Thursday, May 20, 2010

Another Week in the Trenches...

It's Week Five of my Great Agent Search--'great' being somewhat ill-suited for a pursuit that invites rejection, humiliation (see my first week's post) and terror at the possibility nobody wants you.

This week I'm in a waiting game. Agent Nibble Number One requested material for review two weeks ago. The response time on partials is four weeks. You can imagine the state I'm in.

This week my plan was to write, write, write while I waited, waited, waited. While I didn't get the volume of writing completed I'd hoped for, I did manage to work on several new projects. This week's next biggest project? Waging all-out war on that *#@! creeping charlie that has invaded my yard.

After asking advice from every homeowner I saw and Googling 'Killing Creeping Charlie' (I so hope this search doesn't get me put on some list somewhere) I settled on a 'no-fail' solution (with easy-to-follow video, no less) offered by a master gardener turned TV garden host.

The instructions are pretty basic. A garden hose. A dial sprayer. Weed B Gon Max. Turbo Spreader Sticker. A dry, sunny day. And the ability to measure and count.

Simple enough.

Hey. I know what you're thinking.

I begin to gather the necessary equipment. I pull out my garden hose, screw it onto the exterior faucet and pull it to the front yard. It's too short. I screw on another hose. Turn it on again. No water pressure. I investigate. The second hose has a huge rip in it. I write down 'hose' on my shopping list along with the sprayer and weed eradicator and spreader sticker. I hit the local Wally's World, find the weed killer and grab a hose, but can't find the Spreader Sticker anywhere. Now before I found these 'easy' instructions for choking off charlie, I'd never heard of spreader sticker--and apparently neither had the garden 'gurus' at my local stores. I struck out big time on the spreader sticker.

So today, I go in search of the final ingredient needed to initiate and sustain my month-long battle with Charlie the Creeper. And guess what? Rain is in the forecast.

First round to Charlie.

On the bright side I can use the rainy day to write--and wait for 'the great agent call' or check for 'the great agent email'. And eat way too much chocolate while I'm waiting.

All I can say is if I don't hook an agent soon, Creeping Charlie so hasn't got a prayer.

~Bullet Hole~

7 comments:

Zita said...

"After asking advice from every homeowner I saw and Googling 'Killing Creeping Charlie' (I so hope this search doesn't get me put on some list somewhere)"

I think you would only get into trouble if you google for 'Killing Creepy Charlie,' so I think you'll be okay.

Good luck with the killing, by the way. Maybe you'll be able to use what you're learning to kill someone in one of your books! That's like a two-fer.

Phyllis Bourne said...

This homeowner crap isn't for the weak, is it?

I can't wait until I'm old enough to get into one of those old folks condos where somebody does everything for me. They'll probably beat me up and steal my money too, but nothing is perfect.

Good luck on the agent hunt. I'm a huge fan of your boos, so I KNOW you'll land one soon.

Phyllis Bourne said...

LOL! That's "books" not "boos"! Hit send too fast!

Terri Osburn said...

I want a house in the worst way, then I tell myself things like "You'll have to mow the grass and weed eat and fix the leaks and pay when stuff breaks." And then I feel better about renting.

Keeping fingers crossed the nibble turns into something good.

Kathy Bacus said...

LOL, Zita! And you're right. Every experience is fair game for plot purposes.

~Kat

Kathy Bacus said...

Thanks for the positive vibes, Phyllis! And yeah. Home ownership isn't exactly a walk in the park, no matter how much time you invest in the lawn.

~Kat

Kathy Bacus said...

Thanks, Terri. I'm keeping all my various appendages crossed too. That should explain any typos you see...

~Kat