Sunday, March 17, 2024

"Mesa" it Begins.

 Writing the newest Nick Posh thriller titled "Mesa" will possibly take a bit longer than I usually take because I'm working now, and can only get to it after work and on weekends.  I won't rush myself, and I have no timeline or agenda to meet.  I'm just happy to be back in the "saddle" again - - that's sort of a play on words because in the book Nick will have to saddle up and ride across desert terrain to capture one of the bad guys he's chasing. There are actually quite a few in this new book.

    The last book "1211" was a different sort of book. It dealt with the strange personalities of a certain home in the city where Posh and his family live. There were murders but he wasn't using his detective skills to trap any of them really. He was using his wits and charm to help an elderly suspect from being wrongfully accused; and yes, he did manage to stop a couple of bad guys from doing things they shouldn't be doing.

    "Mesa" will see the American gumshoe back on track, and working under his own steam as an independent investigator. He's being paid by the City of Oklahoma City to track down and hopefully apprehend a couple of men who had murdered two women in that fair city.  He ends up taking on additional work that seemingly corresponds to his first assignment; sort of double-dipping, but not necessarily.  He forms his own task force to assist him as they'll need to split up to make the case, or cases.

    This one will be fun to write. It involves strange people, odd events, lawlessness in lawless places, and a throwback to the Old West days that somehow seem trapped in time for obvious reasons. The entire book will be spread over a short amount of time; only two months. It's action packed, fun, crazy, wildly imaginative, and it will showcase the charming behavior of our man Nick Posh; the man who can smile his way both in and out of trouble.

    I hope it turns out the way I want it to. I'm studying and researching today and all week. I'll start writing next weekend probably. Some of the characters in this one will be very recognizable. L. Frank Baum is mentioned, as well as other Chicago entertainers, murderers, and high-enders such as George Remus, Beulah Annan, Byron Gay, and both the Ringlings and the Barnums. Circus personnel, animal trainers, wranglers, gamblers; you name it - - they make their appearances against the backdrop of the greater Southwest barren trails and buttes.

    Right now I'm studying the murders of a few of the more publicized cases in the United Kingdom as well as the United States during that period because Posh will continue his weekly calls to his friends in Edinburgh; helping them help him with cases he's working.  His wife Elaine and his son Alistair are vacationing in the old city so they'll make their appearances as well. Good stuff. I can't wait to pen it - - type it.


Photo Credit:  WorthPoint.com

The New Book. (Postponing Again)

 The new book, the one I won't title until I actually publish it, is giving me second and third thoughts. I'm wanting to write it, of course, but I'm thinking of making it another Nick Posh book rather than a stand alone drama. I've decided to pour more of myself into the Posh books for the foreseeable future. It makes sense when I think about it.  Branching off into romance is OK, but just popping out a drama book for the sake of it didn't make a lot of sense. 

    If I make the book a Posh book I can kill two fake birds with one fake stone. I don't ever want anyone to associate me with being a bird murderer...nope.  I can write the book, make it everything I want it to be in terms of sending a message, and it can be a Posh thriller so that it has a good plot and a couple of who-done-it moments. I like that idea. Besides, the book will deal with self-awareness, suicide, homelessness, and the underseen, underheard, under-appreciated. Nick can sink his detective teeth into it and find out some of the underlying reasons for such behavior.

    I'm thinking Dr. Francis Moynihan can meet up with Dr. Wilhelm Rosenfield and they can write a white paper together on what they research and discover.  My new romance book will take place in Edinburgh and the characters will be modern aged, present time. I don't need to have too many out of sync books out there. I'll stick to Posh and romance. Sounds good. I just talked myself into it.

    My next Posh book however is "Mesa" and it takes place over the summer months of 1931 while Elaine and Alistair are in Scotland. Mesa takes place out west in the Southwest states of New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. There will be horses, circuses, clowns, mayhem, murder, and more. There will be a cast of weird yet loveable characters; some helpful, some not so helpful. There will be a reason to call on a few old friends from the Taylor murder days; maybe someone can help Nick put a pin in Charlotte Riley, aka Charlotte Shelby, Mary Miles Minter's mother, who many believed murdered the super-director in 1922.

