LJFWolffe -- Weirdo at Large

The Social Media Hamster Wheel

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:04:11 GMT

My virtual friend (or vfriend) @CCSeed just twittered, "what's your purpose for engaging in social media? You have one, right?" and soon after my vfriend @ChrisKnight tweeted, "If you don't increase the speed that you deliver your website user experience, search engines are going to rightfully cache you out." I think they're talking to me.

See, I get up in the morning, turn on my computer, go through the night's FriendFeed and Twitter streams, and read the 40+ items waiting for me in my Google Reader. (For the last week this has taken me about three hours.) Then I keep up with those three services. Add the occasional dip into FaceBook, and if I want to, I can make this the entirety of my day; and lately, I have been. I always feel cruddy in the winter, and my definition of "crappy day" has gotten really sketchy lately, giving myself the permission to let my minimum effort become my standard. @CCSeed had started his questions with, "what's your best strategy for not getting distracted on social media?", and my thought was "Distracted by? It's what I get distracted from! Other than MiLady and my StepDaughter, it's my entire social life!" How sad is that? "I love my computer ; all my friends are in it."

And it sure as heck doesn't help me towards my goals. I have six different blogs, three of which I'd like to make some money from; I have plans for a small personal empire, for Pete's sake, and I'm not getting anything DONE! I'm learning a lot, but I'm not putting it into practice; I'm sharing a lot in my FriendFeed lifestream, and in the Popular Delusions room, but that's not making me any money, is it? I need to concentrate on the other end of the funnel, where the stuff goes OUT, not in. I have enough coming in to give me a headache; it's taking the time to DO something about it -- write about it, promote it, distribute it, discuss it -- that I'm not taking. I have the time; but I'm not using it. And that has to stop.

I'm great at making lists, but lousy at crossing things off of them; I spend more time wondering what system to use to keep stuff (PDA, Outlook, notebook, file cards . . . ) than I do generating things to keep. I have list of posts I want to write . . . lists of plugins to investigate and tweaks to make to my blogs . . . lists of things to do and to write and to explore. Writing them on a list, or in a Task note, or on a mindmap isn't DOING them. It just makes me feel guiltier as the lists grow longer.

There's a lot of resistance there. Am I really still carrying around that, "I can't win, I can only not lose" meme that got hammered into me as a kid? I KNOW I can do this; why aren't I DOING it? Just how lazy am I? And do I really buy that "I'm building my brand" excuse I've been handing myself?

Because @ChrisKnight is right. If I don't get off the stick, my blogs are going to go the FAIL route, and the last thing I want to do is blow this chance to make enough money to stay home and play in my very own sandbox. I'll have to go get a JOB, and jump onto a different type of hamster wheel altogether, one that I've been on before and that I don't like very much.

I wish I had a conclusion, a final resolution, for this rant. But I don't. I have no clue how to get over this wall. Heck, I've only recently realized the wall is there. And today, thanks to my vfriends @CCSeed and @ChrisKnight, I'm trying to figure out how to get over this thing. Time and my lifestream will tell, I guess. Thanks for listening to me rant; and any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

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The Community Energy Project Just Screwed Us

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:11:09 GMT

We just got screwed by the Community Energy Project. Below are the facts:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because we are living on MiLady’s disability pay at the moment, and we were running out of our savings, in November MiLady stopped by the Community Energy Project, which she drives by on a regular basis, to see if they could help us. They offered help with weatherization; and because MiLady is disabled, they offered to install it for us. An appointment was made for an initial assessment visit.

When the two gentlemen showed up for that appointment on December fifth, the first thing said inside the house was the observation that we were smokers. This was deduced by the sight of the ashtrays in the living room; neither of us were smoking at the time. MiLady pointed out the air cleaner running in the corner, and made him the same promise that we make all servicepeople visiting the house: that the air cleaner would run before they got here, and that we would not smoke inside as long as they were here. She showed them our windows, which have the scars of her last weatherization attempt several years ago -- which did not work out. They got the window measurements that they needed, added an aerator to our kitchen tap, made an appointment for the week of December 15th, and left.

The day of the appointment was the first day of snow in Portland’s Winter Storm; they called and said that they could not keep their appointment, which was understandable at the time. They offered to drop off the weatherization materials, but MiLady reminded them of her disability and the futility of her previous attempt. The person on the phone made a remark about the difficulty of finding people who wanted to work on a smokers’ home; MiLady reminded him of our promise to clean the air before they arrived and not smoke while they were here. He said he’d call and reschedule.

We waited for him to call. We didn’t put up our Christmas tree or any of our decorations because they would block windows he would need access to. We suffered through the Portland Winter Storm as best we could, because we had to. And still we waited.

We received a call from the Community Energy Project in mid- to late January, scheduling an appointment to do the work on February third.

On February second, we received a call informing us that they would not keep their appointment, because we were smokers. MiLady reminded him of the promise of the air cleaning and not smoking; he said that they still would not work in a smoker’s house. MiLady accused him of discrimination, and he said that they were still willing to drop off the supplies so that we could do the work. Rather than saying what was on her mind, MiLady said “Fine” and hung up the phone.

On the afternoon of the second, a car from the Community Energy Project pulled up, and a guy got out and quietly walked up our stairs, slid a box of weatherization kits onto the porch without a sound, and quietly went back to his car to drive away. There wasn’t even a knock to let us know there was a box on the porch; if I hadn’t been near a window, I would have missed the whole thing. I guess they didn’t want to talk to us.

