Google+ Auto Awesome Can Kiss My Auto Ass

Beware: this is a rant.

I've been attempting to create an auto awesome video via Google+ Photos for half the night, with absolutely zero success. Unless, of course, my goal was to gradually transform into a bald,  screaming chimp, due to all of the hair pulling, with no prayer for uttering anything less than what might be found within a sailor's whore's thesaurus, while exercising the tiniest thread of restraint from bashing this phone into a google of pieces. In that case, I consider my level of success unprecedented.

After our family vacation, I told everyone to send their photos & videos my way, and promised I would do something special with all of them.

After THREE failed attempts, I am ready to lose my shit on Google. Here's the godforsaken problem:

1. You can only create auto awesome videos via an Android device, which I have, but this means I can't use a computer if, say, the app is a raging piece of garbage. 
2. You can't edit a video once you've saved it and exited the edit screen. 
3. The app crashes ridiculously often. When you dismiss the alert, you're taken OUT of the edit screen you were in, meaning your video is done whether you effing like it or not. 

FFFFF#$*%KKKKKKK.  

I hate you so much right now, Google. You owe me for HOURS of wasted time tonight. 

FIX YOUR PIECE OF SHIT APP. 

/rant

Best, Easiest FREE Way to Mass Forward Emails in Gmail

The Backstory

(Scroll to "Got Your Back" to get right to the solution).

Recently, I received the dreaded notification from Google that I'm approaching my 15GB storage limit.  I am the type of person that doesn't like to do any mass deleting of emails, because I'm afraid I'll accidentally delete a single important one.  I also reference old emails quite often, whether it's to reminisce or to retrieve a nice document I made years ago, that I'd like to reuse.  The bottom line is, I have no interest in sifting through emails for hours, trying to delete enough to buy me another month or two before my storage starts running out again.

So, I decided, "Why don't I just create a new Gmail account, and move all of my work-related emails from my previous job to it?"  I have a feeling that's a good 5-6GB worth of emails, and with it being so easy to switch between two accounts, I figured this was a great plan... until I attempted to actually move the old emails over to the new account.

Maybe there's a better solution out there than the one I found, but I most definitely could not find it.  I had a difficult enough time locating ANY solution, much less a good one.  It's a fairly simple process if you're looking to migrate ALL emails to the new account, but I needed to forward only certain labels and nested labels to the new account.

The most common answers I found were:

1. Amit Agarwal's Bulk Forward from Gmail Script - This solution wasn't quite as easy to find, but it's definitely scattered about the web, and popular enough.  It was the best solution before I found the one I'm about to tell you about.  In a nutshell, you specify what label you want emails forwarded from, and what email address you want them forwarded to, and run the script.  The problem is, Gmail imposes a 100/day sending limit, meaning it would've taken me something like 7.5 months to forward all the email I want to forward.  This definitely doesn't cut it.  I did try the script out, though, and it works perfectly for anyone that's interested!  You can find it, along with a tutorial, here: http://www.labnol.org/internet/auto-forward-gmail-messages/20665/.  
2. Create a Filter - First and foremost, be advised that this does NOT WORK.  It is a horrible suggestion that a surprising amount of people have made.  They state that you can create a filter (Gmail's search bar - click the down arrow - enter your criteria - click to filter messages - check the "Forward it" option).  Gmail even states at the bottom of the screen that old messages will not be forwarded.  They're not lying.  Clicking "Apply filter to existing X emails" does not "trick" Gmail into forwarding them.  If only it were that easy... 
3. POP3/IMAP - This is probably easiest for anyone looking to migrate ALL mail.  It's not particularly seamless if you want to preserve your labels (you can with IMAP, not POP), but all you have to do is set it up & it'll pull all of your emails into whatever 3rd party client you choose (Outlook, Thunderbird, Opera Mail, etc.).  Then, you can mass forward to your heart's desire.  

Then, as I was hopelessly searching for a better solution, I stumbled across Got Your Back.  It was a one-line suggestion, absolutely buried within the mile-long comments of a random webpage I can't even remember at this point.  So, for this reason, I'm writing about it here, to hopefully help spread the word!

Got Your Back

Got Your Back is an awesome, free, open source solution that allows for a pretty decent amount of customization.  It's basically just a backup/restore tool, but it's the details that set it apart, and make it such an ideal solution for someone like myself.  

You can download it here, and the instructions are located here.  If you're not terribly computer savvy, don't be discouraged too quickly... it's not as hard as it looks!  Plus, they have a helpful Google Groups community, located here, where you can ask questions.  

Here's How I Did It

NOTE - Their instructions are more to-the-point and brief, if you want to just get right down to it, and you're confident enough that you know what you're doing.  If you want to understand how/why I did things, read on!

I had a parent label - I'll name it Company - with 7 or 8 nested labels (sublabels, or child labels) - I'll call them Client1, Client2, Client3, etc. - that I wanted to migrate or mass forward to my new email account, which I'll call account2@gmail.com.  My primary account, we'll call account1@gmail.com.

So, after following the initial instructions to download the GYB .zip file and extract it to the C:/ drive, I began some testing to ensure I could trust this program. 

First, I went to Gmail's settings and turned off Conversation mode, so I could get the actual count of emails within each label, and compare them to what GYB was saying.  

Click the Gear icon, go to Settings and turn off Conversation View to see
the number of actual emails within a label/search.

Next, I went into the Client1 label, which I knew was a minimal amount of emails.  I noted there were 182.  

As per GYB's instructions, I opened a command prompt (Start - type CMD - hit enter - it'll bring up a black DOS-looking box).  First, they instruct you to change to the proper directory by typing the following: 

cd \gyb

That's cd-space-BACKslash-gyb then press enter to execute it.  Not so hard, right?  

Now that you're in the right directory, you can start executing commands and requests.  The first thing I wanted to do was have GYB tell me how many emails it sees/would backup in the Client1 label.  I did this by typing the following command: 

gyb --email account1@gmail.com --action count --search "label:Client1"

That's gyb-space-dash-dash-email-space-account1@gmail.com-space-dash-dash-action-space-count-space-dash-dash-search-space-quotation marks-label:Client1-quotation marks.  Then press enter to execute it. 