    "Mesa" will be a wild west ride for sure, with plenty to look back on and say "that was fun".  I hope to think of great adventures for Nick to participate in, as well as coming up with ways to showcase his detective abilities. He'll run into a man by the name of Erle Stanley Gardner and they'll talk.  They are exactly the same age, give or take a few months. Both men will discuss their passions. That will be good. P.T. Barnum will make an appearance as will Frank L. Baum, the writer of the Wizard of Oz and other Oz stories.

    I think I'm going to enjoy writing "Mesa" as much as I enjoyed writing "1211". I have to tell you, writing is my passion and my soul-food. I don't think I could breathe without it. I have been postponing it because I'm working but I need to get right back into it - - I can work, and I can study, and I can do the whole Six Sigma thing too if I need to. I'm going to study Xactimate soon, maybe in May. I can write and put in a few pages every day or so - - it adds up. I need to write. It keeps me grounded.  I'll keep you posted on my progress. 

    


Photo Credit: iStock.com 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

1211 - Boo Boo!! (I'm OK)

 I really don't know HOW I do this, but I've done it three times now. I have sent up the wrong file for the interior of my book(s) after I have gone over them with a finer than fine toothed comb, only to have sent up the WRONG file, the one without the corrections. Then, after I get it back from the publisher online so I can check it, I (because I'm a real dummy) didn't look at the interior, I just OK it since I know it's been gone over - - DUMB THING TO DO - - I assumed! 

    So, this time, with "1211", I did the same thing; I sent the wrong file up.  You'd think I could just scrap it, have the publisher take the book out of distribution, and send up the good one, but I really don't KNOW if the good one is good enough. I think twice, maybe three times, that maybe I deleted it thinking the other one was the better one - - second guessing is not that far of a leap since I've already screwed up.  So, what I did was to stop the presses on it, and keep "1211" from being distributed, but I did go through it page by page and I marked it up with a pen, and turned the corners down of each page where I found a possible mistake.

    I am now going through the dog-earred copy and making the corrections before sending it back up to Ingram Spark to be redone and made ready for production. THIS TIME however, I will check it again online before agreeing to have it distributed. I swore up and down after having down that with "Edinburgh" and "Bay Sorrel Ranch" that I wouldn't do that again. I'm supposed to be deleting the back copies. I can at least take credit for  naming them correctly, but like a dummy again, I didn't change the name of the one I sent up. I may have renamed the bad copy and deleted the good one. So, in the future, when I write a book, I will be deleting the bad copies as I replace them and only having ONE copy on my desktop. I can have 10 copies on a flashdrive, I don't care, but I send the one from my desktop to the publisher.

    Geeze Louise! You would think I would learn by now. I have over 100 mistakes in the book right now. If you were one of the unlucky ones to have purchased it, please let me know, I may make you prove it before I send you another copy, but I may be able to send you another copy. I'm not making promises, I have no idea how many people bought the bad book. It was available for about two weeks before I got my copy and realized it was so grossly incorrect.  Maybe in the future I can actually afford an editor, but I'm not sure I'll trust them either.

    The good news is, the new copy should be THAT much better. I like this book. I LOVE all of my books, I really do, but this one was really fun to write. I like it. Someday, when I have nothing else to do, I'll correct all the books, tweaking them here and there, and republishing them with better and more precise covers. As I grow in my craft I learn things, but I don't have the capital to make the changes and redo things after a certain amount of time. They allow you do it a few times in the first 60 days, but not after that, they charge. It's not much, but right now I'm not a wealthy author - - just a published one. Maybe one day!

    I drove by the old homestead this weekend and thought to myself that the people living there now have no idea that a book is out there with their home being the centerpiece of the novel.  I changed the name of the address and house of course, but still, it was a fun year. I will always remember it as one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I could write another book about it, maybe a sequel  - you just never know.



Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Beginner's Luck? (Maybe I'm Good at This!)

 I always giggle when I start a new job or work with people who don't know me; they don't know I'm a talker, and then they find out for themselves.  I can literally talk the ears off a wood-gnat, and in case you didn't know, they do have ears.

