Back in March, my husband and I purchased and installed three outdoor motion dectector halogen lamps. We were having an issue at the time with our neighbor's teenage daughter and friends drinking in their driveway and then tossing their beer and Twisted Tea bottles into our yard. So hoping to deter them, we put in these lights from EML Technologies.
In August two of the bulbs blew and we took a bulb with us to Aubuchons to get replacement bulbs only they couldn't find a compatible size. So we went to Home Depot and ran into the same issue. In desperation, we emailed the company to ask what the bulb size is and to our surprise, not only did they provide us with the correct size, but they've now sent two separate shipments of bulbs so that we have plenty to last us for the years to come. That's what I call customer service!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Books or Music
I'm a music junkie. While my book piles stack up, this month has seen some incredible music releases. With the age difference between my husband and I, the music in our house varies greatly. Here's my take on some of the recently releases available.
I am a huge Eagles fan. Their harmonies rock! I love the song Long Road Out of Eden and even How Long has been rather catchy. The rest of this album is growing on me. The big downfall is that I feel Joe Walsh's offerings are rather weak. I've love his music in the past, but the two tracks he does on this album just are not that good IMO.
In interviews, Little Big Town have said that Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and CSN are idols. Little Big Town's harmonies are exceptional. If you caught the concert they did with Lindsey Buckingham, keep watching for repeats! They did an amazing job. Their third release is pretty impressive. I still prefer the second, but their new one still needs to grow on me.
Like her or hate her, I will give Carrie Underwood credit for wanting to write her own music this time around. The album is pretty catchy, but one specific song caught my attention. "I Know You Won't" is the best on the album and showcases the power in her vocals. Some of it is pretty sappy, but you listen to Carrie Underwood music expecting her to be perky.
Reba isn't someone I normally would have chosen, but I will give her credit for being a good comedy actress and some of her music does intrigue me. Stand out tracks on this album have to be the one with Leann Rimes (heartache of being dumped and blaming yourself) and then the track with Don Henley. The track with Kenny Chesney about divorce and sharing custody makes me cry every time. Over all, I find this album has become one of my favorites this fall.
Robert Plant teaming up with Alison Krauss - enough said it's a weird combination. Yet, for some twisted reason the rocking Led Zepplin frontman and Alison work very well together.
The rocking side of me always loves some harder music, but I tend to be a very vocal person and want music that I can sing along to. Foo Fighters appease to my son and husband who want harder guitar driven music, and I find it still easy to sing along with. Pretender is one of the best tracks on the album. Let It Die is a decent song. Summer's End is my favorite though.
I am a huge Eagles fan. Their harmonies rock! I love the song Long Road Out of Eden and even How Long has been rather catchy. The rest of this album is growing on me. The big downfall is that I feel Joe Walsh's offerings are rather weak. I've love his music in the past, but the two tracks he does on this album just are not that good IMO.
In interviews, Little Big Town have said that Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and CSN are idols. Little Big Town's harmonies are exceptional. If you caught the concert they did with Lindsey Buckingham, keep watching for repeats! They did an amazing job. Their third release is pretty impressive. I still prefer the second, but their new one still needs to grow on me.
Like her or hate her, I will give Carrie Underwood credit for wanting to write her own music this time around. The album is pretty catchy, but one specific song caught my attention. "I Know You Won't" is the best on the album and showcases the power in her vocals. Some of it is pretty sappy, but you listen to Carrie Underwood music expecting her to be perky.
Reba isn't someone I normally would have chosen, but I will give her credit for being a good comedy actress and some of her music does intrigue me. Stand out tracks on this album have to be the one with Leann Rimes (heartache of being dumped and blaming yourself) and then the track with Don Henley. The track with Kenny Chesney about divorce and sharing custody makes me cry every time. Over all, I find this album has become one of my favorites this fall.
Robert Plant teaming up with Alison Krauss - enough said it's a weird combination. Yet, for some twisted reason the rocking Led Zepplin frontman and Alison work very well together.
The rocking side of me always loves some harder music, but I tend to be a very vocal person and want music that I can sing along to. Foo Fighters appease to my son and husband who want harder guitar driven music, and I find it still easy to sing along with. Pretender is one of the best tracks on the album. Let It Die is a decent song. Summer's End is my favorite though.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Book Preview: Tom Brokaw's BOOM!
FSB Associates is kind enough to share a clip from Tom Brokaw's new book. Look for the review at RTR in the next few weeks.
