Home from vacation, and an online story

After a few days back home, I believe I have finally recuperated from our trip to the Turks & Caicos Islands. My sister had her wedding there, so we made it part of our long overdue family vacation.

Turks & Caicos has to be the Caribbean’s best kept secret. The residents are very nice and friendly, and the beaches are heavenly. It is hard not to fall in love with such a place. We stayed at the Beaches resort, which is absolutely magnificent! The wedding was beautiful and the food was great. It is impossible to be bored or hungry there, and there is something for everyone to do. My only regret is not having any time to myself. I had hoped to find a place to sit and watch the sun go down over the ocean, or to catch a few moments for some daydreaming and hopefully a bit of creative inspiration. That did not happen. The most I got was a few hours at the spa, which was relaxing, but a couple of ladies nearby with their senseless comments about how sorry they feel for the ‘natives’ spoiled the whole reflective moment. I am not quite sure what they meant by that, since I was trying hard to tune them out.

 

In any case, just because I was not able to snatch any selfish ‘me’ time does not mean that I feel it ruined my vacation. There were plenty of good moments, and I met some really cool people as well. This is what truly ruined the entire trip for me: I lost my wedding rings. I do not want to elaborate; let’s just say that I am back home, and my rings are not, and although I contacted the resort to see if anyone found them and turned them in, I don’t expect to get them back. 

Now on to a different subject. I have a URL where I plan to post installments of my science fiction story, titled Hyperspace. I have used this story mostly for practice, and I never intended to do much with it.  But the story is developing quite well, and hopefully if I can get some online interest in it I may be able to get some feedback on my writing style, or better yet, some online exposure! So far I have the background of the story posted, but soon I will start adding the story installments. The URL is www.bpinestories.com

Check it out!

B.

A trip to the bookstore!

My hubby’s birthday was yesterday.  He took the day off, I baked him a cake, and we spent the day at home not doing much of anything as he tried to decide what to do for his special day.  That evening we went out for sushi, and he finally decided what he wanted to do for his special evening.  So we left the restaurant and drove over to the bookstore. Yay!

Now, aside from a quick trip to Barnes and Noble last week, I had not visited a bookstore in over a year.  I can thank Amazon for that.  It is just too easy to download a book from my Kindle.  And even if I want to get a certain book in print, all I have to do is pick up my laptop (or presently, my iPad).  Sample chapters and synopses are available online, and I can have a book shipped to me as soon as the following day, if I’m willing to pay for it.  It just makes it too easy to brush aside a bookstore trip, and now I think I am beginning to regret staying away.

Of course, having no kids in tow made strolling up and down the aisles quite peaceful, but even if they had been with us it would have been just as enjoyable.  Browsing through the books - so many books to choose from, too - is just plain fun. It is refreshing.  And it gives you something to look forward to when you get home.  You don’t really get that feeling from a digital book.  

We browsed around until closing time.  We went in different directions, bumping into each other here and there.  I started off at the new releases and hot sellers, mostly gardening books due to the time of year.  From there I meandered into the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section.  I found a book by Karin Lowachee, called The Gaslight Dogs.  I had read a review a few days before by The Fantasy Cafe blog, and it was not a bad review. I read a few pages, and the Charlaine Harris section caught my eye.  I haven’t read any of her books, but I am hooked on the HBO True Blood series, and my sister is an ardent Charlaine Harris fan.  Something else caught my attention before I could pick up her latest book, however.  There is something about the fantasy and science fiction book aisles that give me a weird case of ADD.

The ADD eased off once I hit the Humor section, and by the time I hit the General Reference section I was back in the real world, sort of.  By the time I heard the closing announcement, I was in the Children’s section, desperately trying to decide which books to choose.  Hubby already had his, tucked under his arm.  Finally, my practical side took over and I chose just one book- a book I could read to the little ones.  But that’s OK.  It gives me an excuse to go back.

I made it a point to blog about our bookstore trip so I could come back to this while I am clicking my way around blogs and hopefully remember how cool it is to go to a bookstore.  I am the quintessential gadget girl.  I love to play with electronic stuff.  I own a Kindle, a Sony E-reader, and an iPad.  I have plenty of e-books.  But I also love the feel of a nice thick tome.  I like to skim through pages and sometimes sneak a peek ahead.  I like to book shop; I like to scan and see which covers catch my attention and read the back cover to see if the story piques my curiosity.  I had forgotten how that feels during this past year, and I don’t want to forget again.  Besides, I have a book coming out sometime this fall, and I cannot wait to hold it in my hands.  And I really want people to buy my print book over my e-book.  If people stop buying books, they will become too expensive to print, and the bookstores will eventually go away.   And that would be horrible.  So I think I will back away from the e-books for a bit and go back to my local bookstore to buy some real books.  My publisher, Silver Leaf Books, has released several books this year that sound like an interesting read, so I shall start my book shopping spree by ordering some books from my fellow authors.

