Sunday Update - Week 19

Hello again.  19 weeks into this year and I''m already ready for a do-over.  I started the year with such hopes and plans.  Then the Kung Flu hi-yah'd all of everyone's plans.  Bleh.  Anyway...

I did some writing this week.  Not nearly as much as I would've liked, but at least it was something.  Part of the problem was I got through the ideas I had set aside and hit a spot where I have to figure out what happens next, and I have no clue what happens next.  I'm as surprised by my stories as my readers are.  ;o)

I lost the will to market somewhere along the way, so none of that got done.

I did some reading.  Not a lot of that either.  I did finish two books - one for the update and one yesterday.  I'm not sure what I'm reading next, but I did pick up some new ebooks.

In baking news, I made a coffee cake (recipe below).  Warning: It's addictive, so make it at your own risk.

On the activity front, I wasn't very active - unless you count eating as an activity.  Got some fishing in.  And some property maintenance stuff.  But only one walk.  The weight fluctuated up this week: 175.4. 

Fishing, while slightly active, was a bust.  I got skunked both times.

Weather...  Good gravy it's been raining like someone upended a bucket.  Enough already.  We got around two inches yesterday.  The yard looked like a waterfall.  Animals were gathering two-by-two.  Some old dude was gathering lumber for an ark.  (heh, not really.) 

Okay, that's it for me.  If there's anything else, I can't think of it this morning.  What happened with y'all last week?

Recipe:

To Die For Coffee Cake:

Cake:

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup butter (very cold and diced)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x13" can pan with non-stick spray. Make cake batter according to directions on box, but using the above measurements instead of theirs and adding cinnamon to the dry batter mix before adding the wet ingredients. Combine streusel ingredients using a pastry blender until they're crumbly. Spread half the cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle half the streusel mixture over the top. Dollop the remainder of the cake batter over the streusel, getting it about as even as you can. Sprinkle the remainder of the streusel over the batter, again getting it about as evenly distributed as you can. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 5/16/20

Hello there.  One would think I'd be reading more during this chaos crap, but I'm not.  Of course, I'm also trying to write a book right now.  Anyway, here goes this week's wrap-up...

I was down to my last couple unread ebooks, so I figured I'd better get cracking and see what blew my skirt up yesterday morning.  I found three new books through FB posts - a cozy mystery, a future thriller, and an urban fantasy.  I also found a new ebook in one of my morning newsletters - a suspense.  The thrift stores are still not open for business, but St. Vinny's has opened to receive donations, so I'm hoping the store won't be far behind.  I'm jones'n for some newly acquired, old and dusty paperbacks.

Books Read:

41) Tender Trap by Lisa Jackson (5/9/20) - Romance - 5 stars.  Underappreciated, but probably because it was published before Goodreads existed.  And I've read Lisa Jackson before, but her suspense, not her romance.  Picked up for 25c at one of the thrift stores.
Review: "Neat little romance with plenty of twists and a dash of mystery. I love finding these old romances at the thrift store, especially when they're by well-known authors in other genres. It's fun to see where they started. This didn't disappoint."

DNFs:

5/10/20 - Future Thriller - free.  The writing was very good and the first chapter had me interested.  Then the second chapter opened with a lead-n saying our country would never have been attacked by the Middle East and North Korea if it weren't for the President... as in it was perfectly clear which president, ya know.  Oh, puleeze.  Spare me.  Then, as I was flipping the book all the way to the end to make it show as 100% read on my Kindle, I caught part of the author's bio.  :gag:  If the hippy white boy was half the liberal he pretends to be, he ought to be ashamed of himself for writing even one chapter from the POV of an old black woman.  Jus' sayin'.

Currently reading...  A cute little paranormal mystery.  I was about halfway through before Live PD came on last night.

What have you been reading lately?

Thursday This n That + Chaos Diary Stuff

For some reason, I decided to test the done-ness of the French bread pizzas last night with my bare hands.  Which would've been fine if I hadn't accidentally brushed my finger against the pan, too.  Only one spot on one knuckle got burned and blistered a bit, but man, that one spot... Blerg.  I burn myself at least a couple times a year, so I should be used to it.  Does one ever get used to burns? 

I had some banking to do again yesterday.  As I was standing around chatting with my friends - 6 ft away from them (virtue signal lit) - one of them mentioned a little blue bird she'd been seeing.  My BFF and I said at almost the same time 'indigo bunting'.  See?  This is why she's my BFF.  We get each other.  Man, I missed her during the MO lockdown.

