Flowing Creek

3 Month Samsung Omnia Update

2009-07-08T17:19:00.001-04:00

So, I've had this phone for 3 months, and I am still undecided as to whether it is actually a productive device or not.

RANTS -

Sleeping Pattern - For whatever reason, the phone goes to sleep and will tell me when someone calls, but not when I get a text message or any other notification. It's irritating. My text messages are just as valid, if not more important than my phone calls. I'd like the phone to wake up and tell me. I have tried all sorts of settings (sounds on/off, vibrate, flashing lights) and it just doesn't work. The only notification I get is a sound or a vibration, but the screen does not wake up. If I happen to not be paying attention at that moment, I won't notice. I don't usually have the sounds turned on anyway, so it's useless.
"Mobile" sites - Several rants here. Although the world claims to be mobile-friendly by offering mobile sites for just about everything (not really...), these mobile sites leave a lot to be desired.

i-devices and other fruits - Half of the time, the so-called mobile site is only available for iPhones (iPod Touch) and Blackberry. Windows Mobile has been around for quite a while. Why just ignore the folks using it? It's ridiculous. I can understand the case with iTunes (even though I won't like it), but for other sites not owned by Apple, why be that way. If you have a useful site/app, make it available to everyone - not just to people who talk into fruit based phones.
Same ol' crap - Some mobile sites are merely just the regular site with the bells and whistles stripped out. They are difficult to navigate on a mobile device because they weren't designed with the user experience in mind. Folks need to remember that a mobile user is probably busy, wants something fairly quickly, might have a tedious connection and wants full functionality. A poorly designed site for a regular PC is just as poor on a smaller screen with the fancy graphics stripped out.
Half functional - so to combat the problem outlined above, some sites choose to strip out some functionality. That's all well and good, but don't strip out the core of the site. For instance, there's a great Facebook app for Windows Mobile. However, you cannot search for and connect with any new friends. That defeats one of the main purposes of Facebook. This app is merely a window into your existing Facebook world. Heaven forbid if you're watching TV and decide to "friend" your local TV station and you'd just like to type in their Facebook name. Irritating.

Battery life - Still poor. I need a solar charger or static electricity charger or something. It's ridiculous.
A Shell, Really? - It appears that the answer to my problem of accessing the apps I want in the way I want is to use a different shell than the one that comes out of the box. This is irritating. If it's taken 3 months to get this far with the phone, how long will it take me to find the right shell, install it and figure out if it's stable and functional? I am hesitant to go through the trouble.
Shallow Saving - Apps that only save to the root level of a storage area. Several apps only save things to one level of folders. So, even though I have a nicely organized subfolder system to separate work from pleasure, I can't use it, because I can only save to my top level folders.
Losing my Memory - I still have the storage memory issue. Not sure why it crops up, but if I really need to use my camera, I suddenly have less than 5 MB storage memory available. Not sure why. I haven't found the answer to this yet.
Tethering issues - I have tethering issues. The problem is different every time and it takes me multiple tries to get tethered successfully to my laptop. I'm not even talking about just doing ActiveSync. I can do that, though I don't yet use it for anything functional, because everything important is stored online somewhere. I am just talking about using my phone as a modem. Once it's going, it's usually ok (75% of the time), but it's annoying that I can't just plug it in and connect even when I remember that I have to change some settings on the phone.
Touch screen - I'm still wrestling with the touch screen. I'd prefer if the touch was a double touch to launch things. I spend a lot of time accidently touching things and then closing them. Maybe that is related to my memory problem.

RAVES -

I finally got the alarm clock working seamlessly. I'm happily able to wake up on time now.
I discovered how to set ringtones from any mp3. It's a blessing... or not. Now I change my ringtone every other day and don't know when my phone is ringing. haha.
Better organization - I've figured out where to save all of my files so I know where everything is. You'd think this would be simple since I have a MY Documents folder, but surprisingly it's difficult. See number 5 above.
Storage capacity and file viewing - So far, my most productive uses of the phone has been to keep reference material for work handy so I can pop open a document in a pinch. That's been nice.

So, more rants than raves. I don't hate the phone. I am actually still undecided. I don't regret getting it, I'm just disappointed that it has taken hours of work to feel like I'm getting some value out of it. And no, I do not think that switching to an iPhone will solve my problems. I'm sure they are there too.

Website Going Down

2009-07-07T21:43:00.001-04:00

The website will be going down for a little bit. I don't know exactly when or for how long, but I'm changing my hosting (as mentioned in my previous post) and the site may be down while things switch over.

This is pretty interesting. We'll see how it goes. Not sure if the blog conversion will happen immediately, but it just might. I have some serious decisions to make. For one thing, I need to revamp my portfolio and including writing samples and coding samples. I am pretty sure that someone must have a nice free service to make such a portfolio. I could just link to it from my site.

