so thrilled to be in the other room because the tv shows I watch are boring and gay, like really gay.
Funny, they would always ask me what time such and such show comes on. *eyeroll*

I can't believe the last day of school is on Friday.
This school year has just flown by so fast.
We are gonna be up each other's butts all summer.
I need to get them both jobs. hahaha

Ok, I really need to get cracking on all those emails and other things.
Later days.

May 27, 2008

That was a great idea!

The state of Florida just keeps screwing up.
You know that stupid child support debit card they made us all get?
Well, someone has hacked their website.
It doesn't look hacked, but it is.
They, the hackers, have taken over the website and are attempting to gain control of card numbers and pin numbers.
A child support deposit was made, and I attempted to go check my balance, but it kept saying my password had expired, so I tried to create a new one like it was asking me to, but then it went to an internal 500 error.
So I called the card people, and they said the website had been hacked, do not use it at all, instead use the 877 number on the back of the card to check balances etc.
I asked them how long the site would be screwed, and they said they don't know, they are attempting to get into the database and server and take back control, but everything they have done is not working.
I asked them how long it has been hacked, and the lady said about a month now.
That's just great.
So basically, if you live in Florida and have a child support debit card, don't use the website under any circumstances.

I had my doc follow up appointment this morning, and he upped the dose amount on those Opanas.
The 15mgs didn't work the whole 12 hours like they were supposed to, so we're trying a higher dose.
If it doesn't work the full 12 like it should, and I'm still getting breakthrough pain, then he'll give me something for that.
I'm just really tired now.
I had to walk home from CVS, they were the only drug store close to home that carries the Opanas.
It was either that, or go all the way over to the Bee Ridge pharmacy again, and I didn't have anyone who could drive me there today.
I need a nap, a long one.

May 24, 2008

It was a nice day to play.

My niece Susan and I had a really good afternoon, she is getting so smart.
We played her computer games, it's called Learn to read at Starfall- teaching comprehension and phonics.
I was really impressed with that website, Susan reads along with the text on the screen, she says what they do, she knows how to move the mouse around and click on everything.
Kids these days are learning computers at such young ages, they are going to be so technologically ahead of even my kids generation when it comes to this stuff.
She is already using computers at school, and she is only in pre-school!

We played that for awhile, then we watched Monsters, Inc. while we ate a snack.
We colored, and we tried to play outside, but it was far too hot and humid.
Blech.
We also built some things with her Legos she brought with her, but Shahiro decided that her Lego box was the most comfortable place to sleep.

We played with "blue baby", which is just an old blue stuffed alien like toy that one of the boys won at a fair or something years ago.
Susan calls it blue baby, and she takes care of it whenever she comes over.
She changes it's diaper, feeds it a bottle, and rocks it to sleep.
Then we decided it was time to eat some dinner, so we ordered some chinese food and watched Fantasia.
Then Jo and the teens came home, Susan and I picked up all the toys and packed up her little suitcase she uses to bring toys and her blankie over, and they all left to go back to my sister's house.

After that, I finished up the laundry that Susan helped me start, did some dishes, and I've basically been goofing off on line since.
I have been sort of watching National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets while I have been reading forums and finishing up some work.
It's not too bad, but I definitely liked the first one much better.

I just realized how late it is, well, it's not that late for me, but wow, the past few hours have just flown by.
I guess I've rambled on long enough.
Later days.

May 23, 2008

I'm skeered to go food shopping.

I have to go to the grocery store later today and get some more food for the human food disposals, but I'm worried about how much it's going to cost.
Publix is having a HUGE buy 1 get 1 free sale, but the prices of food are increasing every single day due to the trickle down effect of rising gas prices.
I'm getting far less groceries for the same amount of money than I used to just a few months ago.
Bread used to be .89 cents a loaf, it's now $1.59.
A gallon of milk used to be $3.20, it's now $4.20.
A pound of ground beef was $2.29, it's now $3.99.
The prices are getting higher and it's putting a serious crimp in my grocery budget.

And Sebastian's birthday is coming up, and I already got him a really nice digital drawing pad for an awesome price thanks to Charlotte, and I'm going to try as hard as I can to get him the computer memory he needs so he can run his Sims 2 games on his computer.
The boys Aunty Heather got them an awesome monitor instead of sending her old one like she had planed to do.
It would have cost her over $150 to pack and ship her old Dell monitor here, so she bought a 17" flat panel gaming monitor for just $89 with free shipping.
It's an Acer, just like the brand tower they have, so they have quite the nice setup going on their room.
I'd love to be able to get him the memory card though.
It will help make their computer run much faster, and help make his games look and run better.
I'm going to do some major price shopping on all the electronics sites and local stores as well.
He gets so frustrated when the Sims lag or freeze up because there isn't enough memory to keep it running for longer than an hour.

May 23, 2008

I can be such a doofus sometimes.

I was on the local forums just now in the music, movies, and books sub-forum, and someone asked about the industrial rock band from France, and wanted to know their name.
I just blurted out KVM.

Um, duh-ur.
I was quickly called on my mistake too by several music heads.
It's not KVM, it's KMFDM.
KFMDM has been around since 1984, and has put out 15 studio albums, 24 singles and EPs, and 2 remix albums.
They make awesome music, so if you've never heard of them before and like industrial rock, give them a listen, it's good stuff.

Now, what is KVM?
It's a multi-user switch that allows you to control multiple computers from a single station.
It allows you to manage servers over IP, and makes it easier to move your computers to a more secure location.

I don't know why I just spit out KVM instead of KMFDM.
It could be because I had just been looking up some info on Cat5 extenders. I have this switch box here that someone gave me, and I've never been able to get it to work, so I was looking up directions on how to make it work.
I really shouldn't try to multi-task.
I know my music better than I know technology, and I just made myself sound stupid on the forums.
D'oh!

May 21, 2008

Try to keep still!

Have you ever taken a video with your camera and it ends up being all shaky?
I hate that.
But Buy.com has an awesome sale price on a Case Logic flexible tripod.
It can stand on just about any surface because it's legs are flexible for those times when taking a picture means putting a tripod on uneven ground.
How much is it on sale for?
$10!
That's it!
That is such an awesome price for people who take a lot of pictures or make videos and don't want the shaky hand appearance.
Look how cool this thing looks!

Check out some of it's features;
Segmented leg design allows for flexible joints that can rotate 360 degrees
Lightest and most versatile camera tripod available today
Firmly secures your compact digital camera to virtually any surface
Ideal camera accessory for photographers on the go
Throw it in your pocket or backpack and you'll be ready for your next adventure
Wrap it around a tree branch
Hang it from a pole
Perch it on a jagged rock
Standard 1/4 diameter 20 thread count screw mount
Designed for use with digital cameras weighing up to 9.7 ounces (275 grams)
Rubber feet gives extra grip

It sounds like it's small enough to take anywhere and use on just about any kind of surface.
I may actually pick this up this week. I would love to try it out and for only $10, it's totally affordable to try.

