As usual, Chewlee gave me a hard time about going to bed but I insisted so she finally got her stuffed animals together and went to bed. Of course, this was AFTER we had watched the final two movies in the Harry Potter series. She was glad that Voldemort was finally defeated and Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were all married. She even got to see Draco Malfoy who had also married and had a son he was sending off to school at Hogwarts. *Sigh* I really hated to see that series end.
We also did up the Rudolph for the set that I gave to the Princess. It was made for me by the Beast's Auntie Emm more years ago than I care to remember. But she will take care of it, I know. It's got to be considered a kind of family treasure. It's very different.
I let Chewlee take charge of putting part of the decorating on Rudolph. He's different from the other deer that is part of the display but he SHOULD be different other than the red nose, don't you think? I also put a coat of varnish on him to protect the paint. I then put a coat on the sleeping deer. I will have to varnish the other two deer and the sleigh, I guess. They are just a bit more *shiny* than they were. But it will help them last and not fade. I used it on my gnome that I have at the front door and it's held up beautifully. I think I did that one about seven or eight years ago. It had faded badly but I repainted it and then varnished it. It looks as good now as it did when I first repainted it.
Chewlee has taken up reading the Harry Potter books. She's on book five right now (Order of Phoenix) and I am so happy she's doing that. The books are much more detailed than the movies and I know she will like that. Her school gives them some kind of special credits for the books they read and she has almost 300 points so far. It helps them move up in their reading groups. She's also learning to tackle comprehension and I saw her sounding out words that she wasn't familiar with. I'm going to show her where to go to learn what the word mean since she doesn't have a dictionary handy.
She's fascinated with my book that I am putting on Word so that I can download it onto a disk to send out to agents when I finish it. She says she would like to learn how to write stories because she has a problem with doing that. She can get extra credit for that, I gather. She says she has a problem with thinking up a subject. I was showing her that subjects for a story can be found anywhere...from birds to insects to Indians and so on. She just has to find something that interests her and then think about what they could be doing that would interest someone else that reads it.
We watched some videos of Birds of Paradise. That fascinated her because some of them are incredibly beautiful. The men that made the videos are attempting to document all 39 varieties of them. We saw only about 20 of them so they have a way to go yet.
She started to write a story about the first Thanksgiving, including the menu since they had run out of flour so there was no bread although they did make a kind of fried bread from some of the corn that they grew. I showed her how to find out what the real names of the Indians were so that she didn't have to make them up. She was attempting to make it more spectacular than it was but I showed her where the settlers were grateful for the help of the Indians and the menu which included various fowls (they referred to all of the birds that were edible as turkeys but they probably were not). She didn't know what venison was but I think she will learn since her daddy hunts. He hasn't been on one for a couple years now but I understand that he can field dress and cut up a deer in about an hour. That's really incredible. His father was really proud of that.
They now live out in the boondocks and I'll bet that they will see deer in his area soon enough. Right now there are people leasing part of their land to have grazing for their cattle. Once the boundaries are set out by the surveyors, they will be able to fence it in for the cattle they want to have. They own 10 acres of land and that should help them out a bit so they won't have to put feed out all the time. They will have to buy hay but that shouldn't be a problem. I see it being delivered to the farms around here all the time.
Time to put myself to bed so I will close for now. Love you all. I am glad if you enjoy my boring life. If nothing else, it makes you appreciate your own life...LOL! Have a great weekend. ***Hugs***
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Remember When????
Remember when students that went to college actually went to learn something? Oh, there are still those that do but I am totally shocked at the sheer number of students that want a diploma but don't expect to have to learn anything along the way. They are the same ones that coasted through school because it became more imperative for students to be promoted so they wouldn't *feel bad* rather than having to meet the same standards that other students had to meet. The grade curves got lower and lower and lower so that it was made to seem like the schools were actually achieving better success rates than they deserved. That's why so many kids weren't able to read in high school. Worse...these same kids became the ones that insisted on being admitted to college (or else it was *prejudice* that was preventing them from admission...not the fact that they were self-important idiots!). They also took out huge student loans that were not spent for learning..except marginally when they couldn't help it. Now these self-same students are the ones that are trying to get free college education and have all the student loans just wiped out.
Tell me...when was the last time that you heard of anyone that majored in Philosophy go0t a job in that field? I'll bet most people can name at least a half dozen courses of study that are totally useless in the job market...but do you think that some of these kids actually care? No, they just want to be able to say they went to college even if they can't put a sentence together in the proper tense. *I are smart!* <<Rolling eyes>>
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that they are now *afraid* on campus and have forced a major university to send out a letter that states they can call the police if......get this!.....someone hurts their feelings (and that makes them afraid???). Oh this is just what the men in blue need...stupid damn phone calls because someone's feelings are hurt? Do they really think that their feelings won't be hurt out in the *real* world? It makes me want to cry for all the REAL students who WANT to learn and not just coast along on their *feelings* of being forced to learn something or having their feelings hurt by such unrealistic expectations? And to think that some truly deserving students were probably denied a spot because of these idiots. We have truly seen the death of all common sense and it's not only died, it was strangled!
What I find truly pathetic is all the parents of these students not seeing that it is THEIR fault that this crap is going on. They have never felt that their children should have to face the consequences of their actions. They have refused to believe their kids were ever guilty of ANYTHING...no, no, no...it was always someone else's fault or it was prejudice or any number of reasons other than the fact that the kids were never made to DO anything constructive. And they were never punished for the bad choices they made, either.
