Good Friday afternoon!
So it's summer again in Wisconsin. I know this not by the fact that it was 40 and raining on Wednesday, because it does that a lot here in the Great Lakes region, but because two days later it's trying to hit 85 and HUMID!
Yes, less than 48 hours from wearing two sweatshirts and wishing hubby would kick on the furnace, I'm stripped down to the least amount of clothes a girl my size and age should wear.
The worst part, and this is a problem a lot of people have, is that I share and office with someone who is always, always, ALWAYS cold. I hold off turning on the AC as long as humanly possible on the days New Girl is here because I don't like making her miserable. And, she doesn't really complain in the winter when we NEVER turn on the heat because even in the dead of winter, the heat that radiates from other suites in this building keeps our little office at a comfortable 70 degrees.
But it's almost 85 out there, the sun is beating in my window, and it's dripping humidity. (Did I mention that it was 40 some 36 hours ago? And that was the daytime high!)
We all run across that person in our life who isn't temperature compatible with us. Maybe it's a spouse, (in which case, you're doomed), a friend, or a coworker. There's always someone who is melting hot in the dead of winter, (like me) or someone who is shivering in 80 degree weather (that would be my mother.) Unless you work and live in a complete bubble, you're going to run into this issue.
I'm going to solve it for you.
If you're cold: PUT ON A SWEATER. Even if you're not cold in your own home, if you know you're going someplace you know is cold, instead of whining about it, put on a sweater. (My friend Linda is always cold...she never goes anyplace in the summer without a sweater.)
See, for all you "coldies" you solution is simple. Throw on another layer. Throw on two if you must.
It's a little harder for those of us who are always hot. (I can't call myself a "hottie." Just can't do it!) See, we can only remove so much clothing. We can't actually slice away our protective layer of fat (And yes, Bossman has suggested I lose that weight so I wouldn't be hot all the time. Hey, I haven't always been heavy. But I've always been very warm.) and sometimes extra padding isn't always the reason. Some people are just hotter than others. (Rick Springfield comes to mind! LOL!)
So the battle of the thermostat will wage on, but you "Coldies" need to take it easy on us. Just because we like to have the AC on in the summer does not make us the reason oil prices go up. (Bossman informed me two summers ago that I was the reason crude was $90 a barrel, because I turned on the AC twice in the same week in July. Let's just ignore the fact that the heating bill in his THREE houses during the winter months is nearly equal to the GNP of New Zealand. I'm the reason oil is expensive.)
The alternative is we walk around naked. And no one wants that!
NOW AVAILABLE!
A HERO'S SPARK: the final book in the Wicked Women series!
Showing posts with label Bossman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bossman. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
How can I face a blank page when I'm having a good hair day?
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm stalling. I'm stalling big time. It's the perfect day for writing, it's gray, it's drippy, it's 56 degrees. I've lit candles. Thanks to the faulty wiring in my office building, half the lights are out in my suite, so it's pretty dark and mellow. New Girl is off today and Bossman hasn't called in the past hour.
I should be writing. I should be working on that novel that has a middle and an end but no beginning.
But....but....my hair looks great today! I can't write!
Those of you who know me know that this is a howler, because given how little time I spend with my hair, whether or not it's a good hair day has no bearing in how the rest of my day goes.
But isn't that how we sometimes approach writing? I can't write...I have to pick up the kids in an hour and an hour's not enough time to get anything done.
I can't write, there's something good on TV.
I can't write, I need to check facebook, myspace, email, ebay, youtube, my website, and my cellphone. And by the time I get through all those, I'll have to go back again because someone might have sent me a post, an email, a top five list, a farmville update, a new bejeweled score, or a text.
Believe me my friends, any excuse you can come up with I've already used. Which is why it took me nearly 30 years to write my first novel, six to write my second and why my third is languishing in the corners of my brain.
Admittedly, once you've finished a novel, you want to bask in the glow of writing the words "The End." Hey, once you've sold a book, or held it in your hands, you want to roll around naked on the books. (Okay...I didn't actually do it...but I wanted to.)
