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Showing posts from February, 2012

The Rise of the Market Overlord Drafts are in.

The drafts are in from the editor. I will be going over them this afternoon, perhaps. Will only finish probably by Friday. I had this nagging cough, headache, and sinus and fever for the last 2 days. I could not do too much. The first night I had cold chills going through my body. It was as if I could not stay up long. Everytime I coughed, it produced a headache. As, I was coughing so much, that every time I hacked it produced pain in my cortex area. The second day I made another trip to the doctor, and he gave me more meds. Said the first doctor did not give me enough. At that time driving there, I noticed much weakness I had at the wheel.  It was surprising. And it is a cough that does not stop. Maybe for a minute, then I hack constantly for maybe a minute. Could not much of any quality sleep, either. And, the medication I take makes me go to the washroom. It does not help that you drink so much fluids during this time. I do feel better with the new meds. Another puffer to bring up t

My Performance indicators are all down.

When you cough, sniffle, have sinus infection, you feel like all of your performance indicators are down. I feel bad, that I cannot do anything outside. I am taking medication, and such. If it gets worse, this afternoon I will go see a doctor. I went to see one 2 weeks ago, for the nagging cough. He just gave me a puffer and 3 strong antibiotic pills. This worked, for a short time. But, I think I caught the relapse. Due to working in the snow, we received on the weekend. I do feel somewhat better today, as rest always helps. I received my files today for correction for Part 2. I will go over them, maybe after this cold passes on. I will start probably Friday afternoon. I am hoping this time, the corrections are not as bad as the first one. It is a drudgery job to correct your own mistakes. Especially when a comma is double spaced or after a period, for every sentence you finish. This time I know about it. In our old typing class, two spaces after a comma or a period was considered th

Hard time to sleep last night.

Maybe coming down with the flue. Had somewhat of a runny nose, short cough, and throat is getting a little irritated. This is probably because I was out yesterday in the cold weather, blowing snow again. 2 hours of blowing snow, sweating like a dog. Hot, cold, then hot and cold usually does it. I finally got bitten by the flue bug. I took a tylenol last night, and it helped me go to bed. I will monitor it today, and see what else I can take to battle the stuffiness. I have puffers to take for my cough, but the sniffles and throat, what can you do. Take a few tylenol and wait for it to pass? I may take lots of liquids, and give it a try like that. Besides that, seems like the cold always comes when you want to get some things done. The belt on my snow blower. I feel like I should be out there, fixing it now. I may do it, but it will be minus 7 today. The only good thing today, is that we got no wind. The wind, is the worse. Us Nordic countries know, that the wind can magnify these t

Watched "This Means War" tonight.

Watched the film starring Reese Witherspoon, "This Means War".  I found it to be entertaining, I would give it a 7 out of 10. Reese is a great actress, and so is this new British actor Tom Hardy is also great. I thought of him immediately as a new James Bond of the future. His toughness, his strength, and roughness would make a great replacement for Daniel Craig after he is done of another 3 to 5 Bond films. Craig is doing good, but this kid, is ready for the helm at any time. Back to the film, about 2 spies that fall in love with a beautiful Reese, who work on the same team. They try to keep it as a fair contest, thinking it will not interfere too much with their work. Let the best spy win the heart of the lady. Put in a crazy international killer, and it leads to an action filled ending. On the reality front, my snowblower belt ripped up to shreds while blowing my Dads gate. Good thing he has a little 10.5 hp blower to do the job. The belts today, do not seem to last as l

Worst snow storm yesterday!

That was definitely the worst snow storm we got all year. The year is not over yet, but happy that it is nearly over for the snow. Yesterday we got about over a foot of snow, but the drifting made banks of 4 to 6 feet high in some driveways. The blower works hard, and you have to slice the high banks with a shovel to knock the snow down. Most snow blowers cannot dig into banks that high, you will plug your chute and the snow will collapse over your machine. It is a wet snow, somewhat. Which makes it even harder for some machines to blow it. When it is a soft, cold snow, it is light and fluffy and the machines can easily propel the snow far onto the side banks. I did allot of advertising on twitter today. I have 44 friends, some ranging from artists that paint murals, Opera singers, actors, musicians, and business people, and ordinary good people. I rarely go searching for people to join, as I just advertise for my book during the morning, evening, and at night, and when people see

The Snow has arrived in full force!