Writing in places I have never written before

The typos you may see in this post were left there deliberately.  I am on my patio steps tapping away on my touch screen keyboard on my almost 2 week old iPad. There are hundreds of reviews on this little (or should I say not that little) gadget, so I am not going to write a mini essay on the pros and cons of the iPad.  I have found some cool things, and some not-so-cool things about it.  however, I will get you guys in on how it delivers when it comes to the two reasons I decided to break open my piggy bank and invest in a first generation, likely overpriced model tablet 'computer'.

the main reason was to have something I could take with me and write. If you have read my earlier posts you probably remember my despair at how my iTouch did not quite cut it for me when it came to writing. The keyboard was just too small. The iPad seemed to be the right size, but early reviewers mostly hated the touch keyboard. I was waffling, but decided to pre-order it anyway.  Then I found out that shipments were delayed for Apple Store orders.  No biggie, I just dragged my sister off to the nearest Apple store on Saturday morning , about 40 minutes away.  At least I would be able to play with it before deciding if this was the right gadget for me.  As it turned out, it took me no time to get used to the keyboard.  My speed is about as fast as a regular keyboard.  i would say faster,  but I have to swith keyboards to get to the quotation marks, which I use a lot.  And as you can see, there are a few typos, but they are minor and my post is still quite legible (although I am sure it is a bit annoying for some).

My other reason was to be able to read e-books and surf the web easily from room to room and outside while chasing the rug rats.  Indoors it is awesome.  The size is pleasant, it feels nice to hold and it the e-books app is vry pretty and easy to use.  However, the Wifi keeps dropping, and I have to constantly reset the settings whenever I turn it off or it goes to sleep.  First generation glitch, most likely.  Also, and this is a biggie, the iPad does not support Flash.  So as far as web surfing, I will stick to my laptop for the most part.

Using it outdoors is not as nice. It is hard to see in the sun, an dit overheats easily on hot bright days, so I can only use it in the shade.  And another annoying thing I discovered: my polarized sunglasses makes the screen invisible.

Overall I am pleased with my latest toy.  the biggest benefit is to be able to read more.  i have been browsing through Blogspot and have found a few cool blogs. and I have been able to get some writing in as well.  Not to mention being able to finally find time to update my blog. :-/

Gadget Girl Fails!

As you can probably deduce from my last post, even after weeks of tinkering I still cannot get my apps to post exactly the way I want them to. But I do not blame the apps. I am under the delusion that I can immediately grasp any new technology and master it by simply playing around with it for a few days. Hello! McFly!!

That may have been true ten years ago when my brain was young and fit and didn’t have the strain of having to keep pace with three kids. My oldest son has several CompTIA certifications, so he officially knows more about computers than I do. That is humbling in itself. But deep down I fear that the Peter Principle applies to technology as well, and the day will come where I will no longer be able to grasp the concept of the latest and greatest invention since sliced bread. That thought has kept me awake at night more than once.

Aside from my paranoid thoughts of becoming too old and too stupid to work an iTouch, the device that I believed would be the solution to all my writing obstacles has in itself created a big one for me. I consider myself an average texter (though I can't hold a candle to my son) and I am comfortable enough with the touch keyboard on my iTouch, but when I use it to get some prose down, my writing slows to a virtual stop. At 50 wpm, my typing was never very fast, but the iTouch brings it down to 15-20. And even with the auto-correct function, I see the typos that I drop as I type, and the temptation to go back and fix is just too much for me. Yesterday I did some writing while waiting for my youngest son at martial arts class. Forty minutes. Eight sentences. FAIL!

I still love my iTouch, and I love to be able to write on my tiny device while I am out and about. I just have to get better at it. And I probably have to stop trying so hard. My blog has suffered because of it. And I have a map to finish, but more about that next time.

B.

And two months later, I finally post a status update. Yay!

Gadget Girl!

Well, there goes my bi-weekly blogging goal! I have been procrastinating, sort of, because I am trying to arrange it so that I can blog and post directly from my iTouch.

