The Book…

I’ve been wrestling lately with the idea of posting some chapters from the book I’ve been working on. There’s a part of me that feels it’ll never get ‘published’ anyway, so what’s the big deal, and another that wonders if ‘ePublishing’ it in a blog would/could hurt its chances of being purchased by a real publisher.

Currently, it’s about a 50/50 split, and, as I have no actual (as in reality based) point of reference I continue to sit on the fence. I know if I started putting say a chapter a week out here, I’d pretty much force myself to get back to work on it as, hopefully, I’d have at least a few of you folks wanting to know what happens next.

So, I’m putting the question out there, to any of you who might actually know, is putting the ‘book’ out here a good, or bad, idea?

It’s only when I get a few days off, and my mind begins to clear from the day to day clutter that is part and parcel to application development, that I actually begin to see where the book might be headed. Everytime that happens, I start to get excited about it again.

Writing is a very strange experience for me. I rarely know, when I sit down at the keyboard (or with a legal pad), what exactly I’m going to write. I’ve had dozens of suggestions from friends that I draw up an outline for the book; describe each character, the various scenes and so on to act as a guide for my writing.

I’ve tried, honestly I have, and it just doesn’t work for me. Once I’ve done all of that, the story gets played out in my head and I can’t seem to ‘find the muse’ to take the time to actually write something to fill in all the details. Instead, what seems to work best for me is to start with a very broad concept and then to narrow and define that as I write. The writing is sort of a stream of consciousness process, where at times I simply can not type, or write, fast enough to keep up with what I'm thinking.

It’s been suggested that I ‘dictate’ those words into a tape recorder, strangely enough when I try that, the stream dries up. It’s as if the process of articulating the words activates some other, less creative, portion of my brain and the writing (creating) of the story grinds again to a halt. Again, I don’t know why, it just does.

Maybe it’s because when I first started writing for myself, and not for some ‘assignment’ by one teacher or another, that I did that long hand and as an escape from the realities of my life at the time. That by speaking, talking, I somehow burst that fantasy ‘bubble’ I create when I write. Maybe it’s that my ‘bb’ brain just can’t handle both processes, much like when I try to walk and chew gum.

The truth is, I’m not sure I want to know “why”… I’m just glad I’m able to build these creative thoughts, imagine things that may, or may not, really exist and articulate them well enough that others can follow my little excursion from reality.

So, with that said, my next task is to carve out at least an hour a day, and write. Once I start the process, often the words just flow and time slips away along with the pressures of the job and the ‘speed bumps’ we all face. I’m convinced my health would be better if I wrote everyday, I’d be happier and more focused ‘on the job’ and, I’d actually be moving towards, and not away from my goals.

I started reviewing what I’ve written so far on the book today, and actually I’m making some changes, not so much in content but in delivery.

I’m not very experienced in relating ‘conversations’ in writing, as I see my style as more ‘conversational’ or ‘story-telling’ in nature. So trying to develop characters, complete with interactions, dialogue and trying to maintain what I consider a readable pace, is a challenge for me.

For example, I like John Grisham and Dean Koontz, both of whom have writing styles that make me want to read faster than I’m able at times, such is the ‘pace’ of their writing. In a perfect world I’d learn to be able to do that when I want it, and to slow the pace down when I want as well. Trying to write this book is certainly teaching me more about what I “don’t” know, than about what I do know!!

To me, a novel (we’re talking fiction here) has to do three things well to be a ‘great book’ for me:

• It has to grab me in the first 20 pages or so.
• The story, and the telling of it, have to transport me to the fictional place/story.
• It has to be believable, things have to make sense. Of course if it’s Sci-fi then the more incredible the better, but a ‘real life’ thriller has to make me believe it could happen.

Grisham, Koontz, King (especially in his early work) and some others all do that for me. I find myself reading long past when I’d intended to go to sleep, putting off other plans in order to finish ‘one more chapter’ and in general wanting to read non-stop through the book. If I’m ever able to achieve that sort of feeling in a fictional piece, I’d be pleased even if no one published it!

So, I’m giving this a shot and we’ll see how it turns out.

In the process though, I’m hoping to put together a few short ‘stories’ to work on dialogue, pace and so on. My question to you all is… Should I post that all here, or start a ‘writing blog’ and post it there? Should I post it online at all?

I’d intended this place to be for my musings on life, passing thoughts, funny things, infuriating things etc… Seeing how simple starting a blog is, I don’t see a problem having two, I’m just wondering where you folks, the ones who actually read what I write, would prefer I post them?

