Phobias For The Twenty-First Century

Phobias…those irrational fears of just about anything you can think of. Most of them have been out there for centuries (if not longer). Some of them have been handed down through families.

But like so many other things, the twenty-first century has brought us a whole new collection of things to provide irrational fears.

Nomophobia is the fear of not having cell phone contact, whether it's due to a dead battery or because your network doesn't have coverage where you are. A fate worse than death?

Vidigameaphobia is the fear of video games. This can cover everything from simply being afraid of the games to the fear that the games could come to life. Hmm…maybe I need to buy that Indiana Jones game after all.

Interphobia is exactly what it sounds like…fear of the world wide web. Now that's a phobia to avoid at all costs.

Dextrophobia and its counterpart Levophobia offers us a couple of really strange phobias. Dextrophobia is the fear of everything to the right of your body while Levophobia is the fear of everything to the left of your body.

Coulrophobia has actually been around for a long time and is still going strong. It's the fear of clowns. Didn't Stephen King have a clown as one of his evil entities?

Pupaphobia is related to Coulrophobia. They might even be first cousins. It's the fear of puppets. Not sure what you'd call the fear of a clown puppet.

Alektorophobia is an extreme fear of live chickens. Maybe the scope of the fear should be expanded to include people who look like Col. Sanders?

Sesquipedalophobia, as the length of the word suggests, is the fear of very long words. Wouldn't a shorter word be more appropriate?

Cathisophobia is one that those of us working at computers need to avoid at all costs. It's the fear of sitting.

Genuphobia is the fear of knees. That must be really difficult in summer when warm weather clothing means lots of knees sticking out there for anyone to see.

And here's a bonus phobia to carry us through the twenty-first century. This has to be the ultimate fear: Phobophobia. Yep, it's exactly what it sounds like…a fear of fears.

My primary fear is bugs and other creepy crawler things. However, my fear is totally rational.  :)

Do you have any irrational fears (or rational ones) you'd like to share?

Unexpected Hotel Charges--Legitimate or Unscrupulous?

Anyone who has flown in the last year or so is familiar with how drastically things have changed. What used to be considered free, included as part of the air fare, is now an additional fee.

We used to be able to check our luggage, have carry on bags, little packets of peanuts or pretzels handed out to anyone who wanted them, soft drinks and fruit juice upon request, snacks at meal time, pillow and blanket, and certainly a drink of water. Obviously we can now refer to that as "the good old days" when compared to today's travel hassles. All those things are now additional fees the airlines charge and they have made tremendous profits from them. Fees that are charged in addition to all the other taxes and surcharges added on to the airfare.

So, is it any wonder that hotels have started to follow suit with new "fees" of their own? Following are ten fees many hotels are now adding on to your bill at check-out time. If you belong to the hotel's frequent guest program, you might be safe from some of these…at least for the time being.

10) Internet Usage: A big perk hotels and motels have advertised in the past to attract customers was free high speed internet. Many hotels are now adding an internet usage fee at check-out time. While some are charging the fee per day, a new trend is to charge per devise per day. So, more than one device being used in your room? You might see a charge for each device that uses the in room internet access. Currently in Europe, this fee can easily be an additional $30/day on top of the room rate and applicable taxes.

9) Resort Fees: Things that were once taken for granted as being included in the room rate (such as pool towels) at beach and mountain resorts are increasingly being listed under the amenities covered by Resort Fees which are automatically tacked on to your bill at checkout. And it seems that saying you don't plan to use the extra resort amenities won't matter. They're available, so you are charged.

8) Portage Fees: This is a good one!! You tip the bellman for handling your luggage to and from your room. Yet when you get your bill there's a Portage Fee for the bellman's services. Even if you take your own luggage to your room, that Portage Fee is still on your bill. The addition of a Portage Fee is especially likely to show up on your bill if you're part of a group that's been given a special negotiated rate, such as a conference group or a tour.  That pretty much cancels out your special reduced group room rate.

7) Valet Parking: The good old days of self-parking for a few dollars a day are long gone in most major cities at luxury hotels. It's now valet parking only at an additional charge on your bill of anywhere from $20 to $50/day and of course there's the tip to the valet every time he brings you your car, not to mention how long you have to wait.

6) Energy Surcharges: Be sure to read the fine print on your confirmation, especially if you book through a consolidator or discounter. You're likely to find more than one "extra" that will be added to your bill. A particularly irritating surcharge is the energy one. It's logical to believe the cost of the electricity used when turning on the air conditioning or the television would be included in the base room rate. Then when you see an additional fee for the fact that you have actually used the electricity in your room…well, do I need to elaborate?

