Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Violet

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

Yes, there are FIVE planets currently retrograde — I missed it when Neptune turned retrograde several months ago, although, as my ruling planet, suddenly a lot more makes sense! Five planets. No wonder I don’t want to get out of bed.

So, yesterday totally sucked, and for no good reason. I surrendered to it after lunch, and decided that today would be better.

I spent most of yesterday clearing stuff up, doing research for next week, and working on the proposal packets that have to go out as soon as I get back.

Apple responded to the BBB complaint with a whole list of options for the fix, most of which I was never offered. The BBB requested my response. They got it. 😉

I’ve got a home project to deal with today, which required a visit to Home Depot. We’ve got a rotary phone attached to the wall (not a jack) from the early 1970’s. It’s leased, it didn’t make the leap with us when we switched our service to Optimum, so I asked for the Detachment kit so we can remove the phone and return it. They sent me an envelope with little pictures on it. Seems I have to actually go out and buy the tools in order to detach the phone. And I’m dealing with live wires. Not my favorite choice. So I’m buying the grounded, insulated wire cutters, the caps, etc. to safely detach the phone, cap the live wires, etc. and make sure there’s nothing hazardous hanging around. I’m sending the phone back in the flimsy envelope. And I’m invoicing them for time and materials. They didn’t send me a KIT — they sent me an ENVELOPE.

Morons.

Got some more correspondence to get out, the payment from Confidential Job #1 to put in the bank (I love how quickly they pay), and some letters to mail along the way.

Tomorrow is laundry day. I’m holding off packing until Saturday, which makes me nervous, but that way things won’t wrinkle. The carry-on bag is packed, and, Monday, all i have to do is check the charges on the phone and the Ipod and move a few things from one purse to another (most of the Prague purse is packed).

Part of me already left. The rest of me just has to meet Costume Imp at the airport and get on the plane.

Devon

AMENDS: 24,000 words out of est. 75,000

Iris

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009
New Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Hot and humid

I frittered away far too much time yesterday. I got writing done, I got client projects done, I did some prep for Prague, but it wasn’t anywhere near what I hoped to get done.

I received a call from Apple’s executive office, but I wasn’t there to take the call. So I had two messages to leave in return. At least there are people who are finally taking the situation seriously. However, as I made it very clear, I’m talked out and tech’d out. I’m not going back to the store for another round of crap. So leave me some actual information in the message.

And Verizon — I’m going to have to file a complaint against them. They won’t give me the information for the final billing cycle/change of service. They want me to create an new online account to access the information. I told them, no, send it to me via email or in writing — since no one can be bothered to pick up the phone. I am NOT creating a new account for a company when I’ve stopped doing business with them because their customer service is non-existent and they keep trying to do bait-and-switch. I’m stuck with them as my wireless provider for two more years, but it’s now been over a week since the change was implemented in the internet and landline, and they’re ignoring it. I’m not paying for services I’ve cancelled, well after my initial contract with them is fulfilled. And they still owe me a credit from two years ago, which I bet I’ll never see.

Anyway, I’m dropping some stuff off in CT this morning, then heading upcounty to pick up a friend, and we’re off to the Botanical Garden. Should be a great day. Hot, but good.

“Amends” is going really well. I’ve hit the right balance between comedy and mystery. Phew.

Devon

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
No idea of the weather — writing this Saturday night

So, I think I’ve got a working computer again, but I’m finding I have to reload this and that, in spite of the Time Machine supposed full system back-ups, and I am not happy.

I am not happy that I had to spent 10 hours crossing 2 states because a FOUR MONTH old computer that’s treated better than most family members took a dive. Especially at the prices Apple charges for their computers. The personnel were pleasant, and it looks like it’s up and running, and it looks like all my files are intact — even the ones I backed up literally seconds before the drive took a dive. I lost an entire workday, which I can’t afford to do, and, had I not adamantly refused to be put off until “an appointment opened up” and dug in, I would have lost a hell of a lot of work and income.

You better believe Apple head office will hear from me — both the good and the bad.

Even at its lowest point today, it was still better than ANY experience I had with Dell.

