Indie Woes

Hi All!

I've been working on making my first two novels available in hardcover through Amazon. I only just realized this was possible a few weeks ago. And let me tell you, it isn't a simple matter of just uploading the same file I used for the paperback and E-version. No, of course not! That file has too many pages for the size I'd chosen - imagine that.

So I chose the next size up, found a pre-formatted word file for that size and did a Copy/Paste from the current file to the new one. Annnnnd that simple change messed up the formatting. So I've been proofing and fixing The Farmer's Daughter for the past few days. One little change leads to another.

And another reason why I hate proofing and formatting is I get caught up in the story. Even though I've read through it a bazillion times, I'll see the words and go 'oh, I love this part...' I lose more time that way than any other.

But I have managed to finish the file for Farmer's. I have Amazon working on a physical proof copy for me even though I ALSO need a newer file for the book cover, I have the order put in for that as well but for the time being I have a temporary cover cobbled together through Amazon's 'Create a Cover' program.

I don't know that a hardcover version is actually needed, but the last three books I've managed to buy recently have been hardcover so I know there's still some kind of market for them even though they're more expensive. I love the convenience of Ebooks, but I also love the feel of either a hardcover or paperback in my hand.

I know, I know. I should be focusing on the 3rd book in the series. I swear though, my husband has some kind of radar that detects when I'm trying to work on anything related to my writing and for some reason he thinks that's a good time to need me to do something else. And it's never anything FUN. Never anything ROMANTIC. Always something else.

Like, 'have you researched health insurance yet?' or 'have you ordered a new camera for the security system?' He has NO idea that these are not simple tasks. Ugh. I know we need to so something for health insurance. The crap we have through work is NOT good. I just dropped over $200 at the drug store the other day, for 4 prescriptions. And I have more than 4 total prescriptions (I'm a hot mess, remember?)

At any rate, I'll be switching to The Ring of Fire files so I can do the same for it. Since Bigger than the Beetles is still 'not quite done' hopefully that won't be quite as frustrating.

Keeping it short and sweet for now.

Until next time, stay safe peeps.

Robin Janney

Two Steps Forward...

 And one step back. That's how the old saying goes, right? Or is it one step forward and two steps back? Or maybe, the farther ahead I get, the farther behind I fall?

That last is the sentence I've expressed to my husband most frequently the past couple of months. I'm not sure why I thought changing to a local driving job would make my life easier, because I sure was wrong. When we were being recruited, we were told that most of the runs would be 10-11 hours or less, and in the beginning they were. But as the company has been growing and adding runs, more and more we're being stuck with runs that come close to running our 14-hour clock out.

For those who don't know, a truck driver has two clocks they need to be mindful of during their day. A 14-hour clock, which is the amount of time we can be On Duty - from the time we 'clock in' to the time we 'clock out' for the day. During that time period, we can only drive on the roads for 11-hours, the other clock we have to be aware of. Driving on customer properties don't count against the 11-hour clock if we remember to change the status on our log. A local driver can utilize a 3rd clock once a week if needed, and that would be a 16-hour clock - which only adds to how long we can be considered on the clock, but not to how many hours we can drive. Twice now I've been pushed into using that 16-hour clock, and both times due to circumstances beyond my control I was illegal. One day was almost 17 hours long, so I took the next day off.

Honestly, I was doing fair before that first 16 hour day. I say fair because I've been struggling with torn cartilage in one of my knees since before that.  I get a cortisone shot this afternoon to tide me over until my crappy health insurance can get around to authorizing a different shot treatment. "Fair" may be a slight exaggeration, but even though I was in pain I still had energy and wanted to do things. Ever since that first too long day, I've been plagued with low energy. It may have more to do with the pain in my knee, but for whatever reason I connect the fatigue to that day.

I've been struggling with writing, formatting, and remembering things. I'm still not sure what I wanted to talk to Mr. Janney a few days ago, but hopefully it wasn't anything important. That could be brain fog, but who knows?

My endocrinologist has been changing and adjusting my meds, so it's possible that none of this has anything to do with work - or not as much. Because let's be honest, the hours they work truck drivers are a bit insane. But anyways, the Endo added a thyroid med, changed one of the shots I take for my diabetes and when that failed to do as good of a job, she added another. I legit have a string of alarms in my phone to remind me when to take my meds...and I still forget the shots once in a while. I am one hot mess!

But I keep plugging away. I have no choice! Life keeps demanding my attention.

That's enough venting for today. I've been quiet online recently because no one likes a whiner, even when the whiner has legit reasons for their whining. But I refuse to sugarcoat things online because I believe in being 'real' online. Bites me in the butt sometimes, but hey - that's life, right? I don't believe in sharing everything, but when I do share I want it to be honest. As honest as I can be when I self-edit my language and eliminate all the 'lols' I want to add...lol!