Stay tuned. I have to do this for 4 websites... But I'm feeling pretty motivated.

Ok. Enough about this. I'm not supposed to blog about how my website is down or how I'm not blogging. But, to me it still counts as writing. Writing is writing and that's the point right now. I need to post regularly, even if it's not about much.

Website Conversion

2009-06-29T13:09:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I got the bright idea to migrate all of my websites over to blogger. I'm doing this because it will allow me to drop my ISP and the bill for website hosting. I have a number of places I can host my site that are free or included with other services, so why pay a monthly fee?

The biggest advantage of doing this is website maintenance. It will be much easier to maintain the content of the website using a blog.

Anyway, I chose Blogger because I'm comfortable with it. I may branch out and make one WordPress site, one Blogger site and do something Joomla. I need to keep up with technology and keep my skills fresh.

To make the most of this idea, I need to accomplish all of this by July 4 (the next time my bill is due). So, stay tuned for some much-needed website changes and probably some posts about my adventures. How difficult could this be?

The I Before E Rule

2009-06-24T16:35:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, on the way home from work, I was listening to NPR and this article about the "I Before E Rule" not being taught anymore in British classrooms came on. It was hilarious.

At first I thought, oh, what a tragedy, you absolutely need this rule. But, as I listened, I realized I hadn't really given it much in depth thought. The article has a point. There are so many exceptions to this rule, that I'm not even sure why it was taught to me.

It makes me wonder how many other rules and lessons from gradeschool are almost useless or even irrelevant.

The best part of the article was the statement about children needing to learn 3 things in school: arithmetic, how to communicate and how to get along with others. It's true. Sure there are other things to learn, but these are the core 3 things. The guy is right, spelling is not at the top of the list. I know several people who can communicate and form very good ideas, but who cannot get the spelling right. It's not like they can't spell at all - they just spell words the way they sound. In this case, the reader can still understand what was being communicated, it's just not perfect.

Anyway, I wonder how I'll feel about all of this when my son goes to school. I'm sure everything will have changed by then.

Business Education on a Budget

2008-03-26T21:11:00.004-04:00

I am a self learner. Many of the most important career skills I use every day have started through self-learning. Often I will follow tutorials, read articles or books when I want to know more about a subject. Since I'm a hands on, visual learner, I like tutorials or interactive modules the best. In any case, I love the fact that the internet has some wonderful resources to support my ongoing self-education. Just today I found an interesting site for Business Education - Personal MBA. As people close to me know, I am not a big fan of traditional MBA programs. I think they are not necessary and often I think the credential is overused. That's not to say that they completely lack value. I just cannot justify the expense for the payoff. Most practical business education is not something you need to learn in the classroom. At the end of most of my courses, I have found that I have been exposed to information that is common sense, logical and that I have been using in other parts of my life already. At the most, I have merely learned new terms for simple concepts. I might have been exposed to some new uses for these concepts, too. But, I am rambling. The point I'm trying to make is that sites like Personal MBA are useful for those of use who can efficiently work through a suggested reading list and gain knowledge on our own time and prioritized however we want. The site's suggested reading list contains the information you need to gain a better understanding of the business world.
I'm going to try to read these books. I'd like to say by the end of the year. But I can't promise that. I am pretty busy, and haven't managed to carve out book-reading time. But I would like to start the process. It will at least provide some structure for my goal of reading more career books.
By the way, I found this site by reading a blog post about sticking to your goals from one of my favorite personal finance blogs - Lazy Man and Money.

Changes Afoot

2008-02-28T22:51:00.003-05:00

I am in the process of moving. And, as always, I am stressed out and irritable. It seems that the more I move, the more strung out I get during the move. I took a different approach this time, though. I think it's working. I may have a lot on my mind and I may be prone to a bit more irriation than usual, but overall, I feel pretty good. It's always good to know that you are learning something, adjusting and reaping the benefits as time marches on.

So, not much will get done on any of my projects, but this was a major part of my year that is getting done. So far it's very positive and things are going smoothly. If it continues this way, I'll be back on track in no time.

Delinquent Blogging

2008-02-18T12:07:00.004-05:00

Ok... so I haven't posted since Jan 26 apparently.

Here's a wrapup of 2008 so far:

Moving

We found a better place to rent, so we're moving soon (within the month). This place is no cheaper, but it's closer to work, larger, has a garage and is back in our beloved hometown. Although my DH knew it was his hometown, I apparently had to leave it to realize that it's also now my hometown. I have lived in my hometown now for 15 years. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me. I wonder if that qualifies me to be "from" there. Step one is to call it my hometown. I had never lived anywhere else in the state other than there before this last year. Moving away was interesting. We did it to get a new perspective on things, and we did. We like our hometown. We know it, we know the people, and we were there at least 3 days a week anyway. So, now we'll save on gas.

