08 – Making Progress – Karin's New Adventures

Never say Never

Karin Brenig — Sat, 18 May 2024 11:35:26 +0000

after over 25 years of blogging I sold the first printed version of my adventures.

New Domain, same Adventures

Karin Brenig — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 10:44:45 +0000

when I realized that my previous webhost, Justhost, was costing me over $230 per year, I switched to Contabo.

Competitive Online Shopping

Karin Brenig — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 12:57:36 +0000

I have enjoyed online shopping ever since it became available. My Amazon account dates back to 2001, when they were just an online bookstore. I like the convenience of doing a quick search, price comparisons, browsing dozens of images, reading different customer reviews – and then buying something that will be delivered to my home […]

Another Milestone reached

Karin Brenig — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 18:49:17 +0000

Who said that an old woman can’t loose weight? Yes, it is harder than it used to be when I was younger, but it still works the same way it did 30 years ago: you have to watch what you eat, when you eat, and what you do while you’re not eating. For me the […]

Are Screen Protectors even still a Thing?

Karin Brenig — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 19:00:49 +0000

Gorilla glass on most cell phones supposedly doesn’t need a screen protector, but I’m not sure if I want to trust that claim. So the first thing I always do with a new phone, or tablet, or e-reader, is get a screen protector for it. Not just any screen protector, though. I am very picky […]

Weight Management for Women over 60?

Karin Brenig — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 05:22:34 +0000

Weight management for women over 60 is a challenge. Read what I tried and how I'm doing.

the Internet – the Place where we learn and teach

Karin Brenig — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:00:05 +0000

Yesterday morning, after I had dumped all the remaining ice out of a cooler, and then ran the garbage disposal in our kitchen sink the night before, the air gap faucet on our reverse osmosis water tank was leaking. Water came out of the small hole on the bottom of the faucet, partially dripping along […]

when less is better

Karin Brenig — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 18:58:59 +0000

My little old homepage that I built back in 1998, using Notepad for my html-editor, is still out there. Largely unchanged, for sentimental reasons. I added two sub-domains, though, for practice on newer web design techniques like HTML5 and WordPress. Most webmasters have one main goal: get traffic. Organic traffic is considered the “best”, but […]

Not every Change is an Improvement

Karin Brenig — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 17:49:56 +0000

So, WordPress version 5 comes with this “awesome” new super-stylish Gutenberg editor. I’m not sure if old Mr. Gutenberg would agree – but I personally don’t like that kind of “improvement”. My goal is to provide meaningful content to my readers. I don’t want to have to struggle to learn how to go about the technicalities […]

Short Code SMS not getting through?

Karin Brenig — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 14:06:59 +0000

I am a little paranoid when it comes to credit cards and bank accounts, so I have all my accounts set up to report any activity immediately – by email, and text to my phone. This reassuring short “ding” sound coming out of my phone every time I swept a card somewhere went silent about […]

ExxoPok #67 is special

Karin Brenig — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 23:58:39 +0000

My heart skipped a beat today when I received my first order for an ExxoPok cell phone pouch coming in from my own little handmade e-commerce website http://exxopok.karin-web.com I designed this unique belt clip phone case out of personal necessity in October 2015, when I joined Google Fi and had to somehow attach a big Nexus […]

SEO for Dummies

Karin Brenig — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 18:54:03 +0000

So you think you got this blog, website, or other online presence, and now people are going to see you, hear you, buy from you? Wrong! If Google doesn’t know you’re there, you’ll be invisible. Your services or products could be the best thing since sliced bread – if nobody can find you through a […]

Joint Venture

Karin Brenig — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 18:25:00 +0000

I have been living with chronic lower back pain for the last thirty years. Degenerating discs, sitting on office chairs, lack of excercise, being slightly overweight, occasional heavy lifting - I had grown so used to the pain, that I hardly paid atten...

DIY – Anti – Aging

Karin Brenig — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 16:48:00 +0000

I know we all get "old" sooner or later, that's by design. I am hoping to get really, really, old - because that's still better than dying young. What I don't like are the side effects of getting old. For me the most noticeable, and most annoying, side effects of aging were mobility restrictions: morning stiffness, aching joints, start-up pain, lower back pain, sciatic nerve problems, maybe even early stage arthritis, or osteoporosis.

Instead of simply accepting the facts, or going to a doctor to get some kind of prescription, I went on a treasure hunt in pursuit of a solution to my problem, or at least an improvement of the condition.

Now, two months into my research and experiment, I am happy to report that things are looking really good! My mobility has greatly improved. Joint pain is almost gone in most situations. In addition to my main concern being a lot less concerning, I am also finding surprising improvements in other areas. Thinning eyebrows are growing in nicely again, I now have visible lower eye-lashes, my skin isn't itchy and dry anymore, the gaps between my receding gums and upper back molars seem a lot smaller lately, my respiratory allergies cause less frequent/severe coughing during the day.

How did I do all this, you may ask. Apart from a few general recommendations for a healthy life-style (eat less animal protein, get enough sleep, exercise every day) I attribute my success to three supplements that I added to my daily regimen, listed in descending order of importance.

one tablespoon full of colloidal silica (Hübner Silica Gel)
two capsules of high dose pure serrapeptase (Arthur Andrew Serrétia)
two capsules of cissus quadrangularis extract (Nutrakey Cissus Quadrangularis)

Ecwid – eCommerce for us “Little People”

Karin Brenig — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 19:46:00 +0000

I invented the awesome ExxoPok phone pouch - and I (try to) sell it on Etsy and Ebay. Not bad, for a start. It's like having a stand at the flea-market, though. Your shop isn't really yours, and the marketplace wants to make money off of you by charging various fees. Listing fees, transaction fees, monthly fees, service fees.........

