What's Going On?

Well, for the past couple of months I have been battling both my Fibro and RA through major flare-ups aftershocks.

I have only been posting to my personal disabled blog, mainly where I post from the prospective of a disabled person living through the UK governments controversial welfare reform bill. My health has been so bad that I've only managed to post minimally to this particular blog due to my present circumstances.


So what's happening on the personal front, check out my other blog FMSHell hosted on blogger as well, so I won't bore you here.

On the writing front I had hoped to enter the NANOWRIMO this year but unfortunately my health makes typing difficult and painful to do and I can only do it in sporadic bursts. Again my health totally screwing up my plans or decisions, first thing majorly affected was my book review blog which I haven't been able to update since I began flaring so badly, or rather my previous flare ups which I've been suffering from since last winter's bad conditions and freezing temps, which now seems unfortunately to visitors as abandoned. Rest assured it isn't and I am just now beginning to be able to actually settle down enough to concentrate on reading anything. Over the past month I've gradually built up my stamina and managed to read something longer than the instructions on a pamphlet.

I have started my Christmas shopping incase of the major bad weather and snowbound circumstances we found ourself in last year manages to repeat this year.

I am awaiting the delivery of my Mother's gift from me, I had no idea what to get for her at all, eventually I have settled for a touch screen reader which is something she wants. She, like me, hoped that the Kindle touch would be released here in the UK as well but it's didn't and instead we got basically a keyboard-less version of last year's WIFI kindle.

I know I could go through the bells and hoops that some fellow members of the UK based Kindle forum did and buy the Kindle touch (which is supposed to be a US only device but there are ways around it for those determined enough and who don't mind the extra costs of import and duty they would incur to do so) but decided against it as the cost was too high for my lower income to manage. Instead I've ordered a Kobo Touch which is being sold with £60 off the RRP at WH Smith. We have many epubs and I still buy them direct from sites like Harlequin and Mills and Boon so it not being able to read Kindle books doesn't matters. Also the majority of books I buy are DRM free books which I then convert to Kindle if I want to read them on my Kindle, especially when I get the title cheaper from the independent book-store than buying it from Amazon with the mandatory 20% VAT that gets added to these titles also I get them upon release and often with up to 30% off the price like with Samhain Publishings.

I also ordered myself the Kobo Vox which is a ereader colour tablet which although it doesn't match the big Android devices out there like iPad etc., will do me just fine hopefully especially as I can add the Kindle app to it and read not only epubs through either the Kobo software or an android app but also my Kindle books which mean I have a more diverse reader in it. Fingers-crossed anyway. If it's easier to use than the budget no-name android tablet I already own which is heavy, software/apps are lagging and a can be a bit buggy at times I'll be happy enough. Also this would free me up to gift my Mother my other android which she presently likes as it has a nice bright touch screen which she can play a few simple games on like solitaire. Also the Vox has a better touch-screen as my android tablet has a restitive one which take quite a firm touch and doesn't allow multi-touch like the Vox apparently does.

I'll hopefully get a lighter, easier tablet based reader which I can do some light browsing on which is what I originally wanted a tablet for anyway.