My food life

I started a weight loss program. It's easy, it works, and I've done it before. I thought I could do it on my own, but apparently I need some structure and support. Plus, they are offering it at work, with a discount. So far I have lost 3.6 pounds. I'm excited! Many more pounds to go. I'll post some links to resources I've found, when I get them organized.

Despite my participation in the program, I managed to try a new restaurant in the town where I live - Joe's Pit BBQ in Vermilion, OH. This place is awesome. Northeast Ohio is lacking good BBQ places, and it's nice to see a new one spring up. The prices were fair, service was fast, and the hickory smoked meat was delicious. Kudos to them! Even though we are moving away from them, we'll drive back to Vermilion just to eat.

Organizing my online life

In my time away from blogging I decided to simplify this blog so there are distinct categories. It means I need to relabel all of my posts, but that's OK. Better now, than later. I was tossing around the idea of started several focused blogs on the categories I'm setting up. Since I apparently have a problem keeping up with one blog, I don't think it's time to branch out into niches. For now, I'll just tag my posts, and make some helpful links to the category pages. Check back for that this week.

Organizing my offline life

It's time to purge some of my stuff again. The summer clothes I sorted, but couldn't bring myself to take to Goodwill are going this week. It seems a bunch of my winter clothes can go, too. I need to stop kidding myself. I'm just not wearing these items. Not sure why I have 4 ft of hanger space occupied by clothes I don't wear. These aren't even clothes that don't fit. I did that sorting last spring when we moved. These are items that I like and couldn't part with. For some reason, I haven't worn them. I know that some of them just need ironing, which I might do this week and see if I'll wear them. The rest can just go.

On my wishlist in this category is sorting the pile of boxes that I moved 1 year ago. I know... some of you have rules that if you don't touch it in a year, then you throw it out. I already threw out the true garbage when I packed it up. I just didn't sort it, so it's not very useful stuff the way it is. Also, the place we moved into was small, so there was nowhere to unpack. I'll file this situation under: Transitional Living Quarters. I have a concrete plan for most of the items:

Picture frames are going to my office and getting photos put into them.
Decorations are being sorted and labeled by season.
Office and craft supplies are going into my new office/sewing area.
My old computer may be set up as a research station downstairs. It's old and slow, but I think I could use it as an internet station for recipes, media, and looking up phone numbers. I need to look into this. Maybe a flat screen monitor mounted on the wall and a wireless keyboard would do the trick.
All other items I decide to keep will go into the garage (hooray - we will have a garage!) where they belong - sports equipment, tools, etc.

My pet life

Yesterday, we started out looking at the breed photos from the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. My DH was in love with the Mastino (Neopolitan Mastiff), so he wanted to see some other specimens. We also wanted to look at the Frenchies (French Bulldogs), because they have peaked our curiousity. We currently own an English Mastiff (or are we owned by him?) and a Pug. We used to have 3 dogs, so we're always on the prowl for another furry friend. We ended up on several rescue sites, and I ended up explaining to him that getting a rescue dog is work... etc.... etc... and that we might not qualify because they are picky... etc.... etc. Then I spent an hour explaining why. It was exhausting, but in the end, we are not going to pursue getting another dog. It was enough to get through the latest financial crisis with the ones we have. Once we're back on our feet, have an emergency fund and have paid off 50% of our debt, maybe we'll consider it. For now, our two buddies will do just fine. There are some nice dogs out there, though...

Well, enough for now. More later. I tend to blog in clumps, so I'm sure I'll post again tonight.

Breaking the Silence

2008-01-26T21:21:00.000-05:00

I have no good reason for why I have not posted in the last week. I have had many ideas of topics... I have done a lot of reading... but I just didn't actually post.

I'm stumped by my lack of posting. It's not like I don't have a bunch of methods to do it. I can email my posts. I can text my posts. I think I have some hangups, like, I want my posts to be perfect, well planned, well researched, etc. I also want them to have useful links to the things I'm discussing. All of those things require some time to gather that info and post. I just can't seem to carve that out.

So, I'm going to try something different (again....). I am going to try to post once a day. Even if it's imperfect and irritates me mentally. At least I will have a habit going. As I have mentioned before, I have trouble starting new habits.

We'll see how it goes.

Thoughts for this week:

Formulating my weight loss plan - I am going to do Weight Watchers again. Why? Because it works. Last time I quit because I got tired of counting. It's a lame excuse. I really need to lose weight for a variety of reasons I won't share right now. I have hit the point where there are no more excuses. I'm actually tired of listening to my own excuse-making. It won't kill me. So, I'll do it. I just need to see my dr. and see if I can get him to recommend it so my flexible spending account dollars will pay for it. That would be best in light of the next couple of bullet points. But cost cannot be an excuse for not doing something.

