Everyday Adventures

Trading a Labor Day Cookout for a Hurricane Party

Everyday Adventures

On Monday night I told Todd that part of me wanted to throw an impromptu Labor Day cookout but the other part of me was all “what are you thinking?!” So I asked him which side of me he agreed with, more, and it was the latter. Probably for the best, even if I wanted to keep things low key I’m, well, me and I would end up exhausted afterwards, so yeah.

But now, with Hermine brewing away in the gulf, the weekend might be spent drying out from the rain.

While I am, like most of the locals I know, completely unphased by a tropical storm off our coast, working where I do means that even these smaller disturbances have to be taken very seriously. Contingency plans in case an evacuation is required, preparation for sheltering in place, and notifying the required agencies and so on and so forth. It’s yet another eye opener courtesy of my new employer.

Back when I was 9, Hurricane Kate hit the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 storm and was the last one to have any significant impact on Tallahassee. We rode out the storm in our trailer, and I was sure I would never be able to sleep that night while Mom was seemingly cool as a cucumber. I remember thinking that it felt like God was just tossing God-sized barrels of water against the different sides of our home before finally falling asleep, and that Mom stayed awake all night. My brothers would have both been under 2 years old, so I don’t think they remember it at all.

The next day, when the eye passed over us, I remember the quiet, but that was, perhaps, the last thing I really registered. We were only without power a couple of days since we lived just off the main east-west street through town, and had a gas stove so we could still cook for ourselves and all. School, however, was closed for a week and we had to make up the time at the end of the school year.

In the back of our neighborhood a small tornado had come through and taken down several trees, though I don’t remember if any homes were damaged.

Since then, the worst we’ve had were soaking rains that caused trees to fall, a few microbursts here and there, and otherwise bad storms, but nothing to really worry about. Schools and some businesses may close, but someone joked today that, well, the schools are closed, that means tomorrow’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s happened more than once.

Such is the atmosphere and attitude that breeds the Hurricane Party mentality. That and a c’est la vie take on life in this part of the country where the storms give you 3 days notice and seldom live up to the hype. Of course, with every storm there’s always a possibility of loss of life or property. So be safe, be smart, and, if you do have the day off because of the weather, stay safe and keep a weather eye out.

The Mary Sue at the Beginning of This Series

Just for Fun

While I may mix it up from time to time, most nights my before-bed routine includes reading whatever book I’ve got going on at the moment. I generally have a few books in progress at any given time (not counting the audiobooks for the car) just because my mood changes or something looks really interesting. I also enjoy reading series because I get to spend more time in the same world, with the same characters that I enjoy.

Like, for instance, the Life After War books by Angela White.

(Note: this post contains Amazon affiliate links.)

I originally read the first few books several years ago when I stumbled upon them as free Kindle offerings. The basic premise is that the world goes ass over teakettle in 2012 when the US releases nuclear weapons on itself. The whys and wherefores are mostly inconsequential–it’s just a backdrop upon which the lives of a handful of survivors unfold, evolve, and come together. They all have secrets, flaws, and insecurities. No one is perfect, but most of them are doing what they can to survive with some sort of eye towards the future. They face both human and natural enemies as they cross the country in search of a spot to settle the growing refugee camp known as Safe Haven, and not without their fair share of setbacks.

And to say more than that would, I think, give away too much of the story in case you enjoy survivalist stories with a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure.

If I were to sum it up, the overall feel and vibe of the series, I’d call it a post-apocalyptic version of the Jean M Auel Earth’s Children books (you know, the Clan of the Cave Bear books?) that I read back in my teen years. Not that I feel like the author copies Auel, just that it has a similar scope. Read them both and you can tell me if you agree or not 😛

The one thing that makes me side-eye the series is that the main female character–the powerful witch that all men seem to want in one way or another and women want to be like or in her good graces? Yeah… her name is Angela White.

Self-insertion is hardly the worst thing an author could do. In fact, it’s pretty common in one form or another. Most authors will cop to feeling like part of themselves went into creating their leading men and women and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part write what you know and part human nature. No big thing.

But when your main character bears your own name and it isn’t a memoir? Too far, in my opinion.

Now, because I read the first few books in quick succession (Kindle makes that so easy with their links at the end of each book), it wasn’t until I had to go in search of Book 4 that I realized the whole name thing. And, yes, it cast a bit of something over the story for me, at least at first, but obviously not too much of one since I just started book 6, Where We Stand, last night.

