Hurricane Preparedness

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, I was unaware of any "panic" that occurred as a result of a potential hurricane threat. Until then it seemed that people went about their business, the hurricane hit and then life resumed as usual. No big deal. And I've lived in hurricane territory my entire life. It's not like hurricanes are new to me.

So while I watched, as did the rest of the country/world, the devastation caused by Katrina two years ago, I was still unprepared for the panic I witnessed when Rita headed towards Galveston. (And just so you know, if Galveston is hit, Baytown [where I live] will be impacted. No ifs, ands or buts about it.) But actually, what surprised me so was that the panic started the minute the storm hit the Gulf. So much can happen between entering the Gulf and landfall. That was one of the reasons there was such devastation in New Orleans - it wasn't the projected landfall site. Katrina made a turn at the last minute and went there. And it was the same situation with Rita. Rita's projected landfall was Galveston. Evacuations started a week before landfall was expected. And, like Katrina, Rita made a last minute turn and a lot of the people who evacuated left a place that wasn't hit, only to end up in the place that was (although we were impacted to a degree - just not with the intensity expected). Hurricanes are so unpredictable.

Anyway, so why am I blogging about this today? I went to the grocery store this morning and the shelves of water and soft drinks were bare already. Dean is expected to make landfall on Thursday near Corpus Christi and the shelves are empty in Baytown on Sunday. Although, in fairness to those who cleared the shelves, this area is expected to be impacted by the storm to some degree - it's just not known yet, how much. The further up north the Texas coast it hits, the worse it will be here. And, assuming it makes landfall south of us, we'll be on the "wet" or "dirty" side of the storm - which, considering the amount of rain dumped by Erin (and that was just a tropical storm!), we really can't afford to get.

Fortunately though, I started preparing early this year (since I was so ill-prepared when Rita came through). I have been buying a gallon of water each week so that I have enough to last me and the boys the recommended three days. I'd like to have more, but as I mentioned, the shelves were bare today so I'll have to make do with what I have - if it comes to that.

Bottom line, I may not have everything they tell you to get to prepare for a hurricane (and good luck getting it now) but I am better prepared than I ever have been. And you know, it wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit if I never have to need it.

Secret Crushes

Have you ever been reading a romance novel and thought "people don't really do that"?

I have and one of the situations that I think that about is when the heroine (for example) just sees the hero and goes all weak-kneed. She just melts in front of him and becomes mindless. I read that and get annoyed because, who really does that? I mean, maybe we want that to happen and maybe that's what the author is counting on - our ability to suspend disbelief that a perfectly intelligent female could forget her own name and want that.

Okay, so that's where I am on the matter - and then I get this picture. It came in the inter-company mail yesterday and is a picture of the holiday party committee (minus two) for last year's party.

And that's when I remember that there is someone who has that effect on me - and he's in this picture. Now, looking at the picture of him does nothing for me - really. But in person, I just become jello. He just smiles at me and says hi and I can forget anything. Like the fact that he has a wife and kids. Morals? Values? What are those?

I don't think about it much, unless I see him and this picture brought it all back to the surface again. Then I found out yesterday that Friday was his last day at work. *sigh* I won't run into him in the hallways anymore or see his smiling face. This photo is the only thing I have left of him. My one consolation is that I'm sure the only reason he left the company was to save his marriage because, of course, he's secretly in love with me too and his wife made him choose between us. I mean, it couldn't be that he had a better opportunity with another company, could it? ;o)

So what about you, ever had a secret crush that had to remain a secret?


P.S. This post helps to ensure that I don't tell my work-friends about this blog. LOL Oh, and the object of my affection? I'd like to see who y'all think it might be, and then I'll spill. :o)

Local Chapter Activities

Tomorrow my local chapter is hosting a reception for local booksellers and published chapter authors. The only reason I get to participate is because I'm on the board of directors of the chapter.

Anyway, we all have duties and responsibilities. Mine was to collect materials from the authors and put them in goodie bags for the booksellers (to remember our authors). We all also have to bring some food dish. I always hate that part because I don't know a lot of fast and easy recipes. But it's expected.

So fine, I asked a co-worker for her recipe for the crockpot meatballs and sauce she brought to an event last year. Figured it would be easy. And it turns out it's only four ingredients (including the meatballs) in the crockpot for a couple of hours. Perfect!

I bought all the ingredients (actually twice as many meatballs as I needed but, oh well), then our president sends out an email asking for finger food. Finger food? I'm thinking meatballs don't count as a finger food. So I emailed the author whose house it will be at (I've been there a couple of times and realized it might be difficult to have the meatballs on the table if they needed to be plugged in, so to speak) and asked what she thought about a crockpot dish. She said it could go on the pass-through between the kitchen and dining room if I was okay with that. Which I would be if I didn't think it would be completely overlooked (and I did mention I bought way too many meatballs, right?) so I offered a compromise. I said I would cook them beforehand and, if she didn't mind, heat them up there so that they could go on the table.

I'm waiting to hear back from her but I really hope she's okay with it because even on the off chance that all the meatballs that are currently cooking (which is half of what I bought) are eaten tomorrow, I still have a ton more left (or did I mention that already?).

Anyway, corning ware can go in the microwave and the oven, right?

Oh, and as an aside, please email (or post here) your best recipes for potato salad. I volunteered to make this for boss's day and while I used to have a recipe for it, I don't anymore.

Have I mentioned that I hate events that require I make food and bring it? *sigh*

A little silly

My step-father sent me this and I thought it was fun. Hopefully it will work. And if it does - you might want to set any drinks you have aside. ;o) (It's popping up in a separate window for me - just so you know.)

Can you keep a secret?

I've mentioned before that this is my secret blog. . . no one knows about it. I have one person that I don't know from RWA that knows about this blog (and only one person from my local chapter - and she doesn't know the name [I did tell her once, she just didn't remember it - which I'm okay with]), and I trust her with all my secrets so it's okay if I put this post out there.

At work we're getting ready for boss's day. Last year we dressed all our bosses up as pirates and the everyone else had to guess which pirate they were supposed to be. It was fun and all but at the time, I suggested we do a 50s theme this year. They all said okay and them I'm sure they promptly forgot about it. But I didn't.

So a few weeks ago we had our monthly Staff Support (SS) meeting and I brought it up again. I threw out the 50s theme again and they all liked it, but then started leaning towards Elvis and wanting to dress all the male bosses as Elvis from different times in his career. The lone female boss was going to be dressed up as Priscilla. Okay, we have a starting point.

Then, a co-worker and I decided to see where we could find Elvis "costumes" for cheap (because we pay for all of this out of our own pockets) and ended up at buycostumes.com. From there we went to their adult wig selection and we went off in another direction.

I sent an email to all the other SS telling them what we'd found and we scheduled a meeting for today to discuss further. I'd come up with an idea for a game, which was a starting point but after we started brainstorming I think what we decided was even better. We made a lot of decisions and I think it's going to be so much fun. We're going to dress up eight people (we're doing more than usual). We'll have Elvis, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Dean Martin, Jeff Bagwell, Marilyn Monroe, Sonny, and Cher.

Now, you may be saying "Didn't she say the lone female boss?" but then probably disregarded it because I also said we're dressing up more than usual. But you'd have been right the first time. We're dressing one of the men up as Cher (his SS doesn't particularly like him so her wanting to do that to him is more out of spite but we all agreed it would be fun - and we like him so. . .).

Anyway, I worked up a little "program" today creating a tri-fold document. On the outside it tells them what the event is called and other miscellaneous information. When you first open it up you see the "rules" of play (which I'll go into in a minute). When you open it further you have all the bosses' names, with a blank beside it (for their guesses), the questions they're allowed to ask and the menu (the SS make them lunch too - and we've already decided on that as well). Everyone seemed to like it.

But the rules - we've decided not to dress them up from the beginning this year. Instead, they're going to come out as themselves, having only an index card with numbered answers on it. The group will be broken up into teams and each of the "celebrities" will visit with the teams. The team will say, "I want the answer to question 5 (or whatever number)". They won't read the question. The celebrity won't know the question - only the answer (they're not going to know who they are either - at this point anyway). Each team gets to ask three questions from the list, of which there are ten, of each celebrity. Then they have to make a guess at who they are supposed to be.

At the end of it all, the teams turn in their program with the answers and the team with the most right answers wins. (We're going to get them a little something but that hasn't been decided on yet.) While they're turning in their answers, the celebrities will be leaving the room and will be asked "who are you?" to see if they know. Then we'll dress them up as their character and they'll come back into the room - to music.