5) Luggage Storage Fee: Having a place to store your bags after check-out time when you still have several hours before you need to go to the airport used to be a nice option provided by the hotel for its guests. Not any more. Be prepared to be charged per bag for sticking them in a closet until you're ready to leave.

4) In-Room Safe Fees: Another item charged to you on a per day basis simply because it's there. Whether you actually use it or not doesn't seem to matter.

3) Fitness Center Fees: What used to be no charge at many hotels is now a use fee. It's not necessarily a charge simply because it's available. So far, it's a daily use charge. So far.

2) Mini-Bar Restocking Fee: We all know how horribly over priced all the items are in the mini-bar. You'd think that would surely be enough profit for the hotel when a guest opens the mini-bar just to see what's in it and ends up taking one little thing. But apparently that's not the case. Now, in additional to all the profits derived from the items in the mini-bar, there's also a charge for replacing that little bag of peanuts.

1) Early Check-In Fees: It used to be that if the hotel had an available room that had been cleaned after an early check-out or had been vacant the previous night, they would let you have a room earlier than the normal mid to late afternoon check-in time as a courtesy. This was especially nice if you arrived early that morning after an overnight flight. Well, there's another perk that's mostly gone by the wayside. Some unscrupulous establishments won't even apprise you of the additional charge. It simply shows up on your bill.

I really love to travel, but I have to admit that it's becoming more and more difficult to enjoy. Have any of you had any strange charges from hotels?  Some sort of "fee" that showed up on your bill as a complete surprise?

Hot Books For A Hot Summer

Most of the month of June has been unseasonably hot and humid. All-in-all, the kind of days where I don't want to stray very far from the air conditioned comfort of home. Thank goodness my office is in my house. :)

I think this hot weather deserves some HOT books, so I thought I'd revise one of my blogs from last summer that seemed appropriate.

***

The weather isn't the only thing contributing to the hot days of summer. There's also the blazing SUMMER SIZZLE of a California beach town and the sultry heat found on FORBIDDEN ISLAND, a privately owned Caribbean retreat. These two books are incendiary enough to burn up the pages while making you reach for the we need to cool things down setting on the air conditioner.

The Romance Studio gave SUMMER SIZZLE 5 Hearts and had this to say: "Unlike many romances now where the story is a set of sex scenes loosely connected by fleeting emotion or inane dialogue, Ms. Gentry has crafted a rich tale that makes the reader care about these two characters in a memorable way. The characters are fully realized and come to life in a story that was impossible to put down. The story was well thought out, the plotting spot on, and the dialogue was refreshingly realistic. Because I was so emotionally engaged as the reader, the sexual scenes meant something and were perfect for this story. This is the first story I've read by this author but it definitely won't be the last. Ms. Gentry is an extraordinary voice in today's romance market. Check her out today!"

Do opposites really attract? And if they do, can it lead to something real rather than a momentary connection based on nothing more than a hot physical attraction?

Vicki Templeton and Blake Callahan seem to be about as opposite as two people can be. She's compulsively organized, every hour of her day planned out in advance. All her efforts go toward building a financially secure future for herself by working hard and sacrificing today's fun for tomorrow's security. Blake, on the other hand, has learned a painful and emotionally devastating lesson about today versus tomorrow. His experience has taught him that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow so living for today is what's important.

Regimented work schedule versus spontaneous spur-of-the-moment fun. So what happens when these two totally mismatched people each claim to have a legal rental agreement for the same beach bungalow? While Blake plays havoc with her neatly ordered life, Vicki has him thinking beyond today and speculating about the possibility of what tomorrow can bring.

Can two people who don't agree on much of anything except the scorching hot physical relationship that nearly bursts into flame whenever they come into physical proximity manage to cohabitate for the duration of the summer? Can each discover the pieces missing from their respective lives? Can the heat of the day match the SUMMER SIZZLE pulling them together?

SUMMER SIZZLE is available from Cobblestone Press.   http://www.cobblestone-press.com/


And to continue with our HOT weather selections, maybe I can tempt you with some sultry tropical breezes on FORBIDDEN ISLAND.

Romance Junkies gave FORBIDDEN ISLAND 4.5 Blue Ribbons and had this to say: "Chantal and Murphy’s scorching hot romance is only intensified by the exotic location. Despite there being ten years since they last saw each other there’s an undeniable connection between these characters and they certainly don’t waste any time making up for all the years they’ve been apart. FORBIDDEN ISLAND brings to mind all those fantasies about a romantic encounter with someone special in your own private paradise."

