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Alien News - Election Edition

October 27, 2008 by susanls

Hey, finding out that Bill and Hillary really DID adopt an alien child wouldn’t be any weirder than the stuff that’s going on in this election. I’m not going to provide links because my hand hurts but I’ll refer you to the following:

Daily Kos

Huffington Post

New York Times

So, here’s the rundown:

Sarah Palin went off target this weekend and brought up the clothes. Which, although she wears them, are not hers. (Is she a nun? Are they “clothes that I use”? (I know a lot of nuns and some of them talk that way: “It’s not my car. It’s the car that I use.” )) In fact, most of them (the clothes, not the nuns) are still in her jet. Hmm. She did say “my jet”. Maybe they struck a deal. She gives the clothes back and keeps the jet? The Republicans are now pissed at her for continuing the circus and are calling her a “rogue” and a “diva”.

Of course, McCain says the RNC bought the clothes, not the campaign. Now the RNC is saying that they only bought the clothes because the campaign asked them to do so.

In the NYT this weekend, it turns out there is one endorsement McCain doesn’t want brought up. See, it seems that a terrorist group, a certain Al Queda, has endorsed McCain. Seems the Bushies have been such a good recruiting tool, they want to continue these stupid wars as long as possible.

Speaking of wars, the vast majority of US soldiers are voting…wait for it…DEMOCRATIC. HUH!?!?!? (Last I heard it was about 80 percent)

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has been convicted on all 7 counts of canoodling with the Big Oil and LYING about it. Sarah Palin has not asked for his resignation, saying she trusts that he will do the right thing for Alaska.  So much for the reformer who took on her own party over corruption.

Today someone in the Palin mob shouted “He’s a n****R” about Obama. Palin, naturally, only fumbled her lines and said nothing. And two white supremacists were arrested by the ATF in a plot to kill 102 African-American students AND Barack Obama. Gee, I can’t help but wonder how Bridget McCain feels about all of this. Or did her parents cancel her Internet and cable TV?  Bridget, in case you don’t know, is the McCain’s 17 year old adopted daughter. She’s Bangladeshi, not African, but she’s definitely black.

In a call center, 40 employees walked out, sacrificing their pay rather than read a hate-filled screed the McCain campaign wanted read to voters in swing states. Having done time in a call center myself, I know that those folks NEEDED the money they lost by exercising their consciences. And, because call centers tend to be sweat shops, it’s quite possible they could lose their jobs.

Speaking of low-wage workers, it’s so bad out there, the McCain campaign is hiring people to call voters. And some of those people are Obama supporters who just need a job. Now, what is this whole Acorn thing about? Oh, yeah, hiring people to register voters. See, it’s bad to hire people to register voters, but it’s okay to hire people to slime other people.  Of course, the McCain people are threatening to sue the folks who told on them.

And, while we’re on the topic, McCain can’t get volunteers to do his campaign work.  I was at the Obama joint in Oregon City the other day and it was jumping! Dozens of volunteers, packed into a small storefront. Great energy. And they weren’t getting paid.

Also, Acorn flagged all the bad registrations and turned them in AS THEY ARE REQUIRED TO DO BY LAW. Oh, and earlier this year, McCain was honoring Acorn for the good work they do.

Meanwhile, Republicans are up to their old tricks. (Can they learn new ones?) Voting machines that register for McCain when you push Obama. Or allow you to vote a straight Democratic ticket with one push but don’t register the vote for President.  Mailers telling voters in Democratic areas that the general assembly (I forget what state….but it’s a swinger) has decided to hold voting on November 5th. Swing states being sued because “we never thought the election would be so big” so they didn’t get enough ballots. (Funny, I did. And I’m just a soccer mom/football grandma/intellectual elite/small business owner/lesbian Christian so what do I know.)

Speaking of me, I figured out that under McCain’s finance plan, I’d get zip. Zero. Nada. And could lose my health insurance. Under Obama’s, I get some tax breaks. If I ever make $250,000 net I’ll make sure to whine.

