watching, just watching, for now
Bit of a wild day today at the J.O.B. Nothing worth noting, but it was off my normal scale of day to day and refreshing in that sense. Get home to happy kittehs enjoying the spring-like weather we are currently experiencing; grab and enjoy as much as you can, cuz it ain’t gonna last. In another 48 hours, they predict the temps are going back into the basement for a few days. C’est la vie.
Batten down the hatches too. Local predictions are calling for high and gusting winds over the next 72. All the kayaks are tied down: don’t want to see them in my trees or anything. A year and a half ago when B, M and I were playing at the lake, gusting winds were tossing Duk!k and Serena around like they were leaves.(I seem to recall I was in the Jefe at the time trying to learn to roll at the time.). The two boats combined weigh less than Ghost and have a rather large side profile: wind can play havoc with them.
Watching things. Wondering what shenanigans the FRAUD has in store for the Freedom Convoy upcoming. Sarah has some damned good points on that, that I highly tihink all Freedomistas need to consider. Especially that part about
And the reason they’re desperate for it is that’s the only way they can win. THE ONLY way.
So for all the truckers out there that are taking it to the streets, so to speak, HEADS ON SWIVELS. Vet every one in your groups, and emulate the Canuks up north and clean house, keep it peaceful, and help the areas you are in. Those truckers were cooking dinner for the homeless, cleaning up trash in the streets, shoveling snow: basically all the things that the local government had been slacking on from all accounts I have read. Even the Media trying to bash them using the talking point of “lawlessness’ had their faces rubbed in the fact that crime was down across the board for that area of Ottawa. We have a working model, it needs polished and implemented “American Style” now.
Don’t start nuthin, won’t be nuthin’. Unless the FRAUD tries to go full Fascist and there are enough people watching NOW that the FRAUD will have to show their hand. Even if that hand is PAntiFa/Burnlootmurder thugs. Aren’t many people buying that crap anymore and I think the balaclava faced thugs KNOW it.
Honestly, I am just waiting. Things are going to get worse, I don’t think there is any doubt of that, but in which direction remains to be seen. Hell, it may be so chaotic at the outset, that no one will be able to see the direction things are rolling for months, maybe years. Pray Lord that we don’t see years: the body counts would be staggering, and not just from ‘troubles’. ( I know far too many people that wouldn’t survive a week without Grid Power, They wouldn’t know how to make food if they couldn’t ‘nuke it’.)
Straits of Meh!
So here we are, The Good Ship Dio’s Workshop, aground, rudder fouled and rigging shot through by ScamDemic fallout. First Mate Voodoo is running about 30% both physically and mentally, and the passengers, Grumpykat and her boys, are wondering when we are going to hit a good port of call, not this barren mess they see off the bow. The WindGenny (called J.O.B.) is moving enough electrons to keep the bilge pumps running so the lower holds aren’t flooding, but not much more. We may be aground, but we are not sunk, so there is still hope of better to come.(and the corollary of that: could get a shit ton worse, but we’ll strive for the better.)
TIme for Cap’n Dio to strike out land-bound and get a lay of the area, maybe see if any of the charts we have on hand match what I see. Currently I am looking at a peak on this shoreline; a peak I am calling mount WTF!!! and I will head there to get a better view horizon to horizon. Maybe there is a way off this rock yet.
We all make choices, some times those choices work for us, other times against. Some of my choices, solid when made, did not hold up to current events or the black swan of a purpose made virus and the gullibility of sheep. Nor were my choices made with the idea that maybe, the federal government would make the same stupid fricking mistakes it made in the 1920s and collapse an economy. If you aren’t feeling it yet, stick around, you will. While I knew the economy was tanking, I missed the ‘slowly, then all at once’ aspects of things. And I admit, I floundered in the good times of Trumps economy. When I should have been sticking to my guns, I started playing a bit more than I should have.
Went to a local grocery store, one where I am a regular and have a decent rapport with the manager. They were in the middle of a floor renovation this last week. Took out one entire row of shelving, split the remaining rows in half and ‘added’ a middle walkway through them. I asked what was going on (this is not a big place) and was told, byt a regional type working there at the time ; “we’re remodeling to bring the store up to date”. Talked to the manager as I was leaving and her response was “they cut the shelving down to make it look like we have more stuff. Too many products we can’t get anymore.”