    So, I started my new job as a Claims Manager for an undisclosed company last week. We were given a full week of training before being expected to be on the phones and starting the pipeline to what will become our income source. We fill up those pipelines with promises of recovery from liability and/or subrogation claims, and over a period of time the fees shift over to my account bucket, from which I am then paid. 

    I'm paid a salary, but there is a bonus and commission structure as well. I make what I put into it really, and I hope I can do well enough to make the bosses happy, but not too much money this year, as I'm trying to balance myself with my other income source; the one that won't pay out if I make too much money. I'll be paid this year, but if I make too much in 2024, I'll lose the extra in 2025.  It's a thing - - but one I want to play at so I can be both useful and not over stressed to the point where I feel as if I have to be the top producer. (Those days are so far gone.)

    I'm such a content person, that I am 100% OK with being paid a good wage, commission, and bonus as long as I'm not stressing, over-working, and/or otherwise pushing the envelopes. I like to chill, take breaks, breathe, strategize, organizing myself to the point that I work smarter and not faster or harder. I want a steady work flow, and I want it to be really laid back - - that's the part that takes a bit of practice. I'll need to get geared up and I love the fact that this company is all about learning the job well before expecting me to be the miracle-child.

    The job is rather easy in that there are only 3 moving parts. I am given a claim to work, I work it, and ask for payment. If the party doesn't pay, eventually I turn the claim over to the "collector" who is an attorney. I'm an adjuster who determines liability based on liability statutes, policies, and coverages. If someone says they're not responsible I investigate it. If I find that they didn't do their due diligence, if they didn't have the required licenses or insurance, or if they either admitted responsibility and/or it was witnessed, then we ask for the money our clients had to pay to be indemnified.

    We are hired by those who are self-insured. If they are liable they pay their own, we don't represent them in their defense. We only recover what they are owed and I am in the first line of that recovery process. I get the claim, work the claim, and ask for payment. If they choose not to pay after we've proven their negligence, I simply turn it over to the next level and go on to the next claim.  Simple really. I love the investigation part best of course, but I also love talking to folks and trying to work things out before they are turned over to a legal advocate. I hope to help.

    Today, out of the blue, a guy decided to pay something he had previously told others he wouldn't pay or take responsibility for because I was able to explain it to him in a way that he understood his position rather than just being told "Pay this, you owe it."  

    He prefered the analogy ..."If  someone wanting to rob you jumps over your fence and breaks into your house, if your dog bites him for it, he can sue you through your Homeowner's Strict Liability clause. Our clients know you have a strict liability to pay what one of your subcontractors broke if you don't have a bond on that person that was in place at time of the loss. If you do have a bond on that person, you can present it to me now, and I'll call them and rebill the claim to them so it's off your plate and in their corner."   He knew (and I knew) he didn't have the necessary documents for that particular day or that particular worker.

    The man paid the debt in full and that sort of made my day. The man doesn't have to fear that he will be taken to court and charged extra fees on top of what he didn't want to pay in the first place, and our client is happy to get that matter off the books too. I'm happy because it stuffs my pipeline, and my boss is happy because just after one or two days on the phones I've had a few payments already!! Woot. I will say it helps to be nice, sweet as honey, and to pour on that Southern Belle charm that simply oozes out me when I need it to.  (Think Reba.  She doesn't REALLY speak like that - - I've known the woman since 1979!) 

    Let the games begin!! I'm hoping to do really well, but not to exceed what I don't want to exceed. Maybe I can train people and then just take a lower salary...that may be the way to go in the future. I'll talk to the boss about it. 😇😇😇

Photo Credit:  Confident Living


Thursday, March 7, 2024

Update on my Life. (This is Cool)

 When I say this is cool, I mean this is really something. I'm not usually this excited about stuff related to work, especially if it means I'm working for someone else. This, however, is really cool. I'm going to try and really get behind this next adventure, and when it happens, I'm going to truly love it.

    So, on the third day of my employment, my boss's boss asked me to join a Teams meeting, and we (a couple of others and I) joined and listened to him go on about a few things that were really important and informative. Somewhere in the middle of his second wind, he said, "Hey Jude, I heard a rumor about you, and you can tell me if it's true or not." This sort of thing usually makes me smile. It usually means someone found out I'm an author or that I owned Faith - - that sort of thing.

