tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91617400284286606752024-03-05T07:17:28.884-06:00Ferret's Random ThoughtsMusings about life in general. It's a blog. What else would it be about?Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-39581518194103315102013-05-10T17:32:00.002-05:002013-05-10T17:32:30.633-05:00Update on My Comparison of the Various Big Cell Phone Providers Because Why NotWell, T-Mobile herp-derped their way out of us being their customers by deciding today that we'd have to pay hundreds of dollars in security deposits (which we didn't have to pay for yesterday) for anything that we did. So, that's out now too. I guess we stick with Verizon. Blech.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-54061298966984275882013-05-09T22:57:00.004-05:002013-05-09T22:59:21.482-05:00My Comparison of the Various Big Cell Phone Providers Because Why NotJust in case anyone else is about to go through the hassle of comparing the various big cell providers in the US anytime soon, I figured I'd toss my observations up about doing just that, since I just did it, and maybe others can get some use out of what I learned. <br />
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<h3>
The Setup</h3>
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We currently have Verizon Wireless, four phones, none smartphones. I don't work so I'm almost always near my PC, the wife wants a smartphone but isn't sure what she'd do with it, and the other two don't care one way or the other. The plan into which we're grandfathered on Verizon has fit us just fine up until now, when the step-daughter's phone disintegrated in her hands and is now held together by tape. So, we figured we'd either switch, or renew our two year contract with Verizon to get yet another dumbphone. The latter option was an option, but I wanted to see if we could maybe get better phones by going elsewhere. We had been with Verizon for around 7 years, and the only major problem we had was where they charged us for things we didn't order over the interwebs, like Joke-A-Day type stuff, but those problems were corrected after much angry yelling at supervisors on my part. </div>
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However, before signing another two year contract just to get one functional phone, I wanted to see what was out there. </div>
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I did all of my pricing online <b>only. </b>What I priced was 4 smartphones with the lowest amount of data possible (since we'll be using WI-FI most of the time anyway), and this is how it worked out.</div>
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By the way, I have little faith in any of these quotes being able to be duplicated exactly, and with "taxes, service fees, and other charges", as the carriers like to say, nothing is set in stone until you get a bill in the mail, anyway. So take the actual quotes with a grain of salt, and use them for comparison within this post only. Your results will almost certainly vary. </div>
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<h3>
Sprint</h3>
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These people are on drugs, I think, and not the good, soothing kinds. I just wanted to get them out of the way first, because, to make a long story short, their prices are insane and their coverage is terrible. They even charge an additional $10 per line, on top of their already noncompetitive prices, just to have a smartphone, even though they're the only ones of this group that barely even has a 4G LTE network. I'm not talking about the price of the data plan itself, either. That's a separate charge. Of course, on their "dare to compare" chart where they compare to other carriers, they don't mention that additional fee. Derp. Their website also sucks, and is more convoluted than anyone else, save ATT. I have no idea why anyone would use Sprint. Even their phone selection is subpar. </div>
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<b>Quote - around $260/month (</b>I think, was honestly hard to tell for sure, but they wanted ALL the information to do a credit check and give me an actual monthly total, so I stopped there because they were already hideously expensive compared to everyone else.)</div>
<h3>
Verizon</h3>
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Of course I compared to what would happen if we were to just switch internally. The prices were high, but not as high as Sprint. Their $40 per line and then add a data plan to share is nice and simple, so their site is probably the best to deal with. They were not the cheapest, but they do have a better network than everyone else. The only one that comes close is ATT, but I hear far more complaints about ATT's service than Verizon. Verizon's new $30 "upgrade fee" is a bit irritating, considering starting new accounts with everyone but Sprint saw the activation fees waived. So I have to pay for the upgrade, and pay for upgrading, even when I'm signing a new contract? Not a smooth move, Verizon. Sort of like an effective "fuck you for being a customer," which I thought was ATT's specialty. Back in my day, Verizon gave us free upgrades every two years without charging us a penny. Then again, we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways to get the phones out of the mailbox, probably. </div>
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Anyway...</div>
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All of that said, I probably would stick with Verizon if not for the fact that we hardly ever leave Austin anymore, and their nice, works pretty much everywhere network, just isn't worth paying extra, especially considering the cost of upgrading to phones that are any better than what we already have. </div>
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<b>Quote - around $220/month</b></div>
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<h3>
ATT</h3>
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ATT seemed to fall right between Verizon and Sprint in price. However, I'm not terribly sure, because I couldn't get their site to actually work correctly. I had to use the IM a customer service rep tool, which worked great, and she was actually very good at explaining the silliness of the site. In short, the site is as dumb as it seems to be, and every time it forces you to choose a more expensive option, that's because you actually do have to pick that option, and the other one is not available on purpose, despite the fact that it's already selected, you just can't "add to cart". Will that last sentence make sense to anyone that hasn't tried to use the site? Probably not. Sorry.</div>
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What really got me was that when you select the 1GB family share data plan for the first line, the additional lines also had to have a $40+ data plan each. Huh? How is that a family share data plan, then? What are we sharing, exactly? </div>
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Their talk and text comes up as "free", though, so the end result isn't as astronomically expensive as you might would think. However, I still see no reason to go through ATT instead of Verizon since, by most accounts, Verizon has a better network and slightly lower prices, and their plans are certainly easier to understand. Verizon, unlike ATT, also doesn't have that pesky reputation of being evil incarnate when it comes to how they deal with their customers. </div>
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<b>Quote - around $230/month</b></div>
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<h3>
T-Mobile</h3>
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Future chaos notwithstanding, T-Mobile is who we are going to go with. Their prices are lower than all the others, their site was the second easiest to actually get a quote from (behind Verizon), and their network appears to be pretty decent, though I have heard that the reality isn't quite so sunny. Since we hardly ever leave the city anymore, though, and it should work well enough on major highways, I figure the network issues won't really affect us much. They did do something pretty weird, and that was flat out deny the fourth line unless we put down a $250 deposit in addition to paying $150 per phone up front. The $150 per phone is because our credit isn't great, I get that. But that additional $250 deposit on a so called non-contract when we're already paying $150 up front per phone seemed really weird. We never did get a really good explanation for it, except that, apparently, unless you have a 850+ credit score (really?) you'll always have to pay the $250 deposit for the fourth line. Three lines is cool. Four lines is big deposit time. Two supervisors and three customer service reps couldn't give any better explanation.</div>
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Now, because they were by far the cheapest, T-Mobile is also the only one that we did a credit check with. With Verizon, we already have good standing through them, so I'm sure there wouldn't be anything crazy about upgrading all four phones at once. With Sprint and ATT, I didn't even get to the point of checking credit. Maybe they would also require a huge down payment on the phones, or some sort of deposit, or maybe arbitrarily deny the fourth line unless you paid a deposit on it specifically. I have no idea. </div>
