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Termination dust.

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Termination dust.Today dawned a typical September day: gray and foreboding. The sky was the color of a galvanized trashcan and the air tinged with a chill that whispered of summer’s end.

When the clouds lifted a bit I saw termination dust sprinkled on the Chugach Mountains. That’s the local parlance for the season’s first snow. The tail-end of the tourist trade clucks and points, taking numerous pictures of the shining whiteness while buttoning coats up to their chins.

Residents pretend they don’t care, but it can drive a little shiver into your day. Sure, the snow is still way up there. But we know it’ll make its way down to the flats fairly soon.

Even DF, who’s pretty cheerful about everything and a skier to boot, gets a little glum at the prospect. In fact, he sings about it (to the tune of Chopin’s Funeral March): 

Woke up this morning, looked out the door and cussed:

There on the mountains — behold! the whitish crust.

Termination dust. Summer is a bust.

Hate facing winter again, and yet I must.

That made me laugh. I needed to laugh: Termination dust showed up on the very day that I got terminated.

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Giveaway: “How I Make Money Blogging.”

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https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=132158&c=ib&aff=219310We’re heading toward September and you know what that means: Christmas shopping!

Or at least the stores seem to think so, given how early they sneak the red-and-green into the inventory. Can’t we have Halloween first?

Some of us shop year-round and then have to fill in with only a few items come the Black Friday madness.  Some realize around mid-December that they haven’t even started.

It all takes money — and one way to earn money is through blogging. Stop laughing. Some people actually do bring in a little extra cash, or a lot. Crystal Stemberger is one of those people. I’m giving away a copy of her e-book, “How I Make Money Blogging: The Beginner’s Guide to Building a Money-Making Blog,” in case you want to be one of those people, too. (There’s a discount code for those who want to buy the book outright; see below.)

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The opposite of obligation.

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imagesEver seen the Pixar film “Up”? In the how-Carl-and-Ellie-met montage is a moment when the two of them sit side by side, reading and holding hands.

That was DF and me on Sunday, reading and hand-holding in adjoining easy chairs. For him it was “Mozart in the Jungle” and for me it was one of the “Anne of Green Gables” books. (I’d never read the series as a kid and recently I found several titles in the recycle bin.)

It was so nice to see DF rooted for a while. Usually he’s in constant motion: cooking, working in the yard or garden, hanging out laundry, tidying up. Even when he sits still he’s often working: paying bills, balancing his checkbook, dealing with his father’s estate. Yet there he was, reading a non-work-related book and smiling.

And me? The day before I’d written a post for Surviving and Thriving and finished my Monday post for MSN Money. Thus I felt temporarily free to follow the adventures of Anne Shirley, even though unread personal finance books are currently stacked eyebrow-high on the desk.

For the first time in who knows when, we were observing a Sabbath. I don’t mean that in a strictly religious sense, but as a day of rest. A chance to recharge. A dozen hours of peace. The opposite of obligation.

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I fought the log and the log won.

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th-1We now have an 8-by-8-foot shed nearly filled with firewood. The good news: It’s free heat, from about 20 trees felled on a couple of different properties.

The bad news? We’re not done, because after about seven hours the rented log-splitter broke.

After about six hours of trundling and stacking firewood my arms and shoulders feel very, very surprised. I expect tomorrow’s workday will be very challenging indeed, given that I make my living with my hands as well as my head.

Now I know why people had so many kids way back when: free labor.

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Another anniversary. Couldn’t have done it without you.

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thJust over four years ago I started writing this site, even as I wondered (a) if anyone would care and (b) whether I could keep it up.

The answer was “yes” on both counts. Sort of.

I haven’t got the huge fan base and influence of a “name” blogger, and there have been times when I was too overwhelmed by my paying jobs to devote enough time to my avocation.

If I had more readers I could turn the site into what the kids call a serious alternate income source. It does make some money, but nowhere close to a living wage. More to the point, I’d like more followers because, well, what writer wouldn’t?

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Let us now praise customer service.

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Over on my daughter’s website is a post that I wish would go viral. The theme of “Don’t just complain” is simple: When you encounter good service, say so.

That can be in person or via e-mail or letter. Not the calculated-to-get-something kind of letter, mind you: I don’t know I ever survived without Product X! It’s miraculous! (And will you please send me some freebies or at least some high-value coupons?)

No, I’m talking about that true rarity: a note that says “you got it right – thanks.”

 

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Meet my new boss (same as my old boss).

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thAs I hinted in “Thanks a million,” changes are afoot in the way I do business at MSN Money. Specifically: Frugal Nation is no more. Instead, I’ll be writing three times a week (not five!) at MSN Money Smart Spending. [Edited to add: In September 2013 Microsoft fired all its writers on the same day and went to a partner content setup.]

Relieved? Yes. But sad, too.

After all, Frugal Nation was my baby alone: For more than a year I posted five times a week, offering “save money today” advice and also bigger-picture articles about money and how we use it, abuse it and sometimes deify it.

 

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Giveaway: “Inspired & Unstoppable.”

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bookcover-IU-tilted1Want to change careers but fear you’ve already invested “too many” years in your current one to give up?

Or needing to focus on what’s happening right now while still hoping for change?

Maybe you’re trying to follow a dream but beset by setbacks and naysayers. Or you’re either on top of the world or at the depths of despair.

If any (or all!) of this is true, you might want this week’s giveaway.

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Thanks a million.

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thAnother milestone: Some time between midnight and 10 a.m., Surviving and Thriving achieved its one millionth page view. I’ve been watching the site stats with great (OK, obsessive) interest, but didn’t expect to hit the seven-figure mark until the end of this week.

See what happens when you sign up for NaBloPoMo?

All kidding aside: I’m thrilled that people continue to check in. When I started the site back in May 2010, I wondered whether or not I could keep a website alive – and also whether anyone would care.

As I noted in “My first half-million,” a post about hitting the halfway-to-where-I-am-now mark:

If writers are the most insecure people on Earth, bloggers are proof that self-doubt has a sub-basement. Like the 2 a.m. disc jockey a whole lot of us wonder, “Is anyone even listening? 

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