Set Up Your Own RSS Feed to This Blog!

The topic at The Writer's Chatroom last night, moderated by our own Audrey Shaffer, was "Blogs and RSS feeds".

Links for setting up your very own blogs and RSS Readers are at The Writer's Chatroom Blog.

Granted it was very late here in Ohio when the chat was over and I presumed to know what I was doing when I set up my RSS feed, and I've been fighting an ear infection, and hubby was milling about rather than sleeping peacefully, and my mind was on setting up our financial records... I really hosed it up.

So now there are funny characters showing up everywhere an apostrophe or a hyphen should be. And I don't yet know how to fix it, so please bear with me.

I've asked the kind folks at blogger.com for their assistance. As usual, they've already wasted their time and mine by sending me the usual "cookie-cutter" response rather than looking at the real problem. I do so wish IT folks in call centers would throw away the scripts and actually look at the problem. End of rant for now.

But...if you would like to set up an RSS feed on your computer so you can receive updates as they happen, the easiest one to use (so I've been told) is www.rssreader.com.

Set up your RSS reader on your computer, following their directions.

The feeds to this blog and my website blog, and of course, The Review Hutch are:

http://www.lindajhutchinson.blogspot.com./atom.xml and http://lindajhutchinson.tripod.com/blog/rss.xml
http://www.reviewhutch.blogspot.com./atom.xml

And drop me a note to let me know you're much smarter than I am. :)

To Write For Free--or Not

This article may be published freely so long as the complete author bio box is included. This article is copyrighted 2006 by author.

TO WRITE FOR FREE—OR NOT
by Linda J. Hutchinson
Word count: 495

Put a bunch of writers in a room, virtual or real, and it won’t be long before at least two heated discussions ensue, typically: traditional publishing vs self-publishing, and whether or not to write for free.

I like to be paid for my work. I imagine that you do, too. There are times, however, when writing for free can have huge paybacks, whether that was the intended purpose or not.

Consider this:

You have a favorite charity. They need a letter written for the annual fundraiser. You volunteer to write it. Even though your name may not go on the bottom of the letter, the committee knows who wrote it and your name will go on their list of volunteers—which does go out to the masses on a regular basis. The committee is usually made up of local business people who may hire you to write copy for their sales campaigns. You’ve just gotten your foot in the door with them. Or, if they can’t hire you, they just might float your name around the lunch table to their friends who can. Or, the charity itself may hire you for upcoming fundraising campaigns.

You are an aspiring writer. You know you could be successful but you have no published clips. You can’t get any published clips because you have none. We’ve all been there. Consider writing an article for one of the many free article mills on the net. The first one I put out there a couple of years ago is still being picked up and re-published! Lately it’s been flying under the CarFax banner. Voila! Your first clip! Here’s a short list to try:


www.articlecity.com
www.goarticles.com
www.web-source.net
www.isnare.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.articlesfactory.com


You have a product you’d like to test market. That product could be copywriting, or letters from Santa, or a school play. Target your market with your article and put it out there using the free article services. Track the responses.

Blogging: Either you love to blog, hate to blog, or just don’t get what all the fuss is about, but blogging is here to stay. It is the newest form of free expression and it is everywhere! Corporate America “gets” it and has hired bloggers to push their products.

Those search engine ‘crawlers' and ‘bots’ pick up comments in blogs quickly, so be careful what you say. (Some immodest souls have lost corporate jobs due to their rants in blogs.) And by all means, leave a courteous comment on someone’s blog! With your name and website address, of course.

Writing for your own website can be the most satisfying of all the writing you will do for free. At least it will be for free in the beginning. After you’ve shown what you can do with your website, you can then get paid to write all that copy for someone else’s website!

It’s all called marketing. Unfortunately, sometimes as writers, we must do it for free. Sometimes. Pick your times carefully.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Linda J. Hutchinson is a multi-published freelance writer and photojournalist who lives in TN and OH. Her articles and features have appeared in magazines, trade journals, newspapers, newsletters, on websites and in e-zines. Her first novel is in process. http://www.lindajhutchinson.com

New Review Site

I will be publishing all future book reviews at The Review Hutch.

Hope to see you there!

Linda

Update of Published Clips

If you've been reading the blog at my website, you already know my life has been running ahead at warp speed lately.

It's time to update the list of recently published clips on my writer's website, but I just haven't had time. Here's an updated list:

Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, review of Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith

Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, review of Killing Neptune's Daughter by Randall Peffer

My Reviews at Amazon.com

Neither a Wisher Nor a Flinger Be, article about writing published in Inkwell Newswatch, a Rowdy Rhodes pub

Charity Guide article Volunteer to Cuddle Babies

Cleveland Replacing Troubled Fulton Road Bridge, Construction Equipment Guide Magazine

Mosser Construction feature, Construction Equipment Guide Magazine

Most Expensive ODOT Project Being Built in Toledo, Construction Equipment Guide Magazine

Overpass To Provide Safe Crossing in Bellevue, OH, Construction Equipment Guide Magazine

Volunteer to Cuddle Babies, Charity Guide website

AND on March 29th I had the pleasure of interviewing author, book coach, newsletter owner/editor Sophfronia Scott. She's written some nice words about The Writer's Chatroom in her latest newsletter. View what she had to say in her blog about "When the Writing Gets Tough".

Press Release from Earl Emerson

Earl Emerson is one of my all-time favorite mystery writers. He's also a hunky Seattle fireman.

I received the following press release while out of town and wanted to share it with everyone who happens by my blog:

Dear Friends,

On April 25, 2006, my novel FIRETRAP will be published by Ballantine Books.

The story revolves around the investigation of a fire that burned a black social club to the ground in Seattle. Trey Brown, who has been commissioned by a community group to unravel the secrets of the fire, is soon pitted against his estranged brother, who not only comes from a wealthy white family but is now the mayor and headed for higher political office. As the investigation gets under way, nineteen years of hidden family history begin to come to the surface for Trey as he is forced to confront his cloudy past.

I'll be doing talks and signings in Washington for FIRETRAP as well as for the paperback edition of THE SMOKE ROOM, which will also be released in April.

Hope this finds you well.

