Tuesday Update?

Okay, so I totally brainfarted out on the Sunday Update and then I was going to do it yesterday, but I forgot.  So here we are.  Stupid holiday weekend.  Don't even get me started on 'Labor Day'.  

I spent a lot of this past weekend reading.  Finished the book I had been reading last week on Sunday.  Made it most of the way through another book yesterday.  Good times.

I baked a lot, too.  Well, on the weekend anyway.  I made cake cookies on Sunday.  Then yesterday, I made biscuits in the morning and homemade pizza in the afternoon.  Something went wonky with the pizza dough.  I used all the right measurements, I swear I did, but the dough was really wet.  I added more flour and more flour and still more flour.  And I probably kneaded the damn stuff for 15 minutes.  (Which I am paying for this morning with ouchie arms.)  In the end, it worked out, though.  I was afraid it would be bland, but I brushed the dough with a butter, garlic salt, Parm mixture and it was yummy.  I did end up with two pizzas out of it.  I did one pepperoni, mushroom, olives and the other pepperoni, ham, mushrooms.  Loads of leftover slices.  Yay.  Lunch and dinner!  

In the realm of activity, Hubs and I took a walk one night after dinner.  Then Saturday, we worked together to clean the car.  We did the windows and vacuumed and scrubbed the dashboard.  Detailing... yeah, that's it.  Anyway, Callie's the newest looking 19 year old car on the road, man.  After we were done, Hubs took her for a spin and got gas for the lawn mower.  Then he spent yesterday mowing the lawn.  Oh, and I lost some more weight.  Weight: 170.2.

Because I had the time, I did some research for work, too.  Saves me from having to do it today, so yay.

The fawns are starting to lose their spots.  :sniffle:  

I saw a frog.  That might not seem noteworthy to you, but it was a big leopard frog and I probably haven't seen one of those since I was a kid.  I spent a lot of kid time playing with leopard frogs.  Sadly, this one did not want to play with me and he hopped away.  We get lots of toads here and the occasional tree frog, but leopard frogs... I knew they were in Missouri, but I'd never seen one here.  Yay.

And that's about it.  Exciting stuff, eh?  How have things been in your world?  Did you have a nice long weekend?  

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 9/3/22

Sorry about these reading wrap-ups becoming slightly less interesting.  Less than for reading, doncha know.  Anyway, here's how the week shaped out...

No new books.  I have four unread ebooks - Paranormal, suspense, cozy mystery, and UF noir.

Books Read:

46) Seashells, Spells, and Caramels by Erin Johnson (8/28/22) - Paranormal Mystery* - 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated.  Free off the Book Adrenaline newsletter.
Review: "This book is loads of amazing! It's got an interesting premise and a unique paranormal world. Plus, the characters were awesome. And the hint of romance was delicious. Oh, and the mystery was fun, too!"
Available in Audio.

No DNFs.  Yay.

Currently reading... the sequel to that urban fantasy noir thing I read last week.  It's all kinds of awesome.  It's like... steampunk and fantasy and paranormal and action/adventure and noir all rolled up.  These are long reads, though, so I won't be surprised if the weekend passes and I'm still not finished.

What have you been reading lately?

Thursday This n That

As I type this Wednesday night, Hubs is watching Dr. Strangelove.  I don't think I've ever watched it all the way through.  It's definitely a weird one.  

Apropos of nothing...  You know, there have been plenty of times in my life when I have been poor.  Scraping to make ends meet poor, not wondering whether I would have a next meal poor.  (Okay, there was that time in college when I only had enough money to eat something small once a day.  I lived on Little Caesar's breadsticks - when they were 99c a bag and I could make a bag of those things stretch for a few days - and the occasional Hardees 99c breakfast biscuit.  I could eat all week on like $5.  And I went around campus collecting cigarette butts that still had a few puffs left in them because if I had something to smoke, I wasn't as hungry.)  Anyway, as thin as things were from time to time, there were two things I never missed - rent/house payments and car payments.  Those got paid first.  Then the electric bill - cuz Michigan sucks in the winter with no heat, eh.  Then food.  Whatever was left got spread around to other things, like phone, credit cards, etc.  (Needless to say, I didn't have much on credit cards, because they would've been fools to give me credit.)  I had a tiny TV with an antenna that picked up three stations.  If I had splurge money, I might buy a half-gallon of cheap ice cream or a bottle of Boone's Farm.  I don't understand how other people think, but that's how I think.  Tighten your belt.  Pay your bills.  If you don't you're stealing.  

