LastOneStanding

This needs to be pinned like the last one, by the way. I can't keep track. Please pin it and unpin the previous one.

If it's any consolation, I glued my ass to the chair and wrote the PhD thesis, and even got tenure in academia. I quit my job after being tenured and promoted. So it's all good. It's nice, though, to finish the fucker. The best way is gluing the ass to the chair. I can attest. Get well soon!

What kind of thesis? Is it the MA or the PhD? I've completed both. First step is to get some glue and a paint brush. Second step is to slather your ass with the glue. Then, you sit in the chair. If it's MA, you can probably get away with less glue. Do this after you get better. Just get better really soon. Then glue your ass to the chair. You've probably learned how to write a lot by now with your ass glued to the chair. Feel better! Ass gluing isn't good for you right now.

OMG. I love Malibu. I guess it isn't Malibu Creek, but whatever. I'd totally go camping in Malibu.

Well, that is just not fun. You're nice because you know those friends of yours meant well.

I've been drinking a lot, so it's pretty good. It's really nice to relax on vacation, drink a lot for the summer, and kill some brain cells. Also smoking more. Drinking and smoking more, for sure. I also made myself some french fries today, with grilled cheese sandwich. So, kids' menu straight out of Friendly's, drinking, and smoking. Week couldn't be better.

I left a job once because at the old job I had to share an office and at the new job I found and landed (because I wanted a new office) I got my own office. It's kind of like a no-duh. I felt like I was the Jeffersons. Motivating factor for changing jobs not caring I didn't last a year at the old job where I had to share an office: Having my own friggin' office. I even asked in the interview, "can I have my own office, or do I have to share?" They said I got my own office. I hummed "movin' on up" after.

There isn't a need for that at the moment. There are PLENTY of small publishers you can send a manuscript to. Small publishers will, of course, sell authors' books on Amazon, but it's absolutely not the same thing as going it on your own as an author dealing directly with Amazon. First of all, if you submit to and are accepted by a small publisher, libraries can purchase your book and there are none of the exclusive rights crap Amazon imposes on the individual writer looking for a venue. Most writers seek out a small publishing house before resorting to the "go it alone" approach. There are many writers who also avoid the Amazon bullshit by setting up their own publishing company just to publish their own works, which is perfectly simple to do and doesn't cost much at all, in comparison to all the costs associated with marketing, cover art, bla bla bla. Amazon is often a last resort or a result of "the final straw" of receiving rejections from publishers and when writers don't know how to set up their own mini publisher to self-publish first. Anyway, you can by-pass a lot of the Amazon crap by setting yourself up as a publisher that dedicates itself to publishing your writing. You can even offer paperbacks and hardcovers, using a printing service to take care of that for you. Then, through your own publishing company you set up, you offer your work to Amazon. It's a different set of conditions.

Yes, this new type of statistical reality in this parallel universe I've stumbled into, where people don't die if they walk, is fascinating, isn't it? If I see a casino, I'm definitely going all in on the roulette wheel.

I don't have this problem. I think it depends on your carrier. Some carriers let the call go straight to voice mail. My blocks are a one-time thing and system-wide.

Well, thank you. You made my day.

That is a secondary concern for me, although I think it's an important point to bring up. I'm more worried about people who open their small shop and can't afford to accept cards as payment. People are making purchases with a card that 20 years ago I wouldn't have even thought of doing, such as buying a can of soda and only a can of soda, which can amount to under a dollar (or under a euro). More and more often I see people trying to pay with a card and the person at the register says, "you need to spend 1 euro more if you want to use your card." What would happen to these small businesses if they didn't have the option to demand cash for purchases under a certain amount? They would drown in fees. The merchant has to pay for being able accept cards. A big company can afford it. A small rinky-dink shop can't right now. This would mean, what? The need for subsidies for small businesses so they can accept cards? In the USA (where I'm from) I don't see that happening. In Europe (where I live) I see that type of policy - which would totally happen, unlike in the USA where maybe not depending on the state you're in - having a time limit on it, like so many other subsidies for small businesses here. Typical subsidy for small business would be like, "for the first five years you are open, and only on your first business" or "for small business owners 40 years old or younger for the first five years." Yes, age discrimination in Europe, or what we Americans would call age discrimination, is rampant. Anyway, a cashless society would give preference to big retail corporations and corporate restaurant chains, making small business retail and hospitality all the more difficult to keep open.