Life might actually be returning to some semblance of normal.
(Even as I type that I kind of duck and hunch over my keyboard, looking cautiously over my shoulders to see from what direction I'm going to be thrown the next curve.)
Tuesday morning I'll report to work at The Virginian Review and collect my first actual paycheck in nearly nine months. It won't be a full week's pay since Bethany and I went to Pigeon Forge for most of last week, but even still, it will be a paycheck.
Part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hits theaters Friday and I can't wait to see it. Well, I can, since obviously I'm going to have to, but I'm looking forward to it. This will be the first time I've seen a movie adaptation of a book actually go to the effort of splitting the film into two parts to cover it all. I hope they do a better job than they did with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I can't think of another time that I left a movie theater that angry.
Before I left last week I spent some time on the second draft of Blood & Steel. I made it through a good chunk of typing and I'm still getting into the opening act of the novel, but it felt good to be writing again. And it feels good to be earning a living with my pen again.
To make it even better, the holidays are coming up. Bethany and I did the first bit of Christmas shopping while we were on vacation and we even have the gifts wrapped and waiting to go under a tree the day after Thanksgiving. Since we're speaking of Thanksgiving, we also made it out to Kroger this morning where we purchased a handsome 21 pound turkey for the holiday feast. I'm figuring on having about eight people total at dinner for Thanksgiving and that works out to almost three pounds of turkey per person. It just doesn't get any better than that.
Oh, and I now have plenty to read. So much so that I doubt I'll be purchasing much in the way of fine literature until next year. I have one or two titles that I plan to add to the Kindle when they're released because I'm closely following those series, but I think I'm pretty well set for a while.
Yes, life is good.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
It's Good To Be Me
There are some days that are just meant for not doing anything.
Today's been one of those days. I wish I could regale you with an exciting tale of adventure and narrow escapes, but it's just not that kind of day.
No, today is the kind of day where it looks warmer than it really is. Even the thermometer deceives. It makes you think it's about 60 degrees outside, but what it doesn't take into account is the wind. This wind holds more than the whisper of winter that comes in early fall. This is a full blown promise of the bitter cold that's coming.
The answer to that promise is soup. And hot homemade bread and a cold glass of Pepsi. And falling asleep on the couch watching reruns of Castle. And a good book, which I haven't yet made it to, but I will. I have plenty to read.
You're also reading the words of a man who's two days away from a nice little vacation in Pigeon Forge that will celebrate our second anniversary. Before that, I have two days of fill in work at The Virginian Review. Apparently the person who took my job after I left three years ago left yesterday and the editor asked if I'd come in and lend a hand to get them through. Which is cool. It'll be neat to get back in the newsroom after taking some time off from it for a few years.
But before that is a Sunday of football.
Yes, it's good to be me.
Today's been one of those days. I wish I could regale you with an exciting tale of adventure and narrow escapes, but it's just not that kind of day.
No, today is the kind of day where it looks warmer than it really is. Even the thermometer deceives. It makes you think it's about 60 degrees outside, but what it doesn't take into account is the wind. This wind holds more than the whisper of winter that comes in early fall. This is a full blown promise of the bitter cold that's coming.
The answer to that promise is soup. And hot homemade bread and a cold glass of Pepsi. And falling asleep on the couch watching reruns of Castle. And a good book, which I haven't yet made it to, but I will. I have plenty to read.
You're also reading the words of a man who's two days away from a nice little vacation in Pigeon Forge that will celebrate our second anniversary. Before that, I have two days of fill in work at The Virginian Review. Apparently the person who took my job after I left three years ago left yesterday and the editor asked if I'd come in and lend a hand to get them through. Which is cool. It'll be neat to get back in the newsroom after taking some time off from it for a few years.
But before that is a Sunday of football.
Yes, it's good to be me.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Cold Pizza & Engine Grease
I like it when things are going my way. Who doesn't? And it's a good week here on the hill. On Tuesday evening and it's nice and cold out (great sleeping weather). It's the first of the month and the bills are paid without any major financial legerdemain, I have a couple of shiny new books to read (including two new Robert Jordan novels I've been saving) and next week Bethany and I are going to Tennessee for a little three day get away. Everything is going nice and smoothly.
So where's the catch, you ask? I found it last night.
Bryan's been working for two weeks in the evenings to replace the motor in his '05 Explorer. It gave up the ghost after a little more than 70,000 miles. The project isn't simple, but it is possible. But it gets more complicated as it goes. We found sand all over the interior, especially in some places where the presence of sand is most definitely Not A Good Thing. In a moment of frustration last week, Bryan busted the radiator as he pried on something with a crow bar. (I've seen Bryan stick a crow bar in a motor twice now and neither time has been good. The last time he attempted to use a crow bar to take the tension off the belt on the Volvo we spent twenty minutes with a hammer trying to get it out.) That was a $200 moment of frustration that was fixable.
The catch in my week that's going just a little too smoothly is that we spent three hours trying to get the new motor mounted in place last night. We started at 5:30, called a pizza in with intentions of going up and grabbing it before we were heavy in the middle of it. But Bryan's friend Dave (who has done this before and was there to be extra muscle to get the motor in place) convinced him to start while there was daylight since it wouldn't take long.
Wouldn't take long. Famous last words.
