tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71890128348935941392024-03-05T20:06:08.616-08:00Observations from the Middle SeatMusings from the upcoming memoirs of Janice FingadoKalanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099504790112754032noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-63225451080439575942024-03-05T20:05:00.000-08:002024-03-05T20:05:20.207-08:00Long time, no seeHi, dear Friends,
I can't believe I've let so much time go by without giving you some Updates. But I have and it's mea culpa.
In my last msg to you, I was rejoicing that I had found the company called Wheatmark which was recommended to me for the publishing of my book of memoirs and I was so happy.
Well, today I have had Ann, my dear neighbor next door send me a copy of the letter we wrote to the consultant at Wheatmark, complaining that they had charged me $1500 to put all my chapters in the correct order, but they had not done anything. And, oh, the frustration that I have endured because of everything that went wrong.
This year, my birthday celebration was for my 97th year, so I'm quickly gaining on you, Grandpa!
Forgetting about all the health difficulties, the Pacemaker installation, the move to a private house and how I manage all the details, the completion of the writing for the book, the details of all the work it involved which only the good work from Alejandra, my caregiver, kept me going. I'm not going to get mired in all the problems; they are just a waste of time. So let's get on with it, and bring you up to date.
Alejandra was the one who cut, copied and pasted all the chapters and photos and organized them under the chapter Headings.
I am almost finished with them.
I am almost ready to turn the contents over to the Formatter, who will stage the paragraphs and titles of chapters.
I still have to reduce the cartoon design for the cover, and re-position the Title and the Author's name.
When I get all the persnickety details figured out and the manuscript is finally at the Printers, I hall relax and take up making jewelry again. And begin teaching classes in the beautiful setting of the Garage-Studio. A huge weight off my shoulders.
So I promise to keep you better informed as I plow ahead. My determination is stronger than ever. Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-36318780774227290432023-08-06T18:08:00.001-07:002023-08-06T18:08:35.797-07:00Oh, Happy Day!Friday, August 4, 2023 will stand out as the day I made a "snall step" (for me) and a "giant leap" (for publishing). A load has been lifted from my shoulders.
My computer tech guy admitted he could not move the chapters of my book around, but suggested a publihing compawny here in Tucson which is dedicated to helping Writers above and beyond what other printers try to do. The company is called Wheatmark Publishing and they have been in operation for 20 years. They had a survey for the Writer to answer what the book was all about and what you wanted to accomplish with it.The day after I emailed the survey, I received a phone call from one of the Consultants making an appointment for Friday. He arrived at 11 a.m. and didn't leave until 5 p.m. And we talked about printing the entire time! He discovered that my Microsoft Word had expired way back in 2015 and all my writing went into different lists instead of Word, so they were "trapped". He helped me order a new Word, and set evverything up. I had put all my indes cards in sections with heading of where each chapter should go, took my box of index cards home with him and is going to move each chapter under the SUBJECT it belongs to and then I get to revise them -- again. Mark (the consultant) says I have way too many pages and have to do major surgery. But I have already re-written the Back cver and will re-draw the front cover in cartoon style, Mark is going to bring me the re-organized list of chapters next Wednesday. and will help me all along the process.
In June I had to have a Pacemaker implanted, but it's healing nicely and the numbers are now in the correct range. I'm still weak but am enthusiastic again and "rarin' to go".
TTYS, Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-68194025251405736692022-09-15T00:24:00.000-07:002022-09-15T00:24:13.662-07:00Did you think I had forgotten you?No, I haven't. It's just that I'm a victim of the pandemic, the same as all of you. While I did not catch the Covid during its many reincarnations, some people did here at Valley Manor and we had to quarantine for quite a while, and since we couldn't gather, there wasn't much to report on. I have to confess that the political situation has me deeply depressed; I feel as if I don't know my own country any more and the hatred and violence leaves me saddened and bewildered.
The queen's death has put more pressure on me to get the book finished asap; she was only 6 months older than I and was actively working only two days before she died. You never know; You never know.
But I have made and am making progress lately with the help of my computer wizards. My computer was completly Offline for five days this past week and I could not get into the Inbox, Send mail, revise any chapters or communicate. Today my computer tech unplugged something, plugged something else, and poked a lot of buttons and suddenly everything was working again. I had earlier gathered all my chapters and anecdotes on Index Cards and assembled them in the order they happened or were remembered.Today, the Tech printed out 330 pages so I can now revise them and shuffle them around so they read well. Months of work ahead of me, but I am hopeful that I may some time see a printed book on my coffee table. I tell everyone who will listen that all these people writing How To books on Writing should emphasize the necessity of putting everything in ONE file instead of lots of different documents. Heavens, the WRITING is the FUN part and a piece of cake. It's the publishing that makes it fragile and frustrating.
I've received permission from David Fitzsimmons, the famous columnist and cartoonist to use the cartoon he drew of me when he visited Valley Manor last year. and I've a rough draft of the cover showing me squushed inbetween my husband in the window seat and a grossly fat man in the aisle seat to explain the title of "Life as observed from the Middle Seat."
