Pretending!! (I'm Thinking of my new Apartment)

 Unless and until my books take off, I'll not be moving to Scotland anytime soon. I mean, I may go again to visit, but I won't be able to move there on a permanent basis until such time that I can afford the visas, the travel, the space, the rents, the deposits, and all the rest. It is a sad thing, but not something I can't live without. I do know that if I moved to Scotland I would literally be giving up so much more space and more money than I need to. Some of these types of facts make me happy to know I'll be OK here in Oklahoma. (sigh)

    Scotland has 135 days of sunshine each year, while Oklahoma has 235 days. That's literally 3 months more of sunshine.  We have air conditioning, but the sad thing is, we need it. It's so much better in Scotland when it comes to heat. They hover between 30-75 degrees all year.  In Oklahoma, we get that in a day....often.  We hit -5 this winter and 113 last summer. I'm not a fan. 

    Anyway, so what I do, and what I often do, is fantasy and pretend I already have the new apartment. I go to Home Depot and Lowes to find things like paint, fixtures, carpets, and all that. I also go to @Home, Living Spaces, Big Lots, and other stores to find furniture, throws, pillows, candles, and any art I think I need. It's fun. I thoroughly enjoy every single minute of the prep time.

    My new apartment will most likely be a one bedroom one bathroom unit here where my daughter and I live now. We have a two bed with 1.5 baths now, and we pay $680.00 a month. That seems to send some folks into the sky when I tell them that, but it's true.  The new apartment is 750 sf, vs. the 1100 sf two bedroom.  It will rent for $640 since the complex has actually made some improvements and is raising the rent on us this year.

    I've lived here about eight years this time around. I've lived in this complex about five times in my life. It was the first place for my kids to have their own place to live; that's always cool. Actually, I say that, it's the first place for my daughters. My son did have his own place when I kicked him out at 16 3/4 and let him live directly across the street from his high school. I paid the rent, but he had to pay the utilities. He worked. It was good.

    The new place will have a large living where I'll put both the living room furniture and my office set up.  The room is about 20' x 16' or so.  There is a dining room, but I may not use it as such since it's just me. I may just use it for my boxing bag so I can have a good place to box, we'll have to see what happens.

    The kitchen is virtually the same size, and I'm hoping when I do move that the complex will go all out and give me new appliances and a new countertop. I will have to insist on it if they try to get away with it - - I've lived for 8 years with really old countertops and I'm not doing that again.  The carpet will be new, and if they don't do it, I'll rip it out myself and they can get over it. Again, I've put up with their nonsense too long.

    I'll have three full closets in the new unit, and will only need one for my clothes. The others will be for coats and storage. I have two 4-tier storage shelves that I'll put into one closet to store all that I need to in a very organized manner. My place (unlike my place now) will be so very very clean and so very very organized. My old place was too -- that's when I lived alone. That's when I had NO KIDS living with me. Did I say that out loud? I think I did.

    Instead of several bottles in the bathroom there will be only a few. It never ceases to amaze me  how two people can't choose to use the same shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, and all the rest. We don't need to make the place look crazy! I want it to be neat, tidy, arranged and pristine. It doesn't have to be perfect, but yeah, the baseboards should be free of cat hair. Can we at least agree on that?

    Though I have to take my own trash out, it will be taken out on time. My dishwasher will work, but then again, I've lived so long without one I'll likely do my own dishes since it will just be me. I won't have all the food and/or things out on the counter either. I will have them IN THE PANTRY...you know, WHERE THEY BELONG!!  There I go again, shouting. I'll try to keep it down.

    When I walk into my new place I will not be greeted by a big dog trying to knock me over. My dog is small, and she knows not to get under my feet. I will only have ONE CAT to clean up after, and yes, I do a really good job cleaning him out every day, not every third day.  There will be less clothes and shoes strung around. There will be quiet, peacefulness, tranquility, rather than a loud mouthed gamer who can't seem to realize she doesn't live alone. I love her, I do...but yeah, time to get out!!

    I've tried to make my escape about 11 times in the past 8 years, but this time I've put my foot down. If she loses her job or otherwise can't make it on her own, I'm simply going to throw money at her and shut my door! She is not moving back in with me. I'll move back in with her when I'm too old to move about by myself; then maybe I'll be too senile to know I'm in the monkey-cages at the zoo!!  I'd love to mask some of these a animal smells with candles but she gets pissy - - she can take musk from a dog, but not sandalwood!  GEEZ!

