Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 71
January 15, 2019
Midnight Misadventures
Our handyman retired and moved to the other side of Atlanta, so we had to find a new handyman. My dad asked a friend of his and he gave us a name and phone number. We needed the smoke detector batteries changed and I had a list of other items that needed to be taken care of and we set up a visit.
Everything seemed to have gone really well. The valance I wanted up over the ugly window was perfectly positioned. The new shower head was good and not dripping. Everything was awesome.
Until around midnight.
Chirp.
I wake up out of a sound sleep.
Chirp.
I mutter a profanity. That damn smoke detector is bitching about its batteries. The one in my bedroom. Gah!
I hear another chirp from the other side of the house. Now I have dual smoke detectors going off every minute or so and--of course!--they're not synchronized. So one beeps there's a pause and the other beeps. All. Night. Long.
The ceilings in my house are high and I'm afraid of heights and there's no way I'm sending my dad up on a ladder. Especially not in the middle of the night when everyone is groggy. I go to my office and grab my noise cancelling headset. After plugging it into my phone, I choose some soothing meditation music, hoping it would help block the chirping.
Nope. That chirp penetrates. There is literally no way to avoid it.
When my dad got up around 7:30, the first thing I say to him is: You can't go back to bed. You have to call the handyman and get him back out here to fix this thing!
My dad agreed. He said he'd taken out his hearing aid and he still heard the chirping all night long.
So what was the problem?
The handyman's assistant didn't take off the film covering the battery and the contacts and points weren't touching because of this.
Seriously.
I mainlined coffee the next day because OMG! Like no sleep. My dad said the kid was embarrassed. As he should be. Even I know better than that.
Everything seemed to have gone really well. The valance I wanted up over the ugly window was perfectly positioned. The new shower head was good and not dripping. Everything was awesome.
Until around midnight.
Chirp.
I wake up out of a sound sleep.
Chirp.
I mutter a profanity. That damn smoke detector is bitching about its batteries. The one in my bedroom. Gah!
I hear another chirp from the other side of the house. Now I have dual smoke detectors going off every minute or so and--of course!--they're not synchronized. So one beeps there's a pause and the other beeps. All. Night. Long.
The ceilings in my house are high and I'm afraid of heights and there's no way I'm sending my dad up on a ladder. Especially not in the middle of the night when everyone is groggy. I go to my office and grab my noise cancelling headset. After plugging it into my phone, I choose some soothing meditation music, hoping it would help block the chirping.
Nope. That chirp penetrates. There is literally no way to avoid it.
When my dad got up around 7:30, the first thing I say to him is: You can't go back to bed. You have to call the handyman and get him back out here to fix this thing!
My dad agreed. He said he'd taken out his hearing aid and he still heard the chirping all night long.
So what was the problem?
The handyman's assistant didn't take off the film covering the battery and the contacts and points weren't touching because of this.
Seriously.
I mainlined coffee the next day because OMG! Like no sleep. My dad said the kid was embarrassed. As he should be. Even I know better than that.
January 10, 2019
The Paladin League
In 12 days, on Jan 22nd, Wicked Obsession will be released! Cue the happy dance music!
As I mentioned on Tuesday, it's the first book in The Paladin League series. The hero is Ryder Pienkowski. He's half Polish, half Italian, and (according to his heroine) all gorgeous. :-) He's US Army Special Forces and his team works undercover missions--largely in the civil-war torn country of Puerto Jardin.
His mission this time, though, is personal. There's a death threat against his woman and he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
Langley Canfield is the daughter of a former US ambassador. She's fluent in half a dozen languages, passable in a few others, and lived all over the world until she returned to the United States to attend college. She volunteers as a fundraiser for The Paladin League.
The Paladin League is a nonprofit organization which issues grants to archaeologists around the world to excavate important sites. At least that's it's public face. :-) You'll find out more about their secret, hidden side in book 2 of the series.
January 8, 2019
Surprise! New Covers!
It wasn't my intention to change the covers of the books I control in the Blood Feud World series, but life has a way of throwing little surprises our way. After someone pointed out a certain Facebook post to me, I knew I'd have to get new covers for these two books sooner or later.
I was thinking I could wait until after Wicked Obsession was released on January 22nd, but as I looked at my iPad and was searchingfor something to read. Then I saw one of the two covers in question and became pissed off. Decision made. Contact cover designer first thing Monday. I didn't expect her to turn the covers around so quickly, but she had them back to me the same day! How awesome is that?
Of course, this meant my night became devoted to swapping out the covers on my website and at all the booksellers. I have no clue when the booksellers will actually update their websites, but I've done what I could there and now we wait.
So allow me to share my new covers with you:
Blood Feud is a short story and the first entry in the Blood Feud World series. The heroine is a vampire enforcer and the hero is a demon prince. They have a past. It didn't end well and now they have to work together to find a killer before war erupts.