If you're reading this, then I've decided to hit publish. I'm not sure yet, especially since at this point I don't have any photos thrown in to catch the eye and break up the reading blocks. Pictures are always so much work to add in because for some darn reason they mess up the formatting and I have to work harder to fix it...which, if you're reading this, I gave up and the goofy formatting errors around the Shutterstock photos will just add to the charm today!

Stay safe, my peeps.

A New Chapter Closer to Home

Some time before Jaclyn died, I had a long talk with Mr. Janney about how I was feeling burnt out from our job. Constantly being on the road as an over the road trucker, and getting little sleep in the sleeper bunk was wearing me down. I expressed my desire to find a local driving job so I could see family a little more often and be closer to home in case of emergencies. And to sleep in a bed that didn't move! He said he understood and while he was disappointed not having me along, he'd be okay if I found a local job.

What new sights will we see today?

So I began the hunt somewhat half-heartedly. I did enjoy seeing the country and being with my husband even if I didn't get to see him except at shift changes, and having my dog along. And then, as you know, Jaclyn died and my heart left me. I had this huge hole that felt as though someone had scooped it out with a dull spoon.

Jaclyn loved traveling with us, but she also loved coming home. She didn't care where we were, she just loved being with us.

Mr. Janney thinks I would have found the job I did no matter what, and he may be right since it was really kind of a fluke. I mainly looked at Facebook job ads, applying to ones that looked like they'd be worth the job change.

So, long story short, for those who don't know me on Facebook, neither my husband or I drive over the road any more. Initially he wasn't going to come with me, but there was a little accident at the end of May. I still have a mark in my armpit from where I was tossed against the truck dash due to a very slight but very sudden stop. If you've ever been injured on the job, you can imagine the nightmare that made our lives. We were already in a financial hole due to our truck being broken down for over half a month and being reduced to one income for just over a week hurt it even more. Between that and how I was treated by the worker's comp department, Mr. Janney decided to make the job move with me. I don't thing the worker's comp people did anything wrong, it's just the person who I dealt with had very little patience with an injured person in severe pain.

The new job has changed our lives for the better. Better pay, for less hours. Most of the time. Occasionally we have a long day, but they happen much less than they did over the road. All we do is drive to a distribution center to deliver a loaded trailer, switch it for an empty one and drive back to home base with it. We don't get the scenery we did out west, but being home at the end of each shift is worth it.

We now have a five day work week and two days off. While our weekend is actually Thursday and Friday, it's not too bad. We started out working nights, running from 7pm to finish. It was harder for Mr. Janney, but even I had trouble feeling sleepy after midnight regardless of having a good day's sleep beforehand.

A local sunset. Just as pretty as anywhere else.

But that has changed and now we start at 3am. While I'm not impressed with the poor communication and execution of the change, I think once we get used to the new schedule it'll be a good change. While the traffic tends to suck more during the day, heavier and stupider, it is better driving in the daylight. Once the sun comes up. Those early morning hours are still dark, and as we approach winter sunrise will be later and later, but it's easier to face those hours at the beginning of the shift rather than the end. I think (hope) we will have more energy after work, and hope that it will restart my writing my work in progress. More about that another time.

Another difference between jobs is we've downsized from driving a sleeper rig to driving what's known as a day cab. It's weird having windows behind us rather than a sleeper bunk, especially if we have to bobtail (drive with no trailer attached) because during dark hours headlights from other vehicles can shine in! It can be startling sometimes. Hopefully less of that now that we're on days.

The different rig means that I had to get used to backing again. Mr. Janney had to as well, but he was always quicker/better at backing than I was. I struggled with it for...okay, I still struggle with it. But it is easier to back with a day cab than a sleeper once you get the hang of it and I've gotten better than I was in the beginning. I think Mr. Janney was more worried about my backing up alone than he was for himself. We'd always had the agreement out on the road that if we needed someone to spot for us in a tight spot it was okay to wake the sleeping partner up.

Also, it is TONS easier backing in the daylight rather than the middle of the night. Not all of the lots are well lit, including our home terminal. And, if we're going to the same place we're usually there around the same time as each other and can help each other out if needed. When we were on nightshift, there was one time he came back to the drop are with his rig and empty trailer just to shine his headlights on the empty spot I was in so I could have some light...the lights in the lot weren't on for some reason, the night after this they were, go fig.

As I write this, we have an unexpected day off. In place of the text message giving us our run information this morning, we received one saying we were off. Since we are guaranteed a certain amount in our paycheck each week, this is no big deal. We get a free day and still get something for it.  After sleeping in a bit, Mr. Janney is gaming, and I'm finishing this post while Star Trek: Deep Space Nine plays in the background. I have book three's file open, and hope to do more than just scan what I've already written and tweak it. One can hope.

Until next time, stay safe!