They dropped off 11 window kits – and we have 14 windows. They apparently didn’t even check their notes when they filled the box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for the editorial:

These people had multiple chances – beginning at the initial interview – to tell us that they wouldn’t do the work. We would have been upset, but we wouldn’t have wasted so much time, and we wouldn’t have missed our Christmas, if they’d been upfront with us.

Is this the new way for Oregon charities to save money -- to deny help to people because they smoke? Do they realize that low-income people are the segment of the population most likely to smoke, as well as most likely to need their help? Why the $%@#! are they foisting their morality off on us? And make no mistake – it is morality. There would have been ZERO chance of inhaling secondhand smoke while they were in our home. There are no health reasons involved here. Just an unjustifiable paranoia combined with micro-managing babysitter laws, adding up to “legal” discrimination and the creation of second-class citizens that can’t go ask for help because they know they’ll never get it.

It’s possible that they put us off like this in order to have the legal backing of the new Oregon smoking law when they finally told us that they weren’t going to do it. Lovely thing to put a disabled person through, wouldn’t you say?

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They Stole Her Bike. Right Off the Porch.

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:55:25 GMT

A few days ago my StepDaughter came back from school and asked if we'd moved her bike. "How could we?" we replied. "Only you have the combination to the lock." "Well, it's gone." "WHAT?!?"

Some *long-winded character description full of swear words* came up on the porch in the middle of the night, cut her bike cable, and took her bike away. MiLady didn't hear them, and she sleeps in the living room. (Curse the day we had the porch steps replaced! Now they don't squeak.) They left our two electric scooters, and every other piece of flotsam on the porch -- they just took the poor college student's bike. Great work, guys.

I have three (only three? Well, only three BIG) questions:

Why steal a bike from the porch of the poorest house in the neighborhood? Our yard is overgrown, the place needs paint, we get no help of any kind, we barely leave the place -- how in the Nine Worlds could a thief look at this house and think "That'd be a great place to steal from!" ?!?
Why steal a bike in DECEMBER? It's not like this is prime bike-riding weather. She was just talking about how much bus money she could save in the spring -- just before the bike grew legs and walked away.
Why steal a bike bought in a variety store? It's not like this was a 97-gear top-of-the-line mountain bike -- it was on sale for $70 when she bought it, and the price sticker was still on the thing. It was transportation, not a hobby, not anything extreme. What the Frell?

So we'll be spending money we don't have soon to go up to CityBikes and get something refurbished. MiLady wants to have her keep it in the shed; I don't mind leaving it on the porch, as long as we use some of that noisy heavy-duty steel chain to tie it down. Regardless, so much for gentrification. But next time, guys, steal from someone who has something worth stealing, huh? Try to pick on someone who makes more than you do, not less. I feel kinda like that business owner during the LA riots a few lifetimes ago -- "I know you're pissed at them, but why take it out on me? I'm one of you!" 8-((

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Nationwide anti-Prop 8 Rallies -- Go, Protesters, Go!

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:05:50 GMT

Right now, as I type, people all over the country are starting simultaneous rallies to oppose Proposition 8, the "Marriage Definition" measure that passed in California, and I assume the other "anti-gay" measures that passed in several other states. It's been a long time since I wished I was at a protest. Today I wish I was in downtown Portland. But with MiLady's health being so iffy, we won't make it. But we're there in spirit.

I don't see these measures as 'anti-gay,' but as anti-PEOPLE. When was the last time this country passed laws saying that certain people can't do certain things? I believe it was the 50s, and the qualifier was based on their skin color. Those were deemed unconstitutional in the fullness of time; I'm sure that these bigoted laws will suffer the same fate. But not any time soon, unfortunately. There are some segments of the American population who seem to thrive on hate. And since it's verboten to hate based on (born-into) gender and skin color, they've found a new group to make into pariahs. Why do they have to hate anybody? I don't know, but it seems to be practically genetically ingrained (or culturally ingrained -- but that's a bigger topic I won't go into as I don't want to handle the hate mail and death threats). The best rant I've seen on this is from Keith Olbermann -- I threw it on my Tumblog, I liked it so much. (It's about the third video down . . . I wish tumblr would let me point to specific posts!)

The problem seems to be with the word itself. The religionists don't want people sullying their "marriage" with our own "marriages." It's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard -- as a sign I saw in a newspaper photograph said, "We never voted on YOUR marriage!" -- but it's their sticking point, so we'll go with it.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution says, in part, that "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." (Thanks, Wikipedia!) Since these laws currently deprive citizens of the privileges or immunities that come with being a legally recognized couple, they're unconstitutional. Plain and simple. To become a legal couple, you go fill out forms in your local office, you wait the required amount of time, then you get somebody to sign the form with two witnesses, and send the stuff in -- and you're recognized.

My favorite solution (and I've seen a lot of other people suggest it as well) is to separate this legal process from all the other crud that's become attached to it. Whether or not you're "married," by whichever church or sect you're into, should not be a part of it -- you want to be a legal couple, go fill out the forms. If you want a church service, or to have your High Priestess marry you, go for it -- but it will have no legal standing unless you fill out the forms. (Gee, just like today!) Separating the legal from the "religious," in my view, is the only way this is going to work. Then the religious will have no point to gripe on, and everyone who wants to be a legal couple can be. It's a silly dream, but it's mine -- I think I'll keep it. Until then, I'll sit over here and think good thoughts for everyone -- while I'm silently chanting, "Go, Protesters!"