Then you start thinking you're done. You had that one story in you. That's it. You've written. You're done.
WRONG!
I thought the story of Shara and Bryan was all I had in me. Turns out, I had Ramona in there, and now I have Izzy and Quinn. Way back in my brain I have a fun couple I call Patrice and The Dark Prince. Farther back there are outlines of stories I haven't even thought of yet. One story, one couple, one hero, one heroine...it all leads to another one and another one.
But that first blank page is daunting. I have writer friends who have a ritual before they write and if the conditions aren't perfect, they don't do it. I used to pride myself on writing late, late into the night and then functioning well during the day. Well, then the children stopped taking naps. I got a full time job. Bossman frowns on actual napping during the work day.
The wisest words I've ever heard came from a TV show...I can't remember the show, but I remember the quote, "A writer writes...always."
Let me add to that my own observation: No one can read what you haven't written.
And on that note, I'm off to write...
but first I need to check facebook one more time....
I should be writing. I should be working on that novel that has a middle and an end but no beginning.
But....but....my hair looks great today! I can't write!
Those of you who know me know that this is a howler, because given how little time I spend with my hair, whether or not it's a good hair day has no bearing in how the rest of my day goes.
But isn't that how we sometimes approach writing? I can't write...I have to pick up the kids in an hour and an hour's not enough time to get anything done.
I can't write, there's something good on TV.
I can't write, I need to check facebook, myspace, email, ebay, youtube, my website, and my cellphone. And by the time I get through all those, I'll have to go back again because someone might have sent me a post, an email, a top five list, a farmville update, a new bejeweled score, or a text.
Believe me my friends, any excuse you can come up with I've already used. Which is why it took me nearly 30 years to write my first novel, six to write my second and why my third is languishing in the corners of my brain.
Admittedly, once you've finished a novel, you want to bask in the glow of writing the words "The End." Hey, once you've sold a book, or held it in your hands, you want to roll around naked on the books. (Okay...I didn't actually do it...but I wanted to.)
Then you start thinking you're done. You had that one story in you. That's it. You've written. You're done.
WRONG!
I thought the story of Shara and Bryan was all I had in me. Turns out, I had Ramona in there, and now I have Izzy and Quinn. Way back in my brain I have a fun couple I call Patrice and The Dark Prince. Farther back there are outlines of stories I haven't even thought of yet. One story, one couple, one hero, one heroine...it all leads to another one and another one.
But that first blank page is daunting. I have writer friends who have a ritual before they write and if the conditions aren't perfect, they don't do it. I used to pride myself on writing late, late into the night and then functioning well during the day. Well, then the children stopped taking naps. I got a full time job. Bossman frowns on actual napping during the work day.
The wisest words I've ever heard came from a TV show...I can't remember the show, but I remember the quote, "A writer writes...always."
Let me add to that my own observation: No one can read what you haven't written.
And on that note, I'm off to write...
but first I need to check facebook one more time....
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Learning to work and play nicely with others.
Good morning!
After a couple of false starts, I belive Bossman has finally hired me an assistant that isn't worried about a job cutting into her Unemployment benefits. That's the good news.
The bad news is, the assistant is a young, former cheerleader, dance teacher, high energy self starter who doesn't read. (These are the facts she laid out to me yesterday when I suggested she bring a book for the slow times in the office...and there will be slow times.) She's working here the day after Thanksgiving, one of the three days a year I refuse to come in the office. She's told me she's going to completely rearrange the office so that it's more streamlined.
Yes, but how am I going to get my steps in if things are streamlined? Besides, if she moves things, I won't be the only on who knows where everything is.
So I'm spending the next week thinking up ways to keep her so busy that she can't think about things like finding projects to do that will make the office nicer. (Seriously...that perky little overachiever needs to settle down!)
