Catching up

Okay, time for some updates on previous posts.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

I survived another NaNoWriMo, just barely breaking the 50,000 word mark.  I had a good start, a terrible middle and a great finish, including days 20-29 where I average 2450 words a day.  Was there a lot of garbage in my 50,000 words?  Yes.  Did one of my characters stop to write blog posts?  Yes.  Did I write the words "I am so tired," over and over again every once in a while?  Yes.  Is my novel finished?  No.  It is terrible?  Pretty much.  Am I going to let anyone read it?  Um, not quite yet.  Am I going to keep working on it? Yes.  Are there at least some short stories that will come out of it?  You bet.  Did any of you write 50,000 words in a month?  Then shut it.

Besides just being a place for me to show off my word count, NaNoWriMo also runs a young writer's program.  To learn more or to donate, please visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/.  Hopefully you all will be reading my first novel in the near future, as soon as I finish writing it.


Winter Beers

Since we last talk, I've tasted a handful of the winter beers now clogging the aisle at liquor stores everywhere (seriously, I was at Binny's today and there must have been at least two dozen winter seasonals in stock).  I'll admit that I'm enjoying the New Belgium Snow Day but there has been one major drawback.  Every time I have drank Snow Day, I woke up the next morning with a headache.  Mike, you say, you cannot drink that much anymore.  Slow down, you say.  But I did, I answer.  I had three the first time, then only two, then just a single Snow Day.  The next morning each time I had a headache.  So I like the Snow Day, though not nearly as much as 2 Below, and I have even bought more.  Next time I won't drink three shots of whiskey before I drink Snow Day.

For those that want to hear a bunch of guys talking about beer, give a listen to the Broadcast Basement, where we will be tasting beers every few episodes and talking about what we like.  Well, some of us will taste them (sorry, Wild Bill).  


Gobble, Gobble, Tech Support and a Fish

I'm back in cable hell.  After the first round failed to solve the problem long term, I again jumped on-line for support.  And again I talked to Pashtel.  He must be the busiest cable tech support rep out there, or there is more than one Pashtel in the world.  We ran through the basic steps again, and quickly scheduled another visit.  This time, the only misunderstanding was when we picked the time, and Pashet gave me the 12pm-4pm slot and told me the tech would call before his arrival and I said 10-4. He responded with "There is no 10-4 time slot."  Ha.  Ha, ha, ha.  I guess they don't have CBs in India.

The second tech was here for almost five hours.  Problem solved?  Well, no.  It's better, but let me tell you how funny watching a hockey game is when the picture and sound are out of sync.  At least when the sound is ahead of the picture, I can hear about the big hit then look up and see it.

Halloween Candy

There is a single bag of candy left in the break room of our office, right next to the coffee pot.  In the bag are about eight pieces of.... wait for it... that nasty peanut butter candy!  If they are still there at the end of the year, I will toss them.  Or stick them in a drawer and foist them on unsuspecting co-workers next Halloween.

Thanks for reading.