It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve been a smoker (with the occasional 2 puff lapse here and there).  I do feel better, no triathlons just yet, but give me time. My house doesn’t smell like a 3 day old grease fire anymore, and after about $150 at the dry cleaners, my clothes don’t either. So, I’m supposed to be all happy and proud of myself for kicking a 30 year habit…oh, I’m proud…just not all that happy yet. Instead of smoking, I’m eating everything in sight, and for a “slender all of her life” chick, that’s a new one. Don’t be surprised to see me on next season’s “Biggest Loser”, if I can’t get a handle on this hand to mouth disease. I’m also still really, really jumpy…thank goodness my kids are off at school…

I’m going to talk about E-Poll today. I joined a couple of months ago and I’m going to give it my “shrug” rating (you’ll have to get a visual of me lifting my shoulders here). It’s a good site in a lot of ways, it’s just not one of my favorite ones. The surveys they send are easy to take, mostly about media and entertainment. I got about one a week in the beginning, and now I’m getting about 2. I love the surveys and the site layout, and they do send you your “payment” in a timely manner when you’ve earned enough points to cash out.

The drawback for me is that it takes a long time to get to the point of cash out. At E-Poll,  generally earn 500 to 3000 points per survey completed. You are sent to the Rewards store where you can add your points to any number of charities (if you wish) or gift cards at various stores: Amazon, Home Depot, etc. It takes 3500 points for a $5 gift card, 6750 for a $10 card, on up to 17,250 for a $30 one.

I’m the queen of instant gratification, but I’ve heard (and read) lots of positive feedback about the site, so I’m going with the “shrug” review until further notice. Once I figure out how to do it, I’ll make a video and do a shadow puppet shrug like this one!