Beating My Own Drum

This morning, I'm going to beat my own drum.  I worked hard for it, so no apologies.  

I spent the last several days helping sort their garage into keep and throw.  The 'throw' stuff ended up in a trailer to be taken to the solid waste transfer facility (who will then take it to the dump).  Yesterday was the day it went.  The trash in the trailer weighed in at 2400 pounds.  And most of that I had a hand in.  Over a ton worth of junk, thrown in over the course of two days and the third morning wherein we dragged an old nasty piece of carpet over the whole thing so nothing would fly out during transport.  

Here it is before the carpet...

I forgot to take a pic after the carpet went on.  But trust me when I say it added at least another hundred pounds or so.

I am a goddess.  

A tired and sore goddess, to be sure, but still a goddess.  

Today, a covered trailer is being delivered and we'll start moving the 'keep' stuff into that for storage until they're ready to move it to their new home.  

Here's the deck we stained last weekend:

It's bigger than it looks from this angle.  I'd say about 350 sq ft worth, but I'm bad at eyeballing distances.

I didn't take a pic of the other deck we stained the weekend before, but here's the garage we painted the weekend before that:

Also bigger than it looks from this angle.  It's a deep 1.5 car garage and it was mostly dark brown, so two coats on that puppy.

None of the above includes the packing we've done inside.  Or the two trips we've already made to the thrift store with a packed-full, four door mid-sized sedan.  (All kudos to the gals at St. Vinny's who helped us unload.)

Needless to say, Hubs and I have both been deities up to this point.  Especially considering our combined ages equal 117.  Add in my BFF and her husband and the total age is 240.  Old folks can still kick ass.  

I've been at this an average of 4 days a week for the past 4 weeks.  It feels good to actually be physically productive for a change.  Yes, even as tired and sore as I am.  Bruised but unbroken.  Go me.

Like I said, today's another day chockfull of work.  Tomorrow might be a day off.  I think I might need one.  LOL

What's up in your world?  Any drum beating of your own you'd like to do?

CHILL

 After I got home yesterday, I saw a post in a reader/author group I follow that went something like this: "I ordered an author copy of my paperback from Amazon on the 1st.  It didn't ship until the 13th and it still isn't here yet.  It's only got to go from IL to CA.  Should I demand a refund?"  

I'd like to go over this.  First off, author copies take time to print.  And how fast yours gets printed depends on how many other books are in the queue ahead of yours.  It's not magic.  You don't snap your fingers and poof there it is.  I think they say it normally takes 10 days to print a book.  

Second, Amazon ships paperbacks via the USPS First Class Mail.  Nowhere in the normal scheme of things does first class mail get from IL to CA in 3 days.  Never has.  Doubt it ever will.  It takes 4 days to get from MO to MI, for petesakes. On a good week.

Thirdly, notice the words normal and normally in there.  This is totally not normal as we once knew it.  Normal things... everyday things... take longer now.  Unless whatever you want is in electronic form, it's going to take a while.  

My advice?  Chill out.  Seriously.  CHILL.  The world would be a better place if everyone just chilled out.

No, I did not say that to the author in question.  I blocked her stupid, entitled ass so I never have to see her whiny shit again.  Yeah, I need to chill a little myself.  I have no patience for stupidity, entitlement, or whining.  I used to have a little, but as I've aged, the little patience died a horrible, violent death.

Your book will get there, lady.  No need to go all litigious on Amazon.  Or the postal service.  Yet.  I mean, if two weeks go by and your book still isn't there, by all means, demand your money back.  Until then, get into the lotus position (figuratively, of not literally) and chant calming things at yourself.

And yes, I do understand that you can't set the book for sale until you approve it and you can't approve it until you receive it.  You want it and you want it now so you can start maybe seeing money from it.  (That will take two months to actually reach your account, by the way, so more waiting and chilling.)  It's aggravating and it's frustrating, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

This whole thing is not for the impatient.  On the bright side, at least this isn't traditional publishing which can take a whole lot longer.  