Got up this morning to take the dog for her number one and two. I opened the door, and a foot of snow or more stood up, as if bricked in. The dog would not jump, in the snow. I had to clear a path for her, right till we got into the middle of my driveway where the snow drifted away a bit. Even there, there had to be 15 cm. I never got the forecast for today, but I am expecting more snow right until the evening. Oh boys. I should have bought that 1000 cc ski doo! My snow blower is 11 years old, and it is just a Briggs and Stratton Motor. The only parts that I had to replace so far, were some bearings, and such. 2000 dollar machine, so divide that over 11 years so far to see if I got my moneys worth. Here in Canada, snow contracts vary from 250 to 300 per year. This is in Atlantic Canada, or 20 up to 30 dollars a clearing. It went up, as the price of fuel went up, as I believe now it stands at 30 dollars. I hopefully will get another 5 years of clearing with my blower. Hopefully 10, wi

My Parents give some interesting looks into the old life.

My parents, God bless their souls, are a part of an older generation. Well, My dad was quite up in years when he had me. My mother, was a bit younger. They were, ahead of the future, perhaps, as more and more people chose to have kids later in life. I was, their only child. And, they are great parents. Although, now I understand why they did the things they did. Tried to keep me sheltered, of course. Tried to keep me away from the potent things out there. Dad did not worry too much though. He never did. My mother, worried when I was a teenager, that sometimes I would not come home early enough at night from the clubs. Going to clubs at 15. No, not me... Oh well. I looked like a 21 year old at 15. I was big, strong, and had a stach. A moustache. I still do. It is cause I am lucky enough to grow one, that I still wear it. I do not wear it long though. Short, and slim. Trim, and blim. Nearly stubbly. Not quite. My parents would worry. Now, I worry about them. Old age, wondering when

Hot dogs with no preservatives.

For the last few months, I have been buying meats with no preservatives. Natural, as the packaging showed from Maple Leaf Foods. Just a little while ago, from the television and from people talking at work, I found out that they were using a celery extract in order to help preserve the meat. This celery extract, is a source of nitrates and nitrites, the very thing I was trying to avoid eating all along. Allot of dietary groups and people were mad, at being hoodwinked into buying a seemingly natural product. The Nitrates can break down and form Nitrosamines, which have been linked to cancer. The link to the article is as follows below. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-nutrition/nutrition-features/natural-deli-meats-may-not-be-as-healthy-as-you-think/article2201790/ This is tough to swallow. When you think at last, a company is doing something right, it comes out in the news that maybe it has done not much at all. Maybe no fillers, that is it. But the nit

Snow today and tomorrow!

Snow here in Northern New Brunswick, and lots coming tomorrow. The maple sugar lines will be covered with a light frosting of snow. The maple syrup maybe cold filtered. Now, soon it will be tax time. I have to figure out my author tax system. I have to put all my loses in one column, and put the sales in the other. This should be interesting, as I have never done this before. I may have to go see an expert, to find out the lowdown on this new system. Usually in Canada, income tax is due on April 15 th. Receipts usually come in right until the middle of March. I seen the preview for the new show, Goon. It is a hockey comedy, and it appears to be a great preview. Starring Sean William Scott, as the Goon. It has been a long time, since we had revisited the Hockey Comedy scene. I cannot see it being better than Slapshot, starring Paul Newman. The Hanson brothers would not take any crap from any player, or fan, either!  I will definitely watch Slapshot again, before going to see Goon, t

My first visit from Mexico!

It has been a long time coming... A first visit from beautiful Mexico.. My friends go down there often, to that area around Cancun. Beautiful place. I got a ninetendo Wii Fit. It seems to work alright, as it measures your weight, and makes you feel bad if you do not reduce it as the weeks go bye :) I was worried that I may break it, as I weight well over 200 lbs. But, it works fine for me so far. Everyone seems to like it, and there are games where you can improve balance, do physical activity, and so forth. Yoga, anyone? I think if you would do that every second day, or even every day, it would be definitely do you some good. It does measure your performance, and tells you if you improved your balance or your ranking in an activity. It certainly is a nice little entertainment system. Have a good night, till then.

Toilet was plugged at work today!

Well, the toilet was plugged at work today! The shift who took off, left us without the local bathroom facility. By law, you have to have more than one washroom depending on how many people work at your location. Luckily for us, we have many around the locality. Our own team tried to unplug it, but after a four hour dog fight, nothing swirled down the bowl. Then, they called in the local plumber. A friend of mine. I was having a pee, at the urinal, when I seen him come in with a long rod and a curly spring on the end of the rod. I was not finished my pee, and I could hear the two flushes of the toilet. I was amazed. I said, "Wow. You cleaned that out in less than a minute". He replied, "Yeah, and Wow. You are peeing longer than the time it took for me to unplug that toilet", as he laughed as he walked out the door. Coffee does that to you sometime.. I wish it was beer, but at work, well.. Anyways, it just goes to show what a pro can do. That is the thought of

Big time twitter followers following me!