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So, what we're going to do is just go with three lines, and the other person that we were letting do an addon phone will have to look elsewhere. Reason being, even comparing apples to apples, 4 lines to 4 lines, T-Mobile is almost exactly the same for four smartphones than what we're paying to Verizon for four regular phones. And T-Mobile is waving the activation fees while Verizon is charging an upgrade fee. So, really, the decision for us is pretty clear. </div>
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I'm putting two quotes for T-Mobile since, instead of getting a contract, you pay for your phones in installments. We have to pay $150 down on each phone because crap credit, but if you didn't, you'd just be paying more per month. The end cost comes out the same. </div>
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<b>Quote - around $180 to $205/month </b>(for four phones, which you probably can't get, but still, there you go)</div>
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<h3>
Other</h3>
Cricket wouldn't work for us because we can't afford to buy all the smartphones outright. Virgin USA has have crap for coverage in Texas, so I didn't look any further than their coverage map. Net-10 requires you have your own smartphones, which we do not. <br />
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I think that's it. <br />
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If you have anything to add, feel free to say something in the comments. Thanks for reading, and I hope you got some useful info out of the time I spent fighting various websites!<br />
<br />Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-71496725937360921082013-04-25T17:38:00.001-05:002013-04-25T17:38:15.492-05:00The only true believers of any religion are probably in mental hospitals, or crazy praying homeless bums.There's something I've always wondered about, when it comes to Christianity, as well as any other religion that believes in the heaven/hell paradigm:<br />
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Why aren't there more completely batshit crazy, out of their minds, unable to function or even form coherent thoughts, religious people out there?<br />
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Stay with me, this will make sense. <br />
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As an agnostic atheist, I feel that any human morality comes from an innate understanding of what is and what is not wrong. An inherent feeling of what is good and what is bad. And there is also the knowledge that there is a whole lot of gray area, and that, if you aren't sure, but you're not hurting anyone, you're probably not doing anything wrong. <br />
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Most religions seem to capitalize on those built-in feelings by either defining them in some sort of "commandment", or using that understanding to illustrate some sort of story. For the most part, though, any sane human being can read any of those things and come to the conclusion that they already knew whatever lesson was being taught. <br />
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For instance, I don't think many people look at Christianity's 10 commandments and think <i>"So I shouldn't screw my neighbor's wife? Oh, that's news to me!"</i><br />
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Or <i>"Stealing other people's stuff is a dbag move!? I HAD NO IDEA! I guess Bob read this, too, and that's why he's upset that I stole his lawn furniture!"</i><br />
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The whole of most modern religions boils down to "Don't be an asshole, and worship (insert deity here) like this."<br />
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But, again, we already knew that. We learn that pretty early on because we understand the concept of consequences. Golden Rule type stuff which, by the way, as a concept, predates religion entirely. We just figure that out when we're very young and we carry it forward throughout life. Don't smack people because getting smacked sucks. Don't steal shit because getting shit stolen sucks. <br />
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By the time anyone can read a cereal box (let alone a holy book of any religion), they know those simple rules of living with others. Do they always follow them? Not necessarily, but they have an idea that they should.<br />
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Now, let's also assume that there is no such thing as karma, either the Westernized version or one of the original religious versions (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma#Western_interpretation" target="_blank">which, combined, create a wide spectrum of beliefs that may or may not be similar to each other</a>). I think, when it comes down to reality, most people tend to discard the concept of karma, anyway, because the entire idea, just by existing, would become so convoluted as to not be useful at all. <br />
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For instance, you murder a child. You asshole. Oh, wait, that child was the next Hitler? Well, then, that makes you a great person. You wonderful child murderer. <br />
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See what I mean? Is it intent, or effect that matters? And does ignorance play a part? If you kill Hitler version 2.0 on purpose, but he was about to murder the guy who would create the weapon that destroys the entire planet, does that knock some of the positive points off of your accomplishment? And whose deity gets to decide,. or by what rules are those points tallied? <br />
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It's inevitable that whatever route you take, it's going to be wrong, so the reality is, most of us (religious or not) just do what seems like the best idea at the time and hope for a good outcome. We assume that, if something bad comes of our actions, the Cosmic Karma Keeper won't penalize us because, hey, we didn't know. <br />
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We just invoke the whole karma thing when we think we've done something good, or we think someone else has done something bad. <br />
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<i>I just fed a stray dog, maybe I'll get a raise tomorrow! </i><br />
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<i>That asshole swerving around while talking on his cellphone, oh he's getting his...SOMEDAY. </i><br />
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So now, for most religious people, we have distilled things down to heaven/hell, or some variation thereof. You either did something that sends you to hell, or you didn't, which ends in you going to heaven. <br />
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Now, in the Christian religion (and others, I would assume), there is also the forgiveness concept. The idea that, in essence, you can ask for forgiveness for just about anything, and if you <i>really really</i> mean it, you're still not hellbound.<br />
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But that doesn't really change much, does it? I mean, for minor things, sure, but not for things like mass killings or rapings or setting orphanages on fire or whatever. If you really were sorry for doing it, you probably wouldn't have done it in the first place, and you're surely not going to do it again. Yet most violent criminals continue being violent until caught. So, yeah, forgiveness doesn't really apply to them.<br />
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Take the violence out, and people still don't really feel sorry for their misdeeds. What person really feels bad for going five over? Well, that's breaking the law of the land, isn't it? And isn't that something you're not supposed to do? It's so minor, it's not hurting anyone...right? <br />
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Do you even ask for forgiveness each and every time you do anything that might be against the rules? Without some sort of massive thought reading device, we can't tell for sure, but I'd bet good money that there isn't a single religious person alive that hasn't forgotten to ask for forgiveness for doing something they weren't supposed to do, even if it's just one thing. However, I'd bet that, with most people, it's more like one thing a month, or week, or day. <br />
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So here's where the insanity comes in. Every single religious relative of every single person who has repeatedly broken at least one of whatever rules or commandments that will send a soul to hell, or its equivalent, should be absolutely convinced that their dead relative is in a place of eternal damnation and torture. And let's be realistic...is there anyone that wouldn't be in hell? Anyone at all? Christianity is one of the more forgiving religions, and I'm fairly certain that there's not a man alive who hasn't been slothful and wasn't in the least bit sorry about it. Or coveted another woman with absolutely zero remorse.<br />