Don't get me wrong, she's a lovely girl. (A term I've started using for anyone under 30, now that I'm firmly planted in the 40's thanks to a birthday yesterday.) It's just that when I'm at work, I don't want to be bothered with things like chit chat about kids, husbands, what not. I realized yesterday, after squelching a deep desire to scream "SHUT UP" in her general direction, that after working alone for three years, I've lost some of my social skills.
Of course, losing those social skills is what's given me the concentration and drive to actually finish and market books! So, I now have a bit more time at work because of Miss Chipper Butt, but I'm expected, due to to societal rules, to make conversation, which cuts into my writing time.
Am I too old for small talk? I'm starting to think so. I used to be able to hold a conversation with a complete stranger for long stretches of time. Now, while I'm talking, all I can think is, "If I weren't talking to you, I could be reading or writing something."
But, Chipper is here to stay, at least for now. Bossman has already been inappropriate with her, record time for him, really, but she hasn't run screaming out the door. Instead, she brought in a big bowl of candy.
Hmmmmm....maybe she's not all bad!
Have a great day!
After a couple of false starts, I belive Bossman has finally hired me an assistant that isn't worried about a job cutting into her Unemployment benefits. That's the good news.
The bad news is, the assistant is a young, former cheerleader, dance teacher, high energy self starter who doesn't read. (These are the facts she laid out to me yesterday when I suggested she bring a book for the slow times in the office...and there will be slow times.) She's working here the day after Thanksgiving, one of the three days a year I refuse to come in the office. She's told me she's going to completely rearrange the office so that it's more streamlined.
Yes, but how am I going to get my steps in if things are streamlined? Besides, if she moves things, I won't be the only on who knows where everything is.
So I'm spending the next week thinking up ways to keep her so busy that she can't think about things like finding projects to do that will make the office nicer. (Seriously...that perky little overachiever needs to settle down!)
Don't get me wrong, she's a lovely girl. (A term I've started using for anyone under 30, now that I'm firmly planted in the 40's thanks to a birthday yesterday.) It's just that when I'm at work, I don't want to be bothered with things like chit chat about kids, husbands, what not. I realized yesterday, after squelching a deep desire to scream "SHUT UP" in her general direction, that after working alone for three years, I've lost some of my social skills.
Of course, losing those social skills is what's given me the concentration and drive to actually finish and market books! So, I now have a bit more time at work because of Miss Chipper Butt, but I'm expected, due to to societal rules, to make conversation, which cuts into my writing time.
Am I too old for small talk? I'm starting to think so. I used to be able to hold a conversation with a complete stranger for long stretches of time. Now, while I'm talking, all I can think is, "If I weren't talking to you, I could be reading or writing something."
But, Chipper is here to stay, at least for now. Bossman has already been inappropriate with her, record time for him, really, but she hasn't run screaming out the door. Instead, she brought in a big bowl of candy.
Hmmmmm....maybe she's not all bad!
Have a great day!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sometimes Opportunity looks like a roadblock
Good morning!
So yesterday my assistant, a lovely 73 year old lady who really doesn't want to work more hours (It cuts into her God given right to unemployment compensation) and doesn't know much about computers (She has trouble "finding" her email account.) was in to update prices for our websites. All she had to do was type in the part number into our shopping cart, check the price, and either leave it alone or change it to the price on the list I gave her. The only things on that list were the part numbers and prices.
She worked on it for four hours.
She got 1/4 of the way through.
I had to help her every ten minutes.
She royally screwed it up because the ruler she was using to keep her part numbers and prices in line got tilted so she wound up changing several hundred numbers she didn't need to.
And guess who gets to fix this all today?
The bigger news....she's been here two months and gets paid the exact same hourly wage I do...and I've been here more than three years.
So the official start of my new job search was yesterday afternoon after I sent her out the door. I have enough trouble when I mess up and have to go back and redo something. When I have to clean up after someone else, someone who is getting the same wage I am and I'm doing their job, that's no longer a road block to writing time. That's Opportunity kicking me in the shins and screaming at me to get out there and start looking.