And speaking of Christians, be sure to Google Jim Wallis, an evangelical minister, or look him up at Huffington Post, and read his guidelines for Christian voters.

I know there is much more but the dog is whining because Jenny just drove in and I have to let her out.

Posted in Alien Lives, Aliens Study America | Tagged , , , , , , , | No Comments »

The Great VP Debate - Part II

October 3, 2008 by susanls

Well, after an hour and a half of blathering about being a maverick, a hockey mom, having a special needs child, and getting lots of things wrong, all while smirking at Joe Biden when she wasn’t being cuter than a button, the results are in. BIDEN WON!

And, in other news, an Alaskan judge has decided not to throw out Troopergate. The report comes out on October 10th and the McCain team did not strengthen their case when they convinced Todd Palin and others not to obey subpoenas. Isn’t that against the law? I thought so.

But here’s the interesting question. If Palin decides that she needs to leave the ticket, with some help from McCain’s staffers, who on earth would want the job? You see, there’s a slight problem. Being the VP candidate on a losing ticket is a death sentence for future political aspirations. Sure, you can go back to being who you were, but you AIN’T gonna be President. Or VP for that matter. In my 56 years, I can’t think of one VP candidate who lost who went on to become President. Yes, I know Nixon was a VP. And he lost to Kennedy as a Presidential candidate and went on to win several years later. But name me one person in the past 50 years who lost a VP contest and went on to be someone again. (I am not discussing failed bids for re-election either.)

So do you think Huckabee, Romney, or any of the other aspirants to the Oval Office would be willing to sign on to a losing ticket? If they did, they’d mark themselves as total fools. Nope, if they want a chance in 2012, they’d better take a pass. So who would he get? Well, maybe Lieberman. He’s already lost any chance he had. And he’d just lose again because the “base” would object to his pro-life stance.

Either way, the only way for McCain to pull this one out is a) cheat (enter voter fraud in your browser if you don’t know what I’m talking about) or for b) Obama to make a huge mistake. However, Obama has pretty much proved himself to be accessible, intelligent, bright enough to know what he doesn’t know and surround himself with good people, and fairly unflappable. And, despite the Republican’s bashing of community organizing, Obama has put together a strong team that has registered an unheard of number of new voters. Mostly Democrats.

BTW, there is a video on YouTube of McCain in which it appears he is having a mini-stroke. His face acts weird, he becomes confused, it happens again, and he can’t find his way off the stage. Now, there are usually two ways off, stage left and stage right. But he’s trying to walk to the back which appears to be a wall. Someone actually has to help him find his way off stage. I’ll try to find the link tomorrow.

UPDATE: Found it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haIAN02tlLM

Posted in Aliens Study America | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Great VP Debate Part 1

October 2, 2008 by susanls

Right now i’m doing my debate prep: reheating some eggplant and stuffed peppers in the microwave, watching the pre-game show on CNN, making sure I have a full drink (no commercials so not TOO full), trying to calm the adrenaline rush I get when my news junkie persona takes over.

I should be working but I’m obsessed with Sarah Palin.

CNN’s little wavy line poll is now showing Ohio uncommitted voters, male and female. Palin has her hair in bouffant with the back hanging down. To hide a wire?

Biden goes for the Bush jugular right off the bat. And then pumps Obama’s plan for the economy. So far so good.

Palin just told us to watch a kid’s soccer game. She’s talking about fear. Now she’s lying and saying McCain was addressing the economy two years ago.

Biden is talking now. About DV, police, his record on bipartisanship. He’s now saying McCain said the economy was strong and George Bush did a hell of a job.

Ooops…She said maverick and talked about Obama voting 96 percent of the time along party lines.

Gwen wants to know what they will do as Vice President and plans to come back to that.

Palin is blaming predatory lenders and greed on Wall Street. Joe Six Pack and Hockey Moms. Dang! Where’s my Sarah Palin bingo card?