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Let's not even go into what almost every religion says what a woman can and cannot do.<br />
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Essentially, every religious person should truly believe that any dead relatives are in hell, and that heaven is basically empty. They should also be assuming that, within 80 years or so, they will also be enduring eternal torture, and that they've already consigned themselves to it. That is not something that, if a person<i> really truly</i> believed, they would be able to continue operating as a normal human being. It would consume them. They would be able to think of nothing else, and they would lose their minds. Each minute of each hour of each day, they would know that their loved ones were being tortured. You don't just ignore something like that and keep on going. Life would not go on. <br />
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We would have people dedicating their lives to somehow praying their grandfathers out of hell for thinking Harriet across the street had sexy legs, or their grandmothers out of hell for thinking and, well, talking out of turn. Or cutting their hair. <br />
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The only alternative would be believing that forgiveness is truly a get out of hell free card. Which means that religious morality is, by extension, a complete and total lack of <i>any </i>morality, because you can do whatever you want and then just ask for forgiveness, without meaning it in the slightest. Any commandments or rules would just become lists of things for which to ask for forgiveness. They would not define, nor lead to morality. In fact, such a belief system defies the built-in human morality that we all already have, religious or not. It negates it. If we all truly believed in forgiveness of sins, we would all be savages, taking whatever we want, doing whatever we want, destroying whatever got in our way, and just praying for about 15 minutes afterward. <br />
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<i>"Uh, God, please forgive me for...Tuesday. And Monday. Did I pray on Sunday? Let's throw Sunday in there, just in case. Also, 2012. All of it."</i><br />
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Now, I know that has been addressed before, the whole lack of morality behind forgiveness, but I hadn't really considered the fact that the other side, the ones who didn't believe you could simply ask for forgiveness, would therefore be forced to conclude that any dead loved ones were being tortured eternally. <br />
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Yet, when you think about it, it's obvious that no one (or at least very few) truly believes <i>either way</i>.<br />
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Very few spend their lives mourning their dead ancestors' never-ending torment. Most grieve, move on, sometimes think about the dead, they miss them, but after a while, they stop obsessing. <br />
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Very few spend their lives terrified of the fact that most religions, their own included, have already decided that they're going to hell themselves.<br />
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And very few go around murdering and stealing, immediately dropping to their knees and asking for forgiveness, and thinking that they then have nothing to worry about.<br />
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All three of the above would be considered crazy people by even the most devoutly religious. A person wouldn't be able to exist in any of those ways, at least not in a way that society considers normal at all. Yet, what other option would a <i>true</i> believer have?Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-412959402909394042012-12-03T18:30:00.002-06:002012-12-03T18:30:46.155-06:00Tips for writing a book for those who find it hard to stay motivatedSince I began this blog, I have written three full-length books, am virtually finished with another, and about halfway through yet another. All of this I have done, over time, while struggling with depression and through various med changes, which can really kill the motivation to finish something as involved as writing a book or long story.<br />
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Recently, I received an email from someone who reads my short stories who told me that they wanted to bounce some ideas off of me because they "always seem to run out of steam before I get to the end." I ended up writing a fairly long explanation as to the process that I developed, which has helped me to actually finish what I start, when it comes to writing. I figured I'd put it up here, as well, so that others could possibly benefit. <br />
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I write in five phases:<br />
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<b>Phase 1 - The VERY Rough Draft:</b> Commit yourself to writing the ENTIRE story down
before you go back, even once. Don't go back to add detail, don't go
back to proofread, just get the whole thing down, as quickly as
possible. Set a word count goal every time you go to write, and just
get it out of your head and onto paper (digital or otherwise). Write
down every thing you can think of for that story as quickly as possible,
first day, if you can. Don't worry about readability, don't worry
about if it would make sense to anyone but yourself. Don't worry about
grammar, about using the same words too closely together, or anything
like that. It's imperative to get the whole story down on paper before
you lose interest. <br />
<br /><b>Phase 2 - Explaining Yourself: </b> Go back to the beginning and add detail and
explanation. Flesh it out. Make it understandable to those that aren't
in your head. Again, go from beginning to end without restarting, if possible. If
you have to take a break from the story (longer than a few days), try to
do it between phases, not in the middle of one. I find this phase to be surprisingly easy, compared to the first. <br />
<br /><b>Phase 3 - Proofreading:</b> After that, go back to the beginning again and proofread. Commit
yourself to not adding detail or story on this phase unless it's
absolutely necessary to get your point across. This keeps you from
rewriting the story infinitely. Read it out loud, if possible. If not,
develop a "reading voice" in your head, and have it read it to you.
It's slower, but a lot more effective than simply reading the text. Try to have different voices for
different characters in your head. If you've never listened to an
audio book that works like this, try it, it'll help you envision the
different voices. <br />
<br /><b>Phase 4 - Someone Else's Problem:</b> For the fourth phase, get someone else to read the story, if you can.
Make a separate copy for them if you're doing this on a computer. Get
them to highlight anything that isn't ABSOLUTELY clear, as well as
anything grammatically incorrect or just plain awkward. Tell them to err on the
side of caution. If they understand something, but it seems a bit off,
tell them to highlight it and explain as such in parenthesis to the
side. Encourage them to explain what's wrong, whenever possible. It'll give you some insight into your own story from the perspective of someone else.<br />
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Try to let it sit for some time at this point. Maybe a week or so, or however long it takes your proofreader to finish. If you can, work on another project in the meantime. If you plan to churn books out in number, get another book past phase 4 before you go back to this one. It'll help you see your errors from the point of view of someone who has no idea what you're talking about, which is important. <br />
<br /><b>Phase 5 - Fixing The Obvious:</b> Go back, clarify, fix any errors. Fix them only on your original, then
strike-through the highlighted parts on the editor version and
copy-paste the fix. Have your proofreader check the fixes and repeat as
necessary. After all that, you should have a nice, polished story.<br />
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I hope this helps someone finish their own book or story. After the first one, it gets easier. Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-28125359026695975592012-11-30T23:13:00.002-06:002012-11-30T23:13:55.557-06:00Depression MalfunctionOne of the weirdest things about depression (to me, anyway) is where the mental malfunctions occur. The way I see it, with a normal human mind, this is how most things get done.<br />
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<li>First, there's the <b>need </b>to do a thing. This is optional. </li>
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<li>Example: I need to take the trash out. (keeping it simple, stick with me)</li>
