I still have a cash flow problem. Things are going to be very difficult in that department for a while.

I watched Easy Rider again today. It still stirs me. I have been looking at maps lately, amusing myself by imagining how it would be to tour the USA on all the north-south highways.

Janine and her DH came up again this weekend. We hung out with them all day Saturday. It started with breakfast and coffee and progressed to lunch and ended up being steak and spuds. They are Good People.

It rained a bit, threatened to snow, the sun came out, and then it rained a bit more. Every morning the mountain disappears into the fog. It’s beautiful, and freezing every night. The water pouring off the tarp after heavy rain is like a waterfall.

But aside from that…blah.

This has been a really peculiar week. Broken, even. I have felt really exhausted almost every day. Perhaps it is the season, or perhaps I’ve simply hit a wall.

Markeroni continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. On Monday I made a necessary but disappointing decision to stop doing new programming and work on cleaning up the site. Three irritating bugs in two weeks have left me with over 20 hours of manual fixing to do. It’s a very laborious task but it needs to be done, and it might as well be done in Markeroni’s quiet season. So saying, I still feel as though I’m going backwards, not making progress.

Then some lowlife messed with Markeroni’s blog. It wasn’t a full cracking; they didn’t get in, they just reset some stuff, like a denial of service. I upgraded all my installations of Wordpress and did some other fixes. Then Don discovered a bug on Raven’s Roads. It’s just endless, you know? Really disheartening.

Sometime during the week I became a troll’s target at one of my writing sites – not fun, though I’m considering a couple of articles on dealing with online trolls. ;) Meanwhile, for the first half of the week I was still unable to submit anything at the article farm. After having two help requests ignored Don reinstalled my Flash browser and it works again. (Yay Don!)

Net result is that I now have a cash flow problem and wasted a lot of time juggling bank accounts to pay the bills. Seems like I’ve spent 90% of my time this week sorting out problems caused by other people (and another 5% sorting out what I caused). Not enough writing time. Not much income.

It’s cold here, now, but we’ve decided to stay for the winter and draped a vast, borrowed tarp over the RV. This immediately raised the temperature a few degrees. I think we must be the kind of RV travelers who put down roots. ;)

Couple of highlights: On Wednesday I met up with two of the three other NaNoWriMoers in Trinity County for a write-in. What fun! I had missed this and had no idea such a thing would be possible in Trinity County.

This weekend, Kerry’s friend Janine and her family are here. Don had a lot of fun getting them set up on with an internet connection. I had a lot of fun talking to new people and eating brie, which disagrees with me, but mm. So very good. ;)

Articles I wrote in the last week: <!--more-->

Cat Scratching in an RV
Cat Hygiene and Litter Boxes in RVs

Orland Buttes Campground

Buckhorn Campground

AMA Grand Tour Motorcycle Treasure Hunts

Cold Weather motorcycling

Harley-Davidson Military Appreciation Month

Heated Motorcycle Clothes

Lately I’ve been going bonkers at Markeroni. While the general trend is upwards, for the last two or three weeks it seems like some new glitch has been thrown up that’s cost me from 2-10 hours of effort to fix. The last straw was the bug I found this morning with direct-logging. I knew about one bug and was taking care of it, but hadn’t realized another had formed in the meantime.

This is clearly unsustainable, not to mention stressful and frustrating so it was time to do something about it.

When I converted Markeroni over to version 4.0 a year ago it was something that started as a different project. My NaNoWriMo last year was to create a manual for Markeroni and it turned into a complete rewrite instead. Now, I still have loose ends from that rewrite, and that’s part of what’s slapping me in the face just now. I’ve been busy, and now I’m even busier, but I just can’t ignore it any more.

So, today I started going through all my programs with a fine tooth-comb. Those last loose ends are going to be tied up and I’m going to use what I find out to start building a manual. Heaven forbid that anything happens to me before I get old, but if it does, I want someone else to be able to carry on Markeroni. Right now they’d just look at my code and run away screaming.

It feels like I’m taking a great step backwards, but ultimately be a big step forward. Here’s what I’m doing on each page:

(1) Taking a note of which database tables are being used. (When I’m done I’ll also be able to figure out which ones are not being used, and act accordingly.)

(2) Taking notes of where, with what I have learned in the last year, a program can be made more efficient.

(3) Taking notes of all the variables used, so that I can make those uniform across the site and maybe use more global variables

(4) Putting in debugging/error message statements when they are missing

(5) Taking notes of where something doesn’t appear to make sense

(6) Changing the format so the code is clearly legible

(7) Adding comments

(8) Updating all the mysql queries, especially those that insert something into the database.

(9) Fixing any bad HTML that I come across.

It’s slow going. Today I worked on six programs, albeit six important ones, and it took me around three hours.

