Since Keith Channing is involved with Na/Mo, I am making finger point prompts this month. Today’s prompt was found by randomly opening Eternal Road – The final stop. The page that turned up was 183. After hiding my eyes and pointing at the page, the nearest word was ‘stars.’ So that is our prompt today.
This list was originally posted on November 17th, 2014. We are expecting a cold front next week, so I thought I would remind myself of those things I shouldn’t do. Maybe if it turns cold where you are, you could use a reminder as well.
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This list is inspired by the temperature here on the south Texas Coast. As I write this, the temperature is thirty-seven degrees. Way too cold for an old fart and his dogs.
Top Ten Things Not to Do When the Weather Turns Cold
10 If the weather turns cold, do not think turning on the heat is for wimps. If you do, at best, you may find yourself refusing to get out of bed. At worst, you could see your pipes freeze and split like a bratwurst on a hot fire. (A slit bratwurst is no big deal, the pipes are a little more problematic.)
9 If the weather turns cold, do not avoid getting out the heavy clothes. If you do, at best, you will find yourself shivering when you go outside. At worst, you could be found stiff as a board sitting on a bench waiting for the rescue dog with the brandy. (Be sure to pen a goodbye note)
8 If the weather turns cold, do not think that the black spot in the road is water. If you do, at best, you will only skid a little as you hit it. At worst, you will get a free-spinning ride like the one you paid good money for back in July when you visited Disney World. (This time, though, the stop might be a little more sudden and a little more hurtful.)
7 If the weather turns cold, do not think that the white stuff falling from the sky will go away on its own. If you do, At best, you could have a hard time moving when you go outside. At worst, the buildup will be such that you can no longer open the doors and will have to resort to eating leftovers out of the freezer, which has been in there for an eon or two. (And nothing’s marked as to content or date)
6 If the weather turns cold, do not think the outdoor plans you made in July should be modified. If you do, at best, you might not have much fun playing badminton in twenty-five mile an hour wind and chill of minus twenty. At worst, you will lose several family members to frostbite before you realize the shirts and skins basketball game was not such a good idea. (You thought uncle Harry who is on the skins team, was being a blue Smurf for the day)
5 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can enjoy a coffee at your usual outdoor café. If you do, at best, you will find yourself hugging the cup instead of drinking it. At worst, you will be the only one outside and will remain there until the street clearing crew uncovers your carcass in the spring. (You would have thought the server would have checked on you.)
4 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can continue to commute to work on your bicycle. If you do, at best, you will arrive at work unable to release your hands from the grips. At worst, you will not be able to thaw out until after the critical meeting with new clients. (They did comment to your boss to the effect that you seem stiff and cold.)
3 If the weather turns cold, do not take your dog for a walk without some kind of wrap on the dog. If you do, at best, the dog won’t want to go and will surprise you later at home. At worst, your dog will not want to go and will decide you are the one who needs to be led by the leash. (He may even think you need to be carried back home and a trainer.)
2 If the weather turns cold, do not think you can continue to grill outside like in August. If you do, At best, you will be serving cold meals although not intended. At worst, you will be way too close to the grill to keep warm and chance spontaneous combustion, which, if it happens, will possibly ruin the meat as well. (No one likes bone meal ash on their burger.)
1 If the weather turns cold, do not think this is an excellent time to finally put away the garden hoses that have been lying around the yard. If you do, at best, you will have the equivalent of an octopus to manage, given how stiff the hose has become. At worst, you will find that the hose is connected to the faucet, and every effort to remove it leads to an expensive visit by a plumber and housing contractor. (Not to mention the new skating rink that you used to call your backyard.)
Today we are going to check out four new bronzes that have been installed in Lakeway. Also, since this rutting season is here I thought you would like to see some photos of the bucks. They are everywhere and usually, they are out of sight. We are being catered by Cavalier in Austin and our entertainment is Carole King, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Celene Dion. (budget buster).
So let’s get on the bus.
Our first bronze is the new sign for Lakeway.
Here is the old sign for your reference.
Our first buck is one with determination.
Our next bronze is a family of elk placed out in front of city hall.