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<li>What follows is the <b>want </b>to do a thing. If there is a need, then one usually wants to do the thing BECAUSE they need to do the thing. Alternatively, they may want to do the thing so that, in the end, they no longer need to do the thing, and can strike that off their list of things that they need to do. People also have their own wants that are not based on needs, even if they sometimes think they are, so it's possible for an action to start in the <b>want </b>phase.</li>
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<li>I want to take the trash out because I know I need to, and once I'm done, I can move on to other, less taking-trash-out-like things. </li>
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<li>Then there's the actual action - actually getting into gear and <b>DO</b>ing the thing, whatever it is. </li>
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I'll refer to these three phases as the need, the want, and the do. Suggestions at euphemisms are totally welcome in the comments. </div>
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Most people seem to be under the impression that a clinically depressed person stops at that second part, the want. They assume that a depressed person recognizes the <b>need </b>to do something (take the trash out, shower, whatever), but just doesn't <b>want </b>to. Even those that are empathetic towards those with depression seem to believe that they lack the <b>want</b>, but that there is a medical reason as opposed to sheer laziness. </div>
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More often than not, that is not the case. </div>
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Instead, the failure generally happens sometime after the <b>want </b>phase. I know I need to take the trash out. I want to take the trash out, because I'm sick of knowing that it's something I need to do, and it'll take me all of five minutes to get that out of the way which is far better than being annoyed by it for hours. Even if it doesn't stink, I'm still aware that it needs to be done and that I'm not doing it, and that annoys me. </div>
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And then...that's it. Whatever impetus there is supposed to be to push from the want to the actual action is just missing. I know it's missing. I can feel that there's something wrong, and that it used to be there, but it's just not. I know I need to, and therefore I want to, but it just doesn't go past that. There's a connection missing, a bridge burned, a path not available. You can almost feel an error code, even if you can't read it because no one has built a scanner for that, at least not yet. </div>
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Sometimes, and this is really bizarre, the failure actually comes in the middle of the action, whatever it is. Now, I'm not talking about deciding you don't like doing something, or simply getting bored with something tedious, or putting something down and just never picking it back up. That's normal stuff, and we all do that, to some degree. No, what I'm talking about is far weirder, and has given me some insight into why so many people are homeless.</div>
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Let's go back to the trash example. I need to take the trash out, therefore I want to take the trash out, therefore I do take the trash out. My "Doing Mechanism" is working, in this case. Then, suddenly, it inexplicably goes out, mid-action. I'm halfway to the dumpster, trash bag in hand, and out nowhere, there's this quiet urge to just set the trash bag down and stop. Maybe take a nap in the middle of the parking lot.</div>
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There's no reason for this urge, no feeling that it suddenly makes sense or is something that normal people should do. But, nonetheless, it's there, and every single step toward the dumpster, from that point on, requires an individual mental prodding, a conscious push to keep going. <br />
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Sometimes it happens while I'm in the shower. I'll simply lose the will to finish. I DO finish, because I don't want to have to explain why I didn't to my family, and because I recognize that not finishing would just be more irritating than finishing but, really, why would that even be a thing? Why would I have to tell myself "No, really, I have to rinse the soap off and wash my hair. I have to finish now that I've started." I wonder if anyone has found their clinically depressed family member laying in the bed (or floor), shampoo in hair and still soaking wet. Not even necessarily sleeping, just...stopped.<br />
<br />
This makes me wonder how many homeless people are homeless because, at some point, they just stopped, and it was at one of those crucial moments in life where you absolutely have to keep going. Hell, I could've easily ended up homeless in recent years if not for the need to take care of things for my family. </div>
Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-43642166651348888232012-01-24T02:12:00.002-06:002012-01-24T02:16:07.849-06:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybfT8TC6X1wDuQOP5P0UDLzR08ave1nPTHvHvOllRnfy1kr8FfJjdsk6-79yWlZbs1n7QyBMuUCNS5UXQ8EYPMmS0AzuhJHv3-xiY1AJnRkplTuGqKU0DLOgxyozR5frHEkfzbsCeft0/s1600/look+a+distraction.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 480px; height: 358px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybfT8TC6X1wDuQOP5P0UDLzR08ave1nPTHvHvOllRnfy1kr8FfJjdsk6-79yWlZbs1n7QyBMuUCNS5UXQ8EYPMmS0AzuhJHv3-xiY1AJnRkplTuGqKU0DLOgxyozR5frHEkfzbsCeft0/s400/look+a+distraction.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701108913931598898" border="0" /></a>Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-57674042973466288652010-12-26T21:04:00.004-06:002010-12-26T22:48:26.495-06:00Calling myself out.I never considered myself an angry person. I don't hit my wife, or anyone else. I don't beat my dog. I really can't think of anyone off the top of my head that I feel has woefully, personally wronged me. I don't blame others when I have money issues. I don't blame others when I have health issues. I really don't have "an axe to grind", as someone recently put it.<br /><br />If I were to assign one main emotional attribute to myself, it wouldn't be angry. It would be depressed.<br /><br />Then there is this incredible curse of foresight that I have. It's not even what I would call foresight, because many times, I still don't see things coming. It's more that I only actually comprehend the worst possible outcome for a given situation. And I OBSESS over it.<br /><br />Case in point, that last paragraph. Instantly, upon writing it, the thought went through my head that, "I bet most people won't actually understand that. They'll just read into it whatever it is they think it means, and totally get it wrong." This has evolved into a blanket feeling that most people have no idea what's going on around them. Which has led to an assumption that pretty much everyone that I didn't respect before this started happening was a complete idiot as soon as they did anything that I didn't immediately agree with.<br /><br />After all, how else can you see people when you think that no one understands, and everyone will eventually do the worst thing possible? It's kind of logical, in a deeply disturbed way.<br /><br />Between those two character traits (flaws?), I've become someone that I really don't care for. I've become someone that doesn't really understand the concept of "different". I thought I did. I think "People are stupid for being racist, because they're just different," and "People are stupid for hating those of other religions, they're just different."<br /><br />But I've realized that I'm doing the <span style="font-style: italic;">exact same thing.</span> Which means I've been stupid. Very stupid. And I've wasted a lot of time obsessing over how stupid <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> people are, or were being.<br /><br />I've said things that were better left unsaid, because I thought that they needed to hear them. And I've said them at completely the wrong times. And I've taken gratification in them being upset about what I've said because, hey, must've struck a cord, right? That means I'm "helping". Yeah, right.<br /><br />Another thing that I've done a lot of is attacking religious people, or their religions. I post anti-Christian things on my Facebook page to get a rise out of the religious people. I think, maybe I can make them see sense. Maybe I can make them realize that what they believe in makes no sense.<br /><br />In doing so, I have attacked people that are just seeing the good in things, be it their religion of choice, or the world around them. These attacks were completely unwarranted, unreasonable, and, if I'm honest, idiotic on my part. <br /><br />I never think that maybe they're just different, and see things differently than I do. Maybe what they believe in just doesn't make sense to me. I'm the depressed one. I'm the one that obsesses over other peoples' perceived stupidity. Why in the world am I trying to change the way <span style="font-style: italic;">they</span> see things? Because misery loves company, I guess? <br /><br />I do that with other things, too. When people tell me how bad it is, I tell them how much worse it REALLY is. When people get excited about something, I quickly inform them of the reality of the situation. I make sure they realize it's not as good as they think. If they mention that they have a goal, I show them how it's not attainable. If someone tells me their dreams, I tell them just how hard it's going to be to reach them.