Saturday, October 27, 2018

Not Being Stephen King








  I was recently approached by a fan - a First Fan - with a request to supply a book for one of their friends. The Other Person is a fan of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series in which I have made a number of published contributions

  I agreed to supply the book.

  Whilst searching through the Contributor's Copies of a number of books in which I have appeared, I began to think about what should I write to the Other Person as an Author Dedication. The First Fan has asked me for a copy to introduce my writing to one of their friends - should I include the First Fan by name in the dedication? Perhaps it would be better only to dedicate it the Other Person? Maybe I should include my business card to legitimize the dedication?

  Did Stephen King have these dilemmas early in his career, and how did he handle them? I sincerely doubt that King has these quandary's now - he has a staff to help and guide. For me, it's a one person show.

  Perhaps that's the benefit of not being Stephen King. I don't have to sign thousands of books at mass events where people line up for hours. I don't have a room full of books that will need generic signatures before being shipped out. I still have that intimate fan base, where all (most of) my Fans are known to me personally.

  Not being Stephen King may have an advantage.

  I wonder if King ever sits around at book signings and asks himself "when is the next person that I know by name, going to show up."

  I would suggest that those people that King knows by name, are his First Fans that he took care of in the early years, and still takes care of now. They don't have to show up at book signings - he sends them First Copies.

  I'll write the First Fan into the dedication.

  Maybe one day King will ask me to write a dedication for him.



  

Saturday, October 20, 2018

...so I contintinue to write.



  Google Plus is gone. Another batch of writings lost to technology..

  I write on paper - with a pencil. It's more enduring that a pen. It's more comforting that dipping into an ink well.

  Over the years I have owned numerous writing implements - all have been damaged long after the gift giver has left me. So I continue to use pencil and paper. The log books from the years are numerous.

  The diary to my eldest daughter is the only one which has ceased.

  In another part of my personal life, I am caring for a another, approaching end of life. It is, tiring.

  So I continue to write.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

I Always Knew It Was Coming








  There are moments in time, where everything changes. When you know that nothing will ever be the same again. Sometimes, you get real quiet, as it was an unexpected event.

  Sometimes you get real quiet, because you always knew it was coming - and then once it arrives, you immediately recognize it for what it was.

  Several weeks ago, my father reached out to the mother of my children, attempting to get in contact with my daughters. The mother of my daughters said she would pass the message on.

  My father never heard from my daughters. He, too, has become the grandparent affected by parental alienation.

  Yesterday, the mailman arrived and made rounds. In the mail for me, was the birthday card I had sent my eldest daughter, in May of this year. It was marked "no longer at this address".

  The last point of contact for my children has now gone.

  Everything changes now. Nothing will ever be the same again. I got real quiet. I always knew it was coming.


Saturday, September 15, 2018

Story Goes to Slashdot





Story goes viral.

Today, the San Diego Reader published my story on the nationwide outage affecting the receipt of pay for Uber drivers.

The story was picked up on Slashdot and has gone viral.

A piece of work created by me now appears on  /.  a site that I read every day.

Thank you to both the Reader and Slashdot. 




Tuesday, September 11, 2018

I Went To Denny's - Thank You United 93.







I went to a Denny's today. Ordered an All American Grand Slam and a coke. Thumbing through the Twitter feed I saw that the President was visiting Shanksville,  Pennsylvania.

The final resting place of 40 heroes on board United Flight #93.

 I imagine that seventeen years ago, someone sat in a Denny's before starting their day, either to cross the country on one of the ill fated flights, or before attending the World Trade Center complex. They could have ordered the same meal as me, not knowing what their day may bring.

For the passengers of United 93, their voices continue to be heard through the wind chimes of the memorial tower.

Their loved ones have a place to go to grieve, to remember and to thank. Their children can thumb through the history books and learn what their father, mother, did. To save us all.

I went to Denny's today not knowing where my children are. They will be no monument, no location that they will go to when I have passed. They will not know until long after I am gone.

And nor will I should they precede me.

Thank You United 93 - for saving our children.



Saturday, September 8, 2018

Still Waiting on Email






Still waiting on email to transfer over. It's day seven and any mail sent to me has not been received.

Good thing I'm paying for this email server.

Migration to the server takes place at 0800 Tuesday 11 September 2018.


Sunday, September 2, 2018

Tecnhical Upgrades to Site and Email






  For the past eleven years of so, I have used the technical services of Go Daddy for my email and web site. In April this year, I changed my cell phone from an Android to Iphone X, my first Apple product. At the time of conversion all my settings from the Android device transferred over to the Iphone.

  In the past couple of months, Apple, somewhere along the line, decided that "backwards compatibility" was no longer going to occur - probably because there's no money to be made with it. Consequently, when I routinely changed the password of my email account on my cell phone, the operating system could no longer accept the "antiquated" email and server that I was working on.

  For three hours yesterday, the service department of Go Daddy and I went to work on correcting the issues associated with coming forward to 2018 technology. There's was nothing wrong with the old technology, but it did have a shelf life of 2019 - the forced changed was just unexpected.

  Who has to change their entire web site and email operating system as a result of changing their passsword? Me.

  In about ten days or so, the new web site will transition over, email will be moved to a new server, and all of this will appear seamless to you, the reader.

  With one exception. For the next ten days, I will not be able to respond to emails through my cell phone and will have to use a desktop or laptop and log into a browser window to respond. If my responses are not timely, I ask for your patience as the technology upgrades are made.

  Many thanks to Go Daddy for providing great service.