Ministry of Truth Established

The Department of Homeland security has set up a Ministry of Truth that is going to determine what is and isn't truth based on politics. This is in fulfillment of George Orwell's incredibly prophetic 1984. They're trying to make it sound innocent and limited. Don't be fooled. Once they get a full head of steam, it won't stop or be limited.

The government has no business deciding what truth is. For example, I've seen a number of news articles declaring that Ivermectin does nothing to fight Covid while at the same time we had studies from multiple countries showing that it can cure it. One study out of Israel found it can cure Covid in under 6 days.. Over the past week alone, I saw a TV show in which the host talked about a friend with long Covid who suffered over a year going from doctor to doctor to be told firmly that they had done all they could for him and that nothing more could be done. Out of desperation he went to some kind of independent clinic that gave him Ivermectin and cleared up his long Covid within days. He's fine now. Throughout the Covid pandemic truth changed from day to day. The government put people's lives at risk. Rather than tell the truth, the government knowingly allowed people to die because the truth might have helped the "wrong" political party. The last thing we need is a Ministry of Truth.

The United States Constitution does not grant the federal government the authority to decide what truth is or set up a Ministry of Truth.

Another interesting article, this one about BLM. BLM silent when confronted with data showing massive 2020 spike in Black murders victims. Experts concluded that BLM and de-fund the police were responsible for contributing to the deaths. Woke is putting people to sleep, permanently.

Book stuff.

The Chicago Manual of Style arrived. I want to use it to start a Fiverr gig doing proofreading and light editing. I sometimes play fast and loose with commas in my own work, so I'll be getting up to speed using the B'vellah series to practice with as well as the SF book I wrote last year. I have a second Fiverr gig I want to do, but it requires space and some equipment I don't have. I'm exploring the possibility of building a shed/studio for that and also making videos. I was just starting to make videos a few years ago when I ran into some health concerns. I need to start doing that again. I don't know if I'll be able to do the shed or not. I'll have more info later if things develop.

Have a great weekend.

Still on the Ground

It's hard to tell whether the extracted tooth site is getting better. Sometimes I'm in pain, mostly sinus pain. Sometimes I'm not. Today is a non-sinus pain day. I took an ibuprofen, but it's still bothering me.

Meanwhile, I ordered a Chicago Manual of Style this week. I found it cheaper than Amazon Prime but with slower shipping. It might get here next week. Once it is, I'll be able to move forward with doing a proofreading/editing gig on Fiverr. I'm kind of planning to start with the SF book I wrote last year and then open the Fiverr page, although, since it can take two months to get a first sale, I might go ahead and open the page while getting up to speed on comma rules and such that I play fast and loose with in my own writing. Alternatively, I could start with B'vellah Book 2 since that makes more sense.

It wasn't a great week. I'm weary of the dental problems. I was hoping the extraction would be behind me or at least a minimal irritant, but so much work had to be done on it that it's not. My plan was to recover and hit the ground running. It hasn't worked out that way.

Have a great weekend.

Another Step to Curing Aging

There was an interesting bit of longevity news this week.  Rejuvenation of woman's skin could tackle diseases of ageing. That title is click bait. Scientists Rewind The Clock of Human Skin Cells to Make Them Act 30 Years Younger has more details. Basically, researchers used a chemical bath to turn 53-year-old skin cells into 23-year-old skin cells. They were trying to turn them into stem cells and happened upon the anti-aging effect instead. This is not skin on a person. It's in the lab. Thus, any benefit from this shouldn't happen soon. That's okay. Now that we know this is possible, the hope is that it can be done in a living person and not just for skin but organs like kidneys and livers.

Another article in this field: Mystery of why humans die around 80 may finally be solved Long story short: it's the accumulation of genetic mutations. "The average number of mutations at the end of lifespan across species was around 3200, suggesting there is a critical mass of errors after which a body is unable to function correctly."

I'm closer to getting a proofreading gig up and running. As I was saying last week, I need MS Word, which is $124. This week I ran across this article: Want to Own Microsoft Office Forever With No Annual Fee? Here's How. At the bottom are two links, one for Windows and one for Mac, that lead to MS Office for $49.99. Needless to say, I took advantage of that and now own MS Word for a fraction of what it would cost otherwise. All I need to do at this point is get a proofreading style guide and set up a shop front.

