Don't You Know That Food Can Kill?

As always first, a fresh post at I Are Writer!, which contains some exciting news.

As for here, the newest thing here is the post title. I decided to take a break from the usual, since it's becoming increasingly clear to me that to keep using that particular post title would require renaming this blog, and frankly, I really don't want to do that.

So, today's post is about food that can kill, or at the very least maim. And what better place to buy that kind of food than at an off-price department/outlet store. Here in New England, we have a funky store called Ocean State Job Lot, which carries all kinds of very offbeat and in other stores, prohibitively expensive food items. What I mean by expensive is that you can buy Bob's Red Mill products at most grocery stores, and those stores, you will pay two arms and a leg for it. At Ocean State, that particular product line is usually 1/4 to 1/3 the cost, and they carry a ginormous line of that product.

However, while I buy their natural muesli cereal, I aim to talk about the stuff I love to buy, namely the condiments. I love exploring their condiment section, because they carry a truly funky line of mustards, hot sauces, salsas, salad dressings and pickles. Today, I would like to spotlight hot sauces and pickles.

My World Can Be Yours: 2/13/16

As per the ab-norm, a fresh post is to be had at I Are Writer!

Today's update is about my staycation. As most of you know, I've parlayed using two days worth of leave accruals (vacation and p.l. time) into a four paid/six overall days off from work. And unlike other staycations experienced by me, in which the best laid plans (aka Ravishing Ronald-The DeNatured Boy)* get steamrolled by a gruesome reality check (aka The Crusher)*.

Anywho, this time, the plan of attack that I had all scoped out was very simple: write. It didn't matter what the writing project was, I needed to write. And that required, among other things, to seriously disconnect from the 'Net. Which means that one of the two writing projects that I'm currently juggling couldn't be done on this computer (aka Windows 7). It had to be done on my almost as old as my cell phone (11 years) XP computer (9 years). Why? No 'Net. Made things super duper simple as answering yes or no to the question of, is you a human?

So. We managed to churn out, as of the day this post being written, I churned out 2,562 words. Now if you whip out your handy dandy calculator and do this simple math problem:

2,562 words/5 days=

You get for an answer: 512.4 per day. Now for most of you semi-professional and extremely talented folks out there who could write themselves out of a blinding snowstorm in their skivvies, that may seem like serious chump change (pardon me, do you have change for a nickel?). But for yours truly, who has bored people ad nauseum about his health issues for the past several years, this is actually quite an accomplishment. For those of you who wonder just exactly what WPM speed is, it's somewhere in the general area of my soon to be 15 year old daughter's age. Yeah, it's just that slow.

But, while I've been having a ton o' fun writing and not remembering anything about work, I did do some serious stuff as well. Like, remembering the wife's 54th b-day and not celebrating Valentine's day. And actually spending some quality time with both childrens (soon to be 15 year old daughter and 23 1/2 year old son), and actually finding out that said daughter now has a boyfriend (as opposed to a friend that is a boy), and sadly, cleaning up yet another non-immediate family member financial miscue.

So that is all the fun that is fit to print, and be sure to tune in next week, when I'll unveil the new titles to my prequel novel and sequel novella, and why Connecticut taxpayers are getting the unexpected shaft from former Guv'nor John Rowland. And remember, I can also be found on Amazon, Smashwords and Books by G.B. Miller, as well as on Facebook.

*two wrestling characters from a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon.

(c) 2016 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

My World Can Be Yours: 2/6/16

As always first, for your easy peasy lemon squeezy reading pleasure, a fresh post at I Are Writer!

And as always 2nd, a recap of the week.

To echo the post at I Are Writer!, no writing was to be had this past week, as obstacles too tiring to mention prevented me from doing so. However, on the bright side, I have a George Jetson work week this week.

To elaborate, during one particular episode of The Jetsons, George was complaining about how tough his work week was: three days per, three hours per day.

