I run a contest a few times a year through my free newsletter. Anyone who signs up for the newsletter is entered in the drawing for the prizes. My next drawing is going to be Sunday, so if you don't belong to my newsletter and want the chance to win a few good romance reads, make sure you sign up today or before tomorrow evening when I will be doing the drawing. Winners are always picked from those who belong to the newsletter, and members are welcome to unsub at any time. (I also never share anyone's address or use it for anything more than the newsletter than goes out just a few times a year, and for contacting the winner of the prize.)
To sign up, just send a blank message to CharlotteDillon-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CharlotteDillon/
Drawing Date: January 1, 2006.
Prize: One person will win the following romance books.
Kill a Painted Pony by Kelsy George http://www.kelsygeorge.com
The Oldest Kind of Magic by Ann Macela http://www.annmacela.com
Temperature's Rising by Karen Kelley www.authorkarenkelley.com
Haunted Memories by Melanie Atkins www.melanieatkins.com
Saturday, December 31, 2005
So Long 2005!
I can’t say I’m sad to see this year end. 2004 was a bad year, and then along came 2005. Ouch! Here’s hoping 2006 will be a better year. Happy New Years, everyone!
Saturday, December 10, 2005
My Computer Works Again – Or – There’s Nothing Like An Old Love
I got my computer back last night. AND IT WORKS! It was the motherboard, so all’s well that ends well. (Smile) Okay, there’re still some problems. Like with my e-mail. I use MS Outlook Express. All of the shutting down the motherboard was causing fried Outlook Express. I can get and see my mail, but I can’t reply or even open my address book. (That means if I had your address before, I don’t now.)
So I’m using another e-mail program. I’ve tried others before, including Hotmail and Gmail, but Outlook Express was the first one I ever used, and nothing else seems to match it for me. Maybe it’s just because I’m so used to it. You used to could download Outlook Express and Internet Explorer at tons of sites….all free. They are after all free programs. But darn if I can find OE now. When I try to open my address book in OE it says to reinstall OE. That’s fine, if it would just tell me how and where to do it. (Smile)
Oh, well. I guess no relationship is perfect. (Smile)
So I’m using another e-mail program. I’ve tried others before, including Hotmail and Gmail, but Outlook Express was the first one I ever used, and nothing else seems to match it for me. Maybe it’s just because I’m so used to it. You used to could download Outlook Express and Internet Explorer at tons of sites….all free. They are after all free programs. But darn if I can find OE now. When I try to open my address book in OE it says to reinstall OE. That’s fine, if it would just tell me how and where to do it. (Smile)
Oh, well. I guess no relationship is perfect. (Smile)
Friday, December 09, 2005
It’s a Love Hate Thing
My mom used to have a saying about men, “You can’t live with ‘em and you can’t kill ‘em.” Of course she said this only in jest when she was teasing my father—though maybe there were some days in their many years of marriage when there wasn’t as much jest in her words as there were on other days. (Smile) Her jest was a rewriting in a way of a much older saying about men, “You can’t live with ‘em and you can’t live without ‘em.” I think the original saying fits my topic best.
It’s computers.
My computer.
It’s in the computer hospital today, so keep your fingers crossed that it lives. It’s been sick ever since I was able to come back home after the hurricane. I think with the house flooding, no AC, the heat and the humidity in here took a toll on it. Some RWC members seem to think so too, and so does the computer man. The hope is a new motherboard will take care of things.
I love my computer. I’ve loved everyone I’ve had. I sure use them enough, but sometimes I just really, really, really hate them too. (Smile) I guess it’s that thin line between love and hate. When my computer is working well, or even pretty well, I’m a happy girl. But when something goes wrong, it’s a nightmare. I handle so much stuff on my computer that it’s like losing a lifeline when something goes wrong. I’ve learned one lesson at a time about backing up, saving in other ways, but it still leaves things spread out, messes up my mail since I still mostly use Outlook Express, and generally disorganizes my whole routine of daily life.
