Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 116
September 3, 2015
But I Don't Want It
The other day, when I went to get the mail, I have a magazine in there that I didn't subscribe to. Maybe it's a sample issue with a invitation to subscribe. At least that's what I'm hoping it is at this point. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, please don't let that kid who went around the neighborhood have just signed me up without my permission.
Unfortunately, not only wasn't there a card saying, hey, try our magazine, but when I looked at the mailing label, I see that I have a year's subscription. Well, hell.
I find a website for the magazine and go to the contact us page. I fill out the form, type in all the information from my label, and told them I didn't subscribe to their magazine, that I didn't want it, and that I better not be getting charged for it. I said it very politely, BTW.
And the note bounced back because the email address I sent it to didn't exist. What?!? I filled out a form; the site automatically mailed itself to whatever address the webmaster put in there.
Frustrated, I go back to the site and start looking for some way to contact them. Then I noticed there was a place to check on your account and all I needed was the information from my label. Once I logged in and saw my account, I relaxed a little bit. Yes, I did have a year's subscription, but it said I did not owe them any money and it would not auto-renew.
Now I had to figure out the mystery of how I got the magazine. The only thing that's come to mind is I think there was something about a free subscription when I purchased shoes online. I don't really remember because I didn't want the magazine and I figured no action meant I wouldn't get it. I guess I was wrong.
Unfortunately, not only wasn't there a card saying, hey, try our magazine, but when I looked at the mailing label, I see that I have a year's subscription. Well, hell.
I find a website for the magazine and go to the contact us page. I fill out the form, type in all the information from my label, and told them I didn't subscribe to their magazine, that I didn't want it, and that I better not be getting charged for it. I said it very politely, BTW.
And the note bounced back because the email address I sent it to didn't exist. What?!? I filled out a form; the site automatically mailed itself to whatever address the webmaster put in there.
Frustrated, I go back to the site and start looking for some way to contact them. Then I noticed there was a place to check on your account and all I needed was the information from my label. Once I logged in and saw my account, I relaxed a little bit. Yes, I did have a year's subscription, but it said I did not owe them any money and it would not auto-renew.
Now I had to figure out the mystery of how I got the magazine. The only thing that's come to mind is I think there was something about a free subscription when I purchased shoes online. I don't really remember because I didn't want the magazine and I figured no action meant I wouldn't get it. I guess I was wrong.
September 1, 2015
Mars Boarding Pass? Check!
I am totally geeky about science and space. One of the many professions I was interested in when I was a kid was astronomer. And of all the planets besides Earth, Mars is possibly my favorite. Sadly, NASA has wasted a ton of time and it doesn't look likely as if we'll be colonizing the red planet any time soon. However, as if making up for this lapse, NASA is giving people a chance to send their name to Mars. Not quite as cool, but it will do.
NASA makes it even better, though. They give you a boarding pass with your frequent flyer mileage, your scheduled departure date, and your departure/arrival information. Now that is super cool!
Boarding Pass and All Images on Boarding Pass Courtesy of NASA
If you want to make your own boarding pass, you can do it at the .
NASA makes it even better, though. They give you a boarding pass with your frequent flyer mileage, your scheduled departure date, and your departure/arrival information. Now that is super cool!
Boarding Pass and All Images on Boarding Pass Courtesy of NASA If you want to make your own boarding pass, you can do it at the .
August 30, 2015
25 Ways the Internet has Changed the World
for better or for worse.
August 27, 2015
Digital Magazines
I decided to give digital magazines a try. I simply don't have room for paper copies, and since I usually have my iPad with me, it's theoretically easier to read a little bit here and there while I'm waiting. I say theoretically because it actually hasn't worked that way. It kind of goes like this:
I get a notification on my iPad that my new issue is available. This always seems to come in at a time when I can't download, so I think to myself, I'll have to remember to do that. I promptly forget. Days or weeks go by before it crosses my brain again.