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Thoughts on a Noisy Election Night

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:26:38 GMT

On the night of November 4th, I laid in bed and listened to something I had never heard before in my life -- the sounds of spontaneous celebration. Yelling and drumming and honking and cheering. One guy going down the street honking, Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. My brain immediately supplied the words -- Yes we can, Yes we can . . . It was tough to sleep with all that hope and excitement in the air.

I was privileged enough to see President-Elect Obama's speech live on TV; it was the first time I wasn't forced to wait till the next day and depend on transcripts or jerky YouTube videos. (You can read his speech here -- the page includes a video link, and if you use it, I hope your transfer rate is better than mine!) It was just the kind of speech I've come to expect from him: dignified, gracious, hopeful and forward-looking. I found a couple of places where he's restating things that have been said by others, and found the "church-style" read and respond ("Yes we can!") kind of amusing, but it sure does work for firing up the crowd! A great speech, overall, and a really high standard to set for oneself in a brand new job. A lot of us will be keeping an eye on him to see how he measures up to his promises.

There are a lot of people out there right now that are frightened out of their wits -- they've been told for months that if Obama gets elected their country will go right down the toilet almost immediately. I was very glad that Obama was thinking of them: "And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too." They'll see eventually that their worst fears -- and the fears their leaders pumped into them -- aren't coming to pass. Terrorists won't wind up in the government, there won't be welfare handouts, the country won't be given away. But it won't be an overnight paradise, either. Obama was right to call for more work, and a spirit of sacrifice. (I heard Kennedy's "Ask not..." bit in my head during this part of Obama's speech; he'd probably be pleased at the analogy.)

So I reveled in the joy of my neighborhood on Election Night. There's a new hope, a new spirit that maybe we can finally get something done around here to make the country the nation of freedom and enterprise it was always meant to be. Yes we can -- if we work at it. No resting on laurels allowed! Let's go!

[I woke up the next morning in a much fouler mood, upset about the way that things were reported that night; if you're interested in my rantings and ravings, you can read them here.]

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FriendFeed -- Growth of a Community

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:57:16 GMT

When I started the Thirty Day Challenge in August, I was introduced to a lot of new social media platforms: Twitter, Delicious, Digg, Stumbleupon, Squidoo, Tumblr, Fark and Furl, just off the top of my head. And I was also introduced to FriendFeed; it was a place you could funnel all of your other online activity to, so you could see (and search) your "lifestream" in one place, and see what your friends were looking at, writing, and saving. It allowed you to "like" and comment on other peoples' entries, or leave notes on your own; and with the "Rooms" feature, we at the 30DC could ask questions of each other and share resources. (Oftentimes people would get more or faster help through the 30DC FF room than they did in the 30DC forum.) So I thought of it as the "bottom of my online funnel," and kept up on what my friends and fellow Challengers were up to and what they were recommending -- and I found a bunch of good resources that way. I still do.

Enter Twhirl: a desktop application that shows you messages from certain services as they come in. The 30DC had recommended this for Twitter, but I eventually found out that it could be used for FriendFeed, too. Now I had FF entries coming up as regularly as my Tweets; and I got more involved in helping others (and having fun doing it). For a while there, I got more FF entries than Tweets. The community was building.

When I decided that I needed a dashboard that handled IM as well as Twitter (and my new FaceBook account -- I do like Digsby so far!), it meant that by not having Twhirl up I would lose my instant access to FriendFeed -- then FF came in and saved the day for me! They've just introduced Real-Time FF, and gave a link to open up a mini-window! So now where I used to have two Twhirl windows open to one side of my browser, I have Digsby and the FF mini-window, giving me the same real-time feeds (with less distractions, even) with the same amount of software up.

And the conversations are flying! A lot of people like and are using this new feature, and the posts and comments coming up are encouraging discussion. In FriendFeed you get to not only interact with the people you follow, but with the followers of the people you follow; the discussions are interesting and wide-ranging. I've found my visits to forums are down; my "need" to go find people to talk with is much less with everything going on in FriendFeed!

This place is no longer "just an aggregator;" nor is it the bottom of any type of funnel. In a discussion this weekend, I referred to Twitter as the bulletin board and FF as the water cooler; "Twitter announces, FF discusses." It's like hanging out in the library with your friends and discussing the things you find on the shelves. Of course, what starts with "Look at this neat thing I found (or wrote)," can wind up going just about anywhere -- that's part of the fun! I highly recommend it.

(To see all of the sites I'm on, check out the About Me! page at LJFWolffe.com)

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They're not just partisan voters, they're McCain-iacs . . .

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:23:20 GMT

Yesterday morning I came this close to writing about filming crazies as a campaign tactic. I'd seen two videos in the space of four hours that showed McCain supporters affirming that they believe Obama is a terrorist because of his heritage and his name (his name? Does that mean that everyone named Smith belongs in horseshoe-making?), and one person at a rally mad as hell because the Socialists are taking over the country. (Does he even know what a Socialist is? Or is this the new buzzword because we can't call people Communists any more? I have no clue.) I was beginning to wonder if "outing" these people to the country would be a good idea; maybe showing undecideds what type of people are supporting John McCain would wake them up.

Now I'm glad I didn't write the thing. I read a piece last night talking about the fact that McCain supporters not only believe this stuff, whole-heartedly, they're mad as hell about it. They've been convinced that the current financial meltdown is the fault of the Democrats, because they've been the majority in Congress for the last two years (as if they were supposed to be prescient; as though the problem wasn't set up years earlier by deregulation, among other things; as if the Democrats were the only ones who could do anything about it, despite having to actually get stuff passed and approved by the President). They're thoroughly convinced that anything other than Voodoo trickle-down Reaganomics will send the country straight to Hell in a handbasket. And that's just the stuff I know about.

