After some painful days without fast and reliable Internet, I finally have DSL, phone and TV in place and working smoothly. I’m particularly enjoying the new DVR. I never watched much television other than the movie channels because I never knew the times of the shows. If I wasn’t around one evening for my favorite show, then I missed it. Sometimes I could watch it on my computer. Now I’m happily setting my DVR to record anything even remotely interesting. I have found a few interesting shows already. I have also watched some On Demand shows from the movie channels that I had missed (I didn’t have all the movie channels before.)

I have been waiting to add the new shows to my recordings as the dates become available. I can only see two weeks in advance. And, I love that I can schedule TV through my computer.

Thus far, I’ve seen Glee. I’m not sure if I will like that one or not. It seems kind of stupid. And I’ve seen The Vampire Diaries, which I liked. I think it’s surprising well done, but I wonder what they will do in the future. It seemed like they gave away a lot of plot in the first episode. I’m used to True Blood, where they only give a little plot at a time and leave you hanging. I wish that the networks began their new season earlier. Right now, only Fox and CW have started their shows.

Considering all the shows I have recorded, I may have to monitor my TV viewing. I may start watching far more TV than usual. I’m not sure this is a good thing.

A friend asked me to take care of his cat while he was out of town for almost two weeks. I thought it seemed easy enough even though it takes 25 minutes to get to his house. I didn’t have to go every day. The first day I had to fill up the cat’s water bowl, but it was so dirty that it had to be cleaned. The sink was too dirty and full of dishes to clean the water bowl, so I had to wash the dishes and scrub the sink. The next time I checked on the cat it was quick and easy. The third time I had to use the bathroom… but the toilet and sink were so dirty I didn’t want to touch them, so they had to be cleaned. The bathroom was rather gross. It was so dirty that I didn’t think the toilet and sink would be clean, but guess what? They are nearly new, and the dirt hadn’t stained yet. Amazing! I had been to his house for parties (bathroom looked the same), so I thought the fixtures needed replaced. I have a couple more visits to make. At this rate, he will come home to a clean house. I think I should take bets to see if he notices.

Finally after a week of dealing with the free local wireless–it’s slow–I finally got DSL back and faster than I used to have it. I switched services. I hope I will like this one, but so far customer service has left me wishing I never changed. I spent an hour and half with them last night trying to figure out why I wasn’t getting phone service as well. By the time I spoke to more than seven people and got to the right department, they were closed. I’m still waiting for the phone service, but at least I have internet and TV.

I had several hours of panic since I thought my cat got out. The installer left doors open all over. I couldn’t follow him everywhere he went at one point. The only thing that is annoying now is that I can’t figure out how to make the remote change the TV to VIDEO so I don’t have to get out the TV remote.

I have been neglecting my few readers lately.

Here’s the latest (for those who care):

1. I spent 4 hours in a photo studio Sunday taking pictures of models. When I walked in, I had to inform them that I was a photographer–not a model. Apparently it’s not easy to tell. Now that I have almost 200 photos that need post work, I’ll be stuck to Lightroom for days.
2. My sister and her family returned unscathed from Southlands Mall in Aurora, CO where a tornado touched down Sunday–perhaps while I was blissfully taking photographs.
3. My novel has been edited. It may not be perfect (although I doubt there are errors), but I’m not going to spend years of my life perfecting every sentence. That’s just nuts.
4. My dog is still driving me crazy. Long ago, in a galaxy not far from here, he was trained. Now that training is mostly non-existent. Perhaps the dog was taken over by an alien dog being.
5. Had I been able to catch my black cat flying across my desk, I would have taught him a lesson too. After the flyby, I spent 20 minutes cleaning up the water the cat spilled from my full glass.
6. For some unknown reason, another cat continues to poop under my dining table. Sprays and carpet cleaning have not stopped him. Removing the dog has not stopped him.
7. My last job interview resulted in a rejection email a week later. No explanation. Phone calls have proven ineffective. NEXT!
8. Novel is being marketed. Now I wait.
9. I have editing to do on a friend’s autobiographical stories. I have avoided doing much for a couple of months. It’s not like I’m getting paid to edit. It’s major editing. The few stories I have edited are almost entirely red (editing feature is ON in Word). I spent an hour on it today with the author.
10. Against my better judgment, I lent my Indiana Jones (Crystal Skull) DVD to a friend. Any bets on when it comes back? How many times will I have to call to remind him?

That’s all for now. I think 10 is a nice round number. Not too many to read, and it looks like I have been up to something.

Well, I got my answer about the job interview last Tuesday. They’re not hiring me. I’m disappointed because I thought I answered everyone’s questions and represented myself well. I’m getting tired of continually sending out resumes and getting rejected. Frankly, I’m not sure how my web presence helps or hinders–thus I’m not listing the company name here. I do know that one of the people had done some Google searching on companies. While he didn’t say that he typed my name into Google, he probably did. He likely knew far more about me than the resume told him. So I’m back to searching for a job–which I’ve been doing while waiting. It has been a lean couple of days though.

