Sunday Update 11/10/24

I feel like there isn't enough coffee in the world to make me human this morning.  Ah, well, let's muddle forth anyway and see where the day takes us.

I'm still not writing, but I am back to editing.  I actually put together three days in a row and edited 25 pages this week.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but considering the fact that I'm changing everything from third person to first person, I'm pleased with the progress.  And I've complete almost 6 pages of edit notes.  Little yay.  I still haven't decided whether this will be book 2 or book 3.  :shrug:

My marketing fell apart this week.  I did a couple of days worth of marketing on Project Hermes and sold exactly zilch.  Ah well.  In happier news, I sold a paperback copy of Dying Embers, and people are currently reading KU pages of both Sleeping Ugly and Blink of an I.  Yay. Oh, and before I forget, Early Grave will be free this coming week - 11/11-11/15.

In reading news, I finished two books this past week - a Perry Mason twofer and a Zane Grey western.  Woot.  Not sure what I'll pick up next.  I really need to get some new ebooks.

I didn't do any baking this week.  My ever-widening ass does not need to calories.  I did do a batch of pulled pork and used the leftovers to make Cuban sandwiches last night.  Third time's the charm, as these turned out awesome.  Mmmm.

On the activity front, I managed to get out into the woods and drag some wood around.  Not much because I am back to being stamina-free, but it's a start.  I also joined Hubs for a walk and did a mile worth.  I haven't bothered to weight myself.  I don't need that kind of negativity.

This past week, we got a boatload of rain.  I think we ended up with like 7.5 inches total.  Sploosh.  

Also, this past week, we had the election.  Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with the results.  Let's start moving this country back to where it needs to be.  I don't expect immediate results, after all, he still needs to get inaugurated, but if she'd won, we would move farther away, so any progress will make me happy.

And on that note, I'm going to wander away, refill my mug, and try to wake up somehow.  Have a great day, everyone, and drop a comment if you're so inclined.

Thursday This n That

I'm starting to feel better about life in general, so that's a step in the right direction.  I saw where some person was saying they were terrified and that's kinda sad.  Personally, the thought of another 4 years of the march toward communism scared the shit out of me, so I'm not sure what's scaring them.  The thought of having to take responsibility for themselves and their own lives when the nanny state gets taken away?  :shrug:  

And I'm ready to stop talking about all this.  I want life to return to normal.  I'd like the opportunity go get groceries and not have to choose whether I want meat this time or toilet paper because I can't afford both.  I realize that this probably won't turn around on a dime, but it would be nice to have it sooner rather than later.

The deluge here finally ended.  We got around six and a half inches of rain so far this month.  The lake level jumped up about 5 feet in 24 hours.  The river near here was flowing at 75 cubic feet per second before the rain and jumped to 25000 cubic feet per second and then jumped again to 48000 cfps.  I haven't driven out or walked down to see it yet, and it's starting to come down, so I won't see it at its worst, but gah.  Hubs just showed me a photo someone had taken of the river.  It's full of crap.  This totally harshes my chances at fishing.  Blerg.

The cats let us sleep all night last night.  Progress.  Yay.

I'm reading a Zane Grey right now.  It's interesting.  So far, not my favorite of his, but it's okay.

The bucks are back.  Right now, they're chasing tail all over the woods.  Horny bastards.

I've really been a toad these past couple weeks.  I need to cut that shit out.  It doesn't do my body any good.  It doesn't do my brain any good either.  And let's not even talk about my attitude.  That's in the crapper.  I said I was going to edit every day this month and so far, I did it once.  Yeah, not the most banner of times.  I'd like to say that ends today, but I can't promise anything.

Okay, I think that's about it for me today.  How are things in your world?

Waiting for The Other Shoe

I have this affliction where I can't get excited for happy news.  It seems I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop.  You know the shoe... the one that drops and makes all your happy go away and generally makes you look like a fool for ever being optimistic?  Yeah, that one.

Maybe it's a function of the era when I grew up.  Gen X'ers are not the most optimistic of people, as a general rule.  Or something.  Maybe it's yet another thing I can blame on my head injury.  It could also be due to some crushing disappointment somewhere along the way that I can't point to specifically.  :shrug:  

So, I'm reserving my glee until Big T actually gets sworn in.  Until then many things could actually derail it.  I don't expect the Dems to accept this defeat with grace.

We'll see.  

Election Day

Today is Election Day here in the states.  I don't think I'm overstating it when I say this is the most important election in America since Reagan beat Carter.  Maybe more important than that even.  This great country of ours has been on the slow slide to collectivism (socialism/communism/fascism) for decades now.  Today will either signal a stop to the slide or we'll see the slide reach its ultimate destination.

You know what to do.  And if you don't know what to do by this point, I can't help you.  

Hubs and I will be going to the polling location later in the morning.  Then we'll wait.  I guess the Hyena is cackling about how counting the votes will take days.  It shouldn't, but her handlers will make sure they drag it out.  

