In Common with Humans

• 12:45 Everything I do involves research. Review a book, I research it; compose ??s for author interview, research; edit a mss., research! #
• 12:47 Last night I was reading Restoration plays to check the vernacular (yes, they used contractions in the 17th c.) & how early brandy existed #
• 12:48 Both my "to-do list" & the list of "red-flag" items in Outlook mail are getting shorter and shorter, though! 🙂 #
• 14:18 Mark Morford on anonymous commenting & the InterNet. tinyurl.com/yo7q8m/g/a/2009/02/13/notes021309.DTL&nl=fix #
• 16:18 *sigh* Rehearse, record, playback, rinse, repeat. This stuff sure eats up the time! I need to start doing voice exercises every day. #
• 21:36 Sony Vegas hates my camcorder. I’m jumping thru hoops to get the video off the SD card and into Vegas, whch won’t take Adobe.avi files, fun. #
• 21:40 However I paid for Quicktime Pro that saves the .avi files as .mov which Vegas will open. Next up, learning curve on Sony Vegas. #
• 00:02 After jumping through more hoops, checking Sony’s website & installing stuff, I got video from the camcorder to Vegas! Kind of a pain tho #
• 00:03 I also learned how to do a fade transition, nice, & I worked more with Audacity today, too. #

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• 12:16 Necco candy hearts will have sayings related to “Twilight” tinyurl.com/azcjyo #
• 13:03 I LIKE this idea–turn the whole banking network into a co-op! www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/opinion/12kristof.html #
• 02:01 I’ve gotten several more chapters edited in mss. 2, and now I’m heading to bed. #

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• 00:30 Layoffs at Harper-Collins now: www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/books/11harp.html #
• 00:44 NPR reports on “the battle brewing over electronic books” tinyurl.com/dkq8po #
• 00:47 The industry is fussing about the Kindle cornering the market, but I’ve applied for the Sony Library 2 times & Sony hasn’t responded yet #
• 12:16 Necco candy hearts will have sayings related to “Twilight” tinyurl.com/azcjyo #
• 13:03 I LIKE this idea–turn the whole banking network into a co-op! www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/opinion/12kristof.html #

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• 15:25 Busy Tues: change litter boxes & cages, put away laundry, go to transfer station, haul in firewood, & now back to editing, e-mail, & video #
• 21:48 All work & no play makes for dull tweets. I’m editing mss. 2, which is a good thing, & clearing out e-mail whilst saving imp. references #
• 02:13 Up to Chapter Three on the mss edit, & I finished going through a ton of e-mail to sift out review sites and fiction markets. Off to bed! #
• 11:49 It’s 58° out! I’m heading for dad’s at 1:15 to take him to the airport, getting some work done before I leave, editing & e-mail #
• 11:50 Small publishers, check this out, funniest logo graphic I’ve seen lately, I was ROFL! www.publetariat.com/ #

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• 12:59 Laundry is done, errands are local, & then it’s back to work! I’m alternating between editing mss., editing video and maybe even writing. #
• 21:40 I WANT this book. I wonder if I can get a review copy? tinyurl.com/c9n6bn #
• 21:44 My first Wikipedia edit. I looked at the page for “vrykolakas” and it cites my article under Sources, w/ the old URL, which I updated. #

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10 Questions I’ll never be asked by James Lipton

I’ve gotten my heating oil from Lorden Oil Company, Inc. since I moved to Pepperell in 1989. They’ve always been pretty good to me. When I really had some budget crunches over the years, they accepted partial payments without any penalties or questions asked.

Recently, I was doing some number-crunching with my heating oil use, and I wanted to get “degree day” information to compare against use, so I could determine whether turning down my thermostat, or burning more fires, had a real benefit. Those used to be printed on my heating oil invoices, but since Lorden’s streamlined its bills, that information is no longer on each invoice.

So, I called Lorden Oil to ask them where they got that data for their own use, so I could look it up. The office support person I spoke to was very friendly, took my phone number, and said she’d “ask one of the managers” and have someone call me back.

I didn’t get a call back and I got involved with other things. Today, there was a fat envelope from Lorden Oil in my post box.

When I opened it up, it contained photocopies of all my bills going back to 1996, with a hand-written note, “This is a copy of our deliveries to you. This shows the degree days. Hope this helps!”

Now THAT’S service. Wow.

• 15:12 I just sent out some drafts of programming proposals, mostly writing workshops. I have a lot more of those to do. Previews of March outside! #
• 15:18 I’ve just started reading *Twilight,* having finished *Society of S* while I waited for files to export. Too soon to know what I think. #
• 17:02 I’m tired of having to buy new exercise equipment. 🙁 The exercycle is in pieces, and the part that broke costs more than the bike did! #
• 17:05 I think I’m going to get some DVDs and learn how to jazz dance or something for my cardio, gods. My body wasn’t made in effing China. :-p #
• 20:40 I rigged a recording booth betw. 2 bookcases w/ heavy wool blankets & made a windscreen for my $70 USB mic w/ a pc. of foam. Wks great! #

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• 13:10 A late start today for reasons I don’t want to discuss. It’s above freezing for the first time in days! #
• 15:14 First round edits are off to the author! Now I need to get the cover design settled and set up the typesetting format in InDesign. #
• 22:55 Woo-hoo! I’ve learned Audacity, & edited a 75-minute recording of the panel I did with Shel Horowitz at Pub-U! It came out GREAT! #
• 22:57 Tick another project off my To-Do list. 🙂 I’ve also replied to some queries & e-mail. Productive day! #
• 11:46 Started the day by resetting a circuit breaker. I can’t plug the new heater into the bathroom outlet. It’s 50 degrees out! #

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• 14:16 Today’s Arlo & Janis cartoon illustrates the dangers of fads gone bad: comics.com/arlo&janis/2009-02-06/ #
• 18:38 Rats. I broke the exercycle! The last one broke on 2/8/08 and this one broke on 2/6/09. I have to take it apart and see if it’s fixable. 🙁 #
• 22:15 Finished the second editing pass of the mss! Which means I’ve read the whole thing aloud. Just a bit more to do! After that: cover designs! #
• 22:33 I’m cold, and I’d like to put the throw on my lap–but there are two kitties sleeping on it & they look too adorable and comfy to move. 🙁 #

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