Whew, we FINALLY heard from Norm after that odd and frightening contact I talked about in this blog. What a relief! But as should be expected from Norm, we only got the story in parts, so here's part I of what happened to Nic the Publishing Gnome.



Next time, I'll repost the second half of the story. I'm sure it's a doozy...

(reposted with permission from Norm Cowie)

That's right, it's sneaky-peeky day! So here it is, in all it's final-book-in-the-series glory!

And as a reminder, here's the back cover text, so you know what you're looking at:

Want the book before anyone else gets it? I'm giving you that opportunity! Within the hour, the book will be available for purchase on our website, before I even make the formal announcement anywhere else. So go go go! Buy buy buy!

And here's a link to the first chapter of For Love and Cheesecake, by Misty Simon, available for free only on our site!

Good Monday morning, everyone! It's actually NOT raining here, for once in the last, what, two months? Sheesh, webbed feet anyone?

Anyhow, we're happy to announce that we've signed on a new author in the science fiction genre. As I mentioned before, we don't have a science fiction book published yet, but we're about to change that!

Our newest addition to our Draumr family is Stephen B. Pearl, author of the upcoming release, Tinker's Plague. Here's a brief intro, from Stephen himself.



As soon as Stephen has his website up, we'll make sure to include a link so you can go see more about him. Until then, keep your eyes open for more information about Stephen and his upcoming release!

If you follow my blog, you know I had an issue (or twelve) with my local Visionworks store after going there for new glasses in February of this year. Where did I leave off? With waiting to get my new pair of "blah" full-frame glasses that replaced the original pair of semi-frameless that broke less than two months after purchase. Well, after that, they called two days later to say my new glasses were ready (after saying it was going to take ten days), which made me incredibly suspicious. I can't imagine they rushed my order, so I suspected they took the lenses out of the old frames, popped them into the demo frames off the wall that I picked out (instead of ordering a new pair of those frames) and called me to come pick up.

When I went in, they found my "new" glasses, cleaned them, then let me try them on. I couldn't even put the glasses onto my nose because the prescription was so wrong. I was so angry, you can't imagine! I held them out to the employee and said, "Not my prescription at all!" He gave me sort of a nasty look and went to find my file. Then he went into the back for a few minutes while I stood up front, steaming. I asked the other employee there about the scratch on my "alternate" glasses, and he said they were under warranty (which last time they said they were NOT) but there was a twenty dollar co-pay. And once I had them repaired once, if I came in again, I would have to pay 50% of the cost of new lenses. Once again, I had no idea what the warranty entailed, because no one had ever discussed a warranty with me, so I said to forget the repair. The guy came back out with my glasses and had me try them on again, and when I saw the prescription was right, I questioned him on it. "Lenses were backwards," he told me in a grunt. Uh-huh. So after getting new nose pads, we left.

Later, when I put the glasses on at home to use, I realized there are several issues with them. They're too heavy, too tight around my temples, the lenses are too narrow top to bottom (so if I look down at the keyboard, I'm seeing UNDER my glasses which makes me dizzy), and one of the lenses popped out twice in less than four days. WTF. I tried adjusting the nose pads so the glasses fit better vertically, I tried adjusting the frames so it wasn't so tight on my temples, but to no avail. After using the glasses over the weekend and hating them, I wrote up a long letter to the parent company for Visionworks (Ecca) on Monday night, detailing my entire experience and asking them to "do the right thing" by reimbursing me for the glasses so I can go somewhere else. I sent it via email, then prepared to send a copy in the mail to the headquarters.

Well, slap my ass and call me Fanny! The phone rang today around lunchtime, and it turned out to be the NEW manager at our local Visionworks, saying they had received my complaint and was calling to do as I had requested. They reimbursed me for my glasses, minus the eye exam, with apologies from her as the new manager on my bad experience. I was still told I had to come in to pick up my prescription (HIPPA laws) to take elsewhere, but that I could just keep the glasses despite reimbursement. I was pleased to note there was no censure in her voice, and she didn't give me one ounce of difficulty about the reimbursement, just asked for my credit card # and took care of business.

