Adobe to the Rescue! THANK YOU!!

     I've learned so much today that I feel as if I deserve to take a nap and it's only 12:20 p.m. Man, it's like crazy learning time for me today. I was given an email from my publisher saying that it was possible for me to upload my revised file for "Of Kilted Pleasure" and that there would be no charge to do so, other than the standard $25 revision charge. As long as my revisions were strictly interior, they weren't going to change the title information, the font size, etc. OK, this made me so happy. Then, when I tried to do that, I was stopped. Not good.

    The publisher, because it's a self-publisher, isn't all that user-friendly. They send you basic, vague, sometimes cryptic instructions which absolutely assume that the user, me, will know what the heck they're talking about when they say things like not all the fonts are embedded. I have ZERO idea what that means. When I say ZERO, I mean, there is no registration whatsoever as to what that might mean. I called in the big dogs, my kid; and all she could do was ask me to watch a video online. OK...we tried that, and it didn't help whatsoever. 

    The reason the videos didn't help was that I was (a) using the most updated version of Adobe DC to read the PDF file I had uploaded, and (b) the videos were shot before the newer version of Adobe DC came out, so yeah, they were all saying "Just go to the file menu and click on properties" which would have been wonderful if there was a freaking FILE menu. There was a menu, and under it there was no place to click on either file or properties. NO ONE (in my house) knew that you could undo the latest version by clicking the menu selection telling you to undo the latest version. It wasn't something we were wired to do; it seemed as if that would be a dumb thing to do. It was the right thing to do.

    I broke down and called the 800 number for Adobe. Do yourself a HUGE service and just call them. Don't do what I do. Don't be me. Go straight to the source. I called the 800 number, it makes you jump a few hoops to get to the right people, and when you do you're directed to knowledgeable people who know exactly what you need. This is a really good thing. I spent the next 11-15 minutes on the phone with their great customer service guy who asked if he could take control of my computer remotely...YES. Please do!!  He did.

    I could watch him zip-zap through the things most people would just shake their heads at, but the entire time he was zipping and zapping he was also telling me what he was doing, why he was doing it, and he assured me that I would never have to do it myself if I continued to pay for the Adobe service. OK...that's easy.  I think I'll drop Adobe as a subscription until I need to use their customer service again, he even suggested that, as the $19.99 monthly can be a bit annoying if you're not needing it. I didn't have to pay for it today as I have a 7-day free trial. I think, if I played my cards correctly, and he confirmed, I can just stop following them, and then pick the 7-day free trial back up whenever I need help. Bingo!! That's a good plan.

    The Adobe guy told me that they don't mind helping people who only have the 7-day free trial, as it gives them experience as well. They are all working toward speaking better English; it's a win-win. I LOVE IT. My book was uploaded a 2nd time, and it was accepted. I paid the $25.00 revision charge and now I wait 3 days for the new galley, so I can go through it and see if the 12 oops I made on the original book are gone. How good is that? YES. I'm hoping that's all I have to do. If that's the case I will laugh that I didn't do it a month ago, but you can only do what you know when you know it, and I was just too scared to jump into the techy side of it. 

    Tech scares me. I'm not going to lie. I can do Excel to a degree. I am almost Google certified, but I don't really understand the background of any of it. I know there are things I'll never understand, and I just do what everyone says to do. I have no understanding whatsoever as to how the internet works, how signals from the air end up on paper, or anything.  I just turn on the A/C when it's hot, and I lift up the tap faucet to get the water. I'm not one to ask about how anything is made. I made three kids, and have no idea how a placenta is formed. It is what it is. God's hand. I just appreciate Him and anyone who can help in these matters.

    I'm about to finish "Murder Book" so my Adobe guy helped me save that file in Adobe so when I make the changes in Word I can replace the saved files in PDF format. I will then send them to the publisher and create that book. It will be a bit more than the $25 since it's a new book. I'll need to create a cover and have it all formatted. I think Ingram Spark is far cheaper than the other publishers I've used in the past. I'll find out in about a month. I won't submit this one until I've gone through it 10x and have waited 2 weeks to do it again, just to be sure. I hate mistakes. I found one in a Perry Mason book though, and I took a picture of it, and sent it to my friend to prove it's not just me!!!

    THANK YOU Adobe man!!  So good. 

Photo Credit: adobe.com

MURDER BOOK: 70% Finished.

     Maybe the rest of you don't do this, but when I'm writing a book, I get the old notebook paper out, and I find a good pen. I literally write out the outline or bullet point things I want to say. I have notes for my notes. I write extensively stupidly over-extended notes and I never seem to get to all of them. I'm going to go back over these notes tonight, and see if I can incorporate a few of them, now that I am 70% finished with the book!!

    I took pen to paper on this one; after I wrote three chapters today. I sat myself down and forged out the next 10 chapters, how long they would be, what they would be about, and what order they should be in to maximize the interest of my readers. I don't tell the story from Point A to Point B. That would be incredibly boring. I don't really jump around too much either, but I do throw a bone to someone, then a monkey wrench to the other. It's a thing I do, and I don't know if I read it somewhere, or if maybe the books I've read tend to do that; I think to myself, what would Arthur Doyle do? What would Earl Stanley Gardner do? What should I do? 