Buy.com has tons of awesome weekly deals every single week, and I've gotten into the habit of checking them out every week now because they really do have some amazing prices on certain items.

May 15, 2008

Is it remembering what I look at?

After last night's post about inheritance, I keep coming across legal type websites.
I was just clicking around between Twitter, gmail, a forum and my feed reader, and came across another site for orange probate lawyer.
Oops, I mean Orange County probate lawyers.
Is my computer remembering what I am looking at and just taking me to those types of sites now?

Anyway, I stopped and looked at it of course, I am curious as heck now about probate law and inheritance laws, taxes on settlements etc.
I have good reason to, Sebastian will get part 1 of his settlement when he turns 18, and so I am curious if that money will be taxed when he takes it out, or if it was taxed before they put it in.
Or what.
I have no idea how all of this works, and I'd like to know so that when the time comes (in 4 years) I'll be able to tell him why the government just snagged a couple grand of his money.
You know he's gonna be like hey, why are they taking some of it, and I'd like to be able to answer that.

So I'm going to read through the FAQs and all that stuff, learn what I can about all these different things in case I should ever need to know this stuff.

May 12, 2008

Digital graphics tablet. Shhhh.

Sebastian's birthday is coming up in just a few weeks, and I think I know the perfect gift for him.
It will require some major extra work on my part, but thanks to Buy.com's weekly deals, I just might be able to get him this PenPower Digital Graphics Tablet.

One of Sebastian's future dream jobs is to be a game designer.
Video games, pc games, digital design and graphics design.
He is already taking these classes in school, he's used a tablet in his class as well as all kinds of other graphics programs, and we have a few of them at home on the teen's pc now.
Adding the tablet would be perfect.
It would allow him to keep designing and drawing over the summer.

The tablet costs $160, has free shipping, and a $30 rebate is offered, making the bottom price I would pay, just $129.95.
That's a really good deal.
It has a 5 star rating in value, performance, ease of use, and overall satisfaction.
It will work with Windows XP, has a usb port, and comes with everything he would need to continue making graphics all summer and all next school year as well for home projects in his classes.
This is something he's been asking for for quite awhile now, so it might be the right time to pick this up for him while it's at such a good price, and his birthday is June 1st.
It would get here right in time to give it to him.

May 10, 2008

He wants a job.

This is one of those proud mama moments, my oldest boy, *sniff*, Mark, is actively searching for a job.
He's decided that he wants to work and earn money, and contribute to the house.
He went and got a hair cut today, he looks good, and he picked up a few applications to places he'd like to work.
The video game stores of course, the movie theater at the mall, and some other close to home places that will hire 16 year olds.
He's done some calculations on how many hours he is allowed to work, how much the rate of minimum wage is, and then he divided this possible income by 3, to determine how much would go to the house.
One third to the bank, one third to the house, and one third to have as spending money.

He'd really like to work at the game stores, they get employee discounts on all the games, so he's busting out all his game systems knowledge, pc knowledge, and has written it all down on the application.
If there's something Mark knows, it's game systems and computers, he's excellent at both.

He's excited about it, he wants to spend the summer working instead of just sitting around doing nothing like last summer.
He used to be able to mow lawns, but most people now either have their own mowers or lawn companies that do it, so that weekly money he was getting has been gone for awhile.
He also said he'd like to earn enough to send us on a vacation to one of those places I am always talking about like the Outer Banks rentals in the Carolinas, or go back up north to visit with friends and family.

He'll be taking all his filled out applications back Monday after school, and seeing as school lets out for the year on the 30th, he'll be able to work pretty much any hours they need him to.
I'm proud of him for taking the initiative today.
I haven't pestered him about getting a job in quite awhile, so this was pretty cool to hear.

May 5, 2008

UPS, why must you suck so much?

I had my box cutter all ready to go, to open up the new monitor that the teen's Aunt Heather bought for them.
The monitor that was supposed to be delivered on April 30th, but once again, UPS couldn't find the address.
The address Heather used when she bought it, is correct, but what happens at UPS every single time now, is that when they enter it into their tracking system, they reverse the numbers to my house.
Instead of 5328, they enter it in as 5238, or 5823, or some other combination which is wrong, and then they just don't even bother to try looking up the correct address.

I've now lived here for 10 years, and I've never had a single package delivered when it was supposed to be.
They always mess it up, make me call them, or is the case right now, Heather is once again on the phone with them.
When it didn't get delivered by Saturday, she called them and asked why.
They told her about the address, they corrected it, promised her it would be delivered today, and now it's not.

When I called them a little while ago and gave them the tracking information and asked where it was, and also explained the promise, they said that "whoever told the gift sender it would be delivered today, lied."
When Heather called me about 20 minutes ago and I told her what they told me, she was furious.
"What do you mean they told you the rep I spoke to lied?! Are they calling their own employees liars now?!"

I said yes, that's what the lady said, that you were lied to.
To say Heather is unhappy is an understatement.
She's calling them now to chew them out some more.
To add to the chewing I did.
I mean come on!
10 years at the same exact address, and they still mess up my address and can't find my house?!
I swear, if I had other shipping options with the places I do business with, or could ask my shippers too please use Fedex or DHL, two companies who have never had a problem and as a matter of fact, always deliver a day early in most cases, believe me, I would.
I'm sick and tired of any package I order never making it to me on time, and having UPS come up with all kinds of excuses why.
They always apologize, but saying sorry isn't good enough any more, not after 10 years of hearing it.

May 5, 2008

Oh UPS, when will you get it right?

I'm not doing much today, just hanging out waiting on a delivery of a monitor for the teens pc that was supposed to be delivered on the 30th.
Why wasn't it?
Because once again, UPS screwed up my address when they entered it electronically into their computers and scanners.
A call was made, they supposedly fixed it, and it's supposed to be here today.
We'll see.

I also wanted to remind everyone about the two give-aways that are going on here.
2 copies of the Hot Latin Diet book, and a Mad Money DVD.
Entering to win is really easy, and anyone can enter!

April 25, 2008

One expense down.

I mentioned earlier today about the teens needing a new crt monitor, and tonight their Aunty Heather called.
Her and her husband have a Dell monitor they no longer use because they both have laptops now, so she's going to box it up and ship it down to us.
Thank Heather!
You have no idea the awesomeness of doing that for them, for me.
Now I can focus on saving for just a new vac, and not a new vac and a new monitor.
One stress down, one to go.
Ok, not just one to go, like lots to go, but I'll get a grip on it all eventually.