I finally had that abscessed tooth extracted. I feel so much better. I have more energy. I feel less foggy. Even my pronunciation has has improved. It turns out the swelling was so great it was interfering with my speech. The extraction itself was extremely difficult. The tooth broke off with three roots still in my jaw. Those has to be dug out separately. I required stitches. I'm still recovering and, assuming no complications, should be doing okay by next week. Sadly, the procedure cost $80 more than estimated.

Now that I'm not constantly tired and brain foggy, I'm looking forward to getting the last two B'vellah War books out the door. Most of the series is finished. I need to make sure everything is in sync across all three books, and I need to finish the last book and polish and edit it. Since it can take two months to get a first job on Fiverr, which is where I'm setting up the proofreading gig, my plan is to get the series done before that. Assuming that nothing goes wrong.

Have a great weekend.

Preparation and Education

It was a bad week on the abscessed tooth front. The good news is that my next dental appointment is Monday. The plan is to have it extracted. After recovering from that, I should have more energy and better concentration. I've been thinking about the B'vellah War trilogy and whether to make changes to the ending. It seems that one change is all that's needed. If I'm back on my feet soon, I'd like to get the series finished and out the door in a timely fashion. I'm sorry it's taken so long.

I did some more research into starting a proofreading gig on Fiverr, though I haven't created the gig yet. I've also been doing research into a second gig. Why does everything take so much knowledge? I've listened to some YouTube videos by people who are successful on Fiverr and other sites. I have to admit I'm not a fan of jumping in and learning as I go. I don't see that as compatible with providing quality customer service. I'm going to have to learn as I go to a certain extent regardless, but I want to minimize the the bumps and make it as smooth as possible. I'm speaking mostly of the second gig. I've done tons of proofreading for my books, although I did have to go back and fix many, many things in the earlier ones. I should be able to get going with that as soon as I pick a style guide such as or equivalent to The Chicago Manual of Style and buy a copy of MS Word, which is $124. The last non-cash hurdle is to come up with a precise list of my services and study the style guide. I can play fast and loose with grammar rules for my own work, but I need to go by the book for customers.

Needless to say, dental bills are getting in the way of spending, and I was already looking for a side gig. This will be month three of dental work, and I have at least two more months to go. I put it off because of the pandemic. Catching up is beastly.

Because of the dental bills, I still haven't ordered fiber internet yet. I've been having connection problems with Verizon again with my cell phone hot spot, which is what I use for internet. They must be working on the network now that winter is over. I need to dump them as soon as I can and get real internet.

In addition to all this, I need hundreds of dollars of equipment for the second Fiverr gig. I'll have more info on that in the future when it's time to launch.

Have a great weekend.

Fiber News

It's the start of a new month. I've already changed my calendars. I hope you have, too.

There's good news. In previous blogs I've mentioned the broadband utility boxes for fiber that have gone up around me. I was supposed to get mail about it when it was available but never heard anything. This week I was able to stop by the ISP's main office and ask about it. Despite no mail, it's available! I've filled out the paperwork for a 200Mbps connection. That's the good news. The bad news is I haven't submitted it yet because of the cost of the dental work I've been getting and still need. I think I can afford it, but I need to do a deep dive into my spending to make sure. Installation is $175 plus a monthly fee of $64.95.

As noted before, I've been looking for some kind of side gig to make extra cash. I may have found it. While researching something else, I was recommended a video about doing copywriting on Fiverr. I've looked into copywriting before, but yuck, that's advertising. I still have my soul. Nevertheless, I looked at Fiverr to see what was there.

Forget copywriting. I can do proofreading and perhaps some light editing for what looks like starting around $1 per page. Hmm, I think I'm going to try that. The plan is to put together a Fiverr page this weekend. The only drawback is that I would need MS Word, which costs $124. I've been wanting that anyway for my own writing, so it's something I've been needing for a while. But still, that's a lot to invest in something that may not pay off. I also may need a reference manual. A further complication is that it can take 2 months to start getting work on Fiverr. The system is rigged to reward people who are already successful there, and it's crowded. I'd be up against people with degrees, people with decades of experience and professionals in the field.

My next step, besides setting up a page, is to research current proofreading and editing prices and work out what to charge and exactly what services I'd be providing. My concept is Proofeading Plus. For something close to standard proofreading fees, I'd proofread and do minor editing as a free bonus to pull in customers. We'll see.

Have a great weekend.