These people aren't partisans or supporters; they're rabid fanatics with a "religious" fervor usually only seen among people like Palin's Spiritual Warfare crowd. If there's anything I know about fanatics, it's that you can't talk to them, you can't "make them see reason;" they know what they know and even trying to tell them any "facts" that don't jibe with what they know just brands you as a heretic who doesn't know what they're talking about. Those of us who believe in reasoning and calm discussion and weighing facts based on independent analysis are simply "unbelievers" to them, and are considered downright dangerous.

We might just be in trouble here, folks. Reason won't work with these people. If there are enough of them, McCain will get elected and this country will go right into the toilet. And because they believe with such fervor, there's no shifting them. It's tough to stay positive knowing that . . .

[Edit: Apparently I'm not the only one who's noticed this. For more insightful writing than I can manage, take a look at Jonathan Capehart's "McCain's Chilling Dance with the Dark Side" in the Washington Post.]

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Nooo, We're Not Biased . . .

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:32:03 GMT

Here's a little tidbit for you. It being Sunday, I'm spending a little time with Google News (Much easier -- and cheaper -- than the Sunday papers). According to them, FOXNews posted a news item 10 hours ago (now) entitled, "Conservatives Begin Questioning Palin's Heft." That link is the same as the link on Google News; if you click it, you'll get taken to FOXNews . . . to their 404 page. It offers you the option to go to their Election News page; on that page there is currently no mention of this story at all. None. Zip. Zero.

Hmm . . . isn't that interesting? I should have clicked on it the first time I saw it; I first noticed the 404 about 4 hours ago, when it was an unedited 404 page; it was just now that I got the specific 404 that led to the News page. It seems that either someone posted without permission or someone took exception to it and had it taken down, or someone is hacking Google News. Somehow I doubt the latter, considering the source. I do have an extreme bias towards multiple news sources with differing points of view being respected, so I suppose that should be taken into account. Still -- I find it very interesting that a negative report about the Republican VP nominee has mysteriously disappeared from FOX's website. I'll leave the conclusions to you -- I hate letters from lawyers.

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I Love Synchronicity

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:05:10 GMT

I love it when the events and knowledge in your life start lining up. Latest example: I spent August doing Ed Dale's Thirty Day Challenge, trying to earn $1 online. I failed, but learned more in that thirty days about the internet and marketing than I learned in six weeks at an "Internet Marketing University" (that shall remain nameless until I quit -- those 'guru followers' can be vicious!) that charged me $40/month for the privilege. (I'll brag about that more when I'm actually making money.)

Ed's big charity cause is Kiva -- an organization that gives micro-loans to people to let them work themselves out of poverty. (Same principle as the Challenge, really.) He held a huge auction at the end of the month for their benefit. At about the same time, a senior member of the forum over there recommended reading The Cluetrain Manifesto -- a letter to traditional businesses explaining how the Web is not their usual stomping grounds. (Very good read -- I recommend it.)

Then it was off to help the inlaws run their garage sale over the weekend. Pawing through the tables of books, I grabbed a copy of The 8th Habit, by Stephen Covey, which I haven't had a chance to read yet. And what does the esteemed Mr. Covey do in the very first chapter? Explain Kiva and quote the Manifesto! Ain't that great? You can safely bet that I'll be reading that book just a little more closely because of the synchronicities that surround it.

The common thread between the Manifesto and the 8th Habit is "voice;" dumping the artificial "businessspeak" and developing your own way of speaking and getting your point across. The Manifesto's point was that if businesses don't let people connect to people, they won't connect with their customers at all. The Habit's all about finding your own compass points and finding your own unique voice. Leadership, under this model, is helping others to find their own voices.

So far, mine seems to ramble on a bit. I probably ought to work on that. Still learning! 8-)

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"America, now is not the time for small plans."

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:57:39 GMT

The text of Barack Obama's speech, from the Huffington Post.

I can't believe it, but if I were to write the speech I'd most want to hear, this one comes awful darn close. There's so much good about it -- and nothing bad. Read the speech, really. It's beautiful, and real, and hopeful, and . . . I can't say anything else, there's too much. I can't even sum up. Read the speech.

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How do I explain David Cassidy?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:52:53 GMT

Last Wednesday we went down to Salem and moved my StepDaughter up to live with us while she gets stuff together for her first year of college. Yes, I have a StepDaughter (SD from now on), and it blows my mind probably more than it blows yours. It's a scary thought. But anyway . . .

Apparently, David Cassidy is on Oprah this afternoon. I about swallowed my tongue; I'm kinda surprised he's still alive, considering how long ago it all was. If I was home alone, I'd probably watch it -- just to see what he looks like nowadays. But how do you explain David Cassidy to a 19-year-old?

David Cassidy was on a TV show, The Partridge Family, about a band made up of family members; he branched out into a solo music career, and was the Hot Guy in all of the big pre-teen magazines of the day. This was the 70s, gang -- no internet, no email, no fan sites, no instant connections. You got told what they think you wanted to know, so you had to buy magazines like Tiger Beat because that's where the info was. Yes, I bought Tiger Beat, back when the Big Deal Guys were David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman (which gives you an idea of just how ancient I am). You can quit sniggering now.

Nowadays, these types of conglomerate superstars do happen, but in a completely different way -- there's really no comparison between David Cassidy and, say . . . you know, I'm so out of touch I can't think of a single example.