It's tough being a good parent...it requires follow-up and toughness of resolve. Bad parenting is much easier. It's a refusal to think your child/children are anything but picked on and falsely accused. It requires nothing further but to let your child/children do what they want to do. It's easy. That way the parents lives are not disrupted and the kids find out that they can do whatever they want, get whatever they want and people actually are AFRAID to deny them anything. How did we come to this end? I don't really think it happened quickly. It was baby steps.
It started with small losses of basic liberties. One after another after another. Then the *politically correct* crap started. Now all those incredibly stupid things that we didn't bother to protest because we thought that *no one with any sense would take this seriously* has come to bit us in the ass. This is how I think most dictators ended up in power. Good men said nothing until it was too late. I'm afraid we've given over too much power to the most incredibly stupid people and they get all indignant when you object to anything they want to do. Obviously,, there is something seriously wrong with YOU, right?
I'm not going to go forward any further with this right now. I'm too tired to do it justice and I hope I am not in the minority. Leave a comment if you have something to share.
Love you all. Keep warm. Stay dry. ***Hugs***
Tell me...when was the last time that you heard of anyone that majored in Philosophy go0t a job in that field? I'll bet most people can name at least a half dozen courses of study that are totally useless in the job market...but do you think that some of these kids actually care? No, they just want to be able to say they went to college even if they can't put a sentence together in the proper tense. *I are smart!* <<Rolling eyes>>
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that they are now *afraid* on campus and have forced a major university to send out a letter that states they can call the police if......get this!.....someone hurts their feelings (and that makes them afraid???). Oh this is just what the men in blue need...stupid damn phone calls because someone's feelings are hurt? Do they really think that their feelings won't be hurt out in the *real* world? It makes me want to cry for all the REAL students who WANT to learn and not just coast along on their *feelings* of being forced to learn something or having their feelings hurt by such unrealistic expectations? And to think that some truly deserving students were probably denied a spot because of these idiots. We have truly seen the death of all common sense and it's not only died, it was strangled!
What I find truly pathetic is all the parents of these students not seeing that it is THEIR fault that this crap is going on. They have never felt that their children should have to face the consequences of their actions. They have refused to believe their kids were ever guilty of ANYTHING...no, no, no...it was always someone else's fault or it was prejudice or any number of reasons other than the fact that the kids were never made to DO anything constructive. And they were never punished for the bad choices they made, either.
It's tough being a good parent...it requires follow-up and toughness of resolve. Bad parenting is much easier. It's a refusal to think your child/children are anything but picked on and falsely accused. It requires nothing further but to let your child/children do what they want to do. It's easy. That way the parents lives are not disrupted and the kids find out that they can do whatever they want, get whatever they want and people actually are AFRAID to deny them anything. How did we come to this end? I don't really think it happened quickly. It was baby steps.
It started with small losses of basic liberties. One after another after another. Then the *politically correct* crap started. Now all those incredibly stupid things that we didn't bother to protest because we thought that *no one with any sense would take this seriously* has come to bit us in the ass. This is how I think most dictators ended up in power. Good men said nothing until it was too late. I'm afraid we've given over too much power to the most incredibly stupid people and they get all indignant when you object to anything they want to do. Obviously,, there is something seriously wrong with YOU, right?
I'm not going to go forward any further with this right now. I'm too tired to do it justice and I hope I am not in the minority. Leave a comment if you have something to share.
Love you all. Keep warm. Stay dry. ***Hugs***
Oops! I Seem To Have Forgotten Something....
I totally forgot to blog last night/this morning. Color my face red. I just was busy doing a bit of research and reading and thinking and it was all about THE BOOK. That's how I will refer to it from now on. It's almost like I was thrown back in time again and was so totally engrossed in THE BOOK that I could have starved and never noticed it.
I happened to look over to my right only because I caught a glimpse of something that didn't belong there and it was a box. It was addressed to me and said it was a gift on the label. I knew it had to be from Carol (she is the only one that sends me gifts these days) and it was more of the coffee she has gotten me addicted to....LOL. I love her generous heart but she has her boys that need her help more than I do. I think the Beast would eventually break down and pay the price because he hasn't found anything he likes as well. Love you, Carol, my dear, sweet friend. Now...stop! It's almost Christmas time and you have to get ready for your son and daughter-in-law's visit, right? Get your presents wrapped and ready for your family. I am wishing for an end to the drought for you for my gift to you with a little help from Mother Nature. I know that would be the most appreciated of all (if the snow continues in the mountains, it should be a shoo-in!)
It was a really nice day yesterday. The Beast even took Baron for a run and Baron spotted a squirrel and started chasing it. He chased it up a tree in the midst of a thorn patch and then couldn't figure out how to get out of it. The Beast has to go in and rescue him...LOL.
He bought a ham and we made it up for dinner. It had to be about an 11 lb. ham and he had to cut up parts of it to freeze as well as putting aside some of it for sandwiches. I'll have to make us some ham and eggs one morning (or evening..who knows?).
He had bought some four cheese mashed potatoes so I made those up to go with the ham. I also made up some broccoli but really wished he had bought some cranberry sauce to go with the ham. But he doesn't like it as much as I do so that would be something he wouldn't feel like searching for. If it doesn't just fall into his hands, it's too much trouble.
I have to go to the store tomorrow and pick up the stuff for making the food I am bringing over to the Princess'. I can make it up ahead of time and freeze it until I defrost and cook it before making the trip. I'll save the marshmallows to add at the Princess' house since it doesn't take that long in the oven before they are ready to serve.