Yes, indeed. Big time twitter followers are following me. First, it was the country legend, George Jones. Then, it was the new rock sensation, Thomas Ian Nicholas. You may know him from American Pie, 1,2 wedding, and reunion. Then, 8090, two of the greatest music rappers in the world, Seth Williams and Andy Meth. I was very much taken aback, that these great people followed me on twitter. I then right away, without any hesitation, began to follow them. Twitter is just so amazing for that kind of stuff. You never know, who you are going to have as a follower the next day. I have Kayla Criton from L.A. area as a follower, So Alan Jackson, and Mellanie Smellanie to name a few more great followers that I decided to follow as well! Besides that, all is quiet on the book front. I need to draw out the cover page for SUPERMARKETDOMINIUM. I know it is spelled wrong, but that is the title of the book. Too bad, if it is not yet found in the great Websters dictionary. Someday it maybe there. I

Watched Safehouse...

Safehouse, with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. CIA agents, bad guys, and lots of action. It is the typical spy show, where the good guys are actually the bad guys, and the hunted is actually the hero. This has been done, many times before, even in the James Bond shows. It is, however, an entertaining film. If you like action, there is lots of it, in this film. At times, it does bolt you to your seat. The only thing, when the agent shoots the bullet over the ear of the other agent in the subway, it does not phase him that much. In my thinking, it would affect his hearing for at least half of the day. It appeared as if he did hit his ear, too, with the bullet (grazed it). If I had to rate it on 5, I would give it a 3, especially if you are not an action lover. If you are an action lover, at heart, then a 4. It just all depends how hard you are up for action. Have a good night, till then..

Attended a funeral of an old friend today.

She was in her mid 90s. A woman who had many children, and who was a great friend of my parents. Her smile and joyous voice would light up a room. I think we all know someone who fits that description. She was one of my parents neighbors, who would come over for a chat, a few laughs, and a cup of tea now and then. I decided to go to the funeral, to represent my parents also, who could not attend. It was a tribute to such a great lady. One of her grandson in laws sang a song with the guitar, about an old man walking down the road. All of the children got up, to sing Amazing Grace. It was, very reflective on how much I enjoyed my youth in the area I was brought up in. Some old friends were there, that I had not seen for maybe 15 years or more. Strange how these things, bring people together. And, their children, growing into teenagers now. I found that in the past, I usually was working or had other commitments, when these funerals took place for people that I knew around the area. T

First time visit from Bangladesh!

A first time visitor from Bangladesh!  The Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat is a World Heritage site! It was built in the 15th century. Thanks Wikipedia for the information! What a great place to visit!

This morning visitors are from the planet earth!

Visitors today, hail from the United States, Germany, Serbia, and the United Kingdom. This blog is more International than ever before. We heard the news about Israel and Iran the other day. We hope they can come to a peaceful solution,  and that no more war or casualties will result. They are ramping up the rhetoric, from both sides. It does not bode well, for peace. Besides that, I am trying to seal up the basement against Radon. Radon, the invisible gas, that if exists there in significant amount can lead to lung cancer. In my opinion, it is only truly bad if you live down in your basement. At this moment, I may go down there and spend an hour or so every second day. If you are a smoker, your chances increase very much so, with the exposure to the Radon in a basement for lung cancer. You may not have, Radon in your basement. You can get the test kits, from most Hardware supply dealers. They are usually placed a few feet from the floor, and in different locations in your basement

Coquilles St Jacques!

Next time you are at your local McDonalds, ask for a Coquilles St. Jacques at the microphone. That should blow them away. Talk about delicious. White wine, Creme, Gruyere Cheese, Scallops, ect, all topped with Mozzarella cheese.. Roasted in the oven to purrfection!!! No, McDonalds do not offer that there, yet... But, who knows.. Maybe in time, they may offer it, if they can get the recipe down right! Besides that, I ate two of those delicious Coquilles St Jacques today. The only thing, they are high in fat. Try to limit them to once every so often. In France, they are famous for that dish. You can always get the recipe off of the internet... Not much news on the book.. Yawn.. Time tick tocking away. Only, I got 2 more friends on twitter. Hopefully I can keep up to their tweets. Oh, and I am following Al Gore. He is promoting the environment. It is, an arduous task. I think that the planet did come a long way, as we do see more recycling and wind turbines and such. And, I do think w

First time visit from Serbia!