Life Without Dog

She's always by my side here.

My intention was to write about the last few weeks we had with our dog Jaclyn before we had to put her down. I've tried, I have a post mostly written. And I just can't finish it. Maybe I will someday and post it. I don't know yet. I just know that like in life, I need to start moving forward here on my blog just as I have been doing in my daily life.

And let me tell you, that has not been an easy process. Even almost 5 months later, there are days when the loss is as fresh as the morning dew.

The initial depression was almost crippling. I had no choice but to continue to get out of bed, out of the sleeper berth back then, and go to work. Sleeping was harder than usual. Breathing was harder than usual. Trying to write was harder than usual, especially given that one of my secondary characters is a dog. Okay, an angelic being in canine form, but still.

I even messaged my doctor asking about how long I should wait before I should be concerned about the depression. She told me not to be, really. That there is no set time limit to grieving and to grieve for my dog just as I would a human being. Which for me, is remembering her and talking about her.

Which honestly is easier in the privacy of my own home, because there are people out there who would be like 'get over it, it's just a dog'. But, she was MY dog. In so many ways, she was the center of my world. I had to get up because she had to be walked. Even out on the road, I walked her more than Mr. Janney. I had to budget in the price of her food, her bed, her toys. I had to be mindful of her water dish, her food dish, her bathroom needs, cleaning up after her if I didn't catch those bathroom needs in time. She was never very good at actually asking to go outside. Probably because I often just took her outside to go every so often, which was easier at home than on the road. But where ever, if she was asking to go out - her need was great and one of us had better be taking her out...NOW!!

You can see one of the things I have done to help myself remember her in the photo at the top of the post. I've set up a little area on my desk for her remains, a few of her toys, a picture I rotate out every so often from the photo album I've started putting together for her. I have a bazillion photos in digital form, and have started having them printed off a few at a time. I'll sit at my laptop with Google Photos open and flip through the album to see which ones I haven't gotten yet. It no longer hurts as much as it did in the beginning, and has become almost a joyful project. I'll look at some of the pictures and laugh aloud at the funny memory connected to it.

I almost retold the stories from my previous post! I'm glad I looked back and discovered this or you would have read about the time she was honking the rig horn again! Instead, I scrolled through Google Photos to find another story to tell.

It's not a long story, but the photo above shows a time when she was frantically pawing at the bottom of our hutch. I sat in my recliner, watching in amusement and wondering what she was doing. No doubt I even asked her. I don't know why I didn't get down and look, perhaps I was afraid it was a mouse she was after. But no, when Mr. Janney looked at a later time, it turned out her tennis ball had been lost underneath it! We hadn't been playing at the time, so I'm not sure how it got under there.

My photo album project has expanded to include photos of humans too. I put them in a separate album though. A recent picnic my family held inspired me to make sure I label my photos too. Who's in them and the like. I had asked my sister to find some older photos of our mother since the picnic was in her honor, celebrating her 75th birthday early and honoring what would have been her 50th wedding anniversary. Well, since she's never remarried I guess it IS her 50th wedding anniversary regardless of dad passing on back in 1995. Any way, the end result of my request was that entire photo albums were brought! And one of the remarks someone made that day was how not all the pictures were labeled, older black and white photos especially. I was so inspired by this that I went through an entire album I'd already put together of my wedding reception picnic and labeled the backsides of every single picture. That was a late night well spent!

It has also expanded to hanging photos I've taken around the house. I ordered this canvas print of Mt. Shasta without really knowing where I was going to hang it. We recently rearranged our bedroom due to a new bed and I found the spot to hang it. It looks a little lonely, but I'm not sure if I'm going to print off more of my mountain range pictures to hang around it or do random photos from out on the road.

It's just not enough for me to have the photos only on my phone anymore. I have this need to have more visible reminders of happier times. The photo of Mt Shasta in California was taken on a very windy day back in March from the rest area where I had decided to park to wait it out. It was so windy, that when I walked Jaclyn the force of the wind surprised her so much she staggered, and when walking back to the rig after doing her business those adorable ears of hers where blown straight back - I'm afraid if her ears had been any wider, she'd have take off! Even pictures she's not in include memories of her.

Alright, this post has gone on long enough. I have other things I need to get done today, though I promise to post again sooner rather than later. Until next time, stay safe and be well.

The Unplanned Pet

This is my 3rd 4th attempt to write about the loss of my pet. Part One: The unplanned pet.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I do. I've never experienced it with a human, but I have experienced it with pets. I could list them all off for you, but that's maybe for another time. This little series is going to be about my previous dog, Jaclyn.

The tale that never slowed down

11 years ago this summer, my husband (who was still a boyfriend then) and I were at  friend's new place. I don't remember all the details of who else was there that day aside from her brother and  his family, just mostly remember that the kids were all racing around with dogs and at least one new puppy.

