The day after and the day before

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, but since our family is celebrating tomorrow, it’s also the day before Thanksgiving!

I came home from a trip to Boise the other day to see a large box on my sidewalk. Sure enough. Inside the box was my new wood stove. My bro Dave had told me it weighed 350 pounds and that he’d pick it up for me at Lowe’s in Nampa.

“Hmm,” I thought. “That is more than I weigh!”

A lot more, I might add.

I have learned from many years of making it solo that almost anything can be moved if you take it slow enough and if it doesn’t fall on you.

The box had already been cut open and was just sitting on top of the stove. I pulled if off and began working. Very carefully I jiggled it just a bit. Nope. No progress.

So I tried pushing and twisting and got it to budge about a quarter of an inch. Repeat. This time almost an inch. Then a tiny part of a quarter of an inch.

By the time I got the stove moved a foot and a half down the sidewalk closer to my front door I realized that even if I got it to the door I’d never get it across the door frame, and after that it was ceramic tile. So I quit working on it.

My bro showed up without prompting a bit later, and we maneuvered the stove onto a hand truck and got it inside. Sometime next week we’ll take the old stove out and install this one.

I’m aching for the warm fire from that stove. The sun has been shining, but I know it will be cold before long. And there’s nothing like fire from a wood stove to make one feel warm and cozy.

A stove–just in time for winter!

Sometime tomorrow or Tuesday my bro Dave is going to pick up a brand-new wood stove for me at Lowe’s. It is supposed to cover 1,000 s.f. and take logs up to 16 inches wide. I also bought a chain saw so I can turn my furniture into firewood if things really get tough.

It’s nice to have a piece of security! I love wood stoves and fireplaces and campfires. I’ve got a wood stove in the place where my new one will go, but it’s very old and doesn’t have a door to keep the wood inside.

It may look a lot like this: (sort of ugly but if it’s warm, that’s what counts)

I’ll post a picture of it when I get it installed and fired up.

JG

A ghostwriter’s life

I came across an interesting piece by US News & World Report on ghostwriting as desirable work. I was delighted to see that the writer of this piece has exactly the same perspective on ghostwriting as we do at Griffith Publishing. My favorite sentence: “You’re writing your clients’ ideas, not your own, and in their voice, not yours.” First rule of ghostwriting: be SURE you agree with your author on all points covered in the book. You don’t want to get into debates or arguments while you’re writing the book.

Amusing, the suggestion in this piece that the best way to start ghostwriting may be to call a famous person you respect and offer to ghostwrite that person’s autobiography. Let’s see. I have 20 such names on my “to call” list. I’ll call Barack Obama tonight, and tomorrow I’ll see if T. Boone Pickens could spare me an hour or so. I’m sure Bill Gates has time on his hands these days. I’ll call him Friday morning. 

Life as a ghostwriter can be hectic since you can’t take on more than a couple projects at a time, and they don’t line up nicely just as you have time and need more money. So the graph of your income zooms up to the top and then to rock bottom.

Also, it’s not true that people who ask you to ghostwrite a book for them have all the information you need. Even if they have it in their heads, you have to draw it out and ask pointed questions to get the facts needed to complete the story.

Still, I love ghostwriting. I think I’ll be ready for another project by February or March of next year.

My biggest hurdle is being careful not to take on a project unless I have a strong hunch that I’ll like the person and will enjoy working with him or her. Disregard the chemistry, and trouble will tumble after you.

Brought to you by Griffith Ghostwriting.

This is November…

When I was growing up here in Southwest Idaho, it seemed that November was the month of rain and wind, frost and snow, mud and bleak skies.

Not this year. One day after another the sky has been blue, the sun warm, and my dog Rusty squirming for a walk. We didn’t take a walk today, but yesterday we walked an hour, and we’ve walked 45-50 minutes four out of the past five days. Rusty is learning to take the leash much better, but she sometimes jerks me off balance by pouncing to an interesting tree or fence with a dog behind it. Not as bad as it used to be…

My bro Dave and his wife Miriam are in College Place for Grandparents’ Day at Clara Rogers Elementary School. Says he’s been there every year since Matthew started attending, and I think that was three or four years ago.

Instead of walking for an hour, Rusty and I took the car to Costco to get my thyroid prescription refilled. While there I had a piece of cheese pizza and a vanilla frozen yogurt treat. Total cost was about $3.50. Total calories, too many.

Looks like we’ll have a very merry Christmas this year. All of Dave’s kids will converge on Arline’s place. Christmas is on Thursday, so I will probably drive up Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning and stay until Friday afternoon. Or maybe I’ll stay through the week end. I bought all my Christmas presents at Carol’s ranch! I just need $$ to pay for them.

More to the point, I just need to get to work to get $$$ coming in!

Brought to you by JG at Griffith Publishing.

A one-day trip

Bev and Carol at the Bear Creek Ranches house

Yesterday my friend Judy and I left for Carol’s ranch a few miles out of Ola, Idaho, about 9 a.m. and took our time getting there. Judy drove her car. We had a wonderful time.

For dinner I had a nice serving of elk lasagna. First time I’ve ever eaten elk meat in my life. It was tasty and well seasoned. Judy can’t eat any milk products, and there was cheese in the lasagna, so she didn’t get a taste. We also had potato salad that Judy brought, delicious banana bread that she also made, yogurt pretzels and Doritos that I brought, jello salad and more provided by Carol and Bev.

The elk season officially ends today. The fish & game dept has a few days open for hunting bull elk and then after a few days with no hunting at all, and then the cow elk season opens for a few days, and I think there’s a time when any elk can be hunted.

Bev, Carol’s partner, says they make about $5 an hour on their leather and other products, but they keep at it anyway. After lunch Carol and I got serious about my Christmas shopping. We made a list of all of my College Place and Pendleton relatives. I decided to buy Cliff and Lora a gift, Arline and Sid a gift, David and Mandy a gift, and a special gift for Alan, Andrew, Brianna, Amy, Ben, Jessica, and Matthew.

Carol gave me a nice chunk of light-colored leather for Dave to work on and use in his book production hobby. She said the roll of leather was free, but that would be six bucks for the string tying it together. When I delivered the leather, Dave seemed to appreciate it a lot. I wonder what he’ll do with it.

Brought to you by JG