The first time you run any command, a window will pop up, asking you to give GYB access to your Gmail account.  Approve it, and go back to your command window, where it will now continue its count, and report its findings back to you.  For me, it matched perfectly... 182.  

So, I decided to do a test backup/restore.  To perform the backup, here's what I typed: 

gyb --email account1@gmail.com --action backup --search "label:Client1"

That's the exact same command as earlier, except the action is backup instead of count.  Got Your Back performed the backup within seconds, and confirmed it was finished.  So, now it's time to restore (aka, import) the emails to my new account (account2@gmail.com)!  Here's how I did it: 

gyb --email account2@gmail.com --action restore --local-folder GYB-GMail-Backup-account1@gmail.com

NOTE that the local-folder is the default folder backups are saved to. If you manually customized this, then you need to change the local-folder to whatever the correct path is.  Also, just like before, since this is the first time I wrote a command for account2@gmail.com, a window will pop up asking me to give Got Your Back access to that email account.  This is a one-time thing.  Approve it, and go back to the command window to see the automagical restore taking place!

Once it was finished restoring, I hopped over to account2@gmail.com, and sure enough, all 182 emails were not only there, both the parent Company label and the Client1 child label were created, with all the emails sitting in Client1's label.  I was thrilled... it worked!

I repeated this process for one or two more smaller client sublabels and had absolutely no problems whatsoever.  It imported exactly as many emails as expected, it created all the labels for me in the new account, and everything appeared to be running perfectly. 

Once I confirmed when a set of emails were successfully migrated over to account2@gmail.com, I would delete all of them from account1@gmail.com, thus creating a bit more storage space, label by label.  

Since I now trust Got Your Back completely, I am in the middle of backing up one of my biggest labels, with nearly 10,000 emails in it.  It's up to about 7,000, and counting!  I can't wait to delete all 10,000 emails from that label in account1@gmail.com, and see how much storage space I was able to clear out with that one label.  

With Gmail's great search capabilities, and GYB's ability to work with nearly every search term used in Gmail, this is by far the best solution for me, especially since I have no desire to delete a bunch of emails in order to make room.  

I hope this helps even just one person that was in the same position as I have been for the past couple of weeks.  Don't hesitate to comment or contact me if I can help!

Create Storage Space in Gmail Without Deleting Anything!

This past several months, I've been battling with reaching my 15GB storage limit with Gmail.  I, however, have no desire to sift through a million emails and find ones that are "delete-worthy."  I reference old emails too often to start trying to get rid of them in order to create more space.  

I received my first notification a couple of months ago, and Googled all the strategies I could find on how to clear out some space.  I cleaned out the Trash, and some files within Google Drive, I cleaned out the obvious garbage in Gmail and emptied the Trash, and basically followed a lot of the generic solutions I found across several reputable sites.  

While it was enough to get me by (and stop the obnoxious, "You're running low on storage space. Try freeing up space or purchase additional storage" message in Gmail), it didn't last very long, and a couple of weeks ago, I found myself right back at square one.  

So, I came up with my own solution to create a separate, new Gmail account, and migrate a ton of emails from my primary account over to it.  I like this idea, because I can use the 2nd account solely for storage, and occasional referencing.  I decided to move a ton of old work emails over to it, but if I wanted to, I could move all emails with photo & video attachments, or all emails to/from a certain person, etc.  Anything I desire!

It was the perfect solution.... but I ran into a huge snag.  Gmail doesn't offer ANY options for bulk forwarding or migration of specific emails.  I couldn't believe it.  Long story short, I searched and searched, and finally found a perfect solution that allows me to back up ONLY the emails I want, and restore them in the new account.  Read my "Best, Easiest, FREE Way to Mass Forward Emails in Gmail" article to learn more about that program and process!

Toilets: It's Time for Change

It's the age old battles with men vs. women... the Battle of Toilet Seat Downs, the Whyistheflooryellow Inquisition, and the unforgettable War of Ohnoshesatinpiss Runforyourlife.  Many men have lost a limb over these things, and many women have experienced rage and fury beyond what she ever imagined she was capable of.  And all for what?

Flush toilets date all the way back to the 26th century BC.  The ones we use today date back more to the early 1900's but still... nothing has really changed at all since 1980, and the basic design hasn't changed since the early 1900's.  That is a problem.

Here's where I think we solve the battle... Recognition that toilets were not made for men.  Not for peeing anyway.  If you understand the anatomy, you'd understand that peeing, for a guy, isn't as simple as point, shoot & aim.  It's actually more unpredictable than that... the "stream" is different every time (just like it is for women).  So women have to try to understand that it's not that he's necessarily being a lazy pig when he pees.  If he's going to be a lazy pig, it's going to be when he fails or refuses to clean up after himself when he's done.

My big frustration is that men refuse to just SIT DOWN.  It comes down to one of two things... their idiotic notion that it somehow threatens their manhood (in the privacy of a bathroom where no one can see them), OR the notion that it's less convenient to have to take another 5 seconds to sit down, and then stand up.  Sitting down would solve everything.

But they won't do it.  Most men are too lazy to lift the toilet seat & put it back down, much less actually sit down & stand back up (ugh what a nightmare!).  It makes no sense, but whatever.  We still love them in spite of their horrible bathroom behavior.

So back to my solution... toilets weren't made for men.  What we need is something that attaches to modern toilets, that can be easily installed, and that is intended only for use by men.  I'm thinking some kind of awesome funnel/hose design that attaches to the side of the toilet, "stretches" & is hand held when in use, and is reattached to the side of the toilet when not in use.  Something that keeps clean & is easy to clean...

Something that is made for men, and that can attach to existing toilets would revolutionize in-home toilets, and would make for much happier men & women!  So there it is... now someone needs to go out & invent it.  Kthxbai.

Day 5: Good News All Around!

The last bit of news I received from Jay was that he managed to recover almost 5 GB, and it was trying to pull down the "broken" files.  525 of them.  He's managed to recover a tremendous amount of files, and I only ended up losing a fraction of them, so I'm thrilled about that!  My only last hope now is that the "lost" files are ones I didn't care about or need anyway :)  Did I mention he's a god!

