Email

1/31/2013

Email

It's hard to pin down exactly when email was invented (or is the proper term created?).  It seems that everybody agrees it started sometimes in the 70's but according to the internet looks like it really came into play around 1993.  I for sure don't know.  All I know is that I can't remember a time when we didn't have email.   Once email went viral, so to speak, all other forms of communication grown slowly into decline.  After all when was the last time you sat down and hand wrote a letter?  Hmmm.  Been that long has it?

In the beginning those first emails that trickled in were so much fun.  Of course that is before spam was invented and you actually looked forward to the "you've got mail" message.  The hackers were born and they trolled the wires (some how or another) and tried to think up ways to put those little viruses on your computer which causes all sorts of problems.

Many years and emails later, it has stopped being so much fun.  At the moment I have 414 emails in my inbox here at home that I should do something with but haven't.  And the junk folder?  Overflowing with all of those too good to be true opportunities.  Unfortunately, most of the emails awaiting my attention have something to do with the battery business.  For "BDI" I  currently have 32 folders in Outlook where I hold on to emails that I will likely need in the future regarding accidents, drivers, audits or you name it.

So even though at times I find email somewhat annoying, I still respond like Pavlov's dog when I hear the sound of an incoming message.  I HAVE to look.  It MIGHT be important or urgent.  And as sure as I am sitting here right now, most of my emails were neither of these things.  Nope, typically it's a sale at "x" store(s) or click here to receive the opportunity of a lifetime - NOT. 

If you want my undivided attention - at least for three seconds or so - just send me an email.  I'll look at it in a nanosecond.  What I don't do is process the email right then and there.  I should move, delete, forward or answer it.  And yet, day after day I do none of these things.

And just try and get your name off of a mailing list.  Sometimes it's actually a one time thing but I have some companies that no matter how many times I unsubscribe - the emails keep coming.  And yes, I should do something about that - and I will - some day.  

"Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized. " Marilyn vos Savant


No food for today - but apparently it's Brandy Alexander day which probably should be consumed AFTER you get home from work today!

P

Status Update on Books

1/30/2013

Status Update on Books

Notice the "s" in the title.  Yes folks I'm talking about two books.  Not only do I have the beginning of Wilma off being edited but I am currently having the book I wrote for Ben illustrated.  This is really big news people.  The illustrator is also going to do the cover for Wilma.  When Ben's book comes back it is my hope to find a company that will turn the pages into an actual book!  Just to be able to hold a real book that I wrote would be amazing as well as an accomplishment.

More news as it happens!

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Spring/Winter?

1/30/2013

 

Spring/Winter?

If you haven’t noticed  winter is over as far as the stores, catalogs and clothes manufacturers are concerned.  Right now you would have an easier  time buying a bathing suit than perhaps a winter coat.  Need boots?  Good luck with that.  If it hasn’t already started it won’t be long before stores will start a severe discount on everything winter.  That would be the time to get a coat, provided you like the selection and can find your style.  Generally, I’m not too successful on the sale rack – Jeff says that’s because I don’t look!  I do look but only briefly.

This week I have received several catalogs (and we know how much I love them) and everything inside is pastels, short sleeved, cropped pants and summer’s best bathing suits.  I haven’t gotten over the trauma of buying a bathing suit LAST year and am certainly not ready to start that process all over again.  And in case you’re wondering (and that would mean you are a man), you can’t be seen in last year’s suit.  It’s like wearing a party dress twice – not done.

I don’t understand why we can’t stay in one season until the actual season is nearly over.   So let’s say for winter we’d keep coats, gloves and boots on the shelf until say mid-March.  Luckily, I’m all geared up as far as winter clothes go and I’m just not ready to think about rearranging my closet to put the “springy” things up front.  Besides because I’m so disorganized I just got around to putting them in the back of the closet! 

And don’t wait until the next snow storm to go out and buy a snow shovel.  I don’t know why we wait until it’s an emergency but that may just be human nature.  On a rainy day umbrellas literally float out of stores.  If you’re an adult I can’t imagine why you don’t already own an umbrella.  Or maybe you do but you can’t find it – or it’s not with you when you need it.  I can’t remember the last time I used an umbrella.  Since I’m not very “techy” I get wetter trying to open and close the umbrella then I do by just walking.  And as further endorsement for going around without an umbrella Jeff tells me that “I’m not made out of sugar and you’re not going to melt.”  Hmph.  Turns out that he’s been right so far.

