I currently reside in the basement of my parents’ house. So, last night, I call them on my home from work to see if they need anything. My dad’s response is, “Yeah, we need you here ASAP. The basement’s flooded and all your stuff is soaking wet, even your office.”

“Very funny, Dad. April Fools Day is tomorrow, not today.”

His tone goes very serious, now. “I’m not joking.”

Crap. My office? My computer? Double crap. Then I remembered, much to my utter relief, I’d brought the computer upstairs a couple weeks ago because my mom’s is on the fritz. Whew!

So I get home to find my mom and my brother-in-law playing dueling shop vacs in my bedroom. So, of course, I get enlisted to shop vac duty. We’re going along rather well, until my leg gets wrapped around a cord. I shake my leg causing the lamp with the a newly purchased “green” lightbulb to go falling to the floor. Glass shatters into a million peices. Triple Crap!  Those things aint cheap! So now I venture up the stairs to get a vaccuum cleaner. Did I mention I’m a climacophobe? That means I’m afraid of falling down stairs. I’m generally ok if I hold the railing, but not when carrying a heavy vacuum down the stairs. I finally make it down, thank goodness. After the slight interruption, all the glass gets cleaned up and another “green” bulb is put in. We proceed to shop vac the rugs.Then the shop vac cord bumps the lamp. Oh no, not again, I think as I see the lamp tip over. This time, it just tips over, with no shattered glass.

After about 2 hours for me (I spent 10 hours at work), and about 6 hours for my mom, sisters, and brother-in-law, everything is done as good as we can do. The floor is still damp! Grrr. I hope I don’t get mold.

Just a little rant by little ol’ me..

Cheers,
Sindee

First and foremost, congratulations to my fellow Avon Fanlit buddies, Pamela Bolton-Holifield, Courtney Milan, and Liese Sherwood-Fabre for their Golden Heart finals. Way to go, gals! I wish I was going to San Francisco.  Good luck!

So recently, I have noticed that I have a spastic eye. No matter what I am doing, watching TV, reading, writing, whatever, my eye has a mind of its own. It’s bloody annoying. So I read up on this strangely common condition. And would you believe it is caused by staring too long, or bright lights. Go figure. I spend 10 hours a day at work in front of a computer, and another 2+ hours at home writing and playing my online Pirates of the Caribbean game (It’s inspiring for a pirate tale I have spinning in my head). Arr mateys! Shiver me timbers! I’m thinking about resurrecting  one of my favorite Fanlit Forever characters. Aye! It’s Brownboot Bill, ye scurvy sea dogs.

Anyway, I digress. The eye twitch makes me look like I’m winking–constantly. The guy down the way from me probably thinks I’m trying to mack on him. But if they think I am going to give up staring at my computer while I write, they are sorely mistaken. I’ll finish my novel, one twitch at a time.

And lastly, 2nd place seems to be my new niche. Better than 3rd though, right? Wings of Desire recently took 2nd place in the Grand Beginnings contest, which, considering it is a multi-genre contest, is a great feat. Oh and the editor who judged it wants to see more. Yippee!!! And yesterday, I found out it also took 2nd place in the Great Expectations contest’s Erotic romance category. I’m thrilled, regardless.

Cheers!
Sindee

Today is my mother’s birthday. So, in honor of her 60th, I’ve decided to do some birthday weirdness. Love ya mom! Enjoy your day!

Check this cake out!

Feel free to leave those captions. Since it’s the first Wednesday of the month, I’m giving away a $10.00 gift card to Amazon.com. I’ll have my mom pick a winner on Saturday.

Here’s my contribution:

Surgery on a plate. All that’s missing is the scalpel.

Love y’all!

Sindee

Yes, I know! I’m a day late. I apologize immensely. I had a terribly busy day at work and got sidetracked with the Fanlit Forver/Romance Roundtable chat. But I figured better late than never! Enjoy!

Here’s my sad attempt at a caption:

“I’m the original polecat, baby!”

You know the drill. And in honor of leap day, I’ll draw a random name on friday. The winner will get a $10.00 e-certificate to an online merchant of their choice.

Take care!
Sindee

How would you like sitting in a chair like this?

Comment away my friends

Here’s mine:

“Excuse me, but my head seems to be wedged in your buttocks.”

PS: Don’t forget to vote for Smokey in the Bissell MVP Pet Photo contest!
http://www.bissell.com/Page_id/47093/Default.aspx?ImageUrl=http://images.bissell.com/images/IncludeContent/MVP/Period7/2780.jpg

Have fun!
Sindee

I almost forgot about Wednesday weirdness, but thank goodness for my handy-dandy desk calendar! Enjoy! And keep those captions coming!

Here’s mine:
“Darn it! I forgot the cream and sugar!”

 Have a happy Wednesday!

Sindee

I don’t usually do reviews, especially on software and games,  but I couldn’t hold back…

I’m an avid fan of Jeopardy, but last week my devotion was sorely tested. And it wasn’t because I’d failed the contestant exam for the third time, either. No, this was for a completely different reason. Why, you’re wondering? The answer is very simple and perhaps a bit odd. I purchased the Jeopardy DVD game system. After many failed attempts to unpack and set up this supposedly state of the art game, I almost decided if I never saw the word “Jeopardy” or heard that annoying song ever again, it would be too soon.