On another note, I've just been offered an opportunity to join the Meeting Play team, which is an incredible opportunity.  Meeting Play is pretty much a separate part of the company I work with, and it's growing like a weed.  We're looking at having to begin hiring on a bunch of people to support it.

I've been asked to come to the February 5 - 8 meeting for Worley in Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX to be trained, and see if it's something I might want to do. I was hesitant at first, because I've traveled on business a lot before, and it gets very old after a while.  It's definitely got is perks though.... being paid to travel can certainly be fun, too :)  I guess it just depends on where you're traveling to, and how often you're traveling.

Although I do have to give my former boss, Art, some credit... back in the day, when we were traveling so much on business, he did always try to take at least one afternoon to sight see or do something entertaining.  We had a lot of fun on a few of our trips, but nevertheless, it ran its course after a while.  Plus, the idiotic gossip back at the workplace just got to be unbearable anymore.  That place was full of miserable gossips, with their Queen at the helm.  Art always said it was fueled by jealousy, which I think is just as idiotic.  It really was so much like high school.  Everyone was always so cut-throat and out for themselves.  It was just the culture there.  Thank god those days are behind me.  My life is SO much better now that I work with an entire team of such intelligent, talented, driven, and kind people. I couldn't ask for a better dream team!

Anyway, we apparently just landed our first white label enterprise account... Pepsi.  This is huge.  Really, really huge for us.  We trusted Joe from the beginning, and this just goes to show exactly why.  He is so ambitious, and he's a genius... he is destined for success, and we're so honored to be a part of the team from the ground floor.  He's also such a great guy to work for in general.  I really, really love my job.  

So, after Dallas, if I decide it's something I want to continue doing, I'll basically have the opportunity to choose several meetings / places I'd like to be included in (to travel to & work at). It sounds like an awesome opportunity!!  So I'm very much looking forward to seeing where this leads.

With that said, I suppose today I'm grateful for options, opportunities, and anticipating the future!  Life is good :)

Day 4 - HOORAY!!!

So far, so good with the hard drive!  Jeff's genius brother was able to extract the ONE crucial file that I couldn't recover from losing.  I couldn't be happier about that :)  So, we're off to a good start.

The last thing I heard was that he was going to try extracting the rest via brute force, and basically just let it do its thing until it dies.  I'm not sure if he was able to recover additional My Documents data (that was my 2nd primary need... the remainder of my work files), so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.  If I had my way, I'd at least get the rest of the My Documents data - all of it.  Not just work related.

It goes without saying that I've lost my music, photos and video library, which crushes me, really.  I had some great stuff in there.  Some of it was at least backed up on my external hdd... maybe I'll get lucky and discover that the majority of it was backed up :)

I can always recover my movies & music... that won't be a problem.  Just time consuming.  The good thing is that Jeff has a LOT of the same movies & music that I did, so probably half of what I want is already on his hdd.  The photos?  I am not sure.  I know I emailed myself a lot of my photos, to ensure I would never lose them, but I'm not sure I emailed everything.  I'll lose some here & there in the process, but I still consider myself SO lucky that I didn't lose the most important things.

Anyway... Yesterday, I wished to blog about good news today.  And I am.  So for that, I am grateful :)

Day...3? God help me....

Well, that didn't take long.  I got 2 days into 365 Days of Gratitude before failing to write (lol).  In my defense, it's because I had no PC to blog with.  My hard drive died on me.  And I could just about die because of it... my whole life is on that PC.  And of course it was one of those things where I kept thinking "I really should do a backup."  Yeah.... too little, too late.  Can we say cloud storage anyone?  You better believe I'm already signed up for Dropbox... .

So, Jeff's brother is taking a look at it tonight.  I hope beyond hope he can recover the data.  At least SOME of it, anyway.  There are several things on that HDD that will be very difficult to reproduce.  I can recover from this, but it won't be easy. I will be devastated if I can't get some of that data back :(

And these are the exact types of days 365 Days of Gratitude is good for.  The bad days.  The days where it's really difficult to find something to be grateful for.  I REALLY hope I have something to be super grateful for after Jeff's brother looks at my hard drive :)

So for today, I"m going to say I'm grateful to even have someone to hand my hard drive over to.  I wouldn't trust it more in anyone else's hands.  If there is a way to recover that data, Jay will manage to do it.  He's a PC guru.

Fingers crossed!  I hope I have something really, really good to write about tomorrow :)

Day 2: I Am Grateful to Be Trusted

I have the best job ever.  Best boss ever, too!  Both Jeff & I love working for Joe, and I've been trying hard to get on a full time, employee status with eXcelaweb.

Tonight, we had a team meeting, and discussed a new client and project that we're starting right away.  In a nutshell, Joe explained that there is zero room for error with this client, and that we must deliver our best work, as always.  I knew I was acting as Project Manager, but because this project has so  many crucial deadlines and expectations, I expected Joe to want to be very hands on with it.

Instead, after briefing us on the high expectation level with this client, he proceeded to hand the reigns over to me, and let me know that it's 100% mine to oversee and run.  THAT is a good feeling.  Considering there is no room for error, it tells me Joe trusts me enough to take on such a serious client, and for that, I am so, so grateful :)  I just have to do whatever it takes to deliver, and exceed everyone's expectations now, which I'm more than confident I will do.

2013 is looking good , work-wise!  I can't wait to jump in with both feet on this project and blow everyone's minds :)

Update: Bentonite Clay is Awesome!

Well, I did the whole Marvin the Martian (bentonite clay) mask and WOW.... Morgan, and all those Amazon reviews were not exaggerating.  This stuff is incredible!  I LOVE it.  I will definitely be using it every week now.  And it's incredibly inexpensive, too, which is what caused my skepticism to begin with.  Something like $10 for a year's supply I think.

I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for amazing-feeling (and looking) skin!  There were a couple areas, like just under my chin, that have been kindof "rough" feeling for some time now, and they are as smooth as they could possibly be after using the bentonite mask.  Really, I'm sold!!