Thursday This n That

I probably shouldn't be allowed on FB at 2 o'clock in the morning,  My urge to argue with people overrides my need to ignore them.  I probably shouldn't play poker either.  LOL

I spent the previous two days shifting around heavy stuff.  Boxes of books?  No sweat.  I can throw those around like they're pillows.  (Okay, not really. but they're not too big a deal.)  We took a carload of stuff to St. Vinny's yesterday.  I would've sworn that box of encyclopedias wasn't half as heavy when I put it into the trunk on Wednesday as it was when I took it out of the trunk on Thursday.  Blerg.

Thank you, St. Vinny's for accepting that set of encyclopedias.  I wonder if anyone actually uses those anymore.  If they'd been an older vintage I might've taken them myself, but 1985 wasn't old enough to warrant bringing them home.  I have a 1957 set I won custody of when my parents moved out of my childhood home.  

If you don't know what St. Vinny's is, it's St Vincent de Paul thrift store.  They were awesome for me when I was in college and needed things for my apartment.  I give to them here when I can and I love shopping there.  Or at least I did before the 'rona hit.  Now that I see the workers aren't wearing masks anymore maybe I'll go back to shopping there, too.  So many awesome books.  

One of the worst things about getting older is eating.  I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever and wherever, without worrying how it would affect my digestive system (or my general poundage).  I ate at a freakin' restaurant yesterday and my stomach is staging a revolt.  Which is why I got up at 2am.  I spent hours throwing around boxes and lumber and whatnot.  I was feeling pretty awesome about it all.  Look at me look at me, I'm young and vibrant!  Then I get sucker punched by damn restaurant food and I'm feeling every bit of those 51 years.  Not sure if it was the super yummy burger with its awesome bun.  Or the cheesy spinach and artichoke dip.  Or the yummy chips.  Blerg.  If you asked me earlier, I would've said it was all worth it.  Now?  Not so much.  So, here I sit, drinking baking soda water and hoping to maybe go back to bed and catch another couple hours.  

By the way, the food was so good, after lunch, I ordered takeout from there for dinner.  A grilled chicken sandwich for me and a bacon burger for Hubs.  So yummy.  Screw you, stomach.

Also, by the way, we tried a new restaurant.  (Well, not new since the waitress told us they'd been there 6 years, but neither of us had ever noticed it before, so new to us.)  One thing I learned when I was a road warrior was to eat at places where worker dudes eat.  If there are worker dudes having lunch there, it's good food.  Those dudes know.  They don't have time or patience to eat crappy food on their lunch breaks.  This place had lots of worker dudes.  Some people think 'eat where the locals eat', but that's not always the case.  You have no idea what the locals are used to.  Worker dudes?  They know.

Worker dudes = UPS drivers, construction guys, salesmen, etc.  They travel around enough to know where to eat and where not to eat.  When I was on the road, I could've pointed out both in my sales territory.  Trust me, when you're in the middle of a job and miles from home, you do not want to eat at a bad restaurant.  And all apologies to that poor gas station on Woodward Avenue that I had to stop at after eating in a bad restaurant back in 1999.  

Okay, I should probably try going back to bed now.  See y'all later.

Random Rantings Before It's Back to Work Time

Okay, so while I'm away from the computer the world continues to spin itself into a miasma of crap.  I keep hoping for a bright piece of news, but no such luck.  

Newsom is still governor, thus proving either that the majority of people in CA are batshit crazy or elections are no longer free.  Or both.  Could be a tremendous case of Stockholm Syndrome on a statewide scale.  

I don't get it, but I am damn glad I don't live there.  And all hugs and stuff to my remaining CA friends who, I assume, are unable to flee for reasons of their own.

OCrazio wore a dress that said 'Tax the rich' to a gala event where the ticket cost was $30K each.  And the rich people she was hobnobbing with loved her for it.  They must've or they would've kicked her out.  Well, they either love her or hate themselves so much they think she's right.  Someone on FB intimated that OCrazio must have balls the size of NY to wear a dress like that to an event filled with rich people.  I don't think it's balls.  I like she knows full well she won't be attacked or even chastised for promoting the idea.  Socialism stands on the bodies of those they've trained to hate themselves.  