Think this is going to wrap up with some Selection cycle? I think not.
I personally think this is just the top of the hill and that the snow is still falling while the ice shelf below the snow is creaking frightfully. I haven’t paid much attention to what the markets are doing the last month or so, but I would say that they look a lot more shaky than that ‘To Infinity and beyond” shit they have been doing since 2008.
Choices. I have some choices to make and sooner than later. You all know one of them and that one keeps getting put off; I won’t go into details of that right now. Another choice is to take one of the several offers I always have laying around, but there is that ‘grass is greener’ thing, that is never the case. One master traded for a different master is still being owned by someone else. And that is where my angst with all of this is laying. I don’t WANT another J.O.B.
I’m getting a view, and looking for some landmarks to shoot an azimuth for: Figure out just where the hell I am currently. Maybe I can get something to make sense on the Straits of Meh.
___________________________________________________________________
I wrote the above yesterday afternoon, and scheduled it. Between then and what you are reading now, I chanced upon this post by Sarah at the Mad Genius Club. This is her group of fellow writers and a hella resource for up-n-coming writers (such as meself) so may not be for everyday reading for most peeps, but is on my daily check out. With all the fun and games of fouled rudders and no bearings on upside-down charts, I missed this post the other day.
Let me face one fact, right up front: My problem right now is as simple as this: Depression. Yup, I’m feeling more than a touch depressed right now, between Dawg, finances, and lack of relief by kayak/camaraderie of friends, I hit my slump. What really tipped the scales was seeing my tax documents for the year,,,,, No need to share that figure, but it was quite a bit lower than I expected, to the tune of ten grand lower.
Soooooo,,,,,, I read Sarahs “Be the unicorn” and sat back and thought about things a bit. She’s right!!! In my mind, (and it’s something I work hard against) I am so flipping average as to be flat boring. Its a self image thing, one reinforced over decades by some that would have me be ‘just that!”. High school counselors, some of my teachers, a few acquaintances that I thought were friends, all fed the self-image that I am not worth the mould that God made for me.
*cough* Look out on your porch at those kayaks YOU built, Dio. Look on that book shefl where the books YOU wrote are sitting, Look at the ‘me wall'(I can’t, its in boxes still) with pictures and backstage passes from all the years touring with ‘rockstars’. Look at the White House Communications Citations from 2004,,,,,,,,,,
No, I am not average, no matter what my self-image is. I may not be that wildly successful person that my Da wants of me, but, DAMMIT, I’ve done shit,,,, DO SHIT, that ‘average’ people only dream of. (and thats part of why I don’t want a J.O.B. I have enough skills and talents that I should be able to make my own way without the ‘one good day job’.). And with the writing thing, I may be way behind on ‘paying my dues’, I am quite aware of that, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make it pay SOMETHING, in the meantime. I am no Terry Pratchett, nor Heinlein, but I can spin a tale, and get people to forget about things around them for just a few minutes. Thats not ‘nothing‘.
Still, I need to get my bearings. Things are changing in the world, in my world, and seriously, after seeing that W2 for 2021,,,,, No, that shit can’t stand. I did ‘alright’ seeing how I am not buried in debt, but that level of income does not bode well for moving forward either. As I stated above, the J.O.B. has been keeping the bilge dry, but sure isn’t powering the radar or GPS or the radio in the Goodship Dio’s Workshop.
NO, This is NOT a bleg for donations. If you feel the need to support me in anyway, buy some of my books and give them out. I would much rather that than someone sending me ‘sympathy monies’. (Sarah had a special case and as many donators said, they were just returning the favor of good work provided non-gratis, previously. I know I am not in that boat, yet. )
I’ll be working on that ‘getting my bearings’ for a bit-while yet; I don’t jump just because it looks good; I like a certain amount of insurance/assurance as well. (and no, OhioGuy, the lottery ticket DIDN’T Pan out, or this depression would be kicked like a bad habit.). I’ll keep posting, just wanted y’all to know that I ‘feel better’ now. Knowing is half the battle, Right GIJoe?
all over the place blurb
THIS makes me happy.