Enemy Embrace is a novella and the fourth story in the Blood Feud World series. The heroine is a vampire slayer and she has her sites set on the fiend who killed her family. The hero is a demon executioner and his target is the same vampire. The only way to defeat this powerful enemy is if they work together, but both have reasons why they don't want to do this.
I was thinking I could wait until after Wicked Obsession was released on January 22nd, but as I looked at my iPad and was searchingfor something to read. Then I saw one of the two covers in question and became pissed off. Decision made. Contact cover designer first thing Monday. I didn't expect her to turn the covers around so quickly, but she had them back to me the same day! How awesome is that?
Of course, this meant my night became devoted to swapping out the covers on my website and at all the booksellers. I have no clue when the booksellers will actually update their websites, but I've done what I could there and now we wait.
So allow me to share my new covers with you:
Blood Feud is a short story and the first entry in the Blood Feud World series. The heroine is a vampire enforcer and the hero is a demon prince. They have a past. It didn't end well and now they have to work together to find a killer before war erupts.
Enemy Embrace is a novella and the fourth story in the Blood Feud World series. The heroine is a vampire slayer and she has her sites set on the fiend who killed her family. The hero is a demon executioner and his target is the same vampire. The only way to defeat this powerful enemy is if they work together, but both have reasons why they don't want to do this.
January 3, 2019
The Work From Home Blues
I work from home one day a week. I'm very grateful that my company/department allows me to do this because 1) gas and 2) I hate driving in Atlanta so much. I normally work from home the same day each week barring appointments and my coworkers know this. I also try to handle anything that might crop up the day before so that nothing explodes while I work from home.
However, pretty much every week on the day I'm working from home, at least one of my guys blows up my 1) email 2) instant messenger 3) phone 4) all of the above. Almost every week. For real.
It happened again this past Wednesday.
This was a week I had a doctor's appointment. As I'm sitting in the waiting room, my cell rings. I look at caller ID and it's one of my guys so I answered. He didn't ask me how to renew his airport badge, didn't follow the process, and needed me to approve his request so that he could get his package. I'm like, dude, I'm at the doctor's office. I can't do anything until I get home.
And the thing is that I had been reminding him about this badge renewal for SIX WEEKS! Why did it blow up on a work from home day? Because it always does. He's lucky that he's super sweet and I like him a lot. :-)
When I say something like this happens almost every week, it's not an exaggeration and I don't get these kinds of things happening regularly when I'm in the office. It's not as if email, IM, phone is substituting for them running to my cube. It's rare to have someone stop by with an emergency. But let me work from home? Yeah, Rome is burning that day.
However, pretty much every week on the day I'm working from home, at least one of my guys blows up my 1) email 2) instant messenger 3) phone 4) all of the above. Almost every week. For real.
It happened again this past Wednesday.
This was a week I had a doctor's appointment. As I'm sitting in the waiting room, my cell rings. I look at caller ID and it's one of my guys so I answered. He didn't ask me how to renew his airport badge, didn't follow the process, and needed me to approve his request so that he could get his package. I'm like, dude, I'm at the doctor's office. I can't do anything until I get home.
And the thing is that I had been reminding him about this badge renewal for SIX WEEKS! Why did it blow up on a work from home day? Because it always does. He's lucky that he's super sweet and I like him a lot. :-)
When I say something like this happens almost every week, it's not an exaggeration and I don't get these kinds of things happening regularly when I'm in the office. It's not as if email, IM, phone is substituting for them running to my cube. It's rare to have someone stop by with an emergency. But let me work from home? Yeah, Rome is burning that day.
January 1, 2019
December 27, 2018
The Adventure of the Misdelivered Package
Any and all posts on this blog might contain affiliate links.
My post office has made mistakes delivering mail, but it's been rare for them to drop the wrong package at the wrong house. I think it happened once before in the year I've lived in this house. They were about to make it two.
I'd ordered a new shower head for my house. When I bought the house, it had a rainfall shower head--I think that's what it's called--and it takes forever to get the shampoo out of my hair. I kind of liked the relaxing vibe at first, but as time went on, I became more and more impatient. I needed to get to work or I had other places I needed to be and I didn't have time to waste on this gentle rainfall thing.
Anyway, after a year, I ordered the new shower head. I did go with the oiled bronze even though I hate it because the pipe the shower head attaches to is oiled bronze and it would stand out horribly if I shifted to chrome. It was scheduled to come in two days.
Then I got a notice that my package had been delayed, but it would arrive tomorrow or the day after.
This is where things kind of got embarrassing. I came home the next day and I had a package, and even though it looked pretty big for a shower head, I assumed it was my wayward delivery. I did what I do with every package--I ripped off the label with my name and address, tossed it in the garbage, and then opened the box.
