Thursday This n That

 I'm having fun with my trail camera.  Look for pics on Saturday.

I'm writing again. No, I don't want to talk about it.  Just saying it here makes me nervous that I'll ruin it and make the inspiration run away and hide.  Shhh... be vewwy vewwy quiet, I'm hunting word-bits.

Two of my tomato plants have a tiny tomato each.  Since one of them is a grape tomato plant, I'm not hopeful I'll get anything close to sated off that one tomato.  Itty-bitty it is and itty-bitty it shall stay.  The other plant is my Early Girl, and that one should get sizable enough to slice and put on a sandwich at least.

There's every possibility that my greenhouse could double as a sauna in the off-months.  Man, it gets toasty warm and damp in there.  

Some days, I get really tired of seeing liars out there in the world.  It's even worse knowing that peoplle buy the shinola they're selling.  The IDF has trained dogs to rape innocent civilians??  Really.  And people believe that shit.  Derp.  Morons.

Oh, I forgot... you're not allowed to use the word rape online anymore.  If you do use it, they harsh your reach on social media.  Can't use kill or murder anymore either, and assassination is flat out.  Bah.  I'm a writer.  I'll use whatever words I see fit, and if that retards my reach, then so be it.  My reach wasn't that great to begin with.  Whatevs.

"Life is hard.  It's harder when you're stupid." - John Wayne  (It's attributed to him, so I'm going with it.)  I do love John Wayne.  

I watched a true-crime show out of Australia the other day and a serial killer, who was convicted of murdering three women only got 21-28 years.  The earliest date he could get out was 2017, which would make the latest date 2024.  So, unless he was killed in prison, he's out and on the streets of AU again.  Sorry, ladies.  I'd say arm yourself, but I don't think you can down there anymore.  Good luck and godspeed.

And on that note, I should probably get my buns in gear and do something constructive this morning.  Have a great day, wherever you are.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

Working in the woods yesterday, moving one pile of crap to another pile of crap, and I went to move a rather large hickory limb.  I stood it up and tipped it over to get it out of the way, but I neglected to account for the way the limb was weirdly twisted, so when it hit the ground, the thick end bounced up and hit me in the thigh.  Talk about ouch.  It's going to be a glorious bruise once it blooms.

You ever have a dream so happy that you were sad when you woke up?  

I'm driving myself crazy trying to think of a title for DN3.  I mean, I had settled on The Deepest Cut, which would be right for the MO of the killer, but all wrong for the timeframe (plus, it's been done to death).  Maybe that's why every other title sounds lame by comparison.  I need to get over it.  I'm laying in bed running the Title HamsterWheel and not getting any sleep.  I thought I had a good title - Green-Eyed Murder - but the next morning, it was lame.  Then I came up with a couple last night which I got out of bed to write down, but they seem lame this morning.  The best one out of that lot is JUSTICE: PAST DUE - I think the colon helps.  :shrug:  (And a big hug to Silver, who sent me a list of suggestions.)  Oh, well.  I'm in the between place right now, so I have time to ponder it.  I'll start editing probably this weekend.  We'll see.

I had a neat idea for a SF short story.  Whether I write it... eh.  

I think I need to bake a cake.  I've been jones'n for baked goods lately.  I really don't need the calories or the carbs, but mmmm.... cake.

I also want pizza.  I made a passable substitute for lunch yesterday, using leftover spaghetti sauce, rolls, and mozzarella.  Still, it wasn't enough to get rid of my craving.  I'm going to have to bite the bullet and make real pizza soon.

The bird of the day is a Great Blue Heron.  Love those birds, but they do make the most unholy of noises.

The other day, I found a neat new-to-me show called Exhibit A with Graham Green.  It's a half-hour show where they go over a true crime, present the facts, and give you the solution.  I like that I don't really have to think too much about it.  Wham, bam, thank you forensics.  I am all about the crime sometimes.

I'm almost out of ice cream, which is a crime in itself.  Yay for Dollar General being like 3 miles from the house now.

Well, that's it from me.  What's on your list today?

Thursday This n That

If you're not following Wild Heart Ranch in Oklahoma, you're missing out on some really great photographs of awesome animals and some wonderful positive stories.  Right now, they're sharing about this little coyote that came in with mange.  She was a wreck - hairless and dying.  Now, the mange treatment has worked, her fur is growing back, and she's working toward re-release into the wild.  She's strikingly beautiful.