Sometimes we look at roadblocks as just roadblocks. We have bills, so we have to work. We have kids, so we have to carpool and go to kid stuff. As writers, there are 10,000 reasons we "can't" write. I haven't been able to write in a week because I'm spending all my time doing my job and the job of my assistant.
Did I mention I'm working sick? Why am I in the office sick as I am? Because Bossman is going on vacation (His fourth of the year.) to Argentina. The assistant I have who is supposed to be able to cover for me if Bossman isn't around, is afraid of the phone and doesn't like the computer. Not great for a computer based business that does a lot of phone orders. So I'm sick. I'm working. And I'm getting scolded by Assistant for working sick and from Bossman for not working hard enough and for working too loudly. (He actually yelled at me yesterday for dropping a priority mail envelop on the floor too loudly. I cannot make this stuff up.)
Why do I hang on to this miserable job? Because it's supposed to allow me writing time. However, more and more roadblocks have come up in the past few months and I'm starting to see that this is no longer a matter of roadblocks. Opportunity is knocking at my door and it's time to see what's on the other side.
So maybe I find a job that involves weekend work. Maybe I don't make as much money. I'm willing to bet I won't be working for a man who goes through my garbage and scolds me for the caloric content of my snack food. I'm willing to bet that I won't be compared to my predecessor, a woman who wanted to sleep with Bossman...and who, as I've been told countless times over the past three years, was "hot enough" for Bossman to be tempted. (Poor him...he has to work with chubby old me.)
Now, the tone of this blog might seem negative, but actually, I'm in a really good headspace. Once you realize that you are going to make a change, actually going through with it is easy. I've already completed three online applications. I don't know what will come of them, but it's a start.
Meanwhile, Bossman and Assistant have become major evil characters in my latest WIP which is a contemporary paranormal dark comedy romance. We'll call it "Suburban Princess" No, I haven't finished "7/8ths" yet, but it's almost done with the first draft and hey, a writer keeps churning out ideas. This one has been rolling around in my head for years, so now I have villains! And....a motive for murder! Whoo hoo!
See, it's not a roadblock...it's opportunity!
So yesterday my assistant, a lovely 73 year old lady who really doesn't want to work more hours (It cuts into her God given right to unemployment compensation) and doesn't know much about computers (She has trouble "finding" her email account.) was in to update prices for our websites. All she had to do was type in the part number into our shopping cart, check the price, and either leave it alone or change it to the price on the list I gave her. The only things on that list were the part numbers and prices.
She worked on it for four hours.
She got 1/4 of the way through.
I had to help her every ten minutes.
She royally screwed it up because the ruler she was using to keep her part numbers and prices in line got tilted so she wound up changing several hundred numbers she didn't need to.
And guess who gets to fix this all today?
The bigger news....she's been here two months and gets paid the exact same hourly wage I do...and I've been here more than three years.
So the official start of my new job search was yesterday afternoon after I sent her out the door. I have enough trouble when I mess up and have to go back and redo something. When I have to clean up after someone else, someone who is getting the same wage I am and I'm doing their job, that's no longer a road block to writing time. That's Opportunity kicking me in the shins and screaming at me to get out there and start looking.
Sometimes we look at roadblocks as just roadblocks. We have bills, so we have to work. We have kids, so we have to carpool and go to kid stuff. As writers, there are 10,000 reasons we "can't" write. I haven't been able to write in a week because I'm spending all my time doing my job and the job of my assistant.
Did I mention I'm working sick? Why am I in the office sick as I am? Because Bossman is going on vacation (His fourth of the year.) to Argentina. The assistant I have who is supposed to be able to cover for me if Bossman isn't around, is afraid of the phone and doesn't like the computer. Not great for a computer based business that does a lot of phone orders. So I'm sick. I'm working. And I'm getting scolded by Assistant for working sick and from Bossman for not working hard enough and for working too loudly. (He actually yelled at me yesterday for dropping a priority mail envelop on the floor too loudly. I cannot make this stuff up.)