Because I download so infrequently, I inevitably forget how to download and I end up with two (or more) covers of my magazine issue grayed out with an X below, saying downloading paused. Tapping the X brings up the question: Do you want to cancel the download. Um, no, I want the issue to finish downloading. That, however, isn't an option.
Last night, I was clicking around and somehow ended up in the store where it showed the current issue of my magazine with a Download button. I got my issue! Hurrah! Too bad for me, the second copy of the same issue is still grayed out and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.
Now I just have to read the one that did download. The setup seems weird to me, though. I want to page through it like a magazine or like an ebook, but there's some paging and some scrolling. The magazine doesn't seem to have as much material as the paper version, but I'm not sure if that's true or of it's a problem with my not realizing it's there. I wish it was setup mostly like the paper version so I could flip around and browse.
So I get frustrated with the digital version and I tell myself I'll look at it later, but again, I forget that it's there. Then I get the notice that the next issue is available and the cycle starts again.
I think when my subscription runs out, I'll either cancel or go back to paper. The digital version isn't working for me at all.
I get a notification on my iPad that my new issue is available. This always seems to come in at a time when I can't download, so I think to myself, I'll have to remember to do that. I promptly forget. Days or weeks go by before it crosses my brain again.
Because I download so infrequently, I inevitably forget how to download and I end up with two (or more) covers of my magazine issue grayed out with an X below, saying downloading paused. Tapping the X brings up the question: Do you want to cancel the download. Um, no, I want the issue to finish downloading. That, however, isn't an option.
Last night, I was clicking around and somehow ended up in the store where it showed the current issue of my magazine with a Download button. I got my issue! Hurrah! Too bad for me, the second copy of the same issue is still grayed out and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.
Now I just have to read the one that did download. The setup seems weird to me, though. I want to page through it like a magazine or like an ebook, but there's some paging and some scrolling. The magazine doesn't seem to have as much material as the paper version, but I'm not sure if that's true or of it's a problem with my not realizing it's there. I wish it was setup mostly like the paper version so I could flip around and browse.
So I get frustrated with the digital version and I tell myself I'll look at it later, but again, I forget that it's there. Then I get the notice that the next issue is available and the cycle starts again.
I think when my subscription runs out, I'll either cancel or go back to paper. The digital version isn't working for me at all.
August 25, 2015
Cyber World To Real World
With the organization of my computer files a success, I decided to expand from the cyber world to real life. My office has been in disarray since I moved 2 years ago and my spare room is getting kind of cluttered now too because every time I go home to Minnesota, my parents give me more stuff to take back to Atlanta. But I wasn't ready to tackle the house without some guidance and I found it in an audio book I'd bought a while ago.
I started listening to it while I was at work and after one chapter, I knew I actually had a winner. Too often these declutter, organization books are completely out in space for how I live and I know it won't work, but this one seemed different.
The first piece of advice was have a spot where you always put your car keys. Not loose, but in a container or on a rack or something. I already do this! I have a little paper box that I made from scrapbook stock that I have out for my keys.
The second suggestion was to always have your purse/bag in the same spot and ready to go to work the next day. This suggestion included keeping the cell phone in the same location and charging. I do this too!
Before you think that I loved this book because I already do everything in it...well, if you saw my office, you'd know that wasn't true. The very next part of the chapter was on mail and this is one of my biggest problems. I get pretty much all my bills electronically, so snail mail is usually junk, and because I hate dealing with it, I usually just toss it in a box in my office and let it sit until I can't stand the sight of it anymore. I've developed a high tolerance, which isn't a good thing.
I actually went ahead and ordered the book in paperback because just hearing something doesn't seem to anchor it in my brain. Once I have it to read, I plan to tackle the mail in my office and then on to chapter 2!
I started listening to it while I was at work and after one chapter, I knew I actually had a winner. Too often these declutter, organization books are completely out in space for how I live and I know it won't work, but this one seemed different.