Boom!: Voices of the Sixties
By Tom Brokaw
In 1962, I had an entry-level reporter's job at an Omaha television station. I had bargained to get a salary of one hundred dollars a week, because I didn't feel I could tell Meredith's doctor father I was making less. Meredith, who had a superior college record, couldn't find any work because, as one personnel director after another told her, "You're a young bride. If we hire you, you'll just get pregnant before long and want maternity leave."
In retrospect, the political and cultural climate in the early Sixties seems both a time of innocence and also like a sultry, still summer day in the Midwest: an unsettling calm before a ferocious storm over Vietnam, which was not yet an American war. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was confronting racism in the South and getting a good deal of exposure on The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC and The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, the two primary network newscasts, each just fifteen minutes long.
In the fall of 1963, first CBS and then, shortly after, NBC expanded those signature news broadcasts to a half hour. As a sign of the importance of the expansion, Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley were granted lengthy exclusive interviews with President Kennedy. ABC wouldn't be a player in the news major leagues until the 1970s, when Roone Arledge brought to ABC News the energy and programming approach he had applied to ABC Sports. Kennedy, America's first truly telegenic president, was a master of the medium, fully appreciating its power to reach into the living rooms of America from sea to shining sea
During our time in Omaha, John F. Kennedy was not a local favorite. The city's deeply conservative culture remained immune to Kennedy's charms and to his arguments for social changes, such as civil rights and the introduction of government-subsidized medical care for the elderly. I'm sure many of my conservative friends at the time thought I was a card short of being a member of the Communist Party because I regularly championed the need for enforced racial equality and Medicare.
One of the most popular speakers to come through Omaha in those days was a familiar figure from my childhood, when kids in small towns on the Great Plains spent Saturday afternoons in movie theaters watching westerns. Ronald Reagan looked just like he did on the big screen. He was kind of a local boy who had made good, starting out as a radio star next door in Iowa and moving on to Hollywood, before becoming a television fixture as host of General Electric Theater.
Reagan's Omaha appearances were part of his arrangement with GE, which allowed him to be an old-fashioned circuit-riding preacher, warning against the evils of big government and Communism, while praising the virtues of big business and the free market. He was every inch a star, impeccably dressed and groomed. But those of us who shared his Midwestern roots were a bit surprised to find that although he was completely cordial, he was not noticeably warm. That part of his personality remained an enigma even to his closest friends and advisers throughout his historically successful political career.
In Omaha the only time he lightened up in my presence was when I noticed he was wearing contact lenses and I asked him about them. He got genuinely excited as he described how they were a new soft model, not like the hard ones that could irritate the eyes. He even wrote down the name of his California optometrist so Meredith could order a pair for herself. (Later, when he became president, I often thought, "He's not only a great politician, he's a helluva contact lens salesman.")
President Kennedy also passed through Omaha, but only for a brief stop at the Strategic Air Command headquarters there. In those days, SAC was an instantly recognized acronym because the bombers it comprised -- some of which we could see because they were always in the air ready to respond in case of an attack -- were a central component of America's Cold War military strategy.
More memorable for me was a visit to SAC by the president's brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The younger Kennedy was a striking contrast to the president, who had been smiling and chatty with the local press and even more impressive in person than on television. Unlike the president, who was always meticulously and elegantly dressed, the attorney general was wearing a rumpled suit, and the collar on his blue button-down shirt was frayed. He was plainly impatient, and his mood did not improve when I asked for a reaction to Alabama governor George Wallace's demand that JFK resign the presidency because of his stance on school desegregation. Bobby fixed those icy blue eyes on me and said, as if I were to blame for the governor's statement, "I have no comment on anything Governor Wallace has to say."
I was on duty in the newsroom a few weeks later when the United Press International wire-service machine began to sound its bulletin bells. I walked over casually and began to read a series of sentences breaking in staccato fashion down the page:
Three shots were fired at president Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas . . . Flash -- Kennedy seriously wounded, perhaps fatally by assassin's bullet . . . President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 pm (CST).
John F. Kennedy, the man I had thought would define the political ideal for the rest of my days, was suddenly gone in the senseless violence of a single moment. In ways we could not have known then, the gunshots in Dealey Plaza triggered a series of historic changes: the quagmire of Vietnam that led to the fall of Lyndon Johnson as president; the death of Robert Kennedy in pursuit of the presidency; and the comeback, presidency, and subsequent disgrace of Richard Nixon.
On that beautiful late autumn November morning, however, my immediate concern was to get this story on the air. I rushed the news onto our noon broadcast, and as I was running back to the newsroom, one of the station's Kennedy haters said, "What's up?"
I responded, "Kennedy's been shot."
He said, "It's about time someone got the son of a bitch."