    No, it's so past time. It is so so very very past time. We have needed to be separated for years but timing was bad, then the pandemic, then more sickness, then we both lost our jobs, and it just went on and on for too long. It's TIME!!  Finally, it is time. We are hoping that in June (This is March) we can do that. That's the plan...and even though I'll be in the same complex so I can take her places (she doesn't have a car), I will not see much of her other than when we walk our dogs and cross paths at the laundry room.

    I walk, she walks, so we'll see each other then. If I do live across from her she won't see me because she'll pull all the curtains closed. I want them all open. She's a vampire! She lives in the dark and on the computer. She has finally learned to cook a few things so she's not going to be darkening my door too often to eat with me, but I bet she still does. I think she'll take it to go if I'm honest. She'll think it's good to save a buck or two and just rid me of my leftovers. 

    My new place will have really pretty paint. I may take off the 2" baseboard and replace it with 4" adhesive type baseboard. I'll line the door jambs as well and the top of the doors. I will have a "classic" look and buy only those things I really want to buy so that my place is both comfortable and cozy. I want it to shine and be a place I am proud of. I think it will be. I just have to get to the point where I can afford to move out, get what I need, and start fresh - - what do you want to bet she pulls the carpet out of this unit and turns the place into a cave with black out curtains? I'll give her 2 days before she does just exactly that.

    She'll have my room to put her computer in, and she'll have all the space she'll ever need. I hope she finds a place for all the clutter she has now. I know my mother would have pounded me if I lived this way in her house. I should be more assertive about it, but she's really really a good roommate. I love her, and she knows it. We are just two different people.

    I made a list of things I won't miss about this place. I do that too.  Here it is, but it's not complete.

• The door that is too thin and makes noise when you open it.
• The dishwasher not working.
• Bad carpet, bad tile, bad counters, bad appliances.
• The stairs!! I will be in a downstairs unit.
• Air ducts not working properly because I will call every day until they are working correctly. We don't here because her job won't allow interior noise and they have to come into the unit to fix it.
• cat hair everywhere.  (This is funny because he's my cat, but I keep him groomed most of the time, but he sheds and she's supposed to clean it up but she doesn't. I end up doing it.)
• Clothes and shoes thrown everywhere.
• Puppy pads. (Yes, her one-year old dog still goes on pads)
• Terrible furniture. We don't have good furniture because her dog and her cat destroy it. My cat is declawed. (don't judge me)
• Loud and obnoxious gaming from the other room!
• I won't need to wait to take a shower and that room will be spotlessly clean at all times.
• I will have a patio to use and actually USE!! This one has a balcony and we never go out on it; we could, but we just don't. I will use mine.
• Food will be put away. The fridge will be organized. I will not run out of something without KNOWING IT. (smile)
• Lastly, I won't miss the parking spot because I'll use the other one we have which will be closer to my unit if I'm on this side and if I'm on the other side of the complex I'll have a new parking space. The one we use now is next to the dumpster and the big truck has almost hit my car 100x!!

    Well, that's it. My new place will be pristine, pretty, and uniquely me. I'll paint the walls in muted greys with plum, azure, and green tones. The towels and dish clothes will all be new, the toaster will be new. I'm even leaving her the electric kettle and will get my own! It will be a glass one so I can see the water boiling. I may get one with LED lights! I'm just that cool.

Here's praying it can all happen...soon.

Photo Credit: Wayfair.com 

 

    

Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust

 Before we get too far into it, I'll write out the recipe. I got it from Pinterest and followed it but not exactly, and therefore any complaints I have will be  with myself, and not with the author of the recipe. Mine turned out good, I'd give it a 8/10 but they could have and should have been better. I'll need to figure out what I did.

RECIPE:

Crust: Shortbread (and this is for a 9" x 13" pan.)

2 cups of flour, 1 cup of room temperature butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

After blending the butter and sugar, you add the dry, and use a spatula to mix. It will be crumbly. You pour it into a pan that you have pre-sprayed, and you pat it down tightly.  You take a fork and pierce the top several times and bake it for 15-20 minutes until it is a very light golden brown color.

