Monday, June 16, 2014

A busy week

First off, a belated "Thank you" to fabled megablogger Alex J. Cavanaugh for giving Ghosts a mention last week in his Ninja News. If you haven't visited his blog yet (and, let's face it, if you've managed to find The Bald Patch you must have encountered Alex somewhere in your travels. To say otherwise is a bit like saying you didn't notice England but you found the Isle of Wight!) then you can find it here.

Secondly, I hastily joined Goodreads. I have never felt enticed to join up before, too few hours in the day for the forums I already use, but I looked into it on the suggestion of blogger friend and Weekend Writing Warriors admin, Teresa Cypher.

When I saw that Ghosts was listed on the site, I decided I really should establish a presence and claim my property. You can find my author page here.

But that's not what made last week so busy - even without the BC teachers' strike forcing a distressingly hasty end to the school year.

The weekend before last, we wanted to get the trailer ready for its first outing of the year. It spends the winter parked out of the way with its back to the road, but it's quite a game reversing it out through the narrow entrance, avoiding a ditch along the way. When we need a quick getaway, we usually plan ahead and turn it around at our leisure so it's facing the right way to just hitch up and go.

That was Sunday lunchtime.

By half past lunchtime we realized we had a big problem. Our ten-year-old Ford was not looking too healthy. Suspension gone. It was not towing anything anywhere.

Moreover, even if it got fixed it's been playing up a bit this year and we decided it was time to retire it from towing duty. This is something we've talked about over the last year or so, just hadn't been expecting it so soon. Or with such urgency attached.

Ali is the purchasing queen in the household, so she was straight on to all the local dealerships looking for a second-hand truck with the oomph needed, and the cab space for a family. Long story short, after a stressful few days of frantic phone calls, we finished the week with a very decent F350.

So, on Friday Ali got away for her drunken weekend with work colleagues, and reports the new truck is a dream to drive and a delight to tow with. Should make things easy for our big drive up island later in the summer.

13 comments:

Elizabeth Mueller said...

You are not kidding! You have had one busy week. I have joined Goodreads, but rarely go there. I have so many social forums as it is. Yikes!

Lovely truck! I hope you have tons of fun with it, especially for your vacation trip.

Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment!

♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

Anonymous said...

Happy summer towing/travelling. Go in safety my friend.

David Batista said...

It's a great looking truck! Glad that crisis was averted--phew! :)

I'm on Goodreads. Just recently joined in fact, but only to keep track of all the books I've read and want to read. I never step into the forum(s). But perhaps I should.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Was happy to give you a shout-out!
Glad she found another truck so quickly.
I joined Goodreads before my first book came out. I sometimes forget to update what I'm reading (like now) but it's cool to check on new reviews and adds. Plus I was able to post my trailers and my blog posts, which is cool. Will go find you now!

Botanist said...

You're welcome, Elizabeth. Good to see you blogging again.

Thanks Delores. We have a couple of trips to look forward to.

David, I haven't even found the forums yet. There's a lot on that site and I haven't had time to explore.

Alex, not sure yet how much I'll use the site, but I felt it was important to at least be there and show the face behind the book.

Jean Davis said...

Nice truck!

I have an account on Goodreads from years ago, I just haven't had time to go explore there. One of these days...

Chrys Fey said...

I think you made the right choice about joining Goodreads. It doesn't really take much time or effort, in my opinion. It's a great and easy way to update your books, connect with readers, leave reviews for authors, and keep a list of books you are interested in. :)

Crystal Collier said...

Hey, I friended you on Goodreads. It's only my favorite place to hang. Well, other than the blogosphere. And facebook. And twitter... Okay, so I like them all. but Goodreads is the one that feeds my reading addiction.

You've had an adventure! Glad things worked out this week.

Johanna Garth said...

Holy cow, very busy weekend.

So, I find Goodreads more enjoyable as a way of keeping track of what books I want to read than as a marketing tool. Still, I'm there and now I'm sure I'll see you there too. :)

Botanist said...

Thanks, Jean :)

Chrys, I think leaving reviews is a good idea. I rarely review books on this blog and when I do they don't attract much interest. I think Goodreads would be a better forum for that.

Crystal, I have resisted FB and Twitter and have no wish get dragged into them! I hope Goodreads doesn't end up consuming as much time as I know blogging can.

Johanna, very busy, glad things are quietening down again.

not displayed said...

Yay for a new truck and new adventures with your van.
Love holidays like that.
Enjoy your summer vacationing

Shell Flower said...

I will definitely find you on Goodreads. I love it there. That is the site that got me writing again before I even started blogging.

Botanist said...

Mynx, looking forward to it. Hope the weather holds out this year...

Shell, glad to see you on Goodreads. We are now connected :)

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