Once I have the shopping for that done, I can relax and get back to THE BOOK. Besides, the weather is going to suck this weekend and will be cold all next week. Perfect weather to be busy indoors.
I'll get this posted now. Love you all and I will put up a Post-it note to myself not to forget to blog tonight. Be good. ***Hugs***
I happened to look over to my right only because I caught a glimpse of something that didn't belong there and it was a box. It was addressed to me and said it was a gift on the label. I knew it had to be from Carol (she is the only one that sends me gifts these days) and it was more of the coffee she has gotten me addicted to....LOL. I love her generous heart but she has her boys that need her help more than I do. I think the Beast would eventually break down and pay the price because he hasn't found anything he likes as well. Love you, Carol, my dear, sweet friend. Now...stop! It's almost Christmas time and you have to get ready for your son and daughter-in-law's visit, right? Get your presents wrapped and ready for your family. I am wishing for an end to the drought for you for my gift to you with a little help from Mother Nature. I know that would be the most appreciated of all (if the snow continues in the mountains, it should be a shoo-in!)
It was a really nice day yesterday. The Beast even took Baron for a run and Baron spotted a squirrel and started chasing it. He chased it up a tree in the midst of a thorn patch and then couldn't figure out how to get out of it. The Beast has to go in and rescue him...LOL.
He bought a ham and we made it up for dinner. It had to be about an 11 lb. ham and he had to cut up parts of it to freeze as well as putting aside some of it for sandwiches. I'll have to make us some ham and eggs one morning (or evening..who knows?).
He had bought some four cheese mashed potatoes so I made those up to go with the ham. I also made up some broccoli but really wished he had bought some cranberry sauce to go with the ham. But he doesn't like it as much as I do so that would be something he wouldn't feel like searching for. If it doesn't just fall into his hands, it's too much trouble.
I have to go to the store tomorrow and pick up the stuff for making the food I am bringing over to the Princess'. I can make it up ahead of time and freeze it until I defrost and cook it before making the trip. I'll save the marshmallows to add at the Princess' house since it doesn't take that long in the oven before they are ready to serve.
Once I have the shopping for that done, I can relax and get back to THE BOOK. Besides, the weather is going to suck this weekend and will be cold all next week. Perfect weather to be busy indoors.
I'll get this posted now. Love you all and I will put up a Post-it note to myself not to forget to blog tonight. Be good. ***Hugs***
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
After Spending Four Nights Up So Late.....
..I didn't think I would be able to sleep all night. But, I did! It was a bit of a surprise to me when I woke up this morning that I really DID fall asleep and not even wake up to use the bathroom....LOL!
It's still early in the morning and the Beast and Baron are still sleeping. I felt tired and went to bed around midnight (after taking a 3 hour nap, mind you). I hoped that I would fall asleep but really didn't think I would. So it was a real surprise to me when I woke up and it was full daylight. I can see the sun shining on the tops of the trees outside my computer room window. It's supposed to be around 70 degrees today and I think this is the day that Cee will more than likely return my DVD to me. She isn't quite ready to face cold winds (which we had for the past few days) and rainy, overcast weather. Heck, neither was I. But then you know how much I hate the cold.
At least it hasn't been cold enough to get snow of any kind and for that, I am grateful. I know the kids would love it but they can wait...LOL. We usually only get one or two good snow days here every year but with the changing weather, who knows what will happen this year?
I've been working on my book for the past couple days. It's really kind of tough to get back into the mind frame I had when I started it so long ago. I'm glad I made so many notes for myself when I was running out of time to devote to it. So I've been doing a lot of reading and putting all these things back into play in my mind.
The weird thing is that last night I had a dream about my book again and I can't wait to make the changes that I envisioned. This is really how I started the book in the first place...from a dream that I had. It was so vivid in my mind when I woke up that I had to write it down. I thought it would make a nice little story that I could submit to a magazine or something but I didn't really realize that it would end up a book.
So I am going to close this for now and hope I can work on it without the Beast interrupting me until I get the changes made. He's done that to me a couple times the past few days. He's also tried to get me to start a Bible study with one of the women at his church but I told him I wasn't interested. I hope he stops trying to convert me. It's not that I don't believe in God. I always have but I don't believe in the God that HE does. Enough said.
Love you all. Be good. Be happy. Be kind. It costs you nothing but a smile most of the time. ***Hugs***
It's still early in the morning and the Beast and Baron are still sleeping. I felt tired and went to bed around midnight (after taking a 3 hour nap, mind you). I hoped that I would fall asleep but really didn't think I would. So it was a real surprise to me when I woke up and it was full daylight. I can see the sun shining on the tops of the trees outside my computer room window. It's supposed to be around 70 degrees today and I think this is the day that Cee will more than likely return my DVD to me. She isn't quite ready to face cold winds (which we had for the past few days) and rainy, overcast weather. Heck, neither was I. But then you know how much I hate the cold.
At least it hasn't been cold enough to get snow of any kind and for that, I am grateful. I know the kids would love it but they can wait...LOL. We usually only get one or two good snow days here every year but with the changing weather, who knows what will happen this year?
I've been working on my book for the past couple days. It's really kind of tough to get back into the mind frame I had when I started it so long ago. I'm glad I made so many notes for myself when I was running out of time to devote to it. So I've been doing a lot of reading and putting all these things back into play in my mind.