At 8:30 we still haven't wrangled the beast in place, though we have two bolts in and have managed to lock the harmonic stabilizer in a bind so that we can't turn it, which means there's a good chance that we have to back up and start over. We took a break, shed the coveralls and went for the pizza, flashlights and some batteries.
It was Pizza Hut's new Big Italy pizza, which is too big to fit in their warmer, so they just set it aside 'till we made it there. The pizza was only slightly warmer than the night air we were working in, which was solidly in the 40s.
But by the time made it back to Dave's he had fixed the problem and all we had to do was add the bolts.
Fortunately I like cold pizza. It even tastes better with a touch of engine grease.
So where's the catch, you ask? I found it last night.
Bryan's been working for two weeks in the evenings to replace the motor in his '05 Explorer. It gave up the ghost after a little more than 70,000 miles. The project isn't simple, but it is possible. But it gets more complicated as it goes. We found sand all over the interior, especially in some places where the presence of sand is most definitely Not A Good Thing. In a moment of frustration last week, Bryan busted the radiator as he pried on something with a crow bar. (I've seen Bryan stick a crow bar in a motor twice now and neither time has been good. The last time he attempted to use a crow bar to take the tension off the belt on the Volvo we spent twenty minutes with a hammer trying to get it out.) That was a $200 moment of frustration that was fixable.
The catch in my week that's going just a little too smoothly is that we spent three hours trying to get the new motor mounted in place last night. We started at 5:30, called a pizza in with intentions of going up and grabbing it before we were heavy in the middle of it. But Bryan's friend Dave (who has done this before and was there to be extra muscle to get the motor in place) convinced him to start while there was daylight since it wouldn't take long.
Wouldn't take long. Famous last words.
At 8:30 we still haven't wrangled the beast in place, though we have two bolts in and have managed to lock the harmonic stabilizer in a bind so that we can't turn it, which means there's a good chance that we have to back up and start over. We took a break, shed the coveralls and went for the pizza, flashlights and some batteries.
It was Pizza Hut's new Big Italy pizza, which is too big to fit in their warmer, so they just set it aside 'till we made it there. The pizza was only slightly warmer than the night air we were working in, which was solidly in the 40s.
But by the time made it back to Dave's he had fixed the problem and all we had to do was add the bolts.
Fortunately I like cold pizza. It even tastes better with a touch of engine grease.
Monday, November 1, 2010
If It Wasn't For The Turkey
If it wasn't for the turkey I'd almost skip Thanksgiving and move straight on to Christmas.
And why not? Christmas is a magical time of snow and trees and decorations and Christmas cookies and...well, this list could go on for pages.
It's the first day of November and I'm already looking forward to the 26th. You see, the day after Thanksgiving is the day that we invite people up todecorate our house celebrate the day after Thanksgiving. There are usually cookies, leftovers and much laughter coupled with frustration as we try to figure out how to get all the lights connected and shining.
After running a couple errands today in Covington I was in the mood to walk through Wal-Mart. I wasn't necessarily looking to purchase anything, but I did walk away with a pair of much needed rip-stop cargo pants that look incredibly comfortable. Anyway, I noticed that Wal-Mart was gearing up for Christmas on the day after Halloween. So I drifted over the the Lawn & Garden/Christmas section. It smelled like cinnamon and candle wax. There were Christmas trees up and lit and three empty aisles in the process of being filled with Christmas paraphernalia (I really just wanted to use a bigger word there instead of stuff). And they had Christmas lights on sale. I picked up two boxes of icicle lights for $6 that I needed to replace what the blizzard ruined last year.
Since I was feeling the spirit and had some more time on my hands I meandered over to Hallmark to peruse the ornaments. They have some really cool new ornaments that light up, but they were on the expensive end of the price range. So I settled for a nice, carved-looking Santa and one A Christmas Story ornament for Bethany.
So, yea, if it wasn't for the turkey I'd be ready to put up a Christmas tree. I really love Christmas. But then again, I also like to eat...
And why not? Christmas is a magical time of snow and trees and decorations and Christmas cookies and...well, this list could go on for pages.
It's the first day of November and I'm already looking forward to the 26th. You see, the day after Thanksgiving is the day that we invite people up to
After running a couple errands today in Covington I was in the mood to walk through Wal-Mart. I wasn't necessarily looking to purchase anything, but I did walk away with a pair of much needed rip-stop cargo pants that look incredibly comfortable. Anyway, I noticed that Wal-Mart was gearing up for Christmas on the day after Halloween. So I drifted over the the Lawn & Garden/Christmas section. It smelled like cinnamon and candle wax. There were Christmas trees up and lit and three empty aisles in the process of being filled with Christmas paraphernalia (I really just wanted to use a bigger word there instead of stuff). And they had Christmas lights on sale. I picked up two boxes of icicle lights for $6 that I needed to replace what the blizzard ruined last year.
Since I was feeling the spirit and had some more time on my hands I meandered over to Hallmark to peruse the ornaments. They have some really cool new ornaments that light up, but they were on the expensive end of the price range. So I settled for a nice, carved-looking Santa and one A Christmas Story ornament for Bethany.
So, yea, if it wasn't for the turkey I'd be ready to put up a Christmas tree. I really love Christmas. But then again, I also like to eat...
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