The last couple of days have been nice, with yesterday down in the mid-70s. But today it will be in the 80s and the next few days will bring us temperatures in the low 90s. Summer is on its way, and the desert is no place to be in an RV.
We’re leaving Apache Junction the first of the month. I’ve got an appointment at the VA hospital in Tucson the middle of next month and another in early June, which I’m trying to reschedule for an earlier date. Terry also has to have her annual checkup while we’re there. Hopefully we can get done and get up to the White Mountains for a visit with my daughter and her family before it gets too hot. Then, if everything is okay on the medical front, we plan to head for the cool and green Pacific Northwest.
A couple of years ago I bought Dragon Speak voice to text software, hoping it would make me more productive. The jury’s still out. I have arthritis in my hands and a day of typing leaves me hurting and eating ibuprofen, and the idea of being able to dictate instead of type seems like a good idea. But the program is not nearly as intuitive as the TV commercials would lead you to believe and there are a lot of typos even when I speak slowly.
Even then, I have to go back and make a lot of corrections. But I keep experimenting with it, writing (dictating) about 5,000 words the last two days. By comparison, on a good day it’s not uncommon for me to write (type) 5,000 words, so the output is slower, but it’s not as painful.
Sales are still going strong for Big Lake Blizzard
Another author friend of mine who I know appreciates her readers is my friend Colleen Hoover, who’s breakout novel Slammed has led to the amazing success story told in a recent news story. Colleen is a very nice person and she deserves all of the good fortune she is enjoying now.
With all of the talk about the defeat of a move to strengthen gun laws, here’s the side of gun ownership that too many people like to ignore. Phoenix news reported last night that a woman opened fire on three burglars that invaded her home yesterday and refused to leave. Nobody was injured, but they fled and two suspects have been arrested. In the proper hands, guns can be valuable tools to save lives and protect property.
Thought For The Day – Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
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Nick Russell
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Thanks for the information on the shooting in Phoenix. We did not see anything down here on this in Tupelo, Mississippi, but I tend to believe that these things are not publicized nationally.
And NOTHING in the bills voted on in the Senate would have prevented her from being able to do that. It was not a bill to take away the guns, only to make all sales subject to background checks.
Nick, maybe a solution for you would be to just record your stories at normal talking speed and find somebody like a court reporter to transcribe them for you. You could produce more books in a shorter period of time with no strain on your hands and probably even write off the expense on your taxes.
I didn’t say it would, Jim. In fact, I wrote a Bad Nick blog in which I stated that I have no problem with background checks. http://badnickblog.com/2013/03/that-spooky-middle-ground/
Jim,
Download and read S-649 and read it, paying special attention to section 122.
It doesn’t say sales, it says TRANSFERS. Now read VERY CAREFULLY what is defined as transfers. There are a WHOLE LOT OF scenarios that have NOTHING TO DO WITH SALES, GIFTS or permanent change of ownership.
If you wanted to vacation somewhere you didn’t want (or couldn’t) take your firearms, and wanted to leave them with a friend for safe keeping, that would make you both felons!
If you left them with a relative for over seven days, you would again be felons.
That bill is NOT about crime control, it IS about people control.
Butch Williams
And if there is a background check for any reason, a record is created which can very easily lead to confiscation. And I do believe our narcissistic president would attempt that through executive order if nothing else.
JC
I wanted to add something to Ed’s comment about hiring someone to transcribe for you. A more affordable option might be Amazon’s crowd sourcing program-Mechanical Turk. You can sign up for MTurk as a worker or requester through your Amazon account. I do some work for MTurk for pocket money on the road so I haven’t done it from the requester’s end. There is quite a bit of transcription work on there and workers who specialize in it.
There is a good forum for Mechanical Turk called Turker Nation that you can join as a worker or requester. They would tell you all you need to know about it plus, most importantly, the best workers are on Turker Nation and they would tell you how to set qualifications for your tasks so you don’t get shoddy work back. There isn’t much risk for requesters, though, because you can simply reject any work you’re not satisfied with. MTurk is a good way for any small business to get tasks done affordably.