The weird thing is that last night I had a dream about my book again and I can't wait to make the changes that I envisioned. This is really how I started the book in the first place...from a dream that I had. It was so vivid in my mind when I woke up that I had to write it down. I thought it would make a nice little story that I could submit to a magazine or something but I didn't really realize that it would end up a book.
So I am going to close this for now and hope I can work on it without the Beast interrupting me until I get the changes made. He's done that to me a couple times the past few days. He's also tried to get me to start a Bible study with one of the women at his church but I told him I wasn't interested. I hope he stops trying to convert me. It's not that I don't believe in God. I always have but I don't believe in the God that HE does. Enough said.
Love you all. Be good. Be happy. Be kind. It costs you nothing but a smile most of the time. ***Hugs***
Monday, November 9, 2015
Isn't It Strange How.....
...you can be doing something like...well, typing up a document and you will still be able to have thoughts flitting through your mind about something else? All without making a mistake (you proofread what you typed)? How weird is that?
I was typing up the introduction to my book after I had gone over it several times and made a few minor corrections. When I began typing it, mostly in autopilot, I started thinking about when I had the job I loved the most. I was a copywriter for an advertising company. My major job was writing commercials for various clients that used us for their TV, radio and newspaper advertising. Oh, we also did brochures and other printed matter for them, too, but that depended on what their business was. Heck, we even made arrangements for things like pens, calendars, keychains and many types of giveaway items for them also. We had several different suppliers we worked with but always made sure our clients got the very best prices. That was much easier for US due to the fact that we had such a large client base. But I digress....
This was actually my dream job. I didn't have a degree that qualified me for the job but what I DID have was talent. I didn't start out copywriting. I began in Customer Service. Since we had a national customer base and several hundred various clients, there were six of us Customer Service reps. We each had a different area of the country that we took care of and would put in the requests for whatever the client wanted and the information applicable to ensure they got what they wanted. The copywriters got the requests for anything that needed to be written up and also worked with the artists on printed matter for publication, TV storyboards, T-shirt designs, etc. All these requests included the dates that the clients needed them. We submitted these to the Traffic Dept. and they were then assigned to various copywriters.
I did, at times, if there was a rush on a radio commercial, write up the script myself. I knew the clients better than the writers did most of the time so I would write it up, call the client, read the copy to them and get their approval. If they didn't like it, I would ask more questions and then write up another script. Once I had their approval, it went to the Head writer and I would explain to him why I had gone ahead and written the script for the customer. He would then read it, make sure it fit with their campaign, initial it and I would then take it to the Recording studio and give it to the head of that department for recording.
Now, I really didn't have to have the Head writer initial what I had done. If the customer approved it, that was all that was required. But I had a plan. I wanted to prove to the Head writer that I had talent. I wanted to become known for being able to be helpful when needed. The writers all seemed to be overloaded all the time so I knew help was needed.
The gal that was in charge of Traffic (she handed out the various assignments and kept track of making sure that they were ready when needed), got to know my work because she also was one of the *voices* used in the radio commercials. She liked some of the humorous ones I wrote and felt I tailored all my work to the areas of the country that I covered (mostly the Midwest and Central Plains areas). I was from the Chicago area and I knew people in many of the states I took care of as a customer service rep. She was a true blue New Yawker (forgive me) from Brooklyn and didn't really understand the difference in the way they thought. I did. It helped a lot.
Little-by-little, she started asking me for my help when the other writers were behind in their assignments. I would take care of writing whatever they needed, going over it with them and getting their approval and then rush it into her hands so she could hit whatever department head with the need for a rush. I ended up doing that for her a LOT! Even the Head writer started coming to me for help when he saw a lot of assignments in one of the writers inboxes and he would find one or two that needed to be done right away.
One day, the big boss came into my office after a meeting that had been held with all the department heads. He asked me to come into his office after lunch (he was on his way out to lunch at the time) because he wanted to discuss a problem with me. I was a wreck when he left. I figured I was going to be chewed out or at least told I couldn't write any more since it *wasn't my job* and I knew how unqualified I was for it in his eyes. He was BIG on have degrees from college...and not the 2 year kind, either.
So, after lunch, I presented myself and was ushered into his very plush office and I sat down. I hoped my voice wasn't going to crack as I braced myself for what I knew was coming. I also didn't want to cry...not in front of him, anyway. I was totally taken aback by his complementing me on how well my customers told him that they enjoyed having me as their rep. *Ut oh,* I thought. I'm going to get fired. Why I thought that, I can't really explain.
He then went on to ask why this one gal in our department was so upset by me. A light bulb came on in my head. I told him that I knew she wanted the job as Customer service department head and she felt I was standing in her way both because of how the customers liked me and because I was senior to her with the company. I told him I had told her that I didn't want the job but she didn't believe me since she thought it was such a desirable position and would give anyone status. That's when he leaned back, looked intently at me and then said, *Well, if you aren't interested in being the head of customer service, what is it that you would like to do?
That's when I took my chance and said, *I want to write, Sir. I have been doing a lot of it to help out (head writer) and (traffic department) for several months now and I think I have proven that I have talent for it.* I then shut my mouth and just waited to see what questions he might ask or if he would give me a speech about no degree...whatever. I braced myself and tried not to show how all the nerves in my body were just chattering (at least it wasn't my teeth!). Imagine my surprise when he said, *Well, I have no say so in that area so you have to discuss it with (head writer). If he approves, then you can move into that department...with whatever salary he feels you should have, of course.* I almost couldn't stand up, my knees were so weak but I thanked him and said I would go talk to (head writer) right away.