Starting an emergency fund - I have to do this. I have been putting it off due to my efforts to reduce debt. Those efforts are not progressing anywhere, so I'd rather have some peace of mind. That's not to say that I'm not going continue to reduce debt, but I can't afford not to have an emergency fund for much longer.

Seriously reducing my debt - I am not even in a position to calculate when my debts will be paid off. That is how bad it is. I need a plan that is actually progressing.

Figuring out when I can retire - I keep reading about people who retire early. It's not that I don't want to work, but I want to have more choices about my work. So, I'd like to have enough saved up to live off of it.

Finding high yield savings accounts - This is to support the points above. Since I obviously don't have much money to save, I need to maximize what the savings do for me. I am fairly certain that I'm going with an ING savings account.

Exploring cheap entertainment - I'm still exploring the library. I checked out some DVDs today! The last time I looked at the collection at a library, it was sad. It was great today!

Starting my job search again - I have to rewrite my resume, update it all over the place (online) and really find out what kinds of jobs I want. I read a few articles this week. I also thought a lot about what I'm looking for. Basically, I want to work on projects, organize data or publications, help people get things done, or work with animals. Kind of a broad nebulous list, I know. Several job titles came up: Casual game tester, pet sitter, event planner, personal assistant, project manager. I think I would learn best by becoming the assistant to someone who is doing some of these things and maybe owns their own business. I need a mentor. Anyway, I need to start looking again, despite my struggles with why I am forced to find a different job when I can live with the one I have. I have my moments where I don't want to be at work, but ultimately, I have nothing to list as things I hate about my current job, other than thinking there's something more fun out there.

Reorganizing my website - I need to either keep it a business site, or make it my personal homepage.

Exploring the many places to write - I need to keep in practice with this writing thing. I need to review movies, books, cds, and everything else I run into. I need to write about the things that interest me. I also need to write some fiction. I have these stories in my head. They are piling up. I should write them down. Just not sure how or where. I suppose I should just bang them out in Word, and quit worrying about the proper publishing medium until later.

Enough rambling for one night. Shorter, more frequent posts will hopefully put a stop to these long rambles.

Ham Soup

2008-01-16T22:15:00.000-05:00

So, it's a bit late, but better late than never.

I finally made some soup! Making soup is one of my goals for 2008. I'm more likely to eat my veggies in the form of soup, and it seems to be pretty filling. Plus, soup is a good way to use up things in your fridge before they go bad. In other words, it's a thrifty way to use up the produce. Also, soup freezes well.

Anyway, I made some ham soup. The first thing that people tend to say when you mention that you made ham, is "When are you making soup?". It's a weird thing. So, after some investigation, I figured out that the ham bone is some prized ingredient, and you better use it to make soup, or to flavor beans or veggies or something. Otherwise, it's some sort of crime.

My ham soup had parsnips, turnips, carrots, corn, black beans and onions. It turned out pretty good. I think I like a creamier soup better. Not sure on the clear ham soup.

So, that's my cooking update for the week.

Bowling Night

2008-01-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Well, tonight was my bowling night. I had a good night. I've never really written about bowling, so I thought I'd start now.

I love bowling. I've been bowling in leagues since I was 8 or 9. I don't even remember when I started. My parents used to bowl, so I do remember being in the bowling alley at a young age. You know, those kids that run around pushing the balls off the racks while their parents are bowling? I was one of them. I recall that it was a lot of fun.

Anyway, no matter where we lived (I was an Army brat), there were a few constants. One of them was bowling. Every military community has at least one bowling alley. Every Saturday morning, I bowled in YABA bowling (it's not called that anymore I don't think). It was a great way for me to make friends and participate in a sport.

Bowling is a great individual and team sport. It's a great thing for a child to do, because it teaches coordination, math skills and requires focus.

So, back to tonight. I was just hoping to bowl a 500 series, since my average is 161. I was successful! I bowled a 526 ... 191, 153, 182. Not bad. A bit of a slump in the middle, but I'll take it. It was a good night at my favorite bowling alley, College Lanes.

If you've never done it, I highly recommend going bowling. The best thing about it is that anybody can have fun doing it! You don't have to be an expert, you just have to try. Half of the fun is the "trying".

How to Accept Credit Cards on Your Site

2008-01-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

Do you have something to sell, and you've figure out how to get your items online, but you can't figure out how to accept credit cards?

