Cable Wires and a Book Contest

Hey, Long time no update, yes?

Well, I had the cable tech come by again and Lo! after almost crying in frustration..almost..my eyes got misty but I stayed in the shadows of the stairwell...he exhausted his expertise, he called three other techs for input and I believe he has determined the culprit. The final determination?

THE PROBLEM IS NOT INSIDE MY HOUSE.

He donned his little white hardhat and slogged off into the rain to climb the pole.
Turns out that the readings on the main line are 12 but my house is only getting 6 when it gets to the outside box but when it gets to my modem, it's anyone's guess what I am actually getting.

He said that all the Wires/Cables from the Main pole, the sub-pole and from the subpole to my house need to be replaced but with a THICKER cable.

Wouldn't it be great if that truly fixed all my problems?

He said he was going to paint the other guy red cuz he too went up the pole the last time but never noticed the extreme drop in signal and he should have. Oooooh, the senior tech is going to razz the under tech. Tee Hee.

But seriously. Almost three weeks of having intermittant internet, this last one being 48 hours without is driving me nuts! Thank goodness they did credit my account today. I called and I saved $9.00. It's better than nothing.

By next week, I should have the full 12 signal. I hope, hope, hope that it fixes it!
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On an upbeat note...a good friend, a wonderful author and a very sweet and generous person is having a contest you really need to know about if you are a romance reader.

Her first romance book in print! You can Hold it! You can smell the ink on the pages! You can drool over the hunky guy on the cover!

Available from Samhain Publishing

"One Love For Liv" (available in eBook or in Print)

Olivia "Liv" Leigh, wealthy socialite and spa owner, suspects her fiancé of cheating on her, so she takes drastic steps to discover whether appearances are deceiving. And if those steps require a bit of stalking, a change of appearance, a hippo-sized dog named Spike, and sacrificing her manicure to clean house for a sexy but sloppy man whose neighbor is determined to break several of the strangest Guinness Book of World Records, why should that be a problem?

Mike, a happily single auto mechanic, is more than content sharing his bachelor pad with piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and a sneaky ferret. But when a half-crazed woman in a bad wig shows up on his doorstep, what's a nice guy to do? Why, invite her in, unknowingly help her in her search for the truth and, in the process, fall head over heels for a woman who's never been less his type.

Doesnt' this sound AWESOME????

Here is the link to the rest of the page.

ONE LOVE FOR LIV

Check it out or better yet join in on the contest so you could win her book. I've read her stories before and she's never let me down. If you want upbeat and happy, then Marianne Arkins delivers.

Are you a Budding Author?

