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Kindle E-Reader Review.

/ Jo Redd / 2 Comments

This will be short and sweet:

Until Amazon decides to put out an e-reader with color, their devices are no better than your standard phone. I grew accustomed to using kindle on my phone, and yet, for some reason, I decided that I really needed to get a device that was specifically for reading. I had envisioned taking it to work to always have a digital A&P book handy. I liked the idea of having multiple ways to consume media. Kindle readers are useless if I can’t see the pictures in color.

A lot of the reviews mention the stellar battery life: I am willing to forgo a long battery life if it means I can see the images in color. I want to pull up a picture within one of the books and not have to play a guessing game with what I’m looking at.

Had I been paying better attention when I bought the e-reader, I opted to get a tablet instead. I already need to get a tablet for when I begin homeschooling in earnest, but I would have made that purchase before I got my Kindle Paperwhite.

The device itself is exemplary. It’s lightweight, and it holds a ton of different books. I love the Kindle app because I find numerous other free books beneficial for both my personal and professional life. I wish it could play audio because I assumed I could pair my audible app with the reader. I was wrong.

Overall, skip the e-reader and get yourself a tablet.

Review of the Clever Fox Budget Planner.

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

I’ve been using the budget planner for two weeks now, and besides its beauty, I’m not sure why I bought it. I think the majority of the issues are an error on my end, but it just doesn’t seem like something that can realistically be used to track your finances.

The bi-weekly budget doesn’t make sense to me like I thought it would. I think I’m someone who needs to see the day-to-day finances, and I’m sure that a planner will cost a ton more money.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it because it doesn’t seem very helpful. I have many more bills than the slots allotted for them. I, at some point, hope to be having multiple streams of income, and the pages aren’t very flexible for trying to change the layout. I’m pretty disappointed with this purchase, and while there is a money-back option- I don’t know if it covers the planner once you’ve started writing in it. I plan on chalking this up to experience, and I’ll never be repurchasing it.

Winter can be over now

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Yesterday the midwest was slammed with a major snowstorm, and the area where I reside was finally caught in the crosshairs. Roughly eleven inches of snow fell. Initially, the snow was heavy and wet, but just as the winds picked up last night, the snow became light and fluffy. It was beautiful to watch the snow yesterday. Most businesses were closed early, and so it was tranquil, even in the heart of town, and the snow wasn’t being blown about; it was just falling silently to the ground. I even managed to keep my car cleaned off yesterday afternoon.

Last night was a different story. Keeping up with shoveling was next to impossible due to the high winds, and the temps dropped rapidly. Going outside last night was awful, and I couldn’t stay warm for longer than a minute or two. At about 9 pm, I gave up and decided I wouldn’t be going outside again. Now my car is completely stuck. I am supposed to move it so someone can come to take the pile of snow away, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible today.

I feel trapped, I am currently experiencing cabin fever, and I am in an awful mood. I hate winter, and I’m ready for it to be done. Spring can show up any time now.

The Job Hunt.

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Back at the beginning of October, I began casually checking the job listings in my area due to some significant changes with my current employer. Once December rolled around, that job hunt became a higher priority, and right now, I am looking daily for something new.

Within the last six months, I have begun working towards various certifications, and none of them seem to be taking me anywhere. I enrolled in the Prior Authorization Certification Specialist program because the clinic I work in considered getting a nurse to do just that for our providers. I was told there was an excellent chance to get the course reimbursed. About a week after I paid for the class, an email was sent out saying that the main hospital campus would be taking over this task, which rendered my certification useless. (and naturally, there was no reimbursement for something the company was no longer interested in.) Perhaps the most frustrating part about this is that any jobs looking for PACS certification want an experienced worker as well. Since obtaining my certification, I have gotten no more work with prior authorizations because they are done out-of-clinic.

I took applications all around town last week. I have yet to hear back from any of those companies. After reading reviews on Indeed, I walked into one establishment, confident that I would be interviewed on the spot, but the manager wasn’t available to speak to me. I called that same business on Monday and, again, the manager was unavailable.

I keep up with the news, and there seem to be endless reports about places needing workers. I can’t even get Culvers to call me back. It isn’t like I am refusing any avenue for a job; the jobs just aren’t interested in me. I could apply to McDonald’s, where they pay their workers anywhere between $13 and $15 an hour, but I bet they say I’m overqualified to work the register. I consider a job as an administrative assistant, and they want me to have 5+ years of super-specific industry skills while only offering to pay $15 an hour. There was a remote position listed on indeed for a test scorer, and that position also required a bachelor’s degree for $16 an hour.

While I would never say that a company should have to pay me more, I will say that a college should not take taxpayer dollars and then charge $30,000 a year for just the classes.

Scared to make the next move.

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

I want to work as a freelancer; I would like to help others, but I want to do so on my schedule. I am falling into the same old rut where I have nothing to offer. I know that can’t possibly be true, but the small voice in the back of my mind is beginning to grow louder. Every day I have entered at least one application for a new position, and almost every day, I find another rejection email. The worst is when the company gives nothing but silence. I couldn’t tell you if I was still in the review process or if certain companies have outright rejected me.

I get it. I’m in my thirties, and I realize that most people are too busy to reach out unless they want something. I just wish that I knew what I was doing wrong. Since the beginning of the year, I have updated my resume, I have taken numerous assessments, and still, I am striking out.

