Life Viewed Through an Amber Focus

Accessing LJ these days is like trying to load a picspam with a 56K modem. No, I take that back. That was faster. I can't even access the part where it says what is wrong, although I have a feeling it's due to all the "improvements" they are making. Maybe it really is time to make the switch.

Today I received 7 pages worth of email notifications for a gift I receved in March. Umm...yes, LJ, I already know I got this item...5 months ago. And even if I didn't, one would have been sufficient. Not 175. Bad LJ.

And since I'm on here, I wanted to thank everyone who sent me information of how to get free books for the Kindle...or as we are now calling it in this household Free Kindle Krappe (TM). It is nice to see that there is so much of it.

I am hard at work on the drabbles and hope to have them ready, or at least some of them, by this evening.

Why is it the one morning I have to sleep in is the only morning in a week that I get an early moring phone call? *yawns* I was really tired, too. 26 laps yesterday and a walk. Plus it was too hot to sleep until 2 a.m. Yesterday was 90 at the height of the day. Right now it is only 67, but will get higher as the day goes on. Still, a day in the 70's is much easier to tolerate around here than a day in the high 80's, like most of the last few days.

Anyone have any experience with becoming a landlord? One of the workmen working on our house to get it ready for sale is interested in renting it long term (like a two year lease). Since the market is sucky out there we are thinking about it, but have very little idea of what to consider, other than criminal and civil background checks, credit checks, and calling old landlords for payment history. We have no idea what the tax ramifications are, either.

I knew I should have cross-posted the first two chapters of my new story here and not just on LJ. At the very least I should have put it on Teaspoon, but I've been so sick this week I just hadn't bothered. Now I can't even access LJ to grab it. It's not like I don't have it still in Word, but I always do a final final edit just before I post and I always find a few things, so the Word copy is never perfect.

*sighs*

First thing I'm doing if LJ comes back today is getting those chapters up over here.

...having all the entries on their f-list appear centered instead of left justified? Or is this just LJ making my particular life strange again? It looks freaking weird.

rollback88 is conducting a poll to collect data regarding exactly what it is we hate about the new site changes. If you would like to contribute to this poll the link is here:

http://rollback88.livejournal.com/557.html

I signed up for a Dreamwidth account. I don't know if I will use it, it really depends on what happens with the Doctor Who communities and whether or not LJ will actually listen to its users and fix the mess it's made, but since you don't need an invite code to sign up this week, I thought I'd grab it while it's hassle-free. I'm Amberfocus there as well.

Link is: http://amberfocus.dreamwidth.org/

Okay, so normally I don't do this. But I am so annoyed by the new LJ changes I am going to. It makes it difficult to actually read things now and we won't even get into what they did to the icons. Go here to complain: http://lj-releases.livejournal.com/71858.html

Also send them a message by paging down to the bottom of your screen. Under about hit contact and then let them know that way as well that you do not like the changes.

Also, do you like my new icon? I got it just for this.

Seriously, Rich Text Editor, why will you not work right?  Why are you breaking up paragraphs all weird and adding extra spaces and generally making it impossible to format anything so it looks good!  And LJ why have you not fixed this yet?  It's been a month!

I am going to try to post my first chapter soon.  I will make an attempt at html, but that will take me forever.  I did send it into Teaspoon so who knows if I will get this figured out before it's posted there.  It's a toss up right now of what will take the longest.

Are other people still having trouble editing on LJ posts?  Particularly those of you using Rich text format.  I'm having trouble changes things once I preview them.  Well, I change them, then I hit preview, then it shows it's still there even though it's not on the posting screen.  I published it anyway the other day and even though I'd taken out the whole comm title completely and just shortened it to TTU, what I'd originally written with the extra little head between the u and the s of then_theres_us (my original typo was still there).  I hesitate to post fic when I'm ready, because invariably, even with three people looking at it we all miss a tihng or two that gets into the published version.  If I can't go back and fix it it is going to drive me nuts.  Are these problems happening in html?  Because I may very well have to finish teaching myself html if that is not because I'm sick of it.

Day 2 of the diet went okay.  I have a headache from carb withdrawal and I took a nap in the middle of the morning from 10 to 12 because I was all foggy headed.  Much better at this end of the day.  Still have a bit of the headache but it has reduced by half.

