I took all the plugs out and put them back, making sure each one was secure, rebooted each time, I reinstalled my router and after several attempts, it was working.  Confident it was fixed, by my own hands (there’s the problem) I canceled my appointment. Dumb! When I got home last night, my connection was gone and the red X was back, temporarily.  I may have to schedule another appointment, but for now, I’m riding this connection because I need it real bad.

While my connection was out I was able to get something done I have been putting off. Yes, I’m brain damaged because of technology.  It took me forever to remember the 800 number for free 411 service (800-FREE-411)?? Then I remembered how to work a phone book.  I also realized that I do not need to check my email everyday, nobody cares. I deleted more stuff than I read.

I also came up with a “We Care Emergency Package” for ISPs and the clients who rely on them for service. Here are some of the perks that come with the package:

1. We will be invited to sit on the board to discuss why internet users should be serviced before cable viewers.  TV watchers can pop in a DVD and still live.  If the internet goes out, we wither away.
2. A promise to keep excellent customer notes on our usage.  If the internet goes out, bloggers and internet  junkies are to be immediately picked up, carried out on a gurney and transported (in this thing) to the nearest Wi-Fi center.  Coffee and donuts will be provided.
3. 2 sessions of professional counseling for any trauma experienced from the outage.
4. An email address and cell number of a customer care person.
5. Free cable and internet service for 6 months.

I think this package is marketable.  Now that I have my connection back, for now, I’m going to step away from my blog and see what you guys are up to.  I have way too many links in this post, sorry.

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Talk about feeling cut off from the world. Did I mention that I have Vonage, so the home phone doesn’t work either, it relies on…shall we say it together: an internet connection. So, I’m at my sister’s house, but it’s hard for me to blog in “unfamiliar” surroundings, it’s like using a friend’s bathroom. You do just enough to relieve yourself but you never really do get comfortable.

Comcast said they would be able to send someone out on Tuesday, July 1 to fix my connection between 7 and 9 a.m.

“Don’t you have anything earlier than that, I’m up at 5:30.”

“No ma’am.”

“Is there anything else we can help you with?”

“Heeeck no, you didn’t fix the first problem, what makes you think you’re qualified to help me with anything else?” No, I didn’t say that, but I sure thought it.

A computer without internet access is a typewriter and I stopped using those a long time ago. If I can’t use it in its intended purpose, then I shouldn’t have to look at it either.

Yep, that’s my “typewriter”.

They better not charge me for that modem I took apart either, I was trying to save them a trip out to my place by fixing it. I need to go find some Verizon FIOS advertisements and leave them “laying around” the house, just in case.

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What prompts my question is a book I’m reading, okay skimming, entitled Dumbing Down. The authors have concluded that:

National intelligence is plummeting and our society is essentially a consumer’s society where leisure time is used, no longer for self-perfection or acquisition of more social status, but for more consumption and more entertainment.

The results? We have been dumb downed and the effects can be seen in every aspect of our lives, but not limited to, such as in education, politics, journalism, literature, film and religion.

From my every other chapter understanding of this book we are a people no longer challenged or required to think. We don’t read and we live in a simple, user-friendly, push button society. We spend an exhaustible amount of time engaging in or watching asinine, bizarre and third rate entertainment while being spoon fed deficient information.

I thought the book was a little harsh, but it did communicate some valid points.

Has spell check ruined my life? You’re darn right it has, I can’t spell worth a darn anymore and I refuse to learn another phone number when I can just program it into my phone. Whose fault is it? Mine. We all have to assume personal responsibility when it comes to the choices we make and how we choose to spend our time. If we are “dumb” as a result, we have no one to blame, but ourselves. Maybe.

Are being duped by “some deliberate commercial strategy, an active procedure with goals of its own rather than a passive experience?” What do you think?

What most people don’t seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the upbuilding of one. Rhett Butler

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Is there a such thing as being too successful for a mate? In this case I’m talking about a successful woman.

Of course. women have no problem dating a successful man and when I say successful, I mean doing well financially.

“Typically” the man is thought of as the breadwinner or the financial provider in the relationship.

That’s not so much the case today, women have their “stuff” together. We are smart, driven, we have careers, we own homes, we’re educated and may not be financially dependent on a man.

However being successful and dating doesn’t always go together. Some men are intimated and insecure about a woman who has achieved a measure of success that out weighs his own. He may feel that if she has all these “things” then why is he needed.

I came across this quote from a guy on this topic and he said: I’m not intimidated by successful women, but I’m not exactly comfortable with them in the long-term, neither.

Is the thought of being too successful an “issue” that women create or is it time for the men to get over their insecurities and learn to embrace her success?

Photo by LongHairBroad

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Why does my passport and driver’s license picture always come out like the first pancake, messed tore beat *&^%$@ up!

There must be some sadistic handbook circulating that says make ‘em ugly. Let them stand there long enough before you take the picture and wait until they have to scratch or have an involuntary muscle spasm, whichever comes first. Take the picture!