    To show you how my mind works, I always knew there would be a discussion in the book about the title of Doyle's famous book "Hound of the Baskervilles" because so many people think the title is "The Hounds of Baskerville" which is just incredibly funny to me. I don't know why. I remember having the discussion in the 3rd grade when I tried to check the book out, but the librarian at Bethany Library in Oklahoma, where I live, didn't think it was a book for a nine-year-old. My mother checked the book out so I could read it, and I heard my mom say something like "If it's about dogs, it's not that bad, is it?"  LOL...my mom! My....MOM!!! GEEZ, I love that woman. Well, instead of having the characters I thought were going to have the conversation, it ends up being discussed by two completely different characters at a completely different part of the book! It just turned out that way.

    I know I'm going to say that John Reid is really Rodney Freeland, but is he an infamous wanted man in the United States who has been faking his way and his accent for years; a thespian among us? We'll just have to find out, but find out we will, because my next chapter will be all about John Herman Reid; or whatever he is calling himself these days. He will be identified, watched, tipped off by someone in law enforcement, and before the end of the year, or right at it, actually, Reid makes his escape on a boat headed for Canada! OH NO!!  (tune in for the end of the book, so you can find out who the man really is!) Plot twist!

    I think my next book will have to find Hugo dog in there somewhere. Hugo is my new Grand Dog who was born without his left ear. It's literally not there. He is the product of a puppy mill somewhere in Southern Oklahoma. His parents were not supposed to find one another. He is a perfect 50/50 mixed breed of German Shepherd and Rottweiler. He's 12 weeks now, and so polite. He's really getting along with the others in the household. When we take him to PetSmart, Big Lots, Tractor Supply, and other places, he walks nicely already on the lead, only getting twisted a few times. For being only 12 weeks old, he is quite alert, and he'd rather observe than just jump into the mix to discover things on the fly. We're hoping he's a perfect Emotional Support Dog for Laura, but he can be a drug dog in training in the sequel to Murder Book. 

    There will be about 76,000-80,000 words in Murder Book. With a 7x4 size, and sized 12 font, it should be a 335-340 page book; perfect. I won't try to do anything too fancy with the covers; I don't really care about the cover as much as I do about the consistency of the books because they will be written in a series. I'll need to think about that before I find the right exterior pictures. Nick will need to be prominent or perhaps they will just be words and colors; I just don't know yet. What I do know is there are 10 more chapters to write. I'll do 2 tomorrow, and at least 3 or 4 over the weekend. This thing will be finished soon, and then the tweaking begins!!

    I don't know when it will be produced. I'll have to get with my publisher to see what the plan is. It won't be too long. I know that. I have too many others to get into the pipeline.

Photo Credit: Me.  (This is Hugo)

TEN States!! I'm Licensed in 10 States!! Woot!!

     When you start out as a new Claims Adjuster you have zero knowledge (some of us, anyway) as to what is expected. That's OK, I'm not scared to jump in the deep end as long as I have my trusty pink flamingo floaty secured snuggly around my waist!! Let me just say, the sunglasses on that bird look marvelous! We're in the deep now! We're just lounging back, taking in the sun, and hoping for really really bad weather to hit somewhere in the southern coastal states, because that's when things pick up, and people like me get hired. Claims Adjusters are those wonderful people you know are real, but you may never have seen one of them in action. There are a few really good reasons for that; some of us work from home on the phone, and there are some who drive out to the wind-blown areas and work either on-site or at a designated work space such as an old abandoned storefront or even a retired car lot. If that's the case, you'd have to drive your car to that location to see one of us in action. If you're looking for a property adjuster, you'll either welcome them into your house with open arms or wonder what the devil took them so long to get there. Claims. It was other claims.

    When the big storms hit they affect literally thousands, sometimes dozens of thousands of homes, businesses, autos, commercial vehicles, crops, large equipment as well municipal power lines. Claims is a very important industry, and one I am super excited to be a part of. I'm new at it, but I'm catching on as fast as the fire hose can spew the information at me. I'm drinking from Pilot, CNC, Alacrity, Crawford, E.A. Renfroe, Eberls, Pacesetter, Custard, MD Claims, Best Claims, and about a dozen smaller firms who have me either onboarded already, or they have my number and we text at least on a weekly basis. We stay in touch. When the big storms hit, they start calling, texting, reaching out, and trying to woo as many as they can. They put on their best smiles, offer what their carriers are allowing, and they hope to get as many experienced folks as they possibly can; but with that mix comes the newbies!! That's me. I'm a coat-hanger-oner. I don't mind saying it. I will be flushed into the industry with the first big pull.

    How can I say that? Well, I pray about it of course! Doesn't everyone ask God to put their name where He wants it to be? I do. I've also gone the extra mile, and I've purchased reciprocal state licenses for property and casualty adjusting in literally 9 other states besides my home state of Oklahoma. I was told by an HR manager at a larger I.A. (Independent Adjuster) firm that State Farm prefers people to have at least six state licenses, and they would really like for a person to have at least 10. Ten has a majestic ring to it I guess because that's the magic number that State Farm has decided is the cut-off for paying an extra $2.00 an hour over and above the standard rate for the deployment; that's a big deal. If the pay is $24/hour, the extra $2.00 is an 8% raise. That's not a bad thing. When you factor in the overtime, it gets even better. Most deployment desk adjusters work 6 or 7 days a week, and either 10 or 12 hours a day. There's going to be overtime. I'll take it.