I recently registered to take the online contestant exam. In my extensive Google and search for jeopardy tools and electronic jeopardy games to help me refresh my brain, I came across this cool looking DVD system. It even included three wireless buzzers. Wouldn’t that be a great way to sharpen my mind as well as my skill of buzzing in? After all, there’s a whole technique to buzzing in, according to several previous jeopardy contestants. I’m a born cheapskate, so instead of purchasing this game from a store, I venture to the website where you can get deals galore… eBay. I bought the game on January 19th. The unit is shipped on the 21st. No big deal. I already figured I wouldn’t have it in time for the contestant test. The eBay seller said 2-9 business days and he delivered on his promise. It came on Monday, January 28, the day before the contestant test.

With eager fingers, I tore open the packaging and pulled out this ultra sleek clear box. Inside this box, sat nestled a black container proudly displaying the trademark Jeopardy logo for storing the three controllers and another silver game console displaying the logo in just as proud yellow letters. I have never seen any company go quite so tape happy as MGA Entertainment, the distributors of the game. After several plastic cuts—which, if I may add, hurt worse than paper cuts—and a few unmentioned curse words later, I finally manage to get this game out of the box.

After the 15-minute callisthenic workout from the struggle to unpackage the game, I brought it into the TV room, pulled out the manual, and attempted to follow their easy setup instructions. By this time, I’m thinking MGAE’s definition of the word “easy” is different from Miriam Webster’s definition. Because the only way this setup would be easy is if you are a brain surgeon, your name is Albert Einstein, or you have an IQ reaching MENSA potential. I’m an intelligent person, or so some IQ tests have said, and I always follow instructions to a tee, but these instructions and the representatives at their help desk made me feel like an idiot savant.

The main problem I had with this game was compatibility. Nowhere on the box or on any of the item descriptions I located on the net mentioned that you need a DVD player that has closed caption capabilities. After several attempts to play this DVD on My 10-year-old Sony, I discovered the CD is scratched and wouldn’t play. Then after a few more attempts with a burnt back up copy, I discover the DVD player didn’t have Closed Caption. Oh well, we were due for a new one anyway. So I rush to the only store open at that time of night—Wal-Mart. I find a $40 gem of a deal in a Phillips upconverter DVD player. An upconverter allows you to watch your regular DVDS in high def on your HDTV. I go home and set this new DVD player up. I was thrilled to discover closed captions are available on this DVD player and start the buzzer set up.

From the instructions, you are supposed to click the corresponding button on your remote and it will tell you to press again and click next, which never happened. I clicked next on my own and they worked fine for the remaining buttons. I proceeded to call MGA E, which is the rudest company I’ve called in a long time. In a convoluted nutshell, Phillips wasn’t compatible. They couldn’t give me a list of DVD players that were incompatible or compatible because it would be too long. So, I packed up the Phillips and returned it to Wal-Mart. Then I went to Best Buy and got Insignia, which has no CC abilities at all. I go back again and exchange it for a RCA that worked, but the remote wasn’t compatible. I was at my wits end. I was near to pulling hair. My stomach was roiling. I was about to give up when I decided I’d try one more time. This time it was a Sony. A friend of mine mentioned I might need my TV’s cc enabled, so I went into the TV setup and turned it on. I hooked up the new DVD and… Voila! It works! Part of me now wonders, since Sony designed the game.

After all that, I discover there are only twenty games on this DVD. What happens when I’ve played all of them? Do I have to buy another of their infuriating disks? Then, much to my now amusement, while I played the game, the audio and video go all fuzzy. The batteries in the game console that links the DVD player to the TV are going dead. With a roll of my eyes, I pull the batteries out and hook the DVD back to my TV. Lucky for me, I was using rechargeable batteries. The game, despite all my headaches, and short battery life, is what I expected. An adequate trivia experience, however I could have just as easily gotten the same experience just watching the show. After all my frustrations, I wonder if it was truly worth all the agony I experienced.

Guess what? It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s caption contest time. I’m in the mood for some monkey business.

Go ahead and leave those comments. I’ll pick a winner on Sunday, February 10 when I get back from my weekend outing.

Here’s mine to get you started:

“Your mamma’s a chimpanzee!”

Okay that was lame. I know you all can do better.

Congratulations to Laurie (Comment #19)! You win a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks. Please email sindee@sindeesexton.com with your snail mail address so I can send you your prize.

Also, feel free to stop by Romance Roundtable tomorrow to hear all about my quest to become a Jeopardy contestant!

Without further ado, I present today’s installment of Wednesday Weirdness…

This is weird on so many levels.

Is it just me or does he seem to be molesting that poor tucan with his eyes?

Caption time! This one ought to be heaps of fun!

My definition of “Writer’s Block:

I guess that’s one way to give your owner a break

Sindee