I’m actually car-hunting at the moment. I’m not entirely sure what I want - just how much I (don’t) want to pay. :P Cars over here just seem so ridiculously big. And there never seems to be more than one person in a car at a time! I swear, I’ve stood at bus stops for 20 minutes, and been able to count on one hand the number of cars that have 2 or more people.

I just want something small, preferably a manual, reliable, easy to park (like my old car) and cute. I’m definitely excited to be able to drive places, it’ll make getting around so much easier and quicker (this country seems to be made for drivers - which, of course, it is). And hey, there’s always that feeling of loyalty and alliance to whatever make/model of car you go for (everything from keyrings to online resources and forums/social networking sites like ItsMyNissan.com).

I miss just the simple procedure of driving. Thate state-of-mind you get into, when you’re not concentrating on anything but driving. The utter procedural motions you go through - the way you can switch off to everything else.

I actually found driving an automatic scarier than a manual, because I think not having control over the gears, and not having the possibility of having to change gear at any moment, lets you switch off in a way that’s not safe. That’s my new theory on why drivers in America are so notorious. Also, the automatic I drove was very strange on any kind of an incline… and it felt exactly like a manual would if you were in a gear too high(/not powerful enough) for the situation. Very strange!

I’ll stick to my good ol’ clutch and handbrake, I think!

There are a whole load of ways to get your website out there, if you’re on a bit of a hits kick. Getting your link in web directories (dirmania web directory, which has useful categorization and offers free listing), link exchanges, forums - they’re all about exposure and getting page ranks up. Mind you, they’re good ways of finding some great sites to read, too, and awesome resources online.

Why might you want more exposure? To earn more, I suppose, from all those paid blogging programmes. Better opportunities, more money. The more widely-known and better-read your site is, the more advertisers are willing to pay for space on it. And just to connect with a wider community… to sell more, if you’re site sells products, to get more opinions if it’s a forum or feedback site. Diversity, and all that!

To be honest, I’ve never been a big one for putting my site in link systems and trying to build up visitors or my hit statistics. I don’t really assume many people are that interested in my own mundane musings. But I can definitely see how these would be invaluable tools for, say, corportate websites or websites that focus on revenue-generation as opposed to random and often meaningless self-expression. Still, it’s nice to feel you’re reaching people.

I think people in my field - human services - should be paid twice what they are. This work is so vital, so worthwhile - and yet people doing things like personal shopping and TV presenters earn infinitely more. We seriously need to redress this balance, as a society. :P Our perception of what’s worthy of being paid the big bucks, as it were, is just a bit distorted.

Of course, there are lots of ways to supplement your income. Starting an on-the-side online business, selling things with ecommerce software, is easier than ever now. People have their whole careers online now, selling anything with online shopping cart software. It’s a bit of a foreign concept to me, because I thrive on the person-to-person contact and the raw interactions I have every day, but in terms of simply earning money by any means, if definitely makes sense.

And let’s face it - any simple and effortless way to help make ends meet is a plus!

TV in America is strange… there are so many more ad beaks, and the commercials for medicinces - even laxatives and weight loss medicines like generic acomplia - have all these discalaimers about side effects and the ingredients. The person narrating or in the commercial will be all upbeat and nonchalant while telling people all these worst-case scenarios - but the med is awesome, so get it anyway!!

The ads in magazines are full-page, and on the back is an entire page of tiny, tiny fine print with the full medical details and more disclaimers, like on the leaflet you’d get in the box if you got the prescription at home. I wonder why they do this? Because they’ll get sued otherwise, or something, if someone claims they weren’t warned about a certain side-effect? It’s all very strange… But hey, better to be warned!

I have to admit, I find keeping up with all the awesome blogs, journals and news sites in my feed reader a bit of a challenge. The little counter on the icon blinks at me, unread items in their hundreds, and I feel guilty for not having been through them all! (And yet I refuse to unsubscribe, because it all matters to me! :P)

I just found out about www.readlatestnews.com, though, which is pretty cool and takes away the need for having sites like BBC/NYT/CNN etc. etc. in your reader (and let’s face it, those are the sites most often updated, and can add a huge chunk to your unread item count!). It’s a one-stop shop for all things news! You can get international, local, specialized (politics/tech/etc.) from every source you could want, in one place!