Uh Oh

Beau is plotting again.  I was making real progress on book 4, Jesse's story.  And then out of the blue I woke up to these two teasers.

#1 - Humans. They're so inane. Or most are. My latest is decent as they come but hardly up to par with me. I suppose I'll keep her a while now that I have her almost fully trained. Also she amuses  me. Very few I can say that about. We moved recently. I wasn't working on anything in particular at the moment so I saw no harm in accompanying her. Her senses are lacking in comparison so I figured I'd tag along just in case something came up.

#2 -  I have a secret. Or so I thought. But I'm not the only one.

I found them in my email.  They were sent from my phone.  I know I didn't send them.  Which takes us back to Beau.  He does this to me all the time, clever little kitty that he is.

As I said I've been poking at book 4.  But I know better than to ignore Beau once he sends the beginning of something out into the universe.  Can't wait to see where these lead.

Breathing Room update - Currently at 39% with 35 days to go.  Please help if you can.  Little bits add up!

Apologies

I’ve been scarce lately.

There’s lots going on.  The fundraiser for my friend, Lance.  Thank you to all who have contributed.  If you haven’t yet please don’t wait until the very end.  It’s going okay – 29% of goal –  but not well enough to allow me to relax.  We have almost enough for him to buy a refurbished computer.  That will be fine if that’s what’s necessary although we’d prefer a new one.  The man writes constantly.  A new one will hold up better and last longer.  Click here for what I’m rambling about.  For your contribution you will get a personal thank you from Lance once all is said and done.  You’re thinking so what, right?  Trust me.  One day he will be HUGE.  Save his thank yous and you will be able to prove you knew him when…

I’m still searching for that part time job.  Reading is the poorest city in the nation of its size so it’s not easy.  I felt positive with an interview I had last week but the answer was the good news is I passed all the required clearances, the bad news is they will not hire me because of my schedule.  That leaves me wondering why I was interviewed at all since availability was part of the initial online application.  It’s getting a bit frustrating but I will keep trying.  I did see an article about vaccinating mosquitoes against malaria.  No, I don’t mean give me wee tiny needles and I’ll capture them.  They are inoculating individuals and offering them up to the mosquitoes.  The little nasties adore me but this is not a high risk malaria area so I suspect that eliminates that option as a part time job for me.

In the meantime I am poking at Book 4, Jesse's story, of my CosmicConnections series.  It’s hard.  The rough draft was written during a rough patch of my life so the plot is rather heavy for an erotica.  But it’s a good story!  And I adore the characters.  There’s even bits of humor now and then to lighten it up.  All in all I think it’s worth the effort to polish it so I can then submit it for consideration.

What are you up to these days?

Please, Please, Please

Don't wait til the last minute.  I know there's still 40 days to go but I miss Lance sharing his new tale with me as he goes.  The sooner he has a new computer, the sooner you can read it too!

Click here to contribute to Breathing Room.  Remember, any little bit can help, even if it's just a few dollars.

Happy weekend, all!

Good Morning to You Too

I was in the office first this morning.  Before it was fully light outside.  I walked in, turned on the lights and the copier, stashed my lunch and wet about working.  An average beginning to my day.

I was sitting at my computer, checking on something when I caught movement.  In the form of something black crossing my field of vision.  I turned to watch it and saw it cross the room, turn the corner and head up the steps.

It was a bat.

Apparently I disturbed it when I turned the lights on.  It went upstairs where it was still semi-dark.  I finished up what I was working on, called someone to notify him of the bat’s presence, left a note on the interior door for the coworker due in next who is terrified of such things and went on my way.  I had something that needed immediate attention that took priority over the bat.

As expected, the coworker called to ensure I was serious.  She seemed very happy with me for not letting her encounter the bat.  The gentleman I called was still tied up when she approached him for assistance.  So another coworker came and rescued the poor creature.  It was just a tiny thing, much more scared of her than she was of it.

Upon last report the bat was seen fluttering away across the rooftops, hopefully to find itself a new home, preferably not inside our offices.

Only 42 days to left on the campaign to help writer Lance Cheuvront.  Please contribute today!  Click here. A little bit from a bunch of us is all it will take.