Would I still recommend this series, even with the massive self-insertion faux pas? Yes, I would. It’s a good story, the characters are engaging, there is enough action to keep the story moving but also time for character development and small moments. It’s brutal, but not gratuitous, but that makes sense for the type of story it is.

Arctic Fire Could Use Some Warmer Characters

Everyday Adventures

(this post includes affiliate links)

In this book’s defense, I’m pretty sure I’m not the ideal market the author had in mind.

Also in it’s defense, the macho, daredevil, lady-killer, completely unapologenic character we meet in the very beginning of Arctic Fire (which elicited much side eye from yours truly) was probably meant to appeal to the stereotypical male media consumer of the fast cars and buxom babes ideal.

And it occurred to me, as I rolled my eyes yet again (dangerous, since I was driving at the time), that were it not for growing up with Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan (my two favorite Bonds, in that order) as the playboy secret agent and just picked up one of the 007 novels fresh, I’d probably be less than thrilled with that main character as well.

So all those caveats aside, I still had major issues with the characters in this book, which means I had issues with the book itself. I mean, you don’t want heroes that are too goody-goody and shiny, they’re boring and unrelatable. But if the warring factions of a story are only distinguished by the fraction of a smidgen of less bad one is compared to the other, it makes cheering for one side over the other a bit confusing and can make any ending unsatisfying.

So why did I spend the last 8-10 hours listening to Arctic Fire (Book 1 in the Red Cell Series, by Stephen W Fray)? Because I knew it would have enough action and tension to keep me interested during my drives without the excessive navel-gazing or moony romance.

From the “back cover”

Troy Jensen could do it all: he conquered the Seven Summits, sailed solo around the world twice, and even fought a bull in a Mexican slum on a dare. So when word comes that a rogue wave has swept Troy off a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea and into a watery grave, his brother, Jack, doesn’t buy it.

Against his better judgment, Jack decides to quit his job as a Wall Street trader and head to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to investigate. Minutes after revealing his plan in his father’s New York City office, Jack is nearly run down in the street. He doesn’t think much of it at the time, but as he digs deeper into Troy’s disappearance, Jack unearths information about RED-CELL-SEVEN (RCS), a super-secret American intelligence group that has operated for forty years in almost total secrecy and with complete impunity—and its leaders intend to keep it that way at any cost.

An adrenaline-pumping tale of one man’s descent into a hellish underworld populated by terrorists, assassins, and very bad “good guys,” Arctic Fire explores the disturbing difference between doing what is good and doing what is right when it comes to protecting America from her greatest enemies.

Jack was a semi-likable character, flawed but open-minded compared to his more extreme father and brother (and friends). Okay, sure, he had the emotional maturity of a teenage boy, but still, he was attempting to do something akin to the right thing.

There was a chuckle when he told his pal he was going down to Florida to pick up a bartending job in The Keys to get away from his troubles–a little too much like Cocktail for me (which made me want to watch said movie again, except that I was afraid the nostalgia wouldn’t live up to the reality of a rewatch). And the love interest (obvious from the beginning), despite being a former cop, was more than willing to let a not-so-successful stock trader take the lead in their madcap race across the country with a rogue intel assassin on their tail. Yeah…

But the story also brought up some valid points. Most thrillers of this sort have their horrors safely removed from the reader by several degrees of not being in those professions, etc. that would put you into said dangerous situations. But as Jack asks his best friend, what about when it’s you they pick up to interrogate, even if you had nothing to do with anything, just because you know someone who might know something, not that you’d know, you know?

Where’s that line of right and wrong then?

The brutality of the scenes was bracing, but not unbelievably so. But the author stops short of gratuitous violence and gore, which I appreciate.

So while I’d probably give this story a 2 out of 5 (with 0 being couldn’t even finish it and 5 being oh-my-gawd-I-need-more-where’s-the-sequel), I sure as anything downloaded the next book in the series because yes, I wanted to know what happens next. With that said, had the story not been available as an audiobook on Kindle Unlimited (click here for a 30-Day Free Trial) I wouldn’t have spent actual money on it to find out. So, yeah, casual read okay, but not more than that.

Heard any good books, lately?