Why do I hang on to this miserable job? Because it's supposed to allow me writing time. However, more and more roadblocks have come up in the past few months and I'm starting to see that this is no longer a matter of roadblocks. Opportunity is knocking at my door and it's time to see what's on the other side.
So maybe I find a job that involves weekend work. Maybe I don't make as much money. I'm willing to bet I won't be working for a man who goes through my garbage and scolds me for the caloric content of my snack food. I'm willing to bet that I won't be compared to my predecessor, a woman who wanted to sleep with Bossman...and who, as I've been told countless times over the past three years, was "hot enough" for Bossman to be tempted. (Poor him...he has to work with chubby old me.)
Now, the tone of this blog might seem negative, but actually, I'm in a really good headspace. Once you realize that you are going to make a change, actually going through with it is easy. I've already completed three online applications. I don't know what will come of them, but it's a start.
Meanwhile, Bossman and Assistant have become major evil characters in my latest WIP which is a contemporary paranormal dark comedy romance. We'll call it "Suburban Princess" No, I haven't finished "7/8ths" yet, but it's almost done with the first draft and hey, a writer keeps churning out ideas. This one has been rolling around in my head for years, so now I have villains! And....a motive for murder! Whoo hoo!
See, it's not a roadblock...it's opportunity!
Friday, October 23, 2009
If I have enough symptoms of the H1N1, can I go back to bed?
Good afternoon!
I'm slugging it out here at work, trying really hard not to fall asleep at my desk. I have the beginning of a really serious cold. Keep me away from old people and infants because my head is about to explode and it isn't gonna be pretty!
All I really want is to go home, pop in a JAG season into the DVD player and pull the covers up over my head. What I'm faced with is my boss is leaving me right at the start of the holiday insanity, to go bask himself in Argentina for ten days. He says he's going to look for yet another vacation house. I hope he chokes on his $40 leather coat that he says he's going to buy.
Yeah, and I haven't gotten a raise in three years. I'm not evening getting paid what he told me he was going to pay me when I started.
I believe I'll be spending next week, when I'm not dealing with wholesale customers ad naseum, looking for a new gig. The whole point to this stupid job was that I would have time to write. Yeah...that hasn't happened in three months and it's not going to happen now.
So, folks, I'm fairly computer literate, I can run Quickbooks, I don't steal from my employer, and I always show up for work. (Believe me...I should be home in bed right now!) Anyone hiring? I'll work at home...I can answer phone calls like the wind! (Not that the wind would actually call me...but you know what I mean.) I've worked from home before....for twelve years.
SAVE ME FROM BOSSMAN!
Oh, and have a groovy weekend!
I'm slugging it out here at work, trying really hard not to fall asleep at my desk. I have the beginning of a really serious cold. Keep me away from old people and infants because my head is about to explode and it isn't gonna be pretty!
All I really want is to go home, pop in a JAG season into the DVD player and pull the covers up over my head. What I'm faced with is my boss is leaving me right at the start of the holiday insanity, to go bask himself in Argentina for ten days. He says he's going to look for yet another vacation house. I hope he chokes on his $40 leather coat that he says he's going to buy.
Yeah, and I haven't gotten a raise in three years. I'm not evening getting paid what he told me he was going to pay me when I started.
I believe I'll be spending next week, when I'm not dealing with wholesale customers ad naseum, looking for a new gig. The whole point to this stupid job was that I would have time to write. Yeah...that hasn't happened in three months and it's not going to happen now.
So, folks, I'm fairly computer literate, I can run Quickbooks, I don't steal from my employer, and I always show up for work. (Believe me...I should be home in bed right now!) Anyone hiring? I'll work at home...I can answer phone calls like the wind! (Not that the wind would actually call me...but you know what I mean.) I've worked from home before....for twelve years.
SAVE ME FROM BOSSMAN!