This time I knew my computer was getting worse, so I made darn sure I saved stuff in other places and sent lots of important stuff to my husband’s computer, including lots of recent e-mail I needed to handle or have on hand. So wouldn’t you just know that now his computer is sick too. It got some kind of bug and opens pages on its own and blocks other stuff. It’s so bad that it’s pretty much impossible to use his computer on line at all. He is trying his best to clean it out, so maybe…
It’s just such bad timing. That leaves me using my very slow little ‘ol laptop. I’m just so lucky and thankful to have it. Best four-hundred I ever spent! Still, I’ve never used it for anything but writing, so I hadn’t worried about the internet stuff very much. It took some extra work, but I set my mail up on it, put some virus protection on it, hooked it up and updated every thing, and here I am—in love again. (Smile)
It’s computers.
My computer.
It’s in the computer hospital today, so keep your fingers crossed that it lives. It’s been sick ever since I was able to come back home after the hurricane. I think with the house flooding, no AC, the heat and the humidity in here took a toll on it. Some RWC members seem to think so too, and so does the computer man. The hope is a new motherboard will take care of things.
I love my computer. I’ve loved everyone I’ve had. I sure use them enough, but sometimes I just really, really, really hate them too. (Smile) I guess it’s that thin line between love and hate. When my computer is working well, or even pretty well, I’m a happy girl. But when something goes wrong, it’s a nightmare. I handle so much stuff on my computer that it’s like losing a lifeline when something goes wrong. I’ve learned one lesson at a time about backing up, saving in other ways, but it still leaves things spread out, messes up my mail since I still mostly use Outlook Express, and generally disorganizes my whole routine of daily life.
This time I knew my computer was getting worse, so I made darn sure I saved stuff in other places and sent lots of important stuff to my husband’s computer, including lots of recent e-mail I needed to handle or have on hand. So wouldn’t you just know that now his computer is sick too. It got some kind of bug and opens pages on its own and blocks other stuff. It’s so bad that it’s pretty much impossible to use his computer on line at all. He is trying his best to clean it out, so maybe…
It’s just such bad timing. That leaves me using my very slow little ‘ol laptop. I’m just so lucky and thankful to have it. Best four-hundred I ever spent! Still, I’ve never used it for anything but writing, so I hadn’t worried about the internet stuff very much. It took some extra work, but I set my mail up on it, put some virus protection on it, hooked it up and updated every thing, and here I am—in love again. (Smile)
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Guess I’m Normal After All
The day after I wrote my last post to my blog, the one about me being so upset and depressed, I found out I’m just normal. (Smile)
They had this whole thing on our local news the next day about how now, three months after the hurricane, it’s suddenly hitting people again. Sometimes with an even harder blow. They said it was a mixture of the holiday season, the extra stress, survival’s guilt, burn out, shock wearing off, flash backs, and people accepting that this was all real and not going away. Seems a whole lot of people are suddenly having trouble with depression and outburst of anger, even fear. They set up a 1-800 number so people could call to talk to someone about it all.
I guess between my blog and my many wonderful friends, I’ve gotta a head start on working through things. (Smile) It’s still nice to know if I’m going nuts, at least the boat’s gonna be full. (Smile)
By the way, I did finally send out X-mas cards, so I must be getting some better.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Shaking it Off
It’s been over three months since Katrina came through here, the side of the eye giving us a beating that I know I’ll never forget. But still, three months is a long time. I feel like I should be over it all ready. It’s a done deal. Yesterday. We survived and others didn’t. There’re much worse things in the world. My family was really lucky. It’s almost a whole brand new year. I should shake it off and move on.
Enough all ready!
To be honest, I really thought I had shaken it off and moved on, some time ago in fact.
And yet…
I took my daughter to school this morning and was driving back home, just like any other day. I went by Burger King with it’s twisted sign, by the new restaurant they had almost ready to open before that is now having to have a new roof put on and all of the inside work redone, I drove on down by the show with the chunks missing from its front, by the help needed signs every where that promise bonuses because so many people have moved away they can’t find enough workers to operate the businesses for normal hours.
A little further and I found that once again one of the lights on the main road was broken, then I had to take a detour because they had one road blocked still trying to repair phone lines. A little further and another detour because they were picking up hunks of tree trunks.
About then my son called on his cell phone to let me know he had made it to college and I could hardly hear him. The service is still not working about half of the time because of damage to cell towers in the area.
