June 22, 2007

I think she knows what she's singing about.

I am glad I hadn't heard this song the week after my surgery. I might have busted a gut singing along.



feeling so bad and so good. you go.

Thanks to Jon for giving my brain more to chew on.

Friend, Canadian and uberstrategist Jon Husband pointed to a blog on the healthcare issues facing USians. I am off to read and learn. Something's gotta give.

--

Doug Just Cracked Me Up BAAAD...

with this post sent out with love to our long-lived hamster, Marshmallow.

snicker...

--

so then you get all macified


and you have all this work to do and there are is all this great software calling your name, doing a striptease right in front of you with all of these aMazing tricks they can do with you, and you are just like oh man this mac this mac and my friends and readers are the best and lookie there's like a comic-making application just tossed in the mix, and then you sort of get lost because you dont know where you just got to or where that thing you were doing went and it sort of goes on like that all day--you must be boring the shit out of people with this, and then it's night time and you forget what your name is or what you are doing--and did everyone already go to sleep?

i'm tired.

s'crazy.



--

something slowing loading of dis hea page

so i took off project playlist player for now--trying to see if that's what the prob is, or if it's my big face at the right--->

what program is the best on the mac (that comes with it) for changing the size of photos? I cant figure it out in iphoto--i can crop but it doesn't seem to save.

i dunno
long day
long nite
just play

--

June 21, 2007

this could BE something.

Was looking over the folks involved with the Freelancer's Union. I mean, what if we U.S. bloggers really decided that we were going to do this thing. We're going to join and get involved and help power this union. Am I crazy? One of us is writing their blog. They've set up a wiki. They're even trying to get gig info out there. I'm not saying that this makes them legit, but it shows someone is tending the garden.

We've got the dispersed, miscellaneous voice thing covered here on the net. But when it comes to counting in the wasteland of non-affordable healthcare in this country, we lack a centralized voice.

Affordable Health Care is now nothing more than a mantra. It's not going to happen. And if WE (you know who WE are) lose the next election, some of us are going to have to leave or die. It's that simple.

If you worry about healthcare once a week and are an indie worker, think about this union thing. What about disability? How often do you independents -- solo or with families -- fear having to take 8 weeks off to have surgery? (my hand's up!) Life insurance? At my last job I paid $2.50 per month for a policy that would have bequeathed my family $200K. Now I pay $150/month for something that would give them half of that.

Dental? not. Vision? not.

I don't know the answers for any of this stuff, but I wonder, could this union thing actually work? Would it hurt to put our shoulder to the wheel and see if we can make it work?

---

half my life, all my heart

on the fone with madame levy



this is okay, sure, but omg you should have seen us on ichat. the hat alone. worth the price of admission.

tomorrow i might get to see hamsters!

---

mac without a net

So i just moved what's left of my files over to the mac. Yep, I'm outta George's way and off his hard drive. All my MS Office files. All my timesheets. Everything that wasn't lost in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 07. It's weird, using this trial version of MS Office to do the paying work I need to be doing right now. But if I'm ever going to learn, I think I have to hop on over all the way. No PC safety net. Just jump. See if I can fly by the seat of my mac.

"Fly by the seat of your Mac."

People should pay me for that kind of shit right there.

This macbook is unreal. I mean how easy is it to WRITE? Pretty much you just open up the thing and type. You hardly even need anything interesting to say. What a Boon to Blogging!

(rim shot)

Holy cow and the keyboard. It's subtle. Welcoming.

"Keyboard, meet fingers. Fingers, meet heaven."

I got a million of em.

Anyway, I am all about this mac. I am GOING to get this 32 page white paper done right here on this new machine, with Word for the Mac, track changes and all. Just watch me.

Literally.



---

so, what kind of freelance work do you do?


um.. stuff.

choo-chooooo congrats

I hear that albert left kaboose and is in the news. someone send me a link. or is it one of those not-online stories? if so, at least send us the meaty details.

---

Freelancers Union?

I have a secret. The last few weeks I have been thinking about getting a 'real' job again. It's been five years since I left the confines of corporate life to go out on my own. Not one second have I missed any part of the agency life. When I have a full roster of clients, I get enough socialization. At my age, in my chosen profession, 'best friend' potential in the office isn't all that likely as I'm at the old end of the age spectrum. Moms w/o Happy Hour--that would be my company shirt.

