Tag Archives: Amazon

Mulies All Around

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If it wasn’t for Amazon, I wouldn’t have seen the Mulies in our front yard. Mulies is a nickname for Mule Deer, which are the most common species of deer in Arizona.

I was walking by our front windows, when I spotted a package outside our front gate. I opened the front door and walked outside. That’s when I saw three mule deer. I went back inside to grab my camera. But I had the wrong lens, my macro lens, on the camera body. I watched as the deer left the front yard and meandered along the side of our house, outside the fence. They reached the backyard, and were munching away on jojoba. I realized they were content and not going anywhere, so I had time to change lenses.

They were also snacking on Palo Verde trees, which are in full bloom now with yellow flowers.

At first, I didn’t get any good shots of the Mulies, because of brush and bushes blocking my view. I watched as seven deer crossed our backyard behind our fence to the side yard. That’s when I started taking more photos.

Eventually they made it to the front yard and were walking across our driveway.

One Mulie thought the Bottlebrush bush looked tasty.

The deer didn’t do too much damage to the Bottlebrush.

Here are several deer in our front yard.

Eventually they all crossed the street to continue their neighborhood stroll. I watched as they disappeared in the brush.

Do you have a favorite Mule Deer photo?

What are your weekend plans?

No Experience Necessary

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Red hanging out with the pink flamingo.

Have you heard about this trend? You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to be an artist or an illustrator. You don’t need technical skills. But you can make money self-publishing children’s books on Amazon!

It’s called a side hustle. I talked to my kids about it and they said it’s a “thing” right now. They said there are numerous books, seminars, podcasts and youtubes that tell you how to make passive income with AI generated children’s books on Amazon. They’re unaware if anyone is making money selling children’s books, or if it’s the people pitching the “how to” deals who are increasing their monthly incomes.

I guess having a degree in journalism, a career in public relations, writing for magazines, newspapers and having a weekly column and blogging isn’t necessary to become a published author. I can toss my dog-eared “Strunk & White” good-bye.

I have written children’s stories and had small successes being published in children’s magazines, the LA Times, and even included in a text book by Houghton Mifflin. I won a couple competitions for children’s stories including children’s fiction for Writer’s Digest. I got a contract from a small book publisher — and biggest mistake in my writing career — I turned it down! Oh my. If I could only turn back time.

Now I understand my years of work is all for naught. Anyone can do it. And apparently they can make a living at it. And guess what else? It only takes minutes to create a book, thanks to ChatGPT and AI.

Check it out for yourself. Google something like “Make money with AI children books on Amazon.” You’ll find too many websites and youtubes to count that will give you all the secrets of success.

I wonder how this new AI trend will effect writers’ careers and book publishing? I know many of my blogger friends are writers and have either self-published, used traditional publishers — or hybrid. With a flood of AI books on the market, how do you think it will affect writing careers? Do you think people are making money at this?

Please share your thoughts on selling AI children’s books on Amazon.

Here’s a shout out to my published author-blogging friends — in no particular order:

“Surviving Sue,” Dr. Vicki Atkinson, Victoria Ponders

“Finding My Father’s Faith,” Wynne Leon Surprised by Joy

“The Bayou Heist,” Eve Marie, cupcakecache

“Grow Damn It!” Cheryl Oreglia, Living in the Gap

Yeshiva Girl, Rachel Mankowitz, RachelMankowitz

“Cora’s Quest,” “Ever So Gently,” and others, Lauren Scott, Baydreamer

Don’t you love a good book?

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Thanks to fellow blogger and friend LA from Waking Up on the Wrong Side of 50 — for recommending Demon Copperhead. It’s one of the better books I’ve read lately.

I finished it in time to share it with my lunch bunch yesterday. My lunch bunch are two friends I worked with in PR and Advertising 30 years ago. We ended up moving to Arizona a few miles apart. We reconnected after years of not seeing each other. Now we go to lunch once a month together. We share books and talk about TV shows we like.