My neighbor this evening, after helping teach her how to email the pics from her cell phone to her email account, and then teaching her how to attach pictures to emails to send them to others, gave me a huge box of bulk cable that the Verizon Fios guy left behind, said he didn't need it.
It's not cable cable, it's ethernet cable.
Yeusss!
I can never have too much of that around.
Kali has chewed through one, I accidentally vacuumed a hole in one, and I stapled through another one.
And then there's the one that got fried during the great lightning strike of January '08.
That strike took out an ethernet cord, an ethernet port, a telephone answering machine, and 1 router.
So yeah, having extra ethernet cable around is awesome.
Ya never know when I'll ruin another one.

April 24, 2008

I didn't mean to worry anyone.

I have been sick and in pain, and stressed out, and just feeling miserable.
When I get like that, I don't want to talk or play, or do anything but lay in my bed and hope for sleep.
On top of my shoulder and back issues, (the trigger point injections never did work) I ended up with some sort of stomach bug and a cold of some sort.
Talk about miserable!
Apparently a few kids in Mark's class at school were sick with something, he got coughed and sneezed on, and I probably ate something bad or caught a virus of some sort, which worked better than any colon cleanse on the market.
I probably dropped 10 pounds in the last 2 days with all my trips to the bathroom to vomit out both ends.

Not fun I tell ya.
So I was just in a bad place dealing with that, the shoulder pain, and stress from having to once again purchase things I don't really want to.
Sure I can use my Roomba, but that requires running it nearly every day, and having to stop it, empty it, and restart it to get the rug really clean.
I like it, it does work really great, but I used my big vac for fast cleanups if someone was coming over or something.
And the whole pc monitor issue has me kinda pissed off.
I know I have to buy them another crt monitor, but I don't want to.
I just got them the new tower at xmas, the monitor they have is less than 2 years old, I think, and now it has to be replaced.
I'm just not up for it financially right now.
I have so many doctors appointments and medical crap to pay for, that trying to come up with money for another monitor and vac is just making me crazy and mad.
I just got paid, and it's going to be fully spent come Tuesday morning when I see the doc.
That sucks.

I'm stressed way out man.
Like way, way, way out.
It's all too much for me to deal with, but I'm trying.
I have my little meltdowns and then I get back to work, because if I do want to find the money to somehow to pay for all this stuff, I have to just keep going.
No just laying in bed and wishing it would all go away.
But I needed that day to just lay in bed and be miserable.
I really didn't mean to worry you Mom and Dad and Shell, I just really wasn't feeling well, and I think vomiting over the phone would have been just plain rude.
I know, saying don't call me was rude too, but really, I just couldn't handle talking to anyone.
My head hurt, my nose was stuffed up with a combination of snot and hurl, my stomach, back, and shoulder were killing me, I kept getting some serious leg cramps, and the stress, had turned me into someone who would have verbally ripped your heads off if I had to speak to you.
I apologize for making you worry.
I'm still not feeling all that great, but at least the vomiting from both ends has stopped.
Now if this migraine and other pains would just go away, I'd feel a whole lot better.

April 23, 2008

Feels like.....

I was hit by a truck, like I may have an imprint of a Chevy grilles pattern on my ass and lower back.
I slept terrible, I feel terrible, I look terrible.
I didn't do squat, so this must be catch up with the pain day from all the cleaning the other day.
Blargh!
And due to the pain and inability to move much, I'm way cranky.
Yes, I dare someone to look at me even slightly wrong today, it will be the last time they see anything while their blackened eyeball heals.
Kidding.
I won't actually hit anyone, I can barely move.
Hitting someone would cause me more pain and thanks, but no.

And I'm in a wicked foul mood anyway.
Two appliances are screwed, so yay for having to spend more money on crap.
My vac died, it's no longer sucking anything at all, and when I opened it up, there's like a major wire thing completely melted and apart from the other end of it's wire thing.
And the teens pc monitor is taking a major dumpuss.
The screen controls keep popping up and changing the settings on it's own. The menu keys are screwed up or something.
I've looked it up and yup, it's the sign of it dying.
Great.

April 12, 2008

Cheesy but fun movies from the 80's.

Last weekend, we watched the movie Mannequin using the unlimited movie watching on Netflix.
The kids all like watching the movies I watched back then.
It was 1987, and the movie was a hit.

One of the funniest scenes in the boys opinion, is when Hollywood, played by Meshach Taylor, drives Switcher to the competing department store, and whips out his personalized car covers which is purple and pink polka dots, with his name stylized on the sides of it, and then runs squealing like a girly girl into the store.
The teens absolutely loved that character, thought he was just the funniest in the whole movie.

Personally, I liked James Spader's role as a weaselly little corporate spy and ass kisser.
He just played it so well.
And who can forget Kim Cattrall?
She still looks that beautiful today.
She hasn't aged a bit.

If you have Netflix, have you been taking advantage of all that unlimited movie watching?
I know I have.
I watch at least 6 movies per week through the mail and returns, and probably another dozen during the month on my pc.
It's quite a value, and I totally love that I can watch all kinds of movies right here.

April 3, 2008

Bloa-ted.

I very rarely eat out at restaurants, we do get take out, but eating "in restaurant" is different.
Anyway, we went to The Olive Garden for lunch, it was me, the teens, my friend and her son.
The food was excellent, but I ate way too much.
I just love their bread sticks and alfredo sauce, omg yum.

I hadn't been up their in quite awhile, so a lot of things have changed in that plaza.
There's a ton of new stores for clothing, diners, a mailing type store, another craft place, and just a whole bunch of stuff that wasn't there the last time I really had a chance to look at everything.
They must have added on to the strip mall too, because there were noticeable changes in the end of the building structure, and one of them appears to have a completely different column style in front of it than all the others. They didn't look like cement, they looked more like fiberglass columns, they were a different shape, different color.
It doesn't look bad, just doesn't "fit" with every other storefront there now.

Tomorrow, Jo and I and the teens, will be going out for lunch somewhere, then we're dropping the teens back off here with her laptop so they can play Wow, while her and I go do some shopping.
She needs some new shoes, and I need some sort of school field trip appropriate clothing.
I can wear my standard black, but I think t-shirts and shorts won't be ok, so I'm off to find and purchase an outfit I'll wear once.
I'm not much into fashion, I could care less "what's in", and I have no desire to look like or fit in, with every Sarasota PTA soccer mom.

I can't believe how bloated I still am from lunch though.
When you don't eat out often, your body, ok my body, just isn't used to that kind of rich food, and I end up feeling sluggish and bloated for hours afterward.
4 Tums later, and I still feel like I'm bulging at the seams.

April 2, 2008

Oooh, I am a bad mommy!

I was cleaning out my purse this morning, and in one of the front pockets I found a few gift cards that belonged to the teens.
They always ask me to hold their cards until we go to those particular stores.
One was for Best Buy, and had mostly been spent except for about $11.00, and the other was for Old Navy for $25.
Not been spent at all.
Oooops!
It was Sebastian's, he got it for xmas from his big, and I kept telling him we'd go, but I hate that store so I never go there and totally forgot about the gift card.

