Well, our sink stopped working, so we got new faucets and everything. It's very pretty, and our new bathroom sink is very pretty (not functional at all but gee it's nice to look at and wish you could use) so it's about time to look at bathroom lighting, especially since I like to take my self portrait photos in there. The rest of the house is sort of dim, so that's the best spot - bad background, but that's why Photoshop is a wonderful thing. I'm really into the chrome thing we've got going on, but when I have my own house, I already have the rooms planned out as far as decor goes, including matching coathangers. Yes, I am going on about the coathangars again!!!! I even know exactly which coffeemaker I want, what type of themed colors, and how every container, including dish ones, have to match the decor of that room.
Monday, September 29. 2008
House repairs and upgrades
So, speaking of policies...
I know we've all been discussing national policies, especially given the state of the DOW and the denial of the bailout today, but this is more about the type of policy people buy, since my dad just bought insurance for his truck. Key man life insurance helps a company survive the loss of an important person from their organization, which can cause quite a bit of devastation, especially among smaller start ups. There are articles explaining more details, and you can fill it out for a quote, but I found this extremely interesting since I am looking at bringing a couple of employees into my organization, ones who would be working on crucial aspects, and if the company were to grow with their help, it would be a major burden to lose one of them.
Sunday, September 28. 2008
XBox Games - Ebay Auctions
Free Shipping on XBox Games - I am listing even more tomorrow, but fixing issues with my computer today. Ones left to be listed include stuff like different Mortal Kombat and Harry Potter games. Go buy them if you want since I'm selling them dirt cheap to make space at my workstation.
Saturday, September 27. 2008
The AutoSave Feature
Okay, so I have two great offers for 250 free business cards and points through MyPoints, which will put me at the level I need for another gift card for Gryphon, but I am very annoyed because I spent forever doing the design on the one site I've never used for cards, and it didn't autosave like the one I normally use, so when there was an error, I lost the entire design I'd worked on, and don't feel like redoing it again right now.
So, my topic for the day is sites that autosave your work for the day vs those that don't. Which web services do you use that use this feature, and if they do, can you undo the save? Which ones don't? For example, I adore Google Docs, because it does autosave even though I'm in the habit of hitting control+s every few sentence, but what I like even more than that is it keeps a revision history that you can go through and revert to that copy. This was very helpful the other day when I was doing a collaboration, and another editor was working at the same time, and an error deleted a huge amount of data. It took about 30 seconds to go through the changes and restore the document, which was awesome.
WordPress has an autosave feature when you're writing your posts, but my current software does not, and I'm wondering if there's a plugin out there that I can install to change that, since I've gone plugin heavy lately.
Friday, September 26. 2008
Appetite Suppressant
I can't take most diet pills, because I get really jumpy and weird, and that's just normal me before my tranquilizers each day. You'd really hate to see me without those, let alone on something that aggregates the problem, but Fenphedra has an NPY inhibitor. NeuroPeptide Y is associated with the ill effects felt from nervousness and anxiety, but Fenphedra uses an herb from the cannabis family to nullify those effects so that the pill can be used by people with disorders such as mine, post traumatic stress disorder, or just by people who don't wish to get too hyper to focus. Interesting~
Tuesday, September 23. 2008
Dear Winster Support,
Update: I would like everyone to know that Jerry contacted me directly last night and refunded my money today. Not only that, we have entered an actual discussion regarding site issues, and they are working on the server lag, and speaking to me about the concerns themselves rather than using support. So I would like to amend this to say that I regret what's happened, but I still support Winster and will be joining again once the server issue is resolved because I am very happy they took the time to address this situation. Even if you're canceling or downgrading as I did, please try to check with me or test the site to wait out this period of issues. All sites will have problems, but Jerry contacted me quickly and is receptive, and I respect that when it comes to business and when it comes to running such a large site, so I'm going to keep supporting them through this and offer what help/information I can so that I can come back soon! There may be an interview coming up as well, but if you have anything you'd like me to bring up (I've already covered a lot of it), please drop me a message, okay? Most of you have my personal info, or you can comment here. Thank you for your support through the stress and upset I went through yesterday, and don't give up on Winster yet - if you're staying as paid, just try to keep your spins down as much as you can, and hopefully the lag issue will be a thing of the past soon, in which case you'll see your crazy nun hopping around to chat and trade with you. <3 to you all.
