We went into town -- just got back -- and the roads aren't too bad. We encountered a slideoff about 2 miles from the house but help was already there so we didn't stop. It's a tricky spot -- a "T" intersection and the intersecting road [north/south] has a pretty good down slope coming in plus there is a drop off on the south side of the east/west road. It looks like the driver started to skid going into the intersection, tried to turn and almost made it, skidded off the road and over the side to be hung up in the brush and trees on the south side of the intersection. The mess was cleaned up by the time we came back through. There have been many times I've held my breath coming down that hill!

Proofing is done!  Next snackie and laundry and I'll start posting! [more ]

Skywise is home and he's setting all the clocks forward! He's even reset my wristwatch!! It is now, suddenly, nearly 2 a.m. and I'm sleepy. There is, however, about 3 loads of laundry on the bed awaiting my attention. Soooo, everyone sleep well and be safe. I go to hang up shirts....

We're back and I have the next section of Castle posts up to work on! So I'm going to make a fresh pitcher of tea and settle in to work.

I've just put the finishing touches on some "naughty stuff" for the Castle.  Don't worry, fellow admins! It's PG-13! But it will give me a good "base' to work from when I get to that spot in the novel.  "All work and no play" and all that...
With luck, I'll be putting this batch up tomorrow. I've still got a few things to touch up. I think all the major rewriting on this section is done.

All Hail the great Deirachel!!!


Our heating & A/C system suddenly quit working. So of course the first thing we tried was resetting the thermostat programming. Then we put the old thermostat on. When that didn't work, I got a new thermostat by mail order. (yes, we had a few chilly nights and a few rather warm days) When THAT didn't work, D got yet another new thermostat at the store. Nothing worked.

D tried resetting the furnace and A/C main breakers, then the breakers on the unit. We replaced the filters, and vacuumed out the system. I was getting pretty sure we had a shot system, even though there had been no warning signs.

So, today he comes home and has the brilliant idea to put the old (new) thermostat back on, and put non-rechargeable, high-output alkaline batteries in it, instead of the rechargeables we had been using. BINGO!! We had no idea the LCD was THAT clear! LOL

So, now we have our climate control back! I had been having multi-thousand dollar nightmares on this one folks! The one thermostat we end up eating the cost of, but that's ok. It was less than $15 delivered anyway. Well worth not having to replace the whole system, eh? I guess the rechargeables just didn't put out the right voltage for the thermostat, especially after being recharged so many times. Must be a sensitive threshold for the power levels.

It's always the simple things that trip me.......lol

Black Rose

Well, unless I get inspired to write a little more, this batch of Castle posts is ready to repost. I'll proof it one last time -- I HATE to get a post up and THEN notice the typo! -- and get them up tomorrow. I'm aiming to have the rest of them up by -- fingers crossed -- mid April. After that, I probably won't be posting much 'cause I'm going to be pounding out the first draft of the novel and THAT, boys and girls, is gonna be a job! I've given myself a deadline to have the first draft finished. Gods and real life willing, I'll make it.

Afternoon all! [Yes, I know that it is only afternoon in the Eastern Time Zone. Those of you to the west are just gonna have to humor me!] Skywise has been doing maintenance on the computers this morning. The sneaky devil was working on the Command Center computer and took control of the cursor on THIS comp. I was trying to scroll down a page and the dratted cursor would NOT stay put! I hollered down the stairwell and got THAT stopped. It is WAY too early for such foolishness. Yeah, I know -- it's afternoon -- but we are on the "late shift" schedule today so it's EARLY for us!

I just pulled up the next batch of Castle posts and started looking over them while the pizza crust is rising. Blessed Mother of Gods!!!  It's gonna be a loonnggg re-write....

We're back! We had to head off to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles this morning. When we registered the van last fall I reserved a personalized plate and we had to go in to the branch to get everything settled now that it is "new plate" time. Plus, there was some mix-ups on the paperwork caused by a combination of clereical error and the fact that Skywise and I used different surnames. We're lawfully, legally and unequivocally married and I decided to keep my name when we married. That has, down through the years caused minor problems ranging from catty speculation about the girls' legal status to paperwork foul-ups. Today was a paperwork foul-up which took a bit to figure out but once the "light" came on, all was well. Then we went south for lunch, grabbed some Cadbury Creme Eggs at Wal-Mart on the way home and here I am!  I'll be working on the next section of reposts tonight so I'll be around.

Just in case anyone asks..




Where is my Ultimate Chainsaw of Delete?! <---Ahhhh there it is!

[See Penth head for large masses of odiously bad writing with blood in her eye.....]

I think I'm going to head out. I've got a couple of things I want to do before Skywise gets home along with some reading on the project. Everyone sleep well and be safe.