Given the gauzy shades of popular memory, the invocations of Camelot and JFK as our nation's prince, it may be surprising to younger Americans to know that President Kennedy was not universally beloved. Now Kennedy was gone, and this man was glad. I lunged toward him, but another co-worker pulled me away.
Copyright © 2007 Tom Brokaw from the book Boom! by Tom Brokaw Published by Random House; November 2007;$28.95US/$34.95CAN; 978-1-4000-6457-1
About the Author
Tom Brokaw is the author of four bestsellers: The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks, An Album of Memories, and A Long Way from Home. From 1976 to 1981 he anchored Today on NBC. He was the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw from 1983 to 2004. http://www.boom-brokaw.com/
Boom!: Voices of the Sixties
By Tom Brokaw
In 1962, I had an entry-level reporter's job at an Omaha television station. I had bargained to get a salary of one hundred dollars a week, because I didn't feel I could tell Meredith's doctor father I was making less. Meredith, who had a superior college record, couldn't find any work because, as one personnel director after another told her, "You're a young bride. If we hire you, you'll just get pregnant before long and want maternity leave."
In retrospect, the political and cultural climate in the early Sixties seems both a time of innocence and also like a sultry, still summer day in the Midwest: an unsettling calm before a ferocious storm over Vietnam, which was not yet an American war. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was confronting racism in the South and getting a good deal of exposure on The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC and The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, the two primary network newscasts, each just fifteen minutes long.
In the fall of 1963, first CBS and then, shortly after, NBC expanded those signature news broadcasts to a half hour. As a sign of the importance of the expansion, Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley were granted lengthy exclusive interviews with President Kennedy. ABC wouldn't be a player in the news major leagues until the 1970s, when Roone Arledge brought to ABC News the energy and programming approach he had applied to ABC Sports. Kennedy, America's first truly telegenic president, was a master of the medium, fully appreciating its power to reach into the living rooms of America from sea to shining sea
During our time in Omaha, John F. Kennedy was not a local favorite. The city's deeply conservative culture remained immune to Kennedy's charms and to his arguments for social changes, such as civil rights and the introduction of government-subsidized medical care for the elderly. I'm sure many of my conservative friends at the time thought I was a card short of being a member of the Communist Party because I regularly championed the need for enforced racial equality and Medicare.
One of the most popular speakers to come through Omaha in those days was a familiar figure from my childhood, when kids in small towns on the Great Plains spent Saturday afternoons in movie theaters watching westerns. Ronald Reagan looked just like he did on the big screen. He was kind of a local boy who had made good, starting out as a radio star next door in Iowa and moving on to Hollywood, before becoming a television fixture as host of General Electric Theater.
Reagan's Omaha appearances were part of his arrangement with GE, which allowed him to be an old-fashioned circuit-riding preacher, warning against the evils of big government and Communism, while praising the virtues of big business and the free market. He was every inch a star, impeccably dressed and groomed. But those of us who shared his Midwestern roots were a bit surprised to find that although he was completely cordial, he was not noticeably warm. That part of his personality remained an enigma even to his closest friends and advisers throughout his historically successful political career.
In Omaha the only time he lightened up in my presence was when I noticed he was wearing contact lenses and I asked him about them. He got genuinely excited as he described how they were a new soft model, not like the hard ones that could irritate the eyes. He even wrote down the name of his California optometrist so Meredith could order a pair for herself. (Later, when he became president, I often thought, "He's not only a great politician, he's a helluva contact lens salesman.")
President Kennedy also passed through Omaha, but only for a brief stop at the Strategic Air Command headquarters there. In those days, SAC was an instantly recognized acronym because the bombers it comprised -- some of which we could see because they were always in the air ready to respond in case of an attack -- were a central component of America's Cold War military strategy.
More memorable for me was a visit to SAC by the president's brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The younger Kennedy was a striking contrast to the president, who had been smiling and chatty with the local press and even more impressive in person than on television. Unlike the president, who was always meticulously and elegantly dressed, the attorney general was wearing a rumpled suit, and the collar on his blue button-down shirt was frayed. He was plainly impatient, and his mood did not improve when I asked for a reaction to Alabama governor George Wallace's demand that JFK resign the presidency because of his stance on school desegregation. Bobby fixed those icy blue eyes on me and said, as if I were to blame for the governor's statement, "I have no comment on anything Governor Wallace has to say."
I was on duty in the newsroom a few weeks later when the United Press International wire-service machine began to sound its bulletin bells. I walked over casually and began to read a series of sentences breaking in staccato fashion down the page:
Three shots were fired at president Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas . . . Flash -- Kennedy seriously wounded, perhaps fatally by assassin's bullet . . . President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 pm (CST).