Elvis will come in to "Love Me Tender", Sonny & Cher to "I've Got You Babe", Bill Gates to "Money" (I don't know if that's the name of the song but I sang it for my co-workers and they knew what I meant.), Marilyn to "Happy Birthday Mr. President", Jeff Bagwell to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". We haven't definitely decided on Dean Martin's song and Donald Trump will come in with pink slips saying "You're Fired!"

I'm already looking forward to it and it's a good two months away! I think it's going to be a lot of fun and I'll have pictures to prove it! :o)

But don't tell anyone - it'll be our secret. ;o)

The Dating Game

Last night I was watching The Bill Engvall Show (caught it accidentally - didn't know it had premiere'd yet) and the parents were getting ready to go out to a ballgame with a friend of theirs. (He'd gotten lost on the way, even though he'd been there a gazillion times, because he was following his GPS's instructions.) So while they waited they sat down with their kids. One of them said they had to write a history paper and the topic was "How did people meet each other before the internet?". (I found that amusing. :o) ) So the parents told their story.

But it got me to thinking, meeting on the internet is big business these days. But it's one of those things I just don't get - not really. I did actually meet someone from the internet once and we went out for a while but there were things that troubled me, not the least of which - we met online. He was okay with that and told anyone who asked he'd met me that way. I, on the other hand, chose to tell people "we met through mutual friends" which, truth told, wasn't entirely a lie (if you were okay with stretching the truth - out of shape even) but it sure was walking a fine line there. I knew if he ever met my friends and family, he'd spill his guts and so we never took things to the "meet the friends and/or family" stage. Plus, I couldn't see myself telling my kids one day, "Your daddy and I met online."

But I can see the advantage to meeting online because you have the opportunity to get to know someone without being judged on looks. This is assuming, of course, who you're getting to know is being honest - but then you can meet liars and skanks without going online too. I just don't think that venue is how I want to go about meeting someone though.

So anyway, the big question of the day is - how did you meet your significant other? Was it a blind date? Office romance (which was the case with me and my husband - I was his father's secretary)? Automobile accident? Visitor's day at the prison? What?

Inquiring minds want to know. :o)

Wake me in September

I'm not normally a superstitious person but there is one thing I dread. August. Not only is it a major hurricane month but bad things seem to happen to people I care about in August. My mother died in August 2001. My step-father had quintuple by-pass surgery (he was going in for a roto-blading that he was told would kill him if he had it done and the by-pass surgery was scheduled in place of that) in August 2003. And my very dear friend died, at the age of 46, in August 2005.

Augusts 2002, 2004 and 2006 passed without tragedy. That just seems to happen in the odd numbered years.

So, as the title of this blog says. . . Wake me in September.

The thing about reviews

Several chapters I know of (including RWAOL) have instituted a program wherein published authors have their books read by someone in the chapter and that person writes a review of the book and posts it at amazon and Barnes and Noble's websites.

Okay, so I'm partnered with Kasey Michaels. I absolutely love her books. She is wonderful with bringing her characters to life. Thing is, she has nine books out this year. Nine! And I want the reviews to be original, like the books. I don't want anyone reading the reviews thinking I've just switched book and character names. But you know, it's not easy because the characters are what pull me into her stories and how many ways can you say that.

Anyway, I finished reading one of her upcoming releases (a re-release actually) last night and felt an inspiration this morning and wrote up the review rather quickly. Normally I have someone review it before I send it to Kasey but this morning I sent it straight to Kasey for review and comment. I haven't heard back from her but here's what I sent her.

When Christian St. Clair talks, people listen. Whether it be on fashion, people or politics, St. Clair has the ear of the ton. Only his support of the Peacock have given them pause.

Gabrielle Laurence’s only hope of saving her home is to marry a wealthy man. Having no dowry - her father has gambled away all their money - she has no choice but to allow Christian St. Clair’s championing of her, raising her to the status of belle of the season.

In public, Christian is a dandy, one whose main interest is in fashion. Simple, but revered. In private, he is the Peacock, fighting to right wrongs against those who cannot stand up for themselves. So different are that personas that no one suspects he is the Peacock, and he intends to keep it that way.

Although Gabrielle appreciates what Christian’s support has done for her, she also resents it. Resents him. She knows that one word from him can destroy her chances of a good match. As such, she forms a plan that will allow her to remain is society’s good graces while removing the need to be pleasant to Christian. She will unmask the Peacock.

As Christian fights to keep his identity a secret and Gabrielle is intent on discovering the identity of the Peacock, they find that it is a fine line between love and hate. Will it be too late for them when Gabrielle, unable to ascertain with any certainty who the Peacock really is, sets in motion her plan to bring Christian down, revealing him as the Peacock?

Kasey Michaels has a knack for writing characters that leap from the page and into your heart. This re-release of The Secrets of the Heart is a perfect example of why, when Kasey Michaels writes, people read.

I'm a Believer!

I had intended to include this information in my last post but forgot. It's really for Ellen that I'm confessing this and I've advised her to get ready with her "I told you so". With that in mind, here's what happened. . .

Last Saturday I went to the library to return the audio book Dear John. I thought since I was there already, I'd check out the other audio books, since I said I might give it another try before I wrote it off forever. Anyway, they had a larger supply of audio books than they did when I was there before National. Good books even.

Well, even though I had the "not for me" thought in my head, I selected three books. Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline, Shopgirl by Steve Martin and The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Fracis Lee.

So Sunday, after I got home from the movie, I decided to start listening to Dirty Blonde, while I cleaned house (I'd picked up a CD player the day before at WalMart). And later I was kicking myself for not listening to it sooner! I will say, though, that while the reader was better than the Dear John reader, I had a little issue. It was like I was sitting down with my girlfriend and she was telling me this story. It was comfortable and all, but the thing was, she was apparently telling me the story in a restaurant and was eating, and/or drinking and/or taking drags off of cigarettes (I couldn't figure out exactly what it was she was doing) from time to time. Other than that, she was great. I finished listening to it Tuesday night.

Wednesday I popped in Shopgirl (even though I need to finish Kasey Michaels' book so I can write a review! Argh!) and listened to the whole thing. Steve Martin did the reading and I have to say, he could have a whole new career reading books. He was fabulous! The story itself was a bit strange but the reading could not have been better - really.

All the while I'm listening to these books, I'm cleaning house.

I went to work today and was telling someone about it and told him that I'm LOVING audio books and think I'm spoiled now - may not ever be able to sit down and actually read a book. They're great.

Meanwhile, my house has never looked better.


And Ellen says, "I told you so." LOL

One Hundred Words

Jessica Trapp has this thing going on called One Hundred Words a Day for One Hundred Days. The purpose of it is to get you writing, setting doable goals. Mind you, you can write more than one hundred words a day - you just have to write one hundred words, a day. If you miss a day, you have to start all over again at day one.

She's been doing this for a while now but I decided to join June 1st. So, I went to the yahoo group to sign up, only to see that it was closed to new members. I sent Jessica an email, asking her if it was truly closed to new members because I really wanted to join.

Well, I got an email invitation to a second group that she decided to open up. I think I got that invitation on June 3 - the day my computer crashed for the first time. As you may recall, my computer wasn't stable for a couple of weeks and then it died for good, leaving me without a computer for another couple of weeks.

By that time I was giving very serious consideration to going to Dallas - where I knew I wouldn't write, so why start beforehand, right? I mean, I had been reading the posts (you have to account for writing each day on the loop - although no bragging is allowed, just a post saying you accomplished the one hundred words for the day) where people were saying they were writing their one hundred words long-hand. I was so impressed that people were writing four manuscript pages long-hand.

Now, I know what you're thinking but we aren't quite there yet - but we will get there.

So, I'm really impressed by these folks, thinking I must not be as dedicated as they are that I won't even attempt to write four pages out long-hand. But I did plan to start writing as soon as I got back from Dallas.

Then I get an email with a link to an interview with Jessica where she talks about the one hundred words a day. She's going on and on about how it's a doable goal and it's not that much (and really four pages a day isn't that much if you're really dedicated, right?) - only like ten lines.

Huh?

Just what kind of big-ass font is she using that ten lines equals four pages??? I wondered.

And then it hit me. It's a HUNDRED words - NOT a thousand. Even I could have written that out long-hand! Geez! I'm telling you, numbers and I are no longer friends - we ended our close relationship my senior year of high school I think and this is just evidence of that fact.

