Adios 2012

All right. Last post of 2012. I finished a book, taught for six weeks, got the flu, passed my Life in the UK test, lost *some* weight, and got more accustomed to living here.

So, as I posted the last time, I'm not feeling the whole New Year's resolutions thing. I know what I'd like to get done but I'm not going to devote the year to it - that will make anything last for less than the month of January.

I want to work on a second writing project that I don't plan on talking about much. I expect to be on Twitter less and I don't think I'll be using Instagram anymore (I stopped using it when I was working & didn't miss it.) I do have a few paper notebooks coming for me to write anything that I don't want in the blog. I also have a netbook so I can write when I'm out.

But this is just adjusting the way of life and dealing with situations. There aren't any big goals because what I want to get done will get done...eventually. The next project, my driving test, another job, the blog, books read, etc. That will all just work its way out. Even if I started jogging again - in some way, it will happen.

No New Year’s resolutions

empty space by cronncc

I was thinking that my only New Year’s resolution would be to blog more. (I could get a personal trainer or try doing the Couch to 5K jogging routine since I sucked at working up from walking to jogging on the treadmill.) My resolutions last year were to write something in a journal each day, and take a photo each day. Well, I have to stop and force myself to handwrite anything (as most of us do anymore unless we’re writing a list or personal note to ourselves.) I’m not always out to take a cool photo either and no one wants to see 365 photos of our cat.

Or do they?

So, since I can feasibly sit and write something electronically, maybe the blog posts will stick. Every day though? Not sure.

The problem is that most people write a short update on Twitter or Facebook but, honestly, aren’t we all getting a little (a lot) bored with that? It’s not a secret that I’ve never been a huge fan of Twitter, but after I was working, I really did not miss checking in to see what people had updated at all. The momentum has come to this promote and inspire kind of regurgitation that really doesn’t entertain or benefit anyone. If I could unfollow/follow only the interesting people, I’d be fine, but at this stage the account is so bogged down, I wouldn’t know where to begin (aside from maybe 20 accounts from nice, actual people.)

Facebook I’ll still keep checking because I want to know what people from some point in my real life are up to. However, I’ve turned the automatic updates off for my blog posts to FB because no one there would be interested and I wouldn’t want to harass them with that kind of stuff anyway.

If I do a post a day, it will have to be able to be short some days (a lot of days) and I won’t always be using the PC to upload the post with a fancy photo. I can’t always promote it on Twitter, or cross post it (Blogger is the main site, with Wordpress being secondary.) I can use email and the Blogger/WP apps. I can make a list of what I did for the day. I can write a long, interesting story about my wait at the post office -- it just depends.

While I know there are some obvious problems with this, I’m sort of keen to at least give it a go. If I get another job soon I will thankfully be too busy to bother with the internet that much, but in the mean time, this can be my hobby.

Links found today:

• How to Blog Almost Every Day – while this is geared toward the dreaded online business, the idea is relevant.
• 27 Blogging Secrets to Power Your Community – again, for the business minded but some good ideas.
• Ann Handley – cool blog with interesting posts

Why Santa brought me a new phone

Nokia Lumia 800 photo taken by mbiebusch

I have had my HTC Sensation since September 2011 and it continued to get worse with each month I used it. After Steve asked me if I’d rather have a phone or a netbook for Christmas, I stopped cursing at my HTC long enough to exclaim, “Phone!” While I patiently awaited Santa to arrive, I used my dreaded HTC each day – to, at, and from work. This was the list of grievances that I wrote on the bus during that time before Christmas break:

• It (dreaded HTC Sensation from O2) tries to update apps all the time. But it won't actually update them unless you have the Google Store "My Apps" screen up. If the screen falls to sleep, no updates.
  I've set up the apps to only update with WiFi as well, buy when I'm out, it will continually try to find a WiFi signal and, therefore, drain the battery.
• The battery runs out if I use any kind of app. I have a full charge each morning and if I try to use the internet or FB, battery will go to yellow immediately. Hence, making the phone (and the data plan I pay for) totally useless.
• Apps don't work. The internet browser, FB, Twitter, etc. Apps will shut down intermittently.
• Typing is a nightmare. Can't tap on the screen and select "paste" easily. Last time I tried this, I had to tap the screen ten times at least to get "paste" option to pop up. Highlighting and copying are equally as difficult.
• Auto correct doesn't work. Trying to move the cursor to change text is maddening as well.
• Most recently, I tried to plug the phone into a travel charger that I had from my old BlackBerry. While it works fine on my husband's HTC Win 7 phone, when I plugged it into the Sensation, it kept pulling up the GPS. Nothing got charged.
• When I get a text, the text thread has to load. Sometimes I cannot type a response, even though the keyboard is displayed. Sometimes it will only say “loading” and I cannot read and/or access the text message threads. I have to first delete the thread, then start over (after rebooting the phone a few times) before I can send a text. The SD card is not full, so there’s no other reason for this to cause a problem.
• Many times I cannot get a signal. One Saturday, Steve and I were sitting on the bus, side-by-side (as married couples do) and he was able to use the GPS to calculate where we were on the bus with the mobile network. I was unable to get any response from the phone at all. I kept getting a “cannot connect to network” error message. No apps. No WiFi. No 3G. Not even the “H” or “E” I get a lot of times.
• For some stupid reason, I can only see a limited number of emails in my folders. There doesn’t seem to be any options for this so if I’m trying to find an email that wasn’t saved very recently, it won’t display.
• I think of a new complaint daily. I can update this more and more as I remember them.

Someone online mentioned that O2 really hasn’t held up their end of the contract bargain either. When a phone is this bad to the point that it can’t be used, then why should I have to keep honouring the contract with the cell provider?

I received my shiny new Nokia Lumia 800 yesterday and the HTC Sensation will be sent away for some amount of cash that can use towards my Zune pass for the Win 7 Phone.

Too busy to blog

Earl Grey Monument

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted since I started work. Now I have two weeks of teaching English in England under my belt. I’m very lucky to be at the school I am because it’s just a world of difference from the public schools of Florida’s boondocks. (And if you’ve ever been to Florida’s boondocks and seen the schools, you know what I mean.) The kids are still getting use to their new, American teacher but they’re polite and smart. The faculty is super supportive as well so, yes, I’m happy where I am.

I’ve obviously had to quit NaNoWriMo this year too. It’s a shame but the second book in the series will get finished one day. I’ve also not promoted my book on Amazon and Smashwords so I’ll have to set up some automatic updates for my Twitter account – my very neglected Twitter account. It’s honestly a bit of a relief to not feel I have to use it. I like a lot of people on there but my following list has gotten to the point where I can’t keep up with anything.

Anyway, this is an extremely short post. We’ve already started Christmas shopping and even visited Newcastle’s Christmas Market last night (very, very cold but luckily we found some mulled wine to warm us up.) I’m taking my Life in the UK Test and my Practical Driving Test in December as well. Once I have that completed, I plan on heading out to find us a car.

No more waiting in the cold for the bus to come! Hooray!

Hope everyone in the US has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We’re celebrating with a turkey dinner but it’s just not the same. I hate missing the Black Friday sales too. Oh well, at least some stores ship to the UK.

Thirty days of thankfulness

My Muse woke me early.

It’s a bit hazy outside this morning and a good 36 degrees (whatever that is in Celsius). I got myself out of bed at a reasonable time despite it being Sunday. I have my teaching job for the week to starting Monday so I’ll be up with the roosters, or cows, or whatever the expression is.

I know I should be working on NaNo today because I was short 600 words Friday and I skipped yesterday completely because we were out doing some Christmas shopping. I’ll have to get semi caught up this afternoon. I’m going to have to start using Write or Die, otherwise I write at a snail’s pace. I like taking my time – just like I do with reading.

Speaking of which, I have about five books checked out. in print and ebook, from two different libraries right now.

My friends on Facebook have been celebrating Thanksgiving all month by writing down what they’re thankful for each day. For myself, I’m thankful for:

Nov 1: My sweet husband, Steve.

Nov 2: My loving parents.

Nov 3: My home (even though it contains my crazy cat for which I am also grateful for.)

Nov 4: The opportunities to work (this includes teaching and writing) with the potential to make a living.

Anyway, this post will be short because I have more pressing issues to take care of. Hope everyone has a great November and happy writing!