So, I'm alive and well, and eager to make some progress heading to the Printers. I've decided to self-publish so I can keep control over the "voice" of each chapter. Talk to you soon, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-86879358927949790812021-10-02T18:06:00.000-07:002021-10-02T18:06:01.791-07:00Successful craft showYesterday was the craft show for Valley Manor and in spite of some last-minute glitches (it wouldn't be Tucson without last-minute mind-changes!) it was a great success, much to my relief. During the previous two weeks I had been on the phone arranging for guest artisans here at Valley Manor to come and show their art, since I didn't wnt to hog the spotlight, and I felt we'd get a better turnout if the residents knew there would be more than just jewelry. My two former students, Linda and Connie came with their jewelry which is unusual, creative contemporary works in copper, including the difficult fold-forming. It was SO NICE to see them both again after such a long pandemic hiatus. We had people who made trivets, hand-painted greeting cards knitted lacy shawls, and I added hand-painted gift boxes on my table from water-color painting the Kelowna Waldorf School students had painted. I sold at least ten of my gossamer necklaces, seen so often on TV now. The turnout was great and the residents kept saying how much FUN it was, so that pleased me. All the guests sold enough to be happy with the results. It was a lot of work, though, and I couldn't have managed without the help of Mike, my new-found friend who has retired and is going to become a profesional jeweler. He helped lug tables around, helped people set up, made the Clubhouse look lovely, helped me put out all my jewelry and hung around jollying the customers till he folded up all the tables and we left the Clubhouse pristinely. What a help he was! It was so packed at 2 p.m. that I didn't have time to write out receipts and just threw the cash and checks in the shoebox. :-) But it was only for two hours, so not THAT MUCH cash and checks! With my arthritis acting up all last week, and guzzling Arthritis Tylenols and rubbing my right legt with Icy-Hot I got through it, but Boy, was I pooped! A HAPPY pooped, but if they had an escalator running between my aptartment and the dining-room I'd have been on it for Supper. Now, back to the book --- Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-3690114519972491062021-09-21T00:32:00.000-07:002021-09-21T00:32:01.788-07:00Craft Show scheduledThe Engage Life director, Sally, assigned a day for me to have a craft show in the Clubhouse: Friday, October 1, 2021. From 1:30 p.m. to 3:30. My first thought was, "Oh, October; next month!" Then I realized that the First was only two weeks away, and that I was in charge of organizing it. I had decided that since there are so many men living in Valley Manor and they weren't keen on buying jewelry, I should try to offer several different crafts, in order to draw more people into the Clubhouse. So for the last few days I've been scrambling to talk other "crafters" to come and display and sell their specialties. It's been met with great enthusiasm and I now have two greeting card makers, a lady who makes suncatchers as well as earrings, a resident who makes colorful, woven hot pads or trivets, a new resident who has made a lot of lace shawls, and two of my students who make very differenc geometric copper jewelry, as well as two tables featuring my own one-of-a-kind jewelry. Since I haven't been able to hold a craft show for two years because of Covid restrictions, my inventory has grown enormously. I've reduced the prices considerably. It's been a job recruiting the other crafters, but I feel that the variety will intrigue more residents to come out for it. Since Sally had the bad accident on her vacation, her leg is in a cast and she gets around by wheelchair, so I will have to organize the various tables and the set-up in the Clubhouse. My arthritis has been acting up, so I'm hoping that by sitting down occasionally I'll be able to still stand up to describe the fossils, opals and pearls I'll be selling. I'll have books and magazines on my table describing the unique stones. I'm hoping it will be a Fun Day for everyone. Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-80914992291944117542021-09-03T11:21:00.000-07:002021-09-03T11:21:24.287-07:00Recovering takes a lot out of you.After I came home from the hospital after a dreadful 5 days, Marta started working wonders, while I stumbled from one director to another, trying to get a nurse to come see me and OK the medications the hospital had recommended. With many wrong directions and wrong connections, we finally found an outside Patient Care Place for a nurse to come the following week. All she did was take my vitals, and "register" me (EVERYTHING down here is pointedly done to avoid lassuits!!!!!) After more delays I finally got a nurse to come, and OK therapists. A PT came with leg exercises, and an OT came with arm exercises. I started doing all of them once a day along with walking outside with my walker. Felt weaker and weaker and only wanted to lie in bed trying to sleep. Now the last few days, arthritis is kicking in on my hands, feet, knees and hips. Have increased the exercises, and walking, realizing that I am not going to get an significant help from the professionals. If I'm going to get better, it will be my own doing.... I'm taking arthritis Tylenols which help with the pain, and increasing the exercises to twice an day, also the walking. Mike came by on Monday and bought $130 worth of equipment and jewelry; he put together the new shower chair I had ordered from Amazon. I'm hoping I can start making some jewelry; I have to start enjoying things again. I had to cancel my Sept. 3rd Craft Show where I was going to sell my jewelry because I was too weak to stand for several hours. Maybe October.... Hopefully, better news next month. Love JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-63868957228176790072021-08-12T20:23:00.002-07:002021-09-03T11:01:00.962-07:00Just when you think it can't get any worse....It does.
Last week I whined about the flooding of my apartment, and developing a hard cough, constant enough to keep me from getting any sleep. So, what else could possibly get worse than all that?
Well, folks, that was just the half of it. On Wed., the 4th, the cough was bad enough to acknowledge that I needed to have a doctor see me. My Primary Care doctor was on vacation. Her PA was not available, so I ended up with a nice MA who didn't know me from Adam. To the Blood Lab and chest x-ray. Friday the results were back and on Sat. a.m. Marta called at nine to say she'd be there in an hour to take me to the hospital. I had pneumonia, the cough needed intravenus antibotics, the MA found a nodule on the kidney, more ultrasounds; every time I turned around, they found another problem. Then began a full day of pain, frustration and anxiety, trying to find a bed in a hospital overwhelmed with Covid patients. One became available in the Maternity end of the Women's ward. but my computer has just frozen three times while writing this so I will mercifully let you go. I had a very nice private room, I as there 5 days. The intravenus didn't go in the vein but in a muscle and I had the most agonizing pain I've ever had in my entire life. They had to have a special ultra sounding of the veins to insert the needle and tube. Ya no mas. Five horrible days, but I'm not going to talk about it. I spent all day yesterday sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for them to get my Release approved. Steve brought me home at 4:30. So, I had five days of ample proof that the American system is totally geared to preventing lawsuits, the people don't know their equipment, and the unholiest of words you can ever hear are, "I'll be right back." Three hours later you're still waiting. Bernie, you've got a big job but you have to convince government to adopt the Canadian system. ASAP. Trying to build up my strength. Will let you know. Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-52004750438758174842021-08-02T16:47:00.000-07:002021-08-02T16:47:43.141-07:00You're beginning to trust me a little too much, GodI have a quotation magneted to my fridge, something that Mother Theresa once said, "I know God won't send me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much."
The past couple of months have seemed like that, which is why this morning I suddenly realized I had not written on my blog for a long time. Nothing good or spectacular to report, don't make an entry, right? Well, you're supposed to write once a week, whether you have any interesting things or not, just to keep people reading your blog. So here goes all the exciting things that have been happening. In that order.