Biden is talking now about McCain’s support for deregulation for the past two years. And how he wants to deregulate the health care industry.

Biden just called her a liar on taxes and pointed out that Palin did not answer the question about deregulation.

Palin says she cut taxes in Alaska, and is refusing to answer the question.

Interesting that the women in the poll are more negative about Palin than the men.

Palin starts talking and the lines drop. YAY. Now she’s talking about how she took on Big Oil.  Line isn’t changing much. Claims Obama voted for energy laws that she had to undo. And there is nothing she has promised that she would not be able to do.

Biden: Obama voted to eliminate tax breaks for Big Oil, McCain did not. Palin supported windfall profit tax? McCain does not.

Palin: would have supported making it harder for people to declare bankruptcy. Then she went off on a ramble about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how McCain warned us.

Biden: Obama wrote to ? about subprime mortgages two years ago. Is proposing allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages.

Palin: She’s gone back to energy, is avoiding questions about economy. Oil for energy independence?

YAY! Climate change. Palin says Alaska sees impact more than other states, cyclical climate changes are to blame. (Tell that to New Orleans and Galveston.) Blames other countries for polluting more than US.

Biden: It’s man-made. If you don’t understand causes, hard to come up with solutions. McCain has voted 20 times against clean energy sources. Obama wants to encourage solar, wind power, invest in clean coal. McCain thinks answer is drill, drill, drill.  3 percent of world’s oil reserves, uses 25 percent of world’s oil.

Palin: Dems said drilling is wrong tack. Nucular. She said it, not me. I know how to spell and pronounce it.

Biden: Hard targets on clean coal. How do we deal with global warming if we rely on fossil fuels?

Biden: Same-sex benefits - YES. Will all be treated the same.

Palin: Ok in Alaska, but not if changes definition of marriage.

Biden: Not talking about the definition of marriage. That should be left to the religions.

Foreign Policy:

Palin: Surge, counter-insurgency part of the plan. McCain supported. Obama voted against supporting troops. Have plan for withdrawal, but not early withdrawal, can’t afford to lose against Al-Quada. (who are not in Iraq, BTW)

Biden: GOP has no plan, troop draw down. McCain voted against funding the troops because there was a timeline. Dems will end this war. McCain has no plan to end it.

Palin: Dem plan is white flag of surrender. We will know when Iraqis can govern themselves. Says Obama will cut off funding for the troops.

Biden: McCain voted against funding for troops, said lots of things totally wrong about the war. Obama has been right.

Biden: Pakistan has nuclear weapons, has deployed them, can hit Israel and Mediterrean. Would be a bad thing if Iran gets nuclear weapons. McCain says Iraq is center of terrorism.

Palin: Petraeus and Al-Queda said Iraq is center of war on terror. Just called Ahmejindad insane. Called Obama naive. Not smart to engage dictators on Presidential level.

Biden: Obama did not say he would sit down with Ahmjinedad. Theocracy runs security operation in Iran. Allies, others saying we need to sit down with others. Allies not going to sit down with us if we don’t sit down with others. McCain won’t even sit down with Spain, a NATO ally.

Palin: on Israel, two state solution is the right solution. Called Israel a peace-seeking nation.

Biden: Obama said West Bank elections bad idea. Hamas won. Other stuff I didn’t catch. Only thing on march is Iran. Thoughtful, real life diplomacy.

Palin: Bush administration has not been wrong on Israel. Taking over the change motto. Country first. Maverick. Glad they are both lovers of Israel.

Biden: Past is prologue. Hasn’t heard how McCain’s policies are going to be different than  McCain.

Palin: Nucular (sic) weapons would be the end-all, be-all of blah, blah, blah, wandering around in the wilderness. Ours are deterrents. Theirs are for agression. Afghanistan: fighting terrorists, building schools, we will win there.