I am on my computer, so I have not quite reached that goal. But there are a few apps I think are promising. My favorite so far is Glue. It allows you to post on different sites, and you can ad as many feeds as you want. I would use it to post this entry right now, but I have not figured out whether Glue can post images, and I just had to upload this shot of my iTouch. He,he.

I love gadgets. I always try to get the latest and greatest, as long as it catches my attention and I know I can learn how to fully utilize it. But right now I feel that my iTouch will be the last mobile device I will be getting for a long time. That is, unless Apple decides to end its exclusive agreement with a certain company that I will never subscribe to.

We shall see how well Glue does for me. I will do my next post with it.

B.

A nice drive, disposable plates and a cup o' Joe

I knew that there would be things that I would miss once I stopped working. I was not sure how much it would bother me, but I expected some things to bother me more than others. There are things I miss, but they are not what I had expected them to be.

I miss the adult interaction with my co-workers. But I do not miss it as much as I feared. Facebook is wonderful for keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances. It almost makes up for the face-to-face banter. I am not a very social person anyway. There are several at-home moms in my neighborhood with children close to my own in age, so if I need some adult conversation all I need to do is reach out to my neighbors (which I have yet to do), or take a walk over to Mom's. And the best part is, I can use Facebook with one hand while I feed the baby with the other!

I spend much more time in the kitchen than I thought I would. One would think that a dishwasher, a microwave oven and non-stick cookware can help get you in and out of the kitchen in no time. Ha! Cable TV shows also make cooking seem like a snap. Rachel Ray might be able to whip up a meal in 30 minutes but I am sure she doesn't have to clean the pots, the floor and the counters afterwards. And she does not have two kids playing underfoot! I would like to see at least one show where she has to constantly shoo a preschooler out of the kitchen, dodge flying sippy cups, and hold a conversation with a smart-assed high school kid above the noise of a screaming baby while chopping onions. Yeah, that's an episode I would love to see.

I thought I would miss shopping for myself but I don't. Any sort of shopping has now become a chore. I would much rather browse online for things and although I admit I have been tempted to snag a few things, so far it has not been hard to tell myself I don't need it and move on. We'll see how well I can keep my shopping urges down through the holiday season.

All in all, I have been content with my lifestyle change. I have been okay for the most part with the things I have given up. That is not to say I don't miss them. Below are the three things I miss the most:

My commute. Yes, really. I know that probably sounds crazy to most people, but as far as driving to work goes, it did not get much better than mine. It would take me ten minutes to get to work; fifteen if traffic was bad or I caught all the red lights. I drove against rush traffic and there was ample parking in the employee parking lot. But more than the drive, I miss the time I had to myself. Twenty minutes of peaceful time to myself. It doesn't sound like much, and I never thought twice about it. It is one of those things you don't know you have until you don't have it anymore.

Paper plates. True, it is not the most environmentally responsible thing to do, but using paper plates was one of the ways we saved time (and water) back when we were a two income household. We would eat supper at my mother's house, so our main meal at home was breakfast. We had very little time to eat in the morning, and the last thing we wanted to come home to at night was a stack of dirty dishes, so we would stock up on paper plates. Now, paper plates are an unnecessary luxury, but even with a dishwasher it is a pain to keep the dirty dishes from piling up. My dishwasher use has more than tripled since I
stopped working. Considering all the time I spend in the kitchen, any shortcut would be welcome, but the convenience and savings on my water bill does not justify the cost or the wastefulness. So I will reserve the paper plates for certain occasions.

And the thing I miss more than anything else:



A really good cup of coffee. I am not talking about a $3.50 Venti Misto. The best coffee is the cup you make at home- your way! I am talking about a half-cup of freshly ground, dark roast coffee scooped into the coffee maker basket first thing in the morning. Sam's Club's fair trade organic brand is one of the best, but a pound of Dunkin' Donuts whole bean will do. But at 8 to 16 dollars a pound, that too was a casualty of the lifestyle change. Now the morning greets me with whatever I can find on sale (ugh)! Too bad Sam’s Club does not do discount sales on their coffee.

All things considered, I really don't have much to complain about. There are people out there losing their jobs, losing their homes. I am blessed enough to have the means to be home with my children during their preschool years. On the other hand, to say that I am truly content would be fooling myself. But this is a good thing. I hope to someday be able to once again buy whatever coffee I wish. However, for the sake of environmental responsibility, I am going to have to reconsider my preference for paper plates.