Anyway, I finally started writing last Wednesday. But then last night I had a bit of excitement around here and kind of lost my motivation. I had resolved to starting on day one again tonight.

Fortunately though, I couldn't sleep because of the excitement (and the adrenalin rush that came with it) so at about 11:00 p.m. last night, I pounded out my hundred words and post my "did it" email.

I just completed day seven and already have at least day eight mapped out in my head.

So I'm using the hundred words a day motivation to write and it seems to be working. What motivation tactic do you use, and how's it working for you?

Hairspray

I went to see Hairspray this afternoon and absolutely loved it. It's one I'll probably have to buy when it comes out on DVD. The lead, Nikki Blonsky, was great, as was John Travolta as her mother. It was a fun, upbeat movie. And it had a message! It was better than I expected it to be. Always a good thing. :o)

So, what movies have you seen lately?

What's in a Name?

Over on the Deadline Divas' blog, Rhoda recently posted a picture she used for inspiration and I absolutely loved it. In fact, it inspired me too! Several years ago I was inspired to write this story. In my head I saw it on stage rather than in a book. Not sure why but that's what I was seeing. And having less of a clue of how to write a screenplay than I do a book, the idea got shoved to the further most recesses of story idea queue in my mind. Well, plus, the idea wasn't fully formed - I basically only knew the concept.

Fast forward to this picture of inspiration and suddenly the concept is fully formed. I know the beginning, the middle and well, I don't know the exact ending but I do know it is a happily ever after one. I even have a title for the story.

The only thing I don't have is the character's names. I never get fully invested in the names so they might change a gazillion times in the process. And I hate that.

One exception to that is a story idea that I have but it's based on someone I actually know and so I only see that person's name for my character. But, should it be published and should my friend actually read my book, I wouldn't want her (or a jury) to know (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that I based the character on her - or at least one of my initial impressions of her. (I should point out here that it is a person I adore and have the utmost respect for but this particular aspect may not seem "flattering" and I don't want to hurt any feelings.)

Anyway, I've told you all this to ask this - how do you come up with your character's names? Do they just come to you? Do they grow into them?

I just had this flashback to when I got my dog Harley and I called him something different every day until I took him to the vet and was forced to decide on a name. I don't know that I can do that with my characters.

Again, anyway, how do you work these details out? Inquiring minds want to know. :o)

On the Road Again

As promised, I'm going to comment on my virgin audio book experience. As you may recall, I was listening to Nicholas Sparks' (who, after talking to several people at the conference, is definitely off my "list") Dear John.

I was skeptical for a couple of reasons. One being that I didn't think I had the attention span to follow a story being read. Another being that I was so disappointed in the last book of his I read that I wasn't sure if I wanted to read/hear another.

So, okay, I put it on as soon as I dropped off the boys at the kennel Wednesday morning. The reader initially had a thick southern accent that I wasn't fond of (but I also think I may have been looking for things to not like). And I never did get comfortable with the "voices" he did for the people. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first but, several hours out, I realized that one thing that was bugging me was that the heroine of the story sounded EXACTLY like Dustin Hoffman in his role of Tootsie. Exactly like it! So I couldn't quite get the image out of my head that the heroine was a drag queen as I listened. Not to mention that the southern accent he attributed to the characters made them all come off sounding dumber than dirt - which I think is a misconception about southerners, but that's another story.

But, I plowed on anyway. The story was okay - definitely not my favorite of his books (but also not my least favorite - that honor goes to the last one I read) and there were a couple of places that I cried (which wasn't necessarily a good thing, considering I was behind the wheel of a car at the time). And there were a few places where my mind wandered off enough that I knew I had missed something - but I didn't really care so I didn't go back and replay anything.

In the end though, I might try another audio book but what I was telling my roommate was that what I think part of the problem for me was, was that I read in my own voice. The intonation and inflection I would have given would have been different I think. I think I might have enjoyed it more reading it than I did having it read "to me". And part of that might be because the story was told in first person, I don't know.

Anyway, as I said, I might try another audio book but I'm still kind of leaning towards thinking it's not really for me.

Lucy does Dallas

I'm noticing a bit of a theme - everyone is titling their posts " (name here) does Dallas", so why not me too? (And no - before you ask - if everyone else was jumping off a bridge, I wouldn't do that too. . . I don't think... ;o) )

Anyway, my stay in Dallas was a short one, not being registered and all so I'm already home. I had a lot of fun though and even have pictures this year to prove it! (I may have mentioned that I've depended on the kindness of others in years past and never saw the pictures so I made sure to take matters into my own hands this year.)


I arrived Wednesday afternoon after driving in from Houston (the drive made longer by a serious accident in Houston and my inability to navigate downtown Dallas streets, but that's a whole other story). I had called my roommate a couple of times from the road and she indicated that she was out and about in the hotel but that check-in should be a breeze for me, as she'd added my name to the reservation (it was a breeze, by the way). So I arrived and checked in, went to the room, dropped my stuff off and immediately went in search of water.


On my way up to the room, someone got on the elevator with a take-out box and someone else on the elevator asked her where she'd gotten it and she said there was food on the second floor. So when I went out in search of water, I went to the second floor first. Which is where I ran into the person I always see first at the conferences - Pamela Hathaway. She told me that Mel, Maria and The Pam were at the bar, so off I went.


Mel was walking away from the table so I went up and said hello to her. Turns out she wasn't feeling great so she was going for some water and then heading back to the room (she told me the water was on the first floor). We said our good-byes and I headed over to talk to Maria. We visited for a few minutes when Louisa showed up and the three of us visited.


Then I went over to say hello to The Pam and her first words were "How's Harley? That's what I want to know!" Gotta love a woman (man, person - anyone) who loves animals like that. I told her I had pictures on my camera that I'd show her later. We visited for 20 or 30 minutes and I headed out for the water that I'd originally left my room for, which I now knew was on the first floor (thanks Mel!).


I get my water and decide that I'll just scope out the hotel and find out where the signing was going to be later that evening. I go down one more level and see a line formed outside of this one room. One quick look confirmed that it was a line forming for the literacy signing - only two hours before the event officially started!


After a moment or two of thought, I decided to join the line - after I went up to my room to get the new Julia Quinn book I'd brought for signing (I figure I can read it while I wait too!). So I head back to my room (which, for the record, was as far away from the elevator as the hotel could get it). I grab the book and leave the water, thinking I don't want to bother with carrying two things around (doing mental eye roll here). I head back to the elevator and decide, you know, I DO want to have my water with me after all - it's a long wait before the doors open. I go back to the room, grab the water and head back out again. I'm almost to the elevator again when I remember that I want my camera, so back I go to the room. I head out once more and realize, I must've put the book down because I only have the water and camera. It only took one more visit to the room before I was good to go.


The line that had been coming straight out from the ballroom doors was now up against the wall. It hadn't grown much while I was gone but I wasn't as close as you might think, for being there an hour and a half early. Everyone around me had stacks of books for signing - 90% of which were Sherilyn Kenyon books. I didn't get a lot of reading done because everyone was visiting. I met some really neat people in line (which I have each year that I've waited in lines) and it was kind of fun.


The crowds started coming more regularly and they roped off the area so that the line would go in a maze sort of thing (if you know what I mean) and the hotel staff was working furiously to keep up with the incoming crowd. Below is a picture (what I could get of it) of the line that was already in place an hour before the event started.

The event started a few minutes late because some of the authors were late but all-in-all, it was all good. More details to come tomorrow. . .

Books We Love

I'm driving up to Dallas on Wednesday (Nationals, in case you didn't know) and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity for me to try out audio books. I've never done that before but lots of people love it (I've always been concerned that it wouldn't hold my attention - my mind tends to wander and drown out the background noises.) so I thought I'd give it a try. So I went to the library the other day to check out their audio selection. (And by the way, I guess I've used my library card more recently than I realized because they actually had my current phone number on it! But I digress.)

Well, let's start with, I didn't know where the audio books were (kinda goes with the "never having listened to one before), so I had to ask. Then I get over there and they have a very limited selection. Someone else was on the aisle so I kept looking around her and then we started talking about what was where and all. (She said they were in alphabetical order but if they were, I need to relearn my ABCs, that's all I'm saying.)

I was specifically looking for SEP's Natural Born Charmer and/or Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean Thirteen, which, of course, I never found. (But they did have every Danielle Steele book ever written - in cassette tape, of course.) I really didn't find anything that made me think this is the one so I finally settled on Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.