So for me, I'm taking a paid day off prior to Lincoln's B-day and a paid day off after President's Day. Which means that I'll have a six day vacation to recharge my batteries and what not. And to tell you the truth, I really need to recharge my batteries, as I seem to be suffering through some unwanted side effects to the previously mentioned Lyme Disease diagnosis.

But, enough of me yapping about my medical maladies, 'cause I'm pretty darn sure that you didn't come here to spend two minutes out of your very busy day to read my non-sexual moaning and groaning rant.

For those of you who can't access my Tumblr blog, it was mostly an apology post about not making time.

However, this week, I do plan on making time. Not for goofing off, 'cause I pretty much do that 24/7/365 when I'm not at work, but for writing.

For the past month or so, I've been trying like a dog in white-hot heat to get into some kind of groove with my writing, but like Fido there, I have not been crossing the plate to complete the home run. I have been doing little sacrifice bunts and infield fly rule pop ups, and quite frankly, it's getting quite tiresome to be a mediocre utility player.

So for this week, I'm going to do my damnedest to move out of my mediocrity and become a valuable asset to the team, so to speak. How, you may ask? By pursuing that tried and true philosophy of sitting ass in chair, moving chair to moldy-oldy computer and write. The minimum goal for the week is to complete chapter 3 of my untitled WiP.

And, the only distractions I plan on having this week, is to celebrate the wife's 54th b-day, and Valentine's Day (back-to-back).

So tune in next week, when I'll have a good writing update at I Are Writer!, as well as a better update here. And, I can promise you, no more of this until April:

(c) 2016 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

My World Can Be Yours: 1/30/16

Up first for your enjoyment, a very new blog post at I Are Writer!

Up secondly, a nifty little recap of my week, so to speak.

1} In conjunction with my post at I Are Writer!, I am looking for a few brave souls to critique a short story of mine that I re-wrote for my short story trilogy. I had a beta reader all lined up, but they had to graciously bow out due to real world commitments, which as we all know, should rightfully take precedence. The story in question I have rewritten in the present tense, so I want to make sure that not only does it flow smoothly, but there isn't any head-hopping to be had as well. If you're interest, please drop me a line to discuss the particulars.

2} I went surfing at my local B&N store over the weekend with the wife and found two nifty little books in their huge bargain section. One is a dictionary on sarcasm, which if you know anything minuscule about me, you know that I am a legend in my own mind when it comes to sarcasm, which was easily confirmed and instantly dismissed by my daughter Jenelle (who actually talks like John Cusack acts).

The other book I found was by Roald Dahl. I've seen the movie numerous times, yet I've never read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sad I know, but as I've mentioned previously, I was not a fan of Young Adult/Middle Grade books as a child/teen or as an adult. But, as I move into the later century of my life (I will be 51 Memorial Day weekend), I decided that I should make an honest attempt at reading certain books that movies that I like were created from. And what better place to start than with this particular book.

3} I actually had something planned for bullet point numero trey, but, I figured everyone kind of/sort of knows what happened with the Blogger Followers gadget, I thought I would try something else. If you don't know happened, the blurb is this: Blogger re-wrote the code for said gadget, so that said gadget only works with people who have Google/Blogger accounts. Said tweak caused people to lose followers (I lost about 20 across all of my blogs) from their blogs.

So, we'll end this post on a frustrating note. Sometimes Life (or higher power in lieu of) will throw you a knuckle-slider just to show you who's really in charge. Two weeks ago (Jan 19th) I had my knee drained. No big thing, but the doctor said afterwards, "This doesn't look good. Come back next week for the lab results."

Came back the next week and he said, "The results were mostly positive. Go get some blood work done and come back next week for the results."

Came back the next week (that would be Feb 2nd), and he said, "You got Lyme Disease. Go get this script filled and call your doctor to see what the next step is."

Contacted said doctor and he said that the 30 days of antibiotics should do the trick, oh and that I might have sub genre called Lyme disease arthritis, which happens when you're older.

Yay me.

(c) 2016 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.