So I started looking for ways to diversify, maybe add a web-shop to my own little old home page? Or sell ExxoPoks on Facebook? There are so many different ways to do that, I started to get confused. Shopify, Volusion, BigCartel, SquareSpace, 3dCart, LemonStand, BigCommerce, AmeriCommerce......... all fine products having several flaws in common.

They all cost monthly fees (after some initial trial period), ranging anywhere from $8 to $299 a month, depending on the level of flexibility you buy. Also, once you decide what e-commerce platform to use, you are pretty much "stuck" with them. Migrating to a different platform is complicated, or next to impossible, for most of these.

After weeks of digging I finally found a little gem called "Ecwid". It took me a few hours on the weekend to get this figured out, setting up a subdomain, adding a free template to it, customizing that and integrating Ecwid's shop plugin - looks great!

ExxoPok shop powered by Ecwid

Then I realized you can simply add that plugin to a Facebook page too. For up to 10 items the whole platform is completely free to use, forever. Which means, if I make a sale through Ecwid, all I'd have to pay would be Paypal's transaction fees.

I even figured out how to embed a single product widget right here, in my old blog!

Bye-Bye Verizon!

Karin Brenig — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 00:02:00 +0000

Now that two of the three phones on our family plan were out of contract, and the "early termination fee" for the third line was about as much as one month's payment for the entire plan, we gave them one last call to cancel the whole thing.Google's Pr...

CHASE ’em down!

Karin Brenig — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 12:45:00 +0000

Normally I don't trust banks. I have a quite negative opinion about them. I use banks because I have to, not because I want to. Today, though, I was pleasantly surprised about how one bank did business with me.Here's what happened:at 7:28 a.m. I recei...

My first Order came in

Karin Brenig — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:42:00 +0000

I know my design idea for the ExxoPok is ingenious. I know the "angle of dangle" solves the main problem that people have with today's big smart-phones. I also heard "hey, you should market that!" from a few people. I was thinking about it.Still, thin...

Project Fi, the magical phone bill reduction

Karin Brenig — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:52:00 +0000

I don't trust "big business", usually - and I don't "advertize" other people's stuff, usually - but this one is different. Having a smart phone with a data plan in the USA is expensive, comes with unfair pricing, non-existent customer service, an...

Electrified

Karin Brenig — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 11:48:00 +0000

Lately I have been driving by some impressive new structures in town. AEP is replacing many older transmission line pylons with these new ones.They have a smaller footprint on the ground and are (hopefully) less susceptible to storm damage. ...

Finally got rid of “Apt. 119”!

Karin Brenig — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 23:18:00 +0000

Three times a year I order my free annual credit report from one of the three credit bureaus. It used to be quick, painless, and easy to do online - until two years ago. All of a sudden Equifax and Experian would not let me request my report over the ...

Lines, or no Lines?

Karin Brenig — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 11:38:05 +0000

While I can still get by everywhere without glasses, it is increasingly tiring to stare at my computer screen for hours. So I thought some midrange bifocals would be advisable.Costco has an eye specialist on site, and after you get your prescription, ...

The Price of Fuel

Karin Brenig — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 17:47:00 +0000

The price for a gallon of regular has fallen below $2.30 where I live.That is about $1 less per gallon than this time last year, almost $2 less than the highest prices I remember seeing. The last time gas was this cheap was approximately five years ag...

Surface Pro 2

Karin Brenig — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 14:28:00 +0000

For two weeks now I've been playing with this new toy I bought. It's a tablet/PC equipped with Windows 8.1. You can detach the keyboard and use it as a touchscreen tablet, or snap the keyboard back on and pretend it's a laptop. As an added bonus mine ...

Schuberth C3

Karin Brenig — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 02:03:00 +0000

OK, I realize that most riders around here don't even own a helmet. It's "uncool", especially on a Harley. I always wear a helmet when I ride; I don't worry about looking "cool". Until now, any old helmet would do for me. It needs to fit, of cour...

Earth Fare

Karin Brenig — Wed, 14 May 2014 23:19:00 +0000

Last week a new grocery store opened in my neighborhood. Earth Fare promises natural and organic food and supplements with the slogan "real food for real people".No hydrogenated oil, no high-fructose corn syrup, no artificial sweeteners. Sounds good. ...

2013 Employee Awards

Karin Brenig — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:03:00 +0000

I consider myself lucky to have a job, even more lucky to have a job that is fun, and extremely lucky to work at an institution where hard work is being officially recognized and rewarded.Yes, we do get paid - so maybe we shouldn't even expect somethi...

Mastery of juggling Numbers and Forms.

Karin Brenig — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:05:00 +0000

The annual championship in a popular sport is closing in on its finish, deadline being April 15th, as usual.The promoters of this fine race make sure that the requirements for the millions of participants are a little more challeng...

It’s official!

Karin Brenig — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:41:00 +0000

I had passed my last class in November of 2012, but it took until today for my diploma to be ready for pick-up. So now, finally, over 37 years after I graduated from high-school, I finished my Bachelor's degree. This is it, I'm done with school. No, I...

Half-Time

Karin Brenig — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 01:00:00 +0000

My New Year's resolution for 2012 was to get my weight under control again. Life in the USA seemed to cause weight-gain almost automatically. At a BMI of 26 I wasn't really that much overweight, but I found it scary how the scales just kept on going u...