susandennis | Tidying up loose online ends

I did a study for Google in November for which they paid me $125. I had done this once before but forgotten the scheme I designed until today. See, they send you an email with a reward code and a link. At that link you can pick from a bunch of different stores OR an e-Visa. I go for the Visa. That nets another email with another link where you create an account and get an actual visa debit card number. Last time I took that card number right to Amazon and bought a $125 card with it and put it on my account. This time I forgot the Amazon step until today when I had $42.22 left. And by forgetting, I lost that $.22. Sigh. (On Amazon, when you get to the end of your card amount, they just charge the rest on your credit card. With the Visa, you have to purchase to the penny.)

Then I added in the left over gift cards. I give the life guards at the pool $15 gift cards for Christmas. But, because their population sometimes shifts, it's hard to predict exactly who will be around to give to. I learned last year that buying more than I need is best all around. This year I bought way more than I thought I might need and ended up with 4 left. So I added those four into my Amazon account so now they are like cash again.

Thank you, Amazon, for making that so easy!

Then I got the mail. There were three bills from People mag - each for $143. They were duplicates but still, WTF? Oops my subscription was due. Generally I would have taken advantage of some special but this time I was waiting for it to expire so I could buy the Kindle version instead. Ditto with TV Guide. Both of them run out at the end of this year so I signed up for both on Kindle. Excellent.

Also in the mail was the coolest present from my brother. It's a box of 365 sheets each with a different knitting pattern on it... Pretty pictures, the pattern, the whole 9. I've never even seen one before and now I haz one! Very cool. I also see they have a Crochet pattern a day... hmmmm

I had a great swim. My favorite life guard was on duty. Then a delicious brunch. Weirdly walking from the car to the restaurant (2 blocks) was easy. Walking, after brunch - sitting for an hour - back to the car was different. I was panting and coughing so much I couldn't drive. I sat for a while to let my lungs catch up. They finally did and now - 90 minutes later - I'm fine but really? 2 blocks that I easily did an hour before? COPD is annoying.