My last 10 years

At the day job last week we were discussing an editorial looking back at the decade. The proposal was, essentially, that the Aughts, or whatever you call this set of ten years, has been a lousy one, but never fear. The next ten could be pretty great.

I was listening to this and thinking. I was also considering a couple of columns we'd run a day or two before. They both said that the last decade was lousy.

Everyone made a convincing case in a history book sense. But I don't look at things like that. I think many, if not most, people look at them more personally. We think of our personal milestones. For me, this has been a pretty great decade.

I started the Aughts working at a newspaper that no longer exists, doing a job that I didn't hate but didn't love. I ended the decade working for the newspaper that was always going to be my final stop, doing a job I love, and making more than double the money I was making when I started the decade.

I am ending the decade more productive(the last couple of months withstanding)as a writer. I have completed multiple stories this year and made good progress on the novel I've been working on for years. I still need to edit the things I have finished and get them submitted for publication. But that is great progress for me and I am far ahead of where I was 10 years ago.

But the biggest change in this decade is that I met and married Gina. Without her I wouldn't have bought a house this decade. Without her I wouldn't have seen the world. No Italy. No Mexico. This blog wouldn't be here without her. The writing I've been doing wouldn't be possible without her encouragement and support. She makes all of it easier, and not just the writing. I had prayed for someone like her to come into my life and this is the decade that prayer was answered.

The start of something

Something I banged out in a couple of minutes. Goes with an idea I'd had a couple of months ago. I just wanted to get it on "paper" while it was fresh. Whether or not this is how the story actually begins or not remains to be seen.

The Seventh Dallas was an aging beauty. A pot-marked and scarred cargo hauler, her heavy hull and and over-sized crew quarters made for an imposing figure when she was docked. But to Elias Kope she was anything but imposing. “My gentle beast,” her first captain had called her.

Seeing her tethered to the deck of the Crimeon like this, all polished and shining, pulled the captain, if just for a moment, from the funk he’d been in since receiving his notice three months ago. For a moment he was back on this same deck but forty years earlier, the Seventh Dallas shining behind him. He was being pinned a captain and presented with a certificate, signed by officers outranking him, that gave him control of his own ship.

He approached her from the front and let his fingers run along the length of her hull. He smiled and leaned in close enough o feel the coolness of the metal on his cheek. “The are putting you to pasture far too early, girl. Both of us. Far too early.”

A teaser

I have been thinking about it, and I believe I am going to write a wrap-up-the-year/decade post. Both have been big for me. Lots of milestones. I am not doing it here, obviously, but I will write one before the year's end.

So keep your breath baited for that one.

Finally, an idea

I think I have figured out a way to make our house hunt work in a story. It's another monster story. Still don't know why I am writing monster stories or having more ideas for them, but I am going with it.

This one could involve zombies or not. Haven't decided. This idea is still in it's tadpole stage so it could go many directions. I just know it involves lots of guns and a four-bedroom ranch that's fully furnished and fully stocked.

That's it for now.

A Sistine discovery

Gina and I honeymooned in Rome and it was amazing. Honeymooned? Can that be a verb? How about Gina and I spent our honeymoon in Rome. It was amazing. We were there for more than a week and got to take our time seeing the city.

On our first day we unexpectedly saw the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. It was easily some of the coolest things I'd ever seen. I wish I had known about this, though, before we went. Click the link to see a brain on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Just checking in

Hey, strangers. Here are some robots.

Happy Thanksgiving

I was reading my Blogger manual and it suggests that you post something on all of the major holidays -- an obligatory post noting the importance of the day wishing your readers a Merry or Happy.

Well, dear readers, the few of you out there, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your turkey was moist and the pie was plentiful.

The world's best billboard

It's a crazy week at work. Combine that with still getting settled and I have no time to post anything here. So, in the interest of not just going dark for the next week or month I am going to just pop in with small posts about nothing in particular. Mostly just observations I can write in a minute or two. Here's the first.

There are lots of things I love about our new house, but one of my favorites is the fact that I can use the following sentence and mean it.

"If you pass the billboard for the Beef Jerkey Outlet you have gone too far."

Another big purchase

We pulled the trigger tonight. After a week or so of looking at and then looking again at appliances, we purchased all of the ones that the former owners of our new home took with them.

When we moved in we were left with nothing but an oven. We needed a cooktop, refrigerator, microwave and dishwasher. Three of the four are going to be delivered on Thursday. The only thing we are going to have to wait on is the cooktop.

We went to two different places but stretched our dollar pretty well si the driving around was worth it, we think.

Needless to say, we are both very excited. We have both grown tired of eating out for every meal and that's what we have been doing for what feels like months.

And I promise, writing posts coming soon.

Welcome home

We have spent the last two weekends and all of the weekdays in between getting moved in. We closed on our home on October 26 and have been in the process of moving in ever since. The first week we came during the evening after work and changed a few doorknobs and tested paint colors.

That weekend we recruited family and painted. We moved things in during the week, packing boxes after work and then driving those boxes to the new house after. And this weekend we moved in. We put the beds on the big ruck first. That was our commitment to moving in. Once the beds are at the new place you have to stay there or sleep on the floor.

Now we have to go through boxes and figure out where everything goes. And the are many boxes. Many, many, boxes.

What I am hoping, though, is after we do that I can get back to a regular writing routine. I have a story that is screaming for a second draft and an idea for a longer story that I really want to flesh out. So, here's to hoping that I can do that.

And here's to our new home.