The first piece of advice was have a spot where you always put your car keys. Not loose, but in a container or on a rack or something. I already do this! I have a little paper box that I made from scrapbook stock that I have out for my keys.
The second suggestion was to always have your purse/bag in the same spot and ready to go to work the next day. This suggestion included keeping the cell phone in the same location and charging. I do this too!
Before you think that I loved this book because I already do everything in it...well, if you saw my office, you'd know that wasn't true. The very next part of the chapter was on mail and this is one of my biggest problems. I get pretty much all my bills electronically, so snail mail is usually junk, and because I hate dealing with it, I usually just toss it in a box in my office and let it sit until I can't stand the sight of it anymore. I've developed a high tolerance, which isn't a good thing.
I actually went ahead and ordered the book in paperback because just hearing something doesn't seem to anchor it in my brain. Once I have it to read, I plan to tackle the mail in my office and then on to chapter 2!
August 23, 2015
Misconceptions About Disney
Misconceptions about Disney--the man and the parks.
August 20, 2015
Living With the Evil Twin
One of the things that interests me most about writing is watching the characters change and grow over the course of their story. Some have more growing to do than others, but that's the case in real life, too. What's really different for me is seeing a character years before their story. Let me explain.
This weirdness is happening for me in my Jarved Nine universe. I was approached to write a short story for the Mammoth Book of Time Travel romance, and because of this, I wrote Troll's story out of sequence. His story takes place seven years after Wyatt and Kendall's story (Eternal Nights) and all his other teammates stories were supposed to be written first.
When The Troll Bridge takes place, Troll has already done a great deal of changing and growing before he ever met Lia. But as I think about the stories of the other guys on the team and I see a younger Troll who's still a player, it's just strange for me.
The Troll who meets Lia is tired of superficial relationships. The Troll I'm seeing is dating three women simultaneously and completely unrepentant about it. In fact, when anyone calls him on it, he just grins.
What's really hard for me is seeing this Troll as my Troll. Yeah, I knew about his past, so it's not as if the events are a huge shock, but the dissonance here... For me, it's like two different men.
I've never written out of sequence before or since, so I'm not quite sure how to deal with this. Right now I'm just mulling the other stories. (I have overviews written for six books that happen between Eternal Nights and The Troll Bridge.) I hope that when I get around to writing them this younger Troll won't seem so foreign to me. In the meantime, it's like living with Troll's evil twin. :-)
This weirdness is happening for me in my Jarved Nine universe. I was approached to write a short story for the Mammoth Book of Time Travel romance, and because of this, I wrote Troll's story out of sequence. His story takes place seven years after Wyatt and Kendall's story (Eternal Nights) and all his other teammates stories were supposed to be written first.
When The Troll Bridge takes place, Troll has already done a great deal of changing and growing before he ever met Lia. But as I think about the stories of the other guys on the team and I see a younger Troll who's still a player, it's just strange for me.
The Troll who meets Lia is tired of superficial relationships. The Troll I'm seeing is dating three women simultaneously and completely unrepentant about it. In fact, when anyone calls him on it, he just grins.
What's really hard for me is seeing this Troll as my Troll. Yeah, I knew about his past, so it's not as if the events are a huge shock, but the dissonance here... For me, it's like two different men.
I've never written out of sequence before or since, so I'm not quite sure how to deal with this. Right now I'm just mulling the other stories. (I have overviews written for six books that happen between Eternal Nights and The Troll Bridge.) I hope that when I get around to writing them this younger Troll won't seem so foreign to me. In the meantime, it's like living with Troll's evil twin. :-)
August 18, 2015
Bug Me Not
I hate bugs. Not just mildly either. Oh, sure, some bugs aren't too scary. Ants are a pain and so are box elder bugs, but they don't frighten me. Bugs are actually one reason why I stayed in Minnesota so many years even though I can't stand winter and snow and hats and mittens and boots and heavy jackets and scarfs and...well, you get the idea. Minnesota might have had horrible winters, but it kept the bugs small and mostly non-scary.
