A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

My computer was acting up a while back, and I did some troubleshooting with the help of the folks at Major Geeks. All the scans I did there turned up nothing, but the computer seemed to be doing better. I had to uninstall AVG Anti-Virus in order to run a certain program, and while I was at it I left it uninstalled and switched to Avast to see if I liked it any better.

It didn’t turn anything up either, but I liked it and kept it. When I started having problems again, I started poking around and found that it had a boot-time scanner that would directly scan the hard drive before Windows boots up. I set it up to scan, and it found several trojans and exploits, all in my Java cache.

I hoped that would be the end of it, but after several subsequent scans kept finding new stuff, I decided to take action. I installed the NoScript addon for Firefox. And I realized that just about every website I visit has some kind of script running.

I would expect to find scripts when visiting my online banking site, posting to my blog or even shopping for Yakima bike racks. But they’re even popping up on what appear to be static pages on reputable sites. I never knew that they were so widely used.

I just installed the addon a little while ago, so the jury is still out on how helpful it is. But I’m only setting it up to allow scripts on sites that I trust and need to use scripts to view properly. We’ll see how it goes.

Two or three weeks ago, I started having trouble with Windows Live Mail. I’ve been using it since I installed Windows 7, and up until then I loved it. But it started giving me error messages when I would try to read my emails or delete spam, so I started looking for solutions. The official guide was no help whatsoever, and what other few suggestions I found online from users didn’t do the trick, either. So rather than fight with it any longer, I decided to go looking for another email client.

I once used Thunderbird, but I wasn’t too impressed with it. It did well for a while too, but eventually started acting all hinky. And no amount of compressing and cleaning out my email database would fix it, either. I was getting ready to purchase MS Office, which comes with Outlook except in the Home and Student version. And that version had everything else I needed, and since I haven’t used Outlook in years and have no idea how reliable it is now, I decided not to spend the extra dough to find out.

Then I found out that the Opera browser has a built-in email client. Knowing that such lesser-used browsers are also less prone to hacking, viruses and malware, and seeing how it was a free download, I decided to give it a try.

Well, I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now, and it’s, I dunno, meh. I’ve run into a few glitches and compatibility issues as far as the browser goes. The email program is alright, but it took me a while to figure it out since the instructions for it are sparse and hard to find. But once I got the hang of it, I found that it’s quite simple to use and keeps things organized rather nicely.

I’m kind of stuck with Opera for now since it’s the only working email program I’ve got. So I use the browser quite a bit in the interest of simplicity. But I’m still a die-hard Firefox fan, so I pull it up when I start having issues with Opera. And despite being pretty lukewarm about IE, I have to use it for some of my work. That means that I now have three browsers pinned to my taskbar, and at any given time am likely to have at least two of them running. Good thing my machine has enough memory to handle all that.

All this browser switching kind of reminds me of looking for bridesmaid dresses. The one that’s in a nice, tasteful color (has a good email program) always has an obscenely large bow (compatibility issues). And the one you like is never the one the bride-to-be (client) chooses, but you just have to go with what she wants anyway since it is, after all, her wedding.

Enough with the analogies for now. Just know that I am on the hunt for a better email solution that allows me to keep my current email addresses and has nothing to do with any company that is known for blatantly disregarding user privacy (i.e. Google or Facebook). If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

I tried to get into the CPanel of my hosting account earlier, only to be greeted with a Page Not Found message. I tried again and got the same thing. So I decided to check on my blog and make sure it was okay.

I typed in the domain name, and a page bearing my template came up after a longer-than-usual wait. But what it said where my post should have been chilled me to the bone: “Sorry, but you’re looking for something that is not here.”

I proceeded to freak out. Had my all of my blogs and my website been wiped out by some mysterious, unknown force? I checked my web host’s forums, and that only freaked me out even further. There had been a fire at one of their data centers. Noooo!!!

As it turns out, the fire only affected dedicated hosting customers. My problem was just a hiccup, my sites are operational, and my blog didn’t get eaten by the Web Monster. Whew.

Still, I’m planning on doing some backups. That was scary.

I’ve been getting some really strange spam lately. Almost all of it is coming to a certain email address. My web host’s spam filters used to catch almost all of the spam for it, but all at once it started letting a lot slip through. So I end up skimming what gets through, partly to make sure it isn’t actually legit and partly out of curiosity.

I’ve been getting an increasing amount of spam in German. I did a search on German spam, and all I found was some information about an outbreak from 3 or 4 years ago that was related to Neo-Nazi political agendas. That’s not the case here. I know virtually no German, but there are references to prescription meds such as Viagra and Cialis. Weird.

I also got one today that particularly intrigued me. The subject read “best” and the body said nothing except “your life is crap.” No images, no attachments, no links. I might have been offended if it hadn’t come to an email address that I inherited from the former owner of one of my websites and have never publicized.

I just don’t get the point of a lot of the spam I’ve seen. Even that which seeks to sell stuff perplexes me. Do people actually follow the links in these emails and buy stuff? I never have, and never will. If I do happen to see something in a spam email that I can’t live without, I’ll go search for it elsewhere.