It’s a PITA. It will have to count towards my NaNoWriMo word count. But it should make my life easier in the longer run.

Wow, if there’s anything I hate more than wasabi and horseradish, it’s when my internet connection slows down to the speed of molasses in January and one of the publishing tools I use conspires to have a nightmare. I’m sitting here making stabbing motions at HughesNet and wishing I could be on a (non-humid) tropical island.

This week has been goat central. Kerry acquired a male goat from a neighbor (and boy does he stink; that would be the goat, not the neighbor). The idea is to breed him (ditto, goat) with her brother’s female goats, and pass on the kids to another neighbor. Then suddenly three more goats showed up, out of nowhere. One, apparently, had fallen into the pond. Said goats have all been relocated to another home, but it was like the universal laws of goat attraction were in full working order up there for a while.

It rained for a few days this week, and then the sun came out. I’ve been writing, just for a change. It’s starting to feel like a routine. I got into an early morning jag and that seems to have really made a difference. I also did some programming on Markeroni, working on a rewrite of the search to make it more efficient and shiny and stuff.

Bits and pieces are getting done but I still wish I could spend more time on it. It’s one step forward, two back. Two recent very irritating bugs have resulted in a large backlog of stuff I have to fix, all very annoying and laborious.

NaNoWriMo continues. To my great surprise there are three more NaNos in Trinity, and there may be a mini write-in this coming week. I hope the rain staves off, or sticks to overnight. Earlier today I posted an amusing word count of 12345. ;) I’ve surpassed that since then and am still on track.

Highlight of the week was the Bonfire Night gather we had last night. I made toffee, which did not turn out well, and which people politely noted as being “interesting.” It didn’t set. However, the baked spuds, salads, breads and other good fare of such a potluck turned out very well. It was a very nice gather.

Don has fixed the refrigerator this week (its heat sensor went nuts), is still glaring at the transmission, and has done some electronic projects as well. The bath cracked again, and he fixed that, too. It’s all happening here. ;)

Here is what I’ve written this week:<!--more-->

Examiner:
Historical markers in Ohio

State historical marker in New Knoxville, OH

What is a blue plaque?

87th anniversary of discovery of Tutenkhamun’s tomb

Guy Fawkes blue plaque

How the Portola Expedition missed Monterey

Historical marker news, 7 November

Historical marker news, 8 November

Suite101

Bonfire Night Parties

Review: Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town

Cooking with Baked Beans

How to Cook Baked Potatoes

Baked Potato Toppings

Easy Ground Beef Curry

Best Holiday Gifts for Motorcyclists

Best Stocking Stuffers for Motorcyclists

Fancy Horse noted that I was quite the prolific writer. I have been all my life. When I was ten or so I had a teacher who just let me write stories. I must’ve produced hundreds! I got the other work done, but whenever it was some kind of elective…stories. I wrote stories for myself, for school, wrote dungeons for Dungeons and Dragons…and never got tired of it.

I had great, encouraging English/home room type teachers all through my K-12 equivalent years. :) That really helped let me believe and dream, too.

Everyone has something they’re good at and, more importantly, makes them happy. Some people have the ability to run marathons and yet others to put together cameras full of tiny little fiddly parts. Neither of these work for me. I have the ability to write like a loon<!--more-->, and edit the results relatively well. ;)

I’ve known I was going to be a writer since I was six. I know it makes a cute story that I dabbled with being an astronaut and the career finder at high school said the only career that would fit me was silversmith (fiddly parts! nuh-huh!) but nope, I was always going to be a writer, from when I won that first writing competition about the witch in the woods who would go around putting bandages on sick hedgehogs to make them better. ;)

Winning that prize was probably my first ever a-ha moment. One of the best moves I ever made in my life was to learn how to touch-type when I was sixteen. It means I can hammer out the words almost as fast as I think them.

Through my teens and twenties I was going to be this great fantasy novelist. Then I discovered travel writing. It took me until my thirties to realize that I was a writer, and until nearly my forties to make a career out of it.

At 39, I’m just a fledgling professional writer. I wrote a couple of magazine articles, published a couple of books (there was a fantasy novel, and Little Twist. For a long time I blogged a lot and did posts that paid the bills, but I realized that wasn’t working for me and was stopping me from going out and earning the money I knew I could from my skills.

I don’t have a problem with writing about commercial products; I just decided that I didn’t want to write about them on my blog. (I also got annoyed with the company, but that’s another story.) But the real payoff was that the PTPTB stuff taught me how to write prolifically and on demand.