    The question on my 2nd level boss' mind had nothing to do with that; he wanted to know if I was involved with the Lean Six Sigma philosophy and if I had been certified. I was floored! What a question! No, as a matter of fact, gaining my Lean Six Sigma certification is something I thought about a few years back, but I hadn't actually done it. I'm hoping to find out more about it now, and it looks like my boss and his boss are going to put me through the courses and give me the opportunity to become certified as a black belt. Woot!

    The Lean Six Sigma philosophy, in a nutshell, is to work in two distinct manners to bring about better results. The first manner is to reduce error, and the second is to expedite the process of your project or model. You fix it, and you streamline it. It fits in perfectly with my love for solving issues in order to make things work better, feel better, be better, etc. I see a potato and I want to know what I can do with it to make it the best thing possible. Can it be improved on, and if so, how? That's how my mind works. 

    I've decided to do a couple of things this spring. I'm going to take the courses I need to know and become certified in Xactimate as well as become a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. That should take up most of my spare time, don't you think? I'll put my next couple of books on hold. It's OK; I'm not in any rush to complete them. I have several to promote now. With my new job, the next level of involvement with the books should be promotion. I earn enough now I can do that.

    Becoming a Lean Six Sigma may help in the future in terms of bringing about a better salary, but the thing is, I'm more about the education, the knowledge, the training, and the work. I like the challenge and the process.   When I think of Lean Six Sigma, I think of Bloom's Taxonomy. It's about the same thing, really, but just another way to prove your evidence. Look them up. They have similar features. If I could make money being a student, I'd do that. I'm never bored. I can honestly say that, and not a lot of folks can. I don't want the moss to grow; I'd rather find out how to repurpose it.

    


Photo Credit: Triaster.com

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Work and Play!

 I started a new job this week, and though I will not tell anyone where I work, I can say that I love it. I'm not going to become rich working there, but that's not the reason I accepted the job. I don't really want a lot of money; money doesn't motivate me. I'm motivated by service, helping others, and all that really mushy stuff that makes people sick to their stomachs!

   There's so much more to life than money, and that means there's more to life than just working.  I'm a writer. I write. I get satisfaction from researching the next book, preparing to write it, writing it, then editing it, and finally watching it cruise its way into publication.  I get a kick out of thinking through what the characters will say to one another or how they'll end up engaging or interacting. I pretend in my head what it will look and sound like. That's something that makes me both get out of bed and get into bed because I often dream about those moments, too.

    The new job is a work-from-home job. I'm not ever going to go back into the office to work. It isn't something I wanted to do after retiring from teaching. I had just about had enough of the whole hour before and hour after work routine; time I wasn't paid for, but expected to endure. Now, when I get up in the morning, I can get up about 35-40 minutes before I need to be on the clock. I have time to walk the dog, make coffee, write in my journal, and log in. Before, when I worked at the school or in an office, I'd have to get up at least an hour and a half early, quickly walk the dog, make coffee, shower, dress, put on makeup, and head out the door (always forgetting something, usually my coffee) and then I had to fight traffic BEFORE I got to the office or school.

    Now, because I never wear makeup and can either shower the night before or the day of, I can sleep later, relax, take my time, journal longer, read my Bible, stroll the dog, talk to neighbors, and I can drink the first cup of coffee in my jammies before I log in -- still in my jammies!  We don't have to be on camera for the meetings unless the boss wants to make sure we're actually sitting at the computer, but that doesn't happen. He sees my log in, I'm participating, he doesn't need to see my face. 

    I am far (far) more productive at home, too; some people are not. Some people have to have interaction with others and be able to look out over the city from their office window to feel as if they are alive. Nope, not me. I'm good. I start at 7:30 a.m. on the nose, I take my breaks, eat my lunch (30 min.) and clock out at 4:00 p.m. on the nose. I don't have to endure so-and-so's stories about last night, the weekend, who they're dating, or who their grandson is dating. I don't have to fake caring about their garage sale revenues or whether or not they were able to stick it to the boss somehow. I hate, and I mean HATE, office politics, drama, or gossip. HATE IT.

