Saturday, October 31, 2009

heady week w the book but then fell off the ladder

The book must be selling... both Amazon and Barnes/Noble have it back-ordered for two weeks. Several folk who have read it have submitted "nitpicky" (their term) improvements on factoids; but people seem to like it. The Forbes.com review by Geo Anders was especially nice.

Last night Jenny hosted her longtime women professionals group here; I did my flower arranging and had a ball doing it. Found three dozen long-stemmed David Austin roses at the Ladera Nursery; spectacular! if I do say so.

And then today all the gals went to a spa for mudbaths and facials and stuff, so I had a "free day". I climbed on a short stepladder to saw down a big limb on an oak tree in the "back forty" and just before I saw'd thru it, the ladder collapsed, and I tumbled like a hot rock. Ouch, as they say. After shrugging it off for about an hour, and then looking at it again (all swollen on my thigh, and throbbing), I thought, "well, maybe having it checked would be a good idea". But I forgot the book I wanted to read (you always have a long wait in the ER on Saturday, don't ask how I know this), so I came back home after getting halfway there, and got a book. Good thing, given the nearly three hour wait.

The really good news -- nothing broken, a massive hematoma, probably swell for another week, and I'll be "good as new" in less than a month, they averred. Dammitall, lots to do, but I am at the moment "taking it easy"

Saturday, October 24, 2009

the book is finally done, wow!

Wow, a beautiful glossy black jacket, with a bold yellow starburst. "The HP Phenomenon: Innovation and Business Transformation", it says, by Charles H. House and Raymond L. Price.

I got to hold the book, in fact got ten free copies from Stanford University Press this week. They "flew" out the door, all gone already. Have to buy them now! It is thrilling to see your book in print, and the book jacket is indeed attractive (maybe it's like with your own child, they look SO precious to you even if to no one else). And I even saw it on a shelf, at the Stanford Bookstore, yesterday, the first day it was officially available through bookstores. Amazon had it last Tuesday. Stanford Bookstore ordered ten, had already sold seven. Hubba hubba.

Mike Malone tells me that this is the proudest moment for an author, to see it on a shelf. He also says the worst day of your life is to see it on the "remainder table". And the trick is how many days or weeks are in-between. My guess is it also matters which bookstores actually carry it. I know that Kepler's in Menlo Park is carrying it, and I might go down and photograph that for posterity today.

The best news is the book is rated # 9,082 this morning on Amazon popularity, better than Thursday's # 157,064. Hardly the Top Ten list, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Monday, October 12, 2009

autumn is fast upon us

A "big blow" is apparently headed our way. Rain, from one to three inches, or maybe four to eight inches, and winds, gusting to 60 or 70 mph, should wreak havoc on our town tonight or tomorrow. And one neighbor is, predictably, out nailing down the new tar paper on the new roof in the making tonight at eight-thirty pm in the dark -- since we've heard about this storm for five or six days, one wonders why he didn't start nailing sooner.

We had a little contest between the landscapers and the builders over what needs protecting, and how best to do it. The net was I found myself out with a pickaxe and shovel, digging the trough surrounding the building deep enough to drain the puddling area next to the house. Lotsa fun, though I wasn't sure just why I was doing it...

Anyway, we'll see. We'd get those "huge storm" predictions in Deer Valley, and the clouds would scud through with hardly a trace of moisture. Then, with no warning, we'd have a Big One. Must be fun to be a weather predictor.