I was watching my meters all day (off n on) checking to see how my new PV rack performed vs the Roof-mount that I had been using. MUCH BETTER. Heck, even towards the end of the day, when the sun had set but there was still light out, I was seeing 13.4 vdc at the meter. May not have been enough juice to push the electrons INTO the batteries, but there was still some usable juice feeding my ceiling fan (that NEVER gets shut off. Poor thing has been up there running purtmuch non-stop for 6 years. I shut it down only to clean the cobbies off.)
And all of that playing with wires, batteries, panels and other sundry parts of a system, with the current events of a supply chain issues, I was reminded of one of Oblammy-o-boys legacy items to the rest of the free world. Many people don’t recall it, but people like me, that rely on batteries for our daily power, recall it quite well. Oblammy shut down the LAST lead mine in the US. It did far more damage than you can account for to justify some Environmental issues that didn’t exist. Yeah, lead is poisonous to people and many living things. So what; that lead is still there in the ground doing what its been doing since it came to reside there, and it may even leach into ground water from that point. Doesn’t matter. What it did to the industry was force most battery manufacture to CHINA. There are still a handful of US makers, and they rely on battery recycling to compete, which is a good thing since Lead/Acid batteries are 98% recyclable (or better, I don’t recall the actual numbers) Unfortunately those batteries also tend to be priced quite a bit higher than the Chineessium variant. And rightly so, since the latter don’t hold up as well. My Deeps that I paid top dollar for? 6 years of service. The chineesium version I recently picked up (4 months ago) toast; can’t hold a charge over 12.2. They were ran down ONCE, and that set the stage for failure (deep cycle my ass). That the older US versions are holding the line says a lot about the difference in quality. Yeah, i’m kinda pissed about it, but I do know “you get what you pay for”. I did expect a bit more than 4 flipping months at those prices though,,,,
So, while playing with all that stuff yesterday, I pulled those two boat anchors out of line, and set them aside for later replacement. I don’t want them damaging the good units, dragging them into the depths of failure. I haven’t the funds to do a full replacement, yet, but its taken a priority. And it WON’T be with the same. I’ll eat that loss by replacing them with a top notch American brand. In the meantime, I baby the units in place, which means that I will be spending a bit more for fuel to run the genny when I need AC power. (computer time is the majority of that.)(my Honda genny will run 8 hours, wide open, on a gallon. I use the eco feature and I get double that, and my lappy doesn’t mind the difference. My power tools do, but not the ‘puter.)
Now, Yesterday I mentioned DoomnGloomers talking about how the failing narrative of ‘Rona is nothing to get excited about, and how I do not agree with them. I said that said failing narrative is the foundation of growing skepticism across the board. Well, yesterday I was vindicated in my thinking by something overheard at the local foodmart. A older lady, talking about how she forgot how good it feels to not be wearing a danged mask, and how people smile at her more, and that maybe now the supply chains will get busy getting her favorite stuff back on the shelf. She missed the point that GOVERNMENT is to blame, but she does get that all of the many issues were fomented by the whole shutdown thing. That she openly stated she felt good without a mask tells me she has been one of the many brainwashed and is now seeing things ‘a bit differently’. This failing narrative is failing like the house of cards it was. Much faster than I expected.
I am just waiting for the spin up in retaliation from our current Inept FRAUD. What happens next is anyones guess.
Not happy
Sorry for the lack of posting, been busy, its cold, and days are short, so I squeeze in what I can while I can. Staying up on the latest outrage of the FRAUD is at the low end of that list (but I do keep a weather ear out for sudden shifts in tyranny to make sure I am not caught broadside)
Trying something a little different with the kayak. Its not new; others have done it and reported good results, but I am not happy with what I am seeing. Ok, gotta bring y’all up to speed here. In both Serena and Duh!kee, I used a two part polyurethane system from Spirit-line. Good results, but it can be finicky about repairs and re-finish. Most people just ‘deal’ until such time as its time to re-skin. Well, this time around I chose to go with regular spar varnish and pigment it like I do the two-part (very successfully at that).
MEH!!!
It soaks into the fabric very well, maybe better than the two part stuff does (less solids, more carrier solvents). and it takes pigment pretty well too: nothing separating out when it gets on the fabric. BUT,, That finish is totally lacking any luster or appeal. Its a smooth satin and I had to double check to make sure I hadn’t picked up a satin varnish ( ( didn’t, its high gloss). It looks ‘Okay’, but it certainly lacks the ‘POP!” that the two part gave to Serena.