Anyway, thanks again for stopping by, reading and leaving your thoughts and ideas in the comments section… I look forward to reading them everyday.

More memories…

Having been fishing this past week has me thinking about old friends again.

This time I’d like to tell you a little about a guy who was very good friend of mine, Larry Flint. NO, not ‘the’ Larry Flint, actually that guy spells his name ‘Flynt’… anyway…

I don’t remember exactly how Larry and I first became friends. I’m pretty sure it was as a result of us both being in the North Bay Fire Department, and probably involved us getting our hands dirty in some mechanical repair on one of the trucks, or the facilities, but we became friends all the same.

It turned out we had a lot in common. We were both very ‘self-sufficient’ type guys, took pride in our ability to fix nearly anything, and yet recognized that often the task was made much simpler by having a friend to lend a hand.

I have some interesting memories of working on Fire Trucks late into the night and fighting fires, especially the night the ‘Old Forest Hotel’ in Sylvan Beach burned… It was the middle of winter, colder than cold, and that old place was a 100 year old tinder box.

I’d just come home from night school, probably around 11:00pm or so and had driven by the place on the way. I remember thinking as I came through the Beach and could feel the wind off the lake driving that cold air into my car that I hoped it would be a quiet night.

About twenty minutes later, as I was sitting down to a late dinner of a ham and cheese sandwich I heard the Sylvan Beach Fire Chief on the scanner. “…en-route to a reported structure fire, Old Forest Hotel…”, I remember thinking it must be a false alarm as there had been no sign of anything when I drove through.

Less than five minutes went by and I heard the Chief tell the dispatcher to: “Send me everything from North Bay”. I knew this was going to be one of those get there in time, or we’d be there all night kind of things.

Larry and I were the first two guys at the Firehouse; we crewed up the truck and headed for "the beach". I dropped the hammer on that truck and I didn’t ease back on the throttle until I saw the fireball from the hotel blowing out over the bridge. It was too late, the wind was fueling that fire and the old hotel was fully involved, we were going to be there all night.

We fought that fire, and managed to contain it that night, despite having to cut through three foot of ice in the canal to draft water, bringing in fuel trucks to refuel the fire trucks and having the hoses, equipment, everything really, buried in nearly a foot of ice by daybreak. It was a shame to lose that old landmark, but a miracle we managed to save the adjacent properties. I remember calculating with Larry the next day that there had been in excess of a million gallons of water used that night, and that was a conservative estimate!

It was also one of those evenings that you find out what you and your fellow firefighters are made of. The wind chill that night had to be in the -25F range, all of us out there were volunteers; we were there all night and into the morning, only to have to clean everything up and get ready for the next call. I still remember laying out the hose to dry and repacking the front line trucks with dry equipment from the older trucks almost the entire next day. Is it any wonder I still think they were some of the best people I've ever known?

Larry and I did a lot of things like that; we’d volunteer for just about everything, especially if it had to do with the NBVFD (North Bay Volunteer Fire Department), or even with some neighboring departments. I recall that I wrote an entire piece of software to generate statistics for a ‘Rural Water Supply’ seminar Jack Cotett from Cleveland, NY put on. It was a ‘one off’ deal too as we never ran the seminar again.

Larry’s gone now, died from brain cancer around 18 years ago, I lost touch with his wife Jet, and the two kids Todd and Tammy shortly after that as they all moved away.

There were some great times while they lasted, we rang in a few ‘New Years’, celebrated Memorial days, 4th of Julys, Labor Days, pretty much any excuse to get together and have fun… and I said my goodbyes to Larry at his funeral… I didn't get to talk with him before he died, because once he knew he was ill, he simply dropped off the radar, not wanting anyone to see him weakened by by the disease. I was angry about that for a while, but, eventually I just chose to be saddened by his passing… yet remaining aware that my life was far richer for knowing him.

I’m sure I’ll be writing more about Larry in the future, we shared a lot, far too much for one simple post.

Now an entirely different topic…

Breakdowns….

It’s funny, I seem to just get up to speed set the ‘cruise control’ on my life and then, just when I’m getting comfortable, all of a sudden I’m slowing down again!

I wrote in the last post about what a great weekend we had. What I didn’t write about was the ‘terrible’ beach weather, as in cool, rainy and foggy (until the morning of our departure!). I snapped that ocean view picture as we were packing to depart, it was so foggy most days you could barely see the ocean!

We had another major set back when, as we pulled into a little diner for breakfast we noticed a considerable amount of smoke/steam rising up from the front end of the Tahoe. A little closer inspection revealed we’d suffered a ruptured heater fitting. A call to Triple-A, a tow truck ride, a cab ride, a few hours and $110 later we had the truck back.