John F. Kennedy, the man I had thought would define the political ideal for the rest of my days, was suddenly gone in the senseless violence of a single moment. In ways we could not have known then, the gunshots in Dealey Plaza triggered a series of historic changes: the quagmire of Vietnam that led to the fall of Lyndon Johnson as president; the death of Robert Kennedy in pursuit of the presidency; and the comeback, presidency, and subsequent disgrace of Richard Nixon.
On that beautiful late autumn November morning, however, my immediate concern was to get this story on the air. I rushed the news onto our noon broadcast, and as I was running back to the newsroom, one of the station's Kennedy haters said, "What's up?"
I responded, "Kennedy's been shot."
He said, "It's about time someone got the son of a bitch."
Given the gauzy shades of popular memory, the invocations of Camelot and JFK as our nation's prince, it may be surprising to younger Americans to know that President Kennedy was not universally beloved. Now Kennedy was gone, and this man was glad. I lunged toward him, but another co-worker pulled me away.
Copyright © 2007 Tom Brokaw from the book Boom! by Tom Brokaw Published by Random House; November 2007;$28.95US/$34.95CAN; 978-1-4000-6457-1
About the Author
Tom Brokaw is the author of four bestsellers: The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks, An Album of Memories, and A Long Way from Home. From 1976 to 1981 he anchored Today on NBC. He was the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw from 1983 to 2004. http://www.boom-brokaw.com/
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Becoming a Book Reviewer
I've been getting a few emails asking how someone can become a book reviewer. The answer is really easy - if you love books and love to talk about them, you'd fit right in.
At RTR, we've been getting a string of people who think they love to read everything and then after one or two reviews discover they hate reading books that they do not pick out for themselves. People feel book reviewers should be getting paid - that's nice if the advertising is heavy enough, but I hate ads, especially pop-up ads, and I refuse to charge authors a fee to get a review.
Reviewing can take a lot of time out of your day. I read a book a day on average. My day starts at 5:30 a.m. with a shower, followed by lunch preparation for the kids, and then my daughter and I fit in a half mile walk around the neighborhood. Usually, I work on my freelance writing jobs until noon. I write about some pretty unusual things from job duties of an underwater welder to medications for prostate infections. On better days, I write up airport, hotel, or product descriptions for a number of websites. After this, I go for a mile walk, and then get chores done. With whatever time is left over, I get some reading in. My kids are home at 3:30pm, so is my hubby actually, so chaos usually ensues until after dinner. Both of my kids have an hour to two hours of homework per night. I have a daughter who has to be shuttled off to team practices from 6pm to 8pm twice a week and then weekend practices and games are also involved. At 7pm, I try to get upstairs to relax for an hour or two with a book in hand and finish up what I started reading earlier. I've been reading since I was three years old, thanks Dr. Seuss, and read far more quickly than others. Yet, I can't own up to the rate that Harriet Klausner seems to be able to read at, nor do I think I'd want to because if she really does read as many books from cover to cover as is claimed, I can't see her having any time left over for her personal life.
I have the opportunity to work from home which helps out tremendously. I don't have to deal with commutes, work hours, and the likes. If I did go back to work full time, I'd give up reviewing because there are not enough hours in the day.
RTR is always looking for reviewers, but we don't accept everyone. Experience isn't necessary, but we do want people who enjoy trying new authors, aren't scared to sample a new genre, and can handle the pressure of sharing their thoughts on a book that they feel is truly sub par. That's where people seem to get lost. If they hate a book, they don't see the point in finishing it.
At RTR, we've been getting a string of people who think they love to read everything and then after one or two reviews discover they hate reading books that they do not pick out for themselves. People feel book reviewers should be getting paid - that's nice if the advertising is heavy enough, but I hate ads, especially pop-up ads, and I refuse to charge authors a fee to get a review.
Reviewing can take a lot of time out of your day. I read a book a day on average. My day starts at 5:30 a.m. with a shower, followed by lunch preparation for the kids, and then my daughter and I fit in a half mile walk around the neighborhood. Usually, I work on my freelance writing jobs until noon. I write about some pretty unusual things from job duties of an underwater welder to medications for prostate infections. On better days, I write up airport, hotel, or product descriptions for a number of websites. After this, I go for a mile walk, and then get chores done. With whatever time is left over, I get some reading in. My kids are home at 3:30pm, so is my hubby actually, so chaos usually ensues until after dinner. Both of my kids have an hour to two hours of homework per night. I have a daughter who has to be shuttled off to team practices from 6pm to 8pm twice a week and then weekend practices and games are also involved. At 7pm, I try to get upstairs to relax for an hour or two with a book in hand and finish up what I started reading earlier. I've been reading since I was three years old, thanks Dr. Seuss, and read far more quickly than others. Yet, I can't own up to the rate that Harriet Klausner seems to be able to read at, nor do I think I'd want to because if she really does read as many books from cover to cover as is claimed, I can't see her having any time left over for her personal life.
