One More Detour on the Writing Road

A few days ago, I lost a right-hand glove. It wasn't expensive, but it was just the right amount of flexible vs padded and was easy to slip on and off.

Thing is, I was sure I had been wearing it when I drove home. Which meant that I lost it somewhere in the garage/house/car devil's triangle. But I looked everywhere—I checked under the front seats, the floor. The shopping bags. My handbag. All my coat pockets. The pockets of coats I had not worn.
I then drove to the last store I had visited and checked around the spot I parked, then went inside and asked if anyone had turned in a glove. Nope.

Drove home. Gave glove up for lost, but set aside its partner just in case because devil's triangle.
Yesterday, different gloves. I needed to check my phone, so I did what I always do—I slipped off the right one and tucked it under my left arm. Did phone stuff. Moved around in my seat—as I did, the glove slipped out of place and fell between the seat and the door. Dug it out, then squinted into the dark space, and oh look.

Let us recall that I had entered and exited the car several times over the course of the last several days and did not see that glove.

Devil's triangle. I'm telling you.

I keep meaning to come back here and post more often, but then I don't. Given how much I miss the old LJ, I really should make more of an effort. The-place-formerly-designated-by-a-blue-bird is trash and while its clones have their strong points, I'm finding the same issues that made TPFDBABB a pit are bubbling up more frequently. Better to spend more time in a quiet tidal pool instead of storm seas.

I'm also trying to center my website more, for all it needs a revamp. WIP snippets (wippets?) will be posted there instead of FB etc because ownership, AI training, etc. I found out that a couple of my books were used to train at least one AI engine and while it may be way too late to close that barn door, oh well. Gonna try to do it anyway.

Anyway, it's a grey, cold day here in NE Illinois. After having gone walkabout for most of the year, Winter has decided it wants to hang around a bit. Of course, the daffs have formed big buds, the crocuses and hellebore are blooming, and the pussy willow catkins are opening, so nights in the 20s (F) are just what we need right now. I'm especially concerned about the pussy willows because they usually bloom a few weeks later and are the first thing the bees and butterflies have to feed on. But now it's too cold.

Oh well, time to wrap up tax prep. Other things to do. Off I go...

Everything has imported from LJ according to DW, so I am here now. I won't be crossposting over there, and am working up the nerve to delete what's left behind. Feels strange, because I was there for so long.

An unseasonably warm weekend--high 60s yesterday and 70s today. Grass is greening fast. I spread the corn gluten fertilizer/weed suppressant yesterday, and am hoping that I see some improvement in the creeping Charlie control in the backyard. It's going to take a few years to hit the 80% control level that organic stuff usually reaches, but this is Year 2 and so I am hoping.

First daffodils opened today. They'll pick up as the crocuses wind down. It's supposed to drop back to the 50s for a few days, but I don't really mind. As long as the trend is up.

Still in a post-con mindset, catching up on emails and wondering what I missed. Working on Alex Gordon interview questions, LAW OF SURVIVAL prep, counting down to the JERICHO release, and pondering new work. I need to fit taxes in there somewhere. And oh look, it’s already mid-February.

Capricon was fun. Saw a few folks I hadn’t talked to in years, and met some folks I had to that point known only online. The panels went well, too, with much good discussion about the purposes of SF (should it be predictive, or extrapolation, or commentary, or AOTA*), and about new technologies that may help overcome antibiotic resistance.

The con weekend did start out rocky on Friday morning when I rushed out to the car only to find one of my month-old tires had gone flat. Tried to fill it using my little garage compressor, but no go. Luckily, the tire place was on the way–they took the car right in, and fixed the tire. Turns out that I had run over a leveling bolt from a stove or refrigerator. Yup, hit it just right. So yes, the tire was fixed, and I made it to the con with 20 minutes to spare. But it irks me that my BRAND NEW TIRE already has a patch.

Next up–C2E2! Alex Gordon me has a panel; I’ll post all the info when I have it.

Cold and quiet outside today. Gaby is at the vet’s getting her teeth cleaned, so I’ll take advantage of the stillness and get an early start on work….

*All Of The Above

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Damn, but it’s been a while.

Almost a year since I retired from the day job, and I don’t miss it a bit. I’ve been dealing with house repairs, though not as quickly as I would like. The worst job, going through all the worldly goods and disposing of what I no longer want or need, has been a slow go. I did get rid of a mess o’ unwanted weed killer, non-organic lawn care stuff, and acrylic paint a couple of months ago, but clothes, books, collectibles, furniture and assorted junk remain unsorted. Last summer I said I would do it during the winter, and during the winter I said I would attack it in the spring. Now, July is winding down. I did schedule some decks repairs–the guy who started the work last fall never finished and wouldn’t return my calls, so I needed to find someone else. That contractor will also be doing some work on my cupboards so I can finally get a dishwasher installed, which will be cause for much excitement in the realm.

As for the junk, it will get sorted. It has to. But I’m not looking forward to it.

Seven years today since my mom passed. I am not an anniversary/memorial person as a rule, for whatever that says about me. But today I had to do a lot of running around in the area around the hospital where mom was treated and the hospice in which she passed, and it got to me. Memories of driving from hospital to hospital to pick up records or to restaurants to pick up treats that she said she wanted and then wouldn’t eat–the spirit was willing, but the appetite was no longer there.

A restless day.