So I opened my mouth to explain some of this to my SD -- only to find that her head was buried in her laptop and she hadn't even noticed the reference. Sigh. Back to the data stream . . .

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I don't fly -- how did I wind up a pilot? Well, there is my toy collection . . .

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:59:14 GMT

I just took the Serenity Character Quiz -- and how I got these results I'll never know, but there it is:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your results:
You are Wash (Ship Pilot)

Wash (Ship Pilot)		70%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		60%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		55%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		50%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		50%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)		45%
River (Stowaway)		30%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		25%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		20%
Inara Serra (Companion)		20%
Alliance		20%

You are a pilot with a good
if not silly sense of humor.
You take pride in your collection of toys.
You love your significant other.

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

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New Knightriders: The Real Genius Connection

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:54:28 GMT

So during my soap this afternoon they're running commercials for the Knightriders remake series starting September 24th. My first thought was, "Who's doing Kitt this time around?" The voice helped make the car last time. When MiLady looked it up and told me it was Val Kilmer, I started giggling. But I don't actually know if it makes as much sense to anyone other than me. Here's the logic (!) chain:

Kitt is actually KITT, as in Knight Industries Two Thousand, and you expect it to have an attitude. Val Kilmer once played Chris Knight in Real Genius, and had an attitude that wouldn't quit. So the fact that the voice of the flagship toy from Knight Industries is the one-time Chris Knight strikes me as funny. Giggle funny. But then, I'm weird. I'm just sitting here wondering if I'm the only one . . .

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I Got a Call Today . . .

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:20:57 GMT

. . . from a lady with an online store company (name withheld just because . . . so there!) that wanted to set me up with my very own "online mall." They would do the setup and hosting, take care of everything, teach me how to market, all that stuff. Basically, what she wanted to do for me was set up my very own Amazon aStore. See, I know too much; you can become an Amazon Affiliate and make one of those for free. In fact, eventually, I'm planning to. But she was offering to "make me an Amazon Affiliate" for . . . well, the service is usually $495., but for Customer Appreciation Month it's only half that, and today only she's authorized to give her first ten customer calls the opportunity to get in for only $100.

I haven't been doing this internet thing for very long, but I have been around long enough to know a "store in a box" when I see one. When she said a store affiliated with Amazon, I said, "Oh, like an aStore." Her reply was, "not just a store, but all the stores!" Aha, Sherlock! A clue! She doesn't even know what's going on! Of course, if you've ever even been near the telemarketing thing, you know that the person calling you has a script and that's about it.

So I was nice. I was on the phone with her for 15 minutes, listening to her at the end asking me to "seriously consider the offer" and giving me her phone number. But I'd rather do my own thing, thank you. For one thing, it's seriously cheaper.

[And remember, nowhere in this post did I mention fortune500usa.com. Not once. This is a completely anonymous post, OK? But if they call you, don't get taken in.]

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Oh, My Gods . . . Is This Thing On? Really?

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:02:17 GMT

"Last updated 177 weeks ago"

Holy Crud! I thought this journal would have vanished into the ether ages ago. Apparently not. Cool.

There's no way I'm going to even attempt to talk about the . . . (my calculator says over three years, but I'm having a hard time believing it -- has it been that long?) . . . time I haven't been around. "Let me 'splain . . . No, there is too much. Let me sum up." Here's where I am now:

I've worked for telephone customer service and a corporate credit union since then; the credit union laid me off in November. I've spent several months recovering and sitting around, then decided I had to get off my butt. I'd decided when the layoff was announced that I was going to try an internet business; I fiddle-farted, and then joined an Internet Marketing University in late June. (Name withheld due to potential flames.) I've learned a lot from them about the IM process, and what it takes to get a business off the ground; but their approach is not mine, and I've been getting more and more disillusioned. And then I found out about the free 30 Day Challenge: Ed Dale and other great marketers from around the world spend thirty days teaching the IM process with one goal -- to get as many people as possible to make their first $1 online. I've learned more from the 30DC in 8 days than I learned from my IMU in 6 weeks -- and I didn't have to pay them to do it! My blog for the challenge is www.bluecobaltglass.com -- it's still in the beginning stages, but I'm following along and hoping this will be the first step in something big!

In the process I've gotten myself into the social networking thing: I'm on Twitter, and FriendFeed, and learning to use an RSS reader for the first time, and using Digg and delicious and StumbleUpon and all that good stuff. My web life is expanding exponentially; and as soon as I learn how to use it all . . . who knows where it will lead?

Just when you thought it was OK to breathe...

Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:52:16 GMT

Remember that job I got? Well, I don't have it any more. After a week
and a half -- all of 18 hours of work -- she fired me because my typing
isn't what she thought it was, I look at my fingers too much, and she
doesn't trust me to hold down the office on my own. I was looking forward to
having the place to myself this morning; vaccuum the carpets, answer the
phone, receive the faxes, practice with the typewriter till until I
understood just how it lined up. Instead, she met me at the office and fired
me. I never even got the time to take off my coat.

So I'm back in the full-time job market. I edited my job searches today,
changing the 'part-time' back to 'full-time,' and starting tomorrow I go
back to the endless round of trying to find somebody, anybody, willing to
give me a job. Definitely not the greatest thing for the ego...

The Story So Far...

Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:14:48 GMT

The Chapter House has had a less than stellar 2005 so far. The Mother Superior was turned down twice for Social Security Disability, and though she has filed yet another appeal, it will take a year to get to a hearing, because they're so backed up. We nearly lost the house to foreclosure because we didn't have money for the mortgage, but we found a group of donors willing to help us out (thank you, thank you, thank you, whoever you are). And I sent out 114 applications, and had 11 interviews before I found a job; but it's part-time, without benefits, and in the first three days I've worked only 5 1/2 hours (it'll get better as I learn the job, though).