First,my Editor dropped a bomb on me after she read the manuscript, saying, "Janice, you have 659 pages in the Hardback size so it would be over 800 in the Paperback size. You have two books here, so you'd better decide how to divide them up." She might just as well have told me to just start the entire thing all over again. I had just written up all the chapters so I could renumber them in the correct order and now I have to decide to split them up? It threw me for a loop, until I decided that the first book would be all my life with Fritz, all the travels, his past, how we met, everything. Then the second book would take up after he died and I got the courage to open my studio, and work on my own and the success I had, thus encouraging other older women to do the same. But that meant I had to read every chapter, every little anecdote or Bits and Pieces, to see where they fitted in. So I came to a halt, being overwhelmed at the amount of work that would entail.
Just when the pandemic was slowing down and activities picking up. I started a knitting class on Saturday mornings, I resumed jewelry classes twice a month on Wednesday afternoons. I became an Ambassador and attended Engage Life meetings. I attended Town Hall meetings, I went to Culinary meetings, I gave private classes, I began inviting people over for lunch (that didn't last long!) Add to that all the eye doctor meetings and the worry about why my eyes were so blurry while watching TV. Several emergency meetings and tests confirmed there was nothing wrong with the retina, the glaucoma and pressure were good and the concensus was that I had a bad case of "dry eyes". Taking drops has helped some, but I have another appointment next Saturday to have my prescriptions checked.
Then came God's test of me:On Monday night, July 19th, God decided he had had enough of all the complaints about what a dry monsoon season we were having again this year and decided to send Noah to take charge. Around midnight I started hearing thunder and rattling of my stove hood and got up to look. The stove was dry so I went back to finish my Hallmark movie. When that ended I decided to go to bed, and when I walked into the bathroom, my sandals were sloshing through two inches of water! Which was seeping into the hallway and from there into the bedroom. When I went to look out the front door, yes, of course, I was squishing through soaking carpets. The wind was so ferocious it was blowing the rain through the slot under the door. I decided it would be a good time to call the night security man. He answered he was right next door, because Mary was flooded too, and he'd be right there. Turned out that Mary's entire apartment was inundated, while mine had half of every room soaking wet. Soon the carpet cleaner people arrived with their big water vacuums and even larger fans, and worked sucking up the water until close to 3 a.m. They moved the couch, coffee table and part of the bookcase to the middle of the room to a dry spot. They moved Mary and all of her furniture to an empty apartment and the next day tore up all of her carpets. Mary and I were the ONLY apartments to suffer flooding. I was left with the mess of soaked boxes in closets, clothing on my bed, and a lot of my jewelry supplies were piled in the dining-room, the only room which wasn't flooded. The noisy fans were left running night and day to dry the carpets and I moved them from one place to another for four days. The maintenance and carpet people picked up the fans on the fourth day, declared all the carpets dry, but didn't offer to move any of the furniture back. I moved the couch, and Steve moved the coffee table, and after I complained to Maintenance a few days after that, they were already re-laying new carpet in Mary's apartment and so three of them came to mine and moved a few more things back in place and turned back a couple of carpet corners to show me there was no mold under it.
The only concession that I got for all the hard work and trouble was their promise to come in "later" and have the carpets shampooed. I'm still trying to put things away.
But God wasn't quite ready to let me get back to normal. Marta and Steve brought my great-grandsons to visit last Saturday and after they left I noticed my voice changing. By midnight I had a full-blown case of laryngitis, something I never had in my entire life. No idea how I got it nor what causes it. My dry cough has turned into a wet cough, so I'm picking up my lunch or dinner at the dining-room patio, wearing a mask again. OKAY, enough complaining. My lethargy and lack of motivation is keeping me from getting things done which adds to my burden of guilt. I ENJOY writing, wish I could get back to it,but the task of re-listing all the chapters and numbering them is overwhelming. Maybe when I get my voice back and can bitch out loud without squeaking, will give me the energy to start up again. I hear I'm not the only one!Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-27263513003510430952021-05-04T23:52:00.000-07:002021-05-04T23:52:03.858-07:00UpdateOuch, it's been a long hiatus; I apologise. It's sorta been a "When you want to do something, when you know you should do something, and "Life gets in the way."
It's been a lot of doctor appointments, revising some chapters and inventing others. I've long known that I wasn't through: I needed to add some chapters that I hadn't even written one word about. I've re-written the entire long version of the original Around the World charter flight with Air Canada. I've also written a very long version of a chapter all about jewelry-making because I suddenly realized I had never discussed how I got started, how I plucked up courage to apply for a studio in an Arts Center in Kelowna, and now I'm organizing a chapter about the health care system in Canada. a subject I have longed waxed poetic about but not actually backed it up with one written word.
In the meantime I ordered a set of stainless steel cabinets for the patio so that I could transfer all my jewelry machines out to locked cabinets and do the messy work out there. It has taken my handyman over two weeks to assemble them due to missing or incorrect parts, but it is almost finished and looks very elegant. The Engage Life Director told me yesterday that my and my neighbor's patios are the most beautiful in the entire complex. (Of course, the blossoming roses have something to do with that!)
I had a serious problem with my good right eye suddenly start blurring, and the retina specialist diagnosed a burst blood vessel. then over the last weekend it worsened and I got an emergency appt. with him. They discovered that the retina had not changed, but that my eye was SO dry that it couldn't focus. Needless to say that I was so relieved, I've been dumping lots of little Refresh bottles in it, and already notice some improvement. Arizona's most famous cartoon, reprinted often, shows a skeleton lying on the desert with the comment "But's it's a DRY heat!" over it.
So, the book. Anything accomplished on it? Yes, and No. Yes, because I completed re-numbering the chapters in chronological order, or at least as best chronological order you can do on a bunch of memoirs which are random thoughts. Memo to prospective Memoirists: Keep everything you write in just ONE file. Then you can move them around, up or down and it's easier for your copy editor. I have mine spread all over the place: Documents, Downloads, Memoirs, Libre Office, backup disks labeled D and E, etc. Try to move each chapter from one of the files to the only one that works on your Editor's computer and "Houston, we have a problem."
But, she's at least reading all the manuscript and will soon call me to have a long conversation on what she thinks about the Content. (I see weeks of revision in the works...)