But I had a raging headache when I got home, a missed workday/lost income on an emergency gig, used more gas dealing with this crap than I used to drive to Maine last month, and had to be up for hours finishing the prep for the site job.

Anyway, by the time you read this, I SHOULD be at the site gig, and I SHOULD be using my computer-with-its-new-hard drive — and this one better work for more than 4 months!

Thank goodness I did a backup literally seconds before the drive died, so the work I did Sat. a.m. is intact.

I was so upset, I had to go buy books. They were on sale, so I felt less bad. A novel, a memoir, a yoga book and a book I’m not sure what it is,but it looked interesting.

I have to say, in the many hours I spent at various Apple stores across two different states, I was surprised by the number of people who’ve either dropped their iPhones down the toilet or left it out in the rain, and are shocked when that’s not covered by warranty. Since when is stupidity covered by warranty? One woman — this was the 3rd phone in ONE MONTH she destroyed — once in the toilet, once in public pool, and this time, she left it out in the rain. Must be nice to have hundreds of dollars to toss around replacing equipment you can’t handle responsibly.

It was a LOUSY day. On the way home, I stopped at the wine store and treated myself, and the prices wouldn’t scan. I said, “That sums up my whole day.”

Let’s hope today is better, shall we?

Devon

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Dreary and cool

Stop by Diane Parkin’s blog today and read her interview with me (“The Evolution of Dixie and Jenny”), and visit Hywela Lyn’s blog for another stop on the DIXIE DUST tour!

Thanks to both of you for being such lovely and gracious hosts.

There was so much hail in New Jersey yesterday that people were out (in their shorts) with snow shovels!

For some reason, I couldn’t shake off my fatigue and lethargy yesterday. I scanned the job boards. There was some good material, but it was site work, and too far away for me. Still, it was nice to see a better quality of work up there.

Worked on the DIXIE DUST postcard mailing. The first list is almost complete and ready. As soon as I’ve got the second wave compiled, that should go out in a week or so.

Designed the postcard for Fearless Ink. It’s a first wave post-card, going out as part of a mass-mailing, different than the targeted list with the brochure. I also have to design a second card, that’s the follow-up card to the targeted mailing. I need to find scored, colored postcard stock. Any ideas? All the colored stock I’ve found is unscored. Me with a paper cutter and three curious cats? Now that’s an accident waiting to happen. I’d rather used scored cards.

Struggled with the write up for Confidential Job #1. I know what I want to say, but I’m not saying it well.

Worked on client projects, but it was slower going than I expected, and not because of the projects, but because my brain felt unfocused, so eventually I put it aside. My clients deserve SHARP focus.

I’m getting caught up on my filing and excavating my desk. Once the PC is done, I’ll have a desk back so I can work — right now, I use the Macbok on the part of the desk that used to house the PC keyboard, while the old monitor dominates the desk. I think I’ll put the monitor up on Freecycle eventually, with a bunch of other things, remove the hard drive, and then take the tower to the next county electronics recycling day. My old PC in storage also needs to go. Now that I know HOW to remove a hard drive, it’s not such a big deal. Plus, since I won’t need the damned thing once the transfer is complete, I don’t have to stress about screwing something up.

Pulled off a bunch more stuff from the PC, converted short stories from floppies, etc. The PC crashed every 6 or 7 minutes and took approx. 18-22 minutes to reboot. I HATE it. I can’t wait to be done with Dell for good. What a piece of crap. Not to mention that the older Microsoft programs can’t even be read by the newer ones. If I thought about all the lost time and productivity over the past years, because I never bit the bullet and got a Mac before this year, I could just kill myself. It’s amazing I ever managed to get ANYTHING out to a publisher or an editor.

By 3:30, I was feeling pretty lousy, and cancelled out of that evening’s workshop. It’ll come around again in a month or so, so I haven’t lost my opportunity forever. I had a quiet night, eating lots of vegetables, drinking juice, going to bed early. I feel a little better this morning, but still not all that sharp. I figure if I don’t push too hard for the next few days, I should get my feet back under me and be fine. Everything really starts to accelerate next week, so slowing down a bit this week and building up my reserves makes sense.

