Happy Halloween!

I know I'm a little early with my Halloween wishes, but I love holidays so much (especially Halloween!) that I always wish they lasted more than just one day.  I mean, if people spend so much time anticipating something, isn't it too bad that after 24-hours it's over?  

What about birthdays?  Getting birthday wishes is so delightful -- it makes you smile, makes you feel special -- so don't you wish it went on a bit longer than one day? How about a birthweek?  That would give your friends, family, and co-workers a whole week to find time to give you cards, send texts and e-cards, buy gifts and celebrate with you!

Can you imagine a Christmas week?  Okay, we kinda get a week vacay between Christmas and New Year, but what about the day itself?  You know how excited you were as a kid to wake up Christmas morning and see loads of presents under the tree?  But after a few hours (or minutes!) all that's left are torn wrappings and empty boxes.  And you keep looking under the tree or feeling inside the stocking, wishing for the thrill of another few gifts to open.  Well, I think that should be spread out over a few days at least.

Plus, work vacations.  Shouldn't we get 4-5 days for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, etc.?  These would be paid vacations of course!

I think we need more time to celebrate holidays and birthdays.  Who's with me? 

Blog Hostage

Apparently, my blog went dark on Oct 10-11, and web-surfers were treated to a "This blog has been removed" message when they tried to access it.  When I opened Google, I received a message that due to "unusual activity" my acct had been suspended.  If I wanted my acct unlocked, I had to provide them with my phone number -- "or the blog gets it!"  Mwahahahaaaa!

In the past, I've provided them with a non-gmail acct to send any acct recovery info to -- but that was no longer enough for them.  I didn't see any reason for them to have my phone number, but Google-beast refused to let me have my blog or my gmail acct back until I gave them my phone number and waited for an SMS to confirm it.  So I that's what I did.  Now my blog and gmail are back.

I found nothing out of the ordinary in either of them when I checked.  No odd sent mails, no weird comments, no spammers, no trace of hackers.  So what was that all about?

The blog hostage thing really worked for them. What will they want next?  My SS#?  My credit card info?  My first born? 

Has this happened to anyone else?

Hurghada Marina

About thirty years ago, the city of Hurghada on the Red Sea was just a fishing village with a small airstrip used by the air force,  a few military barracks, and roaming goat herds.  Then someone figured out that the tourists who flocked to the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings could be lured to the Red Sea if only there were some hotels and diving centers there.  Hurghada now boasts a population of 150,000 with hundreds of hotels, resorts, dive centers, shops, and restaurants.  One of the newest additions is the Marina. 

Along a quarter-mile street, a row of buildings with apartments above and shops, bars and restaurants below have gone up opposite a newly built marina with docking facilities for a hundred or so sailboats and powerboats.  

There are some nice yachts, too.  Considering that Egypt's rather poor, I often wonder where the yachts come from.  The smaller ones have port cities listed on their sterns from everywhere from Johannesburg to Florida.  Further out on a man-made dock are even bigger ones with 4-5 levels.  I wonder where they come from.  Saudi Arabia?  Kuwait?  They sure are beautiful, and the marina is a nice (if expensive) place to visit and spend the evening.

It's the first Wednesday in the month.  Time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group post!

Hmm... What am I insecure about this month?  Could it be because rejections are glaring at me from my Inbox?  Or that I can't decide on a new project?  Or that I worry that if I eat any more chocolate-comfort food I may explode? 

All of the above.  This publishing stuff is hard.  I need some support, guys.  Comment away!