We often hear coyotes here.  Sometimes we see them.  I think they're cool.  Yeah, I know they can be destructive and harm livestock, and I know sometimes they have to be destroyed.  I'm okay with that.  But if they aren't doing any harm to people or property, then leave them alone.  They're just out there doing their jobs and living their lives.  Same goes for armadillos. Or really any other critter.  And that goes for people, too.

I watch a lot of crime stuff -- fictional and non.  Don't get me started.  

I've been baking a lot lately.  I've also been eating a lot.  I really need to up my activity level or I'm going to have to roll myself down the street.  Or I could just eat less, I guess.  Nah.

Yesterday, I got a wild hair and moved a couple of my bookshelves.  Here in the office, I have three bookshelves along the west wall - short, medium, and tall.  They were arranged in that order.  Unfortunately, the cats could jump from a chair onto the short one and then they had a straight shot to the top.  I didn't have a problem with this until Sawyer decided if he got on the tall one, he could lean over and bat at my clock.  I moved the chair, which made it so the boyz couldn't get up there.  Or so I thought.  I walked into the office the other day to find Finn at the top.  I stopped that with some boxes, but it wasn't a permanent fix.  I rearranged the shelves so they are medium, small, tall now.  And I put books on top of the small one, so it's less attractive as a landing space.  That should fix his little red wagon.  Cats... am I right?

I also replanted Cecil the Cedar yesterday.  Not in the ground.  Not yet.  He's just in a larger pot with better dirt.  I'm not ready for him to go in the ground.  I don't want the deer to eat him like they ate Elmer the Elm.  Poor Elmer.  =o(

And that's it.  Feel free to leave a comment.  I do read them all, even if I don't respond to them.

Thursday This n That

You ever see one of those math problems on FB where it's like this picture plus this picture equals this amount and you get several lines of that with different pictures and then you have to figure out the ultimate answer using pictures?  I'm usually okay at those, but I saw one this morning on a whole 'nother level and it hurt my brain.

I heard from my MIL yesterday.  The bank contacted her about the check that was stolen out of Owl's mailbox at Christmas.  Sounds like they've caught someone and are moving forward with prosecution.  Yay.  I took all the information and sent it to Owl, in case she doesn't already have it, and I'll give it to my mom this morning.  I hope they throw the book and her/him/them.  Stealing little old ladies' Christmas checks... how low can you go?

I took a new pic of The Boyz...

You can really see Sawyer's markings in this one.  They both have such interesting markings.  And even though they're both tabbies, Sawyer's tabby is more brown-gray and Finn's is more gray-gray.  Totally brothers from another mother.

We've seen at least two fawns now.  Yay.

I actually got some words written last week, but the next day, my hand hurt so bad that I'm shying away from writing.  I need to suck it up.  My hands will get over it if I make them get over it.  So there.  I'll get some writing done today, you can guaran-damn-tee it.

I also walked the loop yesterday for the first time in over a year.  It took me 28 minutes instead of the usual 25.  I expected it to take longer because I really was taking it slower.  It felt good to do it, but I am paying for it a little this morning.  Gah, atrophy sucks.

Okay, that's probably enough out of me this morning.  Have an awesome day wherever you are and feel free to leave some of your this-n-thats behind before you go.  =o)

Sunday Update - Week 30

Another week has passed and Sunday is here again.  

Unfortunately, these days I don't have anything interesting to talk about.  I work, I come home, I veg, I sleep... Lather, rinse repeat.  And since I can't really talk about the particulars of work, that cuts of 40 hrs worth of my awake time out of my Sunday Update.

I did manage to get some reading done.  I finished two books last week and DNF'd two.  I'm most of the way through another book right now and I'll finish it today.  

Baking happened.  Nothing exciting or even different.  I made zucchini bread last Sunday and granola bars yesterday.  

I also hit the Wallyworld yesterday.  I'm in charge of the pop machine at work now, and part of that is acquiring the cans to fill the machine.  So, before I did my own groceries, I did that.  168 cans worth.  What can I say, it's been a while since anyone did this and the machine was out of damn near everything.  My back seat is filled with pop.  Which meant I didn't have room for deer food.  Needless to say, I need to find a better way to do this.  Then I went back in and did my own shopping.  I was a naughty girl and bought stuff we didn't need.  Next month, I need to go back to my usual shopping strategies.  And of course, it was pouring rain, so between the two trips into and out of the store, and the loading of stuff into the car, plus the trips from the car to the house, I was soaked.  