No updates concerning Jani e-bbok conversions. I thought I had something set up, but that may have fallen through. I may need to simply buckle down and do it myself.

Currently playing in the background is an old episode of Rick Steve’s Europe. Tuscany and Umbria. So gorgeous.

Someday….

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

The snow’s started, fine crystals that will fall through the night. Just a few hours left in 2013.

It was a year. I lost King. Retired from the day job. Pondered and planned. Hit some speed bumps. Struggled to adjust to having All The Time In The World, because it seemed to zip past even more quickly than it did when I didn’t. Lollygagged a little too much–I need to stop that. I’ve heard from several writers that it takes a year to adjust to being a full-timer, and I believe it. So that’s one big item on the 2014 agenda. Adjust.

I cannot complain. I’m very lucky that I was able to do what I’ve done. In the coming year, I need to make the most of the opportunity. Push myself. Take chances.

I hope you all get the chance to do something you always wanted to do. Have a plan come to fruition. Take that first step down a winding, overgrown path, one that doesn’t get a lot of traffic.

To the new year!

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

I am in you.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

A subset of “they know when you have money.”

I had a feeling this was going to happen. Sometimes, you just know.

Primary laptop was a late 2007 MacBook. It had topped out wrt some software updates–couldn’t run the latest OS, struggled with Firefox and every other browser, frankly. Labored when running even a short video.

First kernel panic–the Mac version of “Dive! Dive!”–occurred about 10 days ago, resulting in a frozen system requiring a cold boot. Second kp occurred the day before yesterday. Third one occurred yesterday. Notice the pattern? Yeah, me too.

Suffice to say, I really, really, REALLY needed a reliable system, esp for the next week.

2am, I am 1) hunting for my ancient PowerBook to make sure it still worked, and 2) making an appt with the Genius Bar to check MacBook. Not all kps are system-related–sometimes, peripherals/network problems are the issue. But I wanted to make sure.

Long story short. Hardware issue. Could it be fixed? Probably. Do I have time to deal with this now? NO.

In addition, I learned that I can no longer read MacMail on my PowerBook because the OS is so old that it no longer works with current software. Plus, it had issues in the past that techs suspected were related to a motherboard nearing the end of its life.

So.

I am soon to be the somewhat relieved owner of a 13″ MacAir. Solid state. I will pick it up either this evening or first thing tomorrow, with all the stuff from the MacBook ported over. When I have time, MacBook will be repaired. It’s still a decent system, but the internet is passing it by.

The sweet young things at the Apple Store goggled over the PowerBook. “Wow, look–it has a place for a phone jack.”

Meanwhile, funny smell emanating from under hood of car. No smoke. No dash lights. No apparent leaking. Taking it to the shop for a check on Monday morning, but I have a little bit of driving to do between now and then. Suffice to say that I really didn’t need this now, either.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Vacay day day. IT STOPPED RAINING! Took Gaby for a walk, which consisted of her sniffing and marking and sniffing some more because the ground has released All The Smells thanks to the rain and the thaw. Saturday errands–groceries, etc–will be run today. Soon. In the next few minutes, in fact.

2.3 inches of rain over the last 2-3 days, according to the hummingbird gauge. To my amazement, the ground is taking it up rather quickly. The backyard is still sodden, but the lake is gone. Seems to be gone. Not inclined to walk out there and check lest I get sucked into the mire.

The mesclun is finally popping up in the raised bed, almost two weeks after seeding. Yes, it has been cold, but I thought lettuces liked that. In any case, I will probably plant another row this weekend, keep the crop going.

In web news, spam is showing up in the filter again. So spammers have started registering? I will shorten the comment time, and see if that helps. It’s not a lot of spam–nothing like before. It’s just the principle of the thing. Don’t like giving them a toehold, not even a little one.

In life news…barring global financial meltdown, I will be retiring from the day job in September. Going to give the writing life a good shot. Going to give life in general a better shot.

Something about King’s illness triggered it. Not getting any younger. It’s time.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is playing in the background. The story is meh, but I get a bit of a kick from seeing an actor like Bill Nighy in costumed over-the-top. Yes, I liked seeing Sir Derek Jacobi in Underworld: Evolution, too. I’m guessing it’s fun, and a decent paycheck besides.

A mildly irritating week, during which I needed to keep reminding myself that compared to some, I have no problems, only options that require some work on my part to turn into reality. Could be some very interesting changes this year. Challenging. A little scary. We’ll see how things go.

Still getting hit with spam. I changed settings so that comments close after 7 days–that keeps spam comments from attaching to posts, but not to the photos that I sometimes insert and which show up on separate pages. Can I remove the comments option from those pages? If anyone knows, please let me know. Akismet snags 99% of the crap, but I would like to prevent it from attaching in the first place.

Salad for dinner, with tuna, roasted red pepper, grapefruit, greens. Lovely dressing of walnut dijon mustard with olive oil, cabernet vinegar, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, capers. Since I started making my own vinaigrettes, I stopped buying bottled dressings. They can’t compare.

After a couple of days of thaw, the chill has returned. Parts of the backyard are covered in ice. Gonna be fun when it melts and muddies up. Until then, I walk very, very carefully. That Midwestern ice toddle.

King continues okay.

I am sitting on the couch. Gaby is lying next to me, the top of her head pressed against my side. She has the hottest little head. It’s like sitting next to a lightbulb.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.