I'm In Blogosphere

I have a problem with being curious about and obsessed with new technology. After 20 years of full-time work in the computer field I work part-time as a computer support specialist. The job pays the bills, however my passion is the Internet. I have done quite a bit of eBay trading, sold books on Amazon and Abe Books. I took on-line classes for web design/publishing and I do web pages "on the side".

I thought blogs were just personal diaries created by self-absorbed youngsters. WRONG. I can't recall why I finally decided to learn about blogging. Maybe someone emailed me a link to a blog. At any rate, the reach and potential of blogs is astounding. Of course, my idea is to either create a blog or maintain a blog(s) for someone else that generates income. Enough income that I can quit my job and blog for a living plus do web sites and eBay trading.

Don't get me wrong. I have a great job and work with a great coworker. However, at this point in my life I want to be able to work odd hours and from remote places.

After reading several books and lots of information on the web about blogs I finally took the plunge. "Who Let the Blogs Out" by Biz Stone is a great book about blogs and a quick read. The problem for me is what to blog about. So many choices. I made a list of the things I am interested in and ranked them in order of importance. The list has about 80 entries ranging from baby boomers to women's issues, to the Internet, to pets, to learning, to spirituality, to reading to kayaking, to the American Disabilities Act (related to Internet access issues). The variety is staggering and CONFUSING. I'm a regular Jill of All Trades and Master of None.

As for the name of this blog, Pirate Chocolate, I also have a passion for pirates and chocolate. Today I was at a resale shop with my partner and her sister and I bought two galvanized metal, handmade sail boats. Each is about 18" in length, 4" wide with a center mast about 16" high. I have plans to modify/decorate them into pirate ships. Can't wait. Perhaps I will post a picture of the completed fleet on this blog.

I just got done loading software on a new PC my partner's daughter bought today at Best Buy. In fact I am writing this blog on their new PC while Spy Sweeper scans their system. I went with the daughter and her husband to assist them in picking out a new PC using money from their tax refund. Thank you Mr. Tax Man. They spent about $1,000 getting a HP PC (AMD dual-core, 1GB RAM, 250MB HD, DVD/CD writer), 17" LCD screen, 3-in-1 printer, MS updates, Norton & Spy Sweeper. Big surprise to me, all PCs now ship with Vista. Theirs has Vista Home Edition - the salesperson said 1GB would be fine. So far, so good.

They are going to have to live with MS Works as I can load the MS Office 2000 I have on Vista. And the educational version of MS Office Pro from Best Buy is $150. Ouch, not enough tax refund money left for that!

I downloaded Picasa photo editing software and Kodak EasyShare (both free) and loaded a "borrowed" copy of Royal Brites Greeting Card software. They only can get dial-up so I used our DSL to download the software. I deliver it to their house tomorrow, will uninstall the old computer (do data transfers) and install the new one. I just love it when people are happy with their computer!

Time for bed, the scanning is done.