Where Does The Time Go?

Can you believe it’s already the end of April? A third of the year has come and gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye. I’ve always heard that time flies as you get older, and also that time flies when you’re having fun. Well, I’m definitely getting older, and I’m always having fun, so I guess both of those sayings are true. But I’d like to slow down the getting older a bit if possible. It seems I never have enough hours in a day or days in a month to get everything done that I want to.

Yesterday, after the morning routine of feeding the animals and checking my email, responding to those that needed immediate attention, and deleting a bunch of spam, I had an appointment with the dermatologist in the early afternoon. Since my nasty bout with skin cancer years ago, in which I lost a chunk of one ear without even getting shot, I make sure to get checked twice a year. Sometimes I wish I had gotten shot, because the part of my ear they had to cut out never grew back. From what I’ve observed on the news, they grow back after bullet wounds.

We were it out of the dermatologist’s office pretty quickly, and a few moments after we got home, the Dodge dealer called to tell me that they had my truck fixed and ready to pick up. Here’s a bit of advice – if a dealer ever says you need your battery replaced, go buy one yourself and put it in. $585 for a 12-volt starting battery seems a bit excessive to me. Checking the price at AutoZone for the same battery, it looked like it was a 100% markup. Oh well, it’s only money, right?

Back at home again, I spent a couple of hours adding new subscribers to my free author’s newsletter mailing list and purging some subscribers whose emails bounced with the last two mailing lists I sent out.

Dinner was leftovers of the delicious shepherd’s pie Terry made a few days ago. Then we binge watched the last two episodes of Season 15 of Call the Midwife on PBS, followed by the local news. By then it was time to write the blog and start getting ready for bed.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Sneak Thief, the fourth book in the Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries series by my friend Carol Ann Newsome, who was featured in this week’s Author Spotlight.

Lia’s new friend Desiree has a secret admirer, one who leaves her tiny figurines sculpted from twisted aluminum foil. Lia worries about the man’s intentions, but the pint-sized sexpot brushes off Lia’s concerns. When Desiree is murdered, Lia not only winds up with the woman’s kleptomaniac beagle, she also inherits Desiree’s stalker. On the outs with Peter and with the police on the wrong track, Lia will have to rely on her wits and her friends if she wants to stay alive.

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 Sunday 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. After 30 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

Did you know that you can find all of my books and sign up for my free author’s newsletter on my website at www.nickrussellbooks.com?

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 – The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any. – Katherine Whitehorn