    Some deployments pay more. Some deployments pay for less time. The average is almost guaranteed for 90-120 days, and no less than $24/hr  (the $2.00 up pay for those who have 10 states under their belt.) I'll reach out eventually and get more, but for now, the ones I have will be just fine. I'm licensed in: OK, TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, KY, WV, NM, and MI.  All in all, I'd say I've spent about $800 in licensees, fees, fingerprints, and filing.  Once the $2.00 up fee kicks in that's about 2 maybe 3 weeks of regular pay to make up that money; gotta love that. I'm loving that. I'll pay a little extra to guarantee a lot extra. It only makes sense to do so. Besides, it shows the agencies and the carriers that you give a damn, and you're willing to invest in yourself.

    As Hurricane Season continues throughout the summer months, and we're all just standing around waiting, I'm also training online with several agencies to learn the ropes from either their specific point of view, or I watch generalized videos to teach me how to measure a room correctly, what the different roof types are, and how to put a car together piece by piece in my head so I can identify the parts of it that have been damaged by hail or collision. To say it's been interesting is such an understatement.  I can't see how anyone can claim to be bored if they don't know how to do these things. If you think you're bored, pull out a notebook and watch a few AdjusterTV podcasts!! Check out the training modules on Alacrity, Pilot, or some State Farm certification modules for either property estimatics or auto parts. No one can remain bored for too long when they set their mind to learning. No one. It's the lazy person maybe, who doesn't see the light at the end of the tunnel before they get hit by Reality's train!

    I say I'm licensed in 10 states. There are at least a dozen that you don't need a license to work in, and there are four that you really can't get too excited about because they make it too hard to obtain one. That would be California, Hawaii, New York, and the DC area. I think Puerto Rico may be that way as well. I'll just stick with the ones I have, and slowly add the others. When it's all said and done, I'll be licensed in as many states as I can be; and I'll be really busy. During the "off" season, I can always call up the insurance companies in the other states I'm licensed in and do estimates from my desk at home or wherever I may choose to be. I can work collision, light wind and hail, and/or theft and vandalism. I can do it all from the comfort of my home or like I said, wherever I happen to be. I may have to adjust for the time zones if I'm hanging out in the Scottish Borders, but I'm OK with that; really, I am.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

MURDER BOOK - 60% Finished

     There it is! I'm almost 2/3 finished with the book. I'm at 60%, and by this time tomorrow probably, I'll pass the threshold for the 2/3 mark, and be somewhere past the point of no return. Who am I kidding? I am so past that point now. This is a ride, and I love it.

   The Murder Book has a mind of its own really. I'll sit myself down, and bullet point what it is that I'm going to say in the book's next chapter, and before I know it, I'm not even looking at my notes. My hands are flying, my fingers hitting the keys and making so many bad mistakes! Oh my gosh, when I type quickly there are big fat boo-boos!!  I use the wrong words, I drop words that need to be there; words like "not" and "now". Believe me, they do matter. I have to go back after I've written each chapter, before I save the document, to both correct my spelling and go over each sentence to see if I had written it as a quote when I should have, or if I had used quotes at all? I find it frustrating, to say the least, but it's OK, it's all part of the process. It is. I promise.

    I have written two chapters today, one yesterday, and I'm right at 45,000 words now. With my last book as a gauge of sorts, I've decided that 80,000-90,000 words will be about the right size. If I can say the things I want to say, get the full story told in a bit less, I'll do it, but not less than 75,000. No way. I'm going to have this book measured at 7x4 rather than 6x9, and if they'll let me, I'll go back and change "Of Kilted Pleasure" to be a 7x4 book as well. I just don't like the bigger book. I don't really like any book size for myself really, I read everything on my Kindle, but that's another story. I will have both books in E-book form soon. I just have to get them uploaded correctly.  You can't just upload it, you have to have a PDF turned into an E-Pub format, and I'm not up on that tech yet. I will be, again, I promise.

So, the hero is making his way through Edinburgh, a place he hadn't been to in over 10 years. He's finding much has remained the same, a few things have changed as well. He's not as apt to try new things as he was as a younger man, and he's also finding out that murder is a bad business; no matter what side of the pond one is on. Eoghan, or the new guy, is stretching his wings and becoming a faithful and good friend to Posh. Theirs will be a long-lasting bond; perhaps deeper and more meaningful than the war buddy Posh fondly refers to; Ferguson, or Fergy.

    It's toning up and taking shape. I have to get around to talking about Nick's father's murder soon; it will be discussed in this book, and pursued in another. I am purposely creating threads that will weave in and out of the various books in the series. The purpose of the series is not to tell one story in one book, then go to the next, but to keep the thing rolling. It will make sense when you dig into it. I don't want to say "I promise" again, but I do.