After the rain stopped, Hubs and I went for a walk.  Our first real walk in weeks.  We did a little over a mile and man, can I tell that it's been a while since I walked.  I also took a short walk on my lunch half-hour one day this past week.  Still too hot for such activities.  I was a sweaty mess and I only walked for 8 minutes.  Additionally, on the activity side of things, I was moving boxes of stuff around at the office.  Weight: 175.4

In other news, my bank was robbed in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.  The gals who work there couldn't give me any details, because it's an ongoing investigation, but there were observations I could make on my own.  For instance, the two robbers knocked out the right side of the glass double doors to gain entry.  I'm not really sure what these bastards could've gotten away with - the vault, where my safety deposit box is, is well... a vault.  The bank does have a security system, which alerts the authorities and has cameras, so there's that.  Unfortunately, we are far enough out that the police did not arrive in time to catch the assholes.  

While I was discussing this bit of local news with the gal at the corner store, she told me there are also reports of a camouflage Chevy Blazer in the area making threats to set people's homes on fire and rob them when they escape the flames.  Nice.  I also heard about two other robberies in the area.  One of the people I was talking to said all this crime is because of, you know, drugs.  I think it's because people aren't being taught not to touch what doesn't belong to them, while being taught that they're entitled to shit, and there are no longer any real consequences for bad behavior.  And drugs.  But that's just me.

And now, on to the weather... It's been wet.  I can't complain, though, because we've been hoping for rain for so long that complaining would be hypocritical.  So, yay, rain.  

Nothing much else going on around here.  What's up in your world?

Thursday This n That

No, the Kansas City woman who was shot by police wasn't unarmed.  Check the bodycam footage.  It clearly shows the gun in her hand.  

No, seeing a bobcat in the daytime does not mean it's rabid.  Bobcats are not strictly nocturnal.   You can also see possums, raccoons, and foxes in the daytime without it meaning they're sick.

The number of rains we get in August doesn't equal the number of snows we get the following winter.  Neither does the number of cicadas equate to how harsh the winter is going to be.  Not sure about the woolly-bear stripes, but they're supposed to equate to length and harshness of winter.  We've been doing independent research on that one.  It's probably not true either.  

If a person is inclined to commit a crime with a gun, making that gun illegal isn't really going to be a stumbling block.  If a person is inclined to commit a crime, and there are no guns anywhere, they will still commit the crime.  The problem isn't the weapon, it's the philosophy and the culture that make committing crimes okay.  Taking guns away from law-abiding citizens because criminals use guns is stupid.

Socialism is a fancy word for enslaving everyone to the government.  Communism is a fancy word for enslaving everyone to everyone else (and also the government).  I don't want to be a slave to anyone and I don't want anyone to be a slave to me.  Got it?

Clay, the bald eagle rescued in OK with a damaged wing, is flying again.  He's so beautiful.  I'm not sure if they'll be able to release him even now, because I'm not sure if he can do sustained flight at altitude.  He may end up living out his life in an enclosure at some raptor rescue.  But at least he's not trapped on the ground anymore.

The secret to oak mite bites (at least for me):  If you have one, don't scratch it.  Wait until it itches so much you can't stand it anymore, then take your fingernail and gouge it out with one motion.  (Just enough to pop the blister... for godsakes, don't go crazy there... there doesn't need to be blood.)  Then soak it with rubbing alcohol and apply a Bandaid.  It should stop itching after that.  If it doesn't, repeat.  Yes, I have oak mite bites again, why do you ask?  

It seems like every time I meet someone with kids, at least one of them has ADHD.  Hell, they probably would've diagnosed me with it.  I was a hyper kid with focus issues.  Why?  I was bored, for one thing.  The other kids took longer to get the lesson than I did, so why they were still being taught something, I was already over it.  The other thing for me was sugar.  Mom took away most sugary things from me, just to save her sanity.  And when she saw I was bored, she gave me something to do.  Or made me go outside and play.  I wonder if it's the same for the kids today.  Just pondering.

A Prothonotary warbler couple has taken a liking to my little birdhouse.  Which is cool.  It's also made the front porch a hazard for other birds, because those PWs are extremely protective of their nests.  This does not bode well for the visitors to our suet and to our hummingbird feeder.  Getting dive-bombed by little yellow birds while you're trying to eat is probably not the most pleasant of experiences.  One poor baby wren decided it wanted to see what was in the birdhouse and P'Dubya (the male) took it down.  Oh, well.  If She'Dubya (the female) wants to raises babies there, I'll let her.  And then move the birdhouse after she's done with this brood, so our regular visitors don't continue to get harassed.