So needless to say I'm shocked, but happy to be finished with the whole ordeal. It's bad news that it had to get to this point, but at least the company made it right in the way I asked them to.

Now, of course, I have to figure out what to do next. I have one pair of scratched glasses, and another pair that isn't comfortable and sort of makes me dizzy. I have to go somewhere else, but am not sure where to go. Hoco'ers, if you have suggestions, please pass them along. I'm in desperate need of at least ONE pair of good glasses!

That's right, we've heard from Nik the Publisher Gnome. He's been off gallivanting with Norm Cowie as he publicizes his books, two of which are published with us (The Adventures of Guy and The Next Adventures of Guy).

Oddly enough, the first email I got from Norm had no picture attached and no text in the body of the email. Initially I was unconcerned, as we all know that cyber-daemons are always around, causing havoc. But then several days later, I received an email with a picture attached, and this is when I began to worry. You'll understand as you view the picture below:


I've not really heard much from Norm since then, so if any of you see him, please tell him to let us know he's all right. I mean, maybe his vampire characters (in his YA book Fang Face) got to Nik the Publisher Gnome, and thus Nik turned on Norm. I'm not sure if it's possible, but hey, who knows.

Norm, if you're out there, hang on! We will find youuuuu!

...we're redoing our kitchen? Yeah, I suspect I did.

This weekend was D-day for us, and we started early on Thursday. Fortunately by Friday evening, we had all the cabinets out and we were prepped to start installing on Saturday.

Honestly, I'd give you a play-by-play on the weekend and the cabinet installation, but it's kind of a mad blur at the moment. We had friends and family helping us, so there were a lot of us around, and I remember that after the long day on Friday, I thought I wouldn't be able to make it down the stairs Saturday morning. Fortunately, after a night of exhausted sleep, I was okay for Saturday...to a point. I sat a lot, and did little other than make lots of comments and aggravate lots of people. Hey, at least I'm good at my job! Isn't that what a supervisor does??

We ran into a couple of boo-boos, that I was sort of anticipating, but had hoped wouldn't happen. Both walls of cabinets (like an "L" shape) either butted right up to the edge of the wall (and I mean RIGHT UP) or were a shade over because of some plumb problems. So we're resolved to having to move/change some door openings. The doorway into the dining room will have to be moved over the width of a 2x4 at least, and probably we'll extend the size of the doorway another inch or two to be safe and have a nice opening (presently the opening seems a little narrow anyway). The archway into the family room from the breakfast nook will get closed in by the width of a 2x4, but it's such a large opening, no one will ever notice the difference. And in the end, I've got more storage space in the kitchen, and it certainly looks bigger and brighter than it did before. Yay for that.

Boo for the cracked copper pipe (happened last weekend when moving the fridge to pull up ceramic floor tile) running from the refrigerator to the basement (for the water/ice in-fridge), but yay for Ehrhardt Brothers Quality Plumbing for taking care of that. Keith was a madman with the copper, set us all up, and I got a chance to take a gander (minds out of the gutter, people!) at some of his awesome tattoos. I particularly enjoyed the brain fart and the "Plan Ahea"d tattoos. But he was seriously inked, and those that I saw were pretty cool. Nice work, nice person, nice price, nice company. Definitely call them if you're in the area and need plumbing work.

We'll be calling on Handyman Matters of Columbia, Southern Montgomery, and Baltimore, Maryland to help us with the above doorway/archway work. Drywall is such a pain (the spackling and stuff) that we aren't even going to attempt it. We'll let a professional take those things to task, and afterward, I'll do the paint touch-ups myself. HM says they had a cancellation of one of their superb craftsmen, so they'll be here Wednesday to do the job. I'll update you as to how that goes.

Next step, granite countertops. They come in Wednesday also, to do the template. We got such an amazing deal from the granite place (Classic Granite & Marble), I can't wait to see the granite in place. Again, updates on the workmanship and process after it's done.

After that, flooring. Does anyone know a good place to buy ceramic tile? I'm a bit stumped on what I want, and that's a major problem since we're living on plywood at the moment.