But I’m going to offer you some sage advice.  If you need anything just go to Ebay and you’ll be able to find it.   I know because I browse the site constantly.  I have at this very moment 998 100% positive feedbacks.  If I get just TWO more positive feedbacks the color of my star will change!  Having 1,000 positive feedbacks means that I’m a good buyer (obviously) but thought of another way means that I have also bought a thousand things.  That sounds bad doesn’t it?  I started buying on Ebay in January of 2001 and my first purchase was a Murano vase.  Clearly I don’t know my sizes because when it arrived it was lovely but so tiny.  It looked so much bigger in the picture!  I’ve seen learned to use a ruler so that I don’t get caught off guard again.

While it was in the 60’s here yesterday I know it’s too soon to store away the winter coat.  Just when we get comfy with the warmer weather, Mother Nature will return and smack us around.  As I sit here at 5:00 am, it's already 57 outside.  Crazy weather.

It's National Croissant day - yum and made yummier with butter!

“The seasons are the emotions of Time.” ―  E.J. George

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1/29/2013

 

Taxes and Such

Last night while  you guys were lounging around on the sofa and watching television, I was stuck upstairs in the office finishing up the year end accounting.  Blah.  My role in accounting is a very important one.  I am responsible for addressing, stuffing, sealing and applying postage (appropriate amount) to envelopes going to the various tax agencies.  This is a heady responsibility but somebody has to be willing to take on the tough jobs.

Our copy of all these required documents are then three holed punched and put in the “book” (binder actually but book sounds so much more interesting).  Each of the companies has a “book” that is divided into sections: unemployment, sales tax, etc.  You get the idea. It is my job to make sure the "book" is in order which is why I'm paid the big bucks!  (Don't I wish).

After processing taxes I should have also stayed in the office and done some filing – but it’s so boring and unproductive.  You empty the “in” box and tomorrow it’s full again.  Reminds me of doing laundry – never ending!

On a completely different subject I have mailed off a portion of Wilma (world’s next greatest novel) to someone who is going to edit and proofread what I’ve written so far.  I'm excited and scared all at the same time.  I have spent so much time with Wilma and I love my cranky, old librarian.  I talk about her as if she was real and in a way she is probably because I put a lot of me into Wilma.  I talk about her so much that everyone in my "circle" (and I know it's a small circle) knows who she is.  

And besides doing that I sent a query  to an illustrator for the cover page for Wilma as well as illustrating the book I wrote for Benjamin.  I may never see a dime from either of my projects but I would be so proud to have a bound book to hold in my hand – even if I never sold any.  I don’t know that I can afford an illustrator but guess I won’t know the answer to that unless I ask.  I have no idea if Benjamin will grow up to be as sentimental as Mom Mom is but I’d love to leave behind my story for  him. What I do know is this - if I don't take that next step - then I'll never know what might have been.

Today is corn chip day - so grab up some salsa and enjoy.

This quote pretty much sums up how I feel about writing: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou

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Germs!

1/28/2013

Germs!

This is a favorite topic and one that brings fear to a lot of people.  I couldn’t resist checking on a few statistics (you know how much I love them) to see where we stand on germs.  I found some interesting numbers and I’m still undecided if knowing this much about germs is a good thing or a bad thing!  But one thing is for sure that there were a lot of surprises for me.

I found and took a quick “how many germs are on your keyboard” test.  The result – 2,876,160!  Of course the test could be rigged to freak you out.  I can’t help thinking that if there were that many germs on my keyboard I’d be sick all the time – and I’m not.

I found another site that had some amazing statistics on everybody’s favorite subject – the toilet seat:

·         Steering wheels have 9 times more germs than a toilet seat

·         Computer keyboards have 5 times more germs than a toilet seat

·         A desk has 400 times more germs than a toilet seat (why I wonder?)

·         A phone has 18 times more germs than a toilet seat

·         Kitchen sponges and sinks have more germs than a toilet seat (I think we all knew that one)

·         Restaurant ice cubes may have more germs than a toilet seat (don’t even want to think about that)

·         Shopping carts have more germs than public restrooms and escalators

Clearly people we need to rethink our attitude about toilet seats and escalators (really?) apparently.  It seems that in every article I read on the internet the kitchen sponge leads all lists as having the most germs!  I can’t find any definite number about germs on a toilet seat but most articles say that the bathroom floor is germier (pretty sure that’s not a word but I like it anyway).

So here I sit at my writing space surrounded by a germ ridden keyboard, desk and phone and I’m not bothered in the least.  Now if I could actually see the creepy critters crawling all over my stuff, then war would be declared and Lysol would be sold by the gallons!

