With Thanks and Appreciation
Hello again, and I hope your weekend is off to a great start. Around here, the most interesting thing that happened was a surprising $316 royalty payment from a book that was published 13 years ago.
I co-authored Blogging to Drive Business, Second Edition with Rebecca Bollwitt in 2013, and Pearson produced an Italian translation. The entire royalty payment came from that Italian edition. That income is very welcome and absolutely bananas.
This payment, along with the impending completion of Instagram for Dummies 3rd Edition, has reminded me to give a shout-out to my co-authors I've written books with over the past 10+ years:
- Corey Walker
- Jenn Herman
- Amanda Robinson
- Kelly Noble Mirabella
- Stephanie Garcia
- Rebecca Bollwitt
- Kendra Losee
- John Sonmez
- Mike Allton
- Roberto Blake
- Marc Butler
My heartfelt thanks to all of you. I've learned a lot from you, and so have our readers.
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In medical news, I had my third follow-up neurostimulation appointment on Friday. My pain has increased dramatically over the past week, and I've had to increase the stimulation level just as dramatically to numb my body and lower the pain enough so I can rest.
My neurosurgeon and the Medtronic rep increased the pulse frequency to 250 Hz so I can test that higher frequency for 10 minutes per day and increase the number of 250 Hz sessions if I can tolerate that frequency. I'll stay at the baseline 130 Hz frequency the rest of the time and change the stimulation level as needed.
It's tricky to find the right level that lowers my body pain but doesn't increase my head pain and other brain symptoms. If the pain continues to grow, I won't be able to relieve that pain with neurostimulation soon. I had no issues with the first higher-frequency session today, so I'll keep going. I hope the new therapy will lead to better motor control and improved concentration.
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Testing different frequency levels in the exam room was not fun, but I was able to leave the clinic under my own power, run some errands in Sacramento, and pick up dinner at El Pollo Loco before driving home. I had never eaten there before and wanted to try their Loaded Quesadilla. I thought it was better than Chipotle's quesadilla, and I'm glad I finally tried food from The Crazy Chicken.
I'll be in Sacramento again next Friday for my quarterly Botox session, and then I don't have to travel to the Sacramento area for another three weeks. Now I can focus on finishing one custom Dummies book and make any last-minute changes to Instagram For Dummies 3rd Edition.
Last week, Entrepreneur Press rejected one book proposal I worked on with Kelly, but there's hope that Wiley will take on that book. Now I'm waiting for Wiley to pass judgment on another book proposal that would be fun to write.
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In the meantime, I'm helping my mom sell her daycare stuff on eBay and Facebook. My initial donation of old clothes to Trashie was successful, so I expect to donate more of my clothing (and my mom's) in the next month or so. I ordered some new BCG shirts to replace the old ones, and I got a new ballcap that fits my deceptively large head. JB's Awards in Jackson embroidered the BCG logo.
After a busier-than-usual Saturday morning, I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. I hope you're enjoying your Saturday and have a prosperous rest of your August!