About my cancellation - I have downgraded before and kept gold status until the paid time was up, which was the agreement on your site. Now, I've been stripped of my status, right after paying 9.99 for basically nothing, very close to cashing in for my son's prize for his bday next month (I'm a single parent and needed this but it will be IMPOSSIBLE at free level) so I would like you to fix this immediately, giving me my 800 spins and full points until the paid period is up. I am filing with PayPal for a refund otherwise, and I'm so glad to see that you love to mess with your members, when the reason I cancelled is because the server lag makes it unplayable. I've been loyal for nearly a year, and the site has only declined. You may want to know there's a petition against this online:
Protest Winster and Server Lag!
Please let me know within the week what you are going to do or I will be taking further action against you. Thanks for gypping a kid with a disabled single mother out of a birthday present, by the way. Shows what great people you are. By the way, I was paying for both me and a friend, so you just lost $240 a year unless you fix things, in which case I'll gladly subscribe again, and there are a lot more members talking about dropping you lately.
~Colleen Haddock, mercynre on Winster
Edited: I am speaking with Jerry directly regarding what was previously here, since he contacted me himself and a resolution is in the works. Will update, and if he has the time and wants to, would love to interview him with some short questions about Winster to clarify questions from members.
Their response:
Thank you for your email.
To upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your Club Winster membership, click on "Settings" (on the menu bar), then select the "Membership" tab and follow the instructions.
Upgrades take effect immediately. When you upgrade, you will be charged the difference between your current membership level and your new membership level, pro-rated to the end of your current billing cycle. Your billing cycle is not affected. Your spin balance will immediately be increased to your new membership level. Note that if you use PayPal, you will be asked to approve a new Paypal 'subscription' with a partial payment for the balance of your current month, then a full payment each month thereafter.
Downgrades take effect at the end of your current month. If you pay by PayPal, you will be asked to approve a new Paypal 'subscription' with no payment for the balance of your current month, then a full payment each month thereafter.
Cancellations take effect immediately. Winnie does not refund or pro-rate your last payment, so it is best to cancel just before your next membership billing date. However, upon request Winnie will pro-rate your last payment if she made any material changes to the terms of your membership during that billing cycle. Winnie does not refund or pro-rate your payment(s) if she cancels your account as a result of any violations of her Terms and Conditions.
The membership was cancelled not downgraded.
Peggy
Winster.com Support Team
My responses:
So there's nothing you'll do to fix this, despite me having just paid recently? I consider this theft of services and would like to resolve it but will take other measures if you don't wish to help keep loyal members, since I was paying for 2 gold memberships and planned on returning once the server issue was resolved. I'm keeping several of your gold and host members updated with the progress of this complaint. I would be willing to resolve this without a refund if I were just given gold status for the remainder of my paid time, but I have filed with the Better Business Bureau. I was close to the points needed for my son's present, and this is ridiculous.
~Colleen
And:
However, upon request Winnie will pro-rate your last payment if she made any material changes to the terms of your membership during that billing cycle.
Very well. I consider the fact that the site has been unplayable due to server issues to be a 'material change' and would like a pro-rated refund to resolve this, since you obviously don't wish to keep me or my friends as members. Not being able to play because of all your new free members, time outs, and such, has lost me the opportunity to use my spins and get points, or else I would have cashed my current prize by now. That is a material change, so please refund my money or allow me my benefits until the end of my paid cycle.
~Colleen
Watch this entry to see how it plays out.