    Writing the way I'm writing, I'll probably finish the book in a couple of weeks, and then start the tweaking, fluffing, and stuffing. By that time, I'm hoping to be either employed or closer to it. I'm on stand-by now, we're all just sort of waiting for the hurricanes to hit so we can be deployed from our desks at home. It sounds funny when you say that, but it's called a deployment because you're working for one company under a contract for an indefinite period of time, and they provide the software and equipment you use. You are in a sense, their employee even if you're (me) a 1099 with an EIN. You work for them while you're deployed. They take out your taxes. If you get the experience and go out on your own, you use the EIN and take out your own taxes. You can more or less dictate your income at that point; I am not at that point. 

    OK, well, gotta run. I'll keep you posted as I go, and at the end, I'll tell you I'm there, and we can start the fluff and stuff and get a full count of words. I'll certainly go through it 12x at least, looking for mistakes, grammar issues, and more. I wrote to Tony Broonford today, shooting him a copy of Chapter 22 to see if I had made any big blunders in the theatre scenes. He said I was good to go!! Woot!! I'll take his expert word for it, and keep moving. The building of the King's Theatre plays a significant role in the book - - I wanted to make sure I got it right!

Photo Credit: Pinterest

    

    

Diet, Diet, on the Wall -- Whose the Determined One After All?

 With willpower the strength and size of Mt. Rushmore, I have always been able to do exactly what I have challenged myself to do, but then there comes that moment when I no longer have the intention of doing it, and there it goes! Plunk! I'm talking about my weight. I have been struggling with it for years, and I have been both battling it and living with it for years. I'm not obese, but I am so not fit. I am not even going for "thin", I'm going for "fit" or "healthy".  I guess, in real terms I'm still considered "healthy" but then people like to add that incredulous end of the sentence "for your age". FUCK THAT...sorry, did I say that too loudly? I meant to whisper it under my breath.

    What I'm talking about is the way I've gained back nearly every pound I lost last year or the year before, I can't remember, but I do know that the size Medium t-shirts that I have been rotating back into my dresser (I have too many t-shirts) don't fit! I have to continue wearing size large, and no, that doesn't make me happy. I have about 20 pairs of leggings that I wore two years ago and this year for summer wear, as well as shorts, again, medium, but not now! Nope! I won't even think about it because I don't want to come off being that gal with the two bulldogs in her back pockets who seem to be fighting one another. It's not going to happen. I'm going to have to do some real exercise again. You have to. You can't let it slack off, because when you do, you get the meat packed on again. I do, anyway.

    There are so many videos out there claiming that you don't need to do cardio to stay fit. Sorry, not listening to them. When I stop working out, I get fat. It's a simple thing, really. I have never been a gym rat, but I do believe in keeping it all moving. I can do wall pilates, and I can do floor and bed yoga to stretch. Bed yoga is amazing, you can really dig deep into the mattress to unhinge the hips.  Watch a few YouTube videos on that one. Doga is good, that's when you do your floor yoga but a dog finds you and decides to help.  I do that as often as possible. I used to have a Bassett Hound at my disposal, and I could bend over, lift 50 pounds, move it, and repeat that particular move over and over again. Ginger is only 17 pounds, so there's the lighter version of that now. 

    For the most part, the diet will consist of just the good stuff and all the "white" stuff will no longer be allowed into the shopping cart with the exception (there are always exceptions) of mozzarella cheese, cauliflower, and Greek yogurt for sure. I'm thinking there may be other whites that find their way to my house, I don't live alone. I'm the one in charge of buying MY groceries. I have no one else to blame when I pick up Grands biscuits, rolls, potatoes, pasta, bread, and sweet things such as cakes or cookies. Not now. That ends. I have to let my gut know who's in charge, and right now, today, as of this moment, the controller is in my hands, not my gut's hands - - which would be really weird if my gut had hands.

    Why now? Well, it had to do with picking out a T-shirt today and putting the leggings back into the drawer. Then, after consideration, I realized that for the next month or so I won't be wearing the leggings, so I put them back into the closet in the box from whence I brought them out to be reintroduced. I rotate my clothes so that I can actually use them all; since I paid good money for them. However, NOT NOW, because I won't be that woman who wears too tight of clothing out in public. Maybe others will be, but I am not them. I am me. I don't do it, so that's the reason. I simply can't stand the feeling of being over the limit. 

    My good friend Robin and I have also made a plan (or twelve) to visit Scotland late in the summer of 2024; so that we can have an entire year to both get our bodies in shape as well as our finances. We don't want to make a meager thing of it. We want to do the thing right. I don't think she's been to Scotland; she's been to other parts of Europe that I've not been to, but this will be my chance to be her tour guide. I think after 57 years of being good friends she'll let me take the reins. Speaking of reins, she is a horsewoman as I am, but she still owns about 10. She may have to rethink that as well. We're just getting to the age where we may want more freedom so we can travel about, and be able to plan for when we're not working full time. Horses have a way of eating up (literally) every spare penny you can muster up for them.

    I share a flat with my daughter, so I can't very well go into the fridge and start pulling things out of it; but I won't buy anything that will not be beneficial for me either. If she wants to buy it she can, and she can even keep it in her room unless it has to be refrigerated, of course. She's really good about not shoving things in my face when I need to diet. Good kid, that she is. I raised her correctly. Actually, the Kudos go to God, He was there the entire time.  She's also getting back into better shape as well. It's what we do after we realize we've been slacking off a bit. Neither she nor I don bathing suits to go swimming, so it's not that. We just either don't fit in our favorite shorts, or we see ourselves when we stand to the side in the mirror and do that audible gasping thing where we freak out over the sight of ourselves! Do you ever do that? Let me just say, it's not fun.