Many thanks to everyone who helped us over the weekend, including my parents, my brother Bill, The Giant's Aunt Jean and her boyfriend Keith. And as expected, The Giant did a great job, even though he grumbled through most of it.

I'll think about posting pictures, though I feel a bit weirded out about putting up pictures of the interior of our house. Anyway, will update again probably after Wednesday!

Only it wasn't a weekend of work-work, it was a weekend of remodeling work. We were getting prepped to put the new cabinets into our kitchen by removing the ceramic tile floor that was in terrible condition. We were hoping to save some extra dough by doing the more laborious part of the floor--removing the tile--and leaving the professionals to the installation side. I tried to do my research online on how to successfully remove ceramic tile from a kitchen, but honestly, the best advice I found was to go rent an automatic/electric tile chipper.

Saturday morning, The Giant took down a couple of wall cabinets on his own, then got some help from The Brother. When my parents and I got back from an errand, I saw The Giant had started on the tile floor using a hammer and chisel, but without success. When my mother and The Brother helped me unpack the remaining new cabinets and inspect them, we started in on the tile. While we were struggling, it occurred to me that the local rental facility (ABC Rental) might have one of the tile chipper things I'd read about. So I sent The Giant to make the phone call. He came back with information on an electric hammer that the rental guys said most homeowners use to get up ceramic tile. So off he and my dad went to rent the tool. When they got back, they started.

When I say the electric hammer (using a wide chisel head) was LOUD, I mean it was freaking LOUD! I ushered The Princess and The Loaner (see previous entries re: The Loaner) out onto the deck, where my mother and I also escaped to talk. By about five o'clock, the guys were exhausted, and we sent my parents and The Brother (and The Loaner) home. Then we started again on Sunday (we had the e-hammer until Monday morning because the rental place isn't open on Sundays). And in actuality, although it WAS hard work with the e-hammer, it was the only way we could have accomplished the task. But it worked, and we're now walking around on a combination of leftover indoor/outdoor carpeting, flattened cardboard boxes, and plywood (that was under the tile). The only REAL casualty was the copper tubing that comes up from the basement to the refrigerator (a water line) for the water dohickey on our fridge. Apparently when the guys moved the fridge out to the get to the tile beneath it, the line cracked or split, and we had to run around trying to find the turn-off valve. Good thing we already had a hole in our basement ceiling from a leak (last year!) because it turned out the valve was right in the same area.

Fortunately for us, another local favorite (Ehrhardt Brothers Quality Plumbing) is coming out tomorrow to replace the line. If you ever need a plumber in the HoCo area, definitely call them. They're great...both easy to work with/great service and well-priced.

So the floor is up, the wall cabinets are down, the new cabinets are inspected (with the exception of the molding and toe-kicks, which we still have to check out), and the new faucet is in-house. I have to get the new garbage disposal still, and the countertops and sink are waiting (at the granite place) to be installed once the new cabinets are in. And we're supposed to be getting in the under-cabinet lighting this weekend, along with the new cabinets.

Crazy, eh? I have to admit, this is more painful that I thought it would be. But then again, we're doing a lot of the work ourselves (and our family, and our extended family) to try to save $$.

Anyway, our weekend at work at home. Glad you're not us?

And his Google-Fu (so he tells me)...

Clearly I will become famous by this "citation" of Cheetos in my second book. Go me!

Meanwhile, for those Hoco'ers in the area, I suggest you avoid VisionWorks in the Target shopping center on 175. Previously, I had the same pair of glasses and frames for over five years (I know, I know!) and never had a problem. Nary a scratch on the lenses, and never had a problem with the frames. Recently decided that it was necessary to finally get my eyes checked and get new glasses. Went to VisionWorks because it's on our insurance plan...we get discounts, not exactly "coverage." Anyway, went back in February. I liked the eye doctor, she was nice. The woman who helped me "pick" glasses was fine, too. No problem.

