To kick things off, I’m proud to say that I have managed to hit two goals that I set for myself over twenty years ago.
Below is “Betty”, my 2002 Chevy Silverado Gift to myself for making Staff Sergeant that I bought brand new in 2001.
My plan was to get twenty years and over two hundred thousand miles out of her. Even though I’ve changed most of the accessories over the years like the steering pump, alternator, and fuel pump, she’s still trucking right along. And somewhere in the last few months, she ticked over 250,000 miles and I missed it by a hair.
For anyone who’s seen my recent posts on Instagram has noticed an uptick in wrench turning. The upside is that it isn’t on any of our vehicles that have been on the sickly side, just helping out some of the extended family with their vehicle issues.
The first one was a call to arms because Steve couldn’t get an O2 sensor broken loose. So I swung over there, extra tools in hand.
After a few hours of beating, cussing, and prying on the thing and a little redneck engineering to make a cheater pipe that would fit the space, we managed to get the thing broken loose.
What we found, (video below), wasn’t pretty. I’m convinced that the last person to change this sensor had used JB Weld or some other adhesive and cross-threaded this thing into the port. The threads in the coupling were chewed up and missing chunks.
Needless to say, it was decided to pass this little beauty off to a repair shop that I trust, because rethreading the port was not happening and I didn’t want to risk snapping manifold bolts removing the exhaust manifold.
The one upside to the day was getting to see the two little mud monsters having fun in the muddy puddles.
Vehicle adventure number two wasn’t quite as frustrating, but is was frustrating enough. Giggles had a blown bulb, so instead of taking it to a shop that wanted to charge her $180 to change the bulbs, I told her to get the bulbs and I’d change them for her.
To change said headlight bulbs on the newer Ford Taurus, you have to basically remove the front end of the thing to get the headlight assembly out of the hole.
Managed to get Bubba out in the shop with me to give me a hand and taught him a few tricks when disassembling things in the process.
All in all, it wasn’t bad, just annoying and time-consuming. You can get a better look at how much had to be disconnected in the video below to get the assembly out.
Currently reading/listening
I don’t know if any of you out there enjoys Robert Silverberg, but I just recently finished reading “Hawksbill’s Station”. It was an interesting read into the fanaticism, politics, and revolutionary ideas of the late ’60s set in a near-future setting, where political prisoners are dealt with by sending them millions of years into the past to the Late Cambrian period to survive as best as they can.
Then I jumped right into the next Silverberg novel on the shelf, (I have a nice little stack thanks to Mackays books), which just happened to be “Son of Man”
Even though the reviews on the back of “Son of Man” are glowing, I’m questioning what the purchasing editor was thinking when they bought it. Maybe it was the fact that it was a Silverberg story, or it was another case of “Write this” directed by mister Silverberg’s editor at the time.
I know for a fact that he’d been told on several occasions what to write by his editors, because when I emailed him about his inspiration for “Regan’s Planet”, he said he’d written it at the direction of his editor at the time.
I don’t want to ruin a possibly good story for anyone interested in it, so I will say that so far, “Son of Man” Is going to be a tough read for me. It is written in present tense and the first chapter ends with the main character jerking himself off, then laying back and contemplating the stary heavens above.
Audio-wise, (dishes, driving, gym), I’ve been bouncing back and forth between two that I’m really enjoying.
The first is Wraithkin (The Kin Wars Saga Book 1) by Jason Cordova. So far I’m really enjoying it. The setting is dystopian and screwed up. Right up my alley. His characters come to life and get memorable quick. Well worth picking up.
The next is Storm Front, book one of the Dresden Files series. I’d heard of it, and knew there was a TV show at some point, but I’d never gotten around to checking it out. After the strong suggestions of a few folks, plus the fact that I might get to meet the man next month at the Superstars writing seminar, I figured I might want to see what all the fuss was about.
I think I’m eight chapters in, and holy crap, it’s damn good. the narrator sucks you in and puts you right there with the character.
So, hell yes! This is a worthwhile book to pick up.
upcoming events
First off, you can find me and Three Ravens at Chattacon this weekend (Jan 14-16, 2022). They’ve slated me for ten or so panels, so I’ll be a moving target most of the weekend. Check out the Chattacon page for details.
And next month, February 9-12, 2022, I’ll be out in Colorado for the Superstars Writing Seminar. I’m really hoping to learn a lot about marketing so I can push Three Ravens and my own stuff even further.
latest releases
A few folks might have already seen my posts this morning about the audio for Starflight: Tales from the Starport Lounge going live. Talia did an amazing job with the characters and alien names.
And the latest anthology that I was honored to be part of, is “Standing Defiant”, part of William Alan Webb’s Last Brigade universe
currently writing
Currently, I’ve been cranking along on the brain puke outline for Shepard’s Call, an Urban Fantasy adventure that is the start of at least a six-book series and the first book of the BlackWish universe. It’ll be my first full dive into the genre beyond short stories, but I think y’all will enjoy it.
So that’s it for this long overdue update.
Off to go for a walk and get a little more writing in.
Keep your heads up, and your pens sharp,
~WJR
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