    I don't think I'll do the whole recording of what I eat online this time. I will continue to write it down in a notebook at home and be as diligent as I possibly can be. I substitute nuts and seeds for candy; substitute lemon water for fizzy water, which in itself isn't bad, but I think maybe it's slowing the process somehow. I could be wrong. I may be wrong, but I know straight water with lemon or lime is better, so we're going with that. I drink about 100 ounces of water a day. I also take what I call "poopy pills", but it's just psyllium husk pills. Good stuff. They work.  

    I don't have a scale to weigh myself. I don't do numbers really. I do sizes and feelings. If I look in the mirror and gasp, or if I find myself NOT looking in the mirror intentionally, I know I have to do something. It is what it is. You may or may not agree with me. That's OK, I'm not here to please anyone. I'm not here to agree with anyone. I'm not here to give advice to anyone. I'm just writing out my plan and my life events so when my grandkids decide to read these things later in their lives they'll know why Gramma said no to the ice cream but yes to the grapes. They can have ice cream, there's no way I'm saying no to that...as long as they run around like crazies afterward...which they do.

    Viva la future me!!  I'll keep you posted. 

Photo Credit: Food with Feeling

    

"Things Change So Quickly Around Here" - Dorothy Gale

 Maybe just minutes after completing the last blog about how things start out, work, and progress within the independent claims adjuster world, I was privileged to see things progress quite nicely, and quite rapidly! I'll explain.

    I was writing a blog about how some captive companies want to hire someone to do their work, but they want them to have experience before they hire them. This makes tremendous sense, it really does. No one, including myself, would argue that hiring someone to do work you need to be done would be better served; you hire people who have the experience to do what is required. EXCEPT...you can't always get this accomplished in the world of independent adjusters. Let me explain further.

    XYZ company puts out an ad saying they are hiring, and they want you to have 2+ years of experience before you can expect to be hired. They also say or claim that a fair amount of education may make up for the required experience of on-the-job training. There you go, I have a Ph.D., I'm pretty sure that's going to take me places. Nope, not really. The company still wants me to have over 2 years of experience before they hire me, but they felt it was only polite to interview me to see if I would fit in with their program.  OK, I can live with that, but did they even stop to think that a person with a higher degree may or may not accept the money they are willing to offer in terms of salary and compensation? Few of us do. We don't need to accept less because we have put in the years.

    As an independent adjuster, I can choose to (a) work for myself as a 1099, and have an EIN for taxes (which I do have) (b) work for a company as a staffer and be a W2 work fewer hours, make less money, but the benefits are good, and there are perks in that you can usually have weekends off and not work past a certain hour of the day. (c) you can work for a company as a captive 1099, still needing the EIN, but you can only work for that company. There are companies who have you work W2 for them during an event, a CAT, or catastrophic event such as a tornado, hail, hurricane, or wildfire; they pay your taxes, and usually, have you sign a contract saying you'll only work for them during this deployment or job, and you tend to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. Sounds rough, but at a VERY minimum of $24/hour for someone with ZERO experience (but you do need to be licensed) the newbie is bringing home about $2000 a week after taxes. That's serious money.

    Immediately following my last blog, the one where I was saying that the company wanted me as a staffer but wanted me to have more time in, and they wanted to only pay me $55K a year; something I would consider if working 7 hours a day and only 5 days a week; I got another phone call. The second call was not an interview, as I had already signed up with them as an independent adjuster. You see, when you get more licenses they know it automatically, as they have an AI bot that updates your file. When you hit 6 state licenses including your home state license, these companies begin to sit up and pay more attention. I added Alabama today to my list of licenses and that popped me up to 6. I got a call IMMEDIATELY from a group that exclusively works with State Farm. They wanted to put me on Stand By and ask me to take the Estimatics test for certification. OK. They even sent me the study guides. Thank you.

    While talking to the lady who put me on Stand By status, she let me know that if I had 10 licenses State Farm pays $26/hour rather than $24. What? That's an additional $2 x 40 hours = 0r $80 plus $3 x 44 hours = 132 so $212 a week more just for having 10 licenses. I can do that. I added New Mexico and Michigan today, and had I known that she wanted me to have 10, I would not have added Alabama, but I would have opted for Kentucky and West Virginia, as combined they are the same cost as Alabama. Ding and Dang! You learn as you go.  This time next week, I'll have 10 states. Currently, it's 8.  Now, that being said, there are 16 states you don't need a license to work in, and a person can't easily come by Hawaii, California, or New York. Just sayin'

    I am now officially on Stand By and will be called to the assignment or "deployment" rather soon. Before I am, I'll have 10 states under licensure, and be paid $26/hour minimum. If the deployment allows it, I could be paid more. After the deployment, after I have racked up a bit of experience, I'll be paid $28-30 an hour plus time and a half.  After a full year of deployment or experience following a good deployment, I can demand or expect to be paid $33 an hour as a minimum. It's not lawyer or doctor money, but I'm doing this from my house, in my jammies, eating when and what I want, not being responsible for someone's life, or any other major stressors. I'm able to work a deployment then take off 6 months and write. I can travel. I can travel and do the job from wherever I am! That's INDEPENDENT folks. That's the ticket I'm going for.