A warm welcome to my Serbian visitor! Where did the visits come from last night. Well, I had two from Russia, one from the United Kingdom, one from South Korea, and another from the United States. Russia is still the number one visitor to my blog. Thank goodness I did the translation step for their language.. Till then...

Windy Sundays always bring much contemplation.

Sunny outside, but man, the wind is high this morning. It is creating a few small snow drifts in the yard. The wife wanted to go cross country skiing today, but if the wind is that high, we may be unable to go. It beats on your face, and it does not make for a comfortable ski. Oh, we will see... Nothing new with my twitter. I have around 20 followers, following me, and then I am following around 90 or so people. It kinda staved off at that point. I had blocked allot of followers that were spamming, which cleared up most of my blog after a week or so. It is a nice forum, but I am unsure of its strengths. I am set up in my own little bubble, tweeting a bit or a tad of comment every so often. Only if it gets retweeted by someone who has a pile of followers, then it can travel far across the internet galaxy. Oh well... I think Today is an, Oh well kind of day. Oh well. What can you do? There is somethings that you wish you had control over, and some things we know we never will have co

Bought a book today, "Fields of Valour"

Bought a book today, called "Fields of Valour".  It is a book about the 2nd World War, and the North Shore Regiment. This is a local regiment located in Bathurst, N.B. It tells about the battles that they had went through, and some of the military hardware they used in order to win the battle. The awards were listed in a chapter in the back as well. Nearly 80 of these veterans were awarded for their fighting actions during the conflict. The Greatest Generation. Enough said.. Till then.

Bought some cross country skiis the other day.

A long time ago, they went by the height of the person to recommend the skis to buy. They would just make sure the skiis were the same height as, the person. Now, they do have weight listings right on the ski. I already picked a pair, to my same height, when the salesman informed me of my poor choice. Also, the ski poles should go a little longer than the shoulder height. Mine is about a few inches over my shoulders, and they too are somewhat rated for how heavy you push. I got a wax kit, for 3 different temperature ranges. I had to buy the boots as well. For all these things, it came just a little over 310 dollars. I had a 20 % discount on the skis and poles. The skis are the most expensive, as some sets were well into the 280 range alone. Not being a professional skier, I took the cheapest set I could find. But, they are Fisher skis, and Salomon poles, and a mix of other things. I should be good for another 10 years of skiing, I hope. If I would not have lost my old boots, I coul

Rise Of The Market Overlord Just about in Editing!

The Supermarket Guy II: Rise of The Market Overlord,  is just about in the editing phase. This has been pretty much a stress free ride, until I get the package back with all the errors and stuff I need to correct. I hope, that the flow is alright. That is my main concern, as what I understand maybe what you may not understand, that is happening in the book. Flow, is more important to me, than anything else. Was at my friends for a bit of time, as a few are heading to Florida by car. 3 day trip, from Northern NB. I said my good byes, and thought about them and the long trip ahead. They probably will bypass New York, and Boston, in order to get down without much headaches and confusion. The road 95 looks to be the U.S. interstate highway of choice when heading down there. I was nearly going to book a flight, to Florida, but I am afraid that much has to be done here at home. Not only the book, but other things on the money side which may keep me from spending the money at the time to go

The Supermarket Guy III: Supermarketdominium

The Supermarket Guy III:  SUPERMARKETDOMINIUM,    is now sent to the U.S. copyright office. I am thankful to the guy upstairs that I had the inspiration to finish the main parts of the series.. Till then..

Garage door opener works great

The new garage door opener. It works, great. I have a control direct wired to the garage opener motor. Up and down, function. There is a lock and unlock function on it as well. Then, the remote you can put in your car. It can program up to 7 codes in it, or open 7 things, yet I have a hard time to understand that one, as it has only 3 buttons on it. You can press the car remote to make it go up, press it to stop if need be, and then press it to go down. The third remote is a key entry, where you have to put in an access code, and then press on the up or down button to open the door. I am not sure if I will use this one, but who knows. It can stay on the outside wall of the garage. Also, the tension is set, so that when I put a block of wood underneath, it stops without smashing the door or the block of wood. The settings are right on the motor, turn a screw one way or the other to set the tension. Then, on the motor, there are up and down buttons which can move the door up and down

Very first visit from Chile!