This puppy, an adorable little girl with a brown patch over her left eye (among other places), happened to draw near to me and I picked her up. She was this tiny little thing and I cradled her in one arm like a baby.

We looked at each other, and fell in love. Of course, puppies love everyone. But something in my heart caught and I gave Mr. Janney a look that was quite clearly pleading. It drew some teasing from our friends. But she was a new puppy to the family and not available for taking home. I put her down so she could resume her play with the kids and that was that.

Some people have unplanned pregnancies. I did not. What I ended I having was an unplanned pet.

I'm not sure exactly how long after this meeting it happened. It's been over a decade and details fade with time. Some details anyway. Mr. Janney and I were working at different places, on different shifts. I came home one night after work, in the wee hours of the morning, to find a puppy in a crate! It wasn't just any puppy, but the aforementioned puppy I had already fallen in love with.

There was a note from my husband, telling me when she'd been walked and fed last. I was surprised, to say the least. To this day I'm still not 100% certain how it happened. A case of Mr. Janney being in the right place at the right time I guess. The family had decided to rehome the puppy and he was there at the time of the discussion and said we'd take her.

Thus the adventure began. And adventure it was as you can witness in the photo of her jumping a child-gate in the photo posted just below. This was in April of 2011 so she was almost a year old.

Gate jumping at my mother's

Naming her took us a little time. I'm not sure what name she had with her previous family, but either we didn't like it or we didn't think it fit her. I made a random comment how the spot covering her eye made her look like a pirate and I wished we could name her Jack after Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Had Mr. Janney not spoken about the issue with a co-worker and friend named Jacqueline, our dog most likely would have ended up with the unimaginative name of Spot. Or Bessie, because her markings also reminded me of dairy cows. Something sparked in my husband during that conversation and he realized we could name our dog a feminine version of the name Jack. I probably changed the spelling the way I did to more accurately represent the Jack part and how it should be pronounced. Which apparently gave some relatives problems and she was often called Jackie by them...which was no small amount of confusion since our friend also went by the same nickname. I often had to ask them to specify which "Jackie" they were referring to!

Her: "You were gone for sooooo long!!!!!"
Me: "I was only out in the yard for like, ten minutes."

I often wondered over the ten years we had her, if naming her after an eccentric pirate had been the right thing to do. She often wound up in some interesting predicaments. In the early years, we confined her to a crate when we weren't home. And we came home to this sight more than once when she was young.

If you look behind the crate, you can see a brown ottoman. Which is what we kept her cage on for a short time when she was a puppy. I think I was having back pain at the time and Mr. Janney's motivation for keeping her up there was to limit bending over too far. Needless to say, this arrangement did not last long after this incident. She was always a bundle of an enormous amount of energy, probably the Beagle and the Boxer in her blood. She deserved more than the small yard we have at the trailer court. There were times we took her up to my in-laws property and let her run around. A bath was always needed afterward because she inevitably found mud. Although - she was just as good at finding mud in our small yard the few times we tied her out.

2012

She was a happy dog, clean or dirty. I'm not even sure where she found the mud this day, but she certainly enjoyed herself! She didn't enjoy the bath that followed, but then she never did enjoy baths. She preferred getting wet on her own terms, I have videos of her tromping around in a stream up to my in-laws. She was certainly enjoying the freedom that day. If I decide to post the videos to YouTube, I'll be sure to share them.

Look at that smile!

Jaclyn also loved snow. The fruitcake! That was a trait she shared with my husband and not me. The deeper the snow was, the happier she was. I was never able to get her to play 'catch' with snowballs like I did with another dog Little Bear. Different dogs, different games. Jaclyn just loved plowing through the snow.

She loved playing fetch, tug of war, and chasing a laser light. She learned all the simple commands, sit and shake paws were her two best. She had a little trouble with 'stay' because she had 'ants in her pants' and had a hard time sitting still. She was learning how to sit with a treat on her nose, I never made her wait too long.

Taken just before the horn blowing incident
I wonder if she was planning it even then?
She looks like she was planning something!

Jaclyn just wanted to be where we were. When we made the transition just over 2 years ago from factory jobs to trucking, we always planned on taking her with us on the truck. I think she made the transition to over the road travel better than I did! She didn't like being left in the truck alone, which we had to do sometimes like when we showered or ate at a restaurant. There was one time when we were at one of our terminals early on when we were in showering and one of our cellphones rang. It was the Safety Department letting us know that Jaclyn was blowing the horn of our truck and 'Is she okay? She's not too hot?' "No, we left the truck running with the air on and she's just upset because we left her alone. We're in the shower right now and we'll be out shortly." We didn't drag our feet, but we were literally ready to step into the shower when the call came. Neither of us felt it was necessary to stop what we were doing to go tie her up. Needless to say, they called us twice more before we were done. After that, we had to tie her up when we both left the truck. As funny as we found it, we couldn't risk her doing that somewhere else.