Day 1: Our Imperfections Make Us Perfect

So here goes...  I'm going to try my best to list at least one thing I'm grateful for each day.  365 Days of Gratitude :)

So today, I'm grateful for an imperfect complexion.  My boyfriend's roommate, Morgan, bought bentonite clay, which is apparently some kind of amazing 100% natural Aztec clay that women use as a facial mask.  Since Morgan, and all the reviewers on Amazon.com have raved about this product, my boyfriend purchased a jar of it for me, too.  He's so thoughtful :)  (Another thing I'm very grateful for!).

I have never tried a facial mask before, and am not particularly looking forward to resembling Marvin the Martian in the process, but I do tend to favor clean, smooth, exfoliated skin, so it's worth a try!  There are 333 five-star reviews & 94 four-star reviews for this product on Amazon, out of 484 total.  That's pretty amazing!

So, before sitting down to write this, I washed my face & used my trusty exfoliating glove, which I have sworn by for probably 10 years now... I love that thing!  My face feels soooo smooth after using it, so I figure I might as well use it before applying the mask.  And as I'm looking in the mirror, I immediately notice every imperfection on my 30-year-old face.

I have a couple of little scars... no big deal.  A few bumps... not ideal, but they'll go away.  One or two tiny, broken blood vessels... I hate those things.  They won't go away.  And my least favorite, a brown sun spot just under my eye, thanks to spending a couple of years visiting the tanning bed on a regular basis.  It's my permanent reminder of befriending vanity, and allowing her to influence my life when she did not enrich it in any way. The tanning bed damage ruined several areas of my perfect skin, the name brand crap that I bought was both useless and a complete waste of money, and the things that were important to her are shallow and vapid, which I allowed to influence me for a short while back in the day.  I've moved on. Lesson learned.

So, as I notice all these "flaws" in my reflection, I realize two things:  (1) how quickly my mind goes to that place of discouragement and negativity upon the discovery of such minor blemishes, thanks to our awesome culture of nurturing low self esteems and chasing the illusion of perfection. Once I acknowledged that, I let it go. So naturally, I realized (2) I am so blessed.  I had beautiful skin my whole life, and any imperfections I find now either serve as little memories of the past (like the itty bitty scar above my lip where my kitten accidentally scratched me while playing) or are completely fixable if I really wanted to go to those lengths.  In other words, my so-called imperfections are so minor, and for that, I feel so blessed.  It could be so much worse... And the cherry on top is being with someone who cares about me regardless of how my appearance might change over time.

So, today, I'm grateful for an imperfect complexion, to remind me that vanity is reserved for those with much deeper emotional issues, and to remind me that I am blessed in so many ways.  Our "flaws" really are what make us perfect!

How To Stop or Cancel iOS 6 From Downloading - APPLE SUCKS!

Apple has successfully made an Android customer out of me & pretty much every iPhone user I know today.  I already hated Apple's shady, corrupted way of business, but they were tolerable, and I liked my iPhone.  I've actually always hated the "phone" part of it, but loved the rest for the most part.  I've also always hated iTunes.  Everything about Apple's level of control over their users is a massive turn off, and is not something I will tolerate for long.  Today, Apple crossed the line for good.

With the recent release of the unbelievably crappy iOS 6 came A LOT of complaints.  The chief complaint was the loss of the Google Maps and YouTube apps.  Apple is so pathetic with their little vendetta against Google (since they can't come close to competing with them) that they decided their users shouldn't be allowed to enjoy Google apps either, and took the liberty of not only removing those apps from people's devices with iOS 6, but replaced Google Maps with Apple's own maps program that is the biggest, most epic failure of any major software release in the history of major corporation releases as far as I'm concerned.  It's literally as if they didn't have time to finish it (not even close), and decided to push it out there anyway.  It's almost like an April Fool's joke... 'cept it's September.  And it's not a joke.

Apple seriously thinks it's acceptable & justifiable to replace an awesome, 8 year old, extremely robust, one-of-a-kind maps application with their horrible, unfinished, joke of an app that mislabels cities & towns by a shocking number of miles, is missing key features such as Street View and transit directions, displaying the wrong location of a Sydney, Australia Apple Store (LOL), marking an entire city as a hospital, misclassifying a nursery as an airport, and pointing the next gas station to be as far as 76 miles away.  3D views are completely distorted, the Brooklyn Bridge appears to be collapsed, some satellite views are completely covered by clouds... the list goes on & on & on.  It's so bad, in fact, that Apple's CEO issued a public apology... yet they still won't give people back the best, working app on the market... Google Maps.  And for that reason, I say audios, Apple.  I'll never support them again.

In addition, Apple disallows users from downgrading their firmware.  Why?  Why would they do this unless it was yet another attempt to control their users?  I can't fathom the moronic logic behind this.  I think Apple is starting to circle the drain, and I'm glad to see them go.  Keep failing, Apple.  Keep trying to compete with Google by being even more controlling than ever, and taking more great features away from your users.  Idiots.

SO... with all of that said, I'll finally get to the point of this post... how to stop or cancel an unwanted or accidental iOS 6 download.  In my case, I realized right after tapping the "download & install" button on my iPhone, that it was possible that the loss of Google Maps & YouTube was within the iOS 6 upgrade (originally, I thought it was just if you bought the iPhone 5).  I pretty much freaked out, since I use Google Maps a lot, and frantically searched for a way to cancel it.  I was (and still am) utterly shocked at the fact that there is NO help to be found if this happens to you.  I couldn't believe it.  I eventually read that someone disabled their WiFi to at least pause the download and prevent the installation from happening, so I did that.

So, for days, my WiFi was disabled, which means I was eating up A LOT of my data plan.  Thanks a lot, Apple.  Yet another reason to loathe you.  I kept searching for answers & found nothing.  I finally found out why... I posted about it on Apple's forums, looking for help, and of course threw a few good digs at Apple for their epic fail & disastrous iOS 6 release, and sure enough, they deleted it.  Can't handle a little public criticism?  Fine... I'll blog about it, then.