When we went to sit down, she didn't tell me much about my order except that I was getting special lenses, per the doctor. Like an idiot, I didn't question her, and our bill was, well, expensive. I purchased two pairs of glasses, one of which I thought was kinda expensive, the second I thought was cheaper. That way I had a "cheaper" pair to leave in my purse for when I'm out and about. I only wear my glasses for reading, computer work, and driving when I'm in unfamiliar territory and need to read street signs. So I bought two pairs, got them 10 days later, moved on with my life. The woman who took my order never said nuthin' about my order, or asked me anything.

I will note, I've never had to clean my glasses so often in my life. I have no idea if this is the "special" lens that's the issue, but I'm forever freaking cleaning these damn glasses...both pairs. Okay, fine, what are you gonna do? But then, when cleaning my "regular" pair of glasses (half-frames with those hinged arms), the arm snapped off. WTF. Two months and the ARM snaps off?! So I go in and the woman asks me if I purchased the warranty. What warranty, I ask? So she looks me up and says because I got the special lenses, it comes with the warranty. I should go see if my frames are on the wall and they'll pop out the lenses from the broken frame and put them in the demo frames. Uh, no thanks. I'll wait for you to send these back to the manufacturer (again because of the special lenses) and have them put my lenses into NEW frames thankyouverymuch. So they take my stuff, tell me someone will call in ten days, and off I go. (Oh, I got new nose guards put on my alternate pair of glasses because the pads that came with them were HORRIBLE, they kept cutting my nose they were so sharp around the edges). I get home and two days later, realize my alternate ("cheaper") pair of glasses have a scratch on the lens. WTF. But I figure I'll wait until the other pair comes back, then ask them to fix these.

Two weeks go by. I get pissed and call the store. The guy puts me on hold, then comes back and asks when I dropped off the glasses. Two weeks ago. "Okay, hang on." Five minutes later (again) he comes back to say he can't find them, he needs to keep looking, can he call me back? Sure, I say. This was at like 1pm. Next day, no one called, so I call again. This time I apparently get the manager, who asks me what had broken on the glasses, hold, who had I talked to?, hold, who sold me the glasses? hold, "Oh, well, it looks like your frames are discontinued. You'll need to come in and pick new frames, same price, and we'll redo the glasses for you. They'll be done ten days after you pick out frames." But remember, no one called to tell me this, they just left me hanging for two weeks.

So I go in and go to pick out frames. Apparently since I was there last, they raised all the prices, because I couldn't find ONE pair of half-frames that were the 69.95 I paid originally (apparently the frames are the freaking CHEAP part of the cost of getting new glasses). I had bought a half-frame frame, and a full-frame frame, and the full-frame turned out to be 59.95...I thought there was a huge difference between the frames, but apparently not. Anyway, I found no half-frame frames that fit my head and/or were close in price to what I'd originally paid. And I was totally not going to pay double for another pair of frames from a place where the frames broke less than two months after purchase, and where the lenses scratched less than two months after purchase (on a pair that was rarely used). So I picked out some pretty average looking glasses, full-frame, that were marked "unisex" and seemed to be a bit more substantial. Of course substantial is going to mean "heavy" for me, which sucks, but NOTHING was 69.95, so I was kinda screwed. When we were talking to the manager, I asked about the repair to my alternate glasses and she indicated that I didn't have a warranty on that pair of glasses.

Now let's remember, the girl selling me my glasses never said word ONE about a warranty. You're telling me that sixty days after purchase, a lens gets scratched and you're not going to stand behind your product? Are you shitting me? So I asked about getting the lens fixed and she said because of the special lens, it has to get remade, and that requires 10 days. So I said I couldn't do it because then I'd be without ANY glasses for ten days (at least, obviously, based on experience).

So now I wait for that boring pair of blah full-frame glasses to come back in, then I'll try to deal with this other pair that is scratched. Did I also mention that I bought a small hard case for these alternate glasses to protect them in my purse? Yeah, less than a week after I bought the case, the interior "lining" began pulling away from the case. Good quality, right?

