Progress As Promised

Before I moved to Oklahoma there were a lot of campaign promises made to the residents of Tulsa. One of the major ones had to do with fixing the roads. They were really bad. Nothing was getting done though, even after the elections and everyone had settled into their offices.

So people began calling the city and complaining that nothing was getting done about the roads. It was a huge deal.

Shortly before I moved, signs went up all over town and then they started fixing the roads. All of them. At once. Someone was annoyed with all the calls. And what did the signs say you ask?

Progress as promised.

Ah! Oklahoma, I miss you some days.  Not when you have tornadoes but you know.

So, I told that story just to explain the title of this post. And to say, I have a NaNo update.

If you look at my sidebar, you'll see that I have days where I have written nothing. Then I have other days where I have written a ton. For example, the 21st was rather productive for me.

That said, this morning, I needed to get 8,115 words written by midnight on the 30th. In the last three days I've written over 13,000 words. I think I can do it. :)

My goal for this year is to finish on the 26th. That's Wednesday. And that's 2,705 words per day. I'm fairly confident I can accomplish that before midnight on Wednesday. I'd make Tuesday my goal but I have some other stuff to do today and tomorrow and I don't want to overload myself. Though if I reach it tomorrow, I'll make sure everyone knows.

Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week!

Good Morning!

This week is a little odd. I'm at my sister's house for, not sure how long to be honest.

Music Man is starting a new job today. We came down last week so he could do some paperwork and we could get some shopping done. When made it home, though we had issues with our car. We've had a Saturn for about 12 years now. I love my Saturn. It's been an awesome car. It's been to the Central Coast of California several times, it's made two trips to Oklahoma and back to California. Plus all the trips from my mountain town to the bigger town.

It's starting to lose an engine bearing and it's got an overheating issue. Oh and a blown head gasket. I think we're going to retire her very soon.

That said, this comes on the heels of the Expedition we bought last Christmas losing it's transmission. It's been on the brink of going since we bought it and it finally happened. In fact, the transmission on the truck went out the second to the last time I came down the mountain. So either I'm not supposed to come down that mountain or we're not supposed to go back up the mountain. Personally, I'm thinking it's the second one cause these things keep happening on the way home.

So, my very kind sister offered the use of one of her cars. That does however mean we need to be based out of their home for now cause her cars won't make it up the mountain either. Hopefully we can get the truck fixed quickly and be able to head home. In the meantime, I'm very grateful to my sister and her family.

NaNoWriMo is going pretty well. I've hit a few snaggy spots where I've been stumped but I'm actually a little ahead of where I need to be or I will be at the end of the day, so it's going pretty well. Last night would have been the Night of Writing Dangerously and I wish I could have attended. I had a lot of fun last year but this year it just wasn't going to happen. Maybe next year!

That's all the news from here, so, what's happening in your life this week?

I Still Have An Hour To Post This On Monday!

Okay, so I have to make this fast cause it will be Tuesday in just over an hour.

So NaNoWriMo began on Saturday and I've been working on a new novel. I'm working hard on it, or at the very least, I did over the weekend. Today, not so much. I really need to work on schoolwork too.

I did pass my HTML project and the test classes. So that's good, right? Now I just have to pass my A+ certs.

In other news, Music Man will be beginning a new job on the 17th. It means he'll have to drive down the mountain but hey, employment is a good thing.

Okay so my daily word count will be in the sidebar. I'm keeping track of it and plan to every day.

If you're not familiar with what NaNoWriMo is, it's National Novel Writing Month. You spend 30 days working to write a 50,000 word novel. It's a lot of work. There's days where you question whether it's something you can do. There's days where you're sure you can't do it. There's days where you'd rather beat your head on the wall than write another word.

That's where catching little phrases like, "The world needs your novel" run through the mind. I first attempted NaNoWriMo in 2012. I'd wanted to do it for years but that was the first year, I actually remembered in time.

It was one of the most difficult, challenging yet rewarding goals of my life. It was a lot of work. I was occasionally (okay, often) cranky. I didn't want to stop in the middle of a thought so dinner was late, Music Man went to bed alone, the cat meowed cause he hadn't had nummies and the dog danced cause he really needed a walk.