Breathing Room

If you have a minute, I’d like to tell you a little story.  A true story.

                                                           

My very dear friend and one of the best men you’ll ever encounter is in need of some assistance.  His name is Lance Cheuvront and he is a writer.  But he is no ordinary writer. He is a modern-day storyteller who weaves magic into written poetry and prose. It is obvious to those who read his work that he will one day be known as THE writer of this generation.

Lance has an inexplicable knack of being able to write anything he sets his mind to; novels, short stories, poetry, essays. He addresses both fiction and non-fiction with the same reverence and finesse. His words evoke emotion and make people feel, think, and see the world in new ways.

In February of 2011, Lance was admitted to the hospital for the first of nine stays that eventually totaled thirteen months. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and lung issues for which an immediate cause was not clear. Since March of this year, his health has greatly improved, but his lungs are still delicate and must be monitored carefully in order to avoid a relapse.  Given time and a positive environment, he is expected to make a full recovery, but returning to tiptop shape could take years.

Because of this he is unable to hold down a “normal” job.  Therefore, here, at the beginning of his writing career, he is eeking by on extremely limited funds

A few months ago, his computer started giving him problems, crashing now and again. But now it is dead. In today's world, it is impossible for a writer to make it if he or she is without the technology publishers expect them to have as a given. This makes it damn near impossible for him to pursue his dream.

Please help my friend get reconnected.  If you can find it in your heart to donate to his cause and get him on the road to writing, please provide an address, e-mail or physical, so that he can write and thank you personally for your beautiful show of generosity.

I thank you so much for any help you can provide. I am confident that if we work together, we can work a miracle!

Click here to help.

Almost Finished!

Last year's digging project is just about complete.  I still need to move a few more evil strawberries and a horseradish and then it'll be all done.  I must say I'm rather pleased with the result.

Once Again

Why is it that nothing can ever be simple?  Absolutely nothing!  Last week the UGI guys came and jack hammered the pavement in order to replace it.  Okay, fine.  Been waiting MONTHS for them to show up.

However, they left it torn up all weekend.  Which meant my bottom step, which had been repaired nicely and firmly about a year ago, was left unsupported.  Yep, you guessed it.  It cracked and is now about to crumble again.

They came Monday and did sidewalk.  They filled in a tiny bit beneath my step.  Not the whole thing.  Not under the corner below the crack.  And not very well in the portion they did patch haphazardly. 

This morning as I was off to do errands the gentlemen were there finishing up.  So I asked them about my step.  Instantly I was informed it’s not their problem, it had been patched before.  Well, yes, it had been.  But until they messed with it last week it was just fine.  Sturdy, uncracked and going to stay that way.  Now, as it is, if it makes it until winter water will get in, freeze and expand and then the whole corner will break off.

We left it this morning with the worker bees needing to consult their supervisor.  Yeah, as expected no one showed up the rest of the day.  Tomorrow I will call UGI and argue some more.

As I asked why can nothing ever be simple?  

Today...

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Always Something

Last January the local gas company decided it was my block’s turn to have all the meters moved outside.  On the coldest day of the year, during the middle of the week so I had to use up a vacation day, they came and spent eight hours relocating mine.  That entailed leaving the doors and windows open to dissipate the gas that escaped during the process.  They insisted it wasn’t much but it smelled awful and strong so I wasn’t taking any chances no matter how frigid it got.

Since then the pavements have remained mangled which has allowed water to seep in where it hadn’t before.  The end result?  My basement is damp.  Very damp.  The paint is crumbling off the street-side wall due the moisture.

Three weeks ago they came and broke up the sidewalks even more.  Of course there have been torrential downpours several times during those weeks.

Yesterday I came home to find this.  Can’t get to my front door without using my neighbor’s steps which don’t really line up with mine.  Can’t get through the alleyway to my back door.  Although that’s okay since using it would trigger the alarm which is not necessarily a bad thing, to remind the area that I have one but it’s a nuisance discussing why it went off with the monitoring company.