    Being at home is my way of saying I'm successful. I control my hours. I control my workload. I control my results. I control my behavior; I control whether or not I want to jump on a Teams meeting to just chat - - and I don't do that. I had Amazon send a package to those who choose to work at the office today. It was a box of chocolates and some Keurig cups of hot cocoa. I'm on the good list!! They love me.

     I don't have to interact to interact! I'm not against interacting, but if I spend X-time talking to co-workers and not producing, the boss has no grounds to complain if my numbers are down if they force us to work in the same room at the office.  I worked at an office with seven women and one man. It was about 30'x50', and I wanted to scream! On either end, they had big-screen TVs with gossip shows running all day. We had to wear headphones to drown out the dang noise, and then the ladies talked non-stop the entire day!

    I just went back online to Amazon and bought some work clothes. They'll arrive tomorrow.  I bought four pairs of light jammies for Spring. They're all long, of course, but they're not flannel. The sun rises now at 6:45 and so do I. I go from not wearing jammies when I sleep to wearing them when I work. Gotta love this!! My dog can't figure out why she's not allowed in my lap for the most part of the day now that I'm working, but she's in the background at all times and this company doesn't mind if you tell people you work from home. More than 77% of our clients work from home, too. Times are changing. 

    I wonder if suggesting a pajama party would be an HR issue? I won't ask. I'll drop it in the suggestion box anonymously. We don't have to be inappropriate, but we could all raise a cup of Joe to the boss and take a photo!!


Photo Credit: LionnessofAfrica.com 

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Keep Your Promises to God !

 OK, so this is one of those churchy blogs, one of the ones that gives you a message, then an example, and explains what it is that I'm trying to convey without being too preachy or too hard on you. Believe me when I say that I am speaking from first-hand experience. I have screwed up! I have really stepped into it in the past, and because of it, I have learned. I have not only learned, but I have become compassionate and passionate about helping others not make the same mistake(s) I have made. I've probably done it more than once, if I'm honest with myself.

    Let's first talk about what it is that I'm talking about. There is a verse (and maybe more than one) that goes over the fact that if you tell God you're going to do something and then you don't do it, you will be taken out back and punished. The Bible uses other terminology, but you get the picture. Think of it this way; God let you make a promise, and then when you didn't keep it, He may have let you off the hook, but if you tell the people around you or the angels who are given to you as messengers that your promise was a mistake, or that you really didn't mean it, well - - you've just put yourself above God! You've literally said to them that you don't mean what you say to God, and you shouldn't be held responsible. God doesn't see it that way.

    When you tell God that you will do something, and then you don't do it, you are the one to blame. Let's say He gave you an opportunity; He didn't ask you to do something, but presented something to you to accept and you said you would. You told Him through your prayers or actions (or words) that you would fulfil the obligation; but you then decided not to do it. I'll give you another example; one my friend went through. Maybe it will make more sense. I'll give you one of my own flub-ups, too. 

    My friend John was shown a vision, a dream-like thing, where he knew he was awake, not asleep, and he was ministering for God. He was shown the work, shown the results, and he was pretty excited about it. He told God he would fully commit to it and couldn't wait to get started. Well, after he got home and discussed the situation with his wife, she put the kibosh on it without even discussing the fact that John had made a commitment to God. She said, and I can't quote, as I wasn't there, that John could take it up with God because she wasn't going to fund the mission work. She wasn't going to "let" him be gone when he could be working and bringing money in for the new car they just bought, and she said that next time he decided to commit them both to something maybe he should have run it past her first.

    Can you think of the same 11 reasons I came up with why John should never have married the woman in the first place? John is the husband (was, they've since divorced) and as the husband he is the head of the house, but he never felt that he was. She would not submit to him even if she knew she was supposed to, even if it was a part of their marriage vows. That word "obey" was just a formality; she wasn't going to let John run them into the ground financially while he went out galavanting around as a missionary while she worked two jobs. It did not matter to her that this was his divine mission from Almighty God. She was the keeper of the purse, and in some ways, probably most ways, John knew this when they married. He should have prayed on the matter to ask God to soften the wife first; then, he could have made the commitment.