Norm MacDonald died.  :shrug:  I never thought he was that funny.  

I read something the other day... Biden (or his handlers) said food prices are definitely not up.  Well, not up if you don't count MEAT... And produce is at the same price it was at the end of last year.  You know, year end prices are the highest prices of any year because it's WINTER and plants are kind of on vacation during winter.  We haven't even reached the end of the growing season when produce is plentiful and prices should be at their lowest point of the year.  I shudder to think of what they'll be at the end of this year.   Those of us who actually buy groceries KNOW food prices are higher.  I paid over $2 for a pint of strawberries when they're usually well under $2 at this time of year.  Go sell your Shinola somewhere else Biden-ites. 

Gas here is $2.79.  Which I understand is still lower than most other parts of the country, but that's because MO doesn't tax the hell out of everything.  January 5th, gas was $1.78.  January 7th, it spiked up to $2.58.  But they want us to believe the rising price of gas isn't the fault of our benevolent overlords.  Feh.

If you read my post yesterday, you already heard about the dearth of tires around here.  WTF is up with that?  I bet you can guess my theory as to why.

Bette Midler is calling for women to stop having sex with men until the TX abortion thing is overturned.  I saw a photo of some morbidly obese woman holding a sign saying that she is refusing sex for the same reason.  I'm not sure what men are clamoring to have sex with these types of women, but whatever.  As others have pointed out, abstinence is the best form of birth control and the easiest way to cut down on the number of unnecessary pregnancies anyway.  So if the idea is fewer abortions, then the liberals are doing their job for them.  And what happened to the idea of Safe Sex?  Unwanted pregnancy is just one of the many reasons to make sure the gift is wrapped before you accept it.  

I'm pro 'mind your own damn business', by the way.  I'm also pro-'don't be stupid'.  If you're having sex with random, anonymous partners and not using a condom, that's just stupid.  AIDS is still a thing, isn't it?  Herpes, the clap, etc.?  Don't be stupid and you don't have to worry about any of that.  If you're not being stupid and an OOPS happens (or it's due to rape), get it taken care of immediately and you don't have to worry about the whole '6 weeks' thing.  (Yes, there are other extenuating and rare cases, but I'm not going to detail them all here or you'd still be reading this post next week.)

For me, I'm here slumping boxes and getting grubby dirty every day.  I have an incredibly tan, I'm losing poundage, and the muscles and stamina are improving every day.  Life is good.  And as long as people leave me the hell alone, it will continue to be good.

Nuff said.  Peace out.

Why I Forgot to Post Yesterday

Wow, I totally brainfarted out and missed yesterday entirely.  This is Tuesday, right?  Yep, my computer says it's Tuesday.  

I did remember it was Monday at some point yesterday because I called the office.  After that, yesterday was a blur.  I started out my blurry portion of the day by calling my usual tire shop to find out if they could get me in for replacement of my two front tires.  The only tires they had in my size were made by some company I'd never heard of that we discovered were located in China.  I called the other place - which is right across the street from the first place.  They had no tires in my size but they could order some and have them in later in the week.  And I'm all like 'I only have one day to get this done', thanked him, and hung up nicely.

So I called Wallyworld.  They only had two tires left in my size.  (It's a popular freakin' size, for pitysakes, so WTF?)  And they were a brand I have used before, albeit not the brand Hubs was hoping for.  I told the Wallyworld dude to hold on to them for me and I'd be there in 30 minutes.  (It was actually 45 because I forgot I needed to get dressed, too.)  Since I was already going to be there, getting tires put on the car, I told him I needed an oil change, too.  Saved myself another stop, so yay.

After I get there, I tell the guy again that I need two front tires.  He informs me that it's Wallyworld policy to never put new tires on the front.  The newest tires should be on the back.  Which is anti-intuitive considering my car is front wheel drive, and I told him so, but if I wanted these two on the front, I needed to sign a disclaimer holding W blameless.  Whatever.  Fine.  Put the new ones on the back and rotate the back to the front.  "That'll be $5 extra."  Fine.  Whatever.  And off I go to do some shopping while I wait.