And then my job was relocated to Atlanta.
OMG, the size of the bugs down here is horrifying. When I first moved down, I stayed in a condo temporarily and it wasn't well sealed. I can't even tell you the size of the bugs that got in. My bug vac, which was totally fine in Minnesota, didn't have enough power to suck up the Godzilla bugs down here. I ended up chasing bugs the size of the VW Beetle through the condo with a full-size vacuum cleaner.
Centipedes. While living at the condo, I got used to doing a centipede check because sightings were frequent.
Moving into my house down here helped a lot. It was a newer house and it was well-sealed so a lot fewer insects. I also pay a pest service to put a ring of death around my home. It's so weird to say that because in Minnesota you only used them if you had some kind of infestation. It wasn't something you just automatically contracted for because it wasn't necessary.
My house, though, had it's own issues. Scorpions. Yeah. The first one I ever saw was also the biggest one I've ever had inside...at least that I've seen. What an introduction. :-/ I knew spraying it wasn't going to work because of their crunchy shell, so I stepped on it. I was wearing thick-soled shoes at the time. So far I've had like 13 or 14. I kind of lost count.
I used to love The Mummy 2. When I lived in Minnesota I was mildly repulsed by the scorpions, but it wasn't a huge deal. Now? Well, my experiences have ruined the movie for me. I literally get all icked out now when I watch it, so much so that I've stopped. Thanks a lot, scorpions.
The pest company that came out put down sticky traps at key locations. Over night something got stuck in the trap in my laundry room next to the door to the garage. It's big, it's brown, and I'm scared to look and see what it is. It's really, really freaking me out every time I go in there. I know what you're thinking: Just get rid of the trap. Yeah, easier said than done. Every time I try to get rid of those traps, it gets stuck to the broom bristles (or the stick or whatever else I'm using to get it in the dustpan). Believe me, I don't want to touch the trap to unstick it from the broom.
I'm also torn. Part of me wishes that thing had never gotten stuck in the trap. The other part of me is like OMG, imagine trying to deal with something that size loose in the house! Gak! I've decided I'd rather deal with the sticky trap.
And then my job was relocated to Atlanta.
OMG, the size of the bugs down here is horrifying. When I first moved down, I stayed in a condo temporarily and it wasn't well sealed. I can't even tell you the size of the bugs that got in. My bug vac, which was totally fine in Minnesota, didn't have enough power to suck up the Godzilla bugs down here. I ended up chasing bugs the size of the VW Beetle through the condo with a full-size vacuum cleaner.
Centipedes. While living at the condo, I got used to doing a centipede check because sightings were frequent.
Moving into my house down here helped a lot. It was a newer house and it was well-sealed so a lot fewer insects. I also pay a pest service to put a ring of death around my home. It's so weird to say that because in Minnesota you only used them if you had some kind of infestation. It wasn't something you just automatically contracted for because it wasn't necessary.
My house, though, had it's own issues. Scorpions. Yeah. The first one I ever saw was also the biggest one I've ever had inside...at least that I've seen. What an introduction. :-/ I knew spraying it wasn't going to work because of their crunchy shell, so I stepped on it. I was wearing thick-soled shoes at the time. So far I've had like 13 or 14. I kind of lost count.
I used to love The Mummy 2. When I lived in Minnesota I was mildly repulsed by the scorpions, but it wasn't a huge deal. Now? Well, my experiences have ruined the movie for me. I literally get all icked out now when I watch it, so much so that I've stopped. Thanks a lot, scorpions.
The pest company that came out put down sticky traps at key locations. Over night something got stuck in the trap in my laundry room next to the door to the garage. It's big, it's brown, and I'm scared to look and see what it is. It's really, really freaking me out every time I go in there. I know what you're thinking: Just get rid of the trap. Yeah, easier said than done. Every time I try to get rid of those traps, it gets stuck to the broom bristles (or the stick or whatever else I'm using to get it in the dustpan). Believe me, I don't want to touch the trap to unstick it from the broom.