I have the opportunity to work from home which helps out tremendously. I don't have to deal with commutes, work hours, and the likes. If I did go back to work full time, I'd give up reviewing because there are not enough hours in the day.
RTR is always looking for reviewers, but we don't accept everyone. Experience isn't necessary, but we do want people who enjoy trying new authors, aren't scared to sample a new genre, and can handle the pressure of sharing their thoughts on a book that they feel is truly sub par. That's where people seem to get lost. If they hate a book, they don't see the point in finishing it.
LOR Book Fair Starts Tomorrow
If you have some time to spare for the next few days, head over to the Love of Reading Book Fair hosted by FSB Associates. www.loveofreading.com
The first round of raffle books are up on their website and you can enter to win them with the click of a button. Reviews for the books are found below.
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/keetphilomena110107.htm
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/yennebill100107.htm
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/mayjane100107.htm
The first round of raffle books are up on their website and you can enter to win them with the click of a button. Reviews for the books are found below.
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/keetphilomena110107.htm
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/yennebill100107.htm
http://www.roundtablereviews.com/mayjane100107.htm
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Book Fair for Book Worms
Love of Reading Online Book Fair
Second annual fair celebrates and connects online book community with three days of non-stop events.
The second annual Love of Reading Online Book Fair will be held November 14-16 at http://www.loveofreading.com/ from the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Talk about an idea that’s really plugged-in.
A cause for celebration and connection for the burgeoning online book community, the three-day fair has something for everyone, according to Fauzia Burke, a pioneer in online book promotion and president of FSB Associates, host of the successful event. With its “Love of Reading” theme, the event is designed for a wide audience—authors, publishers, booksellers, bookworms, bloggers, reviewers and anyone looking for a gift for the holidays.
“Participants will have non-stop interaction and information at their fingertips,” says Burke, along with a variety of special events and giveaways. Among the online happenings:
4 Free raffles—including 3 free books an hour and one large prize giveaway per day
4 Ongoing Podcasts and author readings by popular authors such as Alan Alda, Kim Edwards and Pulitzer Prize Winner Rick Atkinson.
4 Guest bloggers and reviewers will blog at the fair
4 Forum and discussion groups
4 Reader’s Choice Award for favorite book jacket. Last year’s winner was the mega bestseller, The Thirteenth Tale.
4 Roundtable discussions with topics including How to Get Your Book Published
“Today’s online book community is more vital and vibrant than ever” says Burke. “Throughout the book fair, we want to celebrate their increasingly important voice and connect people who love books in a whole new way.”
To participate in the book fair, or to get more information, visit http://www.loveofreading.com/
Second annual fair celebrates and connects online book community with three days of non-stop events.
The second annual Love of Reading Online Book Fair will be held November 14-16 at http://www.loveofreading.com/ from the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Talk about an idea that’s really plugged-in.
A cause for celebration and connection for the burgeoning online book community, the three-day fair has something for everyone, according to Fauzia Burke, a pioneer in online book promotion and president of FSB Associates, host of the successful event. With its “Love of Reading” theme, the event is designed for a wide audience—authors, publishers, booksellers, bookworms, bloggers, reviewers and anyone looking for a gift for the holidays.
“Participants will have non-stop interaction and information at their fingertips,” says Burke, along with a variety of special events and giveaways. Among the online happenings:
4 Free raffles—including 3 free books an hour and one large prize giveaway per day
4 Ongoing Podcasts and author readings by popular authors such as Alan Alda, Kim Edwards and Pulitzer Prize Winner Rick Atkinson.
4 Guest bloggers and reviewers will blog at the fair
4 Forum and discussion groups
4 Reader’s Choice Award for favorite book jacket. Last year’s winner was the mega bestseller, The Thirteenth Tale.
4 Roundtable discussions with topics including How to Get Your Book Published
“Today’s online book community is more vital and vibrant than ever” says Burke. “Throughout the book fair, we want to celebrate their increasingly important voice and connect people who love books in a whole new way.”
To participate in the book fair, or to get more information, visit http://www.loveofreading.com/
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