I cannot feasibly jump into a writing career at home if I have no audience and no job. My current job is still sucking the life out of me, and my motivation is struggling to be found. I want to make this blog more marketable, but I don’t foresee people wanting to hear me complain. The struggle is real, and I don’t feel like I progress. I can’t decide if I can use my papers from college or if that is considered plagiarism, and I don’t know if community college writing would be sufficient for some of the careers I am applying for.

Planning for the Future.

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Roughly three days before the end of 2021, I got an idea in my head that I needed to buy a planner for the new year. I am trying to become a freelance worker, and I don’t think I can keep everything in order if I don’t have something to write in. I love making lists and keeping track of my schedule, but sometimes it can be challenging for me to continue using planners. Normally I would consider using a regular notebook, but there’s something so blah about using just another writing book.

After checking out a couple different sites that recommend which planner to use, this is the post that sold me on getting a Clever Fox planner. I’ve only had the planner for a few days, but already I have fallen in love with it. The cover is soft, and the color green is a dark hue that makes the planner look super sleek. Its got three different bookmarks, which come in handy for marking the monthly, weekly, and daily pages.

Inside the planner, you’ve got beautifully thick pages that can hold up to the medium-point fountain pen I use, and there is no bleeding through to the backside of the page. All pages are left black for the date, which is excellent for people like me who can be sporadic with their planner usage. Initially, the planner asks for affirmations, things that give you joy, and a spot for habits that you would like to adopt over the next year. Next is a vision board, and then there are two total pages dedicated to goals for all aspects of your life.

The most important part comes next: this is where you can do some serious preparation, down to the hour if that’s what you need. The month calendars give you an area for monthly goals, as well as a place to reflect on what was successful and what you’ll work on the following month. Each month’s side is an area of specific plans of action.

For the week portion of the planner, you can set different habits you want to work on, goals and priorities for that specific week, as well as a work and personal to-do list. At the end of seven days, there is a weekly reflection to discuss what was successful and what areas of life need improvement.

Each day has a schedule you can use and areas to list daily goals, a to-do list, and a small room at the bottom to reflect on how productive your day was.

I’m already so impressed with this planner that I’m getting ready to purchase the budget planner that is also made by Clever Fox. I think I’ve finally found a product that I will continue to use and can genuinely help hone my time management skills.

If you’re interested in buying one, I suggest you look at this one!

Edit: I still love this planner, but my critiques all remain the same as of 6/4/2022

My First Surprise of 2022

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

I wasn’t planning on making any resolutions for this year because every year before this one has been an epic failure. In 2020 I had made decent progress, and then the pandemic hit, and all the goals I set went out the window.

While I would like to lose weight and become a healthier person, that was not something I had put high on the priority list. I assumed that if I became more active in general, my health would come up also. When I woke up this morning, I checked my email, like I always do, and was more than a little shocked to see that I had a receipt for a Noom membership. I signed up for the program about 9 months ago when I became enthusiastic about working out again, but I quickly lost interest. I knew a renewal was coming up. I just wasn’t sure of the date. Well, that date was today.

I suppose this means I should try and use it diligently. If I keep paying for the service, it makes no sense to let this opportunity pass me by.

So Cold

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

The polar vortex is upon us and its giving me terrible cabin fever. The roads are dangerous because we keep getting snow squalls and with the low temperatures you can’t keep it from freezing, so I have been sticking to home. I’ve got plenty of books that I could be reading but I feel like I need to be going somewhere. I hate feeling like I am trapped, and I begin trying to make any excuse to leave.

Wind chills are -30 so I refuse to take my kid out in this, but that means we’ve had to come up with creative ideas to stay active in a very small space. We have a very cold entry room that we will occasionally bring a tub of snow into and I’ll let my child play with that for a while. He is very much into reading so we will spend a good chunk of the afternoon reading, and I recently signed up for this kid streaming service that is supposed to be more “wholesome” content. We’ve also started designing tents using different furniture pieces, a favorite of X’s. Those solar lanterns have come in handy for when he wants to “sit in the dark tent.”

Guilty Pleasure Movie

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Everyone has a go-to guilty pleasure movie; mine just happens to be an entire franchise. Any Fast and Furious movie is something I’m willing to sit down and watch and I’m looking forward to seeing the next installment.

Because of the quarantine, I discovered CinemaSins which is a movie review channel on YouTube. He has done reviews of all 8 films and I’ve watched them all multiple times because often I’m laughing over his jokes. Its such an accurate take on each movie and some of the one liners are hilarious to the point of tears. I guess I never realized just how ridiculous this series was in its entirety.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

If bad car movies aren’t your thing (when it comes to reviews) never fear, the channel has a variety of different genres and the commentary is punctuated perfectly with the clips included. Other personal recommendations would be his review of Twister and School of Rock. Again, the analysis provided in each video is unique and its fast paced so even though the videos are close to twenty minutes, it doesn’t feel like you’ve spent that much time on it. The reviews, at times, are better than the movies themselves.

Winter is Here!

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Winter has finally descended upon the Midwest and its time to pull out the inside activities. So, today we decided to tackle one of my kid’s puzzles. It is only 100 pieces but its pretty cool, and it glows in the dark!

Side note: My kid hasn’t put down the lanterns since they got here. They are definitely a hit. And when you keep them on their low level they last about 30 hours.