The Writer's Basket

Lightening Does Strike

I think I'll remember to shut down my computer and unplug it the next time we have a thunderstorm. Evidently my house was struck last week because the Time Warner repair man blamed my lack of service on lightening.

I lost my Internet connection last Thursday or Friday, and by Saturday my Mom let me know the house phone wasn't working either. I've had cable TV with Time Warner since before it was Comcast, and I switched over my phone service over to them in the last few months. With the phone and Internet both out, I thought the problem probably had to do with some connection in the house. I tried connecting my computer to the Internet every way I could think of, and nothing made any difference. I was glad when the cable guy finally arrived.

He didn't check any lines in the house like I thought he would. He fixed the problem from my computer--or from the computer area. He showed me the lights on the box that connects to the computer from the wall. He said my particular lit up buttons indicated a power surge. When he "fixed" the computer, the phone worked too. I don't understand how all the connections hook up with each other, but I'm glad it works. After almost a week without Internet I was really feeling isolated.

I'm still learning to use my Blackjack phone, and it was being particularly difficult when it was my primary means of communication. I would have used the Internet to try the Blackjack tutorial, because once I go through a tutorial a lot of my queries should be answered. But no Internet. I couldn't research for my writing job--no Internet. Every time I started to do some new task it involved getting on the Internet. Shoot!

I figured out that if the screen on the phone won't light up at all that the phone needs to be charged. This PDA seems to need a charge every single day. I had a Razr before this and it was better about keeping its charge. So, while I was waiting for the ATT phone to charge, I started hunting for my Trac phone that I was using as a business phone earlier in the year. When I found it, it needed a charge also. It was several hours before I could make a phone call. All in all, I missed the computer connection more than I missed the phone.

I have a paid assignment to write web content on the general topic of health and fitness. He only was asking for articles of about 500 words, but the first article on skin cancer went closer to 750 words. Adrian is the person I'm writing for, and he liked the article, and my style of writing. I'd sent him the article before I lost my connection, but I wasn't able to get on a computer to check my e-mail. I thought he might have given up on me. It was nice to get positive feedback. I need to insert one internal linkinto the article, and go back and make sure all my quotes are identified. He doesn't necessarily want MLA form. He just wants solid info documented. He wants the articles to be documented to make them "scholarly". I'll work out a system for citations as time goes on.

So in the almost week I was without communication service, I didn't accomplish much. I did research the next topic. I'd printed a dozen articles about insomnia when I was working on an article last Christmas. I usually print my research because I read better from paper, plus I can highlight and make notes. I have lots of old research that I haven't thrown away. It was too many pieces of paper to part with. I guess that's why I'm keeping it. So many pieces of paper. . . so many murdered trees. At any rate, by now the second article is hand written, and I need to get it typed up so I can send it to Adrian before the weekend.

I tie myself up in knots when I have a writing job. I feel like I need to work at getting the articles done ALL the time. No time to cook, go to the store, or water the yard. I FEEL LIKE I need to keep my attention on researching and writing, and I feel guilty if I spend time on anything else. But, I do other stuff, and end up feeling guilty because I'm not managing my time well. Better time management would get me to the end of the final draft more quickly. It's a good idea to work on, but right now I need to type up my insomnia article.

If you'd like to check out the web site that my content will be showing up on, go to this url:

http://www.Elements4Health.com