I finally made into my neighborhood and drove over the short little bridge that used to be so scenic but is now only a mess of bare land and missing or broken trees. I passed all of the other damage; huge tree roots side up, roofs covered with blue tarps, a house with the porch smashed off, a house with the backside of it damaged enough that the family is living in a FEMA trailer in their front yard, and all of a sudden out of no where, my hands were sweating, my heart was racing, and I was almost in tears. It was all I could do to hold them back.
When I got home I sat in my driveway and got control of myself, reminded myself how lucky I was that my family was still together and that our home was damaged but standing strong. After a few moments I came in and did e-mail, took care of my on line groups, fixed a page on my website. {I thought about working on my book, but I’m just not back there yet.}
I had just gotten up to do dishes when my phone rang. I smiled when I glanced at the caller ID and recognized the number of one of my dear on line friends who lives about halfway across the US from me but feels like someone I know better than some of my neighbors.
We chit chatted a while, laughed a bit, she asked if I had sent out X-mas cards yet or put up decorations. (I have a habit of going overboard in both areas. I just love Christmas!) Normally.
I said, “Not yet.” Then changed the subject.
She wasn’t letting me off that easy. “Why not? You usually drive me damn near nuts with all of the details and pictures.”
“I really don’t have room in the house for a tree this year with everything still piled up, and I don’t have the time for all of the other stuff,” I said, then changed the subject again.
When I finished that subject she got quite for a moment and then said, “You know, Charlotte, it’d be perfectly normal if you just didn’t feel up to going all out for Christmas this year. If you were still a little at… odds… emotionally. You’ve had a tough year. Hell, you’ve had a tough couple of years.”
I thought about the last two years; my father’s illness, his death, my oldest leaving home, my own battle with finding out that I was a diabetic, a scare with my son’s health, then his wedding, and then--Katrina. I couldn’t say anything for a moment. Finally I said, “Such is life.” And I changed the subject again.
She wasn’t having it. She interrupted me this time. “In the last three weeks your e-mails and phone calls have gotten so damn sweet and fake you should have to put a trademark symbol on them, like sweetened with Splenda!” She added a little bit more too with a few other words I won’t type here.
Okay. Now I was getting angry. “What are you talking about?”
“Something’s wrong. I can read it between every sentence you write me. I hear it in your voice over the phone. You aren’t you.”
“I’m not me! Then who the hell am I?!”
“Some stupid character you’ve made up who smiles while her insides fall apart one piece at a time. What a load of bull shit! I really thought you were a smarter person than that!”
Oh, that was it. I lost it. I started crying and yelling, and raising enough heck to rattle the windows. I let her know just how angry I was that she would say that to me, and then some how I strayed into other anger, then sadness, then fear, then more anger. While I raged on, my friend didn’t say a word. I didn’t even notice until the end, when the silence made me think she had hung up sometime during my fit and I was too loud to notice.
After a moment of quite I asked, “You still there?”
She laughed. She actually laughed.
I didn’t have any anger left, so I didn’t say anything. All I managed was to sniffle a little and hiccup once.
She finally said, “Do you feel better?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been holding so much in, pretending things were all right--that you were all right--when it wasn’t true. I knew you had to be about ready to blow. I just lit the fuss.”
When my mother died a nurse told me that part of any kind of grief is anger. I don’t think I had really allowed myself that since my father’s death, and for sure not since Katrina. I felt--still feel--too lucky. Every time I get angry or feel sorry for myself I just end up feeling guilty for feeling that way. So many others ended up so much worse off than my family did. I feel like I have no right to feel anyway but lucky. I guess I just kind of used that as a reason to push my own anger and upset aside during the last few weeks. I ignored it, never really acknowledged it and got it out and over with so I could move on to the next step of healing.
My wonderful, dear, very wise friend made me give my anger a voice today.
We talked a good while longer after my outburst. By the time I hung up, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of me.
So I’m not completely over what happened and I still have bad days and private pity parties. She assured me that doesn’t make me a wimp, much less a selfish monster. It was such a relief to hear someone say that. To have someone tell me it was normal.
I’ve decided that it’s okay for me to feel sad when I drive around town and see all of the damage that is still there, even though it could be worse. It’s okay for me to still cry over the family pictures and keepsakes that the floodwater stole from me, even if others lost more. It’s okay for me to get mad about all of the hard work we put into this home that we are having to redo now, even though some people lost their whole home. The greater pain and loss of others doesn’t take away my right to deal with my own and work my way through what ever I feel, even if it takes me months more to completely get over it and move on. Some of us shake things off quicker than others, and that’s fine too.