For the lemon filling:  6 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, 2/3 cup of lemon juice and 2 tsp. of lemon zest.  I used a juicer to strain the lemons and collected the zest easily from the discard.

Mix the eggs, sugar, zest, lemon juice, and flour together, blend and pour over the cookie crust.  Bake for 20 minutes. Set out to cool for a hour before putting it into the fridge for 2 hours to cool.  

OK, that's the recipe. Here's the thing I ran into while making the bars and afterward.  I should have noticed that the recipe called for a 9" x 13" pan, and I used the full recipe for a smaller pan. I used a 9" x 9" glass pan. It's not that big of a difference, but the crust would have been a little less thick if I had paid attention like I should have.

    The shortbread still tasted really good, but if I was making cookie bars it would have crumbled on me, so I'll need to figure out a way to overcome that. I want to be able to just make the cookies next time without the lemon top. It was super simple and anyone can do it. 

    I don't use sugar when I cook so I will state that I used monk fruit.  You can use a blender or food processor to make the monk fruit into powdered monk fruit so that it has the fluffy consistency as powdered sugar. I just don't want all the calories. The same bar that would have over 350 calories has less than 40 when I make it. Like I said, I give it an 8 out of 10. I could improve it.

    When you juice the lemons there is air in the mix and you don't get that clear transparent yellow look like you see in the professional photos. I think they use (probably use) lemon juice rather than juiced lemons. There is a difference. I juiced mine and took the zest right from the juicer's discard bin. It was extremely fine, but could have added to the cloudy coloring.

    I popped mine in the oven (first the crust at 375 for 15 minutes) at 375 for 20 minutes, and I pulled it out to cool. I set it on a rack and decided after about an hour to dig into it. You're supposed to let it cool several hours - - sue me.

    It's thick, it's good, it's lemony.  I like it. I just think I can improve on it. I'll keep thinking of ways to make that happen. With time and effort this too will be a family favorite, even if I'm only sharing the first few batches with the kid that lives with me.  I'm sure my grands would eat two of them without complaining. I'd bet the farm on that. 

    It's been at least 30 years since I've made shortbread I think, so I was hoping this batch would be really good. It's good. It's not spectacular. I want to figure out what I need to do to make it really stand out. I hate to have to sacrifice this way, but yeah, I guess I'll just have to keep making it over and over again until I can say I've perfected it. Daunting, I know.

    Well, here's to cooking with recipes. I've never been a fan of that. I want to just put things together. After a few times I'll ditch the piece of paper that tells me exactly what to do, and I'll venture out on my very own - - which typically goes my way, but there have been times when I end up scrapping it all and just washing up the mess.  

Photo Credit:  Me.

    

I Gave up Coffee.

 Two weeks ago I was so sick, and now, looking back at it, it could have been Covid, but I don't like to give that belief much thought. I know the virus is real. I just think it could have been prevented and that it was created, not an act of nature.  That's not what this blog is about; this blog is about one of the things to come out of the illness.  I gave coffee while I was sick because it upset my stomach so badly. I finally just said no to it, and though I'm on the mend, and almost over the dang thing, I still don't want to drink coffee.

    I'm not going to be dramatic, or say that I was an addict. I will say that I drank it every day, and that I looked forward to doing so. I drank coffee regularly since about my early 20s, even though I began drinking it at the age of two. I wasn't a full-cup drinker until about the age of 21. 

    When I was in my younger years I'd find a place like Starbucks to make me a strong cappuccino, usually a wet cappuccino, and usually with three or even four shots of espresso. I didn't do this all the time, but I did it enough so that when Starbucks came to my hometown, I knew what to order. I drank a grande four-shot wet cappuccino.  That was my go to. 

    Over time I started lowering the shots down to just two, and then finally going to a tall with just one shot. Time continued to pass and I would just make mine a flat white, asking for more cream. It's been gradual. I owned my own espresso machine, but they never turned out as good as the ones you could get at a shop.  My coffee pot was good though. I kept it stocked with good darker roasts and I drank one to three cups a day usually. I saved myself a tremendous amount of money doing that.