*sigh*
And I am to far along and committed to a system to make the change to the other. Heck, once that first line of coating went on, I was committed with no recourse for correction.
But I will not be using it again.
And I already told myself “Self, you shoulda tried it on a peice of scrap FIRST”. Self responded that at the price I am paying for spar varnish, I was committed to the system and a test strip would have done little to my resolve. Both selves are right. I would have found a use for the spar varnish elsewhere, but at $18/qt and I bought a gallon, I was determined to use the crap on this boat. Should’ve stuck to ‘tried and true’. Live and learn, and I did learn and won’t be repeating this little screw-up.
Honestly, it looks like I painted the hull with a satin house paint, not varnish. Blech!!!
On other fronts, I have a 2 gallon pot of chicken parts stewing on the woodstove, and will be adding my dumplings in tomorrow after I skim out all the bones and other inedible parts. That will keep me fat and happy for a week. And the Kittehs are digging on the ‘other parts’ that they were given. Grizz is especially fond of the livers and did something out of character for him: He growled at Mamakat when she went sniffing at his share.
It’s winter, chicken n dumplin’s are winter food and after a week of Chili, I needed a change-up. (but DAMN that last bowl of Chili was EX-SEE-LANT!!!).
May have a winter paddle forthcoming with B. Watching weather and if things look stable, we are planning on a day trip out in the frosty cold waters of somewhere here local. Maybe my fugly boat will get to make her first trip. Even though the ‘paint job’ is shitte, there were a lot of cool features added in that I really want to try out. That hard deck, the bulkhead foot brace and a slight shift in the hull design. Yeah, I should make one change, try it out then incorporate it into another boat with another change: thats proper protocol when doing things like this, but then, I am anything but a proper kayak designer. I figure if any one of the changes is bad, I will know right up front seeing how this is ‘almost’ the same boat that I started with. (same length and beam, new ribs but same profile other than less rocker, which is a change I do know the results of.)
Ok, Grizz figured out I am seated and not moving, so its lap time for him. I’ll post more soon.
kayaky NOPES mehbes, and oh-sh!t-yeahs
First up, NO, I am not letting the world at large slow me up in my personal endeavors, and neither should you. I may get the depressions, blahs and what not, but I am not going to stop being ME, just because there are evil shits loose in the world that aim to make us serfs, slaves or DEAD.
and with that little rant out of the way, onward to the point of this post in general.
been doing the experimentin’ things, and was quite pleased with one in particular, nut just this morning, figured out that its a damned NOPE!!!
What that experiment entailed was trying to find a different material combination to make this kayak skin out of. Materials in question, Ballistic nylon (known unit) Polypropylene cloth (unknown), combined with Two part Polyurethane,(well known) and polystyrene resin (known unknown) and combinations there-of. Ballistic nylon and Polystyrene, rocking for coamings and other hard points, SUCKS for skin. the resin doesn’t flex like it did early in the experiment process. It now cracks, and cracks mean leaks. A leaky boat is not my goal. the two part is the way to go no matter what cloth I use, and the BN for making the hard points (vs the glass since its TOO fragile in those areas. The polypropylene works for the skin, but nothing else no matter what I use for the resin. And I like the polypropylene since I can shrink it with a heat gun and it is NOT hydroscopic like the BN is. That was my biggest beef of all with Serena: if the humidity was high (or she had been capsized and filled with water) her skin would go all loose and floppy. Not really an issue performance wise that I noticed, but she looked bad and it would take weeks for her to dry out enough to tighten back up.
Now, the Oh-Sh!t-Yeahs. Single chines. 