At first, I thought it was strange packing material, but when I lifted it, I realized there were two round, cloth storage baskets. The same ones I'd been looking at the week previous. Damn, I thought, don't tell me I accidentally ordered those baskets. Aloud, I said, "They sent me the wrong thing."
It was my dad who said maybe the box was delivered incorrectly. I know, duh, right? I should have thought of that. I dug in the trash can and pulled up the wadded up sticker. It had torn right at the address (of course!), but it appeared to belong to the next door neighbor. Oops.
It was the mail lady who made the mistake, but I was embarrassed that I'd just torn into the box without thinking about it twice. Now we had to bring the box to our neighbor with a wadded up address label and opened. Luckily for me, my dad didn't hesitate. He put on his jacket and brought the box next door. I didn't ask him to do this; it was strictly volunteer. He said the neighbors totally understood.
So now, as I write this, my shower head is 4 days late and the tracking information hasn't been updated since the day it supposed to be delivered. If it doesn't arrive today, I'll select the refund option, but man, I really wanted that shower head.
Any and all posts on this blog might contain affiliate links.
My post office has made mistakes delivering mail, but it's been rare for them to drop the wrong package at the wrong house. I think it happened once before in the year I've lived in this house. They were about to make it two.
I'd ordered a new shower head for my house. When I bought the house, it had a rainfall shower head--I think that's what it's called--and it takes forever to get the shampoo out of my hair. I kind of liked the relaxing vibe at first, but as time went on, I became more and more impatient. I needed to get to work or I had other places I needed to be and I didn't have time to waste on this gentle rainfall thing.
Anyway, after a year, I ordered the new shower head. I did go with the oiled bronze even though I hate it because the pipe the shower head attaches to is oiled bronze and it would stand out horribly if I shifted to chrome. It was scheduled to come in two days.
Then I got a notice that my package had been delayed, but it would arrive tomorrow or the day after.
This is where things kind of got embarrassing. I came home the next day and I had a package, and even though it looked pretty big for a shower head, I assumed it was my wayward delivery. I did what I do with every package--I ripped off the label with my name and address, tossed it in the garbage, and then opened the box.
At first, I thought it was strange packing material, but when I lifted it, I realized there were two round, cloth storage baskets. The same ones I'd been looking at the week previous. Damn, I thought, don't tell me I accidentally ordered those baskets. Aloud, I said, "They sent me the wrong thing."
It was my dad who said maybe the box was delivered incorrectly. I know, duh, right? I should have thought of that. I dug in the trash can and pulled up the wadded up sticker. It had torn right at the address (of course!), but it appeared to belong to the next door neighbor. Oops.
It was the mail lady who made the mistake, but I was embarrassed that I'd just torn into the box without thinking about it twice. Now we had to bring the box to our neighbor with a wadded up address label and opened. Luckily for me, my dad didn't hesitate. He put on his jacket and brought the box next door. I didn't ask him to do this; it was strictly volunteer. He said the neighbors totally understood.
So now, as I write this, my shower head is 4 days late and the tracking information hasn't been updated since the day it supposed to be delivered. If it doesn't arrive today, I'll select the refund option, but man, I really wanted that shower head.
Any and all posts on this blog might contain affiliate links.
December 25, 2018
Merry Christmas!
For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas!
December 20, 2018
The Minnesota Anthem
One of my fellow Minnesota ex-pats sent me the link to this video and it's pretty funny. I think even people who aren't from Minnesota will enjoy it.
December 18, 2018
Project Storage
Knitting has required me to learn new storage methods for yarn. I originally used magazine holders that my mom had bought, but there weren't that many of them and I filled them up. When I checked into buying more, I couldn't find the ones she had and the ones I did find were expensive.
That's when I began putting yarn into tote bags that I owned. Instead of separating yarn out per project, it now all got tossed into tote bags for storage. This didn't make me happy.
When I buy yarn for a specific project, I want to be able to print the pattern and collect the yarn for that one project only into a bag. Not only was it frustrating, but I buy too much yarn (I can admit this) and I'd forget what I planned to make with it.
And then something happened at work. I ordered some desk cleaner for my office, and when it arrived, the vendor had enclosed it in a zipper bag. Not a tiny zipper bag. Not a thin, flimsy zipper bag. A tick, large zipper bag. The cleaners were in three bags, and instead of throwing them out with the packing, I took them home. After checking to make sure that none of the cleaner had leaked into the bag--it hadn't--I tested it for projects.
Perfect! Absolutely perfect.
This is a project I have TBK (To Be Knit). Yarn and pattern in one bag. Keep in mind that I have yet to finish any kind of sweater, let alone a cardigan, so this might be TBK for a long time.