After getting all my non-perishable goods... because I so did not need my ice cream melting while I waited for my car... I went back to the waiting area to sit and eat the breakfast sandwich I just bought.  I walk in and some other dude goes 'do you own the Cavalier?' and I'm all like 'yeah'.  Well, he informed me that because my back tires were old, they couldn't put them in the front because it's against W policy.  They'd be happy to put 4 new tires on.  (I bet they would.)  Or I could just put the new ones on the front and sign that damn thing.  Okay.  Fine.  WHATEVER.  Give me the damn form.

I also got a stern warning that my oil was low when I pulled in.  Like not registering on the dipstick low.  Which is kind of impossible since Hubs just checked that and he doesn't let my car get low on oil and it doesn't leak oil - it just burns it faster than a new car, so he adds it when necessary.  

After I finish my sandwich, I reach for my phone to call Hubs and let him know where I am in the process only to find that my phone is not in my pocket.  It's not in my purse either.  Heavy sigh and big hopes that nothing goes wrong between W and home.  (I didn't lose it.  It was on the charger when I got home.)

So, I finally get it all done and am free to go on about my merry way.  I pull around to the front of the store, go in and get my ice cream, produce, and other refrigerated items.  Go through the same cashier.  "Miss me?" I said and she laughed.  Vicky's awesome.  

I leave there with my stuffs and head for the feed store.  When I pull up in front of the warehouse doors, I can see there might be like 4 bags of whole corn left.  I'm not so lucky.  In the store, the manager is helping another customer, so the secondary dude who loads feed into cars tells me in a snotty voice that they're out of whole corn.  If I'd been there Wednesday night, they had some.  If I'd been there Thursday... or Friday... or even Saturday morning... they had some.  He seemed almost gleeful that I'd missed the boat.  I should've told the manager to fire the dude.  Anyway, the manager finally gets done with the other customer and I ask him if they have corn chops in stock.  (Same stuff, only chopped up instead of whole and about 30c more a 50 lb bag.)  He says sure.  I get 4 of those suckers and head out to where the primary feed loading dude can put the bags in my car.  Primary dude is awesome. 

Two and a half hours from the time I left, I'm home.  But my brain is fried.  

So that's why I forgot to post yesterday.

Sunday Update - Week 37

:blink blink:  Hello there.  You're still coming around, eh?  Cool.  I should rename this the 'Moving Friends Spectacle', but this will pass and I will someday be back to writing.  Not today, though.

We finished staining the decks - two coats in an Autumn Brown that kind of looks like cedar once it dries.  Looks lavender in the bucket and when it first goes on.  My friend hated it when we first put it on, but it's growing on her.  Or at least the idea that no matter what color it is or whether it clashes with her tastes, it's done and she won't be living with it for too much longer is growing on her.

We've been going to bed at 7:30pm a lot this past week.  Last night we went to bed then and I woke up at 12:30am.  Hubs got up at 2.  Then he went back to bed at around 4 and I went to bed at around five.  I was up again just before 7.

Turned on the TV at 3.  Nothing was on, so I selected Sumo wrestling on the Japan channel.  Live from Tokyo.  But in English, thank god.  Two massive mountains of flesh in tiny attire, grappling and trying to push each other out of a circle of sand lined with rocks (it looked like rocks).  It was like watching the bizarre love children of hippos and grizzlies fight.  Massive muscles underneath mounds of quivering flesh.  Both gross and entrancing.  One guy's thong thing was way too loose.  Another guy's was way too tight.  One guy was super hairy, which I thought was against the whole Sumo thing but I guess not.  One guy reminded me of Jaba the Hut.  For the most part, though, they were well-shaped but incredibly fat dudes.  In one bout, one was 177kg (390lbs) and his opponent was only 130kg (286lbs) and I was sure the larger guy would throw the smaller one around.  Nope.  Skinny (for varying definitions of skinny) dude won.  All in all, it was interesting.  Then Hubs went to bed and I watched the end of The King and I.  Sad.

