The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[NotWise]

Its raining in Chicagoland. It's been a long time since I saw real rain.

Went to the ballet this afternoon. My wife wept through most of it, and we met the young dancers after the show. The kids are cute. Some of their mom's are fabulous.

The girl who danced the roll of Aurora (The sleeping beauty) impressed me, and I told her after the show that she reminded me of my daughter. That meant nothing to her at first, but then I told her my daughter was "Miss Nicole" and she and all the girls around her covered their mouths and squealed. That meant a lot to them.

I also met my daughter's thirteen-year-old star student who's competing at the highest level of an international dance competition. Cute kid--all legs, hard working and remarkably accomplished for her age. Today she danced the "Bluebird" pas de deux with an experienced professional dancer as her partner, and she performed the traditional choreography without simplifications.

What was I doing when I was thirteen? I don't even remember.

 

[Duleigh]

I believe my first foray into retail sales was doomed from the start. I made several coffee and beer mugs based on things that happened in my stories - Andi's Dream, Alan Scarlett and Stormwatch to start. Plus a mug for folks who know how to load bombs. I opened my store on Etsy and before the first customer had a chance to look I was hit with a need to re-verify my banking information. I had set up an account just for this so before I knew what happened they cleaned out my account. (I reported it immediately and got the money back) but when I reported it to Etsy, nothing happened.

Slowly I started getting more an more views and orders, when suddenly a buyer who knew me emailed me and said, "Etsy cancelled my order." I looked and sure enough Etsy suspended my account. I got an email that said, "Your store has been closed because of terms of use violations as outlined in item 6 of the terms of use." I checked the terms of use and item 6 said, "Your store can be closed for violations of terms of use."

WTF???

I tried all day but there's no way to contact Etsy support. They don't have support.

Screw that. I checked with my printer and sure enough - Ebay is an option too. I had forgotten that my ebay account was a sellers account so I just had my printer publish everything on Ebay, changed my account name to Duleigh's Bookstore and I'm back in business. I then checked with Trustpilot (which I should have done first) Etsy has a satisfaction rating of 1.4 out of 5. That's an LW story with every word misspelled.

I like my new store on Ebay, the pictures are bigger.

 

[Rustyoznail]

A 100% satisfaction rating and 75 items sold! Well done sir.

 

[Duleigh]

A 100% satisfaction rating and 75 items sold! Well done sir.

I don't know how I overlooked that and went to Etsy first. Thank you for browsing!

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Well, my Lobos gave it their all but came up just short. I can honor them by doing the same with my writing.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing for those who need a shot of caffeine. I've also got the teapot hot for those who want a civilized drink. There are pastries and muffins on the counter for those who want a bite to eat.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. If you hear a loud thumping, that's just me hitting my head on the table in frustration ...

 

[NotWise]

Thanks CK. I missed the game again. Detroit Free Press made it sound like a knock-down, drag-out game where bench depth eventually won it for the Spartans.

Maybe it's the change of scenery, but I've re-imagined my too-dark-for-Lit story enough that maybe it will fly. Also made a little progress on my rewrite of another story. I brought two other unfinished stories with me that I haven't touched--yet, anyway.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I hate to say it, but the work coffee is really bad. I thought it was just because I hadn't cleaned my cup properly, but others had also complained.

Turns out we now have large tins of Moccona, which looks like the old Nescafe.

Never thought I'd say I prefer Nescafe.

 

[Duleigh]

My Geek Pride story is finally complete! Alan Scarlet Best Two out of Three starts the story winning a wind surfing competition on Fiji 2 then his life suddenly spirals out of control and he discovers the hard way (is there any other way) that agents of the Eastern Block have infiltrated all Western Alliance Space Stations. 130k words.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I wish I could finish something. Well, I've been finishing paid work, but I've had no time for writing for myself for weeks. And when I've had the time, I haven't felt well enough to do so. Coffee and a slice of a pity cake, please.

My Geek Pride story is finally complete! Alan Scarlet Best Two out of Three starts the story winning a wind surfing competition on Fiji 2 then his life suddenly spirals out of control and he discovers the hard way (is there any other way) that agents of the Eastern Block have infiltrated all Western Alliance Space Stations. 130k words.

 

[Duleigh]

I wish I could finish something. Well, I've been finishing paid work, but I've had no time for writing for myself for weeks.

It's not getting me anywhere. Stormwatch Chapter 1 has been sitting on Laurels desk pending for a week and a half (fracking edits!) Stormwatch Chapter 2 is going to join it today, and Alan Scarlett has to sit on my desk for weeks until I can submit it for geek pride. Tomorrow I start on Alan Scarlett - Why Robot (I think that's pretty witty) and Stormwatch Chapter 3 AND Sunflower Summer for the Summer Fun contest. But the worst part is that I waste a lot of time drawing up cover art. I made this for Gods Save the Queen which I hope to start sometime this year

​

 

[JGittes]

I think I identified the swans in the pond as Whooping Swans based on their grey-brown juvenile plumage, but I found that Mute Swans have similar juvenile plumage. So, I had to dig deeper, and they have Mute Swan beak markings. They seem to have paired up, but they are less than a year old and won't nest this year.