The Cake Was Not a Lie

Everyday Adventures

And it was good…

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Obviously I went with store-bought (I mean, sure, I could make something like that, but I wouldn’t normally). And not even because I was late getting home from the knitting event (because I had the date wrong and it was Tuesday night, not Wednesday–oops!), simply because the indulgence was all the sweeter for not having a kitchen to clean up afterwards.

One of the things that afforded the possibility of going to an after-work event was that Duncan has been given elevated privileges while we’re gone. After a couple of crate mishaps (the calm only lasted a couple weeks, apparently), Todd opted to sequester him with his bed, bowl, and toys in the back hallway and his dog door open for side-yard access. While we suspect he spends most of his days moping that we’re not there, he seems to be enjoying the change.

It meant we could go out to dinner on Friday night and not worry so much about him being cooped up for another hour or so. It also means we need to actually puppy-proof the back hall and side yard because, while he hasn’t destroyed anything yet, we really shouldn’t give him the opportunity if we can help it. I also worry about him being a nuisance outside, barking at the neighbors when they’re in their own backyards–just another reason to get that privacy fence up sooner rather than later, right?

And speaking of the pup, I made my first layout with the Project Life App of some of the pictures we took of him on Monday night.

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The app does have some drawbacks compared to digiscrapping in Photoshop. Pictures are only pictures unless you buy the overlay packs, text only fits in the designated journalling spaces in the journaling cards, and of course there are no additional embellishments. But the pro column is stocked with all my photos at my fingers since I can pull from Google Photos (where both my cell photos and my “real” camera downloads are archived). Plus, it’s on my phone, which is with me pretty much always, so I could scrapbook on my lunch break or in the car (when Todd’s driving, obviously!). Plus, the necessarily simple layouts make getting the basics down quick and easy.

I think my plan would be to start on the app, then export it so I can add embellishments or other bits in Photoshop before uploading them for printing.

Sure, most of the pictures I take these days are of food or design team projects, but the app might also help me remember to take more candid, everyday photos, not just special trips or assignments. Certainly couldn’t hurt!

The List

Everyday Adventures

One day last week, on my lunch break, feeling a bit frustrated and exhausted by work and life in general, I made a list:

Things I’d Like to do Again

I wrote down whatever came to mind, everything from having confidence in my work (it was a low day, remember) to blogging regularly, to specific craft projects. Getting it down on paper felt good, it helped me see what had been overshadowed these last couple of months by work and work and trying to de-stress from said work.

As an aside, I now know exactly what kind of days Todd routinely has, days when he doesn’t have time to stop for lunch until the late afternoon (if at all), days when all you’re good for when you get home is to veg in front of the tv for an hour before falling into bed. Not all my days are like that, but enough have been that I get it, now. 

 Now, a list like this could stand on it’s own, being looked at from time to time, wistfully wishing I could go back to having time and energy for these things.

Then I reminded myself that, hello, I’m the one living this life and it’s up to me to make what I want happen, right?! Right.

So, on the facing page I made a companion list:

Ways I Can Make That Happen

And for each item on the first list I gave myself some instructions.

Want to blog regularly? I can either stockpile posts on the weekends or tap out some quicker posts on evenings and weekends. I’ve been working on this one and I hope the shorter, but daily, posts are enjoyable. I feel a bit stiff, still, but I’m hoping that as I keep doing it, it will feel a bit more natural.

Some goals might take a bit more time to get to–taking a vacation, throwing a party, etc.–but they got the simple, “do it” treatment just the same. Whether it’s planning and saving for it, on the list it went.

And what about the work confidence? Work hard, learn more, be patient.

I give pretty good advice to myself. Now to just take it.

Tonight we’re satisfying one of my more frivolous wishes: having chocolate cake for dinner.  I mean, really, why not, right? One of the perks of being a grown up is indulging flights of fancy. I warned Todd it might happen and even put it on the menu. The only real question still to be decided is whether I make the cake myself or I swing by Publix and pick one up on the way home. It depends on how long I’m at The Fuzzy Goat this evening, probably, but those Publix cakes really are very tasty. And already made. No oven required.

Currently the list stands at 13 lines, I suppose I could add more if other ideas present themselves. Have you ever thought about what you’re missing or have put aside that you really want back? And, more importantly, have you ever thought about how you can go about making it happen?