Winster Prizes Breakdown
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: After contacting support, I was able to redeem the Burt's Bees, and got $14 for it, not the $10.90 it is listed at, so this is fine to cash for.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I cashed in for Burt's Bees and they are not honoring it!!! Giving me an error and to contact support, which is further delaying my son's birthday present. Getting really sick of this people, but DO NOT CASH FOR BURT'S BEES. I know a LOT of you have that as your goal. Members can honestly say they are not getting prizes from Winster now unless you cash for the gift cards only and not the prizes. So much for my statement above about fully supporting them while things are worked out, unless they fix the problem quickly.
UPDATE: I've been told by a member that even though the Amazon listing for the Waffle Maker is $24.72, when they cashed for it, they were given $20 even. So this is not the best deal, and as far as I know, they are not still giving the right price for Burt's Bees, which was the best to cash for. So as far as I know, the best deal right now is the Craft Tool Kit, unless they are not giving the right amount for that. What a mess. >_<
A lot of people want to know the best deals for the current Winster prizes, so here's the breakdown, in this format:
Points to cash in - Title of Prize - Amount you get if Amazon - Points per dollar
1,600,000 - Herbs in a Bag - $8 - 200,000
2,300,000 - Burt's Bees Start Kit (Head-to-Toe) - $10.50? - 219,048
2,700,000 - $15 Music GC - 180,000
3,500,000 - Craft Tool Kit - $19.95 - 175,438
3,500,000 - Food Chopper - $19.08 - 183,438
3,600,000 - Belgian Waffle Maker - $24.72 - 145,631
3,600,000 - $20 Magazine GC - 180,000
5,400,000 - Fondue Maker - $29.99 = 180,060
9,900,000 - Gem Stone Earrings - $55 - 180,000
15,300,000 - Kodak EashyShare C613 - $95 - 161,052
1,000,000 - $7 off Fandango ticket = 142,857
3,000,000 - $10 WalMart GC - 300,000
1,450,000 - $8 Papa John's - 181,250
1,000,000 - $5 Amazon GC - 200,000
NOTE: The prices and availability fluctuate so check or ask me before cashing, but unless you go to the movies, the best deal is the BELGIAN WAFFLE MAKER for 3.6 million points.
Monday, September 22. 2008
While I was in Florida -
I was there for a convention, and although I was in the area, didn't have time for Orlando Golf, which is probably best for them. I'm a walking disaster on the course, despite having taken lessons, including miniature golf. That doesn't make it any less fun - just rather dangerous for those nearby, since I simply can't aim very well, and have cracked golf balls from how hard I hit them... even though they didn't move because my teacher says I hit straight down like I'm doing a ghetto beatdown. Nonetheless, I'm a junkie of using sites like this to book packages, and I love that they include greens fees, ratings, reviews, courses, and hotels along with featured specials, just in case some masochistic boyfriend decides that he wants to take me along for his golfing getaway.
Sunday, September 21. 2008
Update / Announcement
I'm going to the Smoky Mountains for the first time, and so dead today from working on this particular project but it's for the store so I kinda need to finish it. Reading articles, taking notes, and writing my own articles is keeping me pretty busy, so look for those to finally get posted soon. ^_^
I am redoing this site and the others, so, as far as the blogging goes, this blog will be arts, literature, society, and family. Conspiraxy will be government, politics, and news. YaoiGirl will be otaku, fandom, and technology - general geekdom. So hopefully things will be a lot more organized and focused, like the site that just got dropped was, because I'd prefer things that way. I have some projects that I need collaborators on - if you know how to work in Google Docs, drop me a line if you're wanting to participate, okay? Various things, from being beta on some of my writing, to helping fix designs and code for various websites, to adding information to spreadsheets you might know that I haven't found yet, such as certain pairings in doujinshis. Just a lot of stuff, really. And I definitely give credit, and will link to you and all of that.
Friday, September 19. 2008
Staying current...