    Working from home, I don't get out to buy coffee on the go. I just make it at home. I decided two weeks ago to stop and I just didn't make it. I wasn't an addict apparently, because I didn't have any qualms about putting the pot away. I just stashed the machine in the pantry and haven't used it since. It didn't take a lot of heartwrenching to do it; I just wrapped up the cord, rinsed out the machine and stuffed it into the pantry where it sits today.

    One thing I thought would happen was that I would have intense withdrawals from choosing to go without any stimulant. That never happened. I mean, maybe it did and I was just too sick from the cold-covid thing to know I was having caffeine withdrawals. I didn't have a head ache that I remember. I didn't feel weird or empty. I just stopped drinking it. I substituted green tea, Macha tea, and I love it. I only drank one cup, not two or three.  This morning was the first time in about 12 days that I had regular green tea. I'm not going to substitute one caffeine for another. I just liked Macha and I'll drink it when I want to.

    I'm not kidding, I thought if I ever had to give up my coffee I would fall apart. That didn't happen. It was like letting go of someone who just sort of hangs out and doesn't do anything for me. It was as if I was keeping coffee around for my own reasoning, but there was no actual reason. I don't feel badly. I don't feel anything different. I'm not happy about it. I'm not sad about it. I'm not even sure I even notice any differences yet, but I'm told I'll have a clearer mind to think through issues. That makes me happy.

    I'm filling my life and body with good things. I meditate, eat correctly, sleep well, stretch, do exercises, walk, and pray. I take the right supplements and drink plenty of lemon or lime water throughout the day. Maybe...just maybe....giving up the coffee will be the one thing that triggers my hormones to finally release this stupid belly fat! Wouldn't that be nice? I'll pray about it. I don't want to put any false hope out there.

    That's it. No more coffee for me, not unless I have an occasional drink with friends or something, but for right now it feels as if it's history. I'll keep you posted.

Photo Credit:  OverHere.EU

Going Beyond the Label.

 I watch these videos online and I think long and hard about them. These videos I'm talking about are those would be Hollywood type doctors who swear by all things they believe to be holy, that they've discovered a new pill, a drug, or supplement that will change the way we live and the way we eat. Inevitably they claim a person (usually a woman over 50 years of age) can and will shed weight if they only join the many thousands who have already shed 10, 15, 20 pounds in just a short amount of time. Just pay $$$ for their pills...come on, you can do it...right?

    It makes me laugh really. I think, "Why are people so dumb that they would fall for this?" It has to be a lie otherwise it would have been out there with your own doctor's signature on the Rx pad, telling you to have your insurance pick up the tab for their miracle drug. It's not true. It's not real. It's not safe usually.

    What I did was go online and see one such "miracle pill" from a guy who really did have the credentials he claimed he had, but all that means is that the people behind the supplement paid him to agree to say he developed the pill and that he stands by it. You know he's raking in the money; and he had zero or very little to do with the actual supplement. It's just a scham. I hate it, because too many folks believe it.

    OK, so the pill I found was supposed to "reactivate" a person. I say that loosely so no one feels they need to sue me anytime soon.  I looked up the ingredients and they are (for the most part) zinc, selenium, cooper, magnesium, vitamins C, B6, and B12.  Tell me you can't pick those up on your own for so much less than what they are charging with these pills they push.  You can go on Amazon, Swanson, so many other places and pick up a bottle of each or in combinations of these supplements. I personally prefer liquid drops; it's so much easier.

    I do a daily poo-cleanser that was put together by me in a big container using the same exact ingredients as another famous celebrity doctor. I think I have something like 180 days supply rather than 30, and it cost me 1/2 of what he was charging for his 30 day supply.  It works fine. I'm OK...over here pooping like I should.  I'm going to give this new weight loss and skin firming "pill" a go by buying the liquid drops and taking them in the same amount of dosages suggested by the good doctor.

    Soon, I too, can look 20 years younger and have radiant skin, nails, and hair....my face will become firmer, and my belly fat will instantly melt away! That's his claim, not mine. I'll be happy with being healthy and hopefully it will help my immune system since it has all the same ingredients that others prescribed and have prescribed for years. It's just amazing how these doctors think we need to buy zinc in the pharmacy and pay $$$ for it when it's literally $3 at Wal-Mart or online with Amazon.  You only need 10-12mg a day, so if you get the 25mg pill you may consider cutting it in half. READ and talk to your doctor about it before you go off and experiment!!