Making progress on Cinder Ugly.  Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.  I expect to reach 100 pages today.  Not hard since I finished yesterday on pg 99. 

I never dreamed I'd reach the age of 50 only to find myself monitoring the potty habits of a geriatric cat.  She's pooping along like a champion, btw.  Yay. 

Okay, I'm not fifty.  Yet.  Next week, I'll be fifty.  Umm, yah.

It was time to order more catfood again, so I trotted over to Amazon.  Yay all the types I wanted were in stock.  I also need new socks, so I thought I'd tack them onto the order.  Socks?  They're on back order.  Socks.  On back order.  Who would've thunk it?  For the record, I am rough on socks.  My feet chew through the heels at an alarming rate.  They didn't used to.  Older feet?  Cheaper socks?  My funny gait getting funnier?  :shrug:  I'll pick some up at the Dollar General next time I'm there.

Also for the record, I hate having to think that far ahead on buying catfood.  Just over two weeks worth left?  Time to order more, in case the shipment gets held up.  Blerg.

I have heard Amazon's not being as snappy with their shipments and deliveries as they were.  Stupid chaos.

What's on your this n that list today?  Got any chaos things to report? 

The Chaos Diaries - 5/13/20

It's a sad, strange world out there.  Every day some new crazypantsness pokes its head up from the sludge.  And I don't understand any of it.  I think if I tried to, my head would explode.

The new stimulus bill Nancy brought forth was over a thousand pages long.  ONE THOUSAND PAGES.  I think there ought to be a rule that you can't vote for it if you haven't read it and there will be a test.  That way we don't end up with Obamacare again.  Also, there ought to be a rule that bills may only include what's in the title of the bill.  Or something.  No more pork fat in these damn bills.  But that's just me.  Any rational citizen could take these bills and a red pen and cut all the crap out.  Let me at it.  My red pen would eat that shit up.

In other news, I saw a screen capture of a private message a friend of a friend received on FB.  It started out with something like 'I'll make this simple so a redneck like you can read it' and then proceeds to spew vile, profanity-laced crap in ALL CAPS.  It was a vicious and nasty screed sent because the receiver dared to want the country to open back up again.  Several of the commenters wanted the spewer's name uncovered so the could rain hell upon her.  My answer?  Report, Block, Delete.  Buh-bye.  Actually, I wouldn't mind having her name so I could visit her page simply to block her so I never have to run into her.  I've been doing that a lot lately.  I haven't blocked so many people since the 2016 election.  (Not reported.  I've never reported anyone.  If I had gotten that in a private message, though, you're damn sure I'd report it.)

Of course, with FB's new team of watchers, they'd probably give that bitch a prize and censure me.

Apparently, I should be ashamed of myself for not wearing a mask everywhere I go.  If you want to wear a mask, more power to you.  If you want to shame me for not wearing one, go pound sand up your ass.  Better yet, take your shaming into Flint or Detroit and try it there.  Wear a bulletproof full-body suit, though. 

I heard they caught the guys who shot that security guard in Flint.  They were in Texas.  They've also arrested the bitch who started it all and family members who were aiding and abetting the murderers.  There is justice here and there on occasion.  Well, we'll see how much time they actually get and then whether it counts as justice for a murdered father of eight.

Speaking of Michigan, I heard yesterday that, in Michigan, the news is saying Missouri is getting hit hard by the 'Rona.  Umm, no.  That is a big, bald-faced, fucking lie.  Of course, they don't want Michiganders to know the truth - we opened back up and we're fine - because then Nitwit would get more blowback than she's already getting. 

:deep breath: Ohhhhm  Ohhhhm.

It's all good here.

How are things where you are?

The Chaos Diaries - 5/12/20

So, I went out into the world yesterday.  I hit the bank first, then Dollar General, then the convenience store.