Waiting for Mr. Janney's attention
His legs are to the right
The legs to the left are Mom Janney's

We had to put Jaclyn down at the beginning of this month, and it's still feels odd to be speaking of her in the past tense. It's salt to the wound. It's a twisting of the knife stabbed in our hearts. I know eventually we will adjust to life without her, but it's not just yet. Mr. Janney has said that she was more my dog than his, because I did the bulk of the caretaking and playing, but he follows it up with - 'She was always there. Whenever I looked down to the end of the bunk, there she was.' We did have different relationships with her, but we both bonded with her. Because now she's not there when we look, and we both miss her.

I have to stop now. I'll write more about her another time. Currently Mr. Janney and I are sitting in a motel room in Toledo waiting out the weekend for our rig to be fixed. "We know what's wrong with your truck, but we don't have the part right now." Trucking life!

The Blank Page

Oops, I missed a week. No doubt because we were trying to get home last weekend and the hours were being pressed together. And then I missed another week due to...well, MEN!

 I may have spent too much time chasing this girl around

But here I am now, staring at the blank screen wondering what to write. A while back I put up a Facebook asking what people wanted to read here. I received some good suggestions that I'll follow through on someday. The veterans/PTSD suggestion is one I want to take some time to do properly and not half-arsed.

My one sister suggested something that still has me amused. She said to not forget the interesting people I meet on the road. I find it amusing, because I'm quite certain that Mr. Janney talks to people more than I do!

Maybe some small talk with the cashiers at truck stops, or another driver. But for the most part I try to keep to myself. Mr. Janney on the other hand can talk for hours to a stranger about...anything.

The two most memorable conversations that stick out was the one truckdriver who commented about what we'd do without coffee. Our decision was we'd just be grumpy. And then I added chocolate to the mix, which he heartily agreed with. And that the Snickers candy bars with the creamy almond butter, or any of the creamy candy bars, are like crack. Not that either of us have ever done crack, but it's probably the closest we've ever come.

The other was a conversation I witnessed between Mr. Janney and two other guys in a Subway about the death of Dale Earnhardt. It got a little heated because one of the other gentlemen insisted that they've never released the exact cause of death. Really, dude? Because I found a bazillion websites backing up my husband!

For the most part, I just want to do my job. Get the product from point A to B, make it to the bathroom when needed, and have time to take pictures of the scenery. There are some sections of the United States that if you don't stop at a restroom before you go in, you'd better hope your body is up to the challenge of holding it for a long time!

Unless you want to hear about the interesting driving tactics of others on the road, but that's something I myself try to forget as soon as I can! None of us are perfect out there, but some make more blatant mistakes than others.

Frozen, But Not the Movie

Here we are, sitting in the truck parking area of a truck stop while the wind howls around us. The picture to the left is actually a rest area, that I should have stayed parked at because of the weather but I carried on hoping to get to a certain stop in the hopes that we could shower while we were down. Didn't happen.

It is currently 7 degrees F, with 30+mph wind gusts. I don't even want to think what the wind chill is. Steady wind is somewhat lower, but that is little consilation. Our load is far too light to rik those wind gusts, and so we sit.

Abd how am I spending this unscheduled downtime? Am I writing on Book 3, or anything related to it? Am I working on blog posts to keep myself current and mybe even ahead? No. I'm sleeping or playing one mobile game or another. My favorite is Design Home. Or trying to talk the dog out of going outside. Or eating. Kwik Trips usually have a good selection of food to choose from. 

Except for right now, of course. Writing this little update while Mr. Janney watches a YouTube vid in the background. I might get the book file opened. My toes are cold and I'm thinking of putting socks back on.

I'm going to end this one early, maybe write another for next week. Or I  may charge my tablet and take a nap.

Wherever you are this Friday, stay safe and warm.

Writing Update

I did not get as much writing done during Christmas home time as I was expecting and planning. I'm bummed about it, but I couldn't help being too sick to do the things I wanted. It wasn't until almost New Years that I even got my laptop out of my backpack!

But I did manage to get some new words down after that, so it wasn't a complete failure. It's still frustrating though, because the book is done in outline form, I just need to write it out and good God it's been harder than I thought it was going to be. Writing out the outline was supposed to make it easier!!

Oh well. One thing at a time. At least the outline IS done, so it's only a matter of time before I'll be releasing book three. I have no real goal other than by the end of the year. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but there's no point in giving myself anxiety by picking any other unrealistic goal. Life is hard enough as it is! Life as a writer who is also a truck driver is also hard enough as it is!

I did release The Ring of Fire again, both for Kindle and paperback. I have added links to the side where you can find both my novels at Amazon. I'm still giddy about how nice the new cover for Ring of Fire turned out. It looks even more gorgeous on a physical paperback. I had a couple physical copies, but I mailed them out the intended recipients without taking a picture. Slacking, I know.