This is a fellow who has tangled with a bush and has has lost his sense of humor. He does have part of the bush in his antlers for a reminder.
This guy came up the drive at our house.
He seems a little put out that I’m not a doe.
The next bronze is to honor the heron outside the Tennis center.
This doe is not taking any chances. One look and she is off.
Our final bronze is in the courtyard of the Activies Center. I asked it to smile and all I got was “Wwwwhat?”
Enjoy the music and food and I hope you have a super week.
Saturday is a good day to catch up on some of the things that need to be done around the house. Today is the day to tackle the garage. Now for the record, there is nothing wrong with the garage. It’s just in need of a little reorganization. There are several tools I no longer need and so now it’s time to get them ready for a rehoming exercise.
I went out to the garage to make a note of those things that needed to find a home somewhere else. Let’s see. The lawnmower can go since I don’t have a lawn anymore. I think the fertilizer spreader can follow the lawnmower. What about the trimmer? No, I better hold on to that since the neighbor is kind of sloppy about letting his grass grow into my pea gravel bed. I guess the rest can stay since most are used to pick up leaves, and they still need that attention.
I was plugging in my shop vac to give the floor a good sweep when my phone alerted me to someone at the front door. I hit the door cam app, and sure enough, I could see a big guy putting a box on the front porch. I hope he doesn’t ring the doorbell was my first thought. Twiggy was inside, and the ceiling plaster is still wet from last week’s repair. He turned to go and then did a strange thing. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket with two fingers and dropped it on top of the package.
Waiting until he left, I rushed out to the porch to see what was delivered. The box was from the ACME fireworks company, and I could see it was delivered to the wrong address. No Wilie E. Coyote is living at my house. The envelope had no return address. I opened it quickly and out fell a key. There was also a message. Here’s what it said. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cam.” Find a word that contains “cam” or use it as is. Enjoy! If you want to enjoy it, visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-13-2021/
It is another glorious Friday pointing to the weekend. Today’s good news is about animals. As we know, animal stories tend to put a positive spin on our daily life. Hopefully, this will be the result of these two.
Our first story is about the rebound of the Monarch butterfly population in the Western United States.
photo courtesy of Steve Corey, CC license
The Thanksgiving count of Monarchs has not begun, but an early count on October 16th, 2021 of the overwintering sites on the California coast is encouraging. The Pacific Grove count of 1300 butterflies this year is compared to zero in 2020. The Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove found about 8,000 monarchs compared to 300 last year. All in all, about 10,000 Monarchs have been counted this year which is a substantial increase. The good news here is that the signs are suitable for a Monarch recovery.
This is good news, but the Monarch is not out of the woods yet. How can you help? You can by planting nectar-bearing plants in the spring and the fall and buy not using insecticides.
Bear The Koala Dog – Instagram, USC/IFAW
In 2019 and 2020, six-year-old Australian Koole named Bear was instrumental in finding over 100 Koala bears who were injured and lost in the ashes due to the horrible bush fires there.
Bear has been named a hero, winning an award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Bear was trained in Australia at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Their Detection Dogs for Conservation team taught the former rescue dog to use his heightened sense of smell to hunt out the injured koalas among the ashes.
Bear is a rescue from an animal shelter after his former owners gave him up due to behavior issues caused by his “boundless energy and obsessive enthusiasm for play.”
The very reasons Bear was given up are the strengths he brings to his work which continues today.
Today’s JohnKu talks about Bear and his life. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
I am very excited to have Staci Troilo visit Fiction Favorites today. She is a Story Empire fellow team member, a very talented editor, and a best-selling author. She is here to talk about her new book. So, without delay here is Staci.
Thanks for having me here today, John. Hi, everyone. I appreciate you taking a few minutes to chat with me about my new release, No Such Luck. It’s a quick and clean romance just in time for Christmas.
Piper Seidel’s life-long best friend is Jack Rhodes. She’s relied on him for so long, she’s begun to take him for granted. While he’s never let that bother him before, it seems he’s reached his limit. This excerpt shows when he hit his breaking point. It’s a bit shorter than the already short excerpts I’ve been sharing, but I don’t want to give anything away.
