Linux and personal update

This is a catch-all post. I have another one on my mind but I have waited too long to do this and I have loose ends to organize.

First, the Linux update. As I type this, I have been using Pinguy Linux for a couple of months. I have dual-installed it on two laptops, both of which run Windoze 7 otherwise. I re-installed it on this one because of a booting (startup) issue, and that has worked well. This netbook has no DVD drive, but saving the Pinguy download to an SD card solved that. In addition, it gave me an entire set of software that I can carry around in my pocket if need be.

Most of this works the same way it did in Windows although the wording may differ and program names always do. Setting up different software is easier because I don't have to download or pay for any of it; it's included free and is part of Pinguy. All I have to do is click a "menu" button in the upper left corner of the screen and find the correct category of software. The actual installation is pretty much exactly the same. Most other functions reside there as well. The menus get long but I like the organization.

I spend most of my time in Mozilla Firefox, a popular browser that works with almost everything on the Internet, and I do occasional word processing (Libre Office). All of this is familiar. Now and then I use something else. No problem. The desktop differs from Windows; there are more useful things there. Also, the browser screen does not automatically take up the full screen, but it can be set to do so from that same menu button. If I leave it as only part of the screen, I tend to run into things in Docky, which is basically the task bar containing things like the trash can (recycle in Windows) that people use often spread around different sides of the screen. All in all, the big problem was installing Pinguy in the first place. Once installed, it works more easily than I had expected.

Now for the personal update. I have had an interesting time at the same time that most of my days have been boring. I have had no cash income between selling my junk car before Thanksgiving and receiving my income tax return a few days ago. Therefore, I spent very little time in stores other than grocery buying with my food benefits.  I find little that I can do with no car, no money, and no job. I have however caught up on most of my Internet activities. I actually read a bit less than I did before due to that.

The transit here lacks reliability, evening operating hours, and intelligent design. I have been using it anyhow when I could get the $1 per trip fare. I celebrated when I finally got one of my bicycles back. I have been riding it whenever possible. When my tax return came in, I ordered a trailer for the bicycle. Given that I will not have money to buy a car in the near future, I will use the trailer to make the bike do jobs such as big grocery runs and trips to the laundromat.

I continue in the process of trying to get a disability income. I received my notice that my first appeal was denied pretty much as expected. I am waiting a while to continue the process because I have Medicaid now and I am using it to gather much more evidence of my medical condition.

The two largest current events in my illness/disability story are (a) I am now taking an extended-release generic for nitroglycerin (heart medication) as an experiment to see whether it helps my symptoms and (b) I have a sleep study scheduled for the 20th of this month.

The shortness of breath and constant fatigue do seem to improve with the medicine. I may have found a cause for my un-wellness. That is a good news-bad news kind of thing. The bad news is that I might have heart problems. The good news is that those issues might get me my disability.

Most of the people who know me and also the medical people expect the sleep study to find apnea. Given that I snore too much to sleep on my back (I wake myself up)  and have had insomnia my entire life, they are probably right.

As I mentioned above, I have another post in mind. You will see that as soon as I have the energy to write it.