As you can see in the Hatbox graphic on the side, I'm asking for $2000 in donations and income again for the month of February. Part of this is because we are going to have to replace a server soon, since the one bought last month did not work out as a replacement for the main BCTS server. It's in use and earning money for us which is a help but we're going to have to spend $800 or more for the kind of server we really need.
And to be absolutely frank about it, eight years ago when I retired and started living on a fixed income, I had $35000 in the bank. Now I'm $12000 in debt. I need to pay that down because the interest is like paying an extra car payment. There have been doctor and dentist bills, which my family has helped me out with but I spend 25 to 60 hours a week running BC instead of doing things that I would actually get paid for. If I put that kind of time into writing mainstream fiction or editing other people's work or designing books or even doing webcomics (all of which I've done in the last few years and got paid for them) I would be earning enough to not be in the financial bind I find myself in.
So, I don't know how else to put this but for the time being, I'm going to be asking for $2000 in donations a month. But instead of carrying over a deficit from month to month as I have in the past, I'll just start over each month, only carrying forward a positive balance if there is one. Some of the money will go to running the site, some will go to Piper for what help she is in doing all this but the major part of it will go to paying down my debt.
There will also be other changes in how the Hatbox operates but more on that later.
And I know that there are people out there in the BC community who can't afford to donate. Writing and posting stories and supporting our authors with comments and kudos counts, too, you know.
Hugs to all, and thanks,
Erin
Comments
We all do
what we have to do. If we're half smart anyway. Don't feel bad about it, you are doing something very special here and if I could do so I would pay all the expenses you have for the site. But would and could are two different things. sigh.
Hugs
Maggie
I will contribute as much and as often as i can
Like Erin, i'm on a government fixed income, but i'm willing... this site deserves our support...i'm in
Diana
I can donate
I can donate about U$$ 5,00 from time to time without getting in trouble. More and I will have to justify with my wife ...
Could it be done trough pay pal?
Paypal Account
My Paypal account is joyce @ qnez.com. I can't put a Paypal button on the site because someone accused the site of being pornography and there is no rational appeal process.
And thanks.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Contributing
I would definitely start contributing if I could start selling more copies of my ebook (and I mean a lot more!) that I self published back in September. It's a mainstream sci-fi novel with an indie feel to it, and I feel it could really take off with just a modest investment in marketing. Not to brag, but it's very good. And I'm not just saying that based on feedback from family members. I've received positive feedback from non-family members who wouldn't shy away from giving me their honest opinion. Needless to say, I would love to share it with the readers on this site even though it's not a TG story, but it's published under my given name. Besides, I'm not sure if this would be the appropriate site to advertise anyway. So hopefully, I can find some relatively inexpensive ways to market my book and start augmenting my modest bank balance so I can start giving back to this site.
Cheers,
Drew
Links to books
You can certainly use the ++Weblink at the top of the page to include a link to a book for sale. There's even a category for that, it doesn't have to be a TG book if it is by a member of the community here. If it's being sold on Amazon, BC will even get a share of the sale for links that come from here. :)
After you have created a weblink for a book, once a month you can post a blog referring back to the weblink. So many people are publishing books here that I'm thinking of using a space on the front page just for promoting them via their weblinks. This is one of the changes I referred to as to how the Hatbox works.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Hot Damn!
Glad you caught me at the beginning of the month, before I spent it all on crack and twinkies.
Must be foredestined or sumpin. Also, was nice that I remembered my password & everything
so that Amazon Payments didn't act like I was trying to rob them insteada donate...
~love you Erin, & love this site! Veronica
.
That $35 was gonna go to energy saving florescent "lightbulbs" but I hate those things anyway
and still actually have boxes & boxes of the incandecents. (Being a non-driver who keeps
the thermostat at 60/16 and re-uses the packaging from frozen foods as paper plates,
my carbon footprint is a dainty size 2, so I don't feel bad...)
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
CFL lamps
Just an FYI: CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) really only work in lights and lamps that have base-down sockets, like table lamps. Using them in a ceiling fixture that has base-up sockets cuts the lamp's life by almost 90% in my experience. Sideways sockets they about match a normal incandescent lamp, life-wise. They are going to have to fix the heat problem before CFLs can replace all the incandescent lamps in the typical house.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Sideways tend to last about
Sideways tend to last about the same as base down. What kills fluorescent bulbs is this.
1) Tiny ballasts, so they aren't built as well as the ones in the big four foot fixtures.
2) If you turn them on, get things out of the room, then turn it off - you've just shortened its life. They're supposed to be on for at least fifteen minutes before shutting them off.
3) If you're in a normal area where the lights flicker, especially when your A/C or laser printer turns on/off, you're going to be whacking the snot out of the ballast every time the power flickers. Incandescents don't tend to care.
4) Too tightly enclosed space. In incandescent bulbs, the bulb itself produces heat, and tends to be the most exposed (otherwise you wouldn't get any light). In CCFL's, the base produces the heat, and that tends to be the most disguised/protected from view (and the cooling airflow)
With good airflow, clean power, and running the lights for long periods of time, you'll get what they claim for the lifespan of the bulbs. If you're a normal person, you won't get even the life of an incandescent out of them.
Oh, yeah. And our illustrious idiots in the government didn't bother to put in adequate (or any) provisions for recycling the damned things. So most people will toss the mercury into the landfill.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Which basically means
That CFLs are not designed for typical home use. I got the bit about burning the lamps base down from one of the gadget forums online, but have since seen it printed on some packaging. So in spite of the federally-mandated requirement to cease production of incandescent lamps, the major replacement available is not practical to use in almost any light fixture made in the last 100 or so years. And that was really my point at the beginning: there is no need to feel any guilt over donating to BC rather than buying CFLs.
Oh, yeah, recycling the CFLs. I believe the rules regarding recycling fluorescent lamps were changed some years ago. At the plant where I worked we had a fluorescent bulb "eater" which ground up the 4' and 8' bulbs, t5he remains going into a clean 55 gal drum. The drums were then tagged as hazardous waste and shipped out for special handling. But somewhere along the line we stopped doing that and just tossed them into the regular trash to be hauled to the landfill. So if the government isn't concerned about those big tubes, they'd hardly be concerned about the CFLs, would they?
I hope the LED lamps come w-a-y down in price, real soon.
Sorry for the interruption, Erin. :-)
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
You would think there is a really wealthy t-person out there
.... who 24K a year would be considered pocket change for them. Well I just had the unexpected expense of replacing my car on top of just purchasing my first home. I will have to see what I can do.
Kim
Erin,what about
authors donating their books for sale? Can they donate a portion of their sales here? What about donating funds for prize money?
May Your Light Forever Shine
Wish I could give more
But like you and moongoddess I am on a fixed pension. Will donate more later whenever I can.
Bless you for all you do.
Hugs, Sarah Ann
helping out
i to live on government pension so i'll try to send some money as i can. this is the only enjoyment that i have. i love all the stories that are place here.
anybody want a dedication?
I bought a dedication because I wanted to pay that much, but I have no one I'd like to make a dedication to. So if someone out there would love to make a dedication but can't afford it, you can have mine.
We need one for Bob Arnold
He has been needing one for a long time down here :(
Sephrena