Today, as I’m working on the setups for a fairly large client (that I should have been on site at today) my laptop battery dies, and one of the RAM sticks ceases functioning!

I’ve got parts ordered for the LT, they should be here tomorrow and as long as I’ve got a power connection I can limp along, but damn, that’s a lot of speed bumps for just a couple of days!

The weather… well it didn’t really matter to me. I was more interested in RL and I getting away for a couple of days and relaxing and we certainly accomplished that!

The truck problem, well, I was very impressed with how reasonable the repair was. I mean I was at a resort area, stuck, and they were closing at noon on Saturday. Not only was it done in time, but the part and the labor charge were all well within expected ranges, maybe even a little less than you’d expect. It wasn’t their fault that a different problem stranded me once again today!

The LT? Well it’s a computer, and one that really takes a beating. It goes nearly everywhere with me and has for several years now. I should replace it, it’s definitely paid for itself many times over.

Am I the only person who hates getting a new computer? About the time I start considering that I should get a new one, is about the same time I’ve finally got the one I have ‘tweaked’ just right, so it works exactly the way I’d like it to. Has the right mix of software and utilities, all the ‘connection’ information, and that it’s truly now a productivity enhancing device, and has become as comfortable as an well worn pair of blue jeans.

I bought a replacement PC last fall for one that failed, and yet today, several months later it’s still not 100%. It’s close, but just not yet there yet!

Am I the only one?

The Outer Banks...

What a great 4 days! RealLady and I headed east this weekend, to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, specifically to Nags Head, NC. I had a couple of small business related things to take care of out there so we decided to make an 'outing' of it. I worked part of Friday from home, headed in to Cary for a meeting at my current gig and we got on the road a little before noon on Friday.

The trip in was pretty uneventful, we just cruised on out here, no real traffic problems and arrived late Friday afternoon in a light rainstorm.

Friday evening we had dinner at Mulligan’s, a nice little place that's very popular with the locals. I had the softshell crab, RL had the steamed spiced shrimp and we split a dozen steamed oysters. The food was off the hook, I had a cup of their Jambalya as an appetizer, I swear it was the best I've had outside of New Orleans! We were so impressed with the experience we even bought a couple t-shirts. The bill, including the t-shirts and a couple of beers each was under $90... considering the quality of the food and that the t-shirts were $15 each, I thought it was very reasonable!

We didn't do much on Saturday, it was very, very, foggy, cool and breezy... so we sat on the balcony, relaxing, enjoying the ocean sounds, watching the birds and just talking... oh, and we also made good use of the jacuzzi in the room. It was a welcome break from the pace we've been running at. I finished up a couple little things I had to do while we were on the balcony and phoned it in to the customer's system. (I know, I didn't really need to make the trip, but it seemed like the perfect excuse!)

On Sunday, we drove North to Collola, to the site of the Currituck Lighthouse, checked out the lighthouse and the grounds and then headed over to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers memorial. It's pretty amazing actually, these two brothers, who's main claim to fame previously was building and repairing bicycles, build, and fly, the first powered and manned aircraft in 1903. Sixty six years later, John Glenn is stepping on to the moon, and carrying with him a piece of the original airplane!

An interesting 'factoid' is that the Wright Brothers didn't think the automobile would ever 'catch on', that's why they set their sights on flying machines. At one point they'd had so many problems that one of the brothers stated he didn't believe man would ever fly in the next 1000 years. Later that same year he revised his estimate to 50 years. The very next year, they actually flew!

On Sunday evening we had dinner at another restaurant that’s a favorite of the locals in Nags Head, “Sam & Omies”. It’s another seafood restaurant and bar, we had some steamed clams, a soft shell crab appetizer and a couple of great seafood entrees. The folks there were friendly, the service excellent and the food was very good!

Monday brought the actual ‘reason’ for the trip.

An old friend and business associate of mine, Mark Montgomery now lives in Edenton, NC. Mark worked for me for a few years, and is, hands down, one of, if not the best, hardware techs I've ever worked with. Shortly after I came to North Carolina on my first contract here, Mark took a job at Hobbs Implement (a John Deere Dealer) in Edenton. (Edenton by the way was the first capitol of North Carolina). He also has an Internet Service provider business Net-Change also based in Edenton. We’ve stayed in touch and exchanged technical information over the years, but unfortunately it’s at least a four hour trip to get together face to face.

