RRBC book trailer Block Party

Yes, it’s that time of year again and Rave Reviews Book Club is holding another Block Party for book trailers.

I’m pleased that the trailer for Nikki Magee (Amazon) is part of it. This is the 2nd time the trailer has been entered. Nikki likes to PARTY and there is a possible PRIZE for people who Party with her, randomly selected by RRBC. What is it?

A Paperback Copy of “Nikki Magee” (US Only) or eBook if outside US.

The Youtube Trailer link is here and one must go there, on Nikki’s Day, for a chance to WIN! Naturally, RRBC will need to know who has Partied with Nikki, so leave a comment. Also feel free to up or down vote the trailer.

The trailer is 3:42 in length because the music was composed and performed specifically for the trailer by Romeo Crow, a very talented English musician. It was a pleasure working with him.

At the top of the Blog is MISC. Inside is some of what I used in developing and writing the story, as I did it all ‘under the headphones’. Some was searching for information after the fact, checking I was not to far afield.

See you on the 19th.

I posted this on my FB page.

This is an exercise in applied logic.

From ZH we have this – http://tinyurl.com/guv27yu – and of course bankers want to pay their bills like everyone else.

“If I don’t issue more loans, then my salary isn’t enough to repay the mortgage, and car loan. It’s not difficult to issue more loans, but lets say in a years time when the loan is due, if the borrower defaults, then I wont just see a pay cut, I’ll be fired, and still be responsible for loan recovery.”

The whole system runs on debt and must expand else collapse. Two and even three job incomes, stagnant wages, and increasing burdens are not healthy. Artificially raise wages (min wage) and prices soon follow to cover. No one has really ever moved up the ladder when working at the minimum wage. Tomorrows $15 minimum will also be $16 going to ~$23 and milk will cost a buck or two more. It’s all smoke and mirrors playing on peoples fears and emotions. The market will force the ratios to what the market demands they be. Only so much debt can be serviced. Looming on the horizon are default after default. Mr. Banker, above, knows this. Banks need money, he needs his salary, and the money must come from somewhere.

The consumer always pays for everything.

It’s getting harder and harder to pay many bills in cash. Some, like water, can be local so one can pay in cash. Many require a bank account.

From ZH – http://tinyurl.com/zjgs9m5 – as to Japan…

“if the negative interest rate continues for longer or goes deeper, commercial banks may have to set negative interest rates on deposits, which would expand not only the tax on commercial banks, but also on depositors (households and companies). This could lead to a ‘silent bank run’ via a shift of deposits to cash (banknotes), which in turn damages the sound banking system by enlarging the leakage of funds from the credit creation mechanism in the banking system.”

Heard the rumblings about going ca$hless? Remember, consumers pay for everything. Buckle-up folks. The ride is only beginning, and it won’t be an event. It will be a process, lasting years if not decades.

This is too great not to post.

One year down…

 

It’s the last day of the RRBC Book Block Party Month

NIKKI MAGEE has a book trailer.

 

I hope you enjoy it.

Rave Reviews Book Club

 

New Cover for Nikki Magee

Soon to be at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Apple.

WillowRaven Illustration & Design
http://willowraven.weebly.com/

Frigoboat on the hard (hauled out)

I’ve been a live aboard for 30+ years. That’s my resume. IN the beginning, there was ice – screw that.

I’ve used quite a few different refrigeration systems over the years. I like my cold drinks. I love ice cream. Once even had a goodly size Crosby. That sucked down the amps. Then along came Frigoboat. It’s not perfect, but damn well near enough. Reefer/freezer, and it can easily keep ice cream. My box is ~12 cu’ total. One plate in the freezer section, with spillover for reefer. Low power drain, seemingly using – call it 40-60 amps /day, depending of course. Air temp, water temp, and box insulation. The unit uses a submerged heat-exchanger, the keel-cooler, hull mounted near the compressor. All that’s required is sufficient water volume for the continuous heat exchange.