Tomorrow we should have some idea of which way the vote is going.  It'll either be a WOOHOO and hope will spring forth or it'll be a :sad trombone: and we will continue to muddle along.  

Keep your fingers crossed.

Sunday Update 11/3/24

 Good Morning.  :sips coffee:  Welcome.

This wasn't the most exciting of weeks here at Sanderson, Inc. LLC., but there should be some things to talk about today.

No writing.  I did some editing... one day.  I'm having a crisis of confidence again.  Blah blah blah... meh.  It's not the first time and it probably won't be the last.  Anyway, I've gotten 11 pages done now.  I'll try to get over myself and get some work done today.

On the marketing front, I did the 'posting to FB Groups' thing again.  This time for Sleeping Ugly.  I moved 116 copies.  Last night someone read 12 pages of SU, so there's hope.  Tomorrow, Project Hermes goes on sale for election week.  It'll be 99c.  (Or 99p for the UK folks.)  I need to work on some graphics for that today.  We'll see if I can move copies that people actually have to pay for or if I'm only popular when I'm free.  

I actually read some stuff that I didn't write this week.  See yesterday's post.  

In baking news, one day, I made chocolate oatmeal cookies and pizza.  Yummers on both.  Another day, I made ham and scalloped potatoes.  Mmmm.  

As for activity and exercise, my knee was still squonky from the fall back on 10/19, so I didn't get much done.  Then I said 'screw that crap' and yesterday, I went into the woods.  I got the remainder of that pile of sticks moved to the other pile.  Consolidating, doncha know.  No weight loss this week, but no weight gain either which is a win, I guess.  Weight: 175.2

Also, I did some gardening.  I took all the seeds and stuff I'd gathered, went through the steps, and got some stuff planted in pots.  The redbud seeds and the spicebush seeds are in the dirt, along with four acorns.  Meanwhile, the dogwood seeds and the buckthorn seeds are in baggies in the fridge for what they call stratification.  (Cold shocking to make the seeds germinate.)  Now, we wait.

Here in the states, Tuesday is election day.  I'll be glad when it's over.  We'll either see the country start to move back toward being America again, or we'll know for sure that the country is done for.  And at least the phone calls, the ads, and the whole 'vote yes on..., vote no on...' stuff will stop.  We'll trundle ourselves on over to the big auditorium behind the Baptist church and cast our votes.  Then we wait.  And we wait... because I have no illusions that if the Big T wins it'll be accepted by the other side and they'll drag out the actual notification of the winner for as long as they can.  I will have done as much as I can.

Oh, and in case you weren't paying attention, the time change was last night.  I hate this crap and I wish they'd just be done with it.  I'm not sure I know anyone who thinks this is a good idea, so why are we still doing it?  Ask the bureaucrats, I guess.  Derp.

Not much else going on around here.  Keep on keepin' on.  Hang in there.  And all that.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

Why is it that when I do anything super-active, the aftereffects don't fully hit me until the day after the day after?  I felt pretty darn good yesterday after Monday's window washing marathon.  Today?  No so much.  Blerg

Monday's window washing marathon... It all started at 8:30 with the thought that since it was cold I could finally tackle that wasp's nest in the window space with the broken screen.  I was just going to pop out the screen and the storm window and knock that thing out.  I had planned on worrying about the cleaning part later.  Then I didn't.  I went after that window and the next and the... well, you get the point.  5 good-sized windows, 4 with screens and storms.  5 window wells that were full of crap  - leaves and dust and dead bugs, etc.  All of it needing a good cleaning.  Then Hubs caught the same bug I had and he did the parts that can only be reached from outside with a ladder.  (These windows are easily 10-15 feet off the ground.)  We finished about 12:30.  That was just the sunroom.  I still have the rest of the house to do.  Not that day.  Not yesterday either and today ain't lookin' too good.  

I derailed on writing this book.  I think I'm thinking too much.  I need to just sit and write, and when I come to something that takes a lot of thought and/or research, I need to skip it and move on.  Maybe tonight that'll happen.  We'll see.

On the bright side, I'm making headway on the first round edits of the other book.  Yay.

As the election approaches, my mood is taking a shit.  Yesterday, I reminded myself that there is nothing I can do about any of it.  I'll vote, for whatever good that'll do, and what happens after that is out of my power.  I need to focus on the things I can do here in my own life and not let all of THAT get to me.

Well, I think that's about all I've got this morning.  Have a great day.

The Next Day

Well, it's the morning after.  Everything here in MO went according to the way I voted except one amendment which was amending something back to the way it was before and a couple of local seats that were more of a 'this guy or this guy could win and I won't care' - like county coroner.  I voted for the independent there because I thought he had more experience overall.  The guy who won was already in as coroner after the last coroner died.  :shrug:  And I voted for the incumbent commissioner for our area because why fix what ain't broke.  The other voters didn't agree.  :also shrug:  It's not like the post is critical really.

Of course, the Presidency is still up in the air.  With each side saying 'our guy won'.  And the press getting things all farged up.  This is all unsurprising.  