Have you ever met someone in passing and immediately knew you wanted to rip off his clothes and drag him to the nearest bedroom? No commitment. No concern about tomorrow. Someone you couldn't get out of your mind regardless of how much you tried?

That is Chantal Stevens' problem. All it took was an introduction and a businesslike handshake for her to know Murphy Abbott was that someone. But nothing came of their meeting. He was polite and charming, but seemed in a hurry to leave. She was mesmerized. But that's all the further it went. For the next ten years she continued to ask herself what if until she knew she had to do whatever it took to find the answer to that question, something that would allow her to satisfy her curiosity. Could any man really be as incredible a lover or have as much stamina as her fantasies had attributed to Murphy?

So Chantal devised a plan—a deception that would get her an invitation to Forbidden Island so she could meet face-to-face with Murphy at his private enclave in the Caribbean and answer once and for all that elusive question…what if?

But to Chantal's surprise, when she arrives at Murphy's island she discovers she's not the only one who has played the mental what if game during the last ten years. Murphy has his own thoughts about what the weekend will bring.

FORBIDDEN ISLAND is part of the Destination Pleasure series of short story quick reads from The Wilder Roses, the Scarlet Rose line of erotic romance from The Wild Rose Press.  http://www.thewilderroses.com/


I hope I've caught your interest and you'll pick up these two HOT reads. Check my website for excerpts from these two books, as well as my other current releases.   http://www.samanthagentry.com/

What You Can Steal From Your Hotel Room—Guilt Free

Lots of jokes abound about the things people feel compelled to steal from hotel rooms when they check out. There's even the unconfirmed tales of people changing their name to correspond with their newly acquired monogrammed bed and bath linens.

There are items in your hotel room that the hotel is happy to have you take—free souvenirs, mementos of your trip, a keepsake from a special occasion.  And then there are the items that at the least can result in a hefty additional charge on your credit card and possibly even something as serious as criminal charges.

Pens and Pencils: Stationery, pens, pencils, and the postcards in the room are yours to take. Every time you use them, it's free advertising for the hotel.

Towels and Linens: Towels are not yours for the taking, but they are the top item to disappear from hotel rooms. Holiday Inn alone estimated that they lost 560,000 towels in one year. But to also take the bed linens? Just how big does your suitcase need to be to have that much extra room in it?

Lotions and bathroom items: All those little bottles of shampoo, hair conditioner, body lotion, and soaps are there for you to use and take with you whether they've been opened or not. They're the perfect travel size and take up very little room, not to mention that they're sized to meet the airline 3 oz. rule.

Laundry Bags: We've all helped ourselves to the plastic laundry bags in hotel rooms to use for dirty clothes or that damp swim suit. No problem there. However, if the hotel uses cloth or canvas bags, you can expect to see a charge on your bill if you take it with you when you check out.

Docks and Clocks: It's safe to assume that a room's clock radio and iPod dock system are not there for you to take home with you. Boston's Onyx Hotel takes a simple approach. "You can take anything you want from the room, but we'll charge your credit card for replacement."

Robes, Slippers, and Umbrellas: It can occasionally be confusing, but most hotels will bill you if that luxurius robe goes missing. Some hotels will provide package rates that include such items as monogrammed robes, slippers, branded totes, books, and even bottles of premium liquor. But beware, those "complimentary" items can come at a steep price as some of the package rates can be as much as twice the regular room rate.

Gideon Bibles: Bibles have been a long time amenity in hotel rooms. Even though they are slowly being edged out, Gideon International still places more than ten million copies in hotel rooms annually to replace those that are taken. They claim they're happy, in this case, to have people break the eighth commandment about stealing.

There have been lots of strange items taken from hotels over the years. The following are some true tales.

A woman from San Jose, California, took the "C" from the coat check sign in San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel and was pursued through the hotel by men in blazers shouting, "Madam, the 'C'…give us the 'C!'"

A Geneva lawyer admits being caught by a receptionist of a Hamburg hotel while trying to make off with "an entire display of apples in a rather large fruit bowl from the hotel lobby."

A huge piece of blown glass by Dale Chihuly was once stolen from a table in the lobby of The Alexis in Seattle, Washington.

Bill Babis of 70 Park Avenue said the most outrageous things stolen from the chic hotel were the thermostats.

So the next time you're tempted to slip a little keepsake from the hotel into your suitcase you might want to ask yourself if it's really a freebie or if you'll end up paying more for it than if you had bought it at a store.

Unusual Uses For Digital Cameras

To correspond with my June Jubilee participation at Coffee Time Romance http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1112

and in particular my notes at the Photography topic of the Special Interests section of their forums http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1437

I want to continue with that photography theme here...sort of.