With the rocker knocked down to near nil, single chines look awesome on this hull. What I am doing is a single chine between keel and gunwale, with a false chine at the base of the gunwale( to smooth the lines) that will allow some flex of the skin before it hits rib at the waterlines. That set, she has a very shallow v at the cockpit area that rides true up to past the feet and well past the cockpit before converging towards the ends. Very sweet liines that way and better cut into the water without plowing. With that shallow V, she will have good stability in all waters even if she feels tippy in the calm. She will feel tippy, but not nearly as much as her former self did. The former ‘shallow v” was very short, less than 4 feet, and was almost useless with that radical rocker stem to stern. The ONLY advantage of that rocker was maneuvering, and she was so daggum long, even that was a chore: she didn’t have that spin in place thing going like the Jefe does. (and the Jefe is ALL rocker in ALL directions)
Now the Mehbes: Still have a couple ribs left over from redoing the original ones. Ones that I replaced just because of changes in lengths or didn’t like the original bends with the new units installed. And I think, I am going to use a couple of those ribs combined with fiberglass/resin to make the new deckbeams that need replaced. I dropped rib seven in place of one of the deckbeams ‘just to get a look-see’ and the profile was encouraging. Those ribs are well cured white-oak so a layer of glass wrapping them will be even stronger, and lighter than the 3/4” laminated beams I am replacing. I will have the chines cut tomorrow, the wood is sitting in my rafter right now with the splice curing under clamps. I should be able to lash it in before dark tomorrow and then, flip the old (new) girl over and start on the deck. (I have the bow cutwater done, and the stern will be pretty quick too. Pics of that forthcoming.)
And I am not worried about keeping to pure skin-on-frame materials for the build, nor strictly tied and mortis/tenon construction. Yes, the keelson and chines are tied in, but that is not because its traditional (it is) but for flexibility of the frame as a whole. I am not building a traditional Greenland type kayak, I am building MY version of what I have wanted, and what I found works for me. (thanks Ghostboat for showing me a different path). I know the mortis and tenon build method works, as well as lashing: Duh!kee is still holding together after 3 years, me beating on her in less than optimal conditions, sinking her, capsizing her, and even jumping on her to show others that she is one tough boat. Yeah, the method is tried and true and proven over centuries of use in bad conditions. And it’s not like I have been a purist from the get-go anyways. Using two part poly on synthetic skin, using synthetic sinew to lash the boat together, Yeah, Not so much a purist as THIS IS BETTER, DO IT! LOL
Apologies for the Hiatus.
just going through the routines currently. Fighting a mild case of depression, a usual for me this time of year, and no need to delve into the ‘why’s’ as there is reason enough watching the world slowly devolve; like watching a dementia patient slowly slide into the final state. Oh, wait, just like watching Emperor Poopy-pants the first discuss the economy by citing “I. Pencil” for dummies after reading only the opening chapter.
Lots of good stuff out there on the webs, Sarah’s pointing out that our IMMIVASION is nothing new and very much an old tactic for softening up a resident populace. I take back my statements of “replacement population” and will resort to “INVASION FORCES”: in all reality, there are real fighters in that mess, and I have mentioned to keep an eye out for ‘strange conex boxes’ in obscure locations. And if you find one before kick-off of the festivities, consider it an early Christmas for you and yours, distribute accordingly, and KEEP YOUR DAMNED MOUTHES SHUT!!!!
Just going through the routines. Going to the J.O.B. every day, making sure to represent my skills the best way I know how, and watching the supply chain issues slowly creeping our way. Granted, we have had supply side issues for months now, but I am beginning to see them stratify into my areas. We are down to roughly half a bundle of pipe that I use for building most of our products. A quick calculation tells me that if we don’t get a shipment in this Friday, I am on temporary leave until such time as we have the materials needed. I currently have 4 pages of build notes, and those four pages easily burn through our existing stock and into another bundle, and NOT BE COMPLETE. And those pages are added to daily.
No, that’s not the cause of the depression. Honestly, I could take the next month off and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit. Might dig into my finances, but it wouldn’t bother me to maybe get some of those other things done thatI get distracted away from by having the daily duty of making a paycheck, (and feeding four-feets, keeping the homefires burning (literally this time of year) and all the other stuff that accumulates on a single dood curmudgeon living on a hill in KY)
YAY, Grizzy just brought me a very young mouse, quite dead, and looking pleased as punch with himself. ANother problem that irritates the hell out of me this time of year, and my Furbabies are doing danged good at dealing with it. (and when he isn’t looking, in the toilet it goes. Don’t want him thinking I don’t appreciate his ‘gift’.)