<br /><br />When someone tells me that they made a mistake, I ask them how they didn't see that coming. Yet I'm the guy who managed to get a $30k car, a $20k car, and a $125k house on $60k a year working at Domino's, then lost everything and now has horrible credit. I didn't see that coming?<br /><br />When my wife gets overly excited about something, I get irritated. Why? I don't know, but if I analyze it, I just assume that there must be something depressing that she's not fully comprehending.<br /><br />I mean, really? That's not the right way to think at ALL.<br /><br />I need to change. I need to fix this. I don't want to be this person. I don't want communication with me to fill people with dread. I don't want my thoughts of other people to be completely and totally dominated with how dumb I think they are. It's not healthy for either me, or anyone else.<br /><br />I'm trying to call myself out here. I figure, if I post it in a blog post for the world to see, maybe I won't feel so comfortable doing these things. I'll remember that I told people that I would change. I'll remember what it was that I wanted to change.<br /><br />There are a few people that I feel the need to apologize to.<br /><br />Doug - You've caught the brunt of some pretty stupid rants, and you've never called me out on it (well, rarely). Maybe you should've, maybe I would've seen what I was doing a bit faster. But you didn't because you're an incredible friend. You have never deserved the negativity that I project upon you, but you've never lashed back. I couldn't have a better friend.<br /><br />Any Christian folk that read my Facebook updates - Why haven't you blocked me yet? I would've blocked me. I shouldn't have asked you to call me friend, then posted what you could only see as attacks. If I had changed you, I might well have been destroying some of the better people in the world. <br /><br />Jacob - It took someone like you, who had somehow made it past that brick-wall-of-thinking-everyone-is-stupid, going off on me like you did, to make me start really analyzing myself. You got the ball rolling. Hopefully I can get it fixed now. I just hope you can still consider me a friend.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-62967276102954491132010-12-07T21:17:00.009-06:002010-12-08T03:00:41.850-06:00Verizon Wireless seems to have no control over their own billing system...Another blog entry about Verizon. This is not a happy one.<br /><br />A while back, two of our four lines got a text message that basically informed them that they were enrolled in some monthly something or other. Something that we did not sign up for, or opt in to. We replied to the message with "stop", as was instructed by the text, on both phones. In fact, the message even stipulated that if we replied with "stop", we wouldn't be charged at all. I wasn't very optimistic about that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Both lines got charged $9.99 on the next Verizon Wireless bill</span>. The charge was labeled simply "Premium Messaging".<br /><br />Upon calling Verizon, I was informed that the company that was charging from was named Vial and that we were still "signed up" for whatever it was. He gave me the numbers to text to get them to stop charging us. He claimed he could not stop them from charging us through Verizon's billing system, which is absolutely insane. He even tried to not credit us for what had already been charged. I had to ask for a supervisor, which magically gave him the ability to give us that credit "as a one time courtesy".<br /><br />How asinine. It's a courtesy for them to not charge us for something we don't want and didn't sign up for?<br /><br />The customer service rep claimed that they could put a block on our account that would prevent us from using our phone to sign up for new "premium messaging" services, but that anything signed up for online would still go through. <span style="font-weight: bold;">That's right, even with it being explicitly stated that I did NOT want ANY other charges on the account...Verizon would still happily accept additional charges to the account.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>The supervisor that I spoke with later denied that, and said that it if the block was instated, new services could not go through. Honestly, though, the supervisor was rather belligerent, and I very much got the feeling that he didn't know what he was talking about. Considering he was saying something completely opposite of what his rep had already said, one of them obviously was either lying or ignorant. Considering Verizon already accepted the charge from a third party without having any proof that we had signed up for it in the first place, I'm pretty sure they'll accept it again. After all, their viewpoint was that they had already been charged by the third party company, so now we had to pay them.<br /><br />When I asked to speak to a supervisor again, he kept saying that I had to send the "stop" message (again) or he couldn't help me, regardless of the fact that I told him that we'd already done that. In fact, pretty sure he could look up for himself that we had texted that exact same number AFTER we were supposedly signed up. When I told the supervisor that I didn't even have access to one of the phones, he told me that he was going to notate my account that I wasn't letting him help me. <span style="font-weight: bold;">That's right...the Verizon supervisor basically threatened the freaking customer</span>! A ridiculous threat, of course, but really? How unreasonable of me to not have all four cell phones on my person at all times, right?<br /><br />I asked for his supervisor, and was informed that there was no such thing. He was as high as it got "on the floor". I've worked in a call center. I know damn good and well what that means. He didn't want to transfer me, or give me an extension or voice mail, because that's how he's graded.<br /><br />Now, the resolution, according to the supervisor, since we sent the "stop" text, if they charged us again, they would remove the charge. Somehow I doubt it will be so simple.<br /><br />All I want is for Verizon to, you know, not charge me for things that I don't sign up for. Apparently, this is out of the realm of their control. Their own billing system, that is.<br /><br />Which means it's up to me, the customer, to make sure that anything anyone ever puts my phone number in to is attached to a company with a phone number that I can then call and cancel with. Huh? How the hell can I control who puts my number in what?<br /><br />Sure, I can control who I give my number to, but most of the time, it's not exactly malicious thinking that starts these things. Even the initial rep was quick to admit that anyone can put in anyone's phone number without reading the fine print (or maybe they did, why should they care, they're not paying) and sign them up for a monthly charge. He related a story where his friend signed him up for a joke a day service, giving him a monthly charge.<br /><br />Of course, the supervisor was very quick to say that this couldn't happen. Multiple times he said we had to have "opted in" to the service in order to be charged. Right.<br /><br />So, if you know someone that you don't like, who has a Verizon phone, start signing them up for everything that might charge them! Why not? Verizon will charge them anyway, and they can't even unsubscribe unless they can figure out how to get in touch with the company that you signed them up for, AND that company actually unsubscribes them. Which, really, why would they? They probably know that<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Verizon will just keep on charging. </span><br /><br />Imagine this happening in any other industry. A credit card company adding a charge to your account because an insurer assumed you would want insurance. How about a car loan? Why not add life insurance to your car loan a few years in because the sales guy figured you would probably want it? No one need bother the customer, except when it comes time to pay, of course.<br /><br />If this charge reappears, I plan to appeal to every channel that I can. The BBB, the FCC, the FTC, as well as The Consumerist and any other place that I can complain. I have nothing but time on my hands, and this is absolutely insane.<br /><br />Verizon needs a way to stop any third parties from adding anything to my bill. Period. It's their billing system, they expect me to pay them, so it's their problem. I understand if people want things added to their phone bill for convenience sake, but expecting me to pay for something that someone else signed me up for is ridiculous, especially if I have already specified that I DO NOT WANT additional charges on my account.<br /><br />Edit: If you're curious, the company that decided to use Verizon to force me to pay them some money is called "My Mobile Love". The code is 34095. I looked it up on<a href="http://www.uscshortcode.com/"> http://www.uscshortcode.com</a>.