This will be my last post of 2025. I'll reduce my social media activity due to worsening health. If you seek gift ideas, check out my Amazon author page here: amzn.to/3Uy4HC5 Thank you for being in my life in 2025. I wish you and yours a happy, safe, and sane holiday season. #happyholidays

My new book Master Your Money, Secure Your Future has been out for about a month now, and it has a five-star rating on Amazon! The book is available in print and on Kindle here: bit.ly/4mHAhdq Have a wonderful holiday season and good financial health in 2026! #AuthorSky #BookSky #financialliteracy

After a busy eight-day stretch, I'll relax and write for most of the weekend. Have a great weekend and a good start to December! 4/4 #jacksonca #amadorcounty #christmas

Unfortunately, we didn't do any Plaid Friday shopping because I hurt my left leg early on in our walk, but I'm glad I was able to finish our tour of Main Street. My mom was pleased, and I have Aleve and pain cream. 3/4 #christmas

We were happy to walk around and see the decorations, including the Festival of Trees event inside a vacant store, where visitors could review trees decorated by different community organizations and vote for their favorite. 2/4 #christmas

My mom and I went to Jackson Main Street on Friday afternoon for the first day of the annual Christmas Delights festival. We came early to find a reasonably close parking spot and avoid the large crowds that peaked around 6 p.m. for the tree lighting ceremony at the fire station. 1/4 #christmas

It's late on Thanksgiving night, and I just finished cleaning my home office. I enjoyed dinner with my mom and took walks before and after dinner to work off the calories. I'm thankful for our connection here. I hope you had a fulfilling Thanksgiving, and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Here I am at Taste in Plymouth, California, for my 56th birthday. I've lived in Amador County for 16 years and I never ate at this popular spot until today. I'm glad I went. The chances of reaching my 57th birthday are not good. But I'll keep working and writing as long as my body will allow.

The books are here! I received my complimentary author copies of Master Your Money, Secure Your Future this afternoon. I wrote this book (my 54th now) with financial expert Marc Butler so readers can learn how to achieve financial security. Order your copy now by clicking here: bit.ly/4mHAhdq

Happy Authors Day to my fellow authors. October: nerve EMG tests showed no damage, 4 books in different stages of development, more books coming, and I'm writing an article for Laserfiche. I hope you had a great Halloween and have a prosperous November! #authors #halloween #November

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and colleagues! 🇨🇦 🥧

September brought confirmation of chronic small vessel disease and an aneurysm in my brain, so I'm at high risk for a stroke. I'm still able to write/edit books and catch up with people like @thesavvycmo.bsky.social on 9/24. I'll update when I have news, and have a prosperous October!

Today's unsolicited e-mail from a reader of my Microsoft Word exam book from 2021: "I just want to let you know that I appreciate your communication style in presenting Word Exam MO-100. Would you believe I am now confident in exploring Microsoft Word!" Cool beans. #authorlife

The bad news: I'm not being paid fast enough. My health has worsened in the past 6 weeks, especially with a lot more head pressure, dizziness, and left side weakness. I'll keep working and have an update later this month. In the meantime, have a prosperous September!

The good news: 6 books in various stages of production. Signed a contract to write Instagram & Facebook All-in-One for Dummies with @thedigitalgal.bsky.social. Enjoyed lunch on 9/5 with @askyvi.bsky.social. Finally got neck/brain scans scheduled. Baked a raisin pie and it turned out pretty well.

Our book, yay! 😁 Available in stores, online, and at your local library now

My thanks to everyone who's followed me recently. Worsening health, book deadlines, and business development mean I need to go offline for a while and focus. Here's a photo of me with daycare kid Lily on July 31, her last day with us. Have a great weekend, prosperous August, and happy Labor Day!

Want to help encourage folks to (finally) move over to Bluesky? @butow.bsky.social and I wrote something that might help. #booksky

Happy Independence Day to all in the U.S. I got two decent shots of the fireworks in Jackson, CA last night; Jackson has its annual fireworks show on the 3rd. I'll be scarce in July due to book deadlines and investigating weird blood readings. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend! #4thofJuly

June recap: Big mental breakthrough, finished 50 percent of chatbots book, remembered my friend Tony Barcellos one year after his death, enjoyed chatting with my friend @bruceamah.bsky.social, and now I have persistent hypotension and worse migraine symptoms. Have a happy and safe 4th!

Want to learn more about Bluesky? Pick up Bluesky for Dummies I wrote with @miss604.com wherever fine books are sold! #bluesky #BlueskyForDummies #dummies

The BCG logo. The current BCG website (butow.net) is a placeholder that talks about my books, but a new website is on my summer to-do list. /4

I hope you're enjoying your Sunday where you are, and have a prosperous last week of spring! (The solstice is at 7:42 p.m. PDT.)