We got together a few times in those early years but our contact has slipped some the over the past 7-8 years. We’d mostly email one another and make the occasional phone call to stay in touch. I was looking at Outer Banks fishing one day, on the internet, and came across a picture of Mark, another old employee/associate Rich Jeran, and Rich's son Devin. Seems they'd all been out on a charter fishing trip, and the boat captain had posted a picture of the fisherman and their catch.

I couldn't resist dropping Mark an email, congratulating him on the catch, and in general to say "Hi". We talked soon after and he told me he had plans to go out again on the 6th, so I got the time off and we made plans.

On Monday, We headed out deep sea fishing from Oregon-Inlet. The boat we chartered was the Qualifier a nearly new 60 foot boat. When we left from the inlet Monday morning the fog was extremely heavy which made our trip to the fishing waters a bit longer than normal, a little over 2 hours in all.

We had a great time on the ride though. Mark and I got caught up on personal and business experiences, and talked some about the ‘old days’ and even discussed moving my domains to his company. We also talked about web development, all the new .Net possibilities and what I saw there. He filled me in on Linux and why he prefers it for his internet servers.

In general we talked a little business because we’re both still passionate about what we do. I think the interesting thing to me, is that we both also remarked we had no idea what we’d do if we couldn’t do what we do now.

Once we hit the fishing waters though, all the talk became ‘fish talk’. Almost as soon as we put the lines out and started trolling we got our first strike! We had one or two fish on for the next couple of hours as we put 14 Yellow Fin tuna in the boat, along with one Albacore and a couple of Bonitas. We hit a slow spell again for about 45 minutes and then we had another series of strikes. We ended up the day with 17 Yellow Fin ‘in the box’ before we headed for the docks again.

The fish averaged a little less than 26 pounds each and I now have a year’s supply of Tuna steaks in the freezer!

Captain Fin got us on the fish, and his Mate Chris kept the lines baited and all of us busy for most of the day. They did a great job and I'd recommend them to anyone who asked!

This was my first off shore fishing experience, and I can tell you for sure I’ll be going again! Mark and I even talked about getting Rich to come along and the possibility of making it an annual event for the three of us (and three others as well)!

I have a number of pictures I want to post and I’m experimenting with the best way to do that, as soon as I figure it out I’ll post them all!

Now, as for the article (I know, I made you read all the way down to here!), the magazine is ‘Alamance County Magazine’, and the first article will appear in their September issue. That piece reflects on why I enjoy living in North Carolina, and specifically in Alamance County.

The article I’m working on for their October issue highlights our local regional medical facility. I often hear folks put the place down, but when I did the research before both my wife, and I, had to have surgery over the past couple of years I discovered it’s rated at the top of the charts both medically and from a management perspective as well. I’m writing an article about how great it is to have a highly ranked facility close by.

I’m very excited about becoming published. It’s been a dream of mine for more years than I can remember. My next challenge is to actually finish some short stories, and that book I’ve been trying to write and submit those as well. I’ve decided I’ll never reach my dream of ‘writing from retirement’ if I don’t at least get started!!

For those of you who might be headed to Nag’s Head, should you want to try either of the restaurants I mentioned here’s their info (I couldn’t find a web address for either of them)

Mulligan's Oceanfront Grille
2519 South Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head, NC 27959

Sam & Omie's Restaurant
7228 South Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head, NC 27959
(252) 441-7366
(252) 480-2000

Oh, one last thing. I’m not receiving, nor have I received, anything from any of these folks for mentioning their operations. The restaurants were truly great, the fishing trip was incredible and the other links I posted in case you were curious.

I have to say, I’m very much NOT looking forward to returning to work tomorrow, I could have stayed at the beach another, week (month?) or so!!

Once again, thank you all for stopping by, it was wonderful to see all of your comments on returning!!

The pics... (These are fairly large, give them time to load)

Mark - reeling one in
Matt - with a fish on
Mike - working on the big one that got away!
and one of Tom bring one in
Headed Back - to the inlet after a great day of fishing
The group with our catch of the day
The mate laying out our catch on the dock
A pic of one of the other boats on our way back in.

Hi folks…

I’m deep in the middle of yet another project and will be away from the keyboard (internet-wise) for the next several days.

I’d intended to write something witty and profound for today, but, the time has just not been there this week. Such is the life of a contract programmer! Seems we always have ‘one more’ thing to do and not enough time to do everything.

If I get a minute, and have internet access, I’ll be sure to drop in and give you an update on what’s happening. Other than that, and to thank you all for continuing to visit, read and leave such wonderful thoughts, I don’t have much else to say. (I know… hard to believe huh?)

I do have something I’d been thinking about though, and I thought I’d leave you with my thoughts on it so far.