    I don't mind being hired as a staffer if someone wants to do that. I'm good with taking the time to learn, but if I'm hired as a deployed remote desk adjuster and they are willing to train me, I'm in for that as well. I just have to put my life on hold for the summer and possibly the autumn months. Then again, I have AC and I've got plenty of options as far as my wardrobe is concerned. THANK YOU, Jesus. I am really pretty excited about the whole thing  -- who knew? I certainly didn't. I do now, and I'm not going back to "regular" work again. Nope. Not doing it.

Photo Credit: Marketplace.com

Silly Decisions Some Make

 Without going into so much detail about the in's and out's of independent claims adjusters, how they work, what they do, what they can expect to be paid for doing it, and so forth, I will say that I come across those who just don't understand the game -- but they are the EMPLOYERS; they should know better.

    Independent Claims Adjusters are just that; we are claims adjusters who have for reasons of our own, decided to be independent rather than captive. Captive can be good if it pays well, the hours are good, and the employer isn't hanging over your shoulder to be sure you're actually working.  The truth of the matter is, most adjusters are either remote or field, not in-house or staff, and they work - - ready for it? INDEPENDENTLY...on their own. They don't need someone reminding them what it is they are supposed to be doing.

    That being said, no one is first an independent without first being trained. How do you get properly trained if everyone wants you to have experience before you start? Good (no, great) question. Here's the answer; there are literally dozens of companies who will hire people fresh out of the gate but usually during CAT or catastrophic events such as big storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, wind and hail, etc. Once they hire someone who doesn't have the experience another company would prefer, the hiring company uses these folks as the undercoat for their experienced adjusters. It's a harder harsh way of being trained perhaps because the hours are extreme, but the fact is, people will and do hire inexperienced people, train them, and then either release them due to lack of work, or the person themselves will leave and find a company paying a steady-eddy salary with less hours and less micromanagement - - until the next CAT season!

    See, with CAT seasons, a person can make upwards of $34 an hour, to begin with and then another time and a half after the first 40 hours. Most CAT employees (at least the adjusters) work 72-84 hours a week. The money begins to stack up rather quickly. Do the steady-eddy captive sorts really, in their WILDEST dreams, think that an independent will remain captive when CAT comes? Not going to happen, unless they can negotiate a better salary, more time off, etc. You've got TPA or third-party admins now offering 15-18 days of Paid Time Off, holiday pay, etc, but they still pay about $50-55K a year; which won't touch what 1099 independent can make. There are independents, and many of them, clearing over $200K a year. Who in their right mind would think that person will remain with them as a captive? 

    I just had an interview, not 15 minutes ago, with a captive company wanting to pay me $55K and they had the withal to explain to me that they really needed someone with more actual experience. Well, OK. I agreed. They probably do NEED and WANT that, but it comes at a hefty price tag. The person they'll find and put into that slot will be someone who lied about their experience on their resume so they can be hired. When they get the job they'll claim they were trained a completely different way, but hey, they're willing to be trained the company way...of course, they are; they have NO experience.   When they get it, say in 6-8 months, they'll leave and work for the first CAT opportunity that comes along or they'll choose to find a company that pays more for the 8 months experience they have. Simple facts.

    Anyway, I was cordial. I was kind. I asked specifically what they were looking for, and they told me, and I explained I wasn't qualified at this time. I did however, take the opportunity to briefly explain why it is that they will likely find someone who lied, train them, pour money, time, and effort as well as hope and trust into that person, only to have them leave even as soon as September when CAT season is in full swing. Or, I explained, they can hire me, and I'll stay. I don't need as much as others want and/or think they need. I was raised by a woman who felt that ethics and loyalty were valued measurements of a person's character. We'll see what they choose. I'm 99% sure they'll fall flat, but hey, I did try to warn them.

    If you don't know about CAT seasons and independent adjusters, you may want to check it out. I'm currently licensed in 5 states, and about to get another one soon. I may not have it all yet, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I'll be hired as soon as the first real CAT hits - - so why would I want to jump ship then and go back to work for the people who (a) didn't have the insight to hire me in the first place (b) wanted to treat me as if I had little to no experience (c) would only give me $55K a year (albeit the bennies are good)?  The answer? I don't need a lot of money, I prefer 8a-5p work, M-F, and I want to say I have a job, this is what I do. I could use the extra hours to write books!  

    Some people are silly, I suppose. They'll learn. It really is  ONLY a matter of time.

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MURDER BOOK: Coming Along Just Fine. Chapter 20

 I would only say that the book is coming along "swimmingly" if one or the other of the characters had been tossed overboard or something. I like doing that sort of thing. To be honest, the last couple of chapters have been dealing with personal and physical situations. I'm in the middle, which is where you would typically find the start of the climax of the book. My book, like all other thriller and detective books, will have an apt amount of killing, solving, sensual women doing crazy things to get a lighter sentence, and you know, the dog. There has to be a dog. I always have a dog in my books. There is one in this one as well. His name is "Keeper" and he's a little Jack Russell Terrier. Maybe someday I'll have a character actually adopt one or buy one, but so far both dogs in my two fiction novels have been found.