ANYWAY... my hatred for Apple keeps causing me to rabbit trail off the subject :)  So, I finally figured out my own solution.  I remembered that the download needed a certain amount of space.  So, while hoping & praying that upon choosing to download iOS 6, the device didn't automatically reserve the space it needed, I started recording video with my camera.  2.5 hours worth of video to be exact... in an attempt to fill up every last bit of available space on my phone.

It finally finished, so I enabled WiFi again, and immediately checked the iOS 6 download screen.  Woohoo! The error had changed from "it requires WiFi in order to download" to "it requires x amount of space to download."  It was still paused

I figured, "Well, at least I have my WiFi back, but now I can't even download an app or take a picture."  So this solution wasn't all that great either... I continued searching for help.

About a half an hour later, I went back to check the iOS 6 download screen, and received a popup message stating that it requires "x" amount of space in order to download & that I need to make some space.  When I hit "close "or whatever to close the message, the download had reset!  It apparently timed out, cancelled the download all together, and the "Download & Install" button was back. HALLELUJAH!

So, to recap, here's what I did to cancel, stop or prevent iOS 6 from downloading:

1. Disable WiFi to initially pause the download. (Settings > WiFi > toggle switch to OFF)
2. Take as much video as necessary in order to take up every last bit of available space on your phone. (Just hit record & put the phone down... I suggest keeping it on the charger, since mine took 2.5 hours).  
3. Once you've eaten up every last bit of space, go to Settings > WiFi > and toggle the switch to ON to enable WiFi again. 
4. Take a look at your iOS 6 download screen (Settings > General > Software Update).  It should say "paused" and at the bottom, it should say something about being unable to download because it requires "x" amount of space.  
5. Wait a while... I waited 30 minutes.  Go back into the iOS 6 download screen, and you should get a pop up this time, telling you there's not enough space.  When you close the message, your download should be cancelled, and you should have the Download & Install button back!
6. Celebrate!

I really hope this helps someone with this incredibly frustrating problem.  And since I posted this all over the forums, there's a chance Apple will catch wind of this, and since they can't handle not controlling their users, they'll probably prevent this fix from working in the future.  I heard that another solution might be to disable the WiFi in your home (keep WiFi enabled on your phone), and it will time out the same way that mine did.  You just have to wait a while.  

Thanks a lot, Apple, for making this such a horrid, time consuming & frustrating process.  I hope you crash & burn & Google stomps on the ashes.  

FreeCreditReport.com is Shady

Like so many people nowadays, I know my credit is in the dirt.  I was curious, though, to see just how deep it might be... Are we talking troposphere-level credit? Or inner core (where some people believe hell exists)?  All this time, I just knew it was "not awesome," but how not awesome?  So I decided to check it out at FreeCreditReport.com.  With that catchy jingle, how could I go anywhere else?  And, for the record, I'm referring to the original jingle(s).  I want original guy back!  I don't like their commercials since they lost them... And don't give me that crap about them not even being a real band, or singers, etc... so what?  It was a massively successful marketing campaign, and every kid across the country knew every lyric to every commercial.  That is genius marketing.

Anyway, I'm rabbit trailing.  Back to the point.  So, when you're signing up for FreeCreditReport.com, they ask you if you'd like to become a member.  There's a free trial, but if you fail to cancel it, you'll be charged a whopping $17/month, probably for eternity, or until you cancel.  So, I passed, and opted for the temporary, "basic" credit report.

Semi-Shadiness #1
What makes it laughable is that if you sign up for the free trial membership, you can see your credit report right away, as opposed to having to wait three days if you don't.  This indicates to me that they have the ability to provide it to you right away, but choose not to if you don't sign up for their free trial.  Shady!  But only semi-shady, because I understand using this as a selling point.  People, especially Americans, are highly impulsive creatures.  I can't imagine how many people can't survive 3 whole days to see how bad their credit is, so whatev... I consider this bad form, but nothing too offensive.  More like intentionally inconveniencing customers when you don't have to.

FreeCreditReport.com's Notification Email

So, I wait a few days, and finally get an email from FreeCreditReport.com letting me know I can view my credit score now.  Woo!  I click the giant, unmissable blue button, and am taken to a login page.

Uhhh.... but I opted not to sign up.... ergo, I have no login.  So, now what?

I scour the page for a (likely) tiny, nearly unreadable link that indicates non-members can view the reports by clicking it.. which, by the way, I would also consider shady... IF they had even had one!  There was no such thing on this page.  Only a login, or an option to sign up as a member.

I thought about it for a while, and figured, "I guess I have to call customer service."  Their number is conveniently located on the upper right hand side of the page.

Extreme Shadiness #2
I get on the phone with a Free Credit Report agent, and explained my situation.  I had a feeling going into this that they receive this question more than any other.  Sure enough, she pulled up my account, and proceeded to advise me that they can provide me with a temporary login to view my credit report.

Nowhere, and I mean nowhere was there any indication or instruction that calling customer service for a temporary login was a necessary step in all this.  So, what they are hoping is that people who are utterly lost (which is going to be about 99% of their users) are tricked into signing up for membership, because they think that's the only way they can view their report.

On any other website, when you're presented with a login page, you know that you have to register if you haven't already.  This website capitalizes on that.... how incredibly shady!

Shame on you, FreeCreditReport.com.  I have zero respect for this type of practice.  How do you sleep at night?  Tricking poor, unsuspecting customers into getting a more detailed credit report.... hoping they'll forget to cancel their free trial so you can get at least one $17 charge in there... shady, shady, shady.

I'm glad I figured it out, and just as I suspected, although I have 100% credit and 0% debt, no credit cards, or loans in my name, and am considered extremely low risk in every other area, unfortunately, my credit score is still in the dirt (as it should be... I'm not saying I deserve a great score).  Luckily, it's about toposphere level, which I can recover from as soon as I get things straightened out, but I'd much rather have Ionosphere-level credit.  Soon enough.... Definitely soon enough :)

8 Reasons NOT to Order Cheap, Boxed & Shipped Roses for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is the single busiest day of the year for florists.  There are a lot of competitive ads out there, some who are advertising ridiculously low rose prices... and the majority of those companies are boxing and shipping their roses, saying ridiculous things like, "fresh from the fields" as if that's any different from what local florists get.  Although there are many reasons never to order from companies like ProFlowers, here are a few to consider... 

