Happy Saturday! We’ve had a busy week, trying to get ahead of the fall lineup. Not baseball, I’m a Pirates fan, my season ends after game 162 is in the book. This fall lineup is a the annual list of things that have to be done before it snows. After a week like this, it feels good to relax, enjoy a couple of beers and maybe grab a bite to eat. While we’re yacking, we might even work on Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘me.’ Find a word that starts with ‘me’ or use the word ‘me’ as the theme of your post. Have fun!”
If we were having a beer, you’d be wondering about my schedule.
“Hi Dan, I’m glad to see you.”
“Hi David. You make is sound like I’ve been gone a month.”
“I pay attention to things. You’re three, four sometimes five days late leaving replying to comments, leaving comments, and you answered my email yesterday – an email I sent on Sunday.”
“Hey, it’s Saturday and he’s here on time. Cut the guy some slack and buy him a beer.”
“Yeah, what she says. Thanks Cheryl.”
“You were kind of late getting back to me, too, Dan.”
“It’s not me, It’s Google’s fault.”
“Google?”
“Well, gMail, but, you know, that’s still Google.”
“Here you go, Dan. A Corona. The Modelo keg kicked, but, you know, Corona is still Modelo, brewed in the same place.”
“Thanks Cheryl.”
“And for you, David, a glass of John Howell’s Bourbon, a snifter of seltzer, a glass of ice and a few cherries. I’ll leave you guys a menu.”
“OK, Dan. Now that I have some bourbon to sip when I’m bored, tell me, how is Google responsible for your screwed-up week.”
“I use the filter feature in gMail that sorts the mail into columns.”
“How does it do that?”
“My filter is based on the subject line. For example, if the subject includes ‘NoFacilities’ I know the email is about my blog. If it includes ‘Comment’ I know the email is a comment on a blog I’m following or someone liking a comment, I made. If…
“I’m going to run out of bourbon, Dan. I get it. You put your mail in different columns. Why?”
“I had this setup in so that new notifications from blogs I follow are in one column. Personal email, like the one you sent me, is in a different column.”
“So what went wrong?”
“WordPress changed the subject lines on certain emails.”
“I think I noticed that: ‘So and so commented on such and such blog.’ Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, but ‘commented’ includes ‘comment’ so the filter should still work.”
“Dan, this is fascinating. Meanwhile, NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid. Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris’ home run record. Even you had more interesting things than this happen this week, The Big-E, the Tea Party.”
“What are you saying?”
“One, I need more bourbon. Two, I think we need a pizza. Three, and I hesitate to ask this, but did you get this Google thing fixed?”
“Hang on, Dan. I’ll take care of numbers one and two. What do you want on that pizza, David?”
“Everything.”
“No olives.”
“Dan, another beer?”
“Yes.”
“OK, you can answer question three.”
“Actually, I can’t.”
“Back to you, David.”
“Why not, Dan?”
“I removed all the filters and created new ones, but I won’t know if they work until more mail flows in.”
“Wow!”
“Wow? You’re impressed with my solution, David?”
“No. I’m impressed with the fact that you gave a short, succinct answer I could understand.”
“Here you go guys. Fresh drinks. The pizza will be up in a few minutes.”
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
No Facilities 
Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation.