Cold Saturday morning...

 Brrr! It's 59 outside with snow in the forecast for next week!

In Texas!!! ;-)

One of my #WIP stories takes place in the Panhandle of Texas near Levelland where I was born. I remember those hot, dusty summer days that seemed to last forever. Mom kicked us out of the house right after a bowl of thick, pasty oatmeal made the pressure cooker pot. No sugar. No milk. Just hot sticky oats, boiled into a grey mush. Yum...

"Don't get into trouble and stay out of the back lot!" she would yell as we tore out the back screen door. Sure, what possible trouble could we get into on a 4 acre lot with huge elm trees, a wash house, water well shed and a rickety old horse barn in the back of the lot? ;-)

Clods were our favorite weapon, right after 'stickery weeds' and cottonwood stick swords. Mom went through a whole big bottle of Mercurochrome and several boxes of band aids every summer. Yes, Mercurochrome. The stuff that was banned in the late 90s because it contains mercury. And it stung like blue blazes!

My story is set in the early 1900s, when land in the Panhandle was dirt cheap (pun intended) and the prairie 'Dust Bowl' era was ending. The Great Drought that started in the 1930s finally ended and soil conservation steps helped the land heal at last. How would you like to look out your back door and see this coming?

It centers around a family struggling to scratch a living from the soil with their last few dollars invested in the land. A few livestock, a used tractor and a small farm house is all they have.

We forget today how hard the previous generations had it here in America. Our prosperity is a direct result of their hard work and suffering. Families around the World had it just as bad if not worse that Americans, I know, I read history books. We would all do well to remember all of them, for our daily lives are infinitely better than theirs because they strove to make it that way.

Writing about the Dust Bowl era has given me a new respect for my grandparents and great grandparents and all of their families.

I hope your 2025 provides you with opportunities to live life to the fullest and share what you have with those who have less.

                           Happy New Year!!

2025 has arrived at last. I've been waiting for about a year now. ;-)

2024 at times seemed to drag like an ship's anchor and then it would zip by like a freight train headed for that washed out canyon crossing! Had some great times and some not so great, just like everyone else.

My writing has bounced around as well. I pub'd a second collection of short stories, 'Scattered Visions Vol 2'. It took a lot of late night writing to kick that collection out the door, because I had some personal challenges. But it was worth it! 

Scattered Visions Vol 2 ( <- click link)

Working SV-2 spawned a half-dozen new ideas for stories that I'm working on now. 2025 will be another chance to expand my Universe of Weirdness and entertain a few readers.

I rekindled my love for 8bit computing. I reorg'd my writing desk and found these mags buried in the back! Leafing through them gave me warm fuzzy memories of all the projects I did in the 80s with the 6502, 6800, Z80, 8048 and other 'micros'. 

I'm looking now at an 8bit emulator for the old Atari 2600 VCS game system. It used the 6507, basically a 6502 with less memory access. I have the dev tools to make some games. If I want I can even get a small 3D plotter to make some VCS cartridges and see who wants to play the games.

Writing is still a joy for me. I've filled a few more notebooks with half-thought out plots and cool new characters. Lots of notes about 'improving' some of my existing books as well. I know that I need to flesh out my characters in the 'Arlo and Jake' series to make them more interesting. I tend to be a 'lean' writer because I like fast paced stories. Sometimes I'm a little too lean though.

New Year resolutions are:

- write every day, not just when I'm in the mood

- get my piano put back into my Nerd Cave and start playing again

- more exercise (ANY exercise! ;-)

- have coffee with my friends more often

- travel

I hope 2025 brings you peace, happiness and maybe a little weirdness to keep you on your toes.

Reunions are cool!

 I attended a reunion of Developers from my old Healthcare software company recently! There were about 20 men and women sitting around tables and getting reacquainted over burger and fries. I missed last year's reunion because of some family medical issues, so for me it was great to see everyone again.

The company has gone through several buyouts, restructures, merges, etc, like all companies seem to do these days. These were lots of cool people from the original company, people I worked with on a daily basis until I retired in 2016ish. 

About half of them are at different jobs/companies now. Those that stayed at our company have climbed the corporate ladder or changed jobs internally. It was great to see that everyone was still very involved with moving forward. 

That is one thing I always have to emphasize when I talk to people about this group of developers, testers, admin and support people. It was by far the best group of dedicated individuals I have ever worked with. No other company ever came close to having such truly devoted workers. Our support group and dev group consistently went above and beyond to make sure our customers were well taken care of. Unless you've worked at lesser involved companies, you can't know what a difference this kind of hardcore dedication means to a customer. OK, soap box off now. ;-)

It was amazing to see how everyone has changed, but stayed the same! I know that sounds odd. However it's how I felt as I looked around the room. I could remember each and everyone of them. Remember what we did together for so long. I miss them, our course, but I'm so proud to have been one of them.

We talked about work a little, but most of the conversion was about current family status and how our lives have changed. It was heart warming to hear about new births, vacations, and new experiences. That is what I miss the most about my time with these people. Leanin' at the door of an office and hearing about a new kid in the family or a wonderful vacation story.

Of course while standing at an office door I also heard about the challenges we all met on a daily basis. Again, what made this company of kindred souls special was that we communicated/bitched/helped/brainstormed with each other with our problems. Together. No one was isolated unless they wanted to be. A closed door meant 'I'm trying to work something out by myself' and was respected by all, but the doors were seldom closed.

So. I've got a few 'We'll get together soon' reassurances to look forward to and a few more good memories of some amazing workers and friends.

Take my advice and foster a culture of genuine friendship and cooperation at your workplace. Say 'Hello' everyday. Take a minute or two and find out if they need help or if they can help you. It's OK to say you need help. Go out to lunch with different groups. Get to know what each person contributes to your company's success. It never hurts to bring in donuts once in a while, too!

You and your company will be a better place for everyone.