I used to be a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks. He was one of my auto-buy authors - I would even buy in hardback until this happened. Since then I haven't read anything of his. Haven't been motivated to attempt to read anything of his. So the fact that I picked one of his for my first audio book should say something about the lack of choices. So that will be what I'm listening to (maybe) on the way to Dallas.

But, while I was at the library, talking to this lady, I noticed that she had a book copy (as opposed to an audio copy) of Evanovich's Two for the Dough. I made a comment and she was saying that she loves the series and reads them over and over again.

You know, I love reading and I keep all my books (unless they are dreadfully awful, then I can manage to part with them - if I must) but there are few, if any books that I would read over and over again. It was about a year ago that I read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I loved it and was so awed by it, it made me want to read all of Ms. Austen's books but I haven't felt the desire to re-read - at least not yet. But maybe I'm alone in this.

Are there books that you love and re-read over and over. And if so, what are those books?

The Geek Squad

I know I've been a bit neglectful, if you will, of my blog recently but I've really had a good reason. I've had zero computer access at home for the last two weeks and an unstable computer environment for a couple of weeks before that. It wasn't until last night that I was able to get back online at home (and don't think I'm not happy about it - I've been spending the last four hours catching up on internet surfing! :o) ).



Anyway, I found out just how little I really know about computer and I also learned that the experts don't know a whole lot more than I do. This all started the first weekend of the month when I noticed my computer was going slower than usual and I shut it off. It shut off alright . . . it wouldn't reboot for me to save my life.



I took it to work and, on the first try mind you, a co-worker got it up and running. I immediately started yelling "save my newsletter! I've gotta save my newsletter!" And then I promptly saved the one document (to a flash drive) that would be the most easy to recreate, should I lose everything and we shut 'er back down - where it once again died.



An "expert" told me I should try to re-boot it from my boot disk and I did, and it actually worked. At that time, I copied as many files as I could (starting with all my partial wips) on the flash drive. It didn't get everything but it got a lot. I'm thinking I'm doing pretty good. I was getting advice that I should re-install everything on my computer and start fresh (I'd bought Norton because the initial diagnosis was that I had a virus - and maybe I did but in the end, it wasn't my biggest problem, but it wouldn't install on my computer) but I wasn't finished with the newsletter I was working on and I really wanted to get it out before I wiped the slate clean, so to speak.



Well, with each change I made to the newsletter, I resaved it to the flash drive, right? That is until my computer quit recognizing the flash drive. You know, the one that had my life on it? Yeah, that one. Suddenly I didn't feel like I was doing so good anymore. That's when I started emailing EVERYTHING on my computer to my gmail account (gotta love 'em) so I could feel good again. :o)



So, I finally finished the newsletter and got it out and decided to reinstall everything. Oh, during all this, I was having some issues with my computer where if it stalled, I could tilt it and it would un-stall, if you know what I mean. The Pam said she thought it was my hard drive. I told the computer "expert" at work all this and he disagreed, saying that if it was my hard drive that I would hear a grinding noise and it would just crash. Which is exactly what happened after I stayed up all night reinstalling everything on my computer.



That was two weeks ago tomorrow.



Tuesday I went Best Buy and bought the hard drive that the computer "expert" from work told me to buy. To shorten the story, it was the wrong hard drive. Fortunately I made the decision to have the "geek squad" at Best Buy install it. Some thought it was a waste of money to do that but considering it turned out to be the wrong hard drive and they wouldn't have refunded my money had someone else opened the box and tried to install it, I think it was money well spent! Anyway, the geek squad had issues too but at the end of the day yesterday (and I mean the end of the day!), I was finally back up and running. (If you wonder why I wasn't up before then - let's just say this was a contributing factor.)

In any event, it's good to be back! :o)

The Theatre

I'm a big fan of the theatre . The first time I remember going was to see Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr in The King and I back in 1982. It was either later that year or the next year that I went to see Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. LIVE and in person! There's nothing like it.

Over the next many years, I went to the theatre with a regularity. When my ex-husband and I separated and divorced, I started taking my nieces and/or nephew with me before I made it a solo act, ocassionally deciding to go on the spur of the moment.

Only once was I disenchanted with a play I saw.

Anyway, back in the early '90s my mother and I went to Las Vegas. Debbie Reynolds had a hotel there at the time (off the strip) and we went to see her show which, in my opinion, is the best show I've ever seen in Vegas. She, in her show, commented that her fans were "of an age", suggesting that younger people didn't much care for her. Well after the show, she talked to and took pictures with anyone who wanted to chat or have their picture taken with her. I, of course, have a picture with me, my mother and her in it and made a point of telling her I (in my early 30's at the time) was a huge fan.

But, back to the theatre...I haven't been much in the last five to ten years or so. Something I keep telling myself that I will remedy soon.

At work this man who was transferred out before I arrived (over a year ago) occasionally gets mail from a theatre in Galveston...The Grand 1894 Opera House. It's what I've always pictured in my head when I read historicals and they talk about going to the theatre (although, when it tells you a seat is "obstructed", they mean it! Just so you know.). It's this quaint little place - very nice. Well, this man from work received another brochure this past week and Debbie Reynolds is going to be there this coming March. She's hosting a dance thing but I think I'm going to have to go. Galveston is less than an hour away so it's definitely doable.

It's almost a year away and I'm already excited about it. How silly is that? LOL

What celebrity would you like to see come to your area to perform?

All the comforts of home

I called a contractor out earlier this week because I wanted to discuss installation of hurricane shutters. Before he got out here it occurred to me that I might need the HOA's approval to do this, so I called them. I do need it but I couldn't reach the contractor before he arrived so he came out.

As a result we started swapping contractor stories (mine coming from the side of "can you believe what that awful contractor did?" his being "then they wanted me to do so and so..." ). During the course of this discussion, he told me about a product I'd never heard of before...walk-in bathtubs! He said he'd installed one for this elderly couple, and that it'd be his last installation of a walk-in bathtub. Anyway, I was curious so I asked some questions about it and then looked it up online. You're looking at the Cambridge Walk-in Bathtub which is described as follows:

This standard length walk in bathtub provides a very effective solution to everyday bathing problems and can simply be fitted in place of your existing tub to allow you to continue to lie down and luxuriate in a bathtub full of water.

The Cambridge walk in bathtub allows you to simply step in through its conveniently sited side entry door.

Once in, make yourself comfortable on the contoured bath seat, turn the handle to seal the door and open the taps. It's as simple as that. Once the tub is filled to your satisfaction press the button and you will be gently lowered into the water. Lie back and enjoy your bath. There is of course a choice of tap options; from traditional cross-headed faucetts, lever style or a more contemporary style. All are available in Chrome or Gold finish to complement your bathroom fittings.

When you have finished your bath, simply press the control once more lift you back to the seated position ready to get out of the bath and into a comfortable position ready for standing again.

The Cambridge walk in bathtub is available in a range of colours to complement your bathroom.

Who wouldn't want one of those? :)

Suspicious Minds

I've been trying to blog more consistently but some days nothing comes to me. Other days I have lots of ideas but have to settle on one. Today is one of those days (where I have more than one idea).

Anyway, today I wanted to blog on this segment they have on my local radio station. It's called Roula & Ryan's Roses. What happens is someone writes/emails in telling them why they think their significant other may be cheating on them. I have no idea how many letters/emails they get on this but every Thursday morning they take one and do their bit. Their bit being that they (well Roula) call the supposed cheating party and tell them that they've randomly been selected to receive a dozen long stem red roses that can be sent anywhere in the US within 24 hours, for free. She goes on to tell them that it's a promotional thing for her new business "plantsandflowers.com" and that her hope is that the flowers will be so great that they will consider doing business with her in the future, should they have a need. In most cases the supposed cheating party will accept the roses.

The whole time Roula is giving her spiel, the person who wrote in is listening in. They've been instructed not to jump in until after they've gotten the name and note for the card and Ryan has jumped in to say they are listening in.

Okay, so this morning's "couple" was a young married couple. The husband (named Fred) works for a company who takes its employees on all expense paid trips (I missed the part of why they do but I don't think it's important to the story). This weekend the company was paying for its employees to spend the long weekend (four days total) in Jamaica. Fred told his wife (whose name I don't remember) that spouses weren't invited this time. She was concerned because he works with a lot of attractive women and they would be at a place where those attractive women would be scantily clad. Not to mention that he's recently been putting in really long hours and their sex life is virtually non-existent of late. She "needed" to know who he would send the flowers to.