And I should mention that it’s been raining off and on the past twenty-four hours, making my neighbor’s steps very slippery.  If I suddenly vanish check the cement out front, I’ll probably be embedded in it.  That is if it ever stops pouring long enough for them to come and replace it.

Happy weekend, all!

Timing is Everything!

I walked by someone today and was handed a chocolate cake.  A whole, uncut chocolate cake.  One of those specialty super moist dark chocolate layer cakes with oodles of rich chocolate frosting.

Can you imagine my glee?  All I’ve had for DAYS are veggies and fruits.  All fresh picked.  All absolutely delicious.  Truly wonderful and I’ve been very happy eating them.  But they are not chocolate cake.

Anyway this individual entrusted the cake to me intending that I share it with the coworkers in my area.  Guess what?  Of the nine of us in my domain only two of us are currently eating cake.  I even offered some to a few strays who wandered through while I was standing there, clutching the cake but got no takers.  Stop it!  I offered sincerely.  No snarling or feral glares were involved.  I was not wielding a knife threateningly as I asked.

Yes, there was much giggling today.  And I finally did release the cake box.  To the counter.  We needed to cut it in half!

More Pretties!

Giant Zinnias

Summer Amaryllis - Better Known as Magic Lilies!

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble

Years ago I was very foolish and allowed someone to move into my house.  Biggest mistake of my life.  The second biggest was permitting him to stay as long as I did.  But that’s not for today’s blog.

One morning I awoke to find the flooring I’d picked out and installed myself, the flooring I genuinely adored, the flooring that made me happy to see on a daily basis, had been replaced with the most butt ugly ick in my pretty white and pale pink kitchen.  Just the kitchen, not the dining room leading into it or the open panty on the far side of it.

My ex was on vacation that week and had stayed up all night, replacing the floor he decided was impractical for a kitchen.  (Yes, it was.  The whole white and pink kitchen was impractical but I liked it and it was my house.)  When I got up and was on my way to collect my lunch so I could go to work he waited in the living room for me to find it.

My reaction, as you can guess, was not at all what he was expecting.  Let’s just say that it’s a good thing I had to go to work that day.  He may not have survived if I’d had the day off too.  Especially after he attempted to use the argument that his ex-wife always liked when he did things like that to surprise her.

Ten years into our relationship and I was still being compared.  (Can’t tell you how often I suggested he should just go back since that was obviously where he wanted to be.  And no, I was not the other woman.  We met after they’d split up.)  Ten years and he was still entirely clueless about me.  Nope, didn’t ever bother to get to know me at all.

Today, ten years later, I scrubbed the offensive floor, not something I do all that often because it angers me all over again every time I do.  It’s still as butt ugly as it was the first day.  I may hate it even more since it’s starting to fade and now has a kind of sickly yellow cast to it.  If I look at it for too long it makes my skin crawl.

In case you’re wondering, no, I am not going to do the obvious and replace it.  There are far too many bad memories in this place for me to ever be able to make it mine again.  So for now I will deal with living here until I find a way to get out.  Still looking for that part time job.  Keep me in mind if you hear of one, okay?  And please, if you’re ever considering replacing a floor for someone as a surprise, ask yourself this.  Has the person you’re doing it for ever once given you any indication that the floor was in need of replacing.

Hmm

Every day I get home from work and things in my house are just a tiny bit different.  Not blatantly.  Just slightly off.  Things are not always where I am positive I left them.  Sometimes something inconsequential that I've ignored forever is simply gone.

No, I don't think my house has been broken into.  It's much too subtle for that.  I suspect Beau.  I think he's up to something.  I've looked for missing items on ebay but have yet to find anything so I'm not exactly sure what he's up to.  But I know it's something.  Even though I know he's much too clever to leave a trail, I still checked my internet history.

I don't get it.  The things that are gone are of no particular monetary value.  I have yet to become famous enough that it would become a fad to collect things formerly belonging to me.  My only guess is that he's hedging his bets and has tapped into some speculative network that gathers items just in case.  Can't wait to see what he does with his windfall once I make my mark.

Yep, very clever kitty that Beau is.

Happy weekend, all!