1. Who wants to be handed a brown box on Valentine’s Day? Let’s face it… Valentine’s Day is the biggest “show off” holiday of the year. It’s a competition… You have to look like the best, and she has to look like she’s with the best. So what do you think looks better? A guy in brown shorts handing her a box? Or someone balancing roses, a teddy bear, a balloon, and a box of chocolates while your girl signs for your giant declaration of love? Trust me on this one, guys… it’s all about the presentation.
2. Who wants to assemble their own gift? Yep, that’s right… those cheap roses you see that come in a box aren’t assembled. It’s a nightmare to take everything apart because it’s all strapped in with those thick, plastic zip ties. Then, she gets the pleasure of putting water in the vase, and plopping a bunch of flowers in it. Professionally designed roses are far more attractive.
3. You're getting what you’re paying for. Order those cheap, boxed, shipped roses, and your Valentine will be staring at a poorly designed bunch of short stem, cheap looking roses. Florists offer medium, and long stemmed roses, and they are of a much higher quality. They last longer, they haven’t been suffocating in a box on a hot delivery truck for 24 hours, and they bloom much more nicely.
4. Compared to florist-delivered roses, well… they just can’t compare. Picture your significant other at her workplace, surrounded by everyone else’s Valentine’s Day gifts. Those who had roses delivered from a florist are enjoying nice, big vases just brimming with long stem, magnificent roses, while those who received boxed & shipped roses are staring at short, stout vases with very short-stemmed roses poking out from the top. When you compare them side-by-side, there is a huge difference.
5. Roses from a florist tend to last longer. Valentine’s Day is on a Monday this year. This means most roses are being delivered to the work place. This also means the office will be full of roses all week long. Do you really want your girl’s to be the first to wilt? That’s exactly what could happen if you order cheap roses.
6. Valentine's Day is NOT the time to be testing out a new method of sending roses. If you want to check out the “cheap flowers” companies, go for it… just NOT on Valentine’s Day. You have one day to get this right, gentlemen. Go for quality.
7. Their insanely high rate of complaints says it all. Seriously… these companies have a reputation of making two deliveries for every one order. They receive so many complaints that they ship a replacement bouquet with pretty much no questions asked. You could call them up and say “My girlfriend didn’t li…” and your replacement order will already be processed. This is a major red flag.
8. They're BOXED AND SHIPPED! ‘nuff said.

Support your local florist this Valentine’s Day, and for every occasion. You can use your local florist to have flowers, gifts, gourmet baskets, fruit baskets, and so much more delivered all over the country… all over the world, for that matter. When you call a national florist, you are literally paying at least $15 more just to have them hit a button, and … guess what? Send the order right to your local florist. They charge a fee for pressing that button, and you end up getting far less value. Spend that extra $15 with a local flower shop, and it will make a world of difference in the bouquet or gift. Check out www.LocalFlowerShop.com this Valentine’s Day if you don’t know what florist to use.

And most importantly, ORDER EARLY! You can never order early enough for Valentine’s Day. Those that call on February 13th are either going to be told there is no more availability, or their flowers will end up being delivered at 6:00 in the afternoon on Valentine’s Day. Who wants that? Order now to beat the rush, ensure priority treatment, and most importantly, to make sure you don’t forget!

REAL Fix for the Obnoxious Beep When Plugging In & Unplugging Gateway Computer

Let me just start off by saying that whoever decided it would be a good idea to create a shrieking, piercing, god awful beep every time you plug in & unplug your Gateway computer should be taken out back and... fired.  In any case, everywhere you look online, the only advice you'll likely see is to turn off your sound in one way or another (speakers, windows sounds, etc.).  This was in no way acceptable to me, and neither is the fact that Gateway doesn't offer an option somewhere for you to turn the godforsaken thing off.

So, I decided to try rolling back my audio driver, and it worked!  Here's how...

1. Go to your Device Manager (I do it by clicking Start, and typing "Device Manager" in the search box and hitting enter... it should bring it right up for you).  
2. Look for Sound, Video and Game Controllers, and click on the little arrow to the left of it.  
3. There, you should see something along the lines of Realtek Audio Device.  Right click on that, and go to Properties.  
4. At the top, you'll see 3 tabs: General, Driver and Details.  Click the Driver tab, and look for the button that says, "Roll Back Driver."  Click it. 
5. You'll get a little warning message about doing this (basically just saying that certain features may not work properly if you do this, but this is a "canned" error message and it really does not apply here, so click Yes or OK).  
6. Close the screen you're in, and close the Device Manager
7. Now, unplug your computer, and you shouldn't hear a thing!  
8. CELEBRATE!  

If this does not work for you, it is possible that you need to update your driver instead of rolling it back.  You can obtain the drivers from Gateway's site, but you'll need to locate the right one for your pc model.  If you have an NV73A like I do (NV73A17u), then click here.  If you have an NV59 model, click here.  If you have a different model, you can click on either one of those links, and on the right hand side of the page, you'll see "Find Downloads" with a search box underneath it.  I simply typed in my model number (NV73A or NV59 - it'll usually be the 1st 4 digits of your full model number) and followed that up with "Realtek Audio" (so the full search term was NV73A Realtek Audio).  Click the "Go" button, and you should be taken right to a results page for your audio driver.  Click on it, then click the link to download it, and follow their provided instructions on what to do from there.

I really hope people find this helpful, because it was extremely frustrating to me, and even Gateway was too retarded to fix it or even really have a clue what I was talking about.  By the way, their Live Chat is by far the worst internet customer service I have ever seen.  I'll save that for a different post :)

If you have any trouble or questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment below and I'll help you if I can!

Don't Hate! Congratulate!

I find it so interesting that the majority of things we can't stand about other people really turn out to be things we can't stand about ourselves.  Most of the time, that's the case, but sometimes, it's also just a simple insecurity.  For example, someone who becomes extremely annoyed with know-it-alls is either a know-it-all themselves, or they feel intellectually inferior.  9.9 times out of 10, it is one or the other.