    This time tomorrow I will have the liquid miracle in my hands!! Maybe by this time next month I'll be radiant...who knows? Worth a shot, right? I bought a bottle of berberine as well since another famous doctor claimed his new pill helped to reduce a woman's waist and literally 90% of the pill is berberine....go figure. Again, just look it up, talk to your doctor, be sure you can take these supplements and save yourself the $$$ you need to put into your gas tank!!

UPDATE:  I literally bought four bottles of liquid drops that contain the EXACT supplements (and a few others like folic acid and other mood supplements) and the four bottles will last 60-90 days depending on the bottle.  This means at least 60 days. They all have 60 days at least in them.  I paid $42 for it, and it will last at least 60 days. The cheapest bottle online for the good doctor's pills was $49.95 but you had to buy two to get the price. Each of his bottles are a month's supply, or 30 days. See the difference?

Photo credit:  TraceMinerals.com  (Not the one I bought)

Driver's License Rant.

 I'm 100% over the rant-stage at this point; and I have to add that a trip to Arby's helped in that situation. My driver's license was up for renewal and had to be done by 3/31/24.  Today is 3/22/24, and I happened to be off from work at noon today; yay team!  So, I decided to drive to the tag agency, which is where we get our licenses in the state of Oklahoma.  I rolled up to the place and walked right in. There were only two people in front of me.

    As I walked up to the counter I could clearly see a big orange sign stating that they had reached their capacity for doing driver's licenses for the day. It was barely after the noon hour and they're open until 5:00 p.m.  There were literally TWO people in front of me. I wondered if they were even allowed to take off at noon; they aren't. It's a government-run facility, and they don't get half-day off-with-pay type benefits. 

    When I got to the front of the line I was asked if I wanted to make an appointment to have my license renewed. No, I don't want to make an appointment, I'm here! I wanted to renew my license. Apparently, they don't do it that way anymore. I don't know when that started as my last license was renewed in 2020. It was confirmed in the "Pandemic" and I walked into the place without a mask and got the darn thing. Today, I have to set an appointment! 

    There was a young man sitting by the driver's license photo thing and he said he had been there 3 hours waiting for his appointment because he couldn't make it, leave, and come back. He lived too far away. That's crazy! There were people in the office right there who could have helped him. They were moving so slowly, and intentionally not looking at him. I thought "Wow, these people are both lazy and rude."  I know I'm correct on that one. 

    Anyway, they only had appointments for times in the month of April. They were booked solid unless you walk in at 8:01 a.m. and they have someone who decides to help. No thank you. I'm complaining to the Governor and I hope others do as well. This method is highly unproductive and it causes anger and unnecessary hardship on people.  I left the office and drove four miles to a tag agency in my smaller township of Bethany, where I grew up. Luckily, there was only one person in the entire office! Woo Hoo!

    They still wanted me to set an appointment, but I managed to talk them into doing mine between the three appointments they had scheduled for after 1:00 p.m. today. It was about 12:45 and she said she'd do it. YEA!!  I was really happy about that.  She asked for my driver's license of course, my passport and another form of proof to show where I live. Are you kidding me?  I mean, I keep my passport on me, but I don't keep mail on me.  I asked her to look up my car registration and she did, and used that. Geez Louise!

    The four-year renewal was only $21.50 and because I'm 62 it was only $17.50.  That's cool - - but you know what really hit me is that we have to prove so much to get a dang license, but they'll let illegal undocumented people into our country and allow them to have I.D. cards without any I.D.   They can literally say their name and address and get the I.D. card without proof! That's not acceptable. 

    I am an American citizen and I had to prove my address three different ways. I had to show proof of my insurance for my car tag, and I had to prove my identity through a valid passport as well.  The 2024 election will likely see millions of voters who have no right to vote, but because they have an I.D. they will claim to be an American. I am not sure if their cards are different from ours. I would hope they would be.  I can't shout it loudly enough - - we need reform!

    There should be a way to go online and renew the licenses as well. If they accept my passport they should be able to look it up online and see that it's valid.  If they accept my car's registration they should be able to link that information as well. I should not have had to drive around and beg someone to take my photo for my license. We have the means of doing that through an app as well.  That's how I did the passport photos.