The Canada Geese have worked out a truce with the Swans.

Frost again this morning. I hope we have summer this year.

 

[Duleigh]

The Canada Geese have worked out a truce with the Swans.

Frost again this morning. I hope we have summer this year.

Good to hear about the geese and swans. The geese are easily controlled with a few simple words: "You are delicious with wild rice"

I have authorized summer for all 50 states, so you should be getting one in a couple of months.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@Duleigh - thanks for the permission to have summer. I really need it.

Sorry I'm late today but I had an early morning doctor appointment to get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon to take a look at my knee. The arthritis is getting really back and my knee clicks when it articulates. In any event, the coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. I stopped by the bakery and got some muffins and danish for snacking.

I'm going to try to get some writing done but don't expect much results. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some words written.

 

[_Lynn_]

@Duleigh - thanks for the permission to have summer. I really need it.

Sorry I'm late today but I had an early morning doctor appointment to get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon to take a look at my knee. The arthritis is getting really back and my knee clicks when it articulates. In any event, the coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. I stopped by the bakery and got some muffins and danish for snacking.

I'm going to try to get some writing done but don't expect much results. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some words written.

I can relate. I have right hip replacement surgery coming up next month. Then we discuss the options for the right knee (left already replaced) and the left hip. If one joint doesn't click, another does. Or at times, they all do.

Good luck.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've had broken rips a few times when I was doing PI and fugitive recovery. So, I know what pain is.

@Duleigh - thanks for the permission to have summer. I really need it.

Sorry I'm late today but I had an early morning doctor appointment to get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon to take a look at my knee. The arthritis is getting really back and my knee clicks when it articulates. In any event, the coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. I stopped by the bakery and got some muffins and danish for snacking.

I'm going to try to get some writing done but don't expect much results. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some words written.

 

[Duleigh]

I have right hip replacement surgery coming up next month.

I know your pain. I have a bad left hip but I'm considered inoperable due to other issues so I have steroid injections every 3 months. Just had my quarterly shot today.

 

[_Lynn_]

I know your pain. I have a bad left hip but I'm considered inoperable due to other issues so I have steroid injections every 3 months. Just had my quarterly shot today.

I tried steroid injections but they only helped for about a week.

 

[dmallord]

I hope all is well. I read some of your posts, and it looks like lots of us have been to the doctor... again. Today, I did more vampire work, looking at kidneys. The new doctor is cute but way too young-looking to be messing with kidneys.

So, how many doctors does an old man need? It seems like they all need new tires for their cars since I'm being bounced between them for funding support.

Logged in and was surprised to see many comments left on various stories by new people who even added me to follow. A nice ending to a long day.

 

[MrPixel]

May I join the club? Horrible lower back pain this afternoon sent us running to the ER. I was thinking kidney stone and so were they, so off to the CT scanner, and pee in a cup. No stones, but the doc said it looked like a lumbar disc is out of whack and possibly pressing on a nerve. ER couldn't order MRIs, so she gave me a referral to surgical orthopedist for follow-up. Went through similar with a cervical disc fusion 12 years ago, so not looking forward to the downtime.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@MrPixel - ouch! I feel for you.

The coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. The griddle is hot if you want to make yourself some breakfast (or for those on the opposite side of the world, an evening snack). There are donuts galore on the counter for those who want something lighter.

I'll be over in the corner trying to get some writing done. Feel free to stop by and chat, I probably will be banging my head on the keyboard anyway ...

 

[NotWise]

Sorry for all ya'll's joint pains.

Here, I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to get the desk from my office office into my home office. It and two chairs are all that's left.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Sorry for all ya'll's joint pains.

Here, I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to get the desk from my office office into my home office. It and two chairs are all that's left.

The office desk stayed, but I pinched my really good chair and twin monitors from work when we had to WFH. The office has been refreshed, and they haven't asked for them back, so...

I'm at home today, in an online meeting about setting up a new enterprise resource software system, when the pup wanders into my office. "It's 10.30. I want a snack and a game, dad."

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I did my daily download of my stats and got three votes on stories that didn't have any views. I've also noticed a sharp decline in the number of views the last two days and am wondering if Laurel/Manu has changed the algorithm for how views are counted?

I've got the early morning/late night coffee brewing and made sure the teapot was hot for those who want a cuppa. There are donuts and cookies on the counter for those who are having a snack attack.

Another day with no writing accomplished so I really near to bear down today. We'll see if I can get any inspiration from watching the cardinals sneaking up on the peanuts like they're going to run away if they aren't careful.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I've noted a couple of apparent glitches like that, CK.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Dogs are so predictable. Where with cats you never know what you'll get, unless you want to fool around with them, in which case they can't be bothered. Or you want to be left alone, in which case, they fool with you!

The office desk stayed, but I pinched my really good chair and twin monitors from work when we had to WFH. The office has been refreshed, and they haven't asked for them back, so...

I'm at home today, in an online meeting about setting up a new enterprise resource software system, when the pup wanders into my office. "It's 10.30. I want a snack and a game, dad."

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