Thursday, July 23, 2009

And now we're back to love ...

Whatever I did seems to have worked! :-) The feed is working again. So, frustration - good-bye! :-) MUCH better! Thanks for "listening" to me complain about this! LOL

Oh, and in case you're wondering, DH got home later than expected - but before Abby went to bed. And he did finally call about an hour before he got home. It's better than nothing, right?

Good night, all, and God bless!

Technology and I have a love-hate relationship

I'm trying to curb my frustration right now, as it's about to boil over! And, yes, as the title hints, it's all related to technology. No, none of it is a big deal - at least not in the big picture. It's just frustrating the hell outta me, to say the least!

My current issue is this blog. I love it, but or some reason my feed isn't working right. I don't know enough about how feeds work to really troubleshoot it, but I've tried anyway. As some of you have seen, I posted a test post, tried messing with things, then deleted the test post. Then I discovered that my test post DID go through - at least through Twitterfeed - not sure about Networked Blogs on Facebook. The latter is what caused me to look into this in the first place. It hasn't pulled any posts by me in a long time. And I'm not sure why. I can't figure it out. I was messing with FeedBurner, which is what I use to share my blog - it allows people to subscribe via e-mail, which is what I'd wanted. I don't even know if that's working properly. Anyway, with all of my messing around with that, I got to where I couldn't figure out what I was doing - so I thought I'd get some support. Well, FeedBurner recently was acquired by Google ... I went through their annoying help menus, and finally found a "contact us" link. But, that didn't take me to a contact form - NO! That took me to the answer to some other question about FeedBurner. So, either their link's not properly coded, or they're just wanting to give their "customers" the most annoying runaround EVER! That pretty much is what led to me being EXTREMELY frustrated. And also what led to this post - hopefully this will feed as it's supposed to and the frustration will disappear - HOPEFULLY. I know better than to hold my breath, though! ;-)

This, of course is on the heels of other frustrations that are technology-related, the most recent of which anyone who's seen me on Facebook recently knows all about! Long story short: One of the apps, a game, was inaccessible to me for almost a full week. Given that I was stupid enough to pay for extra features on that game, I was quite ticked. If I pay for access to something, I had better damn well be given the royal treatment. It's now up and running - for now. It would've been MUCH less aggravating if this wasn't the second consecutive week this happened! Not to mention that the game would load, and I'd be greeted by a message saying my ACCOUNT was TEMPORARILY unavailable - and to check back in a COUPLE OF HOURS. I don't expect to wait DAYS for access when the error says HOURS.

There are other frustrations I could add to this, but I'm going to stop now. My wonderful (dripping sarcasm here - perhaps PMS is early?) husband is working a VERY long day. Which is fine, but he'd told me he's hoping to be back before the kids go to bed - that's in 30 minutes. No call, no text message, no nothing. That's not a good sign! More than anything, I'm irked about not having received any contact from him as of yet. If he's not going to make it, fine - just call and tell me. It's like being in limbo, which I HATE!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Book Review: The Cleaner

The Cleaner The Cleaner by Brett Battles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I chose to read this book after having recently read Shadow of Betrayal. While this was a very good book, it wasn't quite as good as Shadow of Betrayal, but I still liked it a LOT. Unlike Shadow of Betrayal, this one didn't have me hooked from the very beginning. I am not sure how far into it I was finally hooked, but I did read it pretty fast. I really liked finding out the full story behind past events mentioned in Shadow of Betrayal. I likely will reread Shadow of Betrayal again now that I know more.

That said, I still would recommend books by Brett Battles to anyone who is a fan of the TV show 24. While this one didn't feel as much like reading an episode of that show, it still was action-packed, fast-moving, and suspenseful. All in all, a very good - and memorable - book.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Product Review: Front Loader Laundry Powder

Took me long enough to get to this review, huh? I've been very busy, and I wanted to give this item good use before writing about it. That said, this is another product from EcostoreUSA. The description on the Web site says:
Ecostore USA’s high performance Laundry Powder consists of simple mineral salts and plant-based ingredients, giving it the ability to attack even the most heavily soiled fabrics. Its fresh, natural lemon fragrance will not harm or irritate the skin. This is a safe and healthy alternative for you and our planet. (35.3 ounces)
I'll admit I was a bit skeptical. I haven't had a lot of good experience when trying new laundry products. But, I knew this was one that if I liked it would be worth it. And guess what! I liked it! (I use past tense, because I managed to use it all up! LOL) It did a great job cleaning the clothes, and I actually loved how it smelled. I tried several loads without fabric softener mostly to see how it smelled. And, guess what? I LOVED it - it smelled fresh and clean. And, the best part, I didn't feel the need to use fabric softener like I usually do. My clothes felt soft and smelled great. It worked well for the kids' clothes, too.

Just like EcostoreUSA's other products, this one is safer for our environment. This is plant- and mineral-based, and labeled as a "highly biodegradable product" on the package. And, in my opinion, the fact that I feel like I don't have to use fabric softener with this product makes it even BETTER, environmentally speaking! I am definitely planning to purchase more of this!

In summary: EcostoreUSA's Front Loader Laundry Powder is a quality product that's safe for the environment. My clothes are cleaned very well, and smell great - even without fabric softener, which I don't feel I MUST use when using this product. So, not only will I help our environment by using this, I'll also help my budget by buying less - if any - fabric softener! It's a win-win-win situation. (Three wins: environment, budget, clean and fresh clothes!) If you have a Meijer store near you, grab a box while you're there. If not, you can always get it through the company's Web site. And for all you Web shoppers, they are offering FREE shipping on ALL orders over $25. Add a fourth "win" to the list! ;-)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Book Review: Shadow of Betrayal

Shadow of Betrayal (Jonathan Quinn series #3) Shadow of Betrayal by Brett Battles

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is another book I received through the FirstReads program here on Goodreads. I am very glad I did. I never would've read it or given Brett Battles any thought.

Shadow of Betrayal had me hooked from the very beginning. It starts with action and never lets up. I kept feeling like I'd been reading an episode of Fox's show 24. I'm a HUGE fan of the show, so there's no surprise I loved this book! I found myself wanting to read more and more - and I wanted to know how the different story lines were going to work together. I was not disappointed!

There were some things I found myself wishing had been explained, but then I found out that this is the THIRD book in a series. So, now I think I'll go back and read the previous two - hopefully the answers are in them! Despite my wanting to know more about a few things, this novel definitely stands fine on its own.

Brett Battles has a new fan. I will be getting my hands on the other books in this series as soon as I can - and I'm looking forward to the fourth book, which I know is in the works. (There's a blurb inside about the upcoming book.)

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