Thursday This n That

I started the week with a massive to-do list, but I'm whittling it down.  And I'm adding to it.  But hey, stuff's getting accomplished.  For instance, all the gardens are weeded now.  Of course, the first one I weeded is already showing signs of needing to be weeded again.  Blerg.

If you read yesterday's post on Paperbacks, you'll see there at the end how I discovered issues with those of my paperbacks I migrated over from Createspace.  That alone added to my to-do list.  I think this is a neverending to-do list.  It just goes on and on and on.

Neverending should be one word.  Jus' sayin'.

Today is April Fools Day.  I don't do pranks.  Loathe them, in fact.  It is, however, the day I met Hubs in person for the first time.  Seventeen years ago.  Our wedding anniversary is in May.  About 6 weeks from the day I saw him to the day we got married.  When it's right, you know it.

When we got to the car that day, Hubs had a dozen yellow roses waiting for me.  I still have several of those, dried in a vase.  If I'd known how momentous the occasion was going to be, I would've kept them all.  I have every other rose he ever gave me, though.  

April 1st was also my childhood dog's birthday.  Or the day we assigned as his birthday.  We got him mid-May 1976 and he was 6 weeks old, so we walked it backwards.  Happy Birthday, you wonderful dog, you.

I don't say my dog's name online because it's frequently a security question.  I also never use that name as a security question because you never know when I'll forget and drop the name somewhere out in the world.  

It's amazing how many little things we have to do in our daily lives because some numbnuts did something no rational person would conceive of doing.  Can't buy effective cold medicine over the counter?  Thank the group of numbnuts who make meth with it.  

I just joined this group over on FB that's devoted to Crime Fiction.  But they don't allow self-promotion except on Mondays.  So it's just a bunch of people talking about the books they're reading and asking about books others have read.  It's kind of nice.  I did do a self-promo this past Monday and got one sale in the UK from it.  I think.  It's a UK group - a fact I discovered after I'd joined.  :shrug:  It's either that or my one Brit fan who used to hang out here found the book on the same day I posted.  Either way, yay.

I got my proof copy of RHI on Monday.  The Amazon proofs come with a banner all the way around the cover saying 'Not for Resale'.  Well, duh.  Except the banner covers verbiage I'd like to be able to read to determine whether it looks right.  Derp-heads.  The old Createspace proofs had 'Not for resale' stamped on the back page.  Heaven forbid someone wanted to buy one of those.  :eyeroll:

While I was out weeding, I found a wee, itty-bitty frog.  A baby gray tree frog.  So damn cute.  I mean, they only get to about 1.5 inches when they're full grown, but this one was maybe a half-inch, so a baby.  Yeah yeah, actual baby frogs are tadpoles, so let's say an adolescent tree frog.  Geez.

Well, this ended up being longer than I thought it would be, so I'll just leave ya there.  Got any this-n-that to share?

Thursday This n That

I don't have a smartphone, I have a dumbphone.  I've had it for like 10 years.  It doesn't do apps.  It doesn't need wallpaper.  It doesn't have a camera.  I could text with it, but what a pain in the ass.  Once, I tried to use it to access the internet.  It did not go well.  I pay $19.99 for three months worth of service.  It makes phone calls.  And it's for emergencies - like when my car battery dies while I'm out at the lake, or when I forget the grocery list, or when I witness something I might need to let the police know about.  Or if something happens that someone might need to let me know about when I am not at home.  I also use it when the landline is out, but I have to walk out to the road because the signal in the house sucks.

Sometimes when the world gets particularly heinous, I go to Pinterest and look at the pretty pictures I've pinned.  So there's that.

Last night, I had thought about going fishing this morning, but it's all weathery out there with more weathery stuff throughout the morning.  Rolling boomers in the sky.  Don't need to go fishing bad enough to risk getting zapped.

Isn't the English language an awesome thing?  I write 'weathery' and even though it's not a word, you know exactly what I mean.  Same thing with writerly.  And who hasn't heard a book described as 'unputdownable'?  With English, you can throw parts of words together and make a new word that other English speakers can still understand. 

I need to clean the coffee maker.  It's been getting progressively slower and this morning it's spitting and sputtering like the percussion section of a spastic symphony.  I do not need it to die right now.  Time to run vinegar through it again.  But first, time to drink more of its awesome elixir.

The other day, I did my weekly Wallyworld trip and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to buy a beverage for the trip home.  It's too hot to drive without a beverage, so I stopped at the feed store - cuz even though I didn't need feed, they carry a limited selection of beverages.  I got Orange Crush.  Anyway, while I was there, my favorite in-person reader friend (FIPRF) was training a new cashier and while the new gal was ringing me up, my friend nods at me and says "She's a writer, you know.  You've probably read some of her books."  At which point, I about fell over laughing.  The new girl was thoroughly confused, but we explained it all and I gave her some swag.  Maybe I'll have a new reader soon.  FIPRF really does try to generate new readers for me when she gets a chance.  She's awesome.

And that it for me today.  What's the this n that skinny for you today?