And that's more than enough out of me this morning.  What's on your radar today?

I Support the Police

I support the police.  It's a scary thing to say that in today's climate of rampant hate and unbridled ignorance.  Just hitting publish on this post could bring a shitstorm down upon my head.  Not from my friends, but from the scads of internet trolls with nothing better to do.  (Case in point, the young woman who is getting death threats because she makes teddy bears for the families of fallen officers.  Death threats because of teddy bears.  If that ain't nuts, I don't know what is.)  Lucky for us all, I moderate the comments so no one but me has to see it, if it occurs.

Anyway... here goes nuthin'.

I support the police.

I know the majority of law enforcement is made up of good people doing a job most of us would not be willing to do.  Day in and day out, they risk their lives to make our world a safer place.  And every day, they take a tremendous amount of shit for it.  Still, they do the job to the best of their abilities.

Condemning the entire police population because a few bad ones wear the same uniform is like condemning all blacks because some criminals have the same skin color.  Or condemning all Jews.  Or condemning all gays.  All are painted with the same brush because of a few?  Not in my world.   

True, I haven't had a lot of contact with the police.  There's a reason for that.  I'm a law-abiding citizen.  I don't touch things that don't belong to me.  I don't trespass.  I don't get drunk or violent or loud.  I occasionally drive faster then the speed limit, and if I should get pulled over for it, I will take my medicine and pay the ticket without bitching because I know I'm breaking the law.  And we are, after all, a nation of laws.

In the times I have had interactions with law enforcement, both outside and inside of things I have done wrong, they've all been fairly positive.  My grandfather was the first Chief of Police in a Detroit suburb, so I've had a positive slant toward police my whole life.  I never met my grandfather, but from all accounts, he was a good man.  I spent a summer working with the City of Marquette police department, with their animal control division but still.  Those officers were a good group of people.  The officer who pulled me over for speeding when I was thinking too hard about my niece's car accident and whether she would survive long enough for me to see her, was super nice, even if she did give me a ticket.  The officers who handled the accident I caused and then had to transport me to where my wrecked car had been towed were super nice, even if I probably deserved a harsher interaction for being that damned stupid.

When Owl was young, every Sunday we would get dressed and go to breakfast at a Big Boy in Flint, MI.  The local police officers also ate breakfast there.  They would come and go as we were eating and would sometimes stop to chat with me and my daughter.  A super positive experience I hope she remembers to this day.

I had one less-than-positive experience with a deputy back in the summer of 1988.  Not super bad, just a Barney Fife type with short man syndrome who decided he was going to try and roust my large boyfriend.  Barney's partner brought him in line and my boyfriend walked away with a warning.  Well, we both got warnings, since we were doing private things while parked on the side of a public road.  =oO

Are there bad officers out there?  Sure.  Take any group of people and you'll have a small percentage of shitty individuals in there.  If the officers in Minneapolis did what they are accused of, they should pay for their actions.  And before you point to the video evidence and accuse me of being racist for even suggesting the possibility they might be innocent, the internet isn't a court of law - even if some are using it like one.  Every accused gets their day in an actual court, before a jury of their peers, who will decide their fate.  Not me.  Not you.  Not the media.  Twelve individuals tasked with doing their damnedest to get to the truth.  If the truth is that those men did what they are accused of, then they should face the penalties for their crimes to whatever extent the law allows.

I support the police as a whole.  I support humanity as a whole.  And humanity as a whole needs laws.  Oh, if we lived in a perfect world, people would do what was right without the law, but we don't live in a perfect world.  We live in this world - where there are murders and rapes and thefts and assaults and...  Yep, we need laws.  Which means we need people to enforce those laws.  We need the police.

So, yeah, I support the police.  As unpopular as it might be right now to make that sentiment public, I like to think I'm in the majority, despite what the news, entertainment, and academia would have you believe.  I don't want to think about living in a world where I am in the minority.  =o\

The Law is the Law

The law is the law for a reason.  Mostly, it's because, as a whole, people are stupid and can't reason their way out of a paper bag, so they expect the government to do their thinking for them and tell them what they should and shouldn't do.

"Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life." - Aristophanes.

But that assumes people are wise.  Mostly, they aren't.