My job? If you've ever had work done on your house, like remodelling or a new roof or any type of contracting, then you've received notices from the
subcontractors or suppliers about the fact that if they don't get paid they have the right to file a lien on your house for the money owed them. Well, I got a job with a firm that contracts with the contractors to send those lien notices out. It's not exactly brain work, but it's stuff I can do, and the hours will get better as the summer remodelling season heats up. Till then, at least it'll pay the utilities bills... We're counting on the tax refunds to pay the mortgage this month. We just wish they'd show up...

But life isn't all bad. We watch movies from our video wall, and the Mother Superior has taken to making VCDs of AMVs (Anime Music Videos: amateur productions using anime clips to popular music, which is much better than sitting around missing VH1Classic), so we're living without cable. We read a lot. Now if only the Mother Superior's back would stop hurting, and we could find the energy to get the floors cleaned, we'd be practically normal. No, not even that would help...

A Sudden Dip into the Pool of Reality...

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:50:26 GMT

A couple of weeks before OryCon, I got a call from my father. After months of trying to get an answer from Kaiser and seeing three different neurologists, my mother was finally diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, or ALS. She was in a wheelchair, and not doing well. We agreed that now was not the time to go see her, since MiLady and I both had stuffy nose viruses mom could not afford to catch, so we agreed to come over later after we were well. I did research on ALS, and got the basics of it; it's a degenerative nerve disease that affect the nerves and voluntary muscles until you have no control, but it leaves your brain alone, so the ill person eventually becomes trapped in a body that refuses to do anything you tell it to. Ick. By everything I read on the condition, I thought mom had a year or so. I was wrong.

After Thanksgiving, I got a call from my brother. Mom had been taken to the hospital, unable to swallow or cough; she had decided to go home to be in her own bed, but the end was fast approaching. It floored me. People who know me know that when in doubt I avoid things in the hopes that they'll get better; I always assume that I'll have more time. I didn't. I had a couple of tough calls with family members, then I got to see mom on Thursday December 2nd. We were there for about an hour. Mom passed away during the night of December 3rd.

I spent so much time so mad at her for different things that seem so trivial now. At least I got to see her one more time and say "I love you" to her face. It wasn't nearly enough, but it's a small consolation at the moment. She taught me so much; she did so much for me; I love her, even if I was occasionally completely ticked at her. Now she's probably playing in the garden and showing the kitchen staff Above the latest cooking tricks. She's no longer trapped in a recalitrant body. And that's actually Good News.

It Hasn't Been the Best Year...

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 22:14:12 GMT

Sorry for the delay in posting; but the Main Chapter House has had a less than stellar year in 2004. In late January, the Mother Superior woke up one Monday morning with her sacro bone wedged against her pelvis. She could barely get out of bed. Work put her on short term disability, her doctor gave her stronger painkillers, and things slowly got better -- till April.

In April, since nothing else had completely gotten rid of the pain, MiLady got referred for an interspinal corticosteroid injection that was supposed to work better on the pain. Instead, it put her back to the pain level she had when she first woke up that Monday in January; the doctors, both her GP and the guy that did the injection, refused to believe her, refused to see her again, and had to be badgered to give her stronger pain medication. They refused to do anything else. Her GP didn't want to see her more than once a month, and it took her forever to finally refer her to a pain clinic -- about the same time that the short term disability people at work denied her any more disability time because she wasn't seeing her doctor once a week. MiLady lost her job in July, and since then we've been living on pensions and 401Ks, but OryCon will take the last of our money.

On a personal note, I was just getting myself together in January. I had finally found the right mix of nutrition, supplementation, and medicine to get me up off the couch, and I was beginning to get myself a schedule and have a couple of personal projects like writing again and getting the house clean. Then MiLady got hurt and stayed home, and the schedule went to heck; the money was cut in half, so my nutritional stuff went away; the union changed the prescription benefits, so I lost my antidepressant and diabetes medication; then all the money went away, so all supplements were out of the question. Oh, and did I mention that as I am now the healthiest member of the household, I need to go out and find a job? With no medical, nutritional, or supplemental support? After sitting around the house for five years because of my fibromyalgia, depression, and lack of emotional control? Can you tell how thrilled I am about all of this? Think of Boromir in Moria in _Fellowship of the Ring_: "They have a cave troll." That's about the tone of voice in which I'm typing at the moment.

And to top it all off, while I was not online much taking care of MiLady, UJournal went away. Over a year of personal entries gone, only partially backed up. AboutMyLife supposedly took over the site, but my blog is nowhere in sight, and for all I know it got deleted while I wasn't paying attention because it took me too long to update it. So this blog is likely to get a lot more personal than was originally intended. Not that too many people will notice...

Position Statement: Same-Sex Marriage

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:19:24 GMT

In the last month in Portland, OR, county commissioners asked their Attorney General about the legality of same-sex marriage. She replied that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples was illegal according to the Oregon Constitution. So the county, scared of a lawsuit (supposedly), started issuing licenses to anyone who asked. It got us on the national news. The governor asked the State AG for a legal opinion; he replied (very carefully) that state law does make these licenses illegal, but the laws were contrary to the State Constitution; the county replied that they'd uphold the constitution, thanks, and continued to issue the licenses.

The Official Position ot the Holy Order of Our Lady of Debauchery on this matter:
Y A Y ! ! ! ! ! !