As I turned to leave, he said two more things to me. *Oh, and if he approves, give (bad mouthing gal) all YOUR client folders...or should I just have (janitor/handyman) bring a dolly and move your file cabinet? I'll make sure you get another, smaller, one for your supplies, of course. You can also keep your office. It's much nicer than any of the ones you would have to take if you moved into the writers area. I like the ambiance and decorations you have in it, by the way.* With that he chuckled and I left.
The head writer approved of my becoming one of *his* people and was glad I got to keep my office where it was. All he had available were two very small offices and I think he was using one of them for some things he was storing. My salary was darn near double what I had been making in customer service (and I wasn't getting as much as he said he would like to give me since he knew how productive I was while also tending to my CS duties. He said he would not be able to justify it to (Big Boss) without my having a degree or without a track record that (Big Boss) could see.
When (Bad mouthing b**ch) heard about my *promotion*, she was livid since it was a much better promotion than her coveted one was. I just smiled when she came to congratulate me (ever the Southern gal...butter wouldn't melt in her mouth). **Muttering under my breath..hypocritical little back-stabber**. Her smile was almost brittle...LOL.
So there's the story of how I got the job I loved the most out of all my jobs. It was my dream come true. It might not have been writing for a newspaper or magazine but it was a great way to have to use my imagination and creativity. Those were the days, my friend.....
Love you all. I hope your Monday wasn't too much of a shock to your system and your weather was manageable. Be happy. Be kind to yourself and others. Inspire a smile on the faces of the people around you by spreading yours around generously! ***Hugs***
I was typing up the introduction to my book after I had gone over it several times and made a few minor corrections. When I began typing it, mostly in autopilot, I started thinking about when I had the job I loved the most. I was a copywriter for an advertising company. My major job was writing commercials for various clients that used us for their TV, radio and newspaper advertising. Oh, we also did brochures and other printed matter for them, too, but that depended on what their business was. Heck, we even made arrangements for things like pens, calendars, keychains and many types of giveaway items for them also. We had several different suppliers we worked with but always made sure our clients got the very best prices. That was much easier for US due to the fact that we had such a large client base. But I digress....
This was actually my dream job. I didn't have a degree that qualified me for the job but what I DID have was talent. I didn't start out copywriting. I began in Customer Service. Since we had a national customer base and several hundred various clients, there were six of us Customer Service reps. We each had a different area of the country that we took care of and would put in the requests for whatever the client wanted and the information applicable to ensure they got what they wanted. The copywriters got the requests for anything that needed to be written up and also worked with the artists on printed matter for publication, TV storyboards, T-shirt designs, etc. All these requests included the dates that the clients needed them. We submitted these to the Traffic Dept. and they were then assigned to various copywriters.
I did, at times, if there was a rush on a radio commercial, write up the script myself. I knew the clients better than the writers did most of the time so I would write it up, call the client, read the copy to them and get their approval. If they didn't like it, I would ask more questions and then write up another script. Once I had their approval, it went to the Head writer and I would explain to him why I had gone ahead and written the script for the customer. He would then read it, make sure it fit with their campaign, initial it and I would then take it to the Recording studio and give it to the head of that department for recording.
Now, I really didn't have to have the Head writer initial what I had done. If the customer approved it, that was all that was required. But I had a plan. I wanted to prove to the Head writer that I had talent. I wanted to become known for being able to be helpful when needed. The writers all seemed to be overloaded all the time so I knew help was needed.
The gal that was in charge of Traffic (she handed out the various assignments and kept track of making sure that they were ready when needed), got to know my work because she also was one of the *voices* used in the radio commercials. She liked some of the humorous ones I wrote and felt I tailored all my work to the areas of the country that I covered (mostly the Midwest and Central Plains areas). I was from the Chicago area and I knew people in many of the states I took care of as a customer service rep. She was a true blue New Yawker (forgive me) from Brooklyn and didn't really understand the difference in the way they thought. I did. It helped a lot.
Little-by-little, she started asking me for my help when the other writers were behind in their assignments. I would take care of writing whatever they needed, going over it with them and getting their approval and then rush it into her hands so she could hit whatever department head with the need for a rush. I ended up doing that for her a LOT! Even the Head writer started coming to me for help when he saw a lot of assignments in one of the writers inboxes and he would find one or two that needed to be done right away.
One day, the big boss came into my office after a meeting that had been held with all the department heads. He asked me to come into his office after lunch (he was on his way out to lunch at the time) because he wanted to discuss a problem with me. I was a wreck when he left. I figured I was going to be chewed out or at least told I couldn't write any more since it *wasn't my job* and I knew how unqualified I was for it in his eyes. He was BIG on have degrees from college...and not the 2 year kind, either.
So, after lunch, I presented myself and was ushered into his very plush office and I sat down. I hoped my voice wasn't going to crack as I braced myself for what I knew was coming. I also didn't want to cry...not in front of him, anyway. I was totally taken aback by his complementing me on how well my customers told him that they enjoyed having me as their rep. *Ut oh,* I thought. I'm going to get fired. Why I thought that, I can't really explain.
He then went on to ask why this one gal in our department was so upset by me. A light bulb came on in my head. I told him that I knew she wanted the job as Customer service department head and she felt I was standing in her way both because of how the customers liked me and because I was senior to her with the company. I told him I had told her that I didn't want the job but she didn't believe me since she thought it was such a desirable position and would give anyone status. That's when he leaned back, looked intently at me and then said, *Well, if you aren't interested in being the head of customer service, what is it that you would like to do?