There was an article in the New York Times last month about how bloggers are overworking themselves to the point of exhaustion. It was even insinuated that blogging might be to blame for some recent deaths. Who writes this stuff?

There’s no doubt that stress is a killer. But blogging in and of itself is not a cause of stress. Not unless you let it be. For me, blogging is a very positive thing. Let me tell you a little bit about why blogging makes me happy.

I started blogging in 2006. I hadn’t been online for a long time up until early that year, and I started browsing blogs. I thought about starting a blog, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to open up to the whole entire world like that. But it kept eating at me for some unknown reason, and it seemed like everyone else online was doing it, so I finally gave in. I opened an account at Blogger.com, and I got started.

It took me a while to get comfortable with it, but eventually I did. At the time I was working the night shift at a factory job, but I was trying to find a way to work at home. I wrote about my experiences in hopes of being an inspiration to other moms who wanted to do the same thing (even though I wasn’t having any luck).

I started blogging fairly regularly, because I was really beginning to love it. Then I found out I could make money blogging, and that made me ecstatic. I didn’t make enough to quit my job, but it helped me get some extra money to help with my quest to go into business for myself.

I started some more blogs, and I kept trying to find some way to work from home. I tried direct sales, but I really sucked at that. I bought a website, and started making a little money with that, but it wasn’t as much as I was making blogging. Then I got mad and quit my job, and I really began to feel the pressure to make something work.

Then it hit me why I hadn’t been able to say no to blogging in the first place: I love to write! Why not become a freelance writer?

I nearly talked myself out of pursuing that idea before I even tried it. After all, I didn’t have any formal education in writing or English. And I wasn’t that good of a writer… was I? But I finally decided that I had nothing to lose, so I started applying for online writing jobs.

Unfortunately, I got no responses. I ended up having to take a horrible job to help make ends meet, and I gave up on my dream of becoming a writer. I still blogged though, because I enjoyed it and it was helping me bring in money (and vent my frustrations about the whole situation).

Several months later, I got an email from a mailing list I had signed up for that included some information about a new company that was taking applications for ghostwriters. At first I dismissed it, but it kept eating at me in much the same way that the idea of starting a blog did. I trusted my instincts, and I applied. That very evening, I received an email- but not from the company I had just applied to. It was a lady I had written to when I first started applying for writing jobs, informing me that the project she was previously recruiting for had been shelved but she needed writers for a new project. I literally did a happy dance!

I also heard back from the other company the next week, and ended up getting that job. And somewhere in that time frame I got an ongoing blogging gig too! And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the beginning of my writing career.

I eventually was able to quit working outside the home, and now here I am working my own hours and enjoying life much more than I did before. Things are far from perfect, but I love what I do for a living, and that makes a big difference in one’s entire outlook. And it all started with blogging.

That’s not the only reason I like to blog, though. I still like being able to complain about the hideous color of my house (nope, haven’t gotten around to painting it yet) and brag about Pumpkin’s grades anytime I want to, even if nobody at home wants to hear it. And I still make a fair amount of money from it, which helps with the bills right now and will hopefully buy me and my family some nice things once our finances are looking better. So I can safely say that blogging is not killing me. It has made my life better in numerous ways, and I plan to be blogging until I’m old and gray. I might keel over in front of the computer, but I dare them to blame it on blogging.

Here’s a little video I made about why blogging makes me happy. It’s full of my favorite cheesy happy tunes, and it tells an abbreviated version of the above story in case you couldn’t make it through reading the whole thing. Enjoy!

I don’t get why people are so hard on those who are having hard times. Maybe they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but their lack of compassion perplexes me.

In light of my current housing dilemma, I decided to seek out some information so that I can be prepared for whatever transpires. I did some searching for renters’ rights in my state, but wasn’t able to find much of anything that applies to my specific situation. So I decided to look on Yahoo Answers. I found a few questions that addressed some of my concerns, but nothing specific about what I’m dealing with. So I decided to post my own question.

What followed was telling about how people use their anonymity on the web to take their aggression out on others. The first answer was from a woman who told me to get a job and that having a kid didn’t entitle me to free rent. There was also another snarky answer posted by the time I got back to check. People didn’t bother to read my question, because I clearly stated that although I was a little late on the rent (for the first time in 3 years), the reason the landlady gave had nothing whatsoever to do with money.

Most of the answers referenced what had to take place if I didn’t pay the rent, and I’m not concerned about that in the least. The other people who have rented from my landlady since I’ve lived here have been notoriously late with their rent, and while she started pitching a fit once they were one day past the due date, she never took legal action. One particular set of tenants got 2 months behind and stiffed her when they moved out and nothing was done. And even if she wanted to do a written notice, she only has until the end of this coming week to do it. She will be paid in full then.

So much for that. I did get a couple of respectful and somewhat helpful answers, but I don’t have time for those who have nothing better to do than take their crap out on those who are simply having a tough time and seeking help. I had started answering questions for Yahoo Answers and had planned on answering some more, but I don’t want to help people like that.

So I guess I’ll be chatting with Legal Aid. Our income should still be below the limit with them. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll pay for an answer from a professional on Just Answer when I get the money.