Earl Emerson

Please help support The Writer's Chatroom by purchasing your copies of Earl's books at our site: The Writer's Chatroom. You'll find a shortcut to Earl's books on the "Previous Guests" page. Thank you for your support!

An Update

Please see my website blog for a complete rundown of what I've been up to the past 3 weeks. It's been a very busy and exciting time.

I've been doing some traveling, writing about the AK Steel strike for Construction Equipment Guide, got published in INkwell Newswatch for the first time, posted another review at Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, interviewed Sophfronia Scott for The Writer's Chatroom, became "Grandma" again, and haven't murdered anyone--at least in real life.

Take a look and leave a comment. I always enjoy hearing from readers!

Linda

Review: Crimes Against Commerce

E.D. Easley is a snarky guy who's written a very funny book. I'll admit that Ed and I belong to the same writer's group, but that isn't why I chose to review his newest book. I chose to read it--and yes, I even bought and paid for my own copy--because I enjoy his humor and his rantings about the establishment and his exes (yes, plural), and his knack for viewing his world in his own way and verbalizing so much of what the rest of us would like to say, but don't.

Ed has a propensity for saying "Shit happens--it just does", and embraces grandiose use of the "F" word.

In past lives, Ed's titles have included newspaper editor and publisher, Pulitzer-prize nominee, and life drop-out.

And so, read on for my review of "Crimes Against Commerce" by E.D. Easley, available at www.bn.com, www.amazon.com, and www.cloonfadpress.com.

Title: Crimes Against Commerce
Author: E.D. Easley
Publisher: Cloonfad Press
ISBN: 0-9769404-3-4
Pages: 243


A fun, freaky, frolicking ride all the way through this farce! “Life is stranger than fiction”…this one is so off the wall that it could happen in real life. It just could! And sometimes…it just does.

If you’ve never been to hell and back, climb aboard for a round trip in hilarious fashion. Hate your ex? These characters can take care of that matter for you. Ever been audited by the IRS? Just ask for redemption here.

Written in everyman’s everyday language, this one is a fun read. Go ahead—get lost in the world of E.D. Easley’s characters. Build your world around them. They’ll take you for a ride in theirs.

From Mafia hitmen to Sho Rin Ku master Kow Pi, you’ll savor each personna Stretch meets on his way through life. Life—the way it should be.

Reviewer: Linda J. Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com
03/09/06

Book Reviews

I've recently been accepted as a book reviewer at Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine. My first review for them, of Killing Neptune's Daughter by Randall Peffer, is now available on their site: FMAM

Reviews for Blue Valor by Illona Haus, Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith, and Philippene Fever, will be on the FMAM website in the near future.

Scroll down on this blog for a review of Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities by Feather Schwarz Foster. I don't remember history lessons ever being this much fun!

I'll also be reviewing the following books in the near future: Crimes Against Commerce by fellow Writer's Chatroom member E.D. Easley, and A Red Dark Night by A.P. Fuchs. These reviews will be on my website blog, as well as, at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble in the near future.

The latest articles penned by yours truly and appearing in Construction Equipment Guide magazine can be found at Cleveland Replacing Troubled Fulton Road Bridge and Award-Winning Mosser Construction Welcomes a Challenge.

Happy reading!

Linda J. Hutchinson
Freelance Writer/Copywriter
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/blog
http://writerschatroom.com/

This article is free to publish so long as the author is notified and the complete article and bio box are also published, with no alterations:

Response to Congress and Condi Rice, “Stop Meddling!”
By Linda J. Hutchinson
Word count: 844


I'm just one person and my views will most likely seem naive to some, but: It seems to me that when Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Atheism is publicly rebuked or ridiculed anywhere in the world, the followers of that faith or belief generally pray for the offender—or not—and get back to what they need to be doing to make life the best it can be for themselves and their families and friends, including protecting themselves by whatever means necessary.

When Islam has been publicly rebuked or ridiculed, as in the recent publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad, there is rioting in the streets, death threats are issued, violence is assured. Extremists and zealots run amok wreaking as much havoc as possible, in very public showings.

My point is not to slander the personal walks of faith or beliefs of others, but to point out the differences in the actions of those believers and their practices, at least those differences that manifest publicly.

Why is it that mostly peace-loving Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindis, and Atheists will “turn the other cheek”, while so many Muslims seem willing to murder anyone who does not agree with them?

For the most part, non-Muslims are “free” to accept or not accept the teachings of their faith.

Muslims in Muslim-controlled countries are often murdered if they do not publicly bestow all to Muhammad. These Muslims are not allowed the freedom to choose, and do not accept the fact that non-Muslims are. If they do believe it, they also believe that it shouldn’t be so. From what I’ve read, listened to, and seen in the media, I’ve come to believe that many Muslims seem to believe that every person who does not believe exactly as they do, should die.

However, how many of us in the non-Muslim world hide our heads in the sand when it comes to what our own governments are doing? Our government here in America is working to erode the tenets of our belief systems by banning public displays of The Ten Commandments and banning “Under God” from our pledge of allegiance and on our legal tender.

Our President is currently overriding the rights and freedoms of our citizenry by using illegal wiretaps in the name of national security. And now our Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, is asking Congress for funds to provoke change in countries that don’t believe the same things that we believe in, to disrupt their governments and to pay for more extremism and violence—all in the name of promoting peace by fox-trotting in a new regime through insurgency and insurrection.

Our government has no more right to provide millions of dollars in aid and support to factions, political dissidents and human rights activists in Iran, than it would to give aid to the Nazi groups and home-grown terrorists within America’s borders. Let the people in Iran govern themselves, love or hate one another, and blow themselves up if that’s what they choose to do.

If Iran wants to provide an atmosphere where its citizenry kills one another off, why should we stop them? Stop them from doing it on our turf, of course, but why stop them from cleaning out their own waste system of extremists?

Why do we allow ourselves to be pulled into the bully ring? Attempting to choose a religion or government for Iran, or for Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Albania, Afghanistan, and yes—even Iraq—or any other country, is not our business.

Why do we allow them to bully us? We know they will bring in the suicide bombers. We know they will create havoc. Why not let them do that to their own on their own sand lots, and with their own money?