On Wed. May 19th, I'm having my first jewelry class in my apartment. Instead of making something, I'm doing a Polish and Repair session, something people have been asking me to schedule. It seems like no one here has heard of silver polishing cloths, so my Ionic polishing crockpot will have a busy day. But maybe I'll pick up some new customers that way.Talk to you soon. I mean it. Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-67112593963019787352021-03-26T15:01:00.000-07:002021-03-26T15:01:56.757-07:00Anecdotes, Bits and Pieces, and Untitled 1, 2, 3 and 4......Or: one step Forward, two steps Backward.
Marion sent me the revised list of chapters, with the revised chapter numbers in the correct sequence. Except for all the question marks. When I was spontaneously writing new little thoughts I had pertaining to a chapter already written, I just saved it under Anecdotes, or Bits and Pieces. BAD IDEA! Because six months later, you remember having written something on a certain subject, but you can't remember. The Subject, the Reason for adding it, WHERE you added it....GONE. Now you have to read all the little Bits and Pieces over and over again to try to decide which chapter they belong to. That goes for Anecdotes, and especially the longer versions called Untitled 3. What was I THINKING?!?
All of this to tell you that the one step Forward means I at least have most of the Titled chapters in reasonably sound sequence. When I get all the question marks identified, Marion says THEN, and ONLY then, can I actually start revising the chapters after I have a long conversation with her as to Content.
Sigh...Your impatient JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-12087522428882319062021-03-09T12:09:00.000-08:002021-03-09T12:09:57.940-08:00Beds are for sleeping.My last Blog mentioned the various piles of chapters I had scattered all over the bed, under various scraps of paper marked with the Subject matter.
Last night I finished the sorting and wanted to assure my readers that my grumbling was finished, too.
Next step? Taking each subject with all the chapters in it, and putting each chapter in the sequence it should be read. Once I get the numbers on each title, I can then start revising them.
Did I mention somewhere in the past that writing a book was a lot of fun? Nobody warned me about hamster cages Love, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-31782435055811491802021-03-06T19:28:00.002-08:002021-03-07T12:17:52.464-08:00Not what I signed up for...I have to get this off my mind.
I have worked so hard the last two weeks, that I'm suffering from an anxiety complex, and that's not good. That's not what I thought I was getting into when I started writing my Memoirs. I thought it was going to be a lot of fun.
Well, it was! When I was writing. But now that I've completed most of the writing, it seems like the fun has gone out of it, and now I have to get down and work. Maron Mundy, the woman who is putting my chapters into manuscript form came to the house last week and wants all the lists of chapters numbered in sequential order, then she will send the entire list to me and I can start revising the chapters to their final perfection.
Just one slight problem:
I can't put them in order till I re-read them all so I know when they took place, or at least under which SUBJECT to put them, and so many of them are titled
"Anecdotes", "Bits and Pieces", "General" and "Untitled 1, 2, and 3". Now that's a doozy, if you want to know what it's about on the list, right?
So my first advice today to those of you contemplating Writing, is: For God's sake, LABEL your articles!
I've now taken all the PILES of papers (duplicates and ten-tricates of all the articles I ever wrote) {and printed out for the Writers Group to critique} and keep putting them in labeled piles on the bed every morning and stacking them in one pile every evening so I can use the bed for what it was intended. Sleep, although I'm not getting all that much...
The Subject titles are under papers labeled Early Years, Teenage, Auburn, State Prison, Marriage,Fritz, Travel, jewelry, studio, Life in Switzerland, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Spain, England, Canada and Tucson. Are you beginning to get the picture? Some of the piles are already two inches high, and I still have two more stacks of FIVE inches to sort out!
Trying to make Order out of Chaos is not my thing; I'm better at Creating.
Maybe the Covid is finally making a dent in my equillibrium; it's doing it to everyone else -- why not me? So I will sort. And Number. And Revise. and eventually I will make Order out of Chaos.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Till soon, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-55081186499347252242021-02-12T17:24:00.000-08:002021-02-12T17:24:38.545-08:00Here we go!I've had my first meeting with Marion, who is the lady putting this all together for me.
She made copies of all my different Files and sent them to her computer; that way she didn't have to copy them onto disks to plug into USB ports.
She will start putting each chapter into manuscript condition and any more revisions will have to be done on those.
I am searching valiently for the Cover sketches I made, and haven't found them yet. (I sure put them in a "safe place.") She is going to write to the cartoonist David Fitzimmons, to ask permission to reduce the large poster cartoon he made of me, to add it to the "middle seat".
My job now is to go over every chapter, and put it in final shape.
She's coming back on Saturday afternoon, to start a website in my name, so that as I approach the deadline to print, anyone who googles my name will be directed to the website, which will include all my Blog site going back to 2017.
Today's Zoom with the Writers Group was a talk based on The Four Pillars of Memoir writing. a very good discussion, and I was happy to note that my book follows all their suggestions. Big sigh of relief. Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-73810773361219131972021-02-08T12:44:00.000-08:002021-02-08T12:44:35.973-08:00No longer on FacebookHi, Everybody!
I apologize for the lack of a blog so far into February. One of the reasons is that I have cancelled Facebook, and while it is easy-peasy to join, when you want to get out, try to find "Unsubscribe" anywhere in their information. I have become disillusioned with Facebook: When I told my Writers Group that I was nearing publication time for my Memoirs, they all said I had to increase my "Platform" to reach more Buyers, and join Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Well, we all know who uses Twitter and the lies that proliferated every day to the point that even THEY stopped his account. And I have to confess that unless you just climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro, I'm not interested in where you've been, (Costco?), what you've done (baked sourdough bread?), or whether you got any sleep last night. I'm up until two a.m. every night and who cares? Facebook usually contains old jokes, older cartoons, or inane comments, and I'm wasting my precious time reading it all. Plus, all the Friends of Friends of distant Friends, whom I haven't exchanged an email with in 10 years. And finally, I don't like all the rag-tag organizations Facebook allows on their site. So I had my cleaning lady (she's a genius on the computer) stop vacuuming today, long enough to finally find that magical word "Unsubscribe" and voilà, I'm outta there! So, for those of you who recently DID climb Kilimanjaro, please send me an email and tell me all about it. janicefingado@gmail.com. I'll get right back to you. My holidays turned out to be really busy, along with the capricious doctors's appointments, etc. but I now have some interesting news for those of you on my Blog.