Like there's no posted speed limit back in here.  The wise person knows enough to drive slow (25-30 max), but there are some numbnuts who think because there's no posted speed limit, it's fine to drive like a bat out of hell.  I had one gal who couldn't stand the fact that I was driving at a reasonable rate of speed pass me in here.  Then a couple days later, there's her husband riding my ass in an area where a curve was coming up and he couldn't pass.  I pulled over so he could joyfully get the hell away from me.  One of these days, one of them is going to hit a deer, I swear.  Or the neighbor's grandkids who like to ride their bikes in the road.

Going back to my point about 'people', lest you think I'm talking about you, another great quote is...

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - Agent K, Men in Black

Individuals have a great capacity to be smart.  In a group, people tend to be stupid herd animals.  And they generally don't pay a whole lot of attention to who's doing the herding.

So we have laws.  Most of them are pretty good laws that keep people from doing stupid things and that punish the super stupid who weren't smart enough to obey the law and avoid punishment.  Occasionally there's a stupid law - like the one where it's illegal in some places to marry a donkey, as if anyone would want to marry a donkey -  and we ignore it or the people work to get it changed.  That's the way it's supposed to go.

Except there seems to be a culture rising that thinks laws are made to be broken, that laws don't apply to them, and that there shouldn't be any consequences to breaking the laws.  Depending on who you are, of course.

There's a reason Justice wears a blindfold.  It's not supposed to matter who you are.  And she's carrying scales because justice should be doled out equally among us all.  What goes for a plumber goes for a celebrity or a politician or an athlete.  Right?  Pretty simple stuff.  Not sure why there is a certain segment who don't understand this.

Facts and evidence are supposed to be the rule.  Hearsay?  Nope.  Feelings?  Nope.  Conjecture?  Not really.  Just the facts, dude.  Without facts and evidence, anyone can say anything and you'd find your ass in jail.  "I heard from Joe who heard from Mary that she felt this person killed Fred.  And since Mary is certain, it must be true."  Which, in a bizarro world, would then land that person's ass in jail.  Without facts and evidence, lies rule the day.  And your freedom hangs out there in the breeze generates by other people's whims.

Is that really the kind of world people want to live in?  Probably not, but they aren't thinking about it that way.  Because, you know, people are stupid.  Be a person, not a people.

Just something to think about.

Jury Duty

So, I am supposed to have jury duty next week.  I'm all for jury duty, even if this time isn't the optimum time for me to be pressed into service.  I guess having it now is better than getting assigned to a case in the winter.  The drive up there is all hills and curves, and one I don't look forward to on a nice day.  I sure as hell don't want to drive it in snowy conditions.  Or during the rut.  Watching out for deer in that road is necessary on the best of days.  I'm not interested in dying to do my duty.

I'm not sure how they chose me.  They wouldn't pick me if they knew me.  And I did put 'crime novelist' as my occupation, which should've been a red flag to the defense.  Or to the prosecutor, depending on how they think I'd lean.  Random lottery is my guess. 

I don't expect to make it through the jury selection process.  I'll be watching everything both sides do like a hawk - and making mental notes for fiction research.  I'm pro capital punishment.  I'm anti-parole.  Do the crime, do the time.  But if you're going to put someone away, make sure you have the evidence to back it up.  I'll do my damnedest to not let anything slip by me.

Personally, I'm really judgemental about crime and criminals.  Oh, I'll take a look at all the evidence before I make a determination.  But once I've made my mind up about something, I don't change it.  (Unless, of course, further evidence proves otherwise.  I'm judgemental, not stupid.)

I'm also hard on the law and the judiciary system.  They have a job to do and I expect them to do it.  No excuses.  No cutting corners.  No slick moves. 

I think people get away with too damn much.

Which reminds me of something I hope to bring up to someone up there - the overwhelming number of criminals in this county who get 'suspended sentences'.   And often go on to repeat the crime.  Derp.  I'd really like someone up there to explain that to me. 

I'd also like to meet the Sheriff and thank him for his service.  And maybe the detective who recently moved into my neighborhood.  That'd be cool.  From what I've heard, she's nice, but I really don't get a chance to meet neighbors unless we run into each other while I'm walking. 

I really do appreciate law enforcement.  They do a tough and thankless job.  And it's got to be hard for them to do their jobs while watching criminals get off with a tap on the wrist. 

One thing I found interesting on the jury notification form thingie.  There's a section about attire and it says something about dressing 'suitable to the occasion'.  It's not a freakin' cocktail party.  And what exactly would be suitable to the occasion?  Stripes?  Orange?  A grim reaper costume for murder cases? Hubs and I have been joking about it.  A MAGA hat?  Something from the Warrior12 line? 