Feeling what ever I feel right now is okay. Not writing right now is okay. This too will pass as long as I don’t build a damn and keep it all locked in. Maybe those are good things for all of us to remember when ever we are going through some rough patch in our lives.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt any to have a wonderful friend who knows how to blow up damns. Right Lori? (Smile)
Enough all ready!
To be honest, I really thought I had shaken it off and moved on, some time ago in fact.
And yet…
I took my daughter to school this morning and was driving back home, just like any other day. I went by Burger King with it’s twisted sign, by the new restaurant they had almost ready to open before that is now having to have a new roof put on and all of the inside work redone, I drove on down by the show with the chunks missing from its front, by the help needed signs every where that promise bonuses because so many people have moved away they can’t find enough workers to operate the businesses for normal hours.
A little further and I found that once again one of the lights on the main road was broken, then I had to take a detour because they had one road blocked still trying to repair phone lines. A little further and another detour because they were picking up hunks of tree trunks.
About then my son called on his cell phone to let me know he had made it to college and I could hardly hear him. The service is still not working about half of the time because of damage to cell towers in the area.
I finally made into my neighborhood and drove over the short little bridge that used to be so scenic but is now only a mess of bare land and missing or broken trees. I passed all of the other damage; huge tree roots side up, roofs covered with blue tarps, a house with the porch smashed off, a house with the backside of it damaged enough that the family is living in a FEMA trailer in their front yard, and all of a sudden out of no where, my hands were sweating, my heart was racing, and I was almost in tears. It was all I could do to hold them back.
When I got home I sat in my driveway and got control of myself, reminded myself how lucky I was that my family was still together and that our home was damaged but standing strong. After a few moments I came in and did e-mail, took care of my on line groups, fixed a page on my website. {I thought about working on my book, but I’m just not back there yet.}
I had just gotten up to do dishes when my phone rang. I smiled when I glanced at the caller ID and recognized the number of one of my dear on line friends who lives about halfway across the US from me but feels like someone I know better than some of my neighbors.
We chit chatted a while, laughed a bit, she asked if I had sent out X-mas cards yet or put up decorations. (I have a habit of going overboard in both areas. I just love Christmas!) Normally.
I said, “Not yet.” Then changed the subject.
She wasn’t letting me off that easy. “Why not? You usually drive me damn near nuts with all of the details and pictures.”
“I really don’t have room in the house for a tree this year with everything still piled up, and I don’t have the time for all of the other stuff,” I said, then changed the subject again.
When I finished that subject she got quite for a moment and then said, “You know, Charlotte, it’d be perfectly normal if you just didn’t feel up to going all out for Christmas this year. If you were still a little at… odds… emotionally. You’ve had a tough year. Hell, you’ve had a tough couple of years.”
I thought about the last two years; my father’s illness, his death, my oldest leaving home, my own battle with finding out that I was a diabetic, a scare with my son’s health, then his wedding, and then--Katrina. I couldn’t say anything for a moment. Finally I said, “Such is life.” And I changed the subject again.
She wasn’t having it. She interrupted me this time. “In the last three weeks your e-mails and phone calls have gotten so damn sweet and fake you should have to put a trademark symbol on them, like sweetened with Splenda!” She added a little bit more too with a few other words I won’t type here.
Okay. Now I was getting angry. “What are you talking about?”
“Something’s wrong. I can read it between every sentence you write me. I hear it in your voice over the phone. You aren’t you.”
“I’m not me! Then who the hell am I?!”
“Some stupid character you’ve made up who smiles while her insides fall apart one piece at a time. What a load of bull shit! I really thought you were a smarter person than that!”
Oh, that was it. I lost it. I started crying and yelling, and raising enough heck to rattle the windows. I let her know just how angry I was that she would say that to me, and then some how I strayed into other anger, then sadness, then fear, then more anger. While I raged on, my friend didn’t say a word. I didn’t even notice until the end, when the silence made me think she had hung up sometime during my fit and I was too loud to notice.
After a moment of quite I asked, “You still there?”
She laughed. She actually laughed.
I didn’t have any anger left, so I didn’t say anything. All I managed was to sniffle a little and hiccup once.
