About the sanity of some people…
Lady Gaga did this- My beloved dogs Koji and Gustav were taken in Hollywood two nights ago. My heart is sick and I am praying my family will be whole again with an act of kindness. I will pay $500,000 for their safe return.
Not a PENNY offered to find the shooter that shot and almost killed the dog walker…
Guess we know where ‘her’ priorities lie… And it’s NOT with people who ‘service’ her…
SMDH…
First up is Amanda S. Green’s newest book- Jaguar Rising
As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link!
The blurb-
Life changed for Mackenzie Santos more than a decade ago when she woke on a slab in the morgue. If that wasn’t bad enough, then she started turning furry.
And that was just the beginning of the changes in her life and in the world around her.
Since then, Mac’s life has been filled with more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Her responsibilities as cop, mother, pride alpha and member of the Tribunal mean she’s seen the best and worst in both the human and paranormal worlds. . . and the worst is yet to come. It seems someone plans to celebrate her promotion with a real bang!
A monster stalks the streets of Dallas, It has targeted Mac and those close to her. Worse, this “monster” knows her. It spent years studying her, learning her strengths and weaknesses. Worse, it isn’t afraid of harming innocents in its quest to get to her.
Mac will do whatever it takes to bring down this new threat because failure means more than just death. It means all-out war between humans and paras.
Next is Alma T.C. Boykin with the next installment in the Familiars Series- Learnedly Familiar
The blurb-
Where do you file a Missing Meister Report?
Something is moving. Arthur Saldovado, Lelia, and André defeated ancient evil, but mysteries remain. And worse – Arthur’s name-sake is learning how to drive! Who needs abyssal creatures when you have teenagers, school-yard spats, and retail woes to worry about? Certainly not Lelia Chan Lestrang.
When André’s mentor disappears, Lelia braces for the worst. Trouble’s coming, as bad perhaps as the evil that drew her and André together. But she has a few surprises of her own now, including allies in very strange places. With very strange senses of humor.
Return to a Familiar world, full of adventure, bad puns, dark music, magic, shedding lemurs, and domestic chaos.
Next is CV Walter with a science fiction romance- The Alien’s Accidental Bride
The blurb-
Molly was no stranger to life’s little detours. After the last upheaval, she left her family’s law firm to become a maintenance technician on the Space Station Bradbury 12. When an accident knocks her off her feet, she’s going to have to draw on all her resilience to get back up. First, though, she’s going to have to figure out how to talk to the big, blue alien trying to help her.
There wasn’t supposed to be a space station where Mintonar’s ship emerged from the galactic bridge. As far as they knew, there wasn’t supposed to be intelligent life on the planet, either. Proof of how wrong they were is laying in his Medical Bay and it’s his job to save her. When he touches her, his life turns upside down and his mission suddenly includes figuring out why everything inside him insists she’s his mate. And convincing her of the same thing, especially when they don’t even speak the same language.
Last, but not least, Laura Montgomery is out with Manx Prize
The blurb-
Charlotte Fisher lives under colliding skies.
It’s the second half of the twenty-first century, and mankind has reached Earth orbit but not much farther. Orbital debris is a by-product of the industrial activity, and it’s dangerous both to everyone up there and the bottom lines of the corporations offering a prize to get rid of it. Charlotte heads up a team chasing the Manx Prize for the first successful, controlled de-orbit of a dead satellite. To win, she and her team must out-think and out-engineer a cheating competitor, dodge a collusive regulator, and withstand the temptations offered by a large and powerful seastead.
The sky’s not the limit. It’s the challenge.
If you like hard science fiction, impossible odds, and a touch of romance, you’ll love Laura Montgomery’s Manx Prize. Buy Manx Prize to join the race for space today!
You’ve got to be really old to remember these…
My grandmother used both of them when I was little…
And then there is the absurdity captured in this modern picture…
Sigh… how far we’ve fallen…
There are days, and then there are DAYS…
This is gonna be one of them. Behind from the git go, and just not making any progress on any front…
So you get humor…
Random things to ponder about…
– Sweet meats are candy, but sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
– Quicksand works slowly.
– Why do eggs come in flimsy paper cartons, and batteries come in packages only a chainsaw can open?
– Boxing rings are square.
– Tell a man there are 400 billion stars, and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint, and he has to touch it.
– Why does a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, humdingers don’t hum, and hammers don’t ham?
– If you can make amends, can you just make one amend?
– If you have a bunch of odds and ends and you get rid of all but just one, what do you call it?
– Why do you recite at a play, but you play at a recital?
– How can a SLIM CHANCE and a FAT CHANCE be the same, while a WISE MAN and a WISE GUY are opposites?
– Why do we ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
– Why do feet smell and noses run?
– If it was only a 3-hour cruise, why did MRS. HOWELL take so much clothing?
– Why is QUITE A FEW the same as QUITE A LOT?
– How does a building burn up as it burns down?
– Why do you fill out a form by filling it in?
– Why does your alarm go off by going on?
– When the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible.
– How come SUPERMAN could stop bullets with his chest, but always ducked when someone threw a gun at him?
– Why call it a HAMBURGER, when it’s made of BEEF?
– Why does SOUR CREAM have an expiration date?
– What would a chair look like, if knees bent the other way?
– IF “Con” is the Opposite of “Pro”, then what is the opposite of PROGRESS?
– Why is LEMON JUICE mostly artificial ingredients, but DISHWASHING LIQUID contains real lemons?
– How much deeper would the ocean be, if SPONGES didn’t grow in it?
– Why buy a product that it takes 2000 flushes to get rid of?
– Why do we wait until a PIG is dead, to “CURE” it?
– Do Roman paramedics refer to IV’s as “4’s”?
– Why do we wash BATH TOWELS – aren’t we clean when we use them?
