Recently there were a few developments in my Pulmonary Fibrosis journey that are, to put it bluntly, a pain in the ass... or fingers, to be precise. I'm having to adjust how things are done. The persistent infections in my left fingertips are not going away and though this is not precisely about PF, it was related... long story involving clubbing, a skin condition, and very bad luck.
Right now I am scheduled to have three fingertips amputated in February. I know... but hang on. Ahmed is working hard to fix the issue with his own treatment ideas and we've not lost hope. BUT it means I am using Dragon Actually for a lot of my typing, a larger keyboard for the rest, and can't do graphics, since I really need my fingers for that.
As such, WebSong Designs is still up for freebies, tutorials, and other stuff... but I won't be doing custom work for a while. If I missed anyone on my contact list I hope they'll forgive me. Hopefully we'll be back, but the freebies will stay regardless.
Old washer woman with your cloak about you lifting in the wind like wings-- dark wings, do you kneel there, in the clay of my long lost loves to remind me?
Counting out your scraps and cloths like beans, counted nigh on to thirteen.
Is it thirteen?
Your numbers never frightened me, nor joining them if it comes to that.
Your numbers never called me, though I've heard the song til it sings along the strings of my soul.
They can clamour outside my window, howl and rage in the misty night.
Let them come. Let them rage. But oh, your rags-- dark, flapping wings-- your cloak does look warm on this chilly winter night.
Ok. About a month ago I saw an ad for Netzero Broadband DSL for 10 bucks a month. Being a cheapo, and recently relying on Verizon Broadband only for access, I thought I'd conduct a cheap-geek experiment. So I signed up, secure in the 30 day money back pitch.
Yeah. I know. But I did promise to report on it. So here goes...
If you are a total geek like me, you can get this service to work. I did, but only for a few minutes at a time. The modem they sent me was incredibly old and out-dated. I had to go find drivers for all my computers, because the drivers that auto-install are XP and earlier. The drivers I found for later versions of Windows had to be manually installed, and were very hard to find. I also found TONS of forum posts and consumer complaints about Netzero, their modems, and customer support being abusive. Q'elle surprise!
THEN I had to set the modem to ping itself automatically to work. It did... but the service was still painfully slow. This was kind of what I wanted to discover... was it worth 10 bucks a month or would it be so crappy it wasn't even worth 10 bucks a month? They never did provide any answer other than "it must be your computer." After two days of fixing their problems, and getting insanely difficult responses, (don't hate me, but I could barely understand them anyway), I figured I'd just cancel it and move on.
Ultimately, I invoked my 30 money back guarantee... only they ignored this, and charged me a second month, which I only today discovered. Then they said "you didn't cancel in 30 days, so will be charged a fee for cancellation."
Really? Ok, go with that, because I'm both bloody minded and smarter than you...
Cut to: my attorney general filing a small claims charge, and my bank telling me not to worry about it, they have my back. BTW-- on the flip side? Rockland Trust is the bomb. Just sayin'.
You loose, I win, and now I've warned others. LOL It's actually unfortunate... slow DSL for 10 bucks a month might have actually appealed to people on a very tight budget. I mean, it's as cheap as the coffee you'd have to buy to get free wifi in a cafe, right? But it has to work and the company has to be fair and honest... two failures here. Shame.
This Monday is Yule. I hope everyone has a lovely start to the year-ending celebration of Winter. And I hope everyone has a wonderful, joyous Christmas next week, and Hannukah, and... everything you celbrate.
On another, kinda cool note, December 31 of this year we will get not only a Blue Moon (which is a second full moon in a single month), but a Lunar eclipse Blue Moon in Cancer, arriving at 2:22 pm... just minutes after the moon goes full.
Blue Moons are great times to open your house to friends, be impulsive, and welcome imagination. Since Cancer is a homey sign naturally, and loves the Moon, an eclipse at this time is just perfect. And what better time to share company and be spontaneous than New Year's Eve?
May the Blue Moon, Hunter's Moon, and Lunar Eclipse in watery, pearly Cancer bless the close of 2009 and greet 2010 with joy! I think this is a great sign at the close of this year.
No, it's not a dream about hitting somebody with a pipe, though I have had those. I sometimes hear of friends having a book signing or getting ready for their big launch and literally ache with wishing I could be there. I'd love to show up with a bag of bottled water, energy snacks, extra pens, and promotional swag. Wear a blue tooth headset and treat it like a red carpet event.
"Hey... back behind the security cord, pal! There are only three copies of BITE ME left, and we're running out of STUPID CUPIDs."
(Hand to headset.) "I have to call you back, Brad, I'm putting out fires. No... no, Spielberg is going to have to talk to Gwen's agent. NO. I'll have to call you back, k?"
Anyway, that's my dream for 2010. I'm going on a few experimental treatments in the coming year and we'll see. I'm also on the transplant list, but we really hope that won't be happening. Right now getting on a plane is a risk, regardless of any precautions I might take. And travel by train and car is a risk, too, since it takes me away from my treatment team. But in 2010 I will be visiting a few places to see about changing things.
And if they fix me? BRACE YOURSELVES, DIVAS! You'll never be sure when I'll show up.
