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A Plumber's Helper Of A Different Sort

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The view from below, minus my head. With Ben's high school graduation coming in a little less than three weeks, we have been catching up on many badly-needed house projects, both indoors and out. There's nothing quite like having 50 people come to your house to get you to take a look around and see what needs work. As a result, we both have mental lists in our heads and whittle away at projects as we can. Today we tackled our kitchen faucet, a project we've been putting off for about a year now. Our old faucet had built up so many mineral deposits that it didn't even pivot to the second sink. Like so many aspects of home ownership, we just kind of lived with it thinking...someday. Besides, who uses that second sink anyway, right? Well, just the rest of the world, that's all. I have said many, many times on this blog that I don't consider myself "handy". On the other hand, I've said equally as many times that I don't give myself enough
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Cars, Crowns And Colonoscopies

So my 23 year old daughter bought her first car this week. She is in living up in Minneapolis and recently moved out of college and into her own apartment. While she was a student, mass transit worked just fine for her, but now she needs a car to get to work among other things. Now, it's hard to say I ever had a pleasant car purchase experience. Ever. But here's the deal. It sucks but it's part of life. It's part of being an adult. I rank it right up there with a colonoscopy or a dental crown on the fun scale. I'd sooner get blasted by a fire hose, frankly. I hate looking for cars. I hate test drives. I hate negotiations. I hate pushy salesmen.  I hate pushier finance guys I hate the paperwork and I hate sitting in sterile cubicles of salesmen who are likely looking for another job. Some people get a charge out of a new car. I am not one of those. To me, a car is a good way to get from here to there. Simpler is better, but hey, if I have to have seat warmers
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Writing For My Life

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Lots of stuff going on in the writing realms lately, so I will try and give a quick rundown.  1. Personal sales of my new book, Cretin Boy have been strong the past couple of weeks. I am extremely grateful for everyone who purchases from my personal stock, as it is significantly better for the author than an Amazon sale. I have been making trips to the post office every few days lately and it is all with a heart full of gratitude. 2. To help with personal sales, I've recently created an online store using Square, which has made ordering books much easier for people online and gives them the opportunity to get my books signed and shipped to their house. Check it out here.   3. As part of my giveback for Cretin Boy, I am donating a portion of each personal sale to Cretin-Derham High School. In part due to the strong sales, I was able to make that first donation today. It feels good to give back! 4. I have signed up to be part of a panel at the Deep Vally Book Festival in southern M
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