Biden: Facts matter. Commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principal will not work in Afghanistan, need more troops, more money for infrastructure. Spend more money in 3 weeks in Iraq than we have spent in 7 years in Afghanistan. McCain voted against comprehensive test ban treaty, weapons inspections. McCain against arms control

Palin: McClelland did not say surge would not work.

Biden: McClelland did say that. McCain said Afghanistan not in news because it “succeeded”

Biden: Interventionism. It worked in Bosnia. McCain voted against. Iraq said a mistake to go in. Voted to give President power but not to go to Iraq. Does not have a stomach for genocide in Darfour.

Palin “Washington outsider”. You voted for the war, now you are against the war.  Americans want straight talk. (lines went down). Called for divestment of funds in Sudan.

Biden: Line should be drawn. A) can we do anything about it. B) genocide disqualifies countries from having a say. McCain doesn’t get it about Iraq and has been wrong from outset.

Palin: McCain knows how to win a war, knows what evil is, knows how to learn from blunders in war in Iraq

Biden: Would carry out Obama’s policies. Restore middle class. Clean energy. End war. Go after Bin Laden, eliminate Al-Queda. Prevention not preemption.  Most important election since 1932.

Palin: Team of Mavericks. Not going to agree. McCain has not asked her to check opinions at the door. Get rid of greed on Wall Street. Take lesson from Wasilla Main Street (she created a $20 million deficit in Wasilla which had been solvent before she took over).

Biden: People know middle class has gotten short end.

Palin: There you go, Joe. Pointing backward.  Prefaced with “George Bush”. Biden’s wife’s reward is in heaven for being a teacher. Riff on education.

Palin: Vice Presidency. Lame attempt at joke. VP presides over Senate. Supports President. She would lead in energy and with families with special needs.

Biden: History of getting things done. Point for legistlative initiatives. Will sit in on all decisions, Barack wants his opinions and viewpoints.

Palin: Constitution allows much flexibility in role of VP. EXECUTIVE experience? Her?

Biden: Cheney most dangerous VP in history. Article One defines VP role clearly as executive branch. Presides only when there is a tie vote. Is not part of legislative branch.

Palin: Achilles heel? can’t even answer the question. Connection to heartland. Knows what other Americans are going through. World view: America is shining city on hill, perfect ideal

Biden: excessive passion, discipline. Was a single parent. Much better off than most Americans. But knows what it’s like to raise kids alone, not know if child is going to live.

Palin: Maverick. Change. Bipartisan. We have got to win the wars. Get rid of greed on Wall Street.

Biden: McCain is not a maverick on things that really affect folks. Education, medicine, war.

Biden: Changed his view on judicial appointments. Ideology of judge makes a difference.

Palin: passed budgets she did not believe in. Caved. No she has not had to compromise on things. Didn’t answer the question she was asked.

Biden: Bipartisanship. Has worked across the line. Changed both parties mind on occasion. Does not question motives, just judgments.

Palin: appoint people across party lines. Diverse family. At the end of the day, it’s gonna be okay. Lower taxes on businesses. Obama is saying no to energy independence, will kill jobs.  Trashed main-stream media. So glad to be an American. Have to fight for freedom.

Biden: Most important election. Dug into a deep hole in last eight years. Need fundamental change. Don’t measure progress on how CEOs are doing. Measure on if can pay mortgage, military is equipped. Dignity and respect.

Posted in Aliens Study America | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Dang! Wish I Could Find the Camera!

September 30, 2008 by susanls

This past weekend was one of the High Holy Days for Pacific NW spinners, knitters, and weavers: Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Since I missed Black Sheep Gathering due to moving, I was really ready to shop for stash, even if a broken wrist was preventing me from doing much spinning or knitting.

Oh, I want to show you what I bought! Maybe Jenny knows where there is a camera.

But, here’s the run down. We got there about 10 am, after a great breakfast and a nice ride in the country. Jenny does not believe in going anywhere directly. First stop, the bathroom. I only tell you this because there was a long line and another woman and I decided to liberate the men’s room. Which caused a  line and made one man mad. All I can say is live with it. Two stalls for about a million women? And the 100 or so men need to wait? Tough cookies!

