I am fairly sick, extremely tired and even grumpier than usual.  This weekend was a struggle and the first part of this week has been rough, too.

As such, I’ve decided to write a rant instead of a post.  Some of it is at least tangentially related to writing and/or doing business online.  Most of it is not.

SEVEN  THINGS THAT HAVE PISSED ME OFF:  JANUARY 29 – FEBRUARY 2

(in no particular order)

Coughing.  Coughing.  Coughing.

CPA Scammers.  I found a series of ads offering people a buck or two to sign up for dating site trials through a clever set of redirect links.  They’re paying people with no real interest in the sites a buck so they can grab >$1 in payments from the CPA program.  It’s not just dating sites, either.  I’ve seen it with insurance and other other offers.  Aside from the obvious ethical issues and potential legal violations, these dumbasses are blindly swinging their “I’m gonna make a fast buck without conscience” machetes at the heads of golden geese.  Either the CPA networks are gonna wise up and give the thieves an ass-whoopin’ or the viability of the marketing method will head south fast.

Winter.  Maybe I wouldn’t be coughing so much if indoor air wasn’t at 0% humidity due to constant furnace use and outdoor air didn’t create ice crystals in my lungs with every inhalation.

Kansas’ Reaction to Meth.  In an effort to curb the production of meth, the State of Kansas forced me to stand in line at my overrun local pharmacy for thirty minutes with an assortment of wheezing, snotty, sneezing human petri dishes filled with potentially deadly viruses and bacteria, in order to buy $3.65 worth of real Sudafed.  The pharmacy needs to check one’s ID and then have the buyer sign a book in order to get Sudafed.  That’s supposed to keep us all safe from the meth chefs who would otherwise stock their cook site pantries with pseudoephedrine-containing former-OTCs.  This is the kind of thing that makes me want to start Breaking Bad out of spite.

Facebook Fury.  You run into someone you’d like to “friend” because you haven’t seen them since you sat next to them in study hall during the Reagan administration only to find out that they somehow spend several hours per day playing annoying Facebook farming/mafia/gambling games that you didn’t even know existed and that you’re now obliged to block.

Forum Profile Link Spammers.  Yes, fans of Paul and Angela’s link packages, I’m talking to you.  Securing marginally valuable backlinks by creating a slew of Web 2.0 site profiles may be easy and it may even allow your third party-hosted article to “dominate” a longtail keyword, but it’s making life miserable for the people running some of these sites.  I don’t care if someone wants to “game” Google’s algo, but I do mind when their games start to interfere with my ability to function online conveniently.  When I tried to set a profile at one such site recently (an region-specific precision niche site, by the way), I was slapped down.  I explained myself, had the problem fixed and was then slapped down again.  I actually wanted to participate and to learn from the community as part of research on a project.  That’s become exceedingly difficult because this site and others like it are constantly bombarded by people who are creating semi-faux profiles for the sake of a link.  Here’s an idea:  Do something worthwhile.  You’ll be surprised how many people voluntarily link to it–and how much more valuable those links will be than those little profile dumps.

My Eyes.  I’ve been suffering from computer vision syndrome and/or just plain eyestrain a lot lately.  I obviously need a new Rx for mis ojos.  Bifocals and/or special computer glasses are probably in my presbyopic future.

That is all.

So, what’s been aggravating you lately?