    It's only a little rant, but one that needed to be done. I'm just so tired of people (usually the government) making things too hard on all of us - - just don't.  Remember to vote those into office who you feel will actually do something for us; not harm us. I think there is a way to do this all online, but I didn't know that until today - - which wouldn't have helped me. You need to do it about a month in advance. I thought I was doing well doing it a full week beforehand. 

Photo Credit:  Zutobi.com

Lean Six Sigma - - and Me.

 I was somewhere around the age of twelve when I first learned about Bloom's Taxonomy. I guess I just thought everyone knew about it, and you can only imagine my astonishment when I realized that no, no they didn't.  I was called out for my love of the philosophy even before I knew I had adopted one. I was a Bloom's friend and there was nobody in this world that could stop me from asking pertinent and/or meaningful questions about literally everything I came in contact with. 

    Today, some fifty years later, I'm still asking questions. I want to know just about everything there is to know about everything I see, hear, know, or think about. I don't see a piece of art and think it's pretty. I first wonder about the artist, and why they were compelled to make that particular piece of art. I see something at work or at school and wonder who engineered it. I think someone had an idea, they had to get it approved, and then they hired someone to make it happened. I never just look at something and think, "Oh, that's really cool" without asking myself what it is, why it's what it is, how it is constructed, what makes it work exactly, and can it be improved. I asked myself what applications does it have in my life, and then I start building out my own thoughts of why I didn't think of it myself!

    Lean Six Sigma, or just Six Sigma really, since all of these concepts include the "lean" portion of it now; trying to be the best and using the most effective means possible; it only makes sense to just combine the two and call them what they are. They are the components to a philosophy that asks us to be more effective, more logical in our means and ways, and to find better and more efficients means of being productive or in some cases, being more effective. 

    Six Sigma courses train a person in several disciplines but not all disciplines; not yet. They are coming out with more courses for more diverse learning and I love that. It's literally  the very core of what Six Sigma is all about. We can't stop at 8 or 10 disciplines if all disciplines can benefit from the way of thinking which is Six Sigma. I think for the time being, I will learn the processes through a free online course and do so in the discipline of supply chain or logistics. It has always been a fascination of mine; how the food ended up on my plate.

    Everything has a start. Everything as a beginning, a middle, and an end. As a writer I fully understand the concept. In my training and my research I welcome the fact that there are stages and degrees of learning within the courses. If you think of the frog that becomes unaware of how hot the water becomes because he/she has become so accustom to the temperature as it slowly rises, that is the same concept of Six Sigma. You can't take it all in at one time; it's overpowering. You learn as you go, and you build on what you have learned.

    The company I am currently working at doesn't offer the paid training in Six Sigma for Claims Adjusters at this time; they are only paying for the courses for their managers. I think that's unfortunate, because the learning concepts are not just for one set of people; the entire company will benefit when any and all decide to think openly, willfully with a desire to streamline and make the process easier, better, more efficient. It's OK, I'm not going to wait on them - - I don't wait on anyone and I never have. If I want to learn this philosophy, and I do, I'll simply find a way - - it's who I am.

    I'm now enrolled in a free online White Belt course for Six Sigma, and after I take the White Belt certification, I'll pay for the other levels. There are various places to go online to learn; you don't have to enroll in college these days to learn. Since it's not a degree program, online certifications are available. There are places you can go and take official tests so you get your certifications; this way you can add these needed and valuable skillsets to your resume. You appreciate in value - - professionally speaking. It can help you with your own personal self love and awareness as well.

    Six Sigma is a great practice to engage in at so many levels. Like Bloom's Taxonomy, it's not just for the limited disciplines being offered, but a technique to use in literally every decision you make from this point forward. It gives you a way to think through your decisions and to come up with the best and more keenly thought out resolution.  You start to think about things in so many varied ways; it gives you a spectrum of choice that you may never have realized before.

    If you're interested I would suggest that you Google "Online free Six Sigma courses" and find the one that best suits you. I'm going with www.sixsigmaonline.org for the first round, and if I like it, I will continue using them for the various levels or belts before taking the final step to become a Black Belt. They have Master Black Belts as well, but I think I'll stick with the top tier of Black Belt. I'm not necessarily going to try to train others. This is for me. This is my time. 

Photo Credit:  Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

"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 

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.

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