I just found the answer to my own question about alternatives to Google. Gevil.org, one of my new favorite blogs, has a big honkin’ list of Google Alternatives. There are other places to search, get email, blog, and do anything else that you’ve been doing with Google. They may not all be concentrated in the same place, but many of the sites offer multiple services.

Other than searching, the only ties I can think of that I have to the big evil G are my Blogger blog. I started it before Google took Blogger over, and I still post on it on occasion. But they’ve taken its PageRank down from a 3 to N/A anyway, so I’m considering phasing it out. Once life calms down a bit for me, I’m thinking about starting a new WordPress blog anyhow.

I also frequently use YouTube videos in my posts for WebTVHub, but that’s somewhat unavoidable. I can’t pass over a great video just because of where it’s hosted (unless the host is so incredibly slow that it won’t load properly). Hopefully one day the tide will turn and there will be other video sites that can give them a run for their money. Other than the fact that it’s part of Google now, I like YouTube, but I’ve had it up to here with Google and would prefer not to patronize them any more than absolutely necessary.

Google has made a lot of bloggers angry lately with their whole PR hullabaloo, myself included. Many sites have lost PageRank over the past couple of weeks, and the majority of them have been blogs. Of those blogs, the ones that have suffered the most are the ones who monetize through methods other than Google’s own Adsense. Coincidence? I think not.

I’ve tried Adsense, and quite frankly it sucks. I’ve had it on one of my non-blog websites for about a year and a half now, and I still have yet to break $100 so that I can even get paid. To be exact, I have $36.27 in my account, and it’s not because I don’t put the ads where anyone can see them.

They just want to punish those of us who have found better ways to make money. I know they won’t lose any sleep over it, but I’m going to remove the Adsense ads I do have up and replace them with something else. No point in making money for a company I am truly beginning to hate and getting nothing to show for it myself.

Another thing that we as webmasters need to do is quit using Google as much as possible. I’ve been using the Scroogle Scraper for my search needs lately, because it gets results from Google without the annoying paid results and without letting Google put a cookie on your machine or track your searches. But I’m going to take it a step further and start using a different search engine for my everyday search needs.

It will take a little more effort on my part. Ask.com has most of the flexibility that Google offers as far as searching for various media and with added parameters, but it’s not quite as up-to-date. MSN Search is pretty up-to-date but doesn’t offer quite as much flexibility, and I don’t like Microsoft much more than I do Google. But between the two of them, maybe I can accomplish all that I need to.

If anyone knows any other good search alternatives, drop me a comment. And bloggers, if we all band together and find alternatives to everything Google, maybe we can (1) make PageRank less important and (2) hit Google where it hurts: In the pocketbook. (If you’re interested, check out their stock prices.)

The phone lines went down this morning, and they just recently got them fixed. That means I have had no Internet for most of the day. It seems like an eternity when you need it for as many different things as I have needed it for today.

The whole thing kind of made me feel like I’m too dependent on the Internet. I had planned to look at the job service’s website for Hubby, figure up how much the payments were on a house we fell in love with, and of course do some work.

If there were no Internet, only one of those things could have feasibly gotten done. I could have gone to the actual job service and gotten job listings. I suppose I could have called a mortgage lender to inquire about the payment thing, but I doubt I would have. And as far as the work, well, I probably wouldn’t have any writing work to do in the first place because I would have no clue where to get started.

I hope there are no long-term outages. I don’t know what I would do then!

If you’ve been following my humble little blog, you have probably read about my efforts to work from home. Back in September, I was jobless and looking for a way to make decent money online. I applied for several freelance writing jobs, but didn’t hear back from any of them. So I ended up having to go back to work outside the home, and put freelancing on the back burner for a while.

A few days ago, I got an email in response to one of the inquiries I made back in September. It was for a huge web copywriting project with a quickly approaching deadline. There’s no way I could have done the whole thing by myself, but if the first assignment went well I could do as many as possible in the allotted time. I accepted the first assignment and got to work on it.

I had to work the next day, so that set me back a little. Still determined, I pressed on and got a substantial amount of work done last night. I lost my internet connection a time or two, but chalked it up to computer problems and kept going.

This morning I turned my computer on to get back to work, only to find that I could not get online at all. I fiddled with my computer for about an hour before I decided that it might be a good idea to call tech support. I did… and they informed me that there was a DSL outage in the area and they didn’t know how soon it would be fixed. Lovely.

I searched the whole house unsuccessfully for the phone book, because I was going to call the library and see if the outage affected them. Then I saw that my neighbor, who has dial-up, was home. I called her and asked if hers was working, and she said it was. So I got my stuff together and went to her house to work on it.

I got some work done there before I had to go to town. When I got home, I tried to get online and found that my DSL was once again working. I’m still having some email problems, but I got done with the assignment.

I can’t believe after a year of having no problems with my internet connection, it decided to crap out on me when I needed it the most. At least it’s fixed now. As I later found out, the library was affected as well as the rest of the county. At least it wasn’t just my neck of the woods- if it had been, they probably would have been in no hurry to repair it.