Someone sent me one of those glowing letters I sometimes get through Teaspoon's mailing system to praise some stories I had written forever ago.  Make me happy to see they still hold up in someone's eyes.  Feedback like that is always such a wonderful surprise and it really lights me up.  It also leads to so many things.  That's how I met Amy who eventually became my first beta.  And how I met Victoria as well.

Speaking of Victoria, I saw her precious little girls today.  I cannot believe how big they have gotten.  Or how gorgeous they are.  Considering how drop dead gorgeous V is and that Peter's up there pretty far himself, I guess I shouldn't be stunned by the beauty of their babies.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me with the issue of LJ signing me out all the time.  Well, I uploaded the most recent version of Firefox (had an older one) and now LJ isn't signing me out anymore.  I don't really like IE9 much anyway (though I really liked IE8 and was resentful when I had to upgrade it in order to make my banking software work because it lost a couple of features that I used all the time.  Firefox doesn't have that exact feature but it does, I found, having something similar that serves the same purpose, so yay.  It is weird though.  Everything is fat, like it is in IE9 when you're in compatibility mode.  I'm sure I'll get used to it.


So is LJ still having brain freezes when it comes to editing and posting LJ cuts and embedding media, putting everything where you don't want it to go?  I don't even want to attempt to post a fic until that is straightened out.  Not that I've finished a chapter, but I am hopeful that I will have one ready this weekend, but I don't want to play LJ's reindeer games.


Now I just have to go read the instructions for returning the new so-called improved yahoo mail back to classic, that someone (Dev?) was kind enough to send me.  You know, sometimes an upgrade is not a grade up AT ALL.


Chris took Tobias to orientation at the middle school today.  I can't believe my little boy is starting sixth grade.  8th graders had it yesterday and 7nth graders this morning.  No one has been in this school since it burned down so it's like going to a totally new school for all three grades, since it burned when the 8th graders were in 5th grade.  It is so gorgeous on the outside now.  They kept the concrete frame but put in all new windows and painted it white and it's just lovely.  It no longer looks vaguely like a prison.  It'll be open to the public on the 1st so I will go see it that day. 


I managed to lock my lower back up on Friday (I think it was from using the electric wheel chair for several hours at the Fair) and it's just starting to get to the point now where I can walk without wanting to shoot things, so another week and it should be better.  Lots of ice on it meantime and forcing myself to at least walk up and down the driveway a few times a day and do some stretches and minor back strengthening exercises slowly.  Friday I am allowed back into the pool and to start moderate exercise as the incision has healed.  That will help with my back.  So will the hot tub.


Chris and I are thinking about discontinuing our health club membership.  I hate the machines there, you have to adjust them to every new person who uses them.  I much prefer hydraulic ones you don't adjust at all.  Since the kids are back in dance and tae kwon do respectively and we don't use the pool too much in the fall/winter because someone always has a cold, DH and I are thinking about getting seperate memberships instead, him at a much cheaper club next to the tae kwon do studio so he can work out while T has class and me at Curves (which I've done before and really liked, but had to quit when I messed up my knee a few years ago).  The PT has okayed the equipment they have there except one machine that I will have to skip.  Coincidentally it was the only machine I ever hated.  If we decide we want to use a pool there is always the city pool.  Paying a few bucks to go swim once or twice a month will be better than keeping such an expensive gym membership that we have barely used this summer because of my surgery.


Speaking of my surgery, it is looking more and more like I may not need the other one.  Which would really be amazing.  It would mean I could totally be up on my feet again and stay there without getting knocked down again in November.  Of course if I don't need it then I won't have an excuse to get out of jury duty again and will have to serve.  If I am feeling good that might be fun.  But I would really have to build the strength in my back up again.  After several weeks on bedrest those muscles have weakened and sitting for more than two hours at a stretch becomes really uncomfortable to downright painful.  I would have to be strong enough to sit for eight hours a day for 2 weeks.  That'll mean a lot of work, but I think I can do it.  I've lost 20 pounds since the surgery so that should help with any exercise I need to do.



All right, I'm off to write.  I think my fic brain is back.  I hope so.