Computer Cars, Water Issues & Writing Retreats

Happy Sunday and weekend, all :)

Today’s post is going to be random. Kind of the way my mind is most of the time, yanno?

I’m on a writing retreat this weekend, about 75 miles north of where I live. It’s a quaint small town with enough restaurants and amenities nearby to keep us happy, but not enough nightlife to be distracting. For those who haven’t done writing retreats, I highly recommend them. They can increase your productivity tenfold, provided you have people with you who have the same goal: WRITING.

Here is a typical look at our schedule:

11am Friday – arrive and meet at restaurant for lunch. Plot and brainstorm during lunch, catch up.

12pm – 5pm Friday – writing in hotel room.

5pm Friday on – dinner, relax, chatting, brainstorming.

Saturday 9am – 5pm – writing with the exception of breakfast and lunch, during which we plot, talk, brainstorm. The main hours of the day are quiet with us writing; we talk and go over any stalled areas during meals.

Sunday 8am-12noon – writing.

12 noon – retreat ends & we go home.

This year’s been a productive one (yay!)

Now I get to drive home in a computer. Not a car, a computer. Or so it seems. I’m used to my 14 year old car and its easy means of pressing a button to favorite a radio station. This rental car I’m in (because my car is being worked on, hence the need for a rental) is a Chevy Malibu. Talk about bells and whistles! It took me 30 minutes to figure out the cruise control and I *still* haven’t figured out an easy way to navigate between radio stations. That’s my biggest complaint – getting pre-set channels should be user friendly and easy. But all the favorites I pick don’t show up in the listing.

We had some excitement at the beginning of our weekend. The whole town was under a “boil water” advisory because supposedly some samples of water came back contaminated. That means no soda, water, or anything made with water at restaurants. Turns out the ban was lifted the evening we arrived, and the reason for the ban in the first place? The EPA used dirty sample containers that were unsealed when they got them.

Now, it may be just me, but don’t you think the EPA would have been more efficient and safety-precaution oriented than that? Because they had dirty containers and the need for safety rules, an entire town went crazy without water for 3 days. I did notice in the paper that this town will no longer have the EPA doing testing; they will use a private firm.

Yeah. Smart move.

Happy Sunday and enjoy the water whereever you are!