Anyway, it does give some examples of appropriate attire - like no shorts or tank tops (which pretty much takes away my standard summer wear) - but it doesn't mention sweat pants.  I'm sorely tempted to show up in my nicest pair of sweats.  I think I'll be a good girl, though, and wear a pair of khakis. 

And maybe an orange shirt.  ;o)

Have you ever done jury duty?  What did you wear? 

Thursday This n That

Life with an old cat means celebrating when she poops*. 

I'll be 49 on Saturday.  Who woulda thunk I'd make it to 49?  I sure as hell didn't when I was younger.  Hell, I didn't think I'd make 30.  So, woohoo.  No prezzies this year.  I'm going to try something different as a birfday dessert - brownies with peanut butter and chocolate frosting.

I just finished a total genre-bending book.  A Western set on another planet with demon hunters.  I think before I read it, I was calling it a SF with a F twist, but it really read more like a Western than anything else, so I'm running with that as the main genre.  Good stuff with a less than satisfying end. 

Lately, I've been playing this online word game.  It's totally addictive.  I've made it as far as level 31.  I could probably go farther, but it resets every time I shut it down, so I have to start over from the beginning.  :shrug:

Yesterday, I was talking with a gal from the next neighborhood over and she told me she'd killed a packrat.  Here's hoping it was our packrat.  Probably wasn't.  Still, ours hasn't returned since I put the peppermint oil down.  :fingers crossed:

Speaking of local goings-on, some numbnuts broke into my favorite convenience store.  Backed his pickup truck up and pulled the front doors right the hell off so he could steal the ATM machine.  They finally caught him, but sheesh.  Some people.  They have new doors, but the building was damaged in such a way, they could probably easy be pulled off, too.  I hope they string the guy up by his thumbs.

Did you see the news story about the old guy who told a woman on a bus that she ought to try to be nicer and so she pushed him off the bus?  He died and she's charged with murder of an elderly person.  Maybe she should've taken his advice.  I'm thinking there's a lot of people who should take his advice, eh?

And on that note, I'm out of here.  Have a great day, folks, and try to avoid them what can't be nice. 

*Which she does almost every day.  It's the days she doesn't that worry us.  And then I break out the vegetable oil (a tablespoon worth in her wet food) and stand by the litterbox rooting for her.  But she turned 16 last week, so it's kind of expected.  I don't even want to think about what I'll be like when I'm 80.

Thursday This n That

Clock changing time again this Sunday.  Yeah, it's stupid.  Yeah, it's pointless.  But hey, it's our governmental geniuses at work.  The smart President hoping for re-election would win in a landslide if he used one of his executive orders to do away with the time changing travesty once and for all.

I watch so many real life cop shows.  I can automatically tell when people on those are lying or fake crying or faking injuries.  Or faking that they can't understand English.  It's sad how many people out there are bald-faced liars.  Does give me a lot of fodder for writing, though.

Speaking of which, Natural Causes is on sale, in case you missed any of the many places I notified people about it.

I love how all the Chewy.com commercials say that shipping is free.  Sure, it's free.  If you spend more than like $50.  Do you know how much cat food I'd have to order to reach $50?  I guess I could order food and litter and maybe find some other stuff, but I'd be like a freakin' prepper in here.  There's only so much space available for all that stuff.

I saw my best in-person fan the other day.  She's the cashier at my feed store. It had been long enough that we were talking and joking and laughing for like ever when another customer got in line behind me and I hadn't even given her my feed order yet.  I offered to let him go in front of me, but he was cool.  So, I finally finished up and went out to let the guys load my order.  While I was waiting, the other customer came out to get his feed loaded.  He looks at me and says "She told me you were an author."  I love her so much for doing that.  So, I talked with him a bit and then gave him one of my marketing materials - the postcard with my first 12 books.  Turns out his wife has always wanted to write a book but has never had the time.  I hope she gives it a try and finds she really does have the time to reach her dream.

I really need some new marketing materials, but I am so full-up with older stuff, I'm running out of space to put everything.  And I can't bear to throw anything out, so don't even suggest that.

What's on your this n that list today?

Thursday This n That

I have three pairs of glasses now, but I'm still stuck in the mindset of only having one, so I keep thinking I'm going to have to get up and walk into the living room to get my glasses, even though there's a pair right here on my desk.  Derp.

I wrote an entire long paragraph on Monday night with no punctuation other than at the end.  My editor is going to go into spasms but I was trying to show the character was in hysterics.  The MC slaps her to make it stop.