  

It's National Blueberry Pancake Day! 

P

Company

1/27/2013

Company

Yesterday evening Jeff and I had some friends over for dinner.    I can already see the eyes rolling and the ho hums beginning but this was a big deal for me.  I don't entertain.  Haven't for years, so this was huge in my world. 

Jeff and I fixed spaghetti, garlic bread and a salad.  Our friends brought dessert.  My spaghetti isn't the traditional pasta on the plate with red sauce poured over it - nope I make the sauce, then add the pasta, combine it well, top it with cream of mushroom soup and shredded cheese on top.  Bake in the oven until everything gets all gooey and you're done.  It may not sound good - but you really should try it - you won't be disappointed.

While we were shopping at Wegman's on Friday night I bought "real" Parmesan cheese.  I convinced myself that the kind you buy off the shelf in a shake-out canister isn't "really real".  So I bought a container of freshly shredded cheese.  I do think that the cheese we used last night was better than the regular stuff and for sure it has a different texture.  The ingredients are fairly similar, the fresh container has milk, cheese culture, rennet (complex enzymes) and salt.  The other kind includes cheese, powdered cellulose and potassium sorbate which are used to prevent caking and to protect the flavor. Fresh cheese has 35 mg of sodium compared to 85 mg of sodium for the shelf cheese - so if you're watching your sodium it's a no brainer.

Okay where was I before I was so rudely interrupted by cheese?  That's right dinner and company.  At the last minute Benjamin came to the house to spend the night with us.  Once Benjamin arrived the mess began almost immediately.  At least our friends were able to see the house BEFORE the tornado hit!

Dessert was Tres Leches (three milks) cake.  This was an amazing cake, so light and creamy I'm sure this is practically a low calorie dessert!  Not.  Had some Columbian decaf coffee, because we old folks can't do leaded after 4:00

We had a wonderful evening with our friends.  Their son and Benjamin bowled on the Wii and  that game bridged the age gap of 4 years.  Benjamin actually had two strikes in a row - which is a big accomplishment.  I know some adults who have trouble getting one strike much less two but I'm not naming names - but it's not me!

Today is chocolate cake day - but I'm sticking to the rest of the Tres Leches cake!

Happy Sunday.

P


 

Snow - No Snow?

1/26/2013

Snow - No Snow?

Thursday when I woke up there was a light dusting of snow on the ground which means that winter is really here.  Generally the sight of white stuff (snow, sleet, hail and/or ice) on the ground puts me in a complete tailspin.  Since moving here from California in 1986 I have just never managed to come to grips with driving in bad weather.  I'm more of a 70 degree, sunny day kind of driver.  Stuff falling from the sky does not create the ideal driving circumstances - for me - or those around me!

Jeff offered to drive me to work on Thursday which is our normal arrangement when I see the first flake - but no I was determined to go by myself.  I knew it wasn't a lot of snow.  I knew that once I made it out of the neighborhood the main streets would be plowed/salted.  I knew that I was seeing my shrink in a week and wanted to have something to put in the "good" column of things to talk about!  I also knew that I should leave early because weather and the interstate is not a good combination around here.  So knowing all those things I gathered up my things and hit the roads around 6:30 am.  Driving on snow is freaky for me but there was nobody out in the neighborhood (dah) so I had the road all to myself (except for those pesky cars parked at the curb)!  The interstate was, as I predicted, clear and drivers were putting more space between them and the car in front and there wasn't much lane changing or excessive speeding.  It was a relatively easy commute.

When I came out to go home on Thursday I hated to see the salt and muck all over the car.  I know you're wondering why this even bothers me but I hate a dirty car and cars can get pretty nasty around here in the winter.  I sat in the car and when I turned the wipers on was relieved that it was only a light layer of snow and not ice on the windshield.  I would have liked to have washed the windshield but I'm always afraid of the consequences of doing so in below freezing temperatures.  A block of ice, or a cracked windshield comes to mind!

On Friday the weathermen called for snow in the afternoon and evening.  When and how much depended on which news channel you listened to.  Weathermen are the only people I know who get to keep their jobs even when they are wrong time and time again.  According to one weather website the snow was supposed to start around 11:45 am - well that didn't happen. It did start to get gray around 1:00 and "looked" like snow.  And no unfortunately I can't adequately describe to you  what "looked like snow" is  - it's just something in the air.  Boy that sentence makes a lot of sense (not).