I have a big grocery shopping trip today (possibly to Trader Joe’s as well as to the usual store. I’m trying some great recipes this week, and I’m very excited.

I plan to clear some client projects off my desk this afternoon, and then spend a few days this week focused primarily on my fiction.

I worry that I’m spending so much time on re-organization and admin and workshops and all that, but, if I do it now, and reconfigure my workspace and my files and everything, it will streamline the rest of the year and help me be more productive.

Oh, and Chase Bank gets yet another Middle Finger Award. Yeah, like that’s a surprise.

Anyway, I better get going. I want to get a lot done early in the day and then rest. in spite of feeling under the weather last night, I pushed through my workout, and, once I was done, I was glad I did. During it, I wasn’t so sure, but it was the right choice.

Before I go to DC next week, I’m going to upload all the photos on the camera so far to the computer, just in case something goes wonky through one of the security areas. i fI lose the photos from the day, I’ll be sad, but I’ll deal. But if I lose everything I’ve put on the card so far, I’ll be very upset. So I’ll back it up first.

I’m going to Target in the next week or so. I need more bins, and, as I finish with the boxes of floppies, I’ll stash them in a bin and take them to storage. More room for the stuff I actually use! There’s going to be a lot of cleaning out of things over the next few months!

The fix Canon sent me for the little printer worked, and I printed out what I have of CRAVE THE HUNT, the Billy Root piece, so I can get back to it this week. I hadn’t realized how much I’d written. This will be the biggest book of the series so far. It’s kind of a turning point for several characters, so it makes sense.

Back to the page.

Devon

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Dark Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Supposed to be sunny, but who knows?

I’m typing this Saturday night and scheduling it to post Sunday morning, because, you guessed it, I’m at yet another Mac workshop this morning, this one in White Plains.

I hit the ground running early yesterday — checked to make sure the article posted on Sole Struck, worked on a refusal letter to a client — the terms aren’t acceptable, and I’m trying to say so politely.

I made the 9AM meeting with the Congresswoman. It was great to meet her, her staff was great, and I think I was the only person who was there to do more than simply howl. I thanked her for the help her office gave me on something awhile back, asked her to keep the screws on the banking industry (because the Big Banks are still determined to screw the customers), and we had a brief discussion on health care. When I mentioned I was coming down to the rally, she suggested I stop by her office, I’ll clear it with the staff, let the union people I’m travelling with know, and peel off from our other lobbyng duties in the afternoon so to do.

Since the meeting was right near D’Agostino’s, Ipopped into to pick up my favorite Silver Palate dressing. I’d hoped they had my favorite Scottish smoked salmon pate, but no such luck. Hoped to stop at a small, local sewing store to pick up bobbins and thread, but they weren’t open. Continued to a library sale, where I picked up some books for my mom and a research book I need for a gig I’m pitching. I also picked up some background research for a column I pitched yesterday about eco-friendly living, and for a column I’m about to pitch about holistic life choices for artists.

Continued on to check out a yoga studio I’d heard about — the website looks good, the prices are scale for this area. I came in to find a disgruntled staff, no easily accesable information about class schedules, etc. (I’m sorry but a frustrated sigh with an eye roll and “You can’t look it up on the web?” is NOT the kind of response that’s going to entice me to become a customer), and it was filled with small, screaming, sticky toddlers, all of whom took one look at me and Knew Better. They may have been small and sticky, but they were smarter than their parents. I turned to leave and Ms. Eye Roll-Sigher said, “You’re just walking out?” I turned and said, “I”m looking for a sanctuary, not Gymboree.”

So, that’s two local yoga studios on my “When Pigs Fly” list. The other one wouldn’t let me take a drop-in class, even paying cash — although that’s listed on their schedule, without me giving them my credit card info for “monthly billing.” When I explained that there would be months where I’m travelling and wouldn’t be taking classes, and only wanted to be charged for classes I actually took, I was told, “That’s not how we do things.” Well, guess what, bubblelah? I’m not going to be one of your customers, so at this point, it’s moot. In Massachussetts,they’re actually happy to see you and they want to show you around and have you take time to get to know the studio. Here in Westchester, they act like they’re doing you a favor by allowing you to take a paid class.

