The Book of Hours

METEOR THAT HITS RUSSIA AND INJURES HUNDREDS

There's only seconds of your life
That really count for anything
All the rest is killing time
Waiting for a train

Come the revelation brother
I was sitting by myself
The last thing I was looking for
Came and left

The sea still rolled, no mountain fell
The sun still rose, the moon as well
I was undone, some kind of free
The day you sent your spirit to me
-Big Country

Big News of 2013

* Super Bowl makes a triumphant return to New Orleans. And then the power goes out.

* The tragic Patriot's Day bombing and the ensuing manhunt that shut Boston down.

*The House votes 46 times to repeal The Affordable Healthcare Act. And who says the GOP is retroactive?

*China moon rover lands on moon (yet another example of being late to the party.)

*Typhoon Haiyan destroys the Phillipines.

*Fancisco Garzon Amo, driver of a Spanish train that derailed and killed 79 people, is charged with negligent homicide for going well over the 80-kph speed limit.

*The city of Detroit files for bankruptcy.

*Pope Frank, the first Jesuit, is elected he Pope.

*Maggie Thatcher dies at 87. Psychic housewife from Long Island says that Ronald Reagan's soul is now finally at peace. 

*Best seller Tom Clancy dies. US Armed forces blow up lots of things in his honor, fostering the continued economic recovery.

*I got back into sales < thusly damning my soul for all eternity, or at least until Oprah can comes to a deal to buy Heaven >.

* The Seattle Seahawks go 13 - 3 and clinch home field throughout the NFC playoffs. The road to the Meadowlands goes through Seattle. 

And the days go by...

A carved oak table,
Tells a tale
Of times when kings and queens sipped wine from goblets gold,
And the brave would lead their ladies from out of the room
to arbours cool.
-Genesis

Good-bye 2013! Hello, 2014! What will you bring us? 

We never know that, do we?

I have mañana and Wed. off. Hooray! I have no plans for New Year's except hanging out with Mully, the cat. I'm looking forward to it.

See ya

The greatest thing about blogging is that you can ask yourself,  Do I really have something to contribute? 

And when the answer is no, you can just say see ya! 

X Marks the Spot

Once again, merry Xmas. 

We had a lovely time down at Mel and Jan's house in Jersey. They really hooked me up with some nice work clothes  (a.k.a. - my gay apparel.) Mel barbecued a turkey. It was great. 

Then back to work. Blah, blah, blah. It's always the same there.

I was reading the NY Times today and they had pictures of the major events of 2013. It was mostly depressing as hell. 

I wish the press was more positive. Like this blog.

Xmas

Happy Xmas to all of ye. Have fun with your love ones. And since this was pagan festival co-opted by the Catholic Church, don't forget to get your pagan on!

From www.simpletoremember.com

 Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.  During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration.  The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.”  Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week.  At the festival’s conclusion, December 25^th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.

So on that note, Merry Xmas!

A. B. E.

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
-Talking Heads

13:34

A.B.E = Always be Editing. 

It's a never-ending story. A carousel ride I can't get off of. A black hole. 

Well, it could be worse. I could be in Hell. Or at work. Same difference.

I am reading The Other Lands (Part Two of the Acacia Trilogy,) by David Anthony Durham, which is amazing.  It's fantasy and he was first a historian, so he gets it. I read the first part about 18 months ago. Each book is about 700 pages. Damn! But it is on par with George R. R. Martin's A song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones.)   

17:13

The snow is melting. It's been like Narnia for the last week. It should all be melted by Sunday. Editing is progressing along. But just like winter in Narnia, it seems eternal.

Pagan

It was 17 F last night while i shoveled. That's 8.3 degrees C below freezing. WTF? 

I woke up at 4 AM with all sorts of pockets of muscles hurting. The snow was very light, but i think that it was more about it being -8 C.

Otherwise, Xmas grows closer. I don't dislike Xmas, but i'm not a huge fan. I much prefer to view it from the pagan perspective; after Dec. 25th, all of the days will be longer.

Hooray!!!!

Requiem for a Scream

Enough with the snow! Called out of work today. There was no way to get there. 

Winter is Coming

 abominable |əˈbäm(ə)nəbəl|
adjectivecausing moral revulsion: the uprising was suppressed with abominable cruelty.• very bad or unpleasant: a cup of abominable tea.

yeti |ˈyetē, ˈyātē|nouna large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas.
from the New Oxford American Dictionary

I have shoveled 3 times already and it's snowing again. I work from 5-10pm today, if i can get there. Winters in New England are  abominable.

The Final Cut, #7

It's snowing. Not heavy yet, but it's coming. Mum and I can Watch Seattle at home this mañana when they play the New York Football Giants. Yeah! 