I have always had the ability to get into flow with writing. I’ve read accounts, with which I agree, that say that whatever gets you in the flow is what you should be doing. So far so good. When I am in flow, nothing else exists. It’s just me and the writing. Only afterwards do I realize that I have overdone it; my body stiffens, my mind feels like mush. But it was worth it, usually, if I hatched some baby articles. ;)

A few months ago I realized I needed to stop messing around and make a go of it, and I am. Part of making a career from writing is the ability to be both fast and accurate (efficient). I write for two clients, two online magazines, and an article site.The clients and the article site are bread and butter. I try to put in 3-4 hours a day for this kind of work; my results are varied. Today, for example, I couldn’t bring myself to open the computer. I went and did some gardening instead.

I do the blogging and online magazine work less for the money than for the exposure and creativity, though money is definitely a part of it. Examiner brings exposure to Markeroni, requires less than half an hour a day, and has income too. Suite101 is pretty high-quality for the most part and its writers are often cherry-picked for other jobs. It is also something that in time should build up a nice residual income.

Ultimately, I want to move to a fully hybrid career where I get at least half of what I need to pay the bills from Markeroni, but I’m far away from that. I would then be able to write without fear of burn-out. I don’t burn out often, but I do burn out from time to time. I would like to spend more time visiting the historical markers and riding my motorcycle. It’s a bit hard fitting it all in just now. ;)

One of the reasons I posted so much in the last few weeks is that I want to get to that residual income level as quickly as possible. Even if I only bring in a couple of hundred bucks a month, those couple of hundred bucks will buy me days off writing and, later, a buffer so I can go on vacation once in a while. I know it sounds daft, and to many who might read this it’s like I live on vacation…but no. I’m working, seven days a week right now. I get dressed to write; no pajamas for me.

With web writing, volume is really the name of the game. The earnings are exponential. The other folk at Suite told me it would be so and their experience is being borne out. And Suite has an amazing community, the likes of which I haven’t seen for years; they also have editors who – gasp! – edit, give feedback, and help you improve. It’s like a little incubator room for writers. :)

When I am in flow, like now, the words just spark off one another. It’s really a joy. Sometimes it’s also maddening because I can’t physically write all my ideas. For example, the other day I started writing about Bonfire Night. From that came an article about the Guy Fawkes blue plaque, cooking baked potatoes, baked potato toppings, baked beans, curry (which can go on baked potatoes)…it’s like I sit down and whomp! This magical web of words happens.

Those articles I list are all pretty short. Of all the writing I do, my blog is still my favorite. It’s my place, which nobody else has a say about. But I like every kind of writing I do, from product descriptions to print articles. I have this dream of getting published in Rolling Stone.

So that’s what it’s like. I’m fast, and I sit at the computer twelve hours a day, and most days it’s more fun than anyone should be having. ;)

As I sit and type it is Halloween, one of my favorite nights, and not because of the tricky treaters (those are non-existent out here). Woke up this morning way too early (I should not have drunk a smoothie just before bedtime) but did get to see the sun rise. I took a day off and got quite far with some Markeroni projects. I dream of being independently rich so that I can write for fun and snarf for a living. ;)

Actually I didn’t see the sun until much later, as I woke up to a world swathed in mist. That’s par for the course this season, it seems: mysterious mist and a sense of magic, with this gradually giving way to a warm, pleasant afternoon. The earliest snow is already on the mountains, but it’s just a wisp so far.

I missed last week, more through disorganization than anything else. I suppose it would make more sense to talk about the things I did in the last fortnight that weren’t work:

I baked chocolate chip cookies.

I hit 50 articles at Suite101 and immediately saw a rise in revenues (there seems to be a critical mass that hits around this level, as I’ve only had one zero-income day since then).

We celebrated two years of living in an RV.

I’ve committed to NaNoWriMo again, as a Rebel, again. I intend to write 50,000 words for my on-spec projects like my blog, Suite101 and Examiner.

I went on several motorcycle rides with Don and several short walks and considered buying Charles Atlas’ course. Instead, I dug out my How do I type accents on my computer?

The week went by fast, as weeks are wont to do once you get past about 35. The new job was delayed a little due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, but by the end of the week I was starting to do my first keyword research. It is going to be a pleasant gig, once I get the hang of it.

My motorcycle’s battery arrived on Wednesday. By this time it had been raining for 24 hours straight, but at least held off long enough to let me pick it up from the house without drowning. ;) Thursday it only rained half the day, and by Friday the earth was a bit drier and I inserted the thing, managing to yank a muscle that extended from my left bum to my left middle. I didn’t know this on Friday, when we invited Kerry and Gavin round for a barbecue; but boy did I know it on Saturday.

Fortunately, I got better, and on Sunday we were able to depart on a desperately-needed 50-mile round trip, followed by another barbecue. The fall colors are lovely; bright without the debris (the leaves are turning, but haven’t, for the most part, fallen yet, except for the tree directly in front of our home, which is bald now). It was our wedding anniversary today.