I'm also torn. Part of me wishes that thing had never gotten stuck in the trap. The other part of me is like OMG, imagine trying to deal with something that size loose in the house! Gak! I've decided I'd rather deal with the sticky trap.
August 16, 2015
Does Hitting the Snooze Button Help?
To go along with last week's video about how hard it is to wake in the mornings.
August 13, 2015
Coloring Books
I've seen a lot of articles in past few months about coloring books for adults being a hot item right now and that coloring is so relaxing. I thought about it and I went, yeah, you know that would be kind of cool. Relaxing and probably it would inspire creativity. When I do a lot of scrapbooking, it always helps my writing and I have theorized that it's because creativity is flowing, but in a way that doesn't drain the writing muscles in my brain.
Daydreams of how relaxed and productive I'd be danced in my brain. I ordered one of the really highly rated coloring books and a pack of art pencils.
Finally, with both in my hands, I sat down at the table and began to color.
Relaxation didn't come. Almost all I could think about was how much other stuff I had to do and I couldn't believe I was wasting time coloring. I stressed about which color I should use to color in the flowers. I became frustrated when my plan to color every other petal an aqua color failed when I had the wrong number of petals and I ended up with two aquas next to each other.
The pencils frustrated me, too. I was expecting a deep, rich color, but instead I had to press hard to get nothing more than a light tint to the petals. Maybe I should have bought different pencils, I worried as I colored. But I'm not an artist and I had no clue which kind of pencils I should have bought. Do I need to research this? But art pencils are ridiculously expensive already, do I really want to buy another set that I might not like either?
Um, you know, that cabinet should be straightened out. I wonder where I could put-- No, focus on the coloring, it's relaxing. Breathe in and out and color.
I wonder if I should hang my wind spinner outside? Does the home owner's association allow wind spinners in the front of the house? I have that hook right there on the front porch. Do I have a hook on my back patio?
Color. Focus. Relax.
Now I have the wrong number of petals to do every other petal purple. Why did the color book artist do this? I can't be the only one who wants to color every other petal a different hue.
Why am I coloring when I have half a dozen other, more important things to be doing?
If you're getting the idea that this was a relaxation failure for me, you'd be right. It also didn't inspire creativity. I'm not ready to give it up yet, but maybe I'll try it with music next time or while I'm watching baseball or something.
Daydreams of how relaxed and productive I'd be danced in my brain. I ordered one of the really highly rated coloring books and a pack of art pencils.
Finally, with both in my hands, I sat down at the table and began to color.
Relaxation didn't come. Almost all I could think about was how much other stuff I had to do and I couldn't believe I was wasting time coloring. I stressed about which color I should use to color in the flowers. I became frustrated when my plan to color every other petal an aqua color failed when I had the wrong number of petals and I ended up with two aquas next to each other.
The pencils frustrated me, too. I was expecting a deep, rich color, but instead I had to press hard to get nothing more than a light tint to the petals. Maybe I should have bought different pencils, I worried as I colored. But I'm not an artist and I had no clue which kind of pencils I should have bought. Do I need to research this? But art pencils are ridiculously expensive already, do I really want to buy another set that I might not like either?
Um, you know, that cabinet should be straightened out. I wonder where I could put-- No, focus on the coloring, it's relaxing. Breathe in and out and color.
I wonder if I should hang my wind spinner outside? Does the home owner's association allow wind spinners in the front of the house? I have that hook right there on the front porch. Do I have a hook on my back patio?
Color. Focus. Relax.
Now I have the wrong number of petals to do every other petal purple. Why did the color book artist do this? I can't be the only one who wants to color every other petal a different hue.
Why am I coloring when I have half a dozen other, more important things to be doing?
If you're getting the idea that this was a relaxation failure for me, you'd be right. It also didn't inspire creativity. I'm not ready to give it up yet, but maybe I'll try it with music next time or while I'm watching baseball or something.
