Woo Hoo!

My first birthday present of the year is a brandy-spankin' new vacuum cleaner with a "pet attachment!" My last two vacuums bit the big one and did a great job of spreading the tornado wreckage around but not picking anything of significance up.

My only dilemma is figuring out whether to risk turning the machine on and going for the gusto, or taking the time to haul out the scoop shovel first to pick up the larger shrapnel. I think I just answered my own question. It'd be bad form to blow up the new vacuum seconds after switching it on.

I've got to find a boneyard for dead vacuum cleaners. I'm running out of closet space. Lily the Terrorist liked the last one so much that she tried to ride it every time I tried to use it. I'm sure that didn't help its abbreviated longevity.

Normally, I wouldn't be this enthused about cleaning the house, but since it converted itself to a barn, complete with an animal, I'm feeling a bit like finding some coveralls and mucking the stalls.

Well, onward and upward...EIEIOOOO!

Gary

The Next Big Holiday On Your Calendar

Hint: It's NOT Thanksgiving! November 24th is Gary's Birthday Holiday. Only a few shopping days remain to find me unique and awesome gifts to surround myself with as I cycle through my second 29th birthday (plus a year or two). Heck, even selling a few books could be put toward my party fund, so every little consideration is appreciated.

Not everyone gets to have their birthday near other major holidays. Every so often, mine even lands on Thanksgiving. How cool is that? There must be a good reason the universe has aligned itself this way. I'm a very fortunate recipient of the Creator's recognition in the construction of this holiday. I am humbled.

As a sidenote, I have also seen that there are many sales happening right now, so this is a good time for Gary's Birthday Holiday to come around again!

Gary

Veterans Day

To all who have served, thank you!

Gary

The New Manuscript

Remember when I reported that I could start writing "The Backbone Of The World" in earnest last month? I'm exactly one sentence along on the electronic highway since then.

I have taken many trails to gain one step. (If a famous Chief didn't say that, he should have).

I'm learning oodles about the topics I'm researching to make the novel believable and develop enough conflict to keep it suspenseful. This will not be your typical walk in the woods, so I am educating myself along the way. When I chose to write this story, I knew it would be more challenging than I have attempted before. That is my understatement of the year!

This old dog is having to learn new tricks and I swear that my puppy, Lily the Terrorist, is laughing at me every step of the way. I hate it when she can sneak up on me silently, bark, and then watch me peel myself from my office ceiling. She hasn't even read any of the literature on animal behavior or tracking!

If anything else, by the time this is all said and done, I should be able to make a tasty bowl of track soup. I'm having early doubts about my ability to actually find a living thing on purpose.

It is time to get back to the research. Sooner or later someone is going to have to try to find the fugitive in the woods. It may be me out there walking in circles by then!

Gary