But after my recent surgery, I find myself wanting a safety net--a corporate daddy to make sure I'm taken care of when times are tough. This rolls around my head bashing into the realization that when times were MOST tough and I nearly died 9 years ago, my employer thanked me with a layoff and then tanked. So yeah, I know, there is no such thing as security. But for wo years running we have gone over our two thousand dollar a year deductible because of medical bills. Jenna's tonsils last year (still owe several thousand on that), and no my recent medical woes (add on another few thou). AND WE PAY each month as much as our mortgage for the privilege of owing thousands more. Our current BCBS plan has a 2K per year deductible, and after that, they only pay 70 percent. Five hundred per person per year pharmacy deductible.

Add to that the 150 per month i'm supposed to pay for life insurance policies (sometimes have it, sometimes don't), the no dental, the no 401K, and the government with its hand out too, and it's a wonder anyone with a family and their own business can afford to stay in the game.

And then the net steps in.

I was on linkedin today and connected through another former Ketchum colleague who connected with me to yet another colleague who exchanged emails with me. She pointed me this article on the re-emergence of unions as a way for independent workers to organize and have access to benefits we don't have access to on our own.

I had no idea this was going on, had never heard about the Freelancer's Union, but I'm off to investigate. If anyone else has information, or is a member, or knows what's going on currently around the organizing of independent workers to have access first and foremost to affordable healthcare, I would love to know.

I will tell you that George belongs to the AFM, and I've already reviewed the benefits there. They suck. The insurance is not the kind that doctors take, and the so called drug benefits are a joke. You can go to walmart and get $4 generics without having to pay $50 for a plastic card that health providers shake their heads at when you show it.

I hope the Freelancer's Union does better. We deserve more than scams and afterthoughts when it comes to benefits if we pay to join these unions. What's the real story? I'm all ears.

More soon.

---

update: The Freelancer's Union has a blog.

---

blown away

me, staring at the mac hard drive icon, after playing with iphoto, garage band, and photo booth. wondering when i'm going to do some work today. blown AWAY with my new mac.

June 20, 2007

o wow! isight! no way!







Guess what I'm blogging on....

OMG OMG OMG HOW COOL IS THIS?

Yes, indeed, thanks to the generosity and kindness of you, my reader-blog-friends -- and some of you I do not even know -- I am blogging this post on a spiffy new macbook that is SUPER fast, seems to be in an always-ready state, lots of cool weird software and a magnificently sensitive keyboard!!!!

I don't know what to say. I opened it, it did it's thing, and now I'm online. Just like it's supposed to work! I have to get used to this dock thing at the bottom of the screen--can I turn it off? I dunno. I don't know much of anything yet. Except that after 15+ years away from apple, here I am!!!

Thank you so much. Four years or so ago I got laid off and had to give my Dell back to The Company, and my reader-friends bought me a new-used Dell. That was incredible enough. It was one of the main reasons I was able to branch out on my own and build my own business and client base instead of running back to BigPR.

I never thought all these years later I would be blessed again after my Acer crashed with a new computer (AND NOT JUST ANY COMPUTER BUT THE COOLEST EVER according to Jenna), courtesy of you.

I thank you. All the Sessums thank you. This is amazing.

Jenna said to tell you all:

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!

---

June 19, 2007

why is my mac coming from china?

and why is this computer clock a day ahead of the actual day?

and are those two things related?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN....

BREAK OUT YOUR WHINE GLASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

----------------------------------

Apple Store

Shipment Notification

Hello jeneane sessum,

We wanted to let you know that your order has shipped. If you ordered multiple items, you may receive separate shipments with no additional shipping charges. All shipments except those delivered by the U.S. Postal Service require a signature on receipt. Visit Order Status to track or pre-sign for your shipment. If you'd like to request a return, print an invoice or view your account history, please log in to Your Account.

Best regards,
The Apple Store Team

---

I was looking at the Technorati Top 100 the Other Night...

and I realize I don't ready any but a couple of them. What do you suppose that means?

should I have twittered this instead?

---

June 18, 2007

karsh'll catch you up

on his Asides #39. my entire blog is an aside. maybe i should organize and then try to do these combined aside posts. hmmm.

my fav: So let me get this straight…Nurse Laverne Roberts (Aloma Wright) was killed off last season on Scrubs, but now she's coming back as her twin sister Shirley? Get it? Laverne? Shirley? Goodness, is that a shark I see?

May Calling December...

knock knock -- who's there.

(now that cracked me up.)

shelley kitty caption

"NO, I INVENTED WEBLOGGING!"

"Whatever your views are on the plight of homeless people..."

Well, personally, I think they should all be shot. Or at least hosed down with Latté.