As she went in search of her father to tell him where she was going, she bumped into Jack in the hallway.
“Jack. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Just checking on progress.” His jaw ticked. “I try to make the rounds on all my jobs at least once a day.”
“I hadn’t realized this was one of yours.”
“Obviously.”
“Um, well. I—”
“Tell your father I’ll settle with him in the morning. Good night, Piper.”
“Jack!”
Too late. He was already gone.
She didn’t know why she felt guilty, but their exchange gnawed at her gut.
Piper is a bit dense. Even her father knew what was going on before she did. The only question is whether she figures everything out in time.
I hope you enjoyed that quick sneak peek. No Such Luck, the first installment of the Keystone Couples series, is available now on Amazon.
Blurb:
Seeds of luck usually wither. The rare one grows and blooms.
Piper Seidel has one thing going for her—a red carnation given to her by Tommy Burnett in the tenth grade. It might have dried over the years, but it’s still her good luck charm. Losing it sets her life in a downward spiral, forcing her to return to her hometown where she comes face to face with her high school crush.
The years have been kind to Tommy, who looks better than ever. Unfortunately, Piper is at her worst, continually embarrassing herself whenever he’s around. The only plus? Her long-time friend, Jack Rhodes, still lives in town. Since she last saw him, his legs have grown longer, his biceps thicker, and his shoulders broader. He was always the brother she never had, but now she can’t help noticing him in an unsisterly way. Jack is every bit as caring as he’s ever been—until her bad luck drives him away, maybe forever.
Piper needs a new good luck charm, and fast, before she loses her final chance at happiness.
Since Keith Channing is off doing NaNoMo stuff, I decided to do a finger prompt. This is where I grab a book and randomly open it and point to a page without looking. Today’s book is Eternal Road – The last stop by that bon vivant, internally acclaimed, and humble author John W. Howell. The page is 141, and the word closest to my finger is Bugs Bunny. Here we go.
“They have some interest in doing a movie using one of my books.”
“Wow, that’s great. Which one?”
“I never heard of it.”
“What?”
“I never heard of the studio,”
“I mean, which book?”
“Oh, they didn’t say. They just said we should take a meeting and figure out the details.”
“Okay, this sounds strange.”
“Why?”
“I never heard of a studio just inviting an author to come in and discuss making a movie unless he’s Matthew McConaughey.”
“There is always the first time.”
“Did you call them?”
“No, I got an email and was told to call a number.”
“So you called.”
“Yup, and the studio head got right on.”
“Well, what can I say? Make sure you get a contract.”
“They said we would sign it after the option money is paid.”
“That’s odd. You usually sign the contract before the option money is paid.”
“I guess they handle it differently. So nice that they will take my check.”
“Wait a minute. You are paying them.”
“Yeah. Only thirteen hundred dollars, and they will do all the work.”
“What work?”
“Getting the pitch deck together, media kit, bio video, and trailer.”
“This sounds a lot like what an agent does for no money as part of their job. This doesn’t sound like a studio. You use all those things to get a studio to buy the option rights.”
“Oh. Maybe I misunderstood about the studio,”
“Yeah, maybe. What was the guy’s name you talked to?”
“Mr. Bunny.”
“Mr. Bunny?”
“He said I could call him Bugs.”
“You haven’t sent any money yet, have you?”
“No.”
“Good. Cancel the meeting.”
“Why?”
“You do know that Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character, right?”
This post originally ran on November 10th, 2014. it was in response to having an engine light come on in my car. It looks to be relevant today, so here goes.
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Top Ten Things Not to Do If Your Engine Light Comes On.
10 If your engine light comes on, do not panic. If you do, at best, you may make things worse by being rattled. At worst, you may pull off the road in a panicked state, keep rolling past the shoulder into a culvert below. (Now you have a mess of lights to deal with, Bud including the state police.)
9 If your engine light comes on, do not consult your owner’s manual until you come to a stop. If you do, at best, you won’t find the section inconspicuously marked “Warning Indicator – Engine,” and you’ll have to stop anyway. At worst, you will be concentrating on using the index to find the subject matter and inadvertently run into the stopped care in front of you. ( In any case, the index and manual will be of no help.)