My first visit from Chile today! I am getting more people from South America, every day now! Thanks for dropping by, Chile! Also Indonesia, and of course Russia was in for a visit today. It was mild, today. I was walking out at a nature preserve here in the area, and they set up these nice little bird feeders from a gazebo of sorts. My dog ran out the length of her 20 foot wind up leash. She paused, as she was looking for squirrels in the Boreal forest. Then, a chickadee jumped on the dogs rope, nearly a foot from my hand. It stayed there for a few seconds. I think it was looking for some food, in which I did not have, so it fluttered away in disgust. People feed the birds there, and as mentioned previously, they do eat right out of your hand.  The dog did nothing, as he did not realize what was going on, still looking for that elusive squirrel that must have ran under a fir trees bow branch. I imagine the maple syrup season is now on the run. Trees tapped, with their lines running

Part 3 of The Supermarket Guy ready to be sent to U.S. copyright!

The U.S. Copyright office has been the most efficient of the book writing process. 65 dollar U.S. charge for mailing, but much cheaper if you send over the internet. A 35 dollar fee. Fill out the form, and usually you get the registration in around 10 days or so. It takes a bank draft, if sending through the mail. I tried with a postal money order one time, and if I remember correctly, it came back. I had to send the funds back, and everything went great afterwards. Today in Northern NB, the sun is out. The wind is low. It means it should be a pretty nice day, at around minus 1. Things to do around the house, cleaning, and getting some odd jobs done. As all of us have to do, at times.  I got a letter from Goodreads, and they gave advice on some book selling. They said books with no written reviews, are added by seven people on average, as compared to books with 5 written reviews, are added by 40 people on average. That has always been my Achilles Heel. The book review. I had people

Book is now in China!

Book is now on the internet on amazon.cn in China!  Thanks China, for opening up your country to Amazon and my book too! Had some bouef borginion today. A recipe from France, and I know it is spelled wrong. Red wine, beef broth, thyme, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and beef. Thickened with some flour and water. Placed on top of potatoes, a la mashed. Very good! Twitter update, I have 25 friends as of late. Even a big fan of Allan Jackson followed me. And, the George Jones site followed me. Also, Cleveland News also followed me. Very interesting, how this twitter works. Anyone can retweet your message, and it can take off through many thousands or hundreds of thousands of directions. I am starting to learn it.. It will not be long, till I am master of it also.. Have a great night, till then...

Happy Valentines to all the Supermarket Guy Maniacs out there!

Happy Valentines to all of you out there. This is a time to be appreciative, of that special other half, or to be thoughtful to a person that you think about allot. My wife got me a box of chocolates and a card. I will have to go out today and get her something, as I was working too much this weekend. As usual, I am late. I have to do some shopping for my parents this afternoon, and then I will head out to get her something in the shadows. It is expected to warm up here a bit in the afternoon. I had a nagging cough, but no fever. I took a puffer to clear it up, but it does not work fast. Now a days, they do not give out antibiotics unless really  necessary. Antibiotics used to bring up the phlegm, fast. The doctor diagnosed me with slight asthma. So far, I am thankful that I was never really out of breath in doing anything. I seen some people, as all of you have, reaching for the puffer when doing activity to help them breath again. It is tough to do activity and sports at times for

Blowing snow at minus thirty makes you want to get into the house in a hurry!

Europe had a long cold spell in the minus 30s as well. We had it, every so often, a stretch of a few days then back to the somewhat milder weather. In minus thirty weather, your hands get cold, right to the bone. Your face feels like it is going to fall off of your head! This is when it is windy, and blowing... And if you get some snow in your face, all of this may occur at a much faster rate. My friends in Russia know what I am talking about. It is important to dress very warm, when treking in Canada or to the North Pole. I had to switch gloves twice tonight, blowing snow in the cold wind. You come in, to take off a cold pair to put on a warm set. You just hope the utility does not lose power to your house. Then your hot water heater will become a good place to store beer! Well, that ain't so bad, isn't it now.. Besides that, my twitter is growing at a good rate. I have 24 friends, so far. I am following 80, or so. It is not bad, as I see my friends on face book nearly doi

Bad news yesterday. Freezing cold here!

We all heard of the bad news. The music industry has lost one of its top pop icons, if not the greatest female pop icon, Whitney Houston. A spectacular stage presence and a magnificent voice. I will always remember her, as probably many of you also will, in "The Bodyguard", film with Keven Costner. Too many number one hits to list, she will be greatly missed. The temperature is exposed to go down to minus 30 here in Northern NB Tonight. I am not sure to blow the driveway tonight or not. I could wait until it warms up a bit, as the gate is not built up with snow too badly. My neighbor came over and got the sidewalk area, where the most of it gets dumped in with the passing government plow. It is weather like this that got everyone dreaming of Florida, or even going to Columbia for a visit. Get into the sunshine and the tequila. Ah, but there is no break, as the job has to get done up here in Canada. I am not sure when to go on vacation, but maybe in March I may take a step i

1st visit from Columbia!