--

mac lady in waiting

On the phone with apple after a near heart attack, going to view my order status and seeing NO order, going to my PayPal and seeing the dough went byebye on the 15th. So I'm calling the number listed on the paypal line to find out what gives.

On hold, listening and NOT getting jiggy with the musak. pass the xanax--i assumed i was maybe a day away from holding my new macbook (COURTESY OF YOU) in my chapped hands. Sure, the only thing i did was check paypal to be sure the money was gone to apple. I didn't really think of anything beyond that. i was busy drewling.

I have Dee from apple on the phone... she wants to know what my order number is, but I have to explain that I don't HAVE an order number because ... OH FUCK CORDLESS PHONES! Battery just died. George and I are RUNNING through the house--where are the other phones? Of course they're all laying together in a heap. fuck.

I dial again.

"If you're calling about an apple i-Phone...."

no i'm not.

Dee was nice before I lost her.

She must deal with many people who have generalized anxiety disorder. She said, "We'll figure out what's going on--don't you worry."

OKAY DEE!

Now I'm listening to the musak again. It's better than most.

All representatives are still helping other customers....

Okay now I have Theresa, who sounds like Dee but less therapist-like.

Oh Theresa she is so nice in tellling me my order was never made, and so I'm on paypal and i click the details on the transaction that has removed a grand plus out of my account, to find "on hold"

WTF PAYPAL? ON HOLD? FUCK YOU ON HOLD.

Now I'm calling the number on the back of my paypal visa to see what is UP.

(I am providing you with this because you, my faithful readers, are the actual initiators of THIS transaction).

"Thank you for calling paypal..." they are telling me they are having a data center upgrade tonight for two hours. Dear friends, grab your money now.

Now i'm waiting again. No good on-hold music with Paypal but they have a fancy IVR. You can talk to it. It's no Theresa or Dee though.

In fact it's a man.

Oh THIS is comforting: "Sorry, I can't find an account with that number."

Okay I'm in IVR hell.

I say the right thing finally.

Transferring to an agent.

My call is extremely important to them and my time is valuable they say. They want me to go to www.paypal.com to get answers to my question.

Oh yeah. been there. done THAT.

ebay gift certificates are easy to buy. my call is extremely important to them. due to the high call volume they are experieicning, I may want to go to www.paypal.com.

okay TELL ME MORE ABOUT EBAY.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Madame Levy has come to chat with me. I am now doing three things at once: listening to paypal jabber on hold, chatting levy, typing a post.

OH and missing Theresa. I guess that's 4.

Dave Rogers would call me partial attention or blow hard or something.

Bitter Man, Blow Hard, Beggarman, Thief.

Paypal and Ebay invite you to shop the world. Your call is extrememely important to us. Due to the high call volumes we are experiencing it may be worthwhile to you to go to www.paypal.com and find the answers to your questions.

WHERE IS MY MONEY? WHERE IS MY MACBOOK? Those are my questions.

Now I am learning about identity theft.

Goodie.

STOP TELLING ME MY TIME IS VALUABLE. My time is NOT valuable. I will decide if my time is valuable.

My Money, now THAT is valuable. My MacBook, valuable.

Fake emails usually begin with dear paypal user or dear paypal member. We designed our system to address you by your name.

Dear Loser.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

my neck hurts.

Madame Levy got me some other numbers for paypal. I'm going to dry one of those on my cell while staying on hold on my cordless home fone, while blogging this and chatting with ML.

OKAY I GOT SOMEONE!

she says she's verifying me.
am i me?
am i?
just one moment....


"Can you hold while I get some assistance with your account?"

Oh yes, I can hold. I am good at holding. Ask Theresa.

Now I get to hear about suspicious emails. Forward suspicious emails to spoof@paypal.com.

90 percent of all ebay listings offer paypal as a payment method.

[[damn--i remember when we only accepted postal money orders as ebay sellers.]]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
neckstillhurtz

back on nold for what's been 7 minutes now. my time is valuable.

SHE'S BACK: And HERE is the gobblygook explanation:

The reason why the funds are on temporary hold is because there is an authorization for apple to pull the funds within 5 days. On the fourth day, if they have not pulled the funds, the funds will be made available back to your account. Now there could have been a connectivity issue and Apple didn't get the final authorization. A connectivity between paypal and apple's shopping cart sometimes happens. There are sometimes a glitch for apple getting the authorization code and the transaction does not complete. If they do not capture the funds, the money will be released back to the account on Wednesday.

but i don't want the money. its my friends' money. me and them--we want my macbook.

she say she understands, and yes I told her about all of you, but there is nothing she can do except see if the transaction goes through between now and wednesday.