The rain has brought the ground back to life. There are little mushrooms everywhere, and tiny green seedlings pushing up through the earth. It will soon be time to start dismantling the transmission, and then maybe we will be able to head off on whatever the next grand adventure will be.

Articles I published in the last week:<!--more-->

Take a hysterical historical tour of Sacramento:
http://www.examiner.com/x-16629-Historical-Markers-Travel-Examiner~y2009m10d12-Take-a-hysterical-historical-tour-of-Sacramento-this-Halloween

Two tails that wagged as one:
http://www.examiner.com/x-16629-Historical-Markers-Travel-Examiner~y2009m10d15-Two-tails-that-wagged-as-one-San-Franciscos-stay-dogs

Two different kinds of El Caminos:
http://www.examiner.com/x-16629-Historical-Markers-Travel-Examiner~y2009m10d16-Two-different-kinds-of-El-Caminos

Dagoba Orange-Ginger Organic Chocolate Bar:
http://bakingdesserts.suite101.com/article.cfm/dagoba_organic_lemonginger_chocolate_bar

What are Certified Local Governments?
http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_are_certified_local_governments

Review: No Plot? No Problem!
http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/review_no_plot_no_problem

What is National Novel Writing Month?
http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_national_novel_writing_month

How to Win National Novel Writing Month
http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_win_national_novel_writing_month

Since I stopped doing the daily images it’s been harder to remember what I did on any given day. :: shrug :: Anyway, on Friday I got a new, steady freelance gig. Actually it’s something I applied for right at the beginning, in July(?), but didn’t get because I wasn’t able to travel 500 miles for an interview. They hired me to do some articles; I did. They liked what I did, but I never got a second batch. But they said keep in touch. And I did. And then they hired another freelancer, and she was me. ;)

Once we get going this should take some of the roughness off the edges of our lives, and it’ll be fun, too.

This last weekend, we took a flying visit down to Redding, hit just about every big box store in town, and stocked up on food and supplies (think: toilet paper, batteries, soap) for the next six weeks. My big coup: I scored genuine Lyle’s golden syrup from Cost Plus, so I have the genuine article for making parkin and toffee on Bonfire Night. I was starting to think I might have to use maple syrup. Nice, but just not the real thing.

There were a lot of bikers in town for a big rally. My bike’s battery, after a bit of a fiasco with phones and the supplier, is on its way, just in time for a large winter storm that’s about to sweep over most of the top half of California.

DH drove me up to Anderson so I could get some of the historical markers along old route 99 (now CA-273) and we “hit” the Redding Rancheria Indian casino for half an hour of penny, nickel and quarter slots. We hit a 5-reel jackpot on one machine for a total of $2, laughed at the glowing, clucking chickens on the hillbilly machine, and took a welcome break from the realities of life.

Here’s what I wrote this last week:
<!--more-->

Crowd-Pleasing Texas Spaghetti (this is what I cooked for the dinner party the other week).

Introduction to Historical Markers in California

Local California Historic Landmarks and Markers

Filoli House and Gardens

Meat and Potato Layer Casserole

A replacement historical cross for Monterey stirs up controversy

I just returned from cooking dinner for my neighbors. It was the first time I’d run amok in a full-sized kitchen for about two years, and it was pretty fun. I cooked Texas “spaghetti,” a concoction involving chili and fettucine, actually. It worked out rather well and boy, do I have leftovers. ;)

Looking back, it seems to have been a strange week. We did epic-sized laundry and my bike wouldn’t start each time we stopped and went somewhere else. We’ve determined that the battery is sick, not the alternator. It would be grim if the alternator went out. It’s grim enough to fork out $85 for a new battery.

DH has been working on some electronics projects and I’ve been writing and coding. We are out of synch; he pulls the night shift and I am burning the candle at both ends. ;) I have had a couple of sessions of manic writing that resulted in multiple articles, not to mention programming.

I finally launched Markeroni’s new Catalog after pulling an all-nighter and then breaking everything at the eleventh hour (these two things may have been related). I am too old for all-nighters, I conclude. But it was worth it. If you really want to know how much I did, read this forum post.

I can’t ride my bike, of course, which is a shame, because it’s lovely here now: about 70-80 degrees in the afternoon, with a real chill overnight and the mornings. We’ve had our first frost already. The temperature is just right.

Oh well. That’s about it for the week. I was nothing, if not prolific: here’s a list of articles I wrote last week. <!--more-->

British Publishing Houses

Perfect Liver and Onions

Lake Champlain All-Natural Milk Chocolate

Introduction to Historical Markers in New Mexico

Silly Movies to Watch at Halloween

Five Dark Fantasies to Watch at Halloween

October 1st: A good day for car travelers

Ventriloquist receives English Heritage blue plaque

So, you want to buy a historic theatre?