    Well, almost immediately after making the promise, John began telling himself and God that he spoke too soon, he wasn't able to do it, and it was probably just him getting excited over a message the pastor gave anyway. He really didn't mean it; it was a mistake. What does the Bible say about that? Here you go, from the New King James:  Ecclesiastes 5:1-6

6: "Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?"

    John was the lead singer of a band; they played at youth concerts and church events mostly. He started having gigs that fell apart; weather interrupts, car issues. He became ill and couldn't play. He broke his thumb and couldn't play. Soon after that, COVID hit the world, and BAM...no one was working. For over a year, the man was forced to live secluded with a wife who abused him mentally, emotionally, and fundamentally as she took on the role of the breadwinner as well as the disciplinarian for the kids. She would literally tell the kids they didn't have to listen to their dad; he was stupid and he was incompetent. He couldn't work, and therefore, he didn't have a say in any of the family matters. THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL - - but it is. 
    
    God tells us to pray about who we should marry. John didn't do that. He grabbed the first woman who seemed interested in him after he had given his life to Christ. New Christian, new wife, new life - - great, right? No! He didn't marry the woman God had prepared for him, and she all but destroyed who he was trying to become. God destroyed the work of John's hands; God kept John from creating more work, and it all ended up in a deadly spin of depression, anxiety, anger, and rage.  After the lockdowns were over, the two split up. They had been living separately in the same house for over nine months before that.
    
    When he could, when he realized what had happened (literally 3 years later) he found himself living with friends and family, on the street at times, and even at a church in the back rooms where he was working as a janitor and assisting in youth ministry to pay for room and board, but nothing else. About a month ago we talked and I shared with him the verse I just shared -- it hit him like a brick between the eyes. He asked, "Have you ever done something this stupid?" to which I could only say yes, I have. 
    
    I'm not sure exactly what I had promised God, and that's a problem too. I told God I would do something and not only did I not do it, I can't remember what it was that I told Him I would do. I spent over twenty years trying to recover from my error. I went through divorce, a five-year custody battle, raising three kids without a single penny of support, all the while I went to school full time and worked full time to make ends come as close as they could - - not always meeting. I remember falling on my face before God and saying I knew I made a mistake, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I begged Him for His divine forgiveness, and guess what  -- He forgave me.

    Then about four years ago He gave me an opportunity; one I could have said no to, but I knew I was supposed to say yes. I said yes. I have been commissioned, assigned if you will, the duty to pray for one man. That's it. Just one guy; he's not famous; he's just God's work in progress. The thing is, there isn't anyone else in this man's life who is praying for him on a daily basis. His grandmother would, but she passed. His wife never did; his mother is really busy and hasn't made it her priority. He has friends, of course, but they don't keep him lifted on a regular basis. God asked me if I would -- I said yes.

    Let me tell you, there are times when this man makes my promise to God seem as if it was a huge mistake. He's not "high maintenance" like he may think that he is, he's just really stubborn, obstitnate even, and he's skeptical, and untrusting. He's a good man. He's a Believer, but he's been angry with himself, his wife, his family, his choices, his life, and even with God. He's on the mend now, but these past four years have been a roller coaster from the get-go.  I wanted to kick him in the teeth a few times myself, but then I remembered that my promise to God more than outweighed my emotional connection to the man. He's the one God asked me to pray for. There had to be a reason, and there was.  

    The reason I'm praying for this guy (as it was revealed to me recently) was that he made a promise to God and didn't keep it. He thought he would, but he didn't. He tried, but he wasn't able to pull it off -- could be another John thing; a wife who refused to support him but had only disdain and ugly words for him. I can't know for sure; he's too embarrassed to share much. Whatever the reason, he's on his own now but he's not alone. He has Jesus. I'm there, of course, still praying, and I know God is faithful. He always keeps His promises to us -- God can't lie. The other really cool thing about God is that He's literally NEVER WRONG, so if He asked me to do this, He wants me to do it. It's part of His plan.

