Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Well, it's official now. Monday I got my contract letter for Fall 2015 and today, Thursday 16 July 2015, I signed it and turned it in. Sitting in my office, employed once again. Or I will be once things start up in another month or so.

As much as I will be delighted to be back in the classroom, it will be a bit of a shock given the months of this year's Sabbatical. Not that I haven't had time off before, especially these past three summers, but since I've been working so heavily on the YA trilogy+, I won't have all those hours to throw into writing and revising.

Of course, as I have said before, it won't take too much of a YA advance to convince me to go full-time writing, especially with the expense of driving five days a week 154 miles a day and 2½ tanks of gas a week.

I am a part-time instructor. Adjunct. And actually we're doing pretty good with having the PTO union. But at the same time, it's not that they pay me all that much.

For Fall 2015 I am teaching two four-credit classes. Part-timers can't teach more than nine credits a semester. For this I am being paid $850/credit hour, $3400/class.

$6800 for the Fall 2015 semester.

Since I, on purpose, did not teach during Spring (Winter) 2015 semester or Summer-I/II 2015 sessions, this will be my entire 2015 taxable salary.

Right now I am scheduled for one class for the Spring (Winter) 2016 semester, the PHYS-3090 Modern Physics course, which will be great fun. But of course I'll be making even less.

Fortunately Mrs. Dr. Phil is okay with this. But she'd also be happy if I didn't do so much driving, especially in the winter.

Some of this reverie is stuff I've been talking about for a long time -- it's just with the YA-trilogy+ foaming over the edge of its petri dish and starting to rise into a real thing, I've probably thought about it more often than before. And then today there was a marvelous post from my author friend Jim C. Hines announcing he's going to full-time writing, which in his case is because he's got enough success to make it work. Go, Jim, go!

Before I got sick in 2013, I had realized that I actually had a chance to do enough time to get a small pension out of the 20+ years of part-time teaching. Now, having had to take time off and not always having classes, I'm not so sure that the pension vesting is practical anymore.

We shall see...

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

I don't spend a lot of time following the stock market.

Though I suspect that between NPR news and Marketplace, plus some newspaper columns by the Motley Fool and our NPR station's Saturday line up of news humor shows, I do better than most.

So I was amused to discover that Wall Street just pooped a nice Christmas present on itself, with the Dow closing above 18,000 for the first time.

18,024.17 to be exact.

Googling "dow jones" provided the following screenshot:

Wikipedia has updated its entry on the DJIA:

On May 3, 2013, the Dow surpassed the 15,000 mark for the first time, while later on November 18, it closed above the 16,000 level.[28] Following a strong jobs report on July 3, 2014, the Dow traded above the 17,000 mark for the first time.[29] On 23 December 2014 the Dow Jones industrial average traded above 18,000 for the first time after data showed the U.S. economy posted its strongest growth in more than a decade.

Okay, reality check. Yes, I know that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is NOT the stock market, it isn't very industrial any more, it's an indexed average of a changing basket of stocks and it isn't the only index on Wall Street.

But it's famous. People quote it. It's important in that sense.

Okay, this is where it gets weird. Because just last Thursday we were talking to our financial guy, and I asked, was the Dow still over 16,000? And back on the Fourth of July I wrote:

Huh.

Just yesterday morning we were talking to our financial guy, and he made a comment about the Dow. And I pointed out I haven't been following it in a while -- was it still over 16,000?

Well, NPR just reported that yesterday's pre-holiday session had the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceed 17,000 for the first time.

I told you I didn't follow the stock market closely.

Following that pre-holiday theme, we had the week before Thanksgiving 2013:

So on Thursday I posted the following observation on Facebook:

4pm news lead stories: CNBC -- DJIA closes above 16,000 for first time. MSNBC -- the nuclear option in the Senate. FOX News -- McDonald's drops McRib from nation menu, many protest, is Michelle Obama to blame?
Well, you can't say all the news is the same... Dr. Phil

A little over four years ago I noted when "the stock market", i.e. the Dow Jones Industrial Average, broke 10,000+ (DW) for the first time in the recession. At the time I wrote:

Wednesday (14 October 2009) the NYSE surged above 10,000 again and stayed there. Happy days are here again. The Recession's back has been broken. We are on the path to recovery. Well, aren't we?

To some extent, I think the same sarcasm is due.

I missed the May 2013 breaking the 15,000 barrier, probably because I was in the hospital, having just got out of the ICU.

Yay. We're above 18,000. The Dow has jumped 3000 points just since I've been dealing with my heel.