Anyway, after that debacle, I headed back home, hoping again to stop at the sewing store, but there was a Lexus SUV trying to crawl up my tail pipe, and I couldn’t pull over to park. Sigh. I’ll probably just drive to Hartsdale sometime next week to the place where I bought the machine to get the bobbins, bring the skirt, and match the thread properly.

Back home, spent about two hours doing receipts. I’m usually good about keeping receipts logged and current, but I haven’t done ANY this year. Two hours got a lot of it done, and now I have a bunch of stuff to file today, so it’s all good.

Off to Stamford in bad traffic and rain for the workshop. Traffic was a nightmare and it started to rain again (note to self: begin Ark construction; design invites). I got there early because I had questions about the iPod Touch, which were answered in a minute, because the people who work at Apple are actually helpful and tell you the truth. Then I wandered around the mall (I’m allergic to them — they give me headaches and make me sneeze). I stopped in at Brookstone to look for international power adaptors/convertors. Heaven forbid the Czech Republic be on the same type of current as anyone else — they’re on 230 (WTF?????). Anyway, when I buy the iPod Touch, I’ll meander two doors down and the guy there will outfit me with the correct adaptor so I can take it to Prague and synch with Mobile Me and online and photos and all the rest. I’ll probably just buy the whole international adaptor pack and ask for a cheat sheet, so no matter where I go, I can take my Stuff.

Anyway, the workshop was great, although I’ll have to play with the stuff we learned about Leopard, and Snow Damn Leopard’s already been released. Now, come on, people, I JUST bought my Mac and there’s already a new system? I’ll go see the snow leopards at the Bronx Zoo, but do I really need them in my computer? And I learned how to clean up what’s become a very cluttered desktop. There were only two of us, so we got to ask lots of questions, and Rebecca’s a great teacher, so it was a terrific class.

I am so getting an external hard drive so I can use Time Machine every week.

Came home, turned on MacGeorge, started to apply some of what I learned in class. It’s so nice to have things actually WORK. I’m still getting used to it.

Received a DVD in the mail of my play (TILL DEATH DO THEY PART), so I can watch that sometime in the next week or so. This was shot when the original cast was still together, before the performance I saw. I’m nervous, but excited to watch it.

Wrote some thank you notes, did some follow-up, ordered some books, and hung out in the evening

As I mentioned earlier, while you read this, i’ll be at yet another Mac workshop in White Plains. Eventually, I will have taken every imaginable workshop and know how to use CORRECTLY what’s in my computer, instead of puling out stuff and trying to learn it as I need it.

Worked out. I’m going to intensify my workouts to gain stamina for the next couple of months and get myself a good headspace.

When I get back from the workshop, I have to do a pile of ironing, catch up on receipts, work on the DIXIE DUST mailing, and spend most of the day on Confidential Job #1.

Have a good one!

Devon

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Rainy and mild

I put this photo in just because I could. It’s the beach/boardwalk about a mile from my apartment.

Books for Monsters released ahead of schedule. They’ve run my action/adventure tale “The Retriever”, set in London. You can read it here.

Hop on over to the SDR blog and check out my piece “Revision is More Than Spell Check.” It points out some of the most common mistakes writers miss when they do what they call “revision”, which, more often than not, is just running a piece through spell check.

Went to Costco to pick up a few things, did the grocery shopping, worked on client projects yesterday.

I left early for White Plains to sign up for Apple’s One-on-One program — only to discover that I’m not eligible! You have to purchase it WITH the computer, or within a fourteen day window. I blew it. It’s only my fault — I remember the guy who sold me the computer telling me about it, but I was on information overload at that point and it didn’t sink in. Plus, being used to the tactics of Dell and Microsoft, where they’re constantly trying to get as much money out of you as possible without giving you what you actually want and need — I was suspicious. I was heart-broken when I found out I couldn’t sign up. The poor guy who broke the news to me was afraid I’d weep all over his shoes. But I didn’t. Further discussion indicates that the program is too structured to fit my needs anyway, and not as individualized as i want, plus you can’t make up lessons. So, if I was away for a week, too bad for me. You can’t really complain, at that price point, but I need something more individualized. So I have to find someone I can hire outside of one of the programs whenever I need to learn something, and I’ll take as many of the free workshops at the store as I can.