It was time to go online and see if I could buy similar size and thickness bags for myself. And I did find them--hurrah! Now I just need time to sort through my bags of yarn, print patterns, and sort things out for each project. The best part is that this is an even better solution than the magazine bags because I can see everything.
I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.
That's when I began putting yarn into tote bags that I owned. Instead of separating yarn out per project, it now all got tossed into tote bags for storage. This didn't make me happy.
When I buy yarn for a specific project, I want to be able to print the pattern and collect the yarn for that one project only into a bag. Not only was it frustrating, but I buy too much yarn (I can admit this) and I'd forget what I planned to make with it.
And then something happened at work. I ordered some desk cleaner for my office, and when it arrived, the vendor had enclosed it in a zipper bag. Not a tiny zipper bag. Not a thin, flimsy zipper bag. A tick, large zipper bag. The cleaners were in three bags, and instead of throwing them out with the packing, I took them home. After checking to make sure that none of the cleaner had leaked into the bag--it hadn't--I tested it for projects.
Perfect! Absolutely perfect.
This is a project I have TBK (To Be Knit). Yarn and pattern in one bag. Keep in mind that I have yet to finish any kind of sweater, let alone a cardigan, so this might be TBK for a long time.
It was time to go online and see if I could buy similar size and thickness bags for myself. And I did find them--hurrah! Now I just need time to sort through my bags of yarn, print patterns, and sort things out for each project. The best part is that this is an even better solution than the magazine bags because I can see everything.
I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.
December 13, 2018
Comeuppance Time
Recently, I blogged about how time is valuable and how I hate to waste it doing things like yard work or cleaning the house. I couldn't understand why someone wouldn't hire it out if it was at all possible with their financial situation. I also had a very hard time with someone referring to doing it all themselves as "work ethic."
And then I had my moment of comeuppance.
My issue? I'm really good with computers and computer-related stuff. I'm not a professional, I don't have an education in this area, but if I find instructions online, I'll do it myself and I'm almost always successful.
Soooo anyway, I realized (belatedly) that I needed to get an SSL certificate for my website because Google is penalizing sites without this in their search results (or so I was told). Someone on a writers' loop even referenced a site that does free SSL certificates. Of course, my webhost isn't one of the sites using them.
I began searching out how to install this free certificate myself. It included getting a dedicated IP address (additional cost) and doing a manual configuration. I literally have 20 tabs open on my laptop trying to get all the information together I need to do this.
And then I thought, WTH are you doing? Do you have time to muck around with this? The answer is no. I have a full-time job, an elderly father who lives with me, and I'd also like to write and sleep. I literally could click to add the certificate and pay the price the webhost charges and it would be done for me. Um, yeah.
I still don't call this work ethic, but I do understand where that other author was coming from a little better right now. I hate to pay someone to do computer things that I know I could figure out on my own and manage to do successfully. If I had the time.
Reluctantly, I decided it would be smarter to pay and not deal with it all. Which ended up not being as easy as I'd hoped because my name servers weren't pointed to my webhost and I had to update that. Now I have to wait for that information to propagate over before I can spend money on the SSL certificate. I also need to wait for my dedicated IP to kick in, but I think that's on their end rather than mine. In any case, once I pay, they can deal with it all and I don't have to worry about it.
And then I had my moment of comeuppance.
My issue? I'm really good with computers and computer-related stuff. I'm not a professional, I don't have an education in this area, but if I find instructions online, I'll do it myself and I'm almost always successful.
Soooo anyway, I realized (belatedly) that I needed to get an SSL certificate for my website because Google is penalizing sites without this in their search results (or so I was told). Someone on a writers' loop even referenced a site that does free SSL certificates. Of course, my webhost isn't one of the sites using them.
I began searching out how to install this free certificate myself. It included getting a dedicated IP address (additional cost) and doing a manual configuration. I literally have 20 tabs open on my laptop trying to get all the information together I need to do this.
And then I thought, WTH are you doing? Do you have time to muck around with this? The answer is no. I have a full-time job, an elderly father who lives with me, and I'd also like to write and sleep. I literally could click to add the certificate and pay the price the webhost charges and it would be done for me. Um, yeah.
I still don't call this work ethic, but I do understand where that other author was coming from a little better right now. I hate to pay someone to do computer things that I know I could figure out on my own and manage to do successfully. If I had the time.
Reluctantly, I decided it would be smarter to pay and not deal with it all. Which ended up not being as easy as I'd hoped because my name servers weren't pointed to my webhost and I had to update that. Now I have to wait for that information to propagate over before I can spend money on the SSL certificate. I also need to wait for my dedicated IP to kick in, but I think that's on their end rather than mine. In any case, once I pay, they can deal with it all and I don't have to worry about it.