There are several ways to go about this. I had this problem a few months ago when I decided I wanted to sell products created using my own photography and designs. It was easy enough to make an online gallery, an order form, and use some simple programming or a database to do this. But, I was stumped about accepting credit cards. Because I was just starting out and I also sold items on eBay, I thought I would use PayPal, but they wouldn't handle the whole transaction, I would have to set up return policies, find printers, decide on minimum quantities, etc. I didn't want to start out like that. In the end, I didn't use them for this project, because I found a better solution that handled the entire transaction, including the printing and shipping of my products. I do use PayPal for other things, though.

If you already have your business in place, or you have all of the other details ironed out, you just need to find an internet card processor. This kind of company will allow you to accept credit cards online and also electronic checks. A company like this has a lot of information about accepting credit cards on a website. The information on the website includes the typical cost to you to have a merchant account and includes the fees for each type of transaction. The information I read also included the time it takes to receive the payment. It includes information for brick and mortar businesses who need to swipe credit cards as well. Overall, this company offers all sorts of Visa and Mastercard payment solutions.

Saving Money on Insurance

2008-01-13T16:02:00.001-05:00

Today's deep life thought is about insurance.

TV ads are always encouraging you to get a new insurance quote. What if you're happy with your current quote? For instance, my current auto insurance carrier makes me happy. I get a discount for having my renters insurance with them and my rates seem to go down each year. Because they keep going down, I have actually been able to lower my deductible and add more coverage. At this point I am paying the same rate I started with for just my car, and getting about 5 extra things. It's great. Plus, when I switched to this company, I saved a lot of money then. So, I'm not sure I feel like requoting.

On the other hand, I do need to address life insurance better. I know we don't have enough in our household, and I've been trying to get some more for a while. Maybe this company can help me save money on insurance? Maybe they can tell me the insurance plan pros and cons. Maybe they can explain what kind of family insurance I need. Maybe once I know these things they can help me lower my insurance premium. The website looks pretty interesting. It has a lot of information to read, without even having to register with them. That's a plus with me, because I am more likely to have someone contact me if they let me do some learning at my own pace. A lot of my questions were answered, too, like the difference between term and whole life insurance, how I can get my rates lowered and why I need life insurance. The information was helpful. The site seems to provide quotes from different insurance companies, so that is an added value.

In any case, I'll continue my research. Maybe this is another way I can save money.

Craft Hunting at the Library

2008-01-12T17:11:00.001-05:00

The Craft Hunt

Today I'm on another craft hunt. I'm about to pull out my sewing machine to do some much needed project work (I have a backlog unfortunately), so I thought I'd get some inspiration by checking out some more craft books from the library. As always, I'm looking for ways to use recycled fabrics. Since I'm recycling fabric, I'm likely to end up with pieces no larger than a fat quarter. So, all of the books are about just that. How to make things using scraps and fat quarters and how to do them quickly. I'm determined to practice more writing than blogging, so I'll write some book reviews, too. Here's the first book I've reviewed on Amazon - Last Minute Fabric Gifts. The books I've selected so far today are:

Country Fabric Scrap Crafts
Fabric Leftovers
Very Easy Crazy Patchwork
Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts
the impatient patchworker
Fat Quarter small quilts
Save this Shirt

The jury is still out on the best way to obtain my recycled fabric. So far, I have gone through my own clothes and bought clothes from the Salvation Army. I can't wait until it warms up so I can shop at yard sales. For years I've been passing up those late in the day bag-o-clothes bargains. Now I'll be on the prowl. I'm sure there's something to it. To be safe, for now I'm only buying good quality fabric like corduroy, denim and suit material (don't know what to call this category yet). I'm wondering about sheets, curtains and other household fabric items, though. They tend to product larger pieces, and might be just as good.

The Library

On another note - I'm at the library. My reasons are two fold. One is because of cost. I can't afford to buy books all the time. Two is because I'm experimenting with the Library's wireless. I'm convinced I could free up some dollar to pay down my debt by getting rid of my internet. As much as I will hate not having high speed at home, the $45 pricetag is just too high right now. Unfortunately, I can't go back to dialup either, because I don't have a land line. I am looking into access via my cellphone, but that is more expensive than what I have now. So, I may be online at the library only.

There are some benefits to this, though. It will make me be more organized because I can only upload my blog posts, photos, etc. when I'm there. I'll have to just write and save it in my word processor. That might be good, too. I'll spend less time just wandering online. More focus is better.

The downside is that I'll have to plan to go to the library. It's not open 24 hrs or even that late. On Sunday, it's only open for a little while. Also, I can only do so many things at the library. I can't cook, eat or talk on the phone. hmm... it will be interesting.

It'll all be worth it in the name of getting out of debt. I will keep reading my feeds from my favorite personal finance blogs and stay motivated. For now, I need to go home, I guess. Enough playing hooky in the library for a Saturday.