Rather than attempting to change their religion or government, why not wait until they have—as North Korea, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan have most likely already done—enriched their uranium with the help of Russia and other so-called friends of the US, and then send in a highly trained multi-nation team of like-minded covert military personnel to ensure the product is decimated, again on the host countries’ own turf?

Seventy-five million dollars would go a long way in covering the costs of monitoring uranium enrichment, if the United Nations did the job it was designed to do. It is the United Nations that should be monitoring the nations of planet Earth, especially those who show ill-will towards its neighbors.

If the United States would cut off funding to rogue nations, would develop other sources and replacements for foreign oil, would use its military might to protect itself, and to educate every citizen within its borders, then other countries just might look at us as great examples of how it should be done.

Let the peoples of other countries want to be like us, rather than encumbering our grandchildren’s grandchildren with our huge military debt that we incurred while showing them our way is better.

We should never let our guard down, but we don’t have to meet the bully on his terms.

Bio:
Linda J. Hutchinson is a freelance writer and copywriter living in central Ohio. She has written for magazines, trade journals, newspapers, newsletters, websites and e-zines. As at-home on a construction site as in an art gallery, she’s been told she “cleans up real good”. Her first novel is in process.

Website: http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/

Email: Linda@lindajhutchinson.com

I'm Not Looking at the Pictures, Lord, but Please Help Us

I spent at least a part of this week questioning my political beliefs—and writing about them. Probably not one of the more sane things I’ve done lately, but there is a freedom in writing about my feelings, at least that’s what I’m told.

All of my deadlines were met for the week—except one. I’m still chasing that last interview. He’s in my sights. I’ll have that story completed by Monday.

Am I upset that the Vice President of the United States of America accidently shot his friend while bird hunting? Or, more to the point, that he didn’t report it to the media immediately? I’m sorry his friend is hurt. I’m certain VP Cheney is not only remorseful about the accident, but embarrassed by it.

Do I think he did anything wrong? No. Mr. Cheney hauls with him the best medical team one could have because of his own health issues. If he had called in the media it would have become a circus and stolen every ounce of dignity his well-respected friend had, all so the man could have been photographed and interviewed while he lay in a field, his upper body full of bird shot.

I think Mr. Cheney and his hunting party, including the owner of the ranch where they were hunting, made the correct call. We, as Americans, don’t need to see everything as it happens.

The looting, rioting, and killing in the Muslim world over some cartoons of their prophet has been in the news all week. Newspapers in the US chose not to print the cartoons—so why are we being hated anew over something other countries did, that we didn’t?

Christians have the same commandment: Those shalt not make any graven images.

Just what constitutes a “graven image”? My handy paperback dictionary is fine most of the time, but when I need a real dictionary I reach for The American College Dictionary, published by Random House circa 1947. The definition of “graven”: adj. Deeply impressed, firmly fixed. Archaic. Carved; engraved.

I think we all understand what an image is, regardless of the year.

There are likenesses of what people think look like Jesus everywhere. In the Bible, in Christian homes, in churches, in books. So have we all broken a commandment by viewing a “graven image” of Christ? Or was the commandment written to prevent the caricaturization ie; a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things?

Can anyone ludicrously exaggerate the likeness of a person or being no one has seen?

I’ve written about this, too, and shot it off to the New York Times. I’ll know by next Friday if it is printed on the op-ed page. If they don’t print it, I’ll post it here.

I’m off for the weekend to enjoy some time with my daughter, son-in-law, their son and foster children, and to attend daughter’s baby shower. The prospect of becoming “grandma” again next month is fulfilling—and may keep me out of political hot water for a short time.

A BOOK REVIEW

Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities
by Feather Schwartz Foster

ISBN: 1-59286-361-2
PublishAmerica, LLLP
http://www.featherfoster.com
http://www.amazon.com


Never before have I enjoyed a romp through history so thoroughly. From the introduction by Lucy Hayes to the author’s epilogue claiming fictional, yet plausible, conjecture on the part of the “voices” who wrote their stories, a full and satisfying story is told. The reader feels what our First Ladies are re-living as they tell about their place in history—or lack thereof, about their husbands and about the times in which they lived.

I got the distinct feeling several of our First Ladies knew they would have made better Presidents than did their husbands, if the times had allowed. In reality, only the times have changed; we humans are as raw or refined, as wild or as tame, as selfish or as giving, regardless of the century we inhabit.

Through the many friendships and rivalries, the politics, and the “place” each woman was expected to inhabit, we learn how they lived and loved. To fully appreciate these women who were our First Ladies, we must allow them to live in our minds, to breathe and function, to grieve and rejoice. Feather Schwartz Foster brings the stage and the characters to us. All we need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride!

Reviewer:
Linda J. Hutchinson
Freelance Writer, Reporter/Photographer, Copywriter
Linda@lindajhutchinson.com
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/blog
http://writerschatroom.com

Oprah Winfrey's Book Club--Conned?

In case you missed my post at www.lindajhutchinson.com/blog, I've posted a vignette here. See my website blog for full details.

I have two articles to write for two other publications. I have plenty on my plate at the moment and I’m always seeking more work to keep me busy when present works have been delivered.
So why did I spend an hour and a half reading http://www.thesmokinggun.com/, a very long investigative report into whether the Oprah Book Club endorsed best seller “A Million Little Pieces” is fact or fiction?

TSG’s article is entitled “A Million Little Lies”. That’s why.

Not only did TSG give compelling reports of police interviews, arrest record searches, and fact-finding missions, but they have also interviewed author James Frey, and they are now being threatened with a lawsuit by him. Why?

It seems he may not have told the whole truth, as he promised he had done. His story has touched millions of lives. We believed him.

Will his second book, the one that takes off where this one ended be more truthful?

His website at http://www.bigjimindustries.com has been shut down; the message: “as the controversy and resulting traffic dies down, I’m sure the site will go back up.” I’m suspecting the host site crashed when controversy-caused hits to his site sucked up all the bandwidth. (My son does that to me when he’s home, so I know how disruptive it can be.)

What Mr. Frey is being accused of is claiming to write a non-fiction autobiographical story, while incorporating too much “artistic—or creative license”. In other words, his “true account” may not have much truth in it at all.

