A new book published!

My aunt has had a dream for years to create a book about my uncle and one of his childhood adventures.  We finally made it happen!

Her first book, called "A True Christmas Story", has been completed and is not available.  You can see it at  http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/TrueChristmasStory. 

I have to give Lulu credit for a pretty easy process.  My learning curve was a bit steep, I've never designed a book before, but once I got into it, it went well.  Excellent customer service so far.  We're ordering her holiday gifts tonight!

I am going to turn this into an e-book next.  And then we'll see what other ideas people want to get published.  Now that I know how to do this, I'm adding to my list of editing services.  Let me know if you have a book you need help getting to the final proof stage!

Hello November

I see you November, hanging out just past Halloween.  I'm getting all of the NaNoWriMo emails. I'm seeing Christmas decorations in the stores.  I cannot believe we are here right now. 

It has been a busy fall.  Empty nesting is not quiet.  All of the invitations that we pushed to the fall, when we expected to have free time, meant that we had no free time as the weeks rolled.  And as the holidays start to kick in I realize I still have books to read, and projects to knit, and rooms to clean out.

On a bright note, my aunt's book is in the final proof stage, I've emptied a room completely in my house and will be re-purposing it to empty many other boxes around my house, I "think" I have a plan for several other projects and I just welcomed a new client to my freelance business. 

What do you still have left to do this year?

Cheap computer

So, I bought myself a cheap laptop.  It's a Packard Bell  N1400BK and I got it from JCPenney.  They sell them. Really.

Anyway, it is perfect for what I need, which is to connect to the internet and run Microsoft Office so that I can freelance from anywhere. I don't need games or storage on this device, I just need to be able to travel without carrying the monster machine I "got" as a hand-me-down from the kids.

Last night I had to do a Windows update. Took hours.  One of the drawbacks to this simple computer is a lack of storage on it. This has a whopping 2GB DDR3L-RS DRAM 1600MHz system memory. I had to scrub files just to complete the update.

So, today I am learning how to modify my device. Found a few helpful bits of code. Sharing for my own use in the future and if it helps you too.

Decrease the hibernation file:
Open Command line as an admin
Type  powercfg/ H / SIZE 40 (changes the size to 40% which I understand is the minimum for allowing hibernation to work. I don't really use that, so went low)

Remove useless apps.
Open Windows Powershell, right click to run as admin
Type Get-AppxPackage *program* | Remove-AppxPackage

I was able to remove xbox and zunemusic. Debating others to remove. Hat tip to Tech Advisor for this info.