She finally said, “Do you feel better?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been holding so much in, pretending things were all right--that you were all right--when it wasn’t true. I knew you had to be about ready to blow. I just lit the fuss.”
When my mother died a nurse told me that part of any kind of grief is anger. I don’t think I had really allowed myself that since my father’s death, and for sure not since Katrina. I felt--still feel--too lucky. Every time I get angry or feel sorry for myself I just end up feeling guilty for feeling that way. So many others ended up so much worse off than my family did. I feel like I have no right to feel anyway but lucky. I guess I just kind of used that as a reason to push my own anger and upset aside during the last few weeks. I ignored it, never really acknowledged it and got it out and over with so I could move on to the next step of healing.
My wonderful, dear, very wise friend made me give my anger a voice today.
We talked a good while longer after my outburst. By the time I hung up, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of me.
So I’m not completely over what happened and I still have bad days and private pity parties. She assured me that doesn’t make me a wimp, much less a selfish monster. It was such a relief to hear someone say that. To have someone tell me it was normal.
I’ve decided that it’s okay for me to feel sad when I drive around town and see all of the damage that is still there, even though it could be worse. It’s okay for me to still cry over the family pictures and keepsakes that the floodwater stole from me, even if others lost more. It’s okay for me to get mad about all of the hard work we put into this home that we are having to redo now, even though some people lost their whole home. The greater pain and loss of others doesn’t take away my right to deal with my own and work my way through what ever I feel, even if it takes me months more to completely get over it and move on. Some of us shake things off quicker than others, and that’s fine too.
Feeling what ever I feel right now is okay. Not writing right now is okay. This too will pass as long as I don’t build a damn and keep it all locked in. Maybe those are good things for all of us to remember when ever we are going through some rough patch in our lives.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt any to have a wonderful friend who knows how to blow up damns. Right Lori? (Smile)
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Hurricane Season Over!
Yes, it’s a done deal! Hurricane fest 2005 has come to a close.
Everyone in the costal states exhaled a sign of relief today. For six months we won’t have to worry and watch the news, fearing that the weatherman will announce yet another system building somewhere out there that might head toward us. I’ve spent my whole life here in this same Louisiana town, and I’ve never before counted down the days to the end of a hurricane season or dreaded the start of the next, but this was a special year.
Here’s to hopping that next year won’t be special at all! Well, it would be okay for it to be special because there were no hurricanes. That would be just fine! (Smile)
Everyone in the costal states exhaled a sign of relief today. For six months we won’t have to worry and watch the news, fearing that the weatherman will announce yet another system building somewhere out there that might head toward us. I’ve spent my whole life here in this same Louisiana town, and I’ve never before counted down the days to the end of a hurricane season or dreaded the start of the next, but this was a special year.
Here’s to hopping that next year won’t be special at all! Well, it would be okay for it to be special because there were no hurricanes. That would be just fine! (Smile)
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Proofreading Your Own Work
I entered a writing contest a while back. It was a free contest held by a large on-line RWA chapter I belong to. (If it hadn’t been free with entry sent by e-mail, I probably wouldn’t have worried with it because of when the deadline date was and the things that were going on.) I did enter though, and in a rush, the day after I was finally able to move back home after Katrina, but still, I proofread the pages more than once before I hit send. What I didn’t do was have the time to ask anyone else to read over them for me, which would have been a really good thing. (Smile)
I got my results back this week. Gosh, the stuff I missed that the judges found! I will admit my nerves were a little frayed when I was getting those pages ready to send, and I only had a few hours to do it in, but still, I made some big slips that I should have spotted. Like using interred when I meant entered, on for own, ties for tires, and periods in a couple of places where there should have been question marks.
Those are some pretty big slips to over look in a manuscript that’s supposed to show your professionalism. Each mistake was something I knew better than to do and should have caught, but for some reason I didn't see them at all. I try to be careful even with blog entries and e-mail, but I’m not much on proofing them, but those aren’t going out to a contest, an agent, or an editor. I’ve always considered myself really careful when proofreading manuscripts that I’m getting ready to send anywhere.
The big mistakes I over looked just proved to me again how important critiques are, even if it’s just a read through done by a friend who isn’t a writer.