I’m wondering how the very classy Oprah will deal with this. Especially since this book touched her so deeply that she altered her book club “rules” to include contemporary authors again, rather than only endorsing the classics. TSG’s report calls Frey the author who “conned Oprah”. This story is far from over!

I'm suffering a bit of "deadline overload" this week. I'd thought it would be an easy writing week and I'd finally be able to write some fiction. Ha!

My truck-driving son and brother left here on New Year's day. No interruptions and no firm deadlines on the horizon until January 20th. Ha!

I completed the requested revisions on a Charity Guide article pre-deadline and started going through my stack of submission calls. Then BOOM! My January 20th deadline for Construction Equipment Guide got moved up to January 6th.

Deadlines--I love 'em! In truth, I was ready for it. My plan? To meet the deadline like our Buckeyes met Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl!

I love my writing life!

My website blog has been updated, too. Today's entry is a bit controversial. I've forwarded it to Andy Rooney for comment. We'll see what happens.

Ending it Right/Beginning Anew

The end of 2005 started 2006 off just right:

Both my son and my little brother--who is nearly young enough to be my son and six feet tall--were home. They both drive big rigs, they're both owner-operators, and they both officially live here with us. Unofficially, our place is "the bed and breakfast". They aren't here often. Not nearly often enough. But, they both made it home for New Year's Eve!

On December 28th I moderated the chat at The Writer's Chatroom. Our guest for the evening was one of my favorite authors, Mr. Earl Emerson. His mystery/suspense novels will keep you turning the pages while trying not to chew your fingernails right down to the nubs. Not falling off the edge of your chair is a bonus. This Seattle Fire Department lieutenant is a superb writer! I was allowed to moderate the chat because he's from my beloved Washington state, and I'm such a fan of his. What an honor! You may purchase his books at The Writer's Chatroom.

I've had the time lately to catch up on some much needed housekeeping; to include updating my website and my resume. My website is now outfitted with hot links to some of my favorite sites. I'm hoping some of my writer friends don't take offense at some of the tags tied to their sites; like Audrey Shaffer's..."Audrey's attempts to get a life"...

I have my calendar updated for January, my task list firmly planted in an Excel spreadsheet, and my last writing paycheck of the year in the bank. Life doesn't get much better than that.

What an exciting time of year!

Today I’ll be driving from our home in central Ohio to Louisville, KY to have an early Christmas with our pregnant daughter and son-in-law, grandson Jeremy, and hopefully, all six of the beautiful foster children who have lived with them much of this past year. Our family feast will be on Saturday, with a gift exchange on Sunday morning after the annual slumber party with all the kids.

Our son and my youngest brother will be home sometime next week to celebrate. They’re both owner-operator long-haul truckers and have volunteered to work the holiday weekend so others can be home with their families. (My brother and son are only five years apart in age.) We’ll have our son’s two little boys here and we’ll have another “early” Christmas with them.

With our extended family we’ve gotten real good at re-arranging holidays.

This past week I’ve been working on my list of goals for the New Year. On Sunday at 8:00 pm EST I’ll be moderating a Writer’s Chat (http://www.writerschatroom.com). The topic is “Goals”. The password to get into the chat is writerschat. Drop in and say “hello” to our community of writers. We have a new website filled with educational opportunities and links—and a very impressive line-up of guests for the Wednesday evening chats—starting with Earl Emerson (!) on the 28th. (One of my long-term goals is to write like Earl Emerson!) www.EarlEmerson.com

However you and your family celebrate, here’s a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” from our family to yours!

"My Give-a-Damn is Busted"

I must admit that writing about my family is more fun than writing about concrete, heavy equipment, fishing and camping, cooking, or even woodworking, but the latter helps pay the bills. With my family, only I’m sure what is fact and what is fiction. (Hint: There is usually, if ever, any fiction thrown in. There is no need for “creative license”.)

Lately I’ve been getting some second-hand feedback regarding how my family feels about my doing “that writing thing” and it isn’t pretty. But then, I am the--insert your own description here--of the family and have always marched to my own drummer.

It was I who got the good grades in school and excelled at pretty much whatever I attempted. I’ve been publicly lauded for that—and made fun of behind my back.

It was I who took my college classes as I could afford them and could fit them into my work schedule—and around raising kids—which included my own and my parent’s. Not having a degree has been an obstacle to overcome, but I’ve found it doable.

There is a reason I live nearly 3,000 miles away from most of my family, Folks. It is peaceful here, away from the day-to-day squabbles and drama. I’m not called on to be the peace keeper. Hell, I’m not called on at all most of the time. Very peaceful, indeed.

It is however, unfortunate, that my biggest nemesis in life used a birthday call to my son to attack me over a little article I had written for Rewind the Fifties. Obviously that family member only read the first sentence. It was a light-hearted article with a happy ending. I’m sorry she missed that.

If you’d like to read the article in its entirety: www.loti.com/country_star.htm “I Wanna Be a Country Star”.

I’ll continue to write articles and short stories and at some point my novel will be ready for publication. When that novel is published, there will probably be more than a few small explosions occurring in Washington state, in addition to Mt. St. Helens’ huffing and puffing. You see, I can’t come up with enough fiction that doesn’t touch on what is actually happening in the lives of my family members to fit within a short story, much less, a novel.

Oh yes, tongues will be wagging. And you know what? I just don’t care.

$300M Fort to Port Article Published

Getting the mail some days is just more fun than others. Yesterday was one of those days! As hubby was walking through the door with one arm full of mail he asked, "Are you just automatically getting this Construction Equipment Guide now?" I let the comment pass as I sorted through son's and brother's mail, opened what needed to be dealt with and filed the rest. Then I sat on the sofa with CEG and scissors in hand. Yep, there it was! Another of my articles. Again, very little had been changed. Very little! Not only did I have a byline...I love this part..."CEG Correspondent" right there under my name. Doesn't get much better! Now, I like writing fiction and getting lost in another world as much as the next writer, but there isn't much better for me than that byline--even if I'm writing about concrete, and trackhoes, and cranes. Take a look and let me know what you think:Fort To Port $300M

An Invitation to Embrace Our Professionalism

T’is the time of year for traditions. Traditions come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Some are meant to be broken and some are meant to be kept for eternity.