The iPages workshop was FANTASTIC. There were only two of us, so we managed to get in-depth, and I learned so much. I’m delightfully shocked by the versatility of iPages. It makes Word look like a behemoth dinosaur dying in the tar pits. When I came home, I designed the postcard for DIXIE DUST RUMORS, taking what I learned from the iPhoto workshop and the iPages workshop, and got it done in TEN MINUTES. It’s never taken me less than several hours in Microsoft, mostly because the various programs didn’t do what I needed and wouldn’t talk to each other. I’m astonished. The “Inspector” function lets me do and integrate just about anything. I still really don’t understand “Alpha”, but the teacher swore by it, and I’ll figure it out.

I want to tweak the text a bit, but that has nothing to do with the programs.

We worked on newsletters — Devon’s Random Newsletter will be even better next month. And envelopes. And a whole bunch of other stuff.

I started the Jain Lazarus brochure, and i’ll work on the Fearless Ink brochure today — I need to import some graphics from the PC, because I want to use the old graphics, but they’re from XP and not in Word for Mac. So I guess I’ll learn how to do that today.

When I got home, I played with MobileMe. I still don’t really get it, but at least I can use it better.

I also designed a proposal for something I call Apple Flex, an individual lesson program on several tiers, and pitched it to Apple’s corporate office. Nothing may come of it, but at least I was pro-active.

I can’t take any workshops this weekend, because of the Belmont Stakes and the Tony Awards, but maybe next week, I’ll do some more. The basic Mac workshop would be a huge help, I think. I still only know about 5% of what this system can do. And I don’t understand the Safari browser AT ALL. I use Firefox — especially since I can’t get into my websites via Safari.

I had a great morning’s work on the Matty book, and I’m getting ready to work on a pitch, a proposal, and get back to the serial.

Back to the page.

Devon

Friday, May 1, 2009

Friday, May 1, 2009
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Cloudy and rainy
Beltane

I spent way too much time pretending to be a designer yesterday. I got the Jenny Storm webpage up, and I’m pretty happy with it. I found an original photo I took that doesn’t have rights issues with the location and am using that at the Jenny Storm icon. I managed to reconfigure it to three different sizes. Turns out there’s something that the iPhoto in Mac can’t do — resize. But the very nice Apple tech guy told me about a super site called shrinkpictures.com and it was fabulous.

Got all the front and back matter to my publisher. So, when the final proofs come back, I go through them, send them off and there we are. I have an inkling DIXIE DUST RUMORS will release before OLD-FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK does. So I have to get out of paranormal head and into YA head.

Not happy with the MySpace page. I hate that I can’t make it do what I need it to do as far as setting up the page the way I want, etc. I have to figure out where to find a template I like, design the page the way I want and then upload. Any suggestions?

Even though it took a long time to do all that, it was still much easier on the Mac.

Caught up with a lot of email and various sites. I’m still behind, but I’m better.

For dinner, I made ravioli filled with ricotta, spinach, and prosciutto. It’s really good, but filling them is, shall we say, labor-intensive. The wonton skins work well, but I think the next time I make this, I will make ravioli pasta from scratch. I like a thicker texture for ravioli and the wonton skins are too thin, They work, they’re fine, but I want to try something else.

Trying to catch up with a bunch of materials to review, and to get everything sorted for the Promo Day Workshop I’m teaching next week on May 9. It’s about how to use your blog as a marketing tool for your book, while not annoying the crap out of people by making it sound like one big advertisement.

The GDR wrap-up for April is up on the GDR site. I will have RACING INK, the picks for tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby, up in the early afternoon.

Busy, busy, busy. Thank goodness I have a computer that works well. Today is my one week Mac-aversary.