My usual routine is to make a full circuit without buying. I made it about 3/4 of the way and then had to stop and buy some fiber I had to have, in part because of the presentation. I WILL find the camera! I will!

My next purchase was some Pygora/silk in gorgeous heathery blues.  We are thinking about getting a Pygora goat so it felt important that I actually learn something about them. I also bought some white Pygora A/B to see what it spins like without the silk.

Then I found some “mystery batts” in great colors. Browns, oranges, blues, greens, definitely a fall heather theme.  The fiber content is Merino/Silk/Cashmere/Angora so I guess the mystery is in the percentages. At $1.50 an ounce I had to buy a full pound. I had to. Really.

About that time, Jenny called and wanted to meet for some lamb kabobs in the grassy sward. It’s a tradition. I held down seats at a picnic table peopled with crazy women who were clearly giddy from the smell of lamb, lanolin, and wool. I also think they drank their breakfast. One had smuggled in a dog under her coat. Another thought she should have a UFO booth where folks could bring all their unfinished objects and pay her to complete them. What a great idea!

Jenny is always eager to watch the animal judging so next stop was the barn. I left her in command of my purchases while I wandered off to buy a drop spindle or two to add to my collection. One is apple wood and it’s SQUARE! Spins like a dream. The other is a plying weight spindle from my friends Jim and Brigit at Pacific Wool and Fibers. I have several of their spindles and love them. And they are CHEAP! (Shhhhh. Don’t tell.)

I passed up Dicentra although I LOVE her fibers. But I can buy them at Northwest Wools or online. I try to find stuff I can’t get locally or easily.

What else? Oh, yeah, a pound of white wool roving for dyeing. It’s just co-op wool but it was cheap and soft and will spin nicely.

When we got home, I put the drive band back on my wheel (it had slipped off while our floors were being repaired), not an easy task when one hand is useless,  and started spinning. Fortunately, when I spin on wheel my left hand is the working hand; on a spindle, it’s the right. However, with two new spindles in my collection, I HAD to force the fiberglass monster on my right wrist to allow my not-so-opposable thumb to flick a spindle full of yarn.

AND, even before OFFF, I found a source of recycled sari silk. This is thrums from looms used to weave sari fabric and I bought two bags full. One is shades of purples, pinks, a great silvery white, and a hint of blue. It’s so nice I’m just going to spin it into yarn without blending it. The others is bright colors, red, green, yellow, gold, blue, purple, all colors, mostly silk but with some rayon and some gold thread thrown in. This will be blended with part of the eternal nine pound black fleece I bought year before last at Black Sheep Gathering. I can’t wait to get started on ALL of it!

Hopefully, I’ll be adding photos to this post later tonight. But right now, I really do need to get to work.

Posted in Alien Lives, Aliens Do It With Sheep | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Update on the Wrist

September 30, 2008 by susanls

Today was my four week checkup on the broken wrist and I NO LONGER HAVE A CAST! I do, however, have one of those velcro/elastic/steel/nylon splint things. Which I can remove. And, the doc told me drop spindling is “good therapy” for my wrist. Life is good.

I also have a referral to occupational therapy and am not allowed to ride my scooter until “they” say so. Did I break my wrist? Who knows. We may never know, or it may manifest now that I have permission to actually use it. This is weird medicine at its best. Some docs say I broke,  some say I didn’t. At least they aren’t going to do a CT scan unless it gets worse which is good.

I do not do well with anything that involves putting me in a confined space for a long period of time. To get me in an OPEN MRI machine requires lots of Valium. To get me in a closed one requires, well, maybe death. Speaking of which, don’t even put me in a coffin. Just start a big fire and burn me up.

Posted in Alien Lives | Tagged , , | No Comments »

News You Need to Know

September 28, 2008 by susanls

As some of you know, I am a news junkie. Not just the news you get from the folks that brought us George W. Bush, but news of all sorts. Some of this I want to share with you because I think the whole country needs to know.

