Words, Pie Crusts, And Covid

Yesterday was a wordy day for me. I started out by making a bunch of corrections to chapters that had been proofread by Judy and Roberta, and then I wrote another 2,500-word chapter in my new Big Lake book. I’m getting there, slowly but surely, but I still have no idea who the bad guy (or girl) is.

After reading about all the problems I’ve been having with dictation, a couple of blog readers suggested some things I might want to try, and I’m experimenting with them to see if it makes any difference. So far, I would say there is some progress, but not a lot. I have also been copying everything from the old external mechanical hard drive I was working from and using as a backup to the solid-state hard drive in my computer, hoping that will speed things up a bit.

While I was doing all that, Terry was busy making a couple of pie crusts and taking care of some other pre-Thanksgiving tasks. Instead of going to a Chinese buffet for dinner, which I had talked about, some friends have invited us to have Thanksgiving with them, and Terry volunteered to make the stuffing and some other goodies to share.

Then, yesterday afternoon we got word that Terry’s sister Lisa and her husband Jim in Arizona both have COVID. Lisa was vaccinated, so hers seems to be a breakthrough case and we are hoping it won’t be too bad for her. Jim is not vaccinated and is having a bad time with it. This scares the hell out of us because we have lost four family members and five or six friends to COVID. Folks, please, please, please get vaccinated! We need you, and your families need you.

In another bit of bad news, although it could be worse, my friend Patrick O’Donnell, author of the Cops and Writers books and founder of the Cops and Writers Facebook group, told us yesterday that he lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where a maniac drove through a Christmas parade, killing six people, including a child. Patrick’s precious little granddaughter was injured, suffering some cuts and bruises and a concussion, but he says she’s a strong little girl and will make it.

The maggot who did this has a long criminal history and was out on $1,000 bail for running the mother of his child over with the same vehicle a few weeks ago. This time around, he was fleeing the scene of a domestic violence assault (but was not being pursued)  when he drove into the parade crowd. Why was he even allowed to be on the street in the first place? He’s a career criminal who has no place in society.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Remember to turn your bathroom scales back 15 pounds tonight for Thanksgiving.