8 If your engine light comes on, do not try to ignore it. If you do, at best, you will be continually reminded that something is wrong. At worst, your engine light bulb will burn out, and you will think the trouble has magically cleared up until you hear the rending screech of metal marking the final moments of the life of your engine. (Yeah, five quarts of oil in the drive is a lot.)
7 If your engine light comes on, do not think this is a normal function of the car’s systems. If you do, at best, you will only have a minor additional repair. At worst, you may be saying goodbye to your trusty car as you watch it disappear into the local u-pull-it parts depot. (With the added insult that the tow truck fee was more significant than the salvage payment.)
6 If your engine light comes on, do not attempt to diagnose the problem yourself. If you do, at best, you may end up at the mechanic since you couldn’t find the problem. At worst, you may have misdiagnosed the situation and be happily motoring along in a remote area as you see the light again, followed by billowing clouds of smoke. (This is after passing the last gas station for one hundred miles sign, fifty miles ago.)
5 If your engine light comes on, do not think it is an excellent accompaniment to the soft romantic music on the radio. If you do, at best, you may not be able to start your car someday. At worst, you could be seeing the beginning of the end of the soft music and your car. (Funny, you never heard that strange noise before.)
4 If your engine light comes on, do not pretend it doesn’t bother you. If you do, at best, you will have unsettled moments until you come to grips with the fact there is trouble. At worst, the light will trigger long-suppressed anxieties, which could cause a significant episode requiring hours of psychological help. (This help will make the repair bill on the car look cheap.)
3 If your engine light comes on, do not think your car is irreparably damaged. If you do, at best, you will lose confidence in its reliability. At worst, you will take unreasonable steps to get rid of the car, which could lead to significant loss of funds and peace of mind. (Thinking you could shove it off a cliff might lead to being cited by the state police for littering.)
2 If your engine light comes on, do not suggest to your spouse that you swap cars for a while. If you do, at best, your spouse will have to deal with the issue. At worst, the problem is so acute your spouse breaks down on the freeway, and a gang of carjackers comes along, strip, and burns your car. (In addition, your spouse thinks the lawless lifestyle looks pretty romantic and joins their crew and now sports a “Mess with the best, die like the rest” tattoo on the back.)
1 If your engine light comes on, do not drive the car to any place but the mechanic. If you do, at best, you may have a small repair bill which could get bigger. At worst, the problem will continue to get bigger until you are no longer controlling your car. (You will become its servant with all the negative attention related to the title.)
Today we are going to attend Bee Cave ChamberFest an event filled with food, music, vendors, and authors too. We are going to be catered by the Brooklyn Breakfast Shop of Austin. Our entertainment is James Taylor and Carly Simon
Menu
Classic Bacon, Egg & Cheese On A Bagel
Substitute bacon for sausage, avocado, or barbacoa
Barbacoa, Avocado, Lime, Pickled Serranos & An Egg On A Hero
Fennel Sausage, Fresno Pimento, Cheese, House Pickles, Sunny Egg On Our House Made Whey Biscuit
Citrus Roast Pork, Avocado, Pickled Red Onions, Cilantro Aioli & An Egg On A Hero
Croissant With Two Eggs & Cheese
Sweet Potato Hash, Shishito Pepper Sauce, Pickled Red Onions
Buttermilk Fried Chicken, House Pickles, Sweet Heat Sauce& An Egg On A Biscuit
Avocado Toast With Pickled Red Onions, Lime, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Roasted Tomatoes On Texas Toast
Let’s get on the bus and go.
The first stop is a dance team and music.
The Library of Bee Cave and sponsor for the author’s attendance at ChamberFest.
Plenty of booths to visit
Move booths.
A rescue group is represented.
One of the most popular stops.
A big chicken was there too.
Here are two of the authors Amy Jackson and Wesley Lewis.
A sign letting everyone know who is attending.
Terry Lewis (R) with Wesley Lewis. Terry is in charge of the event for the library. Thanks to Terry for organizing the day.
So that is the tour. Have some food and relax with James and Carly.
