Thursday This n That

I saw a commercial the other day for some kind of old people product wherein the lady laments that she's on a fixed income.  This phrase has irritated me since my long ago telephone fundraising days.  I mean, the majority of people have incomes that are fixed - as in they don't change from one paycheck to the next - so I've never been exactly sure why anyone thinks that's a thing to lament.  You know how much money you'll have, so you can budget accordingly.  You want to lament something?  Lament having a non-fixed income where you're not sure how much money you'll be getting and whether you'll have enough to pay bills when your next check drops.  Non-fixed income is why I have never been good at working on commission.  When I have to worry about making enough money to not eat dogfood, I get all tense and weird and can't sell shit.  And buyers can smell the desperation. 

For the record, working on royalties is like working on commission.  Except I'm worrying about where I'll come up with editing funds and not whether I'll be eating dogfood.  Hubs makes sure I don't have to eat dogfood.

Dogfood really should be one word.

Why are some things compound words and other things aren't?  Who makes the rules for that stuff?

Speaking of words, I refuse to put apostrophes in words that didn't use to have apostrophes.  Hallowe'en?  Oh, hell no.  Hawai'i?  Don't get me started. My blog editor is red-squiggling the hell out of those words with the apostrophes.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot.  Happy Halloween!

You know, I didn't really care who won the World Series.  I mean, I was leaning more toward Houston because of leftist DC, but I don't really like the Astros either.  Then the Nats fans had the gall to boo the President.  Then I was really rooting for the Astros. Not sure who won because I went to bed before the end of the final game.  :shrug:

When I'm out and about in the world, I literally don't notice anything about you - your skin color, your eye color, what you wear, tats, piercings, etc. - unless you give me a reason to notice you.  And usually the reason I notice you isn't a good one - you're loud, you're obnoxious, you're standing and talking in the middle of a grocery aisle leaving no room to pass on either side, your kids are running amok. I'd rather have good reasons to notice you - your cute and respectful children, a happy smile turned my way, a cheerful word - but it's your choice.  If you're old or look lost, I'll help you.  Unless you seem like a shit, then you're on your own.

Anyway, I think you've heard more than enough out of me.  What's the this-n-that for you today?

The Halloween Scrooge

Halloween is fast approaching.  Meh.

When I was younger, I did Halloween.  When the Kid was home and young enough to enjoy it, I did Halloween.  When we lived in town and there were children trick-or-treating all around, I did Halloween.  When I was still scarfing on the candy bars, I did Halloween - if only for myself.

Now, I'm no longer young, the Kid is an independent adult, and we live in a place with no children for the most part.  (One younger couple with one 6 year old and a baby do not make for a rush of kids at Halloween.)  I'm also done with the candy bar scarfing, so that pretty much means I don't do Halloween.

I don't even do scary movies.  Although this time of year, watching campy, non-scary, scary movies is kind of fun.  I watched Eight Legged Freaks and Lake Placid on Saturday.  I'm also into the Final Destination movies, which aren't scary to me.  I enjoy the suspense of how people are going to get killed.  If you've never seen them, pretty much everyone dies in one way or another and some of those deaths are pretty ingenious. 

Yep, I'm pretty much a Halloween Scrooge.  Bah Humbug. 

With my memories pretty much shot, I only remember one Halloweens from my childhood.  The one where they wouldn't give my older brother candy because the football team had already come through and wiped the town out.  I got one piece and my sister got one piece at only a couple of houses.  Bummer.  I remember a Halloween from when I was like 15 and shouldn't have been trick-or-treating anyway, but my friends and I got dressed up and wandered through a neighborhood in the dark.

When I was in college, I remember a party my friend threw.  I was a sexy modern-day vampire before those were cool.  (Pre Interview with a Vampire days.)  My friend walked around her house carrying a bowl of Cheerios and a knife.  (Cereal Killer... get it?) 

