Football Trumps Mountain Bike

Today is a day to remember and think about what it means to be a human being with all its corresponding responsibilities. I will be going to a Tea Party, the political kind, in Racine. Then we have to get back to business.

Yes, I have decided not to go to Treadfest tomorrow, at least I'm 90% decided. And I still haven't put the Alterra pictures up. I call the picture to the left "Ouch!" It has been a stressed out week and I haven't gotten much sleep. Working out tie ups and misunderstandings with the book weighed me down. The roof, peaches and yard kept me going pretty consistently and I started focusing more on strength training at the gym. Plus it is a good chunk of money just in gas to get down there.

Yeah, now the real reason. Football season starts full-bore tomorrow. And while the Packers do not play until after 3:00 pm the Bears and Lions are on at noon, our division rivals. A hurried intense trip after church service down to Lake Geneva, in my fore mentioned worn state, with a frantic rush back to see the Packers vs. a leisurely rest in front of the television enjoying my favorite team sport all day through, consuming mounds of butter drenched popcorn. I still might go, but I highly doubt it. Unless someone wants to give me a ride and be back by 3:00 pm.

Yes, in this age of notoriously poor customer service Create Space came through with flying colors. I was a bit shocked, taken aback, stunned, at a loss for words as they catered to my every concern and actually went above and beyond to solve my problems. Almost as if they believed the customer was right ...always. The publishing process (or self publishing) takes longer than you can imagine. I read one site that said expect it to take three to six months. The quickest way, much quicker than even three months, is to go the self service route where you buy no services. It seems counter intuitive but it's true. Even after the PDF reviews are over the prep to print a proof is up to three times longer with the paid service ( up to 15 work days vs 5, where I was expecting maybe 2). There was my beef as I learned the time lines. They knew I have little money and wanted things done as fast as possible, so they expedited my service to make up for not making things clear (and maybe one or two other things) as I suggested I wanted to go self service some weeks earlier. And it most likely helped that my book isn't too long. But not having worked with PDF's before, the paid service they guided me to was appropriate. I should get a final proof this coming week and if everything is OK my e-sales page should be up by the end of the month and my simple attempt at marketing complete. I hope to get my next book to them by the end of the year, if not sooner.