I came across a list of unusual uses for digital cameras that I'd like to share with you this week.  In a pinch, you can use your digital camera for the following:

1) Flashlight: Turn on your digital camera and the screen makes a decent light source if you're suddenly trapped in the dark and need to find your way out.

2) Insurance Record Backup: Take pictures, including close-ups, of individual items. With your digital camera, you'll know immediately if you have a viable picture that will identify the item in case of theft or as proof of ownership in case of disaster such as fire. Be sure to keep copies of the pictures some place other than your house so they won't be destroyed should that disaster hit.

3) Mini License Plate: Take a picture of your vehicle license plate, print it and trim to fit in your wallet or purse. You'll never need to make a trip back to your car to check the license number when registering at a motel

4) Passport and Business Card Photos: Take your own photos to use. It's free!

5) Clip Art: Be your own stock photo source. Take your own pictures to use in presentations, blogs, and many other uses. The picture at the top of this blog is one I took of my digital camera using my other digital camera about five minutes before I posted this here.

6) House Buying/Renting: It's hard to keep track of all the details and keep them straight when you tour several properties. Which property had that terrific kitchen pantry and which one had the fireplace in the master bedroom suite? If you take a picture of the house from the street following by a room-by-room tour of the interior, you'll be able to keep it straight.

7) In A Car Crash: You'll definitely want pictures from all angles of all vehicles involved including the vehicle license plates to back up your insurance claim and protect yourself from bogus claims.

8) Foreign Travel: You don't speak the language and aren't sure how to pronounce the name of that hotel or the name of the street. Take a picture of the front of the hotel with the sign showing the name, and a picture of the street sign. You'll be able to turn on your camera and show the picture on the screen to your cab driver or wherever you're asking for directions.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You can do all of that with your cell phone which you always have with you and you might not have a digital camera in your possession at the time. Well…you're right! Whether the digital camera is part of your cell phone or a stand alone item, it's still the immediacy of the digital world.

The Internet Will Fail--and 8 other predictions that didn't come true

That bold prediction was made by astronomer Clifford Stoll. He was quoted in a 1995 Newsweek story, "The truth is, no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher, and no computer network will change the way government works."

Here we are, fifteen years later, and the newspaper industry is dying, people can earn college degrees online from accredited universities, and we can easily find information on anyone who has ever had their fifteen minutes of fame.

Lots of people make predictions, many of whom are considered experts in their field. And you have well-known prognosticators such as Nostradamus. Five hundred years later people are still referring to his predictions and debating the validity of the interpretations of his quatrains. And much more recently, there's the twentieth century offerings of Edgar Casey, among others.

Here's a list of eight bold predictions that failed miserably.


1) "Using Twitter for literate communication is about as likely as firing up a CB radio and hearing some guy recite 'The Iliad.'" – Science fiction writer and journalist Bruce Sterling.

Despite criticism, Twitter has proven itself to many thanks to its roles in breaking news and helping organize massive protests in Iran.

2) "For the most part, the portable computer is a dream machine for the few…on the whole, people don't want to lug a computer with them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the sports or business section of the newspaper." – Founder of early computer magazine ROM, Erik Sandberg-Diment as reported by the New York Times in 1985.

And today people are using portable computer devices at the beach and on a train to while away hours, many of whom are checking on sports scores and the stock market.

3) "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." – Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.

Obviously, not everyone agreed with Steve Jobs' vision about the device that has become a cultural icon in a few short years.

4) "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." – Decca Recording Co., rejecting the Beatles in 1962. And Dick Rowe, the Decca recording executive who made that fateful prediction, went on to say, "The Beatles have no future in show business."

And as they say, the rest is history! The Beatles went on to release nineteen albums in seven years and sold approximately 140 million copies and I don't even want to guess how many singles. To give Dick Rowe credit for learning from his mistakes, he did sign the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.

5) "TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn't time for it." – author unknown, quoted in The New York Times in 1939.

It's very easy to take cheap shots at television, especially with some of the truly low-brow programming that's out there. We've been told television rots our brains and turns our children on to sex and violence. But to consider it a fad that will fade away? And to add another television prediction: "I will believe in the 500-channel world only when I see it." – Viacom and CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone in a 1994 speech to the National Press Club.

6) "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" – RCA response to David Sarnoff's pitch for investment in radio.

RCA rebuffed Sarnoff's vision in the 1920s, and he went on to found NBC and became one of the most influential executives in radio and television in a career that spanned fifty years. After a few years, RCA did finally get it and jumped on the band wagon.