I got my results back this week. Gosh, the stuff I missed that the judges found! I will admit my nerves were a little frayed when I was getting those pages ready to send, and I only had a few hours to do it in, but still, I made some big slips that I should have spotted. Like using interred when I meant entered, on for own, ties for tires, and periods in a couple of places where there should have been question marks.
Those are some pretty big slips to over look in a manuscript that’s supposed to show your professionalism. Each mistake was something I knew better than to do and should have caught, but for some reason I didn't see them at all. I try to be careful even with blog entries and e-mail, but I’m not much on proofing them, but those aren’t going out to a contest, an agent, or an editor. I’ve always considered myself really careful when proofreading manuscripts that I’m getting ready to send anywhere.
The big mistakes I over looked just proved to me again how important critiques are, even if it’s just a read through done by a friend who isn’t a writer.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Your E-mail Message – Your Reputation
There are a lot of writer’s groups out there today, and many writers turn to them daily for support and encouragement from others who have walked the fire with them. Writing is often a lonely and trying profession, probably one of the few where you have to open yourself up to rejection over and over, often for years before you make that first real sale. After that first book is published, you open yourself up in a brand new way to even more people. Surrounding yourself with other writers, even on list, is like stepping into a warm embrace.
At least it should be.
But there are group members out there on any group who seem to take joy from stirring up trouble. If you say something is red, they say blue. Some like to feel superior, so no matter what you say, they know more than you do and no one’s answer but their own can be right. Others seem to thrive on negative energy. They will gladly point out your weaknesses and then take full advantage of them. Others will take insult to anything you say and send an attack missile in.
Ah, I see you are nodding your head. So, you’ve met Ms. ArgueWithAnyone, Ms. SmarterThanYou, and Ms. GiveUpWritingYouAreNotGoodEnough….as well as a few of their little friends.
Wait, before you nod too hard, are you ever guilty of the same things? Maybe without even meaning to or noticing that you are doing it. If ever in doubt, don’t take a chance, file that message away and read it over later before you hit send, or maybe just hit delete.
Why does it matter?
Because group members notice those troublemakers, even those who might do so often but blindly. Every time you send a message you are putting your reputation on the line. If you are a published author, or want to be one, when you send a message to a group you are speaking to your public. Writers are huge readers. I can’t name the number of times I’ve been contacted off list--I’m a group moderator--by members who are fed up with some certain other member’s posts. I get comments like, “I wouldn’t buy a book with her name on the cover if it was the last book in the store and I didn’t own a television or a radio!” I’m not overstating their feelings either. I’ve even heard worse with words I’m not going to add.
So before you forget that people can’t see a teasing smile in an e-mail message, or before you answer in haste or anger or even hurt…think it through. Think of how many people will see that message in that group. Think of how easy it is to forward that black and white print to others, privately, another group, a blog, or a website. Or even the fact that the group’s home page will save it for years for others to look at maybe at a much later date. Once you hurt someone or make them angry, they have a habit of remembering your name and what you said forever, and sharing their opinions of you.
It’s your call. You can send the kind of messages that will have people speaking well of you or you can show people a side of yourself that they might find really ugly.
At least it should be.
But there are group members out there on any group who seem to take joy from stirring up trouble. If you say something is red, they say blue. Some like to feel superior, so no matter what you say, they know more than you do and no one’s answer but their own can be right. Others seem to thrive on negative energy. They will gladly point out your weaknesses and then take full advantage of them. Others will take insult to anything you say and send an attack missile in.
Ah, I see you are nodding your head. So, you’ve met Ms. ArgueWithAnyone, Ms. SmarterThanYou, and Ms. GiveUpWritingYouAreNotGoodEnough….as well as a few of their little friends.
Wait, before you nod too hard, are you ever guilty of the same things? Maybe without even meaning to or noticing that you are doing it. If ever in doubt, don’t take a chance, file that message away and read it over later before you hit send, or maybe just hit delete.
Why does it matter?
Because group members notice those troublemakers, even those who might do so often but blindly. Every time you send a message you are putting your reputation on the line. If you are a published author, or want to be one, when you send a message to a group you are speaking to your public. Writers are huge readers. I can’t name the number of times I’ve been contacted off list--I’m a group moderator--by members who are fed up with some certain other member’s posts. I get comments like, “I wouldn’t buy a book with her name on the cover if it was the last book in the store and I didn’t own a television or a radio!” I’m not overstating their feelings either. I’ve even heard worse with words I’m not going to add.
