Paladin_HGWT: Blog

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and joy in other celebrations you may partake in.

Happy New Year to you and your Loved Ones!

May we all have sufficient time to read, to write, and improve over the next year.

In the hope that we often feel in the coming of the New Year, I have also wished for Peace on Earth, good will to, all a cure for cancer, and practical cold fusion.

A fellow writer here responded, "There may be a credible breakthrough for Fusion power to generate electricity."

So, we may even be able to achieve our Writing, Editing, and Reading goals in 2023!

I appreciate all the assistance from folks, in particular in the Author's Forums! I have resolved my issues with MS Word/Office 365, by transitioning to LibraOffice.

I highly recommend Libra Office to anyone (lime me previously) who is hesitant.

Some of my most recent chapters of Aztlan Portal seem to be "corrupted" or lost. I do have Back-ups, however they are in MS Word... Before I access those, I am Learning about LibraOffice. Currently I am opening older stories, or other documents I could tolerate being lost.

I am using https://help.libreoffice.org/7.3/en-US/text/swriter/guide/globaldoc.html

Still, I have a lot to Learn. I am also house and in particular Pet Sitting. One of the critters is recovering from a surgery just days before I started, another is a near full-grown puppy (77+ pounds) who thinks he is still the much smaller puppy. He injured my knee inadvertently.

Nonetheless, I am much happier than I was a month ago! I am resolving my computer issues (and have been promised a newer, used computer with more power/space) in addition to LO. I am writing and editing, and hope to get a chapter sent to my volunteer proofreader. Not going to happen tonight, well Morning now...

One issue I am having is the Dictionary. I had added many words to my MS Word dictionary. In LO "Cruz" is not considered a "word" in the English language Dictionary! All of my Spanish names and words are underlined in squiggly red!

I am trying to learn if there are additional language dictionaries for LO (MS Word had (American) English, (British) English, French, German, Latin, and Spanish that I was actively using and had modified).

Is there a better Thesaurus for LO? The "onboard" one is much inferior to MS Word.

Anyway, I have had a full week with internet for my computer, LO, and a much more peaceful setting. Perhaps I have been strolling with the dogs, and enjoying the critters all joining me on the bed in a "Cuddle Puddle" typically, they each have their own human; but they know me, and seem to adapt to having only me to care for them.

Good Times! If anyone has suggestions about adapting to my LO questions, Please respond to this Blog post, or PM me.

Cheers!

Is there a Full Moon Tonight? Or are people just taking Crazy Pills!

Today on the way to the Veterans Center some idiot committed Road Rage. They pulled up on the right side of my vehicle in their truck, claimed I hit their vehicle, then rubbed their left front tire against my right rear bumper and right rear quarter panel; then raced back alongside me and demanded I pull over!

I noticed what appeared to be an unmarked police vehicle, a dark blue SUV with a crash-bar bumper and spotlight attached to the left-front doorpost. So, I pulled into that parking lot. The other driver got out of his vehicle screaming. I waited until two uniformed police officers exited their vehicle before getting out myself.

The idiot approached the officers, who possibly saved his life, and was yelling at them too!

They asked him to calm down, and state what his issue was. He claimed I struck his truck with my car, then pointed to damage that was above the roofline of my car (nor do I have a roof rack nor anything else that could have struck that portion of his vehicle).

The officers separated us I pointed to the minor damage, mostly tire-marks on the back portion of the right-side of my car. I told the officer that I believed the other driver had deliberately "rubbed" against my car, but could not prove it.

Although the "damage" did not match his description of the incident, he began yelling that I "wouldn't pull over"

I told the police sergeant (who had been speaking to the crazy-acting guy) that I was concerned by the other driver's apparent anger, and spotting what appeared to be a LEO vehicle, pulled into this parking lot some one-hundred-fifty yards from the incident.

This idiot was still yelling and pointing to damage that could not have been made by my vehicle, nor was their any corresponding damage to my vehicle; only the marks made by his tire.

The police sergeant appeared bemused, and separated us once more. When the idiot demanded "charges be filed, and I be arrested" the police sergeant explained the only obvious damage was to the rear of my vehicle, thus he would be deemed responsible under the law.

Only then did he "agree" to "drop the matter" because I told the sergeant I could probably just scrub off, or if necessary, buff-out the "damage" because the damage was below my deductible, and not worth reporting an accident.

The sergeant held me back, and told the other guy to go. He then gave me his business card, and gave me directions to go out the back and an alternate route to my destination so I would not be likely to encounter the idiot again.

On my way home I stopped at a Lowe's hardware store. While I was checking out an "agitated" person, quite likely a vagrant, entered through the exit and began yelling at several employees. The store has recently employed a uniformed security guard, he quickly came to the scene of the disturbance. The female clerk who was manning the cash register tried "locking down" the store by activating the door locks and causing metal "shutters" to drop down.

Leaving my merchandize at the check stand, I moved away from the confrontation; although I maintained situational awareness. The intruder assaulted one, possibly two of the employees as the security guard quickly ended his call to the police, and tried to defuse the situation.

I told the cashier I would provide the police a statement, if required. So, for the second time today, I was giving a statement to Law Enforcement Officers about an aggressive person acting crazy!

I am now back safe in my hovel. The reasons I am reluctant to leave my "cave" continue to multiply!