    Last night I finished the mid-way point, and this morning I sat myself down with a notebook (and a real pen) and I bullet-pointed the next steps that would be taken by the characters in my book. I even penned the fact that one of them will die, and how he would die. It's sad really because now I'm over here writing about him, giving him things to say, do, and investigate, only to know that he'll end up on the wrong side of a bullet toward the end of the book. No, I'm not going to tell you who dies!! That would be crazy. He is a nice man, though, and he doesn't die in vain. I'll let you in on that right now. His murder will be avenged and his life celebrated.

    In the chapters I wrote today I knew I would need to be a bit creative and throw in the obligatory sex scenes. I didn't want to be too graphic or toxic, this being a 1930s-style typical Dick Tracy type of book; think Perry Mason level of naughty.  I do go into a tiny bit of detail, but I purposely let the readers form their own thoughts, giving them enough to do so. There is a murder in this chapter, a brutal killing, and cover-up. There will be clues in the next chapter and the one after that.  It's time to bring the pot to a boil and let it stew momentarily while we add the pasta!

    Maybe I'll write a book using a bunch of cooking analyses. That could be fun. The sex scenes would involve dripping honey and maybe some strategically placed peanut butter; I don't know. We could use foaming dishwashing detergent to clean the whole thing up and to tidy up the place before the owners came back to realize their kitchen had been the scene of a murder and romp-around! Now I'm thinking about flaked coconut and where I might want to hang a ring of pineapple. Stop!

    This book, the one I'm writing now, has been really fun so far.  I'm on Chapter 21, I think I'll end up with 14 more chapters if I'm honest with myself. With each having about 1800-2200 words, we can take an average of 2100 and multiply that by 35, so, 73,500 words? That's not going to be quite enough. I'll need to fluff and stuff a bit more. I'll do that when I'm completely finished. I'm just really wanting to get the skeleton onto the pages at this point. I will say that I had a good time bullet-pointing the book out to the finish today.

    The dog and I sat in the big chair with coffee, and I put literal bullet points on the pages of the notebook so I could see what the next events would be to take place. It's up to me to put them in order, put them together, get them sorted, add this or that to them, and figure out the dialogue. There's a bit more dialogue going on in this book too. I have caught myself doing that. I don't mind, I really don't. I think it helps people understand what folks are thinking, they need to say it. I make them say it.

    OK, next chapters.  The man I just killed will be disposed of, found, and his killer will be tracked and caught. I won't tell you what happens when that happens. Then there will be a plea deal, a bargaining chip, and others will be sought. Aside from the main three murders that take place, there is a side murder (two) that keeps Scotland Yard jumping. That will need to be sorted. Hogmanay will be planned, as will Christmas and all the trappings that come with the season!

I really like this book. I do. I think it will be a great find, as well as a good gift for someone to give to another murder-book friend; I have a couple. Both of my murder book people are asking to read the book, but I'm not allowing it this time. I want it to be completely done before they get their eyes on it. It won't be published yet, because I do need them to go over the grammar, and spelling issues, and anything they think may add flavor. I just don't want them to jump the gun and figure out what I'm going to do in the end - - it's theatrical! I'll say that.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com  (Candlemaker's Row)

    

MURDER BOOK (Half Way There) Chapter 19

 I am telling you what!! You just don't know your characters until they do something that both shocks you and makes you laugh.  There I am, writing, and thinking this book needs a bit of umpf, when out of the blue, my main character ends up bedding his new partner's mother!! WHAT? It's OK, don't freak out, I don't go into any real sexual details.  The main character is about 40 years old, and the partner is about 32, or so, his mom was young when she had him, so she's only 10 years older than the man she finds irresistible.  He is irresistible, c'mon, he's Nick Posh!! Who wouldn't be attracted to a man with Native American and Scottish blood running through his veins? I know I would be attracted...which may be one reason why he's my main character in the next 20+ books I'm writing. No brainer.

    There we have it, there is something going on in the book that may interest and keep a few readers. The book is about murder, I get it, but you can't have a good book without interesting subjects, interesting people, good food, you know, the whole enchilada. Come to think of it, maybe Nick will make enchiladas for his Scottish friends since he was born and raised in the Southwest! Yeah, I can do that. Right now the two men are fussing over the book itself. It has the names in it of the people who were killed and the names of the people who will be killed. Nick hasn't found the connection yet to tie the author of the book in with who the murderer(s) are yet, but it's only halfway written. I have an entire fiasco to go!

    Writing can be both exciting and entertaining. I find that when I'm writing I'm not looking at the clock, I'm not really eating like I should be. I stop in the middle of it and take a shower, walk the dog, go to the store, and then I don't even remember where I was, so I start reading the last several pages only to surprise myself. I have no idea what I'm putting on the pages half the time until I go back and read it. There's a suction from my brain to my fingers and my eyes and mind don't get to see it or read it until I put the brakes down a bit and go back over the last few pages. I also read and re-read the notes I write to be sure I'm hitting on them, and adding them into he mix. I do forget to do that, and then the great notes I really thought I had to have in the book end up being ready for the sequel.