That's when I took my chance and said, *I want to write, Sir. I have been doing a lot of it to help out (head writer) and (traffic department) for several months now and I think I have proven that I have talent for it.* I then shut my mouth and just waited to see what questions he might ask or if he would give me a speech about no degree...whatever. I braced myself and tried not to show how all the nerves in my body were just chattering (at least it wasn't my teeth!). Imagine my surprise when he said, *Well, I have no say so in that area so you have to discuss it with (head writer). If he approves, then you can move into that department...with whatever salary he feels you should have, of course.* I almost couldn't stand up, my knees were so weak but I thanked him and said I would go talk to (head writer) right away.
As I turned to leave, he said two more things to me. *Oh, and if he approves, give (bad mouthing gal) all YOUR client folders...or should I just have (janitor/handyman) bring a dolly and move your file cabinet? I'll make sure you get another, smaller, one for your supplies, of course. You can also keep your office. It's much nicer than any of the ones you would have to take if you moved into the writers area. I like the ambiance and decorations you have in it, by the way.* With that he chuckled and I left.
The head writer approved of my becoming one of *his* people and was glad I got to keep my office where it was. All he had available were two very small offices and I think he was using one of them for some things he was storing. My salary was darn near double what I had been making in customer service (and I wasn't getting as much as he said he would like to give me since he knew how productive I was while also tending to my CS duties. He said he would not be able to justify it to (Big Boss) without my having a degree or without a track record that (Big Boss) could see.
When (Bad mouthing b**ch) heard about my *promotion*, she was livid since it was a much better promotion than her coveted one was. I just smiled when she came to congratulate me (ever the Southern gal...butter wouldn't melt in her mouth). **Muttering under my breath..hypocritical little back-stabber**. Her smile was almost brittle...LOL.
So there's the story of how I got the job I loved the most out of all my jobs. It was my dream come true. It might not have been writing for a newspaper or magazine but it was a great way to have to use my imagination and creativity. Those were the days, my friend.....
Love you all. I hope your Monday wasn't too much of a shock to your system and your weather was manageable. Be happy. Be kind to yourself and others. Inspire a smile on the faces of the people around you by spreading yours around generously! ***Hugs***
Sunday, November 8, 2015
I Found Myself Surprised.....
Today I spent the morning re-reading my manuscript. Since it had been more years than I care to admit, reading it was a weird experience. Although I wrote what was on all the pages, it was like reading something someone else had written. Okay, I'll tell you how long it has been....almost 30 years since I first put down the words that started this adventure.... My son, Marcus, was about 14 or 15 then and he is now 42 years old. *Sigh*
I read the *vocabulary* of the plant life, animals, people, etc. Then I read the synopsis that I had put together back then. I read the names of the people, their occupations, and so many other things that aren't necessary to put down for you to understand that I seemed to be very thorough in the things that I needed to remember. I even put together notes for myself on the basic plot. You have to understand that it is not necessarily what you put down in your synopsis. It's more like you make notes on the twists and turns that you want to be aware that you planned so that the story will end the way you envisioned it.
I was actually kind of impressed with myself on many of the different characters and the way I made their personalities not only unique to them, but kept them in character. I'm going to have to re-read this a few times to get myself back into the flow of the story before I write anything new unless I am suddenly driven to do so. People who find they will get the strong urge to write will understand. For years, I have fulfilled this urge in myself by writing letters since I had so many *life* things that interfered with anything more. I might have been hit by the urge to get back into my book sooner if it hadn't been for the business, the Beast's strokes and recovery, then the moves. First to the other coast of Florida, the building of the house there, then the search for this house, the subsequent move after the business was paid off, then all my surgeries.
Now that I have been pretty much given a clean bill of health, so-to-speak, I have had dreams about working on the book again. This is what drove me to take up this project. Now the hard part starts. It is harder to have to re-type completely the story that is completed so that it can go onto a disk AND have to complete it. I think, however, that it will allow me to get back into the whole idea that I started with and develop it seamlessly by doing so. Keep me in your thoughts...make it good ones...LOL!
I made us some jambalaya today using sausage. I happened to use one of those mixes you can buy and found it a little on the bland side so I added a few things to it to make it more New Orleans style. I just wish I had some shrimp to go in it, too. But, since I made it kind of last minute, it turned out fairly good. The Beast loved it but he hasn't had any for almost 50 years. I've eaten it a few times more than he has even if it wasn't in New Orleans. That's where we were when I fell in love with the exotic taste of it. I've had it with clams, shrimp, smoked sausage and even with crab added. A kind of spicy twist on a French dish that I can't spell at the moment because I am tired. Forgive me.
It was cold here today yet they say we will be back up around 70 by Wednesday. It was supposed to get up into the 60's but our high was just 54. LOL...get this! Our low was predicted to be 46 degrees but it's already 44 outside (with winds of 20mph so it feels like 41). We didn't get any rain but our humidity is 98%! I guess it's no surprise that we are supposed to have rain tomorrow (as well as some tonight while we sleep). Our high for tomorrow is only going to be around 53 degrees. I will be hibernating and just concentrating on my book, tyvm! At least, after that, we should be getting a break and seeing mostly sunny skies. It doesn't seem as cold when you have lots of sun, doesn't it?