No "Caveman" (or "Cavewoman") should ever leave their "Cave" without their "Club" because the world outside is Not "safe"...more than ever too many people act as if there is no one armed and prepared for self-defense, and They can just act aggressive, even Violent and there will be No Consequences...

I avoid confrontations, and try to keep away from dangerous areas (since I am no longer on active duty). I am a disabled veteran, and although I have been trained for physical confrontations, I am not as fit as I used to be. If I had been shoved to the ground, such as the Lowe's employee, I would be quite vulnerable. Similar to many of my friends, I do the best I can to remain trained in firearms, and licensed to carry concealed. Part of the training in self-defense is knowing to back away when possible, and allowing LEOs or security guards to handle any situation when practicable.

Too many locales, including where I live, Politicians are restraining Law Enforcement Officers from arresting criminals, too often even violent criminals. Too often prosecutors refuse to press charges, even on repeat violent offenders. I wonder if they realize that it is Law Enforcement Officers who are Protecting the Criminals from armed citizens? "De-Policing" has already resulted in a more than Doubling of the Murder Rate, and other violent crimes in the County and State where I live.

I am concerned about dangerous and violent criminals; many abusing drugs. Vagrants and other "low-level" Criminals who act with impunity, and seemingly don't face any consequences. I fear that soon we will be witnessing ordinary citizens who feel they have no choice but to Defend Themselves; or worse "vigilantism"...I Fear that is the Politicians (including Prosecutors) who are "Taking Crazy Pills!"

If I understand correctly, even if I do nothing, it would be more like 90 days before some sheriff's deputies would be at my door to force me out. Not that I am going to sit back and do nothing.

I already won a lawsuit against the management company / "Slum Lords" of my hovel; just a couple of moths ago.

Unfortunately, this is "piling on" in the aftermath of the decline in health and then death of a friend. I have been busy with Memorial Day functions and other veterans issues too.

In addition to getting with my VA counselor, I also picked up some boxes today and am packing up my books (a substantial portion of my worldly goods).

Another issue is the person who has been providing me transportation to get my computer to internet access will be out of town for a couple of weeks.

I might be delayed in posting my next chapter or two. I have not been able to send them to my volunteer proofreader.

I am working with alternatives, so I may be able to keep with my "schedule" of posting a chapter every other week. Maybe.

Hopefully I will be able to move to a location with internet that I can afford.

An alert reader pointed out an issue with a character name in my story Aztlan Portal.

In my notes the character was Verkun-Voll. I took inspiration from a character from a graphic novel I read decades ago. The name just "sounded right" to me. Unfortunately, among the stories on my computer is an uncompleted Fan Fiction story based upon the H. Beam Piper story "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" and there is a character named Verkan-Vall; that name is saved in my Spellchecker. I didn't notice the error because there was no red underline of the name. I am changing the name to: Nicodèmes.

In my story I am loosely basing my Aliens/Imperials upon the Byzantine Empire (w/ aspects of ancient China, Persia, and some fantasy realms). I keep numerous lists of names for use in my writing (and gaming). For my Aliens I have been using various Byzantine/Greek names, some Latin names or variants commonly used in Byzantium. Some names have come from Plutarch's Lives. Other names have Armenian, Assyrian Christian, and other origins. Some names in particular for the non-humans are from various fantasy sources or made up.

Names for me are Important. For me, and I hope at least some readers, the names have meanings that partially define the character. I am sure that some of the names I use have been used in other stories, because they are Common Names; but not copies of any trademarked character.

Some common names I am using in my story include Christopher Cooper, Coleen O'Grady, John Johnson, Manuel Martinez, Miguel Diaz, Tomas Fernandez, etc.

Martinez is a common family name, a major character is named Edgar Martinez; in the story it is mentioned that the character's father admired the baseball player of the same name, although he claims to have named him after an uncle. Another character is named Clarence Thomas, in story it is mentioned that his mother named him after the Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. Another character is Quincy Adams, it is mentioned that he is a distant relation to the former POTUS of some 200 years ago.

I believe that I am on "solid ground" as many authors, including published authors use common names. Having a character that in story is named after a famous person has also been done, such as Benjamin Franklin Gates from National Treasure, or Edward "Duke Ellington, a fighter pilot in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. Or having Wynonna Earp as a fictional descendant of Wyatt Earp.

If I ever publish this story for sale, I will first submit my list(s) of character names for vetting by a lawyer who is knowledgeable about copyright matters.

Why then my concern about Verkun-Voll/Verkan-Vall? Because in H. Beam Piper's writing VV is a covert agent. The PM to me was asking: "Is my story a crossover from Otherwhen or any of H. Beam Piper's Crosstime series?" That was not at all my intent. But because the H. Beam Piper character is capable of ultra-tach disguise or even body/face alteration, use of that name could cause confusion.

It is not plausible that a reasonable person will confuse a USMC Corporal for a sitting SCOTUS Associate Justice; nor an Army LTC for a famous retired MLB player. I read a story with a "Randy Johnson" character who is a PI (Private Eye) {who in story states, "No. Not That Randy Johnson."}

I am working on some other necessary corrections and checking other chapters for use of the VV name. I should have the name change re-loaded by this weekend. I very much appreciate Constructive Criticism. I don't make all recommended changes. I do consider them.

By the way there are two very good Fan Fiction stories set in "Otherwhen" Tangent, and a sequel; here on SOL.

https://storiesonline.net/s/50382/tangent?ind=1