Another great example is homophobia.  How many times do we find out that public figures (like politicians) or pastors, priests, etc. who adamantly advocate against homosexuality end up coming out of the closet, or being caught rainbow (or red) handed in some big gay fun?  To further back that up, there was this great study performed back in 1996 to further support the theory that a high majority of die hard homophobes actually turn out to be gay themselves.  They showed three different videos to a control group of heterosexual men, as well as a group of self declared homophobic men (there was also a scientific scale by which their homophobia was measured).  Each participant was shown three different sexually explicit videos... heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian... and without getting into too much detail, let's just say the right "reactions" were measured.  Without question, the results suggested that homophobia is directly linked with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either completely unaware of, or (in so many cases) completely denies.  So, I suggest you homophobes think next time you feel like doing some gay bashing... some of us are "in the know!" lol...

Anyway, I can't tell you how many times I have witnessed someone become SO frustrated with someone else's habit or personality trait that they possess themselves!  I've seen people totally fed up with others who are "dense" when that is exactly how I would describe them myself.  Or a person that is ready to strangle a perfectionist when they are a perfectionist themselves.  When you begin paying attention to things like this, it becomes really fascinating!  You can almost always tell what it is someone hates about themselves when they go off on a tangent about someone else's personality.

Cafe Gratitude Questions of the Day

What are you afraid of losing?

Just last night I had a conversation with a friend about fear and loss.  I was explaining to him that, although I have few fears, what I fear the most is losing someone very close to me... especially a family member.  The thought terrifies me, and I know it's something that I'm going to have to face some day.  Imagine that for a moment... let's say one of your biggest fears is flying in an airplane, and you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you'll not only be forced to experience it, but you'll never know when, you'll never be prepared for it, and you'll be forced to suffer the scenario many times throughout your life.  I know I have to face it head on, I just don't know how to.  I guess I just have to deal with it as it comes, and know that whatever I do, I have to embrace and accept the process as well as I can.  

I'm sure many people can relate to this, although I don't think I know anyone (other than a couple of my own family members) who hasn't experienced losing someone very close to them.  I have only ever been to two funerals - one was an acquaintance's, and the other's was my great grandmother's.  I absolutely adored my great grandmother, and I'll never know anyone as amazing as her again, but she lived far away, and I rarely ever got to see her. When she died, I of course experienced loss and grief, but it was nothing compared to what I would feel if a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle or cousin died.  I would be absolutely devastated.  

I guess I have a "young" family, which is why few of us have ever experienced an immediate family member's death before.  My grandparents are in their early to mid 70's, my dad, aunt & uncles aren't even 50, and my cousins & I aren't even 30 yet. Each generation is only about 20 years apart.  In fact, my aunt & grandmother are 20 years apart, my cousin & aunt are 20 years apart, and my dad & I are exactly 20 years apart!  How auspicious ;) 

I adore & cherish my family so much, I just can't imagine what I would do without them.  My family has its issues, trust me... but what makes us so special is that, no matter what, we know without a doubt that we have each other when & where it really counts.  Regardless of our differences, or how major they might be, when it comes down to it, I know that every single person in my family would be there to support me if I needed them to, and I would hope that they all know the same is true for me.  There's nothing I wouldn't do for every single one of them.  I wouldn't give it a second thought.  

So how do you let go of something so special?  I guess the answer is, you don't.  Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there.  That might be easy to say & think now, but when the time comes, I'm not sure it'll be so easy to accept.  Thoughts like this always remind me of the importance to make our time together as loving and wonderful as possible, and to live each day as if it were our last.  

Who makes you laugh?

Ahh, good... a more positive question to answer :)  My first thought is my dad - he is SO funny!  He has always been able not to just make me laugh, but to make me laugh until it hurts.  That's probably one of my absolute favorite things about him... his sense of humor.  He's always entertaining...

My friend Jeff also has an awesome sense of humor & can always make me laugh.  The best part is that his sense of humor isn't like anyone else's... it's all his own :)  Although his normal antics never cease to crack me up (like breaking out with classic dances like the Running Man, or Roger Rabbit... lol), but one recent memory will always stick out in my mind.  We were at a party where Rock Band was the game of choice, and when he decided to get on the mic, he chose a Jack Black song (of all the songs... haha)... it gets to the classic Jack Black, "riggadig dig shoogarip dip diddle!" (or whatever... LOL) and Jeff freaking belts it out, word for word, and has everyone in the house cracking up.  It was definitely the song of the night, and one I SO regret not getting video of :)  

Lots of people have a sense of humor I can totally appreciate, but some of the best times are when my family is all together.  When my dad, aunt & uncle get to ripping on my grandfather, or when my grandfather gets a couple drinks in him, they all have me rolling in no time.  Their banter is one for the record books :)  I've always sworn my family would make an awesome, very entertaining reality show.  

Lesson Learned: Talent Often Has Little To Do With Success

Yep, that's what I learned... success quite often is not achieved by way of talent.  Perhaps the first few stepping stones relied on talent, but when it all comes down to it, success is more often reached via excellent business and people skills.

I know of successful people who couldn't even begin to survive in the day to day operations of their own business.  They are generally clueless, really, as to what actually takes place in their companies.  Apparently, they can be oblivious.  Although I have to believe that if they were capable of programming a website or creating their own marketing budget reports that they would be a far better manager, which would lead to greater profits in the end.

On the flip side, I've seen countless employees with outstanding talent who will never be anything more than an employee.  I'm sure for some, it's fear, and for others, it's complacency or lack of ambition.  The managers that take advantage of those rare gems should be ashamed of themselves.  The gems should demand more respect (especially in the form of cash).