Blogsvertise - Review 1

2008-01-12T12:21:00.000-05:00

So, why can't I get paid to blog? That is the question of the day.

I think I can, so I'm looking into it.

The first site I found was Blogsvertise. It seems awfully simple. Advertisers will give me something to blog about, and if I do it, and it's approved, I'll get paid. I don't even have to write something positive. I can write about how I don't like something. That's freedom. As part of their rules, I also have to continue to blog regularly. So, that's great encouragement for my goal of blogging every day.

I'm still getting set up with them. So, we'll see how it works, and I'll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, if you want to try it yourself, or if you already have, let me know how it's going.

Alternative Income

2008-01-12T11:42:00.000-05:00

So, today's topic is alternative income. I've decided that while I should get a part time job to supplement my income and pay down my debt, I really don't want to. I have several reasons:

I don't need another boss

I don't need another schedule to manage

My current full time job makes me cranky and incapable of doing ANY customer service afterwards

I want some flexibility

So, I'm looking for something different. Don't think I don't want to work. I do. I don't mind doing some graphic design, technical writing or some sort of freelance work. I would like to find something I can do from home, online that is flexible. So, that's what I'm looking for today. Maybe I need to find 10 of these things, but I have to start somewhere.

So far, I have my gallery on Zazzle, which is making me a small amount of money. That is a long term income source. It's going to take time and constant development to get going.

I have an Amazon affiliate account, too. But that's another long term thing.

But it's a start. When I find something else that's working, I'll be sure to write about it. I'm sure there's something I can do to get paid to surf, write, and generally be myself. Lofty goals...

The Blogging Lag....Upcoming Topics

2008-01-10T12:32:00.000-05:00

The blog as a daily collection of my thoughts is not working out. I'm not surprised. Historically, it takes me twice as long as anyone else to form a habit. Not sure why, especially because I am always on the prowl for new, improved, more efficient, cost-effective habits in the areas of home organizing, personal finance, productivity, health, for example. It's especially sad because I am set up to directly post emails. Not sure why i can't bring myself to do that. I can even do it from my phone. I will try harder. I must be over-thinking it.

I haven't blogged in a while, but I have a growing list of topics. Allegedly, making lists of topics is a bad idea according to some reading I did about better ways to blog. What I should be doing, is making blog posts out of my topic ideas, soliciting comments and then expanding the topics with future posts that link back to the original one. That will increase my posting frequency and thus support my habit formation. I'll try that.

Hold on for a bumpy ride. I'm still trying to find my niche. The most successful blogs are niche blogs. I am notorious for not being able to find my niche so far in my career and creative life, so this will be interesting.

So, I think for now, I will start with a list (oh no!) of upcoming topics just so this info doesn't fall out of my head or I lose all of my paper scraps. Check back for future expansion on these ideas:

Recycling CDs - I needed to do some CD burning, and of course, there are always a few duds on the spindle. I pondered what to do with these. I hate to throw anything away. I have been looking for creative ideas in this area.

Funny News - I think I should share what I find funny in the news. I don't read much news, but I bet I read more funny news than serious stuff (like the election...boring... not inimportant, but boring). To start with take this news story. Be careful who your friends are?

Blogging Tools - I am still looking for ways to help me be a better blogger. For starters, I am now using del.icio.us. That is a huge help. I was hesitant to use my favorites, because I use multiple computers and it's inefficient. I have found a good solution for now. I'm still tweaking my organization strategy, but it's a good content management exercise.

Technical Writing - I fell into it, and it's a constant learning experience. Subtopics will be Career Paths, Content Management, Workflow Issues and Usability.

Crafts - I love crafts. I like doing stuff. I also like repurposing, recycling and reusing found items. So I'll write about it.

Dogs - Anybody who knows me knows about my dogs.

Bowling - The one physical activity I don't mind.

Career - I don't know what I want to be or where to go next. It's time to get another job or figure out how to live without a job.

Technology - I love it. I'm a gadget freak. If I had more disposable income, I'd join in on the technology race (think like an arms race) going on in my family. Being at the tail-end of that race has it's advantages. I get a lot of feedback about various gadgets without having to use them or get frustrated trying. Saves me time reading user reviews.

Strange questions - Why don't we have sliding doors? Flying cars? Replicators? and other sci-fi things? What was the first toilet paper like? Why aren't our cell phones strapped to our wrists like wrist-communicators? Personally, I wouldn't mind a wrist strap for those days when I have no pockets. Why do things have to be hanging on my waist? Why not around my neck?

Finally, I'm sure I'll post on life, love and the pursuit of happiness...animal? mineral? vegetable?