We have family traditions, membership and club traditions, traditions at our place of work, and even some that we keep but never tell a living soul about. Those are the very personal ones.

My favorite chat group has a tradition I think every writer needs to embrace. To be an effective and successful writer, we need the support of our family. We need for our family to be proud of us. But first, we need to acknowledge that we’re proud to be writers.

Here’s a quote—and invitation—from Glenn Walker, who’ll be the chat moderator on Thanksgiving eve at our annual “A Writer in the Family” chat:

“Our chat topic this Wednesday night is "A Writer in the Family." What do you tell everyone you do when the subject comes up at the dinner table at Thanksgiving? Do you proudly say, "I'm a writer." Or do you quietly excuse yourself to the bathroom?

This discussion will be about how much support you get from your family and friends regarding your chosen career or dream as a writer. Come on by and talk about the struggle, or not, of
being a writer in the family. Discuss and sympathize with other writers in this casual pre-holiday chat. Hope to see you all there!”

The place: www.audreyshaffer.com/chat/chat/
The time: 10:00 pm Eastern USA
Date: November 23, 2005
Password: family

If you’re a writer, please join us. If you’re a writer and have a family member or friend you’d like more support from, ask them to join us, too.

Please remember to tell your family members who support your efforts “Thank You!” and tell them often!

Please feel free to pass this invitation on to every writer you know or to other writer groups you belong to.

Testosterone Levels

The testosterone level has reached a nearly tolerable level again. “Our” home was beginning to feel like what I imagined my high school boy’s locker room must have been like.

First, my youngest brother arrived. Well, actually I picked him up at the train station in Chicago. He had left Seattle a couple of days before. It would have been easier for me to wait until his train rolled into Cincinnati, but I just couldn’t leave him on the train for another night.

As luck would have it, our over-the-road trucker son had gotten a load into Chicago, so we all met up for supper. It was only fitting that Gary’s first Midwest supper was at Cracker Barrel!

Son went on down the road and Gary and I made the long drive back to my home outside of Columbus. We arrived just in time to offer to make breakfast for my hubby, Michael.

Much of the week after that became a blur of shopping, packing, more shopping, and re-packing, to ready Gary for his new venture as an owner-operator long-haul truck driver leased to the same company our son drives for. Just about the time we had everything packed and ready to go he got a phone call telling him he’d be doing his orientation in Minnesota rather than here in Columbus. More re-packing.

Son got home in time to drive to Kentucky to pick up his little boys and bring them back here for the weekend and then to take Gary to the bus terminal. If you’re keeping track, we’d added two big loads of testosterone, lessened now by one, and added two little doses.

We had a wonderful time with Nicholas and Zachary and even managed to get all the laundry done that son had been stacking up in his truck. He did his grocery shopping on his way through the kitchen and then took the little ones back to their mom in Kentucky.

Sunday night was relatively quiet. It was my turn to moderate the chat at The Writer’s Chatroom (www.audreyshaffer.com/chat/chat/), with a short staff business meeting after the chat. We all knew 4:30 Monday morning would come all too quickly.

Since Son’s birthday is the day after Thanksgiving this year and he won’t be home again until sometime the week of Christmas, we had our Thanksgiving diner with him on Sunday night. We also celebrated his birthday on Sunday.

When Gary gets back here with his truck later this week, we’ll be having our second Thanksgiving dinner of the week. He’ll be home sometime the week of Christmas and his birthday is three days after Christmas, so we’ll be celebrating his birthday then.

Our family is real good at re-arranging holidays.

I’m getting better at dealing with overloads of testosterone in the house. And to think, we were just learning to be empty-nesters…

It's in the Interview

I’m working on an article for a specialty magazine. It’s about the construction of a new highway here in Ohio. Or, more precisely, the re-construction of an existing highway by widening and straightening it and adding limited access on-ramps and exits. I’ve read through at least a ream of feasibility studies and studies for improvements (that started 40 years ago) and environmental impact studies and summaries of reasonable alternatives and study area and logical termini, until I was nearly blind. Most of this has been done with my atlas opened at my feet so I could follow the path of the words, hoping they would make more sense on the map.

Yesterday, I was able to actually make phone contact with the Project Administrators in both districts who are involved with the daily hands-on planning of this industrious project. Their main goal is to improve safety for the overload of semi trucks and their drivers who use this road for ingress and egress to carry goods into and out of major metro areas.

It seems this stretch of road is responsible for most of the traffic fatalities in the state. There are over 300 personal residence driveways and business driveways that lead directly onto the highway where the bulk of the state’s semi-trucks travel. Rail traffic is not a feasible alternative.

And then there are the bald eagle nests and the endangered bats and orchids to contend with. And other wetlands. And the farmers whose lands are being chopped apart as the road is straightened.

The article was just another assignment until I talked to the Project Administrators. It was when they described how they held meetings with the farmers and introduced the farmers to the persons who would be working with them on the right-of-way issues, the tone in their voices when they described working together with the environmentalists, when they described the homeowners who are losing part of their yards and driveways, but gaining the ability to be able to back out of that driveway without being run over.

No matter how much research I do for an article, it’s always during the interviewing that the real story gets told.

Life's Journey

There are so many things I truly enjoy about life I’d be hard-pressed to name them all. Of course, being a wife, mother, grandmother, and sister are right up there at the top. Being a writer would also receive top ranking.

I came to this profession via the long road. Just as my life has meandered through a wandering trail of joys and heartbreaks, so has my means of making a living. I’ve journeyed through the mindless task-oriented jobs and the high-stress corporate middle-management positions. I’ve allowed lapses in income to take me over the creative paths, as well.

Never before, in any job or career, have I been allowed the freedom of self-employment, the sheer joy of the freedom to create, and artistic license all put together. Of course there are deadlines. Of course I lose some sleep from time to time. Of course I don’t receive a “regular” paycheck. Would I trade my station in life now for any of those places in the past? NO!

And then there’s the sense of satisfaction of seeing MY words and photos in print! Yes, I’ve worked hard, but I’ve also been incredibly lucky. For the latest example of my work go to http://www.cegltd.com/story.asp?story=6212&headline=Unstable Billboard Bumps Up Demolition in Columbus, OH.