For one thing, for those few of you who don't know yet, the Mother Superior and Grand Inquisitor (your humble narrator) are two ladies who got married in Portland in 1992. (It helps that Her Decadence has what we delicately call a 'hormone problem;' she let her beard grow for a couple of days before we went to get the license. They never checked our ID.) I've been looking forward to the day when I can call her my wife without editing for public consumption.

For another, the official HOOLD position on marriage has always been that we'll marry any number of people for any length of time; we've done ceremonies that lasted for the length of the tourney, and handfastings that were well-nigh permanent (at least for nowadays). Although we have yet to get our legal ministerial cedentials, we know that official paper or the lack of it won't stop merging hearts, and "the heart does as the heart does," as Delenn once said. So we applaud the actions of the county commissioners, and see this as a step forward in civil rights.

And although we don't impose our opinions on anyone, and insist that each member stand up for their own opinions, we ask that anyone who holds a contrary opinion spend some time outside the county courthouse or watching footage of these couples getting married. Look at the joy on their faces; watch these couples and families realize their dreams. Think seriously about the children who now get to say 'my parents are married' just like their friends; think about the other things that married couples get to take for granted that these people finally get to stop worrying about. And think seriously, in real world terms, about who these people are hurting. If any.

Notable, Quotable Presidents

Fri, 27 Feb 2004 18:52:57 GMT

I found this on my PDA from Alternet, and wanted to pass it along. It is written from a particular political slant, but regardless it's nice to know what the people involved actually said on certain topics. This may be off-topic for the Order; but it's on-topic for all Americans, which most of us are, and for all those interested in historical facts instead of history-book spin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notable, Quotable Presidents
Kevin Nelson, AlterNet
February 13, 2004

Forty-three presidents have served the United States in these past 228 years, overseers of the longest running democracy in the world.

While the Bush II Administration's "War on Terror" and its Orwellian progeny -- Patriot Acts I & II -- demand that Americans relinquish their civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and Constitution in exchange for Homeland Security, we must never forget that this country has survived a Revolutionary War, a Civil War, two World Wars, a Cold War, and half a century of CIA malfeasance, without devolving into a totalitarian state.

America's greatest presidents were keenly aware of the fragility of liberty and freedom of expression, and worked steadfastly toward their protection.

Consider how the following sentiments would be interpreted by today's media pundits, were each of these men currently campaigning for the office of the presidency. Which candidate would be endlessly derided as the "peacenik," the "America hater," the "anarchist," or the "lunatic fringe" candidate? Which candidates would be placed on terrorist watch lists?

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." -Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to (Col.) William F. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864, five months before his assasination

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." -Teddy Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star, May 7, 1918

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln

"The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the Americans' freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Columbia University, 10 days before his assassination, Nov. 12, 1963

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison, June 16, 1788

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it." -Woodrow Wilson

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." -Ronald Reagan, March 2, 1977

"There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress ... than I had any conception of, before I became President of the United States." -James K. Polk, December 16, 1846

"When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were." -John F. Kennedy

"The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation." -James E. Carter

"There is nothing wrong in America that can't be fixed with what is right in America." -William Clinton

"The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people." - Andrew Johnson

"The more I study it [the Constitution], the more I have come to admire it, realizing that no other document devised by the hand of man ever brought so much progress and happiness to humanity." -Calvin Coolidge, 1929

"We Americans have no commission from God to police the world." - Benjamin Harrison

"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." -George Washington, Treaty of Tripoli, 1796

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." -Thomas Jefferson, February 10, 1814

"War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed." -William McKinley, March 4, 1897

"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions." -Thomas Jefferson, August 19, 1785

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." -Harry S. Truman

"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." -Teddy Roosevelt, December 3, 1907

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." -Franklin Delano Roosevelt, March 4, 1933

"In the field of world policy; I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor." -FDR, March 4, 1933

"I will never apologize for the United States of America -- I don't care what the facts are." -George Bush, Newsweek, August 15, 1989 (Commenting on the shooting down of an Iranian airliner by the U.S. warship Vincennes, killing 290 civilian passengers.)

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, in a final sense, [is] a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." -Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953

"Evil acts of the past are never rectified by evil acts of the present." -Lyndon B. Johnson, July 21, 1964

"Peace is more than just the absence of war. True peace is justice, true peace is freedom. And true peace dictates the recognition of human rights." - Ronald Reagan, September 22, 1986

"Depends on what your definition of 'is' is." -Bill Clinton, August 17, 1998

"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"You know I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation. I've never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil business. But that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get elected to public office." -George W. Bush, 1989

"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes." -George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000

"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier -- so long as I'm the dictator." -George W. Bush, Dec. 19, 2000

Honorable Mention: Scottish jurist and historian, Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813) summed up the natural progression of self-governance thusly: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can
only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.

Kevin Nelson is editor of the weekly column Drug War Briefs, which appears on AlterNet (alternet.org).

Review: Firefly

Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:06:52 GMT

"After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system, and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance, and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance Control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship would bring you work. A gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: Find a crew. Find a job. Keep Flying.

Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand;
I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me.

Take me out to the Black, tell 'em I ain't comin' back;
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity;
But you can't take the sky from me..."