OK... enough rambling.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T22:01:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!
I thought I'd try a different approach to my 2008 resolutions this year. I'm going to keep them to myself. I know that doesn't work for most people. Most advice says to tell folks about things you are trying to change, so they can encourage you. So far, that hasn't worked for me. No matter how good the intentions, it just makes me defensive and resentful. Plus, many of my decisions to change are not fully fleshed out. The plans migrate or I need to try a few different approaches before I find something that works. So, this year, I'm keeping most of my resolutions to myself. So far, it's working out (it's day #2 - haha)! Of course, if you are reading this blog, it won't be hard to figure out what I'm up to.

Yummy Stew

2008-01-02T21:22:00.000-05:00

Yummy Stew
I have recipe for beef stew to share today. It's winter, and I find it challenging to cook healthy meals. I can easily cook satisfying meals, but often they are high calorie, high fat or very heavy meals. So, I've started my annual quest for some easy recipes that will help me to eat better (ie- more veggies and whole grains). This one comes courtesy of Rachael Ray and my mother-in-law (who saw it before me, tried it and let me taste it). I'm a fan of her recipes, because they are great for during the week cooking.

For those who don't know me, I have a passion for cooking and I like to be a creative cook. But, I hate to cook under pressure (ie - after work). Also, my husband is picky. He's a meat and potatoes guy, so I can't go too far off the traditional path. He doesn't want to cook either. So, up until now (the past 12 years) we have been eating out and eating a lot of quick prepackaged foods during the week. This has been very unhealthy and expensive. So, I'm always excited to find a recipe that is inexpensive, satisfying, good for us, and he likes it. Not only that, this one even contains vegetables that I have never cooked before and he claims taste like potatoes (there are no potatoes in the stew). I did make a few substitutions (remember the creative part?) - I used pre-cut chuck roast (which was cheaper than the sirloin) and I used a mixture of parsnips and turnips.

Parsnips are interesting. They taste like lemony carrots. Turnips seem to taste like unsweetened carrots. Both of them came off like potatoes to my hubby, so I think I'll start sneaking them into foods. I need to learn exactly when they are in season, and if they can be frozen.

One word of warning. In my original source of the recipe it says to cook the stew for only 45 minutes on 425. The Rachael Ray site says to cook it for 1 hr to 1-1/2 hrs on 375. I would imagine that would make the meat a bit more tender. Also, I didn't make the cheddar smashed potatoes. The stew was filling enough. Although, I am being prodded to make some mashies when we eat the leftover stew tomorrow. Also, Rachael's site calls for 1/2 cup of beef consomme and the other site calls for a 15 oz can of beef stock. Finally, one recipe calls for 4 tbsp of flour and the other calls for 6 tbsp. Not sure what affect that has. I have noticed that a lot of online recipes have these discrepancies. Not sure what to make of it. I guess it doesn't matter since I'm going to alter the recipe anyway. Not sure why I notice these things anyway. I didn't measure anything. One of those things about me. Of course, don't try that with baking...

Enjoy the recipe. I think I will be using any leftover beef to make this stew in the future.

ok... prematurely hit send. new

2007-12-24T00:22:00.001-05:00

ok... prematurely hit send.
new topics to explore:
history and usability of sewing machines
recycled products

It's been a while. Since

2007-12-24T00:18:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. Since it's late I'll be brief.
Happy Holidays!

A Boil Alert Rant

2007-12-13T20:25:00.000-05:00

So, today's rant is about a lack of communication. This is how it went today:

On my way home from work I stopped at the grocery store to run errands. By chance, I found out that there was a boil alert issued in my city. It had been going on all day.

So, that brings me to today's rant. How am I supposed to find out that there's a boil alert? Isn't that a serious safety issue? You'd think it would have been on TV like the winter warnings. Apparently it was on the news (for 2 seconds). However, I don't watch the news for more than 15 minutes in the morning. We don't subscribe to the newspaper. I don't have kids, so the school closing did not affect me. I don't watch my local announcement channel regularly (who does?), so how am I supposed to know?

When I got home I looked it up online, and the city online news had it. I thought, well, now's a good time to subscribe so I know next time. But, there was no way to subscribe to the news online.

This brings me to my point. In the age of blogging, feeds, twitter and other services, why is it that I can get 8 text messages a day about where to find a Wii, but I can't get notified that my water is not safe to drink?

I have to say, I'm impressed with some of the unique uses of Twitter. I have seen a police blotter, celebrity updates, talk show host updates and product information. It's pretty cool.

So, I did end up sending a suggestion to the newspaper that they do this. At least for safety information.

Here's the kicker - you know why we have a boil alert? Because a car accident at 6 am hit a fire hydrant and drained the whole water tower. I'm not even going to comment on how a single automobile can drain an entire water tower... sounds like somebody didn't push the stop button.

Enough ranting for today. Today's research topic is finding out how to efficiently blog...