I think Cee is going to return my DVD that I lent her on Wednesday so she won't have to bundle up too much. I'm going to lend her one of my large pans so that she can make enough green bean casserole for the crowd that the Princess expects for Thanksgiving day. I'm actually looking forward to some of her cornbread stuffing. As a Yankee girl, I had never had it until I tasted it last year at her house. Yum! I was really surprised at how good it was. Cee is looking forward to tasting deep fried turkey since she's never had it before. Dennis and Diane made it at our house one Thanksgiving when we lived in Port Charlotte To our surprise, we loved it! I didn't expect it to be so good and we cleaned that up in nothing flat.
I'm making some oyster dressing (I know the Princess likes it and a few others) and the sweet potato casserole. I'm going to make it from real sweet potatoes this year instead of the canned yams. It really makes a difference you can taste even with the sweet things added to it. It's a slightly different texture, too. But I can eat it either way but I just feel like making it the real way for a change.
Since I am going to be making stuffing, I am going to make some regular bread stuffing that I will bake in a loaf pan for us to use over the Thanksgiving weekend. I may have the Beast pick us up a small turkey (if they have such a thing) and, if he does, I'll just save the stuffing to roast in the turkey itself when I cook it up. I can divide up the bread stuffing before I save the part I want for regular stuffing and make the oyster dressing for the dinner at the Princess' house.
This is making me kind of hungry so I'm not going to write about this any more. I'll be looking around for a snack and I really am NOT hungry so I don't need that. Time to close for the night. I'm really kind of *mind* tired and my eyes are starting to hurt a bit. Love you all. I wish you a great week and weather that you can endure, whatever it may be. Drive defensively. The life you save may be your own, remember.... ***Hugs***
I read the *vocabulary* of the plant life, animals, people, etc. Then I read the synopsis that I had put together back then. I read the names of the people, their occupations, and so many other things that aren't necessary to put down for you to understand that I seemed to be very thorough in the things that I needed to remember. I even put together notes for myself on the basic plot. You have to understand that it is not necessarily what you put down in your synopsis. It's more like you make notes on the twists and turns that you want to be aware that you planned so that the story will end the way you envisioned it.
I was actually kind of impressed with myself on many of the different characters and the way I made their personalities not only unique to them, but kept them in character. I'm going to have to re-read this a few times to get myself back into the flow of the story before I write anything new unless I am suddenly driven to do so. People who find they will get the strong urge to write will understand. For years, I have fulfilled this urge in myself by writing letters since I had so many *life* things that interfered with anything more. I might have been hit by the urge to get back into my book sooner if it hadn't been for the business, the Beast's strokes and recovery, then the moves. First to the other coast of Florida, the building of the house there, then the search for this house, the subsequent move after the business was paid off, then all my surgeries.
Now that I have been pretty much given a clean bill of health, so-to-speak, I have had dreams about working on the book again. This is what drove me to take up this project. Now the hard part starts. It is harder to have to re-type completely the story that is completed so that it can go onto a disk AND have to complete it. I think, however, that it will allow me to get back into the whole idea that I started with and develop it seamlessly by doing so. Keep me in your thoughts...make it good ones...LOL!
I made us some jambalaya today using sausage. I happened to use one of those mixes you can buy and found it a little on the bland side so I added a few things to it to make it more New Orleans style. I just wish I had some shrimp to go in it, too. But, since I made it kind of last minute, it turned out fairly good. The Beast loved it but he hasn't had any for almost 50 years. I've eaten it a few times more than he has even if it wasn't in New Orleans. That's where we were when I fell in love with the exotic taste of it. I've had it with clams, shrimp, smoked sausage and even with crab added. A kind of spicy twist on a French dish that I can't spell at the moment because I am tired. Forgive me.
It was cold here today yet they say we will be back up around 70 by Wednesday. It was supposed to get up into the 60's but our high was just 54. LOL...get this! Our low was predicted to be 46 degrees but it's already 44 outside (with winds of 20mph so it feels like 41). We didn't get any rain but our humidity is 98%! I guess it's no surprise that we are supposed to have rain tomorrow (as well as some tonight while we sleep). Our high for tomorrow is only going to be around 53 degrees. I will be hibernating and just concentrating on my book, tyvm! At least, after that, we should be getting a break and seeing mostly sunny skies. It doesn't seem as cold when you have lots of sun, doesn't it?
I think Cee is going to return my DVD that I lent her on Wednesday so she won't have to bundle up too much. I'm going to lend her one of my large pans so that she can make enough green bean casserole for the crowd that the Princess expects for Thanksgiving day. I'm actually looking forward to some of her cornbread stuffing. As a Yankee girl, I had never had it until I tasted it last year at her house. Yum! I was really surprised at how good it was. Cee is looking forward to tasting deep fried turkey since she's never had it before. Dennis and Diane made it at our house one Thanksgiving when we lived in Port Charlotte To our surprise, we loved it! I didn't expect it to be so good and we cleaned that up in nothing flat.
I'm making some oyster dressing (I know the Princess likes it and a few others) and the sweet potato casserole. I'm going to make it from real sweet potatoes this year instead of the canned yams. It really makes a difference you can taste even with the sweet things added to it. It's a slightly different texture, too. But I can eat it either way but I just feel like making it the real way for a change.
Since I am going to be making stuffing, I am going to make some regular bread stuffing that I will bake in a loaf pan for us to use over the Thanksgiving weekend. I may have the Beast pick us up a small turkey (if they have such a thing) and, if he does, I'll just save the stuffing to roast in the turkey itself when I cook it up. I can divide up the bread stuffing before I save the part I want for regular stuffing and make the oyster dressing for the dinner at the Princess' house.