But, as the Dow grows, a 1000 point gain ain't what it used to be. I was in junior high in White Plains NY, just north of New York City when it first topped 1000 points total. It's a matter of diminishing percentages, those thousand point records.

One of the reasons that I am not greatly excited about this, even as I note the historical value, is that it's a game. Sure, business needs investment money. And the value of a stock gives a gauge as to the health and wealth of a company. But past that... Most of the money made on Wall Street is a masturbatory fantasy game that Wall Street does to make Wall Street money. And an avenue for outsiders to come in and "invest" in a company by buying it up and changing that which had given it value in the first place. Chasing the tail of stock prices has fueled most of this raging drive towards short term gain at the expense of long term legacy and long term employment.

It has changed America in so many ways, and not all of them positive. For good or ill, many of our pensions are still tied into this game. And in the long term, it's a money maker. Mostly. But we don't retire in the long term, we're each on different countdown clocks. A lot of people were hurt when Wall Street screwed up the last time. And they're in the process of trying to get some of the controls enacted after that meltdown removed. Because these practices worked so well the last time.

So whoopee, here I am twirling a finger in the air.

It's just another big deal in a string of big deals.

And yet... I'm sure happier having a surging Wall Street than another market crash. If only some of this optimism and profits would actually trickle down far enough to do some good.

Dr. Phil

As Others Rush To Work On Taxes

TurboTax Deluxe has done its work again, saying that the Feds have accepted our e-filed return, so our refund will eventually come. (Michigan wants everyone to e-file, too, but Yet Again they just don't get it -- e-filing the state return costs $19.99 versus the cost of two stamps, you can see where I'm going with this one.) That means it's time for this year's version of How My Writing Business Is Doing (DW).

The good news is that once again, the business made a profit. It was down to $135, but it makes sense given the income stream. The movie option on "The Brother on the Shelf" (Analog May 2009) was renewed again, but wasn't actually paid in 2012. There were four publications during the year: "End Run" at GigaNotoSaurus, "The New Tenant" in Rocket Science / edited by Ian Sales, "The Once and Future Tomato" in Neo-opsis, "Brooding in the Dark" at Interstellar Fiction, plus "Your First Real Rocket Ship" won Third Prize in the Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest and briefly appeared in English on their website.

Michigan -- Sigh

Nearly the entire time we've been in Michigan, except for some early year(s) in the U.P., we've gotten a refund. Not this year. Nothing really changed on our end, our legislature decided to get rid of some tax credits. The ones that allowed you to take off some money by donating to public works that they didn't want to fund like public radio and TV, community foundations, food banks. We continued to support those operations, but ended up owing $84.

Dr. Phil

How'd It Get To Be Past The Ides Of April Already?

TurboTax Deluxe says that the Feds have accepted our e-filed return, so our refund will eventually come. (Michigan wants everyone to e-file, too, but since this costs something like $19.95 versus the cost of two stamps, you can see where I'm going with this one.) That means it's time for this year's version of How My Writing Business Is Doing (DW).

The good news is that once again, the business made a profit. $208.87, up another $16 from 2010. Two paid sales, one charity freebie publication and one sale which will count as paid in 2012. To my surprise, the movie option on "The Brother on the Shelf" (Analog May 2009) (DW) was renewed. And I've already had three publications and two paydays in 2012, so I hope the trend can continue.

"Hail to the Victors" published at Abyss & Apex (DW) was the lone new story published in 2011. And my Week 5 story from the 2004 Clarion workshop "Giant Cicadas and Other Odd Indignities" was reprinted in Southern Fried Weirdness: Reconstruction (DW) in May 2011 for Alabama disaster relief.

I had 132 submissions in 2012 -- 123 of them electronic submissions, meaning only nine required printing, postage and envelopes, mostly to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, the last holdout amongst the Big Three SF markets. So most of my expenses have been webhosting dr-phil-physics.com and ConFusion. Though I've been terribly busy with two classes this semester, including a new one for me, I expect to get a lot of writing and submitting done this summer. And hope to make 2012 another banner year for the business. (grin)

Dr. Phil

I Never Thought I'd Write About This A Third Time

But that damned Erica's friends buy her the Toyota Corolla of her dreams commercial really annoys me. And one commenter says that the Facebook site shows "out takes" including Erica delivering cupcakes -- unwrapped cupcakes -- from the basket of her bicycle. Oh yeah, she's a professional baker, er, pastry chef.