Purse Patterns

2007-12-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

I love creative purses. I like buying purses, but I think it's even more fun if you can customize your purse by making it. Even better is when you recycle something to make a purse. Here are some of the patterns for purses I've found:

Placemat Purse

A Simple Purse

Thanks to the folks who posted these...

Rag Quilting

2007-12-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

I've recently lifted my craft ban. So, every now and then I'll post some of the neat crafts I find that are on my list.

I just got a sewing machine and I've always wanted to learn to quilt. Rag quilting seems to be a quick way to get started. Plus, I am really into Primitive Country style decor. I love that old worn cottage look. To me it says simple and not fussy. I know others see it as "messy". But, to each his own...

I'll compile some of my favorite links to projects here. Thanks in advance to the folks who have posted these patterns online.

Rag Quilt Coasters

Rag Quilt/Throw

Rag Quilt Placemats

Rag Quilt Throw Pillow

Hopefully these can be some inspiration for those of you with last minute crafts to make.

Much needed maintenance....

2007-12-10T20:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I had to do some much needed maintenance to my blog. For some reason, the labels script wasn't working, so I removed it for now. The archive feature wasn't working either, but that's fixed now.

I really wanted the list of labels to work, because it was a nice form of categorization, even if just for me. Oh well. I'll figure it out later.

Speaking of maintenance - I got some good career advice today. It turns out I am on the right path in my web development career. I just need to focus, get some experience, and get a job. I'll keep focusing on creating more content, learning about marketing and how to use the site stats. I wouldn't mind a career in search engine optimization or web merchandising. Merchandising sounds like a good mix of marketing and technology. Sounds pretty creative to me.

So, I need something to market. That is a bigger hurdle, but I'll get there soon.

For now, a shorter term goal... I need my online activities to start paying for themselves. My first goal is to cover my web hosting fees and internet access fees. I need about $50 per month (a bit of rounding there). If I could get that, it would be something. So, maybe I can get some traffic going and earn some $$. Baby steps...

Speaking of my finances, this is but a small part of how I'm going to turn my financial life around. Got to start somewhere, even if it's small. That's what I've been reading at my favorite financial blogs:

The Simple Dollar

No Credit Needed

Get Rich Slowly

So enough babble for now.

My Wishlist - December 2007

2007-12-06T14:16:00.000-05:00

Ok... so I've been asked about my personal wishlist. I'm not going to list everything, and it's not a prioritized list. But this is what I want for Christmas, birthdays, or any time anyone's trying to figure out:
Note: This posting is definitely subject to editing...

A Nintendo Wii - I finally got to play one. I think it's great. It gets you off the couch and doesn't wear out your thumbs. Plus, the games are as hard as my PSP games. Good luck finding one, though. I did find a site which will email or text you when systems are available online. There are others out there. A subject for a future posting...

Automotive Accessories - A car stereo that plays MP3 CDs, has an auxiliary input, a USB port and is also an HD radio would be nice. Also remote start would be nice, since I have no garage at home or work.

A Dyson DC17 Animal Cyclone Vacuum - Our cheapy vacuum just died, and this is the one I want. We seem to use up vacuum cleaners. Plus I have about 200 lbs of dog in my house...

A second vehicle, something gas efficient and low maintenance or a pickup truck for my husband - We have been sharing a vehicle for over a year now. It's getting old.

A 160 GB iPod Classic - It's not so much that I have a lot of time to listen, but I want to put my media collection in a single place and be able to access it when I do have time. I don't have time to pick and choose and make playlists, because my device only holds 16 GB. I also don't want to have 100 1 GB SD cards.

Games for the PS2 that get you moving - This would include Guitar Hero (with the Guitar), DDR, Eye Toy, etc.

A good digital camera - It doesn't have to be an SLR, but I wouldn't mind one. It just needs to have better than average zoom, because I take flower photos, and take good action shots (for my dogs).

Gift Cards - Before you groan, here's why - I love to shop. To me, it's not about unwrapping something in a box, as much as the gift that keeps on giving. I don't allow myself to shop most of the time, so a gift card lets me do it guilt-free. Favorite stores: Land's End, Sears, L.L. Bean, Target, Lane Bryant, JCPenney, Wal-Mart, Pier One, Best Buy, Amazon, Ikea.

Entertainment Gifts - Netflix gift subscription. I have an existing subscription, but it would be nice if someone chipped in to give me a break! Movie Gallery is nearby, too. Movie tickets are nice, because I won't buy them for myself. Dave & Buster's is nice, too. I have a wishlist at Amazon for books, cds, etc., too.

Sewing/Craft supplies - A gift card to JoAnn Fabrics or Michaels would be nice. I have just gotten a sewing machine...

Ok, enough for now.