May: What a Month!
Did You Say Something?
I’ve been wearing hearing aids for over a decade. The original ones lasted almost six years before dying and technology advanced enough I could get devices that not only let me hear, but would stream all those audiobooks I listen to. (At less than half the cost of the ones my audiologist wanted to sell me!) However, those died after less than two years and the warranty replacements went toes up the end of April - less than two years after I got them. I’m not fond of spending $850 per year so started searching for new ones that weren’t so expensive.
I found some online I thought would work. Instead of over-the-ear as I’ve had before, these were supposed to fit entirely in the ear. Not hearing my hair move every time I push a strand behind my ears? Priceless. What I didn’t know is they shipped from China. It took over two weeks to get them. Then, they didn’t fit in my small ears. It’s been nearly two weeks and I’m still arguing with them about their “money back guarantee.”
Next? In-the-ear devices (no Bluetooth) that claimed they were tiny. Another week before they arrived (from China) and they don’t fit, either. Still waiting to hear how to return those…
I’m on the third pair. I’m back to over-the-ear but these have Bluetooth and are programmable (to a certain extent). They work fine as hearing aids but if you stream anything (like a book or music), the batteries die about eight hours into wearing them. I’m trying to deal with that, telling myself they are 75% less than the ones that worked fine for my needs…until they didn’t.
Wish me luck.
Publishing Update
I told you last month I deleted my Draft2Digital account because of their fees. When I can, I’ve been uploading my ebooks to various retail sites. As of this writing, I’ve uploaded the fiction to Apple, Kobo, and Nook. (Transformation! isn’t on Kobo until IngramSpark fixes something.) I ran into a snag with A Green Witch’s Cupboard and Baneful! so those aren’t uploaded, yet. (Baneful! is on Nook, though.) As soon as I can get things fixed, I’ll upload those, too. So for those of you who don’t like the behemoth, things are moving to where you are reading.
Make Your Own
I’ve always had a problem with oils not absorbing into my skin which is why I’ve mixed my essential oils with a lotion when I need to treat a skin issue. But as I’ve aged, my skin has gotten drier and lotions no longer provide the moisture I need. I thought I’d try oils again, so started looking at commercial plant-based skin oils.
Man, are these companies proud of their products! One I looked at was $60 for 100mL; another was $69 for 100mL. That’s only 3.38 ounces for you US folks. I chose one and looked at their ingredients. I have them all in stock. While the EOs they use are really beneficial, I don’t like any skin care product that is scented, so I left those out. Four oils: sweet almond, evening primrose, rosehip, and Vitamin E form their base. I made 4 ounces for only $9. (Adding the essential oils would bump the cost up less than $1 - they’re all relatively inexpensive oils and it only takes a couple drops each.) It moisturizes great but still sits on top of my skin longer than I’d like. I think I’ll tweak the proportions of the next bottle just a little, using less almond and more evening primrose.
If you have a few minutes, try making your own skincare products. Nearly all ingredients can be found retail and you’ll save a boatload of money!
In the Garden
For over six months, I bitched about how dry it’s been. (We’re in a severe drought.) We’re on a well so when it’s this dry, I reserve water use for only the house - and the tub in the garden the critters drink from. All the plants in the garden are on their own. That changed in the last week. We’re in a summertime pattern of rain/thunderstorms in the afternoon. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) we haven’t received nearly as much rain as parts south of us. It’s taken a week just to get to an inch, when places in Atlanta got that in less than an hour. (Interstate 75 in the heart of the city flooded a week ago, causing a miles-long backup during rush hour!) While my back is better and I’ve finally been able to get out there and start to clean things up, I’m still not planting anything. I still have a bunch of weeding to do - those plants don’t seem to mind the dry at all!
What I’ve Been Reading
Pubs & Pegasi: Tales from the Broken Claw Book 1 by Don Jones. A sweet cozy fantasy. Sam is a mercenary tired of the mercenary life. She retires after her shieldmate is killed and starts traveling along a road dotted with towns, wondering what’s next in her life. She comes to a well-fortified town (stone walls; turrets good for archers) but the town gates are open and appear as if they’ve been open for some time. She stopped at the local pub for something to drink and eat and, after a strange conversation with the bartender, he tells her she ought to stay to run the pub – it’s time for him to move onto something else. Not to buy the pub, mind you. Just stay and run it. The town itself doesn’t run on money – they take care of each other. All sorts of things happen, including a herd of Pegasi (who have the smelliest excrement imaginable) who decide the town green has really tasty grass and don’t want to leave. It takes a while for Sam to settle into her new life, but she does, including (probably) hooking up with the town’s constable, who was also a merc in her previous life.
Druid Forge (The Druid Apprentice Series) by M. D. Massey. This book/series follows Fiadh, a druid apprentice who gets herself into a lot of trouble. Her magic abruptly manifested at eighteen, causing a car crash that left her best friend paralyzed from the waist down and a family of four dead when their minivan went over a cliff. She was convicted of DUI and vehicular manslaughter, doing time in a tough prison. All that blew her planned future of becoming a doctor. After getting out, a druid takes her under his wing, and she gets a part time job at a coffee store run by a half fae. All of a sudden, bad things start happening to her…and her best friend. She – and her friend – have been cursed and time is running out. She needs to find who cursed them before her friend dies. Let’s not forget the hunky Federal agent assigned to watch her who actually tries to help rather than hinder. There’s a lot of Irish Gaelic in here and you have to turn to the back for pronunciation and some of the meanings. If you can handle all the Gaelic, it’s a good read.
The Magical Mail Logs of Phoenix Firebolt (The Enchanted Post Chronicles Book 1) by Paula Lester. This one is billed as a “Low-Stakes Cozy Fantasy.” Low stakes, indeed. It’s sweet. Cloyingly so. Phoenix Firebolt has a boring job, occupies a boring apartment, lives a boring life. The author calls it all, “beige.” Then she gets a letter delivered by a puffin, offering her a position as a postal carrier in Mosshollow, a hidden village. After a few hours, she shrugs her shoulders and takes the offer. What follows is a story of a woman finding herself, and uncovering secrets – some of them her own family’s, in an enchanted village. I admit, I raced through the last half of the book, skipping paragraph after paragraph of overly-descriptive prose just to get through it. I guess I like higher stakes.
The Storm Awakened (Chronicles of Storm Book One) by N. M. Thorn, narrated by Steven Barnett. This is a classic good-versus-evil tale - with a twist. Declan Storm is a thousand-year-old Child of Air, meaning he wields Air as his element, although he has other magical capabilities, too. He’s a thief and forger, and after spending time in prison for one of his previous escapades, decides he wants a quiet life at his home in a secluded part of Key West. Of course, that would make for a boring story, so some vampires go nuts at a nightclub and Declan gets caught up in solving the problem. Along the way, he frees his thousand-year-old vampire friend from a fight club, and together they fight those evil forces. Good, but a tad long due to all the battles. Don’t like gore? Don’t read this one.
I’ll close this month by paying the cat tax: this is the lockscreen photo on my phone. Mischa has an overbite but the blep is so darned cute!