First up: This from the Army Times. Yes, you read that right. A full Brigade, stationed in the US, to quell civil unrest. Interesting timing, with an election looming that the Republicans NEED to win and have proven they will do anything possible, legal or illegal, to win. Armed with tasers, supposedly nonlethal, but responsible for a death right here in PDX last year and for a death somewhere else just in the last week. Also, note the duties of this force:

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

Funny, that. I always thought that was the job of the National Guard. Question: Is the October Surprise going to be Martial Law?  Or maybe the GOP plans to steal another election. This time from a black guy. Hmmmm. Are they expecting riots or something?

Steal elections? How would that happen? Read on:

http://news.racinepost.com/2008/09/gop-absentee-ballot-mailings-called.html

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/democracy/100385/dems_say_alabama_sos_won%27t_share_new_voter_rolls/

http://www.alternet.org/democracy/98369/2008_season_of_voting_meltdowns_begins/  You might not know that Diebold machines are owned by a Republican and have been implicated in numerous “odd” voting incidents that favored Republican candidates.

http://www.truthout.org/article/rfk-jr-and-mike-papantonio-is-your-vote-safe

There’s much more out there but I’m not going to do all the work for you.

Posted in Alien Lives, Aliens Read Weird Stuff | Tagged , , | No Comments »

One More Thing before Bed

September 10, 2008 by susanls

right now I have four books on my desk. Well, not exactly on my desk, but on my calendar. Two for authors who contacted me, too from my bread-and-butter customer, a major publishing house. Under normal circumstances, I can do 500-700 pages a week.  So far this week, I’ve done less than 100. Which means I have 300 more pages to do by Sunday then need to do over 100 as quickly as possible for one of the authors.  Then I start on another book for my primary customer and another book for an author. And knowing my  primary client, they’ll sneak another book in there somewhere. I like being busy, I like the money, I love my work. What I don’t like is a broken  wrist. I know, I know, I’m whining. I don’t know which I like better, whining or playing with the software.  But it hasn’t been a week yet so I get to whine some more.  I figure I should get at least two weeks to whine, more if the news is bad on Monday. Six months in a cast  deserves at least a month of whining, with intermittent whining at four-week intervals. So if you happen to be one of the lucky people who know me in real life prepare for a long, hard  whine.

oh yeah, I remember where I was going with this. The floor in our new house is buckling, and needs to be ripped out. Our son-in-law, who installed the floor, is coming on Thursday to fix it. I think it’s a bigger job  than can be done in two days. I’d be ripping floor out, but my main ripping instrument is in the cast. I realize I have a  matched set, but after half a century of being purely decorative, my left hand is stretched to its limits. I am learning to move a mouse with my left hand, to get a fork all the way to my mouth, and to pick up a cup without spilling water all over the floor.

Someone assured me today that this will actually be good for my brain. You know left brain right brain. That crap. But here’s a scary thought. Although I am right handed and therefore should be left brained, my right brain seems to be doing just fine. In fact, it’s in overdrive. I tend to be wildly creative, mostly in the making up of absurd theories that tend to drive the people around me insane. If my right brain is strengthened by the incessant use of my left arm, we could all be in trouble.

You guys all better hope that I get my right hand back soon. I promise, if I’m in a cast for six months, that I will come to your house and haunt you with my whining. Now.   TIME FOR BED!

Posted in Alien Indexer. Huh?, Alien Lives | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Update on the Wrist

September 10, 2008 by susanls

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about scaphoid fractures. The bad news is this is a tricky little bastard of a break. There’s not much blood flowing to the bone and if you break it in the wrong place you can kill the bone. I already have one dead bone in my body, the tip of my right thumb. I broke it off one morning getting out of bed, felt it snap, and went to the doctor where  an x-ray revealed the tip of my thumb floating in flesh. it’s not hurting anything, although it’s weird to think about it being there. I’m sure it’s dead by now. It’s been years.