Here’s what Amazon has to say about Demon Copperhead:

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.

What books have you read lately that you really liked?

Please share, because I’m putting together a list of books to read this year.

Discontinued

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This is a screen shot from Amazon. Tone soap was what we have used since we got married. I used to buy it at the grocery store and then it disappeared. Then I ordered it from Amazon, but now there are only a couple listings and it’s WAY overpriced. It must be discontinued.

Now, we can no longer find Strawberry Yogurt Zone Perfect Bars. Can’t find them anywhere. I used to get them at the grocery store, too. Trader Joe’s had the best prices. I was able to order them on Amazon a few years ago. Now they are nowhere. There are a few other flavors still out there. But not the flavor we like.

The latest discontinued product that I use is my face cream. When I went to the website, I couldn’t find it. I got a chat bot box and asked if it was discontinued and the bot said yes, but there was inventory available at Amazon. Here we go again. At least it’s the same price on Amazon as it was on the manufacturer’s website.

I wrote about brand loyalty HERE.

We get used to certain brands and stick with them for decades. My mom was a loyal brand lover and believed that what she bought was THE BEST. Like Life cereal, Crest toothpaste and Best Foods mayo. I followed her example and brands. Until I got married. My husband and I discovered conflicts with our brands.

I googled why Zone bars and Tone were discontinued. It has to do with changing market preferences. In the case of Zone bars, not only was it discontinued in 2024 — a layoff of close to 200 employees happened. Tone was sold to Proctor Gamble from Colgate-Palmolive. There are many options in skin care and bar soaps aren’t as popular as they once were. People are also looking for natural products without chemicals. So good-bye Tone — after six decades.

I think there are many more choices today for all categories of household items compared to my childhood. It’s a tougher market for brands to survive. Plus, we have tons of “off-brand” items that are more affordable.

What brands are you loyal to?

What products have you used that were discontinued?

My sort of rucking

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Waffles the Pug, the king of the casita couch.

I’m babysitting my grand dog as my daughter is off to Paris and a destination wedding for a bestie in Portugal. (What’s up with all these destination weddings? A topic for another day.) She flew from SF to Phoenix to drop off the pup. Plus, we got to spend two days together.

I was looking forward to walking Waffles around the neighborhood. I miss walking a dog. But as life would have it, my daughter called me a few weeks ago and said Waffles was limping She waited to see if it would go away, but when it didn’t, the vet diagnosed Waff with a soft tissue shoulder injury. He’s taking meds for inflammation and his activity is curtailed.

FYI, my daughter has a soft tissue shoulder injury due to her career as a distance swimmer in college. My husband has the same issue with his shoulders from his school years playing football and wrestling. My daughter said she’s convinced with our family history, Waffles injury is genetic.

How I worked around Waffles shoulder injury.

I ordered a cheap pet stroller from Amazon! I’m now pushing 20 pounds of Waffles and a few pounds of stroller for two or three miles a day. I’m feeling it in my forearms, triceps and butt. It’s my sort of rucking.

If my husband was embarrassed about being seen by neighbors with his rucksack that I wrote about HERE, you should have seen his face when I unveiled the stroller with Waffles inside! We are walking separately FYI.

To be fair, hubby is walking at 5:30 a.m. and I’m going at 7 a.m. because Waffles wakes me up at midnight and 4 a.m. to go outside. I’m trading Waffles nights with hubby from now on.

Waffles seems to like it and he sits quietly taking in the sights. I let him out in the park so he can sniff, mark trees and do the rest of his business. He can spend 20 minutes with his nose buried in the grass sniffing dogs, bunnies and birds who were there before.

After Waffles leaves, do I continue with my rucking and put weights in the stroller, or will the neighbor think I’m nuts?

How do you think Olive the cat will react if I take her in the stroller for a walk?

Or, will the Waffles smells end any chance?

What do you think makes waking with dogs more enjoyable than walking alone?

Quarantine-ing

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Our outdoor fireplace.