This is making me kind of hungry so I'm not going to write about this any more. I'll be looking around for a snack and I really am NOT hungry so I don't need that. Time to close for the night. I'm really kind of *mind* tired and my eyes are starting to hurt a bit. Love you all. I wish you a great week and weather that you can endure, whatever it may be. Drive defensively. The life you save may be your own, remember.... ***Hugs***
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Busy, Busy...In A Different Way.......
After being up so late to update Cee's GPS, I had no problem going to sleep. I woke up shortly after 8am feeling strangely awake. So I dressed, got some coffee and then gathered up what I needed to bring to her house and left around 10am. It was a nasty morning. It was overcast, drizzling quite heavy and just not the least bit cheerful. I had to stop to put gas into my Yaris and I really felt like an idiot. I haven't had to put gas into my car for a couple years since the Beast took over doing that for both cars. So, when I stopped, I had forgotten just where the release was for the gas tank.
I kid you not. And, wouldn't you know it, it wasn't marked anywhere and no booklet in the car either. So I am pulling, pushing and finally noticed this area on the left side of the dashboard, near the door, that had the look of a section that might just be able to be pulled outward. Sure enough, when I did that, I heard that *thunk* that meant the panel had opened. I looked out my door and it was open. Breathing a sigh of relief because I REALLY needed the gas after that trip out to the Princess' house (it is truly out in the boondocks). I hope she tells her guests that are from out of the area that they will need a GPS to find it. LOL!
So, I had called Cee to make sure she would be home when I got there (she was) and was able to bring her back her top that I borrowed on Monday, her GPS and my movie (Jurassic World) that I told her she could borrow. We visited for a bit but I had things to do and she was going to get dressed and do some grocery shopping even if the day was icky.
Me? I needed to come home and get into putting a book I started writing several years back onto Word Perfect so that I could put it on a CD when I get an agent. Years ago, when I didn't know any better, I submitted my book (a Science Fiction one based on..don't laugh...a dream I had that I woke up and remembered. It was so interesting to me...and so different...that I just HAD to write it down. I really thought it might make an interesting submission as a short story to one of the scifi magazines. I had no idea it would end up as a book. It's not finished but, when I pulled out my folder, I realized that I had done more than I thought. Not just as far as the story goes but also a complete outline of the book, the story synopsis and I listed all the animals, characters, names of places, etc. so that I would be able to keep the story accurate.
I had submitted the synopsis and about five chapters of the book (in paper form) to several publishing houses. Doubleday is the only one that actually wrote back to me and informed me of the proper way to try to have my book published. They gave me the online link for agents, as well as sending me the latest (at that time) publication that listed various agents country-wide and their area of expertise in genre. They also informed me that I needed to put my book onto a CD after I had put it on Word Perfect since that was the accepted format. The agent would be able to pitch my book to a publisher IF they thought it was of interest. I thought it very kind of them to give me that information. I truly was clueless at the time.
I had started to do that but with an old computer that ended up with a crashed hard drive. I was only able to write the book because I was, at the time, recuperating with a broken foot that I had to stay off or endure a risky surgery. I opted to stay off the foot for the six weeks it required before I could return to work. Thankfully, we owned our own business at the time and I was able to do some of the work at home that our secretary was overloaded with. But, my daytime was totally devoted to my writing. I would get so engrossed that I wouldn't even eat. The time just whizzed by, that's how engrossed I was. If it hadn't been for Cee at that time, I probably would have starved. She came over every day and fed me and even did my wash and other things that needed to be done to the house. I had three of my four kids still at home then.
It was my son, Mark, that I finally let read most of what I had written to see what HE thought of it. He was totally engrossed with it when he read it and said he wanted me to hurry up and finish because he wanted to know what happened next. I was very happy since he had been the child that was most difficult to get interested in reading and I had to use several *tricks* to get him interested in these certain Fantasy books that I had found (and read) but, once he started, he started reading lots and lots of books. He still does to this day and the genre he reads is much more diverse. He even taught himself a lot of Japanese just from his reading. So I felt very happy that he thought my book was interesting enough that he wanted to read more.
So, for a while, I will have busy days, transferring it from these printed pages onto my computer on Word Perfect. I will also be doing some research on agents in my area or at least in states closest to me. I am sure the list I have is out-of-date and there are new agents and some old ones have retired or died. My girlfriend, Lynn's, ex-husband (an attorney) was one of the agents listed and even in my genre. I was reluctant to think about using him, however, as I had my doubts about how a tax attorney would be able to pitch a scifi novel....LOL! Plus, I thought him a bit of a jerk for what he did to my girlfriend. At least she went on with her life and made a great one for herself and now lives just outside Las Vegas. I'm so proud of her.
Now you know what I am going to be busy with when I am not making dinner around here (the Beast and I take turns doing that) or folding clothes or some of the many household things that need to be done. At least with just the two of us, those tasks are not onerous nor are they time-consuming. It's one benefit of living in a small house.
Love you all. I hope you don't get unexpected (or unwanted) snow show up that interferes with your daily lives. Dress appropriately and stay happy. Say a little prayer for me that I get this done. It would be nice if it led somewhere. Oh, and I even have different things inserted that would be possible for sequels. LOL! I was really *into* this when I started it. I just hope I don't destroy the original plot line with *improvements*. ***Hugs***
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