Next is the obligatory haul out. Problem is, how to use the system on the hard. Unit requires submersion in water of sufficient volume for proper cooling. Frigoboat makes an add-on, allowing air cooling and therefore one more thing to possibly go wrong which if it did, not so easily dealt with nor is air as efficient. Not as cheap as I did it either, and personally I think my system is better, far more cost effective, and easily repairable. Did it for ~30 bucks or so. I’m a boater. Do it cheap if it works well.

This is a pic of the water box. Tupperware; with a meaty edge – a lip if possible. This one, my second, has seen a few haul-outs. I’m using a boat stand to hold the box in place. The other parts used are my originals.

Trick here is the seal. 3M Strip Calk (autozone, NAPA, etc); another name used is Dum-Dum. Makes a great seal. There’s also the two installed nipples. The return nipple is set as needed; at the highest point depending on how box sits against the hull. Want the box to fill as much as possible. The exchanger is now submerged. Water is kept in a bucket hung down from the rail; the needed circulatory volume. I use fresh. Bucket pictured is smaller than I prefer (6 gal), but it’s doing the job. The pump is a small submersible fish tank pump (holding up in pic). It’s not fast but quite sufficient. Can be run off the inverter. Add in some solar / wind power and one could stay on the hard with reefer indefinitely. Just check water level daily.

I add some white vinegar to the water; cleans the exchanger.

It works like a charm, even hauled out in August. The unit has sat, working, through a hurricane running off the inverter.

And that’s all there is.

If you use Frigoboat and find this useful, might you give my ebook, NIKKI MAGEE, shown at top a look? A 4+ star rated novella for those quiet evenings or the upcoming passage.

Review: BRAVURA by Lisa Kirazian

“This story, Bravura, is five stars! – gold plated stars. Let me say, unequivocally, I despise opera. I’d rather drink bleach than listen to it. Had my kindle played the operatic pieces mentioned in this story, I would have taken a hammer to it. I do like classical though. That said, the music used, being an integral part of the storyline, in the written form here, was fabulous. This story is alive, both in characters and total presentation. Brava!

Some might say this book contains romance, a genre I’m not really fond of. I did not find it to be that way, perceiving it more akin to the dynamics of excellent soap-opera; extremely tasteful and never sloppy or lurid. At times the story slows down a bit, but not without reason. I found little to be extraneous, little without purpose.

This is the story of the Driscoll family, of main characters Kathleen and her brother Neil, from their childhood years through conservatoire, then well into their adult years. Parts of the story remind me of a film, “The Competition”, with Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving; a story about musical competition. Both Kathleen, Neil, and their friends have to navigate the competitive years, both personally and musically, at the Royal School of Music in London, before heading into their professional lives. Quite a story it is.

Five stars! Gold plated. I loved it.”

The invasion must stop.

From ZeroHedge –

Riot Police Unleash Tear Gas, Water Cannons As Migrants Storm Hungarian Border Barriers

“Tensions between migrants fleeing Syria’s bloody civil war on their way to the German “promised land” (underlining added)

Germany isn’t even the goal for many. There’s Sweden, Denmark, the British Isles, France, Italy… and of course, Canada, Australia, the United States. These people are coming from everywhere. They’re not all Syrian.

Can those countries absorb all who wish to come? Do they have the means, the physical and social infrastructure, to accommodate these migrants, in these numbers?

These migrants do not arrive in Belgium and magically, they’re Belgian. A Somali does not get off the plane in Toronto and suddenly become a first-world Canadian. These people bring with them cultures that are at odds with the culture they are entering. It’s overly watering down good Whiskey with impurities till it’s no better than rot-gut. To much, to fast. It’s the difference between keeping one’s culture intact versus being invaded, which by definition, alters one’s culture in favor of the highly modified. Problem is, the modification does not increase what built the first-world country / culture. It can’t. First cannot remain where third displaces it; waters it down beyond recognition. This is different from first teaching third. Third needs be willing to learn. That’s not necessarily a pleasant experience as history has shown.

