Terry was back at it yesterday, assembling her new Louet Spring II loom, and she got a lot accomplished. At this point, the loom itself is assembled, and all she has left to do is put on the 2,400 heddles for the twelve shafts and the 168 treadling cords. She’s almost done and is looking forward to getting some yarn on it and putting it through its paces.
My contribution to this project was to hold things in place a few times when she needed an extra hand and to stay out of the way the rest of the time. When it comes to mechanical things, I’m all thumbs, and they are fat thumbs and not even opposable most of the time.
I spent part of the day making a few minor corrections to my new book, The Hard Years, and reloading it to Amazon. It always happens. No matter how many sets of eyes proofread a book, something always seems to slip past. None of them were major problems, mostly missing punctuation marks and things like that.
Another author I know, who has done well in the science fiction genre, asked me why I bother with all that once a book is out. He said as far as he was concerned, once it’s out, it’s good enough and he moves on to the next one. Good enough? I asked him if he goes out to dinner and orders a medium-rare steak and it comes well done, does he just eat it because it’s good enough? Or if he orders pancakes for breakfast and they bring him waffles or sausage and eggs, does he just eat it without saying anything because it’s good enough? I darn sure wouldn’t, and I don’t expect my readers to settle for good enough, either.
When I was done with that, I spent some time out in the garage with my Quest 2 headset on, fighting three boxing matches. What a workout! This isn’t sitting on your butt playing a video game, you are moving, punching, and jabbing all the time. If you have never tried 3D boxing, you have no idea how much of a sweat you can work up. I had to be careful at one point because between rounds, I went back to my corner and almost leaned on the ropes to rest, forgetting that even though I was seeing what looked like a real boxing ring, it was not really there. And I didn’t fall for it when my cornerman put a wooden stool in there for me to sit down on either!
From different Oculus groups on Facebook, I’ve read many accounts of people who have smashed televisions and windows, slammed their fists into walls, and one who accidentally punched out his 15-year-old daughter when she walked up to him when he was using it. That’s why I confine that activity to the garage, where there’s plenty of room, and I have a virtual safety area marked off to keep me out of trouble.
While the headset works fine the way it comes, I did order a Bobo VR Pro accessory head strap, which is much more comfortable to wear and also has an extra battery, giving me up to four hours of playing time without having to recharge. Not that I would ever use it that long, a half-hour of boxing wore me out!
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.
Today is your last chance to enter our Free Drawing for an audiobook of More Than Human by my friend Heather Ashbury. It’s a blend of fantasy and paranormal romance that begins when a young woman returns to an enchanting town in New Mexico following a mysterious death, where she is unexpectedly pulled into the mystical world of gods, demons, werewolves, nymphs, and more.
To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing, please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn this evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
Thought For The Day – If I pat you on the back, there’s a 99% chance that I’m using you as a napkin.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
And this reader thanks you for all your proofreading efforts. Nothing turns me off a book so quickly as to find words out of context or misspelled! I’ve found writing mistakes in books published by big name publishing companies such as Random House–does no one proofread??
I echo what Janna said. I really appreciate your attention to putting out the best quality product (book) that you can.
Your boxing workout with the VR headset reminded me of when my extended family was trying out my brother-in-law’s WII boxing. I worked up a good sweat, swinging and punching like crazy. My mom, whose dad had always told her to “fight like Joe Louis,” got up and had a TKO in two or three punches. It didn’t give her much of a workout, but it was impressive to see.