So when I found it, I was like hey bud, look what I found, wanna shop online?
He was like 'geez mom, it's April, you just found it?'
But he picked out a couple t-shirts, I paid the difference and shipping seeing as it's totally my fault, and now he has 2 t-shirts on the way.

I think I get the bad mom award for the day.

March 29, 2008

That will be 10 per hour, thanks.

I'm trying really hard to get up and get going here, but I stayed up late, couldn't sleep, and then my neighbor needs help with computer stuff again.
Maybe I can charge for computer rental and printer ink?
She has all kinds of stuff she needs to print out for her lawyers and she's not so good with her pc, and personally, I think there's something seriously wrong with it.
It behaves weird.
I've tried fixing it, but I can't find the exact location of the problem, so she comes over here, we login to her email, print out her stuff, then she asks a million questions on 'how do I do' stuff.
I don't really mind, but I have things I have to do today.

I'm trying to gather all my coupons up for the grocery store, find the list I know I wrote out yesterday, and then I need to get in the shower which will help my back loosen up a bit more.
Then, I can go.
Hopefully.

And I seriously need to eat something.
My stomach is rumbling, and meds on an empty stomach is nausea in the making.
Ok, going to go eat, then shower, then attempt to get out of here and get my shopping done so I can come back and clean the house.
Later days!

March 26, 2008

Postponed.

I got a call about an hour ago from the Maine AG.
The hearing is postponed, date unknown right now.
Not surprised.
His attorney asked for a new date.
She asked me for my 2007 taxes and some other stuff, so I got her email address and sent her everything she asked for, and probably a few things she didn't know about.
We talked about my income, I told her, adjusted gross on my taxes is especially pathetic, so she'll be able to see that when she opens the email.
It is what it is, can't really do much about it.

And that really bums me out.
I miss being able to work.
I miss it like you wouldn't believe.
If I was still able to work like I was before they told me to stop before I injured myself beyond medical repair, I wouldn't give two shits about the child support.
I lived and survived without it for many years because I could work.
I worked 12-16 hour days, I had money, I made good money, and then my back up and quit on me for good.

There are times, like now, when I get really depressed about it.
I'm not like crying all day and night depressed, but yeah, I am bummed out that I cannot support me and my kids the same way I used to.
It's not right, it's not fair, it fucking sucks, but there isn't anything I can do about it, and that makes it even worse.
It is completely out of my control.
100% complete disability, unable to perform gainful employment.
Those words that I fought for 5 years to hear, sting like molten steel sometimes.

I didn't want this, I just wanted my back to get fixed so I could keep working, but they kept saying no to the surgery, no to the surgeon who could do it.
It took fighting and phone calls, and attorneys, and letters, to get medical help, and then it was too late.
The damage was done, 100% complete disability, unable to perform gainful employment.

I busted my ass for years supporting my family on my own, busting my back to a state of disability, and for him to ask after all these years, to lower the child support, well, no, fuck you.
I don't care how many kids there are, that's not my problem.
My problem is the two I have here, the two I have taken care of day in and day out for the last 14 years on my own.
I'm tired of the excuses that there was no job, and all the other bullshit that has prevented my sons from getting a fair and decent amount of child support, I'm fucking over it.
I don't care that the business just started, needs time to grow, not my fucking problem.
I'm over the piddly amount that was court ordered 14 years ago. No one should have to deal with that amount all these years, and no, it's not me who ruined his relationship with his sons, it was him.
A slap to Sebastian's 2 year old face that left a bruise in the shape of a hand, and the very painful words said to a 9 year old Mark, "My band is more important than being a father right now".
You think those words and slap are forgotten?!
They aren't.
I fight for them.
I fight for them to have what they need and some of what they want.
I do everything in what little power I have left, to get for them.
To even ask to have to send less money to them, is just another slap in the face, it's just another string of painful words.

Keep postponing it, it doesn't matter.
Whenever it gets scheduled, I'll be available, and I'll keep fighting for them just like I have done for the last 14 years.
I may not be able to hold a job outside the home anymore, and the work I do now doesn't bring me much income, but I will keep doing everything I can so that they can have everything they need, so that they are happy, healthy, and grow up to know values, and morals, and ethics, and to keep fighting for what they want and what is right, and what they deserve.
I'll keep doing what I have to, even if more and more excuses get made and thrown.
They deserve better than that.
They deserve better than him.

February 19, 2008

There is information to gain, and money to be made.

I was chatting through email yesterday with blog reader Chris, about market research and various other ways to make money on line.
She had no idea on some of the other ways to make money, and the question came up over my post about my child support.

Yes, I was complaining about the increase, which is very low in my opinion, and so she asked how I was making ends meet.
I work on line, I do various reviews, some market research like she does, I will be getting back to making jewelry again sometime soon, I hope, and there are companies that pay you to work from home.
When I first started working from home, I worked for about 15 different on line market research companies who all paid in different ways.
Some cash through paypal, some in gift certificates to on line retailers, and some accrued your earnings and allowed you to choose your payout once you reach a certain level.
I think I've done almost every form of on line money making.
I kinda have to.

February 15, 2008

It was so not my phone!

I've had a most icky day, I don't want to whine about it, but let's just say I probably could have used one of these posture correction things last night and today.
My back and whole body has just been a mess, but I think that one pill is finally wearing off.
Zanaflex + Kat = way bad interaction.

But anyway, I got up this morning after barely getting 2 hours of sleep due to that rotten pill, and found my phone to be sending the whole dead air deal.
My net was on and off all day, just a big mess.
I called Verizon.
Gah, that right there should tell you how fun of a day I had with them.
They tell me there's noise on my line, but most likely coming from my equipment.
I no longer have an answering machine cuz that got fried 3 weeks ago when the transformer blew, so the only things connected to the line were my phone and DSL line.

I went outback and tested the NID box, (Network Interface Device) got the same dead air back there.
Verizon calls me back and insists it's my phone.
I tell them I tested my phone at my neighbors house and it worked just fine.
They insist it's still my phone, but they'll send a tech out to take a look.

The repair guy gets here and sets about testing the lines.
He can hear the noise on the line, and goes about trying to find the faulty wire.
He comes back nearly an hour later, and tells me it's definitely not my phone.
There's a line on the next pole over from the one that had the transformer blow, and it was almost blown apart.
All the wires inside the line were exposed to the elements.
He wrapped a temporary line cover on it so my phone and net would work again, and tells me that a repair crew will have to come out and replace that whole line.

We plug my phone back in, and yup, I now have a signal again instead of air.
I'm so so glad it was not my phone, I feel vindicated.
Why?
Because if it had been my phone or the wires inside my home, they would have charged me $80 bucks per hour to repair it.
But seeing as it IS there line outside, I don't have to pay a dime.
But once again, Verizon DSL has not charged my CC for the bill that was supposed to be paid on the 28th.
I had to call them again today and ask them to charge my card.
I swear, they just keep screwing up my billing month after month after month.