Yeah, that had a basis.  Not one I can discuss here, but it was there.  Life can be rough.  Suck it up, buttercup.  No one needs a smartphone.  Or TV.  You don't need booze or fancy food.  Or fancy clothes.  Hell, I'd say you don't need internet, but these days, life would be harder without it.  Prioritize.  Figure out what your actual needs are and stick to them.  

On a different subject, the young gal at work was totally dressed cute today.  And it was totally '80s.  Which I told her.  She was rocking a cute red blazer.  And I hope she took my words as the compliment I meant.  She seemed pleased.  Anyway, we got talking a little - because neither of us had time to chat - and she's into thrifting like I am.  I showed her my awesome slacks that I got for $4.  I can thrift with the best of them.  LOL, I have a lot of practice.

I just got an email from LinkedIn telling me I'm on a roll with my career.  I opened it, wondering what the hell they were talking about.  It was filled with suggested people to connect with in the writing world.  Yeah, if that was my career, I sucked at it.  (No, I don't think I sucked at the writing.  Just the career part of it.)  Talk about depressing.  If I had been good at the career part of it, I wouldn't have needed a job.  Duh.

God, I love ice cream.  I had a big, ol' bowl of chocolate ice cream with peanut butter stirred into it and drizzled with dark chocolate syrup.  Yummers.  

And I'm down 10 pounds.  Feel free to hate me.  The secret?  Busy busy at work, don't eat much throughout the day, stress.  I can eat all the ice cream I want now.  Bwa ha ha.  If I throw in some exercise here and there, I'd probably get back to my courtin' Hubs weight.  Only 36 pounds to go.

On that note, I should probably get back to the movie.  Maybe I'll be in time to watch Slim Pickens ride the bomb.  LOL

Sunday Update - Week 34?

The internet is telling me last week was number 34.  I'm not sure I believe it, but eh, whatever.  Can you believe that August is almost over?  Yeeps.  Not much of note happened this week, but I figured I'd better do an update.  Let's see if I can make your trip here worthwhile with some semi-interesting stuff...  

It's been over two months since I wrote any fiction.  That almost feels like an introduction to a addict support group.  "Hi, my name is BE and it's been over two months since I wrote fiction."  At which point everyone would say 'Hi, BE.'  Except it wasn't an addiction and I didn't need a support group because I was doing it.  I might need a support group for not doing it.  'Writers Not Writing Anonymous' or something.  It kinda feels like I cut off an appendage.  I get phantom pains to write, but when I reach out for the ability, it's not there.

Whoa, that was disturbing.  :shudder:

Anyway, I read a great book this past week.  Visit yesterday's post to see what it was and a link to click.  

Yesterday, I made coffee cake.  It was my usual recipe, but I added applesauce to the batter and then dribbled applesauce over the top.  It turned out pretty damned good, if I do say so myself.  Today, I need to make granola bars because Hubs is out.

Speaking of Hubs, he's been working on my car.  This week, he took it to get the oil changed and he put two new tires on the back.  He also picked up the parts to fix my windshield washer - a new tank and a new pump.  Yesterday, the poor man spent 6 hours putting those suckers in.  In 90+ heat.  And during the test phase, we discovered it wasn't just the tank and the pump... the hose leaks, too.  He'll need to order that and go through the process of taking the front of my car apart again.  For now, duct tape is doing the job and my pump squirts liquid up onto the windshield again.  Yay.  Well, for now, my car will be put back together and driveable so I can get to work tomorrow.

Work is work.  Busy busy.  I'm still liking it for the most part.  There are a couple people I could live without, but I don't deal with them that often, so it's no big deal.  The owner seems like a good guy, and the four I have to deal with every day are good people, too.  The worst part is sitting like 90% of the time.  The 5% I spent standing ain't so good on the body either.  I need more motion in my day.  As soon as the weather cools down, I'm going to try walking on my lunch half-hour.  Fifteen minutes to eat and 15 minutes to walk.  We'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, to try and ameliorate the ouchies caused by sitting too much, I ordered a gel chair cushion.  It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed.

This week, I discovered I've lost 10 pounds since I started work.  It's gotta be due to the whole not grazing all day thing, since I am definitely not getting any exercise.  Weight: 171.6.  That's the lowest I've been in like over 10 years.  A pound lower than the start of 'rona when I stressed so bad I dropped a bunch of weight.  I gained all that back.  Let's see if I can keep this off.  

Let's see... what else...   The fawns are getting bigger and their spots are starting to fade a bit.  We saw Chester Chipmunk and he looks well.  My gardens are toast.  Everyone in my family is doing well, as far as I know.  