It has been awhile–again–since I last wrote. I’m going to catch up on everything that has been happening. In the last two weeks of May, I had two phone interviews each week with two different companies, and one in-person interview. I’m waiting to hear more about that interview since I was the first person they interviewed. My critique on the novel came back, and now I’m waiting to hear from my agent. Lots of waiting right now. I’m feeling rather itchy about the waiting.

I also received an unexpected email last week about some flash cards that I wrote and never heard back on. Although the email was about getting paid, I haven’t heard anything further for at least a week. I’m sure that I’m not missing the emails. It had been months since I first heard anything, so I had given up ever getting paid on the work I did. Another week of no responses to my two emails doesn’t sound good if I expect to get paid.

I have been getting to a movie nearly every weekend, which I’m enjoying. The latest was “Up.” Now if I could just come up with an idea for my next novel…

Since I have been sending tweets, and this site is listed on Facebook, I think it is about time I reveal my real name. It’s not Liz. As you will see, the email now goes to SVGal. When I first started this blog, I wanted to keep my identity hidden, however since then, many readers have found out since I told them. A few friends have read this website knowing the real author as well.

So here I am. My name is Kathy Wiemers. You can find me on Facebook if you wish. I’m on Twitter (link on the side). I have another website where I post my photos and work-related information. There’s no blog there.

It seems I have been lazy about posting. I recently sent out a synopsis of my NaNoWriMo novel to a literary agency. They liked the synopsis and asked for my manuscript. They liked that too. So now I’m waiting for some referrals for editors who do critiques and a contract. How cool is that? I had no idea at the time that within two weeks of sending out a synopsis I would have an agent. I’m sure I will find out who I will be working with soon as well. I’ll keep you posted.

For anyone who wonders how this happens… I would have never written novels if it hadn’t been for a course I took in February 2006. I tried. I failed. A lot. I never felt like I had a good idea. Now the words just flow–once I get an idea. I’m currently probing for novel ideas. To write 93,000+ words in a month seems impossible to most. Even rarer, I have a good chance at getting it published. My dream come true! It seemed so far away at one point in my life, yet it seems to have happened so easily. I have worked hard at finding a job as a chemist. this whole thing makes me wonder if I have been working hard at something that doesn’t really suit me. I truly loved the entire month of November when I was writing. I love chemistry too, but many, many months of searching for a job in chemistry has come to nothing.

So back to this course… Actually it was probably several courses and declaring that I’m a writer that made this happen. I got free of the inner voice that critiqued, criticized and generally made me feel like crap. I was my own worst enemy, and I had no idea how much my thoughts were holding me back. Well maybe I did, but I had no idea how to get past them. I did.

No, not the tests you’re probably thinking of. I spent some time on Sunday helping an ex with his deck, along with two of his other friends. He brought up how the current girl (he’s not really dating her since she lives on another continent) passed his tests. Obviously I didn’t pass. He claimed that everyone has tests. Women especially. “Every time a woman opens her mouth it’s a test.”

I disagree. I can’t even say that I have tests for a relationship. Of course, I have things I want and don’t want. When I was much younger, I did test guys. I wanted to see how much they would put up with. But for the past 10 years, I haven’t seen the need for relationship tests. He claimed that I tested him, but when asked for an example, he couldn’t give one. He said my question was a test. One of his friends agreed with me–that not everyone tests.

However, if people are running around testing their loved ones, how in the world can one pass? You’re not even aware that a particular event or incident is a test. I know my ex tested me. I can even give examples that were obvious tests. It’s stupid though. Instead how about creating what you want in a relationship and having it show up. Viola! No tests necessary. No need to have a checklist with pass or fail. No need to tally the passes and fails. What kind of measure is that of a relationship? Isn’t it supposed to be do you enjoy the other person’s company or not? Simple.

If people are running around giving secret elaborate tests, how does anyone pass? How does anyone stay together? If that is what is happening, it’s no wonder that I’m single. No matter what, you’re bound to fail. It’s a setup. Win-Lose.

I’ve been away from blogging for awhile again. I feel like I have run out of things to write about, and honestly, I think there are few readers left. If the sporadic postings haven’t driven the rest away.  I’m still around–just focusing on other things during the day–mostly finding a job. Although I have to admit that it doesn’t take all day to do that. But usually I have phone calls to answer and return, which I haven’t had much of lately. Instead I have spent my days reading.

I’m not coaching people in the newest leadership program. I coached for two of those programs (that’s just over a year of coaching). I’m currently back taking a seminar. This one is on happiness. I’d say more, but I only slept four hours last night and happy isn’t really on my mind.