There was something else here, but it was so long, I turned it into a post for next week.

I sometimes wonder what people would think if they ever read the sticky notes on my desk.  There's one there now that says 'bunnies killed cellphones--Landlines?'  I expect they'd lock me in a rubber room with an I-love-me jacket.

I've been calling straitjackets 'I-love-me' jackets for decades.  Think about it for a second.  Get it now?  Not sure where I heard it or if I came up with that one myself.  I so funny.

Today, we're having Thanksgiving dinner.  Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce.  Yum.  I felt like eating turkey and they had turkeys on sale.  It was only $2.50 more for me to buy a whole turkey than a pre-made package of turkey breast slices with gravy.  Lucky for me, Hubs is okay with making it. 

Some of the things I thought were hilarious when I was younger are not really making me laugh like they used to.  Laurel and Hardy?  Meh.  Abbott and Costello?  Meh.  I'm meh about the Marx Brothers, too, to a certain extent.  (Still love me some Harpo.)  I guess I've progressed beyond slapstick.  Which is kinda sad.  I do breakout laughing when I see a criminal get tased, though.  Especially when they stiffen up and fall over.  Or when they're being all Barney Badass and then end up shrieking like a little girl.  ROFL.  Kills me every time.

Nope, no plans on ever getting tased.  That shit looks like it hurts and as long as you do what the officers are asking you to do, you don't get tased.  I'm very into doing what I'm told when pain is on the line.  They tell you to put your hands in the air, you do it.  They tell you to get on the ground, you do it.  Don't run.  Don't reach for stuff.  Follow directions and no tasing necessary.  Funny how that works.  And if you think they're in the wrong, you still do what they ask and sort it out later - after you call a lawyer.  Better to spend a few hours sorting it out than face the pain of a taser.  Know what I mean?

And that's it for me.  What's it for you?

Thursday This n That

Mentally, I am a crispy critter right now.

The new keyboard that company sent me to replace the one where the letters rubbed off in a month?  It was worse.  The T key worked intermittently and the B key kept getting stuck.  And the letter were rubbing off!  I used it a whole week.  And I'm not even writing a book right now.  I unplugged it and threw it on the floor.  Then I went into my stash of old keyboards, found the Lenovo one I loved (that the letters have rubbed off of, too, but it took over a year) and I'm using that.  I bought some paint in the craft section of Wallyworld to touch up the letters on it.  Never again with VicTsing or whatever the hell that thing was.  I told Hubs to do with it what he would - stomp on it, hit it with a hammer...He took it to the garage.  Later, I went out there and stomped on it.  It's sitting out with this morning's trash.

Speaking of the craft section at Wallyworld.  The gals who work in there are awesome.  I am not a crafting type person, but every time I step in there, they're so helpful and cheerful.  I told her I was looking for craft paint and she led me to a whole section of the stuff, then she helped me pick out which one would be best on the hardened plastic of a keyboard.  Especially helpful since I didn't have my glasses to read the darn bottles.  Then she said, 'if it doesn't work, try putting clear nail polish over the paint'.  Gah, I wish I'd thought of that years ago.

Later in the bread aisle, I struck up a conversation with a gal who might've been 10-15 years older than me.  (We were both looking for cocoa - which they'd moved to across from the bread.)  She was a hoot.  We both were cracking it up.  Then for some reason we got serious and she said something about it being a shame she can't be anywhere and not be afraid of people, and how she feels silly but she worries about people breaking into her car or following her home.  I showed her the pepper spray I carry in my pocket at all times.  It is a shame, but it isn't silly.  This is the world we live in now.  Where even in the back of nowhere you have to watch your ass. 

I spent some time clearing trails in the woods yesterday.  It's a lot of work, but it's good for me and it makes nice places to walk without fear of stepping in a hole or on a snake.

It's supposed to rain from now through Saturday.  Bad for being outside, but great for keeping my butt in this chair.  4 days. 

Speaking of which, I should probably wrap this up and get my buns in gear.  Drop your this n this or any comments.  I'll be around here somewhere.

Thursday This n That

It's February.  I suppose I ought to change my calendar.

I've had the same song stuck in my head for DAYS, and it's making me crazypants.  I won't mention the title here because I don't want to see this and get it started again.  You know, in the off chance I ever get it stopped.  I keep trying to replace it with other songs and that works for a while.  Then next thing I know, it's there again.  Arrgghh.

What's up pussycat? Meow, meow, meow.

Okay, now that that's over for a while, maybe I can think about other stuff.  Let's see...