Oh, and have a groovy weekend!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sometimes found candy is better than cash!
Good afternoon!
I should be writing! Blogging is not writing, they tell me at Mad City Romance...I should be writing.
But I just pushed "Send" on a query for "Shara's Chance" and I'm exhausted. I know, it seems like a ridiculously simple thing, pushing "send." I remember a time, not so long ago, when submitting a query was a arduous task involving big envelops, lots of postage, and that mystical thing, the "SASE." Now, submitting a query is literally as easy as pushing "send."
Still, the idea of sending your work out into the stratosphere to be judged and rejected by strangers is scary. I don't know that it gets easier, unless maybe you have a couple dozen novels sitting on bookshelves.
While visions of rejection emails danced in my head this afternoon, I was craving chocolate. I'm a stress eater, and chocolate is my general drug of choice. (Although, like my good friend Elliott, I love bacon. I recall one ill advised evening during college when a friend and I ate our way through a pound of bacon simply because we couldn't find anything else to eat.)
Anyway since I'm at work and since Bossman is such a jerk about people who weigh more than ten pounds, I don't keep a lot of food here. I have a cup of yogurt in my tiny, tiny desk top fridge, but that's mostly for show. I don't think it's even safe to eat. And I do not keep chocolate here. No way. Not since I know he goes through my garbage and then recites the caloric content of my snack food. (And yes, he does admit to this.)
But joy of joys! I found a roll of Rolo candy that I forgot I'd even bought! There it was at the bottom of my purse! I couldn't have been happier if I were Indiana Jones and I stumbled upon the most amazing relic!
So now, with chocolate and caramel in my tummy, and my blog on my site, I'm going to happily spend the last hour of the day ignoring phone calls from Bossman and finish a chapter in my newest work in progress!
Happy writing all!
I should be writing! Blogging is not writing, they tell me at Mad City Romance...I should be writing.
But I just pushed "Send" on a query for "Shara's Chance" and I'm exhausted. I know, it seems like a ridiculously simple thing, pushing "send." I remember a time, not so long ago, when submitting a query was a arduous task involving big envelops, lots of postage, and that mystical thing, the "SASE." Now, submitting a query is literally as easy as pushing "send."
Still, the idea of sending your work out into the stratosphere to be judged and rejected by strangers is scary. I don't know that it gets easier, unless maybe you have a couple dozen novels sitting on bookshelves.
While visions of rejection emails danced in my head this afternoon, I was craving chocolate. I'm a stress eater, and chocolate is my general drug of choice. (Although, like my good friend Elliott, I love bacon. I recall one ill advised evening during college when a friend and I ate our way through a pound of bacon simply because we couldn't find anything else to eat.)
Anyway since I'm at work and since Bossman is such a jerk about people who weigh more than ten pounds, I don't keep a lot of food here. I have a cup of yogurt in my tiny, tiny desk top fridge, but that's mostly for show. I don't think it's even safe to eat. And I do not keep chocolate here. No way. Not since I know he goes through my garbage and then recites the caloric content of my snack food. (And yes, he does admit to this.)
But joy of joys! I found a roll of Rolo candy that I forgot I'd even bought! There it was at the bottom of my purse! I couldn't have been happier if I were Indiana Jones and I stumbled upon the most amazing relic!
So now, with chocolate and caramel in my tummy, and my blog on my site, I'm going to happily spend the last hour of the day ignoring phone calls from Bossman and finish a chapter in my newest work in progress!
Happy writing all!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Today is the day!
Good morning! I'm ninety minutes from bailing out of my slave wage prison office and off to the State Fair where, in a mere 10 hours I will be joining my fellow fans cheering for Rick Springfield!
But until then, I have hours of work to cram into the next ninety minutes...and Bossman has decided that TODAY is the day he takes an interest in the business.
Tah!
But until then, I have hours of work to cram into the next ninety minutes...and Bossman has decided that TODAY is the day he takes an interest in the business.
Tah!
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