Oh, one last thing...  I went to Wallyworld yesterday.  Lucky for me, I didn't need that much stuff.  And I still paid $48 total.  The price of damn near everything had jumped.  TP was up $2 from the last time I bought it.  $12+ for a 12 pack of Great Value when it was $10+.  Under Trump, the same toilet paper was $6+.  Doubled in under 2 years.  Thanks, Creepy Joe, you rat bastard.  

And that's it.  How was your week?  How's life in general treating you these days?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 8/27/22

Well hello there.  It's morning.  I woke up tired.  And I forgot to schedule this post, so bear with me.

I got two new books this week.  I didn't mean to get two.  I finished a book last night and went to go buy its sequel. Once clicked that sucker like my ass was on fire and it was water.  And then I noticed I hadn't bought the second book.  I'd clicked the third.  Soooo, I went back and bought the second book, like I had originally planned.  (And no, I'm not returning the 3rd book.  I don't return books.)  Here's hoping these are as awesome as the first one was.  Speaking of which...

Books Read:

45) Sorcerer Rising (Virgil McDane #1) by E. Nathan Sisk (8/26/22) - UF Noir*# - 5 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  Free off the ENT newsletter.  (Last night, when I bought the others, this was only 99c.)
Review: "Now, that was a frickin' awesome read. It was nowhere near what I thought it was going to be when I downloaded it. It defies any attempt to pigeonhole it into a genre. And I loved it. Any preconceptions you might have... this is going to blow them all to tiny bits of dust. Much the way Virgil tackles his ultimate nemesis. Which, by the way, was incredibly satisfying. I miss Tiffany. I wish the best for Sarah. I want Conrad to thrive. Most of all, I want to see Virgil continuing to kick ass through many subsequent novels.

And yeah, it took me a week to read. It's a big book with lots of intricate stuff going on in there, but none of it is a slog. It's action packed and you'll find yourself staying up later than you ought to, sneaking in time to read when you should be doing something else, and still having it take a while to read. It's worth it. Dive on in. Now I have to go slap my money down for the next book."

No DNFs.

Currently reading... Nothing yet.  I won't be diving into book 2 of the above yet.  I don't like to read a series straight through.  I'll cleanse my palate with something else first and go into #2 fresh.

What was on your reading plate last week?

The Spectacle

Did you hear the one about the optometrist who fell into his lens grinder?  He made a spectacle of himself.

Seriously, though, this is The Writing Spectacle.  But I'm not doing much in the way of writing anymore.  Well, not fiction writing.  I write tons of emails and texts and letters and sundry other work product.  I think my typing speed has increased exponentially.  Fiction, though?  Nada.  

Life itself is a spectacle.  Sit back and watch it sometime.  :cue circus music:   

Work is a spectacle.  It is definitely something to behold.  Setting aside the fact that this is the first time I've worked outside the house in eighteen years (two years less than the gal who has the office next door has been alive, by the way), it's a circus.  Some days I feel like I'm on the tightrope.  Rolling along on my itty-bitty unicycle, juggling chainsaws and tiny balls as I go.  Tiny ball, tiny ball, chainsaw, tiny ball, chainsaw, chainsaw.  Can't drop any of them.  And I can't set any of them down.  I juggle in my sleep these days.  

For the most part, home is quiet.  Until a bit of spectacle gets thrown in and I have a dozen oranges to juggle along with my tiny balls and chainsaws.  For instance: Anyone else caught up in the CenturyLink / Direct TV spectacle?  CenturyLink and Direct TV had an agreement wherein you could have your phone and your satellite bundled.  But then AT&T bought Direct TV and the agreement fell apart.  So they separated the bundles, which separated the billing.  Hubs is trying to sort out the double billing, and has been on the phone for irritating lengths of time, only to have me come home to a slew of emails from Direct TV telling me we're past due and they're going to shut off our satellite if we don't pay 1) what we already paid and 2) don't owe anyway.  I'm ready to tell Direct TV to go pound sand up their collective asses.  Hubs will waste another day trying to get this sorted out.  I feel bad, but I can't handle the oranges right now.

Oh, and in the midst of all this CenturyLink is reinventing itself again.  (It used to be CenturyTel.)  It's becoming Brightstar.  Well, la de dah.  Barf.

Needless to say, I don't have the brain space to write.  Too many of my neurons are devoted to other things these days.  I was thinking that maybe once the work thing reaches a cruising altitude I'll be able to put some words down.  Now I'm thinking there is no cruising altitude.  I'm strapped to a rocket.  

Ah, the spectacle.

No Update?

When there's nothing to update, there's no update.  Basically, my life last week was the same as it was the week before.  I can't think of anything new that happened.  Work, reading, TV, eat, sleep... lather rinse repeat.  And I already talked about the reading.

How are things in your life?