When it all comes down to it, though, if you are blessed with excellent people skills, you are destined to be a successful person.  The business end can be learned quite easily.  No other talent required!  Oh, and of course I can't go without mentioning that it's also about who you know ;)

My Technique for Diffusing Anger

It just hit me that I should probably share this with the interwebz :)  I have this great (somewhat hilarious) trick I use when the anger is building and I'm about to blow... My general modus operandi is that I take things out on inanimate objects: the TV, computer, phone... a lot of electronics, I guess!  hah... It's typically just general bitching, but it seems to get the job done most of the time.  The only time I hate this about myself is when someone else is around to witness it.  It always ends up making them feel bad or uncomfortable, and I certainly don't want that.  People who know me pretty well, though, know to just leave me alone and never, ever take my inanimate object-oriented rage personally.

In any case, although I express my anger pretty freely, I definitely don't like the feelings or vibes that anger creates.  All that negativity is totally unhealthy and I happen to believe that those who live stressful, unhappy lives, filled with constant negative energy are the types that end up with cancer, MS, IBS, or other general sicknesses.  Stress highly compromises your immune system anyway, so it only makes sense to me that the more negativity you have in your life, the sicker and sicker you will become.

I had this thought a few years ago, and tried it out.  It's common knowledge that smiling, laughter, joy and positive energy have incredible health benefits.  Plus, it's just generally preferable to feel good as opposed to any other alternative!  So, I thought "Why not try to smile when you're getting angry?"  It's a funny thought, and smiling or laughing is sometimes difficult to do when you're irate.

So I tried it... and I can't even begin to describe the short circuit that took place in my body & brain.  It was amazing!  I was absolutely fuming over something I can't even recall now, and I remembered my resolve to try smiling.  I immediately thought, "That's just freaking stupid.  I don't want to smile right now...I'm mad!" But I did it anyway, and the results just blew me away.  I was physically unable to remain angry!  It's like that physical act of turning the ends of your lips upward completely short circuits the brain, floods you with feel-good sensations, and immediately overpowers the negative.

What's even better is that you feel so silly smiling (1) at nothing, and (2) when you're angry, that it's like a literal, emotional oxymoron, which in turn causes you to laugh at yourself, therefore completely flooding out the negative with utterly positive vibes.  The anger diffuses instantly!

I'd say the majority of people do not know how to properly manage their anger in a healthy, beneficial way.  People typically bottle it up until they explode, or express it more freely and more often (like I do).  Bottling it up is generally catastrophic.  People end up getting hurt, things are said that aren't meant, and it starts killing you from the inside, out.  Either that, or the anger turns inward and manifests itself into depression, which is also catastrophic.  On the other hand, people who express it more freely and more often, tend to splash it all over the place and fail to channel it properly.  People end up getting hurt, things are said that aren't meant, and it begins affecting relationships with others.  It can also build a tolerance... what used to satisfy your anger now doesn't, and it takes more to fully express and dissolve it.  Eventually, you hit a brick wall, and lose control.  Few people express their negative emotions in a healthy, effective, beneficial manner, so we seek out techniques to help us learn...

I urge everyone to try this awesome technique.  No need for anger management... all you have to do is force a smile!  It's never really failed me.  And once you've tried it, come back here & leave me a comment :)

Cafe Gratitude Questions of the Day

When do you feel defeated?

I thought about this one for a long time... I really can't think of a time I've felt totally defeated.  I suppose it's because I'm so confident that everything will always work out.  I have a lot of faith.  Plus, I know if things don't go my way, it's for a good reason, and that reason will reveal itself soon enough.  Even when I'm struggling, there's still a part of me that always feels on top of the world!

What do you love about love?

What isn't there to love about love!  Love is present in everything... we just have to recognize and accept it.  If god is a part of all of us, and god is love, then we are love... right?  At least our souls are.  Our physical bodies are more like conduits for love.  We separate ourselves from our souls, we build walls, and block out love and god, and look where we end up... at war.  At war with everything... ourselves, each other, nature, the world... 

In that case, couldn't we could also ask, "What do you love about you?" or "What do you love about every person on earth?" We really aren't separate from each other or the world. That's a silly illusion that governs the majority of our actions, thoughts, opinions and beliefs.  We are all connected by energy... love.  I'd probably be afraid to see the answers to both of those questions anyway... lol

Cafe Gratitude Questions of the Day

What is a failed expectation that is causing you suffering?

I almost skipped over this question today, as I'm not trying to make anyone look bad, but I reconsidered because it really should be expressed, and this is a great place for that!  Some of us have certain people in our lives that continuously let us down in one way or another.  Why, then, do we keep them in our lives?  I know when it's a family member, it's easy to understand why, but some of us put ourselves through undue stress with those who could be removed from our lives.  It's a balance thing, I think.  We can all handle being let down from time to time, but when it begins to outweigh the positive effect that person has on your life, it's time to move on.  

I personally struggle with a couple of people that are this way.  One, I could let go of, and have let go of before, but for some reason we keep reuniting.  The other, I can't quite let go of, as I'm stuck in the middle of a situation that requires my involvement, and requires this person to live up to their end of a deal, which they're not doing, partially due to unforeseen circumstances, mostly due to avoidable circumstances.  Bad decision making on their part has put me in quite a bind, but I'm not really stressing over it.  Things always fall into place, and always will.  Actually... what's funny (and I just realized this) is that the first expectation-failure is the one I'm counting on to bail me out of the other failure's doing.  lol... how ironic. I just hope it all works out, as I'm sure it will :)  

What would you like to share?

What a great question!  So simple and necessary, yet something we never ask each other.  There's a lot I'd like to share, but if I had to choose one thing today, it'd probably be my utter joy to be back in Florida, and especially around this time of year.  I moved to NC for a while, and basically the entire time I was there, I wished I was in FL.  I was born and raised here and spent half my life in NC at my family's cabin. What I realized when living there was that it needs to remain a vacation place.. a haven to retreat to when you want to get away.  Florida is where I am happiest and feel most at home.  And the anticipation of the upcoming season is so great... October - March is my favorite time of year in Florida, and it's right around the corner!  

I have a ton of plans for celebrating the holidays, decorating my house, being all festive... one thing I'm definitely looking forward to is seeing my cousin's new baby during the Christmas holiday.  They're coming down to visit, and I'll finally get to see little Nicki!  It's bittersweet seeing all the photos and videos.  I don't think my grandparents could be more thrilled to have their first great-grandchild :)  Life is good!