First up, the bank.  They're open again where customers can actually go inside.  Yay.  But they've got these plastic thing hanging from the ceiling in front of each teller and the center teller window is closed (there are only 3 anyway and the center one is never open.)  The plastic barriers are only right in front of the teller, so not sure how much good they're actually doing.  I even joked with them about 'there's no way germs will ever get around these' and they laughed.  I got to see my BFF.  She had a plastic thing, too, but it was propped up against the wall.  There's no way to hang it and even if she did, it wouldn't actually protect anything since it's the same size as the tellers' and she sits at a desk.  So I pulled a chair back so I would be sitting about 6 feet from her, maybe a little more... erring on the side of caution... and we had a nice chat.  No hugs.  :sadface: 

As we were chatting, this tall, thin, older dude comes in.  (Older... heh... probably 55-65.)  He goes to the farthest teller spot and proceeds to move the chair they had placed there to provide distance.  Then he stands on the side instead of in front of the plastic thing, so he's basically right there breathing all over little bitty Cathy.  My BFF shakes her head.  "It's doesn't matter what we do, people do what they want anyway."  Shortly thereafter, she had a couple people come in who were obviously waiting for her, so I moved the other chair back six feet.  I told her she needed to put some tape on the floor and tell people to get back behind the line.  Then we wished each other well and I toddled off to my next stop.

Ah, Dollar General.  They had pretty much what I needed.  Well, except for the ice cream, which was my real purpose for hitting the store.  The cashier told me the truck would be in on Wednesday.  At about 10am.  Like I can just jet around any old time.  Umm, right.  And you know 10am on Wednesday means the ice cream will be in the coolers sometime later that day.  It also means that by Thursday all the ice cream will be gone. 

Anyway, I did my shopping.  There were only a couple other people in the store.  One guy was parking his cart at the end of the aisle, walking up the aisle to browse for his items and then walking back to put them in his cart, thereby making himself an irritation because I have to stay 6 feet away from him but I never knew exactly where he would be.  Derp.  And his cart was always parked right where I needed to go.  :deepbreath:  I thought I lost him when he went to the back of the store, but then I needed tissues and sure enough his cart was parked right in front of the tissues.  I did not get tissues.  I didn't need them bad enough to wait for him to move. 

The only other people in the store were this skaggy young couple - Redneck Clem and Meth Martha.  Ah, livin' in the Ozarks.  They did a lot of standing and staring at the merchandise, making it difficult for me to get past them to get to the cash registers.  I did an end around and went into the cash register lane from the other end.  The cash register there also had a plastic thing.  Unfortunately, the gap between the plastic thing and the counter was not wide enough to slide my juice and water underneath without putting them on their sides and shoving.  And again, not doing much to stop germs from free-floating around it. 

Of course, Clem and Martha (not their real names) come up right behind me, not social distancing at all.  Hell, I would've wanted six feet between me and them even before the 'Rona.  I was busy putting my bags in the cart and before I had a chance to pay, they already had their crap on the counter.  The cashier tried to tell them to move, but they ignored her.  I paid her by handing her the money over the shopping bag corral. 

So, I put my stuff in my car and of course, Clem and Martha have parked right the hell next to me in their bondo-buggy sports car when we're the only cars in the parking lot, and I have to wait for them to leave before I get into my own car.  Who knows what kind of skeevy crap was floating in the air around them?  :shudder:  I could imagine the vermin leaping off them in droves like rats escaping a burning building.  Forget the 'Rona, I was thinking fleas, lice, scabies, plague...  :shudder:

Okay, so the shopping is done for the most part, but I am still sans ice cream.  The convenience store where I get gas usually has ice cream.  I head down the road.  And they do have ice cream.  The expensive kind, but hey, when a gal needs ice cream, she needs ice cream.  I got a tub of vanilla and a tub of chocolate.  I slapped them down on the counter, looked at the cashier - a lady I'm friendly with anyway - and say 'a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do', which sends her into gales of laughter. 

Home again, home again.  Jiggedy jig.  Hands sanitized to the max. 

Know what?  The expensive ice cream?  Not nearly as tasty as the cheap stuff I get at Wallyworld.  But a gal can't be picky right now. 

And that's it for me.  We're all still well here.  I'll be glad when I can scoot down to Wallyworld every week again.  The DG is okay, but it's not Wallyworld. 

How's things in your world?

The Chaos Diaries - 5/11/20

Okay, I'm tired of all this.  I mean, I've been tired of it for a while now, but my tired is reaching critical mass. 

No, saying I want the country to open back up for business does not mean I hate old people and babies.  If you have old people and babies in your life that you're worried about, by all mean, shelter in place.  Keep them safe.  But don't ask the government to force other people to drop everything to protect the people you love.  That's your job. 

