It's mother's day again, so make sure you hug your mom or at least tell her you love her.
I freely admit that I have the most awesome Mom ever, and totally lucked out in that regard.
She may not have made every concert I performed in, every game I cheered at (shut up I was in junior high) or every award ceremony where they gave me yet another certificate for being good at whatever it was that week... but there was always food on the table. She kissed every bruised knee, held my hand when I was scared, kept it together to get me to the ER when I broke my arm.
She gave me a good portion of my sense of humor, all of my ability to keep going through the worst, and a shining example to live up to.
She has held my hand through everything from a broken arm, to a broken heart, when I lost a pet, and when we've lost someone dear to us.
She's taught me so much, I don't even know where to start. From how to tie my shoes to how to tie a horse to how to tie down a load. Cooking and ethics and history, heritage and honor. Vet care and breeding plans and training tricks and an honest love for any animal under my care.
She has served as an example to me, both in the best of what I want to be and where I could stand to make some improvements.
She's helped me out in so many ways, so many times, more than she could possibly have been expected to, truly above and beyond the call of duty in every way.
She's my best friend, my confidante, my harbor in stormy seas. She's my wonderful, crazy, awesome, funny, amazing Mom, and I would be utterly lost in this world without her.
I love you, Farmmom.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Tech Support
For those who don't know, I have managed to dive into yet another job, this time, tech support working from home.
So far it's been pretty all right, everything considered. I've been "on the phones" for a week now, and have to say that I've gotten pretty lucky with customers. My co workers are another matter.
There were several people in my training class that had worked from home in customer service before. For the most part, they're the worst about asking stupid questions. I manage to maintain a cheery facade all the way through the day, jolly customers out of cranky moods (well, yeah, they're calling because something is broken on a service they're paying for, of course they're cranky!) and end my calls on an up note. I'm not in the target range for call time, yet, but we're told to take our time until we get in the swing of it, so I'm not sweating that too much.
I've been assessed on one call, and missed a couple of things in the call flow, mostly because the call that they picked was so very simple that I simply handled the issue... the customer simply wanted to know where to find a piece of information that was available on her equipment. The answer was "pick it up, look at the sticker on the bottom, it will be labeled. Go ahead and look, I'll make sure you find it before we end this call so that you don't have to call back in."
Of course they didn't listen to the marathon troubleshooting sessions that ended with the problem NOT being resolved (it was something further up the line or something that I was unable to troubleshoot,) but the customer STILL thanking me profusely for my help. Or the customer that was on hold for twenty minutes in two minute bites and still made a joke about asking for my phone number at the end of the call. Ah well.
But really, the absolute best part of this job? My office mates. More often than not, Fuzzy Pup hops up on the footstool I have arranged by my desk for getting a little more comfortable in the chair I'm glued to all day, and snuggles up against my legs. Across the room I've got the fishtank, with my pretty fish swimming about being fish like. And Farmdog, well, she's not all that impressed with this whole me being home but not playing with her thing, but she just stares at me hopefully for a moment every once in a while when I'm between calls, and then sighs and goes outside, or to lay down somewhere and nap.
I'm still learning and still working, but I'm getting there, and doing the best job I can, and if I miss a few things on the call flow, well, the customer thanking me for giving them exactly the information they needed is validation enough for me. Eventually they'll pick one of those calls where the customer is absolutely irate when I answer, and by the end of it thanks me for my help, whether I've been able to solve their problem or not, and I'll get the recognition from the company that I already know I have from the customers I talk to. In the mean time, I'll keep helping little old ladies remember to plug their modem in after the storm, and reassuring them that there's no charge for calling in.
So far it's been pretty all right, everything considered. I've been "on the phones" for a week now, and have to say that I've gotten pretty lucky with customers. My co workers are another matter.
There were several people in my training class that had worked from home in customer service before. For the most part, they're the worst about asking stupid questions. I manage to maintain a cheery facade all the way through the day, jolly customers out of cranky moods (well, yeah, they're calling because something is broken on a service they're paying for, of course they're cranky!) and end my calls on an up note. I'm not in the target range for call time, yet, but we're told to take our time until we get in the swing of it, so I'm not sweating that too much.
I've been assessed on one call, and missed a couple of things in the call flow, mostly because the call that they picked was so very simple that I simply handled the issue... the customer simply wanted to know where to find a piece of information that was available on her equipment. The answer was "pick it up, look at the sticker on the bottom, it will be labeled. Go ahead and look, I'll make sure you find it before we end this call so that you don't have to call back in."
