Welladay, Monday

[rolanni]

One of the best things about freelancing is that you can mostly avoid having Mondays.

Mostly. . .but not always.

So!  Today was Monday, here at the Cat Farm, starting right out of the box, when all of us sleepyheads -- by which I mean Steve, me, Trooper, and Sprite -- were startled from Very Sound Sleeps (and in my case, a Very Intense Dream that I was just as glad to let go, except that I was Deep in Dreamspace, and waking up was -- a jolt), by the sound of a knock at the door, at 7:30, which is what counts for early around here.  By the time I had surfaced from the dream, the knock had come again, and both cats had leapt up and dashed down the hall, Steve following.

But, there was no one at the door.  Careful examination showed that Scrabble had knocked a couple of brushes off the side of the sink in the bathroom.  They'd landed on the scale, which is wood-clad.

Knock-knock.

Knock-knock.

Sigh.

None of us was getting back to sleep after that, so to coffee, and an uploading of Chapter Eight of Shan and Priscilla Ride Again (here's the link, if you missed it), which I did.  We then broke our fast and were discussing the proper structure of the day, when the mail arrived, always a moment of Great Excitement at the Cat Farm.  I left the kitchen, walked down the drive and across the road to the mailbox, where I gathered to myself a handful of. . .

. . .bills.

More than five hundred dollars in bills, only one of which (the car payment) was anticipated, much less budgeted for -- all, save that one, medical bills.

For the sake of moving along the narrative, I omit the plumber's bill for a heart-stopping sum, which had already been paid, check crossing invoice in the mail.

The surprise bills?  All were due "on receipt," which -- never mind.  So I wrote checks, and had a panic attack, and a shower, ate the leftover stir-fry Steve provided for lunch, retired to the sofa to read -- and got up again to write a check to the guy who mows our lawn -- for two weeks, naturally, since he had taken care of us while we were on tour.

Late in the day, a nice thing did happen.  More on that as I can.

Oh, and things seem to be moving along in the Great Plan to bring Belle to Maine later this month.  Just need to nail down the date and time -- that's good, too.

Things are somewhat calmer now.  Steve's gone to chess; I did the dishes; Trooper and Sprite are with me in my office, napping while I blog.  In a bit, I'll go back to the sofa and my book.

But!  Before I do that, I have news of a sort for Nook readers concerning Dragon in Exile, which is -- Neither Baen nor BN understands why the Nook edition failed to find its way into the store, and the problem has been bumped Upstairs to the This Really Should've Worked Problem Solving Team.  More news is expected in two business days.  In the meantime, and as always, you may purchase an epub (Nook) edition of DiE -- and all of -- our published novels directly from Baen.  Here's your link.

Also!  For those who appreciate a beautiful instrument, and especially a beautiful keyboard, there's this.

So -- how was your Monday?

Trooper and the purple duffle; a blast from the past.

Comments

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Trooper looks like he'd been packing for a vacation and got sidetracked by ... a nap :)

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Trooper is a sensible creature, who understands that Purple is a Good Color for ... whatever.

And glad the Good Thing happened to cheer you up after the bills!

Keyboard

[ireneha.livejournal.com]

It is so pretty. The light up keys spectacular. The wood smooth and lovely.
Separating keyboard, nice for guys. Extra Return, Ctrl, etc. keys nice.

It is also ergonomically bad. Way to high, no wrist-rest cushion made will set that high. If this sat on the standard desk, only tall people would find it comfortable. It wouldn't fit on my keyboard tray at home.

Sorry - pretty doesn't balance out pain in fingers, shoulders, neck, etc..

But it is so lovely, that I never looked at the price.

Re: Keyboard

[pedanther]

I'm not familiar with the use of wrist-rest cushions myself, but would it work to set a small cushion on each of the large empty spaces at the lower ends of the keyboard? I can't think of a reason for those spaces to be included on the keyboard if wrist resting isn't it.

That keyboard

[rasmusb.livejournal.com]

I spent way too much time looking at that kickstarter (which has almost doubled it's goal) -- but the fact it doesn't have a numeric keypad is what stopped me. :)

I could probably get used to the top key number entry -- but eesh.

Thank you for posting the link though. I've been curious about the split keyboards since I saw the nifty chairs set one on Seaquest back in the day. :)

keyboard

[gerald heaton (from livejournal.com)]

I spent WAYYYYYY too mch time with a standard and electric typewriter to go back to them.
I could not function with a separate numeric key pad again.

I use a Logitech natural keyboard at home and a Microsoft ergonomic one at the office.

Re: keyboard

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Whereas I have no use for a separate numeric keypad at all; the numbers on the top row are sufficient to my needs.

The Microsoft "ergonomic" keyboard almost crippled me. I've been using a Kinesis Advantage for about the last 15 years, and give it full credit for the fact that I can still type/write/tell stories.

[stitchwhich.livejournal.com]

I was so thrilled to be able to download Dragon in Exile for my Nook on the 18th. The delay has created a Good Thing, in that my friends did research and pointed me towards an eink reader which can access both Barnes & Noble as well as Amazon (and Baen!) without recourse to a separate computer. And now I have a wish list item for the men in my family, who need _one and only one_ item on a 'list'.