I’ll be writing for Construction Equipment Guide on a monthly freelance basis and I’m looking forward to getting my feet muddy in the process.

Rewind the Fifties

Last night while my son was on the phone with an old friend from junior high school (and you know how long ago that was because they’ve been called “middle” schools for eons), his friend mentioned one of her goals was to read every book on Oprah’s Book Club list. He told her one of his mother’s goals was to write a book that would be on Oprah’s Book Club list.

While he was doing a google search to find the article I’d written about him he ran across an article he didn’t know about that I’d recently written for Rewind the Fifties. I didn’t know they had published it. (Of course, now I’ll be looking for payment…)

This morning when he showed it to me he said all he had to do was read the first paragraph to know I’d written it!

Check it out at www.loti.com/country_star.htm. It’s short—and about the “sweetest” thing I could write about my growing up years. And yes, it’s non-fiction. (I think my daddy would have loved it!)

Drop me a note at: linda@lindajhutchinson.com or leave a comment here and let me know what you think about the article.

National Geographic: ESP or Common Sense?

If you have any doubts about whether or not our government knew of the potential for chaos and catastophe of Biblical proportions on our Gulf coast, click on this link. You will be directed to an article in National Geographic magazine written well ahead of Hurricane Katrina.


http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/index.html?fs=www7.nationalgeographic.com

Linda J. Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com

Ben Stein, Hurricane Katrina, & President Bush

The article below was written by Ben Stein. I did not plagiarize it--at least originally. It was sent to me in an email and is being spread around the world as forwarded emails. The comments written in italics are my comments and my opinions. I'll take responsibility for them.

While I respect Mr. Stein for his vast accomplishments and intelligence of thought, I must disagree with him on some points.

Linda J. Hutchinson
Freelance Writer/Copywriter
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/

The American Spectator
By Ben Stein

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He also writes "Ben Stein's Diary" in every issue of The American Spectator. Published 9/2/2005 11:59:59 PM

A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:

1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.

True. I agree wholeheartedly.

2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.

True. He may be the most powerful man in the world, but he doesn't yet have enough power to control the weather. Thank God and the wisdom of our forefathers for not granting that power, if and when, controlling the weather becomes possible. Pray that our elected Congress, when and if, controlling the weather does become possible, will have the courage and conviction to ensure such power is not used for evil and/or merely for profit, or against mankind of any nation, ethnicity, creed, sexual orientation, or religion.

3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born.

True. See response to #2. He does not have the ability to make a hurricane, nor does he have the ability to make it worse.

4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence that global warming even exists. There is no clear evidence that if it does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real phenomenon, which it may well be, it started long before George Bush was inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto treaty, considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in sorcery.

Background information on the Kyoto treaty:

From CNN.com on the Kyoto Treaty:

"Asian and European nations have strongly criticized Bush's decision in 2001 to abandon the Kyoto treaty, which commits 37 industrialized nations to cut gas emissions. Bush has criticized the treaty, saying it set unrealistic goals and could damage the U.S. economy. But other nations worry about scientific concerns that climate change could lead to severe floods and droughts, rising sea levels and an increase in malaria and respiratory disease."

My response to Mr. Stein: At the very least, mostly/partly true. Most of us don't understand the concept of global warming well enough to weigh in on this. However, any and all treaties that take jobs away from Americans, on American soil, contributes to the same form of poverty that caused many in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and elsewhere in America, to be unable to flee from hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, or other damage-causing/life-altering weather-induced phenomena.

Whether global warming exists or doesn't exist, the USA is a world polluter. We, as inhabitants of earth, must accept that polluting our world, whether it affects the weather or not, will affect the health of earth's inhabitants. We have a responsibility to reduce pollution to and in our environment.

We as a people must take responsibility for ensuring clean air and water, just as we must take responsibility for enabling our fellow man to work for his/her needs and chosen lifestyle, even as we must accept that some will attain higher or lower levels of success. We must also accept that "success" means different things to different people.

6.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.

George Bush is responsible for the competence of the leaders of FEMA. He chose these leaders. His chosen leaders are/were responsible for ensuring that leaders of FEMA at the state level were competent, willing, and able, to effectively deal with a natural disaster. FEMA is not new. It has been in place for many years. Enough years to be better prepared. FEMA, whether at the state or national level, is responsible for having not only evacuation plans in place, but plans for emergency responses to natural disasters.

Those FEMA leaders knew, or at the very least had or should have had predictions based on models, of the likely percentage of poor, sick, and/or "confused"/incapacitated, populations within the areas expected and predicted to be affected by Hurricane Katrina. They should have had plans for rescue operations in place. Calls for assistance from military and civilian rescue teams from outside of the affected area should have been placed well in advance of Katrina making landfall.

Response teams of both military and civilian rescue operations should have been standing at the ready at the fringe of the expected target area. Volunteer disaster teams from all denominations of churches from several states were there, waiting and ready.

7.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.

So long as our children know they can make more money selling drugs and stealing than they can from working, there will be gangs. As long as our children continue to believe there is no hope for a better life, there will be gangs. As long as our children are affected by their parents, who had no hope for a better life, a continuum pervades.

Not all of the rapes and murders were committed by gang bangers. Not all of the rapists lived to brag about their escapades. Justice for some came quickly.

The hope of those shooting at rescue helicopters was the same as that of the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan--to continue the chaos to allow more time for pillage.

In this instance, the shooters were additionally incensed by the desperation, the death and dying, all around them.

There were rapes and murders after the tsunami.

I do not condone aberrant behavior. I believe desperate people do desperate things.

8.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.

I agree. I also believe furthering his personal portfolio of income producing properties and agendas has shown in his appointments, over and over.

9.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.

Brave men and women will always "go in" where help is needed the most. One does not need to be a magician to study the models of expected loss ahead of a natural disaster. He knew days ahead of time the expected ferocity level of Katrina AND the expected path and level of destruction.

I believe Americans, both ordinary and those with 'star' power, who have gone in to help, understood the potential danger--and went there voluntarily.

I received an email from a friend in Houston yesterday. She witnessed the church groups feeding and clothing the evacuees long before even the Red Cross got organized enough to start helping. She told of airline executives who, when told their services weren't needed, continued to ferry evacuees out on "mercy" flights. Due to contractual obligations I cannot quote her here, but you may read her comments on my blog at www.seniorweblogs.com.