So Roula called. He accepted the flowers. He said he wanted them to go to Jennifer (funny how I remember HER name, huh? anyway) and the card to read (and he said this in a very seductive voice) something like "I can't wait until this weekend" or "I'm looking forward to this weekend".

At that point Ryan jumped in and told him what was going on. His wife jumps in and asks him what's going on, why would he send flowers to Jennifer and not her? He starts saying that Jennifer has been working really hard and he wanted to show his appreciation for all her hard work - that he wouldn't have survived (at work) without her that past couple of months. The wife starts whining that she was going to be home alone all weekend and she doesn't understand why he didn't send them to her. He goes on to point out that he spent $300 on a spa day for her and that should be enough.

Meanwhile, Ryan is jumping in going "Dude, the greeting on the card was (whatever it was). And it was red roses. Red usually signifies love!" Fred defends himself saying he had no idea what would be sent (Roula does say a dozen red roses, by the way) and he just wanted to recognize Jennifer's hard work. Roula is being uncharacteristically quiet and Ryan shuts up at this time.

The wife starts apologizing to Fred, saying she was just feeling a little insecure and hopes he will forgive her for doing this to him on the radio. She then, in a young child happy voice tells Fred, "If you come home early tonight I'll cook all your favorites, okay?!" Ryan, incredulous, jumps back in and says, "(her name - whatever it is), you're believing him?" She said she was so he tells them he's going to let them take it offline and they get the couple off the air.

As soon as they get the couple off the air, Roula jumps in and says, "Ohmigod! I had to hold my reaction but I cannot believe she was buying that! He was so LYING!" Roula and Ryan discussed their feelings about it (they do that each week, and then take listener calls) and they both believed he was lying out his backside but that they didn't press it because they believed the wife was one of those people who didn't want to know/believe the truth. All the callers I heard agreed.

So, my question to you is, you have a sneaking suspicion that your significant other may be getting some action on the side and when given the opportunity, s/he sends roses to someone else. How would you react?

The Finale

Congratulations Apolo and Julianne!

If you missed the finale, you missed that Apolo walked away with the mirrored trophy last night. I was so excited and thought it was so deserved.

It's funny because when the season started, well, actually BEFORE the season started I made a judgment based on his picture. I really hated the hair on his chin. It can't even be called a goatee. And I wanted him voted off in week one because it was so unattractive in his "official photo".

Well, after week one of dancing, I changed my mind. He was so good and his partner was adorable. And it wasn't long into the competition before I decided I wanted him to win the whole thing! AND HE DID!

He wasn't always number one with the judges (but then none of the past winners were either) but he was number one in the end, and that's what matters. And he won it all on his birthday!

I was so excited for him. So, happy birthday Apolo and congratulations!

New to the Pile

Today a friend at work asked me if I wanted to meet her at the bookstore at lunch. (Well DUH! know your audience girl!) So, I got there at the time she said to meet her...she showed up thirty minutes later. But I digress.

As I waited for my friend, I came across this book that looked like it might be interesting...The PMS Murder. I read the back cover and well, I bought it. It sounds like it will be fun. And if it is, I've found a new author to read. If not, it was just $7.00.

Here's the back blurb:

On the frontlines of the battle of the bulge, otherwise known as trying on bathing suits in the communal dressing room at Loehmann's, freelance writer Jaine Austen makes a new friend - a wanna be actress named Pam - and gets a new job: sprucing up Pam's bare-bones resume. Their feeling of connection is mutual, so Pam invites Jaine to join The PMS Club - a woman's support group that meets once a week over guacamole and margaritas.

But joining the club proves to be more a curse than a blessing for Jaine. Though she is warned that Rochelle, the hostess, makes a guacamole to die for, Jaine never takes the warning literally. Until another PMS member, Marybeth, drops dead over a mouthful of the green stuff after confessing she is having an affair with Rochelle's husband.

While Rochelle and her husband are the obvious suspects, everyone at that night's meeting is under suspicion, including Jaine. So, instead of dishing dirt with The PMS Club, Jaine has to dig up dirt on the surviving members. And soon it becomes clear: someone in this club thinks getting away with murder should be a privilege of membership...

So that's the newest on my TBR pile. What have you read lately?

*Sigh*

Tonight my dog, Harley, came in when he heard me open a muffin wrapper. He placed his chin on my leg and when he moved it, it was covered in mud. So I decided to investigate what he (and possibly the other dogs) had been doing outside. It was already dark outside so I took my flashlight with me.

Over in the front corner of the fence it appears like he/they have been digging a hole. O-kay. Now, I don't know if you've heard this but if you fill a hole where dogs have been digging with their own poop, they won't dig there anymore. I was told this a few years back when Max was a puppy and doing the digging - and it worked. So I went and got my shovel to fill the hole and go searching for poop (jealous are you? LOL).

First I filled in the hole and then went looking, shining my flashlight everywhere. The first "pile" I saw and approached turned out to be a dead bird. Poor thing. I hope it went quickly.

Anyway, I decided to look on the other side of my yard because that's where they do most of their business anyway and I headed out on the path that they've created out that way, watching my step. And you know what I found? Are you ready for this?

The cable line that the cable guy buried a couple of weeks ago (see Television Reception entry)? The cable line that I could barely tell WHERE the cable guy buried it because he did such a smooth, clean job? The cable line that is NOW exposed and just begging for Harley to rip it back out of the wall.

Yeah, that's what I found.

I'm telling you, I love the little guy but he is making me crazy.

In any event, I found some poop, filled the hole and disposed of the poor dead bird. Not exactly how I'd pictured this evening going but what are ya gonna do?

Changes

Ever since my dog, Harley, took out my cable, I've been thinking about something. Those two days where I had no reception forced me to focus my energy otherwise (that is when I wasn't striking a pose to get in better television reception) and I realized how much time I waste with the TV on. Like now, the TV is on but the sound is muted - and I do that a lot. What's the point?

So, my thought was, I should try to go without cable during the summer. I went so far as calling the cable company to see what I would have to do and what it would cost to have it reinstalled (turned back on - whatever) at a later date. And they offered me "options". Right now I have the digital cable with a gazillion channels (I watch approximately 3 of them, but who's counting) and pay out the wazoo, what with the "extended cable" box in the bedroom and the DVR in the living room. I could cut back to the standard cable (channels 1-80) for about 1/3 of what I'm paying now (not including the DVR, which would add ~$16 back). Or I could just keep the cable line (aka basic cable) on to give me clear pictures on my local stations (and we already know I don't get reception for crap here on the local stations) for under $20.

If I do away with cable altogether and later want it reinstalled it will cost me ~$29 for the first connection and ~$19 for each additional (I currently have three lines - two in the living room but I like the option of being able to move my furniture around).

On the "basic cable" option it would cost me a one time fee of ~20 to fully upgrade - all lines.

With standard cable there would be no charge to reconnect/upgrade.

But here's the deal. I feel certain I will want my cable back when the fall line-up comes back on. Most shows I could watch online but I wouldn't be able to vote on Dancing with the Stars (unless I struck a pose at least once a week - which I could do if I had to!).

Actually, that's not even the whole deal. The reason I posted this entry tonight was, I was reading someone else's blog entry and they were talking about participating in Jessica Trapp's "100 days" and now adding a daily workout to go with it. Someone responded that they just never have time to work out anymore and that kind of hit a note with me. In Weight Watchers when they talk about exercise they bring up the things we did when we were growing up - things that we enjoyed. Things that we no longer indulge ourselves with because "we don't have time". Working out is no longer considered fun, like it was when we were younger. Instead, it's just one more thing on the long list of things we have to do and it's more like a chore. Only it's one we don't have to do, so it's one of the first ones we eliminate.

Personally, I want to make time for things. I want to read more. I want to write more. I want to start working out again. Walking the dogs (only not in my neighborhood since I'm only allowed two dogs and I have three). Yes, TV is something I sometimes enjoy but I think I indulge in it too much. And too much of a good thing is not good!

Anyway, I don't know if you've picked up on this but I think I'm talking myself more and more into getting rid of cable - at least for the summer. But I'd love to hear what others think. So if you don't have a TV or if you don't have cable - or if you know someone like that, let me hear from you and tell them to come on over and tell me why and what-for.

And for those that have TV and cable, could you give it up?

The Plan

Have you ever noticed that things don't always go as planned?

Yesterday, I got up early and went to the grocery store to buy more fruits and vegetables (I say more because I'd done the same thing Saturday morning too). You see, over at The Cupcake Police a couple of us are drinking our fruits and vegetables, which is working out great for me because I wasn't getting in my daily requirement otherwise.

