dana820.blogspot.com

Two of my "work from home" affiliates are pinching pennies - I've noticed. Well, one of them expressed that the cause of having not much work available for their WAH (work at home) team is the not-so-good economy. I like that they've told us what's going on so there is no confusion. Now, that's a good working relationship. I do hope that they don't go out of business. I hope, I hope... My other WAH affiliate just removed the regular assignments and put in a list of ad hoc ones in stead. By this, I mean that the work that they put out is of a specific, as-they-need-it nature. That's not so good since everyone's scrambling and trying to reserve these jobs first as they come out - and there's not a lot of it too. Boo-hoo. If there's one advice I can give out for newbie freelance WAH job-seekers it is that you should not rely on one online affiliate because, let's be honest, it is a pretty unstable industry. So if you do manage to get one a...

From the look of things, I may be able to finish these 2008 accounting books (that's "as of August" pa lang ) by the end of this month. I am working at a pretty good pace, I think, not too slow but not too hectic -- it's just right. And if they can give me the tax data for September before then, I just might be able to keep this nice tempo going. Bought Keane's Perfect Symmetry MP3 album earlier. Yes, that is what "PS" stands for in the title up there and not "PlayStation". LOL And now that I've got all three of their albums (still wishing for each CD, of course), I can say that Keane is the voice (or tune) in my head these past few weeks -- the good and healthy kind of tune, of course. It is quite interesting that I've had to Google three words (two of which are lyrics and the other one is about a gig) since Keane came into my consciousness. From the lyrics, I had to look up the words - spires and cenotaph. And other one is the word ...

After dinner, I've finished off one chocolate NutriBar (that was so sweet - I can't believe the pack said that it was a low-calorie snack!!!) and sampled a Gavottes crispy choco crepe. Now, I feel a bit heady from the chocolate -- I get that sometimes, okay, most of the time. :) Gavottes was good but it's nothing exceptional, I'm afraid. BTW, it's made from France and I've been trying to learn the French language! Coincidence?!? LOL Nah, it's all in my head. :D Well, I found this amazing website called FrenchPod and so far, I've learned how to ask someone their name (and introduce myself too), ask where the toilets are and so on in French. It's so informal and very fun. I listen to podcasts and... well, just go to the FrenchPod website and you'll see what I mean. It's the conversational, every day sort of stuff and of course, I'm on the Newbie level and I don't think I'll ever get farther than that. Honestly, it's not like I...

UTIS - that's the "Under the Iron Sea" album by Keane. See, after I purchased their Hopes and Fears (2004) mp3 album, I've listened to it, sang along with it -- basically, it's nothing short of having engrossed myself in it. And at the moment, I am following my Keane interest through with UTIS. Under the Iron Sea was released in 2006. Yes, a few days ago, I bought it from Amazon too. And after that I will be all over the '08 album, Perfect Symmetry, for that natural and consecutive Keane experience. It's been a refreshing diversion... No, it's a stimulating accompaniment to all the writing and computing that comes with this bookkeeping catch-up that I've been doing. It's kind of like working both sides of the brain at the same time, yes? No? Also, BIG DAY - US President Obama's inauguration today. Just thought that I'd sneak in that historic event here. It's the 20th of January there so, you know, there's that time difference an...

Slept in earlier so, no breakfast for me. Lunch was chicken curry and no, this wasn't made with coconut milk. For some reason, they've got a simplified version of a recipe. All they use are chicken pieces, potato wedges, ginger, curry powder, salt & black pepper, and evaporated milk -- voila, curry! It's all stewed together, apparently, until the meat is cooked. I think they've also done the same recipe with pork slices... I don't remember but that could work. Ever since I've bought the Hopes and Fears album by Keane, I've been inspired to learn the song, Bedshaped, on the piano. Now, our instrument has been around for almost two decades so some keys stick and many notes are out of tune because we haven't had it correctly tuned lately. It is much of a challenge, I'm afraid, and my only shot seems to be limited to its intro and nothing else. Oh, and the fact that I am not really a good piano player is also a handicap so... I do what I can. I'v...

I am shivering tonight. And the wind was blowing hard earlier too that it literally blew my bedroom door open! Not that it was fully closed (of course) - it was just slightly stuck to the door pane - but there was this "woo" sound and then, the door opened. Anyway, what I think is strange about me having the shivers tonight is that I am not at all discomforted by the cold but I am getting irritated by my quivering. See, I am working (not like that's news) and it is all too noticeable that my jaw is clenching and I quiver every few minutes -- so annoying. I mean, what is that about? Time to put on a sweater, eh? Someone brought home this stuffed pastry from the local MiniStop. The filling - I do not know what that was but it was not sweet so it's not a dessert. My best guess would be it was mushed sweet pork asado . The pastry was wonderful, though, like the outside was made of filo dough. Its crust was flaky and the inside was soft -- surprisingly nice for something f...