My boss knowing that I'm a super Nervous Nell let me leave the office at 2:00 and by the time I got to the car the snow was beginning, but very lightly.  I managed to get home in record time  because I was ahead of the afternoon rush hour.  When I got home Jeff and I did go out because we needed to put gas in my car (and no if you're wondering I don't know how to do that) and get some groceries.  By the time we got home in the early evening my car had gone from dirty to downright yucky.  The door handles even get dirty - ick.  It's too cold to rinse the car off in the driveway - think instant ice and there is no point in washing your car until the salt is off the road which takes a few days.  So for now my car, and everybody else's, are all wearing the same coat of salt and frozen slush.

I have already told my boss(es) that Jeff will be out of town the week of February 11th so if it snows that week I'll be staying home.  I am physically unable to do the shoveling and so will have to rely on one of the boys to come by and do it for me before I can even leave the house (if it's a lot of snow) and if it's a lot of snow I'm not driving in it, which would make the shoveling unnecessary.  See how well that all worked out.  If the power goes out I have the "Jenny".  I now have a gaslog instead of a wood burning fireplace so I'd be just fine sitting in my house while the snow falls.  And who knows being "locked" in the house I would have plenty of time to work on Wilma!

Today's food is Pistachio so you could just eat plain old nuts or even better would be pistachio ice cream!  Yum.

Have a great Saturday.

P

1920 and Today

1920 and Today

After watching Downton Abby I began to wonder how much money servants were paid in 1920 in Britain as well as how much things cost.

The butler who ran the house made the most money.  About $4,300 to $6,400 per year and that included room and board.  Today a butler receives somewhere between $80,000 and $105,000.  A maid today makes between $15,361 to $42,819 compared to the lowly wage they received in 1920.  Most weekly housecleaners get at least $100 per job and that’s generally for about two hours of work.  This means that they are making more money per hour than I am and I FILE paper!

Interesting note about footmen.  The first footman earned about $3,300 BUT

many footman’s salaries were based on how tall they were rather than how well they did their work.  The taller and more impressive they were the more they received.

I don’t know since I wasn’t around in 1920 but I assume that working in a house had to be better than working in a factory.  A factory worker made about $6.00 a week or $312.00 a year and the working conditions were deplorable.  Today, the average factory worker makes between $20,000 and $40,000 a year and working conditions have improved immensel.

Since the servants had room and board what did they have to spend their money on?  Clothes and toiletries I assume.  I checked on some clothes’ prices from 1920 and it looks like you could get most everything for less than $25.00.  A silk crepe dress was $14.95, a dress up frock was $15.49 and a coat was $23.98.  Of course I realize that $25.00 dollars (and however many pounds that was in England) was a lot of money to somebody who worked below the stairs.  A flapper hat from Sears cost about $1.98. I'm not even going to bore you with the price of clothes today - you know what and how high they are.

To help you the next time you hear someone talking about a guinea it was one pound and one shilling (or ₤1.05 in today’s money).

Remember the servants were given their uniforms so it is possible that they only needed a church outfit and shoes as they wore out. Magazines cost about ten cents and books ranged from 25¢ to 50¢.  For about a dollar you could get the morocco bound (leather) books which most of us would love to own today.  Kindle books are generally around $9.99 but hardbacks (which I no longer buy) are generally in the $20 something area.

So let’s be thankful that today we have many job options available to us.  One of the richest businessman in the world makes $19 billon a year!  Now upon reading that it made my salary seem so 1920-ish!

Today's drink is Irish Coffee and apparently there is no food worth celebrating today, so make it a please yourself kind of day!

Happy Friday.

P

Television Shows

1/24/2013

Television Shows

You all know how much I value my television time but right this minute I'm dying for something good to watch.  Correction.  I'm dying for anything to watch that isn't filled with blood, gore and freaky serial killers.  Tried to watch the new show The Following and both Jeff and I were so disgusted by the mass murdering of people and animals that we stopped midway and deleted the show from our season pass.  Sorry Kevin Bacon, I like you but not that much.

Where are the funny shows?  Is comedy dead?  Gads I hope not because we could all use a good chuckle every now and then.  My cooking and reality shows are beginning to look better and better all the time.

People want to talk about gun control and while they're doing that they should also take a look at the violence in movies and television shows.  I don't mind a police drama like Rizzoli and Isles where there's been a murder but it's not the main focus of the show and the two women have some fun together while solving the crime.