Anyway, back to The Plan.

The plan was to bring home the items and chop them all up, ready to go. Only problem was my kitchen was a mess. I needed to clean up and THEN do the chopping. Okay, I can handle that, right?

So, I'm standing in the kitchen thinking "you know, my living room really needs cleaning worse than the kitchen. maybe I should clean that first." The fact that I wasn't going to chop the food in the living room, which was the reason for the cleaning, didn't even enter my head. I just started cleaning - the living room.

I dusted. I vacuumed the furniture. I put things away. I swept and I mopped. It looked good. I moved into the kitchen to continue there.

I unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it with the few dirty dishes (I don't cook often) I had. I wiped down the counter then went back over it with a lysol wipe. I took out the trash. I swept the floor and mopped. It looked good. But the floor was wet so I couldn't get to work on the food. So I moved into my bedroom.

All this while, I've also been doing laundry.

But I'm in the bedroom. I dusted. I put things away. I stripped the bed (to be added to the laundry loads). I swept and I mopped. And repeated in my closet and dressing area.

By then it was kind of late in the day (about 5:30) so I thought I'd sit down for a minute to watch the things I've DVR'd but really needed to be watched so I clear them so that there would be space for Dancing with the Stars (even though I'll be watching it live). So I'm watching last week's Brothers and Sisters (which I also watched when it aired) and I realized you know I don't really want to get into a clean bed after all this work - unless I take a shower. So after Brother and Sisters, I jumped in the shower and came back and watched a couple of Ellens and Murphy Browns before I watched Desperate Housewives and this week's Brothers and Sisters (which I DVR'd...both DH and B&S).

Then it was bedtime so I crawled in bed feeling pretty good about all I had done and I slept well.

Meanwhile, I never did chop up the fruits and vegetables - and that was the whole point of the day. LOL

On Writing

Do you ever read a book that just annoys you to no end? That you wonder what the author was thinking when they wrote it and the publisher when they bought it? I feel like I've run in a few too many of those of late. But, I don't like to diss particular authors on my blog so I'm just going to make a list of things that annoy me. Feel free to add your own. :~)

1. If your story is a murder mystery, don't introduce the killer on page 347 of your 360 page (including epilogue) novel. Saying on page 107 "Remember that time Eunice got upset with Doris because she thought the boy was looking at her at the third grade picnic?" does not count as an introduction to a character when said boy is not identified by name, or description and not mentioned again until page 347, when it's revealed he's the killer.

2. Also, if writing a murder mystery, it's good to keep the reader guessing but when they reach the last page of a story and they still are wondering who the hell the killer is, something's wrong - and it's not with the reader. I may be dense but when you have to email the author and ask who the killer is and you still don't get/see it, there's a problem. S-P-E-L-L I-T O-U-T! There's your clue!

3. If you're writing a series, each book should be a stand-alone. Nothing pisses me off more than to get to the end of a book only to realize that resolution won't happen until later in the series. I won't know how it's resolved either because I will not be forced to buy another book to find out! You will have lost me for any other books you've written too because, I may not always remember who the best authors are, but I never forget an author who has pissed me off. I also don't want to be forced to read the story in a particular order. I want to be able to pick up any book in the series and be able to follow the action. If you don't know how this is done, go read the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

4. Also in a series, do not introduce characters into the story in book one and make them pivotal characters if you're not going to deal with them until book three (see comment 3 above).

5. I read to escape. I want to be swept up in the fantasy. If I wanted to read something depressing, I'd subscribe to the newspaper. There doesn't have to be a hero / heroine traditional happily ever after but if I get to the end of the story and want to slit my own wrists, it's not good. Give the reader some hope.

6. No means no. I'm sorry but I cannot suspend disbelief when a woman says she doesn't want to have sex but the man "has his way" anyway. That's not an alpha male in my book, that's a rapist. As I read the rest of the book, I'll be wondering what message the author wanted to send by making a rapist the hero of her story. It will also likely be the last book of yours I'll read.

7. I don't write many "fan" emails to authors so if I write you one, it means I really LOVED your book and will be on the lookout for more of your books. It's not necessary to respond and plug your next book - I probably would've bought it anyway if I liked the one enough to write you. But, since I don't like pushy sales people, you just made me less likely to pick it up.

8. I know that bad things happen in life but I don't want to read about them (see comment 5 above) in your book. It is never necessary to be cruel to animals in a book. Do it once and I might be able to look the other way. Do it repeatedly and you will not only lose me as a reader, but anyone else I can influence.

9. If you're writing a comedy, tell more than one joke. What was funny on page 15 is not going to be funny if told again on page 16 and 17 and 18 and 19 and..... Lots of things can be funny. Be creative.

10. Be original. If you have to steal from another author, hang it up. This also goes for your own stories. If all you've done is superimpose new names over the characters of your last story, it's not good. I've heard there are no new stories and I'm easy enough to fool that it's a new story but you're gonna have to do more than change names.

Anyway, those are a few of my writing pet peeves. What annoys you?

Squirrelly neighbors

I've blogged before about my neighbors. Neighbors whose names I don't know and who I could not pick out of a line up if my life depended on it (but I can identify when they're in their own yard). Neighbors who I've spoken to a couple of times in the couple of years they've been neighbors of mine but who set a bad first impression with me and I've never quite gotten over it.

Yesterday did not help the impression.

I was sitting in my living room, minding my own business, when I see feet pass by one of my living room windows. (I raise the blinds a little so that the boys can look out and see what's going on in the world outside.) Now, I was expecting someone to come do some gutter work for me but seeing as the person coming for that was a stalker guy, I figured he would've rang my doorbell first (which, when he showed up, he did). So, I was curious who was on my property and went to look out the window than I'd seen the feet pass...a different window closer to my fenceline.

Imagine my surprise when I see a woman with a crazed look on her face looking intently at my window, a rake raised over her head and then swing it down HARD on my window. It totally freaked me out. I was staring in disbelief when she raised the rake over her head again. I yelled at her, asking "What are you doing?" There was no indication that she heard me as she brought the rake down on my window again hard (I figure the voices in her head had drowned me out.).

This time I see something fall down the window and then "fly" back up. The crazy lady is wielding her rake at some poor animal!

I ran outside in time to see the rake go over her head again. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" I yelled again.

She looked over at me and I watched in awe how the crazed look went to almost normal in seconds (how do they do that?) and she brought the rake down to her side. "That was in my attic," she said, pointing to the frightened squirrel that was hanging on for dear life to the side of my BRICK house (I've never seen any animal that clutched on to brick!).

She goes on to tell me how it had gotten into their attic through a hole in their overhang (which she pointed to, several times), that it made a lot of noise in the attic and they had to board the hole up. And all I can think is, it's out and they've blocked its entry and it's now on MY propery - leave it the f alone! I stepped towards the squirrel and it flinched, like an animal that's been abused does when it's approached and thinks it's about to be hit. It broke my heart.

So I kind of got between the squirrel and the crazy lady and asked if she was wanting to kill the poor thing and she said no. After that, I don't really remember what we said to each other after that (although I do remember her repeating several times "look at her! she was in my attic! we had to put up a board to keep her out!") but I said something and her response made me think she would leave the poor critter alone so I came into the house.

I really think she would have killed the squirrel had I not gone out there and I came into my house and all I could think was, "it was probably gathering nuts to take home to its family and what would have happened if it never made it back".

Is it too much to hope that one day I'll have a nice, normal, animal friendly family live next door to me? Although the lady who lived there before was a cat lover (known in the city - by everyone - as the cat lady). She was obsessed with cats and had dozens of them. She couldn't stand any other animal though. Someone in between the two extremes I've seen would be nice? Is that too much to ask?

But, what about you? Do you have good neighbors or not?

More Headlines

Okay, one day soon I'll have more of a fun post (well, hopefully I will anyway) - and even the last thing on this one should be fun (at least I was amused) but anyway....here we go.

