Jeffrmarks

Late Night adventure

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 30 Oct 05 17:21:00 UT

Well, just when it looked as though everyone was out of the hospital, I got a call at 12:35 last night. My sister was having severe leg cramps brought on by the pneumonia medication. I drove over, called 911, rode to the hospital with her (my first time in an ambulance!), and generally got her settled back into the hospital.

They're still not sure about the cause (or so they say for fear of admitting they f***ed up,) but they took her off the medications and put her back on an IV antibiotic.

More later, but I didn't get home until 5am.. I used to be able to do that without trouble, but it's harder at 45 than 25.

General Hospital

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sat, 29 Oct 05 21:49:00 UT

Wow, what a week it's been. I've had 2 of my closest family members in the hospital. My dad had knee replacement this week. He's had trouble with it since high school, so this was long overdue. He's home from the hospital at this point, but still in massive amounts of pain.

My sister was in the hospital with pneumonia as well. She's been incredibly sick with it all week as well. I know from personal experience that it is hell to get over. Of course, she went to a different hospital, and wasn't close to where my dad was.

Beyond going to the hospital every day, I haven't had much time for anything else, including writing or promotions. More trick than treat in October!

It's a gas

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Tue, 13 Sep 05 17:23:00 UT

Wow, today is one for the record books. The school had a suspected gas leak, which was determined to be a CO problem. We were all sent to the high school for most of the day. Phew.. You can read more here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/NEWS0103/309130005

Labor Day

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 4 Sep 05 23:06:00 UT

Wow, it's been a month of teaching already, and I'm still really happy with it. We just finished our first unit on Data Collection.. I guess a year plus doing educational research paid off at UC. :)

The writing is going slow at this point, but I can see it starting to pick back up some. I've been editing the Boucher biography. 2 chapters are about done, which leaves two more to go. Of course, I left the hardest for last.

I just found out that I'll be the keynote speaker at the Puerto Vallarta writers conference in March. I'm stocking up on tanning products. Can you say SPF 80?

Another one down

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 14 Aug 05 15:59:00 UT

What a great weekend.. We went to Columbus for our anniversary! We spent part of the day at Cirque du Soleil. They had actually erected a tent and put on the show there. (Varekai for those of you who keep track of such things.)It was so much fun. Expensive (pretzels were over $4). And hot -- no A/C outside and 97 degrees. But they were pumping the cool air in as fast as they could make it, so the show wasn't too warm.

Then we went to dinner at Elemental. Nice relaxing time and good food. Then of course, back home and back to the real world.

Sir Spamalot

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Fri, 8 Jul 05 16:18:00 UT

This is getting annoying. I've received two unrequested newsletters from authors in the past 2 days. The first was a long message. Of course, I scrolled down to the end to unsubscribe, only to find out that it didn't have that feature. So I stuck it in my spam folder.

The second was even more annoying. 2 weeks ago, I'd received a notice saying that I was going to receive a new newsletter unless I opted out. I did so. Today I received that newsletter anyway. I opted out again when I received it. We'll see if this works.

The most annoying thing about these newsletters is that they are puffery passed off as news. (Don't get me started on where they might have learned this. TV news is not much better.) Why would want I to read reviews of their books and hear that it's been picked up in Mozambique? I'm not going there to buy it, and I don't know anyone there to tell.

If you're going to tell me about a new book, give me a cover shot, a brief description and a write-up on why you wanted to write this book, and a link to your website. In that way, I'll have time to actually read mysteries and not unwanted emails.

Sad Passing

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Thu, 7 Jul 05 20:13:00 UT

I was really sad to hear of Evan Hunter's death. As Ed McBain, he finished the last Craig Rice novel, The April Robin Murders. Rice died before completing her last novel, and writing as McBain, he completed it almost seemlessly, considering that Rice had not left any notes or ideas for the ending.

We had a long talk at the Omaha B'con and he told me all about his meetings with Craig when she came to the Scott Meredith Agency. Fascinating stuff. He'll be missed.

I'm really sorry that so many of these wonderful writers who started in the 1940s and 1950s have passed away. We're losing out on a rich history in mystery.

Top 10 List

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 26 Jun 05 13:04:00 UT

Things are going well here. I only have 2 more weeks of class left before I'm done with my masters (10 more days of class if you're counting!!) I have my comprehensive exam next Saturday (yes, a holiday weekend). It's 4 1/2 hours of writing answers to essays if you can believe it. After that, I just have to complete a few papers and lesson plans and then I'm done. Tony and I are making plans to do a number of fun things with the rest of the summer. I think we'll go swimming and canoeing and I'm going up to IU for more research on the Boucher book.