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-57058092127444881462010-05-07T21:28:00.003-05:002010-05-07T21:39:29.254-05:00How To Downgrade From VZ Navigator 5 back to 4.5 As Sent In An Email From VZ Navigator's Project ManagerWow! Kudos to Verizon for actually being on the ball and paying attention! <br /><br />Today I got an email from Misty Balinsat, Product Manager for VZ Navigator. Seems she saw my review, and wanted to pass on some words of encouragement, as well as instructions on how to downgrade back to 4.5 until they resolve some of the issues. First, the instructions for downgrading from VZ Navigator 5.x to 4.5:<br /><br />To be safe, if you have a bunch of favorites, it's probably a good idea to use VZ Navigator's "Sync-to-Web" option. <br /><br />Uninstall VZ Navigator 5:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Open Media Center > Browse & Download</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Highlight VZ Navigator & select Options > Cancel Subscription. Confirm removal.</span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span>Install VZ Navigator 4.5:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Open Media Center > Browse and Download > Get new apps > Travel & Navigation</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />VZ Navigator will be listed twice. Select version 4.5 & choose a purchase option ($2.99/24 hr use or $9.99/monthly subscription). Confirm purchase. </span><br /><br />These directions might be just for the LG enV3, or enV series, but the basic idea is that you have to completely cancel and uninstall 5 before you even see 4.5 as an option. <br /><br />Personally, I'm back using VZ Navigator 4.5, and it's just as simple and effective as I remembered. <br /><br />FYI, also according to Misty: "<span class="322191617-07052010"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#0000ff;">You also will see a $9.99 charge and then $9.99 credit on your bill, don't let it freak you out if the credit comes 4-5 days post charge. I have Revenue Assurance running these manually once a week, and hopefully the charge and credit will both happen in one bill cycle for you, but if not be sure to look for the credit in the next one."<br /><br /></span></span>However, I've had situations in the past where things got double charged (new phones), and a simple call to customer service fixed it no problem. <br /><br />Thanks, Verizon, for going above and beyond and actually hunting down negative feedback to address.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-27584680022789712302010-04-30T13:38:00.003-05:002010-05-11T17:01:08.044-05:00A VZ Navigator 5 ReviewI use Verizon Wireless, and I have for some time. Around 5 years, I believe. My first experience with any sort of GPS unit was with Verizon's VZ Navigator, mainly because I'm eternally poor for some reason and decent GPS units are just now starting to creep in under the $100 mark. That being said, I've always liked VZ Navigator. I have all my favorites in my pocket regardless of what car I'm driving that day. That's a convenient thing for someone with no sense of direction.<br /><br />Then came VZ Navigator 5.0. I honestly couldn't tell you if the first version of VZ Nav I used was the 1.0. Probably not. However, I can tell you that this is the first one that is complete and total trash. I'm serious. I've used it off and on for a few weeks now, just to be sure it's not just me, and it is complete and total chihuahua vomit.<br /><br />It takes forever to figure out where I am. I doesn't have all the points of interest that 4.0 did. It did a horrid job bringing my favorites with it, somehow reverting my home address to the one that I used 2 years ago, and mostly not bring them at all. Once it does figure out where I am, it changes its mind once I ask it to navigate somewhere. It somehow thought I was going east on one road when I was going north on another. It actually runs slowly on my phone, which is an EnV3, hardly an old phone. It defaults to this terrible caricature of 3D. I still haven't figured out how to save a new favorite.<br /><br />When trying to find a restaurant a few days ago, it claimed we were on the feeder and should get on the highway (while we were on the highway), then recalculated route and said we should be, and I'm not kidding here, basically flying sideways to get to the feeder road on the <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> side of the highway. There was no overpass...never has been. This is a route that VZ Navigator 4 had no problems with. It's really shocking how bad this thing is.<br /><br />They even added in advertisements! It's a freaking paid feature, and they're posting ads on it! Amazing.<br /><br />It's inconceivable that Verizon thinks that this program was ready for release. I'm talking, alpha stages of something that should've never been released, bad. If you use VZ Navigator, and you're still on 4.0, don't upgrade. There is absolutely no advantage. A quick look at <a href="http://businessforums.verizon.net/t5/BlackBerry-Devices/VZNavigator/m-p/163322">Verizon's forums</a> shows that I'm not the only one that has no use for it.<br /><br />On the flip side, if you use VZ Navigator to find food of any kind, it could be considered a weight loss tool! By the time you figure out how to get there, you'll be so pissed off that the last thing you want to do is eat.<br /><br />If you have already upgraded, you may as well cancel and buy yourself a cheap GPS unit. That's what I'll be doing, even though I can't really afford it.<br /><br />Edit: Verizon responds! Read here for instructions on <a href="http://writingferret.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-downgrade-from-vz-navigator-5.html">downgrading to VZ Navigator 4.5</a>.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-3966931351798129092010-01-15T16:15:00.002-06:002010-01-15T16:31:58.184-06:00Of love and bestiality...There are some things that we humans just take as fact, without really considering the why and how. Okay, there are a LOT of things like that, but I'm mainly thinking about things in our heads. These things aren't readily definable, and aren't necessarily based on logic or reason. In most cases, we can guess as to a why, but very rarely the what. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:<br /><br /><ul><li>Bestiality</li><li>Pedophilia<br /></li><li>Scat (poop fetish, not singing really fast nonsense)<br /></li><li>Killing another human</li><li>Stealing</li></ul>Most normal, healthy humans have an aversion to all of these things. But what causes that aversion? A really good guess to the "why" would be evolution. Obviously we wouldn't have had as many babies by screwing horses, nor would we have had long blood lines by screwing babies. Scat and killing each other obviously shortens lifespan, and stealing hinders progress and cohesion as a society. <br /><br />But treating this theory of why as an explanation is folly since it doesn't address the what. We accept this answer because we're used to other, similar answers where, when the why is identified, the what just falls into place. <br /><br />Take, for example, a "Bridge Out" sign. Why is the sign there? Obviously because the bridge is out. We neglect to mention that the sign is actually there because someone went and put it there. In this case, it doesn't matter because that much is obvious...but not everything works like that. <br /><br />The action is not always readily explained by the reaction. <br /><br />So there must be something, some part of the human mind, that makes these things unacceptable. Or something. But it goes further. What about these "facts of life":<br /><br /><ul><li>Love</li><li>Attraction</li><li>Luck</li></ul>There's not even much of a why to explain these. Sure, love and attraction could be explained as evolutionary traits as well, but they would make just as much sense being absent. Without love and attraction, we'd be a lot more likely to go around screwing everybody, which would lead to more babies, more diverse DNA...all good things from an evolutionary standpoint. <br /><br />Luck...I got nothing on that one.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-91594224816306896512009-12-30T19:48:00.003-06:002009-12-30T20:05:30.648-06:00Time Warner Cable vs FoxBeing a previous Time Warner employee, and now more of a consumer, I thought I would mention some of the points about this whole thing that don't get mentioned everywhere. <br /><br /><ul><li>The money that Fox wants Time Warner to pay goes straight to the affiliates. Therefore, whatever price increases come from this won't support any Fox programming other than local news and such. Yet Fox will, of course, demand that Time Warner remove all Fox programming, including what you've already paid for. <br /></li></ul><ul><li>Most customers want to be able to pay for only those channels that they watch. Time Warner is not against this idea. There are contracts, however, with both the cities they operate in and the various networks that specify that Time Warner CANNOT do that. <br /></li></ul><ul><li>Why all the contracts, and why are only the cable companies affected? In order to build and maintain all of the infrastructure required to operate a cable company, Time Warner secures certain rights with the areas that they build in and with the networks that they will carry. Otherwise, they could end up paying millions of dollars to build a network in a city or area and then end up with no customers. Satellite, for obvious reasons, needs no area specific infrastructure. They can just broadcast their signal wherever they want.</li></ul><ul><li>Fox feels that Time Warner should be paying more than they are for the privilege of carrying their programming since Time Warner does turn a profit off of it. Also, there is probably some angst here due to Time Warner and pretty much every other carrier of television programming offering and pushing DVRs, which are really killing advertising revenues, but that's mainly speculation on my part.</li></ul><ul><li>Fox doesn't want to agree to arbitration because Time Warner Cable has a history of drawing these things out like crazy. However, since it would be the FCC arbitrating, I kind of think Fox is being a bit, I don't know, immature? The last person Time Warner Cable wants to piss off is the government. <br /></li></ul>Well, those are my thoughts on the whole thing. Take them as you will. Leave comments if you have any questions and I'll answer them as best I can.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-73713365222594841042009-12-14T22:59:00.006-06:002009-12-14T23:08:58.792-06:00Lesbian For Mayor In Houston Texas?! Congratulations, Annise Parker!Wow! Living two hours away, I didn't even know there was a lesbian running. I'm...shocked. And very, very happy.<br /><br />If a lesbian woman can win the majority in the biggest city in TEXAS of all places... Well, let's just say that if someone were to have asked me to name something that would instill a bit of faith in humanity into me, I may have jokingly said something along the lines of "A lesbian mayor in Houston". However, I would've said it jokingly, thinking that wouldn't even be slightly plausible.<br /><br />I'm unbelievably glad it has happened, though, and just wanted to mention it in my little corner of cyberspace. Congratulations, Annise Parker! Time for me to do some research on this person...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1947648,00.html">Here's the story</a>.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-75761320669982341052009-12-01T11:35:00.005-06:002009-12-01T12:06:50.649-06:00Velocity Credit Union and Private InsuranceSo, I go to do a deposit today at my credit union, Velocity, and they ask me to vote on something. Seriously, that's how it came across at first. My first thought was, whoa, okay, this feels scammy...<br /><br />So I asked if, instead of voting, I could get some sort of information on exactly what I'm voting on. As I'm doing this, I'm noticing two vehicles pull away, having put their "ballots" into a bag being held by one of the credit union reps. It's obvious that not everyone is asking for more information. Yay, sheep.<br /><br />Anyway, Velocity Credit Union in Austin is attempting to switch to a private insurance company, away from the NCUA (which is basically the FDIC for credit unions).<br /><br />The first thing I did is look over the literature that Velocity gave me. Basically, the reason Velocity wants to switch is because they're going to have to pay NCUA a premium of $675,106 and, from the information I've gathered, this is due to other, larger credit unions having failed, making the NCUA pay out, which means their funds are not where they should be.<br /><br />So, Velocity wants me to put my money at risk by not having it federally insured so that they don't have to pay their part to help the country get back on its feet. Great.<br /><br />Oh, but they did mention that the board of directors voted unanimously to switch to the private insurance. Considering this would probably come directly out of their paychecks, I'm sure they did.<br /><br />Included in the information was a brochure for American Share Insurance (ASI), the private company they want to switch to, which was nothing but a financial report with the words <span style="font-weight: bold;">STRONG</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">INDEPENDENT</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">RELIABLE </span>written on the front in huge letters. Ooh, big letters, how convincing...<br /><br />After doing some research on ASI, I'm none too reassured. In credit unions insured by ASI, there is <span style="font-weight: bold;">absolutely nothing</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">protecting the money</span> should ASI go belly up.<br /><br />How long do you suppose the one and only private insurer of credit unions would survive if the majority of their members were to go under? I'm thinking not long. At least with government insurance, we know that the government will make sure that we have our money...they've already done so multiple times with bank bailouts.<br /><br />Those Velocity Credit Union members like me, who just have a savings and checking account, stand to gain nothing from this switch, but stand to lose everything. No thanks. I'll be voting no, and will probably be jumping ship should this get voted in.<br /><br />I just hope people take the time to read and research before they vote, though going off the severe lack of information about the subject, I'm thinking people aren't.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-11931844287875135192009-11-24T21:32:00.004-06:002009-11-24T21:42:55.140-06:00I agree, religious people are insane.So, apparently Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot and killed a bunch of people while screaming religious nonsense, is going to <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34119031/ns/us_news-tragedy_at_fort_hood/">claim insanity</a>. <br /><br />Cute.<br /><br />I find this especially funny since I personally feel that anyone who believes that an invisible magician in the sky (with a <a href="http://www.tn-atheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/christianityexplained.jpg">zombie jew</a> for a son, according to Christians) said, "Because I say so", therefore creating the universe, is a little on the nutty side. <br /><br />That a bunch of people who believe that would call another one who believed something similar insane, just because he did exactly what his holy book told him to do, is...well...insane. <br /><br />But, hey, I guess I just don't get it.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-29109959033453296672009-11-19T15:29:00.003-06:002009-11-19T15:39:36.415-06:00Funny how genetics works...You know, sometimes a really <a href="http://www.endevil.com/images/George_Bush.jpg">funky looking guy</a> can toss out a really <a href="http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2009/08/30/img-cs---jenna-bush_164514514885.jpg">hot daughter</a>. <br /><br />Then you can take a <a href="http://www.topnews.in/files/John-Kerry_1.jpg">fairly average looking guy</a>, and he ends up making...<a href="http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20091119/293.kerry.alexandra.lc.111909.jpg">himself with lipstick and long hair</a>. <br /><br />This came from me hitting a news article about Alexandra Kerry and immediately thinking "AGH! And Jenna Bush is so hot! WTF!?"Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-17952051517544688622009-11-18T18:50:00.001-06:002009-11-18T18:52:10.802-06:00Does Anyone Use Bing?I've noticed one consistency in my niche site adventures. Bing loves my sites, yet I get zero hits from them. Which makes me wonder...is anyone even using it?Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-34261304921161962832009-11-17T00:51:00.004-06:002009-11-17T00:57:35.337-06:00Our Healthcare Makes Me SickFor about two years now, I have been among the lucky ones of us that do have health insurance. I am more mentally stable, more healthy, and probably more likely to live for a while since my blood pressure and cholesterol, killers in my family for generations, are currently under control. I also don't have stomach acid eating my insides which is, quite frankly, a horrifyingly painful experience. <br /><br />None of this would be possible without insurance. There isn't enough money in the bank to pay for the bills, let alone hundreds of dollars a month for meds. <br /><br />Thankfully, a <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33971846/ns/health-health_care/">new study</a> released found that those in the ER without health insurance are twice as likely to die than those with. I say thankfully because those of us who have lived most of our lives without health insurance aren't in any way surprised. Without health insurance, you're a second rate citizen. <br /><br />Healthcare should be our #1 priority. It should be paid for by the government and taxed as needed. PERIOD. Those who argue that point are not currently in need. Those who are in need would not argue that point. If he does nothing else, I really hope Obama fixes this...Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-13594341674828863782009-11-17T00:46:00.000-06:002009-11-17T00:47:40.606-06:00Update on eCopywritersA quick update: they did Paypal me the $7 from the one article that was approved. I can therefore say that they are definitely not a scam. Just woefully inefficient.