This is the text of the speech and song in the original opening of Firefly. The only complaint we have about the recently-released 4-disc set containing all 14 episodes of Firefly was that this opening is nowhere on any of the episodes. They kept the song, but lost the narration. And that narration has got to be the best summing up of a setting I've ever heard.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (the too-good-to-be-true boyfriend from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place) and his fellow Independent veteran Zoe (the Sumerian Princess-turned-pirate who made Iolaus nervous in Hercules) are the backbone of an unusual crew, flying between planets under the official radar and doing whatever it takes to keep flying, from fencing stolen food to robbing trains to smuggling cattle. Things get complicated when they are joined by a doctor on the run with his sister, who was damaged by Alliance experimenters, and a Shepherd (think preacher) with an untold past.

There are nine characters in this ensemble show, every one of them a real person; this crew spends almost as much time arguing as working. This show feels like a movie rather than a TV drama; there's a lot of humor, some pathos, lots of mystery, and a lot of dirt. Homesteading is a dirty business. And humans homestead pretty much the same way whenever they're forced to do it. So if you never thought you'd see a Science Fiction Western, you need to check this out.

Firefly was created by Joss Whedon of Buffy and Angel fame; but despite the wonderful show and the piles of money they've made from its creator, this show was pretty much doomed from the start on TV. Mr. Whedon admits in the Bonus Features that it was the fans who kept this show on the air as long as it was; as it happens, the show's Christmas Party turned out also to be its wrap party, and three of the episodes in this set never made it to the small screen. Many boos and jeers for Fox, for being too timid to show real Quality. But we're not completely destitute; Mr. Whedon is currently working on a Firefly movie. We hope that he can get all of the original cast for it, as every character would be weird if done by anyone else, and that it happens soon. We give this disc set our solid recommendation, the Mother Superior and I, and recommend seeing this show. It's great stuff.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:02:14 GMT

Today (in the Northern Hemisphere) is the shortest day and longest night of the year. Many (not primitive -- simpler? Closer to the Land? more rustic? you pick) cultures used this date as the ending or beginning of their new year. The Teutonic cultures viewed this as the first festival of Yule, a holiday season lasting till New Year's. Regardless, it's a great time to start thinking about the last year as a whole and to start thinking about plans for the next year. Clean a little, plan on paper a little, call a friend or two to say Hi (especially if they don't have nearby family to share festivities; you'll brighten their day!).

I'm personally having fun throwng things out. Here's a piece of paper I once thought was important, but I can't remember why; out it goes. Here's something a friend once gave me; that friend has proved faithless, so the trinket goes in the Give Away Bag. My desk is usable, I can find things on my couch, and I' killing dust bunnies left and right; and the accomplishment (however small -- I'm having to take thing easy) makes me feel so much better. I highly recommend picking something -- a desk, a file drawer, that set of horizontal file shelves you stole from work -- and go through it, tossing what you no longer need and filing the rest so you can find it later. It can be a good thing, and it will help you go towards the New Year with a better mindset. Give it a try.

Review -- Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:02:07 GMT

Wow. Frelling wow. Abso-frelling-lutely Beautiful. Oh, my word. Jackson and company have done quite a job. This is a worthy end to the trilogy; the Battle of the Pelennor Fields makes Helm's Deep look like an opening skirmish, just as it should be; Shelob is just as scary, if not scarier, as it oughta be.

For us real good fans of the books, there are some minor disappointments. The conversation between Gandalf and Saruman in the ruins of Isengard will be in the Extended Edition; the Scouring of the Shire may or not be there, but it's not in the theaters. Neither is the romance of Eowyn and Faramir, the Houses of Healing (at least for more than one shot), or the marrage of Aragorn and Arwen. (If nothing else, Peter Jackson and Co. have encouraged me to read the trilogy again, to see how much of what I thought was not in the books is actually there. So the little things that made me go 'huh?' just might be because of my skipping things. I need to double-check.)

The movie is long; but it goes by like half that time, and moves so well we didn't even think about checking our watches till 2 hours in. It ties the other two movies into one single story, and I'm already looking forward to next November when I can bring home RotK and spend a whole day in Middle-Earth. It's quite a roller-coaster ride; in the words of a Lost Boy, "That was a Great Game." I bow deeply to the cast, crew, creative people and heartclan that gave us The Lord of the Rings in a format we could watch. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You did things right.

Welcome to the Soapbox Factory!

Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:41:26 GMT

Hi there! I'm Rev. LJF Wolffe, Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Order of Our Lady of Debauchery. No, I'm not kidding. Let me tell you about it.

Many, many moons ago (3YC, the SCA's 30-year celebration), the Holy Roman Apostolic Church of An Tir. Inc. (now known simply as _THE_ Church) was throwing the Known World Tablero Tournement, in which MiLady Katriana of Grithold was competing. She learned of the church tradition of bribeIMeanTithing to the Church in return for a Holy Title, and for an amount of beer she was given the Title of Mother Superior of the Holy Order of Our Lady of Debauchery. (It was a tablero tourney -- what do you expect?) She in turn took bribesIMeanTithes for positions in the Order, and got enough beer to keep playing tablero till she passed out. We continued taking members through the tourney season, and when people asked what their duties were as members we realized that we just might want to really do something with this.

We wrote the Rule of the Order, and then the materials that make up the Order Website (www.hoold.org); then I got sick and lost my job, and the Mother Superior got well enough to go get a job, and we stopped going to tourneys due to time, and suddenly I looked up and realized that years had gone by. Something about this must be done.

And thus this journal. The hope is that this will be the spot for my soapbox writing practice, so I can get used to a regular schedule and have a selection of things for when I start writing regular newsletters for the Order. If you're looking for more personal insights and info, you'll be better served by reading my journal on UJournal; if you're looking for backgroound material on the Order, try the Web site or the Yahoo Web Club.