– Why do we put suits in a garment bag and garments in a suitcase?
– Why doesn’t GLUE stick to the inside of the bottle?
– Whose cruel idea was it for the word “Lisp” to have an “S” in it?
– What do birdies see, when they get knocked unconscious?
– Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
– Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?
– If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
– Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?
– If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?
– Why do we drive on a parkway and park in the driveway?
– Where do homeless people have 90% of their accidents?
– If you drove your car at the speed of light, and you turned your headlights on, would they work?
– Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
– Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
– If you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?
– What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
– How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?
– Why isn’t the word ‘phonetic’ spelled the way it sounds?
– When companies ship Styrofoam, what do they pack it in?
– What do you call a defective Milk Dud?
– Why do they sterilize needles for lethal injections?
– Do radioactive cats have 18 half-lives?
– What was the best thing before sliced bread?
– How come abbreviated is such a long word?
– it’s zero degrees outside today and it’s supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?
– Why do you press harder on a remote when you know the battery is dead?
– Why are they called apartments, when they’re all stuck together?
– Do fish get cramps after eating?
– Why are there 5 syllables in the word “monosyllabic”?
– Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?
– If all those psychics know the winning lottery numbers, why are they all still working?
– Isn’t Disneyland a people trap operated by a mouse?
– What is the speed of dark?
– Do you regret even starting to read these???
There…
Proof copies of Showdown finally showed up today. Now going through the proof to make sure everything is as it should be.
Due to less pages, I’m able to offer it at a MUCH better price than my others, so it’s going to be $10 for the paperback. I’ll get a post up as soon as it goes live on Amazon.
Thank you too, to those who have left reviews on the Kindle version already! I knew some folks wouldn’t like the cover, and I’m taking ownership for that. ALL reviews are appreciated!!!
A bit of history…
Why, all of a sudden, are the massive winter storms NOT being named? Anybody else notice that?
A quick recap of our little snowmageddon up here in North Texas-
8 inches of globull warming over two days. Coldest (so far), -7, now on the 10th day of below freezing temps. Yesterday at least it never got below 0F, but Texas is suffering. Thankfully (knocking on wood), we have had power and water the whole time. I have one or two water lines (of course to the washer) frozen in the house and will be watching them carefully this weekend as it finally gets above freezing.
The wind farms are tits up, frozen solid and apparently leaking oil now (which means they will have to be repaired). The ones that are still working are, according to reports, only providing 8% of the 42% of the power normally generated. Solar is covered by snow, so it’s not working either.
The McMansions down around Dallas and other areas are really hurting since they are all totally electric. I feel for them…
As others have said, Texas by and large builds to withstand a day maybe two days of below freezing weather, not two weeks of it, or the sub zero temperatures. There are going to be a lot of questions asked, and the answers ‘may’ be interesting…
Edit- The decision was made LAST January. The person that forwarded me the interaction said it took place a couple of months ago.
Politics or internal decisions???
In December, just before both the holidays and the seasonal gathering of sporting-goods dealers and group buyers who get together to write orders for the new year, Nikon’s North American office delivered stunning news: It was walking away from the riflescope market.
Dealers were told they could sell through their current inventories of Buckmaster, ProStaff, and BLACK scopes, but they shouldn’t write new orders, and they shouldn’t expect inventories to be replenished.
Full article, HERE.
I went on the website and they no longer show ANY rifle scopes, nor can you search for them. And no users guides were showing up (if you could access that part of the site).
So, they are walking away from a high profit line of merchandise, and, according to some information, they are no longer honoring warranties either…
h/t BJ for the following- I can’t vouch for this, but based on the article and website, very possible…
Buyer Beware!!! This happened recently and we are putting the word out to all gun/scope owners…. We purchased a Nikon scope for our rifle from a local reputable gun store, and paid $200+ for it. It came w/ a lifetime warranty, so all seemed good and we were happy with it. Used it a handful of times at the range, had fun and no problems. Then the O-ring began slipping, so we called Nikon and they were helpful and told us to package it up and send the scope in, and their technicians would take a look at it and let us know what they found and repair it. Sent it in, received the email about 10 days later that they would fix the issue (simple O-ring replacement) and service/clean it and send it back. Then, a few days later, got a 2nd email stating they no longer repair and sell Nikon scopes, and they could only give us a $99 voucher for their online store. We were shocked! But, out of curiosity went on their website and guess what??? NO SCOPES OF ANY KIND! They had other equipment, but no scopes. So, my husband called their C.S. dept. and the gal was pleasant, but said they were no longer servicing or repairing scopes. He reminded her there was a lifetime warranty on it, but she said there was nothing she could do. So, he told her we’d like it sent back to us, please ship it back. She informed him that shipping it back was not possible, as the scope had already been sent to “Texas” and we would not be getting it back. Again, we were in shock that they would confiscate our scope, and literally STEAL IT FROM US, and assume ownership and take away OUR RIGHT to getting it back and finding a private repairman to fix it. My husband was able to get a paper check sent to us, rather than an online voucher. So, we went to the gun store we’d purchased the scope from, and they had NO CLUE this was happening! They were disgusted and contacted their Nikon sales rep, and were told this was Nikon’s new policy and there was nothing he could do about it. The store owner said they would NOT be carrying anymore Nikon products, but not sure if they’ll sell their remaining Nikon scopes. The gun store is working with us on replacing our scope when they get more inventory in, and trust, it will NOT be a NIKON! Big Lesson Learned!!! If you have Nikon scopes, and they need serviced or repaired, DO NOT SEND THEM TO NIKON! Even if they’re still under warranty, you WILL NOT GET THEM BACK!
I’ve got two of Nikon’s scopes on a couple of .22s, guess I better to look at my Loopy catalog and see what I can replace them with… sigh…