Had a good morning’s writing session on the Matty book. I need to sit down and outline it now. I’m about four chapters in to it, and have a good idea of the themes, characters, storyline, so now I have to sit down and construct the plot. This is more along the lines of literary fiction than the genre work, and it’s got a very different rhythm.

Finished proofreading ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT, and it’s officially on the query-go-round. Let’s hope it finds a home soon.

To answer your question, Brandy, yes, the children’s and YA material will appear under the “Jenny Storm” name.

I have two articles to get done today, and a polish, along with handicapping the race card for tomorrow and getting back to the plays. Busy day.

Have a great weekend, all!

Devon

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Partly sunny and cooler

I didn’t get online until after 2 PM yesterday, so it was kind of pointless to blog. Considering I’d been up since 5:30 AM — well, I was ready for a nap!

I had to get up extra early in order to get the yoga/meditation/morning 1K writing/shower/breakfast and still get out of the house by 7:15 to take my car in for servicing. I’d missed the 15K checkup and am now past 17K, so we went ahead and did the 20K. It took nearly three hours, and, since I couldn’t walk around (more on that later), I brought some work with me and finished the assignment for Confidential Job #1 while I waited. I didn’t bring the Macbook with me, although I could have. But I knew I’d run errands after the car was done, and I didn’t want to leave it in the back of the car in the heat. So I left it home.

Finished up the assignment faster than I expected, so I read a lot of magazines I never normally buy, but that were in the magazine rack at the dealer!

But the car’s all set and ready for a road trip.

Diane, yeah, the Mac is more expensive than the PC. I’ve been eyeing it for over a year, and finally had the resources to invest upfront. I figured that the PC cost me between $17-25K in lost income over the years I’ve owned it, because Dell sold me a lemon and refused to honor the service contract or do anything about it, despite numerous complaints. If I can keep up the pace I’ve started with this Mac, which saves me nearly four hours per day on the simple fact that it runs properly, I figure it will pay for itself in about four months. That’s outside of the income just to pay bills. It was hard to put together the necessary upfront investment, but it will pay off in the long run. I had to give up some other things in order to do this. But it will be worth it.

After the car was serviced, I stopped at Costco to pick up a couple of things I forgot last week –and yes, I ONLY picked up those two items, I was good — and then went grocery shopping. Tuesday and Wednesday have the best prices and freshest items, so that’s when I try to shop.

Came home, typed up the assignment for Confidential Job #1, caught up on some email and Twitter, shot off some questions to people, and got back to work.

Monday was extremely productive — in addition to the usual business stuff and errands I had to do, including a massive trip to the post office — I wrote two articles, typed up a couple of chapters, and did a couple of job pitches. I’m starting from scratch on the Fearless Ink brochure, too – designing new logos, the works. All in about the third of the time it took me on the PC.

The cats are fascinated when I take the laptop to the kitchen and work on the table. Iris and Violet sit like little grey bookends on each side and watch the words march across the screen.

Managed to get some more work done on the final proof of ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT. Going slowly, I’m catching far more. I don’t know why that’s such a revelation. It’s perfectly logical.

On the negative side, the scumbag landlords are cutting down perfectly healthy, beautiful trees on the property — even though they promised the tenants they wouldn’t. Not only is it upsetting on many levels, it’s also the opposite of eco-friendly. We should be planting more trees, not cutting down trees that are providing shelter and oxygen and beauty. I talked to them and was reassured that only one more tree will be cut. Of course, they think I’m looking to buy the Brooklyn Bridge, too.

Further on the negative side, as we prepared dinner Monday night, a Pyrex bowl fell out of the cupboard, hit the back of my leg and shattered. I have a heck of a bruise, but it didn’t break the skin. And it was hell to clean up all the broken glass. We have to be especially conscientious about it because of the cats. In spite of the care we took, I forgot that night, wandered into the kitchen to make tea while barefoot — and wound up with a shard of glass in the bottom of my foot. I got it out, re-washed the kitchen floor two more times to make sure NOTHING was left behind, sterilized and wrapped the foot. It’s okay, I can walk on it. I just can’t walk a lot on it.