If actors, actresses, musicians, singers, stand-up comedians, and other humanitarians can and will drive in, regardless of the lawlessness, with planes and truckloads and buses of food and water and diapers and every manner of other needed items, why can't Mr. Bush--who is the most powerful man in the world with legions of trained professionals under his thumb--get water and food to dying victims of Katrina, who's only crime was poverty, sickness, age, and/or various levels of confusion?

There is no excuse, Mr. Stein. There is no excuse, Mr. President.

10.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.

False. There weren't enough National Guard members to help with the disaster because the bulk of the area's National Guard is stationed in Iraq. There isn't enough money in the treasury allocated to fight wars AND to help our own citizens during a cataclysmic event on our own shores.

Colin Powell has been most honest in stating "it was economics".

11.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off.

It is not the job of media to raise morale. It is the responsibility of media to report the news. If the truth hurts, we need to fix the problem, starting with our elected officials.

12.) New Orleans is a great city with many great people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will not speed the process by one day.

The first two sentences are absolutely correct--I believe it and I've never even been there. The last sentence...well, if it will help him pull his head out, I'm all for it.

13.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care.

Leadership is from the top, down. Hillary Clinton wasn't allowed to be in charge of our health care because Congress did its job.

God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush.

"God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much. God bless those helping them." I'll reserve comment on where it starts.

Ben Stein

Comments and opinions in italics are those of only one American. Me. I'm entitled to share my opinions, as is Mr. Stein, because we live in America.

Linda J. Hutchinson
Freelance Writer/Copywriter
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com/

One Mixed Up American's Thoughts

Sadly, I have nothing new to report on the legitimacy of the “Paramedics”.

It seems I may have been scammed by con artists posing as uniformed paramedics taking donations outside a local WalMart on Wednesday. I gave them cash and my business card. They gave me a flyer with totally useless information on it. However, I couldn’t check them out until I got home. You may read the full text of the story at www.lindajhutchinson.com/blog.

Checking today, I’ve found the website listed on the flyer still doesn’t exist. The phone number still isn’t working. I’ve heard nothing from 10-TV, which I notified with the possible scam information. Although they are now warning about scam activity in every newscast.

If the pollen count is down in the morning, I’ll venture out and pay a visit to the address given on the flyer. I may even visit the closest police precinct, flyer in hand. You can be sure I’ll direct law enforcement officers to the WalMart surveillance tapes if I can’t convince myself the men in uniform were/are legitimate.

On a more positive note, here in Columbus, Ohio, local Lonestar Steakhouse restaurants will be donating ALL receipts from meals purchased on Labor Day to the Red Cross. School children in one area elementary school are “buying” the opportunity to wear hats of their choice at school. They’ve raised $3400 for the Red Cross, at about $1 per day per student. 10-TV’s Show You Care program has gathered $64,000 since Monday. Other school children were taking donations before school this morning. At a local middle school, kids have given up their lunch money this week, to be donated to the Red Cross.

From Nova Scotia, Canada, Betty Dobson of Inkspotter Publishing (www.inkspotter.com) is donating a portion of all sales to the American Red Cross. In an email from her earlier this evening she said the images of the destruction have brought tears to her eyes. She wishes she could do more. She is a publishing company of one. (She puts out a wonderful free monthly newsletter for writers, if you’d like to sign up. She’s also one heck of a writer!)

Having watched hours of newscasts, I’m unable to comprehend the depth of frustration, helplessness and hopelessness, our Gulf coast neighbors have suffered and are continuing to suffer. I’m angry at our nation’s leaders for taking five days to respond. We got food and aid to the tsunami victims half a world away faster than we are getting food and water and medicine to our own citizens, within our own borders. If it weren’t for American citizens, church and civic groups, doing everything they can, and the positive training our school children are receiving in learning how to give, I’d be one ashamed American right now. My opinion of our President has sunk lower than even I thought possible.

We were planning on going to our farm in TN this weekend. With the hike in gas prices we decided not to make the trip. Writer friend Ronii Grace (www.thehatlady.blogspot.com and http://legacyofsilence.com) and her husband have offered to drive over to our place and check for damage from the remnants of Katrina. They’ve recently moved to KY from OK. I’m feeling blessed to have made such good friends over the Internet.

And so, I’m as confused now as I was when I began this entry to my blog. Confused, angry, frustrated, mourning for the dead, praying for the survivors.

After hubby got home from work tonight, he got a call from his boss, asking him to work this holiday weekend. The extra money will increase our donation to the Red Cross to help our neighbors to the south. Our prayers are already with them.

Delegating Is Good For the Soul?

I’ve been on a mission. A mission to tame the stacks of paper that accumulate while we sleep. Surely, those nasty little elves must come into our home in the middle of the night to add to the stacks!

There is a stack for potential sites to publish my work. This is left over from before I started the Master List of Markets in my Word program. This new list is alphabetized by genre and really is a neat thing to have.

There is a stack for information gathered that might be handy when writing articles. This stack is left over from before I started the Master List of Saved Info in my Word program.

There is the stack of paperwork gleaned from virtually everywhere regarding publishers who might be interested in one of the two novels in process. Of course I now have a Master List for that, too.

And there is the stack of prescription receipts and general paperwork. UGH! And the stack of junk mail. And the stack of ads and “offers” from our vendors. And the stack of miscellaneous paperwork.

I’m please to say each piece of paper is now in a designated file folder, neatly labeled and alphabetized for easy retrieval, dutifully separated into “business” and “personal”. OR, it’s been sent to that place where used paper goes to compost and recreate itself.

And since I’ve waded through these piles that would have easily measured two feet high, I’ve let hubby know I’d be more than happy to let him organized the basket full of receipts. After a short period of “confusion” about how it should be done, he’s gone to work on his project.

In honesty, I’m not sure which task is/has been the most daunting. That basket of receipts is from the beginning of the year and must be separated by cash, debit card, and four different credit cards. Some of the print is barely legible.

Just wait until I tell him AFTER the sorting is done, that each pile must be matched up to the bank/credit card statement by month. Then it must be posted in Quicken by category.