So before you forget that people can’t see a teasing smile in an e-mail message, or before you answer in haste or anger or even hurt…think it through. Think of how many people will see that message in that group. Think of how easy it is to forward that black and white print to others, privately, another group, a blog, or a website. Or even the fact that the group’s home page will save it for years for others to look at maybe at a much later date. Once you hurt someone or make them angry, they have a habit of remembering your name and what you said forever, and sharing their opinions of you.
It’s your call. You can send the kind of messages that will have people speaking well of you or you can show people a side of yourself that they might find really ugly.
Monday, October 17, 2005
What a Difference a Week Can Make
My husband Glen had a week’s vacation last week. For seven days we let the fur fly around here. (He’s much better at fur flying than I am, but don’t tell him I admitted that. Smile)
You wouldn’t think one week could make such a difference, but boy did it. The big oak tree that crushed our shed and just about every plant in our back yard, is all gone now. Well, there’s some huge hunks of it left back there, but it’s in hunks now….instead of one big tree. The crushed shed is gone, the limbs are gone, things are raked up and although a lot of the plants look worse for the wear, I know most of them will look better next year.
Inside, we finished moving things around and got a lot of the sheetrock tore out. We also got our new hot water heater in and it works great. We even have DirectTV now. We ordered it but they never showed up to install it. Fussing did nothing, so finally my husband, handsome jack-of-all-trades that he is, decided to give it a go and install it himself. He did it! So now we have channels again, lots of them. I can watch all kinds of things. (Smile) Our cable company says it is going to fix things here and come back, but I’m not so sure. I haven’t seen one of their trucks out fixing anything, and their office here is still shut down and boarded up.
We lost a number of businesses thanks to Katrina. Some were looted, some just threw in the towel, and some had already been on the edge, and such a long time of being shut down just gave them a final push. We lost a neat little corner Mexican place where we liked to grab a quick bite, our ACE Hardware, a gas station, and other places, including our theater, which was the only show we had here….it was also the only place for teens to even go out together at. It seems our local newspaper is hanging on, and is now delivering three times a week.
Sadly we have lost another person in town too. A man who worked with my husband died last week….doing the same thing my husband had to do….cleaning up a damaged tree from his yard. We have one huge oak left to saw up, but thankfully this one is flat on the ground instead of leaning against anything.
Hopefully the newest storm, Wilma, won’t have anything to help her get stronger and maybe she’ll fade away and then there won’t be any more to worry about this year.
You wouldn’t think one week could make such a difference, but boy did it. The big oak tree that crushed our shed and just about every plant in our back yard, is all gone now. Well, there’s some huge hunks of it left back there, but it’s in hunks now….instead of one big tree. The crushed shed is gone, the limbs are gone, things are raked up and although a lot of the plants look worse for the wear, I know most of them will look better next year.
Inside, we finished moving things around and got a lot of the sheetrock tore out. We also got our new hot water heater in and it works great. We even have DirectTV now. We ordered it but they never showed up to install it. Fussing did nothing, so finally my husband, handsome jack-of-all-trades that he is, decided to give it a go and install it himself. He did it! So now we have channels again, lots of them. I can watch all kinds of things. (Smile) Our cable company says it is going to fix things here and come back, but I’m not so sure. I haven’t seen one of their trucks out fixing anything, and their office here is still shut down and boarded up.
We lost a number of businesses thanks to Katrina. Some were looted, some just threw in the towel, and some had already been on the edge, and such a long time of being shut down just gave them a final push. We lost a neat little corner Mexican place where we liked to grab a quick bite, our ACE Hardware, a gas station, and other places, including our theater, which was the only show we had here….it was also the only place for teens to even go out together at. It seems our local newspaper is hanging on, and is now delivering three times a week.
Sadly we have lost another person in town too. A man who worked with my husband died last week….doing the same thing my husband had to do….cleaning up a damaged tree from his yard. We have one huge oak left to saw up, but thankfully this one is flat on the ground instead of leaning against anything.
Hopefully the newest storm, Wilma, won’t have anything to help her get stronger and maybe she’ll fade away and then there won’t be any more to worry about this year.
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