I had my passport photo taken earlier this week and I look ghastly. My glasses are crooked, my hair is flattened on one side, only one side of my mouth smiled, I look like I had a stroke!

I can just imagine that there is some wall of fame for the ugliest passport or driver’s license photo at their company picnics. Top prize goes to the institution that submits the “I’m Not Too Sexy” photograph of the year. Now when people tell me I look so familiar, I just might start getting offended.

I wonder if it’s called a passport because they look at our photo and give us a pass into the country anyway. I didn’t feel or look like road kill when I went to have my picture taken. Sorry.

Photo by FirstPancake.com

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Basically this means that you should know enough about your audience to effectively impart information in a way that stimulates their thinking or motivates them to action.

How Can This Be Done

• Research your audience through interaction
• Consider what they already know about a subject and build on that information
• Make use of comparisons and contrasts for better understanding
• Explain how the information benefits them
• Pay attention to your “choice words”
• Add humor and stir

Tips for Bloggers

I was reading this interesting article online about how our eyes pay attention to information that we read online vs. what we read in a book.

It mentioned that when reading online our eyes are more likely to scan large blocks of text rather than read the entire paragraph. It suggested that we use short sentence fragments instead.

The use of bullets, lists and occasional use of bold is more likely to get a reader’s attention and the use of links gives our text more authority.

I have to admit, when I see a large block of text on an unfamiliar blog or website, I get ‘the lazy eye’ and I start scanning. With a book, I expect larger groups of words on a page and I read differently.

When you look at early research, it’s fascinating to see that even in the days of green phosphorus monitors, studies found that there wasn’t a huge difference in speed and comprehension between reading on-screen and reading on paper. Paper was the clear winner only when test subjects were asked to skim the text.

Maybe it’s the time factor. The web is for surfing and books are for nursing.

I never gave too much thought to eye tracking studies and what people really pay attention to when reading online so if you made it to the end of this post, bless you.

When you write a post for your blog, do you consider your readers? If so, how?

Do you think about how you can get them involved and not just skimming posts?

Do you worry about writing lengthy posts are do you prefer to keep it short and to the point?

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Below is a brief and somewhat comical soap opera-ish video on this disease.

In a poll released last week (there’s a poll and study for everything, which I find to be a waste of money, but then we’d have no numbers) it showed that because of debt “23 percent of people had severe depression, 51 percent had muscle tension and 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems”. Debt not only affects people financially, but also physically.

I will admit, it’s not easy delaying pleasure when it comes to spending money and buying stuff. I love nice things, I want nice things, I feel I deserve nice things, but I’m not willing to go into debt (any more) to get them. Not wanting to continue making payments on stuff for the rest of my life keeps my Affluenza bug under control. How do you go about keeping your life simple or have you been bitten? Has debt caused you any health (loss of sleep) problems? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

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There’s a rising number of women who choose to live without a man or family called The Freemale. Okay?

Here are some definitions for The Freemale that I found on the web:

A new breed of independent, single women showing that they don’t need a man to be happy;

Women who choose to be alone, and rejoice in a life where they can spend time and money as they wish;

Manless females who are too busy living life to the full to make space for a second tooth brush by the bathroom sink.

These definitions do make The Freemale seem rather selfish or self-centered rather than it being a conscious and personal choice.  What’s the difference?  Maybe these women choose to do otherwise with their life that has nothing to do with material things or too busy to be bothered. 

Some people feel that The Freemale’s reasons for not being in a relationship are less than truthful and that the real reason they are not in a relationship is because either they can’t find a man or no one has asked them to marry.

Basically, if a woman says she’s not interested in a romantic relationship with a man or in having a family, she’s lying. It’s every woman’s “happily ever after” to be married with 2.5 kids, the dog and the white picket fence.

I don’t know how you *show* that you don’t need a man, and who walks around saying they don’t need one?   Not me!  That would seem more weird to me than actually not being interested in one, but there are women out there who prefer to be unattached. I also know couples who choose to remain childless.  People refer to these situations as self-centered and selfish.  Are they?

Just thinking, is it every woman’s desire to be in a relationship? Do you think there are women out there who have made a conscious decision to live without a man (family) and are happy doing so, or are they being less than truthful?

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I work in West Orange and the last time we had a power outage, we were sent home. You should have seen me running from the building before the power was restored and we were called back. It happened again today, but this time only for a few seconds.

The power goes out several times during the summer in Maplewood or whenever there is a lightening storm, but today only half of the town is without power. Surrounding schools were dismissed early and there is already an early dismissal for school tomorrow.

I don’t have central air, but 2 air conditioners and I’m considering moving the kitchen into the bedroom. It’s too hot to be cooking in a room with no air and just look what the heat has done to our poor hamster:

It reached 99 degrees in N. NJ today, right now it’s 97. What’s the temperature like where you are and btw, where are you?

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