I Really Was Going To Let This Alone

But I had a thought the other night that made me question the motivations of Toyota and their ad agency. Previously I'd mocked them for thinking that just everyone has a bunch o' friends who can fork over three thousand each and buy you that new car you want. And that I thought this terribly out of touch with reality for most people. People buying you new cars, they're probably not buying you a Corolla anyway, at least according to the Lexus and Mercedes Christmas ads. (grin)

So here's the thing -- Erica isn't after the car she needs for her business, since we've already established that she could probably have saved something to get a useable used ride to delivery her confections. No, she's after the car she wants. Yes, that brand new Toyota Corolla she can't afford right now is what she wants, not needs.

But... Pause to sprinkle special fairy dust on our special snowflake... oh look! Here come your special snowflake friends to give you what you want. Now here's where maybe I was wrong and this is where it gets insidious and devious. What if they want you to think that because she just got what she wanted, now you are entitled to get what you wanted, too? You're entitled! Just sign here on the dotted line, because you don't need to cough up the money to pay for something you want -- at least not at the start. Because we're hurting here and not selling enough cars, so you gotta do your part to help us.

Magical Financial Thinking

We have a current financial meltdown we're riding out that has been brought about because financial institutions had been trying to get people to buy the crap out of stuff they want, not what they need or can afford. Guess what? That didn't work.

Recently I was poking around Amazon looking at the current crop of Nikon FX sensor digital SLRs. Having grown up with Nikon 35mm SLRs, I'd like to have some modern digital full-frame equivalent cameras and because I haven't bought any Nikons in a long time, I wanted to see what the current offerings (and prices) were up to. I'd like them. I want them. I don't need them. That's why I haven't spent the couple of thousand dollars on those, and instead am making do with a decent little Sony digital camera with a far more than decent Carl Zeiss lens.

Still, that hasn't stopped me from getting an email from Amazon pointing out that I could buy the Nikon FX sensor digital SLR of my dreams on credit through them. As opposed to buying it on credit with my credit card. Or waiting until I can afford it. (grin) You know, if I was a professional photographer, I'd consider getting a business loan or even a consumer loan to finance the cameras and lenses, if I thought I was going to make enough money. But this would be for me -- so... No.

We've Been Doing This To Ourselves For A Long Time

People forget about this, but way back in the mid-70s we started seeing these big three lens projection wide screen televisions. And they sold some to bars and other public venues -- one was installed in the student union at Northwestern -- but after a while that market was saturated. And yet newer units were coming out, as well as the ability to make much larger picture tubes. 36" and 44" picture tube color TVs were unheard of before this. Anyway, in trying to figure out how to market and sell these as consumer items, the electronics industry went to the banking industry -- and the concept of the home improvement loan was expanded into the home equity loan and home equity line of credit.

Can't afford that giant 60" big screen TV? No problem, pay for it through your home mortgage and it hardly costs anything a month... for a lot of months. Pretty soon we had people buying big TVs, Hawaiian vacations and even cars, and paying for them over 10-30 years. A car on a 30-year mortgage? Really? Car loans were still 36-48 months then, not 60 or more months. And cars had to get a lot more reliable to justify paying for them over five or more years. So unless you're buying a Rolls or some really well-built solid car that can last multiple decades, this doesn't make sense. You'll be on your third or fourth car before you've paid off the first one.

And people did this. You could even argue that a home theatre was actually a home improvement and not just a big fancy TV. And at least this form of magical financial thinking had consumer products and income to back up the payments, something that the absurd mortgages of late didn't have.

So I'm Worried

Is the Erica Toyota ad a new invitation for people to forget the economic times and just satisfy their lust for a new car? Maybe. At least, at the risk of it being a mean and cynical ploy, it makes more sense than an ad agency and a car company thinking that a bunch of friends can just pony up and buy someone with a marginal business, and not a lot of signs they have a good business plan, a new car. One is trying to instill a new round of magical financial thinking, the other is just fantasy.

In my humble old jaded and cynical view. (evil grin)

Dr. Phil

We've All Been There, Right? Right???

So there's this new Toyota ad running on TV which really annoys me. It's about "Erica", the woman who has the new pastry business. Seems that she bakes in her apartment kitchen -- first thought, has this kitchen been licensed? -- and has to use mass transit to carry her cakes to the customer. She needs a new Toyota Corolla -- I guess there's no point in buying a much cheaper used one (see comments in the next section) if she really needs a car for her BUSINESS.

Anyway, her friends feel her pain and so they get together and buy her a NEW Toyota Corolla.

What? (sound of needle scratching across record player) Huh? You mean a group of maybe six people have split the cost of a fucking NEW CAR and gave it to Erica? WTF? From US News & World Report:

2010 Toyota Corolla
Based on analysis of 28 Corolla reviews and test drives.
Avg. Paid:         $15,060 - $19,511
MSRP:              $15,450 - $20,150
Invoice:           $14,445 - $18,437

If it really was six people, they'd be ponying up $3000 EACH. Who the hell has a bunch of friends in the city who will drop three grand on you for a lark? THIS is supposed to be a feel good moment of common experience for past, present and future Toyota owners?