He leaves and I go back to my couch, just to chill and try to relax.
My legs were still doing the herky jerky spasm crap from that one rotten pill I took.
It's supposed to be an anti-spasmodic, they give that muscle relaxer to MS patients, but it can have very bad side effects.
I only took one Zanaflex, it should have worn off within 3-6 hours, but I was at the over 24 hour mark, still having bad side effects.
I was nauseous, vomiting, my heart was racing, and instead of calming my muscles down, it made them do a little freak out.
My legs and lower back muscles twitched all night last night and all day today, with a pounding racing heart.
My mouth was dry, I had the runs wicked bad, and I wasn't eating or drinking anything at all.
I was tired and dizzy, but couldn't sleep.
At one point, I got so scared that my heart was beating so fast, that I thought about going to the ER.
My chest hurt, I was actually scared I was having some sort of adverse reaction that was going to cause me to have a heart attack.
I just tried to lay down and rest as much as possible all day and night.
I think it's finally worn off, and thank goodness for that. I was really scared for awhile there.

I sent to the boys to the store to buy subs for dinner, and we chilled out and watched a movie tonight.
Gone Baby Gone is an awesome movie.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but you need to see it if you haven't already.
Great cast too. I really liked it, and it had one of those endings that you just don't know which side you should have been on.

February 11, 2008

My pretty Kali kitty.

I suppose you could call this a cat post, but it's just 3 pictures of my pretty kitty Kali.
She is 10 years old now, and the most loving, beautiful cat I have ever owned.
She just lays there, purring away, while I snap a few pictures.
I would have kept taking some more, but my batteries were dead, and I found my other pair of rechargeables in the GH3 guitar.
Click for bigger.

I love her colors.
She has the most gorgeous coloring, and it's so soft, like a nice blanket soft.
Her fur is thick, and she's always grooming herself.
I love that her nose is just as colorful as her fur, it's cute, makes her so unique.

She is getting older now, has to eat special food, and you can tell her age is catching up to her.
At night, it's almost like she has muscle spasms.
She shudders while she sleeps between my feet, it shakes the whole bed.
I'll be taking her to the vet when I get my income tax back, just to have her checked out.
I hate to think that something may be wrong with her heart or something.
She's my baby, my cat, my best fur friend.
When I was in the hospital, she was so sad and worried, she licked all the fur off of her belly, it was pure flesh by the time I came home.
And when I did come home, she didn't leave my side for weeks.
I was in bed for hours and hours every day, and she would stay with me, right by my side.
She'd run out to the kitchen and swallow down food in a flash, a quick drink of water, and then rush back to my side, where she would spend the next hour just licking my hands, my arm, my face.

I hate to think of the day she will no longer be with me.
That thought consumes me sometimes, and I am flooded with emotions.
I know it's coming, I hope not soon, but I have to prepare myself for that day whenever it comes.
It kills me to think of going to bed and not having her between my feet, her back up against one of my legs, one paw outstretched, touching my other leg, doing that loving kneading touch she does when she's happy.
If I lay on the couch, she can barely wait till my body is settled and comfortable, before she jumps up on top of me, licks my face, and then settles into a sleeping position on top of my chest and stomach.

She's my pretty baby, my girl, my Kali kitty.

February 8, 2008

Buy.com rocks!

I do a lot of shopping on line, and I used to shop at Buy.com all the time, don't really know why I stopped, but I have since rediscovered why I used to shop there, and why buy.com rocks so much.

Some of the reasons they rock, are professional as well as actual customer reviews.
I love honest reviews of products by real users. To me, there is no better way to find out the truth about a product than to hear it from real people.

Another reason is the great selection and the best prices, as well as comparison prices right on the item page.
You know with one glance, if Buy.com has the lower better price, in most cases they do.
There's deal of the day, monthly celebrity spokespersons who make their own funny and informative commercials.
I figured if Howie Mandel and Ryan Seacrest were making commercials, I could too.
Below you'll see a little video the kids and threw together, with reasons why I think Buy.com rocks.

So if you haven't ever shopped there, (new customers get an additional $10 off with Google checkout) or if it's been awhile since you have, go back and discover your reasons why buy.com rocks!

February 2, 2008

Why do you sit there like that?

My sister came down with my teens in tow, bringing Susan and some McDonald's too.
We ate, and then we made our way over to Gamestop to pick up the wireless adapter, and Publix to get tp and cat litter, and some food.

The boys traded in 9 old games they no longer play anymore, and knocked off $37.62 of the total price.
Then I dug through my wallet and found an old EB Games card that had some credit on it. I figured it was like maybe $10 at the most, I hadn't used it in over 2 years, and couldn't recall how much value, if any at all was still on it.
The guy ran it through, and said that it had $27.02 on it, and would I like that added to lower the price of the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter as well.
I said heck yeah! Anything to bring that $100 price tag down.

So between the games and the card, we knocked $64.64 off the price of the adapter, making the total price my sister had to pay just $42.35.
She was so greatful for that. She wanted to get the boys that very expensive piece they needed, and I certainly couldn't afford it, so helping bring that price down made her smile.
And of course the teens are thrilled. They missed being able to play their games live since the power transformer blew out on the 19th of January.
It wasn't until January 23rd, when I got the new modem/router from Verizon, that I realized what happened to the xbox's ethernet port.
When the transformer blew, it caused a massive power surge that killed the ethernet port, my phone, my answering machine, and my router as well as the old modem I had.
I'm truly lucky that it didn't just kill the entire xbox.

So the boys are totally happy, and as soon as I got the adapter hooked up and entered the WEP key, they were back online and playing Rock Band.
Susan is here and loves music, so she wanted to try it.
She was truly awesome at Ballroom Blitz.

And now my little cutie pie is in bed, fast asleep.
We ate and played, and giggled and tickled, and ran, and laughed, and read a book before bed.
She's just so awesome. I love having her here.
I get to be mommy-like again.
You know, play goofy, read silly bedtime stories, play silly games.
The teens look at me really funny if I try to read The Cat in the Hat out loud to them like I used to.
The cat has a voice, the fish has a voice, and I just have so much fun reading it to little kids, and the teens, are definitely not little any more.
Now they are as grumpy as the fish in the pot.

February 2, 2008

Busy busy buseeeeee.

I have so much to do, and what am I doing?
I'm sitting here playing on the net.
Actually not playing, I had to look up some stuff so I could connect the boys to the modem/router through wireless later today.
That involved finding the damn connection page for verizon. I could not remember what it was at all.
I got it now, all will good.