One thing that messes with me this time of year, probably the trigger for my depression is loss of daylight. I work through most of the daylight hours, then have almost none to work with for ME/MY PROJECTS, and I start feeling behind the eightball on things. That usually leads to me scrambling to ‘catch up’ and that is ALWAYS when the mistakes start piling up. I may not focus on “Perfect” but I hate redoing any work, especially due to me getting stoopid and (feeling) rushed. I am also wating on the fabric for the kayak build. Ordered, but, yet again, the company I ordered it through is sitting on things. I may have to start digging for a different company to deal with that I can rely on. This is the third time they’ve done this. The last two times, Order confirmed, but nothing ever shipped. At least they didn’t charge the card, even though it approved and showed transaction complete, it was never finalized on that end. Just frustrating when you are counting on something to complete a project, and find you have even longer to wait as you look for an alternate source/product/material to replace the original idea. At least this instance, this is a rebuild, and I am in no rush to complete since its colder than a witches teat in November (It is November Dio) and the water levels everywhere around here are sorely lacking for any reasonable paddle fun. Like B says, most of the creeks are ‘frigging goat paths” right now. Even the Cumberland river nearby is a ‘float scrape, scrape PORTAGE, float scrape” trip, and thats just in the first down-river mile from my place. It may be awhile before I can test float the “Rebuilt Kayak carcass formerly known as Serena/now Selkie”, and I want to do it on river as I want the current for testing handling and stability. Static water of an inland lake won’t do in this case. Just fiddlin’ details that I am trying to correct in this build.
Oh, yeah, for the test float, I won’t be using the new (when it ships if it ships) skin. I snagged a poly-tarp from the billboard guys and that will be my makeshift skin for the test float. (gonna look kinda funny with a giant cheeseburger design on the skin,,,, sure won’t be a permanent thing,,, ) Polyester shrinks under heat, so I can stretch the ‘skin’ on, then use a heat gun to tighten it up. Its already waterproof so I don’t need to seal anything up for a test run. Its not like I am going to try and roll it, and if I capsize, its a wet exit, swim for shore kinda day then. I don’t see that as an issue though, Serena was stable as all get out and I am not changing much in the hull shape in the cross section, just the longitudinal. If anything, she will be more stable since I am widening the beam by one inch and bring the CG closer to Keel by flattening that rocker. (and anyone that ever saw me in Serena prior will choke on that ‘stable’ statement, her primary was shit, but her secondary was a brickwall. She just ‘felt’ tippy in flat water, but she was stable as can be in wild water. A definite confidence builder when the waves started breaking on her bow. Even with that ‘brickwall’ secondary, she was an easy roller, and surprised the hell out of me at the pool. ). Maybe I can get some serious work done on the frame this weekend and get closer to that test day. As for a repeat of the time loop thing, not a complete fit this go-round. I had Serena wrapped and tested prior to T-day in 2019, and skinned and sealed by December 1. That may not happen again due to the skin supplier. (one alternate, pricey, but doable, is from an airplane materials supplier. Same concepts, and I can get NON-FAA certified material for this to save a little cash. No need to have the FAA dealing with a silly single seat boat, eh?)
outside of my darkened thoughts, Da is doing good. Bored, what with me gone during the days working, and not having much time between getting home and total darkness. Came home today and he and a neighbor were playing with a backhoe and digging the ducks a larger wading pool. Funny part is, they aren’t even HIS ducks. They belong to a local Gentlewoman Farmer, but Da goes out and buys 50# sacks of feed for them (and her free-range chickens), built them a pond so they didn’t have to risk going to the river, and even built them a nest site under his porch “so if the weather turns, they don’t have to waddle home”. He comes off like a mean grumpy bastard to most people, but the man has a soft heart for animals that most people would never guess at.
I wonder where I get it. LOL.
Anywhoos, y’all take care, I’ll be back tomorrow with something more inline with the currents of this blog. Just needed some ‘Me’ time.
random misfires of a cold addled brain: Saturday edition
Lets face it, I’m getting old. Or as a buddy of mine likes to say; “Ain’t gettin’, GOT!!” Yeah, that. I’m 53 years young, but even I have to admit my best days are behind me, at least physically. Its time to start considering (past time Dio, PAST TIME,,,,) how to make my brain the highlight of my endeavors, not my back and brawn.