Valentine's day is coming up and I'm thinking of doing another paperback giveaway. I'll probably do the random number generator again and have people chose a number on my Facebook page. I don't know whether to offer Ring of Fire or give the winners a choice of which novel they'd want. I'm leaning toward the latter.

The outline...such as it is lol

One thing I should start doing is the outline for book 4. Some of it is already written since I ended splitting what was originally book 3. Of course, some of it is now...not right...as things have changed, but I'll deal with that as I go. I've already had to cut things I had written for the book 3, Bigger than the Beetles. I was telling Mr. Janney about how I was cutting stuff and saving it in a separate file in case there was something I was going to want to include in an different spot with a new twist. He found that amusing, for reasons I don't understand. But then, he is a man who isn't a reader so I should probably just be grateful that he's willing to listen when I talk about my writing.

I have very few people I can talk to about writing. Some of that is due to my job. It's not the most conducive for maintaining any kind of friendships. Today's technology and social media platforms help, but there's an element of isolation just the same. People are afraid to call me on my cell because they don't want to bother me when I'm driving, but they don't understand that there are times I need that human contact while driving because it helps me fight fatigue. Even if I've had decent sleep, driving in the wee hours can be hard. Especially in the winter when there's so much darkness...ugh, I can't wait for the days to start getting longer. I'm usually okay once the sun comes up, but that's not even a guarantee if I'm on the west coast.

Mr. Janney and I do 12 hours shifts and we stick to Eastern time to maintain some kind of schedule. And on the west coast, than can cause some confusion...I get more dark hours and Mr. Janney gets more daylight. It's also hard, because most of my friends and family live on the east coast, so they wouldn't appreciate a phone call at 4am just because I'm feeling drowsy. I usually take a break when that happens, take a walk into truck stop or a rest area even if I don't have to use the facilities, get little snack or drink.

My favorite pic of Mt Shasta
because of the bird flying through

But I do get to see all sorts of beautiful scenery, once the sun comes up, so there's that. Nothing against the beauty of the mountains I live in, but I love the views in the western states. I love driving up the middle of California and seeing Mt. Shasta growing in the distance. I love driving along the Columbian river in between Oregon and Washington. I love driving along 90 in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I love Arizona and New Mexico; I have yet to get a picture of Saguaro cacti. I got way too excited the first time I saw a Saguaro. I do not like the high bridges and overpasses in any state, but I10 in Louisiana has some doozies, which I couldn't take pictures of because I was driving. We're going to be experimenting with a GoPro for a dash cam, because the ones we've tried so far have not been performing as expected. Maybe I'll be able to get some more scenery shots that way. One can only hope!

Until next time, stay safe!

Much Ado About Nothing

My husband's latest project

As I was talking with my mom about my dishwashing post, I told her how I would never blog about one thing. Politics.

January was a rough start to the new year, and while I commented on tweets and Facebooks posts, this blog will never cover my thoughts and opinions about politics and global events. I know that it's always danger to say 'never' but I'm feeling pretty confident about it.

I want this blog to be about my writing, my adventures in truck driving, reading materials, mental health issues, and every day normal things. Like how I like to binge watch old tv series rather than watch new ones. There's a few exceptions to that, like Cobra Kai and Stranger Things.

On the bright side, Stranger Things is going to have one more season. That show took me by surprise. I had no idea what it was about, just that it was popular. I began watching it and almost stopped because it was scaring the crap out of me. I don't normally like horror and scary shows.

Robert Downey Jr is my one of my favorites.
So is Halle Berry

There are some movies I refuse to watch after the sun goes down. Mr. Janney and I once watched Gothika before bed and let me tell you, I had a heck of a time falling asleep and when I did, Halle Berry's screams followed me into my dreams. It's not that I didn't like the movie, I mean, hey - it has Robert Downey JR in it. I just have an overactive impressionable imagination that gets me into trouble sometimes.

Back to Stranger Things Even though it was suspenseful, I couldn't stop watching because I had to know what happened next. I guess that means it's a well-written and well-acted show. From what I've read online, the next season has been pushed back because of the good ole pandemic. Just like so many other things. August 2021 is the rumored release date, and it's sooooooo far away.

Cobra Kai never dies

And Cobra Kai. What can I say there? Karate Kid and his rival Johnny Lawrence at their best. With the flashbacks to the original movie, and the attention to detail, it's a wonderful nostalgic trip down memory lane. It alone is worth the Netflix subscription!

Mr. Janney found himself in need of a new television recently. His television was the unfortunate victim of temper during a particularly intense gaming session. So when he ordered a new one, he decided that he was going to need a bigger entertainment center. Him being him, he decided to just build one.

