Fixing Woes

 Remember when when installing something meant plugging it in?  When something didn't work, it was clear what the problem was and you either replaced it or got it serviced.  You didn't have to figure out what was wrong with it or fix it.

No more.  I was using an old Macbook Air for some exercise classes I bought and then for a monthly subscription for daily classes.  I decided to end the subscription and suddenly I couldn't sign in to the website and get access to my library of classes.

I sent an email to the company and got back a suggestion to sign in using the whole web address.  It made no difference.  It seemed so odd that it had been fine while the subscription was still in force and now nothing.

Finally, I tried the app on my phone and it worked.  I also tried signing in on a newer Macbook Air and it also worked and I was able to access my library.  So for whatever reason, the old Macbook Air would not work for that website anymore. 

Last week, comments on the blog wouldn't publish.  And despite checking  the help tab and looking online, there were no answers how to fix it.  All I could do was wait and hope it righted itself.  About a day later, it did. 

Luckily, there are a few things that are still old school and don't require being a technology wizard.  My washing machine got out of balance and was suddenly wobbly.  My son was sure you had to adjust the legs from the bottom.  Good luck with that since there isn't even access to the back legs unless you can pull the washing machine out from it's alcove.  My son shook his head when I told him the way I had fixed other washers we'd had with the same problem and even Youtube vidoes backed up.  You have to fuss with the washer, pushing it off the legs and they adjust on their own.  It took me a number of times pushing the front, then the back and then the corners, but the washer is now stable.  

 

And More September

Hey, I mentioned last week that it’s now September. The year is speeding toward its end.

And that means that my next book will soon be published-- a December release!

It’s K-9 Evidence, the first in my new K-9 Crime Solvers series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. It’s got—big surprise!—K-9s in it, as well as humans who are, or become, private investigators.

Yes, I’m once again writing about dogs. I really enjoy that! I’ve mentioned here my fun and issues about the next two books in that series—still working on them.

Will I ever write books without dogs in them? I’ve been told to consider the possibility, and so I am. But I’d just as soon include animals as well as people, so if not dogs, perhaps some other pets. Or… Well, I’m fascinated by wildlife. I love to see what’s visiting my yard—such as the beautiful, red-breasted hawk who sat on a pole for a while a couple of weeks ago, as well as squirrels, and the hummingbirds who visit our feeders-- and in the park where I exercise, and more, including wild animal parks—as well as animals seen on the safaris I was on a few years ago in Africa.

More about wildlife to come? I won’t be surprised.

Escape

 At last the weather cooled and the ants mostly went back outside.  I still find stray ones walking one me, but the war is over.  It feels like fall and any minute all the pumpkin spice everything will start to show up.  I reluctantly set the next Molly book aside and started on the third Crochet and Crumpet book.  It takes place around Halloween and its fun to write about fall in the Midwest, particularly through the eyes of someone who has never experienced  it before.

I am rounding up all the regular characters and figuring out what they have going on.  And there is a murder to set up and solve.

Between the threats of a hurricane affecting my area, threats of El Nino causing havoc and everything else going on in the world, I think we all need a little mental escape.  Writing the books offers it to me and I hope reading them offers it to readers.  

What ever happened to a day with good news? 

It's September

I’ve always been fond of September, maybe because it started to cool off after summer when I was growing up in Pittsburgh. 

And then there are The Fantasticks! What’s that? A wonderful musical I became familiar with when I was a teenager and fascinated by the theater. Oh, I never had a good singing voice, but I did become a script girl when my high school prepared for performances of The Fantasticks by our actors and singers. 

Why September? Well, one of the primary songs is Try To Remember, and it begins: “Try to remember the kind of September When life was slow and oh, so mellow.” Yes, September. 

I don’t think I’ll ever write a play, let alone a musical, but I can continue to revere those who do—and remember the wonderful songs.