In fact, if you're pushing for the country to stay closed, it makes a case that you are the one who doesn't care.  That you're willing to put your fears for safety above the well being of people who are losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet and fearing for their future and the futures of their children is sick and wrong.  See?  That fire burns both ways, doncha know.

I saw something on the 'net the other day, calling everyone who wants the country to open back up a bunch of whiny babies who can't handle being stuck at home for 2 months.  Yeah, that was my reaction, too.  =oO  It's not as simple as being stuck at home for 2 months.  There are a lot of people who don't have 2 months worth of income set aside in case of emergency.  There are a lot of people who don't have enough money set aside to pay bills at the end of this month, let alone enough to carry them for two.  They live paycheck to paycheck.  If this was back when I worked my last outside-the-house job, I'd be screwed.  I was barely stretching my income to meet each week's needs.  And I worked for a private school system that would most definitely be shut down.  Whether they would've continued to pay me - a non-essential secretary - through all this?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Most likely, Owl, Kira, and I would've been out on the street.


Even private school systems cannot afford to pay everyone indefinitely when there's no money coming in.  No business can.  And it follows that property management companies cannot continue to stay in business if people aren't paying the rents.   No company can. 

Sure, the $1200 helped.  But what happens when the $1200 runs out?  It was only supposed to keep us all afloat until the country reopened.  If the country doesn't reopen, what then?  Another $1200? And another?  From where?  The government doesn't actually have all that money lying around to throw at the populace.  It's like living off your credit cards.  Sooner or later, the credit limit is reached and the bill comes due.

And another thing...  I'm sick of the commercials with the supposedly soothing music saying we're all in this together.  And they're everywhere - even the site where I go to play mahjong has a hashtag about it.  Umm, no.  Sorry.  We're all facing the chaos, true, but I doubt seriously that the people who make those commercials are in the same boat as the people watching them.  They're on yachts when many people are in leaky canoes, trying to bail with sieves.  Of course, it's heartening to see I'm not the only one who's sick of the commercials.  I've seen a couple people in the past day or so say the same thing.  More eloquently or with more panache than I.

I mean, I get the sentiment.  Really I do.  But trying to make us all feel like we're one big lump of person instead of individuals smells of communism to me.  So, yeah, I'm railing against it.

I'm planning on going out into the world today.  I need ice cream.  Oh, yeah, and apple juice.  But mostly ice cream.  If they have any left when I get to the store.  

How are things in your world?

Sunday Update - Week 18

Sorry I'm late.  I forgot to write this and schedule it.  Then I slept in unintentionally.  Now you're stuck with me first thing in my morning.  Blarg.  (Which is monster sized blerg.)

After I got Ugly and the Beast out into the world, I did some post-publication stuff and then lost the gumption to do anything else.  Yesterday, I poked myself in the butt and got 2400 words out on Cinder Ugly.  More of that today definitely.

I did some minor marketing on FB.  Crickets.  Since publication, I've sold 1 whole book and 1 book through KU.  :shrug:  I'll keep working on CU and see what happens after the complete trilogy is published.  Couldn't hurt, eh?

I only read one book last week, but it was a good one.

In baking news, I did another batch of Incredible Chocolate Chunk Cookies - which chips instead of chunks this time.  And I made a chocolate oil cake yesterday with peanut butter frosting.  Yummers.  And I did a BBQ pork roast and turned it into pulled pork to rave reviews.

I think we figured out the slowness of our internet.  It wasn't the neighbors - all apologies to them for my wrongful accusations.  It was Owl, downloading games while she sleeps, which is while we're up and trying to do things online.  I asked her to keep her downloading to the weekends and our mornings have been fine until yesterday morning and this morning. 

My previously peeked columbine got big and bloomed.  It's red with a yellow center.  So pretty.  The white one that was doing fine last year died.  The black one is still going strong. 

Kira Kitty went to the vet, much to her dismay.  She's on the road to recovery.  Two days left of the antibiotics and she's breathing almost normally again.  And she pooped like a champion yesterday.  Yeah, it is strange that I get excited over whether a cat poops and how much she poops.  If you've ever had a geriatric cat, you understand.

Not much on the activity front last week.  I went fishing once and walked once.  Weight: 173.0.  Nine and a half pounds down for the year.  Yay.

The fishing was good.  I went out before dawn on Thursday and caught three undersized bass.  Almost caught a good-sized one, but it threw the lure.  C'est la vie.

Other than that, not much going on.  We're still all well, as are our families.

How's things with you?