Hubs and I were watching See No Evil last night when the lead-in showed a rabbit underneath a car and we were both like 'Bunny!'  Then we started joking about how traumatic it must've been for the rabbit and now it's got to be in the Rabbit Protection Program.  We were cracking each other up.  By the way, the bunny never figured into the murder.  Talk about 'gun on the mantel'.  ;o)

By the way, we each shout out animal names as we see them.  So, if one of us is by a window and sees a rabbit, the viewer will shout 'Bunny'.  Most often, though, it's 'Deer'.  Yesterday, we both happened to look out the front window as a big red-shouldered hawk was flying through and we both yelled 'Hawk' at the same time.  Yep, we're weird.

I bought a couple pairs of thermal socks last year.  Women's thermal socks.  They never fit right and they're actually kind of nubby, so they hurt to walk on.  But I paid good money for them and I am going to wear them, goddamnit.  (No, I couldn't take them back.  I washed them before I discovered they were foot torture devices.)  Except this morning the pair was hurting so bad while I was standing in the kitchen, I took them off and threw them away, crying "Socks shouldn't hurt!  Why am I wearing socks that hurt me?!"  The other pair will get thrown out the next time I'm by my sock drawer.  I now have soft, fluffy thermal socks on.  Men's thermal socks because, even though they're too big, they don't hurt me.

I have to wear thermal socks pretty much all winter because I get really cold feet.  Sometimes it's hard to cram on shoes because my socks are so fat.  But they're warm, so I live with it.  If I had all the money in the world, I'd have 'winter shoes' a half size larger than 'rest of the year shoes', just for the socks. 

Okay, I think that's quite enough out of me.  What's on your radar today?

I Trust My Instincts.

I have this spot I like to fish.  It's where I caught that walleye and that keeper bass.  It's kind of out of the way.  Secluded.  The closest homes are across the river.  No one comes down there unless they are specifically there for fishing or putting their boats in to fish elsewhere.

Or to make trouble.

Hubs and I were there the other day when we heard what I thought was someone stuck trying to put their boat in.  Turns out it was someone trying to get their truck back where they really shouldn't be parking.  The hooting and the hollering was enough to encourage us to find another spot to fish. 

They were still there the next time I went.  They had managed to get their truck backed in under the trees where it wasn't very visible - unless you already knew where they went in.  They were still hooting and hollering like a bunch of drunks and it was early in the morning.  But there were cars in the parking area, and I was far enough away to not be really worried.  One by one, the other cars left as their owners brought their boats in for the morning.  And I was alone with the extras from Deliverance*.  I left.  I didn't think it was wise to be stick around near anyone that intent on hiding their vehicle.

Now, it's entirely possible that those people were fine.  They might not have bothered me.  Hell, they probably didn't even know I was there, so they weren't going to mess with me.  I didn't want to take that chance.  I'm a 46-yr old woman who can't run, out in a place where, if someone did hear me scream, people wouldn't reach me in time to stop whatever was making me scream. 

It's also entirely possible that, because of the books I write and the books I read and the shows I watch, that I am overly sensitive to such events.  :shrug:  Better overly sensitive than a statistic or a name on a flyer.  Know what I mean?

I clutch my purse tighter in some situations.  I cross the street to avoid potential problems.  I know basic self-defense.  I have a plan if I can't avoid nasty events.   And I know what items on or around my person can be used as weapons at all times. 

I trust my instincts.  They've kept me alive this long.  I've never been robbed, assaulted, raped, abducted, or murdered.  :knock wood:  Even living in Flint for a period of time.  Even driving the streets of Detroit for a period of time.  Stay alert.  Stay vigilant.  Keep your eyes and your ears open all the time.  It cuts the likelihood of bad things down considerably.  Yeah, bad stuff could still happen to me and you can't protect against everything, but I do my best. 

This is the world we live in.  I keep reading snippets of news here and there that crime is actually down.  Personally, I don't see it.  The news is filled with crimes happening to regular people on a daily basis.  Here in the back of beyond and in the nearby cities and across the nation/world.  Hell, last year, within a week of each other, two people were murdered in two of the little towns out here.  The local papers have reports every week of robberies and assaults, and the occasional rape.  Out here. 

Statistics can be manipulated.  So can the news, but I'll trust the things I see on the news before I trust the statistics that say crime is down.  And I'll keep trusting my instincts.

How's the crime where you live?  Do you have a plan?

*This is based on the look of their truck and the sounds they were making.  I never actually saw the people.