various and sundry take a tax deduction

[lagilman]

Galley Slave alert! Galleys are going out this week. Everyone should stow their oar and rest up...

As I mentioned this morning, part of my day was spent doing site research. It's a small scene but an important one, and has repercussions not only for this book, but for the entire series, and into the Retrievers series as well. So it needed to be right and, while I'd been there before, I needed to know specifics. Because if you're going to ask people to suspend their disbelief, you've got to give them a sturdy chair to stand on.


The Pinetum, in Central Park



And then I had Tax Joy (not), and then on to



(I swear. Muppet-puppy)



And, to end this day on the proper note of OMGWTF, from AP:

"About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing sets to go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television. Though most viewers were ready, some stations and call centers reported a steady stream of questions from frustrated callers."

Guys. If you have a tv, and watch it enough to know your signal's been cut, you should have been tipped to the fact that this was planned.... two years ago? There's been television coverage, newspaper articles, and congressional debate on the topic, all front and center and not covert at-farking-all. So if you were still caught off guard, unprepared, and clueless enough to complain about it/ask what was going on?

*facepalm*

And now I have to try and get some wordage in. *whimpers*

Comments

[bkwrrm-tx.livejournal.com]

Muppet-puppy is the perfect name!

[lagilman]

There actually is a muppet-dog in second season Muppet Show that I swear could be her litter-mate.

Mei-chan is a sweet, loving, energetic thing, and she wears us all out. It's soothing to come home to the felines, who just want to drape themselves on me and purr....

[cedunkley.livejournal.com]

Cool pics. I'm trying to remember just where in the park that is but can't place it.

By the way, the mass market editions of Curse the Dark and Bring it On are already in transit from Amazon. It seems the release date got bumped up a couple of weeks. I love getting books and especially earlier than expected books.

[lagilman]

86th Street, by the Great Lawn.

And cool! *happy books time!*

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the last picture. Truly a muppet puppy!

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

On the digital TV thing -- some folks had their sets go all snow because they can't receive the digital signals, even with a converter. Doesn't have as much usable range . . .

More of a problem out here in the boondocks than for Big City Folks, of course. There are people in this world who don't have access to cable, even if they wanted it.

[lagilman]

Hey, nowhere did I say anything about this being a GOOD idea or a fully-thought-out one*. Just that it was a well-publicized one, even out in the Boonies, the Hinterlands, or other places that don't have the option of cable. The ads were running on all tvs, not just cable stations. The problems with being out of range were already known and grumbled about. So not knowing what was going on rates a meerkat *facepalm*.


*nor am I saying that everyone should run out and get cable, even if it is available.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Not blaming you, for dog's sake, just that knowing the change is coming doesn't mean you'll be able to receive a signal. All those blithe comments of "you may need to install an external antenna" -- okay, where do I apply for Big Brother coupons for _that_ . . .

[kriz1818.livejournal.com]

OMGWTF? My 9-year-old kept seeing announcements about it on the TV, and bugged us till we sent away for the coupons. ("Plug and play", my sweet Aunt Fanny - but my spouse managed to rig the converter to work.)

[filamena.livejournal.com]

I am practically holding my breath.

-Galley Slave Fil

[lagilman]

I picked up one of the galleys I'm sending out (no, not going to say which) and totally did not get ANY work done tonight because I had to read it all the way through. Damn you, *unnamed author!* grrr....


(I'll be blogging about it myself, next week)

[lingster1.livejournal.com]

I sent off for the coupon in October and never did receive it. (Yes, I complained -- twice -- and was told by the Gov. agency: "Tough!") Perhaps that happened to other folk? Plus, the prez knocked the date back a few months, and that news was well-publicized. I'm inclined not to be so hard on the folks who complained when their screens went dark as you seem to be.

[lagilman]

*sigh* Please to re-read what I actually said. I am annoyed at people who called in because they didn't know what was going on. You, by your own admission, knew, and had taken steps, so if you'd been caught you would have known why and what to do/what you could do about it, even if they'd screwed up (as usual) in Washington.

So yes. People who are willfully ignorant in the face of available information, and then complain as though it's someone else's fault? I *facepalm*

[lingster1.livejournal.com]

Wow.

[lagilman]

Wow?

I don't claim to be even remotely perfect, much less fully informed, but Willful ignorance + resulting whinging = "are you kidding me?" reaction, here. Sorry if anyone feels that I'm being terribly terribly harsh, etc. I save my sympathy for the people who get blindsided by hidden information or skunky practices.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*makes incoherent noises at the puppy*

[lagilman]

And she would give you a quizzical look, and then wash your face for you....

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

You see, I'm really really a cat person. Mei-chan is certainly a sweet dog, but I don't even have the urge to coo. Now, she me a picture of the Boomer or the Duchess… then I'll coo and then coo some more.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

That was supposed to be "show me a picture…"