As we were leaving VW today, I was tempted to stop people who were looking and tell them to RUN FAR AWAY. What a mistake...and now I'm stuck with these glasses because it was NOT a cheap purchase. And replacing them elsewhere would be just as if not more expensive, and we just can't do that. I mean, really, WTF with these glasses that don't last two months versus my old that lasted more than five years. I'd like to ask for my money back altogether and go somewhere else...think they'd let me get away with it?

Bah!

Our new cabinets for the kitchen come tomorrow. Fingers crossed the delivery goes okay! (though I somehow doubt my luck is that good, based on our experience so far with this kitchen remodel!) Update again soon on the delivery!

Yeah, so you know how people dump out their pocket change when they get home at the end of the day? The Giant and I have been doing that for years, starting way back when we lived in our townhouse...over 13 years ago.

I had a big gigantic plastic tub that had once housed animal crackers...it was shaped like a giant bear. I think the animal crackers were like graham cracker bears or something? Anyway, it was shaped like a giant bear, nose and all, and the top screwed off the top of his head. I thought it was a funny plastic tub, and I just started throwing change in it. The Giant followed suit when he moved in with me, and thus the habit was born.

Back then, living in the townhouse, we had no place to wash our cars. My townhouse was in a courtyard, basically, and we couldn't stretch a hose out to where the cars were parked, so if we wanted to wash off the after-affects of snow (slush and sand and salt) or rinse away the pollen that gathered from all the trees on the street, we had to go to the local do-it-yourself car wash. You know, one of those giant car washes with multiple stalls, high-power hoses, and quarter-fed machines? So while we were dumping change in the bear-jar, we were also fishing out quarters to pay for the car wash. We'd often spend more than ten dollars at a time between the wash and the vacuum, so we were glad for the never-ending supply of quarters that got tossed in the jar.

At some point the car wash thing got old, but we kept tossing change in the jar. It was better than leaving change sitting around everywhere, either in the car or in the house.

Then we moved from the townhouse and into my parents' basement while we sold and then looked for a new house. The bear-jar went with us, and the change kept going in the jug. Then we moved into the house we're in now, and the bear-jar went with us. We've continued to put the excess change into the jar, but never really did anything with any of it.

Last week I wanted to take the jar with us to our bank to dump into one of those change machines, but when we went out, I forgot. This week, on a trip out during business hours, I remembered to tell The Giant to retrieve the jar from the guest room, where it's normally stashed out of sight. He lugged it out to the car, and while we were out on errands, we stopped at the bank. I'd never used any of those change counting machines before, so I had no idea how to use it. The directions posted on the machine were pretty simple, but who knew how freaking LOUD the damn thing would be. Pouring the change onto the little belt was so noisy, it was almost embarrassing. Fortunately the machine was tucked around a corner, so no one could really glare at us.

We stood there, waiting and pouring, waiting and pouring, as the machine sucked in our coins and kept a running tally. then The Giant and I made educated guesses on how much was really going to be in the jar. He said $80, I said $100. He was sure it wouldn't come anywhere near my guess....

...but he was wrong. $101.32 (or was it $101.62, I can't remember exactly). There were over 2500 pennies in the jar, along with over $25 in quarters, and 2 $1 coins. It was so surprising, but really, kinda fun. Thirteen years of change (minus the car washes and a couple of years where The Giant was snitching quarters to buy sodas at work), and what we came up with was over $100.

I can't decide if that's a good total or not. Either way, it's $100 more than we had in the bank yesterday!

Do you collect change? How much have you saved up over the years?

I've been working this month on getting Misty's newest book, For Love and Cheesecake, ready for the presses. I'm SO close, just some final touches on the cover design--which has formed clearly in my mind and almost completely on paper--and we'll be good to go. Meanwhile, to whet your whistle, I'm ready to share the back cover blurb. So here we go!



Release date is expected mid-to-end of June. Keep an eye here on my blog, because next I'll be sharing the cover art, then the first chapter!

Meanwhile, we're about to sign on another author, whose book is in the sci-fi genre. A new one for us, but I believe we're starting out on great footing for it! Check back for a formal announcement on this upcoming release.