Living in fear…

That’s what people in many countries do everyday. I’m not talking about irrational fear, or fear of falling, spiders or snakes, no; I’m talking about fearing for their lives. They’re not protected, but instead intimidated by the power structure in their own country.

Why am I thinking about, and therefore writing about this? Well, a few days ago at work a few of us were talking while waiting on a conference call, and one of the folks wondered out loud “Why don’t the people in Iraq just turn in the terrorists?”

A fairly lively ummm discussion followed, that was cut short as the call arrived. We never revisited the conversation, as we all had work to do, but I was left wondering why that individual had no clue.

It dawned on me as I was driving home, that, most folks in this country don’t have a clue. No clue how it feels to not be able to speak their mind without a very real fear of life threatening repercussions. No clue how that sort of fear permeates everything, especially when it’s been in place for several generations. No clue that it’s nearly impossible to let go of it, as it’s all you’ve ever really known… Letting go of that fear, for them, is as difficult as us letting go of the freedoms we enjoy. Almost unimaginable.

That’s why the average person in Iraq doesn’t “step up”, they don’t know who they can trust, if stepping up will get them killed or worse their family killed. We don’t have a clue how that feels.

I see it much like we didn’t have a clue, back here in the states, what it was like to be in WWI, WWII, Korea, or Vietnam… especially Vietnam. That was the first truly ‘non-conventional’ opposing force this country had ever faced. Uniformed opponents were rare; instead, any and everyone ‘could’ be the enemy and often was. Men, women and children were all recruited for the cause. We, back here in the states, simply could not fathom that, let alone understand it.

I know freedom has a price, and the price is often paid in lives. I’m sure you all know that as well. We all know that because it’s the culture we live in, it’s what we’ve been taught since we were very young. I have trouble imagining what it must be like living in a world that’s 180 degrees removed from the one I know, do you?

It’s times like these, and conversations like the one that started me thinking about this, that make me thankful I was born in a country that provides the freedoms and opportunities mine does. I may, or may not, agree with what the government is doing on any particular day or issue, but the beauty is, I have the right to agree, or disagree, and to do so as publicly as I want to.

Anyway… that’s my thought… and I said far more than I really had time for!! I’m already going to be late for my first meeting today!!

Oh, one last item… That magazine that said they might put my article in the September issue? Well, it seems it’s a ‘done deal’ now! In addition, the editor sent me their ‘calendar’ for the next year, and said she would “love it” if I’d write some additional articles!! I’m very excited and expect to put something together for each issue, and we’ll see if this was a ‘fluke’ or if I’ve got some staying power!!

Again, thanks for reading.. your thoughts, comments and ideas are always welcome!

It must almost be summer….

The bugs are back!

Yep, we have no shortage of bugs here in North Carolina and once the weather warms up, they begin the annual assault to take over our yard. Specifically I’m talking about ants, those incredibly industrious little insects that never seem to sleep, or stop procreating.

They invade the house, the trees, the cars… and even… yes, my garage! You see I can tolerate the occasional kitchen visitor as I can understand, you see my wife is a great cook; if I was living out there I’d be trying to get some good eats too.

I don’t really mind that they take up summer residence under every tarp, bucket, brick or rock. I’m not really going to use the log splitter again until the weather begins to cool down, they’re welcome to the shade under that tarp!

But when they begin to bite me, when I’m working in my shop, in the midst of enough toxic substances to kill most things (and I’m wearing a breathing mask!), and begin feasting on my ankles… well the line’s been drawn!

So every year, I start a little earlier, spreading all sorts of interesting, and often foul, smelling granular substances on the lawn. Placing ant ‘baits’ around the perimeter of the house, spraying ‘barrier’ treatments on the foundation and out three feet (like the directions say) around the entire house.

It works, well sort of… for a day or two, there’s a noticeable decline in any visible ant activity. (I think they’re just staying home and procreating) But then, just when I think I might be winning, they’re back!

You’d think they’d be back in reduced numbers, but no, it’s like they went out and recruited every other ant in the neighborhood to come join them! I’ve decided that statements like “continues working for up to 3 full months” on the package should carry the disclaimer “Except in your yard Bill”. Nothing and I mean nothing has ever kept them down for more than a week or two.

Do you think if I tried to negotiate with them I could get back my garage? The patio? And maybe the hammock?...

So… this past weekend, among other things I retreated the ‘estate’ for the little buggers, and it’s raining today… which means I can literally watch that $70 floating away as the weatherguy says “we need the rain folks”… Great, I’m almost afraid to go away for a day… they might start stealing my tools!!