    There's another reason I pray for this guy; it's simple. I've grown to understand him since I've been praying for him. I've grown to love him in a familial way -- he's part of my heart now. I consider him part of my family, though we've never met. We'll meet in Heaven as we are both Believers. It's cool; I don't have to be his buddy here; we have eternity to talk and to praise our God, the One we know has only His best for us. When I think about it, I'm so very blessed for this opportunity. It means I'm both pleasing God and delighting in Him. The Bible tell me in Psalms 37:4 that if I delight myself in the Lord, He will give me the desires of my heart -- I guess then, maybe I'm a little selfish; I want my desires so yeah, I'll delight in Him.

    One more verse for you. John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life."  I believe.

Photo Credit: Christianity.com


    

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Pouf!

No doubt the world will look at me and say, "She had her act together!" They will say this because I am going to do what I should have done 20+ years ago. I'm going to buy 3 unstuffed pouf covers and stuff them full of my t-shirts and sweatshirts so that when I move, I can just pick up my poufs and go. I can have my old clothes at my fingertips in case I want them. I can throw the pouf at my dog and not fear that I hurt her. Don't email me, I won't throw anything at my precious mutt...she would laugh, but I still won't do it.

    A pouf is a crazy little piece of "furniture," technically, but it's really just a square or round covering for a pillow or pillow-like stuffing. You use it to prop your feet up mainly, and you tend to have a Boho sort of feel to your place when people see it in your apartment or living space. Believe me, when I say that some poufs are so expensive, it makes me laugh - - then cry. Most of the covers are only a few dollars; you'll pay a premium for better-made materials such as leather or handwoven cloth. 

    I am going to buy 3 of these unstuffed covers and then stuff them myself with my old t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies. One of them will be used for stuffing my bed linen; I'll just rotate it out every week when I change the linen. I'll pull one out of the pouf, dress the bed, wash the others, and stuff them into the pouf for their rotation. I can't think of a better way to store old clothes and bed linen.  Heck darn, and shoot, I may get a couple more and put my couch pillows into them because I rotate those out as well and never know where to put the seasonal pillows!!

    I can't tell you how very happy this makes me. I'm doing the dance right now, and it's a little difficult because I'm also trying to type.  Who knew that a simple design could make my day? I'm thrilled.  I remember seeing these types of ottomons when I was a kid, you know, back in the Flower Power days. They're a bit hippie-ish in some ways. Depending on the materials they are made from, they could be very hippie-ish. I tend to like the earthy tones and the handwoven materials. There are colorful ones too; some are made from reeds, leather, etc., but I like the clothes poufs with zippers.

    There will be a day when I have to move from this place to my new place, and when I do, I'll have something like four or five different poufs, all stuffed with clothes, linens, even soft jackets, and I can just store them in the closet, leaving room for more...you know, stuff. Americans have too much stuff!! This should have been my rant, to begin with, but now I'm just happy I have a place to store my stuff. If I never see those particular garments again, I can at least rest knowing they were useful in another way. 


Photo Credit: Amazon

Friday, February 23, 2024

Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book 3 (Done)

 See!! I snuck one in on ya, and you didn't even know I was doing it. I wrote my 3rd Blog Book over the course of time like I do all of my blog books - - literally, these blogs can be used to squeeze out a book when I get about 90-100 new blogs that I like and don't mind sharing.

    The 3rd book was going to be my last in the series, but people said they wanted to see more, so there you go - - you go where the people need you to go. You help when you can; I don't mind.  Writing has never been an issue for me, and Jesus is my witness on that one; He knows. There are times when I think I keep Him up at night with my writings. He loves me; we're good.

    So, this book was pretty easy. I sat down on Monday of this week, four days ago, and decided to write the book. I had all the blogs written, so it was just a matter of putting them in order and slapping them into the book format. I use Word, so I just opened a new document and started adding blogs.  I decided to add photos when I could, and I took out about 30 "damn" and a few other words I didn't need to say. I'm trying hard not to cuss as much. I can say fudge! I can say dagnabit! I can say phooey! My mom always said that one.