"otherwise i start all over again?"

"yes you do."

okay then.

---

June 17, 2007

Tagged, you're it.

The wonderful Susan Getgood tagged me with a "songs that lift my spirits" challenge. Apparently the goal of this exercise from the one responsible for the fun, is to create a collective playlist. I therefore tag Shelley and Frank and Ronni, because their taste in everything interests me.

Now, finding a song is tough, because there are so many songs that lift and drop spirits according to where I need to be lifted to or dropped upon.

Of course, George's Prism has topped my spirit lifting chart since the 1980s as an instrumental. And on the up-and-coming side, this would be the optimal time to plug my 18-year-old nephew's band, The Bah Tues.

Outside of the family, for sure-fire wonder every time, I go to the master, Mr. Stevie:
(click and don't tell)

As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving
And the rosebuds know to bloom in early may
Just as hate knows love's the cure
You can rest your mind assure
That I'll be loving you always

As now can't reveal the mistery of tomorrow
But in passing will grow older every day
Just as all that's born is new
Do you know what I say is true
That I'll be loving you always

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Always
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
Always
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea
Always
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream

Did you know that true love asks for nothing
Her acceptance is the way we pay
Did you know that life has given love a guarantee
To last through forever and another day

Just as time knew to move on since the beginning
And the seasons know exactly when to change
Just as kindness knows no shame
Know through all your joy and pain
That I'll be loving you always

As today I know I'm living but tomorrow
Could make me the past but that I mustn't fear
For I'll know deep in my mind
The love of me I've left behind
Cause I'll be loving you always

Until the day is night and night becomes the day
Always
Until the trees and sea just up and fly away
Always
Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4
Always
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Did you know you're loved by somebody?
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left
Always
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
I'll be loving you forever
Until dear mother nature says her work is through
Always
Until the day that you are me and I am you
Al~~~~~wa~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~aa~~~
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
~~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~aa~~~
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
~~~aa~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~ys

We all know sometimes lifes hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space
But you can bet your life times that and twice its double
That God knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed

So make sure when you say you're in it but not of it
You're not helping to make this earth a place sometimes called hell
Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love
And maybe our children grandchildren
And their great-great grandchildren will tell

Il'l be loving you
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Loving you
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
Loving you
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea
Loving you
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream
Be loving you
Until the day is night and night becomes the day
Loving you
Until the trees and seas up, up and fly away
Loving you
Until the day that 8x8x8x8 is 4
Loving you
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Loving you
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left
Be loving you
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
Loving you
Until dear mother nature says her work is through
Loving you
Until the day that you are me and I am you
Now ain't that loving you
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Ain't that loving you
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
And I've got to say always
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea
Al~~~~~~~~~wa~~~~~~~~~~~~ays
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream
Um al~~~~~~~~~wa~~~~~~~~~~~~ays
Until the day is night and night becomes the day
Al~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~wa~~~~~~~~~ays
Until the trees and sea just up and fly away
Al~~~~~wa~~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4
~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~~~~aa
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Aa~~~~~~~~~~~~aa~~~~aa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ays
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left
Al~~~~~~~~wa~~~~~~a~~~~~~~~~~~~aa
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
~~~~~~aa~~~~~~~~aa~~~~~~aa~~~~~~ays
Until dear mother nature says her work is through
Al~~~~ways
Until the day that you are me and I am you

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream
Until the day is night and night becomes the day
Until the trees and sea just up and fly away
Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
Until dear mother nature says her work is through
Until the day that you are me and I am you.

how about a social place that lets us suggest features for social places

Of course, a couple hundred thousand other facebook users were thinking the same thing: "Why do I have to make up a story, like, "from beating a purse-snatcher off of his second cousin who then invited me to dinner at the family home," when I could just say, "met online."

Lest we overwhelm techmeme with posts on good feature requests, it would be nice to have a social app that acted as a centralized input point for passionate or frustrated users to visit and add feature requests (and bug finds) for some of the most common social spaces--like myspace, like facebook, like friendster, like second life, like kaneva.

And, let's add a wish list while we're there: "Hey you young, savvy, 14-year-old innovators, if there were a site that did x, y, z, you'd have All My Attention and all the VC money you could count--now go make it so!"

Think of the competitive fun--MySpace gets to see exactly what users want in FaceBook and vice versa; YouTube gets to see what's bugging Google Video users, etc.

Just thinking outloud. It's what old people do.

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