Advice for the Walking EMP - Empaths & Poltergeists Welcome

I've gotten a few inquiries about being a walking EMP. It seems this is a concern for people, and like me, there are quite a few of us out there. Oh, and did I mention, most of us are lost? As one of the lost, I decided to learn about my situation and following a hunch, I began researching. It turns out there are a couple of sides to this painful electro-magnetic coin.

One is empathy.

Chances are, if you have electro-magnetic waves coming off you, you're an empath. I've been reading a lot about this in the past few months because I was tired. I got tired of feeling other people's feelings and things getting weird for me. It wasn't just breaking electronics any more - I realized I had feelings that were not my own. It has be a difficult path, but slowly I am learning ways of coping. For example, when you find yourself all of a sudden feeling something that has nothing to do your situation, I recommend looking around the room to find the person experiencing it. Just finding that person is enough to bring you back to reality. You can accept the emotions, allow them to pass without wallowing in them.

Controlling my emotions was helpful, but it didn't end my issues. I still have trouble with electronics. I will probably always have trouble with electronics.

However, I do have something not many others have.

Even though I break computers just by touching them, I have a husband who is basically a technopath. If technopaths exist, my husband is one. Literally, all he needs to do is touch my broken electronic device and it begins to work.

Okay, so let's say you're a person like me and you don't have a fabulous technopath in your family, friend, or lover. There are several things you can do. First, you need to get rid of Windows. I don't know about Mac, but Windows with a walking EMP is a recipe for disaster. Install Ubuntu or Mint on your PC. If you have a smart phone, get an Android OS. The software has fewer holes, fewer glitches, and therefore isn't going to break as easily. This might seem strange considering you break hardware, but I've found that better software helps me stay calmer. The calmer I am, the fewer frying episodes I have.

Second, make friends with an IT guy and a handyman. There's no reason you should pay out the butt to fix things that you know will break. Besides, isn't it a good idea to have friends in as many sectors as possible?

Third, when replacing ANYTHING that is DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR - buy the longest lasting thing you can. Check out consumer reviews etc. See if the company has a good reputation. You may want to buy an older model that's higher quality. However, take this with a grain of salt. If you have such difficulty with electronics that you break it beyond repair after your first encounter, then cheaper may be better. It's a question of funds - whichever way is going to make the most sense for you is what you should choose.

Now, those were all mitigating fixes. But this doesn't address the underlying problem.

This type of behavior (EMP), comes in two sizes. Let's call them type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 is when even though you have control over your emotions, you still fry things. You just happen to operate on a different frequency than everyone else. For example, I'm ALWAYS a type 1. My phone never works right. My husband finds things that don't make sense with my phone. Things go wrong with my phone that literally NEVER happen to other people's. My husband attributes my phone's failures to my proximity.

Type 2 is very different. Suspend your disbelief and work with me here. It is basically a poltergeist. I say poltergeist because that is the name given to the most extreme examples of this behavior, though genuine poltergeist phenomenon are rare. Poltergeists aren't ghosts. They're people - people with crazed hormones or emotions. If you find yourself extremely upset, some strange things may occur if you're exhibiting poltergeist behavior. A relatively benign example that happened to me was at a Halloween party.

I don't like playing video games very much (seeing as they break on me). My friends wanted to play Wii. I told them I didn't want to. They were pushing it pretty hard, to the point they turned the thing on. Once on, it wouldn't work. They tried and tried to get the game to load but it just wouldn't. Then the screen went fuzzy. They gave up and we watched a movie instead. When I left that night, they checked their Wii again. It was fine. It never had a problem before that night and it has never had a problem since. 

I really didn't want to play video games.

As you can tell, this second type is a temporary state which people can slip into and out of quickly. Usually behavior like this would happen around puberty (a time of extreme hormonal change) and then disappear altogether. If, however, you're an empath and you're really upset, it is possible to display this kind of behavior at any point in life.

It is important to understand where you fit on this spectrum so you know how to act. It may be you don't need to replace everything in your house if this is a type 2 temporary situation. Find out what is upsetting you and deal with it. That will correct your situation.

If you are lucky like me and type 1, then you need to learn how to calm yourself. Take up meditation. You also should buy types of software and devices that work for you. Honestly, the simpler the device, the better the software, the easier everything will be because it causes less stress. I say simpler because generally there are fewer things that can go wrong. The less potential problems the better.

These are the lessons I've learned with my own EMP issues. I had to learn them the hard way. I hope this post helps you deal with your electrical issues and saves you the pain of breaking your dishwasher - again.

BAMBOO! My New Toy, I mean, Wacom Tablet

I'm really excited about my new toy. You might wonder, how am I able to get such a new toy? Well, let's start at the beginning.

We bank with Chase. This is mostly because Washington Mutual folded and was swallowed by Chase, so we kept our accounts there for convenience, among other things. My husband has a reward card - so whenever we use his card, we get points. Normally I would think these things would only result in Skymall type purchases, but so far we've gotten a few fun things.