The job is done - just waiting on the new tv

I shared the beginning of his project up above. He does do some prep work, math and all that. As usual though, he never does enough so he had to go back to Lowes at least once. I think this project he had to go back twice. It no longer bothers me, it's just how he is. He's built me a new desk, a kitchen table, a desk for himself, a spice rack and each and every time we've had to make return trips to Lowes to finish the project. I help as needed, usually holding some piece while he saws or drills. I wasn't much help this time around as I was still weak from whatever illness I had.

Here's the finished project with the new tv. It's not quite big enough to fill the whole spot, but I guess it's room to grow someday if he decides to upgrade again.

This post certainly has jumped around! I do that sometimes. If there's ever something you'd like me to write about, just let me know. I'll try to remained focused, but make no promises.

Man, I don't know what it is, but I've been having a ton of formatting issues when writing these posts. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong when I'm adding the pics, or if I should wait until I'm done writing to change the font. I don't know, I'll figure it out eventually.

Until next time, stay safe!

A Post About Dishwashers

This post is my mom's idea. Moms have good ideas, don't you think?

Not my sink...stole this pic from the internet...

Some time ago, I shared a common meme on Facebook about washing dishing by hands and how I felt that the meme is kind of shaming those of us who use dishwashers.

Boy, did that open a can of worms.

Which is what led my mother to suggest I write a post about the pros and cons of each method of washing dishes.

Dish washing has always been my bane. For many reasons. And when I say always, I mean for as long as I can remember. It was the source of many wars growing up. No one wanted to do the dishes. As the oldest, it was usually me who was assigned to do them on Friday nights. Something I didn't think was fair, but then the oldest always gets the shitty end of the chores in my opinion.

The 'free' dishwasher turned
into a major
remodeling project

So, one Con for handwashing for me is: Sinks are never at the right height. I've always had to deal with lower back pain while doing the dishes by hand. Which is why when I saw a friend offering a free dishwasher on Facebook I jumped at it. More about that later.

To balance that with a Pro, when I was having trouble with my hands due to trigger finger and carpal tunnel, the warm water did feel good. I had trouble washing some of the heavier dishes though, so it wasn't always beneficial.

I just can never keep up with the dishes. One of the comments I ran into with my Facebook post was that this person didn't dirty enough dishes during a day to justify using a dishwasher. That is something that has never been true in my household, so I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. You'd think I'd have the same issue since it's just the two of us, but even when it was just me I never seemed to have a small amount of dishes.

I mean, a coffee cup in the morning for the obvious. A frying pan for eggs, and then a plate and fork. A knife if I had toast and buttered it. If I'm home for lunch, another plate and fork or knife or spoon. Same for dinner. Probably another frying pan, or pot. I'm not one to reuse a drinking glass if I'm drinking different liquids. Double the plates, silverware, cups for another person.

We had to do the entire counter. and cupboard area...
I knew we had water damage down there, but
it was worse than we'd realized so it all had to be done anyway

It all tended to worsen the depression I deal with. Especially since I'm the only one around to do the dishes. My husband refuses to help - either because it hurts his lower back to or because he views it as women's work. Insert eyeball roll here. At least he was willing to do the work to put it in for me since carpentry is one of his strengths.

I think that's the biggest pro for a dishwasher I can think of. All I have to do is put the dishes in, some soap, push buttons and the machine does the work I hate. I can be reading or writing while the dishes are being done. Far quicker and cleaner than I'd ever be able to get them done.

Which is another comment on the Facebook post that irritated me. A person used the reasoning that they preferred their dishes to be clean, implying that a dishwasher wasn't able to do so - and also implying that I don't want clean dishes. They'd deny that, but just by using that as a Con for a dishwasher, is in fact implying that very thing. Especially when they felt the need to write that in two different comments.

I did have some problems with dishes not coming out clean in the beginning. But I learned the things I needed to do to ensure cleaner dishes than I can do by hand. I tend to rush the dishes since it pains me, so I miss stuff. And the dishwasher uses hotter water than my hands can stand, so I feel better about germs and stuff. For myself, using a brand name detergent is a must as the dishes come out cleaner. And if I've let something sit too long - or I've overcooked something (burned), I try to soak it before putting it in the dishwasher. I rarely have a dish come through the cycle still dirty anymore.

There are some things that can't go in the dishwasher. My wooden spoons for example. My stoneware. But anything that is dishwasher safe and fits, goes in. Even if I have to run the dishwasher more than once in a day. I can understand people not wanting to do that if they have to pay a water bill, but I've found that I often have to refresh the water in the sink to keep it warm so I don't see much of a difference there. These newer stainless steel sinks just don't hold the heat in like the old porcelain sinks did. 

Having a dishwasher is a weight off my shoulders. I am forever grateful to the friend I got it from. It has saved my life in more ways than I can count.