I started writing to vent, because the forum I had been using folded due to lack of membership, and I had been kicked off Frugal Squirrels for ‘being aggressive’. (Like I said then, I just calls it as I sees it.). Well, that’s not entirely true; I had made an effort to write while in HS, was in all the creative writing classes and College prep courses for writing and english (Hey, We even had a Sci-Fi class, and looking back, I see now why the teacher was perturbed by the ‘isolation’ of ‘one genre’.). I even posted a pic of my hand written dribbles here before. And remember, My Counselors were very much against me doing anything creative, doing everything they could to herd me into management of some sort. All of this was Pre-internet days, (Remember MS-DOS? Yup, THOSE days.) and pre-Indie publications, the intimidation factor was well built in and I didn’t pursue writing for ‘reasons’, not all were internal.
It wasn’t until the net really took off that my typing was anything other than mediocre and when I started posting on the web, my typing took off too. THAT was when I realized that I could get my ideas out faster via keyboard than by that chicken-scratch looking crud I warily call ‘handwriting’,,, And its a whole ton easier to hit the save button on a screen than scrawl out the ideas on paper, then hen-peck them onto a screen to do the same thing. Now, I just need to practice setting things up, plot and premise, on paper, first, then let the pantser in me run amok (within the boundries of the plot that is. Yeah, that’ll work,,, gonna take some practice to keep that Muse on a leash, so to speak.)
Now, this comes around to “what do you really want?” and its always a sticky point for me. I have no desire for fame. SERIOUSLY, NONE!!! I like being obscure, odd, whatever. BUT, I sure wouldn’t mind the cash flow. LOL. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery a lot more bearable. And I do understand that at some point, one brings the other (Sarah’s recent windfall showed her she is more famed than she had any idea of.). ((IN EDIT, I realized that I fairly well eluded that question, didn’t I?))
To put it another way, the same way I explained it to Granbehbie: ‘IF you can find 100000 people willing to pay you a dollar a year for what you do, then you will be making $100000/year.” ( last I heard, lil-girl was bringing in a couple hundred a month on Utoob goofiness and she only recently turned 13. Way to go, but don’t stop there Girlly!). Look closely at the numbers of donors and the amount that Sarah gained. Spread out, it comes to about $100/person, and many people spend far more than that a year on less substantial things. (like $8 lattes, but I digress). A Franklin a year for access to someone that helps ground and center you with sound advice and rock solid standards,,,, Sounds like a bargain (and I still need to hit that donate button, just waiting on checks to clear on monday morning).
No reason to pick that apart anymore. She earned it and then some, and I would encourage her to keep taking the steps that Muir and others, including second son, suggest of doing an annual drive. Stop looking at the premise of book sales only, start looking at the sell of the words in general.
and thats where I am at. I don’t want to ‘work’ for someone else for the rest of my days, and I have to face the fact that ‘retirement’ age is accelerating at me more every year. (I will never ‘retire’, I’ll just keep burning the candle till I drop, same as my Da.). There are times where it ‘pays’ to pay someone else to do things for you, freeing you up to focus on your stuff. I see it and feel it weekly where I am current: bossman and son have the time to take care of their stuff during the day while the crews go out and do the jobs that bring in the money for them. WE the workers, on the other hand, have to take a loss to do things like doctor visits (a double loss). No complaints, thats how capitalism works, and anyone that gripes otherwise is a borderline socialist. (and it took awhile to learn that one myself,,, Never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer)
And I have no illusions that what I am looking at is very much WORK. Hell, I have stated that several times here: writing those two books was more work than I ever expected. And the deeper I delve into it, the more work I find. The writing as actually easy, when it flows. Its getting it to gel into something salable,,,, And its not just work to make the words salable, its work to build your community, find your market, etc etc etc.
Sounds like LIFE.
I’m researching some things now. I am thinking about doing something quite specific through SubStack, leaving the blog here for my rambles and what not. I don’t want to be completely POLITICK no matter what I do, since all of that gets my BP going faster than my Ex-wife would. I do have other aspects of my existance that I could focus on, like my kayaks or going off-grid, prepping or just how to be not so static in life. (lord knows my life has been anything but static,,,).
Just keep showing up for the beating and eventually, you will find your niche,,,, right? or is Keep showing up and make the ruts deep enough that no-one can drag you out? LOL. Maybe a little bit of both, eh? Maybe I just need to take the plunge, and do it. This dipping my toes in the water to see if its warm will never get me swimming,,,
Dio's Workshop 