For example, we got an awesome water dispenser for our cat. Okay, this sounds like a skymall thing, but supposedly cats like running water more than water from a dish. It's also supposed to be healthier - or so they say. In any case, we thought we were getting a little one. We ended up getting the biggest water dispenser I've ever seen in my life for free. Normally it would be around $50, but again, we got it for free.

Well, it had been a while since we had taken advantage of our points. So Christian decided to check out what options we had as far as redemption. Turns out Chase had upgraded their rewards program, so now, you can go through a bunch of different vendors to get fun gadgets etc. Well, after browsing through the bagillion options, we decided to look at tablets.

It was something I had been wanting for some time because drawing with your finger on a touchpad just isn't the same as having a stylus in your hand. You don't have the same kind of control as you would if you had a stylus or a pencil. Being the artist I am, it was frustrating to try to make graphics without this.

Turned out, I could get a Bamboo using my reward points. So I ended up getting a pen/touch for free. The thing is the size of my netbook, which is kind of weird, but it is certainly big enough to get the job done, and small enough that I could take it with me if I wanted to. For the moment however, I am waiting. My current kernel of Ubuntu isn't working with the beautiful toy, though the later version that is on our media PC does. Just a little while longer and the new kernel comes out. When that happens, I'll update and start playing with my new toy. This will mean I will probably do a few comics (woohoo!) and will possibly do some graphics for shirts etc.

Of course, I'll also do some concept art for The Khloe Alwell Series....that goes without saying. :-)

Poor Americans - The Problem of Consolidated Wealth

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say that it was the fault of big money.  I've been trying to watch the same documentary courtesy of Netflix for over two weeks.  My Bluray player won't read the disc.  Windows won't read the disc.  Ubuntu only would read 30 minutes of the disc before deciding there wasn't any information left on it.  By the way, the DVD doesn't have any scratches.  It doesn't have any flaws as far as I can tell.  So why won't it play?

The One Percent is a telling documentary about wealth disparity in the U.S. and the connection between Washington D.C. and richest people in America.  I have to wonder why I had such difficulty watching this film that was supposed to be circulated by a corporate agency created for the express purpose of film circulation.  I feel thwarted. 

Despite this, I know what the conclusion is.  It is dangerous for so much wealth to be consolidated in the hands of so few.  Not only can we talk about the consolidation of financial wealth, but social wealth as well.  Even in the case where a child is deprived of their monetary inheritance, they still have their name.  A name can give you many things.  Connections are inherited.  Social circles are built on names.  It is impossible to deny that social capital has as much importance as financial. 

The recommendations of close friends get jobs.  Relationships facilitate class movement, wealth generation, and general improvement of a person's situation.  The bigger your social network, the better chances you have of getting things you want. The more influential your connections, the more options you have.  It is therefore impossible to disenfranchise an heir of the top one percent, unless they themselves have singlehandedly squandered their wealth and connections (which would take a great deal of effort). And who, in their right mind would do such a thing? No one.  Certainly not me.

Net Neutrality - The Media Fight

Apparently you can have too many renewals on a library book.  I didn't think it was possible to reach this point, except I have.  For whatever reason I just can't seem to actually make use of the items I borrow from my new library.

Maybe it has something to do with the collection being well, so incredibly limited in genres that I find interesting.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that the majority of the books are quite outdated and showing their wear (I know, you can't judge a book by its cover but I am a visual person and frayed edges with dirty smudges really puts me off of something.).  It could also have to do with the fact that I have Netflix that fills my time (going through Nova, PBS, and National Geographic specials is fun for me - I know I'm a dork.).  That is probably the biggest culprit, the advent of the instant stream.  Instead of having to wait for a week or months to see the next episode of a series, I get to watch it right in a row.  I can have addictive marathon after marathon and no one is the wiser (except Christian, poor bloke).

I have mixed feelings about the accessibility of shows on Netflix. While my bad habit is coming to an end (because there simply aren't enough series available on instant play to whet my appetite) it could have been on-going.  Cable generally puts me off if I end up having to watch something other than what I want or wait, I simply turn it off completely and pick up a book. This result would be bad for the production company no matter what - no money could be made through cable or Netflix. 

Most of the people I know with Netflix are poor intellectuals who can't be bothered to deal with cable.  These people tend to also use the lovely Skype.  Remember these are people who wouldn't have these services except for the cheap accessibility that companies like Skype and Netflix offer.  So then I have to wonder, why would Metro PCS try to charge people more money for their internet service if they use either of these companies' services (or better yet, just blocking them)?

Oh, I remember!  Corporate greed!

It goes back to resource control.  In this, I have to say, I am a bit of a social anarchist.  I think the internet should be free.  Total net neutrality.  Call me a rebel, say I belong with Emma Goldman, but it's true.  One of the things that is so critical to our world today is the free flow of information.  Put a stopper in that and all kinds of things crop up. 

