Update, Upgrade, Upheaval!

Ink Think is doing respectably well these days, after a long slow start, and I decided to reward myself this weekend. My old business (cell) phone has been having a harder and harder time taking a charge--the battery was fine, but the little connector thingy in the phone wasn't connecting unless you laid it down just right and held your mouth so. It was very WordPerfect 5.0!

After much thought and inner debate I decided to upgrade to a PDA. I denied myself 3 or 4 years ago when I got my last phone, unable to justify the expense for my tiny writing business. Now, though, I need it. I can edit documents while waiting for school to get out and not have to re-enter the hand edits on the soft copy when I get home. I hope. So I did it.

A cringe-worthy amount of money later me and my PDA headed home, a big grin on my face and a brand new picture of the kiddo, taken in the phone store, on my desktop.

6 HOURS later I finally got the ^&*%^# Windows Mobile syncing to work right and suddenly all was right with the world! My computer could see my phone.

Just not my email.

10+ HOURS later, and that's labor hours, real time is closer to 20 and yes, I did only get 5 hours of sleep last night, the process of migrating back to Outlook from Thunderbird is complete. Sort of. The messages are all there, and some are even sorted into the right folders, but some got lost, some ported over (a nightmarish 3-5 step process that either Microsoft or Mozilla needs to make easier!) blank, or were there but hiding in reams of code...

If you emailed me this weekend, well, it may have gotten lost in the shuffle. If I haven't replied, it's because I can't. I will be spending Monday on the phone with tech support, no doubt, figuring out why I can't seem to send through any of my SMTP servers. If you really need me, send me your Skype ID (or Yahoo, AIM, or MSN--pick an instant messenger) id in the email and I'll get back to you that way.

I wish this was it, but sometime this summer Ink Think will be migrating to a new computer, too. I must be nuts.

Nice Freebie Site

I heard about GiveAwayoftheDay on one of my writing lists - they had a nifty little writer's utility that day. Unfortunately I was on digest and didn't get the message until the next day, when it was no longer available for free.

The free software changes daily, 7 days a week, so I check it each morning now, along with my email.

For those with children, or a general love of gaming, there is also a Game.GiveawayoftheDay .

Patience is a Virtue

That means I'm asking my blog visitors to be virtuous for a little while.

I just moved the Ink Think blog from Blogger to my website and I'm still trying to work out the kinks in the process, so please be patient, and try not to laugh :-)

Tax Time - Why I Use Who I Use

I was a devout TurboTax user for years. Until last year.

The version of TurboTax that would help me file my taxes as a self-employed business owner was $69.99 last year. The H&R Block TaxCut version that did the same was $39.99. I'm a small business, to me that is a BIG difference.

In all honesty, I see very little difference between the two. Both have gotten harder to navigate over the years (I used TC once in the 90s, too) as they add more bells, whistles, and video tutorials (am I the only person who hates those? I Do Not want my computer to start talking to me when I am doing my taxes!)

Of course, I have it easier than most since I am based in Texas, one of the few states left without a state income tax.

WHY did H&R win me for a customer?

Simple. On December 27th I went to check my mail and there, in my mailbox, ready to be cracked open and used, was a full version CD of this year's software, the one needed to file Schedule C taxes. Sure, I still have to pay for it to activate it, but I didn't have to go to the store and compare all the versions and talk myself out of Turbo Tax (it's more expensive, it must be better, right?). In this case, time is money; they saved my time, they get my money.

Just to amuse Candy over at OffAssist, who KNOWS how much I love numbers, yes, *I* do our taxes. Every year since 1995. The one year my husband did them I ended up reviewing them and it took me 4 days!