Shinerdrinker: Blog

I've discovered that trying to write football scenes and listening to Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out" is not conducive to one another.

I can't type and snap my fingers at the same time!

I like to help humanity every once in a while. I'm nice like that.

--Shinerdrinker

Okay, quick story. If you've been reading my blogs for a while, you know about my wife's demon-spawn cat. No, I take that back. The cat is all right; it just thinks I'm a demon spawn since I insist on areas of her house where she is not allowed. This is something that obviously cannot stand.

Long story short (too late), she broke my last laptop by well-serenading it, is the nicest way to put that. That set me off on a search for a replacement laptop. I don't ever take the thing anywhere, so I should buy an actual desktop computer. But something back in my primordial mind says, "Stick with the laptop. You MIGHT want to go to like a coffee shop and act like some self-important modern-age neanderthal who frequents those places."

I have a quick idea for an experiment, but I doubt they would let me take my laptop to a local watering hole or strip club.

Anyway, even longer story short, I bought an MSI laptop, and it worked great. I got talked into a powerful graphics card with more RAM than I know what to do with it. I've had no complaints. The delusions of grandeur of me having enough time to surf for my all-important MILF porn, write this story, and still enjoy an occasional TV show and sporting event I follow never really materialized. But that's my fault and I'll readily admit that.

Then, fourteen days after the warranties run out, the hinge on one side snaps. Upon closer inspection, they used metal screws and metal parts to connect the screens to the plastic portions of the outer shell. If I'd known that it was like that when I bought it, needless to say, I wouldn't have bought it.

So I went back to my dealer/computer guy and told him I thought it was time for a new computer. He looked me dead in the eye and asked, "Did the hinge snap yet?" I don't think I'd ever really wanted to punch a complete stranger in the face so much in my life. I mean, typically, you need to get to know a guy enough for you to care about wanting to punch him in the face. This guy... nope. "Just do it," flashed through my mind. I think he could read my mind, and his hands shot up in surrender, and he asked me to join him in the back of his shop. I turned the corner and spread out a few tables where several MSI laptops, all with broken hinges, were awaiting repair.

"They've been coming in for the last couple of weeks, all within a year or so of initially buying them. I have some paperwork you can fill out, and MSI will pay for the repairs. The only problem is that I can't start them until they approve the repair and send me the new parts. That'll take about a month or so."

So, I sat down and began filling out the forms. He had already streamlined the whole process as well as he could. To his defense, he even showed his own MSI laptop and the exploding hinge. Only his had both hinges broken, and he tried holding them up with copious amounts of duct tape. When he noticed I noticed his laptop, he said, "Well, on mine, the hinge sort of split. I would have had to have completely torn the screen from the frame, so I filled out the paperwork, then used the tape to continue using the computer until the parts arrived."

I didn't mind leaving the computer in repair hell since I had already gotten myself worked up and ready with the idea of purchasing a new computer. He showed me some in the same range of hardware as the one I had returned. The prices were definitely higher than when I was previously shopping. But he did have a newly refurbished laptop for a great price. He explained the only fix he did was to replace the touchpad since the previous owner thought placing stickers all over it was cool. He didn't think it would mess with the touchpad itself. So I got a new laptop for $799 that normally retails for $1399. If you must know, I got an HP Envy x360 2-in-1 Laptop 15-fh0097nr, with an AMD Ryzen™ 7, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD.

I'll tell you something: I found the touchscreen annoying, so I turned it off, and then I turned off the touchpad as well. I prefer a mouse. Hell, I'm a freak; I prefer the old-school MAC hockey puck mouse.

So, I've written this new chapter entirely on this new laptop. I'm ashamed to admit that when purchasing, I didn't check on the keyboard and whether it would be annoying to me. It's not. It's amazing. It's easily the best keyboard I've ever typed on. I had to stop myself from giggling too loudly when I remembered the hull-ballow CMSIX threw about wanting a specific kind of keyboard. I never understood it, but I do now... totally!

Yeah, so I have a new computer... Oh yeah, I've also sent Chapter 82 of Mayhem in a Pill to the editors. It should be back sometime later this week. I'm hoping I'll have it back this weekend, and then I can post it, early next week.

Thanks for your time, and sorry for being a little long-winded. Pretty soon, I'll have to figure out what games to get started since I'll keep my MSI and try some games. Mind you, the last video game I played well was Pitfall 2 on my old Atari. I'll be able to beat all these new-fangled games in, like, just a couple of days, right?

--Shinerdrinker

So, I got an old-school itch over the last couple of days. I call it old-school because once upon a time your boy Shinerdrinker used to make the money as a graphic designer. We are talking about a time when doing significant work in Photoshop 3.0.

I can remember having to spend hours eliminating stray hairs from pictures so they don't look weird when pasting them onto new backgrounds. This is a world I've left behind, and when I see small TikToks showing how to do the same thing with a couple of clicks, I get... well, let's just leave all that alone, shall we?

So, I got the overall idea for a cover and decided to take a little time and see if I could do it to my former feeling of completion. I came up with something interesting, especially since my other ideas did not turn out well. I even tried one of those free AI picture makers, but it did not come out well.

So, I've designed a cover and am pretty pleased with it. But I'm also a bit nervous. It's been a good ten years since I've done anything like this. I'd really appreciate your thoughts, but please be gentle.

Also, one more thing... I am also working on the chapter, but I am only about one-third into it. I am getting ready to get into the next game, and that tends to go pretty quickly when I know what will happen and describe it to myself. That's been working fairly well, I believe.

Thanks again for reading Mayhem and I hope the cover is well received.

I should have thought twice about posting the new "Mayhem in a Pill" chapter on April Fool's Day.

I'm wondering if people didn't believe the new chapter was really posted or if it was some kind of joke. First and foremost, the new chapter was indeed posted and is available for reading.

I don't hate April Fool's Day; I just don't care about it. It's not fun and only helps people who work with social media justify their employment with outlandish ideas their bosses would never have considered.

Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now and let you all get back to your lives. But right, of course, after reading the newest chapter of Mayhem, I will inform everyone that this might be the last chapter. Nope, I can't do it.

Fuck April Fool's Day.

The new chapter IS up; hopefully, you'll read it and reread it.

Tee Hee.

--Shinerdrinker

Okay, sorry about the little bit of wait, but real life kept me from my normal writing time. I've overcome all and got this one ready.

Chapter 81 has been sent to my editors, and once they send it back, I'll post it for all of you. I mean, I do realize it is agonizingly painful to have to wait for the next chapter. Believe me, I understand.

Never worry and never fear; the next chapter will soon be here!!!

Dun! Dun! Dun!

--Shinerdrinker