Well my podcast/novel website (http://magicofeyri.com) survived the web host switch (hooray) without any hiccups, so Episode 008 should be online this Sunday without a hitch (note to self: upload the episode).

However, I still have to get things configured for danieljhogan.com and that could be a bit of a headace due to how I have it set up at the moment. The main Enter page for danieljhogan.com was made with my old host’s web page creator and I doubt my new host will recognize it, so I’ll have to tweak stuff.

My domain transfers for magicofeyri.com and themagicofeyri.com both went through, but it hasn’t for danieljhogan.com yet. I gotta solve that issue first (I kind of realized too late that I really didn’t have to transfer the domain register stuff, but oh well). Switch webhosts has been an interesting and scary process.

But, it’ll be worth it. I’ll have unlimited bandwidth and disk space, both of which are important for podcasters.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

The Lansing State Journal printed my letter to the editor in today's issue, you can read it online or read it the old fashioned way (aka Grandpa Newspaper).  It is in response to a negative review of one of my favorite haunts, Gone Wired Cafe.  Mine is the letter titled "Gone Wired is rare treat" (they gave it that title, not me).  They kept most of the letter, only cutting a few things. 

Woo hoo!  I should complain more often...

I've been checking the Letters section for the past few days, looking for mine and it looks like I wasn't the only one who wrote in to complain about the review.

The economy woes in Michigan keep coming, and a great deal of it hinges on the success or failure of the Big Three in the not too distant future.

Well, it got to a more personal level for me today. I was told that there are possibilities of lay-offs where I work, specifically within my team. Realizing this kind of stuff usually follows a Last In, First Out pattern I am rightfully concerned as I am the 'new guy' (although having been here for three years).

Why is this the case? Well, I work for the State. The State gets its income from, you guessed it, taxes and other revenue. Sales tax is a big part of this. The big stick of it here is the failure of the Auto Industry--from which the State gets a decent amount of revenue. Therefore, if the Big Three go bankrupt, the State ain't gonna be gettin' no money from them (this is a generalization on my part, as I do not know too much about how bankruptcy works, but I'm basing this on what I was told). Also, with people spending less money on things, the State is bringing less sales tax.

But I am not the only one in my family this would affect. I have an aunt and uncle who are both engineers for GM. I have another aunt who works for an advertising company who's ONLY client is Chrysler.

I grow tired of some of the media saying "let them fail" and the like. They do not realize just how handcuffed Michigan's economy is to the Big Three (another of our state's problems).  Don't get me wrong--I'm the last person to defend how the Big Three has done things and I'm a big opponent of SUVs, but I still know how important those companies are to this state.

I was told not to worry too much about it, as those above me will go to bat for me and sing my praises--but the final choice does not fall to them, and it ultimately boils down to numbers. Downsizing our team would be very short-sighted, as we just installed new equipment to cover even more meetings in the Capitol. If anything, we need more people on our team.

So I'm doing what I can to prepare for the worst. At least I was given a head's up that this could happen (I was not told it will happen, I was just told it could). I'm trying to remain optimistic, but the way things have been going for both the state and the country's economy as of late, it is difficult to do so. 

But on the flip side of this, as an under-30 unmarried childless person, I would have a better chance of bouncing back than my co-workers.  I could move somewhere else for a job if needed, and it would not be that big of a deal (which is another reason why I think I'd be the one to be let go, IF this happened).

And to be perfectly honest, if I was let go I would be on some level excited about having to find something new and to start a new chapter of my life.  But at the same time, it would really bite the big one.

Lastly, I'm not writing about this looking for a pity party--I just wanted people to know what is going on and how these economic issues are affecting the State and, by extension, me as a State employee.

So, chin up Mr. Hogan, and stop wasting money on candy cell-phones and ALF pogs*.

*one of these days I'll stop referencing The Simpsons so much

I had a photo shoot last night for an article on Self-Publishing that'll appear on the webzine Lansing Area Capital Gains. The shoot took place at Everybody Reads Bookstore--chosen because I had my first ever signing there and well, it's a darn good store too. I like the compositions the photog came up with, and I think my favorite was one were my head is near a row of my books and I'm looking off into the distance and I'm not smiling (his direction). I hope it turned out good. He took some others of me on the floor, holding the books and looking up at the camera and smiling. My face hurt afterwards from all the smiling (I don't smile a lot, so this was a work out for me).


Thankfully, it wasn't too much like this.

And I think there is an article about Novel Writing Month, which I was interviewed for, going out today in one of the Delta Township free newspapers, I gotta try and track it down.

A co-worker brought in yesterday's Books section of the Lansing State Journal and showed me a nice blurb they gave me. They have a picture of the cover of The Magic of Eyri, an excerpt, a synopsis and mention the signing I have on (along with jimhines and wookiee71) Saturday at Bestsellers Books in Mason (2 to 5 PM). Very neat.

You can read the article here.  This was a heck of a way to start the week. I'll also be appearing on the Jack Ebling show this Friday around 6PM on 1320 AM here in Lansing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (I totally forgot to wear green today and have shamed my Irish ancestors...But I wore green on Friday and Saturday, that  counts for something, right?)

From BBC website: California is suing the US government over emissions.

And here are the top headlines on CNN.com at the same moment:


Uh...yeah.