I now have a Copy Editor and Formatter, who will be working on all the chapters, turning them into manuscripts. She's a former member of my Writers Group who is now in the publishing business, wants to get my book in proper shape and has given ME a deadline. To have someone who knows you and knows your "voice" is a big advantage, and at the same time be nicely "bossy" is probably the necessary "when push comes to shove" that I needed. My head is whirling with all that I must do, but I have the incentive that I needed to do it. And, to help all of you still struggling with the questions, I'll be forthcoming in future tweets on my Blog to tell you the sequence of what we are doing. It will still be printed by Amazon, so it will be on sale through them and to heck with Facebook. I'm excited. Whew, back to work, JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-25253740005086653072021-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:002021-01-15T14:29:01.583-08:002020 is the new Dirty WordHi, Everybody,
Happy New Year.
In 1967, during the Cold War with Russia, Fritz and I were living in Zuerich, Switzerland. We saw an ad for the "inaugural" flight to Moscow by Swissair, because Switzerland was the only "neutral" country and Russia wanted to open up flights for their planes to fly to. And by now I guess you have grown to know my husband enough to know that that sort of offer was right up his Travel alley. So at Christmas we were the only Americans on a planeload of Swissies on the first flight into Moscow, while, in return, Switzerland would allow an Aeroflot from Moscow to bring Russians to Zuerich.
I have written about the entire trip in a long chapter called Moscow Diary for my forthcoming book, so I won't go into any of the interesting details of Intourist's attempts to braiwash us the entire time, but just wanted to lead into today's Blog with something from the New Year's Eve event. After the gala banquet and the entertainment, we returned to our hotel room in the Metropol Hotel, and as we stepped out of the elevator, we were confronted again, as usual, by the dour-faced woman sitting at the desk directly in front of the elevator door. She grudgingly handed us our key, and then in (her) best English said, "Happy New You". Fritz and I laughed all the way to our room.
But now, in retrospect, after the year we've had with 2020, I find myself wishing all of you, AND ME, a Happy New You for 2021.
I've been re-reading all the Christmas and Hanukkah cards that Marta and Steve received the last month of 2020 with all the variety of stories of how the Covid-19 Pandemic had affected each writer. Suffice it to say that if you have any sense of humor left, you are thinking of phrases like, "What the 2020?"
On the other hand, think about reinventing yourself into a New You. Think of the possibilities! What have you wanted to do? To become? To accomplish? To achieve? To reform? To complete?
Forget about New Years Resolutions. They are only made to be ignored. Dishonored on the third of January as you sneak one more piece of See's candies from the box that you hid in the freezer, to keep from eating.... Hah!!! And, approaching bedtime once more without having done your sworn 20 minutes on the treadmill with the guilty "Mañana" on your lips. Small wonder that "Mañana" is the busiest day of every week!
But the concept of reinventing yourself creates tons of new possibilities. I realized as I turned 94 two days ago, that this year I am going to change from being a Writer to being an Author. That entails getting my Memoirs published. To do that, I have to organize and perhaps revise some chapters, so, fired up with the new energy being an Author generates, I dug out two cartons of already-written chapters, separated them into piles of "Ready", "Need Revising", and "Ideas". Unfortunately, they're all back in one carton, and the carton labeled "Ready" is empty, but I really enjoyed reading all of them over again... And I did organize them. I'll tackle the writing and revising as soon as I get all my jewelry supplies organized. Because my New You wants to recapture the Old You who used to live minimalistically, totally without Clutter. That's on the current Agenda.
So with the great plans and the enthusiasm a Great Plan generates here we go, into 2021. First, we halt the Pandemic, then we eagerly greet a new Administration, and with all the good, new "You's" create an atmosphere of love, good will and accomplishments. And that will make a lot of different annual letters this December. Cheers!
JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-91021065118059545722020-11-02T22:48:00.000-08:002020-11-02T22:48:11.165-08:00" If I only had more time..." That was the forlorn lament I used to cry, when I didn't manage to accomplish all that I thought I would that week. Now, for nine months, we have had time, loads of time, and I still don't get everything on my Do List crossed off. Is it really a lack of will power? I don't think so, or else NOTHING would get done. I think it's that every day you wake up to a clean slate, joyfully anticipating a day full of accomplishments, and as soon as you sit in front of the computer, people start messing with you.
Have you noticed that there is a lack of efficiency, a lack of responsibility, a lack of reliability in everything that relates to making life a little easier? The Mail Order Pharmacy screws up every order of a necessary drug. The Insurance company "can't find you" in their records. You make an appointment and find out that the van driver doesn't report for work that day till a half-hour after your appointment. You spend three hours on the phone to Tech Support and they give up getting you reconnected to the Internet. And on it goes, one darned thing after another, day after day.
And now, here we are: the day we've all been waiting for. I mailed in my ballot the day after it arrived in my mailbox. By tomorrow night we may think that eventually we will celebrate. Or weep. When Fritz and I left the US in 1965 for him to work abroad for Carrier, we left a country where its citizens were still looked upon as Saviors to the rest of the world. Now we are scorned. We count only money as the evidence of Success. Will we ever gain back the trust and admiration of people around the globe?
We'll begin to get the answer by the end of tomorrow. Today we're on the brink. Of What?
Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-33183529771861310882020-10-24T13:53:00.000-07:002020-10-24T13:53:01.604-07:00The Week That Was When we were living in England in the '70's, there was a popular TV program that later was taken up in the States and became popular here, too. It was called TW3, with the 3 written small, to indicate the TW to the third. It stood for That was the week that was (three TW's) It talked about English politics that week and gave you all the royal scandals - which was the way it stayed in business, I think! Even back in the '70's there was at least one scandal a week which held the public's attention. It was Britain's Saturday Night Live.
Well, this past week I had a TW3 myself. I'll set it up for you.
Since we are in Open Enrollment, I made an appointment with my insurance agent to change my Medicare Advantage Plan. During the conversation my age came up and she mentioned she had liked the bitter poem I had written a year ago when I had lost my insurance. She said I should publish it. I replied, "Well, actually I have it in Draft form addressed to the Publisher of the New York Times, but hadn't gotten up the courage to send it yet." Then I laughed and said, "I believe in starting at the top!"