Long time ago, the Romans, the pinacle of civilization, went north, expanding their territory. Went so far north as to reach Britain. They brought with them roads, knowledge, engineering; what was, at the time, first-world culture. They could be brutal in their teaching. That’s the way it was. They built Hadrian’s Wall, in the north of England, a defensive measure against the barbarians to the north; my ancestors. I come from a line of barbarians, way back when. They did not get the benefit of contact with first-worlders for quite some time. My ancestors didn’t leave barbarism heading into first-world civilization for a long time. Leaving barbarism can be said for the Gauls (also my ancestors) and the Franks. Building a first-world civilization takes time. Not days, weeks, or even years. It took centuries. Even Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Before the Romans there were the Greeks. There’s been a few first-world civilizations. All have come and gone. Most all had characteristics they shared in their demise. One was the increasing mass introduction of cultures in opposition to what built them in the first place. Regression towards the lowest common denominator.

If the current first-world, what is often characterized as modern civilization, wishes to remain intact, it must stop the invasion. It must send them home. If they want to be first-world, a world they have contact with, they need to build it. That takes lots of time. They will not raise the first-world up by invading it. They will destroy it. That’s a fact, and I have history on my side in saying so.

Other peoples’ money

It’s been said, it’s one thing to be compassionate with one’s own money. Wholly another when it’s not your own.

James lives in a small town. Population of ten thousand. When James bought his small farm he figured that the deal, including what he’d pay in property tax, was doable. Even a bad year or two he could weather. More than that he’d have to skimp to get by. That’s the way it is. His risk, his reward.

Three years later, spinster Olsen’s home burns to the ground. It was a meager home of two small bedrooms, living room, and single bath she’d inherited from her late father. All had been lost. She’s a beloved member of the community, living on a small pension. The insurance she’d maintained on the house was found to not be enough. It only paid for about 20% of its value. She’d neglected to ever look to its provisions.

Her friends and neighbors felt terrible for her predicament. They managed to raise enough to get to 50% rebuild of her home. That’s not good enough they all felt, so they went to the Town Council.

The Council, not wanting to look uncaring, voted to issue 10yr Bonds. Some people bought those bonds. Spinster Olsen had her rebuilt home and all its replaced contents.

The next year, James sat on his front porch looking at his property tax bill. It had gone up. Cost of the Bonds. James hadn’t had the best of year; weather too dry. He could handle this amount of increase. Hope next year the weather is a little better. Nine more years to go.

It’s now two years later. James is getting by, the weather had been a bit better so he’d not felt any real bite from that increase. Everyone in the town is happy for spinster Olsen.

In late summer the dam lets loose. Wipes out a tenth of the peoples’ property; one thousand spinster Olsens. It’s catastrophic. Not enough can be raised directly, so to the Town Council they go. 30yr Bonds are issued. The Council said, “It takes a village.”

The next year, James sits on his porch and looks at his arrived property tax bill. He hangs his head low, uncertain as to tomorrow. What he could not see that day was that in three years the Sheriff would come to his farm. “Back taxes, James. Your farm’s been seized. Sorry.”

“What will I do now, Sheriff, I have no job, no income, no nothing.”

“Well, there’s Social Services.”

James thinks on that. Another, added to the rolls; me. Someone pays, it’s tax dollars. A penny increase here, a penny increase there. Yeah, soon it’s real money. I’ve done the analysis. Can’t run this farm with such high taxes. If only spinster Olsen had had savings, moved into an apartment till she’d saved up a bit more, then perhaps even gotten a loan she could afford.  Instead, I, and others, paid for it. No one asked me. Hell, I gave her a hundred bucks, of my money. Wish I still had that. Today I need it. Then there was the great flood. I paid for that, too. People are grumbling about the property taxes now. It’s getting tight on everyone. Heard Dan closed his shop. Business is way off. He’s on the rolls too now. I used to provide farm goods, at real good prices. Local. Now they’ll have to go elsewhere. Cost of acquisition will be higher. What a shame. Lori lost her job at the restaurant. It had bought goods from me. Had to let her go. Cost of keeping her had gone up, with the Council raising the minimum wage. Restaurant is trying to keep its prices down, stay in business.

Nope, they didn’t send spinster Olsen, or the flood victims, to Social Services. I wonder if her pension can cover her property taxes now. Me? I’m off to Social Services, wait in line with Lori, fill out forms, another in need of other peoples’ money.