    By Tuesday, I had the book loaded. Wednesday and Thursday, I ran it through Grammarly, but I will be 99% honest with you, I didn't change too much. I find that using Grammarly often takes the essence of my writing style for granted. I lose some of me, so I didn't push it too hard. There still will be some mistakes. I did look for spelling errors. I did intentionally misspell words, too, so Grammarly had a fit with that.

    Today is Friday. I did all the spacing today. I went through the book to be sure I separated the paragraphs. This a blog book, not a novel. I separate my blog books -- I said that now I have to go look at my other ones to see if I did. OOPS...no, I didn't, OK...well, there's that! I will leave it. I don't care. It's not meant to be a journalist whitepaper. It's a blog book. I don't know why I would not separate the paragraphs in the books. I did in the blogs!! I'm so weird sometimes.

    The cover is adorable. I love it. I had another one in my head, but it didn't work when I put it on Canva. It was too colory and off-beat. I can be both, but I wanted the book to be fun, open, and honest, you know -- like me. I could say blunt; I'm pretty blunt. The book has a lot of blogs about my other books because that's what I did last year, but I found a lot of other blogs, too, and mixed it up. I think it's a bit churchy at times, but hey, I love Jesus, and you should, too.

    So, there you go -- I sent it up today, but they may send it back if I forgot to "flatten" the fonts on the cover. I can't remember if I did. I usually do. They'll kick it back to me by Monday if it's not flattened. I just don't want to have to redo the cover -- geez, it's detailed and took a while. It was fun, though. I will say that.  If it's up for sale on Feb. 29 it will be $18.00 (and again, I have no control over that). Soon, I'll be able to put all my books in EPUB so they can be digital!! Woot.





Tuesday, February 20, 2024

THE NEW BOOK (For Now)

 ...and here we are. I'm listening to SYR in my ears through really good and very crisp earphones. I would say they are state of the art, but if you know me, you know I don't have that type of need or taste. They're good. I'm very satisfied. Great band, great music, and if you haven't done so - - please, find them. They're quite literally the best Celtic band I've ever  heard - - and they're from South Carolina. DANG good.

    We're not here today to talk about Syr, but listen, once I turned the music on my head, my mind, my spirit, and my being simply stopped and had to sway into it for at least long enough to tell you about them. I'm here today, to talk to you about the new book. I won't tell you the title. I've told a select few so I could run it by them to see what they thought. My three children know, and my best friend knows. I received the same, the exact same reaction from each.

    The new book will be called "The New Book" until I actually publish it, and then I'll be very happy to share the actual title with you and everyone else on the planet. This is going to be a dramatic book; but not the same as "Bay Sorrel Ranch" in that there will not be a romance of any type, and there won't be a single story to follow. Instead, there will be several stories, all experienced by one person in one way or the other. She stumbles onto one; she's involved in two, and she's observing another. It's something she can't avoid. None of us can.

    OH MY GOSH, this music. It's hard to concentrate even long enough to write. I want to jump into the video and just breathe it in.  I'll use several lines from their songs in my book; I know I will. I will glance and skim across Perry Mason books for insight. I'll watch shows, investigate on my own, interview people, and observe. I'll volunteer so I can get first-hand experience about a particular thing I want to write about. I don't want to just talk about it; I want to know it. 

    This book, "The New Book" will expose, it will dig, it will hurt, it will lay raw a few things that need to be seen, heard, and known. It will be an eye-opening book, one that slaps us all upside the head with reality. It's all around us; we just either choose not to see it or we purposely don't look. That's one of the differences in our characters; some choose to ignore while others choose to rush by not noticing. There is a vast difference there, and therein lies some of the problems we have in our world. 

    "The New Book" will be written next, and I'll try to get it done before the end of March. That's my goal. I want to start on the next installment for Nick Posh, which is "Mesa."  Nick will take off for the South Southwest and find himself entangled with not only a nomadic circus, but he'll literally join it in order to solve a murder. Too much fun!! Can't wait, and I have to wait...hate and love that. I'm really looking forward to writing "The New Book" because I believe it needs to be written. I hate that I need to. I'll start on it in a couple of days.

    I'll leave you with what Syr asks.

"If you don't know who you are, who is it you hate? All the lies that swallow you whole don't even know your name." 


Photo Credit: Reader's Digest