I need to vac the rugs and stuff like that, my niece Susan is coming to spend the night with us.
I need to get to the store and get cat litter, tp, a little bit of food.
I am so freaking broke right now.
I just yesterday, paid my doc appointment co-pays, picked up all my meds, and had to get the boys lunch and something for me for dinner, and I think I have a whole $65 bucks left to buy the above and food, for a whole week and a half.
uh huh.
Looks like ramen and pb and j time for a little bit.
Things are just super tight and work ha slowed down a bit, not sure why, but I could really use some more work right now.
I hate being broke like this, it stresses me oooooout man.
I'll survive though.
Oh, and I am not buying the teens the wireless thingy they need, sis is, so yeah, not coming out of my empty pockets.

I'm so tired too. I was awake till like 6am. I just laid on the couch watching stupid infomercials and crappy movies.
I did get some new Netflix stuff today, but we won't be watching it with Susan here.
I picked episodes 1 and 2 of HBO's Rome.
Everyone said it was really good. If it sucks, I'll just send them back and cancel the remaining episodes.
No biggie especially now that there are so many movies you can just watch right on line.

Ok, gotta go. Lots of cleaning and stuff to do.
Later days!

January 30, 2008

Just jot it in the space provided.

I haven't really had a lot to say over the last few days, I'm still shaking off my flu bug, still kinda wankied in the head from that, and been sorta down in the dumpers about stuff.

I've been attempting to get all my tax stuff sorted out, so I can pay what I owe on my self employment earnings, and am attempting to wait patiently for the 1099's to come in the mail.
What I don't like is being asked to re-create my account at an on line company I no longer work for, because when I quit and they deleted my account at my request, they didn't create any back-ups of my tax information which includes my SSN and mailing address.
I refused to re-create that account, and instead sent my information through a secure email connection.
But now I'm slightly, ok, a lot, worried that my 1099 is going to have the wrong information on it.
See, my SSN should have been tied to my earnings in a database some where, but nope, they didn't have my SSN or address, so how are they going to send me a proper 1099?

I received a second email from them after sending them the information they needed, telling me this is the amount you earned, you don't need a 1099 to file your taxes, just jot this amount down in the space provided on the tax form.
Maybe I don't need the 1099, but I prefer to be professional, and have the proper forms should my tax preparer ask for them.
And quite honestly, the fact that my information was not kept in a secure database with my name and SSN tied to my earnings, I have to question if it's even the correct amount.
I don't think it is.
The number they gave me is more than I recall making, even if they added in the $100 for a focus group, it's still about $200 higher than I have written down as my correct earnings.
I kept very detailed records of my earnings, and the number they gave me is more than I have recorded in excel.
It's just another one of those phew, glad I got out when I did, moments for me.
I have zero trust in this company. I lost it quite awhile ago.
I want my actual 1099 in hand, and I want to add up my records again and compare it to this amount. Something is not right and I know it in my gut.

What this means if I am correct about that extra $200, is that I have to pay taxes on that extra amount. I am already going to be paying nearly $1,000 in self employment earnings, and this will just add to it.
I'm freaking broke people, I can't be paying more than I should have to because someone kept shoddy records.
And if the records are indeed wrong for me, how many others will it be wrong for?

January 22, 2008

Argh! So frustrating!

George came over with a router for me, and I have been at this the entire day now and cannot get it to even register the internet signal.
I'm so freaking frustrated!
The teens are gonna come home, think I have all their stuff back up and running, and no, I don't, and they're gonna be upset, and that's when I'm going to throw a whole bunch of camping gear at them, tell them to sleep in the freaking yard, because if I get asked one more time if it's fixed yet, I may hurt somebody!

Why the hell is it not even seeing the DSL signal?!
And of course, the stress of this whole mess, has my back twitching like an epileptic with a grand seizure.
Why can't someone just come over and fix it for me huh?
Why does this have to be so much more complicated than it should be?
The Linksys router I had, a couple things plugged in and bam! All good to go.
This one, is simply not working and I'm ready to take a sledge hammer to it!

January 13, 2008

I'm not signing that.

On our way to Publix, we noticed that the new video game store, or what I thought was a video game store, had it's open sign on, so we stopped in to check it out.

We opened the door and walked in, and were surprised to see that it's a game playing place.
For $6.75 per hour, you can go in and play xbox 360, PS3, or a Wii, or pool.
They had giant flat screen tvs up on the black painted walls, leather recliners for the people to sit in, 2 pool tables, and not much else.
The guy said that in a few weeks he'll start buying, selling, and trading new and used games, but for now, if you want your kids to come play, they have to read all the rules, (1 page, single spaced) and the parents have to sign a contract, and leave their CC number.

The contract basically states that if your kid breaks a controller, a recliner, a pool stick, or whatever, the parents are legally responsible for full price repayment.
The games are not worth full price because so many people would be using them all the time, same with the controllers and other items, so no way should the parents have to pay full price for them, they would be used price at that point.

It was dead quiet in there too, because all the kids are required to use the full ear covering headsets, there is no jukebox or soda machines, no food is allowed to be eaten while there, it's strictly for game playing.
While the concept is ok, there is no way my teens will be going there to play.
Let's say some kid breaks a Wii controller, doesn't say anything when their hour is up, Mark rents an hour and tells the guy the controller doesn't work.
Guess who has to buy a new controller?
Mommy, and mommy ain't paying for that.
There are no security cameras to verify what kid is doing what in there, so it would all come down to whichever kid is the last kid to sign the contract for a particular game system.
No thanks.

But in other cool video game news, I just saw the Xbox 360 Text Messaging Kit.
It plugs into the headset port, and allows you to text message people in game, or with people using Windows based pc messenger systems. One review I read said it can be used to send text messages back and forth to cell phones as well.
If you watch the demo video on Circuit City's website, you can see it works with cell phones. Not sure how that works because I don't have this text pad yet, but if it can do all that stuff, and even comes with a special headset that works with it, it might be a kick ass add-on for the xbox360.
A lot of the video games make heavy use of texting like Phantasy Star Universe does, so this would be a very nice addition so you don't have to leave your game screen to send messages back and forth, you could just do it in game from the chat pad.
I may have to check one of these out.

January 7, 2008

Is a digital tv in my future?

By now, I'm sure most people know about the end of analog tv broadcasts in February 2009, and all signals will be digital.
I either need to buy a digital tv, or get the converter box.
I've already signed up for the $40 coupon the government is offering, but I'm thinking I should just get a digital tv and all the HDMI cables and other stuff I'm going to need for it, before that happens in a year from now.
I've been doing some comparison shopping, browsing Amazon, Circuit City, Best Buy etc, looking at, and watching the prices go up and down every week.

I'm also looking into the whole Blu-Ray issue.
See, most entertainment studios are already planning on releasing their dvds in Blu-Ray format only starting very, very soon, and now Warner Bros. is stating that they will be releasing their high-definition titles "exclusively" in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year.
That means my current dvd player is going to be pretty much useless.
Almost all the major studios have already made the switch, and will be making it exclusive by year's end.
The only studios who have not made this declaration are Universal and Paramount.