7) "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." – Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1873.

We've come a long way, baby. Today heart surgery, organ transplant, and neurosurgery are common occurrences.

8) "Printed books will never be the equivalent of handwritten codices, especially since printed books are often deficient in spelling and appearance." – 15th century monk, Trithemius, wrote in his treatise "In Praise Of Copying"

And aren't we all glad his prediction fell flat? Printed books, and now eReaders (see item #2) are certainly an integral part of our world.


Have any of you come across any predictions that totally and completely bombed?

Ten Things We Can't Do Without

I recently saw two lists, each claiming to be the top ten things we can't do without. While the two lists had several items in common, they weren't identical. That got me thinking. There are some things that are very obvious and others that are so much a part of our day-to-day activity that we don't think about them as being essential to our daily lives. Of course, when that item is suddenly not available, its impact becomes glaringly important.

Almost in no particular order here are ten items (without the first item most everything else becomes a non-issue) that we feel we can't do without.

1) Electricity: From that almost all else flows. Without that wall plug-in receptacle that we totally take for granted, all our gadgets would be useless. They would simply sit there collecting dust. What's that you say? Your laptop computer runs on battery? Your cell phone runs on battery? You have a battery operated television? Well, unless they run on solar power, those rechargeable batteries need to be recharged on a regular basis. Do you remember the last time a major storm knocked out all power for days? I do. And since I have an all electric kitchen, I couldn't even boil water for instant coffee. That was a rude shock! And, of course, the refrigerator and freezer were no longer functional.

2) Plumbing/Flush Toilets: No explanation necessary here. :)

And now that the two primary candidates are out of the way, let's talk about specifics.

3) Air Conditioning (and heating): Office buildings, hotels, restaurants, stores, private residences, even our vehicles…we can't imagine them without air conditioning and heating so we can be comfortable in all seasons.

4) Computers: Needless to say, our computers are an integral part of life. Whether you're always on the go with your laptop or stay at home with your desktop, computers are a major factor in our lives. And not only our personal computers. Look around you…everywhere you go and almost everything you do is somehow computer controlled or computer generated…even the monthly bill for the electricity.

5) High Speed Internet: Closely aligned with number four is the need to be able to access and use the internet as quickly as possible. Waiting for a large download that seems to be moving at a snail's pace is way too frustrating.

6) Cell Phone: I am not addicted to my cell phone. I don't need to have it in my hand at all times, require hands free operation for my car because I'm not capable of driving to the grocery store without checking for text messages, tweets, or updates during the ten minutes it takes me to drive there. However, even on the most basic level a cell phone has become a necessity. The pay phone seems to be something rapidly disappearing from the American landscape. Even at airports where you used to be able to find a long row of pay phones as soon as you got off a plane, that's no longer the reality. Maybe a couple of pay phones, but even those usually require phone cards rather than actual money.  We no longer need to make sure we always have coins for a phone call if we have an emergency.

7) Television: Yep, whether we use it for entertainment or news and other informational areas, we all have them and can't seem to do without them. There's something both sad and funny about surfing through fifty channels and complaining that there's nothing on. And if the cable goes out…well, enough said.

8) Automatic garage door opener: One of those many things you take for granted because it's always there. Hmmm…I think we just segued back to electricity. There you are, in your car with the rain pouring down and 60mph winds. You're wearing your best clothes because you've just come from the society event of the decade and now you need to get out of your car to unlock and manually open the garage door. Or, everything is covered in ice and snow and you're thanking the deity of your choice that you made it home safely…but now you need to walk on that ice to get your garage door open.

9) Automobiles: In some places more than others. There are certainly places where one can live without the need for a car because the public transportation is excellent. Some places where owning a car is a disadvantage due to the expense of needing a place to park it. Certainly New York City (or more specifically, Manhattan) comes to mind. But for most of us, an automobile is an absolute necessity in order to get to and from our job, go to the grocery store, and other required chores.

10) I think I'm going to declare this slot as a tie between remote controls and coffee: We definitely have become a society too lazy to get out of the chair to change the channel on the television. And that's only one of many remote controls. Even on our key ring we have the remote door lock/unlock and trunk open for our car. And coffee…it's obviously big business when there are shops whose only product is coffee. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have a small four cup coffee maker in my office so that I don't need to go to the kitchen to make coffee first thing in the morning when I turn on my computer and access my high speed internet while reaching for the remote control to turn on television to watch the morning news…well, as you can see, I'm back at electricity again. :)

Honorable Mention: I felt compelled to include chocolate and wine.  :)

What modern convenience is an absolute must have for you?