I really wanted to get some things done today. I expected the puppy to be a distraction, but everything else seemed stacked against me today.
My daughter had a friend over for a few hours. I find it difficult to concentrate when distractions are going on all around me. I managed to work up two of three critiques based upon the premise that the puppy needed outside. I took my iPad to the yard furniture and let him play. He excels at playing.
That's everything I accomplished today. The friend wanted to bring her son and her brother over to see the puppy. Sounded like it would be around 1:00. Maybe I could salvage some reading time, or even a paragraph on a short story I'm working on. It turned out like waiting for the Sears guy to show up.
Most of you know the drill. You wait, and can't start anything because they'll show up at any minute. Part of this is my nature. Maybe it's a character flaw, but I get worked up about someone showing up and can't accomplish a damned thing. They wound up coming over at around 5:00 and shot my day to hell.
This isn't one of those weeks where my rotating day off tags onto the weekend. I'm not off again until Wednesday, and I have things to do that day. At best, I may score an hour of reading time on Wednesday.
I don't mind slowing things down in the Summer, but I hate it when they come to a complete stop. I'm not one of those thousand-words-per-day authors. I get writing time and try to take maximum advantage of that time. When the time is never available it bothers me. I'm pretty productive on average, but I need my turn on occasion.
My wife is talking about our first camp out next weekend, and that's fine by me. Those are the kind of things I'm supposed to delay writing for. Besides, I can take my iPad and still read and write. I just won't have access to online features.
I generally post on Mondays too, but may skip tomorrow. My critique group usually meets until late, and by then my mind is going at warp speed. It makes it hard to blog when I'm thinking about plot holes and grammar issues.
At least the camper is ready to go now, so I accomplished that much. I hope all of you had a great weekend.
Entertaining Stories 
Know what you mean about the waiting game. I tend to test fate when it hits 30 minutes after the initial time. Usually, it’s because I know people will show up the moment I start anything important. A day off from blogging around this time of year doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
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I’m seeing the Summer slowdown already in my reader.
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Yeah. Really makes it hard to tell what works and what doesn’t in regards to blog posts. Especially for the spontaneous ones. I get a sense of ‘why bother’ when things are so slow.
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I get the same way, but last year the camping posts were popular. This year I can add Otto to the mix. It isn’t writing related, but they don’t all have to be.
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I’m just going to muscle through it since I don’t have anything special going on this summer. Might open up Tuesday to guests who want to promote their books. The teasers and Questions 3 are losing steam, so I might need to give them a break.
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I’m taking the same approach. I’ll just post whatever I feel like posting.
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At least it’s only 2-3 months. That has to be a good thing.
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Melted … 35 degrees in the shade!
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It was hot here too, but livable until about 10:00. This morning it’s already 75 degrees at 4:00 am.
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It’s bank holiday here and the sun is STILL shining! You have no idea how rare that is. In Ireland, we rarely get days where the sun shines from morning till night. We are famous for getting every season in one day. Or rain. We have had 2 weeks of dawn-to-dusk sunshine! It’s wonderful! Real summer, and the weekend isn’t over yet. So no writing get done here either. But I’m not complaining! 😁 Hope you manage to squeeze in some writing time somewhere. A writer who can’t write is not a happy one.
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I’ve decided to take some vacation time in a couple of weeks. Maybe I can move some projects ahead then.
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I’m sure you will.
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Most of you know the drill. You wait, and can’t start anything because they’ll show up at any minute. Part of this is my nature. Maybe it’s a character flaw, but I get worked up about someone showing up and can’t accomplish a damned thing. They wound up coming over at around 5:00 and shot my day to hell. – I totally understand. Exact same, I hate that and usually even if i have hours and hours before a guest is due I cant do anything productive.
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I thought maybe I was unique that way. The wheel keeps going around, and I’ll get my time.
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I’m horrible with the waiting drill too, but I can normally distract myself enough to read. Writing forget. My mind keeps going to the clock.
I hope when they finally got there the visit was fun and Otto enjoyed his company!
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He enjoys everything. He tried to be a greyhound last night in the yard. Somehow he kept tripping over those huge feet.
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Dealing with something similar today. Husband tried to get on schedule to get a thirty foot gutter put over where he parks his boat. He’s been jerked around for weeks with people who claim their schedule is so full they can’t get to him. He told them he needed a couple days notice to take off work. They said they schedule weeks in advance, but could never get him on. Finally, he called them and they got him on schedule for today. He took day off work and they called to say they can’t do it today MAYBE tomorrow. He just called another company and they’ll be out in a few minutes to get the job done today. Of course he plans to call the first company with a piece of his mind.
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It amazes me how service folks act like that. I understand that if you’re doing three jobs per day, you can’t be precise with times for the last two. You will know which hours you absolutely won’t be there. This whole “maybe tomorrow” thing irritates me.
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I got several smiles from your article, it was a good read that I could well identify with.
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Some days just don’t work out. My turn always comes around, and it will again. Glad it resonated with you, and thanks for commenting.
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Reblogged this on Truth Troubles: Why people hate the truths' of the real world and commented:
Very good article, quite enjoyable and humorous.
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Life’s a bitch or is the puppy a dog? 😃😂😉😭😠
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Gong!
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Ouch!
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I smiled at the ins and outs of your day, Craig, because oh how I can relate. That upcoming camping trip should help with everything….
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They’re finding morels now too.
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Hope you have a good week.
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Thanks, you too.
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I always figure the person I’m waiting for will show up as soon as I start to do something else. So I start doing my something else, because who wants to wait? If they show up, great, and if they don’t, that’s great, too, because I did some of my something else at least.
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It must be a personality flaw. I can’t bring myself to do that. Maybe I should work on it.
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It was crazy busy, but good. Thanks. I do the same thing when I’m expecting company. It’s hard to work on anything when you’re mind is on their arrival.
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I took some vacation time late next week. Maybe I can get some things accomplished then.
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