So not only do I have the whole digital tv issue to deal with, but now even renting movies is going to be on Blu-Ray soon, so I have quite a bit of electronics to upgrade by 2009.
I need to win the lotto just to watch tv and rent cheap movies from Netflix.
I like never go to the movies and refuse to pay for cable, so it's either buy all this stuff, or be really bored.
I love movies! I cannot go without my movies!
Damn digital and Blu-Ray! Damn you!

January 7, 2008

Virus e-card warning.

So many people send out e-cards, and a lot of people use trusted sites like Hallmark.com to do that.
I knew that some e-cards with viruses were being sent out, and I sent my parents a warning a few weeks ago telling them to not click on any link inside an e-card email unless they knew it was legit.
But I got one today from Hallmark.com, a well known and trusted site, it said in the email header, that my mom had sent me an e-card.
Good thing I always hover over the links in any email I get, to check where it goes before clicking.
Click for larger.

The link at the bottom circled in red, is a .exe, a program that will install itself on your computer, usually a virus, if you click that link in the e-card notification.
Always place your mouse over the link and look at the link in the status bar to see where the link really goes.
If it had said Hallmark.com, it would have been safe.
There are mean nasty people out there who do this kind of crap, and ruin other people's computers.

I always worry about my parents getting a virus this way. They love to send and receive e-cards to and from friends and family, and it's sad that because of mean people, my parents computer could get ruined.
Being so far away from my folks, I wouldn't be able to help them fix the problem from here where I live. They would have to take their computer to a repairman to get the virus off.

If you get an e-card notification from Hallmark.com, hover over the link and if it's not a Hallmark.com address, send the email to abuse@hallmark.com

January 4, 2008

We'll be working on out, all weekend long.

Charlotte is another blogger who won one of the ellipticals in the contest, there are 3 of us who won one.
Anyway, Charlotte's elliptical also came today, and she opened her box up and started putting it together.
Oh my word, this is gonna be fun, just look at all those parts we get to put together!
Hee hee, I know the teens and I will be able to do it, but instead of tonight, I may have to hold off till morning when the sun is out.
I don't have a lot of light in my living room, so we're gonna wait.

And speaking of parts, my neighbor asked me when he saw me coming home, about setting up his home network, and if I knew how to do it. I told him I did, and asked him if he had all the needed parts.
He was like what parts? I said well, you'll need a router, wireless or wired, your choice, and the various ethernet cards and cords if we go the wired way.
he had no idea what I was talking about.
Oy.
So I told him what it was, how much they generally cost etc, and so he asked for the names of the stuff. He wrote it down as I spoke, and I told him he could probably get a decent used cisco router for way less than new, and it would work just the same, where he could get the cords and cards, mainly at the Radio Shack or even Best Buy or Circuit City, but Radio Shack has them cheaper than those stores.
Then I told him once he gets everything, to call me and I'll come over and show him how to set it all up and all that jazz.
he said he'd go out and get everything tonight and some time tomorrow, if I could come over and do it. I said sure.
I have an awesome idea though.
I can go set up his network, and he can come build my elliptical!
Great idea right? LOL

December 24, 2007

It's late on Christmas eve

and everyone is away.

Sebastian has gone to bed, Mark is playing video games, he's rocking out, and I'm finished reading blogs, and about to go reply to emails.
It's really been a boring day and night here.
We did watch a really cool bloody movie, I'll have to write up my review after emails are taken care of.
I made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry.
Such a thrilling list of things done on Christmas eve eh?
I just have had absolutely nothing exciting to do today.
Oh yeah, I tweaked the boys new pc.
Because it's brand new, it is set up to load like everything on startup, so I cleaned up teh start up files, tweaked the services.msc of all those stupid things that don't really need to be set to automatically run, and when I rebooted, it was fast as lightening.
They are pleased.

My sister brought some gifts over for the boys after work when she dropped off Sebastian, I gave her the presents I had for the girls.
I had gotten the girls some new toys from the Learning Resources, I know they will love them.
Sis gave them each $50 to Best Buy, and some presents from Mark and Carrie, her employers. They gave the boys a ton of new clothes.
They own some surf shop clothing stores, and asked for the boys sizes.
They gave each of them 2 huge boxes of stuff. I can't wait to see what they got.
My sis gave me a necklace like the one of hers that I had been admiring and wanted to borrow it to copy it, to see if I could recreate it and make one. The matching earrings too.
Sweet!
Now I have one and I can copy the pattern to make them whenever I get the go ahead to make jewelry again.

Well I guess that's all for now.
Time to get busy on other stuff and try to entertain myself for the rest of the night.
Later days.

December 23, 2007

Christmas blahdy blahs.

The only thing I hate about this time of year is that no one is around.
Hardly anyone has blogged for the last few days, no one is posting to any forums, which leaves me totally bored.

I could go tweak the boys computer, but Mark is on it.
Sebastian is playing video games on the xbox, and I'm bored.
I've started converting cds over to mp3s, just to have something to do.
I've got about 15 or so cds to convert over, I guess that will keep me occupied for awhile.

What are you doing?
Getting excited for Christmas?
The kids driving you nuts yet?

I remember when the boys were little, oh how they would go crazy by today.
They knew in just 2 more sleeps, it would be Christmas and they'd be getting lots of new toys and games to play with.
Now that they are older, honestly, Christmas isn't a big deal anymore.
It makes me kind of sad.
The more grown up they get, the less the holidays excite them.
It just isn't the same anymore.

December 22, 2007

Almost done with my shopping.

I know, just 3 days to go, and I'm not totally done yet.
I have one more gift to get, I need to go to EB games today and hope they actually have it.
Yeah, I'm one of those wait till the last minute shoppers for something kinda popular amongst teens.

I see some Verizon trucks outside today.
Good!
Maybe they're finally installing the fiber optic cables needed to bring FIOS to my house.
See, when they were laying the cables this past summer, they thought this duplex was a one unit dwelling, and only laid cables for one line.
My house number was totally skipped over, so every time I called about getting FIOS, they couldn't see my house on the street maps they created. I had to convince them that this was a duplex, a two family unit dwelling, not one.
I've been arguing with them for like 7 months now over this issue.
My neighbors who share this duplex, got FIOS, and when the Verizon guy was here installing it, I went out and talked to him.
He looked at his map, and was like "Wow, sorry ma'am. Your house got skipped on the map. I'll have to go to the planners and have to get them to add it. It could take awhile."
Ugh.
I want FIOS dammit!

Don't forget, you have till a little after 2pm to enter my Walmart sucks gift card give-a-way!
You have a really good shot, there's only 27 people in it so far!

December 21, 2007

Santa knocked on my door today.

Ok, so it wasn't Santa Claus, it was a way hot UPS guy with a package for me, and inside was a Sansa Clip 1 GB MP3 Player!
Yup!
It's the mp3 player I blogged about buying for myself instead of trying to save for an ipod.

