v24.8: Testing Testing

Good morning folks,

-slurp-

I've decided to do a couple things in an effort to make some cash with my site.  First off, you may have noticed the appearance of some advertisements on the site.  These are provided by Google and should be somewhat relevant to the content on the page.  When you click on the more link for this post, you should be greeted with a block of ads that will somehow relate to what I'm writing about.  Each time someone clicks on these links I earn a few cents; if enough people click on the links I earn more money.  The goal here is to create a second income from my site and eventually make this my primary source of income.

-slurp-

You will also notice a new "Donate" button on the site.  Since I doubt very much I'll generate enough cash flow on advertisements alone, I've added a way for people to donate to my cause.  Everyone has a dream and a job they would just love doing.  Mine is writing and would love to have the time (and money) to chase that dream.  Of course I don't expect this dream to just fall in my lap one day so I put a little more effort into my blog than I normally would and took the time to do some research and development to enhance the site to allow for this sort of thing.  At the end of the day, if I can make enough money through the site to sustain life at home, I will dedicate 110% of my time to writing and hopefully one day publish my first book.

-slurp-

Since that piece is now out of the way, I think I owe you all the final part of that story I started last week.  I believe we ended off with...

Then the orc who had been inspecting me looked up from his kneeling position and said to me, “Welcome home Warchief”...

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I stared in awe at the creature as it knelt down in front of me.  It seemed to be addressing me and calling me this "Warchief".  I wanted to ask but after looking around at all these creatures I was too afraid to question.  I did the only thing that seemed fitting and I raised my hands to the sky; that is when I noticed that my body had been replaced.  My skin was a brownish green, my muscles were large and well defined.  I brought my massive hands up to my face and felt the tusks sticking out of my mouth.  Emotions began to flood in, first was confusion followed by anger followed by sorrow.  I would before cursed to walk these lands as an ugly beast!

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I awoke with a start and quickly looked around.  I was at work, seated at my desk.  I looked down and saw a small puddle of drool beside my keyboard and immediatly wiped the corners of my mouth.  Hopefully nobody had seen me asleep at my desk again; this was the second time this week and it was only Tuesday.  I had been getting enough rest at home and I had been eating healthy foods but for some reason I was always so tired and fatigued.  I looked at my screen and saw that only several minutes had passed.  That is when the strange dream came back to memory and I had to shake my head to stop it from overwhelming me.  I think it is time to stop playing World of Warcraft, especially since these dreams are becoming more and more frequent and feeling more real.

-slurp-

I began working as I normally did and after several hours of mindless typing and working with spreadsheets I had finally had enough.  Though the clock only said it was 2:30 PM it felt closer to 5 PM so I decided to leave work early in hopes that nobody would notice.  If someone did, I would deal with it tomorrow; I was done for the day.  I made my way out of the office building and began walking up the street.  The sun was high in the sky which was clear and void of clouds.  It was still spring outside but it felt like a nice hot summer day.  I loosened the tie around my neck as I took off my suit coat and hung it over my arm.  No matter what happened, I was going to enjoy the rest of my day.

-slurp-

Enjoying the outside air and the nice weather I made my way to the parking garage where my car was sitting waiting for me.  Normally when I leave work the garage is nearly empty but because most people were still busily working at this time of the day, the garage was packed.  I found my car exactly where I left it.  I unlocked the doors, got inside and started the engine; i was almost free.  Without looking, I sped out of the garage and made my way onto the vacant street.  I was going to enjoy this stress-free drive home; there is something to be said about leaving work early.

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I made my way to the freeway which would eventually take me home and all my hopes and dreams of enjoying the rest of my day were shattered as I saw the all too familar orange signs with black writing on them that simple said, "Construction".  Anger overtook me and I swerved my car just barely making the exit off the freeway; today I would find an alternate route home, even if it took me twice as long.

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I knew there was an old highway which would lead me in the same basic direction I needed to go.  This highway was no longer used as a primary road since the freeway was built more than a decade ago.  Now the highway was in need of repairs and the speed limit had been lowered and there were residential and businesses on all sides.  It started out a nice quiet drive.  I wish it had stayed that way all the way home.  Of course fate had other plans for me this day and events would unfold before me changing my life forever.

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But that is a story for another time. :)

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Yeah, I know.  My Epiloge was a bit weak there but at least I left it open for a sequel.  You see, I don't plan these stories as I'm writing my musing each morning.  These stories take me and I write them on the fly.  I don't go back and edit them afterwards, I just write and write and write until I finally realize what time it is and need to sign-off so I can get to work.  I find it a-musing.

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Anyway folks, work beckons and I am a fly in search of a bug zapper.  I'd like to hear what you think about the ads.  I really don't like ads on sites and I tried to make them fit in with the site rather than be in the way and obstructing content.  Let me know what you think or what you think I could do to make them less annoying.

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Cheers,
Al