That evening she sent me an email, saying only "Small steps.." So, partially as a joke, I wrote back, "Okay, I've just submitted it to the Tucson Daily Star." I thought that they might print it in a little column the size of a Letter to the Editor, if they published it at all. Two days later, I got an email from the Editor of the Opinion page, asking me if I had written it myself and that they wanted to publish it. I confessed I had indeed written it and that I had experienced each of the stanzas I had written. (It's titled "When you're an old woman in America" and all about the poor medical system in the States.) The Editor said it would be printed in Wednesday's edition. Since I haven't subscribed to the paper for several years, I advised my daughter to be on the lookoutfor it and to save it for me.
WELL: All Hell broke loose! She had chosen to print the whole thing all across the top of the Opinion page and headlined it in big, black letters. And she had gone through their archives and found a photo I had sent for a long article of mine that they had printed three years ago, about the terrorist attack on Barcelona. She had cropped my husband out of the photo and had placed me in the center of the poem, giving my name and age.
But what gave it importance (besides the huge black headline) was the fact that David Fitzsimmons saw it, liked it, attached it to his Facebook page with just the message: Read this. Please.
David is the immensely popular cartoonist-columnist for the Daily Star, syndicated in 800 papers worldwide, and has 5,000 Followers. My granddaughter in Denver discovered it first because she follows him. In just a few hours, my poem went viral. He had 249 Replies, 65 Likes and 59 Comments. All were positive except for one, who thought I should get a life, but everyone else was congratulatory and told sad stories how the poem related to them and how compassionate they were for all the old women out there. Two actually wanted to start a Go Fund Me website, so I could pay for my eyedrops. (I had NO IDEA, when I wrote the poem, that it would have that much effect on perfect strangers.)
I have opened my own Facebook page, but can't figure out how to send a message. I have sent a message to David asking him if he could let all these lovely, generous people know that I'm okay, have insurance again and can afford the eyedrops. Apparently the message didn't go through. But trying to cope with hundreds of messages has taken up my entire week.
Furthermore, my computer wouldn't compute for 2½ days, constantly telling me my Internet was disconnected. I spent three hours with Cox on the phone and got nowhere, then called my own Techie, paid him, and he "reconnected" me in FIVE minutes!
Besides all this, I had offered to deliver the lecture to my Zoom meeting on Friday afternoon for the Writers Group I belong to and had chosen the Subject to be "Writing Obituaries vs. Back Cover blurbs." Fortunately, I had written my speech on Monday, before all this started. The lecture went well, and they all enjoyed it. (More emails.)
So there you have it, Gentle Readers: my 15 minutes of fame. I have changed my mantra from "Be careful what you pray for" to "Be careful what you publish."
JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-23561424304350522022020-09-13T10:16:00.000-07:002020-09-13T10:16:54.685-07:00The Plus and MinusHi, everyone,
Today the world stopped for a minute or two, but I mananged to get it going again.
I have a wonderful electric clock which I bought in Kelowna, just before moving back to the States in October, 2009. It had no normally numbered sequence around the outer edge like most clocks. Instead it showed all the numbers fallen to the bottom of the frame, and above the pile of numbers, was written "Whatever". I love that clock! It was to be symbolic of my future life down in Tucson, with my family, my jewelry business, making new friends, finding a beautiful place to live, and getting on with my life.
This morning I was starting to answer emails and the cursor suddenly stopped. Couldn't get it to move and I realized that my mouse probably needed a new battery. I keep a stash on hand, so I went to the utility closet and found various batteries, presumably to restart up various parts of my life.
I opened things up and took the dead ones out, then picked up the two for the mouse. Oh, dear, I should have taken them out and laid them on the desk in their correct position. Now I had to look for the plus and minus and it was hard to see in the black interior. The same was true of the dead clock. As I struggled to see which end was "up" I finally got them installed. As I reset the time, and started swirling the mouse to watch the Cursor move around my screen, I casually thought how many things run on batteries, much like the way we run our lives. Life is full of pluses and minuses, and if we don't get them in right can slowdown or stop what we feel or think and eventually cause us to run on Empty. But if we choose the positive side instead of the negative, we're up and running smoothly.
Nowadays, during the Pandemic, the fires in California, the inertia of Congress, and the rage echoing from the White House, I tend to think of it as everyone having put the battery back in with the minus side. Get the negative out of your lives and turn the battery around. Push it down till you hear a click. Then get on with your lives. The clock will run around and the hands will point to the corect time even without numbers being there. And the mouse will scoot all over the monitor, allowing you to contact all your friends.
The past week I discovered from my Writers Group that Yes, indeed, the copyright laws do exist and they forbid my including the contents of any song from my chapters. In which the lyrics of the song perfectly depicted what I was trying to say, but said it much more poetically than I ever could. So that is that, friends; I have to find every chapter that contains lyrics, delete them then try to re-create the meaning in my own words. What a great way to "dull down" a chapter! Oh, yes, I can use the title, but that's it. The complete irony, if not idiocy, is that you can Google the title, and instantly up pops the words, and the several different artists who recorded the gem, So it's right out there for the public to read or listen to. And it's not the composer who gets the fee charged: it's the Publisher! They might grant you permission to use, but you have to pay anywhere from $400 - $900 for the privilege.
So, back to the computer, rewrite many of my chapters, and hope I've put the battery in right side up. Till next week, Love, Janice
Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-87992791016578597812020-08-08T11:22:00.000-07:002020-08-08T11:22:06.942-07:00What I hope to accomplish Gentle Readers:
Now that I'm blogging again I thought I would like to ahow you what I have in mind for my future Blogs. First and foremost, I hope to answer your questions about writing a book, some of the pitfalls to avoid, and to give you some easy rules to follow.
Did I just use the word "easy"? The only "easy" part is writing it! As they say, "The devil is in the details." But: You can't get anything published until you've written what you have to say. So have fun if you're writing your Memoirs, dredging up all those details from 70-80 years ago, and chuckling all over again, or maybe shedding a few tears. If you're writing fiction, anything goes and if you're writing a mystery, I'll assume you've got a new spin on whodunnit.