One of my tomato plants has two new tiny tomatoes.  Yay.  Same plant that gave me the other tomato.  Most of the garden is still alive, but I can tell time is growing short.  In news for next year's garden, I got a bunch of big plastic planters from my friend, so my plants will have larger growing spaces.  

Today or tomorrow - I have both days off - I have to go get the car serviced and buy two new tires.  If Walmart has the tires I want in stock and can put them on today - and if the oil change place is open on Sundays - I'll go there.  If not, I'll get tires closer to home and then drive down for an oil change and groceries tomorrow.  Or I might just veg out today and get it all done tomorrow anyway.  

I'm pretty worn out, so two days off will be nice.  Back at it on Tuesday.  Luckily, it's only packing and cleaning from this point.  No more painting.  No more ladders.  Just some lifting, which should be easy since I am strong like bull - moreso now than when I started this adventure.  I'm also sporting one hell of a tan with tank top and shorts lines.  Actually, it start out as one hell of a sunburn, but aloe took care of that and now it's brown.  (And no, I don't worry about skin cancer, so don't go there.  Let me enjoy my sexy tan.)

I've also lost 3.5 pounds since 8/10.  Loads of activity during and after which I am not inclined to eat a lot.  Weight: 181.2

I finally actually know someone directly who has the 'rona.  He said he felt pretty gross there for a couple weeks, but he sounded about done with it.  I hope it's true.  Hubs will call him today and see if that's the case.  

Well, a creepy, orange-red sun is rising here.  We're getting the wildfire smoke again.  Whoopee.  And I should probably toddle off.  Have a great day wherever you are.  And tell me about your week, if you're so inclined.  :hugs:

Working for Other People?

I have the morning off.  I'm due back at work at 11, to finish the first coat on the deck railings, spindles, etc. and maybe get a second coat on, if there's time.  She had errands to do, which is a good thing since I am feeling every minute of this week's work this morning.  Blerg.

They are happy enough with our work to suggest we do this as a side business.  I told them, and it's every bit the truth, there aren't enough people in the world we like to do this as a business.  I can't imagine doing all this work for customers we didn't know or people we didn't like.  That would be awful.  Then I'f not only be physically tired, I'd be mentally tired, too.  Bleh.

I remember the days I worked for someone else.  It was definitely better, no matter how hard the job, if I liked the people I was working for and with.  

When I worked for Dial America... yes, I was a telemarketer... Well, I managed telemarketers more than I actually telemarketed... I hated the job and I had little respect for most of the people I worked with.  There were only like 3 I liked - my direct supervisor and 2 of the telemarketers.  Liking them kept me from going insane doing that job.  But I needed the money and it was the only job I could find at the time.

As a writer, I work with no one.  Sure, Hubs is sitting like 3 feet away but he's at his own computer doing his own work.  And I like him, so even when we do work together, we work happy.  Even then, we never work together on writing stuff.  I can't even imagine doing a collaborative thing with any of my friend authors.  In certain aspects, I'm a control freak.  Writing is one of them.  So, I don't dare to collaborate.  Hell, I have a tough time packing a box with my best friend.  Rein in it there, B.E.  

It's probably for the best that I am self-published.  I control all of this.  It may not work out exactly like I hope, but it's all on me.  Every word, every comma, every page break.  Editors may suggest changes, but I can accept or deny them as I choose.  I have full control.  Bwa ha ha.

So, yeah, don't expect to see Sanderson and Sanderson Painting and Staining* any time soon.  

Unfortunately, don't expect to see any books out of me any time soon either.  I saw a funny meme thingy on FB this morning.  It showed the tan lines of various pursuits and when it got to Writer, the poor dude was white as a sheet.  Right now, I have the best tan ever, if that tells you anything.  October may be a good time for getting back to the writing/editing business.  This month is shot to hell for that.

* a division of Sanderson Industries, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanderson, Inc. LLC. (Not real companies by any stretch of the imagination.)