I wonder just how long before he decides to let me finish the task…

We’re up to our necks in packing boxes here in Ohio. Hubby has assembled a crew willing to help with the lifting and hauling. Since the temperatures have been soaring in the mid-nineties with a heat index of 104+ all week, the refrigerators at both the old and new apartments have been stocked with bottled water to keep us hydrated.

I’m forcing myself not to think about how hot it is at our farm in Tennessee. I used to envy my friends who had summer and winter homes, a time share here and there. Not anymore. It’s tough having more than one home. I now understand why one acquaintance insisted on using the same wallpaper in each of their homes.

I’ve spent several hours this past week with lists of contacts. Changing one’s address at the post office doesn’t suffice anymore. There are Internet routers and cable boxes to return so we can get new ones at the new address, bank accounts to manage, and prescription services to move from one pharmacy to another. As we age, it seems there are a multitude of doctors and other medical providers who must be notified. Emails have been sent to editors, other writers, organizations we belong to, and family and friends, notifying them of the change of address. Thankfully, we’ve kept the same cell phone numbers for the last ten years! Even our cat has a contact list to be managed!

We’re in good company, though. Our friend Ronii and her family made it safely from Oklahoma to Kentucky yesterday, with all of their worldly goods. And Lee, a long-term friend in Washington state has sold her big house and will be moving to smaller quarters on the 11th. I’m sure there will be plenty to commiserate!

Blatant Self-promotion

Check out my article that was published in Hard Hat News print magazine in June. Here's the link: http://www.hardhat.com/hh0610/THRU.html

Let me know what you think! linda@lindajhutchinson.com

BTW, the pictures were taken with my 35mm, nineteen year old, Vivitar.

Progress...Sheesh!

We finally replaced my old computer yesterday. I’d had it for about six years and I really wasn’t ready to give it up. But, I’d been using hubby’s all the while we’d been in Ohio and had gotten quite accustomed to having things work correctly—without double screen images that jiggled as I tried to read them, with images that loaded in less than 3 minutes, and to not being told I was out of memory.

The only reason we hooked mine up is that Michael will be working vacation relief for the next two weeks. He’s doing the superintendent’s graveyard shift at a large Kroger grocery store remodel. This meant I couldn’t pound away at the keys in my make-shift office in the bedroom of our small apartment during the day, because he’ll be sleeping. (I REALLY miss my office back at the farm!) And I couldn’t get my trusty drill and poke holes wherever necessary to run new cables. I had to work with what had already been installed. That’s tough for a woman who believes every woman should own a reciprocating saw, a six foot level, and a worm drive circular saw—and know how to use them.

Since we had brought my office furniture from the farm over the Memorial Day weekend, we hooked my old HP up in the living room. It felt comfortable to have my desk and chair and bookcase. I’d already removed a couple of dead moths from the Brother printer/scanner/fax/copier, but it still wasn’t working. That was sort of depressing, but my computer was still—I won’t say “humming” because that would be an outright lie—but it was ker-chinging and ker-chunking along.

It was the software that was the primary issue. I couldn’t load FrontPage 2003 because my MS Office was too old. And I couldn’t load it up with new software because there wasn’t enough memory. Like a favorite blanket, the time had come to give it up.

Off we went to BestBuy on the Fourth of July. Sad, isn’t it, that we had nothing better to do on a three day weekend? Anyway it all boiled down to whether I wanted a Celeron or AMD processor. My geeky kid hates Celeron and loves AMD, and since I have to call him on a semi-regular basis with computer issues, thought it best to go with the AMD. Because we’re saving up for retirement, rather than slapping the purchase onto a credit card, we waited until the bank opened on Tuesday so we could pay cash.

For a price less than what it would have cost to purchase more RAM, a new monitor, new MS Office, and new QuickBooks to load into the old PC, I now had a whole new system sitting on my Mission style desk. It looked good.

My old computer had been easy to network to Michael’s computer. I loaded the router software into it and it accepted it and did exactly what it was supposed to do. Hmmm.

After about five hours of total frustration, and I mean the near-tears kind of frustration, I was finally able to get all the network IDs and various settings to match up. The router software finally loaded onto the new computer and at 9:00 last night, I was fully hubbed to the network. It took much digging through the archives of my mind to find just the right files and pieces of information to make it all work, but finally it did, and I was up and running on my new computer.

My printer still doesn’t work—I’ll be taking it apart next to see what else may have nested in there while it sat unused at the farm.

The Dung that is My Web Host

I'm your standard run of the mill Taurus. I'm stubborn, plodding, and can be patient to the point of causing excrutiating pain to my nemesis. My nemesis is my web host.

The past five days have been a tornado of emotions; anger, humiliation, more anger, frustration, and--finally--acceptance that I'd been duped and now need to move on. My patience has been tested to the core. Perhaps it's the knowing I've been paying a company to shaft me that has been the most painful.

A year ago, with the help of my former daughter-in-law, we built a small website that was to focus on my writing ambitions. A few weeks ago I changed it completely after taking the free online classes at GNC (for details, see "Exercising My Mind" at www.seniorweblogs.com). I was using it for marketing purposes.

Five days ago my new website disappeared from the 'Net. I have no idea why it disappeared, but it was probably due, at least in part, to operator error--mine. In the course of asking for "help" from my web host I discovered they don't give "help". Since then, I've also discovered they were only "renting" me the domain name I thought I had purchased, have retained ownership of the domain name, and are now holding it hostage.

When my traipse through the dung is finished, I will be changing hosts. There may or may not be a domain name change. I'll post updated information at all three of my blogs.

During this ordeal I've been fortunate to have had the support of the fabulous women writers in my critique group, my loving husband, and a man I've only met through the web development classes--who is a tech/web genius and has vowed to stick by my side until this mess is unraveled. I know God has watched over me and there are good things to come. This is merely a stumble on the road to success.

When choosing the next web host, I will be asking many more questions than I did with this one. I'll be making sure the new host has customer support via telephone. I'll be purchasing my domain name--and receiving written confirmation that I own it. This time around I have something I didn't have a year ago; a multitude of trusted online friends to call on for guidance.

Revenge isn't my goal, which is why I haven't posted the web host's name.