A new show that I watch alone is Neighbors about the humans living next door to aliens.  The show is lame, I will admit that, but nothing bad happens and I'm beginning to warm up to the aliens - who are a little stiff and odd.

Both Jeff and I make our own sacrifices with regard to the shows we're willing to watch for couch equality.  I take naps during Ice Pilots or Flying Alaska and Jeff manages to sit through Baggage Battles and Shipping Wars.  We watch Shark Tank together and rather like seeing what people have invented (and sometimes wishing that we'd thought of it)!  Jeff draws the line at most cooking shows but he will watch Chopped with me.  But if it's Cupcake Wars - he's out of the room in a flash

So note to television executives - not all of us want to endure night after night watching murder and mayhem.  If that's what we wanted all we have to do is turn on the nightly news.  Give us a happy, sappy show now and again.  Laughing is good for the soul.  There is enough real violence in the world that we don't need more on the screen.  

Food for the day - Peanut Butter.  As it turns out I just finished eating a piece of toast with peanut butter.

January 24th events in history: 1964 the first swimsuit issue of "Sports Illustrated" came out and in 1984 the first Apple Macintosh went up for sale.

Here is the east there's a little snow on the ground and we're having a heatwave this morning - it's 20 degrees outside.

P

Book Publishing and Editing

1/23/2013

Book Publishing and Editing

Since as a writer I am unknown to the world at large, I was curious to see just how many books were published in 2012.  Best estimate I'm getting is 15,000,000.  That's a lot of black ink on white paper.  Unfortunately, I can't find any reliable numbers on how many self-published books came out in 2012.  Nor can I find how many new authors made it through the web of publishing in 2012.  All I know for sure is that I would have loved for Wilma to have been among the 15,000,000!

While I wish Wilma much success, I know I would be thrilled beyond words just to hold a bound copy.  For me it would be like a pat on the back - you did it kid - that kind of thing.  Jeff and I talked this weekend that when I'm finished with Wilma, I will then have to put out some money in order to have someone edit and proofread the book.  This will cost money. So before I can (or will) make money, I'm going to have to shell out some big bucks.  Editing/proofreading doesn't come cheap.  Examples I found yesterday are: for light editing is $4.50 a page - heavy editing is $6.50 a page.  Or you can pay by the word.  One company wants two cents per word and another one wants fourteen cents per word.  So let's do some math. Currently Wilma is sitting at 226 pages and she's not finished.  Let's say I need heavy (whatever that means) editing the cost today would be $1,469.00.  

While I know I can't finish Wilma until I have a cover, acknowledgments and bio (which is short), I must also have the book edited and it's hard to part with a fairly large sum of money - when you ain't made a dime - and may never make a dime.  Okay that's one part of my brain talking.  The other side says you've been working on this for nearly two years and when you're done are you just planning to shove Wilma into a drawer to collect dust?  I don't believe for a second that Wilma is going to be the world's next great novel - but I do know this - that if I don't ever try then I'll never win.

Let's say that Jeff and I decide to gamble and pay to have Wilma edited and read.  Now the problem is who do you choose?  I have looked on Craigslist and can find some local folks who perhaps do this as a second job and their prices are lower.  Or do I go with a high end firm with a solid reputation.  You know the old saying - you get what you pay for.  When you have labored for nearly two years on a project, I think you would want the best editing you could afford.

Another question I ask myself is: am I ready to have a complete stranger tear my book apart?  I don't have an over abundance of self-confidence so I don't know how damaging it will be to have the manuscript come back bleeding red.  It might be very discouraging.  Actually that's not true, it would be discouraging.  I know that I am not a successful, published author and may never be.  I'm just somebody who wanted to write about a crusty, sassy old woman who wears support hose and orthopedic shoes.

I am furiously working on what I believe will be the last part of Wilma now.  Once I think I'm "done" then I will put all the parts together and print out the whole thing.  And then I'll read, make changes and read again.  How will I know when Wilma is done?  It's not like a turkey button that pops out.  To the few people (actually to the one person) who has read parts of Wilma I have only asked one thing: forget the grammar and spelling - is it interesting?  And I give big thanks to my friend who reads Wilma.

I'm super excited about the food for the day - wait for it - it's national pie day.  Think of the choices.  I think I would go straight for coconut cream but I do love a good cherry pie too.  And I suppose there is nothing preventing you from eating pizza PIE!

It's cold here in the east - 12 degrees at the moment.  I am breaking out the fur (faux) coat today which makes me look a bit round(er) but it's warm. 

Enjoy Wednesday.

P