We went to bed at 9.  Hubs was up in the middle of the night.  I'm up now and he's sleeping.  Nothing's changed as far as the election goes.  It'll probably be days.  Might be weeks.  They stopped counting votes in PA.  There was some kind of water main break or something in Atlanta, so Georgia's ballots will have to wait.  Not sure what's up with Arizona.  

Personally, I've always thought the media called the races way too early, but that's me.  "With 1% of the votes counted, we declare X has won"... Umm, ri-i-ght. 

I spent a bit of time yesterday blocking people on FB again.  Nobody I knew, but just people with lunatic comments in other people's posts.  People actually defending socialism like it's a good thing.  That sort of stuff.  Umm, don't know you, don't want to... block.

Anyway, here's hoping that when the dust settles, we'll still have a nation of laws and freedom.  I don't want to think about the alternative.

Okay, off you go into the world.  I've got to figure out what I'm going to do today when I don't actually feel like doing anything. 

Election Day

Well, folks, it's election day here in the states. It's probably the most important election day in our lifetimes.  So, go vote.  From what I understand, it's supposed to be beautiful day in pretty much the whole country, so no excuses, eh?

If you don't know who you're voting for by now, I can't help you.  Hell, if you didn't know who you were voting for months ago, then you weren't paying attention.  Nothing I say right here, right now, is going to change anything.  Unless it lights a fire under your butt to go vote.

Hubs and I will be trotting down to the community center to cast our votes in a few hours - once the sun comes up enough so it's not in my eyes as I drive.  Safety first, doncha know.  I hate driving with the sun in my eyes.  I'll do it if I have to, but I don't have to today.  We've got all day.  We just like getting it done in the morning.

Here's hoping there are no problems like I've heard about in other places with the early ballots.  I swear, if I get there and there's even one circle already blacked in, I'm going to go apeshit.  

It should be pretty smooth here.  Not a lot of people in this area, so I don't expect huge lines.  Once, we got to the polling place and there were like three people in front of us.  Also, our polling place shares a building with the tiny local library.  They're almost never open, but they have books for sale outside in the hall, so I might come home with a few.  (Depends on if I have to wait for Hubs or if he gets done first.)

Of course, I woke up feeling gross.  Not 'rona gross.  More like something I ate isn't agreeing with me.  And I didn't sleep well.  Again.  But I'll go vote if I have to crawl across the parking lot and up the steps to vote.  (I'm not quite that gross-feeling.  And I'll be back to fine by the time we go probably. Thank goodness for coffee.)

I'd like to think that after today, this will all be over and we can go back to our lives.  But they're making it pretty clear this isn't going to be over today.  Have to make sure they count all the mail-in ballots, doncha know - which could take days... or weeks.  Umm...  If you didn't get your mail-in ballot in the mail in plenty of time to get to where it was going by now, shame on you.  And if they didn't get their asses in gear to count all the mail-in ballots by midnight tonight, shame on them.  We all want our lives back, thank you very much.

So, yeah, if you haven't already voted, go vote.  If you didn't vote and aren't going to, I don't want to know.  I also don't want to know who you voted for.  Keep everything nice and civil today - here if nowhere else.

And otherwise, have a great day.  Tomorrow will sort itself out one way or another.

This n That Thursday

I was pondering this morning.  1) I'm officially fed up with the election and it's only February. 2) We have nine months until the election. 3) That's like being impregnated by Satan.  You have nine months before you see just what kind of Hell you're in for.  4) Last night, before I had done the month math, we were talking about the election and quoted that poem to Hubs: "What rough beast, it's hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"  Creepy when you put it all together.  I think no matter who wins the presidency, we're all going to lose. How bad it's going to be depends on whose ass ends up in the big chair, and we won't know even then until that ass starts issuing orders.

Why, yes, I am a conspiracy theorist.

Speaking of which, we were at the Wallyworld the other day checking to see if they had any .22 ammo in - which we do whenever we think about it while we're in there.  (If you know ammo, you know why. If not, there's a huge shortage of .22 ammo in the nation.  Can't find the shit hardly anywhere.  It's become like a game of Where's Waldo? locating it.)  Of course, they didn't.  We struck up a conversation with the employee helping us.  Turns out he knows a guy who works in an ammo factory and the story is that there's a government ATF dude who shuts down production when he thinks they've made enough rounds.  I said something like 'I believe it, but then again, I'm a conspiracy theorist' and we all laughed. 

I don't know the Wallyworld guy from Adam, so the above could be an urban legend.  Why, yes, in addition to being a conspiracy theorist, I'm also untrusting. I did a Google search a while back to see if I could find actual info about the missing ammo.  I found nothing.  If the above was true, I would think there'd be internet articles about it.  Then again, the goons who suppress ammo might also suppress the news about it.  If I disappear, the goons have suppressed me, too.  ;o)

Found a flaw in Fertile Ground.  "Why can't you people get it through your head skulls?"  This has been fixed.

I get musey when I wake up at 4am.

Anything to add?  Muse away.