My dad just got this sweet new truck with MP3 and backseats and everything, but my parents are so traditional. They're of the dying breed who still write checks and use phones instead of internet and texting, despite me trying to persuade them to at least check out online car insurance, since it's easy and fast. Pretty sure they're overpaying, but they only use the computer for e-mail. o_O Sorry, can't understand that mindset, since I do all of my bills and shopping online, and simply fall apart when even my mobile connection dies on my phone, let alone the home network (at least I can go fleeing to the nearest wireless spot in that circumstance). Maybe it's just me, but I can multitask and communicate with way more people using texting instead of being stuck on the phone for something trivial that distracts me from work, and shopping online has opened a whole new world for me. Things I can't find here, or that are hard to get, or expensive. Just a random thought for you all, since you're tech-savvy enough to be reading my pages. ~^
Wednesday, September 17. 2008
What I've Learned
Is that there are even idiotic gang members out in the country where my niece goes to school, and I think it's awful. They're threatening to shoot all the white kids and I don't want her going to the pep rally or game and neither does her mother. I am so sick of living in a world with such negativity and so many people who choose the road downwards instead of trying to make the world a better place. I've been working a lot, and it's very difficult to maintain three sites but I have been trying. And I desperately need to download the stuff from my new camera. Yes, we were right in the thick of the gang warfare that broke out at the State Fair, but we got out - my kid is traumatized, and I'm not very friendly at the moment. He slept in my bed after screaming that he didn't want to get shot, didn't want to get shot, was never going to stop thinking about it, and wished all the bad people would die. Depressing.
Also, I learned that I am not just an otaku, the proper term for a yaoi fangirl is fuyoshi.
Monday, September 15. 2008
Wheee~
I finally got some stuff up on the server for one of my site, Conspiraxy, including plug-ins, which is a start. ^_^
Well, I'm never going to the state fair again, after the gang warfare traumatized my son for life, more on that later. It was not a good night, to say the least, and he wasn't coping well at all. He did sound like Yagami Light, with his part about how rotten the world is and why can't all the bad people just die and never get born again...
Thursday, September 11. 2008
Paranoid Truth
I know, most of you are familiar with my tagline, since I've been using it for years on several sites, but trust me, paranoia is always justified! It most likely won't surprise you that I might do the occasional (okay, constant) background check on potential lovers, roommates, and employees. You just never know these days - we certainly aren't in the quiet days in which you could let your kids play down the road without watching them, though we are lucky to have a sex offender registry online for free. So if you're not going to trust your own child with a stranger, why would you, as a mother, introduce one to a boyfriend without running a criminal background check, when these are the ones who will be intimately involved in your life? Why would you not check up on a potential roommate, even if they aren't a lover, just to make sure you're covered? I can't imagine the horrors that could ensue if they had a history and all of a sudden the police suspected them of something so had to ransack your new place. And I would rather know if my roomie was a drug dealer or a murderer before I slept under the same roof.
But most of all, businesses that have the money - There's just no way I can understand the liability that could be incurred from not bothering with a criminal check on a potential employee. Theft is the obvious concern, but there are so many more issues that could be prevented by this simple step.
But most of all, businesses that have the money - There's just no way I can understand the liability that could be incurred from not bothering with a criminal check on a potential employee. Theft is the obvious concern, but there are so many more issues that could be prevented by this simple step.
Smoking~
Not sure how many of my readers smoke cigars, other than the few friends I smoke them with on special occassions, but there's really nothing better than a fine one, especially with a glass of bourbon in a comfortable seat with lots of friends, perhaps a dramatic movie on as well, so that you can imitate the laughter types of the classic villains. Well, it turns out there are actually websites with several cigar types, and even collectible items that go along with these infamous items. A much broader selection than we get in my part of town (unfortunately, without making quite a drive, we're pretty limited to the ghetto black and milds, not true cigars), and at a discount price. Bargains always make me happy... Especially since smoking has become so expensive these days, even for just the cheap brand of cigarettes, which aren't worth smoking. I especially like the samplers, and the build-your-own sampler, since everyone has a different taste, and I enjoy trying new things. Samplers would be perfect for one of our parties, actually, since we tend to buy several types of alcohol for the different attendees and each one needs a different type of smoke to match it. Looking for advice on cigars, because you're new to the game? Well, they have that two on the last link, along with tobacco litigation news.