Beautiful! It's still open like that, so it's not 100% done
But it's on our list of things to do

And of course, I am forever grateful to my husband for doing the work to put it in, even if I occasionally grumble that it'd be nice if he could at least empty it once in a while. Still, the chore I get stuck with all the freaking time is a million million times easier than what it was.

You know what you don't ever see as a meme on Facebook? "I still wash my clothes by hand and I'm not ashamed to say so." It's the same concept! You might see something about drying clothes outside on the line versus an electric dryer. If I had the lines outside to dry clothes, I'd probably do that during the summer...if it wasn't raining. Our dryer heats the trailer up something fierce during the summer and our air conditioners can't compete. But I wouldn't trade my dryer for outside clotheslines.

Everyone has different preferences. No one way is better than the other. I don't care how you argue it, it's the truth. Washing dishes by hand isn't better than using a dishwasher just because it's how you prefer to do things; and vice versa.

I wish we could stop comparing things like this. Preferences, I mean. Using a dishwasher, or dryer, or any modern convenience, isn't a thing to be ashamed of. And yes, I think meme's like the one I shared is borderline shaming people for not washing dishes by hand. Maybe I'm overreacting because dishes is a hot button for me, but I can guarantee you I'm not the only one who reads that meme in the same way.

It's just Facebook, you say? It doesn't matter? Debatable. But that's probably another post entirely, debating about the impact of social media in our lives. I may or may not write it. I'm sure I'll find something more interesting to write about.

Like Dr. Who and the case of mistaken identity perhaps? No doubt it'd be a lighter subject, and certain to be amusing, Until I took off on a bunny trail and got onto something like a Weeping Angel tree topper and how I'd never be able to have one.

Until next time, stay safe.

A Tale of Two Christmases

Writing posts ahead can be a good thing, until I decide to do a comparison post about something that hasn't even happened yet. As I start writing this one, it's still November! And as you can tell by the date now, it's already January 2021. I came down sick with something about a week before Christmas and that threw everything off, as I'll detail later in the post.

My beautiful mother last Christmas

We were home last year for Christmas. One thing we grew accustomed to when we worked at a local factory, was a long Christmas break. The factory used the down time for deep cleaning and mechanical repair. Orders where typically low so it was a good time to shut down and work on the machines.

I don't remember decorating for Christmas last year, unless you count tacking Christmas cards to the wall. You can see one or two just right of my mother in the photo above. I didn't take as many pictures as usual. I'm not sure why, must have been feeling 'off' last year too. We did have a good time playing Phase Ten.

Of course, we won't be able to do that this year. That's one way the pandemic affects me the same as everyone else. More so because I spend most of my time out of state. I had my Christmas tree up just before we returned to the road. It's comforting knowing that it's there waiting for me while I'm out there driving. I may or may not have it completely down before we go back on the road once I'm feeling better.

The tree is one hot mess, just like me. Bottom heavy when it comes to the light distribution, but it's not as bad as it looks in the photo because I can never catch the one set of blinking lights when they're 'on'. And I only had one strand of red lights, so they're all on the bottom too.

Most of my decorations are things that were given to me as gifts or hand-me-downs. And some aren't actually Christmas decorations at all, but I use them as such because they have sentimental value. The origami stars I place in the branches are one example. They were given to me by another student the year I attended college in Allentown. She was a sweet young woman from Japan and I wish I'd kept in touch with her. I lost track of many of the women I called friends then. I've tried searching for her and a few others, to no avail. I count myself fortunate to have kept  in touch with three of them, though we haven't seen each other since 1994.

Another set of decorations that hold sentimental value, are the yarn angels. I'm not sure how else to describe them. They were a gift given to me when I was a Head Start School Bus Driver. I know it was something the mother put together and had the little boy give to me, but I could tell he was happy to be giving me something. I'll have to write another post about the Head Start days some other time. I wish there were more of those angels, because they're adorable.

Everything but the lights are off the tree right now. I have had to do things slowly as it doesn't take much for me to be tired. Which is why we're still home, we're both worried that if we go back to soon we'll have to keep shutting down due to fatigue. I don't think it was Covid-19 that we had; neither of us were tested, but neither of us had the most common complaint - loss of taste. Mr. Janney did complain of it shortly before we came home, but I think it was the burger and not his taste buds.

Our most recent snowfall, it's off the trees already

Hopefully I'll bounce back and we'll be back on the road by the end of the week. There were many days I only got up to go to the bathroom, the rest was spent sleeping. I have managed to read a book, one that was a Christmas gift from my husband. The Eighth House by Eris Adderly. I liked it, though I'm not sure I'll continue with the series as I'm not sure how into the Greek Gods I am. But, I'll never say never.

I hope everyone had a better (healthier) holiday than I've had. Here's hoping this year will see an improvement. Until next time, stay safe peeps.