Between those years and the years when the Kid was old enough to enjoy Halloween, meh.  And since then?  Meh.

I don't have a problem with Halloween.  If you're into it, good on ya.  Go wild.  Have a blast.  I'll just be sitting here on another regular Thursday, reading and trying to decide if I'm really going to write a book starting the next day.

Do you still celebrate Halloween?  Are you taking a kid out or are you staying home to pass out treats?  What will you be giving away this year?  What's your favorite Halloween treat?  I used to really groove on the Snickers bars.

Sunday Update - Week 43

Hello again.  We're getting pretty close to the end of 2019.  Woohoo?

Anyway, still no writing, but it's getting closer to terminal mass.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what I'm going to write.  I sat down and looked through my 'ideas' file, and not a single damn thing blew my skirt up.  Except, of course, the urge to organize the file.  I guess the left brain is still in charge.  Time for a right brain coup.

The Dennis Haggarty sale was a bust.  And I'm now in the Sleeping Ugly sale (10/25-10/31), which isn't doing anything either.  I suspect my marketing posts to the FB group pages are not getting the reach they used to.  I used to be able to get at least one or two sales.  Now?  Silence.  I'll be lucky if I pull $8 this month.  Fingers crossed next month doesn't suck as hard.

In reading news, I only finished one book last week, but it was kind of an awesome book, so all is well.  Right now, though, I'm reading that book I forgot I wrote but never finished.  (Just reading, not editing or even note-taking.)  It's really good, especially considering it's a partial first draft of a NaNo novel so it was written in 30 days.  Sure, it needs a boatload of editing, but I'd say it'll be on par with the fantasy novels I've read.  You know, if I ever finish it. 

My activity level was okay - 4 out of 7 days.  I count fishing, though, and that's not always a super-active thing.  Weighed myself yesterday - 180.4.  Ya know something?  It's harder to weigh myself when it's colder because I am not inclined to strip down to my all-togethers and step on a cold scale first thing in the morning.  I feel thinner, though.  That's gotta count for something, right?

Let's see... I made oatmeal cake again.  This time I added raisins.  It's good, but all the raisins sunk to the bottom, so it's more like raisin upside-down cake.  Additionally, I used rolled oats instead of quick oats.  They gave the cake more heft and texture - which is good in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.  I also did pizza subs again.  Nailed it.  All they needed was more toppings and for the toppings to be cooked before they went into the sub.  So good.  And last week, I did a thing where I wrapped ham and cheese around chicken tenderloins and baked them.  Yummers.

Oh, I saw the first bald eagle of the season on Friday!  So, the frigid, windy fishing trip where I didn't catch a single blasted fish wasn't a total loss.

The other day I was at the feed store chatting with my friend.  Another customer came in and joined in the conversation.  My friend told him I was there to buy corn to feed the deer and he asked if I'd seen any really big bucks.  "Nope," I says, "we never see any big deer."  And my friend laughs and tells him I'm also not going to tell him where I live - which totally crapped out my 'hide the deer' lie.  Of course, no one can hunt back in here without landowner permission and even then only with bows because the houses are too close together to allow for firearm hunting.  I'm fine with hunting, just not where I live.  I would haz a sad if I knew for certain any of the deer we feed were hunted.  (I'm not daft enough to believe all of these deer are safe in their entire range.  And they need to be hunted to keep the herd healthy.  I just don't want to know about it.)

Getting older really does blow.  Other than the comic relief portions.  Yesterday, Hubs and I were having a conversation about all the various things that no longer work like they're supposed to or the 'old people' maladies that are starting to crop up.  At one point, I said "I am not wearing cornpads! I am not my grandmother!" and he about fell over laughing.  (For the record, I don't know if my grandmother actually wore cornpads, but it seems like a grandmotherly thing.)  Laughter.  It really is the best medicine.