I drank a lot of coffee and Mt. Dew. I snacked more than I should have.

I also wrote more than 50,000 words.

Then I did it again in 2013.

So my plan for November of 2014? I'm going for the threepeat!

So what are you doing for November?

Lately I've Been...

So what have I been up to lately? Well...

• schoolwork (I have an A+ certification soon, plus a project where I design my own website. I really should be doing schoolwork right now.)
• wearing my hat to root for my team.

Go Dodgers!

• watching an adorable little dog run around like a maniac.
• grocery shopping.
• figuring out how my new bread machine works.
• trying to find time to write.
• buying a planner so hopefully I can start getting things done on time, like this blog for example.

So what have you been up to lately? Anything new and exciting? 

If not, then why not? If so, keep it up! Go live your life!

So I Created This...

A few weeks ago, Miss Goofy sent me to a website. This site for those interested.

It's a pretty cool site. And today this came in the mail:

If you can't read it, it says, "Will code for cash". So, yeah, that's the goal. Coding for cash. That's why I'm spending a fortune on education. That and what else am I going to do?

Okay, I'll talk to you all next week!

Surprise Blog Cause Idiots Annoy Me and I Have To Get This Out of My Head

It's not Monday. It's Wednesday. Which means I should be updating my schooling blog. However, this isn't a normal post. I hope to get back to doing those a week from Monday. In the meantime, I have to vent and since this is my blog and the person about which I am going to be speaking is not likely to ever read this or even know themselves if they do stumble upon this, I'll complete my thoughts here.

I've had to step away from a debate into which I was drawn. It was on my niece's facebook page and while I don't normally like getting into all the drama, this was a debate that I thought I would enjoy. And I was. The topic isn't as important as the debate itself.

I thought I was debating with someone who was going to really debate an issue and discuss an important news item. My niece had posted something to her wall and he had been the first to comment. I agreed with nearly everything the guy said except one point. I made my comment and shortly thereafter, he replied. I again made my point, using different logic and verbiage. He again replied with a long response designed to correct my opinion. Not change my mind, correct me.

I responded again with a new point. He again used the same tired argument. And again told me I was wrong.

Now, if you know me personally, you know I hate to be told I'm wrong. Show me proof of an error and I will own up to it and tell you I was mistaken, even wrong. But don't tell me my opinion is wrong. Especially since the topic is about something unlikely to ever occur.

The great thing about debate is looking for facts to support your argument. I love doing that. In fact, (Music Man you might want to skip this sentence) I occasionally choose an opposing side from my husband just so we can debate an issue.

The problem occurs when you debate with someone who 1)"writes off" your opinion/statements, 2) repeats the same argument with no evidence they are correct, 3) tells you "you're wrong" but doesn't offer proof, 4) and finally says "the only way to fix this is...".

If you want to debate with someone, by all means do so. I would only ask that you pay attention to what the other person says, don't dismiss a statement because it's different than your opinion. And don't dismiss it because you think it's a statement that is abstract.

Next, don't keep repeating the same argument you heard on talk radio. That alone will irritate the crud out of me but when all you can do is repeat what some radio talk show host said, you're not really thinking, you're mimicking. Think about what you're going to say, show proof, you might change someone's mind.

Don't tell someone their opinion is wrong unless you have proof. For example, if someone tells you the house is on fire but there's no fire anywhere in the building, they're wrong. If they tell you they think orange juice is too bitter, don't tell them they're wrong, just say you disagree or prove why the juice is sweet.

The last thing you should ever say is "the only way to fix this is..." It might be the best way, it might be the only way you see as working, it might be the way that is most cost effective or makes the most logical and logistical sense, but it's seldom the only way to fix something. Using that phrase makes you think you sound intelligent, like you understand the problem and are offering an honest solution. What I hear when those words are spoken is "my solution is the only one that I'm willing to discuss and your opinion doesn't matter."

Oh, and when your solution is the same one every radio talk host spews, I also hear, "I have no creativity and I'm too lazy to research this and see if there's a more plausible solution."

And now back to your regularly scheduled evening...