Thanks for the visit from Columbia. It is a first, from that beautiful mysterious country! Not much snow yet, just maybe 4 inches. It should end in the afternoon, but a deep freeze of minus 20 or 30 by then. Have a good day to you all, till then!

If my book has produced one smile, then my life has produced a worthy mile!

15 cm of snow overnight. Will be shoveling in the morning. The snow mobilers will be in full force, enjoying the trails later on in the day. They say it is over a hundred million dollar industry for the province, so far. And, the trails have only been good up north. This is the hotels, gasoline, food, and trail passes and shopping that comes with the people who travel far enough from Atlantic Canada, New England, or even California. So I have heard, even as far as California. Besides that, not much news on the book. The first draft will be here in two weeks, approximately. I am looking forward to it, but not looking forward to reading over and correcting it, yet again. This time, there is less chat between me and my publisher. I would say the chat is cut down, by 70 %. As, now I am somewhat of a seasoned veteran of the print on demand business. I am not as afraid as what I first was, at doing this. My first fear, was actually dealing internationally with a company outside of Canada

18 followers on twitter.

My twitter is exploding. 18 followers, just in a few days. I am following 80 or so. Wow. I have to slow down, and not follow so many people. It is impossible to follow that many, as one tweeting site was tweeting 10 messages every few minutes. I could not keep up. I do understand, however, how some professionals love twitter. 140 characters, simple and short. That is it. And, they tweet about where they are going, what they like, and other things that do not need heavy explanation. It is a great social networking site. So far. I wonder if it will last. I wonder, if it will overtake the other forms of internet communication, like Bloggers, or even Facebook. This is a very interesting time we are living in. I personally, like the blogging, better than the tweeting but this could change any time, if it works better than the blog. I believe I am, getting more exposure to people on the twitter than this blog. This blog, in my opinion, did have a good effect in increasing viewership from

The Supermarket Guy 3 is done

The Supermarket Guy III,  is complete.What I mean by this is that the story is completed. It is indeed, a draft copy. Sometimes I have a different way of meaning completion than other authors. I will polish it off a bit, then send next week to the copyright office. I am some glad that the story is intact, or complete. Just the grammer and fine tuning required, and a bit of flow, perhaps.. Have a great day,  till then..

Will polish off Part 3 of The Supermarket Guy.

Nice day out today, sun is strong. Snow will come down a bit today. The banks on the side of the road are a few feet high. I would say we usually get more snow for this time of the year, yet February is not over yet. Will polish off Part 3, of The Supermarket Guy this week probably. Then send it off, to the copyright office. I have only a few pages to write of the ending, and it is done. It is probably the same length as the first one. I did not feel much inspiration to continue on with writing Part 4. As of late, I took a break, as not much movement is occurring for my ratings or sales. When the news is glum, I become a bum.. So to speak.. The Chapters in Moncton wanted a 45 % cut on the book. Very high, but usually I heard that is what they all want at the big chains. The smaller, more local bookstores, only wanted 20 %, but I gave them much more than that. I gave them around 35 %. 30 days to sell. The clock is ticking. After that, I will have to pick them up. Not very much time,

1st view from Brazil!

Welcome Brazilia! Great to have my first visit from the beautiful South American continent. Went to Moncton yesterday. Visited the Chapters Indigo bookstore there. They have a population of around 122 000 people. In going in the store, I met with the regional manager there. I asked about placing a few books there. Something that I should have done a long time ago. This guy was new, younger, and did not offer me as much as the older guy I met several months ago. I am unsure if they changed workers, or what the story was. The first gentleman offered me a book signing, and everything he could possibly do for me. I did not want to go with the book  signing, as I heard that those things do not actually help much in selling your books. So, I waived that option. I would do a book signing, if the book, ever became popular. But it is far from that. It may never attain that. Just that it is the bare facts. This gentleman was kind enough though, to let me try to sell a few books at that store

Short trip to Moncton today!