It doesn't just have to do with who makes money off of music files, TV shows, or e-Books.  It's about being able to access the news freely - a number of different sources at any given time.  It's about connecting with people, staging protests or flash mobs, creating communities surrounding issues and making a difference in the world.  It's about sharing our very human experience in America with someone's very human experience in Uzbekistan.  I for one don't want uber-corporate controls stifling information flow.  Even though Comcast hasn't pulled this fast one on us yet, I have to say something, because honestly, like World War 2, we could be next.

Live like me?

We recently canceled our cable.  This meant I had to temporarily give up my Ghost Whisperer addiction.  This was both good and bad.  It was good because I needed to do something else with my days.  It was bad because I had to give it up and I didn't get to watch the entire show.  When I get into something, I have to do it whole enchilada.  For example, when I get into a book series, I have to read them all, immediately.  It means I don't sleep very much.  Needless to say, I definitely had withdrawal symptoms. Sad, I know, but everyone has their addictions.

In place of cable, we subscribed to Netflix.  The unfortunate thing about Netflix is it isn't particularly Ubuntu friendly, so you can't watch things instantly on it.  Instead I have to log into my ghost OS, Windows 7 starter for netbooks so I can watch things instantly.  This is slightly inconvenient, mostly because I am technologically retarded. It requires me to choose something in the BIOS and I can't figure out how to access my Ubuntu files from Windows 7.  See, I like to watch and write simultaneously.  I jump back and forth.  When I hit a wall, I watch something for a little while and then return to my written word. 

Well, after rating several hundred movies and TV shows, Netflix gave me some suggestions.  I decided to log into my Windows OS and check out some of the suggested instant play options.  This is how I found my new temporary addiction, well at least until I finish seasons one, two and the associated movie - Dead Like Me.  The series got me thinking about how I live my own life.  The main character is undead, and she spends her time thinking about the things she would have changed during her short life in between her mundane office job and her grim reaping.  It got me thinking about a number of different things that I've done in my life.  At the moment, it feels like life is a bit on hold.  I did need a break of a month or so from work.  My last job sucked major wang.  I hated it.  I hated the people in charge.  The company was horrible.  It made me want to bang my head against the wall over and over again.  There were many reasons for this, but mostly, it was because my soul was sucked out of my body. 

Needless to say, I required some down time in between positions.  It meant this break was very much appreciated, but now I feel a bit like I'm stewing in my own juices if you catch my drift.  It seems like life needs to pick up again.  How does one just pick up life?  Should you volunteer? Start a business? Join a Meetup group and hope it actually works out? I just don't know.  Normally I leave this kind of thing up to chance.  How long does chance typically take? I don't know, but I do know that it usually takes 2 years for a place to really feel like home.  Maybe then I'll feel like my life is back on the fast track.  Nudges earlier than that would definitely help.  Maybe I should sit in a local coffee house and talk to anyone who looks interesting.  Maybe I could just start by leaving the apartment more regularly.  Cross your fingers for good incentives!  I'd like to live a bit more, wouldn't you?

The Free Evangelist

First, I should tell you I am technologically retarded.  Okay, well maybe not that bad, but I have a way with technology which makes it want to stop working.  I've broken my dishwasher, toaster oven,  watches, cell phones, and computers just by touching them or sometimes by being in the room.  In short, I either need something that is REALLY well made or someone around me who can fix something that is less than stellar to keep it working if I'm going to be using it.  This is one of the reasons why Christian and I work so well together.  I break things, he fixes them.  I mention this because it's important to know about him.  He is very interested in all things involved in tech.  That means he rooted his phone.  But most importantly, he uses all open-source software.  He put open source software on the laptop I'm using to write this entry. He actually tries to convert people to open source as much as possible. You could say, he's an evangelist for open source, more specifically, Ubuntu.

My husband came home from work as he usually does for lunch.  He had just fixed a laptop for one of his co-workers and was telling me about the conversation they had.  Normally he would charge 40$ or more per hour to fix a tech issue.  This time, he made a deal with the guy.  He would fix it for free if he could install Ubuntu as the OS. The guy's main concern was being able to run iTunes along with internet and word processing.  Christian basically told him point blank that Ubuntu is the operating system for people.  He could sell this thing, if it was for sale.

See the cool thing about open source software is that it is both philosophically and literally free.  Yes, you don't have to pay for it.  That is definitely a plus for our wallets.  But when it comes to open source, it's not just about money.  It's about the code.  The code is free.  It is open, without any market interference except for the simplest of influences - what people want, they build and then share with the masses.  That makes open source software more stable and just better written than anything you would buy because people build the software for the love of building it.  It means fewer security holes (unless you have really special skills like some people I know) and its virtually virus free (viruses are written for Windows... hmm... interesting...which has numerous security holes). 

Needless to say, the guy at the shop didn't really care about the philosophical intellectual freedom of his new operating system.  He just cared that when he turned it on it worked, and iTunes was operating in all its glory.  When it did, several other guys at the shop saw the ease of Ubuntu and mentioned they were having trouble with their computers.  More potential converts. Sweet. :-)