The countdown is on

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Tue, 21 Jun 05 17:56:00 UT

Only 3 weeks til graduation from the University of Cincinnati with my master's of education. I can't wait to be done. I am already counting the days.

Of course, I still don't have a teaching job. So I could be at my current job for another year. I'm incredibly lucky to have my job. I like it a lot and the people there are fun.

But sadly there's no health care benefits, which could be an entirely different blog entry. I currently spend $300 a month on healthcare, and that's with all the cuts I've made away from corporate health these days.

Anyway, even with the downside, I can't wait to be done with school. Ironic for a would-be teacher.

Finis

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 12 Jun 05 20:21:00 UT

Well, I sat through a meeting on Friday in the midst of a rainstorm, only to find out that I don't have a job. No 6th grade, no need for a teacher. The 4th grade opening is for self-contained. So that's out too. Not a lot left except to let the fat lady sing on that one. I think I'll be trying the public schools after this.

There are a few openings I've found, plus I've got a job interview with an Internet firm as well. So things might change for the better, but for now there's no job.

Then to pour salt in the wounds there's a big article in the Enquirer today about how the job situation in Cincinnati stinks. Read more: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050612/NEWS0102/506120343/-1/CINCI

Then on Saturday I ran into Ross Anderson, the maker of this mess. He kept eying me to see if I'd make a scene, but what's the point? The job is gone, and I'm back to looking for a teaching position.

The curse has come upon me

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Thu, 2 Jun 05 19:17:00 UT

Well, I think this is a first. My job ended before it began. The charter school that I accepted a job with has gone through a "management reorganization". They don't answer the phones there any more. The number has been transferred to the corporate offices. No one informed me of any of this. No one returned my calls. So now I'm not working before I started.

So it's back to the drawing board. I'm going to be interviewing for a new teaching position, but I have my fallback of working at the university in data research. Not exciting, but it pays the bills (along with some writing jobs).

Security Rant

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Fri, 6 May 05 07:24:00 UT

I just got home from DC and on the way back, one of the TSA agents dropped my laptop on the floor. Her reaction? None. Her apology? Non-existant.

This bureaucratic nightmare has made me stop flying except for once or twice a year. Mostly now I just plan to drive. The extra 2 hours (1 each direction) needed to get through endless checks, which investigators say doesn't make us any more safe, means that I could be 130 miles in any direction for a trip.

The system really is in need of an overhaul. On the way to DC, I was stopped by three agents to show boarding pass and ID. What's wrong with this? Nothing, except that the line was short and the time elapsed between presentations was less than 5 seconds. And they were all within 10 feet of each other. There were more agents than people in line.

And please do not get me started on the caste sytem supported by the TSA. First class passengers get a special line. Since when is the government supposed to care how much you pay to ride the plane? Of course, in the present administration, we all know that money buys access, but do we need to see the rich not be put through the same rigors in terms of security? If the business execs had to stand in the same lines as everyone else, I have a hunch that the system would change, and change quickly.

Finally, get rid of the so-called "random" testing. I do random sampling for a living right now, and the way that the TSA selects people is not random sampling. It's convenience sampling, which is not random, and has a much higher probability of error. So what does that mean? We're just inconveniencing people and we're no more safe.

Ok, enough ranting. The laptop is still functional, although a piece of plastic broke off. Just a reminder to drive next time.

Off to Malice

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Thu, 28 Apr 05 20:00:00 UT

I'm off to Malice Domestic tomorrow. I haven't been in a couple of years, and I'm really looking forward to it. A few good friends, Kate Stine and Keith Kahla, among them will be there, which gives us all a chance to catch up.

Plus I'm doing a high-powered panel on Saturday @ 10:30am.

Should be a good weekend.

New Car

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sat, 16 Apr 05 07:41:00 UT

Wow, for the first time in over 10 years, I've bought a new car. There's a 2005 Black PT Cruiser in our garage today. Amazing. They still smell great inside and of course, they still come with car payments. But it's a nice feeling.

Still have to get a CD player for it, but it's nice to have a car from this century again.

Quiet Sunday

JeffrMarks@aol.com — Sun, 3 Apr 05 09:19:00 UT

Just enjoying a quiet day at home today. It's rather nice to be able to do that now.

We made it back from vacation without the travails of our departure. Things were pretty much under control when we got back. Nothing too major to deal with. Some interviews for teaching jobs, and the never ending absurdity of the condo complex.

So now it's back to work for now. The Grant book is coming along well and I'm reading for the Boucher bio..