A couple of weeks ago I was waiting at the hairdresser to get my hair cut. I'd taken a magazine because I'd anticipated having to wait. It was a People Magazine. One of the stories was about two people who had fallen overboard off of a cruise ship. When the whole story was told you found out that they were in a room with a balcony and the man was out on the balcony. The woman ran out to jump on the man's back but came a little hard and had more of the "leap frog" (magazine's wording) effect and went right over his head. The man tried to grab her, to stop her from going overboard and got pulled out and down with her. Which is how they both ended up overboard. Completely unintentional. Fortunately there were others in their room who made the ship's personnel aware of the situation. Markers were immediately thrown out and the boat stopped and turned around to find the people. The whole process took a couple of hours, if I remember right. Announcements were made and people were asked to be quiet so they could hear any screams for help. Both people were rescued with minimal injuries. A miracle really. But here's the deal...there were people who actually complained that the rescue was an "inconvenience" and "annoyance" to their cruise! Yes, I realize it wasn't on the ship's original itinerary but give me a break! If the shoe were on the other foot, would they want the ship to forget them and carry on according to schedule? NO! This was brought to my mind again, as I read this week's people and someone had commented (in the letters to the editor section) that those people who went overboard owed apologies. Yes, their actions may have been less that "mature-based" but for crying outloud, no one intended to go overboard! People amaze me.

But on to something else that makes my blood boil even more. The now imfamous Alec Baldwin voicemail message. I know I don't have kids (but I've always wanted them), so my reaction may not be the same as someone who has kids. I think it's AWFUL! You just don't talk to your kids like that! Yes, I understand people get mad and say things they don't mean - I get that...I've DONE that. But all that because his daughter didn't answer the phone? And his response? He's really pissed at his ex but took it out on his daughter, who, by the way, is in violation of a gag order in releasing the tape. Apparently, his responses - including going on The View to discuss the tape - doesn't fall under the same gag order. Personally, I think Alec has issues and needs serious help. The message I heard didn't indicate that he was pissed at Kim Basinger - if he had've been, I think it would have been more of a "you tell your mother...." sort of talk, rather than telling his daughter that she "didn't have the brains or consideration to be a human being" and that she was "a thoughtless pig" or that he was going to come to LA to "straighten out her ass". No, those were directly straight at his daughter. And he wonders why she doesn't want to take his calls.

Okay, now for the one I think is fun. :~) This woman was on Ellen this week. She works at a convenience store and someone (a woman) had come in to buy lottery tickets. The customer told her what she wanted but there was a misunderstanding and the convenience store clerk was stuck with a ticket that was not paid for. So, at the end of her shift she felt she had to purchase the ticket herself (even though she didn't really want to, and suggested that it was more than she could afford - even at only $2). She WON! It wasn't the big winning but she did win $200,000. How cool is that?

Anyway, those are my "ripped from the headlines" for the day. We'll soon return to our light, fluff pieces (or at least that's the plan!).

~L

Job Security

Recently there have been a couple of stories in the local news (one, at least, made national news) where someone thought their job was in jeopardy so they took, what they thought, was appropriate measures to "keep" their job?

One is the NASA, hostage/murder/suicide situation from last week. Some man thought he was about to be fired because he'd gotten negative performance feedback. His solution was to take someone hostage - kill them, then kill himself. He took a second hostage, as backup, but just "tied" her up with duct tape. As far as career planning, not his best move. And committing suicide gives new meaning to "dead-end job", don't you think?

Then, a few weeks ago, there was a major story about an office building fire. Someone from the freeway saw flames INSIDE the building, through the windows. They pulled over to check it out and sounded the alarms (which hadn't gone off - it was an old building) and called 9-1-1. Three people (possibly more...they were having difficulty going back into the building because the structure was so badly damaged in the fire...and I never heard if there was a change in the death count) died. A firefighter was injured and hospitalized. They covered the story for days because the investigators were having problems (the structure damage thing) determining the cause of the fire. Finally someone came forward saying that she was expected to turn in a report that she hadn't prepared yet so she thought if she caused a fire in her office (guess she didn't know it would spread?), it would buy her some time. She's since been arrested on murder charges. Murder charges! But hey, at least she'll have plenty of free time to work on that report now. And who knows, maybe they'll hold her job until she's released. (yeah right!)

So I'm wondering, how far would you go to to keep your job? Inquiring minds want to know.

Television Reception

Remember when you had to get your television antenna just right so that you'd have decent reception? You know, before cable.

Or how about skits about how families had to stand in a particular formation, each holding something related to the antenna to get a sharper image?

Yeah, well, that was me tonight. Seems the cable line that the cable company failed to bury when they replaced it a few years ago (lightening strike) was ripped out of place by the newest addition to my family...Harley.

And it was Dancing with the Stars night so I was not a happy camper. Tonight is the first night in the history of the show that I did not vote - because I couldn't see enough to give a fair judgment. I tried really hard to get a decent picture but it wasn't working - or when it did, it was fleeting.

The cable company won't come out until Wednesday (some time between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm - so glad they could narrow the time down) so until then, I'm basically without television. Oh, I know I could be doing something productive, like working on my wip, but whining feels so much better.

Pass the cheese and crackers please~

Lunch

I had lunch again today with the girl I made cry yesterday (I really think we're okay now LOL).

Anyway there were some things that happened that seemed kind of strange but were oddly amusing to me. So I thought I'd share...

The restaurant we went to is relatively new. It's not convenient (from my perspective) so I've only been twice since it opened (including today, that is) but I'm pretty sure it's been in the last year that it opened. But it's what we decided on, so there we went.

When we pull up into the parking lot there is a traffic jam of a gazillion cars (give or take) and we have to drive to the very back to find a spot. I did mention that it was for LUNCH, right? Not date night at prime time, but anyway... We get into the lobby and it's packed - again like date night at dinner time. I hear the hostess tell the guy in front of us (who said he needed a table for two - same as we would) that it would be 10 to 15 minutes for a table. Again - at LUNCH!

I stepped up to the hostess's table and said, "are those tables available?" pointing to the cocktail tables. She said they were and we didn't have to have our name written down - we were immediately seated (if only we were served as quickly but I digress). I felt the glares and stares from all the people who were (im)patiently waiting to be seated. But what did I care? I was getting seated immediately!

Now, the person who seated us (in chairs so high I had to ask for a leg-up but then again, I didn't have to wait so I shouldn't complain) kept going by our table (and staring at us when they weren't passing us). Let me tell you about this person. Buzz cut. Gorgeous eyes, which looked like they might have make up on them. And a little boy chest. A lot of conflicts so I wasn't sure what gender this person was. And I mention this to my friend, who is wondering the same thing. We talk about it a little and then drop the subject.

Finally our food is brought to us (I ordered the nachos supreme) and we're diving in. Well, let me tell you about my nachos. They were made like individual little tacos but caked with cheese. Lots of cheese. So I'm eating and I realize that there is no way I can get this huge glom of cheese in my mouth - it's not gonna fit, which is hard to believe because I have a big mouth - ask anyone! So I try to "carve" off a bit of the cheese to make it bite size and I'm having to get out my knife because it's glommed together like industrial glommed cheese or something. Anyway, I'm making one last little "cut" to it when it goes FLYING across the room before it lands on the floor. My friend only saw the look on my face but when it hit the floor I burst out laughing. Loudly. And I tell her what happened. But we decide we need to have someone clean it up so that no one slips and falls on it so we wave over a waitress (not ours - ours was the elusive waitress but again, I digress). She asked us if everything was okay and I have her lean in, conspiratorily, and tell her the gentlemen (who were dressed in suits and ties, mind you) behind us were throwing food about. She knew I was kidding (my friend's - on the other hand - jaw dropped...she doesn't know me well enough to know I'm rarely serious), said they were bad boys and cleaned it up with a smile on her face.

Then, we saw a working dog come into the restaurant. It looked like my Max but I thought of Maisy and was thinking about them both as it and its owner were taken to a table in another part of the restaurant. As they were walking out of sight, my friend is looking over her shoulder where they are and says, "It's a girl."

I was impressed. I was thinking about Maisy and my friend has picked up on enough / seen enough to know the dog was female. Wow! Then she says, "And she's confused."

Huh? The dog is confused? How can she tell? And I'm saying this when it dawns on me... she's talking about the waitstaff person whose gender we couldn't determine. Didn't we drop that subject? In the end, I still was unsure but what I am sure is that person had some of the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen and male or female, the buzz cut worked for them. That's all I'm saying.

So not your typical lunch but entertaining, to say the least. LOL

Because I made someone cry today...

Someone at work did something today that ticked me off and I let them know it ticked me off. Now, I thought I was being diplomatic in my wording but considering she burst out crying, I'm thinking I might have been able to handle it better so...

I thought I'd share something that might put a smile on some faces. I'm totally stealing it from the Jaunty Quills so if you frequent over there, you may have already seen it.

Okay, here goes...