This is INSANE.

Toyota Corolla - What the Auto Press Says

The 2010 Toyota Corolla ranks 19 out of 30 Affordable Small Cars. This ranking is based on our analysis of 28 published reviews and test drives of the Toyota Corolla, and our analysis of reliability and safety data.

The Corolla is still a great option for those who want dependability, comfort and value. But it doesn't have the versatility, style or power of the top-scoring cars in the class.

Undeniably, the 2010 Toyota Corolla is a comfortable and fuel-efficient option. But in a large and competitive class or sporty and funky compacts and hatchbacks, the Corolla doesn't have much to set it apart. Nor is it the cheapest. And, with the recent recalls, the Corolla's reputation for reliability is slipping. However, there is one bright spot: the Corolla is a 2010 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick.

Okay, so Toyota isn't going to quote US News & World Report in their ads. But this chummy media savvy approach? Not working for me.

Erica needed a reliable 2010 Corolla to grow her pastry business. She got the surprise of her life. Every Toyota has a story. Share yours at... (Toyota's Facebook page)

By The Way

This ad seems to have replaced the stupid Toyota ad which touts how they've been spending all this money per day now to make great safe and reliable cars. To me, the subtext of this message isn't "Oh we're so sorry that we betrayed your trust while we were ramping up our market share to make more money" but rather "You were all such idiots to have trusted us before, but now you have to believe that we have your best interests at heart so you should junk your old Toyota clunker before you get hurt and spend a lot more money with us and get a new one... before the recalls start."

Cynical? Sure.

Now lest you think that I just have it in for Toyota, being an admitted GM/Chevy owner, I recently railed about the Chevy/Chevrolet debacle at GM, and I thought the GM "Look At Us We Repaid The Loan From The Government" ad was disingenuous and slimy, as most Americans immediately thought of the REST of the bailout money which far outweighed the emergency loan necessitated because the banking industry lost their collective minds -- conspiracy types assumed the bailout money was used to repay the load...

So I hate all the stupid ads. (evil grin) The Stupid -- it hurts.

Dr. Phil

A Horrifying Development

Lots of people read romances. And the paranormal romances are clearly a cousin of genre writing -- and sometimes it is a pretty artificial division. I read Marjorie Liu's stuff, and Meljean Brook -- these are authors I know from Clarion and online, respectively.

Growing up, the brand name Harlequin seemed synonymous with Romance to me -- I guess in terms of sales, for good reason. But recently Harlequin decided to announce a new venture, essentially mining their slush pile for an in-house vanity press operation. For God's sake, Publisher's Weekly ran a news flash with a straight face. I heard about this first via Nick Kaufmann via Nick Mamatas.

But now Scalzi and Making Light have lit in, because -- Thank God! -- the RWA (Romance Writers of America), MWA (Mystery Writers of America) and SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) have all condemned the move. In particular, RWA is to be commended, seeing as they have the most to gain and lose in this effort:

One of your member benefits is the annual National Conference. RWA allocates select conference resources to non-subsidy/non-vanity presses that meet the eligibility requirements to obtain those resources. Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs.

With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. This does not mean that Harlequin Enterprises cannot attend the conference. Like all non-eligible publishers, they are welcome to attend. However, as a non-eligible publisher, they would fund their own conference fees and they would not be provided with conference resources by RWA to publicize or promote the company or its imprints.

Sometimes the wind of change comes swiftly and unexpectedly, leaving an unsettled feeling. RWA takes its role as advocate for its members seriously. The Board is working diligently to address the impact of recent developments on all of RWA’s members.

So far, it sounds as if Harlequin sounds hurt, but has removed the name Harlequin from the new venture. It has not, however, decided to skip becoming "Romance Publish America".

Why This Is Evil

Self-publishing is when you hire someone to print your work -- it is very useful for certain limited interest publications, gifts and small runs of things for family & friends. Vanity publishing is when you hire someone to pretend you're a professional author -- they make you believe that your book is "just like" something which has been vetted and marketed by a real publisher.

As annoying as rejection is and as big as slush piles get at real publishers, you really can't judge your own work all that fairly. For someone else to say, "hey, this is good, we can work with this, and we'd like to pay you this much to publish your work", is setting the minimum bar level.

In real publishing, money goes to the author.

