Okay, so after two weeks of appliances and mechanical things failing one after another I think it is finally reversing.
It started with the water heater. A telltale leak in the garage that fortunately missed all or most of the things in its path. But, necessitated replacing the water heater and a water feed line. Even with our insurance with American Home Shield covering the replacement of the heater, we still had almost a $1,000 bill for the non- covered items.
The next day I was vacuuming the upstairs when without any warning the vacuum cleaner went stone cold dead. It simply wouldn't come back on. I thought I'd need a new one.
Then the internet (my lifeline as an author) went down and after an hour and a half on the phone with Cox they finally got it back on. The problem turned out to be the ethernet cable, but they said since my router was 7 years old it had been on borrowed time for at least 3 years and would have to be replaced.
I went downstairs where hubby told me the big screen TV had gone completely black. It is an older LCD that requites a bulb that backlights it. Years ago I was told that was about a $600 repair.
Oh yes, also learned the battery in my car has a crack and will have to be replaced.
Then things began to reverse. I plugged the vacuum cleaner into a different outlet and viola! It leaped to life.
Found out the bulb replacement will be slightly over $200 for the TV. Always get a second estimate.
Will probably replace the router before it dies because I also have internet telephone. If death of the router is eminent, I will head it off at the pass.
Discovered I hadn't bought the battery for the car that long ago. Maybe there will be some warranty credit left.
Yes, things are definitely looking up.
Yes, the promotion for RIPOFF is over and I am so grateful to all of the 5,600+ people who downloaded copies. I'm sure you will enjoy this funny crime caper and hope you will be motivated to post reviews. Most people don't know what big business manufacturing in Federal prisons is, but it truly is close to a BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR business.
With stories in the media every day about those who figure out how to ripoff the government, what could have made more sense than for Caroline, a woman with a very active imagination and me, the author of ten books at the time, to use our knowledge of the manufacturing division to cook up a clever plot. It does need to be said that the real Federal
prison manufacturing corporation was set up in Roosevelt's time as a rehabilitation program for inmates, and it has worked so well with reducing recidivism (return to prison) that state programs and programs in other countries have been modeled after it.
We spent a long time developing the storyline, embracing some ideas and rejecting others. One of the things we considered was that the private sector marketing company we worked for during the time we were marketing furniture made in prisons to Federal government clients did pull some shenanigans with seven figures of Federal "seed money" given to them to start the company. They got away with it and went bankrupt just as their five year contract was up. That was the basis for the ideas to begin to fall into place.
Sometimes we agreed wholeheartedly and other times disagreed vehemently, but in the end a retired FBI agent said our scam could have worked under the proper conditions and it was a good thing we weren't crooks.
Now it is time to finish up my current book. IZZY AND ME, with co-author Dennis N. Griffin as told by Gina Marion about the true story of the relationship between her father, Izzy Marion, and her. It is not what the public saw. Izzy was a fairly high-profile, often beloved, person in Las Vegas--hairstylist to the stars, entertainer, restaurateur, Mob affiliate and a myriad of other things. He also had a secret life behind closed doors that wasn't pretty. Target release is late 2014.