Neat Technology!
This is reminiscent of the 1980s (oh, how I miss those days, but I do NOT miss the amount of hairspray I went through) - finding a site that sells talking watches. I remember how excited I was to get a watch with a calculator on it when I was a teenager, so this takes me back. I would have been so thrilled to get one of these and play spy, because I'm a dork like that. I suppose it could be useful for the blind, but the coolness factor is what gets me. And the ability to annoy others in the room, of course. I could definitely do with one of those that remind you to take meds, since I'm kind of a spazz on that, you know?
Well, after what happened at the mall tonight, I think I'm a spazz period. It was, um, nice to meet you, Justin. I didn't mean for you to overhear that crazy conversation.
Monday, September 8. 2008
IZEA Boycott
Some of you will notice a lot of my posts have been deleted recently - This is in response to the decision made by IZEA to no longer keep me as a paid poster, without giving a reason as to why suddenly my blog no longer meets their standards. They are doing a lot of cutting, and while I can understand cutting those who aren't using proper language, grammar, are inactive, or are just not producing quality posts, I believe a reason should be given. Also, honestly, I didn't like doing Pay Per Post, because their system is inherently flawed. You create a reservation for an opportunity, but if you don't submit the post within a few seconds (and be aware, these often require multiple links, possibly an image, and 300 words at minimum), then when you do submit, despite having the reservation, it says that it's been taken by someone else. So you've done the writing and the coding for no reason - the only work around to this is to quickly embed the necessary links, save, submit, then return and write the actual text as fast as you can. How does this encourage quality blogging? So I apologize to you advertisers and readers who really enjoyed some of my paid posts, but once they've been paid for, they're being deleted so I can makeover my site and not have it cluttered with sponsors who aren't loyal to their employees. Of course, the advertisers lose out on this, because they already paid me for a permanent link, but they should take that up with Izea, or contact me directly for my rates for permanent advertising on one of my sites, since I'm quite reasonable, and will even do original graphics myself for a good price and to get your campaign rolling. So expect GhettoKitten to go silent until everything from PPP is cleared up, then undergo a drastic makeover, and I'll post the progress regarding my new sites as they come along. Much love (Not to Izea but to my readers) and I'm so happy I'll have the place to myself tomorrow for studying and working.
Squeee - Japanese Games!
I got my Japanese DS games in the mail today! I don't understand a lot of them, but I got half of the stuff right so I'm going to study super hard until I can do the JLPT 4. I'm so happy about that, which is good, cause I have the sunburn from hell and am going to the Tennessee State Fair this weekend. I'm hoping the sunburn is down by then, but yay, studying my kanji now! I'm going to become super fluent, because it's one of my highest goals right now.
Exercise
Americans are getting more and more into the obese category, some of whom should look into buying a sturdy treadmill. I've worked out on both these and my elliptical, and you can't get a much easier workout that pays off in your air-conditioned home while you listen to music or watch television. I currently do half an hour a day on a elliptical, because when I moved, my treadmill had to be sold, which sucks, cause it folded up and I really liked it, but exercise is pretty important considering how many health issues I, and others, have.
Sunday, September 7. 2008
Tennessee Titans VS Jacksonville Jaguars
The game is today, and my hair came out a great shade of blue (will post pictures later), and the weather is wonderful. Still sick and in pain but hopefully the game will take my attention off of it, since we have really awesome seats and I have my brand new camera, though I'm sure I don't need more pictures to web obtimize and upload, since I've had so many events lately. I'm backlogged by about 2000 photos actually, and my new camera has a 40 gb harddrive. >_< Oh well, YG (the new company is coming along, although I haven't had a lot of time to work on it because of parents being off this week and they don't see online business as being 'real' work, along with programming and all those other silly computer related things...
(Page 1 of 2, totaling 32 entries)
next page »