If I put up a story on this LJ or on my website, http://dr-phil-physics.com , I'm doing this for fun and/or to give people a taste of my writing for free -- especially given that some of my real publications are hard to get. And I've been using unpublished stories so as not to interfere with those who have published me. But I know these are not vetted, edited works. They are my words and I can give them away if I feel like, provided they're not under contract elsewhere.

For you to pay Harlequin, or its minions, hundreds or thousands of dollars to produce books that likely will not sell and will never get promoted to "the real publishing arm" is a scam. The bait-and-switch aspect of slush piles and rejection letters is just too vile to support. Harlequin's management should be ashamed of themselves and grovel at the feet of their authors, their readers and the writers' organizations like RWA and beg their forgiveness and vow to sin no more forever. Period.

So far, no. Clearly we are misunderstanding Harlequin.

And this has to be CRUSHED IN THE BUD, lest in these dangerous financial times, other legitimate publishers begin to start thinking -- hey, I've got this fucking big slush pile, too, and maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad if I followed Harlequin's lead. And don't get all sanctimonious that hey, it was Harlequin that did this, one of those Romance publishers, complete with the eye rolling of superiority. Because it could happen to anyone in any genre. No, really. It could happen elsewhere.

NO. It'd be BAD. It's not RIGHT. And you people all know it. Preying on the wallets of those with hopes and dreams of becoming published authors is WRONG. And EVIL.

So just STOP IT. NOW.

And please, PLEASE, PLEASE... Don't Fall For This Shit Yourself.

Dr. Phil

One Month Ago

I was going to blog about the fact that the Michigan legislature had one month to come up with a budget -- for a fiscal year which has already started for many universities and school systems. Given the current splits -- Democratic House & Governor, Republican Senate -- this annual budgetary nightmare gets pretty cranky. And last minute. And sometimes the state government has to shut down. Etc.

Besides the raw politics, Michigan does have some troubles. We have the highest unemployment rate in the nation (Yay -- We're Number One! ... oh... never mind) and the lack of jobs, the increase in downsizing incomes as people shift jobs and the bankruptcy of some rather large corporations in the state (GM, cough) means that tax revenues have fallen as well.

Promises, Promises

In an economy where getting an education is crucial, to say nothing of all the benefits of retraining the older out-of-work workers, it is ironic that various forms of the budget want to cut school spending by like about $260/student and to wipe out (or greatly reduce) the Michigan Promise scholarships. Yeah, those would be the ones which allow thousands of Michigan residents go to Michigan colleges on what was expected to be a four-year journey. I heard something to the effect that this was to be the year that the scholarships were going to be fully funded.

Nope. Hope you weren't depending on actually getting any of that scholarship money.

(And didn't the Promise scholarships come from the tobacco settlement moneys? Or was that just the down payment?)

Burning Down The House With The Midnight Oil

The Dems say you can't cut enough to make up the shortfalls, something like $2.6 billion before the Federal stimulus money gets poured in. The GOP says don't you even think of increasing revenue like taxes and fees.

So it came down to the wire. They locked the doors to keep the legislators in session. Midnight came and went. Technically the state shut down, but as most citizens and most state workers were asleep, it didn't matter much because... After about two hours they passed a one-month stopgap bill which the governor signed.

Round Three!

Having not solved this budget during the rest of the year, or the month of September Do It or Lose It, we now skip ahead to 31 October 2009 -- and see whether or not thirty-one more days of posturing and wrangling gets us anywhere.

(* head desk *)

Political compromise -- it does not mean capitulation. It does not mean that one side gets to dictate to the other what the terms are. We're talking about a state, not Use It or Lose It personal finances.

Do your jobs and fix it.

'kthnxbye

Dr. Phil

Doing Taxes

Have done Phase I (the usual job and home stuff) and Phase II (Dr. Phil's writing business) in TurboTax Deluxe. Just Phase III (State) to do. We've been using TurboTax since we bought the house. Every year it's slightly different, but every year it imports the previous year's return so we have categories for all the same charitable deductions and business expenses, etc., which is a huge time saver.

I Made Money in 2008

With two big pro sales paid in 2008, "A Man in the Moon" to WOTF XXIV and "The Brother on the Shelf" to Analog, and expenses for postage and two cons, ConFusion in January 2008 and WindyCon in November 2008, I actually made a profit of $159 on my short story writing for 2008. According to my Schedule C.

Woo-hoo!

Time For The Big Time

So I guess I got to get serious about getting my novel projects going and start earning those "big author bucks". (sn*rt) It's not to late to make some money for 2009. (grin) There's even a few payments which were made since January 1st, so I've already had 2009 writing income.

Is this the fun part? Are we having fun yet?

Dr. Phil