As the chapters pile up you move them to a large carton next to your computer desk, and start going through old photo albums if you intend to include photos of the interesting places you traveled to, autograph albums which you had hoped to sell to an Antiques dealer, and also toss in How To suggestions to incorporate into the first drafts of each memory. Since I assume you were already smart enough to have joined a Writers Group at your local Library, they will have torn each chapter apart as you presented them each week, and your next step is to start the Revision Process.
Read their suggestions thoroughly. Some writers who have been published think they are the smartest creatures God ever created, and your first task is to acknowledge that fact. Then when you start analyzing each little "e" (written with a curlicue) and see them scattered all over your first draft, accept the fact that you need to eliminate everything that has an "e" on it, and TIGHTEN UP YOUR WRITING. You will probably be amazed at how much more interesting and pertinent your chapter has become. Then try moving entire paragraphs to the beginning, to the end or delete them and see if it "reads" better. The key word here is "flows". Oh, my goodness, these critics do know what they're talkming about. By the time you've made all the corrections, you begin to feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in what you've created. You're becoming a Writer.
Hope you're taking notes. There's a lot more to come.
Love, Janice
Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-40865547219417154282020-07-31T18:18:00.001-07:002020-08-07T21:07:19.953-07:00Here we go again.Hello, Everyone!<div><span> </span>After a long hiatus, today I was inspired by my Writers Group to make one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. I have decided to make a determined effort to finish my book of memoirs, so I'm opening up my Blogpost again as well as a website and will keep you updated weekly as I forge through the potholes of editing and preparing the book for publication.</div><div><span> To explain my long absence I moved in January 2019 to a new Independent Living Facility, called Atria Valley Manor, after they raised my rent at the old address to $4,000/mo. In my new place, I am much happier: I have a two-bedroom apartment, ground-floor with huge patio, so it's more like living in my own house again. At $1,000 less per month, what's not to like about THAT! It's smaller, only 74 residents, the staff is kind, generous and helpful, and the residents well educated with interesting professions. I intend to start teaching jewelry classes as soon as we don't have to practice social distancing. It's been a long journey to get everything unpacked and organized but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and hoping it isn't the train coming at me.</span><br /></div><div><span><span> I'm revising already-written chapters, have only a few new ones left to write and add to the large carton next to the computer desk. I already have a Formatting Expert lined up and the cartoon cover is drawn. I'm serious. This time we're going to go through all the steps of writing a book and publishing it, and I will give you clear instructions on everything as it happens. Cheers! Janice</span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-77513981521986328062018-10-03T13:25:00.000-07:002018-10-03T13:25:11.622-07:00Bienvenidos. Mi casa es su casa.Yes. Mi casa es su casa. So states a ceramic plaque on a shelf outside the front door of my new residence. <br />
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I've only been here not quite three weeks, and they have been pretty hectic. I moved on Sept. 14th, a sort-of-symbolic date. It would have been Fritz' and my 72nd Anniversary. I wonder what he would have felt about this rather dramatic change. Well, he definitely would not have liked being in a more social element. He liked his silence, his dominating the situation, and doing everything his way. But he also liked a strictly-followed routine, so having to take his meals between defined time limits would not have bothered him, although having to pick and choose what to eat would have created a dilemma for him.<br />
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But for me, it has been a fairly complete change and a fairly complete pleasurable experience. I still have cartons to unpack and <u>my </u>daily dilemma is not what to eat but where to put all my jewelry components that I can't bear to part with yet. I hope to continue teaching classes, but downsizing from a four bedroom, studio-garage house to a one bedroom, one closet apartment is a bit of a challenge. I wonder if renting one storage locker will turn into a two storage lockers situation....<br />
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I continued my writing today with the first report of life in a Senior Living environment. I'm sending it to my former writing group so they can see what my life is like now. I have joined the Writers Group at Atria Bell Court Gardens, and they do two writing challenges for two weeks and every third week you present something you have written, so I'll continue to get feedback on my chapters.<br />
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With all the other activities presented every day, plus the writing, plus the jewelry classes, I'll be kept on my toes. <br />
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And there are still all those cartons waiting to be unpacked and a space found for the contents! Gotta go!Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-59969348849841326322018-08-29T11:23:00.001-07:002018-08-29T11:23:53.556-07:00Good Morning, All!<br />
<br />
It seems like I have a knack of finding all sorts of things to slow me down on finishing the book.<br />
Last month it was all the things going wrong with the computer, printer and telephone.<br />
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This month it is because I suddenly decided the house was getting to be too much for me and I began looking at Independent Living facilities. The second one I visited, had a nice apartment that had been vacated two days earlier and had not been listed yet. The business manager said, "I have someone coming to see it tomorrow and he will take it, I'm sure." Since there were only three of that floor plan in the complex, I didn't take much convincing and got out the Visa card. Never did anything that rash in my entire life, but told myself, "Sometimes the rash decisions turn out to be the best decisions."<br />
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So everything has come to a halt while my time is now spent arranging appointments with the realtor to sell my house, getting the carpets cleaned, having the photographer take the photos for the newspaper ad, and deciding that I am going to need two enormous garage sales, one for all the furniture I can't use, and one for all my jewelry tools and materials. The house is covered with Post-It notes. I'm delaying the sale of this house until after I've been in the new apartment for at least a month to see if I like it. If not, I just move back here.<br />
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In the meantime I have managed to write a chapter every week for my Writers Group. The last two were about my Dad and Mom. If you'd like to read them, let me know in the comments and I'll email them to you. In my new place they have a Writers Group also, with published authors so it will be fun to see and hear how they think. They also have a Book Club, water-color group, Knitters and Sewers groups, and an interesting discussion group named What is Going On in the World Today. If they have that figured out it's worth the rent right there!<br />
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I'm exchanging jewelry classes with a young lady who graduated from Cartoonist school this summer and she has three different versions of a cover for Life as Observed from the Middle Seat. We're getting there, Friends, getting there! TTYSLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-31818042682967980212018-07-30T21:02:00.000-07:002018-07-30T21:02:25.138-07:00I'm so sorry for the lack of recent Blogs. Not what I intended at all when I started one. But when your printer stops printing, when your modem breaks, when the company supplying the new one never ships it to you, when you finally get it and the installer neglects to activate the telephone setting, when your phone dies for five days, followed by your MedAlert, all the settings on your computer change, the telephone tech doesn't come on the appointment day. Finally get the telephone on, and the printer goes out again. Now the phone rings, but the Printer says "Not connected to the Internet..............................You get the picture?<br />