A friend told me to be on the lookout for UPS, they had sent me something for xmas, so I knew something was coming but didn't know what it was.
I was totally surprised it was this!
You have to see this thing, it's so cute!
And in my fave color too. *wink*

It really is only slightly larger than a quarter, but it holds a full gig of mp3s, records voice memos or audio books, and has an FM tuner.
Very cool.
It charges through the same USB cord that you use to drag and drop, or copy files from my music folder to the player.
It only took about 30 minutes to fully charge, and I've been messing with it ever since.
I loaded about 400 mp3s on it, and there's still room for more.
I totally love it!
So thank you 'C' for the awesome gift. I think she somehow knew that even though I said I was going to buy it for myself, that my mom guilt would totally win out. *LOL*

December 20, 2007

Only 1 more day till school vacation.

The teens last day of school for Christmas break, is tomorrow.
They won't go back until January 7th.
That's like a huge break.
A way too long huge break.
They're gonna drive me crazy...LOL

I want to find a recipe and attempt to make some paella sometime. I've heard people talk about it and say it's really good, so I'm going to start searching for a good recipe. If you have one and want to share it, send me the recipe please.

I need to go to Walgreern's and pick up my script, and then go brave Publix, because in all the craziness this week, I totally forgot to go do the holiday food shopping.
Ack!
The teens have decided they want a turkey again, not a ham.
They would take a ham if I could get one from Honeybaked, but the problem with that is that the lines are always long, and if you pick it up too early, no one can resist picking at it before it's actually meal time on Christmas day.
Their hams are so good, and they have that maple sugar crusty stuff that is just so so good, I mean it, you end up picking pieces off it before the meal.
So, we'll have turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls, and I need to pick up something for dessert too. Maybe one of the fancy cakes from the Publix bakery.

Sebastian is so so happy the computer is here. OMG, he was on it all night after I set it up.
Acer makes an awesome computer. I got them the same one as I have, and it's just a really great computer.
The only thing I don't like is they come pre-loaded with Norton anti-virus.
It never works right, slows down your browsing etc. So I always remove it and install zone alarm and AVG.
After I did that and ran the updates for windows xp, it took me about 45 minutes to get all that stuff done, then I called him in the room and said here ya go buddy.
I should have had my camera ready because he had the biggest smile ever.
He gave me a huge hug and said thanks mom.
He set up all his favorites again, I'm going to install his Sims games, and Mark's empire game today, and I will also bookmark their school login pages so they can do their work.

Over vacation, Mark can login from home, and do all his school work and so when he goes back in January, the teacher can add on new stuff for him.
He can get totally ahead on all his school work over vacation.
He's all caught up right now, but there are about 6 hours worth of stuff he can do to get ahead.
I won't be a nag and make him sit there all day long till it's all done, but an hour a day is all he really needs.

And speaking of the computer, I will update you all on the Walmart.com shit in another post.
I really am totally confused as to what they did and why they did it the way they did.

December 19, 2007

No more stress, just sleep and clean.

I am so glad that things worked out today the way they did instead of how the day started.
I was so frustrated this morning, and I had been awake all night, so of course that made things more stressful.
I appreciate all the comments about how 'stuff' isn't important, that the teens love me, know I tried etc etc, and I'm not even going to bother explaining anything because I just don't think people will get 'it'.

So anyway, now that it's here, I can go ahead and take the Dell Memory sticks and add them in there so that the pc can do what it needs to do for the teens, and then I can start on the other things around the house that I have been planning on doing.

After the holidays, this house is getting a top to bottom, every nook and cranny, cleaning.
It's that time of year again, and the teens will be out of school for winter beak till the 8th I think, so all of this stuff should get done.
There are bags and boxes of items that have literally, not been opened or touched in years.
If they haven't been touched, they aren't needed items.
It's time to shrink the amount of stuff I have down to just what I actually use and need.
A full cleaning is in order.

I have so many things to do on my own pc tonight and tomorrow, I need to get cracking on it or it will never get done.
Then, I'm going to go to bed and actually sleep.
I'm wiped out.
Later days.

December 12, 2007

It's a shame I don't drink coffee.

I don't like the taste of it at all, but man, I do love those fancy espresso machines and coffee makers they sell now.
They have those pod ones, and multi cup ones.
I saw this one on some cooking show this weekend, that breed your coffee one cup at a time.
You set it on the base, and it knew the cup was there, and instantly brewed one cup of coffee.
I have no idea how that works because you have to load it with coffee and water, but the rest of the coffee grounds don't get used until you make your next cups.
It was really neat.
I want a machine that makes hot chocolate.
I want it to be like a coffee or espresso machine, all the buttons and stuff, but it makes hot chocolate.
That would be very cool.

November 30, 2007

Email marketing for bloggers.

Have you ever signed up for a newsletter from a blog?
I have, and sometimes the letter is just a summary of their latest posts, but most often, it's news about what's going on at their blog like contests, favorite posts of the last week, and articles of interest.

One of the most used ways I've seen to send this newsletter is from icontact, and now they have a new community all about tips and tricks for email marketing.
I happen to think that more bloggers should offer a newsletter.
Feed reading is great, but sometimes there are so many posts, I'm sure I over look some really great posts.

A newsletter that highlights those posts, sent out once a week, would help attract more views to those great articles.
The bloggers would get double the page views, and possibly Stumbled or Dugg, which would drive even more traffic to those posts of interest.

I've been checking out the community forums, it seems to have just been started not long ago, and it has some great posts of interest.
I've often thought about a newsletter for my own blog, but I honestly don't have the kind of content to warrant one.
I'm a personal mommy blogger, but I do sign up for newsletters from other bloggers that have great articles about blogging.
I have subscriptions to some of the pro-bloggers, mom bloggers, and even a few arts and crafts bloggers.
I enjoy all the different aspects of each type of blog, and the newsletters help me read the more valuable posts on each.
Do you have one? Do you subscribe to any?

November 29, 2007

Plebheplebah

It's a terrible shame you can't hear that noise. I am so freaking tired from last night's mopping fun.
The house didn't totally flood, cuz we caught it in time, but something happened and we ended up using every towel in the house to clean it up.
None of us had even been in the bathroom prior to it happening.
I think my neighbors screwed up or something, there was water in places that no water source could have provided unless it came through the baseboards or something.

Anyway, I'm wiped out. My lower back, hips, and right shoulder are on fiyah!
Excruciating.
And the Fedex guy came like 20 minutes ago, with this gigantic box.
He practically beat down my door, I answer it and he's half way down the drive to his truck already.
He turns around and says, "That has some serious weight to it."
I'm like uh, fuck.

So I did the only thing I could do because the boys weren't home.
I pushed the box up over my step and slid it across the floor into the house.
Serious weight to it my ass.
Holy motherfuck!
That box is sitting right where it is till the boys get home, I cannot move it another inch.
Damn.
I know what's in the box, my friend Pete sent me a tower for the boys, he said it was coming by Fede