Back to the wrist. Next Monday I find out how bad the break is. If I broke it the “right way,” I may be in a cast for six weeks maybe eight. If I broke up the “wrong way,” I could be in a cast up to six months. And it may require surgery. All this because I put my foot down and there was nothing there. Aging is a bitch.

So, if you are the praying type, or the healing energy type, or any kind of superstitious type, or even some sort of atheist type, send good thoughts my way. I’ve been in this cast for less than a week and seriously have considered bashing it against a rock. What I wouldn’t give for a good shower without a plastic bag involved!

Right now it feels like my arm is swelling, and I can see that my fingers are turning purple. Jenny assures me that this is normal. But she’s never broken her wrist so I question her knowledge of normal. I’ve never broken a wrist either, but it seems to me that all the swelling should be gone by now. The fingers turning purple is probably okay, I know that bruises grow, and I know they grow more when you get older. While there’s a part of me that hates to admit I’m getting older, these bruises on my fingers prove otherwise. I just hope the bruising goes away quickly, because it looks like my hands are dirty but in a purple sort of way. Besides it hurts. Amazing that breaking my wrist did not hurt, but having all the blood drain into my fingers does.

Well it’s almost 3 AM and I think I’ve proved that MacSpeech Dictate works just fine. So off to bed I go so I can get up tomorrow, put a bag on my arm, take an impossible shower, and spend the day talking to my computer. If you ever break your arm, buy a Mac, and get this program. It is truly AMAZING!

By the way, the microphone that comes with the software is so good, even the cheap one, that I have a fan blowing on one side of me, and the TV on the other side, and all the mic picks up is my voice. I should be an an advertiser!

Goodnight.

Posted in Alien Computing and Gadgets, Alien Lives | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Disability Catch-22

September 10, 2008 by susanls

just when you think you’ve found a good thing, you find out that there’s always a catch.

Case in point: I have some loans, for our barn, for my scooter, and for my car. On all of those loans I carry disability insurance. When I had the brain injury, I learned that it was important to have insurance in the event of something unthinkable.

But here’s the catch: to activate the insurance, I have to be completely disabled. I’m not completely disabled, I just have a freaking broken wrist, which slows me down a great deal in my writing and indexing. Since indexing is my moneymaker, I’m losing money because I’m going slow. If I stop indexing, I bankrupt my business. If I keep indexing, I might not be able to make my loan payments. Mostly depends on how good I get iat using this software.

So the choice is keep working and maybe go broke and have to file personal bankruptcy, or quit work, collect on the disability and have my loans paid, but lose my business.

Not a nice choice. But the kind of choice millions of Americans face every day in this country. One reason I’m voting for Obama.  That by the way, was the first word I’ve had to enter by hand because voice-recognition doesn’t care who’s running for president and heard his name as  “a bomb.” I certainly hope that’s not a sign of prescience on the part of computer.

Posted in Alien Lives | Tagged , | No Comments »

Writing with No Hands

September 10, 2008 by susanls

Well, after several people suggested it, I finally joined the voice-recognition Revolution. I’m just learning, so don’t expect a lot from me. But so far in this post, the computer has made no mistakes. I’m using a program called MacSpeech Dictate which, as the name may indicate, is only for the Mac. If you’re still in the dark ages, and using a PC, the closest you get is Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

I just started using the software today, primarily for my indexing business, and it works great. I was amazed that the first word I spoke was entrepreneurial and damn if it didn’t spell it right. Most of the kids I know can’t do that. Most of the adults either. In fact, close your eyes and spell it right now. No I didn’t mean “it.” I meant “entrepreneurial.” Did you catch the punctuation. Yep. Both hands are in my lap.

I’m not sure what this is going to mean for my writing, but it means I’m going to get my work done. And that’s a good thing.

Posted in Alien Lives, Aliens Write | Tagged , | No Comments »

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    David on One More Thing before Bed

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