First, thanks for the visit from Latvia and Lithuania! That part of the world has been very kind to me on this blog! Will be going to Moncton today, New Brunswicks largest city. There, I will drop off a few books (If they will take them), and if they sell in a certain amount of time, I will know for sure it will be alright. I was intending to go for a good while, but there was always something coming up to stop me from going there. It is only a 3 hr drive, but sometimes other things come up, some family matters... Oh well... Now, Gisele Bundchens comments after the Super Bowl defeat. We all lived through these times. When, a woman, tries to defend her man in victory and defeat, but says the wrong things in doing so. Now, the feminists will say, what about the man. True enough, the man has plenty of a job enough to be politically correct these days. We are all guilty at times for saying stuff that sounds a little uncaring, unsympathetic, or down right scathing. It is in our human na

Getting better with Twitter.

Twitter. I am getting better with it, but far from mastering it. I just pressed on the discovery button, as it showed how people responded to my tweets. I had about 12 followers, and a few messages sent back. I seen Katy Perry with 14000000 followers, and Lady Gaga with around 18000000. Mind boggling, when some tweets to these famous people are probably several thousand per second. It is, hard to understand how anyone can keep up with those numbers. They say this will, actually increase numbers in viewership, and brand name knowledge of your service or product. They also say, this E blogger could increase in viewership by 30 %, plus or minus. This is the main reason that I decided to give it a try. But, on the other hand, it is a great forum to see what is going on in the fast tweets of people and friends throughout the world. It still baffles me, on how such or how come in just a few sentences, it creates such a following... Amazing.. I think in the end, we will see a clash of the

A visit from Nigeria!

Well, finally I got a visit from the beautiful continent of Africa! A visit from Nigeria, the place where the lions roar! It was quite the visit I had last night. I could make quite the array of alcoholic beverages from all these countries. Germany, Snaps, The United Kingdom, Guiness, the United States, Jack Daneils, then Russia, clear crystal vodka. Put it all in a blender, and shake it up real good! In a 50 ounce glass. Slug her down! Oh, I guess my Superbowl prediction fell a little short. I got the teams right on the winning and losing sides, but my score was a dreamers scorecard... I was hoping for allot more action... Once again, the clock was in the favor of the Giants... Run with the ball, the last 4 or so minutes.. Keep a tight game. Geesh. How did they do it again! That is the thought for the day!  Have a good one,  till then!

Watched "War Horse"

I watched the movie "War Horse".  I totally recommend it. What a great piece of WW I history, and a beautiful story. I know what everyone wants to know... Does the horse, die in the end of the film.. Well, let me tell you that,  I cannot tell you that... It would, ruin, the show for you.. The horse, is a great actor. Smart, brilliant, and has nice chompers.. He is also scared to jump, which leads him into some trouble late into the film.. Ok, that is enough, I will not ruin it for you.. I give it, a 5 on 5. Beautiful pictures of the countryside, and you are brought back into a time when things were really tough... These guys, are heroes. Well, besides that, not much else is going on. I wish I could get my book in for a time slot for the Superbowl commercial at halftime.. But, that is wishful wishing. Just not going to happen.. Anytime in my lifetime... I have a greater chance at a meteorite hitting my house. There was one that fell down here, not too far from the Bathurst a

Trying to learn twitter!

Twitter. It is, a new forum for myself. Some of you people are probably already on it, and know much more than I ever would about it. You have to go through many pages of people, and follow a few. Then from there, you may get or pick up a few followers. It is done, trying to make a social link, or trying to get a message across. The words to type maybe have a length of a few lines. That is it. Some of you are probably already on there. I have, 3 followers on Twitter thus far. I cleaned out allot of the bots, and it left me with a few. So far, I had not experienced a great influx of bots. I thought I would get, on average, 20 followers every 8 hours. This, has calmed down quite a bit. And, it is really all about trying to spread out. Getting the word out about my book. Something I was hesitatingly trying to avoid, the twitter or facebook stuff. I decided on twitter, as it seemed the sound bits may carry farther than just locally in the province or Canada, for that mattter. Twitter is

Welcome Taiwan!

First time I got a visit, from Taiwan! A very good manufacturing country, indeed! I joined twitter today, not sure of how it was going to go. Still not sure, as how it is going to go. It maybe more headache than heart warm, so I am unsure of staying on it. I figured I could get more exposure for my book.  And, I know, I am not getting any money for it, at all... As an F minus author ; ) I got 18 followers almost instantly, but to my dismay, many were bots, I think. It will take me time to get on to this. I may abandon it altogether, if it continues to be a flurry of blocking some explicit content. Well, time to go. This is definitely  my mainstay... E blogger... I will be back tomorrow.. Till then...

The karoaoke craze!