Here's a photo of my dad with my sister Lisa in 1972 showing her a grapevine at the family vineyard in California. This is my inspiration for the BCG logo -- the customer (the hand) coming into contact with the fruits of your labor (the grapes) to create the moment of discovery and connection. /2

Happy Father's Day to all you dads, granddads, stepdads, and father figures. I was lucky to have my dad in my life into my early 40s. If your dad/granddad is still with you, I hope you got a chance to enjoy time with him today. /1

I’m now an award-winning contributor to #100Predictions Vol. 5 by @iRossBrand, thanks to @outstandingcrea1 🎉 🏆 Ultimate Champion & Best Nonfiction Book 📘 Updated ebook with 100+ new images — only $2.99 for a limited time: geni.us/100v5

It'll be a busy summer, so I'm going to enjoy the process. When I do that, I tend to get things done more quickly than I expect. I hope you're having a relaxing end to May and have a prosperous start to June! 3/3

I'm writing AI Chatbots for Dummies with my co-author, the talented expert @stellar247.bsky.social. I have a couple of e-commerce projects in the works. And I have a lot of stuff to do around the house this summer. 2/3

Hello again. May has been an incredibly busy month that included a mastoidectomy, house foundation repair, electrical fixes, a new dishwasher, and pulmonology tests. I won't post much in June because it's time to keep my head down. 1/3

Updated list of stores in Metro Vancouver where you can get Bluesky for Dummies: 📚 Indigo Metrotown 📚 Black Bond Books Central City 📚 @bookwarehouse.bsky.social West Broadway and at the Vancouver Public Library #booksky @butow.bsky.social

Opening night chat on Centre Stage with @jay.bsky.team "The focus we’ve always kept is that users can have choice over their experience, developers can have the freedom to build, and creators can keep their relationship with their audience." #WebSummit #WebSummitVancouver @megaphonemagazine.com

Will you be in #Vancouver this week? Don’t miss #WebSummit and meet my #BlueskyforDummies co-author @miss604.com and listen to Bluesky CEO @jay.bsky.team !

The past 2 weeks: house foundation repaired, numerous electrical jobs done, a new dishwasher installed, mastoid surgery site healing well, still having pain/itching/dizziness, and still getting things done (more slowly). Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend! #homeimprovement #mastoid #recovery

Happy Mother's Day to all who celebrate. Yesterday I took my mom to brunch at Rosebud's Café in Jackson since we don't like Mother's Day crowds. This new week includes house foundation repair and a neck MRI. Have a prosperous second week of May! #amadorcounty #jacksonca

My Bluesky for Dummies co-author @miss604.com hosted a meetup for the book on Thursday, where a good time was had by all. Thanks for putting this together, Rebecca! #booksky #dummies #meetup

May the Fourth be with you— two days later. I had mastoid surgery today at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. It probably won’t affect the swelling on the left side of my head, but the pressure release is definitely worth it. My sister Lisa drove me there and back. The cone comes off in 3 days.

The print version of Bluesky for Dummies I co-authored with @miss604.com is available for purchase today! Get your copy here: bit.ly/3QiBw4x

My heartfelt thanks to my co-author @miss604.com and especially to @jay.bsky.team for writing the foreword. The printed version of Bluesky for Dummies will be released on Tuesday, May 6, but you can buy the Kindle version here: bit.ly/3QiBw4x

May 1 brought a nice surprise -- my 10 author copies of Bluesky for Dummies. This is book 50 that I've authored in some form since 2000. Our daycare kid Lily was happy to pose with the book. (Yes, I have permission.) Order your copy on Amazon here: bit.ly/3QiBw4x #booksky #books #dummies #bluesky

Pre-order your copy of Bluesky For Dummies now from Barnes & Noble and get a 25% discount! The code PREORDER25 only works through Friday, April 25th. Act fast, as this might be the only discount before it goes on sale! #bluesky #booksky   www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bluesky-fo...

Pre-order your copy (or buy your Kindle copy) of Bluesky for Dummies here: bit.ly/3QiBw4x

Bluesky for Dummies is coming out in two weeks— May 6 to be exact. It was a treat writing with @miss604.com again, and many thanks to tech editor @emilyliu.me and to @jay.bsky.team for writing the foreword.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. My mom and I ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory as we've done since 2022. After I got home, I took a long walk, and I'm glad I could do that after a long drive to OSF and back. I hope you had a pleasant Easter and have a prosperous new week! #pasta #easter

50 years ago today, I got chickenpox. 10 years ago, I got shingles. Two years ago, I got the Shingrix vaccine, and I hope this is the last time I'll report on this subject.

New to #Bluesky? Want to follow ALL THE PEOPLE but wary of the firehose timeline? You can: ✍️ Create a List of accounts, use a theme/topic 💾 Save a Feed, which contains Lists & posts using specific parameters 📍 Pin a List or Feed, it will appear at the top of your Home screen #BlueskyForDummies

Though I'm chronically ill, I'm grateful I can still walk around my hilly neighborhood in Jackson, California, and enjoy the pleasant spring weather as well as the flowers, trees, and verdant green hills. (I inhaled Flonase before I ventured out.) Have a prosperous week! #amadorcounty #jacksonca

I've also updated my Butow Communications Group website to reflect the most recent books I've written, learn more about me, and link to my Amazon author page. View the site here: butow.net

The Kindle edition of Bluesky for Dummies, co-authored with @miss604.com, is now available to purchase, or you can wait for the print edition to be published on May 6. Either way, please consider giving us a positive review on Amazon! Here's the link: bit.ly/3QiBw4x #bluesky #booksky

The Bluesky for Dummies cheat sheet is also available today on the Dummies.com website by clicking below. #booksky #bluesky

Spring is here, so it's time for a few updates. MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) scan of my brain has been reordered. I need a good result to proceed with left mastoid surgery on May 13. I haven't been able to move the right side of my face in six weeks, so it seems the damage is permanent.