Go to Google
click on "Maps"
type in "New York to London"
and then scroll down to direction 23 (or may be 24)

Enjoy! :~)

Little Treat

I mentioned in my last post that I do my grocery shopping for the week at Walmart. Every week I stop by the book aisle and see what they have out - not that I need any more books but I like to check it out. Plus, I have a $5 gift card for use at Walmart and a book would be perfect. Well, this week I found a nice little surprise.

I found a new release of an author I love but whose name I can never remember. Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. For some reason when I go to look for her books I always (and I do mean always) think her name is Rosemary some middle name (I remember she has three names, just not what they are) and a last name like McMillan or something. Could I be any further off? Seriously.

Anyway, Nancy used to work in law enforcement and brings that experience to her stories. It sometimes gets graphic but it's always realistic. And it's always good. She's an author where I don't have to read the back blurb to be convinced to buy her book. If I read the back blurb, it's only to make sure I haven't read it before.

So, of course I bought a copy and can't wait to read it. I forgot to cash in my gift card but all that means is, I'll have to stop by the book section on my next visit. LOL

In the meantime, here's a book that's high in TBR pile.

Customer Service

Is it just me or is customer service just falling by the wayside? I do early morning, weekend shopping at WalMart to get my weekly groceries. When I'm there, there are usually few shoppers but lots of stockers. Boxes, crates and baskets full of stock clutter the aisles. And I'm okay with this because I don't like to shop when the store is crowded with shoppers. What I have a problem with though, is when you're trying to get down an aisle that has a product you want or need and the stocker has you completely blocked. Their boxes, crates, basket or whatever are blocking at least half of the aisle and they are standing in the lone pathway through. And they don't move. Now I realize they're doing their job but do they realize they're keeping me from buying stuff and that my buying stuff helps pay their salaries? Seriously people, when a customer wants to get through - LET THEM PASS.

But that's not my only example. Contractors are the worst. They don't bother to show up and offer no explanation. A few years ago I had tile laid throughout my house. It was almost like moving because you had to move EVERYTHING from the room they were going laying tile in and put it somewhere else. And it would cause at least one room to be functionless so when they would disappear for a few days, it was really annoying.

Then there was the guy who redid my fence gate last year. I took off of work to meet him - and he knew I was doing so - and he didn't bother to show up. When I finally reached him (hours later) he said, "oh, I wasn't feeling well today". Gee, thanks for letting me know. I had (and still have) a lot of work I need done around the house. If he'd been a little more responsible, he could have had all of it. But I need someone who will do what they promise so he did the fence (he was the only one that showed up when I called around looking for someone to do my fence) and I tossed out his number.

But what I really want to talk about is my latest customer service nightmare....lawn care services. My homeowner's association is giving me grief because I have grass in the cracks in my driveway. I have weed eater issues (I can do it but it's not easy for me) so I do it as infrequently as I can get by with. However, since my HOA is hounding me, I thought I'd call in a "professional". So last Thursday I placed a call to someone who had left their business card on my door. I reached his wife who told me he'd stop by that evening. He finally showed up after dark. Now here's the deal: I only wanted him to weed eat and edge my front yard. I didn't need it mowed and I didn't need my backyard done at all. His business card says "average yard $20". That covers all mowing, weed eating and edging - $20. All I want is weed eating and edging - and only in my front yard...and I have a small front yard (backyard is huge but front yard is small) - and he tells me it will be $20. I point out what it says on his business card and that I'm not asking for even half that work but he insists it will cost $20 to do what I need. Mind you, if he were doing everything to my whole yard, $40 would be reasonable - even cheap. But that's not what I'm asking him to do. So I told him we were done and headed back into my house. He stopped me and after some discussion we agreed on $10 and that he'd do it the next night. He never showed. Even after I spoke with his wife, who assured me he would be there or that she'd call and let me know why. Not only did he never show, she never called. And they weren't answering their phone. Okay, I figure it's a right-off.

I decided to do the work myself. I did a lot of the weed eating, until I ran out of the string/rope stuff. Then I did most of the edging. Then I decided to call someone to finish the job and ask that they do my front yard the whole season. I reached someone last night who said he'd do it today. Well, we were supposed to have really nasty weather starting this afternoon so when I came home at lunch and he hadn't been here, I called him (it was already drizzly - not raining hard and certainly no storms (which still haven't materialized) but I wanted to confirm if and when he was coming). He said he still planned on coming, storms didn't bother him or his work. He went so far as insisting he'd be here at 3:00 to 3:30. I got home at 5:00 and he hadn't been here. So I called. "I'll come out tomorrow," he said. Okay, so I should believe him why? He'd said he'd be here TODAY. I basically said that to him, but nicer because I did want him to come out and he got all ugly on me. Finally I said something like I was needing someone for the season and I needed to know I could rely on them to show up when they said they would and would he or did I need to call someone else? He told me to call someone else!

So I called back the guy from last week. The one that never showed and never called. The work is 90% done, I'm still willing to pay $10 and his wife insists he'll be here tomorrow morning (and she did actually call me back later this evening to confirm) but I'm doubtful.

When did people decide it was okay to screw over their customers and get pissy and demanding with them? That's so not my idea of customer service - not when I'm getting it and not when I'm providing it. But that's just me. Maybe it falls under the umbrella of "progress" but I'm just not buying it.

Book Review

This past weekend the weather was predicted to be really nasty so I planned on staying inside, curled up with a good book and/or watching movies. Well, it was drizzly Saturday afternoon, rained hard in the middle of the night and then was nice on Sunday. Seriously, I could have given a better prediction, but that's not the point. The point is, I decided to stick with my weekend plan and read a book.



Linda Barrett is a member of my local chapter. She doesn't come to the meetings often but she came out last year and spoke about how she sold her Pilgrim Cove series (complete with the diagrams she used to pitch it). Anyway, they had her latest book as a give away at the meeting - The Daughter He Never Knew - and I really liked the cover. I didn't win a copy but when it (along with the rest of the series) was up for auction (I believe Brenda Novak's auction for Juvenile Diabetes - which is coming up again soon), I bid on it. That time I DID win. I read the series in order and just LOVED the way Linda wrote the stories (that's the series that has the Retired Old Men Eating Out, aka ROMEOs), so when her next book came out (A Man of Honor), I snatched it up. Loved it too.

So, it should be no surprise that I tell you, when her latest book (Houseful of Strangers) came out, I went right out and bought it. And that's what I read this weekend.

I absolutely loved it. It's a story about people who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Allison Truesdale is a veterinarian whose son died about two years earlier. A month later her husband, unable to cope with it all drank himself silly and got behind the wheel of the car and killed himself (no one else was involved). Allison really hasn't recovered from all of that and accepts a temporary job with a large animal veterinarian who needs help with his practice because he's broken his arm and can't do the job. Allison will be living with Eric Mitchell (the vet with the broken arm) while she works for/with him. Allison knows his mother, Ruth (who I loved in this story), lives with Eric. But she didnt know Eric had a son - not to mention that he's about the age her son was when he died.

Eric, on the other hand, went through a very bitter divorce. His wife was from the city and couldn't handle life in the country as a country vet's wife and ripped his heart out when she left, so he's not issueless himself and has a preconceived idea about Allison because she happens to live in the city herself.

Meanwhile, there's Danielle (Dani). Dani ran away from home when she was 13 and has been living on the street for two years now. She keeps a journal (that was given to her by a runaway counselor)...well actually she keeps several and one is labeled RIP where she keeps a log of all the runaways she's known who have died (she does this because she believes they matter and she doesn't want to forget them - but the list is getting pretty long and she hates that). She's at the train station one day when she sees her father (who abused her, both physically and sexually), flashing her picture around so she buys a ticket on the first train out of there. Of course it takes her to the same country town our other characters are in and of course they find her and invite her to stay with them and of course they become "family". In that respect it was predictable but, it was so wonderfully told. I was crying as I read the story. It wasn't the sobbing kind of crying but the kind of crying you can't stop, where the tears are just flowing, but it's a good cry...you feel good about what is happening.

And then I started to ask myself why it affected me that way and this is what I came up with. All these people were broken in some way (well, except for Ruth and Eric's son) and they couldn't seem to fix themselves but coming together, they each gave each other what they needed. They completed each other (all of them, not just the hero and heroine) and made each other whole. They were a family. And I guess that just touched me in some way. I don't know what that says about me (okay, I guess I do but if I haven't already revealed that in what I've said...) but it did touch me.

So, on a scale of one to five, I'd give it an eight and a half.

What have you read recently (or at any point) that touched you deeply on an emotional level? Or, if you don't want to answer that, what are you reading now? :~)

~L