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your Sunday.  What's up with you lately?  What are you laughing about today?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/26/19

Hello again.  Not much to talk about this week.  I just wasn't in a reading place for most of the week, I guess.  Then I opened up a mystery and got sucked into it hard.

Picked up one new ebook on Friday morning.  I'm not even sure what it's about, but it was by an author I have enjoyed in the past and it was free, so I snagged it.  I think it's paranormal.  Then, last night after I finished what I was reading, I hopped over and one-clicked the sequel.  Other than those, I have 4 remaining ebooks to read - thriller, romance, paranormal mystery, and mystery.

Books Read:

98) One Night in Drake Mansion by Channing Whitaker (10/25/19) - Mystery* - 5 stars.  New to me and while it does have more reviews and ratings than I usually would consider 'underappreciated', it was so awesome I think way more people should read it.
Review:  "Every now an then I find an unknown-to-me author and book that makes all of my searching worth it. This book is truly enthralling, unexpected, and wicked awesome. I cannot wait to read the next book. In fact, I'm headed over to buy it now. Budget be damned. I love these characters. I loved the premise of this book and the next sounds like it'll meet the expectations this book sets forth. Yay!"

DNFs:

10/22/19 - I started a Helen MacInnes novel and then realized it was way far ahead in her writings.  I'd rather read the earlier stuff first.  I'll try this one again later.

Currently reading... Since I finished a great book last night, and it was Live PD night, I didn't start anything new.

Okay, your turn.  What things did you read last week?

Thursday This n That

I spent most of yesterday doing spreadsheets, so I was kind of a toad.  I stopped for a while to take a walk.  Then I stopped for lunch and a nap.  Then I took a break to watch some of The Chase and do dinner.  I finished up after dinner.  It's days like that that show me what I could do writing-wise if I put my mind to it.  Of course, spreadsheets use an entirely different part of the brain, but it's the endurance I need to work on overall.

Yesterday, I was thinking about NaNo again.  I even went to the site and logged in a book called No Freakin' Clue.  LOL.  And then I looked at the last time I did NaNo.  It was kind of shocking. More about that tomorrow.

There's a dog at the animal rescue I really want.  His name is Theo and he looks like a super cool dog.  But right now, I've got all I can handle with Geriatric Cat.  I'll just settle for rooting for Theo to find a nice home.  It's what I do.

For some reason, the fish aren't biting.  The local reports are that fishing is slow.  Some dudes we talked to out at the lake said fishing was slow.  At least it's not just me.

The World Series is going on right now.  I predicted the Astros in 5, but since the Nationals took the first game, I'm glad I didn't actually put any money on that prediction.  As of typing this post so its ready for you now, the second game was tied 2-2.  Maybe the Nationals just want it more.  Since the Yankees aren't in it, I don't really care who wins.  (Update: The Nats won game 2, too.  Whomped 'em.  So much for me predicting the future.  Of course, if I could do that, I'd be rich.)

Still no eagle sightings.

Okay, time to get your day started.  Go have some coffee or something.  I know I will.  And leave a little this n that on your way.  ;o)

Unearned Guilt? Kick it to the Curb.

Feeling guilty about something you didn't do, don't want to do, and never would do even if you had the chance?  Knock it off.

It seems like so many people are trying to make other people feel guilty for things they didn't do.  Slavery, for instance.  I have never personally owned slaves.  I don't want to own slaves.  And I would never own a slave even if it were suddenly legally and socially okay to do so.  Way back in the long ago, my ancestors owned slaves.  I would venture that anyone whose ancestors were in slave owning countries at the time when it was legal and acceptable can say the same thing.  Do I feel guilty about it?  Should I?

Oh, hell no.  I have no control over what other people did, especially when they lived a couple hundred years ago.