Sunday, I was getting the house ready for guests. As I was cleaning out my paperwork and assorted crap I squirreled away in drawers and cupboards in the Casita, I thought about what fun things we could do with our guests without leaving home.

Our guests asked us to quarantine starting today before their arrival. Would you quarantine for upcoming guests?

You would if it was our guests — my son and his bride. Also, our daughter and Buff’s brother, to help with the drive (who are in the quarantine pod.) They will be here between chemo infusions, if they get the okay from her doctor after a blood test to determine her immunity level.

In case you missed the story of their wedding and cancer diagnosis, you can read it HERE.

I looked outside and glanced at the fireplace. Now that the weather is a bit cooler at night, I envisioned us sitting around the fireplace. Then my mind raced to marshmallows and s’mores!

Whatever happened to the telescopic marshmallow roasting sticks we bought 20 years ago? Did they make the move from California to Arizona?

The last time I remembered seeing them was in photos camping at Carpinteria State Beach when the kids were young. AND on our RV.

I had a light-blue, rectangular plastic storage box with camping kitchen necessities, including matches, that I pictured in my mind. That’s where they were. I’d bet on it. That box made it from tent days to RV days, to somewhere in our garage, unless it got thrown out when we moved.

If you want to read about our lack of RV skills, please read my story about our mishaps HERE. We were NOT happy campers.

In the garage I found a cardboard bankers box that said RV on the side. I unpacked it and found plastic plates, bowls and glasses that will be perfect poolside in our backyard. Next, I found the plastic storage box with more goodies like the matches, spices, knives, a can and wine opener and our red-and-white checked tablecloth.

No marshmallow roasters.

Before I turned to Amazon for help, I got the brilliant idea to look in my kitchen drawers. Voila! I have two out of the four. I must have given my kids the other two because they both loved camping during college and the shut down.

I found two out of four marshmallow roasters I bought 20 years ago. We will be s’more ready and can enjoy evenings in the backyard, without leaving the house.

What are your thoughts about camping? Are you a tent person or an RVer and why?

Do you think my quest for 20-year-marshmallow roasters is quest for memories past and easier times?

Amazon and fake AI books

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I saw a story on TV that intrigued me to find out more.

Here’s a summary from Quartz:

Author Jane Friedman spotted more books on Amazon this week that falsely claimed to be written by her than ones she actually wrote.

At least five books under her name were taken down from Amazon yesterday (Aug. 8) after Friedman wrote a blog post on Aug. 7 detailing her experience finding books under her name being sold on Amazon and listed on Goodreads, the Amazon-owned social media and book-logging platform for readers.

https://qz.com/amazon-ai-generated-books-using-real-authors-names-1850720961

With the advent of AI, people are creating books in the voice of authors and selling them on Amazon as that author’s book. Jane Friedman had trouble contacting Amazon and getting the imposter books being sold in her name off their site. She discovered she needs to trademark her name to have more protection against this scam.

Here’s another story about the fake IA books on Amazon:

Five books for sale on Amazon were removed after author Jane Friedman complained that the titles were falsely listed as being written by her. The books, which Friedman believes were written by AI, were also listed on the Amazon-owned reviews site Goodreads.

“It feels like a violation, because it’s really low quality material with my name on it,” Friedman told the Guardian. The Ohio-based author has written several books about the publishing industry, and the fraudulent titles mimicked her real work. How to Write and Publish an eBook Quickly and Make Money and A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Compelling eBooks, Building a Thriving Author Platform, and Maximizing Profitability were two of the listed books. Friedman’s real books include The Business of Being a Writer and Publishing 101.

One of the falsely attributed books’ descriptions read: “This book offers practical strategies, tips, and techniques to help writers streamline their writing process, accelerate their eBook publication timeline, and maximize their earning potential.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/09/amazon-removes-books-generated-by-ai-for-sale-under-authors-name

Have you heard about this scam before? What are your thoughts about AI and writing?