biggerboat's building boondoggle blog

I'm pretty sure those 6.5 mil houses are already higher than the water got. I doubt they had any damage.

because of proximity to UT or other?

like the way you think, perfectly set up for it

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as others imply ample opportunity exists for contraction of sentences,
and to be crystal clear lazy use of apostro-hyperbole is not typically covered by manufacturer factory manual warranties

also would enjoy discussing the intent of your introductory coffee table | paraphenalia | tele/rolodex | kitchen/apartment rat paths through nest mess description paragraphs

no doubt all important information, another approach might explore constructing sentences around commonalities between aspects of the Patrick environment as if it were a narrated long take documentary shot on film.

speaking of which, curious your attitude toward the entity providing me description of what my senses are receiving

what voice should be used to most accurately represent your vision

am i an eyewitness or are these my own internal mind thoughts while trying not to move my lips reading them damn words again

also happy to be patient and wait for an introduction in subesequent chapters if that is your intent

When I was there it was a student ghetto. They were putting in a freeway and all the families were moving out. When gas prices went up they moved back in and the students moved out.

I'm reading a set of the Reacher books atm. I think your chapter is not dissimilar to the descriptive writing style of Lee Child, (which can't be a bad thing!), and here are two partial paragraphs of his that I read last night that made me come back to your excerpt for comparison purposes:

"... It was tall and skeletal with a microwave receptor the shape of a brass drum, and cell antennas the shape of fungo bats. It had a tangle of dead brown weeds at its base, and it was surrounded by a token barbed wire fence. ... The ground underfoot was hard and lumpy, all softball-sized clods and clarts of frozen earth, the wreckage from the last year's harvest. They rolled away either left or right or crushed under his heels as he walked."

"Up ahead was a tangle of low brushes, like a miniature grove. Wild raspberries or wild roses, maybe, a remnant, somehow spared by the ploughs, now bare and dormant but still thick and dense with thorns. ... a large granite rock that jutted up from the ground. The rock was wedge-shaped, as if it had been broken out of a bigger boulder and rolled into a different position far from its source. And the rock was why the ploughs had spared the thicket. Big tractors with vague steering had given it a wide berth, and nature had taken advantage."

I am usually speed-reading posts in the forums. Having reread your post, carefully this time, I have to say that I am hooked by it, and I look forward to reading the completed book in due course. Good job.

Oh my. I'm not sure I follow all of this. I need to absorb it a little. The feedback is greatly appreciated.

I've read quite a bit of this style. I can't think of a word to describe it other than "flowery." I enjoy it when I read it, but every time I've tried to write like this I go back and read it, and cringe. I just can't do it well.

Ultimately, my particular writing style will not carry this book. I knew that going in. My hope is the story will.

All of the things I write are really me saying to myself "I wonder if I can do that." I wrote a screenplay that, although got some good feedback, never went anywhere. My Loonee Balloonee books get fantastic feedback from children exposed to them but I don't have marketing and self-promotion in me, plus once I'm done with something I would much rather go onto the next project. Schmoodle the Poodle wasn't well received at all, but I had a blast doing it.

I do like the feedback, though. And I will tweak things based on what I'm hearing.

The book is about the role of the father in our lives. Not only our physical father, but God. No, it's not a religious book at all.

I'm not sure I want to explain the significance of the details in the first chapter. It becomes clear as you read the book, though. I hope.

I might toss out some more early chapters but I don't think they will grab you at all. The book, I think, is a methodical read.

Taxes, UGH, what are they good for?

I always do my own through turbo tax. This year it prompted me to enter disaster info. Helene was a qualified disaster.

It didn't ask anything about repair costs. It just wanted the value of the property before and estimated after. AORN everything in my neighborhood is going for land value, a huge decrease compared to what we paid for the place. When I type these numbers in it took my taxable income to ZERO.

I usually have to pay a pretty good amount every year, but this shows I'm getting a refund of basically everything I paid. I only get money withheld from my pension distribution and I'm getting 100% of it back. So, I'm basically paying no taxes this year according to turbo tax.

This kind of doesn't sound right. I mean, I'll take it but it just doesn't seem right. I might have to get some professional advice. I'm seeing stuff that indicates it's correct when I google it, but it's making me nervous.

When I was finishing, TurboTax had a problem that they weren't delivering filing instructions along with the returns' pdf.

Grumbling about this with friends, one of them mentioned freetaxusa.com. Apparently, it's an alternative. Their hook is that they don't charge for federal taxes, only state.

My friend who mentioned it is one of the two smartest people I've ever met, so I imagine it's pretty good. I didn't look into it, as I'd already paid for TT. Maybe next year.

preface the following personal opinion with clarification you should consult with a tax accountant

my irs experience over the years is they are more than willing to correct suspect filings unless on temporary recess playing doge ball

seemingly if you qualify for disaster relief refunding taxes would be the easiest no-exchange conduit to make some of that happen

i would not think twice or feel guilty about filing the no tax option
but
helping others is most effective when not brainwashed to believe humanitarian aid should be directly connected to political catchphrases such as communism or welfare

The gubberment has a program that will pay 75% of the cost of raising your house. We would definitely do this if we got assistance.

I applied today, but I've heard that it takes quite a long time to process, if it processes at all.

Yeah, I triple and quadruple checked and I sent it in. GL me.

The story part of the book is now complete. I've gone through and cleaned things up that I noted on my first draft read. I want to talk to a guy my wife's sister knows that was in vietnam for some details on a few things I have in the book but other than that I'm done until I have a final re-read.

Congratulations on reaching a book milestone, and GL on the house raising.

did you send in the house raising or house razing form?

biggerboat could never get the hang of Thursdays....

This reminded me of ne.

Ugh. Don't be that guy.

When I cleared out the house I grew up in, a huge percentage of the time was spent getting rid of "WTF did you keep this for?" stuff.

TBF, my parents' generation was toward the end of the depression, and they didn't have any money, so got in the habit of keeping nearly everything because it could be put to use later. Unfortunately never got out of that habit.

Yeah, I remember when my dad died there got to a point where I quit opening boxes and just tossed them on the trash pile.

I try to toss stuff out, but it's an internal battle.

I think I'm finally done with my almost final walkthrough of my book. I'll be printing a couple of copies to give to my sister and wife to read to get feedback and hopefully catch stuff I didn't. I'll probably go through it again as well.

I'm actually pretty happy with it, but who knows if it will resonate with anyone else.

It came out to be 291 pages in Word. Not sure how that will translate into book.

I went thru the same thing when my dad died. He was a product of the depression -- he was literally incapable of throwing something away that might one day have a use.

When I got out of the service I spent 2 1/2 years living out of a pack. I threw everything away that I didn't want to carry, including laundry. It was pure bliss.

the trick is to be kept so poor and uneducated you can not afford anything anyway
the rest takes care of itself

A little proper formatting knocked it down to 230 pages. Pretty much done except for minor editing. I'll let it sit while my wife and sister read it and give me feedback.

I'm trying to generate a cover with photoshop AI. LOL. It just can't figure out what I'm trying to tell it. Might be me.