Windows 7

Obtained 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.

Also, finally went 64 bit and have had no regrets. Zero compatibility issues.

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.

Sooo...that's my review of Windows 7, for anyone who cares.

Sick, then sick, then sick AGAIN...

Anyone else getting sick repeatedly, or am I the only walking snot factory? Seriously, I've gotten sick three times in a row...like, light fever with a cold. It is funny, though, that walking through a grocery store or drug store, if I cough a bit (there's a little in my chest so the cough sounds much worse than it actually is) people clear out like crazy. Might even hear a mumbling "swine flu!" in there.

Allstate, writing, and Cymbalta

Yes, seriously, all of that. I figure if I make that the title, I won't forget anything.

Allstate didn't mess up the claim, everything is fine with Janna's car. It all went amazingly smoothly, in fact. After not calling me back when they called Janna and asked her to have me call them for whatever reason, they simply fixed the car and all is fine. It was even done mostly right, though the concept of replacing one tire still irks the crap out of me.

I've been writing for a website called Textbroker with the goal being $1200 a month before taxes. They pay $1.40 per word, and there are 300-500 word articles about things that I can basically babble through and still make a great article, according to them and the clients. Biggest problem is focusing, especially when I keep getting headaches and random sleep spells.

The theory is that if I can bang out a 400 word article in 15 minutes, that could be up to $22/hr for as many hours as I want to work. The truth is not as efficient. In fact, I'm behind right now and should probably be working...doot-da-doo...

I did my "Better than" search on Google for "better than textbroker" and found ECopywriters, which does offer more money per word but seems ridiculously slow to accept articles, and you have to work your way up to (what I'm assuming) is better than the crappy law related articles they have for the beginners. Well, crappy for me, maybe others like them. They make me stabby.

Which may be because I'm trying to back off on Cymbalta, one of the five prescription meds I take. Cymbalta is for depression, and is a SRI, which in very, very basic terms means it limits how much you think. Seriously. One of its side effects, however, is sleepiness. One of the withdrawal symptoms is headaches. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with that.

For anyone interested, since Cymbalta is cumulative in the system I decided to take my dose every other day instead of every day to see if I could cut down on the withdrawal symptoms while still using the bottle of expensive ass meds I have. It seems to be working. Tomorrow I go to the doc to get a scrip for the lower dosage to use every day...I guess I'll see then if that's easier or harder on the body than skipping every other dosage. I do know I'm feeling more energetic, but also more aggressive. Good thing I don't have to leave the house.

Related linkage:
http://www.textbroker.com
http://www.ecopywriters.com

High school football scores! OMG Swine Flu! Where to buy snow globes in Austin! (oh, also it's flooding)

Seriously, that's what the news looks like this morning. The first major rain we've had in months, in the middle of a record breaking drought, major routes shut down all over the place including Interstate 35, rivers eating small villages, and one of the headlines on the various news sources is about snow globes. I was really thinking it had somehow rained all day yesterday, all night last night, and still raining right now without any flooding at all. Nope. After digging REALLY deep I found small articles about the governor deploying various vehicles...the national guard...some areas saw over 10 inches of rain...more than we've had in about a year...

But nothing so serious as to knock high school football and snow globes off the front page...

The Beginning of The Allstate Saga

Crap. One of the family wrecked her car. Not bad, no injuries, but she was at fault, and now it's time to deal with the insurance company and getting a car with less than 10,000 miles on it fixed that has front end damage. On top of that, the car is in Beaumont, about 250 miles east of home. They're already refusing to deal with the driver, wanting to talk to the policy holder (me), which is rather stupid in my opinion since, hey, the car's damaged, it's their job to fix it! Why does it matter who they talk to? My name isn't even on the car itself, the loan for the car, nothing, yet because I'm the "policy holder", they just have to talk to me. Joy. Well, I've always heard good things about Allstate, so I guess it's time they proved it. Am I in good hands? AM I!?!?

SPEELING DUSNT MATTUR ON TEH INTERWEBS!!!!!!11

Yes, it does. You know why? Because that's all you have.

I pick on people online occasionally about poor spelling. Not anything horrible. This is an example from World of Warcraft. It went something like this, anyway.

Moron: I CANT WAIT FOR TEH NEW EXPATION

Me: What's an expation?

Moron: ZOMG UR GAY U NO I MENT EXPANSION STFU AND STOP BEIN GAY I DON HAV TO HAV GUD SPEELING TO BE SMRT

Yeah, online, you sort of do. I'm not saying typos equal idiot, but when the only impression someone is going to have of you is your text...what you type...shouldn't you put at least a tiny bit of effort into not looking like you don't know your own language?

And whatever happened to people being at least a bit embarrassed when they made a mistake instead of exploding in tardrage? Maybe it's my imagination, but once upon a time, didn't people generally say something like, "Oh, hah, I don't know what an expation is...I meant expansion."

I guess it's become socially unacceptable to be wrong about anything, ever, period. While this is scary as hell, it does explain a few things. Creationism much?

Ping and Charlotte

I've decided to start writing some short stories in the world of Nebulosus and planting them in different places around the web. If nothing else, I'd rather get the first book out there for free then just let it sit on my hard drive doing nothing. If enough people don't fall in love with the world of Nebulosus just from that, then I'm barking up the wrong tree anyway, I suspect.

Anyway, check it out, and feel free to meander over to my other Associated Content posts as well. I could use the moneys. :)