I’m having trouble finding wonton wrappers in order to make the various kinds of ravioli I plan to prepare this week. I don’t have the counter space to roll out dough, or I’d consider making my own. I have a feeling I’ll head back to the large Asian market in White Plains — they MUST have the wrappers in bulk. Even phyllo dough only comes in packages of 8 around here, and that’s just not enough. Yeah, I checked Costco — no luck there, either.

Last night, I fixed mac and cheese with crabmeat –a suggestion from GOURMET magazine. It was pretty darned good.

Okay, is it my imagination or are the wanna-bes’ questions getting stupider? I mean, go ahead and ask questions, that’s how one learns, but for crying out loud, show a little initiative and do a little research first. It’s the laziness that sets my teeth on edge. Two examples in one day gets my goat. First, on a colleague’s site, there was a question she answered nicely that I would have told chicklet to go to the library and do her homework, THEN ask me. Second, I answered someone’s question on a board and the person emailed me asking me to write “an example.” I TOLD you the steps to create it – I am NOT writing the letter for you. Use your brain, you lazy ass! Because that’s what it was – a roundabout way of getting me to do this person’s work. Uh, no. I get PAID to write business letters. I ANSWERED your questions. Now, it’s up to you to apply the information.

I got six chapters proofed on ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT in the time it would have taken me to proof one on the other computer. I caught some big errors. Always good to catch that before it goes out!

I had three choices of covers for DIXIE DUST RUMORS and made my choice. It’s kind of cool. It has a lot to do with the book while not screaming YA, which was unexpected. I kind of wonder if it should be more YA, but I’ll trust the publisher. I’m getting more excited about the book every day. As soon as the cover is finalized, you better believe I’ll post it.

And, someday, my other publisher will let me know the new release date for OLD-FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK. As soon as I’ve got one, I’m going to create a postcard for it – on the Mac, something I couldn’t do on the PC.

Apple has the most awesome customer service. I’ve used them twice so far, because I couldn’t figure out how to do stuff. I got a real person without being put on hold both times, the reps were REALLY nice, and they taught me how to do what I needed in less than 5 minutes. The Apple Experience rocks!

Decent morning’s writing session so far. Lots to do today.

Back to the page.

Devon

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday, April 26, 2009
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and HOT!

It’s supposed to be 90 degrees today. Ick!

So, yesterday I had the best day because I only worked on the Mac. Today, I had to turn on the PC, and it was a nightmare. Two hours to boot up, three computer crashes and two keyboard failures all before 9 AM. I can’t wait until I’ve pulled everything I need off that hunk of junk and only work on the Mac.

Yesterday morning, what usually takes me two hours to accomplish took a mere 40 minutes — because I’m on a computer that actually works. Today, I’m back in nightmare land (I’m typing this on the Mac on my lap while waiting for the PC to pretend to boot up for the fourth time now).

I went back to the Apple store to invest in Office. I have to be able to work in Word, both on some of my own stuff and on material that’s sent for editing. It was worth the price. I also got questions answered about some stuff I need the programs to do, and I knew the computer has the ability, but don’t know how to ask it to do it. Some of the questions the techs didn’t know, either, so at one point, I had three techs with me and we figured it out. It was like going on a technological treasure hunt together. It was fun.

Popped over to Target to pick up a few things. Headed to Costco. Got a card and brought back my first haul. It was all stuff we use all the time. I sat down and compared expenses. I want to make sure it’s actually worth the price, and I also want to make sure I don’t buy stuff just because it’s there. So far, on my first day, I saved $117, including the price of the card. Not bad.

My only indulgence as a case of Izze water (I love Izze water and it’s hard to find around here) and an enormous lemon blueberry coffee cake.

Today, I have to catch up on practicalities, run a few more errands, and get some writing done. I had a great writing session this morning though.

It will be a nightmare, pulling everything off the old computer and moving all the floppy files to flash drives. In the end, it will be worth it, but every time I have to turn on the old computer, I should probably take a tranquilizer.

Back to the page.

Devon