Just like I had no control over any ancestors who may have been Nazis.  (If you have German ancestors, chances are some of them were Nazis or sympathetic to the Nazis.)  Years ago, I dated a man whose family was nearly wiped out by the Nazis.  He is the only son of the only member of his family to make it through the Holocaust, the last of his line.  And, having grown up with tales of my Nazi ancestors, I felt really guilty about his family being destroyed.  I even apologized to him.  And he laughed at me and told me I wasn't responsible in any way for the things those people had done.  Looking back, that was my first step toward shaking off the unearned guilt.

That's what it's called, you know.  Unearned guilt.  When you feel guilty for something you didn't do.  It sucks and we as a species need to chuck it entirely.  You can't be responsible for something you didn't do, so you shouldn't feel guilty about it.

I mean, if you stood by and watched while something horrible happened, then I guess you could.  But that's probably pretty rare.  If I'd had a chance to stop the Nazis, I would've.  (Actual Nazis, not what the left calls Nazis these days - which are pretty much anyone that doesn't agree with them.)  If I'd had the chance to stop slavery, I would've but it was over long before I was born.  (Again, real slavery, not the so-called slavery of a sports figure making loads of cash but having to answer to his team's owner.)

I feel guilty sometimes that I don't do more to stand up against the evils of the world.  I would if I could, but I don't feel like I can.  Frankly, the crazies out there frighten me in staying silent most of the time.  And that's their ultimate goal.

Anyway, if you find yourself feeling guilty about something, ask yourself if you really earned the guilt.  If the answer is no, kick that ol' guilt to the curb.  Life's too short to carry all that crap.

Sunday Update - Week 42

Wait.  It's Sunday?  How did that happen?  Wasn't it just Sunday a couple days ago?  Gah.

I didn't write, but I did do a lot of thinking about writing.  It was mostly trying to decide if I'm going to do NaNo, and if I do do NaNo, what book I'm going to write, and then trying to get out of my own way so the path is open to write.  It's all very crazypants.

I did some marketing for the Dennis Haggarty sale.  Sadly, nothing seems to be working this time around.  Not much I can do about that. 

I did some reading this week.

Managed to get 6 out of 7 active days this week.  Three of those days were fishing, three days were walking and one walking day I also cleaned.  I haven't weighed myself lately.

As for fishing, it's nice to be out at the lake, but the fishing has been thoroughly unproductive.  I mean, I didn't get skunked, but I also didn't catch anything large enough to bring home.  Almost caught a couple big ones, but almost doesn't put fish in the freezer.  I did catch the cutest little baby bass.  Swim away little fishy and get big so I can catch you later.

I made pork chops and scalloped potatoes.  I breaded the pork chops and pan seared them, then put them on top of the homemade scalloped potato layers in a casserole dish, pop the lid on and let it all bake for an hour.  Yesterday, I fried up some of the leftover potatoes to have with fried eggs for breakfast.  Last week, I also made pizza subs.  I took uncut sub rolls, sliced them partway through so they'd have a good bottom for the toppings to rest upon.  Slathered the insides with pizza sauce, sprinkled mozzarella, lay down sliced ham, pepperoni, more cheese, mushrooms, olive slices, more cheese.  I propped the subs upright in loaf pans and baked them at 375F for 15 minutes.  The rolls were crusty, the cheese was gooey and the toppings were yummy. 

The deer are doing their usual fall deer things.  The bucks are coming in and sniffing around the does, the does are separating themselves from the fawns.  Love will soon be in the air.  The buck fawns are getting their buttons.  We have 3 buck fawns I know of.  Two of them are twins.  This is the first set of male twins I've seen since we moved here.  Usually we get one girl, one boy, or two girls.  This is the last set of twins born this year and the last fawns to lose their spots, so they're pretty small compared to the others.  Awww.

Eagle watch 2019 has begun.  No sign of them yet.

The temps jumped up slightly, so no time in the woods.  They're predicting a warmer winter this year, so I'm not sure how much woods time I'll get this year.  We'll see.  I'm chomping at the bit to get in there.  There's so much to do.

And that's it for me this week.  What's up with you?