Karaoke has been around since vhs tapes came out in the 90s, with the words to the songs. Then, a few Christmas presents came around, and we tried it out. Some songs were too fast, like 50 cents rapping style.... Some were too slow, like Willie Nelsons  Blue Eyes Crying, in the Rain.. No, those two songs were not on the CDs... Too bad, they are great songs... But, the machines were sent back. Too much static coming from their systems. You could hear a hum, that emitted from the speakers. Something was out of wack. Then, we bought a 40 dollar American Idol box. We found it alright at first, but it seemed the microphone volume when singing did not increase or decrease over the increase or decrease over the background music. I think they want to keep it, due to being fed up with returning things. They seem to find it works better than the other machine. Maybe it is our TV set speakers that are not working right. Fads.. American Idol, the X factor, the voice... When will people get tir

Training a bit last night

I trained last night, but only chest exercises and some abs. I did not feel the energy to do biceps with the busy day I had yesterday. When training, I used to do two body parts a day. Sometimes take the next day off. I would make gains of 5 lbs per month (man) in some exercises for strength. I never took any performance enhancing drugs. The fact, is that if you do for instance, the bench press 2 times a week, or your shoulders 2 times a week, usually you will make incredible gains in that exercise you are performing, naturally. If I could not do the bench press twice during a week, I would do tricep close grip bench presses, as a substitute. And, you can work around your schedule to try to maximize gains. Right now, working shift work, sometimes quite a few nights straight, it really makes me wonder if I will ever get back into it hard. I usually am too tired, or bothered during the day to work out after a night shift. Then, sometimes one shoulder does bother me. I am hoping it come

339 blogs on this site!

Hard to believe, that I have blogged over 339 times on this site. Not counting this one. I must say, some days it goes easier than others. Today was a pretty dry day for me. No book news, no family news at all. It is just that kind of day that you wish you had more time in. 24 hours sometimes, is not enough, to get things done. I did some grocery shopping for my parents today. Did some of their snow removal as well. I did the snow removal here, at this house as well. Then, bought some stuff in town again, some pop on sale at 2.99 a case. 2.99 a case.. How can they sell pop that low of a price? And, when coke or pepsi starts it, the other is not too far behind to change their prices to suit. That is the only thing, that I ever see that always goes down to the regular low price. How could a fledgling company compete? Unless you had special flavours.. Chocolate bars, are up. You could get them at 50 cents a piece at times. Now, that sugar and cocoa has probably increased in price, i

Where was I?

We ask that question often, now, do we?  Yesterday I was talking about weight training. Doing a month light, then a month moderate, then a month heavy is probably the best way to go. Then, after the three month cycle, take a few days off. I think if I could go back in time, I would do it that way. As, when I was young, I continued to go heavy, very heavy, every day at the gym for years on end. I think it is hard on the joints, as well to do it that way. I will try to get back into it, if the time permits. We had about 15 cm of snow in the last little while. The snow blower will be doing its work again today. It is safe to say that the ski dooers should have enough snow base now for to enjoy themselves. I have to go get a book from one of my friends on Goodreads. I promised I would buy her book, and read it sometime. It has just arrived. Imagine, a world where you read your friends books... Not, some famous person who does not live beside you, books.. I have a pile of friends on goo

Started weight training, again!

Started to weight train again.  It is hard to get into it again, with all the demands of life. Shift work, and the ability to work around it. Family stuff, errands to the hilt. I usually do two body parts a day, and take a day or two break in between. Sometimes it is not as planned, as night shifts can ruin the cycle. I am training light. When I was in my late teens, I had incredible shoulder strength. I could press 200 lbs over my head, barbell shoulder press... But, then injuries came.. You are better off going moderate to light, and switch often back to light. Ever third month, go back to light.. We used to train heavy, all, the time.. Oh well... Have to go, wife wants the computer.. Till then...

Facebook to issue stock!

Interesting to see a company, like Facebook, issue stock. People value the company at 75 to 100 billion dollars. Now, here is the thing. They have 800 million users. You are probably a user as well. They may charge you for using games, or different apps. From what I hear, there is advertising dollars on there as well. Sitting here, I do not understand how a company like this could be worth 75 billion dollars. All they are doing, is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Not stealing, but enticing advertising revenue away from Google, Yahoo, and you name it. This probably is going to result in lower share values for the others. It will, take some time, as marketing people will see (some) facebook more attractive than the other web engines. Very interesting... I hope it will not become like the tech bubble, and bring the house of cards down like it did several years ago.. Anyways, you cannot make money out of thin air. It has to come from somewhere, and that unfortunately, is at the expense