I'm about 25% of the way through edit #7 of The Spanish Exile, the new book I've been writing for the past 7 f%#king years. Oy!

I'm not a fan of editing. I much prefer the writing. It's about 87,000 words, which should be about 350 pages, which is a fine length, although it might get a little bigger as there are some scenes I need to add.

Time to get back to it.

Another Day

It's a new day and my urge to kill the people who put my sister-outlaw through this is slowly diminishing, but only slightly. But we will figure this thing out. Oh, how i long for the wild west. I would have been so at home back then. 

"Really? You're f^%king with my family? Then f^&k you, you %4&*()%%%#@@! son of a *&^%$#@!!! We duel mañana, with swords. May the person who's not an a$$hole win!" 

I fenced for three years, so i know my way around a sword.

Like Edith and Archie sang, those were the days.

The Manhattan Project

Imagine a man where it all began
A scientist pacing the floor
In each nation, always eager to explore
To build the best big stick
To turn the winning trick
But this was something more...
-Rush, Manhattan Project

Health care in the United States; it's an oxymoron. It's also moronic. 

The Affordable Health Care Act will help 50,000,000 people get healthcare, myself included. So why are so many people against it? Why have there been so many lies about it? This is something Presidents from both parties have been trying to get done for 100 years, starting with Teddy Roosevelt.

I was denied healthcare 2x in October. When I finally called the CT hotline, I found out that they cannot deny anyone healthcare starting in 2014, and that I will be able to get insurance as of Jan 1. Otherwise, because of the skull fracture I had in 2009, I would be denied coverage. 

My European friends find this ridiculous. In their countries, healthcare is a right, not a capitalistic enterprise. 

My sister-in-law was supposed to have back surgery on Wednesday. It was to take 7 hours, involve 5 doctors and entail incisions on both her front and back. She has a non-malignant tumor that is pressing on discs. On Monday, less than 48 hours before the procedure was supposed to take place, my sister's insurance denied certain hardware that would guarantee that at least one of the discs would disintegrate and that my sister-in-law would need another surgery. That can best be defined as madness.

On Monday, one of the lead doctors had a peer-to-peer call with the insurance company. The peer, was not a peer. He was not a neurologist. He wasn't even a surgeon. His decision denied my sister-in-law the surgery she needed. She had prepped mentally and physically (giving up cigarettes.) This had been three years in the making and Samsung (who is self-insured) blew up the whole thing with less than 24 hours. 

It seems, it would be easier to learn how split an atom than to get a needed (but very expensive) operation in the United States. Speaking of which, at this moment, I'd much like to give North Korea that enriched Uranium they have been longing for. Luckily, I do not have a line on any (the NSA may stand down now.)

The decision is being appealed and they still have the option of a lawsuit for pain and suffering. She will get this operation, and the insurance will pay for it, come Hell or global warming. It's just ridiculous what my sister and sister-in-law have had to go through. 

In 2000, the WHO ranked the United States 39th in world. Obamacare? Hell yes! In 2014, we are the last developed country to get affordable health care. 

Between the Lines

I sold them my heart
I sold them my soul
I gave everything I had
Ah, but they couldnt break my spirit
My dignity fought back,
Fightback
-Genesis, Driving the Last Spike

No work today. 

When i'm there, the building is cold and there's no leads to talk to. It's futile. Kind like a fish with feet.

I am watching PHI vs. DET, playing in a blizzard. It's refreshing to see someone who works in conditions worse than i do at Hubba Hubba Hot Tubs.

1915

Top: German troops with portable flamethrowers
Bottom: A British Trench in France

Yesterday, would have been Nana's 98th Birthday. Wow. I remember I got her a card in the 90's that said Born in 1915. When you opened it up, at the top of the list was; WW1 escalates. I was like, "holy shit!"

She was one of a kind. I made Manhattans, her favorite drink, and Mum and I toasted her. I miss her. As I got older and she she started to tell me about carzy things her and Pop did when they were younger, I thought; "Wow. I'm not adopted."

That British trench looks a lot like my cubicle at work, at least as far as morale goes. I have an 8 hour shift mañana. That's going to seem like a lifetime.

Normal, part two

No, nothing's normal. That was just a dream I had after watching the Seahawks DISMANTLE the Saints, 34 - 7. Seattle dominated the sports news yesterday, not surprisingly.

Phones are lethal weapons
Someone called the call center yesterday, because they ahd received a missed call from us. He was in mid-western, someplace. 

"Hot tubs?"
"Yes, did you request some information from us, maybe on our website?"
"We don't even do no computers here!"
I thanked him and ended the call. 

You're an elegant mess
-John Wesley