    All that being said, it's time to walk the dog and get the kitchen clean again so I can make something for dinner. I've decided to eat today. After I do that I'll likely read another Sherlock Holmes story or two in order to release the points in my brain that want to do something monotonous and boring. I need the enlightenment of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to rescue me. He has no idea how influential he can be.  I wonder now if I'll ever get around to telling Eoghan that his mum and his employer and partner had a thing. I don't think they'll have another, I think it was just a thing they did and have between them. Telling Eoghan could upset him, and even cause a rip between himself and Posh. Best perhaps to let adults be adults and not involve the kids - - yeah, he doesn't need to know. 

    Here is a sample of that chapter: 

"A tinge of awkward embarrassment rushed through the dark pigment of the man’s face, burning only slightly down the back of his neck as he allowed his mind to imagine a thought.  What would it be like to take the mother of his new partner only meters away from the man she had birthed? A man Posh had come to admire and even trust over the few weeks they had known one another. Posh wasn’t sure if his mind could imagine the right superlative to address the stage Queen, but she deserved a response." 

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MURDER BOOK (Chapters Flying)

 I'm taking a wee break before I get back to writing, and I have to say, this book is not going to be the same type, style, or even size as the last one.  I am still going to have the publisher print the book in size 12 font because I think people should be able to read the words without squinting. Maybe that's just me, but I am all but not going back to reading book books, physical books, because the font is set at 11, and where that may seem like only a bit smaller than 12, which is it, it's monumental to me. I can read 12 without issues. I just can't focus on the line I need to be focusing on when I read something smaller. OK, yeah, so it's just me.

    I am on Chapter 15. If you read yesterday's blog you know I was on Chapter 12 when all hell broke out at my house after the computer ate my work. I had put in over 6000 words and the damn thing just stopped working and ate my manuscript. I had the OLD manuscript saved and I had been saving my work as I went along, but NOPE, it was gone. I thought I was going to have a conniption. I really did. God prevailed, and I found the other words just sort of hanging out in a file where they should not have been. I have zero clue as to how it happened, but I quickly copied and pasted them into a new document and then I saved that document a few times. That was incredibly scary and I hope I never have that happen to me again.

    Today is a new day. I've written another three chapters today, and am about to write Chapter 15 soon. I have 90 written pages at this point, but by 90 it is closer to about 150 in the actual book. The pages online are bigger. I think I did the math once and it was like 310-320 words per page when I'm typing them, but when they get sent off to be formatted, there are about 240-260 words per page, and that's a 9x6 page; it may be that there are fewer words on the other sizes of books. I don't want this book, the Murder Book, to be a 9x6. I want it to be a regular-sized book. In fact, when I send off the manuscript of "Of Kilted Pleasure" to be redone, I think I'll have it done in a smaller-sized book as well. I have NO clue why I agreed to the 9x6 for it. Now, I need to go measure the books I like so I can see what size my book will be. I'll be right back.

    Now, I know. The books I buy, or the ones I used to buy, that are murder or mystery-type books are either 7.5 x4, or they are 8x5.  I like either of those better than 9x6. I just can't understand why I would have succumbed to the thinking that a 9x6 book would be OK. It's just not. I don't like it. I pick up my book to read it and say NOPE...I don't like it. The problems an author must face. I know, they are so very very trivial, and I need to not be so bothered. I just think, and now I know, that I prefer the 7x4 size and 12 font.  It may end up being a 400-page book, but John Grisham does that all the time. If it's good enough for John, it's good enough for me.

    Chapter 15 will be really cool. I'm about to introduce the actual book which gives my book the title of "Murder Book".  It is a book about a detective solving a few murders, but there is an actual book where the prominent murders are listed and there are some that haven't happened yet. Oh no! I'm giving it all away. It's OK, even if someone steals my idea I have more. I am never without a good story. The fact that this book will have to wait until I'm flush money-wise (again) sort of makes me sad, but then again, it gives me the chance to go through it a number of times to be sure I've corrected all mistakes, big and small, fat and thin, pretty and ugly. I have to say, this time, I am taking it upon myself to be a bit more attentive in the initial writing stage(s) and I'm finding that I'm fluffing and stuffing more up front too. When I do go through the thing I won't be adding too terribly much.

    Right now the character of Eoghan MacRae, a Scottish singer and songwriter, who has been faulted by his wife, and is about to be fired by his employer, is privately asking himself boundary questions which he'll have to come to grips with either before the end of this book, or at the beginning of the next. He'll end up being a sort of side-kick and pseudo detective in these books; maybe one day he'll even go so far as to get his license and put his name on the door. Nick doesn't even have a door at this point. He travels and is loaned out quite often. Not one to settle down too quickly, Posh finds the love of his yester-life is available again. He may have a second chance. That may be at the end of this book or the beginning of the next.

    The good news is, I'm on Chapter 15!  I will write another two today probably, and another 3 or 4 chapters tomorrow. I'll be at least 1/2 way through by this time tomorrow, and I'll know more about what will end up in this book and what will be carried over - - I think the murders have stopped in this one now, and now it's all about the disposals, the reasoning, the clues, and the gusto it takes to step out of ones comfort zones to make things click!  (Oh, and there's a really cute dog in this one too. Really cute.) 

Bye!!

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