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-63039805616866187342009-11-15T20:29:00.004-06:002009-11-19T15:24:19.891-06:00eCopywriters - A Review From a Freelance WriterI'll be blunt -- I'm writing this review based on very little information, but not for lack of trying.<br /><br />When I signed up for eCopywriters, the terms looked great (better than Textbrokers), and I didn't see the harm in writing a few articles and seeing where they went. <br /><br />That was well over a month ago, and I'm SO glad I only did two, because I'm pretty much ready to write them off as time lost. One finally got "approved", but only after I wrote support, who promptly responded telling me that, yes, their system is fail, and that there is no real deadline for clients to accept articles. Not in those words, exactly, but close enough. So, basically, they can just not pay you for work done, and eCopywriters does not penalize them in any way. I'm still not sure how support "got one approved" after about twenty minutes, but couldn't get the other approved. They still haven't, by the way. <br /><br />eCopywriters is DEFINITELY NOT a reliable way to pay the bills. Maybe they will improve. Support was nice enough, but not terribly effective. There is no reason for a third party like eCopywriters if they don't even enforce a deadline on their clients' payment.<br /><br />Edit: <a href="http://writingferret.blogspot.com/2009/11/update-on-ecopywriters.html">There is a followup to this post</a>.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-10596004197571053952009-11-15T20:15:00.002-06:002009-11-15T20:28:14.182-06:00Dallas Cowboys vs Mass Stupidity (and some cheeseheads)If you don't like football, don't bother reading this. In light of the recent heinous loss to the 4-4 Green Bay Packers, I'm going to rant about the Cowboys game for a little bit.<br /><br />First off, any play should be reviewable. Period. Today proved that. Felix Jones had, beyond a shadow of a doubt, recovered a fumble and did not lose the ball until after he was both touched and had done a damn barrel roll on the ground. There was no question that he was down. It was simple oversight on the part of the officials, but it just may well have cost us the game. That, and the "illegal hands to the face" that basically amounted to the guy waving. I've seen the Cowboys lose a lot of games, especially when they're ones they should've won, but the refs cost us this one. <br /><br />I do have one issue with the Cowboys right now, though. Why the hell is Roy Williams even still in there? What does the dropped ball to yards gained ratio need to be before they give him the boot? And did Patrick Crayton not give ample evidence that he should be starting in every single game since they took him off? For fuck's sake, trade Roy Williams for some offensive line talent while other teams might still think he's worth something. <br /><br />Speaking of the offensive line...here's a hint to Wade Phillips. You're not going to make three scores in less than a minute. When you have so many injuries that you officially have your last backup offensive lineman on the field, why in the hell would you risk the talent, too? Do you really think that the very last guy that you put in can protect Romo? Especially when he's already been sacked five times? Pull the damn first string when you can't possibly win. How hard is that to understand? I'm seriously starting to doubt Phillips's competence. <br /><br />Not that he did anything that trumped Green Bay's coach attempting to throw a third challenge flag. Or how about the fact that the officials actually went for it at first? Or how about the fact that, regardless of any of that, the ball had been snapped before they blew the whistle, killing the chance for the challenge that didn't exist? What a mess.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-41199259831970625932009-11-14T15:47:00.001-06:002009-11-15T20:11:52.456-06:00Legacy...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrI8CCdDBfMffZe2Gb_YaDsCAc5V6X9jL0OhY-B5L6EiXHZbn6J48lqK9eNwhhbY5ZIZmQF_bXpbU9Zy-0fsKNSrvYDfVUQFJCgH0oIDalWmSIYmK1VbTAzp364e1Vhr6DQk_gSxqrIw/s1600-h/legacy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrI8CCdDBfMffZe2Gb_YaDsCAc5V6X9jL0OhY-B5L6EiXHZbn6J48lqK9eNwhhbY5ZIZmQF_bXpbU9Zy-0fsKNSrvYDfVUQFJCgH0oIDalWmSIYmK1VbTAzp364e1Vhr6DQk_gSxqrIw/s400/legacy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404079345524896162" border="0" /></a><br />I didn't really have a reason to post this, but I felt the need anyway.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-50381688645623071042009-11-14T02:18:00.002-06:002009-11-14T02:29:53.065-06:00Cymbalta and Being Anti-SocialSo I was looking at my stats for this place, and I noticed that I'm getting a few hits for "Cymbalta antisocial". I figured, hey, if people click, I may as well tell them what I know since I am on Cymbalta, and am anti-social. <br /><br />Does it help me be more social?<br /><br />No. I still don't care for people in general, and still don't want to deal with them. I've found no change except that, since it does raise my give-a-shit threshold, I can handle being around stupidity a bit more than without and not get angry. But does Cymbalta make me want to actually get out and do things with people? Not at all. I was unaware that it was supposed to, though. <br /><br />I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Cymbalta did make me able to handle working at Time Warner for as long as I did. Handling violent stupidity 70 times a day is too much for me, though, even when medicated. <br /><br />I know there's also a lot of hubbub about Cymbalta and withdrawal symptoms. After halving my dosage (see <a href="http://writingferret.blogspot.com/2009/10/allstate-writing-food-cymbalta.html">this post</a>), I <span style="font-style: italic;">may</span> have had some headaches, but nothing too out of the ordinary. <br /><br />I am far less sleepy than I was on my previous dosage. I think the sleep apnea has calmed down some as well because I wake up with sandpaper-tongue a lot less than I did before. I should probably see what the affect is on my blood pressure, too, as I also take meds for hypertension. <br /><br />Anyway, that's my experiences with Cymbalta so far. For comparison purposes, Lexapro had about the same effects until it stopped working, and Pristiq made me mildly homicidal, and I'm of the firm opinion (based on little to no data) that people probably react to all medicines in a similar manner. For example, if you do well with Cymbalta, you might do well with Lexapro too, since I did well with both. <br /><br />If you have any questions about my experiences or anything at all to add, definitely leave some comments, I'd love to hear from you.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-48871882005678112952009-11-14T02:05:00.006-06:002009-11-14T02:16:46.564-06:00November 16th and writingI'll be 29. Poor people should be able to skip birthdays, IMO.<br /><br />If it wasn't for my dad and Janna, it would be a seriously depressing day (money and something). At 29, shouldn't I be buying my own best present? Maybe 30 is the magic number?<br /><br />Bah.<br /><br />I've been trying to keep up with what I need to do for Textbroker to pay the bills, but it just isn't happening. My mind runs dry. It's just hard to write 400 words for $6 all day, even though it's really fairly good pay. Hopefully I'll come around and be interested enough to do it again. Or my SEOing will take off.<br /><br />I neglected it (on purpose) for about three months so that the domains would age, which is an important part of ranking in the search engines, and when I came back I succeeded in making my rankings DROP by cleaning up my home page. WTF.<br /><br />Oh, almost lost the dog, or so we thought. She suddenly became unable to control her bladder. Seems to have been an infection, though, as with some antibiotics she's actually better. Only another $150 or so borrowed. Woot. If it keeps her around for another year or so (optimism+old dog+cancer=stupid, I know), it's worth it. I sort of blame myself. I've been home far more than anyone else (except maybe Jeanne)...I should be taking the old dog out more. I will now!Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9161740028428660675.post-17578543541485633952009-10-17T19:35:00.002-05:002009-10-17T19:38:38.307-05:00Windows 7Obtained a RTM version of Windows 7 and, I have to admit, it's pretty great. If you like Vista, you'll like the fact that all the spiff is still there but it's a lot faster. Even if you think Vista is quick, like I did, Win 7 is faster, trust me. If you like Win XP you'll like that it's faster and less bulkier than Vista, and on modern machines, just as quick as XP. <br /><br />Also, finally went 64 bit and have had no regrets. Zero compatibility issues. <br /><br />Install was the smoothest and fastest of any Windows install I have ever done, and I've done each one many, many times since Win 95. <br /><br />Sooo...that's my review of Windows 7, for anyone who cares.Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09421915843840730827noreply@blogger.com1