If you are, you might be interested in this annoucement.



~~~permission to forward granted~~~

The Long and the Short of It First Annual Short Story Contest

It's said everyone has at least one story inside them. This is your chance to let yours out. The Long and the Short of It is seeking the best new short story 1,000 words or less. So... put on your thinking cap, dial up your muse, and give it a shot.

The story must be a romance and must end with a HEA. PG-13 or less, please. The Grand Prize Winner will receive, in addition to publication on The Long and the Short of It website, a banner for their blog or website, one year free book cover/banner advertising, six months author pages, plus an award certificate suitable for framing.

First prize will receive publication on The Long and the Short of It website, a banner for their blog or website, six month author page + three month free book cover/ banner advertising, plus an award certificate suitable for framing.

Second prize will receive publication on The Long and the Short of It website, a banner for their blog or website, three months book cover/banner advertising, plus an award certificate suitable for framing.

Five honorable mentions will receive publication on The Long and the Short of It website, a banner, plus an award certificate suitable for framing.TWELVE DOOR PRIZES (randomly drawn from all participants) :One copy of Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress
Six autographed books
Six goodie bags

Please send your entry via email with the subject line:

Short Story Contest: NAME OF STORY

Send it to : lasrcontests@gmail.com

Your entry will be provided to our judges with all identifying names removed and will be scored by a rating system.

Deadline for this contest is June 14, 2008.

The winners and runners up will be posted July 1, 2008. By entering the contest, you agree to allow The Long and the Short of It to publish your entry on the LASR website. All stories chosen to be published will be archived for a period of six months following publication. All rights revert back to the author at that time and, at the author's written request, the story will be pulled from our archives.

So what do you think? I can tell you that it's real. I had one of mine accepted so I know the personal thrill of seeing my own words up there for the world to see.
What about you?

Win and Laugh

To everyone who took my poll, Thank you!
I am amazed but I suppose I shouldn't be to see that deer comprised the biggest response of animals seen while driving while MOOSE came before bears. That was surprising. I thought there were more bear than moose, but it seems not.

This new polling feature on Blogger is fun.
:-)

BTW - I'm a little late in mentioning this to my romance reader readers out there. Did that make sense?

Did you hear about the April contest at LASR?

If not, check this out:

During April, we are giving away a book every day. Most will be print romances in various genres, and there may be the occasional eBook. Either way, you'll be getting some great books to add to your keeper shelf.
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Contest Rules:
To enter, leave a comment on the book you want to win -- but you only have ONE DAY in which to enter for each drawing...the day it is reviewed. The drawing for each book will be held the morning after the review posts, so make sure you get your entry in on the correct day. The books available for giveaway will be marked with a yellow chick. For a second chance to win, find the same chick somewhere on our main website and Email us to tell us where he's located.
NOTE:
Print book giveaways are open to US and Canada residents only. eBooks giveaways are open to anyone worldwide.

A couple of books that I reviewed are going to go up as part of the contest too. I hope my reviews inspire entries. I only chose books that either had me laughing or biting my nails in suspense but they ALL have HEA's.
Romance isn't romance without one.
IMHO
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Again, for those that have NO interest in winning and reading romance books, I'll share an email funny that my uncle sent me....

Talking vs. Spanking

Much of America thinks it's improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to help my kids regain control of themselves when they have one of 'those moments.'

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride. Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc. Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

Sincerely,
Your Friend

Happy Birthday to LASR's JUDY

Judy' s birthday is today and I wanted to let y'all know.

She always makes the cyber-cakes for the gals as LASR, so I'd thought I'd try my hand at it.

Gee, which one should I try first?

LOL

Happy Birthday, Judy!

And for an extra special pic, this is an extra treat for Judy. This guy is PERFECT as one of the hero's in Tara Jenzen's Steele Street series.

Can you name the hero that started out as a secondary character early on who was always seen being painted while wearing angel wings, just like THIS guy????

How to Get Lucky!

OH, will that title garner Google hits or what?

ROTFL

This notice is for readers who want to win!
Awesome prizes abound but the only way to get lucky it to ENTER!
Well, I suppose that could be said for many things.
**ahem**

Major Contest not to be missed! WIN $100.00 Gift Certificates IN BOOKS!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00

Seriously, picture getting TEASED by All that ROMANCE while reclining on a clipper ship, bobbing on a sultry BAY. Imagine your senses being pampered with WILD ROSES by a Regency hunk named Sir LYON. Oh, sure I'm WISE that it's FICTION. But come the SAMHAIN, you never know - you could be EXCHANGED (go back) in time to be with your hunk. But you need Mr. LINKY to do it. I guess that's the LONG AND SHORT OF IT.

So what are you waiting for! Get Lucky and Enter today! $$$ 100.00 $$$

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And for those NON-readers out there.

Guess what? I almost hit a cow today!
Yep, young bull was crossing the road in front of me. I was so startled, I mean, how often do I come across huge wildlife in the middle of the road? Not often.
Oh, if a cow, which is domesticated, is loose in the road, does it revert to being called WILD LIFE? Or is there another word for it?

Anyway, someone must have called the police to say there was a cow on the loose because I looked in my rearview mirror and a police cruiser with lights flashing drove up to block the road. See? Even cows get Police Protection.
OK...,so it was traffic control.
:-)


AND

Yesterday, when I was bringing home youngest from an MD appt, we saw a bedraggled raccoon about 10:30 AM. At that time of day, my first thought was rabies. My little guy told the visiting librarian all about it and how he was concerned about people's safetly. She was impressed.

She called today to let us know that the Animal Control Officer had apprehended the poor thing. Turns out the raccoon was NOT rabid at all.
It had been ATTACKED by a porcupine!
The little bandit is now being cared for and nursed back to health.
Amazing!

So, Yep - the word LUCKY is hot today.

A Lucky Raccoon is rescued and receiving TLC>
A LUCKY cow/bull didn't get creamed by a car and
There's a great contest going on where LUCKY contestants WIN!

Not bad for a Wednesday, eh?

I'm published! Oh my!

Tee hee.
Talk about a Good Morning wake-up call for me!

Quick! Jog over to LASR's website for a free treat.
My short (short) story!!

What's in a Name?

I'd love to know what you think.

Can You Believe it's been a Week?

"A week of what?" you ask.
Tomorrow will be a week since the LASR website went online and the owners have saved the best for last.

What could inspire a Major Squeee! moment?

An interview with the amazing and prolific Lori Foster!!

I'm a major fan of Lori's - her stories of the Winston Brothers are what hooked me. The series that has Say No to Joe and Jamie amongst other titles has kept me. What does Lori have coming up? I have no idea but I hope she's going to share something good and I can't wait to read the interview.
Stop on by!

And, if you have a hankering to read something but are short on time, there's a sweet story for you to read for FREE.

And remember, there's the contest to enter for free books and stuff.

What are you waiting for? I've invited you. :-)