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Up to my neck in techsupport calls, online chats, 3-hour tech support calls with three different techies, one dumber that the one before. And I'm PAYING for all of this!!!<br />
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Never mind. I've been writing chapters for the book, getting them critiqued, and making the revisions. We're getting there. The next Bio photo may show a woman with totally white hair. Don't worry. It's me,<br />
JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-89699400779616063432018-07-01T14:07:00.001-07:002018-07-01T14:07:09.823-07:00The Chapters continue...I have decided to cut down on my jewelry classes for July and August and limit them to just a personal request from someone who wants to finish a project or make a specific piece which they missed doing when it was originally scheduled. I will add an occasional piece to my website. That way I can concentrate on my writing, and hopefully get closer to the book publishing by the Fall.<br />
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Ruby Lane sent all of its shops an email two weeks ago, stating the the Supreme Court had come down with a decision that as of immediately, all the States must start charging a sales tax on everything sold, instead of playing fair and not charging a State Sales tax for all out of state purchases. I have never sold one piece in Arizona and do not participate in craft shows or consignment to a gallery. I sell only to other states and international customers. Now I will have to collect an additional charge of 9½% Arizona tax on every piece I sell, even if it is to someone in Australia, who has to also pay customs charges. Last Friday I signed a petition to revoke this latest ruling which will go to the State Legislature. What with the latest increase in postage charges, it can now be that the taxes and postage will come to more than the cost of a pair of earrings I make.<br />
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So what is the use of trying to run a small business any more? Especially at my age? I need the income, and am physically able to do the work, but the ENTIRE PREMISE of why I make jewelry to sell online was to offer nice jewelry to people who couldn't otherwise afford to buy custom pieces. The fact remains that I'm not rich enough to warrant tax DEcreases. Mark my words, friends, if this Supreme Court ruling remains in effect, you will see small businesses fall by the wayside all over the United States. When on earth will the government realize that you will increase sales by decreasing taxes, not adding more? And that when you increase sales, you increase income which results in higher income taxes, which is the only fair way to do business.<br />
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So another small business bites the dust. Who cares?<br />
See you next week. JaniceLife as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7189012834893594139.post-4958065916557441352018-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:002018-06-08T21:18:11.237-07:00Watch out for fraudYou have not heard from me for awhile. I have been dealing with problems with my printer, which has obviously frustrated me and I feel that I should warn you about getting mired in the same way and the costs I am experiencing from the problem.<br />
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Last year I bought a new HP printer, a 4-in-1 color printer, because I thought I needed to have one that sent faxes as well as scan, copy, and print. (Since then I have not sent one fax so I should have just kept the Canon that I had before.) When my computer geek installed and hooked up everything, he knew that I was a writer and asked if I would like to halve the costs of ink cartridges. Of course I would! I have to print out 12 copies of each chapter I write for the Memoirs and they average 5-6 pages each, four times a month. This is so that each chapter gets critiqued by the members of the Writers Group at Dusenbury library. So the Tech enrolled me in the Instant Ink plan HP has for people who print a lot. I chose to subscribe to the 300-page/month plan, since the numbers I just gave you multiply and add out to 288 pages a month. The cartridges they mail you automatically are supposed to contain twice the amount of ink as those sold in stores like Costco or on Amazon. They charge you $11.85/mo. to subscribe, including taxes. The contract says you can cancel any time.<br />
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Well, after they had mailed me two cartons of cartridges without my ordering them or the printer showing that the ink was running low, I decided that since I hadn't opened the cartons and my black cartridge was still printing clearly, I should cancel the monthly payment scheme and then go back on it when the two batches of cartridges would eventually run out. I cancelled online and it was confirmed. Then three days before the year's subscription was supposed to end anyway, I get another email from HP saying that because I had canceled my subscription, the ink cartridges would no longer work in the printer, and they were discontinuing my use of the ink. I was astonished, because no ink had run out, I had paid $130 for the year subscription, they had sent me the cartridges, so I felt that I had bought and paid for them, and they had absolutely no right to cut off the ink and leave me high and dry, and that's not meant as a pun. Nowhere in the contract do they indicate that it gives them the right to cut off the ink.<br />
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I was so angry that I looked at a great many possibilities. Buying a laser printer, too expensive. Going back to buying ink cartridges in stores, came out to be around $180/year, because they now put so little ink in them that they would only last me 3-4 months. I decided the only choice I had was to renew the subscription even though I considered it a form of blackmail, thinking if I renewed, they could automatically turn my printer back on.<br />
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I called HP on Wed. at 11:30 a.m. ; I hung up in utter, complete frustration and stress at 4:30, having spoken to three HP techsupport people. The first one was of course in India and I could not understand a word he was saying. The second was an American woman who was on the phone and computer and printer with me for two hours, re-setting the password FIVE times and each time it was rejected as unacceptable. She finally turned me over to another techie who could not get the computer to be cartridge acceptable and finally at 4:30 I just gave up. I couldn't take it any more.<br />
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I called the computer experts I deal with two blocks from my house, and one showed up the next morning at 9:30 and after he had tried for a half-hour, he called HP and finally after an hour on the phone with them he got the printer networked to the computer, the router, the wireless and whatever else is down in the crawlspace under the desk, and the computer started blinking in blue again. I am now on a $95 an hour service charge and it took him an hour and a half.<br />
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So, dear Friends, take heed of my sad story. 1. Do not buy any HP products. 2, Do NOT sign up for their Instant Ink scam. Be aware they can get into your printer remotely and cut off the ink flow if you dare to cancel. And, 4. the tech support people don't know a damned thing about how to turn the ink back on and you will waste precious hours of your precious time messing with them.<br />
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Resolution: As soon as I get the rest of the chapters of my Memoirs written and I don't need to make so many copies each week, I will consider tossing the printer in the Dumpster where it belongs (and maybe the HP computer as well!) I've had it.<br />
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See you next week in a better mood. Janice<br />
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<br />Life as Observed from the Middle Seathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10458639300307928769noreply@blogger.com0