Of course they didn't listen to the marathon troubleshooting sessions that ended with the problem NOT being resolved (it was something further up the line or something that I was unable to troubleshoot,) but the customer STILL thanking me profusely for my help. Or the customer that was on hold for twenty minutes in two minute bites and still made a joke about asking for my phone number at the end of the call. Ah well.
But really, the absolute best part of this job? My office mates. More often than not, Fuzzy Pup hops up on the footstool I have arranged by my desk for getting a little more comfortable in the chair I'm glued to all day, and snuggles up against my legs. Across the room I've got the fishtank, with my pretty fish swimming about being fish like. And Farmdog, well, she's not all that impressed with this whole me being home but not playing with her thing, but she just stares at me hopefully for a moment every once in a while when I'm between calls, and then sighs and goes outside, or to lay down somewhere and nap.
I'm still learning and still working, but I'm getting there, and doing the best job I can, and if I miss a few things on the call flow, well, the customer thanking me for giving them exactly the information they needed is validation enough for me. Eventually they'll pick one of those calls where the customer is absolutely irate when I answer, and by the end of it thanks me for my help, whether I've been able to solve their problem or not, and I'll get the recognition from the company that I already know I have from the customers I talk to. In the mean time, I'll keep helping little old ladies remember to plug their modem in after the storm, and reassuring them that there's no charge for calling in.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Fishies!
So, the fishy project is well under way. I have one round of babies (best count is about nine) that are growing quickly, and one female getting closer and closer to spawning some more. Unfortunately it's proven rather difficult to get good pics of baby fishies. They're just too tiny and quick to get reliable photographs.
Anyway, here's the cast:
On the left is the male, and yes, he's much smaller than the females. He's a red Mickey Mouse, you can't see his markings in this photo, but they're subtle and sort of cool looking. The yellow female is a Marigold Variatus Mickey Mouse, and the red female is is a Red Wag, no mickey mouse markings.
Seen above: A baby! Some of this batch are staying yellowish/clear like this one, but several of them are looking grey and reddish, which blends into the gravel. Some are also growing much faster than others, there are a couple that are veritable giants compared to the others, but they'll all end up turtle-snack sized eventually.
As you can see, this female is rather pregnant, and near as I can figure out, may or may not be close to spawning. Unfortunately there isn't a real clear way to figure out exactly when a fish is going to pop. All the websites say "You'll know your female is close to spawning when she is very fat. Like, really very fat." Thank you, helpful online fish websites.
The babies I have now were born in a smaller tank, before I got the big tank up and running, so when I made the move, I left them in the smaller tank for a while. They had a chance to grow a bit without worrying about being eaten, which the next batch probably won't, but hopefully the lovely plants given to me by a very generous father of a friend will provide enough cover for the new babies to hide out and stay away from the adults.
At any rate, now you've seen my latest breeding project. Feel free to call me a dork, since I'm pretty sure I qualify, given how avidly I've been watching this tank for any changes (including trying to catalog the number and variety of snails, or more likely eggs, that hitched a ride on the plants, which is sort of awesome as they're good for the plants and keep the tank clean.)
Anyway, here's the cast:
On the left is the male, and yes, he's much smaller than the females. He's a red Mickey Mouse, you can't see his markings in this photo, but they're subtle and sort of cool looking. The yellow female is a Marigold Variatus Mickey Mouse, and the red female is is a Red Wag, no mickey mouse markings.
Seen above: A baby! Some of this batch are staying yellowish/clear like this one, but several of them are looking grey and reddish, which blends into the gravel. Some are also growing much faster than others, there are a couple that are veritable giants compared to the others, but they'll all end up turtle-snack sized eventually.
As you can see, this female is rather pregnant, and near as I can figure out, may or may not be close to spawning. Unfortunately there isn't a real clear way to figure out exactly when a fish is going to pop. All the websites say "You'll know your female is close to spawning when she is very fat. Like, really very fat." Thank you, helpful online fish websites.The babies I have now were born in a smaller tank, before I got the big tank up and running, so when I made the move, I left them in the smaller tank for a while. They had a chance to grow a bit without worrying about being eaten, which the next batch probably won't, but hopefully the lovely plants given to me by a very generous father of a friend will provide enough cover for the new babies to hide out and stay away from the adults.
At any rate, now you've seen my latest breeding project. Feel free to call me a dork, since I'm pretty sure I qualify, given how avidly I've been watching this tank for any changes (including trying to catalog the number and variety of snails, or more likely eggs, that hitched a ride on the plants, which is sort of awesome as they're good for the plants and keep the tank clean.)
Friday, April 27, 2012
Mamaw's Cinnamon Rolls
I haven't posted a new recipe for a while so here you go.
