Mishmash Musings

I just downloaded a program called BlogDesk, which allows users to publish to their blogs through a desktop interface instead of having to go to the websites all the time. This is my first post with BlogDesk, and I just want to see how well it works.

So far, I like what I can do with it. The toolbar looks like a combination of the Blogspot and WordPress buttons that I’m already familiar with, and it’s easy to toggle between all the blogs I have loaded in here.

Now I’m going to publish and see how this works out….

I usually prepare my own tax returns with the help of Turbo Tax because my finances aren’t very complicated at all. That has to change this year, however, as I learned that I’ve been missing out on several key deductions that would have resulted in greater refunds overall. I talked with an accountant about this, and he agreed that I should have more money coming back to me. He said that he could go over my returns for the last few years, file amended returns, and try to get that money for me. I thought that sounded great, so I agreed.

This conversation took place a few months ago, and since that time, I’ve tried on no less than three occasions to get back in touch with the guy (via email), but haven’t had a response from him. The price he quoted me was between $500 and $600, so he stands to make some decent money from me for a few hours’ work. Why hasn’t he gotten back to me? I have no idea, and at this point I don’t care. I’m looking for a new accountant who takes his clients more seriously.

What has happened to basic professional courtesy? Since when has it become acceptable for businesses not to return clients’ phone calls and emails? This kind of thing has been happening pretty frequently, and I have had enough of it. I’m not going to continue giving these kinds of businesses my money. If I’m not important to them, they’re not important to me. It’s that simple.

Have you heard about this story yet? A 28-year-old woman in California died after drinking two gallons of water as part of a radio show contest called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii.” The object of the contest was to see who could drink the most water without going to the bathroom.

The deceased woman, whose name was Jennifer Strange, drank 2 gallons in a short period of time (the actual time was not specified). Strange reportedly gave up on the contest after she started feeling ill while it was still going on, and accepted the second-place prize of Justin Timberlake concert tickets. She died just a few hours later in her home, leaving behind a husband and three children.

Wow, this is as crazy a story as I’ve heard. It seems that the DJs were even warned by a nurse that the stunt could potentially be lethal, but they just shrugged it off by saying that the contestants signed waivers. Incredible. They were (rightly) fired and now there’s an investigation under way.

I talked to my cousin last night about how my diet is going. She’s trying to lose a few pounds too, so we were checking on each other’s progress. I was surprised to hear that she has already dropped two pounds in the last two weeks. She told me about the kinds of foods she’s eating (and avoiding) and the kinds of exercises she’s doing. Her routine isn’t all that different from mine, yet I haven’t seen any results yet.

Then she told me that she’s also taking diet supplements, which I’m not at the moment. That’s probably the reason that she’s losing weight while I’m staying the same. I have to check out these supplements soon and start taking something to speed up this weight loss!

After reading yesterday’s news article about how Napoleon likely died of stomach cancer, I became rather curious as to the origin of this disease. I’m not sure why, but I was always under the impression that cancer was a relatively recent disease. But no, according to this very interesting and detailed article that I found on cancer.org, the disease has been around since at least 1600 B.C., when the first written description of it was recorded. Wow!

I have been doing pretty well in terms of sticking to my diet and exercise routine. I took a day off from everything on Sunday in order to enjoy a party for the Bears game, but I got right back into my routine on Monday. I’ve even found some other people who have similar weight loss goals, which is nice because now I have a support group to lean on when things get tough. That could make all the difference for me!

Like most people, I studied Napoleon Bonaparte a little bit as part of a World History class in high school. I don’t remember much of that, though, and certainly didn’t recall the manner in which he died. Well, according to this LiveScience.com article, Napoleon was first thought to have died of stomach cancer, but then that assessment was chanced to arsenic poisoning after traces of that substance were found after performing an analysis of his hair.

But now scientists are back to stomach cancer again. No new tests were performed to come to this conclusion; scientists just re-analyzed existing data.

I think it’s pretty interesting that they can tell so much about a person’s death even after two centuries — that’s just amazing to me!

There are so many things I need to get done each day that I welcome any and all tips that could potentially help me save time. For example, I try to do as many errands on the Internet as possible, such as banking, paying bills, and even some shopping. One thing I’ve never tried, but would soon like to, is filling my prescriptions online. It’s now possible to get Tramadol and other pain relievers without ever having to leave the house — provided that you have a legitimate prescription, of course. I think I’m going to try that the next time I need to fill a prescription!