... (that's the Keane album from 2004) last night. Yup, after my rant about getting its CD (see previous post) I just went ahead and bought the download-able mp3 album from Amazon immediately. Oh man, when I get all excited about something I'd much rather get it over with - then and there - rather than sleeping on it. Yes, today is another "happy day" for me with music - the first one was when I got the "The Script" CD album last week as a Christmas present from my Ate . [grins] Hopefully this pleasant beginning for the year would follow all through 2009. And yes, if you go back a couple of posts down, you'll see that - finally - I was able to purchase mp3 downloads from Amazon. And the one thing that made that possible is the fact that my sister is living in the US. The "Hopes and Fears" mp3 album costs a little less than $10 and it has 11 songs on it. I would still love to have its CD too with a crystal case, little booklet (with pictures and...

Everyone but me is wearing a sweater at our house tonight. They say it's chilly - and it is - but I like it. I even have the fan pointed directly, err, at an angle facing my bed so I'll be all-huddled under the covers later -- almost freezing. LOL I did not sleep well at all last night because my feet were cold but I don't care. Also, I finally finished the in-house accounting books as of June, sent off the statements too. I'm working on July now but I find that I do not have all the information I need just yet -- oops, another delay! Oh well, it is what it is. :) Seeing the MTV video of the song, Perfect Symmetry, by Keane made me curious about their albums. So, I've been listening to Hopes and Fears (their first) and I've decided that I want to get it. Yes, Keane interests me . Since it was released four years ago (2004) it's going to be cheaper too, I think. I hope that they've got it in stores here now. I've looked at their official website and i...

HAPPY DAY!!! I got my wish - The Script album - thanks to my sister! Thank you, Ate and my darling nieces and bro-in-law! Everyone!!! OMG, I was screaming and all when this arrived today. OMG! OMG!!!! Okay, I'll stop now... but I'm still heady!!! LOL Love it!!! [huge grin] Goodness, Mark Sheehan was covered by the flash up there. Wait... okay, there he is. :D I wrote down my Christmas wish list , err, wish (since it's just one thing - The Script CD album) and I am so happy right now. Yes, the gloom of the past few days is now kaput ! THANKS AGAIN, guys! UPDATE March 2015: Jeez... I wrote this?! I wrote this. [facepalm]

I've gone up a few points on my "transcription grader value" in CastingWords (one of Mturk's transcription requesters). That's good, though, I'm still hesitant about taking on their transcription jobs. As of this time, I've just accepted one (yup, just one!) 4-minute audio task there because I do not know what to expect -- it turned out well and I even received a bonus. It helps that I've been going to the mturk forum where other workers and even job requesters are talking and commenting a lot. Also, since my earnings there go straight to my Amazon gift certificate balance - being a non-US worker and all - I cannot go and spend all my time working there. But if I were, oh man, the $$ should be so sweet...! About this Amazon boo-boo that I did -- I knew that their mp3 downloads are exclusive to those in the US. I knew that and I still did this stupid thing and it cost me some. This is to remind me NOT TO DO THIS AGAIN unless they lift the restriction, o...

Thought I'd throw a cupcake in for today's post since I've nothing else to write about than my utter disappointment at not meeting my bookkeeping goal (I've talked about it a few entries down, I think) for 2008. That is, finishing the accounting books as of June... so sad. The last week of December proved to be more activity-filled than I anticipated and I am still prepping the June documents pa . Also, my left eye's starting to act up again with those white dots in view or maybe my glasses are smudged -- wait. Oh, it's a little of both. [sigh] I've got Keane on - Hopes and Fears - and I think that's adding to my melancholy. Nothing like having sort of an appropriate soundtrack actually playing in the background. It's a little bit funny, really. The cupcake was from last week, 'twas a gift for new year's. Of course, it wasn't just one cupcake -- it was a whole boxful. haha I liked the cake but the icing left much to be desired.

... I've noticed - new year's eve was chilly, so was last night, and tonight's pretty chilly too. My hands are getting cold and I'm keeping 'em warm by touch-typing since the ceiling light's turned off now and I've used the extra socket on my extension cord to charge my phone in stead plugging the table lamp. I wanted to sneak in a post about one of the last things I bought in 2008. It was an online purchase - I renewed my anti-virus license for another year. Gotta keep this machine all clean inside, you know. I also have three other free protections running to make sure that it's kept that way. Hopefully, 2009 would be a worry-free year with regards to this desktop. Me and my friends got together a few days ago. We had a party and I totally abandoned them and fell asleep... I'm not a big drinker, to say the least. I had fun and I can't wait to see 'em again. :)