Mamaw's Cinnamon Rolls
2 pkgs yeast 1 T sugar
1/4 cup very warm water
1/4 cup very warm water
mix well and set aside till foamy. Cream 2/3 cup softened butter with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt.
Add 3 eggs and beat well. Add 1 cup hot water and yeast mixture.
Add 4 cups flour.
Cover and let rise. Punch down and let rise again.
Pour onto floured board and roll out to about 1/2 inch.
Spread with butter then sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and chopped nuts. The more cinnamon the better for me.
Roll up and slice 1" to 1 1/2" thick. In bottom of pan put 1/2 cup butter in pats (the more butter the gooier the topping ) and brown sugar to cover about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, as many as you want. Place cinnamon rolls on top and let rise.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or till golden brown. let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out on a tray.
FarmDad will grab one right out of the oven.
Once in a while I will chop up a can of apple pie filling and smear that on before I roll them up.
Enjoy!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Question....
Ok, I'm working on another short story, and probably another one after that... I plan to continue adding to the e-books. There's a question I have, though. So far, all my sales on Men In Black Suits have been on Amazon. Unless Barnes and Noble's reporting system is delayed, that means that nobody wants to read it on a Nook. As fond as I am of the nook platform, there's an option Amazon offers that offers me a chance to make some more money. Maybe. If I make an item exclusive to Amazon for at least 90 days.
So, over on the right, there's a poll. Tell me how you'd like to see future stories published, and I'll listen... since you all are the whole point of publishing this stuff! I've got the "I'll pay more for a PDF/text file" answer on there, because I've gotten that response from a couple of people. If there's enough demand, I'll whip up a pdf or offer the text file for sale on the blog. Keep in mind that delivery wouldn't be instant, since I'd be emailing it.
I'm hoping to have the next short story ready to go by the middle of next week, but we'll see. It's cranking out quite a bit longer than Men In Black Suits already, and I'm not even halfway through. So, tell me what you think.
So, over on the right, there's a poll. Tell me how you'd like to see future stories published, and I'll listen... since you all are the whole point of publishing this stuff! I've got the "I'll pay more for a PDF/text file" answer on there, because I've gotten that response from a couple of people. If there's enough demand, I'll whip up a pdf or offer the text file for sale on the blog. Keep in mind that delivery wouldn't be instant, since I'd be emailing it.
I'm hoping to have the next short story ready to go by the middle of next week, but we'll see. It's cranking out quite a bit longer than Men In Black Suits already, and I'm not even halfway through. So, tell me what you think.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Men In Black Suits
Ya'll remember, way back in '07, when I wrote a little goofy parody, that sort of got stuck, and never came un-stuck?
Well, it finally did. You can finally find out what in the hell happened with Sam in the bathroom!
Since I'm broke, I'm selling it. Don't worry, it's cheap, only 99 cents. I get less than half of that, but let's face it, it's a short story. It also provided a handy dry run for when I publish Jane... and I've learned a few things that will make that process go much smoother, so it's a net win.
As a side note, no, it's not published under FarmGirl. It's also not published under my real name. Plenty of people out there know who I am, now, but I always planned on publishing Jane under a nom de plume, and this particular one happens to let me honor people that I dearly love at the same time. That dizzy last name? It's pronounced "Dahzee."
Get it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble for your favorite e-reader or e-reader app.
Enjoy!
Well, it finally did. You can finally find out what in the hell happened with Sam in the bathroom!
Since I'm broke, I'm selling it. Don't worry, it's cheap, only 99 cents. I get less than half of that, but let's face it, it's a short story. It also provided a handy dry run for when I publish Jane... and I've learned a few things that will make that process go much smoother, so it's a net win.
As a side note, no, it's not published under FarmGirl. It's also not published under my real name. Plenty of people out there know who I am, now, but I always planned on publishing Jane under a nom de plume, and this particular one happens to let me honor people that I dearly love at the same time. That dizzy last name? It's pronounced "Dahzee."
Get it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble for your favorite e-reader or e-reader app.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Jane
I'm working on finishing Jane, I have a couple of chapters past what I last published on the blog and I'm getting on towards wrapping it all up.
What I'm going to do, is e-publish the entire thing when it's done. That way everyone gets the whole story.
Money is tight right now so the extra income will be very welcome, as well.
Watch this space, folks. The long, long, long wait is coming to an end.
What I'm going to do, is e-publish the entire thing when it's done. That way everyone gets the whole story.
Money is tight right now so the extra income will be very welcome, as well.
Watch this space, folks. The long, long, long wait is coming to an end.
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