My right knee is stiff. I don't know why.

Last week's head cold lingers--mostly in the form of a slight cough and an intermittently drippy nose.

I don't know why I thought you'd want to know that.

I don't think I'm going to do much work today.

I mean, I've been here for almost three hours already and I haven't done any yet which is, I think, a pretty clear sign.

Mostly because it's right before the end of the month--I've created all the turmoil I can think of in the 'Nut accounts and am now awaiting, with baited breath, the outcome of all the activity.

The two new Corral accounts I mentioned last time aren't online yet--probably because I've been insufficiently "proactive" about nagging the people to get started. I should contact them today. Management has sent a demand that I contact one of them and I generally acquiesce to that kind of thing.

Yes. I might.

I might not. The amount of enthusiasm I can muster for taking on two more underfunded accounts with crappy websites that don't allow any kind of success tracking for me to optimize against is pretty limited.

The last Corral account I took on--those people call me every week to say they're getting nothing for their spend. I make polite noises and promise to "adjust things" but their webpage sucks and I could drive all the traffic in the world and they would still get nothing--a thing I'm not allowed to say.

Two new freelance accounts, though. One's online (last week) although I still have a major data analysis project underway for them. That's going to be a sizable one when I get it lined up and running--so complicated I was able to bid double my normal fee.

The other signed up just a couple of days ago and I'm still waiting for the client to tell me what day and time are good for him for me to call--to lay out the scope and timeline of all the projects he wants Gidget and I to handle. (I stacked the deck for Gidget on this one--the initial set of projects will be a $1,400 invoice, of which $1,200 will be for her.)

She and I are supposed to have lunch tomorrow--I'm going to demand that she tell me exactly what projects she's working on (she seems to have a lot that I'm not aware of) so that I can stop worrying that she's about to go bankrupt.

(She had an Offspring Crisis last week that wiped out her savings account, I know that for a fact. $20k at one stroke.) (I'm so glad to be childless.)

I--lack enthusiasm today. All the things I need to do can't be done because Corral websites don't support those things. I've done everything else I can think of and now, as already mentioned, have only to await results.

I'm bored of hanging out in the forum, answering people's question and anyhow Webstrainer finally started offering some customer service for newbies and there are a lot fewer questions than there were three or four moths ago.

I'm just blah.

It could be the cold, taking more out of me than I know, but this really wasn't a bad attack, as these things go, so it seems unlikely.

Yesterday, Amazon held a press conference to announce the long-awaited release of their tablet, Fire. They also announced the release of the touchscreen Kindle.

I was tempted and I fell--I placed a pre-order for Fire. I may yet reconsider--I have until November 15--but I might not. Lacking, as I do, a "smart" phone, I am woefully behind the curve on "apps" and "mobile browsing" technology. As these things become ever-more important to my job, I'm getting uncomfortable with my ignorance. (It's practically a business expense!)

After some consideration (at least 30 seconds), I decided that a tablet was a better investment than a smartphone, proper activation of which would entail doubling or maybe tripling my monthly phone bill. I don't quite understand how the tablet gets online except that I know that if I use it at home, I can use it through my already existing wireless network, so no extra charge. (Presumably I'd have to pay for access elsewhere.) (I really need to figure this out before Nov 15.)

I might reconsider. All the things people want a tablet to do--play games, listen to music, read books, check email, stream movies, watch television shows--these are not things I'm interested in or not things I'm needing a table to do.

I mean--I'm not going to have a sudden, desperate need to watch a movie while I'm out to lunch one day, you know? I don't have spare time to spend on computer games. I rarely listen to music--really, almost never--and if I did, I'd choose a better experience than a built-in computer speaker. I don't roam around town aimlessly, so I don't need GPS or Mapquest at my fingertips. I spend so much time working that the few hours I'm out, away from my computer on the weekends, are more of a welcome break from email access than a deprivation.

I strongly suspect that my life isn't complicated enough to justify having any new tech gadgets to help me manage it.

Maybe I'll eat breakfast.

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P.S. I ramble on sometimes and I never use cut tags. Is anyone seeing this through RSS and needing me to make cuts?